By Pete Brown. Mickey the Fiddler by Bruce/Hart.  © Warner Chappell Music.

Willpower
What a lotta talk about it
Ooh such a lotta talk about willpower
Ooh talkin' talkin' talkin' willpower
Desire
Talkin' talkin' talkin' talkin' talkin' about willpower

Tell the world how well it's workin'
Never say how much it's hurtin'
Easy sayin' what to do
Easy if it isn't you

Willpower
What alotta talk about it
Running head first down that slide
Burnin' up so bad inside
So much bullshit on the front
Give 'em more of what they want

Willpower
Lady willpower
Willpower
Lady willpower

As You Said
Let's go down to where it's clean
To see what time it might have been
The tides have carried off the beach
As you said,
The sun is out of reach

Let's go back to where it's clean
To see what year it might have been
The roads have carried off the smiles
As you said,
To judge them at the trials

So let's go back to now that's bad
To see whhat time we might have had
The rails have carried off the trains
As you said,
I'll never come again

White Room
In a white room
With black curtains
Near the stations
Blackroof country
No gold pavements
Tired starlings
Silver horses
Ran down moonbeams
In your dark eyes
Dawnlight smiled
On you leaving
My contentment

I'll wait in this place
Where the sun never shines
Wait in this place
Where the shadows run from themselves

You said no strings
Could secure you
At the station
Platform ticket
Restless diesels
Goodbye windows
I walked into
Such a sad time
At the station
As I walked out
Felt my own need
Just beginning

I'll wait in the queue
When the trains come back
Lie with you
Where the shadows run from themselves

At the party
She was kindness
In the hard crowd
Consolation
For the old wounds
Now forgotten
Yellow tigers
Crouched in jungles
In her dark eyes
She's just dressing
Goodbye windows
Tired starlings

I'll sleep in this place
With the lonely crowd
Lie in the dark
Where the shadows run from themselves

Rope Ladder to the Moon
You asked me to a party
to a house just by the moon
You gave me silver loving
the end was all too soon

You asked me to the theatre
in a place quite near the sun
You gave me golden sunbeams
your act was all in fun

Rope ladder to moon!

You asked me to a meeting
in a cottage in the snow
You gave me central heating
I can't forget the glow

You asked me to a weekend
down by the stormy sea
You took me to a ceremony
and the sacrifice – was me !

You asked me to a stromcloud
up near the rainbow's end
Then you threw away the ladder
and gave me to your friend

You took me to a prison
and you said its chief was me
Then you locked me deep inside you
and thew away the key

Rope ladder to the moon !

Theme for an Imaginary Western
When the wagons leave the city
for the forest and further on
Painted wagons of the morning
dusty roads where they have gone
Sometimes travelling through the darkness
met the summer coming home
Fallen faces by the wayside
looked as if they might have known

O the sun was in their eyes
and the desert that dries
In the country town
where the laughter sounds

O the dancing and the singing
O the music when they played
O the fires that they started
O the girls with no regret
Sometimes they found it
Sometimes they kept it
Often lost it on the way
Fought each other to possess it
Sometimes died in sight of day

Never Tell Your Mother She's Out of Tune
When I hear that big black whistle the blow
I feel inside that it's time for me to be going
Fortunately baby I'd already gone before

When they say I'm worth ten pieces of coal
And you shouting hey what about when you are an old man
Fortunately baby I'd already locked the door

They say there are men who are blue like me in the stars
Beards for the weird and bars for bizarre guitarmen
Fortunately baby I'd already joined the force

Good time train well it does not need any track
It wins the race to the place where I'm gonna pack up
Fortunately baby I'd already grabbed the sky

All the days that the road has spent on me
Judges shout you've got to slave to be a freeman
Fortunately baby I am never coming back

Good time train, good time train . . .

Can You Follow?
Hey can you follow,
Now that the trace is fainter in the sand
Try turning your face to the wall

Can you still read me
Now that the chase is wilder in your hand
Try losing your place in the sun

All the praises of the dream turned to tangles in the trees
All yesterday's fine chariots turned to buses in the street

Can you still hear me
Now that the songs are moving into night
Try sleeping with the dancers in your room

Morning Story
Running, jumping, pushing its way
Mornings nighttime blends into day
Can't find curtains to shut it away

We were alone in the hills of the night
Now the neon dawn lets in the light
And the milkman that nobody knows / Leaves bottles of tears
At the house full of laughter / Nobody ever hears

O the grass is burned black
By the ships coming back from the stars, golden stars
Seas turned to steam
When we boiled the dream of tomorrow, tomorrow

