Perfect is the Enemy

Verse 1:

There was that short descriptions on page 195
It wasn’t really what I had intended to describe
And after many hours of working on the text
I gave up and decided that it was hopeless to expect
That I’d ever have the talent to do better than ok
I tossed that novel in the bin, there’s nothing more to say
It will forever go unread, I did the best I could
Perfect is the enemy of good

Chorus:

Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy of good
If I could make it better don’t you think I would
If I say it’s not good enough, I hope it's understood
Perfect is the enemy of good

Verse 2:

Our partnership was based on love and trust and fun
But I was undecided, would she ever be the one
Was she what I wanted, was she a perfect fit
A goddess with golden hair and unrivalled wit
A libertine, a temptress, that lovely girl next door
I let her go, so I'd be free for whatever was in store
Learned a lot about loneliness, more than I really should
Perfect is the enemy of good

Bridge:

Nothing’s ever finished
Nothing’s ever done
Always trying, waiting
While the race is being run
Perfect is my enemy
It keeps me playing small
For all that I’ve attempted
There’s not much to show at all

Verse 3:

The novel I was writing spoke of sadness and regret
For a love I’d lost so long ago that I still can’t forget
With this song I’m hoping for some closure on my past
I’m trying hard - I hope I can redeem myself at last
You’ll probably never hear this song - it won’t pass the test
That just allows perfection - I give up on all the rest
But who knows maybe this time I’ll cut myself a break
And sing this song with all it’s flaws - it’s a chance that I should take
Not perfect but maybe the very best I could
Perfect is the enemy of good

Chorus:

Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy
Perfect is the enemy of good
If I could make it better don’t you think I would
If I say it’s not good enough, I hope it's understood
Perfect is the enemy of good
Perfect is the enemy of good

I'll Be Dead

Verse 1:

They tell me that the seas will rise
And maybe they are right
And maybe not, I don't really care
Nothing's going to happen over night
And by the time it does
I'll have moved into sweet repose
Someone else will have to clean up the mess
That’s just the way it goes

Chorus:

I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time

Verse 2:

If the whole wide world
Becomes an ugly place to be
Someone will have to be living there
But that someone won't be me
So while I'm still alive
I proudly do not care
I'm not particularly interested
Because I won't be there

Chorus:

I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time

Verse 3:

There are strange men on the TV
They claim that it's all a hoax
While they might not making perfect sense
They seem to be clever folk
It suits me to believe
That they just might be right
But let me tell you none of it
Is keeping me up at night.

Chorus:

I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time

Verse 4:

One day in the Future
My grandkids will be grown
Maybe they'll judge me harshly
But I'll be dead so i wont know
I guess I've dodged a bullet
It’s pretty great to be me
I’ve finally found a benefit
Of being over 70

Chorus:

I'll be dead before it happens
It's no concern of mine
It's someone else's problem
In somebody else's time

Appreciation

Verse 1:

I’ve got a little bit of time on my hands
Quite unexpected not a part of my plans
But just the same I’ve got nothing to do today

It’s the kind of nothing that can fill all the space
That’s always been here surrounding this place
So full of busy that is constantly in my way

Chorus 1:

I could have started on a project or two
There were a million things that I could do
Instead I stumbled into something new... appreciation

Verse 2:

Look at the sky and there sits the moon
And wonder how it found its way back so soon
It's like its hardly even been away

I always knew there were stars in the sky
Tiny holes in the curtain- they're hard to deny
I didn't notice - there was always something in the way

Chorus 2:

How could I have missed it, it was everywhere
I didn't see didn't let myself care
But something stopped me - i discovered something rare ... appreciation

Bridge:

In these quiet moments i wonder what's true
Exploring the magic of nothing to do
It seems to me when I let myself be
I might dicover something new .. appreciation

Verse 3:

I can't explain how my life got this way
Why do i fill every moment every day
Life so very full there’s not enough room for me

When i finally saw the value of slow
The value of finally having nowhere to go
I got a glimpse of parts of life i could never see

Chorus 3:

Dont get me wrong i like the life that i've got
But it wouldn't hurt in fact it might help a lot
If Once in a while i opened my eye to see .. appreciation

Outro:

I’ve got a little bit of time on my hands
Quite unexpected not a part of my plans
But just the same I’ve got nothing to do
Oh... I got nothing to do

Easy to Smile

Verse 1:

It’s more than a song
But less than a dream
I know what I say
Is not what I mean
Pretending my words
Aren’t meant to deceive
I’m playing with doubt
I want to believe

I know that it’s hard
To explain why I’m here
I complain though I know
There is nothing to fear
But the fear and the doubt
That wind through my mind
Are inventions of mine
That help pass the time

Chorus:

So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Verse 2:

I’m more than a child
But less than a man
I know where I’ve been
But not who I am
I'll say that I'm strong
I'll tell you I’m free
But none of that's true
I just want it to be

Once I entered a room
I pulled down the shade
I turned out the lights
I wanted to fade
But I noticed the wall
Right there looking at me
Pretending to be blind
I really wanted to see

Chorus:

So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Verse 3:

It all seemed to happen
A while ago
At a time I was lost
I just didn’t know
That doubting was simply
A game that I had
It gave me a reason
For feeling this bad

There are times there are changes
My memory moves
Preaching the patterns
I’ve worn into grooves
Repeating mistakes
I made in my youth
Learning the lines
And calling them truth
I can’t help but change
Can't help but survive
I might drown in doubt
But I'll still be alive

Chorus:

So here is my song
I wrote it for me
I need to recall
That it’s easy to be
The times that I’ve faced
My life as a trial
Have taught me to see
That it’s easy to smile

Blue Book

Verse 1:

Patrick played guitar in a Mexican bar back in 1972
We hung around together, made some music for a week or two
That Frenchman wrote a song
I wrote some lyrics then went traveling on
Wrote it down it in my Blue Book like I’d sometimes do

I added "Freely Flowing" to the list of songs in my repetoire
Back in those days I was playing quite a lot
But time plays games I guess
Over time I was playing less and less
Until I couldn’t even recall what it was that I'd forgot

Chorus:

A blue book from my younger years
Full of hope and dreams and all my personal fears
There's no music but the words still last
Becoming part of today from the deep past

Verse 2:

Going through old stuff I happened on my blue book
Full with memories of at least some of those days
There was that song
And than a little bit later on
His name and address were sitting right there on the page

Thought these days it might be possible to find Patrick
Can’t know what you can do unless you take a chance
But I'll admit surprise
When the story that hit my eyes
Was about a rock and roll star in France

Chorus:

A blue book from my younger years
Full of hope and dreams and all my personal fears
There's no music but the words still last
Becomming part of today from the deep past

Verse 3:

He was a faded star cuz just like me he was old now
I figured i'd send him a message and wait and see
I'd found my words
But I had lost his tune
Who knows, maybe he might remember me

Sad to say there really isn’t a happy ending
By the time I finally looked he had drifted so very far
Why your memory goes
I guess that nobody know
In May of 21 he finally put down his last guitar

Chorus:

A blue book from my younger years
Full of hope and dreams and all my personal fears
There's no music but the words still last
Becomming part of today from the deep past

Mistaken

Verse 1:

Looked mighty fine, couldn't help but see
How bout that? she's looking back at me
Ignorant and lonely, I was all of that stuff
She smiled at me, that was enough
We gave it time, we had some fun
Decided she should be my only one
Screwed up my nerve, decided to ask her
Knew that we'd be happy forever after

Chorus:

I couldn't have been more mistaken
I was travelling on a road I never should have taken
It's my own damn fault that my heart is breaking
I'm never going to do it again

Verse 2:

Fake it 'till you make it, they said to me
Never pass up an opportunity
The point of the process is how much you can make
It's a zero sum game a little give a lot of take
Get a lot of money then make a little more
After all it's only a way of keepin' score
Gonna find my happiness in wealth and fame
Going figure out the rules of the game

Chorus:

I couldn't have been more mistaken
I was travelling on a road I never should have taken
I see what I did and my confidence is shaken
I'm never going to do it again

Bridge:

Mistakes are made
Life's like that
But mostly we recover
We find our way back
But you never know
If one day or another
We'll screw up so badly
We'll never recover

Verse 4:

Uncovered this stuff, burned real good
Used it to power anything we could
It looked to be something that could satisfy
A hunger for power that would never run dry
All we had to do was drill and dig
Power would be cheap, profits would be big
We'd never have to worry about expenses
Cuz there'd never be any consequences

Chorus:

We couldn't have been more mistaken
We're travelling down a road we never should have taken
It's our own damn fault that our world is breaking
We're Never going to do it again

Kiss it Better

Verse 1:

New love like a new born child
Do anything just to make her smile
She keeps me on my feet
And makes my life complete
But she's just a little baby for a while

Verse 2:

A couple of years she's a two year old
Practicing the art of saying no
There's a touch of power play
And watching what you say
And working out where love is meant to go

Chorus:

Watching my love grow every day
She takes a few wrong steps along the way
If my love lies bleeding I'll always say
I will kiss it better in every way‌

Verse 3:

At 7 love's a thing to behold
No longer young but hardly old
She wants to get around
And she's harder to hold down
At 7 love won't do what she's told

Verse 4:

A teenage love is hard to explain
At times a teenage love forgets its name
By the time that you're fifteen
You'd think you'd know what love should mean
But love will keep you guessing just the same

Chorus:

Watching my love grow every day
She takes a few wrong steps along the way
If my love lies bleeding I'll always say
I will kiss it better in every way

My Entire Life

Verse 1:

I couldn't have pretended any harder than I did
I shouldn't have tried so hard to hide the things I hid
But I was just a child of the time I'm living through
And I no longer trust those things that I once thought were true

Verse 2:

I sometimes think I know how I got from there to here
I think that I remember and my memory is clear
But Then I notice something's else I never knew about
No one ever told me and I never quite found out

Chorus 1:

I might love my lady
Might make her my wife
I might love my children
For my entire life
I hope and try to pray
That there's someplace left to go
Where they keep all of the answers
To the endless I don't know

Verse 3:

Reality is a fox that's out to swindle me
An illusion, a distortion of what I wish I'd see
The picture watches while I think I'm watching you
But illusion doesn't help me when I don't know what to do

Verse 4:

In these times that we all share it'll come as no surprise
That I wonder what is true and what are simply lies
The truth no longer counts, it doesn't matter anymore
All I learned I've now forgotten - can't recall what it was for

Chorus 2:

I might love my lady
Might make her my wife
I might love my children
For my entire life
All the days and the years
I've been living with you all
Have taught me many things
that I wish I could recall

Chorus 3:

I might love my lady
Might make her my wife
I might love my children
For my entire life
I'll try to learn to live
until i finally learn to die
And for my entire life
I'm sure I won't know why

Verse 5:

The illusion of my life and how it makes me feel
Leave me wondering why I care if any of it's real
But on the face of never really knowing what is true
I find that I'm still thankful for the gift of knowing you

Leone

Verse 1:

She shared her name with her car
Funny what memories do
Except for the end of her tale
Her name and her car were all that I knew

Verse 2:

I really didn’t know her at all
But even now I remember her name
The thing thing that made her easy to recall
Her name and her car’s were exactly the same

Chorus 1:

Leone was a friend of my first wife
After we split I didn’t see her any more
A Subaru Leone - that's the car that she drove
They stopped making those cars in 1994

Verse 3:

I’m not going to tell you the story
You can look it up for yourself
Boxing Day 2004
If you’re old enough you'll remember it well

Verse 4:

She was lost with so many
A quarter of a million on that day alone
So many people died on that day
But Leone was the only one I’d ever known

Chorus 2:

Tragedies happen all of the time
Somewhere in the world every day
We've all felt the ripples in time
No matter how far away

Verse 5:

Big stories and small
All those beginnings and ends
Leone's final story was sad story
It’s mostly remembered by her family and friends

Verse 6:

She shared her name with her car
Funny what memories do
Except for the end of her tale
Her name and her car were all that I knew

I'll Be There

Verse 1:

’ll be there when you need me
I’ll be there at the source
Of strength and hope in the face
Of sorrow and remorse
I’ll be there in those moments
When all you feel is pain
And even if I’ve been before
I’ll return again.

