Actions Speak Louder Tonight (Lyrics)

Take You Down

I can take you down like I did before

I will take you down just a little more

Sometimes as I drift off to sleep

I hear you in my head

Sometimes as I just start to dream

She slips into my bed

I can take you down like I did before

I will take you down just a little more

I woke on the veranda again

Under the summer sun

My bedroom was empty and then

I knew that you were gone

More than just physical

Gotta make it last

I can’t just scratch the surface

Become a part of your past

I can take you down like I did before

And I will take you down just a little more

I can take you down like I did before

I will take you down just a little more

The illusion that danced in my head

In the cold moonlight

It melts away from my memory

We kissed in black and white

I can take you down

(I don’t want to change the world)

Like I did before

(Just some narrow minds)

I will take you down

(‘Cause silence can be deafening)

Just a little more

(As judgement can be blind)

Actions Speak Louder Tonight

I’m supposed to feel bad every time he hurts you

I know my ways can be rough

And as for you, we both know

That I was never good enough

For you, now don’t say anything

Because I won’t fight, no I won’t fight

And I won’t hear what you’re saying

No, ‘cause actions speak louder tonight

I didn’t say it would be easy

I never could read your mind

You don’t have to walk this road I’m on

I don’t know what we’ll find…

For you, now don’t say anything

Because I won’t fight, no I won’t fight

And I won’t hear what you’re saying

No, ‘cause actions speak louder tonight

And I won’t hear what you’re saying

And I won’t fight, no I won’t fight

Now don’t say anything

No, ‘cause actions speak louder tonight

If you really want to be here

It means nothing what you say you’ll do

The only thing that really matters

Is that you go beyond the lines they drew

And don’t say anything

Because I won’t fight, no I won’t fight

And I won’t hear what you’re saying

No, ‘cause actions speak louder tonight

Day Drinking

I used to live for the night life

Don’t think that I ever slept

I danced from one crowd to another

I had faith and just leapt

But now those nights are all over

It’s better this way

There’s more of a feeling

When I drink through the day

Now I’m day drinking I’m out of the shadows

There’s no time for any last call

So many brighter colors

Now, I’m thinking of nothing at all

Now my friends are retired

They’re not as old as they seem

No time to think about the nightmares

When you’re just living the dream

Every minute is sacred

If you play be the rules

Mama taught me to take my time

She never raised any fools

Now I’m day drinking I’m out of the shadows

There’s no time for any last call

So many brighter colors

Now, I’m thinking of nothing at all

I’m day drinking I’m out of the shadows

There’s no time for any last call

So many brighter colors

Now, I’m thinking of nothing at all

Now, to find some meaning

I take a seat at the bar

And I search through the illusions

Until I see things as they are

I can’t go back to the darkness

I won’t be crossing that line

You see the truth behind all the lies

When the sun starts to shine

Now I’m day drinking I’m out of the shadows

There’s no time for any last call

So many brighter colors

Now, I’m thinking of nothing at all

I’m day drinking I’m out of the shadows

There’s no time for any last call

So many brighter colors

Now, I’m thinking of nothing at all

Oh, I’m day drinking

Nothing at all

Yeah I’m day drinking

Thinking of nothing at all

Nothing at all

Don’t Hurt Me

I close my eyes so I can see

You smile across the room at me

That was my first memory

The first time my eyes were laid

Like a virgin in the backseat my Chevrolet

And she said,

”Please don’t hurt me

You know I’ll cry

Please don’t leave me

You know I will die”

Got up at 6 am to surf

But the waves were flat just like the Earth

You can swim a straight line

So far from here

Unlike Columbus you might fall off and disappear

And she said,

“Please don’t hurt me

You know I’ll cry

Please don’t leave me

You know I will die”

Should I go home or should I stay in the game

It depends what the score is

I can’t remember why I came

I had been everywhere except

The place I wanted to go

And I knew everyone except

The girl I wanted to know

And she said,

“Please don’t hurt me

You know I’ll cry

Please don’t leave me

You know I will die”

No More

Well I saw her down by the lake

Where we made our first mistake

There was something in the water

Told me I ain’t got her

No more, no more, no more

I ain’t got her no more

No more, no more, no more

I ain’t got her no more

Well we met out, out on the road

If she was ever desperate it never showed

We were running like the rails in the summer heat

Two hearts in the same direction that never meet

No more, no more, no more

I ain’t got her no more

No more, no more, no more

I ain’t got her no more

Well, the last time that I heard her cry

Was the first time in my life I knew why

I’d been running from the trail of every year

While she was dropping time in every tear

No more, no more, no more

I ain’t got her no more

No more, no more, no more

I ain’t got her no more

Ooh, ooh

No more, more

No more, no

No more, I ain’t got her no more

Everyone Has An Ally

What a magnificent afternoon looking at the sky

Funny how a new pair of shoes makes your walking fly

I asked my teacher, “Who taught you?”

