Wish I Knew (2004)

1 Curiosity Upheld

2 Always In Front

3 Writing Thousand Kingdom Blues

4 We Don’t Need

5 Widow’s Peak

6 She Remains To Be

7 That’s Okay

8 Concrete Invisibility

9 Just In Part Me

10 You

11 Wants and Needs (I’m Not Like You)

12 Waiting For Wednesday

13 One Day (Leave Me Good)

14 But He Don’t Know

15 Goodbye

“Curiosity Upheld” (C. Moore)

I heard a kiss / As I walked past you / Pain and hunger / Are all that you do / The doorway was long / I heard your words / As my gaze stayed true / Solemn frustration / Is all that would do / The hallway was gone

Cheekbone laughter and a smile stock bond; / Mild cessation yet my empty fish pond / Remain…

I struck a miss / When you hurt my heart / No time to write / I got much work to start / The darkroom was thin

I saw a soul / When my mind cried, “Go” / I see a ghost / Since you told me, “No” / The phone call was lost

The phone call was tossed

“Always in Front” (C. Moore)

I’m walking the dark hallway / I’m praying for a merciful day / You’re coming to the place where I am / And looking for a person, a man…

I’m tipping on the toes of the world / I’m basking in the blues you have hurled / You’re looking for a lover so new / And we know that real men are, oh, too few…

I guess there’s a way to explain this / I guess there’s a reason for my pain / When there just don’t seem to be a way / Seem to be a way out of this rain… / I guess there’s an answer to this / I guess there’s a motive to play the game / When I’m at bat, I just can’t plan to bunt / Anyway, it seems I’m always out in front.

I’m losing sight of what there is now / I’m hurting from the who, what, and how / You’re pulling that hood over your head / We are friends, baby, that’s what you said… / I’m falling from the balcony on high / I’m crying ‘cause I finally found why / You’re always smiling at the end / At the end of a cruel, dark day, hey…

I’m floating from a memory lost / I’m adding up the ultimate cost / You’re rounding out the leagues of the team / The funny part is that you know what I mean… / I’m paying for the chances I’ve blown / I’m catching up to theories I’ve stoned / Your eyes are silver slits in the night / Sister, honey, don’t you know you feel right?…

I’m driving through a good luck hotel / I’m thanking God that you wish me well / You’re wond’rin when it was that you fell / Well, I don’t know, but it’s sure hard to tell… / I’m peddling down a road full of holes / You’re digging through a patch full of moles / Well, all I know is that, when we meet up, / I would like for you to ride with me, yup…

“Writing Thousand Kingdom Blues” (C. Moore)

When you’re caught in South Berwick / In the snow, with nowhere to go / And the chalkboard salesman tells you / That you should go and buy some radar, too… / And the one-eyed woman screeches past / But the insufficient, flag-bearing, phone-calling lover gets to go last

When you talk with the sandman in town / Who offers to guide you on a trip underground / With the respect-mongers drawing pink circles on you / Must be time to find a tree-trunk tunnel and get through / Yet your sun-leached pet rat squeals on by / And the unnecessary sports gaming powers that be will never cry

On the shoulder / You know you’re gonna get older / But, tell me, do you ever get bolder? / You better pull into your shoulder…

As you pull out of the parkway / In the north, with a Van Gogh tie / And the flood gets clogged up / Followed by the man with the plunger standing up and asking you why / Here the manual clutch flies aloof / And the ramshackle van with the lipstick supports flies the coop

When time’s hammer crashes through / Ahh, it’ll come for you / With all the triggers that include / All the gunshots and the food / You keep hidden

If the tide ties itself down / And the comb seller brings you a bow / Don’t you know it ain’t polite to / Wear cherry apple pie on your face in your smile on an off-day’s plight / There’s the once-told midget running by / But the jock-stopper, egotistical flirtation has way too much to say

You’ll be writing thousand kingdom blues again…

“We Don’t Need” (C. Moore)

The girl is here, the girl is there / She walks on walls, makes pedestals / A guy who raps, she falls for traps / The Son will come, the world is done / She likes Vermont, knows what she wants / She’ll go to Maine, she won’t refrain / She’ll drive through rain, she’ll pump your pain / She sees through me, she looks to you

We don’t need the pretty girls, / All they do is make us fools; / All they do is break the rules, / We don’t need the pretty girls…

The girl don’t care, the girl is bare / The guys will look, buy pics in books / The front erodes, the rear explodes / She talks in codes, a world of toads / She flirts with Pert, makes love to dirt / She hangs in bars, reclines in cars / Nights may go far, that’s what they are / It’s just a shame, and who’s to blame?

