Words and Music
Volume I
The Poems and Lyrics of
Frank Terranova
Copyright 2014 Frank Terranova
This poetry e-book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, or real events, are entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Author’s Note: When I first began writing what might more or less be called “poetry”, I was doing so with the thought of composing lyrics which would eventually be turned into songs for my long since disbanded rock n roll band. However as the years have flown by I came to believe that many of these compositions could stand on their own, and with the advent of e-books I figured that I may as well compile some of my favorite works into an organized volume, if for nothing else then for the sake of prosperity.
For the most part the themes in this volume follow that old tried-and-true spirit of rebelliousness; including topics such as sex, drugs, rock n roll, love and lust to name a few. But on the more serious side it also delves into some deeper existential themes such as war and peace, death and loss, loneliness and religious spiritually, so hopefully there is something in this collection for everyone.
I have gotten plenty of feedback regarding these poems over the years, and as such I would like to give thanks to all who have encouraged me to complete this project (and as I’ve often said in the past; “you know who you are!”).
Table of Contents
The End (Is the Beginning)
Aimlessly (I Walk Along)
Black Beauty
Mother of God
Numbers (Man Becomes Machine)
Windowpane
Never Have Time
Present Being
Marianne
Only Love
Holdin’ On
Life’s Too Short
The Searcher
Vulture
Slow Death
Don’t Panic
Electricity
Warm Up
What’s On Your Mind
Almost On My Way
Lethal Injection
She’s Mine
Let’s Do It
Love Is Like An Animal
Living In A Dream
Tailspin
Tomorrow’s Fix
Rock N Roll Disease
Up In Flames
War Zone
Faceless Heroes
Gun Shy
Providence
One Night Stand
Fade Away
I Wonder Why
Underground
Rat Races
Wanderlust
Rock N Roll (‘Til The Roof Caves In)
Beer Drinking, Hell Raising, Son Of A Bitch
Judgment Day
Fist Raising Anthem
Run
The Brotherhood
Reefer Smoking, Guitar Playing, Mother Fuckin’ Junkie
Hollow (Down The Road)
I Will Pave The Way
Me and My Guitar
Southbound Rock N Roll Railroad Train
Confusion In Your Eyes
Hourii
Ain’t Into Death Syndrome (AIDS)
911 (A Prayer For 9/11)
Caterpillar
Wormwood
The Retreat Of The Innocent
Ashcroft Road
The End (Reprise)
An End of Days prophecy?
THE END (IS THE BEGINNING)
There must be a reason for a change in the season
A change in what’s known to be true
And one day ahead, when the sky’s colored red
A stormy breeze will send the land to the seas
So that the bubble will burst, rushing man’s thirst
Leaving an end to our history…
…and where will we be, where will we be
In the end of our history
Every story has an ending
Ours will be no different
When the ending comes
Let’s meet on our ground
Do you know what we’ve found?
Do you know what we’ve found?
This one goes out to the wandering spirit within us all.
