Jesse’s song
You say that you wonder how the world began
That’s a question I have wondered too
Somes say it began in seven days with two people and a snake
Others say we once were apes
Now who do you believe is true
Well I know the moon rises and people grow old
Rivers run high on the spring-melted snow
But ask the hard questions and see I don’t know
The answers are never twice the same
You say that you wonder what those planes are for
They’ve got stars and stripes on each side
They don’t take passengers for rides, they don’t put out forest fires
They’ve got atom bombs to try
Now what do you think they’ll ever do (refrain)
You say that you wonder why I need to be alone
Why I close the door and close my eyes
Why I’m not always at your side to comfort all your cries
Why I’m mad at you sometimes
Isn’t there love enough to go around
Yes I know the moon rises and people they grow old
Rivers run high on the spring-melted snow
But ask the hard questions and see I don’t know
The answers are never twice the same
The answers and never twice the same
The answers are never
Twice the same Karen Harris
Fly Away
Waiting for the bus in the rain
In April
Late for an apppointment once again
Disgraceful
Counting on the good things in your life
To keep you going without knowing why
Driving down the road it's all ablaze
In October
People with the sunshine on their face
Yet sober
Though we'll face the coming wintertime
Who knows when the big earthquake will strike?
Try and fly away
Waiting for the bus. It's a bright
December
Totalling your wheels was a night
to remember
Now we wait and write and settle down
And watch the tiger chase his tail around
Try and fly away Karen Harris
Things that come alone
The voice said "Daughter, I know what's on your mind
You've been thinkin'that good friends are hard to find
That you're not someone who'd qualify as kind
That your train will come and you'll be left behind."
There are somethings that come all alone
Stand aside and watch them as they grow
To catch some things you've gotta Iet 'em go
And when they come You can never know
The voice said "Mother, be careful what you say.
You repeat yourself so many times a day
Your will of iron has been calling you astray
If you hold too tight you'll. chase them far away."
There are some things..
The voice said "Lover, you're 1uckier than some
Half the couples find they' re better-off one by one
Gotta let him go, gotta let him have some fun
Open your arms wide to hold him when he comes.
There are somethings...
You can never know, you can never know, you can never know
You can never know, you can never know, you can never
Never never never never know Karen Harris
Les sept poèmes d’amour en guerre - Poème 1
Un navire
Un navire dans tes yeux
Se rendait maître du vent
Tes yeux étaient le pays
Que l’on retrouve en un instant
Patients tes yeux nous attendaient
Patients tes yeux nous attendaient
Sous les arbres des forêts
Dans la pluie dans la tourmente
Sur la neige des sommets
Entre les yeux et les jeux des enfants
Patients tes yeux nous attendaient
Patients tes yeux nous attendaient
Car nous apportions l’amour
La jeunesse de l’amour
Et la raison de l’amour
Ils étaient une vallée
Plus tendre qu’un seul brun d’herbe
Leur soleil donnait du poids
Aux maigres moissons humaines
Nous attendaient pour nous voir
Toujours
Nous attendaient pour nous voir
Toujours
Car nous apportions l’amour
La jeunesse de l’amour
Et la raison de l’amour
La sagesse de l’amour
Et l’immortalité.
Bright on the moon
You talk of when we had all the answers
As though we’d found some by now
The old ideals seem like broken records
And they’re all listening to Cds anyhow
From the flat at the top of the hill
The summit’s even farther still
All these arrows I’ve been following just lead me back home
You can cross the world on a keyboard
You can transform a face from A to Z
You can poke the sky with hundred-story towers
Your can dive into the canyons of the sea
You can scope our bodies with cameras
You can mesure the sand in the dunes
But you can’t make a light like the sun shining bright on the moon
No you can’t make a light like the sun shining bright on the moon
One day you wake with more than you’d hoped for
Yet you feel so far behind
Along the way you’ve picked up some admirers
But you say they’re just tryin’ to be kind
Thoughts and dreams fill your mind as you go
Until they start to overflow
They’ll drive you crazy if you don’t start throwin’ some away
You can cross the world on a keyboard
You can transform a face from A to Z
You can poke the sky with hundred-story towers
Your can dive into the canyons of the sea
You can scope our bodies with cameras
You can mesure the sand in the dunes
But you can’t make a light like the sun shining bright on the moon
You can cross the world on a keyboard
You can transform a face from A to Z
You can poke the sky with hundred-story towers
Your can dive into the canyons of the sea
You can scope our bodies with cameras
You can mesure the sand in the dunes
But you can’t make a light like the sun shining bright on the moon
No you can’t make a light like the sun shining bright on the moon
Shining bright on the moon Karen Harris
Break the Fall
Like a child we wonder how we'll be when we
Better not say it
Boring or bitter or carefree?
