Home

I've raised the dust on ten thousand streets
worshipped the earth with the soles of my feet
I've roamed around all the days of my life
headed for someone, somewhere to arrive

I want to go home,
but home has gone away

young head foolish, young heart unwise
I left my home for the world outside
much too late I realized
my home was always in your eyes

I'm here one minute then the next I'm gone
when I get that feeling then I'm moving on
don't feel much like hangin' around
cos what I'm looking for, I ain't found

country lanes and city lights
they smell so sweet and they shine so bright
there's so much in this world to see
and every place is calling me, but

I want to go home,
but home has gone away




Make The Best (Murray/Staple)

long time, you been going around
shufflin' and dragging your burdens around
isn't it about time to get on the right track
get on the right side of your mind

you wanna have a good time
this is the right time
to get tings an' tings off your mind
what are you thinking
is life so hard
make the best of what you got




Switchblade To Soul

switchblade to soul, little darlin'
switchblade to soul

even the sharpest knife
still needs a hand's control
a wrist to take its slice
a heart to take its hole

the dying drops of life
are carved in fine detail
and to the vicious mind
all other visions pale

the swift caress of steel
red hot and icy cold
will be the last you feel
the final thought you hold




Ready For Love

beat, broken and tired, unhooked and unhired
and ready to take my share of the blame
this brave little coward who split when things soured
is hoping your heart is his to reclaim

slipped on the peels and tripped on the wires
the fabric of trust so tragically stained
but now it's the higher to which I aspire
but you won't believe I'm ready for love

drawn in by the choirs of faraway pyres
beckoning me and calling my name
seduced by desire, burned by the fire
tortured by heat, but cleansed by the flame

take it from me, a thief and a liar
what started so sweetly ended in shame
restrung and rewired, this soul is inspired
I'm ready for love, I'm ready for love

back to the scene, the remorseful buyer
to scatter the ashes, to search the remains
to see if the fire is fully expired
I'm ready for love, I'm ready for love




We Do The Ska (Lee/Murray)

all we do is waste our time, at least if you ask our neighbors
you never see we inna factory line, or sitting and pushing paper

we do the ska - yeah we ska, yeah we ska
and ska is all we need

headed for the big big time, ready to face our vultures
signing on the dotted line, designing to raise our culture
we do the ska

the thicker the lumber, the stronger the beam
the deeper the water, the cooler the stream
now rudie come lately all over the scene
trading the black and white for green
because he don't know what it mean
we do the ska

no voice from the tower can tell me what's real
you bring your own honor, so honor the real deal

yes they would take you to the moon
if you would only change your tune
waving the mighty dollar sign
they bait and hook their bottom line
but now we say goodbye to greed
because we life is sewing seed
so red stripe and collie weed, yeah
and ska is all we need
we do the ska




Rastaman

dem jus' a-whole heap a liar
a-heapin' downpression 'gainst iyah
betraying the earth rightful ruler
what a mistake, what a mistake now
babylon

with a cross and a dagger
dem run come rape mother africa
and turn we garden a empire
what a disgrace, what a disgrace now
babylon

oh you can't keep I down babylon
I am a rastaman
no you can't keep I down babylon
I am a rastaman, oh yeah
I am a rastaman

so sing we praise to the higher
and lick a draw, natty inspire
and meditation come forward
satta binghi, satta binghi
burn babylon

raise the black starliner
cos marcus words dem a transpire
and jah lion fe conquer
one of these days, one of these days now
babylon

oh you can't keep I down babylon
I am a rastaman
no you can't keep I down babylon
I am a rastaman, oh yeah
I am a rastaman




The Promise

welcome to my life, welcome to my heart
welcome to my soul
let lovin' be our art, happiness our goal
for the rest of time, know your love is mine
and my love is yours
for through the trials of time
the faithful love endures

because I promise you the world
and I'm giving you forever
giving you my love
and leaving you never

from the well we've tapped spring forth happy days
warm and tender nights
we'll build a world of love
a garden of delight
we'll let karma send us a perfect end
to this fairy tale
two hearts that would not bend
a love that would not fail

because I'm giving you my word
that I'm loving you forever
and leaving you never

on the waves of love and the winds of time
we set sail to our lives
though wind and waves grow strong
the strong at heart survive
as the years go past and we come at last
to face our final dawn
when bodies have collapsed
spirits will carry on

because I promise you my love
that love can last forever
giving you my heart
and leaving you never
because I promise you the world
and I'm giving you forever
I'm pledging you my soul
and leaving you never

