Story Behind the Song
Began one night in front of a college town bar while I was busking in the summer of 1986 - the first two couplets came into my mind, as if I were reading them on a teleprompter in the sky in my mind's eye/ear!
I fingered a "C" chord on my trusty Gibson, and out they tumbled...the chorus was created in Tucson in 1987, and the last two verses added within that year upon the request of a friend to end it in an upbeat way.
Lyrics
All the really deep pockets
Called him strictly small change
They said that no golden lockets
Could ever be arranged
But they had no lights in their sockets
And their hearts were estranged
Little boys, with their big rockets
And no king, but brains deranged
You wouldn't find him way up on a stage
Out in the bright lights
He only dwells deep in the shadows of fame
You couldn't find him, paid to fling a rage
Sweating in the night
He never fell before the gun of one who took aim
Now, we might see some nut, who shot
First, and stole, and bought some crack
It's well known on the street, what you got
Is up for grabs to those who lack
It's so hard to see, only an astronaut
Gets to see this world go round, stack
It anyway you choose, I share nothing but your lot
My life's not a game, nor a racket
So, please unbind me, or else turn the page
Before the edge gets ragged
Toss a coin into a well, and forget you knew my name
The dis-eased, unkind see naught beyond this age
For the hedge leaves are jagged
They tumble pell-mell and desperately die in shame
Still, there is a light!
Still, there is a light!
Still, there is a light!!
Deep in the darkest shadow of Fame
No devil's might!
No devil's might!
No devil's might!!
Could ever deny such a claim
You know? Events require tickets
Unless you're known by all the throngs
That's right, revenge requires pickets
Billions are made, righting wrongs
As losing rebels haunt the thickets
Monks meditate, banging gongs
This world's rejects still get rickets
And I still sing my lonesome songs
You couldn't find me, in some guilded cage
Left to obscurity
There is no spell that is known, that can't be broken
You wouldn't find me, a shining old sage
naked, but for purity
Heaven and hell, to you, are words once spoken
Some tie themselves to what they are tending
As if life were but a tomb
Never thinking that they're bending
'Til they break and die, alone in a room
That's not the news I have been sending
Doom and Gloom are not mine to assume
Faith is the doctor that does the mending
Love's a tapestry we weave on a loom
You wouldn't mind me, for taking my time
There is no desperation
Worse than No Hope, that's one thing I know for sure
I wouldn't mind you, I'm seeking my rhyme
Where there is inspiration
There is strength to cope, to prevail, and endure
(Chorus)
You know? There is a light...
In these days of infra-red, satellite trackers
How can anyone think they can do it alone?
We're still handing ransom to hi-jackers
Like you'd throw a hungry dog a bone
Tell me, has this wide world gone animal crackers?
I patiently wait for the time to atone
Working with the stackers,
the packers, and the tackers
Singing, to make a grin out of a groan
Now, I'm coming out of the shade
of the darkest steeple
To say we must pay the cost
Ony when each nation
stops treating the rest like a beast to tame
Will we know that we've got it made,
but not because some people
Say we are the last of the lost
Lonely generation,
tell me, what is there left to claim?
Should the face of G_D appear
It won't matter who gets Caesar's tax
When we're alive in the spirit
We can feel ourself start to relax
'Cause there's this sound, now, when you hear it
Melts the metaphorical wax
In your ear, there's no need to fear it
It's as sweet as a solo-ing sax
If your life has become one big,
supermarket, coast-to-coast
Suburban mall fantasy
With illusion glimmering,
like ten thousand video games
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, dig
in your heart to the uttermost
It's there that you can see
An ever-present tree - shimmering
- with ten bright, golden flames
(Chorus)
Now, you know there is a light...
Life is easy on the first of May
Unless you're up against the wall
The last of December has to pay
THE BILL, when the Collector does call
Still, your crown, when you do as you say
Shines with the beauty of PEACE, for all
With such foundation built, today
We live on, even when stars do fall
Although the bombs may still get hurled
And the daily news has gotten so stark
That the best minds have come unglued
I don't want to hear any more
Where those who commit sin go
Now is the time to feed the world
Don't cast a curse into the dark
Won't you put a basket of food
On the step outside your door?
Light a candle in the window
Now is the time to feed the world
Don't cast a curse into the dark
Won't you put a basket of food
On the step outside your door?
Light a candle in the window
Won't you put a basket of food
On the step outside your door?
Light a candle in the window
Light a candle in the window
Light a candle in the window
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