As if we could forsee it
And if we look to the other side
we may see the way we waste our lives
This is just an attempt to break the fall
In the face of what comes to us all
Sing for the beginning of the end
Time of less and less time to spend
'Cause it's not the best we leave behind
Though we dwell in the old times
It's just a distortion of your mind
'Member the lonely moments
Up to now it's turned out not so bad
What we get could equal what we had
As if every moment were the last
Sing out, don't be embarassed
Work out the puzzle of your past
Leave no corner un-noticed
And if the others act surprised
There'll still be some who say you tried
Say you tried (refrain)
This is just an attempt to break the fall
This is just an attempt to break the fall
Karen Harris
Heart Road
Hey oh eh oh when will I be there
It takes the time it takes
No way no way, no way to say it
So much you care
It takes the love it takes
Visions of a long gown go down the drain
You only know he’s stable, on the level
What you thought was romance
Being asked to dance - - lay it on the table
There’s something else to share
In the blur of highway lights
The freedom of the way we flow together
(Sometimes it’s just like two birds of a feather)
Day on day the friction grows
You gotta shake it, shake it down to make it better
There’s combat in the air
Ooh ah ee ah ee ah eh ah oh eh
Ooh ah ee ah ee ah eh ah oh eh
Oh the right road is the heart road
The only road is the one with the heart
The right road is the heart road
The oly road is the one with the heart
Surely you don’t seek to know
Just what it woud take to make him leave you
But honey you must believe
You’ll go if you have to
Love him all he asks you, sure of what you car
What else is there ?
Oh the right road is the heart road
The only road is the one with the heart
Oh the right road - - is the heart road
The one with the heart
The one with the heart
Karen Harris
Playground Train
Sometimes it seems like I’ve been looking at life
From the windows of a playground train
Keep skinning and scraping my knees
And I feel no pain
Spinning around in circles then trying to stand
Gotta get the window closed
‘Cause outside there’s Peter Pan
Some just like watching them play
I like getting into the game
Like leading and feeding my flock
Keeping their backs straight
But when the house is quiet and the worries gone
The piper blows a melody
And the mouse danses ‘til dawn
The mouse danses ‘til the dawn
If I could only find my shadow
If my feet would reach the ground
If I could lay aside that battle
I’d come around
These precious lessons I’ve learned
Sometimes I take ‘em with a grain of salt
Enjoy letting the others know
When they’re at fault
The queen of wonderland, she says I’m much too slow
If I say I’m not afraid
My nose just might start to grow
Just like Pinocchio
More and more it seems like I’ve been looking at life
Through the windows of a playground train
Keep skinning and scraping my knees
And I feel no pain
Spinning around in circles then trying to stand
Gotta get the window closed
‘Cause outside there’s Peter Pan
With the queen of Wonderland
And when the piper starts to blow
Here comes pinocchio Karen Harris
Où elle va comme ça ?
Ce vent d’hiver souffle chaud comme une fin de printemps
Drôle de penser qu’on n’connaîtra jamais le ciel clair de mon enfance
Quant au confort la plupart sont d’accord
Qu’on est bien mieux qu’avant
Mais Grand-mère la terre essuie des remords
Calme ses tremblements de chair, ses paupières débordent
On ne voit plus le bleu de ses yeux
Et le béton gène son pas
Où elle va comme ça ?
Depuis longtemps les savants analysent le chaos
L’on trouve ce que l’on veut savoir mais tant de dossiers restent clos
L’on croit seulement aux dangers que l’on lit
Sur la une des journaux (et encore !)
Grand-mère la terre essuie des remords
Calme ses tremblements de chair, ses paupières débordent
Sa peau est craquée, desséchée
Et les cachets ne passent pas.
Où elle va comme ça ?