Curvey, pervy, one in one / Name a battle she ain’t won / Pretty, quiet, two by two / Name a game that they won’t do

The girl is ‘wake, the girl is fake / She cries like rain, and hurts like pain / When old age comes, she’ll go insane / Guess that’s the end, the final bend…

“Widow’s Peak” (C. Moore)

You’ve got those eyes that tear through me / You’ve got that smile I love to see / You’ve got your teeth, so pearly white / Your face, my friend, is a welcome sight / You pull your hair behind your head / You’re biting back the pain that bled / You keep your necklace on your neck / When you’re nervous, you’ve got to check

You must know you’re a pretty girl, / The best one in this whole wide world; / I’ll always be here, just behind, / I think that I am bound to find… / Widow’s peak.

You’ve got the words I want to know / Sincerity I want to show / You hold the hope which lies inside / I’ve got the love that just can’t hide

Where will the years find us? / Just who, who can we trust? / And what, just what is there, / For the one with thin air?

You’ve got those eyes that tear through me / You’ve got that smile I love to see / You’ve got your teeth, so pearly white / Your face, my friend, is a welcome sight

“She Remains To Be” (C. Moore)

Your downfall’s her opportunity / She just thinks / She does not see / Her hand is raised / Don’t be amazed…

Her bank book’s her main concern in life / She needs pride / She’s not a wife / Her arms are crossed / She won’t be bossed…

Oh, won’t you come back to me? / You’ll never see the same thing twice / You may even have to sacrifice, / But, oh, it’ll be worth having you back with me.

Her speech is her own analysis / She grows up / She does not miss / Her eyes are down / You see her frown…

Her outlook’s her liability / She just stares / She doesn’t care / Her eye is closed / Her stench is nosed…

“That’s Okay” (C. Moore)

There’s a letter sittin’ on the desk / There’s a woman wanderin’ round in jest / And all I know is when it’s all been done / It’s been fun / There’s a lover standing at the wall / Think I just rolled a gutter ball / And all I know is when it’s all been done / It’s been fun

It’s been done / That’s okay / It’s been fun / That’s okay / Leave me / That’s okay / Stop your love / That’s okay

Here’s an addict smoking near the stove / There’s the burglar raking near the leaves / And all I know is when it’s all been fun / It’s been done / There’s a laggard trailing by the street / Here’s the butcher I want you to meet / And all I know is when it’s all been fun / It’s been done

It’s been fun / That’s okay / It’s been done / That’s okay / Grieve me / That’s okay / Leave me / That’s okay / Hey, good sport / Keep this short / It’s been done / Had some fun / That’s okay

“Concrete Invisibility” (C. Moore)

Forgive me for wanting you to care, / Care about me.

You’re so much bigger, better than me; / You’re such a woman, too much to see. / You’re just a shame with nothing to claim; / I’m even worse ‘cause I was gone till you came.

So far away you sit across the room from me; / I could reach my arm to touch you, I’d be / So close to you when I have gone and, / And you remain outstretched to miss the band.

You’re such an imp, a pimp at heart, you, / You stand inside the room of silver, ooh, / You say you’re worth a room of gold and myrrh / For her to laugh at you, fast, deserves a shotgun blast.

Girls have a way of knotting up the things / Those things that mean so much to life, not rings, / Or flings where girlies sing and wear a dress, / It’s all the best to sit inside the mind of a girl.

You’re such a dictator, so cruel in part / Your heart is in your bosom kept, inept; / The task at hand is not so tough as that, / That which was rough for you to stuff enough.

Don’t hold her hand, don’t calm her waist; / Hands on her hips, she’s a waste, she hasn’t faced / A life of truth, just youth resounds from her lips / That pounds upon the grounds and the mounds of hounds.

The life you keep just ain’t a scene, oh / It’s too mean to mean a thing, so sing, / Bring a song of peace to a table of breach, / Preach the Word of a Truth, Life, eventually, perhaps, a wife.

