The Information Age (Part Two) Lyrics

I DON’T KNOW WHAT FREEDOM MEANS

I don’t know where I want to go

I don’t know where I want to be

There’s been a lot of talk of freedom

But I don’t know what freedom means

I don’t know what freedom means

I don’t know what freedom means

I TRIMMED MY BEARD TODAY

The length of my beard is all you need to know

If it’s trim I’m feeling happy, if it’s long I’m letting go

And there’s nothing you can tell me, and there’s nothing you can say

But honey let’s go out tonight

‘Cause I trimmed my beard today

I was worried for awhile there, I was aching and concerned

I’ve been down so many times now, you’d think I would have learned

That light comes after darkness and night will never stay

Now I’m standing in the sunshine 

And I trimmed my beard today

There’s so much that I want now that I can never have

The ghosts I know for certain are burning through my past

There’s a woman that I love, there were women I’ve just known

One was simple, one was sacred, one was stupid as a stone

I was sleeping in the twilight when the light came shining through

There is magic in these mountains, there is work I have to do

There are demons in this desert, there are reasons I’m with you

I still never see it coming, it still makes me come alive

I’m a tease upon a tightrope, I can fool you half the time

If you catch me when I’m falling I’ll be tangled up and weird

And if you wonder how I’m doing take a gander at my beard

So the armored men are many and the change is slow to come

There is one thing I’m afraid of, there is death that has been done

In the end we’ll have to face it and I promise we will pay

But let it wait until tomorrow ‘cause I trimmed my beard today

Yeah, let it was until tomorrow ‘cause I trimmed my beard today

IN A DIFFERENT LIFE, IN A DIFFERENT TIME

In a different life, in a different time

She might be mine, she might be mine

In a different life, in a different time

She might be

She was standing alone by the stairs when I first saw her there

Eyes all crumpled and looking to the ground so I was careful

She was funny in a funny way

Kinda tired and kinda scared of what she might say

I still don’t know why I liked it that way

But I liked it that way

In a different life, in a different time

She might be mine, she might be mine

In a different life, in a different time

She might be

She stayed later than everyone else and I thought that was a good sign

Still we didn’t know how to cross that line

Why is it so hard for two people who want to to get alone with each other

With the door shut and the door locked

And the phones off

And no time at all until the morning light comes shining in

And wakes them up to the world they’re in and the lives they live

In a different life, in a different time

She might be mine, she might be mine

In a different life, in a different time

She might be

YOU GOTTA KEEP A SECRET

I just saw you looking here from way over there

You saw that I saw

You got nervous

There’s so much that you want

And so much you don’t know

I could show it to you

You would like it

Oh, we’ve been so good

We deserve to be a little bad

I won’t hurt you at all

Oh oh oh oh oh 

You gotta keep a secret

Oh, night turns to daytime

And day just turns back to night

When it’s light I hide out

When it’s dark I’m alright

Oh oh oh oh oh 

You gotta keep a secret

THINKING ABOUT THE BAD

I don’t know how to say this

I’m thinkin’ ‘bout the bad

I am thinking ‘bout the bad

Like teeth and wolves and whistles

Like fortunate arrest

I am thinking about the bad

And I wanna be an astronaut

I wanna be your friend

But I don’t know how to do this

And I don’t know how to end

I am thinkin’ ‘bout the bad

I tried to keep it simple

I tried to make it last

I am thinking ‘bout the bad

It’s so hard to move it forward

It’s so hard to get ahead

I am thinking ‘bout the bad

And I wanna be an astronaut

I wanna go where no one has gone before

But I’m standing with the dead now

I am standing in the past

I am thinkin’ ‘bout the bad

Ba ba do do do do 

I am stuck in what I was now

I am stuck in what I had

I am thinkin’ ‘bout the bad

YOU BETTER BELIEVE SOMEBODY

You’re cynical and skeptical and poisoned by the news

You sold your heart, you broke your soul 

There’s holes in both your shoes

You lost your sad direction and it wasn’t even funny

You better believe somebody, you better believe somebody

Republicans and Democrats and Independents too

Who’s playing them, who’s laying them

And who is paying who?