AIMLESSLY (I WALK ALONG)
Aimlessly I walk along
Round and round the path goes on
Turning, twisting in the wind
Visions of a mighty force
Instruments without a source
External signs and wonders
Aimlessly I blunder
Like the lighting and the thunder
Aimlessly I blunder
Aimlessly my love evades me
Something in the sky persuades me
Opposites attract they say
I turn and walk the other way
Aimlessly I turn the screw
Aimless it points at you
External signs and wonders
Aimlessly I blunder
Like the lighting and the thunder
Aimlessly I blunder
I’m looking for something I can’t define
Something no one else can find
Aimlessly the day begins
Somehow it just all fits in
Powered by the morning sun
Open my eyes and start to run
Visions of a mighty force
Instruments without a source
External signs and wonders
Aimlessly I blunder
Like the lighting and the thunder
Aimlessly I blunder
Aimlessly I walk along
Round and round the path goes on
Turning, twisting in the wind
Like a spiraling staircase with no end
Aimlessly I turn the screw
Aimless it points at you
External signs and wonders
Aimlessly I blunder
Like the lighting and the thunder
Aimlessly I blunder
I’m looking for something I can’t define
Something no one else can find
Maybe just another girl
Maybe just another world
Maybe just heaven above
Maybe just another love
It’s something that I can’t define
Something no one else can find
Maybe just another time
When love was just a peace of mind
Maybe just hell below
Maybe just I just don’t know
It’s something that I can’t define
Something no one else can find
Whenever I’m near the ocean the scent of the salty air brings me back to those glorious nights of my youth; nights spent walking the beach until sunrise, wired on speed (“black beauties” we called them in those days), as we desperately tried to unravel the mysteries of life. This piece is the byproduct of one of those nights…
BLACK BEAUTY
Black Beauty and me, we walk by the sea
She keeps me up all of the night
I trudge through the sand, just holding her hand
And wait for the morning light
I count all the waves as they crash to the shore
Look to a sky I don’t know anymore
Black Beauty has taken her toll on me
She always will be such a mystery
Black Beauty
Move slowly
And don’t ever let me down
The ocean it seems can make a man dream
And the tides can drag a man down
I got nowhere to turn, no lessons to learn
But somehow I hold my ground
Because my heart’s pounding rhythm
To the song in your soul
And I worry about things
That I cannot control
Black Beauty
Move slowly
And don’t ever let me down
So hold me at bay
And I’ll hold you someday
The water will come
And wash us away
Black Beauty
Move slowly
And don’t ever let me down
This one is dedicated to all the mothers in the world, especially mine; after all, everyone, including God, has a mother.
MOTHER OF GOD
Everybody finds a way
Somehow to get them through the day
It's the same old cliché
Silently you hide your fears
You need someone to really care
Mother of God I need you here
And we all need someone to depend upon
Someone to see us through
Mother of God I need you now
Mother I depend on you
Make your donation to the corporation
Shelter yourself from the high taxation
You need to get some relaxation
Don't forget your medication
Cross your knees, do a meditation
Mother of God you’re my inspiration
And we all need someone to depend upon
Someone to see us through
Mother of God I need you now
Mother I depend on you
A shot of hope, a shot of booze
Sleeping pills to take a snooze
A life you’re born in to, a dream held on to
A daily ritual, it gets habitual
And we all need someone to depend upon
Someone to see us through
Mother of God I need you now
Mother I depend on you
Name your vice, roll the dice
Take your chances, pay the price
Heads or tails, which way to choose
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose
First it's snow, then it's ice
It's time you took your own advice
And we all need someone to depend upon
Someone to see us through
Mother of God I need you now
Mother I depend on you
One man’s vision of our not too distant future.
NUMBERS (MAN BECOMES MACHINE)
1, 2, 3, 4
I’ve seen it all before
5, 6, 7, 8
It’s in the hands of fate
9, 10, 11
When we get to Heaven
12, 13, 14
Then we’ll wake up from this dream
Count the days
Love at the end of the maze
Pleasure is my pain
Until we meet again
…until we meet again
15, 16
Pollution fills the air
17, 18
You see it everywhere
19, 20
As crazy as it sound
20, 21
We’re living underground
But there’s light at the end of the tunnel
For those who’ve read the book
There’s a silver lining in every cloud
For those who care to look
…for those who care to look
22, 23
As far as the eye can see
24, 25
Only the strong survive
26, 27
As crazy as it seems
28, 29
Man becomes machine
Mass produced, assembly line
Evolution’s lost its rule
But love still lingers on and on
In the dreamers and the fools
…in the dreamers and the fools
30, 31
Love is obsolete
32, 33
The sexes join and meet
34, 35
A new technology
36, 37
A human factory
No one ever dies
They just replace the parts
Man has traded immortal soul
For a plastic heart
…for a plastic heart
A trip into the window of my mind...
