Lilli Lewis tagged posts

HAPPY ENOUGH

Am I happy enough for you now?
Am I happy enough for you now?
Would you pass me by
If it seems I’m just a little shy?
Am I happy enough for you now?

Chorus
Well I’m happy enough

Well I am what I am, yeah it’s true
And I don’t have to look just like you
When I sing my song,
If like it you can sing along
But you don’t have to sing just like me
And I don’t have to look just like you

Chorus

Well I know what I know, that is all
When I go where I go, I may fall
But if I stop for you,
I’ll forget what I was born to do
So I’ll go where I know
Yeah you go where you know

Chorus

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LIGHT (O, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BRIGHT)

people tell you what they want, what they want
and people tell you what you need, what you need
and the way they say to you what you want, what they need
is supposed to somehow say who you ought to be

if i told you what i want, what i want
oh, would you run away from me, from me?
and would i let that change what i see, what i see
if you ran away from me?

chorus
o, let your light shine bright for a moment
just let your light shine bright for a moment with me
o, let your light shine bright for a moment
if you just let your light shine bright

i will tell you what i want, what i want
and i will let you say what you need, what you need
to the best of your ability
would you tell me what you need?

chorus

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NEW JIM CROW

new jim crow
where we wanna go?

you know that man jimmy
took that boy to jail
made it so his mama
never make his bail
you know in that jailhouse
ain’t no room to rock
once they shut that door on you
make sure it stay locked

then that old man jimmy
came up in my bed
taxed me twice for lovin’
listen what he said:
“in my righteous nation
one thing you should know
i decide what you deserve
bible tells me so”

now that old man jimmy
came up in my hood
shut down all the factories
for a greater good
letter from the courthouse
trying to take my home
never saw that trickle down
now i’m on my own

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PIECE OF MINE

There’s a load I was born to carry
Yea, I was born to town this line
Until I take that lonesome ferry
You’ll find me holding this piece of mine

On this road, this road less travelled
A constant stranger and fool am I
Under my feet, just dust and gravel
Over my shoulder this piece of mine

My true love, she smelled of cotton
Her skin of honey, her lips of wine
Empty words are ne’er forgotten
And empty pleasures kill more than time

For seven long years she would not marry
For seven years she was not kind
Her youthful breath my hands did bury
Her heart for no one if not for mine

If these long years could pass more gently
If true love were truly blind
Cold hard eyes could ne’er resent me
And leave me holding this piece of mine.

Piece of mine, lord, piece of mine
Yea, I’ll be holding this piece ...

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SHUT UP AND SING

you’ve gotta story to tell,
why don’t you tell it?
it could have wings,
you’d only have to speak it to see
the world is waiting to turn, you’re in it
but you just can’t help
but make it all about you

do you think you know what you want
but cannot have it?
know who you are,
but don’t really like what you see?
well you can take what you need or leave it
if you can’t make up your mind just
shut up and sing
chorus

everyone’s got a reason
to fear the future;
afraid to die,
we go out of our way not to live
now you could get a good
handle on tomorrow
but sometimes life just
writes the song without you

you tell them
you’d rather not be in the picture
you come to the show,
but don’t ever stay very long
you want the whole world
to think you’re special,
but when you’re lost
in your own lies just
shut...

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SLEEP BABY, SLUMBER

there’s a quiet space inside you that is tender
and its solitude will sink you like a stone
everybody likes to tell you it gets better
’cause they all have tender spaces of their own

and they’d rather do anything but remember
when they knew that space was eating them alive
so they sometimes have to empty out their corners
but that somehow leaves you no place left to hide

so you think maybe with your life
you can buy back your illusions
maybe in your time
you will turn towards what’s to come
and maybe in a dream
you will stumble upon something
that is more than what it seems
more than what it seems

so sleep baby, sweet baby
sleep baby, slumber

i once heard a song that rocked me like a cradle
but its whispers make me shiver in my bones
they remind me of a place i’ll never get to
to a time be...

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TALL AS OUR FATHERS

Daddy you sure showed me how to be a model citizen
I found out how to get out everything I need from within
Too bad you only see through the barrel of your gun
I wish you had a wider view but am I the only one?

We’ve turned our dream into our machine
Which is working for the rich
We profit off our neighbor’s cancer
And it works until we’re sick
We must begin again so our children can
Work for more than this
But who will we look to, will we look to you? we look up but

Chorus
We will never be as tall as our fathers
And our resolve will never be as firm as his hand
No i may never be as tall as my father
But was he such a big man?

Your flag is always red, isn’t red the color of blood?
Your rag is always wrung dry, even in a flood
Your empty pockets bulge, i don’t understand the reason why
Ther...

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THE RAPTURE

you should know by now
this shit drives me crazy
sinner or saint, it’s all the same to me
i tried to tell you once or twice
in no uncertain terms
long as i live, i intend to breathe

show me what your good book is for
cause i don’t wanna fight anymore
if it were today,
would i see what you’d betray me for
all the little monsters in your head
could just be the lies you’ve been fed
can it really be
you can’t feel me here beside you

look up from the page
and try to hear me say that it’s alright
i’d swallow my rage
if you would hear me say that it’s alright
we’re more than the cage
you put us in, but then again
it doesn’t matter friend, we’ll be alright

i realize your life thus far has been a beast of burden
weight of the fallen on your shoulders
as far as i can see right now is as good a time ...

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TUMBLE

a bird in the hand ain’t spit to me
you give me one i must need three
enchanted by insanity
my dirty glass is empty

can’t find the dime i used to keep
and now i find i’m losing sleep
but in the morning all i need
is four bucks for my coffee

lost my religion years ago
to a song i used to know
but i don’t need a god to tell me
that the mountain must give way
to the river in its day
even roughest rock can shine

so i tumble, tumble, tumble

i’m lost among the muck of men
so i’m changing up my meds again
i’m nothing if i lose my pain
all the colors look the same

i’ve buried all the evidence
i’m sure i paid my penitence
so now it’s simple common sense
to pass along the blame

lost my religion years ago
to a song i used to know
but i still want god to show me
that the mountain can give way
to the r...

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TURN IT AROUND

My spirit says, when I’m moving around
With no place to lay my head,
Just go back to the beginning.

My spirit says, when my heart becomes blind
And cannot see its way into tomorrow
You must go back to the before.

But what about the before?
What about the beginng?
Were they not once a treacherous terrain?
And what about today?
What about ever after?
Tell me what makes the rough places plain?
I’d ask it of me but I’m already lost.
I’d just let it be but release at what cost?

So for a time I’ll turn it around.

My TV says, in a couple of days
My country will be at war,
it’s a matter of survival.
My leader says I’m a victim of chance
In a crossfire between good and “other”
The answer must be in defense.
(or did he say revenge?)

But what about the rage?
What about all the people we could
lose to...

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