Ben Shive

LISTEN!

I pass through a door in a dream
Hidden in the cleft of the night
Among the parked cars lining the street
Robed in petals of white 
Where the seeds spin down from the trees
Whirling angels in free flight
And the houses mutter in their sleep
Covered in shuttered eyes

Listen!

Shrouded in steam and smoke
On a dark cloud he approaches
And the tails of his coal-black coat
Are a train of lumbering coaches
He passes unseen like a ghost
But he thunders like a herd of horses
And he calls to the heavenly host
To join with their airy voices

Listen!

The whistle blast echoes so loud
That it rings the bell of the sky
A song that sounds and resounds
An unbearable, aching sigh
Like a parliament of owls
Silver wings brushing my eyes
Crossing arms drawing the phrase out
Holding the moment in time

So signal the cymbal crashing clouds
Pluck all the steeples and spires
Cue the rivers with the reeds in their mouths
Conduct the electrical choirs

Rattle every window in town
Strum all the telephone wires
Crossing arms drawing the phrase out
Crossing arms drawing the phrase out

‘Cause my bones are all bells to be rung
My nerves are attuned and tight
So come knock the air from my lungs
Out over the cords in my windpipe
My skin pulled taut like a drum
I am bracing myself for the strike

Waiting like a song to be sung
Hidden in the cleft of the night

EGBDF

I was staring at the stern facial features of 
Ludwig Von Beethoven
And my prim piano teacher in her seventies 
Thought I wasn’t listening
But despite my ADD, what she said to me 
I remember perfectly

“Every Good Boy Does Fine”

There were venerated volumes of rhythm and melody
The grave embalmings of a language dead for a century
To read, to recite, to repeat 
Without even thinking to learn to speak 

‘Cause good boys do fine 
Always hearing,
We never understand
We see without perceiving
And speak of what we can’t comprehend

Well, Mrs. H was unimpressed 
Though I had practiced religiously
Never mind that I was practicing
To master Super Mario 3
And soon she put my memory behind her 
And fired me with the biting reminder that

Every Good Boy Does Fine

So I was left to pursue my own endeavors
Saving pixelated princesses 
While listening to records
So it was Shigeru Miyamoto 
Who first introduced me to Sergeant Pepper
And his Lonely Hearts Club Band

(Garbled)

Sir Paul McCartney appeared to me in Day-Glo 
With an english horn
Speaking words I thought were dead
Now strangely reborn
And I heard unearthly voices 
That sang in distant doorways and rooms
He was conducting kite strings
Winds that filled me and I flew

And when I came to
I was trying to find with pen and ink 
The passages to pass between our souls 
Panning ordinary rivers on rumors of gold
And beside me in the coffee shops
They’re lost in dreams and visions
And they’re filling Moleskine notebooks 
With their compositions
Like it’s a competition
(I guess it is?)

Now the harmony is written on my heart 
Yeah, the language is on my tongue
And I barely understand it 
But I’ve only just begun
I’ve only just begun

Every Good Boy Does Finé

SORRY BUT I'M YOURS

Sometimes I get a little nervous;
Sometimes I get the shakes.
And if I can’t pull myself together
They’re gonna boo me off stage.

I know you don’t ask much of me, 
But I’m gonna fail you, I’m afraid,
And all that I can say is

I’m sorry.
I'm sorry but I’m yours.
I'm sorry but I'm yours.

So who slipped the keys of the cherry red Camaro
In the pocket of the town drunk?
And what do you get when you send your only daughter 
To the prom with a young punk?

I warned you, but you wouldn’t leave me be.
And now, after all you’ve seen,
If you still believe in me, 

I’m sorry
I'm sorry but I'm yours
I'm sorry but I'm yours

So say I’m getting better all the time;
But if that’s a lie,
Oh well,never mind
Say I’m getting better all the time;
But if that's a lie
Then just say you love me

I’m sorry
I'm sorry but I'm yours
I'm sorry but I'm yours
So dreadfully sorry
I'm sorry but I'm yours
I'm sorry but I'm yours

SOMEONE IS ASKING

The city is a mirrorball,
Throwing rainbows around.
I listen to the whistle of the crosswalk cop,
Conducting the rhythm downtown;
And out the window of a passing car
Wedding bubbles are blowing in clouds.

I wonder what could it mean?

Could it mean that
Someone is asking to dance with me?

‘Cause I see angels 
Like a Reverend Finster painting
Hanging glowing garlands 
From the rooftops of these rundown buildings,
Spilling gold and gilding all the sidewalks,

Reflecting the sky
To remind me
Someone is asking to dance with me,
Striking up the sappy saxophones and strings
Till all the angels of the atmosphere sing, 
“Come and dance with me.”

From steeple to steeple I am stringing thread.
From my window to your window I am leaving crumbs of bread.
From a star to a star to a star to a star...
Every movement has a meaning in this dance of ours.

The city is a royal ball,
Where we meet, where we fall.

THE FALL

The leaf that budded green and grew
In the springtime when the world was new
Is growing old and changing now
From green to gold.

And all the shoes that shuffle through town
Drum a lullaby to lay the autumn down.
It’s a tune that falls, diminishing,
And then resolves.

So this is the way the year ends:
Not with a bang, with a sigh.
The summer sun, once young and wild,
Is a little wiser and his eyes are tired;
He nods his head mid-afternoon
And then he’s off to bed.

