|
“Unfair in my favor”
1. stars just might
Music by Tom Levin & Rikard Carlsson
Lyrics by Tom Levin & Lou Cowell
Please forgive me for being lonely, she said
But your voice can’t hold my hand
And whatever I ask of you alone
You just sing for them instead
I held the phone a little closer
I know I am consumed, but you’re in every word they hear
I am getting closer, I just need another year
We can make it right, if we talk it through
Long nights brought to light
The world cannot revolve around you
But the stars just might
To you I am always tomorrow
And you’re my every yesterday
What can I say, but hear I am
I will be your family man
I know I am consumed, but you’re in every word they hear
I am getting closer, I just need another year
We can make it right, if we talk it through
Long nights brought to light
The world cannot revolve around you
But the stars just might
I know I am consumed, but you’re in every word they hear
I will give you forever if you’ll give me another year
We can make it right, if we talk it through
Long nights brought to light
The world cannot revolve around us
But the stars just might
Stars just might
2. i nod my head
Music by Tom Levin & Carl Ekerstam
Lyrics by Tom Levin
Narrower angle on a wider screen
A current wave on a flooded mainstream
I cant’ make headlines or tales of the game
A media freeway with only one lane
Complicated truth is simply too hard to bear
Consciously I am unaware
Not what I want but what I like
Colored opinions in black and white
In the telling nothing is said
I whisper no as I nod my head
There was a time when the truth was in bold
Now lower case commandments fit in the mold
Pulling of ratings are pushing the sales
And we will pay the price for believing tall tales
Complicated truth is simply too hard to bear
Asking myself do I really care
Not what I want but what I like
Colored opinions in black and white
In the telling nothing is said
I whisper no as I nod my head
Take a fact let it spin
Any loser could win
And the doctors will make us believe it
Take a lie make it grow
They know no one will know
That the lie is a truth when we receive it
Not what I want but what I like
Colored opinions in black and white
In the telling nothing is said
I whisper no as I’m nodding my head
Not what I want but what I like
Colored opinions in black and white
In the telling nothing is said
I whisper no as I nod my head
3. let go of gravity
Music by Tom Levin
Lyrics by Tom Levin & Cole Ruth
My shiny boots join the suits
On a weary train
No one smiles, everyone sighs
All day long the phone has rung
Almost constantly
I can’t wait to get home
To where my shallows turn to deep
And my laughter tears when I weep
Where my shoreline meets your sea
And we let go of gravity
There is a list, something I missed
Still I can’t recall
All my dos come undone
Take my cares and strip me bare
Of another day
Take this hand and take me home
To where my shallows turn to deep
And my laughter tears when I weep
Where my shoreline meets your sea
And we let go of gravity
4. bring you back home
Music by Tom Levin & Rikard Carlsson
Lyrics by Tom Levin
Everyone is asking me how you are
Even Mrs. Andersson and the guys at the bar
Then they’re telling me what I already know
I shouldn’t have let you go
I passed your job at least twenty times last week
Hoping that by accident I’ll meet you in the street
The shrink I’m seeing might as well be speaking Greek
Cause’ I know what’s wrong
I was wrong
I’m gonna go and bring you back home
I’m gonna go and bring you back home
I’m gonna go and bring you back home
Cause’ home is where you belong
Found one of your socks when I washed the other day
I held it and I kissed it, couldn’t put it away
So I hung it up by the faded mistletoe
And thought I shouldn’t have let you go
Shoulder deep in love but my mind is afraid
That just like the mistletoe our love will fade
I guess I’ll always be afraid but now my mind is made
I know what’s right
You are right
I’m gonna go and bring you back home
I’m gonna go and bring you back home
I’m gonna go and bring you back home
Cause’ home is where you belong
5. for m.l.king
Music by Tom Levin
Lyrics by Tom Levin & Cole Ruth
The man with a dream said we’re all the same
He was on fire, he was on fire
Jesus’ blood was in his veins
Living and dying, his people were crying
Some called him a liar others called him King
Fighting the world was the hardest thing
They heard him coming and they called him brave
They said he’s pushing his luck into a future grave
He faced their judgment and he forgave
He kept on pushing his love into a future grave
When I see the footage from the hurricane
Water’s been flowing, hatred’s been growing
When the children ask me I cannot explain
Why they’re still crying, why bullets are flying
I don’t want to believe that he dreamt in vain
Still I just stand here with a growing shame
Where are the fighters, the free and the brave
They keep on pushing their luck into a future grave
