Long, lonely hours
and the candle’s burning low
like a tiny Carthage dying in my heart.
Shield clove in two
I search the blazing ruins
and the silence deafens like
the beating of a hundred thousand
drummers of the enemy around me.
But it’ll only last a while
I’m coming home again
Oh yeah I think that I can smile
I’m coming home again
Now when I think
what I used to have with you
how I loved you so but didn’t have the time
Well now, here am I
five thousand miles away
and I’m looking out to sea
but the crashing of the breakers
is silenced by the falling of the evening
But it’ll only last a while
I’m coming home again
Oh yeah I think that I can smile
I’m coming home again
© 2008 Kona Lowell
Leather cowboys in red Ferraris
purple sagebrush on women’s faces
oil as dear as the blood of cattle
the creeping death of the open spaces
Canyons echo with ghostly warfare
the desert angel who brings you water
wings that circle in endless hunger
the sudden snake and the she-wolf’s daughter
But I’m not a gambler playing close to the vest
I’m just a dreamer lost in the true west
But I’m not a gambler playing close to the vest
I’m just a dreamer lost in the true western sunsets
mythic warriors silver towers
guard our cities of gold
Noble chiefs wearing pastel blankets
in cartoon visions of native culture
gracing bathrooms in pristine condos
the eagle dying to feed the vulture
Red man’s heritage white man’s logos
drives vintage Chevy to tribal meeting
faces facts as he faces history
our conscience just like our fashion’s fleeting
But he’s not a gambler playing close to the vest
he’s just a victim lost in the true west
But he’s not a gambler playing close to the vest
he’s just a victim lost in the true western sunsets
mythic warriors silver towers
guard our cities of gold
Cactus stagger like drunken bandits
the wind that frisks you with icy fingers
blossom caught in the bite of winter
the image fades but the scent still lingers
Rider high on the manmade mountain
sees Chisum Trail under miles of concrete
waves his hat and jumps on his pony
fades to black in a single heartbeat
Cause he’s not a gambler playing close to the vest
he’s just a dream that’s lost in the true west
© 2008 Kona Lowell
He’s got an elephant’s touch
he’s got a leopard’s embrace
he’s got a razorblade smile
to peel the skin from your face
He’s got a winning season
he makes you tremble and quake
he’s got the best damn reason
and it’s all for your sake
And every little word is just a bullet from God
a perfect shot he hits you right in the knees
I feel the wind on the water
I see the storm moving closer
He’s got the voice of an actor
he’s got the nerve of a thief
he wears the suit of a banker
he wields the power of belief
He’s got a tax-free pocket
he takes a limousine ride
he’s got an iron doctrine
he’s got nothing to hide
And every little word is just a bullet from God
a perfect shot he hits you right in the knees
I feel the wind on the water
I see the storm moving closer
He’s got a diamond ring fist
he’s got a quarterback shake
and what you’re willing to give him
he’s more than happy to take
He’s got a toll-free number
he takes your prayer line requests
he pays his TV budget
and the rest he invests
And every little word is just a bullet from God
a perfect shot he hits you right in the knees
I feel the wind on the water
I see the storm moving closer
© 2008 Kona Lowell
How many colors can you count in just one moment?
How many moments can you hold inside your hand?
How many reasons can you give for not believing?
How many souls have dragged their weight across this land?
Well I was there before the dawn
when you were only sleeping
and I was there before your gods
before they turned to stone
and I was there before the dawn
when time was not for keeping
and I’ll be here when you are gone
I lit the fire in your eyes.
How many songs have lent their voices to the evening?
How many fingers gently played upon the strings?
How many poets tried to capture every feeling
pouring it out to fill the emptiness it brings?
Well I was there before the dawn
when you were only dreaming
and I was there before your gods
before they turned to gold
and I was there when songs were new
and every note was gleaming
and I’ll be here when you are old
I lit the fire in your eyes.
Your eyes have seen the good and bad
your eyes have held the joy and all the sadness they can hold
Well I was there before the dawn
when you were only dreaming
and I was there before your gods
before they turned to gold
and I was there when songs were new
and every note was gleaming
and I’ll be here when you are old
I lit the fire in your eyes.
© 2008 Kona Lowell
I can feel the valley breathing like a mother
thunder rolls down from the hills
and cuts right through the distant
green like beryl flames that start in wonder
out of nothing forcing river’s rushing waters
lowlands overflowing
Yellow bird take me there
maile leaves in her hair
koa tree towers there
plumeria in the air
Smoke in lazy ribbons drifts across the morning
the herds kick up the dust again
and fade into the distant
mist like wondering that’s never answered
or considered forcing questions from the mother
who will ever save me?
