STAND & FALL
©1994 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
I'm growing tired of having to make a stand
I'm growing tired of having to start all over again
I'm growing tired of giving my heart only to get nothing in return
I'm growing tired of being burned
I've been searching my whole life it seems
For one true love is it in my dreams
How many times am i asking the same questions how
Many times must i stand and fall
How many times am i slated for rejection
How many times must i stand and fall
I'm growing tired of you breaking all the rules
I'm growing tired of you running with guys from the same old school
I'm growing tired of being your redemption up until you find somebody new
I'm growing tired of being screwed
Have i been walkin on that one same road
So many failures have been before
How many times am i asking the same questions how
Many times must i stand and fall
How many times am i slated for rejection
How many times must i stand and fall
I've been living on the outside
Contemplating suicide
But you can take me at my word that this lesson i have learned
You gotta stand tall or you're gonna stand and fall
I'm growing tired of watching the good life pass me by
I'm growing tired of not knowing the reason why
Have i been waiting my whole life in vain
When is my chance have i thrown it away
How many times am i asking the same questions how
Many times must i stand and fall
How many times am i slated for rejection
How many times must i stand and fall
LAST HARD ROAD
©1996 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
I travel the high road of faith and hope.
Death has been with me lately.
I'm close to the bone out here all alone,
To see old friends and to make new ones,
And to do some mending.
Pray for me. It's my last hard road.
Once in a while when you take a look around
At all of the things that you've grown used to,
You see that you find everything changing,
And suddenly it don't seem so familiar.
It's all one of a kind.
Pray for me. It's my last hard road.
Dark are the desert sands blowing in my heart.
Faint are the visions that control me.
Time takes it's toll.
You just can't help growin' old,
And sooner or later it just fades away...
Like a voice that's stopped calling...
Pray for me.
It's my last hard road
UNCOMPLICATED ME
©1995 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
He's got money I've got none
He's got women I've got you
He's got ties to every corner of the world
Every phone call fax and telegram charm the pants off any girl
But I'm as simple as can be
And I can give you what you want if what you want
Is uncomplicated me
He's a forty year old boy
I'm a twenty year old man that's thirty five
And since I met you baby I'm
In love with what it means to be alive
He's got an automatic jag and a house out in the country
He's living with his mother and he's doing the maid's daughter
He personifies that good life that's plain to see
But I can give you what you want if what you want
Is uncomplicated me
Because when we touch I can feel so much
When we touch hmmm
All them nights on the town
Sometimes you're up sometimes you're down
You're telling me that you can't love me
Because I'm headed for the stars
But since when does a man's dream
Make you less than who you are
Because I can be anything that you want me to be
I love your way you say you love mine
Let's take a chance child let's do some time
He's one in a million baby and you've got so much to lose
I am just a simple man but it's time you've got to chose
Because I can't pretend to be just friends
I love you don't you see
That I can give you what you want if what you want
Is uncomplicated me little old uncomplicated me
DON'T BE A STRANGER
©1985 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
Love when it's wild
It can be hard on your heart
Too much excitement
You can go too far
Like trying to tame
A wild beast in a cage
It can drive you insane
In love
I've no time to take part
There is too much commotion
I must move around
But one day
When I've thrown out my anchor
Maybe then I will settle down
But til then...
Baby, don't be a stranger
There is no lock on my door
Baby, don't be a stranger
Don't be a stranger
Low as it seems
I may be condescending to
You might think that I've no feelings
This is untrue
Hard as I try
To make love in this world
I find walls all around me
And they look like you
You say
That I run from my emotions
And freedom's just another
Place to hide
And these walls
Are the distance in between us
I don't know
Maybe you're right
Baby, don't be a stranger
There is no lock on my door
Baby, don't be a stranger
Don't be a stranger
FROM THE FARTHEST REACHES
©1994 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
Have you ever been hungry really hungry
So hungry that you've forgotten how it feels to be full
If you're feeling hungry call me
I will bring to you
From the farthest reaches
Anything that you want
And if you say that it's ok
I will feed you
Have you ever been tired really tired
So tired that you've forgotten how it feels to be strong
If you're feeling tired call me
I will come to you
From the farthest reaches
To wherever you are
And if you say that it's ok
I will carry you
From the deepest blue from the mountain high
From the open road from the endless sky
From alaskan shores from hawaiian beaches
From the farthest reaches
Have you ever been lonely really lonely
So lonely that you've forgotten how it feels to be loved
If you're feeling lonely call me
I will be there from the farthest reaches
To your side and if you say that it's ok
I will love you
From the farthest reaches
THE MEANING OF LOVE
©1993 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
If I knew the meaning of love
I would not be feeling
So uninspired by the burning of the fire that's
Raging in me now and
If I had my way in this world
I would not be waiting
For you to come and hold me wrap me up and throw away
The key to my heart
But you don't want me and
You don't need me and
You don't love me now
You have dragged me like a child
From reality's edge
Into the depths of your insanity
And now without you I must find my way back
To me...
