Joe Mersch Music

Secret Career 87-93 Lyrics / Credits

 

Heart's Desire

You're driving in your car, you're driving faster than you know
You hear a great big noise louder than the radio
It's running in the thunder, calling in the rain
Calling you hey now hey now hey now hey now hey
Calling you hey now hey now hey now hey now hey

You're moving in your sleep, visions dancing round the bed
Out of a deep deep dream, don't you wonder what it said now
Is this the voice of reason, are these the tongues of fire?
Calling you hey now hey now hey now hey now hey
Calling you hey now hey now hey now hey now hey

Are these the tongues of fire
Is this your heat's desire?

You walk in wonderland, march to the sound of a machine
It tells you all you know, it never tells you all you mean
Until a cry of conflagration screaming through the veins
Is calling you hey now hey now hey now hey now hey
Calling you hey now hey now hey now hey now hey
Calling you get down get down get down get down get down my way
Calling you... etc.

Are these the tongues of fire?
Is this your heart's desire?

Electric guitar on outro: Dwayne McCobb

 

Changing Sky

Look out your window, there's a changing sky
There's no telling what the day will bring
Each burst of sunshine makes your hopes run high
But it never guarantees a thing
Should the wind come blowing down the skies you know
And spoil the promise of your sunny day,
Just remember that clouds only cover what's put there to stay

Looks like it's bound to be a changing sky
There's no telling what the mood will be
The shifting colors as the clouds roll by,
They can change the way you think and see
But just because the weather might be foul today
You don't have to be a weathervane
When the darkness has passed, you'll find
The heavens remain just the same

Under the cover of a cloudy day
You fall for every trick your heart can play

Each passing circumstance can change your sky
It don't take too much to make you frown
When just as promise makes your spirit fly
The barometer goes plunging down
There's only one sure way as far as I can see
To keep your head through all this joy and pain
Hold on tight to the lines of what won't wash away in the rain
In the rain

 

This Train

Standing in the station
Every orifice stopped full
Of all the things he got
To shield him from his notions
Giving back his gift to find
The awful things that rise behind
The backdrop to the scenes of his devotions
He is southbound

Padded down, the things that weigh
Fend off the things he keeps at bay
And insulate a traveler from his inklings
So couched between the passengers, he sits
The now transfigured landscape flits
Out from the golden sun’s last blinking

And this train rides in the tunnel
And this shaft leads underground
And this train’s not bound for glory
And this tunnel’s going down

He is southbound

As on into the tumbling dark he rides,
The cars like sheep on wheels they glide
Along the tracks the ground is bending
They have lived
Without the nameless things they feared
And they have up and disappeared
Into the hollow earth, descending

And this train rides in the tunnel
And this shaft leads underground
And this train’s not bound for glory
And this tunnel’s going down

He is southbound

Harmonica: Doug Lawrence

 

Take This Heart

 You say this time is the last time
Like the time and the time and the time before
I say that sounds like a real good line
I could use it, history won’t excuse it
Each time I break another promise it’s a crime
But I say this time is the last time

It’s the last last time I’ll refuse to see
Like the time and the time and the time before
When my love for you’s emphasizing me
A hidden demand given from a free hand
And when I see it’s just another pantomime
I say this time is the last time

Could be I’m the prevention
Of my own best intention

But take this heart from me for the last time
Take this heart with lock and key for the last time
Cause Love, Love’s the gift
I love you and I’m getting his drift now
I gotta let you be and give my love for free

I give my heart and require of you
That you deliver all I desire you to
A hidden demand given from a free hand
It isn’t long before the patterns are defined
And I say this time is last time

Could be I’m the prevention
Of my own best intention

But take this heart from me for the last time
Take this heart with lock and key for the last time
Cause Love, Love’s the gift
I love you and I’m getting his drift now
I gotta let you be and give my love for free this time

I say this time is the last time
You say this time is the last time
We say this time is the last time!

 

Hide It Away

If you know your name
Take my advice
Hide it away and don’t think twice
Take a tip from me
It makes a fool of you
If anything real’s unconcealed from view
You’re in for a surprise if they get wise
Better listen now before they do

Hide it away, hide it away
Hide it away, hide it away

Wanna save your face,
Better play your part
Fasten a mask around your heart
If you’re not like them
Then it’s likely true
The guy that they want isn’t much like you
There’s gonna be no doubt if this gets out
Make a move before they make you pay

Hide it away, hide it away
Hide it away, hide it away

Cheer up, calm down
Folks are the same from town to town
Relax, hold on, play you
Though it’s a role that’s hard to do
When that voice is ringing through

