(Nits)
I tried to be afraid
But you said that it was too late
I tried to be alone
But you said that I wanted this home
I try I try I try
I try to be like you
But you never wanted that I
Wanted it too
But I try to be around
Somehow, sometime I was found
I try I try I try
I have seen mirrors black
In a room by the sea
When we came back
Sometimes it's a sunny day
You lift your head and walk away
I try I try I try
I tried to be afraid
But you said that it was too late
I tried to be alone
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
Another car is stopping for gas
Be careful with that burning match
The radio is playing Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole sings
Another stranger turns the wheel
I stay behind in silence and feel
The oil on overall and hands
Is all that's left, all left for me
Better late than never
Here come the sunny days
You keep your eyes wide open
And all I say is
Yes yes yes yes yes me too
I'm ready for a kick in the back
I'm ready for another hopeless wreck
I'm ready for a night so long and black
So long and black
Better late than never
Here come the sunny days
I keep my eyes wide open
Here come the best years of my life
And all I say is
Yes yes yes yes yes me too
Another night of counting cars
The magazines and candy bars
And everybody's driving home
(Peters)
I'm the man of straw standing in
The meadow-ow
Chasing crows away they call me
A scarecrow
Man of straw (oh oh oh)
I'm the man of straw they call me
A scarecrow-ow
I stand here all day long in the
Rain and snow
(Hofstede)
Indoor painting - outdoor sketching
(Hofstede)
Cabin 80
Cabin 80 to way out
I am waiting
Did you see me in the crowd
Hook of Holland 6 AM
Someone shouted tell me where I am
Hook of Holland trains and boats
Someone said it's raining overcoats
See the man on
See the man on the quay
There's a girl from Switzerland
In the same compartment
Humming trains and boats and planes
On a street in Rotterdam
Back in 1925
There's a woman and a man
Black and white a photograph
Wonder if they're still alive
Sometimes I was feeling like a homeless boy
In the city without hope, the city without joy
I found her just for one day
She said I'm afraid of old men
Luckily I'm not afraid of you
I said I'm afraid of young girls
Surprisingly I'm not afraid of you
The first time we met it was snowing she said
Like in Alaska
Sometimes I was feeling like a homeless boy
In the city without hope, the city without joy
I lost her after one day
The singer sings like Louis Armstrong
In a cellar in Tallin, Estonia
She brings me the wine and the wodka
Untill my head is all Estonia
The last time we met she was going she said
To Alaska
The first time we met it was snowing she said
Like in Alaska
Sometimes it's the rain
Sometimes it's the snow
In the city without hope she told me she would go
To Alaska
(Stips)
Another story's over - Memories are new
You walk alone along this lonely avenue
You thought she had a whole world to offer
You found out there is no more to discover
All you feel around is this coolness of her
You turn the key around twice - Memories are new
You do the things
You'd never thought that you would do
You never got a colder shower
Lay wide awake in lonely hours
Now you're thrown away like a fading flower
You thought she had a whole world to offer
You feel that there is no more to discover
(Peters)
It wasn't there before
What is he doing here
The only to survive
The island saved my life
Man-Friday
What is he doing here
A stranger in my land
What brought him there today
The weekend close at hand
I gotta find my man
I kill him if I can
Man-Friday
A footprint in the sand
It wasn't there before
A stranger in my land
What did he come here for
(Hofstede)
Johnny and Betty they [dreamed?]