“Just In Part Me” (C. Moore)

Go on, resent me / But please don’t present me / As someone who does what / Does what he should not

You know I’m always standing with you / No matter anything that you do / There comes a time when / I shouldn’t be staying with you / And just like you said / I don’t know what to do

You talk like I’m gone / And still you’ll go on / The road is not long / My problem is you’re strong / I know I can stop thinking of that / I wish we could go back and have a chat

I know you’re mad / You make me feel bad / Why should I stay sad? / Is friendship a fad?

We own a fortune / I hope we’re not done / I know that I’m not / But what are you ’bout?

You see I’m always staying with you / Don’t question any deed that you do

“You” (C. Moore)

You have got averted eyes / You have left so many guys / Your ambitions have fallen deep / And you have fallen asleep

You have got headlight thighs / You embrace somber goodbyes / Solemn for me but not for you / Your renditions have painted me blue

You have got burnt toast ears / The kind that stop to drink their beers / And trip over their home-grown fears / And drown inside their drunken cheers

You have got locker room lips / The type that write with pointed tips / And laugh and smirk with jagged quips / And worship how the sad man flips

You have got a nose that stinks / You say you’ve built a mind that thinks / Well, I say you mix reds with pinks / Good luck searching for missing links

You have got a sweatshirt hat / You will get almighty fat / If you hang with that cool cat / Who wants you only for the stat

You have got a rabbit sense / You push on the toppled fence / It is gone so leave it be / You aren’t blind, you forget to see

You have got a blaring tongue / Too bad you’re so very young / Else you might make it somewhere / I’ve got more than that to share

You have got combusting arms / People smirk from towns to farms / About your head so full of fluff / Really, you cob, we’ve had enough

You have got the neck that moves / Tell me what you’ve got to prove / You excite with talk of love / You delight to push and shove

You have got round spheres that weep / You have pushed beyond the sleep / That threatens to take you alive / The other spheres become your guide

You have got the cheeks that fall / You have got too much gall / You have less effrontery / Do sisters bash idolatry?

You have got the mail that floats / And see past the filth that gloats / Up on a hill and past the stairs / Accept my grief in certain pairs

You have got restraint that smiles / Perhaps the hurt inside beguiles / Then again, no people know / Just what you do, just what you show

You have got the hair that’s there / You have got the clothes you wear / You protect against the glare / You fall past the rotting snare

You have got the inflection / You’ve returned to having fun / I wonder, had you begun? / Or, at the end were you quite done?

You have got the break that cracks / One among the naked backs / So amidst the mindless facts / And the fervent girlie pacts

You have got the care that hurts / You have got the look that kills / All I wanted was a grin / All you gave me was a sin

You have got a psycho man / You just bought a God arm band / Will He care what you demand? / Just the fires that you fanned…

You have got a front that stays / And dress in the frills and frays / You are really like the rest / Even though you are the best

You have got language blues / You’re so dumb you talk in news / You can’t even count in twos / And you wear your Velcro shoes

You have got a lukewarm soul / You choose not to ever choose / You deny you ever lose / When you do, you call us fools

You have got a dearth of heart / You should be put in a cart / And rolled down the rippling mound / Maybe then you’d make a sound

You have got a nail that bleeds / You have gained appeal that feeds / The men inside your plastic dorm / Romanticism ain’t the norm

You have got the ache that lasts / Fear for me, your goal lambastes / Upon the chair above the wall / We’re feeling hurt before the fall

You have got the seat that struts / All your loves end up in ruts / Your eyes search for ways to please / Please yourself, others appease

You have got the live that wanes / I have got the hope that drains / You have got to learn my words / I have got to, baby, go.

“Wants and Needs (I’m Not Like You)” (C. Moore)

I want you so bad, / I want to breath your flesh. / I’m feeling so sad, / You’ve specked the horizon… / But I’m praising the Lord above, / I’m not like you.

I need your kisses, / I need to hold your frame; / Can’t take near-misses, / You’ve dirtied up your name. / But I’m praising the Lord above, / I’m not like you.

I want your sole heart, / I want your intentions; / I’d like to take part. / Why you so pretentious? / But I’m praising the Lord above, / I’m not like you.

I so love your nose, / It drips of stinking rose; / What a lovely pose, / I wish I’d rather dose. / But I’m praising the Lord above, / I’m not like you.

What’s been in demand? / Your curly brown delight? / The thirty-sixth strand? / Want your mind, good night. / But I’m praising the Lord above, / I’m not like you.