And she said, “Slept on my books and I just woke up and I knew

Everyone has an ally, you may not know it yet

Everyone has an ally, might be a spirit in your head

I can feel her move towards me, as she touches my sleeve

I know another there is for you, as long as you believe

Sometimes it just wasn’t meant to be

There’s always a price to pay just to be free

When parting ways, always wish them well

Or the darkness in your heart can soon become your hell

Everyone has an ally, you may not know it yet

Everyone has an ally, might be a spirit in your head

I can feel her move towards me, as she touches my sleeve

I know another there is for you, as long as you believe

You might think that you’re alone, you might not even care

Just because you cannot see them doesn’t mean that they’re not there

Well, I can’t make you believe, that’s on you to choose

I can only ask you this, what do you have to lose

Everyone has an ally, you may not know it yet

Everyone has an ally, might be a spirit in your head

I can feel her move towards me, as she touches my sleeve

I know another there is for you, as long as you believe

As long as you believe

Tear Me Down

Something real must have been given

As I go inward now

And touch my emotions with something tangible

I found that I was believing more and more

Like them

Can you tear me down to the essence that is me

Can you tear me down, tear me down

Tear me down, tear me down, tear me down

You’re a man amongst the living

You merge with the environment you’ve been given

Something real must have been given

I found that I was seeing more and more

As I go inward now

Like them

And touch my emotions with something tangible

With no way to explain it

I found that I was believing more and more

He had driven my attention away from dreaming

Like them

And you

Can you tear me down to the essence that is me

Can you tear me down, tear me down

Tear me down, tear me down

Tear me down, tear me down, tear me down, tear me down

Can you tear me down to the essence that is me

Can you tear me down, tear me down

Something real must have been given

As I go inward now

And touch my emotions with something tangible

I found that I was believing more and more

Like them

Can you tear me down to the essence that is me

Can you tear me down, tear me down

Tear me down, tear me down

Tear me down

Read Between The Lines

The girl shook her head

Would he ever guess the meaning of those shots

She didn’t care if he even wrote the words

The dashes and the dots

Study every word until you know what they mean

Read between the lines

You find it matters more the spaces in between

Read between the lines

Morse Code on my heart

“Save our ship” going down from the start

Vanishing to end all shows

She’s going down everybody knows

Study every word until you know what they mean

Read between the lines

You find it matters more the spaces in between

Read between the lines

He heard the breath of the man

Stumbling along walking behind him

He knew they were the same

He only lacked something to remind him

Read between the lines

Study every word until you know what they mean

Read between the lines

Then you find it matters more the spaces in between

Read between the lines

I have spoken every word

That was ever written down

And I have lived in every dream

That ever slept around

And now before you I’m mute

(Read between the lines, read between the lines)

I stand in open awe (As I make them up again)

I find the words they don’t exist

(Read between the lines)

You can’t unsee what you saw

(As I write them down again)

(Read between the lines, read between the lines)

And I’ll see you again

(Read between the lines, read between the lines)

And I’ll see you again

Study every word until you know what they mean

Read between the lines

Then you find it matters more the spaces in between

Read between the lines

And I’ll see you again

(Read between the lines)

And I’ll see you again

(Read between the lines)

