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The Boy Who Would Be King (for Elvis)
In a shotgun shack in Mississippi in a town called Tupelo
When he was young back in the 1950s he fell in love with the songs on the radio
Oh all the holy gospel choirs and that country music thing
Would lift the spirit higher of the boy who would be king
He was meek and he was mild but when he’d raise his voice to sing
It was like a light was shinin’ upon the boy who would be king
Well, he learnt it in night school – hah - on the darker side of town
Where they knew how to be right cool and to shake it up and all around
While a charisma and a charm all his own
Were waiting in the wings to lead him to his throne
Where he rocked and ruled in his pomp and majesty
Still all he ever wanted was to sing for you and me
Now the legend lives on in the magic - in the joy that he still brings
And what he gives us in the music - when we hear him sing
And he touches you and he touches me for he gave everything
And that’s how we remember him - the boy who would be king
Now see him smile at the band and how they love to swing
And see the child in the man - the boy who would be king
Yes he was humble, he was shy – but when he’d sing
He could drive them wild - the boy who would be king
The boy who would be king
The boy who would be king
© Des Wade 2021
AU-C2C-21-00056
ISWC (Int. Standard Music Work Code)
T-061555484-1
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2. |
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Sometimes Goodbye (Is a long, long word)
Sometimes goodbye is a long, long word
Easy to say but hard to feel
So don't ask what's goin' down
On the streets of your town
I can't explain why I'm still hangin' 'round
Except to say, you know the way
Sometimes goodbye is a long, long word
Easy to say but hard to feel
Oh my heart just lost a race
My head's in another place
There's a mirror somewhere waitin' for my face
But it’ll keep, I’m in too deep
Sometimes goodbye is a long, long word
Easy to say but hard to feel
Oh I know I should be gone
That old road rolls on and on
But somethin' makes me stay for one more dawn
Oh please don't cry, 'Cos you know why
Sometimes goodbye is a long, long word
Easy to say but hard to feel
Who'd have thought just one kiss
Would lead to all of this
Flower of pain in a bed of bliss
But that's not true, I guess you knew
And I did too
© Des Wade 2021
AU-C2C-21-00050
ISWC (Int. Standard Music Work Code)
T-060802760-6
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3. |
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Lo and Behold!
Lo and behold, lo and behold
A faded page showed us the road
To promises of wealth untold
That beguiled our eyes with dreams of gold
When we set out for the west, we left the best behind
But if there is no quest there is nothing you will find
There was a dreadful beauty born in those days of grace
As across the purple chaparral, the future lay in wait
So we travelled side by side ‘til it felt like we were borne
Upon some high sierra wind that calls her heroes home
Lo and behold, lo and behold
As the bells of tomorrow tolled
And as our hopes arose so high
I shared the vision in my brother’s eye
Oh for all that we were dreamers, there was the truth within
We would never make old bones or die in heroes’ skin
No matter how far we rode, we could not outrun the past
And the hunter men call destiny tracked us down at last
And as I held my brother’s hand we were ambushed by our fate
And I carried him in my heart ‘til we reached redemption’s gate
Lo and behold, lo and behold
As lightning lit the golden road
Lo and behold, lo and behold
Like heaven’s drums, thunder rolled
Well, they say the race is to the swift, yes to the one with speed
Well, I say it should be a gift to those in honest need
And though it slipped from my grasp as I touched the treasure
It has never been my task to set success’s measure
As empires made of sand ran like water through my fingers
The song of a promised land in distant echoes lingered
Lo and behold, as we had begun
So did we see our kingdom come
As it was written in words of old
Lo and behold, our journey’s done
© Des Wade 2021
AU-C2C-21-00030
ISWC (Int. Standard Music Work Code)
T-061009269-7
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4. |
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5. |
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Vigilante Moon
There is a valley runnin’ through each human heart
Where all our secrets lie
There is a border between the light and dark
And we live on either side
But you and I we crossed that line
And met our destiny so soon
When we passed into the darkness
Beneath the vigilante moon
Lying together side by side in this quiet place
We are exiles from desire so we do not embrace
But we lie as one in the pines as we always dreamed of doin’
Together for all time ‘neath the vigilante moon
I was lookin’ down into your face
I could hear your moanin’ sighs
You were lookin’ up into space
And there were stars in your eyes
Lost in lust I still heard the gun
Release its deadly round
And your husband sayin’, “Hey, two for one”
As our blood soaked in the ground
The night we swore would be our last turned out to be true 'n'
And so it came to pass beneath the vigilante moon
She rides on high over the hill a stony eye of light
That never can or will tell what was done that night