What will it take to change the way we behave
We keep on pushing our luck into a future grave
6. father & son
Music & Lyrics by Tom Levin (New York, January 31, 2007)
Inspired by Carlos & Alexander Arredondo
He tours the country with his son
And they will travel until it’s done
To tell their story on the road
A flag-draped coffin for a load
Won’t have to worry now that he’s gone
One proud father one proud son
Trees they bend and flowers bow
Forever was never until now
He wrote “I’m not afraid to die”
Outlived by parents for a lie
Enduring freedom he was told
One man’s blood, another man’s gold
Won’t have to worry now that he’s gone
One proud father one proud son
Trees they bend and flowers bow
Forever was never until now
Every number has a face
Someone’s love you can’t replace
If we could feel the enemy’s pain
Hear them cry their children’s names
Won’t have to worry now that he’s gone
One proud father one proud son
Trees they bend and flowers bow
Forever was never until now
7. the dead to blame
Music by Tom Levin & Rikard Carlsson
Lyrics by Tom Levin
I turn my back on the waving flag
Keep on driving
I put my bad conscience in a bag
But its’ leaking
Opposites in my nature
Contradicting all the signs
I worry about the future
But I make no sacrifice
Oh my children
They’ll carry all this shame
All our children
They’ll only have the dead to blame
I see the rash but I feel no pain
Never better
With my hope I wash the stain
Not to worry
Shortsighted in the long run
Almost blinded by the feast
Our civilized behavior
It cannot tame the beast
Oh my children
They’ll carry all this shame
All our children
They’ll only have the dead to blame
8. unfair in my favor
Music by Tom Levin & Rikard Carlsson
Lyrics by Tom Levin & Lou Cowell
From up on top of my soap box it’s easier to see
I’m power-showered unlike those who’ve been rinsed for coming clean
I weather weather like the storm in my teacup
While under another sun milk sours, spilt tears won’t dry up
It’s pretty clear that life is unfair
But how can I complain when I’m well aware
That most of the time it’s unfair in my favor
In my favor
Pounding the wheel as the traffic steals my valuable time
While others walk a thousand miles leaving change behind
Nine to five PC eyes, my shirt and tie don’t suit
Where on the other side a child bares just the naked truth
It’s pretty clear that life is unfair
But how can I complain when I’m well aware
That most of the time it’s unfair in my favor
It’s pretty clear that life is unfair
But how can I complain when I’m well aware
That most of the time it’s unfair in my favor
Life is unfair in my favor
9. in the margin
Music by Tom Levin & Rikard Carlsson
Lyrics by Tom Levin
Put them flowers in your hair
You know what dress I want you to wear
A memory bridge across the blue
I’m still here a part of you
I’m in the margin by your side
Mile after mile
I’m there when you’re alone
I will walk you all the way home
You were my angel now I’m yours
Under my wings and out the door
Like a foot print in the snow
Spring will come and you’ll let go
I’m in the margin by your side
Mile after mile
I’m there when you’re alone
I will walk you all the way home
10. older
Music & Lyrics by Tom Levin
Dreamt of being CEO
Like father like son but I let go
Aging set me free
Now I dare to call their bluff
Finally I charge enough
Aging is my remedy
I’m older and thankful
I’m older it’s not too late
To get older that’s what I want
Getting older, I can’t wait
It never goes like I plan
But I know how lucky I am
Aging is my therapy
I’m a coward growing brave
And one day I’ll call Letterman Dave
Aging is opportunity
I’m older and thankful
I’m older it’s not too late
To get older that’s what I want
Getting older, I can’t wait
11. nine-minute one-way drive
Music & Lyrics by Tom Levin
Half way to infinity
I saw fragility
From above
It’s beautiful
In the state of forget-me-not
I forget what I forgot
Breathing in
Is like medicine
I’m just passing through
There’s a point of no return
I point it out then let it burn
The layer that is keeping me alive
Is just a nine-minute one-way drive
Don’t mind the warmer air
On the whole we just don’t care
We carry on
In spite of the wrong
Talk about a tendency
It will take a catastrophe
The weather is strange
But we won’t change
We’re just passing through
There’s a point of no return
We point it out then let it burn
The layer that is keeping us alive
Is just a nine-minute one-way drive |
|
“My, my band that I älskar, Kasper and a bunch of friends”
perfect If We Had Lied
(Music by T Levin & K Lindgren, Lyrics by T Levin)
Oh beautiful shell
We are caught on a carousel
A drawn-out farewell
We were comfortably blind
No more than fine
It would have been perfect if we had lied
It would have been perfect if we had denied
That there was a conflict deep inside
It would have been perfect
Perfect if we had lied
Oh wonderful try
We still can’t grasp goodbye