You’re a misfit here
So watch yourself
Pick a persona from the shelf
To be mister cool
This will suffice
Sell them your soul at this cheap price
An unguarded step you might regret
Could be made with any word you say

Hide it away, hide it away
Hide it away, hide it away

Harmonica: Doug Lawrence
Background vocal: Candy Ferner

 

Down to the River

Let’s go down to the river today
Everyone’ll be there
Throw your everyday troubles away
Every worry and care
See that sorry expression you wear wash away in the tide
Better hurry to cross cause there’s
Peace on the other side

Everyone’s at the river today
Casting off from the shore
And though they quench their thirst each step of the way
Everybody wants more
And when they set first foot on the opposite side
Up to the mountains they’ll fly
It’s like a holiday, it can’t be denied
When the vale of tears runs dry

Let’s go down to the river right now
Every trouble indeed
Swept away in the tide that’s how
Everybody gets free

Let’s go down to the river today
Can’t you see it all now
Can’t you hear that band beginning to play
See the master taking his bows
And can’t you feel that wind blow sweet in your hair
From the hills to the valley below
Could you leave right now, don’t you wanna be there
Cause for one I’m ready to go

Harmony vocal: Janet Curci
Harmonica: Doug Lawrence

 

Intro to... (instrumental)

 

Second Sight

All roads lead here, all roads lead here
You gotta build your road away
All roads lead into this dazzling light
You gotta build your tunnel from the light of day
Oh road signs after road signs now
Comin’ at you – you decide if they say stop or go
Maybe sometimes that’s all the progress made
Maybe sometimes that’s all you need to know
This is how it must be
Look out from here, you can see

All roads lead here, all roads lead here
A place where anyone can go
A stretching endless clarity for miles of mountaintops and plains
Where you can see how long your shadow grows
And this is not the first time
This is not the first time, no
That you have had this second sight on loan
Looking all around for the one who looks like he might be your friend
Look around for someplace that looks like home
This is how it must be
Look out from here I can see

Oh how, oh how I miss you
Days that never were
Oh how, oh how I still do
Cause I’ve been all around and the best I’ve found
And the best I know
Is how I miss you

This is how it must be
Here in a place where I see

Oh how, oh how I miss you
Days that never were
Oh how, oh how I still do
Cause I’ve been all around and the best I’ve found
And the best I know
Is how I miss you

 

Will You Remember This

And when the night’s so long without a single kiss
And when the dream’s all gone, will you remember this?
And when the stab of joy has dulled its blade
And the wings in your employ, when in mid-flight they fade
And when the cares of this place start lining your face
Without the faintest trace of bliss
Will you remember this?

And when the one you trust, he doesn’t understand
There’s only miles of dust in your promised land
And when you want to scan the sky for some sign of hope
And so you drink the bottle dry for your telescope
And when you spend the whole day just pining away
About the love you crave and miss
Will you remember this?

What’s the line that you hold onto
When winds of favor turn, you’ll never learn
If you’re caught in the sway
Never mind throwing in that towel
The truth will never bend, will never end

So if your happy home is just a bed of nails
And in the pleasure dome it’s more like the county jail
And when the world’s gone wild and you’re its tender prey
You must hold on like a child or you will slip away, slip away
And as you’re watching today being beaten away
By the future’s raging fist
Will you remember this?

 

Hear My Call

Is there someone there
Locked behind a poker face
My voice is everywhere
You stumble near me, you never hear me

Do you hear my call, answer
If you hear my call, yeah yeah yeah
Don’t you hear my call
Answer if you’re there at all
Will you hear my call

Not one word I say
To empty heads in crowded rooms
Will ever fade away
But I see those words fall, bounce off the back wall

Do you hear my call, answer
If you hear my call, yeah yeah yeah
Don’t you hear my call
Answer if you’re there at all
Will you hear my call

Ain’t it true I can’t get through
There’s always you talking
You bet your money on the daily shove and hustle
You gotta listen to me
Standing at your ear knocking
It’s the sense of hearing that’s the voluntary muscle

Do you hear my call, answer
If you hear my call, yeah yeah yeah
Don’t you hear my call
Answer if you’re there at all
Will you hear my call

Vocals: Candy Ferner and Tom Petersen

 

Friends of Mine

So many little pretenders here today
I wonder how we stand the strain
So many boobs with bucks on the brain
Making music like a ball and chain
I been beaming all around the world
Watched as the world around them turned
I started thinking this is one sure thing I have learned

Whoa
Friends of mine
They ain’t no friends of mine
They ain’t no friends of mine
And they’ll never be
Never be friends of mine

Let ‘em shuffle the cards and ride the waves
It’s only gonna last for a while
Another dead dog case for the file
Talking trendy on the miracle mile
I been dreaming of 'bout time to come
And I’ve been dreaming 'bout another world
It’s getting crazy in this haze of calendar girls

Oh
Friends of mine
They ain’t no friends of mine
They ain’t no friends of mine
And they’ll never be
Never be friends of mine

Wha-hoo!

