Contents
Finish What You Start
A Happy Hippie
I'd Really Like To Know Your Name
The Mall Police
Never Enough Time
One Horse Planet
The Ones Like You
Stephen Crane's Fabulous Blue Hotel
Summer Blonde
Tell Me So
Where Are You Today?
Workin' Hard Blues



Finish What You Start
©1995 by David Scott Whitlow

I'm only taking things one headache at at time
Assess the damage and admiring the view
Enough to send a poet wallowing in rhyme
And babble on and on about you
I can't believe that I could ever be so blind
You're lips are moving but I hope it isn't true
You couldn't have another golden boy in mind
This boy can only think about you

Somewhere deep inside, you know
That I'm your broken heart
One day you will find you cannot
Finish what you start
Run away and hide when it falls apart
And wonder why there's nothing there

I'm only trying to be everything you've asked for
They haven't made a man that's good enough for you
I show my heart and you keep showing me the door
Now what's a guy like me have to do?
When someone's telling you that honesty has died
Before you know it, you're believing that it's true
You couldn't paint me any truer if you tried
This dreamer only dreams about you

But when I'm looking back I find
That you were almost there
Finish what you start
Maybe you'll find someone who'll care
Try to make a heart out of ice and air
And wonder why there's nothing there

Return to top of page.


A Happy Hippie
©1989 by Ricky Allen

He'll travel to the east, he'll travel to the west
Never goes anywhere, and that's the part that's best
He's an acid casualty, long-hair, pinko, peace-and-love Dead Head
He's wandered all around the world and never left his bed

You'll see him in the street with his tie-dye and his beads
Sandals on his feet and a baggie full of seeds
He goes from place to place just hanging out and killing time
He's as in touch with reality as a circus clown or a mime.

He's just a Happy Hippie
Means no harm to you or to me
He just tries too hard to be free

If you visit him for dinner hoping for a bite to eat
You can't get Coca-Cola nor potato chips nor meat
But you'll never leave there hungry so you shouldn't harbor doubt
As long as you like broccoli, guacamole and bean sprouts

He's just a Happy Hippie
Means no harm to you or to me
He just tries too hard to be free

When he cruises home to his pad for to crash
He wades through dirty laundry and accumulated trash
He consults his horoscope and biorhythmic charts
For tomorrow is a brand new day and anothergood fresh start

He's just a Happy Hippie
Means no harm to you or to me
He just tries too hard to be free
He just tries too hard to be free
Oh yeah, He just tries too hard to be free

Return to top of page.


I'd Really Like To Know Your Name
©1993 by David Scott Whitlow

I am just a simple boy with ordinary taste
And I wouldn't know a fashion if it hit me in the face
And I don't believe in ego trips, I'm not from outer space
And I'd really like to know your name

I don't claim to know it all, there's nothing up my sleeve
I'm a singular survivor of the things that I believe
And I go where I am welcome and I know when I should leave
But I'd really like to know your name

Where is your heart? Can you see mine?
It's just a part of understanding romance
Putting all your chips on no chance
Hoping you will win this time
Is it just me? Is it the world?
Why do I always seem to find I'm dying
Somewhere in my soul I'm crying
Out, when I don't even know your name

I can't tell the future and I don't know where I've been
And I wouldn't know the answers if they kicked me in the shin
And words are ill-equipped to paint the picture that I'm in
But I'd really like to know your name

I can't hold a candle to that 90's kind of guy
That the television tells me that the world is holding high
I'm a dreamer and a poet and I couldn't tell you why
But I'd really like to know your name

Maybe we will find it's just another silly game
But I'd really like to know your name

Where is your heart? Can you see mine?
It's just a part of understanding romance
Putting all your chips on no chance
Hoping you will win this time
Is it just me? Is it the world?
Why do I always seem to find I'm dying
Somewhere in my soul I'm crying
Out, when I don't even know your name

I am just a simple boy with ordinary taste
And I wouldn't know a fashion if it hit me in the face
And I don't believe in ego trips, I'm not from outer space
And I'd really like to know your name

Return to top of page.


The Mall Police
©1989 by Ricky Allen and Kelly Morris

The Mall Police, they're after you
They're on your case no matter what you do
Blew their whistle in my ear
Told us, "Hey! Get outta here!"