The yellow bird takes me there
maile leaves in her hair
koa tree towers there
plumeria in the air
© 2008 Kona Lowell
There’s a book I read and it’s always new
all the pages change and the words do too
and the story grows it belongs to you
cause the book I read
is the book of you
When you take me there and you always do
it’s a fairytale where all my dreams come true
if you dream of me I will dream of you
in the book I read
in the book of you
And I just can’t put it down, no, no
I just can’t put it down
no, not once I start
I just can’t put it down, no, no
cause it seems like I’m always in the middle
seems like I’m always in the middle
seems like I’m always in the middle
of the very best part
I don’t need the Clifnotes just to figure you out
I don’t need to read between the lines
if you were on the market girl I have no doubt
you’d be the number one best seller in the New York Times
There’s a book I read and I’m never through
never read the ending hope I never do
always hold my interest every word rings true
in the book I read
in the book of you
I memorize some parts underline a few
when I lose my place I can always look at you
don’t need a second opinion or a book review
cause the book I read
is the book of you
And I just can’t put it down, no, no
I just can’t put it down
no, not once I start
I just can’t put it down, no, no
cause it seems like I’m always in the middle
seems like I’m always in the middle
seems like I’m always in the middle
of the very best part
In the book of you
© 2008 Kona Lowell
Just an actor on a different page
Mona Lisa from a different age
like a child I feel I’m born again
when I’m thinking of you
I was always such a lonely man
had a vision never had a plan
don’t know where it’s going to take me to
think I’ll leave it to you
Heaven’s horses pull a heavy load
they don’t know why, they don’t know where
it just has to be
Heavy hearts will heave a silver sigh
and I will pull for you, you pull for me
Like a harbor in a hurricane
like a shelter from the biting rain
safe and warm as in a feather bed
when I’m thinking of you
On a ship that’s lost in time and space
some tiny pieces of the human race
don’t know where it’s going to take us to
think I’ll leave it to you
Heaven’s horses pull a heavy load
they don’t know why, they don’t know where
it just has to be
Heavy hearts will heave a silver sigh
and I will pull for you, you pull for me
Just an actor on a different page
a Mona Lisa from a different age
like a child I feel I’m born again
when I’m thinking of you
I was always such a lonely man
had a vision never had a plan
don’t know where it’s going to take me to
think I’ll leave it to you
© 2008 Kona Lowell
Freer than the breeze loving you was easy
there was no need to change
or to rearrange our ways
Polishing the pain smoothing out the strain
your gentle fingers play
music in a way so strange
If I could be there by your side just for a while
I know my wounds would heal
it’s more than what I want, it’s more than what I feel
I know this time it’s real
Dreaming of your touch missing you so much
how could we let it go
knowing what we know today
If I could be there by your side just for a while
I know my wounds would heal
it’s more than what I want, it’s more than what I feel
I know this time it’s real
© 2008 Kona Lowell
What happened to the land we knew?
What happened to that sacred trust?
The shining city on the hill
her gold has turned to rust
every kingdom fails
every empire turns to dust
And fades away
like ghosts caught in the light
and fades away
like smoke before the wind
and fades away
like colors in the night
and fades away
What happened to that hopeful dream,
The one that crowded foreign docks?
They traded it for tainted gold
and doors with silver locks
every Caesar falls
every empire hits the rocks
And fades away
like ghosts caught in the light
and fades away
like smoke before the wind
and fades away
like colors in the night
and fades away
But now and then it seems there might just be a way to win
to change the course and stop the harm
and start over again
but then I realize we’ve all gone numb
and grown too tired to listen
a revolution needs a soul
and that’s what this one’s missing
What happened to the land we knew?
What happened to that sacred trust?
The shining city on the hill
her gold has turned to rust
every kingdom fails
every empire turns to dust
And fades away
© 2008 Kona Lowell
Like a ship out upon the sea
the wind blows you back to me
and like a sailor who’s lost his way
I pray for another day
to bring me home
show me tomorrow
I’ve wasted my precious time
all I could borrow
Today
this is no illusion I’m losing my way
there’s too much confusion I’m losing my way
And all of those diplomats
cold hearted bureaucrats
they wait for you in the dark
you’re such an easy mark
they bring you down
cloud your horizon
I sold all my precious time
to killers with ties on
Today
this is no illusion I’m losing my way
there’s too much confusion I’m losing my way
Like a ship out upon the sea
the wind blows you back to me
© 2008 Kona Lowell
1. Tiny Carthage 2. West 3.Elephant Touch 4. Before the Dawn 5. Yellow Bird (Hawai’i Nei) 6. Book 7. Heaven’s Horses 8. Gentle Fingers 9. Empire 10. Sailor