And still she sails serenely by from midnight to high noon
Indifferent as the birds that fly across the vigilante moon
© Des Wade 2022
AU-C2C-21-00074
ISWC (Int. Standard Music Work Code)
T-061143119-6
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6. |
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Train of Dreams
Westward ho, westward ho, westward ho the cry it went
And men of god to die were sent
Westward ho, the call still rings we were poor
But in our hearts we were kings
Like a diamond deeply flawed, we served only to surrender
But we were proud come the fall, I remember I remember
Across the mountains and the plains in fear and love aboard that black train
Armed with pills and secret codes and lust for power and gold
Whores and thieves and desperados all along the line
In hopes of reachin’ El Dorado before their dyin’ time
Spirits sing out on the plains in the whistle of the ghost train
That carried all their dreams away like rivers in the rain
Westward ho the cry resounded
In the mud our dreams had foundered
Westward Ho the call still rings we are poor
But in our hearts we are kings
We left them on the roadside between nowhere and goodbye
Before we see their like again it will be a long, long time
If they won or if they lost, regardless of the toll
They didn’t flinch or give an inch and paid their own parole
Westward ho, westward ho, westward ho the cry it went
And men of god to die were sent
Westward ho, the call still rings we were poor
But in our hearts we were kings
I believe that over all fortune plays an even hand
And there will always be a reckoning according to her plan
Tho’ for everything remembered there is something we forget
In my memory the rising road comes up to meet us yet
Out on a beaten track somewhere beneath a cross-road sign
I’m wonderin’ if I’m in your prayers for surely you’re in mine
For all we lost it wasn’t pride tho’ there was a price to pay
We will enter our house justified on the dawn of judgement day
Westward ho, westward ho, westward ho
Westward ho, westward ho, westward ho
Westward ho, westward ho, westward ho
© Des Wade – Geoff Datson 2018
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7. |
Everything Must Go
03:48
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Everything Must Go
By the sign in the window
And the one nailed to the door
You can see the way the wind blows
They say everything must go
Ain’t there for the jokin’
Ain’t there just for show
Aw the verdict has been spoken
It says everything must go
CHORUS:
And all the rivers run
Home to the sea
To return again as rain
And wash all over me
She taped it to the hood
At the yard sale so they’d know
She was gettin’ out for good
It said everything must go
Go ahead, make her an offer
There ain’t many she’ll refuse
You’ll get bits for just one dollar
Of an old life she can’t use
CHORUS
It was in a dream I saw it
But I shrugged it off and so
You see I never thought it
Meant that everything must go
I believed I’d won the lovin’game
So it came as quite a blow
When the only rule that stayed the same
Was that everything must go
CHORUS
© Des Wade 2022
AU-C2C-21-00015
ISWC (Int. Standard Music Work Code)
T-061459054-3
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8. |
The Scheme of Things
04:04
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The Scheme of Things
When Joey Beausoleil got out and went back on the road
A condition of his bail was that he pay back all he owed
And tho’ me ‘n’ him’re kin, I never knew just how he’d be
But one way or another – I pretty soon would see
He hadn’t changed all that much - the first thing that he said
Was “I still hear them footsteps on the dark road up ahead”
He reckoned he’d seen the light but then he’d grin and curse
Knowin’ what he’d done might seem alright when he did something worse
Oh Joey Beausoleil, I think of you and sigh
What it cost to find your way was the loss of knowing why
And by the dealers’ grace you held jacks to their kings
Showin’ you your place in the scheme of things
“If it weren’t for debts,” he said, “I’d have nothin of my own
“If it weren’t for bad a-comin’ I’d have no need of goin’
“But when I’ve paid up all my dues – I’ll be sorely overdrawn
“And no promise of tomorrow can buy back what is gone”
He’d say, “The devil’s bought my soul” and laugh like he’s demented
And then “Hey, I’m just kiddin’ guys – I swear it’s only rented”
But it’s sad to say when he left our place and set off down the track
We said, “Good luck” to his face and “Good riddance” to his back
On a winter night in the acid light a sign flickers in the rain
He knows what the wind is sayin’ but it’s gibberish all the same
His freedom was a bird that was born with broken wings
And it sings a lonesome song in the scheme of things
Oh Joey Beausoleil, I think of you and sigh
What it cost to find your way was the loss of knowing why
And by the dealers’ grace you held jacks to their kings
Showin’ you your place in the scheme of things
© Des Wade 2014
AU-C2C-21-00063 T-061211727-7
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Des Wade Adelaide, Australia
Born in Ireland - has lived in Australia for 46 + years. Describes music as Celtic and Western. Mainly songwriter with very rare public appearances. Influences - Irish ballads and folk music, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.
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