℗ 2006
Postcards From Richard Nixon Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid We heard Richard Nixon say, welcome to the USA The common sense I sometimes lack Has opened up a seismic crack We've fallen in and I can't pull back And I guess we'll have to stay In open arms we put our trust they put us on a big red bus Twin spirits soaking up a dream Fuel to feed the press machine After years that were long and lean We're finally on our way chorus: And Richard Nixon's on his knees he's sent so many overseas He'd like to know if you and me could help him in some way A little camouflage and glue to mask the evil that men do A small diversion caused by two, pale kids come to play And we heard Richard Nixon say "welcome to the USA" Neither of us understood the way things ticked in Hollywood We just loaded in and grabbed the bat With little room to swing a cat And pretty soon we were where it's at Or so the papers say And all around us suntanned teens, beauty like we'd never seen Our heroes led us by the hand Through Brian Wilson's promised land Where Disney's God and he commands Both mice and men to stay [repeat chorus] In a bright red Porsche on Sunset I saw Steve McQueen I guess he's just about the coolest guy I've ever seen And for you and me that speeding car is how it's going to be I see no brakes just open road and lots of gasoline Oh we heard Richard Nixon say, welcome to the USA The common sense I sometimes lack Has opened up a seismic crack We've fallen in and I can't pull back Pale kids come to play And we heard Richard Nixon say, I've gotta go but you can stay © 2006
Just Like Noah's Ark Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid It's just like Noah's ark There's two of every kind Pretty girls and boys in drag Walking a fine thin line Shaking hands and bussing cheeks Llicking their lips like they could eat Me alive in a couple of weeks Yeah, just like Noah's ark Italiano promotion men Chomping a big cigar Slapping backs and making cracks About the fags in the bar Radio boss dipping his nose in a little white packet You can put it out son and we'll all back it Yea it's just like Noah's ark chorus: And the waves are crashing around us But we're ready for the flood And we don't need a sign like an olive branch In the beak of a snow white dove We're not as dumb as we might look You can't keep us in the dark With me and you it's two by two Just like Noah's ark These four walls have seen The Cockettes and the Casters From San Francisco to Ohio I've seen beauty and disaster Cocky young roosters and little chicks Flashing smiles, shaking them hips Trying to hook it up for the late night shift Here in Noah's ark chorus: And the waves are crashing around us And we're ready for the flood And we don't need a sign like an olive branch In the beak of a snow white dove We're not as dumb as we might look Or locked up in the dark We can sort out the snakes from the animals Just like Noah's ark And we wrote it as we saw it From the centre of the stage All access to the liars Who claim they wrote a page But for every tiny dancer There's a dog that's had its day The truth is never quite the same As what the papers say [repeat chorus] © 2006
Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC) Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid I remember it like it was yesterday Snow in the park and skaters on the ice Long black cars standing side-by-side Loading up the boys at night Turned up our collars to the chill of the wind Caught an innocent smile from a taxi at the lights Not something you'd see on a New York street It's such an uncommon sight chorus: But I wouldn't have it any other way This city's got a thing about it Don't try to understand it New York City I'd really like to stay New York City I wouldn't have you I wouldn't have you any other way Oh the subway rumbled underneath Italian lights where Joey Gallo died And the man on the door down at Fifty Four's Is letting only the pretty inside I'd wake with a stranger under the covers Late in the day and longing for the night Just like the snowfall there's so many bodies But somehow it feels so right [repeat chorus] And I can feel the magic And read a million lips And no matter what might happen They'll never sink this ship [repeat chorus] © 2006
Tinderbox Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid Nostradamus said "I predict That the world will end at half past six" What he didn't say was exactly when Was he listening to the radio Was he listening to the government Well he got us spooked anyway We'd been running hot up until today But a wind of change blew across our sales We were coasting on a winning streak We were kings until the power failed chorus: We've been living in a tinderbox And two sparks can set the whole thing off Rubbing up together around the clock Lately we've been getting more roll than rock You and me together in a tinderbox Tinderbox, two sparks can set the whole thing off Rubbing up together around the clock Lately we've been getting more roll than rock You and me together in a tinderbox Godzilla came in disguise Tore the building down right before our eyes Kept the needle out of the red balloon Was he worried we might go too far Maybe wind up rhyming moon and June The sun descends down in Mexico While a fancy car back on Savile Row Shows the price of fame leads to overkill Things are gonna have to change Some holes along the road get filled [repeat chorus] Pressure's gonna cook us if we don't unlock it Guns going off if we don't uncock it We've gotta climb out of the other one's pocket Or we're gonna burn out on this beautiful rocket [repeat chorus] © 2006
And The House Fell Down Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid The sun is up and the shades are all pulled down I'm more paranoid with every little sound Like the leaf blower blowing the leaves around And a siren wailing on the other side of town Oh the TVs on and the colors really hurt my head If I could think straight I'd wish I was dead Or curled up naked in my lover's bed Instead I'm hanging over Hell suspended by a single thread chorus: And I don't recall who said it at this time That your enemies grow strong on what you leave behind I built it up and the wolf he came around He huffed and puffed He huffed and puffed He huffed and puffed He huffed and puffed and the house fell down With a rolled up note I'm hovering on that line Three days on a diet of cocaine and wine And a little weed just to level me sometimes I put the clock in the drawer 'cause I've cancelled out the time chorus: And still that saying gets inside my mind That your enemies grow strong on what you leave behind I built it up and the wolf he came around He huffed and puffed He huffed and puffed He huffed and puffed He huffed and puffed and the house fell down So don't knock on my door, don't try to call I'm holed up in this room talking to the wall When you're high as this you think you know it all When you're this deep in there's no place else to fall [repeat chorus] [repeat chorus] © 2006
