Night Music

Joe Jackson Night Music Lyrics
1.Nocturne No. 1

Instrumental


2.Flying

The older i get the more stupid i feel
I don't know what's going on
Tired of trying to be strong
When i should be crying

The further i go the less distance i see
Leave behind another home
The harder i try the less people i please

The older i get the more lucid i feel
Let it go and let it come
Tired of trying to belong
When i could be flying


3.Ever After

Now that you're gone
Nothing is wrong
But everything's changed
Words in your hand
Do i set them in stone
Or throw them away
Now everything we did
Like photographs that always moved
(and that wasn't strange)
Now they're in the can
Let's put them on a shelf
Let's put them in the ground
They'll never move again

Ever after
Ever after
Ever after

Over and done
All of the fun
And all of the pain
Why don't i laugh
Why don't i cry
It ends up all the same
Now that you're gone
Everything is wrong
Though nothing has changed
And everything we said
Is there on a tape
For the future to play
Let's put it in the ground
That's where it ought to stay

Ever after
Ever after
Ever after

And it'll be all right . . .


4.Nocturne No. 2

Instrumental


5.The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy

It happened one night
At three in the morning
The devil appeared in my studio room
And he said i'm your pal
And i'll make you a deal
Blow away your struggle
And i'll take your soul for a toy

After rubbing my eyes
I looked all around me
At the half-finished drivel i'd worked on for days
And i told him my dream
Was to live for all time
In some perfect refrain
Like the man who wrote danny boy

And i said if you're real, then i'll ask you a question
While most of us turn into ashes or dust
Just you and that other guy go on forever
But who writes the history
And who do i trust?

He gave me a wink
And he said it was funny
How mortals would pour all their blood, sweat and tears
Onto tape, onto paper
Or into the air
To be lost and forgotten
Outside of his kind employ

Then i thought i could hear a great sound in the distance
Of whiskey-soaked singing
And laughter and cheers
And they're saying, that song could bring tears to a glass eye
So pass me the papers, i'll sign them in blood
And the smell of the brimstone was turned into greasepaint
And the roar of the crowd like the furies of hell
And i hear the applause and i hear the bells ringing
And the sound of a woman's voice from the next room

Saying come to me now
Come lay down beside me
Whatever you're doing you're too gone to see
You can't hold onto shadows, no more than to years
So be glad for the pleasures
We're young enough to enjoy

So maybe i'm drunk
Or maybe a liar
Or maybe we're all living inside a dream
You can say what you like
When i'm gone, then you'll see
I'll be down in the dark
Down underground
With shakespeare and bach
And the man who wrote danny boy


6.Nocturne No. 3

Instrumental


7.Lullaby

Shall i stay or go
Through the door
Will the pen to flow
Watch the stars
Sleep's a chore

The moon is growing cold
It hangs like a sliver of tin
How do our dreams unfold
And why are my bones feeling thin

I watch my pen as though
My fingers could shatter like icicles
And before my eyes
Lie glittering and useless on a field of snow


8.Only The Future

Something's coming
Something big
Something i can't stand

Dark as the ocean
Secret and cruel
Something i can't command

Something's waiting
Down a mugger's alley
To see what's on my mind

Take a deep breath
Start walking faster
It's dark, but i'm not blind

You never know
If i push at this wall
My hand could pass through

So

This cloud of unknowing
Could disappear too

It's only the future


9.Nocturne No. 4

Instrumental


10.Sea Of Secrets

I'm sinking in
To a sea of secrets
Warm and green
Down and down
Back to times and places never seen

Now and then
I can wake and i remember
Just one secret thing
Through the rain
I can keep a candle burning
Under the skin of the world

It's sinking in
No need for fear of drowning
Drift away
These monsters here
Are only faces i don't wear by day

Now and then
I can wake, and in the mirror
Demons turn to friends
Through the pain
I can dig a little deeper
Under the skin of the world