So while the days are ripe and sweet
We heap them up in baskets at our feet
And do our best to use them well,
Cause they won’t last.

And now the earth is prepared for her burial
Under snow upon snow.
And we wait and we wait for a miracle,
For the green fields to grow.

And this is the way the year ends:
With a sigh.
Goodbye, old friend.

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

The leaf that budded green and grew
In the springtime when the world was new
Lets go at last
And settles in the withered grass.

SHOOTING THE MOON

Okay, 
Deal me in,
But I can never fake it;
When I’ve got a pair of aces,
It’s written on my face.

I just think I know 
A good hand
When I hold it,
And I don’t walk away--
I’ll stay.

It used to be 
If my eyes were open
I was looking out 
for number one;
It was a lonely life.

So if it’s gonna be you and me
It’s each for the other, baby,
From now on.

‘Cause all my eggs are in one basket;
All my money’s on you.

I know it’s a gamble,

But if all that I’m holding’s 
A two of a kind
I’ll be betting on you 
With my last dime.
And maybe I might be
out of my mind, 
But you know I’ll stay.

I’ll never leave you.

I know it’s a gamble,
But I’m shooting the moon.

SHE'S INVINCIBLE

She’s the kind of girl you can never get to;
Attracted to her, 
But you can’t break through.

She’s invincible, invincible to me.
I'm invisible, invisible to her.

And she’s supersonic;
Yeah, she find me just in time.
She pull me from the flame,
Yeah, she save me from the fire.

But then it’s, 
“Up, up, and away!”
And I’m feeling like a fool
I'm feeling like a fool
‘Cause I’m the kind of loser
Who can never keep cool

She’s invincible, invincible to me,
And I’m invisible, invisible to her.

But how could she know
All the pain she’s caused,
Tearing at my soul
With oblivious claws?

She’s got a steel ribcage
And a bulletproof heart.

She’s invincible, invincible to me.
I'm invisible, invisible to her.

THE FIRE PIT

When my little girl fell in
To the fire pit and the skin was ash
On her legs and back,

At first I cursed the thing:
Let it lie there, I said, smoldering.
Boarded up and aborted,
Damned and abandoned.
And left to die forever 
For all I care.

But in the waiting room with shaky hands,
Long before the awful panic passed,
I softened.

And I swore we’d put this all behind us,
And one day the fire pit would remind us
Not of this night only,
But of others after;
Of the innocent light 
And the dancing laughter
Of little girls chasing fireflies--
So close the open flame;
So perfectly unafraid.

YOUR SECRET SMILE

 

What happens to
A dream that won’t come true?
What have they done to you?

The doubting voice inside,
the poison in your mind, 
They drain the light from your eyes
And they’ve stolen your soul.

So you hide
Your secret smile
Your smile

Summer’s over soon;
They sold the old deuce coupe
And Brian’s in his room

Wasted on cocaine 
While jumbled reels of tape
Brilliantly pine away.

And now God only knows
Where you hide your smile

Your secret smile
Your smile

Pray for an angel with an able ear:
A conscientious engineer
To find the thread of melody
And mend your injured symphony.
Your voice will tremble as you sing:
A child again, remembering
Your smile.

A LAST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

We're running out
Of fear and doubt
We're low on loneliness
And long goodbyes
Are in short supply
We're coming to the bitter's end

Tired of the let downs
Cause they never let up
When learning to do without
Is all that you ever get enough of

Well there is a last time
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything

Then what of this earthly life?
It's a beating sustained
By a knot of nerves and veins
A trembling choir
We are born to pass away
Nothing gold can stay
I'm a dwindling fire

The seasons spin around me
As I'm breathing in and out
And ever my heart is pounding
A steady unstoppable countdown

Counting down to the last time
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything

You have to look death in the eye
In the eye
You need to see what's hidden there
You have to look him in the eye
In the eye
You need to see that he's afraid to die
He's afraid to die
But you, my love

You're gonna wake up soon
In your lonely room
To the sound of a singing bird
Throw the curtain back
To find your bag's already packed
And the cab is at the curb

Then like a bad dream
Unreal in the morning light
So will the world seem
When you see it in the mirror for the last time

Cause there is a last time
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything

A LAST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

We're running out
Of fear and doubt
We're low on loneliness
And long goodbyes
Are in short supply
We're coming to the bitter's end

Tired of the let downs
Cause they never let up
When learning to do without
Is all that you ever get enough of

Well there is a last time
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything

Then what of this earthly life?
It's a beating sustained
By a knot of nerves and veins
A trembling choir
We are born to pass away
Nothing gold can stay
I'm a dwindling fire

The seasons spin around me
As I'm breathing in and out
And ever my heart is pounding
A steady unstoppable countdown

Counting down to the last time
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything

You have to look death in the eye
In the eye
You need to see what's hidden there
You have to look him in the eye
In the eye
You need to see that he's afraid to die
He's afraid to die
But you, my love

You're gonna wake up soon
In your lonely room
To the sound of a singing bird
Throw the curtain back
To find your bag's already packed
And the cab is at the curb

Then like a bad dream
Unreal in the morning light
So will the world seem
When you see it in the mirror for the last time

Cause there is a last time
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything