Crazy Dreams – Jim Newsom

released September 29, 1992

WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT
Words and music by Jim Newsom

Well, I read a couple stories, saw the news
About farmers who were losing their land
In their sadness, they were angry and confused
Victimized by forces they couldn’t understand.
They know how to kill a man
Without even firing a shot
When they go out and tell a man
He’s losing everything he’s got.
Everybody’s got a right to make a living
That’s the least we can do
But from the calloused auction block of the foreclosers,
They walk away with nowhere to go.

There is a good man who put in twenty five years
At a multistate bank, he helped it grow
But after giving all he had to his career,
When the profit margin slipped, he was let go.
They know how to kill a man
Without even firing a shot
When they go out and tell a man
He’s losing everything he’s got.
Here was a fifty year old man with years of knowledge
And wisdom from experience
And though he’d made a lot of money for the company,
When the cutbacks came, he had nowhere to go.

There is a song that says love is all you need
Sometimes love is the one thing we can’t find
But only love can cultivate the seed
That blossoms and gives meaning to our lives
‘Cause they know how to kill a man
Without even firing a shot
When they go out and tell a man
He’s losing everything he’s got.

DON’T YOU KNOW ABOUT LOVE
Words and music by Jim Newsom

You got your daughter, you got your son
You’re uncertain ’bout the things you’ve done
You’re under pressure, there’s stress all around
You can’t believe the emotions you’ve found
But, baby, don’t you know about love
Don’t you know about love?
Now you’re gonna throw it away
It really doesn’t matter, so you say.
Baby, don’t you know about
Baby, aren’t you sure about
Baby, don’t you know about…
Don’t you know about love?

You say your parents don’t understand
They tell you go back and try it again
It could be worse, kids need their dad
Nobody’s perfect, he’s not really that bad
But, baby, don’t you know about love
Don’t you know about love?
You don’t love him, it’s true
You love me and I love you.
Baby, don’t you know about
Baby, aren’t you sure about
Baby, don’t you know about…
Don’t you know about love?

Love is intense, love is a fire
Love is fueled by the flames of desire
A love like ours is precious and rare
This love of ours should be handled with care
Baby, don’t you know about love
Don’t you know about love?
Now I see two fragile hearts
On the brink, breaking apart
Baby, don’t you know about
Baby, aren’t you sure about
Baby, don’t you know about
Don’t you know about love?

OPEN SPACES
Words and music by Jim Newsom

Open doors, open windows
Open my eyes to the world outside
Open spaces where the wind blows
To those places, I’m gonna ride.

I useta talk a lot about getting back
to a simpler way of living
Without ivory towers or smoking stacks
Taking only what’s being given.

Open doors, open windows
Open my eyes to the world outside
Open spaces where the wind blows
To those places, I’m gonna ride.

I have lived too long as an urban verb
trying to get in on the action
But this asphalt farm with its concrete curb
is losing its attraction.

There was a time I can recall
There was a movement to free us all
Back to nature and back to the earth
Out of the cities and past the suburbs.

I look at high rise condos and highway spans
and at fields and woods receding
I don’t think this is quite what God had planned
when he set us down in Eden.

Open doors, open windows
Open my eyes to the world outside
Open spaces where the wind blows
To those places, I’m gonna ride.
Open doors…
Open windows…
Open spaces…
Open my eyes.

FACELESS BOYFRIENDS
Words and music by Jim Newsom

The boys are lining up along the bar
checking out the competition, sizing up the quarry
The girls, applying makeup, hide their scars
They plan to draw attention
on a night that’s warm and starry.
And everything they do is a means to an end
With every move they make,
and every whitewashed grin
They’ve heard it all before but they smile and pretend
to find a fresh romance
with those faceless boyfriends-
Those faceless boyfriends.

The dancefloor vibrates with the push and shove
of rhythmic ritual movements
that pound you ’til your heart quakes
You find someone and know this must be love
You make emotional investments
that pay dividends in heartaches.
And everything you do is a means to an end
With every move you make, and every fluoride grin
You’ve done it all before but you smile and pretend
to find a quick romance
with those faceless boyfriends-
Those faceless boyfriends.