When it gets light / Some of them always stay
She's dressed in white / Till the smoke turns her grey

Falling, stumbling, feeling its way
Mornings nighttime moves into day
Can't find warmth to keep it away

Used to be alone on the waves of cloud
Now the flotsam dawn brings in the crowd
And the angel who sits in her car / Full of desire
But the hoses who came from the town / Put out her fire

O the seas have run dry
And the sun's one good eye is too blind to see
Sky has gone bad
From the good times we had burning bright, such good times

When it gets light / Some of them always stay
She's dressed in white / Till the smoke turns her grey

Folk Song
How will I find you O my love / In the darkness of day
I will look in glass forests / Where electric fish play
How will I see you when I find you / In the brightness of light
I will see you on the silver train / That people call night

How will I know you when I see you / In the bareness of spring
I will know you by starlight / Where the road's echoes sing
How will I love you when I know you / In the greyness of mist
I will love you forever / Where sadness has kissed
Walking by the sea / See the names floating by
Trying to find each other's / Trails in the sky

Keep It Down
Keep it down
If it;s still hangin' around
Kept away
Well it's lost inside a day
On the journey through the street
To the corner you have to meet
Keep keepin' it down
If it's hangin' around

In the dawn
When the last drop it has gone
Summer leaves
From the hill where my love grieves
In the sun where you met her
In the shade where you left her
Keep keepin' it down
If it's hangin' around

You've got to keep it down
And never let it go to the top
'Cause you know that if it does
The roundabout is nevver gonna stop, never gonna stop

In the night
There's a space replaces your face
That you lent
I don't know just how it went
Though the trains have passed it by
It still sits up in your sky
Keep keepin' it down
If it's hangin' around
Yeah . . . Keep it down . . . keep it down . . . keep it down . . .

Pieces of Mind
Pieces of mind
See how they ran
Prizes of sun
Still to be won
When the life is made of straw
Can you tell me what it's for
Waves that pound against the door
Leave me at the place of/throw it away/throw it away
Leave it today/
Keep me dancing stop me grasping
Clouds that turn to dust on touching
Times I'm so far from/What I want

So much the same
Living in games
Pieces of cake
Until they break apart
They say the plane that comes to pass never rhymes
Now it burns on grass too steep to climb

Best of friends
Until the flowers end
Mines have taken their place
Darkness in their face
Now the golden coach is here
Can you cure me of the fear
Should I move into the clear
Find a time in which I/throw it away/get out today

Keep me singing stop me clutching
Rooms that turn to dust on touching
Times I'm so far from/What I want

Merry-go-round
In a town without a sound
Wings for hire
From the church with no choir
The burning ship is sailing
It will not leave without me -- /Throw it away/get out today/
Get out today/
-- Keep me singing stop me clutching
Rooms that turn to dust on leaving
Times I'm so far from/What I want

Merry-go-round
In a town without a sound
Wings for hire
From the church with no choir
The burning ship is sailing
It will not leave without me
The stocks of fire unfailing
Won't set me free
There goes the price of drowning
So I must swim to the end
Each day the head needs crowning
To much to mend . . .

Without a Word
Without a word
The time is mist
The branches twist against the sun
The leaves that left
Had to run
Without a word
Without a word

Without a word
Between the two
I'm losing you, losing you
In proud parades, in crowded nights
The plans we laid
We can't get through
Without a word
Without a word

Without a word
To say what's yours
I'm losing you, losing you
In racing streets, where ends don't meet
Tomorrow's train
Has closed its doors
Without a word
Without a word . . .

How's Tricks
The white hand in the darkened house
Rings a bell that makes the guests drop their cases in fright
A face that seems to laugh alone
Sits in the flames that warm the frozen stretches of night
The skeleton that smokes
His head half guillotined
Sits there telling jokes
About places he has cleaned

How's tricks? How's tricks?
What kicks! It sticks.
Loud ticks . . .

The bow tie and the question mark
Set sail to beat the cards that rain around the chorus girls
The bullets from the golden gun
Appear to penetrate the flesh below the golden curls
Inside the clear white box
Lies a nervous bathing belle
She hope's he'll find the locks
That free her from the world

How's tricks? How's tricks?
What kicks! It sticks.
Loud ticks . . .

The rabbit with the faded smile
Is listening to the artist playing in the mirrored room
The albums of forgotten songs
Grow dusty in the floodlit shelves somewhwre below the moon
Owls sit on the letters
Of his last name in lights
Demons and pacesetters
Laugh into the night

How's tricks? How's tricks?
What kicks! It sticks.
Loud ticks . . .