Blues Never Fade Away Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid He wasn't famous but I sure did love him I've got his picture in a little frame He lost his life to a big disease before it even had a name But there's so many more and I've lost count The hows and whys aren't important now All that matters is they came around And brightened up our lives She was twenty one with her life ahead You don't need to know her name She breathed her last on the cold stone floor of a Hollywood arcade But fate's right hand isn't always just Puts a lot of pressure on your faith and trust She was just a little girl, ain't that enough To rage against the day chorus: And how did we get so lucky Targets on the rifle range Who makes the call and who gets to choose Who gets to win and who gets to lose It's like a rolling dice in the belly of the blues And blues never fade away Hey hey hey, colors run when the rain falls But blues never fade away He shone so bright with a lust for life Like the Sun King that he was His passions hung upon his walls and were printed onto cloth And for reasons I never understood About the choices made between the bad and good I've tried to figure out why The pain never goes away [repeat chorus] And there's marble markers and little white crosses Along the beaten path And I've spread their ashes on the wind And I miss John Lennon's laugh [repeat chorus] © 2006
The Bridge Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid I've seen the bridge and the bridge is long And they built it high and they built it strong Strong enough to hold the weight of time Long enough to leave some of us behind chorus: And every one of us has to face that day Do you cross the bridge or do you fade away And every one of us that ever came to play Has to cross the bridge or fade away Standing on the bridge looking at the waves Seen so many jump, never seen one saved On a distant beach your song can die On a bitter wind, on a cruel tide [repeat chorus] And the bridge it shines Oh cold hard iron Saying come and risk it all Or die trying [repeat chorus] © 2006
I Must Have Lost It On The Wind Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid I'm no longer counting, I'm not keeping score I could say my list of lovers doesn't matter anymore But some are always in my heart And some I'm not so sure Either way they all left their mark And for some I found a cure chorus: And from one you learn something And another you learn, nothing And there's one who might teach you everything But before I learned to listen And if indeed someone said it Then I guess I must have lost it on the wind Back when I was younger each one was a prize Love just came along and hit you right between the eyes And one was just a trophy catch And one was like a curse Some would want to bleed you dry Some might quench your thirst [repeat chorus] [repeat chorus] In cold water I went fishing in warm seas I cast a line And swore the heart I was reeling in was perfect at the time You couldn't tell me I was wrong, you couldn't tell me anything And if you did then I guess I must have lost it on the wind © 2006
Old '67 Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid Hey how about this A little conversation tonight Thinking aloud how we struggled to find Our place in the dizzy heights Don't often do this We never really get the chance Nearly froze to death on Oxford Street Now we're sitting in the South of France Talking through the evening It's good to shoot the breeze Just you and me on a balcony And cicadas singing in the trees chorus: Old '67 what a time it was What a time of innocence, what a time we've lost Raise a glass and have a laugh, have a laugh or two Here's to old '67 and an older me and you Sentimental twilight Conversing on those virgin days Laughing about how the two of us sound Like a Tennessee Williams play Honest, it's amazing That we can get together at all For in between the saddle and the grand piano We can read the writing on the wall Talking through the evening Sitting here side by side Just you and me on a balcony It's a little bit funny this feeling inside [repeat chorus] [repeat chorus] © 2006
The Captain And The Kid Music by Elton John Lyrics by Bernie Taupin Available on the album The Captain And The Kid I've been out here on this road some Can't help feeling I've been showing my friends around I've seen it growing from next to nothing Into a giant eating up your town Called up the tealeaves and the tarots Asked the gypsy what she sees in the palm of our hands She saw a mountain and a wild deer running A crazy kid becoming a better man But we stuck around for the fireworks Waiting to explode Shaped our futures, you a tumbleweed And me on a yellow brick road Pleasing the people some of the time For better or for worse An urban soul in a fine silk suit And a heart out west in a Wrangler shirt chorus: And you can't go back and if you try it fails Looking up ahead I see a rusty nail A sign hanging from it saying "Truth for sale" And that's what we did No lies at all just one more tale About the Captain and the Kid We've been missing at times in action Can't imagine what he said he might do for you The devil got to come to the party sometimes But he never got to wear our shoes Oh we've conjured up what we created Way back then when I was standing up in six-inch heels Now you're riding off into the sunset And I'm still spinning like a Catherine wheel But we stuck around for the battle Waiting for a plan To turn you into the Brown Dirt Cowboy And me into a rocket man It pleases the people some of the time Digging into our roots But I got a brand new pair of shoes And you're on a horse in old cowboy boots [repeat chorus] [repeat chorus] © 2006