Grand-mère la terre essuie tes remords
Calme tes tremblements de terre, tes rivières débordent
On ne voit plus le bleu de tes cieux
Et le béton ne te va pas
Où on va comme ça ? Karen Harris
Synthesis
You know it’s time for synthesis
Time for consensus
For integration
It’s time to try and visualize
Try to find compromise for good relations
Now is what you live
Past is what you pay for
Dreams are what you will
Future’s what you wait for
Wide spaces tend to isolate
Each one in his own state
Fearing invaders
Maybe this back-to-nature craze
Will soften up their ways
Sooner or later
La la la...
You can hook up to cyberspace
Make home your working place
Get back some freedom
When neighbors start to organize
They open up their lives
To those who need them
La la la... Karen Harris
Raspberry Jam
Remember the time
Of raspberry jam
That’s what we would say
Running away
That’s what we would say
Running away
Forget ‘bout the time
That trip to L.A.
We got in a fight
She called you names
Made you understand
In so many ways
Forget how she cried
Then asked you to stay
Pulled you by the hand
Nothing to say
Made you understand
In so many ways
Remember the time
Of raspberry jam
That’s what we would say
Running away
Remember the time
Of raspberry jam
I can taste it in my mind
That raspberry jam
That’s what she would say
Running away Gil Barouk
This Storm
Somewhere near the end of hoping
Your head got turned around
He’s a singer, he’s a player
He’s a tempter, he’s a savior
And he’s not the kind to let you down
Rain is in the air tonight
There’s lightening on the edge of the sky
Land here’s long been thirst
But this storm is gonna pass on by
Torn by indecision
On the road from France to Spain
Your were roaming without reason
Said you’d hold out for the season
Then try to settle down again
Now and then you feel deserted
Though it’s you who’s gone away
You leave behind a treasure
Now you gamble for the pleasure
You’ll have when he comes following one day
Right there standing in your doorway
Karen Harris
Bare Your Soul
Strummers of the corners we were foreigners all
Stayin’ wherever friends could be found
Some had come for refuge, some were just passing through
Some like me were settling down
Played out on the plaza, counted change in the bar
One day asked old Mountain Mark from Canada
I said, “hey, let’s sing Bob Dylan, let’s sing out against war”
He said “you know I don’t believe that no more”
When you bare your soul to the wandering crowd
Spirits loft in the air and then crash to the ground
Then you lose your nerve, Mark he said it out loud,
he said, “the times, they aren’t a-changing anymore”
The pair from Britain fought and split and Mark disappeared
The café littéraire has closed its doors
The cops that kept us hoppin’ got us trapped underground
Fines and confiscations abound
Subway union players, they don’t see eye to eye
Rock, reggae, latino, each protects his style
With market competition winning out anyhow
We’ll have to join the mainstream now
Gather ‘round people wherever you roam
It’s time to break down more walls, you know it’s time to be changin’
Gather ‘round people prepare for a change
It’s time to bare your soul, time to bare your soul
Oh the times may be complacent no but Mark,
What are you waiting for? Aren’t we afraid of war?
Gather ‘round people wherever you roam ‘cause it’s time to be changin’
Come on you people let’s break down more walls
‘cause the times are a-changin’, changin’, changin’
When you bare you soul
Bare your soul Karen Harris
Kid at the Carnaval Smile
What’s that look in your eyes?
You’ got a kid at the carnaval smile
Where does the wonder go
When you’re done with the ride?
I like to sit and think of you babe
Though I’m doing things that you hate
Ever since you left me this laziness
hangs over my days
Part of me’s a solitary lass
She likes to sing and laugh a careless laugh
Tell me why you just like the part of me
you know you can’t have
I see a reason to change
Your kind of drug could be safe
We could be so good you see with only
the time and the place
Kid at the carnaval smile... Karen Harris
Paul Eluard
Pull the Plug
Metal touching metal, light kissing light
People interacting with computer look-alikes
Are you sharing secrets with cassettes on the phone
Talking down the street with your portable alone
Now and then I wonder
Do you ever pull the plug, just let the sun tell time
Let the weather change your plans, leave your words behind
When do you unplug or do you just stay on line
Waiting for a sign
Sixties generation said ”do your thing”
Seventies psychology got people centering
Eighties got commercial with the “find yourself” thing
Nineties want to sell you your own personal dream
Now and then I wonder
Gonna, gonna, already some are gonna
Pretty soon we’re gonna filter all the water
Gotta condition the air
You’ got to drink your instant powder
Spray more stuff in your hair
You got to order from the t.v., get your Reebocks on sale
And then you take your kids to films about saving the whales
Now and then I wonder
Bringing it all up after givin’ up waiting for a sign
Yah, I think I’ve been waiting for a change of mind
I’ve been waiting and you just stay on line
I’ been waitin’, been waitin’, waitin’ for a sign...