If You Wanna Do It

every day you talk and talk about your plans brewing
but the way you walk that walk, it's just your lips moving

if you wanna do it
you better get down to it
time ain't stopping now

ain't no way to beat the clock, you know it's all timing
so if you want to reach to the top, you'd better start climbing

so go and take your pick of the crop, it's time to start choosing
cos if you stop to think too long, it gets so confusing




Since I've Had You

since I've had you
nothing else will do

maybe it's time for me to find another lover
but it's you that I can't get over
I pray time will tell the truth about this spell I'm under
but see, all it's telling me, there can never be
never be another

since I've had you
nothing else will do

every day it seems to me that I'm just
going through the motions and wasting time
my memory, every moment brings to me
the way life used to be

it's been so hard to fight all those demons in the night
without you here with me, telling me it's all alright
yes I've been holding back the tears
through all these lonely lonely years

since I've had you
nothing else will do




Doin' Time

I can't eat, I can't sleep
been lying on the bunk all week
yes this charge I can't beat
is keeping me off the street
sent me down one more year
just waiting for the papers to clear
oh it seems like I'm just doin' time without you

locked me down in the hole
to polish my tarnished soul
yes the filth and the grime
have opened up my mind
yes I know I deserve
the sentence that's being served
yes it seems like I'm just doin' time without you

I've told the truth, confessed my crime
kept my behavior good, read the good book line by line
yes my lesson is learned
I'm ready to be returned
but it seems like I'm just doin' time without you

time moves so slow behind these gates
and all there is to do
pound my pile of rocks and wait
mark each day on the wall
and dream about a freedom call
oh it seems like I'm just doin' time without you




Moment

seated among the defeated
feeling cheated and beaten by life
burst your bubble somewhere in the struggle
now life's too much trouble
just time 'til you die

thrown in the towel on living
just to settle for wondering why
oh so patient with your situation
you sit in the station while others roll by

while you were waiting for this moment not to happen
while you were praying that this day would never come
while you were waiting for this moment not to happen
here comes that moment
now it's over, now it's gone

silent, each moment's arriving
and sudden, tomorrow's goodbye
each moment we're meeting
these fragments so fleeting
advancing, retreating
their way through our lives

hope and dreams are what we're made of
and those dreams should never die
it was given, this reason for living
each moment the present no future can buy




The Penny Song

when I first start courting me honey
this likkle thing she'd always tell me
find a penny, you pick it up
all day long it will bring you luck

well at first I found it suspicious
that me gal should be so superstitious
me bawl, "woman I think you're mad,
no penny ever brought luck - good or bad", but she say

every day I find a penny
lord, every day it bring me luck

we were walking down the road one morning
on the street I spied something shining
when me bend down to pick it up, "ah look ya,
mojo penny come to bring me luck"

you see no girl like to be teased
so the next instant she give me the freeze
she say, "honey if you don't believe,
this time I pack up all me things and leave", oh she say

every day I find a penny
lord, every day it bring me luck

I can see how you might find it funny
a gal to quit her man over a penny
friends it's amusing, but it's true
for that's exactly what me girlfriend do

now for days I've sat sad and lonely
man of good luck I can't find any
all she left me was a piece of bread
a ball of string and the thing she said, wo yeah
lord, yeah
every day I find a penny
lord, every day it bring me luck

'til this afternoon on the street
I hear a tinkling at my feet
when I look down in front of me - what I see
lucky penny sent from heaven for me

as I cried my very last tear
the birds they sang, the sky became clear
and out of nowhere me gal appear, and she say
"here's a penny for your thoughts, my dear"

now my story has found a good end
me gal and me are happy again
you see, miracles sometimes happen
oh yes, but only when you let them in, now me say

every day I find a penny
lord, every day it bring me luck




Rock Steady

rock steady
steady with me

I don't want to change the world tonight
just tell me if it feels right darling
this moment can never repeat
will you rock steady, steady with me

I don't want to have to say goodnight
not before we see the sunlight darling
tomorrow can never be seen
will you rock steady, steady with me

I don't want to change the world tonight
just tell me if it feels right darling
don't fight it, you're already free
when you rock steady, steady with me