Jet Set Jewel
The jet set steal each others' men
And women
Ride each other
Through the star-encrusted night
Everything's allright
When chips are down
There's always trips
In other peoples' clothes
Hey jaded rose
Hey deepset jewel
Why must you be so cruel?

The jet set up each others' price
And vices
Toast each other
In the yacht-bespangled bay
Everything's so gay
When time is bad
There's always sniffs
While other faces pose
Hew jaded rose
Hey deepset jewel
How can you be so cruel?

The jet set smash each others' cars
And wine bars
Smoke each other
Through the hide-upholstered dream
Everything's the cream
When games are lost
There's always planes
To other peoples' shows
Hey jaded rose
Hey deepset jewel
How can you be so cruel?

Through the coloured glass
I can see I'm getting
out of my class
There's a German girl
With a ringmaster's whip
At the front of the ship
O drag me down so I can't see
How high you get
O bring me up so I can't see
The low hung places
Where we met
You and me
Jet set
The jet set grab each others' purse
And reverse
Ask each other
To the diamond sequinned bal
Everything is all
(Into each pocket
A little rain must fall)
When wine is spilt
There's always laughs
In someone else's nose
Hey jaded rose
Hey deepsetjewel
Hey jaded rose
Why must you be so cruel?

Mickey the Fiddler
I saw a man on Primrose Hill
Mickey the fiddler was there
Reaching out for the highest note
He could extract from the air
With his fiddle and bow

I saw a man on Primrose Hill
Mickey the fiddler stood there
At an angle to the universe
Standing utterly still
Small man in a big world

And with the warming of the seasons
And with yje changing of his mind
He walks out from the prison
He cries, "Thank you sir"

I saw a man on Primrose Hill
Staring into my mind
He told the month when I was born
Told me what I could find
At the end of the rainbow

Mickey the fiddler's on Primrose Hill
His clothes worn down at the heel
At an angle to the universe
He stands utterly still
Small man in a big world

And with the warming of the seasons
And with the changing of his mind
He walks out from the prison
He cries, "Thank you sir"

The Best is Still to Come
Getting into some new ways
And out of the old
Left the seasons of regret
Changing my role
Getting over the dark blue
Maybe feeling something new
Giving up is harder than living

Into the new year
And out of the old
Saw a vision of the stars
Coming out of the cold
Getting over the hard greys
Finding new days
Giving up's harder than living
Breaking away isn't easy
And the best is still to come

Found a season to sail on
Into the gail
Found a reason to press on
Those hounds on my tail
Runnig away/ got time to pay/ so much to say
Giving myself the hardest sell
Keeping it on
Finding myself a hard shell
That shines in the dawn
Making a start/ taking some heart/ playing my part

I'm taking the straight line
I'm making my list
I'm catching that train
The chances I missed
I'm getting past the fear
And out into the clear
Giving up's harder than living
Breaking away isn't easy
And the best is still to come

There's a time to go through the lights
When they say red
There's a time to let crazy games
Move in instead
Making that play/ blows you away/ can't always pay
A time to go walking on
Threatening waves
A time to call a stop
Be nobody's slave
Out into the air/ through with the pat/ giving my share
Not coming last/ sun in your hair/ gaining so fast/
Now you are there --

In shaking skies we fly alone
Out into the lead
Our wings are so near burning
Keeping up speed
Falling behind . . . feeling so blind . . . walking that line . . . so fine . . .

I'm into some new ways
And out of the old
I'm leaving the sadness
I'm changing my role
Leaving out the blue
Feeling so new
Giving up's harder than living
Breaking away isn't easy
Giving up's harder than living
Breaking away isn't easy
But the best is still to come . . .

Ships in the Night
Ships in the night
Searching for day
Beckoning lips
So far away
Shadows adrift
Hiding from light
Ships in the night
Sometimes you feel
Then again you can't
Morning comes down
Soon after the dance
Time slowly drowns
Streets so unreal
Needing to heal

Harbours of love
Shining so calm
Far beyond pain
Outside of harm
Why must we move
Into the rain
Again . . .

Ships in the night
Riding the waves
Yesterday slips
Into the haze
Memories ripped
Sliding from sight
Ships in the night

Maybe you win,
Maybe you lose
Future seems like
Just another ruse
Sirens invite
Us to begin
Come right on in

Harbours of love
Shining so calm
Far beyond pain
Outside of harm
Why must we move
Out of the sun
Into the rain
Again . . .