If I knew the meaning of love
I'd show you the way home
I would shine a light down on every
Road that would lead you back to me
CONTEMPLATING LOVE
©1995 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
Back home in kentucky
There's a saying that they all have
Something about steering clear
Of things you don't understand
And if I could heed this calling
And be free from my old man
I would find the strength to walk that walk
And take you by the hand chorus
And I would take you home
And I would take you home
And I would take you home
Take you home and keep you for myself
It's so easy to believe in
All the things that make you feel so good
But so many learn the hard way
That love can't be understood
And if I had my freedom
And I knew that it would never end
I would walk into the open arms
Of loves imprisonment
And take you by the hand chorus
And I would take you home
And I would take you home
And I would take you home
Take you home and keep you for myself
I am not a special man
Exempt from what I am not above
I am just on no certain terms no certain terms
Contemplating love
Now I have seen the morning
Born of god's unearthly light
Rising up bathed in the glow
Of the memory of last night
Nd if I could believe I
Was the one that you cared for
Maybe I could throw away the key
To the lock on my back door
And I would take you home
And I would take you home
And I would take you home
Take you home and keep you for myself
I am not a special man
Exempt from what I am not above
I am just on no certain terms no certain terms
Contemplating love
LOVE ONLY EQUALS
©1986 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
I have been lost in love before
And thankful for what I have found
Cause when you're in love you can't afford
To be lost in wonder about it
So make no mistakes and don't ever lose
But by losing I mean only this
To come out on top or to go down defeated
'cause in love only equals exist
Sometimes I find it hard to believe
That we can let sadness befall us
When so many things are made to please
Well then why should I feel sad at all
But I've been so far down at times I couldn't see
That the road I was travelling on
Was taking me home would bring you to me
And I find myself circling 'round and around
I have been lost in love before
And thankful for what I have found
'cause when you're in love you can't afford
To be lost in wonder about it
RUN FROM THE THUNDER
©1996 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
Knowin that the door
Is always open to your mind's
Making me believe that maybe you and I
Could still see things in the same way
But what this situation is calling for is love
Because only love can get you through
What's impossible to change
You could say it's just physical
But if you ponder the quizzical
You will find that
What you're doing is going nowhere
Because nothing changes when you run from the thunder
Rolling across your lonely path
Welling up before you taking the shape
Of reasons for you to hate me
But what this spirit's been telling you
About me well it ain't true
You've got to follow your own heart
But you still got to open your eyes and see
That if you think it's not serious
You could wind up delirious once you find that
What you're doing makes you feel like you do
Because nothing changes when you
Run from the thunder
Or a lover just like me
Knowin that the door is always open to your mind's
Making me believe that maybe you and I
Could still see things in the same way
But what this situation is calling for is love
Because only love can get you through
What's impossible to change
You could say it's just physical
But if you ponder the quizzical
You will find that
What you're saying is going nowhere
And what you're doing makes you feel like you do
Because nothing changes when you
Run from the thunder
Or a lover just like me
Open up your eyes and see
What a wonderful life
Can be with a lover just like me
NO PEACE IN DYING
©1990 by Joel Cage
I have seen ten thousand sunsets settle down in all their glory
i have read ten thousand words of ancient greek and roman poetry
I have played the notes of music that have set strong men to crying
and i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying
I have sailed upon the slave ships i have held the whip and beaten
down upon the rock of man and i have seen that rock been eaten
By a government's oppressive tidal wave so stultifying
still i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying
I have loved a thousand lovers i have sinned a thousand sins
i have seen my own salvation been delivered time and again
I have read the holy bible implications mystifying
and i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying
No peace in dying - i'd rather live the life of blues no peace in dying -
it's just this sadness that i choose
I have lost a thousand losses i have gained a thousand gains
i have weathered all the storms the sleets the winds the snows the rains
I have been beyond despair fought back to life death defying
still i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying.
I've been backed against a wall I've been imprisoned by a cage
I've been freed from all that's conscious in a materialistic age
I have given up i have risen up and still i go on trying
because i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying
I have asked for and received i have been asked of and have given
i have tried not to believe the things by which bad men are driven
I have struggled to be fair in life sometimes been compromising
and i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying.