Verse 2:

When the day is getting darker
And all there is is night
When ground starts to shaking
And the others all take flight
The storm all engulfing
Saps your strength with it’s might
If you think you know who’s with you
You just might be right

Verse 3:
You’re a part of everyone
And we’re all a part of you
No one is ever quite alone
I think you know that's true
You have no need of magic
Or supernatural beings
You and I we are alone here
You and I can share the dream

Verse 4:
When you and I learn things
How the world is full of pain
How injustice and violence
Are enacted in our name
We can draw upon each others strength
And let our voice ring clear
With our brothers and our sisters
We can’t be stopped by fear

Verse 5:
And if you ever wonder
If you can do great things
Just remember what I told you
In the early days of spring
Together we are who we are
And together we’ll be there.
And if you ever doubt it just remember
I’ll be there

Equal Time

Verse 1:

We're singing songs in harmony
All our voices clear and free
But somehow something doesn't feel quite right
I don't want to be offensive
Or sound like I’m being defensive
But there's something that I want to say tonight

Verse 2:

I'm a fan of gospel music
I love sound it makes
But I do not intend to deceive
Can't say that I feel proud
Singing Gospel songs out loud
I sing those words but I don't believe.

Chorus 1:

So I want equal time for those that don't believe
Songs that celebrate Reality
They don't need to rhyme
Or even take much time
Some non-believer's gospel songs
That's equal time

Verse 3:

If we sing about the holy ghost
I try to look sincere
But I wonder what I'm singing for
I might like the noise we make
And I could ignore the toll it takes
But I ain’t gunna sing about cheeses anymore.

Chorus 2:

So I want equal time for those that don't believe
Songs that celebrate Reality
They don't need to rhyme
Or even take much time
Some non-believer's gospel songs
That's equal time

Bridge:

If you don't believe in Zeus or Mars or Thor
Or any of the thousand gods who ruled the world before
Our beliefs are similar once you think it thru
I just believe in one god less than you.

Chorus 3:

So I want equal time for those that don't believe
Equal Time, Oh yes indeed
They don't need to rhyme
Or even take much time
Some non-believer's gospel songs
That's equal time

Outro:

Equal time, equal time
Equal time, equal time
Equal time, equal time
Some non-believer's gospel songs
That's equal time

Love Song Kind of Guy

Verse 1

I started writing songs some time ago
Don't know why I guess that I just decided to give it a go
I would write about this or that anything i could
I didn't know and hardly cared if it was any good
But I never touched the theme of love, I really don't know why
It occurred to me I might not be a love song kind of guy

Verse 2

At first that didn't bother me, I had a lot to say
Just me and this old guitar, I was still learning to play
But as I learned to weave my words between and around a tune
I'd try my hand at a song of love but it always seemed too soon
Over time it became a missing piece - something I could not deny
By and by I decided I'm not a love song kind of guy

Bridge

I'm inclined to write a line to make you think or smile
Or find something in my words that'll make my song worthwhile
But when it comes to you and me all my words run dry
I guess I'm not a love song kind of guy

Verse 3

It all changed a while ago when everything turned real
Now it's important to me to express the way I feel
But I don't know how to say that your smile lights up my day
Or how much love I feel for you but don't have the words to say
I can't make the words work no matter how I try
I have to face that it's not my place to be a love song kind of guy

Collaborator

Verse 1:

Last night I had a dream
I dreamt about a beautiful song
The words were deeply moving
And the melody was strong
I got up right away
I picked up my guitar
I tried to compose my dream
But I didn't get very far

Verse 2:

The notes I played were nothing like
The melody in my dream
And the words came out as doggerel
If you know what I mean
This sort of thing happens all the time
When I get a song in my head
I tried to write that song for a while
Then I got back into bed

Chorus:

I need a collaborator
To help me do what I want to do
Someone to help fill in the puzzle
Make one and one equal more than two
I need a collaborator if I'm ever going to be great
And once I find a collaborator we can collaborate

Verse 3:

I'm not too proud to tell you I'm
Not the world's most talented guy
I guess that's just the way it is
No point in asking why
But maybe with the right kind of help
I could do more with the talent I've got
The right sort of partnership
Could take me straight to the top

Chorus:

I need a collaborator
To help me do what I want to do
Someone to help fill in the puzzle
Make one and one equal more than two
I need a collaborator if I'm ever going to be great
And once I find a collaborator we can collaborate

Bridge:

I can do a lot of things
But I can't do it all
If I found me a number
I just might make a call
Maybe there's somebody out there
Who could fill in the missing bit
and if they're looking for someone
We just might be a perfect fit

Verse 4:

My whole life my tendency has been
to do everything on my own
That's meant there's a whole lot of things
that somehow never get done
No one really makes it alone
They get a little help on the way
Maybe if I find a collaborator
Everything will work out Ok

Chorus:

I need a collaborator
To help me do what I want to do
Someone to help fill in the puzzle
Make one and one equal more than two
I need a collaborator if I'm ever going to be great
And once I find a collaborator we can collaborate

Twenty-two

Verse 1:

It was 22 years ago you be came my wife
For 22 years our partnership has has been central to my life
Our private journeys down the road of life we've been walking side by side
Step by step into who knows what it's been a magic and a thrilling ride

Verse 2:

22 is just a number it's not even prime
But 22 years is a big part of my whole lifetime
Our love has grown deeper that I thought it could ever be
I'm not surprised but I'm astonished we reached our 22nd anniversary

Bridge:

Arbitrary numbers we use to measure our lives
Counting up then counting down until the final day arrives
22 is just a number and I think I'll let it be
At least until the number finally reaches 23

Verse 3:

Now after 22 years I want to celebrate this day with you
Let's re- read our vows and see which ones we're living up to
I tell you how deep is my love and admiration for you
You'll say as much and the magic is that I'll believe it's true

Outro

So let's raise a glass to 22
A number, just a number, but it will have to do.
Somehow it says a whole lot, about me and you
And I'll end this song with my favourite words "I love you"

November Day

Verse 1:

So far away and a long time ago
I was sure I'd left you behind
Life had moved on in that way that you know
Life is moving on on all the time
I wasn't prepared for the changes that struck
On that sunny November day
I'd known you were hurting and down on your luck
But I still thought you'd be ok.

Chorus 1:

I think I've lost you again
As you drift ever further away
I'm shocked by the depth of the pain
I felt on that November day

Verse 2:

I thought I'd finally moved on
The past was simply the past
The life I had then was all gone
But today life is moving so fast
I felt certain that I was quite free
You were hardly a part of my life
But the news was so shocking to me
It cut with the heat of a knife

Chorus 2:

I guess I've lost you again
As you drift ever further away
I'm shocked by the depth of the pain
I felt on that November day.

Bridge:

That early November no one could foresee it
I watched as you stumbled and couldn't believe it
You gave all you had for something much stranger
You must have known something but ignored the danger

Verse 3:

I always knew you had madness inside
But somehow you kept it in check
So it pains me to say that I cried and I cried
As I watched you lose all self respect
I fear for the people who live with you still
How can they know what to do
If it's this hard for me I just can't conceive
What they must be going through

Chorus 3:

Now that I've lost you again
And you drift ever further away
I'm shocked by the depth of the pain
I felt on that November day

Immortality

Verse 1:

I used to be immortal
I remember it very well
I had no fear of dying
Not as far as i could tell
I had no doubt I would live forever
Knew the day I'd die 'cuz that would be never
I had endless time for any endeavour
I knew everything cus i was so clever

Verse 2:

Way back in the day
I thought I knew an awful lot
I guess I got away with it
At least i didn't get caught
I was lucky, hanging by a thread
I lived to tell the tale, I didn’t end up dead
I suppose I became a man, you see
By surviving, my immortality

Chorus:

I lived through the never dying
Not for the lack of trying
But I got older and the time got short
Life got a hold on me
Years went by when I wasn’t looking
They got away from me
Then one day like it or not I lost
... My immortality

Verse 3:

It’s not what you remember
About me when I’m gone
It’s not about living
On and on and on and on
It’s the way I found myself living
It seemed there wasn't any other way to be
If life was only going to be temporary
Why should I give up... my immortality

Chorus:

I lived through the never dying
Not for the lack of trying
But I got older and time got short
Life got a hold on me
Years went by when I wasn’t looking
They got away from me
And one day like it or not I lost
... My immortaliy

Verse 4:

Every year there are new immortals
Following in my wake
I watch take some silly risks
And make the same mistake
That I made back when the whole world
Seemed a risk free place to be
I really hope that they survive
... Their immortality