Every day, you write your history
with every word and action,
each time you laugh or cry
But still it all remains a mystery
Temporary satisfactions never satisfy.
And everything you do is a means to an end
With every move you make,
and every gap-toothed grin
You’ve done it all before and you’ll do it all again:
Fake your way to heaven
with those faceless boyfriends-
Those faceless boyfriends…those faceless boyfriends…
Those faceless boyfriends.

WHERE DOES TRUE LOVE GO
Words and music by Jim Newsom

Daddy said to mom, “I don’t love you anymore.”
Mommy, in reply, walked straight out the door
With both of the kids, at terrible cost
The long war was over, and both sides had lost.
But there was a time, not that long ago
Their hearts were entwined in new love’s glow
Now they’re asking the question we all want to know:
Where in the world does true love go?
Where in the world does true love go?

From the first flash of passion, their heads in a spin
When love is in fashion and they’ve fallen in
To final farewells and spiteful asides
What started in heaven is one hellbound ride.
But there was a time, not that long ago
Their hearts were entwined in new love’s glow
Now they’re asking the question that no one knows:
Where in the world does true love go?
Where in the world does true love go?

I keep tilting at windmills, living in dreams
Fighting the current, and swimming upstream
Insisting that love need not decay
But wondering how our love faded away.
‘Cause there was a time, not that long ago
Our hearts were entwined in new love’s glow
We keep asking the question but no one knows:
Where in the world does true love go?
Where in the world does true love go?
Where in the world does true love go?

MR. BALDHEAD
Words and music by Jim Newsom

Look out the window, take a walk down the street
Tell me who you see, tell me who you meet–
Too many people with a permanent frown
Too many people staring down at the ground
Hey…Hey, Hey
You say, “What is that to me?
I can’t see that they’re my responsibility.”
Maybe you’re right, but maybe you’re wrong
Maybe the weaker are owed something by the strong.
I say: Hey Mr. Baldhead, What you gonna do
Hey Mr. Baldhead, Take a look around you
Hey Mr. Baldhead, You’re so full of yourself
Hey Mr. Baldhead, How did you acquire your wealth?

The rich, they get richer while the have-nots have less
You don’t have much clout when you have no address
And the folks in the middle, the folks in the middle
are battered and torn
Caught up in the winds of a debt-propelled storm
They say: Hey Mr. Baldhead, What you gonna do
Hey Mr. Baldhead, Look at me…Look at you
Hey Mr. Baldhead, How much could one person need?
Hey Mr. Baldhead,
We’ve all been slaves in your fields of greed.

Economics, snake oils and tonics:
Somebody has to pay
After the fast-talking hypester salesmen
have all gone away
But how does a nation pay its past due bills
When those that incurred them
have headed for the hills?
We all say: Hey Mr. Baldhead, What you gonna do
Hey Mr. Baldhead, What has become of you
Hey Mr. Baldhead, Take a look at all you’ve done
Hey Mr. Baldhead,
You’ve stolen the future from your own children.

OLDIES
Words and music by Jim Newsom

Don’t you love the sounds of yesterday?
Baby, you can dance your blues away
Something’s stirring deep inside your soul
Exorcising the ghosts of rock and roll:
Oldies on the radio
Up and down the dial
They play what you already know
So let’s rock awhile!

Flared bell-bottom jeans and paisley ties
Hip-huggers creeping up your thighs
Double-breasted suits with wide lapels
Wire-rimmed glasses, hair in ponytails:
Oldies in designer lines
coming back in style
Fashions from another time
So let’s shop awhile!

They’ll tell you all things old are new
Out in the marketplace, it’s true
We’ll make our peace with yesterday
Tomorrow’s just a day away.

You know those crazy dreams out of the past
Looks like they just may come true at last
I think we’d better stop—hey, what’s that sound?
The nineties are the sixties upside down:
Oldies on the radio
Up and down the dial
They play what you already know
So let’s rock awhile!