Of all the beautiful things
They had seen inside a magazine
And he was reading lots of different books and Betty
Betty she didn't mind
She had a mirror to look behind
The kitchen was made for you
The TV is on for two
It must have been a happy life
Still there were feelings inside
And sometimes she would sit up and drink all night
And he was reading lots of different books and Betty
Betty she didn't mind
She had a mirror to look behind
The kitchen was made for you
The TV is on for two
Johnny said silver
She said gold
She's only eighteen years and
(Hofstede)
Strange day
In the middle of winter
Cold day
In the middle of winter
Winter garden
Jardin d'hiver
Bundle of light between buildings
Bundle of light between two trees
Tu ne viendras pas ce soir
Snow falls
Tu ne viendras pas ce soir
Strange day
In the middle of winter
Cold day
I was walking in a town
On the waterfront I saw a building
I went inside into the darkness
Into the coolness of the airconditioning
There were photographs of children
They were in a war and they killed them
I was feeling, feeling smaller, smaller than the coin in my hand
Mourir avant 15 ans - To die before you're 15 years
I turned away to hide the tears
How could I understand
That a man can kill a man, can kill a child
I went outside into the sunlight
Children playing on the riverside
They were happy and it was peaceful
I went back to my hotel and I watched the seagulls fly
Mourir avant 15 ans - To die before you're 15 years
I turned away to hide the tears
How could I understand
That a man can kill a man, can kill a child
I was watching the seagulls fly
Down Saint Jean street
To the Saint Lawrence River
(Nits)
I saw the house on the hill
It burned like a tree
In an endless night
Tell me river when the fire ends
Tell me fire where the river bends
I had a vision of my house
It turned into a flame
On the riverside
Tell me fire where the river bends
Tell me river when the fire ends
Tears are falling down
Like a river through a town
Where I saw the house on the hill
Something in my mind's eye said
I was afraid
Something in the late sky said
I was returning
Back into the river
Where I once had sailed
Back into the fire
Where I was not burning
I saw the house on the hill
It bloomed like a flower
In the summer rain
Tell me fire where the river bends
(Hofstede)
In the office at night
Someone switched off the light
Young man standing by the window
Looking down on the street below
In the office at night
And the light falls through
The windows on the sidewalks
And the light falls through
The windows on the sidewalks
On the corner at night
There's a bar with some tables
Near the window
Coloured squares where the
Nighthawks meet
Creeping out of the dark street
On the corner at night
And the light falls through
The windows on the sidewalks
And the light falls through
(Peters)
The first time we met
You were walking down the street
A copy of blonde on blonde
Under your arm
The first time we met
You were lost in your overcoat
A face that couldn't care less
Nothing is something
No one can do without
You told me but later
Asked to see me again
The first time we met
You were taking your coffee black
Oh oh oh unpleasant surprise
The first time
Last time we met
You were locked up in some suburb
A cynic lost in his critical views
You told me that lately you are
Taking things seriously
Oh oh oh unpleasant surprise
Nothing's still something
No one can do without
You told me but later asked
To see me again
Your friends have all settled
Some even made the grade
Oh oh oh unpleasant surprise
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
I roll up the sleeves
Can she bake a cathedral
Under a canoe
I'm a swimmer in blue
I roll up the sleeves
She takes a lot of pictures
Of animals in water
Fish
Fish
Fish
Under a canoe
A shirt is waving in the meadow
Shirt is waving in the meadow
A shirt is waving in the meadow
Shirt is waving in the meadow
I roll up the sleeves
The night lies on her shoulders
Under a canoe
I'm a swimmer in blue
A shirt is waving in the meadow
Shirt is waving in the meadow
A shirt is waving in the meadow
(Hofstede)
I said it's incredible
You said it's not true at all
Car hits car kills car hits car kills
I said it's a miracle
You said it's incredible
Car hits car kills car hits car kills
My uncle went to Mars he is out there
Looking at the stars uncle on Mars
My uncle went to Mars he is out there
Looking at the stars uncle on Mars
I said it's incredible
You said it's not true at all
Car hits bikes and family targets
I said it's a miracle
You said it's not true at all
Car hits car kills car hits car kills
My uncle went to Mars he is out there
Looking at the stars uncle on Mars
My uncle went to Mars he is out there
Looking at the stars uncle on Mars
Breakfast in those strange hotels
No one listens no one tells
Running in dark cinemas
(Peters)
Posters invite him
To visit a sunny wonderland
The hostess invites him
And offers to take him by the hand
He won't run to catch his train
Umbrella army walking in the rain
Do as so many visit Europe by train
Down at the station
He's one in a crowd that's dressed in grey
He won't run to catch his train
Daily commuters
The same routine each and every day