The door was open; so we roamed
We didn't know we weren't alone
A drunken man came down the aisle
Sent us all out marching single-file

The Mall Police they love their guns
They have less tact than Attila's Huns
They carry big long sharpened knives
With which to snuff out our lives

The Mall Police, they're coming after you
The Mall Police are gonna hunt you down
You can't escape no matter what you do
Try to hide and you'll be found

The Mall Police practice child abuse
They'll squeeze your head until it's juiced
Tear your limbs right off of you
Leave you as raw meat for the zoo

So next time that you're in the mall
Don't get caught in that empty hall
If they see you they'll call you down
Mall babies wind up six feet under ground

Return to top of page.


Never Enough Time
©1989 by Ricky Allen

Running around every part of the town
Searching for you, trying to hunt you down
Gotta find you, gotta have you around
But it always seems no matter what I do
I never can spend enough time with you

Morning, evening, afternoon or night
This addiction's really hard to fight
But if I can see you everything is alright
When we're together it doesn't matter what we do
'Cause I never can spend enough time with you.

When you're away I just don't know what to do with myself
But I'm crazy 'bout you and it's liable to wreck my health

Well you say that you only want to be a friend
I can deal with that but it doesn't mean this addiction will end

So I'm still running around every part of the town
Searching for you, trying to hunt you down
Gotta find you just to have you around
But the joke's on me and I realize it's true
But I never can spend enough time with you
With you, with you

Return to top of page.


One Horse Planet
©1993 by David Whitlow

It's been quite a long time now
Since the world resembled anything that I know
But that and a dime now
Will get me a free ride to the end of my rope
It's a one-horse planet, stone-age baby
Carved in granite, just say maybe
Don't ask questions, take your number
Exits to the rear of the plane

One way or another
You're gonna realize you're losing the game
So why even bother
When you're just beating a gift-horse that ain't gonna change
It's a one-horse planet, nothin' doin'
Made-for-TV third-rate movie
Just keep smiling, read the cue-card
Exit at the end of the scene

You know, the world is going madder than a hatter
Somewhere there's a better one, I know
Where everything that holds us under doesn't matter
And music takes you anywhere you want to go
Just say the word and maybe I'll be there tomorrow
If only I could leave the ground, blow this town
Lay this one-horse planet down

Everything's become a headline
You know it all boils down to just some ink on a page
Better get it done in prime time
You know you gotta make a scene before you lose the stage
It's a one-horse planet, mausoleum
Cable-ready wax museum
Single file now, hit the gift shop
Exit at the end of the show

You know, the world is going madder than a hatter
Somewhere there's a better one, I know
Where everything that holds us under doesn't matter
And music takes you anywhere you want to go
Just say the word and maybe I'll be there tomorrow
If only I could leave the ground, blow this town
Lay this one-horse planet down

It's been quite a long time now
Since the world resembled anything that I know
But that and a dime now
Will get me a free ride to the end of my rope
It's a one-horse planet, stone-age baby
Carved in granite, just say maybe
Don't ask questions, take your number
Exits at the end of the song

Return to top of page.


The Ones Like you
© by Billy Griffin

Oh I can't explain the feeling
The one that sends me reeling
When you walk into the room
And I cant explain the subtleties
Yeah the ones that bring me to my knees
When you walk out of the room

I've spent my whole life
Second guessing the one's like you
But will I have to spend the rest of my days
Just wondering what I'm to do
Without you

And you
You move a little closer
Your seem a little bolder
Once you turn your eyes from mine
And soon
You'll see a little clearer
Yeah the one I'm with won't hear you
But you'll move in anyway

I've spent my whole life
Second guessing the one's like you
But will I have to spend the rest of my days
Just wondering what I'm to do
Without you

Return to top of page.


Stephen Crane's Fabulous Blue Hotel
©1995 by Billy Griffin

Miss Molly's waking up
Sunshine on the window
The birds sing on the dawn
She finds a cool spot on the pillow
She entertains the thought
Of going out for the day

Yeah, she's a million mornings
Just like this one
She kicks the covers off
She's not gonna miss one
She gets up, and she looks good

Stephen Crane's Fabulous Blue Hotel
Dark halls no calls no ready maids
To bid you a fond farewell
Reservations going rather fast
Since you left me
Everybody's on the run
Hold on, hold on
Baby won't you get you some
Baby won't you get you some

Four sheets wide blowing in a stiff wind
Another glass of gin, there isn't any tonic in it
Somebody notices he's not very bright
But he's swinging from the mast
Drinking like a sailor
Twenty years ago in a frat house
Back at Baylor
There was a girlfriend he called Mrs. Right

Stephen Crane's Fabulous Blue Hotel
Dark halls no calls no ready maids
To bid you a fond farewell
Reservations going rather fast
Since you left me
Everybody's on the run
Hold on, hold on
Baby won't you get you some
Baby won't you get you some

Halfway through the middle of his journey
He was up against a wall
With a right to an attorney
And they asked him to make his damn phone call
You see New Orleans kind of mean
When you're dancing on the ceiling
It's ramrod justice
And he's the one who's kneeling
As he swears to them all
He'll never come back again.