They’re lying if they’re talking, their dirty hands are bloody

You better believe somebody, you better believe somebody

The Christians and Muslims and the Buddhists and the Jews

They’re said so much for so long now, it’s hard to pick and choose

The truth becomes corroded, the meaning just gets muddy

You better believe somebody, you better believe somebody

You can’t escape the thunder, you wonder what is next

You hope to get the better of whatever happens next

Whatever happens next, you bet, you keep your fingers crossed

You cry because it hurts to lose and now you know you’ve lost

The sour turns to sweet my friend, sugar sweet like honey

You better believe somebody, you better believe somebody

Nothing last forever man, it’s stormy then it’s sunny

You better believe somebody, you better believe somebody

We can conquer mediocrity if we’re unimpressed by money

You better believe somebody, you better believe somebody

WEDDING DAY

You

You who were with me when the battle began

You watched it consume me ‘cause you know who I am

You slept there beside me when I couldn’t go on

When I was built like a bishop, but I moved like a pawn

Still

Still you were patient

Still

Still you were proud

I couldn’t say nothing and you

You spoke too loud

Then everyone noticed

Or ignored it and joked

It was not what you needed, but it was just what you hoped

Now I’ve seen all your secrets and I’ve read all your lists

And I was an idiot the first night we kissed

When there was no history

When there were no words

When we were atoms colliding in a blind universe

There was nobody else then

There was nothing to do

There was no one who mattered until there was you

I still never go back there

And I never think first

And I never surrender

And I never rehearse

I saw what I’m feelin’ if I know it won’t hurt

That’s why silence is honest in a thin summer skirt

It’s a thick winter curtain that hangs in the air

We know what it means, but we’re scared when it’s there

And I wanna tear my brain right out of my skull

I wanna rip it up and make sense of all

I wanna hear my heart right out of my chest

And squeeze it ‘till it splatters all over your dress

I wanna kill all the preachers who murdered my soul

I wanna punish the poets who filled it with holes

I wanna scream at the strangers who laugh as they pass

Who know all the questions, but don’t dare ask

I wanna jump from this building and drown in the sea

To be baptized again, to be able to breathe

I wanna talk to my demons and gather my ghosts

And tell them I’m grateful they’re always so close

‘Cause it’s them that I live with and it’s them I believe

When daylight is creeping and I start to bleed

It’s them that I cherish, it’s them that I need

It’s them that remind me to be careful with greed

I can only continue 

So I will never be free

I don’t know when it started

What happened to me

I’m a priest on the dance floor

I’m a dog in the night

I’m atrocious and shameless when I’m beckoned to fight

Yes, it’s all in my making

Yes, it’s all in my mind

I can’t say that I’m lonely ‘cause it’s there all the time

It’s there all the time

It’s there all the time

It’s candle and elbows

It’s cotton and clay

It hangs all around on a wedding day

It hangs all around on a wedding day

I’M BEAUTIFUL

I met the devil, I looked into his mouth, I was hungry and anxious in the south

I have been close to heaven, I have been deep in hell

I fought my way out and now I’ve got a story to tell

Oh, I’ll be alright, I’ll be all good, I’ll be all there

One day, I know, I will go

I’ll be fine

I am not nothing, at all

I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful

She was an artist, that is what she said

I talked about her art and we got in the bed

But then, in the morning, I wanted to stay

She wanted me to leave and so I went away

Oh, and I rode through the hills and through the pines

Down to the water where the good people shine

I am not nothing, at all

I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful

I’m one in a zillion, I still know the score

But I can’t even count right anymore

I lost every battle for more than a year

When winter came I almost lost the war

I almost didn’t make it, but I did

And I went where I knew I’d be well

I wrestled with God and I fought the God of hell

I won and I’m not looking back

I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful

Once in awhile now, I still get upset

There are moments I regret

I always will regret them and I know

I won’t forget ‘em

But I know I must move on

And I know there’s a darkness after dawn

And there’s light after the darkness

Oh, I’ll be alright, I’ll be all good, I’ll be all there

One day, I know, I will go

I’ll be fine

I am not nothing, at all

I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful

I know how to get out and I know how to get in

And I know the different between greed and sin

Some men just justice

Some men just want rain

I think the secret is they’re both the same

THE INFORMATION AGE

That was disappointing

Started well, ended light

This is nothing new, of that I'm certain

Strong men rule and small men write

All for naught, all for naught

It's the information age

It's information

Struggle

Sweat and struggle