(Hofstede)
'One hour cleaning'
That's what they say
But they kept my raincoat
For more than a day
One hour shower
I'm soaking wet between
The wellingtons we met
You should see the neigbours and family
When I bring that sweetheart home (with me)
To (for tea)
Day (can see)
That I'm in love with umbrella
And I wish I could tell her
That I'm not like other fellows
'Cos I'm in love with umbrella
I'm not really interested
In a pretty parasol
For our love would not have lasted
(Nits)
When I was a young boy
I was swimming in the river
Drinking the water
When I was young
When she was a young girl
She was diving in the water
Drinking the river
When she was young
Tree is falling
And I'm standing
I'm still living
When I was a young boy
I was living in the city
Watching the river
When I was young
When she was a young girl
She was walking through a wood
Picking the flowers
(Hofstede)
Only rich men can buy
Things the poor man can make
You've got nothing
And they've got plenty
Like a tree falling down
Hits a grape on the ground
They will crush the poor man's head
In books
You can sit beside everyone
In deckchairs travel an ocean
In books
You're a queen for the afternoon
Till the husband steps inside
Tons of ink
Make millions think
Tons of ink
Make you think
Is it you love is this true love
Is it you I'm thinking of love
Is it your lip it's a tulip
Is it you I'm thinking of
Tons of ink
Make millions think
Tons of ink
Make you think
Only poor men can read
All the papers they need
(Nits)
I am waiting
At the bus stop
'TING TING'
With my girlfriend
She is pregnant
Like a raindrop
'TING TING'
And the donkey
And the bull
Are standing next to me
'TING TING'
'Here comes the rain'
'TING TING'
I am walking
With the blind man
I am talking
To the deaf man
'TING TING'
Here comes the rain
Here comes the bicycle
Here comes the girl
here comes the child
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
One key of her typewriter's 4 and the sign of percent
She says that it looks like the face of a former boyfriend
She once typed a whole page of those little noughts and fours
And one big x at the bottom meant 'over' of course
With a backbone of candy she's sitting behind her machine
Her eyes are as the stars in the sky and they're green
Tap tap tap with one finger on the same key
I know its the key of the dollar
She's looking at me
Don't think that it's easy
Don't think that it pleases me
In big hands
Of people who want it all
In big hands
Of people who want it all
My typist of candy you're feeling so sad and so blue
And where is that pretty girl I once knew
She taps the whole paper black and she gives it to me
My typist of candy there's only one question mark key
Don't think that it's easy
Don't think that it pleases me
In big hands
(Hofstede)
On the backseat of a motorscooter
It's so crazy what I'm doing to her
80 miles on the rocks
It's a kid or a crash
Tutti ragazzi with Italian shoes
It doesn't matter if they win or lose
Together we know what to do as long as you
Keep on dancing
keep on dancing
Was it love at first sight
When I saw her that night
Be my lover tonight
Pretty A and B-side
No no bambini for me
Fruiti di mare for you
Pizza margherita
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
Once on a cold grey morning
I was walking home alone
The traffic light in the falling rain
The unanswered phone
I was so sad and lonely
On a lonesome avenue
So sad and lonely
What could I do
Once I opened a drawer
In a room of a strange hotel
I saw a photograph of you
You looked so sad and lonely
On a lonesome avenue
So sad and lonely
What could I do
Once in a railway station
In the city where I live
The windows were like mirrors
In this train
(Hofstede)
Hands up
He said
If you move a little bit you're dead
I want the [melody?] that you were about to get
Tonight
They win
I'm in a cellar and I have to stay in
I have to write a song whether it's right or wrong
Here comes the young reporter
In his overcoat
I'm on the tape recorder
In his motorboat
Is he coming in time for me
Click clack
Turn the key
(Hofstede)
Your picture on a wall
I can see it
It's too small
Your picture
On a wall
Cannot touch it
Hold it closer now
Now I'm waiting on your doorstep
One of the objects
You cannot win you cannot have
I am standing in the greenhouse
Among the apples
You cannot see you cannot smell
Your picture on a wall
I can see it
It's too small
The simple little things
I understand
I can feel it
Hold it closer now
Now I'm headstrong and I wonder
One of the objects
You cannot touch you cannot feel
The vermillion pencil
Is in the right hand
The colours I like
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
Oh when, when will I see you
Oh when, when will I see you
On a highway in a car
On a river in a boat
In a town where everyone is sleeping
It doesn't matter where you go
(Hofstede)
He likes the cold winter nights
And the dark afternoons
The lodger
When there are shadows behind
Every window and blind
The lodger
There's another murder in the news today
He kills only women always blondes they say
They hear the sound of a car
Keep the front door ajar
The lodger
He saw the sign and it said
They had breakfast and bed
The lodger
Behind the thick green curtain
