The Year Of The Nine

looking at people
i once used to know
they used to know me
i just let it all go
i couldn't hang on to
whatever i lost
just passing the days
counting the cost

some may have wondered
where have i been?
i used to be here a lot back then
i remember the days
i remember the times
then i lost my way in the year of the nine

i had a dream
guess i had quite a few
but the dream was obscured
so it's long overdue
what's left of my voice
still wants to sing
but time passed me by
i don't sing anything

some may have wondered
where have i been?
i used to be here a lot back then
i remember the days
i remember the times
then i lost my way in the year of the nine

my greatest weakness
is my greatest strength
i don't know how to give up
when the quittin' bell rings
i still see the world
in the back of my heart
just like it was then
just a pure as the start

some may have wondered
where have i been?
i used to be here a lot back then
i remember the days
i remember the times
then i lost my way in the year of the nine

(2011 db michel)

Someday, Someone

you can cry if you want to
but in the end
no one can win this battle but you
you can lie to the world
and be it's friend
or you can turn back the lies and reveal the truth

someday
someone
will matter enough
and you'll say it
sometime
when the feeling is right
someday
someone
will see see through your pain
and embrace you
sometime
you'll be seeing the light

you can live in the darkness
that holds you still
no one can free this prisoner but you
you can sing to yourself
but you never will
or you can sing to the world and let the dream come true

someday
someone
will matter enough
and you'll say it
sometime
when the feeling is right
someday
someone
will see see through your pain
and embrace you
sometime
you'll be seeing the light

(2011 db michel)

Who Out There?

days...and days and nights rise and fall
years pass you by
and still no one...to stand beside you
tears...and all the pain makes them run
years come and go
and still no one...to stand beside you

(chorus)
who out there... gonna be the one to love you?
who out there...gonna step inside?
and walk into your heart
who out there...gonna be the one to listen?
who out there...gonna take the time?
and be the one to care

faith...and hopes and dreams leave you cold
your heart's runnin' dry
and still no one...to stand beside you
life...just another fast runnin' train
you hear the sound
and still no one...to stand beside you

(chorus)
who out there...gonna be the one to love you?
who out there...gonna step inside?
and walk into your heart
who out there...gonna be the one to listen?
who out there...gonna take the time?
and be the one to care

(bridge)
all this emptiness...a vacuum deep as space
when all you ever wanted...was played back...then erased

(chorus)
who out there...gonna be the one to love you
who out there...gonna step inside
and walk into your heart
who out there...gonna be the one to listen
who out there...gonna take the time
and be the one to care

(2011 db michel)

The Heat Of The Day (Ain't What It Used To Be)

noon is near
fall is falling
and the heat of the day ain't what it used to be
time to run
and the runners are running
but the wage they get ain't what it used to be
my belly's full
of the empty promise
and the speakers word ain't what used to be
the road is long
and bridge is crumblin'
the way back home ain't what it used to be...

(2011 db michel)

Doobie Do

night time looming
day time zooming
the data bits fly so fast
till the future is in the past
dreamtime waiting
i'm still waking
the stream always has it's way
tells me when it's time to play

(chorus)
ah doobie do
ah doobie dah
ah doobie wah
do do do doobie
la la la
la la la la

world time spending
day is ending
the data bits tell the tale
'cause the system's too big to fail
night time falling
dream time calling
the stream sends me on my way
down the wire it's time to play

(chorus)
ah doobie do
ah doobie dah
ah doobie wah
do do do doobie
la la la
la la la la

(bridge)
chop it in pieces
send it again
the binary code begins and it ends
encrypt it in legend
decode in prose
tells you the story
that's how it goes

(chorus)
ah doobie do
ah doobie dah
ah doobie wah
do do do doobie
la la la
la la la la

(2011 db michel)

The Ballad of the Busch Squirrel

runnin' like a squirrel do
zoomin' cross the infield grass
home plate in his view screen looms
one more frontier he must pass
the batter stands oblivious
to the nimble creature on the way
the pitcher stands incredulous
the umpire makes the pitcher pay
he calls a ball the hurler screams
that squirrel ain't on either team!
the call will stand
the squirrel will not
he must run on
or he'll be caught!

(2011 db michel)

The Gift

What if what you had dreamed of all your life had just appeared before your eyes?...And you didn't even know...

What if this was not the first time?...What if your dream come true had been presented to you before?...But you let it pass you by...

After having been rescued from the jaws of death more times than he was aware of...Will he ever learn to accept the gift?...

More than life..More than love...It's the gift of a new world...He dreamed of it as a child..Never suspecting that it was more than a dream...

He had been there...It was true...All of it...The ship with the silver seats...The view from the window...The control panel...

The promise to him as a little boy that he would know what to do when the time came...Now the time has come...Now they're back...

(2011 db michel)

The Signal

there's a signal we don't know
someone else is sending
try to find it in the stars
but space and time is always bending
if we hear them one fine day
would the mystery be ending
would the song they sing make us uptight?
or would it fill us with delight?

(2011 db michel)

The Survivors

it is the season of dark and lonely thoughts...
as the warm daylight's time recedes..
and the cold night's rule expands...
As the leaves fall and the green things die...
i remember many years ago this season...
i lost something i would miss for many years...
something i never knew that i had...
out of the ashes then...
the survivors were lost to each other...
forever...
as if the flames had consumed them too

(2011 db michel)

Justice and Unity

everybody's talking about justice and unity
all the while they're waiting for someone to lead them
everybody's wanting something to live for
but they don't know it's already here

everyone is dreaming of some great tomorrow
leaving today to die lying fallow
everyone wants a dream that will answer
the question of why they are here

all the world is pulling in different directions
while the powers that be try to crush insurrections
all the world is living on time that is borrowed
the rent is now long overdue

why do we have to suffer this shame?
who are we?
should we try to explain?
is it time to face our fears?
are they right?
should we all disappear?

everybody's talking about justice and unity
all the while they're waiting for someone to lead them
everybody's wanting something to live for
but they don't know that it's already here

(2007 db michel)

Deluded

i feel like i'm intruding
these days i'm so deluded
and i don't like to think of the nights
i think i'm gonna make it
then i do something to break it
and i tell myself it's alright
another one is coming
so why should i be running?
guess i don't believe that it's true
i never felt deserving
i guess that's why i keep losing
is it too late to change that too?

(2011 db michel)

Yes You Can!

sometimes the darkness gets inside of me
makes me doubt what i believe
and in those darkest hours it's hard to see
any hope in anything

but then a voice from deep inside me
rises up as if to guide me
if it's not OK...just give it...another day

what ever it is
yes you can!
if you hold on
if you hold on to the dream inside you
whatever it is
make your stand
and you will find that tomorrow's in your hand

and on those nights i'm feeling lonely
in a place where i don't wanna be
and in the emptiness it's only me
and i find no good in anything

but then a voice from deep inside me
rises up as if to guide me
if it's not OK...just give it...another day

what ever it is
yes you can!
if you hold on
if you hold on to the dream inside you
whatever it is
make your stand
and you will find that tomorrow's in your hand

(2011 db michel)

Hurricane

I said to the old man...waiting in vain
the others left with the hurricane
the sky grew dark...and they moved west
not wanting tried...by natures test
so you and me...are the human race
in this rainy...windy...lonely place...

(2011 db michel)

Social Undertow

you don't have to tell me...i know my place
there's a kind of cool that i'll never know
swim as fast as i can...still i lose the race
caught up in the social undertow
there's a place in the sky...only stars can shine
i can watch them look down on me
i'm stuck on the ground...'cause the dreams not mine
so i can't be where i wanna be

(2011 db michel)

I'd Like To Know

sadness reigns upon my brow

the world is heavy on me now

i see a place with pain and strife

and those who hunger every night

a better world i'd like to see

for all of them and you and me

if there's a way to make this be

i'd like to know...