No peace in dying - i'd rather live the life of blues no peace in dying -
it's just this lonely life i choose
I have cried ten thousand tears for every single soldier dead in vain
i have prayed a prayer to every god that mortal man can name
I have bled upon the altar been fought down for testifying
still i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying.
I have fought the war for peace and found that it cannot be attained
at the hands of those you beat or killed or raped or maimed
Life is for the living loving breathing humankind
and i for one am believing that there ain't no peace in dying.
No death is for the old and gray those finished and fulfilled
i am young and still have dreams too restless to be stilled
Life is for the living loving breathing humankind
and i for one am believing that there ain't no peace in dying.
No peace in dying - i'd rather live the life of blues no peace in dying -
it's just this sadness that i choose
I have hovered twixt the conscious and the thoughtless inner space
i have quoted men that scientists and governments disgrace
No i do not disregard hell's heat nor heaven's pacifying
still i for one am believing that there ain't no peace in dying.
I see death as an exit from a noisy crowded room
through which some seek tranquility while others only doom
No i do not know but i think you'll be surprised at what you find
and i find myself believing that there ain't no peace in dying
No peace in dying - i'd rather live the life of blues no peace in dying -
it's just this sadness that i choose
No peace in dying - i'd rather live the life of blues no peace in dying
- it's just this lonely life i lonely lonely life i choose
NEW
©1993 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
When I was a young boy I never could cry
Thought I was watching my whole life just passing me by
I was afraid I was afraid and I was so all alone
But my life is now so complete
I know I never want to die
I want to go right on living
And standing right by your side
But if you should find a reason
To question my love for you
Throw out all the memories and
I'll make it new
Then I met a young girl she stole my heart away
And she broke it to pieces each and every day
How could I love how could I love how could I ever love again
But my life is now so complete
I know I never want to die
I want to go right on living
And standing right by your side
But if you should find a reason
To question your love for me
Throw out all the memories and
I'll set you free I'll set you free
Now I am a grown man I have come of age
And I have learned to live with this
Curious distant rage I hear it call I hear it call
Calling from so long ago
But my life is now so complete
I know I never want to die
I want to go right on living
And standing right by your side
But if you should find a reason
To question my love for you
Throw out all the memories
And I'll make it new
A LITTLE FAITH
©1994 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
All you need is just a piece of land to stand upon
All you need is just a single place to call a home
All you need is just a piece of land to stand upon
That you can call your own
All you need is just a little extra space and time
Like a door through which you can go walking to be free
All you need is just a piece of land to stand upon
That you can call your own
To move inside cultivate
Bring a little faith to this world
It's suicide to subjugate
Bring a little faith into this world
All you need is just a little distance in between
All the fussers and the fighters that will try to bring you down
All you need is just a piece of land to stand upon
That you can call your own
All you need is just a single hand that you can hold
Someone who will love you and will teach you to believe
All you need is just a piece of land to stand upon
That you can call your own
To move inside cultivate
Bring a little faith to this world
It's suicide to subjugate
Bring a little faith into this world
TALKIN' CARNY
©1987 by Joel Cage/Big Sixteen Music
Now the zipper's line is long with hot people
As the midget calls the scene
While the rideboy's laying the note on a cheap mark
All the way from abilene
And they're cuttin up jackpots over in the g-top
You really ought to hear em how
An old ragbag outa hackensack
He can make the music sound
We're talkin carny now
Well the good times rolled just a little too far
We didn't stop until way past dawn
But the rideboy and the lot lady
They disappeared from early on
And they missed rosette do her specialty act
She was really shakin down
No the flat joint couldn't show her nothin
She's the best for miles around
We're talkin carny now
Patch got off with an old charlie luck
He wasn't with it just a first of may
The backenders all watched while the fire got hot
There was nothin that they could say
When the midget was asked why with a beer soaked eye
There was no truth to be found
If you're lucky they might tell you what happened
But they will never show you how
We're talkin carny now
The raghead has a mittcamp
On the fairway to the south
And the ride boy went to see her
But she was nowhere to be found
The lot lady was just a kid last night
But she's a woman now
Two lost souls with barely one heart between 'em
I never heard how it all turned out
Stick's playing six-cat laying out the welcome mat
Planning to run it strong
'cause if the hanky pank ain't got ya yet
It'll get ya before too long
And coolin marks is just a business
You set em up and then you shake em down
Tonight the air's alive with whispers
Another still-date another town
We're talkin carny now