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
I spent some time alone
In an old country home
Where the wallpaper looked like a landscape
In a foreign land
I took some walks alone
Around this old country home
And the landscape looked like the wallpaper
Time's slipping away
Time's slipping away
Time's slipping away
In the rooms of this home
I saw the pictures of the family still young
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
I met her
In a shop
Downtown
She was buying a hat
With a feather
Brown
She said
Or red
That's all she said
That's all she said
'BROWN'
When the rain falls
On our head
Think
Think
Of the time
When we met
In a shop
Downtown
Feather
Brown
She said
Or red
That's all she said
BROWN
No one knows she's still there
No one knows she's still there
Open the door
(Peters)
Looking out my window
Looking at this dirty part of town
Looking out my window
Cold eyes looking cold eyes looking down
You should see them going
Going down not noticing the slope
You should see them going
Empty faces faces without hope
Doctor, it's not that I can't sleep
I call on you it's something else
I tell you doctor, reality is haunting me
Cos' everything's exactly as it is
There's no magic
There's no mystery in the night
No adventure
Only losers, in the morning light
Doctor, I hate to bother you
but take a look yourself you see it's true now
Doctor, I'm haunted by reality
Cos' everything's exactly as it is
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
Suddenly you came to see me
After all those years
You said 'hello'
Time has been a friend
In the town without a home
I went
I'm so alone again
I miss the Bauhaus chair
I miss the Bauhaus chair
Can you turn back
All the pages with the photographs
Can you see that
All the faces
All the houses in the town will fade
The friends that you have made
I take the Bauhaus chair
(Hofstede)
(Your name)
(Address)
(Place of birth)
(Passport number)
(Tickets please)
(Boarding cards)
(Queue here)
(Ladies)
(Gentlemen)
(This way)
(Way out)
Bachelor boy
Sixteen days off
Looking for a
Holiday love
On camping sites
He spends his nights
Can this sun tan
Make him a man
P R factor
Number ten ten
You're frightened of
My freckles love
Can this sun tan
(Hofstede)
He spent his nights
On camping sites
Can this sun tan
Make him a man
He's in one of the tents
She's in one of the tent tent tent tent
(Camping gaz)
(Can can vas)
(Pins and poles)
(Tins in holes)
You're frightened of
My freckles love
Can this sun tan
Make him a man
(Camping gaz)
(Can can vas)
(Radio noise)
Here she comes
There she goes
(Hofstede)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday's gone
Friday Saturday Sunday is no fun
Mr Moonshine that girl is mine
For a long time I was wrong
Take a piece of my heart
Take a piece of my heart
[I?] don't know what to do with it
As long as you're not losing it
You keep it for some years
Have you seen the magazine
The photograph where she was on
She could be a money-honey
In a wolsely sixty-one
How many years ago
I don't know
I don't know
How many years ago
I don't know
I don't know
Suddenly there's 7-up
For you and me and you did run
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday
Seven days they are no fun
When the lady's gone
Take a piece of my heart
(Peters)
Tables and chairs
Do not like one another
They bite in each others legs
Tables
See how they're neatly grouped together
They are a table and four chairs
See how they're peacefully
Standing together
They are two pairs two matching
(Hofstede)
Right behind her in revolving doors
In the window of a passing train
Talking shadow in a telephone box
I was running
She was walking
It was one of those rainy days
I was looking
She was turning
(Peters)
He doesn't talk much
He doesn't move about either
No one likes him
No one dares to come nearer
It started harmlessly
Heavy on every knee
Couldn't tell from the start
He was a piece of art
He's becoming
He's becoming a statue
Not a bit like
Bit like me and you
He is very
Very much his own man
Look his face!
He's a made out of stone man
It started harmlessly
Heavy on every knee
Couldn't tell from the start
He was a piece of art
We think he's becoming
He's becoming a statue
A statue
Tell me Harry
(Stips)
Down in the airshaft
Of the old hotel
Doors on both sides
Of a concrete cell
No sign of daylight
No happy view
A two-pillow mattress
One hardly used
And a man lies still
His face up to the moon
The sound of footsteps
In the corridor
Two hands knocking
On a pair of doors
The black and shiny
Limousine
Comes to a standstill
Silently
And the man behind the wheel he croons a tune
(Peters)
Shake your rattle fly your kite
There's evil in the dark
Spirits awake spirits awake
Hear the sad song on the water
Someone passed away
Spirits awake spirits awake
Two worlds side by side
In broad daylight in darkest night
Spirits awake spirits awake
Don't offend the ghosts the jinns
That hide behind the bush
Spirits awake
You cannot see them you cannot touch them
Yet they're all too real
Spirits awake spirits awake
She does not even warn me
Or tells me she's coming tomorrow
But suddenly she's there - On my doorstep
She does not even cry - Cry like the other girls