Electric guitar and slide: Dwayne McCobb
Harmonica: Doug Lawrence

 

Alles Ist Schwer

Ich sitz im roten Bademantel
Und trinke roten Wein
Rot, die Farbe deiner Unschuld
Und meines Heiligenscheins
Ich soll mich nicht rächen, soll dich freisprechen
Einfach so, wie die Sache steht
Doch das ist schwer, es ist schwer
Klar doch, alles ist schwer
Wenn es um zwei Menschen geht

Ich werde bös, nervös und zittrig
Wenn ich dich sprechen will
Es qualmt nur Wolken von Gerede
Ich bin doch lieber still
Ich will dich nicht bekehren, dich bloß aufklären
Als mich die Zunge wie stets verrät
Mit hin und her, leck mich quer
Das ist alles so schwer
Wenn es um zwei Menschen geht

Oh whoa
Ich habe nicht gesagt daß es sich nicht lohnt, die Blödelei
Oh whoa
Doch sag ich was Gewagtes
Schon bin ich nochmal vogelfrei

Ich sitz im roten Bademantel
Mittlerweile recht beschwipst
Begucke Fotos schöner Zeiten
Von dir und mir geknipst
Und könnte ich das Leben einfach festkleben
Wie dieses Glück im Rahmen steht
Wär’s nicht so schwer, nicht so schwer
Aber alles ist schwer
Wenn es um zwei Menschen geht
Ja es ist schwer, es ist schwer
Klar doch, alles ist schwer
Wenn es um zwei Menschen geht
Yeah

(Es wääd dann halt jepfiffen.)

 

Lite Life

This is a place of painless life
This is a place of lifeless pain
These are the tenants of paradise
Dancing blind in a hurricane
This is a holiday where everything is easy
And almost everything is easy when consumed
This is the lite life, welcome to the lite life

This is a land of hypnotists
This is a roller coaster ride
This is a world of happy hours
Of Seven-Up and suicide
This is the land of dreams and golden opportunity
For any single thing you choose to not be true
This is the lite life, welcome to the lite life

(Hey!)

Whoa these are the days of Robin Hood
Give to the bland, steal from the good
This is a great big amusement paradise
Before I check in I’ll think twice

This is the sleep of innocence
This is the strength of panderers
This is the call of nothingness,
From every substance slanderer
This is the systematic merging of the colors
This is the fading of the images to gray
Fading to the lite life, welcome to the lite life
This is the lite life, welcome to the lite life

This is a place of painless life
This is a place of lifeless pain
These are the tenants of paradise
Dancing blind in a hurricane

 

World of Kings

The day I learned the first thing about me
Is when I learned I would be king
In an island kingdom
I heard the wind around me sing
I raised the banner and I raised the gates of iron
I built the halls of steel
In an island nation
I made the bells around me peel

The day I learned the next thing about me
Is when I learned I would be strong
In an island stronghold
It was a place I could belong
I had the passion and I had the will of iron
I had a course in mind
In a world of islands
One day all islands would be mine

And you can take it to the halls of parliament
You can take it to the lawn of the president
Up to the demagogues of history or accident
I am a king, I am a king now
I am a king, I am a king now

And you can take it to the halls of parliament
You can take it to the lawn of the president
Up to the demagogues of destiny or accident
I am a king, I am a king now
I am a king, I am a king now
I am a king, I am a king now

 

---

 

 Credits

Produced, recorded and mixed by Joe Mersch at Studio Glasnost, Escondido CA; Studio Simpático, Carlsbad CA; and Hope Recording, in its San Marcos and Escondido, CA incarnations.

 

Mastered by Joe Mersch.

 

All compositions ©2017 Joe Mersch, all rights reserved.

 

All sounds and voices JM, except for Doug Lawrence: harmonica on This Train, Hide It Away, Down to the River, and Friends of Mine; Dwayne McCobb: electric guitar/slide on Heart's Desire and Friends of Mine; Candy Ferner: vocals on Hide It Away and Hear My Call; Janet Curci: vocals on Down to the River; and Tom Petersen: vocals on Hear My Call.

 

 

Art design and layout: Joe Mersch.

 

Guitars used on this recording: '83 Martin D-28, '77 Guild F-50R, '88 Taylor 810, unknown vintage Gibson ES-125, '86 American Standard Stratocaster.