Since the the dawn of man

And woman, sweet women

Make it all worthwhile

Meanwhile we wait for men of hate

It's the information age

It's information

I know

You are concerned

But

I know

You don't know anything that matters

It's the information age

It's information

IT GETS BAD, BUT IT GETS BETTER

It gets bad, but it gets better

Call it craziness, call it weather

We can make it through if we laugh at it together

It gets bad, but it gets better

You got lost when your mom got sick

Prescription pills and therapists

Mom got worse, she didn’t make it

After years and years and hours and hours

You got to her grave with her favorite flowers

And you talk to her and she listens

Or you’ve had the worst of God and men

You’ve sworn you’ll never love again

You don’t have kids, your friends all do

You wonder what is wrong with you

While they’re stuck at home, you’re free to go

Save some cash and hit the road

Quit your job, you never know

Buy ticket someplace far

‘Cause it gets bad, but it gets better

Call it craziness, call it weather

We can make it through if we laugh at it together

It gets bad, but it gets better

Another politician making noise

Another bad guy hanging out with the bad boys

Lives destroyed and damage done

Bombs deployed and more to come

Poison in the earth and air

Men in charge who just don’t care

Men in charge with thinning hair

Soon they’ll all be dead

When the market crashed you had a big, bad loan

You lost your job, you lost your home

You washed up here alone and broken

Then you found a new place and a good gig too

With a better boss and more time for you

Last week in line you met someone new

There’s a lot eleven years can do

‘Cause it gets bad, but it gets better

Call it craziness, call it weather

We can make it through if we laugh at it together

It gets bad, but it gets better

Then it gets bad again, I know

The darkness comes and darkness grows

Sometimes the darkness never goes and goodness loses

But somewhere else it’s dawn again

And on and on, it never ends

Until the sun blows up in a big red ball and swallows us all

But even then it just might be we’re living in a different galaxy

We might get to watch it on our phones

All together and all alone

Rome rose up, Rome fell down

The Mayans lost to the Spanish crown

The Incans were the best around

The Spanish beat them too

Then Spain declined, then France declined

Then we all had a world war

Sixteen million lost and more

We swore we’d never do it again

Yes, world peace was the world goal

‘Till the Nazis came and they took control

Then the Nazis lost to the USA and the Russians 

(Who saved the day)

But then Stalin really went to town

And the states were great unless your face was brown

There were super powers, atom bombs

The summer of love and Beatles songs

9/11, terrorists, no mention of Africa in any of this

A baby born, a baby missed, a funeral, a wedding kiss

‘Cause it gets bad, but it gets better

Call it craziness, call it weather

We can make it through if we laugh at it together

It gets bad, but it gets better

THE NEW PLACE

Come on up to the new place

It’s still got that new place smell

We’re still doin’ just as well

But it feels better

Come on up to the new place

It’s on the right side of town

We only get the right folks around

And it feels better

The last few years at the old place

I got stuck

I got stuck in my ways

But now that we’re here in the new place

I’m in a whole new phase

Hope held me hostage

And hijacked my heart

Sometimes it gets so dark

Staring at a screen

As if it counts for company

As if it could comfort me

A man needs a woman

So come on up to the new place

I’m not a grown up yet

I still take what I can get

But I do it better

Come on up to the new place

I’m ready to try again

A lover, a new best friend

And I’ll do it better

A man needs a woman

To have him and hold him

To touch him and scold him

To soften him up

A man needs a woman

Because the world of men

Is awful and angry

Is certain and sure

A man needs a woman

And he must believe her

And he has to hear her

He has to hear

A man needs a woman

TIME TO BE HERE NOW

I don’t like the girls in San Francisco

The girls in San Francisco don’t like me

Wherever I have talked about and travelled

Wherever I am going, I will be

I have been ferocious and forgetful

I have been so broken and so bored

Wherever I have been I’ll be again, love

I am wherever I am moving toward

I can give up, I can give up, I can give up on my dreams

Whatever I got, it was worth it

Whatever I thought it would be

Time to get over it, time to let it leave

Time to be here now, love

Time to be here now

Time to be here now

I wanna promise purpose and precision

I wanna promise poetry and prose

I wanna promise love will last forever

But it never has and everybody knows

After love what we have to capture

Lying in a stillness, soft and white

Patience in the chaos of creation

Silence in the seance of the night

I can give up, I can give up, I can give up on my dreams

Whatever I got, it was worth it

Whatever I thought it would be

Time to get over it, time to let it leave

Time to be here now, love

Time to be here now

Time to be here now

All words written by John Elliott 2021 (BMI).