Mundy Turner - Lyrics

Lyrics to the 12 Songs from 'HIGH-LIFE':

1. 'GET THERE FROM HERE' (Jay Turner)

Vs 1) I'm sitting at K.C.'s Char-Grill & Bar, 3 o'clock in the mornin'
Talkin' to friends, talkin' to strangers, calling one world from
another, everything is part of a journey, from one world to another...

Chs) We Can Get There From Here, We Can Get There From Here (x 3)

Vs 2) There's a tall blonde woman in a red dress, talkin' to a
telephone, out on Main Street. Who could she be calling at this time
of night? Calling one world from another...we are all on the road...

Chs)

Mid) And this party town rolls on from cover to cover & my eyes are
stinging, I can't talk this loud anymore, I can't talk this loud...

Vs 3) So, I'm standing outside in this wonderland, part of a lost
generation, hitching a ride on a song I believe in, calling one world,
calling one world...

Chs) to Instrumental Coda.

2. 'SARAJEVO WALTZ' (Catherine Mundy/Jay Turner)

Vs 1) One, two, three, two, two three, ah, what you do to me,
Ever since we were kids, you've been the one,
There is no obstacle, Race, nor Religion,
That our love can't overcome...

Bridge 1) For here I am dancing, safe in your arms,
So, tenderly hold me, never to part -

Vs 2) Today, we have married the dream we both carried,
Despite all the prejudice, hatred & fear -
You & I, we'll be a sign-post to Heaven, for all the world to see...

Br 2) But when love is forbidden, then lovers must run
Out of the war-zone & into the sun,

Vs 3) Snipers & barricades, barbed-wire & fusillades,
Darkness & danger may stand in our way,
But we must not heed them,
Good luck & God speed then, crossing No-Man's Land tonight...

Instrumental - 'No Man's Land'

Vs 4) Two lovers sleeping in each other's keeping -
One bridge to freedom - a bed for their dreams,
A sign-post to Heaven in sad Sarajevo for all the world to see...

Br 3) For here I am dancing, safe in your arms,
So, tenderly hold me, never to part...

Vs 5) One, two, three, two, two, three, ah, what you do to me,
Ever since we were kids, you've been the one -
There is no obstacle, Race nor Religion,
Sniper, nor barricade, barbed wire or fusillade
That our love can't overcome...

3. 'LITTLE BIRDS' (Jay Turner/Catherine Mundy)

Intro) Fly away, little bird, fly away to a better world, fly away...

Vs1) We live under the heel of the sugar-cane, in the shadow of the
factory, in poverty & shame -
We die, for life is cheap in the barrio, our babies come & go,
Still we do not cry -

Chs) Fly away, little bird, fly away to a better world,
Where your mama's prayers have all been heard,
Fly away, little bird, fly away...

Vs2) One more, a hungry mouth we do not need,
There are a thousand others here we can barely feed...

Chs)

Mid) In Bon Jesus, we fall upon our knees,
Our tears are crystalised to sweeten Sovereign-tea,
Set my body free!

Chs) to Coda.

4. 'COME TAKE MY HAND' (Jay Turner/Catherine Mundy)

Vs 1) Baby, come take my hand, baby, come take my hand
'Cause I've been so sad & lonely and I know that you understand,
So baby, come take my hand...

Vs 2) Baby, love me all night long, baby, love me all night long,
'Cause I've been so cold & lonely, ooh,
Baby, love me all night long...

Mid) And when the night is dark & the air is thick & still,
Or when the sweet breeze blows & the moon is on the sill,
I know you will...

Instrumental

Mid) to Coda.

5. 'DREAMTIME' (Jay Turner)

Vs 1) I am a black-man, Aborigine,
You came to my country, soldier & missionary,
You pitied my condition & said you'd set me free,
Set me free...

Vs 2) You stopped me from wandering the Songlines of my race,
You told me that your God would change my ignorance to grace
And then you gave me a bottle to put a smile on my face
On my face...

Chs) Dreamtime, come take me away (x 3)

Vs 3) You changed my whole existence, you stole my dignity,
You gave my land to foreigners & then discarded me
And now that I'm degraded, you don't like what you see,
What you see...

Chs)

Mid) I used to come & go just like the breeze
And honour my ancestors as I pleased
I left this land unspoiled for one hundred thousand years
Before you came here...

Instrumental

Vs 4) I die by your roadsides, I die in you prison-cell
I die drunk & foolish, you taught me to live so well -
Leave me to my Dreamings & you can keep your Hell,
Keep your Hell...

Chs) to Coda.

6. 'WATER, CARRY ME' (Catherine Mundy/Jay Turner)

Chs) Water, carry me to where there is no sadness,
To where there is only comfort & freedom from pain -
Water, carry me to where I'll rest my spirit,
Where loving arms will cradle & strengthen me again...

Vs 1) Tears pour down my face & the rain washes them to another
place...

Chs)

Vs 2) Sometimes, it feels we have no space
And sometimes it feels no-one wants to hear our song
Has the world forgotten its very soul?
Well, I guess we're here to remind them, sweet darlin', don't despair

Instrumental

Vs 3) Sometimes I feel like Mother Earth -
I cry out to the Universe...

Chs) & Coda.