But suddenly there are tears - On my pillow
Her eyes are going to burn me down
Every time that she is in my town
I try to swim and then I almost drown
She's Sorrow She's Sorrow
Her shadow whispers in my ears
She is telling me about my fears
She's Sorrow She's Sorrow
She does not even want me
She tells me she is looking for another man
But suddenly she's there - At my table
She does not even smile - Smile like the other girls
But suddenly there's laughter - Outside my window
She does not even like me
She calls me a liar and a dreamer
Suddenly she's gone when I wake up
She does not even warn me
Or tell me she's coming tomorrow
(Hofstede)
Young red guards will fight the waves on yellow river
There to face a force ten typhoon tiger mountain
Are we playing ping pong
I'm on your side
You're on my side
I'm on your side
You're on my side
We play or fight
On this table
I am able
On this table
You are able
To win tonight
Are we playing ping pong
Golden bamboos grow on our chuang mountain
Ah the red stars on our caps the guns in our hands
I'm on your side
You're on my side
I'm on your side
You're on my side
(Peters)
The evening has come to an end
Although we were very close friends
Somehow it ends
I met you a long time ago
I don't think that you'll ever know
I miss you so
I hope you come see me tonight
The last time you looked out of sight
Looked out of sight
Instead of you watching TV
You might spend an evening with me
Maybe you'll see
There's more between you and I
Than empty words and space
I'd love to see your face
When I talk to you on the phone
You stop me from feeling alone
Feeling alone
You said that you will but you won't
You promised to do but you don't
Do but you don't
You promised me once before
You never got past my door
You let me down once before
The evening has come to an end
I don't think that I call again
Somehow it ends
You said you come and see me tonight
You didn't so I have to try
(Nits)
I saw a box in New York
Inside the MOMA
Clay pipe and cork
It's a soap bubble
It's a soap bubble
I saw a map of the moon
Cut out of camels
Tin spoon
It's a soap bubble
It's a soap bubble
He is walking very slow through
Manhattan
In the snow
Joseph Cornell
I saw an egg painted blue
Rhinestones in 4 rows of 2
It's a soap bubble
It's a soap bubble
(Hofstede)
Beware of the slip of the tongue
Don't say nothing
When the company is wrong
You smile and they're shaking your hand
When you're older you will understand
(Nits)
He is counting all my footsteps
I am looking at my watch
Night Fall
See him walk
The somnambulist
He is counting all the trees
Night Fall
In the ponds and in the ditches
He is counting all
The ducks and swans
Night Fall
Whistle bird in the window
Lightbulb and the rising moon
Night Fall
It's the watch on the thin wrist
Of the somnambulist who walks
Night Fall
Night falls
Moon in heaven
He is dreaming of a park
(Hofstede)
East west home's best
There's no place like home
No letters in the box
No voices on the phone
Elevator up and down
Floor one to ten
When I'm almost on the street
I go up again
New flat!
Big table small bed
New kitchen too
Neighbours I've never met
And I don't need you
Home's where the heart is
This heart of stone
Litter in the box
Noises on the phone
New flat big table and a small bed
New flat black white yellow blue red
New flat skyline I'm looking at
New flat neighbours I've never met
There's a suitcase filled with
Interesting papers nervous little
Drawings of the many big inventions
That I've made
East west home's best
Don't be my guest
I wanna be alone
(Hofstede)
Nescio
Questo paradiso
Nescio
Nella bocca del luppo
Nescio
Lo straniero ` morto
Nescio
Questo paradiso
I jumped off a bridge
And went swimming for hours
And nobody nobody's looking
I came to a hotel with
Double rooms and showers
And nobody nobody's knocking
The phone rings on a nightstand
Somebody whispers 'hello' I don't know
Too many words after so many miles
Somebody whispers 'hello' I don't know
I don't know
Nescio
Questo paradiso
Nescio
(Hofstede/Kloet/Stips - Hofstede)
I'm moved by her
Moved by her
She got a room in the back of the house
I know a wall with a hole of a mouse
I'm looking at her with my secret eye
Nobody knows the reason that I'm
Moved by her
Moved by her
Pink is the moon
Pink is her ass
Nipple aux Dijon
Giggle undress
I'm moved by her
Moved by her
Peep through the hole
I see her eyes
She's looking at me
I'm looking at her
I'm moved by her
Moved by her
Talk to me
(Hofstede)
She's so innocent
He's so different
On this mountain in Switzerland
She knows nothing 'bout boys
He had too much choice
On this mountain in Switzerland
The instructor is a handsome man
He's going up and down again
Oh no I oh no no I
She knows nothing 'bout boys
He had too many toys
On this mountain in Switzerland
He's so different
She's so innocent
On this mountain in Switzerland
She's a typist she's a tourist
Like an iceberg never been kissed
Oh no no I oh no no I
Don't wanna spend my holiday on ice
She's so different
He's so innocent
On this mountain in Switzerland
He knows nothing 'bout boys
She had too much choice
On this mountain in Switzerland
The vulcano's covered up with snow
It's twenty-five below zero
Oh no I oh no no I
