the little while

01 – And The Shadows Played Dance On


The guitars jingled and jangled and screamed

The girls finally noticed us

The summer promised to be endless it seemed

We were so young, bold and ambitious


We lived in cellars and we learned how to play

With burning hearts and bleeding fingers

Musketeers of music and so sure that no way

Would ever get anything between us


There it was – the life ahead of us

The childhood days were gone

The world ajar before us

And The Shadows played »Dance On« …


We ditched school – our tutor was the radio

There were the teachers that reached us

The golden days, the glory days of rock ’n roll

We guzzled every single word it preached us


There it was …


Well, those days are gone – ages ago

We hang around and drink to times gone by

And eventually one of us shrugs and tells Siri to go

And play Those Were The Days on Spotify …


There it was …

02 – Do What You Love


Elvis woke me up long before he left the building

Then James Brown came on and taught me it's a man's man's world

But he and Brigid made it clear it ain't nothing without a woman

And when the Beatles sang »She loves you« I sure believed

It ain't nothing without a girl


Elvis’s long gone, and half of the Beatles, too

Brigid’s far away, and so are most of my blues

Cause I’ve learned …


Do what you love and love what you do

There’ll be someone who’ll love you, too


Trane blew a breach, and Miles changed everything

Girls became women, and I wrecked a lot of strings

Learned a lot of licks, and licked a lot of roads

Seen the sun come up and the moon go down

And kissed a lot of good-byes hello


Music saved my life more than once, I swear

Helped me with my burden, when it felt too much to bear

And I’ve learned …


Do what you love …


There are melodies in my head, they come from everywhere

Or maybe from out of nowhere – but they’re always there

And they carry me on


Yes, music saved my life more than once, I swear


Do what you love …

Just be yourself – and do what you love

03 – The Venture


The setting’s set

He took her home

She wonders if that means next step


Ninety-nine nice one night stands

No commitments – just sex and fun


Always ready to up and run

It’s understood: We’re just friends


But friendship grew, wanted more

And love grew, wanted more

Love wants all


The venture (Can we dare it?)

The venture (Can we dare it?)

The venture (Let’s dare it!)


He says »I think I … think I love you …«

Her heart cheers – her mind moans »Oh …!«


Love grew, unexpected

Doubts grew, too, wanna be respected – well …


The venture (Let’s dare it!) (4x)


She says »I think I love you, too …«

His heart cheers – his courage fades …


Love can grow, like thirst, like hunger

Doubts can creep up in between


Heart will dare, mind will ponder

The tight rope dance is an evergreen …

04 – Lay Your Love


Lay your love over my song

Melt ice, light fire

Be my choir


When you’re around

I feel inspired


It’s not easy

To find the right rhymes

But your love always helps

To put things in time


Lay your love over my soul

Set my skin on fire

Be my pyre


That you’re around

Is all I require


It’s so easy

To find the right moves

Cause your love alway helps

To slip in the groove


Lay your love down easy

Lay your love

Lay your love

Right down on me

05 – Aum, She Said


Aum, she said

And her eyes were sparkling lights

That lit the night


Aum, she said

And her hands were silky matter

On my tired skin

’til far within


She told me about the good life

And the ways to live it

Offered me a good knife

To kill my Ego with it

Healed my wounds and stilled my hunger

Quenched my thirst and cured my heart

And then said »I can’t stay any longer …«


Aum, she said

And I felt I’d come to rest

Found the best

Found happiness


She told me about the good life …


Aum, she said

And the echo lingers

In my ears, in my heart

In my fingers …


She told me about the good life …

06 – The Angry Melancholic


Strange to see the sun don’t shine today

But I ain’t in the mood for sunshine anyway

I’m an angry melancholic, I’m an out for blood clown

I’m the king of sorrows, and the queen has pawned her crown


I sang for you (but the song was a lie)

I played for you (but the tune was old)

I cried for you (but my eyes were dry)

I burned for you (but the fire was cold)


If I can’t hold you I won’t stay with you

But if you wanna go I’m not gonna come


And as the moon bows down to drink the Rhine

I swallow your smile – and the lies that it told

I chew on my blues and decide to feel fine

And close down the past as the future unfolds

I’m an angry melancholic, I’m an out for blood clown

I’m the king of sorrows, and the queen has pawned her crown


If I can’t hold you …


A 4 – I’m an angry melancholic, I’m an out for blood clown

I’m the king of sorrows, and the queen has pawned her crown


If I can’t hold you …

07 – My Bothered Soul


Joni brought me home

And while we rode along

On a night ride home

She sang me a song


The way that only

The one and only Joni can


I first heard this song

Some forty years ago

And it hit me right away

Deeply touched my soul


But the tears I cried

Surely cleaned, cleaned my soul

My bothered soul

And still tonight

She strikes a chord in my soul

In my bothered soul


There’s chords in me

That resonate more to some good old

Rock’n roll, y’see


But the nightshade waves she sends

Always shatter me deeply


Still tonight

Joni’s chords strike a chord

In my soul

They light a light

Fill a hole in my soul

My bothered soul


Joni, she brought me home

And sang me a song

Of hope and hopelessness

Filled me with hope


Filled my soul

My bothered soul

With bittersweet fearless hope

Filled my soul

Made me feel whole

Me and my soul

My bothered soul …

08 – Unchain Your Dreams


Cross the bridges in Belgium

By the rivers of France

Past a Portuguese mountain

Where the gypsies dance their dance


The moon is Spanish

An´ so are the stars

You gotta unchain your dreams

To find peace of heart


Unchain your dreams

To find peace of heart

Unchain your dreams

To find peace


From the crown of Miss L.

To the flames of Cape Horn

From Tijuana cantinas

To a grey northern morn´


The sun is arctic

An´ so are the stars

You gotta unchain your dreams

To find peace of heart

Unchain your dreams …


Moments of restlessness

Thru´ movements which way

Nights in a needle´s eye

Can´t go on before day


The moon is lonesome

An´ so are the stars

You gotta unchain your dreams

To find peace of heart

Unchain your dreams …

… … … … … … … … … … … … … …

All lyrics ©: Rich Schwab, GEMA-No. 094 211

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