A Kind of Christmas Card

All you folks back home
I'll never tell you this
You're not supposed to know
Where your daughter is
There are ways of life
You never understood
It's right here
Downtown Hollywood
It's afternoon on Sunset Boulevard
I've got a stolen moment of trying hard
To write a kind of Christmas card

But I am burning out again
Tonight there is fever in my veins

Mama, dear
All the love you gave
I guess there's really nothing
Nothing much to save
This place is as dirty as I feel myself
There are still some riches
At the Roosevelt
That evening prayer
Those memories
In my little bedroom, mama on my knees
That's where I'm at
Down in Los Angeles

And I am burning out again
And I must rise above the shame
Tonight there is fever in my veins
Just think of the girl I used to be
You were my age once, mama
Twenty-three
I can still hear some of the songs you used to play
From that summer of love in '68
Seems it's turned into a winter of hate

And I am burning out again

Words: Havard Rem
Music: Morten Harket

Spanish Steps

Must have been walking
Don't know this place
Somebody stopped talking
Is it written in my face

Thought I'd never leave you
Thought I'd never dare
But I watched you going under
That's a thought I could not bear

Five thousand miles I'm away from you
Drifting by the Spanish steps tonight
Guess you've got my number
Guess you've got my line
Guess you've got my number
Should I be on your mind

Late at night your footsteps
Barefoot on the floor
Tender eyes from sleeping
In the darkened corridor

I come up the stairway
My naked enemy
Comes stumbling towards me
Wish I could set you free

Words: Havard Rem, Morten Harket, Torstein Flakne
Music: Torstein Flakne

Half in Love Half in Hate

Half in love and half in hate
Someone told me it is late
Late on earth he said, maybe
Late in you
And late in me
Darker than it has to be

Tell me just another lie
Now we're woven under ice
Tell me that there is no other
I am a child
Be my mother
If you lie, babe
If you bother

Since you raised that wall around you
Since I lost you
I have found you strange
And I could swear for sure
Haven't seen that girl before
Half in love and half at war

Hey, you're looking strange
And everything you do
Girl, it seems arranged
Dark words drift away
I have nothing more to say

Soon the moon will rise
And it this stony night
I have to see your face
See the lines that make you old
Stony silence, touched by gold

Everything's too late
Too late for love, and suddenly
Too late for hate

There's only one thing left to do
I have to face this other you

Words: Ole Sverre Olsen
Music: Morten Harket

Brodsky Tune

As you pour yourself a scotch
Crush a roach or check your watch
As your hands adjust your tie people die

In the towns with funny names
Hit by bullets, caughts in flames
By and large not knowing why people die

And in small places you don't know of
Yet big for having no chance to scream
Or say good-bye people die

Chorus La la...
Let me know

People die as you elect
New apostles of neglect, self restraint
Whereby people die
Too far off to practice love
For they neighbor, brother Slav
Where your cherubs dread to fly people die

Chorus La la...
Let me know

While the statues disagree
Cain's version, history for its fuel tends to buy
Those who die

As you watch the athletes score
Or check your latest statement
Or sing your child a lullaby people die

Time, whose sharp, bloodthirsty quill
Parts the killed from those who kill
Will pronounce the latter tribe
As your type

Words: Joseph Brodsky - from the poem 'Bosnia Tune'
Chorus: Morten Harket
Music: Morten Harket

Wild Seed

Baby
Are you holding the key
Was it you that put a lock on my door
Who sent you
Are you deep as the sea
Well it takes a deep womb
To shelter me

I can hold you, girl
And watch your heart settle down
Feels like home
But I'm lost somehow

God made you beautiful
I made you cry

So listen, babe
The sun's going down
You know what I mean
There ain't much time

Cause were the wild seed, girl
And this land's being farmed
You know a farmer takes great pride
In what he leaves behind

God made you beautiful
I made you cry

Words & Music: Morten Harket

Los Angeles

You waited for me
When I was strong
You never called
You waited long
Now I come back
To sleep with you
You love me still
I love you, too

You kept the house
I could not keep
You kissed good night
And went to sleep
Now I come back
To sleep with you
You love me still
I love you, too

Come with me
To that room by the sea
With the moon and the view of Los Angeles
You're beautiful back then
God, you're beautiful now
Come with me

Yeah, I was strong
I had no choice
The kids grew up
And left the house
But I come back
To sleep with you
You love me still
I love you, too