ALWAYS WITH ME
Words and music by Jim Newsom

I’ve never been happier than
the way I feel today
I’ve never been a happier man
than when I hear you say:
“I think about you every minute of every day
and I hope you’ll be with me forever.
I hope you will be always with me.”

I’ve never known anything quite
as wonderful as this
I’ve never known anything like
the magic when we kiss
And I never realized such happiness could exist
And I hope you’ll be with me forever.
I hope you will be always with me.

I feel empowered by the love we share
I feel your presence with me everywhere
And my heart has been set free
Because you’re with me
Always…

I’ve never been happier than
the way I feel today.
And I hope you’ll be with me forever;
I hope you will be always with me.

ON THE LAM FROM CORPORATE AMERICA
Music by Jim Newsom

-instrumental-

A MIGHTY CRY
Words and music by Jim Newsom

Back in 1969, we thought we had the best of times
and songs of love and peace were everywhere
The Woodstock nation, dressed in beads,
in August threatened to secede
The sound of young ideals filled the air.

While brothers died in Vietnam
and Nixon dropped his secret bombs,
we shared a dream that we’d unite
And wooden ships on waves of air
brought troubadours with flowing hair
whose music kept our yearnings burning bright.
We watched the landing on the moon
and knew the words to every tune,
Our future as unbounded as the sky
In tie-dyed shirts and patched-up jeans,
from muddy fields to campus greens,
Our voices unleashed a mighty cry!

I taught myself to play the flute
and vowed I’d never wear a suit
or join the daily grind from nine to five
And I listened underneath the stars
to tambourines and jangly guitars
Relishing the chance to be alive.
I watched the landing on the moon
and knew the words to every tune,
My future as unbounded as the sky
In tie-dyed shirt and patched-up jeans
from muddy fields to campus greens,
I joined the chorus in its mighty cry!

Those days that seem like yesterday
are at the same time far away
but smoldering embers still contain a spark
And still I have the strangest dream
that builds to this climactic scene:
The light of love banishing the dark.

DOCTOR OF LOVE
Words and music by Jim Newsom

Good morning – Why do you look so blue
Has someone said or done something to you?
Or is it just the stress from all the mess
you deal with everyday?
If so, you know
I will chase it all away
Because whenever you are feeling down,
I will lift you up:
I’ll be your doctor, your doctor of love…
I’ll be your doctor,
Your doctor of love.

Well, darling, I hope you understand
Sometimes each of us needs a helping hand
And it’s for sure I’ve got the cure
to heal your aching heart
So I’ll prescribe some hugs and I’ve
got plenty here to start
And if you ever need a push,
I’ll be there to shove:
I’ll be your doctor, your doctor of love…
I’ll be your doctor,
Your doctor of love.

We can play doctor, my love
All I need is a healthy dose of
You and your love.

So tell me, tell me what’s on your mind
For you I am on call all the time
And if you need a kiss to keep
your sweet warm lips in shape,
Just smile and I’ll be over right away
And if you’re cold, I will hold you,
I will be your glove:
I’ll be your doctor, your doctor of love…
I’ll be your doctor,
Your doctor of love.

I make housecalls, baby…for you

WHAT YOU SAY YOU’LL DO
Words and music by Jim Newsom

If I simply ask a question,
try not to take offense
for I’ve asked it of myself
and I’m just trying to make sense
‘Cause you see it’s hard to figure,
it’s hard to understand
how we wandered to this moment:
It’s not the way we planned.

What did you want to be when you grew up
Is that the thing you’re doing
If it isn’t, why not?
Will you start right away
to make your dreams come true?
For dreams can only come to life
When you do what you say you’ll do,
What you say you’ll do.

Now I see that you’re a businessman
and you read the business news
and you’re out there hustling clients
in your pinstriped greys and blues
But I knew you not too long ago
riding ’round in your dad’s car:
You were gonna write songs to save the world
on the strings of your guitar.

Is growing up the price we pay
when childhood’s bills come due
or is it the opportunity
to do what we said we’d do
And if we choose to squander time
ruled by the chase for wealth
can we ever find the treasures
locked inside ourselves?

What did you want to be when you grew up
Did you do what you say you’ll do,
What you say you’ll do?