Karen Harris
Quinze mille bornes
Au bout d’un couloir du sixième étage
Décor de rouge et de vieux bois qui sentait l’âge
C’est la guitare qui m’a sauvée
Des heures seule à seul compter
Tous les pigeons qui s’envolaient
Quinze mille bornes c’est pas si loin
Juste un océan, un continent, un état d’esprit
Quinze mille fois coller le timbre
Sachant que lentement on s’oublie
On s’accoutume aux petits cafés sans crème
On voit la rue des grandes fenêtres
jamais les mêmes
Plus on se fait à la distance
Plus on se perd dans les nuances
D’une vielle chanson qui rappelle tant que
Sans s’y attendre on finit en ménage
Un jour une carte annonce encore un mariage
Je n’ai même pas pu lui demander
Si c’est l’amour qu’elle a trouvé
C’est ce monde là que j’ai quitté
Quinze mille bornes c’est pas si loin
Juste un océan, un continent, un état d’esprit
Quinze mille fois coller le timbre
Sachant que lentement sans vouloir vraiment
Comme deux fleurs dans le vent on s’oublie
Sachant qui lentement comme deux fleurs dans le vent,
Tu m’oublies
Que quinze milles bornes c’est pas si loin
Mais c’est assez loin pour l’oubli.
Karen Harris
Rajendra
To live on stage
To live on stage
You know the game
It’s to turn a page
It’s to turn a page
People are thirsty
They will drink you for money
Rare are the pure ones
Who know what you live
Who know what you give
Rajendra - jendra - jendra
Rajendra - jendra - jendra
The more you play the game
The more they change your name
The more their masquerade
Will wind up driving you insane, you insane
The more they offer fame
The more you learn to say
You’re not afraid to stay the same
‘cause it’s the only way to live on stage
To live on stage
You know the game
Rajendra - jendra - jendra
Rajendra - jendra - jendra
Together we may get away
Together we may get away Gil Barouk
Retournes dans la vie
Une cannette de bière
Et un peu de réflexion
Retournement de situation
Il reste un espoir
Il y a tant de conseils
Tant de lois
Tu t’en aperçois et un peu de réflexion
Qui t’fait, qui t’fait
Retourner dans la vie
Retournes dans la vie
Une nuit en fumées
Spectacle d’ombres
Désespoir de ces lois
La musique t’enivre
C’est là une amie
Te donne une envie de vivre
Va et viens et va et
Viens dans la vie
Retournes dans la vie
O oui o wa-i , oui o wa-i é-o, oui o wa-i
O oui o wa-i , oui o wa-i é-o, oui o wa-i
Face à face au réveil
Les aiguilles gomment ton éveil
Après une nuit sans sommeil à détourner l’ennui
Bouge bouge ton corps qui t’fait
Retourner dans la vie
Retournes dans la vie
Mutation de sensations
Qui réspirent la raison
D’être petit à p’tit, d’être l’hymne à la vie
Qui te foule, et tu t’y roule, allez hop!
Ca développe pour tourner dans la vie
Retournes dans la vie
O oui o wa-i , oui o wa-i é-o, oui o wa-i
O oui o wa-i , oui o wa-i é-o, oui o wa-i
Retournes dans la vie... Gil Barouk
Seasons
You know the spring is coming by the weather in your dreams
The slender birds that look you in the eye
Bright plantations and young children at your feet
A crowd of singing pilgrims passing by
Seasons lead us to give our changing a try
Seasons free us to take our fantasies hi-hi-high
Tomorrow I’d be rolling down the coast of “Algérie”
If fortune came to take me for the ride
Next adventure I’d be wiser than before
But still I’m growing younger all the time
You know the spring is coming by the fire in your knees
That makes you take the steps three at a time
Transformations kick your stable life right from behind
Seasons free us to give our changing a try
Seasons free us to take our fantasies hi hi-high...
