|
|
back to James's home page |
|
|
|
|
back to James's home page |
|
|
|
otherwise), and may not be reproduced or used in any way without written permission. |
last updated October 1st 2007
This album was by the Moomins, a band of which I was the main songwriter. Lyrics of songs written by the other members of the band are not shown below. Although I was ostensibly the writer of the songs for which I have presented the lyrics, the songs would not have reached fruition were it not for Derek, John, Evan, and Renée, all of whom had a major input into "my" finished songs.
Mines of wisdom
Parallel universe
Secret room
Sting in the scorpion's
tail
Two wires touching
Everything you dream
Watching the island
Dream rain
Lyrics by James Dignan, 1989 unless stated otherwise
The desert rain disturbs the ghosts of
cattle on the plains,
Coyotes prowl the range tonight and John
Wayne rides again,
Beneath the skies, the country lies like
dust upon the scales,
And hands of wind rip weatherboards from
rotten rusted nails
Beyond the range of sanity some truth remains
here, buried in the mines of wisdom
Deep beneath the sand and gold some life
is waiting
Mournful tall ships roll upon the surface
of the deep
Seven winds through seven seas defy illusion
Beneath the stars, before the wind, the
sails fill gracefully
As seafarers chart islands on some primal
coastline
Beyond the range of symmetry some truth
remains here, buried in the mines of wisdom
Deep beneath the salt and foam some life
is waiting
Far across the universe a storm of static
brews
Battered shining hulks of space speed
planetwards
Beyond the stars our future lies like
dust upon the scales
But hopes and dreams of time to come restrict
our vision
Beyond the range of energy some truth remains
here, buried in the mines of wisdom
Deep beneath the stars and dark some life
is waiting
Beyond the range of sanity some truth
remains here, buried in the mines of wisdom
Deep within some future time some life
is waiting
Like walks across a tactile plain that
echoes with the touch of rain
As seen through stained glass window pains
- this land will live again
I’m still here; I’ve not been away, to
sights unseen I’m on my way,
Those eyes two pools of cool blue grey
I never could explain
In some parallel universe we’ll find a
place, an old white building by the waterside
In this universe our paths are parallel,
but the gap is so wide...
The night is rent with cries of shame from
silent ones who have no name
Different, yet all the same - this land
will breathe again
And I build castles in the sand that vanish
at the sea’s command
I always fail to understand the magic
of the game
In some parallel universe we’ll find a
place, an old white building by the waterside
In this universe our paths are parallel,
but the gap is so wide...
As sprinklers play on concrete lawns, beneath
a veil the moon is born
The hills reflect a fiery dawn - this
land will dream again
Bad news came one Sunday night - nineteen
fathom fouled, my love took flight
And no-one’s wrong, yet nothing’s right,
and it’s driving me insane
In some sleepless morning hour I call your
name, but the only answer is an owl’s cry
In the light of day I see things differently,
but I still wonder why...
Rain hammers the roof, and the sky is grey,
Time stands still on this holiday
But here within this secret room it's
always warm and sheltered from the weather
Here within this secret room oh could
it stay this way forever?
When I need to cry there is nowhere to
hide
Listening to your heart beating by my
side
But here within this secret room secure
and safe, at peace with one another
Here within this secret room oh could
it stay this way forever?
In this secret room, it could have been
anywhere
In this secret room, just glad to be here
In this secret room, no need to know the
answers now
Hope flows like a wind blown across the
sun
The future's still to arrive, and the
past is done
But here within this secret room the present's
all we need when we're together
Here within this secret room oh could
it stay this way forever?
In this secret room
In our secret room
What if worker ant traffic goes worrying
by on its one way trail through town
The sky is mottled by a cloudy chill as
the moon smiles insanely down
It's positively reinforcing, when you're
caught against the rail
So keep alert and just beware of the sting
in the scorpion's tail
There's a sting in the scorpion's tail,
a sting in the scorpion's tail
So keep alert and just beware of the sting
in the scorpion's tail
Art plays and war weeps, but the subject
is the same
It's food for the dead in a sepia tone
enclosed in a wooden frame
A fixed water sign, a collective design
in cold chiselled marble and shale
It's a window in time as we look for the
rhyme that's the sting in the scorpion's tail
There's a sting in the scorpion's tail,
a sting in the scorpion's tail
It's a window in time as we look for the
rhyme that's the sting in the scorpion's tail
I saw a spider's web of finest thread,
I saw a city cover the land
A swipe of a hand saw the silk collapse,
so how long can the city stand?