7. 'HIGH-LIFE' (Jay Turner/Catherine Mundy)

Vs 1) On the Esplanade of Dreams, nothing's ever what it seems,
Life's illusions by the sea, ebb & flow eternally...

Chs) And it's a high-life, me-oh-my life,
It's a high-life in Paradise...

Vs 2) Owen waits at Cafe Luck, says he's got his nose pressed up
Against the window-pane of life,
He's the bride's-maid, never the bride...

Chs)
Mid 1) Sails are shining on the bay, but Owen sighs & turns away,
It's the same trip every day - so exotic, so serene,
But nothing's ever what it seems on the Esplanade of Dreams...

Instrumental

Mid 2) Coffee spills into the night, neon promises delight,
Owen hopes you're satisfied with your...

Chs) & Rpt to end.

8. 'LOVE LIKE THIS' (Catherine Mundy/Jay Turner)

VS 1) Two souls holding hands, their faces filled with light,
Aged & of the same sex, beauty re-defined
Meaning in the words 'Grandmother', 'Lover', 'Woman',
Who am I to say you should not love like this?

Chs) Love like this, love like this,
Who am I to say you should not love like this?
Who am I to say you should not love?

Vs 2) Wrinkled cheek on pillow, softly breathe their dreams,
I believe in Twilight's new creation,
Beyond sex, beyond earthly bounds,
My heart cries out "Keep on - keep on loving."

Chs) Love like this, love like this,
Who am I to say you should not love like this?
Love like this, love like this,
Who am I to say you shoud not love?

Mid) Who am I to know what your heart holds?
Who am I to say I'm ashamed of you?
Who am I to prescribe the difference between your love, our love,
Their his-her love, your her-her, his-his, for whose sake?

Instrumental

Vs 3) Beyond sex, beyond earthly bounds,
My heart cries out, "Keep on loving!"

Chs) to Coda.

9. 'STORM SEASON' (Catherine Mundy/Jay Turner)

Vs 1) Bruised coluds gather in purple bloom,
Air still and steamy - it'll burst soon,
Might break drought, might bring flood,
Might raise Cain in your blood.

Bridge 1) Find your blessing, find your child,
Deep inside you, growing wild!

Chs) Storm Season, Storm Season!

Vs 2) Lizards sweat, brolgas dance,
Nature dares you to take a chance.
Time to listen, time of change,
Time of yearning, time of rage,

Bridge 2) Find your blessing, find your child,
Flying, falling, crying loud -

Chs)

Mid) Ooh, you can feel it coming, you can sense it rising, (repeat)

Instrumental

Chs) to Coda.

10. 'FRANGIPANI GIRL' (Jay Turner/Catherine Mundy)

Vs 1) Some love is laughter, some love is rain,
Some love is thunder and some love is pain,
Some love is weakness and some love is might,
Some love would make you swear black was white,

But your love is like a cane-field on fire,
With flames that ravage the skies,
A rich man would gamble a sugar train fortune
for the truth that lights your eyes.

Chs) You and I are dreamers,
We come from different worlds,
I will love you all my life my frangipani girl,
My frangipani girl.

Vs 2) I wake up early and watch you beside me,
the softness of sleep on your skin,
While the pastels of morning steal over your body
and fill me with wonder again.

You called out my name in your slumber last night
and took my hand like a child,
Wherever you'd gone to, you wanted me with you
To hold me there for awhile, For...

Ch)

Mid) Outside our window, springtime is blooming,
High on a spiral, a brahminy-kite,
I taste the scent of frangipani kisses on the wind, oh-oh...

Ch) to Coda.

11. 'PRELUDE/IN YOUR RAIN' (Catherine Mundy/Jay Turner)

Instrumental: N'Orleans Walking Jazz Band - Street Funeral

Vs 1) It's a slow, New Orleans mornin' and the Hoo-doo's comin' down,
Jean LaFitte's just opened,
So honey, let me drown
Refrain) In your rain, in your rain.

Vs 2) And there's tape acroos the window,
A hurricane's threatenin',
No cream for my coffee but there's sugar on the wind -
Ref) In your rain, in your rain.

Bridge) I'm in love with New Orleans and there's music on my mind,
It's a ten-spot for the shoe-shine, and another for the line - yeah -

Instrumental

Bridge)

Vs 3) There's a doorstep for a pillow,
A heavenly gospel choir,
The rush of sweet emotion and the prickle of desire
Ref) In your rain, in your rain...
Coda.

12. 'START MY DAY' (Jay Turner/Catherine Mundy)

Vs 1) I don't want to smell the city,
I don't want the jet-stream's roar,
I don't want to feel the highway shake my body anymore.

Refrain) I want the peace of distant mountains,
I long to sleep the whole night through,
Wake up where bird-song dapples the silence,
Start my day by holding you.

Instrumental

Mid) For I have lived with motor-madness,
The ugly grind of steel on steel,
I've been a slave to greed and envy,
I've been a servant of the wheel.

Vs 2) Take me to where the only thunder
Heralds the fall of honest rain,
To where the sunset and the cool of evening
Brings me pure starlight once again.

Refrain) I want the peace of distant mountains,
I long to sleep the whole night through,
Wake up where bird-song dapples the silence,
Start my day by holding you.

Coda) Start my day by holding you,
Start my day by holding you.