Lyrics and Thoughts
- Call My Name
- High
- Overnight Mechanic
- Take Heart
- Deeper Down
- Waves (Lying In Your Arms)
- Free
- The Day After
- Seven
Old Ladies At The Church Last Night Saying Rosary
- You Are Not
- Everybody Wants To Be Loved
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Call My Name
© Rónán Johnston, IMRO, 2007
This was written around the time my mom got ill
first, and probably the main reason I called the album “Songs of
Consolation”. It’s such a sunny, summery track, and yet the undercurrents
are quite dark. Elton meets the Beatles. All my influences on show! It
really started to gel when Joanne and Fran started putting the harmonies
down, and when Joe arrived with the string arrangement! What a revelation!
You know I’ve been waiting
I go crazy killing time
I fall on my knees yeah
But I can’t get you off my mind
I’m waiting for you, yeah
For your heart to stop and notice me
I’m looking for you, yeah,
For your love to come and set me free.
Chorus:
You yeah, never mind the weather, Just call my name
Ooh yeah, when we’re together, Call my name
(fair and stormy weather- I’ll be the same)
How long have I waited to hear you just call my name
The sound of your voice, yeah, is still ringing in my brain
And I’m calling to you, yeah,
Though I wonder if you hear my cry,
I’m longing for you, yeah
Come and stop me when you’re walking by.
It’s a little bit me, it’s a little you
It’s a little bit me its little you
Its a little bit whatever you’re going through
The two of us together
A little bit everybody going through it
(everyone together)
ooh yeah, everyboby suffers just call my name
Ooh Yeah, never find another, just call my name,
Ooh yeah, sound of someone calling, just call my name
Ooh yeah, never mind your falling, I’ll be the same.
Return to the Menu
HIGH
©Rónán Johnston, Tony Kelly, Emmausongs, IMRO 1993.
A song written by Tony and me the same week we
wrote “Across the River” so it goes back a while. We were listening to a lot
of Byrds at the time. I think it sounds like Tom Petty, who might have been
doing the same thing that week! Whenever Tones and I write together it seems
the harmonies are always to the front. I think I may have written the lyrics
for him, maybe describing something he was going through at the time.
He gets lost in the arms of discovery
He didn’t know was she giving the eye
She was confused by his show of ambivalence
And looked away into the night
Why do I go and do it to myself again?
This waiting game’s putting years on my life
I keep on falling in and out of love again,
So is this a game, or do or die?
It’s taking you high
It’s bringing you down
It’s taking you high
It’s spinning you round
She said “come dance, come dance, come dance with me,
They felt the cold blast chill of the night
He said “you’re dangerous I’m afraid of you”
Though he was still there his soul had taken flight
Opening doors and opening a can of worms
They dance til two or three, maybe four,
Why is it when your heart’s on the mend again
You throw yourself in, believing again,
It’s taking you high
It’s bringing you down
It’s taking you high
It’s spinning you round
Somebody cries
Somebody crawls
But it’s taking you high
so you give her a call.
And every time that love comes round
Can’t let it lie, can’t put it down
No matter how it’s been before
He keeps believing that this’ll be more. Return to the
Menu
Overnight Mechanic
© Rónán Johnston IMRO, 1982
This is the oldest track on the album. A song I
wrote when I was eighteen, and have recorded with maybe four different
bands, and never to my satisfaction. Anyway, I was listening to the amazing
“Paris” live album by Supertramp, and I realized that this song was always a
Supertramp song at heart, so I recorded it with all that keyboard stuff in
mind. Kieran Kennedy came and did all the mad guitars one afternoon and we
had lots of fun overbaking the track!!
Somebody cares, somebody opens the door,
Somebody knows when you’re tired and you’re feeling alone
And I know, somebody, somebody cares,
Somebody cares.
Somebody cares, somebody knows how you feel,
Somebody knows when you’re feeling alone at the wheel,
And I know, somebody, somebody cares,
Somebody cares.
Well, I’ve been to the brink and I’m back again,
I was drowning in the water and you pulled me in,
If you feel wound out and you’ve been abused,
Just let the overnight mechanic do a job on you.
Somebody cares, somebody wants to hold on,
Somebody knows when you’re tired and your feeling alone,
And I know somebody, somebody cares,
Somebody cares.
Well, I’ve been to the brink and I’m back again,
I was drowning in the water and you pulled me in,
If you feel wound out and you’ve been abused,
Just let the overnight mechanic do a job on you.
Someday, one day, know your way around, and I know,
Someday, one day, get your feelings right off the ground,
Oh-oh-oh-oh, Oh-oh-oh-oh, Oh-oh-oh-oh
Well, I’ve been to the brink and I’m back again,
I was drowning in the water and you pulled me in,
If you feel wound out and you’ve been abused,
Just let the overnight mechanic do a job on you. Return
to the Menu
Take
Heart
© Rónán Johnston, Tony Kelly, Emmausongs 1999
On tour with Emmaus, we arrived in Carmel, Indiana,
and Joanne and I stayed with a wonderful couple there. After several
gruelling months on the road, I was fairly battered and bruised. I sat at
their piano and knocked this out. Joanne sang it on an Emmaus album, but I
always felt I’d like to give it a go. It’s a real song of consolation.