WINDOWPANE
There’s a windowpane looking through my mind
The shades are drawn and I’m so hard to find
I’m not sure who I really am
I’m not sure I really give a damn
I’m the day and sometimes I’m the night
I’m the black and sometimes I’m the white
I’m the cold and sometimes I’m the hot
In my hand I hold a microdot
When I open up my window
I see another world
I see things I ain’t never seen
Do things I ain’t never done
Windowpane where did you come from
Windowpane where did you come from
Am I John or is it really Jack?
Look at me I’m a schizophrenic
My mind is pressed up to the windowpane
Watching dreams go slowly down the drain
Acid rain’s been eating up my brain
So ‘scuse me if I act a little strange
Now and then I’m floating out in space
The kids today disown the human race
When I open up my window
I see another world
I see things I ain’t never seen
Do things I ain’t never done
Windowpane where did you come from
Windowpane where did you come from
Drink some juice, burn a little hash
Be careful ‘cause you know you’re gonna crash
Here I go, falling down like rain
Blue gel, blotter’s left a little stain
So smash the glass, unlock the windowpane
Your mind will wander down the memory lane
Free me from the pull of gravity
‘Cause I’ve temporarily lost my sanity
When I open up my window
I see another world
I see things I ain’t never seen
Do things I ain’t never done
Windowpane where did you come from
Windowpane where did you come from
Conceived on the night of my first ever Grateful Dead concert in Providence Rhode Island; staring out the window of our room at the Holiday Inn, immersed in a hallucinogenic haze, the mass of people entering the arena, although peaceful as could be, resembled an angry mob to me. And as I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror of our hotel room, lost in that same heightened state of awareness, the face staring back at me was unrecognizable. The next morning, sitting in the back seat of my friend’s car during the ride home, stuck in rush hour traffic, it struck that the freeway wasn’t really free…
These simple verses also became the lyrics to the first song I ever wrote. The band I was in at the time performed it on numerous occasions, and although some in the audience felt that the dirge-like pace of the song broke the momentum of our usually up-tempo repertoire, for others it was a beautiful ballad and their favorite song of ours.
NEVER HAVE TIME
Looked out of my window
Don’t like what I see
Never have time, can’t find a rhyme
To change the things around me
Looked into to the mirror
Is this really me?
Never have time to pray to God
But I hope he prays for me
Looked out on the freeway
Is this really free?
Never have time, if I ever have time
I let it slip by me
Sometimes words come to me out of the blue, and other times an idea gets caught in the back of my mind but the words just won’t come. This s
ong is an example of the latter. Back in the mid to late70’s me and my friends would buy tickets to see all of the great bands, and I’d look forward to the big event for months in advance. And when show-time finally arrived it seemed to fly by so fast and afterwards I’d feel depressed that something I waited so long for was gone in the blink of an eye. I wished I could somehow hold on to the moment and keep it frozen in time. I’d go home with my ears ringing, lying in bed tossing and turning and at a loss to explain what it was I was feeling. And then suddenly on one particular sleepless night it came to me, in its entirety; the result was this song.
PRESENT BEING
Born without the knowledge of the seeing of the sun
We walk the Earth, we stalk the Earth, but walking on the run
And where we stand in time between us is our only crime
Where are we now
Its present tense
Recall the past to make some sense
Your life absorbed in seeing, your life the present being
It’s now, today, an endless play, your life absorbed in seeing
You go away, come home each day, your life the present being
Do you remember your friends of yesteryear?
Do you ever wish that they were here?
Do you often wonder what they’re doing now?
Wouldn’t you retrace your steps if only you knew how?
Just think it out, you look about, a second ticks away
You reach for it, you can’t hold on
It floats…towards…yesterday-ay-aaaay
ah/aaaah
Where are we now
It’s present tense
Recall the past to make some sense
Your life absorbed in seeing, your life the present being
It’s now, today, an endless play, your life absorbed in seeing
You go away, come home each day, your life the present being
Look around you, look around, the shape we’re in right now
You know that I would love you girl if only I knew how