Tower of Babel-Elton John and Bernie Taupin. (Yes, them again.
)
Snow, cement and ivory young towers
Someone called us Babylon
Those hungry hunters
Tracking down the hours
But where were all your shoulders when we cried
Were the darlings on the sideline
Dreaming up such cherished lies
To whisper in your ear before you die
It's party time for the guys in the tower of Babel
Sodom meet Gomorrah, Cain meet Abel
Have a ball y'all
See the letches crawl
With the call girls under the table
Watch them dig their graves
`Cause Jesus don't save the guys
In the tower of Babel
Watch them dig their graves
`Cause Jesus don't save the guys
In the tower of Babel, no no no
Junk, angel, this closet's always stacked
The dealers in the basement
Filling your prescription
For a brand new heart attack
But where were all your shoulders when we cried
Were the doctors in attendance
Saying how they felt so sick inside
Or was it just the scalpel blade that lied
_________________________________________
Bitter Fingers-Elton John and Bernie Taupin
I'm going on the circuit, I'm doing all the clubs
And I really need a song boys to stir those workers up
And get their wives to sing it with me just like in the pubs
When I worked the good old pubs in Stepney
Oh could you knock a line or two together for a friend
Sentimental tear inducing with a happy end
And we need a tune to open our season at Southend
Can you help us
It's hard to write a song with bitter fingers
So much to prove, so few to tell you why
Those old die-hards in Denmark Street start laughing
At the keyboard player's hollow haunted eyes
It seems to me a change is really needed
I'm sick of tra-la-las and la-de-das
No more long days hocking hunks of garbage
Bitter fingers never swung on swinging stars, swinging stars
I like the warm blue flame, the hazy heat it brings
It loosens up the muscles and forces you to sing
You know it's just another hit and run from the tin pan alley twins
And there's a chance that one day you might write a standard lads
So churn them out quick and fast and we'll still pat your backs
`Cause we need what we can get to launch another dozen acts
Are you working
__________________________________________________________
Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy-Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Captain Fantastic raised and regimented, hardly a hero
Just someone his mother might know
Very clearly a case for corn flakes and classics
"Two teas both with sugar please"
In the back of an alley
While little Dirt Cowboys turned brown in their saddles
Sweet chocolate biscuits and red rosy apples in summer
For it's hay make and "Hey mom, do the papers say anything good.
Are there chances in life for little Dirt Cowboys
Should I make my way out of my home in the woods"
Brown Dirt Cowboy, still green and growing
City slick Captain
Fantastic the feedback
The honey the hive could be holding
For there's weak winged young sparrows that starve in the winter
Broken young children on the wheels of the winners
And the sixty-eight summer festival wallflowers are thinning
For cheap easy meals and hardly a home on the range
Too hot for the band with a desperate desire for change
We've thrown in the towel too many times
Out for the count and when we're down
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
From the end of the world to your town
And all this talk of Jesus coming back to see us
Couldn't fool us
For we were spinning out our lines walking on the wire
Hand in hand went music and the rhyme
The Captain and the Kid stepping in the ring
From here on sonny sonny sonny, it's a long and lonely climb
_______________________________________________________
Tell Me When The Whistle Blows-EJ and BT (Elton John and Bernie Taupin)
There's a dusty old gutter he's lying in now
He's blind and he's old
And there's a bottle that rolls down the road
Me I'm young and I'm so wild
And I still feel the need
Of your apron strings once in a while
For there's taxi cabs hooting
But I can't be foot-loose forever
My suitcase it's a cheap one
My darling she's a dear one
My head's feeling light as a feather
Take my ears and tell me when the whistle blows
Wake me up and tell me when the whistle blows
Long lost and lonely boy
you're just a black sheep going home
I want to feel your wheels of steel
Underneath my itching heels
Take my money
Tell me when the whistle blows
Part of me asked the young man for the time
With a cool vacant stare of undue concern
He said nine
It's not so bad but I really do love the land
And rather all this than those diamante lovers
In Hyde Park holding hands
Blowing heat through my fingers
Trying to kill off this cold
Will the street kids remember
Can I still shoot a fast cue
Has this country kid still got his soul
_______________________________________
(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket-EJ and BT
I can hound you if I need to
Sip your brandy from a crystal shoe
In the corner, in the corner
While others climb reaching dizzy heights
The world's in front of me in black and white
I'm on the bottom line, I'm on the bottom line
I'd have a cardiac if I had such luck
Lucky losers, lucky losers landing on skid row
Landing on skid row
While the Diamond Jims
And the Kings road pimps
Breath heavy in their brand new clothes
I'm on the bottom line, I'm on the bottom line
And I gotta get a meal ticket
To survive you need a meal ticket
To stay alive you need a meal ticket
Feel no pain, no pain
No regret, no regret
When the line's been signed
You're someone else
Do yourself a favor, the meal ticket does the rest
Shake a hand if you have to
Trust in us and we will love you anyway, anyway
Don't leave us stranded in the jungle
With fifty percent that's hard to handle
Ain't that so, ain't that so
______________________________________
We All Fall in Love Sometimes-EJ and BT
Wise men say
It looks like rain today
It crackled on the speakers
And trickled down the sleepy subway trains
For heavy eyes could hardly hold us
Aching legs that often told us
It's all worth it
We all fall in love sometimes
The full moon's bright
And starlight filled the evening
We wrote it and I played it
Something happened it's so strange this feeling
Naive notions that were childish
Simple tunes that tried to hide it
But when it comes
We all fall in love sometimes
Did we, didn't we, should we couldn't we
I'm not sure `cause sometimes we're so blind
Struggling through the day
When even your best friend says
Don't you find
We all fall in love sometimes
And only passing time
Could kill the boredom we acquired
Running with the losers for a while
But our Empty Sky was filled with laughter
Just before the flood
Painting worried faces with a smile
_________________________________
Writing-EJ and BT
Is there anything left
Maybe steak and eggs
Waking up to washing up
Making up your bed
Lazy days my razor blade
Could use a better edge
It's enough to make you laugh
Relax in a nice cool bath
Inspiration for navigation
Of our new found craft
I know you and you know me
It's always half and half
And we were oh oh, so you know
Not the kind to dawdle
Will the things we wrote today
Sound as good tomorrow
We will still be writing
In approaching years
Stifling yawns on Sundays
As the weekends disappear
We could stretch our legs if we'd half a mind
But don't disturb us if you hear us trying
To instigate the structure of another line or two
Cause writing's lighting up
And I like life enough to see it through
^