And that forever’s a lie
I believed in evergreen
Almost wish I hadn’t seen
It would have been perfect if we had lied
It would have been perfect if we had denied
That there was a conflict deep inside
It would have been perfect
Perfect if we had lied
alaska
(music & lyrics by Tom Levin)
As a boy I arrived to you
But I left your mountains with young man’s view
You taught me I was better than okay
And with a broader mind I flew away
From my Alaska
Back to Stockholm
In my Alaska
I had truly grown
You really made me feel at home
Tore up my roots and replanted my soul
You gave me back what my culture stole
Now when I’m low and question my way
I close my eyes and drift away
To my Alaska
Far from Stockholm
I dream of Alaska
You set the tone
You really make me feel at home
You really make me feel at home
You really make me feel at home
Away to my Alaska
Far from Stockholm
I dream of Alaska
You set the tone
Away to Alaska
Far from Stockholm
I dream of Alaska
You set my tone
the greatest day
(Music & Lyrics by T Levin)
I was cynical and negative
So much time I threw away
But then my grandma told me by which rule to live
She told me how to control what I perceive
She said open your eyes and believe
This will be the greatest day
Makes it easier to wake up
It might be an old cliché
But it helps me when I’m stuck
My luck
Is made by me
Simple grandma philosophy
When you’re weary and feel consumed by stress
And Murphy’s Law is hard to break
You just think of what my grandma says
She tells you all you have to do is to believe
She says open your eyes and perceive
This will be the greatest day
Makes it easier to wake up
It might be an old cliché
But it helps you when you’re stuck
This will be the greatest day
Makes it easier to get up
Your luck
Is made by you
This will be the greatest day
Makes it easier to wake up
It might be an old cliché
But it helps you when life sucks
This will be the greatest day
Makes it easier to get up
It might be an old cliché
But it helps me when I’m stuck
My luck is made by me
Your luck is made by you
My luck is made by me
you don’t need your god
(Music by T Levin, R Carlsson & D Keiski; Lyrics by T Levin)
Sanctioned by religion, God has been hijacked
And in the name of goodness wrong-believers are attacked
How can words of love trigger this behavior
Compulsive praying will never change a thing
We need to make a difference that only action can bring
You just waist your time, waiting for a savior
Just do unto others what you want them to do to you
Open up your heart and you’ll get a better view
You don’t need your God above
To live in the name of love
Fundamentally
It’s up to you and me
And not religion
God, Allah or Shiva, they’re the one and the same
No one has been chosen and there’s no devil you can blame
So try to understand your neighbor
Total explanations choke your common sense
It is time to wake up if you take offense
You don’t need your God above
To live in the name of love
Fundamentally, it’s up to you and me
And not religion
You don’t need your God to be
Generous and kind
In your heart you’ll find
All that you need for salvation
You don’t need your God above
To live in the name of love
Fundamentally
It’s up to you and me
And not religion
You don’t need your God to be
Generous and kind
In your heart you’ll find
True compassion
i miss her missing me
(Music & Lyrics by T Levin)
I miss wondering what she meant
Her crazy thoughts and her arguments
I miss laughing at her jokes
I miss hating that she smokes
I miss her missing me
I miss her reality
I miss her red boots in my hall
I miss her feet although they’re cold
I miss her glasses and her braids
Her clogs, her hats and her ugly shades
I miss her missing me
I miss her reality
It’s been one year, one long fall
Now I even miss the things I can’t recall
I miss it all
I miss her family and her friends
And the way her stories never end
I miss the good times and the bad
I miss the kids we never had
I miss her missing me
I miss her reality
It’s been one year, one long fall
Now I even miss the things I can’t recall
Now I even miss the things I can’t recall
I miss it all
please disturb me
(Music by Tom Levin, Lyrics by Tom Levin and Cole Ruth)
I don’t call to say I’m late
See the dishes they can wait
I don’t have to plan
I don’t deal with suspicion
Don’t need to ask for permission
I can travel light
It is life without compromising
And no certainties
Oh I
Get by
But I’m ready
I’ve got a vacancy
So please disturb me
Stay on my phone for hours
Use my toothbrush, kill my flowers
Never leave me alone
Play my records until daybreak
Fill my drawers, give me heartache
Wreck this solitude
Make me late every morning
Keep me up all night
Oh I
Get by
But I’m ready
I’ve got a vacancy
So please disturb me
save me now
(Music & Lyrics by T Levin)
You can’t talk and you can’t see
The club is full yet empty
So we chat my drink and me
And agree I need more whisky
Closing time you open up
Mutual desperation