The withered face of a dying race that
whispers the one word "fail!"
We cannot win so we all give in to the
sting in the scorpion's tail
There's a sting in the scorpion's tail,
a sting in the scorpion's tail
We strive to win but we all give in to
the sting in the scorpion's tail
There's a sting in the scorpion's tail,
a sting in the scorpion's tail
Keep alert and just beware of the sting
in the scorpion's tail
You wear the smile that you wear so well,
like a ghost from some futile war
I wonder how I could ever tell you've
worn that look before
But the sound entraps you like a moth,
and the flame of its tempo is bright
Don't you know when you've had enough?
Love's the only way to set things right.
Beneath the gaze of a gentle face you went
spinning across the floor
But your elusive saving grace sent him
heading for the door
The numbing pain that's behind the eyes
keeps you from a life in the light
One day you'll remove the disguise, 'cause
love's the only way to set things right.
I hear the echo of your laugh in the seagulls
flying overhead
They make a convenient epitaph for something
someone might have said
When your world collapsed you needed to
run, but you know two wrongs don't make a right
Don't turn your back on what's been done
- love's the only way to set things right
Love's the only way to set things right.
You wear the smile that you wear so well,
like a ghost from some futile war
Your tears hang like silver bells - you've
worn that look before.
In the middle of a desert grow white trees,
and you know that they're there
And you sense them, and you feel them,
but you can never touch them
In the middle of the ocean waters freeze,
yet they burn like fire
And you dream it, and you sense it ,but
you can never tell that
In your mind, and in your eyes, in everything
you dream
In your mind, and in your eyes, in everything
you dream, they're waiting
Beyond a river of crystal and ice, beyond
the ash and coal
Beneath a sky of velvet black you will
find another rôle
Beyond a time that grows in your mind,
beyond the falling dark
Beneath a sky of fire and gold you will
find they've left their mark
In your mind, and in your eyes, in everything
you dream
In your mind, and in your eyes, in everything
you dream, they're waiting
Waiting in the shadows, hiding in the silence
Ready for the moment, lurking in the darkness
Counting down the hours, channeling the
forces
Checking out the sources, pushing at the
borders,
they're waiting in the shadows, hiding
in the silence
Ready for the moment, lurking in the darkness
Counting down the hours, channeling the
forces
Checking out the sources, pushing at the
borders,
they're in your mind, and in your eyes,
in everything you dream
In your mind, and in your eyes, in everything
you dream, they're waiting
Gathered here by the side of the lake watching
the sun rise above the water
Shielding our eyes from the skies as we
gaze at the bush-clad shoreline
Ooh, watching the island, ooh, watching
the island
Nobody told us where to go, nobody pointed
directions
No one decided where we should stand,
nobody made selections
Ooh, watching the island, ooh, watching
the island
As the dawn breaks all the trees shake,
yet no breeze disturbs the stagnant water
As the skies clear there's a scent of
fear, and I wonder what we're doing here watching the island.
Singing our games and naming our names
like our fathers before us
Sometimes I fear the words we sing, these
songs that no-one taught us
Ooh, watching the island, ooh, watching
the island
Ooh, watching the island, ooh, watching
the island
I can see the endless distance, fading
into mists of blue and grey
I can hear an endless ocean, I feel your
distance, far away
In the skies I see reflections, of the
lives I've left behind
In the night I hear you calling, through
the dream rain in my mind
Dream rain, I will see you once again,
I will cross the hills and plains through the darkness of dream rain
Once again we will rise above the pain,
make the sun come out again make us forget our dream rain
If there's lightning in the heavens, If
there's fire in the skies
You can stop the dream rain falling when
I look into your eyes
Dream rain, I will see you once again,
I will cross the hills and plains through the darkness of dream rain
Once again we will rise above the pain,
make the sun come out again make us forget our dream rain