I’m praising, / I’m dying; / Been raising, / Still crying…

But I’m praising the Lord above, / I’m not like you.

“Waiting For Wednesday” (C. Moore)

Waiting for Wednesday / But Wednesday is, oh, so far / Waiting for Wednesday / But Wednesday is, oh, so far away!

I knew this would come down / But I didn’t know quite so soon / I love you beyond love / Farther than stars or moon, you know!

Life’s factories will spit you out and / Strawberry dackeries will leave you in doubt / Watch out!

The drunk mutt’s dissolving / So I didn’t know what to say / I returned his burden / I never knew it was my own today!

My surrealist visions / Are foggy, though authentic / You are on your own now / Soon you won’t be allowed to pick, go quick!

Waiting for Wednesday / I’m not sure that I’ll be safe / Waiting for Wednesday / Up ‘til now you’ve been so brave, behave…

“One Day (Leave Me Good)” (C. Moore)

One day, brother, oh, one day / I ain’t a-gonna wake up, I’ll be dead and done / One day, buddy, oh, one day / My thoughts will be history, I’ll have no more fun

What’ll you say? / What’ll you do? / What did I really mean to you?

One way, brother, hey, one way / I’m gonna die to this life, I’ll be washed up, through / One way, buddy, hey, one way / I’m bound to cry all alone, nothing will be new

What’ll you pay? / What’ll you do? / What did I really mean to you?

One day, brother, ah, one day / My eyes will open no more, no comments in store / One day, buddy, ah, one day / My mouth, it’ll speak no more, no one to live for

What’ll you say? / What’ll you do? / What did I really mean to you?

One way, brother, I’m gonna pass on through / One day, buddy, there’s nothing we can do / One phrase, buddy, that life is all too short / One plea, brother, tell me, be a good sport

One day, buddy / Ah, one day

What’ll you say? / What’ll you do? / What did I really mean to you?

One day, brother / Oh, one day / I beg you to leave me good / I’ve done all I could

One day, one way, brother…

“But He Don’t Know” (C. Moore)

Sun-crossed stitches knitting up your mind / Star-crossed lovers helping you to find / A tar-black night sky piercing to your eyes / A blue-green candy shell that he defies / You ask why, but he don’t know

Purple and red blanket sitting on your bed / A tall dark blond baby asking to be fed / Bus-full of children waitin’ to be led / Into the pit by what satan has said / You ask why, but he don’t know

A dark brown woolen hat across your head / Two men-stealers are waiting to be wed / The red-glow stop watch missing at a drop / All you can hear are the tunes from the hop / You ask why, but he don’t know

Light brown tissue box placed upon your sink / Pledge to a flag that is red, white, and pink / Telling all the people just what you think / Hoping you might find that one missing link / You ask why, but he don’t know

Fast and slow race car burning up the track / Mike is yelling he’s got to getcha back / Willy’s on the corner, he’s selling crack / Jan’s on the highway, she sells what you lack / You ask why, but he don’t know

We’re on Route 4-2-8-9-3-6-4 / Bob is still singing, standing in the door / Ron is still drunken, passed out on the floor / Larry’s been beaten, he’s looking for more / You ask why, but he don’t know

Yellow ribbon of a sky drying wet / Dark orange shadows of those that you’ve met / Dangerous presence of he who you’ve bet / Gambling, rambling, running a debt / You ask why, but he don’t know

Ripples are lurking around and about / Devils are pulling at all of your doubt / Frowns are revealing to strengthen your pout / Deaf man is calling, all you do is shout / You ask why, but he don’t know

Boxed-in TV is reeling from the blow / Anchorman tells you less than what you’ll know / Your best friend is now your ultimate foe / The sky-high bug-fly has come crouching low / You ask why, but he don’t know

“Goodbye” (C. Moore)

There are things that I have not said to you / There are words that I think are better left unsaid / There are times when I don’t want to look at my watch / I’d rather wait / Cause I hate…

To say goodbye to you… / To say goodbye to you.

There are days when I have not talked to you / There is pain that I think is better left unseen / There are times when I don’t want to ride in my car / I’d rather stay / Every day…

There are vibes that I have now sent to you / There are notes that I think were better left unread / There are times when I don’t want to look in your face / I’d rather cry / Goodbye…