Stephen Crane's Fabulous Blue Hotel
Dark halls no calls no ready maids
To bid you a fond farewell
Reservations going rather fast
Since you left me
Everybody's on the run
Hold on, hold on
Baby won't you get you some
Baby won't you get you some

Return to top of page.


Summer Blonde
©1995 by Billy Griffin

She pinned it down one night last week
This town ain't what it used to be
Hysterical cries and friendliness lies
It can be dark in the sun

Social commentary misses
The evening she kisses
Missing the thrust of what's real
They'll take you, they'll make you
You'll believe but they'll fake you
It could happen to anyone

Summer Blonde, how was I to know
You'd be the one who'd let go
I look for a way to turn my summer day
Into the night I never knew... with you

Cool throws of dusk make it seem like a must
Pinning your hopes on falling stars
But Beach Towne this evening's been
Predictably even
With the ribbons, the bows and the knots

Now I wander through these summer alleys alone
I walk the waves and the beaches till dawn
Looking for a way to turn any summer days
Into the night I never knew

How old were you when they ruined your dreams
When they got you drunk and into your jeans
I had a dream about you last night

Where did you go with the love that I knew
You took it away like it belonged to you
Oh give me your number, I'll call

Return to top of page.


Tell Me So
©1993 by Billy Griffin

Oh I'm gonna go
Oh down to Mexico
Oh Dominico
Where the language is all that I won't know

Annie you look divine
Your sad green eyes are just like mine
Your perfume in the summertime
Hold my hand and drink that wine

Life is strange and it's oh so very hard
It's the fence that keeps you in the yard
Everytime we climb we try and get a little higher
But it seems we fall back into the fire

Autumn came a week ago
In windy fields the colors grow
Hold me tight and let me know
Call it love and tell me so

Arwen, I miss you dear
It seems you've gone away from here
The morning rain of winter's fear
The cool faint laughs are all I hear

Life is strange and it's oh so very hard
It's the fence that keeps you in the yard
Everytime we climb we try and get a little higher
But it seems we fall back into the fire

Return to top of page.


Where Are You Today?
©1987/1990 by Ricky Allen, Greg Shipp & Kevin Johnson

You entered the room
Lit the air with your smile
The paths of our lives converged for a while
You mirrored my mind (through a looking glass)
Bright thoughts on the wind (thanks for the grass)
All that I could ask was to call you my friend (to see you again)

Where are you today? Why did you go away?
How it hurts, I cannot say; Where are you today?

The cautious attempts (didn't know what)
To reach out and touch (you were hiding)
Not wanting to lose what I valued so much
But this precious light (this last match)
Was it really there (burning as your life)
I reached out to you, did you know and not care? (I really doubt it)

Where are you today? Why did you go away?
How it hurts, I cannot say; Where are you today?

I just found out today (oh wow, man!)
That you'd gone on your way (we're all gonna die)
But what can I do? Not much I can say.
Just think well of me (ok, you're well)
As freely you fly (cause I'm a balloon guy)
And I'll remember you (don't ask me why, maybe)
As I look to the sky (who loves ya, baby?)

Where are you today? Why did you go away?
How it hurts, I cannot say; Where are you today?
Where are you today? Where are you today?

Return to top of page.


Workin' Hard Blues
© by Cary "Street" Jackson

Three o'clock, four o'clock, five o'clock rock
Look out here comes that old alarm clock
Gotta get up, gotta get on my way
Gotta work till I drop just so I can play

Everybody knows that's the way it goes
You gotta pay your dues If you snooze you lose
I been up all night and I got the working hard blues to boot.

I got drunk last night now I'm out on the site
I gotta watch my step and get everything right
My head's pretty sore and my eyes are crossed
Hoping and praying I can avoid the boss

Everybody knows that's the way it goes
You gotta pay your dues If you snooze you lose
I been up all night and I got the working hard blues to boot.

Sitting at the desk, my report's past due
The figures aren't right, I'm beginning to stew
Thinking 'bout the weekend and lookin' ahead
I'm wishin' I never got out of my bed
Wishin' I never got out of my bed

Everybody knows that's the way it goes
You gotta pay your dues If you snooze you lose
I been up all night and I got the working hard blues to boot.


Return to top of page.


Return to the Official Picture Book Home Page