Way too late but I can’t stop
When offered sweet salvation
Save me, save me
Save me now, save me somehow
Save me now from these beautiful and shallow friends
You’d think by now I’d be immune
But I still crave what you got
Now I’m waking up in the afternoon
With a bittersweet forget-me-not
Save me, save me
Save me now, save me somehow
Save me now from these beautiful and shallow friends
They are, they are so beautiful
the man who cannot love
(Music by T Levin & R Carlsson, Lyrics by T Levin)
He met an angel still he’s cold
The fear of rejection weaves a blindfold
His will is strong but his heart is frail
Love is like air that he can’t exhale
Is he the man who cannot love
Is he the man who will stay cold
Oh God, oh God, have mercy on his soul
He met a princess but he’s no prince
Aching for answers ever since
What if love is his Achilles’ heel
He’s terrified that he will never feel
Is he the man who cannot love
Is he the man who will stay cold
Oh God, oh God, have mercy on his soul
He has so much he wants to give
But he dares not to take the initiative
He gets a chance just to find
That his heart is like a prisoner of his mind
Is he the man who cannot love
Is he the man who will stay cold
Oh God, oh God, have mercy on his soul…
catch you when you fall
(Music by T Levin & R Carlsson, Lyrics by T Levin)
I just want to tell everyone
I’m so lucky, I have really won
I’ve had my doubts but now I have none
Since I met you my life has begun
Now I have to tell every friend
Stop looking for someone to recommend
My single days have reached an end
And I have met someone God sent
I want to wake you
Care for and make you whole
I will give you all
I will respect you
Hold and protect your soul
And catch you when you fall
In love
I just want to tell the world today
Midwinter but it feels like May
Now I know exactly where I belong
Elton sang it but now this is “Your Song
I want to wake you
Care for and make you whole
I will give you all
I will respect you
Hold and protect your soul
And catch you when you fall
just
(Music by T Levin & R Gustavsson, Lyrics by T Levin)
I feel constrained to always achieve
If I don’t get things done I won’t receive
Love from myself
A devil on my shoulder says I must be strong
The angel on the other side is cheering on
So help me out
Just want you to help me review my self-critique
Just smile and say that it’s quite okay to be weak
I have this need to be liked by everyone
I lose myself and forget to have fun
So take care of me
I’d like to sleep in and waste a day away
Let it be Sunday on a Thursday
Say it’s all right
Just want you to help me subdue my self-critique
Just smile and say that it’s quite okay
Just want you to help me review my self-critique
Just smile and say that it’s quite okay
That it’s quite okay
That it’s quite okay
lunch week 53
(Music & Lyrics by T Levin)
Information is a parasite
Feeling worn out and the future looks tight
Conversation is petty and polite
I run in a tunnel away from the insight
I try not to contemplate
Life has to wait
I don’t have time you see
But let us do lunch week 53
Shallow courtesy
Desperation is something I hide
Expectation keeps it inside
I try not to contemplate
Life has to wait
I don’t have time you see
But let us do lunch week 53
Shallow courtesy
I try not to contemplate
Life has to wait
I don’t have time you see
But let us do lunch week 53
Insincerity
I don’t have time at all
But hear is my card so give me a call
All my words seem small
All my words seem small
throw in a t-shirt
(Music & Lyrics by T Levin)
Don’t believe in what you read and see
Public relations reality
Quality and thoroughness
Cost too much for the TV and press
Speed and quantity substitute
For the news that is absolute
What can PR do to you
What you receive, well is it true?
What is going on?
Who is right who’s wrong?
Will we ever know?
Oh, no, I don’t think so
Reality is worse than “Wag the Dog,”
You elected a demagogue
He’s got the power to buy the news
He’ll do anything to find an excuse
What makes you think it’s the truth you get
When all you need is a movie set?
Soldiers don’t know what they’re fighting for
Throw in a t-shirt and they’ll fight some more
What is going on?
Who is right who’s wrong?
To confuse or accuse
Propaganda news
Will we ever know?
Oh, no, I don’t think so
i thank you
(Music by T Levin, R Carlsson and K Lindgren. Lyrics by T Levin)
Misdirected love, or when misunderstood
Intentions have always been good
We still have our fights, but always willing to turn
Crossing bridges that burn
I thank you
My roots, my tree
My comfort
My security
I thank you
My blood, my kin
My history
My everything
For being human
I’ve taken for granted that you’ve always been there
But the insight has left me here
I am by myself, yet I’m never alone
Now the fear of loss has grown
I thank you
My roots, my tree
My comfort
My security
I thank you
My blood, my kin
My history
My everything
For being human |
|