Take heart when the storm is rising,
And you pull your overcoat up against the cold,
Take heart when the crowd is dying
And you feel there’s no-one left in the world
Take heart, take my hand
Take heart, let me stand,
Take heart and you will find,
I’m never a long way, I’m never too far
Take heart when you’re isolated,
And you hear cry resound against the wall,
Take heart when you’re violated,
I’ll be the one to hole you when you call
Take heart, take my hand
Take heart, let me stand,
Take heart and you will find,
I’m never a long way, I’m never too far
Take heart when you’re lost and lonely,
I’m never too far when you call.
Take heart when the storm is rising,
And you pull your overcoat up against the cold,
Take heart when the crowd is dying
And you feel there’s no-one left in the world
Take heart, take my hand
Take heart, let me stand,
Take heart and you will find,
I’m never a long way, I’m never too far Return to the
Menu
DEEPER DOWN
© Rónán Johnston, IMRO 2007
Naoise loves this song because it features him. I
wanted to get a song out that charts the way we hate growing up. Karl Jung
would probably say that the only important journey that we have to make is
inward. I borrowed from Paul Simon too (why not?)
There was something in his mouth, yeah,
Couldn’t seem to get it out, yeah,
But she wouldn’t fill the silence, not today,
When you feel you’re up against it,
And the odds are stacked against you,
There’s only one placed to go to heal the pain,
That’s when I go
Down, down, deeper down,
You lift up your heart and you dig into the ground yeah
Down, down, deeper down, yeah
That’s when I go
Down, down, digging down, down,
Head in the clouds but your feet are on the ground, yeah,
Down down deeper down yeah
You know it’s funny when you say it,
But one day you’re gonna wake up,
And wonder how the hell did I wind up here,
All those dreams of making movies,
Where you’d go and what you’d do, yeah,
A half a life away it was all so clear.
That’s when you go ......
x2
There was something in his mouth yeah,
Couldn’t seem to get it out, yeah,
So he kissed his little boy and walked away,
(But) then turned to stay,
He said “I don’t know much,
But I think I know this much,
That’s that you and me were meant to work this out,
There’s a strange kind of longing,
Fills up my heart when
I can’t see your face I can’t get out”.
That’s when I go ......
x2 Return to the Menu
Waves (Lying in your arms)
© Rónán Johnston, IMRO 2007.
This one’s for Mom. Being the eldest, I didn’t get
to be the baby for long!! Even after a year or so, I still can’t sing this
live. The vocal was the first one I laid, and I kept going back to it. At
times, I feel like I’m really losing it, but I never quite got the emotion
right again, so it stayed!
Now the night turns in so slowly
Lying in your arms,
Waves will come and waves will go
turning sweet and warm,
And when I look into the space between us
Time will do us harm,
Now I know the place I long to be
Lying in your arms,
In the garden lie the things we
left the night before,
Tattered pages torn and wasted,
Faded nothing more,
When I look into your eyes I know it,
Know it like before,
Time will come and take it all away
there is nothing more,
And if I thought it much, I wonder now, I
wonder all the time,
I don’t where we will find ourselves
in the sands of time,
Now the night turns in so slowly
Lying in your arms
And when I look into the space between us
Time will do us harm
Now I know the place I long to be
Lying in your arms
And another day goes slowly by.
Waves will come and waves will go,
Waves will bring you low,
Waves will take the ones you love and
never let them go,
And if I wondered now what is to come
Where do we go now?
I would take the clock and turn it back,
Lying in your arms,
Never got the chance to simply be,
Lying in your arms. Return to the Menu
Free
© Rónán Johnston, IMRO 2007
Another one of the tracks written in the immediate
aftermath of Mom’s final illness. Her passing made me less afraid. Not sure
why, but this is about not being afraid to be yourself. Joe’s strings again
really made the track. Brian and Lance from Kila played bass and drums and
they really set out the groove well. It’s kind of contemporary and celty all
at the same time.
I Lift up my eyes and see right to the opposite side,
I take on the world and its hurt me but now Im alright
It’s a long long road with no turn
While we stand and fall and run
Free to be comfortable, free to be deep,
Free to confound them and free not to speak,
Free to be open and broken and bruised,
Free to be stupid or nobody’s fool.
I swallow down hard and pretend to be fine when I’m dying,
I put on a face with a trace of a glint in my eye,
Oh where did you go now?
Now I need to fight you, you’re gone,
Free to be comfortable, free to be deep,
Free to confound them and free not to speak,
Free to be open and broken and bruised,
Free to be stupid or nobody’s fool.
Free to be covered and free to be free,
Free to be truthful and free to be me,
Free to be ruthless and free to be cruel
Free to be stupid and act like a fool.
I Lift up my eyes and see right to the opposite side
I Lift up my eyes and see right to the opposite side
Twenty twenty vision, now it’s too late. Return to the
Menu
The Day After
Another ancient song, which Larry suggested we just
record in one go, live in the room. I love his slide accoustic guitar and
backing vocals.