Karen Harris
Sweet Lonely
Walking along, I’m too tired to run
and the sun is gone
My arms are through clinging,
Now you won’t have to put up a fight
If that’s how you want it,
Well I’m just gonna keep on keepin’ on
Now that I know it’s all through
I feel a sweet kind of lonely tonight
Sweet lonely
It’s sad that we ended too soon
Sweet lonely
It’s sweet there was something to lose
I’ll try not to cry when you look in my eyes
with your sorry smile
You know I can’t hate you
But you won’t hear what I’ve got to say
If you’d listen you’d find that I don’t need
to marry you or have your child
But you’ve put up those walls,
Now I’m a sweet kind of lonely tonight
Sweet lonely tonight
Sweet lonely tonight
It won’t be too long and I’ll be singing
my song for some other guy
And it won’t hurt at all to think
You and I once had a good time
I’ve felt it before and I know that I can
feel it again some time
So I’ll smile a sad smile and feel a
sweet kind of lonely tonight
Karen Harris
What’s That Sound?
Whispers of unconscious come to claim you
Little voices tryin’ to get heard
What you’ been lookin’ for’s a place
that you can call your very own
Frenzied tunes and cigarette fumes invading
People talking all around the words
What you’ been lookin’ for on an open chord’s
a place to feel, a song to heal
What’s that sound?
You’ been talkin’ to the wall again
What’s that sound?
He’s a very good friend and he cares and needs you
What’s that sound?
I’ been lookin’ for another place to play
Pass it one more time around that table
Blame the night for fallin’ too soon
When you’ve had the blues a year or two
It’s time to loook them in the eye, lick ‘em
I’ been talkin’ to the wall
He’s a very good friend now
What’s that sound?
I’ been lookin’ for
I’ been lookin’ for
Lookin’ for another place to play...
Karen Harris
Les sept poèmes d’amour en guerre- Poème IV
La Misère et l’Ennui
C’est une plante qui frappe à la porte de la terre
Et c’et un enfant qui frappe à la porte de sa mère
C’est la pluie et le soleil qui naissent avec l’enfant
Grandissent avec la plante
J’entends résonner et rire
J’entends résonner et rire
On a calculé la peine qu’on peut faire à un enfant
Tant de honte sans vomir, tant de larmes sans périr
Un bruit de pas sous la voûte noire et béate d’horreur
On vient déterrer la plante
On vient avilir l’enfant
Par la misère et l’ennui
Par la misère et l’ennui Paul Eluard
La Galère
Si tu savais dans quelle galère je me suis embarqué
Si tu savais de quelle manière je me suis envolé
Vie de travers travers de vie, oh oui
Sans que l’on s’y attende, ça, non
Nous nous sommes rencontré
Elle m’a fait pleins de baisers
Dans l’jeux d’l’amour on a plongé, plouf !
Dés le lendemain j’étouffais
Si tu savais dans quelle galère je me suis embarqué
Toutes paroles se noyèrent, les larmes perlaient
Tous mes amis pas fiers de moi, j’avais bien remarqué
Vie de travers et tant d’émoi nous suivent de très prés
Si tu savais dans quelle galère ça m’a embarqué
J’pensais « Faut pas que je désespère » J’aurais dû me méfier
Maintenant elle ne pleure plus, réagit, ne s’en fait plus
Elle en a pris du courage. Elle a tourné les pages
Mais si tu connaissais l’essentiel
Aussi quand je me serre contre elle
Finis l’inconnu des sottises lorsque le feu s’attise
Si tu savais quel paysage décore ce bonheur
Tu resterais oui ou partirais sur l’heure
Toutes voiles dehors sans choisir une étoile
Si tu savais dans quelle galère.
Gil barouk
A la fenêtre
Ils passent la ramasseuse de feuilles le matin
Devant la cité
Ce beau gazon qu’on n’peut pas toucher
Les p’tits restent dans leurs landaus fermés
On pourrait avoir un jardin
Connaître les oiseaux
Sentir la terre sous les pieds
En regardant la voie lactée
A la fenêtre, sauter ou voler ?
Fait semblant d’être éloigné
Tant de fenêtres, tant de carrés
C’est ça peut-être l’univers des cités
Et la queue à l’ascenseur
Les courses à la main
Qu’est-ce que votre bébé grandît!
En bas il y a un tuyau qui fuit
C’est l’heure où on promène les chiens
Ils aiment se retrouver
Quelques-uns sont comme leurs guides
Allant entre le loisir et l’ennui
Quelques notes de sonatine
Caressent le plafond
Jouant chacun de son côté
Il manque les mots pour encourager
On pourrait avoir un jardin
Pelouse libre
Une cheminée en commun
On dira que c’est pas le destin
Karen Harris