Words: Havard Rem
Music: Morten Harket

East Timor

Sandalwood trees are evergreen
Cut them down
Plant coffee beans
Build no schools
Construct no roads
Mark them as fools
Let ignorance rule
Leave them stranded on their island
Treat them to the tune of silence
Red is the cross that covers our shame
Every kingdom, every land
Has its heart in the common man
Silently the tide shifts the sand

Bury my heart on East-Timor
In coral sands
On golden shores
Buried are those
Who lived their lives
No place to hide for
Father and child
Leave them stranded on their island
Treat them to the tune of silence
We shake the hands that kill and forgive
Every kingdom, every land
Has its heart in the common man
Silently the tide shifts the sand

Bury my heart on East-Timor
On barren graves
Where flowers won't grow
Blooms our Red cross lovingly
This nightengale deed
So we can be free
Stranded on their island
This army of the silent
We toast our own goodwill and forget
Every kingdom, every land
Has its heart in the common man
Silently the tide shifts the sand

Words: Henning Kramer Dahl, Havard Rem, Morten Harket
Music: Geir Kolbu

Lay Me Down Tonight

Lay me down tonight, I'm falling deep
I'm tired, now I'll sleep
So close my eyes and take me in
I'll leap into the night like wind
I leave my body, leave my sword
So lay me down, Father Lord

Lay me down tonight, my heart is weak
Much you give and much you seek
I'll fall into a sea of sleep
This sea of dreams, so red and deep
I leave my spirit, leave my words
So lay me down, Mother Earth

Lay me down tonight, I'm giving in
Let the works of life begin
Your works of chaos, works of grace
Creation, Lord, in your own pace
Word to flesh and flesh to word
Father Lord, Mother Earth

Words: Havard Rem, Morten Harket - based on a poem by H. Rem
Music: Morten Harket

Tell Me What You See

Sleep, my love, sleep
Or look up at a sky
Returning from its deep
See the moon go down
Watch the sun come 'round
Tell me what you see

Sleep, my love, sleep
Yeah, look into a world
You can no longer reach
Time's a one way track
There's no direction back
But when you're dreaming
Tell me what you see

Sleep, my love, sleep
Like you slept with me
When the world was a dream
That we believed
It was near
It was far
It answered to the stars
No one's ever been that close to me
What did you see

Tell me what you see

Words: Havard Rem, Morten Harket - based on a poem by H. Rem
Music: Morten Harket

Stay

Stay
I say it as a friend
He can handle the daylight
But the night has its way

Touch him
Like one one did before
No fingerprints on the dew
So stay
Whatever you do

Watch him laughing
Ooh he can't help it
He sees through the eyes of a child
When he sees you

Baby
The town you come from
You said you'd like to leave
Then say
Where you gonna be

Do you see me
In your sleep
The dreams you're dreaming
Please be gentle, oh be gentle
There can be no other
Down so deep
But do you see me
Do you know what to keep

So stay...

Words: Havard Rem, Morten Harket - based on a poem by H. Rem
Music: Morten Harket

Lord

Lord, if that is your name
I'm afraid I'm beyond honour and shame
There's nothing special that I would like to say
Most of the time I'm okay
I know I may need you some day
It's long since I heard from Thee
Lord, it's long since you heard from me
There's nothing special that I would like to say
Most of the time I've been okay
You know I'm gonna need you some day
Why you put me, Lord, on this road of lust
From ashes to ashes, from dust to dust
There's nothing special that I would like to say
Most of the time I've been okay
You know I will need you some day

Words: Havard Rem
Music: Morten Harket

Ready To Go Home

On the street below these walls
Where I used to walk
Now I can barely crawl
All this darkness rising tall

Lord, shine a light for me
I'm waiting to be called

I'm ready to go home
I'm ready to receive forgiveness for my sins
I'm ready to begin

Take this river to the sea
Where the delta flows
The tide is washing over me
Take this soul to heaven's door

Show me where tomorrow lies
I'm waiting to be born

I'm ready to lay down
I'm ready now to sleep
A promise I must keep
I'm ready to go home

So tired, I lay down with these memories
I breathe shallow deep inside of me
If time has run its course with me

I'm ready to go home
I'm ready to receive forgiveness for my sins
I'm ready to begin

When the evening shadows fall
When the time must come
I let defences fall
To surrender's to survive
I will give up everything
To those I leave behind

I'm ready to go home
I'm ready to receive forgiveness for my sins
I'm ready to begin
I'm ready to lay down
I'm ready now to sleep
A promise I must keep
I'm ready to go home

Words: Havard Rem
Music: Morten Harket

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Last updated: August 24, 1999.
© 1998-2000 by Jana Vee Baird. All Rights Reserved