I wake up to the sound of your laughter,
Smile to say that you love me ever after,
I must admit, I still don’t know what you’re after
And maybe it’s a good thing.
I say something that hurts you on the inside,
To make me feel a little better on the outside,
I know we said that we love each other, sometimes
Baby, you could fool me.
You know we had it so hard from the start,
They never really wanted us anyway,
Something keeps a knife to your heart,
And it stops you from running away.
I really wanted this to be a love song,
It started out okay but the words were wrong,
Besides I know that it wouldn’t do you justice
And maybe that’s a good thing.
You know we had it so hard from the start,
They never really wanted us anyway,
Something keeps a knife to your heart,
And it stops you from running away.
I really wanted this to be a love song,
It started out okay but the words went wrong,
Besides I know that it wouldn’t do you justice
And maybe that’s a good thing.
You know we had it so hard from the start,
They never really wanted us anyway,
Something keeps a knife to your heart,
And it stops you from running away.
I wake up to the sound of your laughter,
Smile to say that you love me ever after,
I must admit, I still don’t know what you’re after
And maybe it’s a good thing. Return to the Menu
Seven Old Ladies at the Church last
night saying Rosary
©Rónán Johnston 1997, IMRO
This one’s dedicated to Kieran Kennedy. He’s the
troubadour in the second verse. I wrote it on tour with the Black Velvet
Band. We were touring with 10,000 maniacs, and I was a million miles from
home.
Take me away……
Seven old ladies at the church last night saying Rosary,
In the dim twilight, candles burned bright and it occurred to me
An old woman in an Oxfam coat makes a strange kind of warrior,
But you know somewhere inside I knew her prayers were keeping me together
now.
You know people like me need to have it all cut and dried yesterday,
We need to learn the facts, come to terms with the issues, find out what
they mean,
As if information’s going to lead me to a better whole relationship,
Because I’ll never admit that I’m falling apart at the seams.
And the further I get from you, you know, the more I get out of my head,
And the further I get from you, you know, the more I can’t see you,
And the birds in the trees in the forest seem to echo it in monotone,
Because I got to get back, got to get back, got to get to you.
You know last night I played before eight hundred people and they loved it
all,
They went wild when the troubadour sang, people cried up the front of the
hall,
And outside there’s a drunk singing songs to himself he’s in the parking
lot,
I had to wonder which one of us was closer to the hand of God.
Where did I learn the faster life goes the more you get out of it?
Where did I learn the greater the glory, the more you feel loved?
Where did I get it in my head that a hand full of bread is more important
now
Than that guy singing songs to himself and the stars up above?
And the further I get from you …..
Take me away, take me away,
Take me away from this crazy, crazy world. Return to
the Menu
You
Are Not
© Rónán Johnston 2007, IMRO
The newest song on the album, and I’m still
uncertain as to what it’s all about.
I think something about we’re not the creator, we’re the creatures. But
maybe not….
You are not the reason, you’re the road,
You are the not vision you behold,
And I don’t know, I don’t know why
You will take the weight and never learn to fly
my love, my love,
You are not the reason, you are not,
You are something else I don’t know what,
And I don’t know, I don’t know why
Cross my heart and hope to die
I love you more than that my love
(break)
You are not the potter, you’re the mould,
You are not forsaken on the road,
I, I don’t know why? Why, oh yeah yeah yeah yeah
My love, my love
Someday we will learn what this is all about,
You are not the sinner you’re the sold,
Songs of consolation for your soul.
Return to the Menu
Everybody Wants to be Loved
© Rónán Johnston 1985, IMRO
The third and final old song on here. I really
wanted to include some of the older work that hadn’t made it onto other
albums over the years. I tried a few, but these three stuck. If Tom Waits
had sung Huey Lewis songs, it might have sounded like this. I brought it down
five semitones from its original key, so I could get a bit of gravel into
it!
You’ve seen it before, you,
You’ve been kicked in the face and left for dead in the road,
Felt the pain of giving love and not getting it back,
\You’re not going to be caught out in love again,
It’s the same old story,
Boy gets girl and girl gets sorry,
No-one understands just why you harden your heart,
You’re not going to be caught out in love again.
This guy isn’t right, he’s only going to hurt you,
He doesn’t wear the right kind of clothes,
He doesn’t speak with the right kind of accent,
But nobody makes you feel like he does.
Everybody wants to be loved,
Everybody wants that little corner of your heart,
Everybody wants to be that special kind of person,
Everybody wants to be loved.
You’ve been living in silence,
But somebody seems to have found a way inside you,
Before you know it, you’ve forgotten the pain,
Something says it’s not going to be the same.
This guy is so wrong,
He’ll get you into trouble,
Doesn’t drive the right kind of car,
The warning signs seem to spell out the danger,
But you only live once in your heart.
Everybody wants to be loved,
Everybody wants that little corner of your heart,
Everybody wants to be that special kind of person,
Everybody wants to be loved. Return to the Menu
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