2011 db michel

The Party's Over

the bar is empty
an empty beer stands alone
on a vacant table
left by someone who's gone
the night is over
the morning has come
my eyes are weary
it's time to move on

i'm stone cold sober
as i look at the scene
like a thousand barrooms
that i've seen in my dreams
the party noises
have faded and gone
the party's over
it's time to move on

(bridge)

and where do we go
now that we're fading away
the ghost of you and me
in a memory of yesterday

i turn around now
and see the faces we've been
friends and lovers
we thought till the end
but the light brings changes
the morning bares scars
from the people we were
to the people we are

(2007/2011 db michel)

Rocket Ride

if i could i would take a rocket ship and fly
to mars or some other destination in the sky
i just know that i'm meant to go
though it seems sometimes i've been before
but my mind is foggy about those days
when i was a child and could dream in space
mom and dad don't seem to remember at all
about the trip i took when i was small
i want to get back and see again
the sights i must have seen back then
in whispered tones the men in suits did say
you can never reveal that he's been in space
so no one knows except for me
about the rocket ship with the silver seats
and the lady who told me not to cry
we're just going on a rocket ride
though i am older no longer a child
yesterdays history still has to hide
but inside my heart will always stay
the dream of once again flying away

(db michel 2004)

The Fiddler On The Hill

I CAN HEAR THE FIDDLER PLAYING
HIGH UPON THE HILL
HE WATCHES FIRES BURNING
AND HE GETS A SECRET THRILL
HE'LL KEEP ON PLAYING FIDDLE
ALL THE LONG NIGHT LONG
WHILE THE FIRE JUST KEEPS ON BURNING
TO THE FIDDLER'S SONG

WHERE USED TO BE A MANSION
NOW STANDS A PILE OF ASH
ALL THAT ONCE WAS TREASURED
IS NOTHING MORE THAN TRASH
STILL THE FIDDLER KEEPS ON PLAYING
ALL THE LONG NIGHT LONG
WHILE THE FIRE JUST KEEPS ON BURNING
TO THE FIDDLER'S SONG

(bridge)
WHO'S TO BLESS AND WHO'S TO BLAME?
AND DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
TO THE FIDDLER ON THE HILL
IS HE THE ONLY SANE ONE?
OR IS HE MADDER THAN A HATTER?
THE FIRES KEEP ON BURNING
AND THE WORLD JUST KEEPS ON TURNING

WHAT USED TO BE A CITY
IS NOW ENGULFED IN FIRE
THE PEOPLE TRIED TO FIGHT IT
BUT THEY JUST MADE THE FLAMES BURN HIGHER
STILL THE FIDDLER KEEPS ON PLAYING
ALL THE LONG NIGHT LONG
WHILE THE FIRE JUST KEEPS ON BURNING
TO THE FIDDLER'S SONG


(2006 db michel)

Way Past Treasure

the last time through
did i know you?
in the time before
did i know the best of you?
i can think
but i can't remember
was there something lost?
that once was treasured
the last time through
did i know you?

in the previous dance
did i take that chance?
did i live for love?
instead of learning second hand
i can dream
but i can't believe it
was there something there
more than a feeling
in the previous dance
did i take the chance

holding on to hopes and dreams
as life goes streaming by
you don't have to understand
why i still try
why i still smile

in the other world
were you the one?
in that other time world
did i know you as the one?
did i wake too soon?
i can't remember
was there something there?
that was way past treasure
in the other world
were you the one?

(2011 db michel)

You Don't Know That I Know

everyone has their secret mystery
tales of the heart that are not told
everyone has a place they go
deep in the dark with their secret soul
we go there and hope we're not alone

you don't know that i know
that i know what you know
you don't know that i know
what's been going on

everyone has another story
needs of the heart that they won't tell
everyone has somewhere to go
a hope in the dark where the truth can grow
we go there and hope we're not alove

you don't know that i know
that i know what you know
you don't know that i know
what's been going on

you can hide if you want to
but i've already seen the light
if we ever say the words we'll be alright

you don't know that i know
that i know what you know
you don't know that i know
what's been going on

(2010 db michel)

Waiting For My Timeline

looking at the sad expanse
trying to find my happiness
i left it in the future
trying to find a reason why
trying to remember why i try
the emptiness frees me

waiting for the future
waiting for a dream
an image of the shadow
where it's supposed to be
waiting for my timeline
waiting for a smile
i'm still here and waiting
i'll be waiting for awhile

looking at the empty miles
trying to remember why i smile
i'm thinking of the future
holding on to promise made
remembering the price i paid
because it was my duty

if i did what i wanted to when i wanted to
i would have been late for my destiny
if i had known what i wanted to know
i wouldn't be the me i needed to be

waiting for the future
waiting for a dream
an image of the shadow
where it's supposed to be
waiting for my timeline
waiting for a smile
i'm still here and waiting
i'll be waiting for awhile

(2010 db michel)