I’ll see you again

As Above, So Below

I’m going through it and I’m all alone

Everywhere I turn is darkness and night

Almost giving in can’t find a way

Wouldn’t even know just who to fight

And I know it’s all about you

Because I’m dying now without you

I can’t see you take my hand

As I sleep beneath your glow

Maybe she will understand

As above, so below

Your heart is hiding behind the moon

In and out just like your tides

I try to understand you all around

But you have too many sides

And I know it’s all about you

Because I’m dying now without you

I can’t see you take my hand

As I sleep beneath your glow

Maybe she will understand

As above, so below

And so I’m left to find my own light

Across the sky it’s just like God is shooting dice

But this comet that I’m following

Is just a lonely, burning mountain of ice

And I know it’s all about you

Because I’m dying here without you

I can’t see you take my hand

As I sleep beneath your glow

I hope that you will understand

As above, so below

San Francisco Stories

She published dime novels under a different name

In doing so, she gave away all of her fame

The rocking chair moves by itself

Just a ghost making itself known

Like the tapestry on the wall

Hanging all alone

I take the hand of time

Turn it back dogeared as I reach

Old ships like history books

Shelved between Leavenworth and Beech

Oh, and I saw Jack London

Down in London Square

If you go traveling now

You just might see him there

Bernal Heights in near ruin 1969

Was it ever mine

You can’t hate the Haight

That’s where I draw the line

I take the hand of time

Turn it back dogeared as I reach

Old ships like history books

Shelved between Leavenworth and Beech

I take the hand of time

Turn it back dogeared as I reach

Old ships like history books

Shelved between Leavenworth and Beech

Murder at Fort Mason in 1864

I was quiet

Minding my own business

In the library just last year

When Mark Twain, he whispered it to me

From his tattered page to my ear

I take the hand of time

Turn it back dogeared as I reach

Old ships like history books

Shelved between Leavenworth and Beech

I take the hand of time

Turn it back dogeared as I reach

Old ships like history books

Shelved between Leavenworth and Beech

We Don’t Care

We inherited all, all of your mistakes

We gave ourselves the will to do just what it takes

Couldn’t even let us breathe, look at the air

Everything is broken way beyond repair

We don’t care for your excuses

No, we don’t care ‘cause everything you gave us here is useless

We don’t care for your excuses

No, we don’t care ‘cause everything you gave us here is useless

Well you know you had only one task

But I guess that that was just too much to ask

There’s another thing I’d like to know

Where did they get their bullets

Those Arapaho

We don’t care for your excuses

No, we don’t care ‘cause everything you gave us here is useless

We don’t care for your excuses

No, we don’t care ‘cause everything you gave us here is useless

Your generation, what did you make

Way too much of nothing, you take and take and take

For you we have just one, just one thing to say

If you don’t want to help, then get the fuck out of our way

We don’t care for your excuses

No, we don’t care ‘cause everything you gave us here is useless

We don’t care for your excuses

No, we don’t care ‘cause everything you gave us here is useless

Everything we do determines our existence

And all we get from you is entitled resistance

We don’t care

No we don’t care

No, we don’t care

No, we don’t

Over

She walked into her room and closed the blinds

Had to keep the light away

She could still hear the cars roll by

She could feel the sunny day

She pulled her pillow over her head

But she could still hear every word he said

She reached out and turned off the phone

There was nothing more to say

A siren tore through the distance

Taking someone far away

She pulled her covers over her eyes

And she cried because everything good dies

I’m sorry and you take my hand

I understand

I guess it’s over again

As all the normal faces sleep

And darkness fills the air

She moves by a street lamp

Safe from the enormous silence there

And the hum of electric lights dim

She searches for a place somewhere within

Don’t understand

Don’t take my hand

No goodbye kiss

It don’t get any more over than this

Actions Speak Louder Tonight

Recorded 2023

Written and recorded by

Frank Bengier

Tracks

Take You Down
Actions Speak Louder Tonight
Day Drinking
Don't Hurt Me
No More
Everyone Has An Ally
Tear Me Down
Read Between The Lines
As Above, So Below
San Francisco Stories
We Don't Care
Over

Liner Notes

I can Take You Down... even if you are a succubus who slips into my bed when I'm asleep, then leaves before the sun comes up.

When words are not enough, Actions Speak Louder Tonight

At a bar called "The Ville," a lot of Day Drinking is done starting at around noon. These retirees inspired this song as they refuse to waste an afternoon.

Please Don't Hurt Me

When I think of songwriting and I should be surfing with a blank mind, these are the kinds of lyrics I come up with.

No More

"We were running like the rails in the summer heat

Two hearts in the same direction that never meet"

Everyone Has An Ally

Some call them guardian angels or Spirit Guides... they let themselves be seen mainly when our lives are at a crossroads or at some major inflection point.

Tear Me Down

Trying to empty my mind of all thoughts. But I keep thinking that all those hours spent meditating might be wasted. And sometimes we have to be torn down to our bare essence before we can be rebuilt... hopefully newer and better.

If I tell you what this song is about, I'll have to kill you. Yes, it's that secret. Maybe you can decode it if you

Read Between The Lines

Some people believe that we create our reality somewhere in the fifth dimension. Once it is formed, only then is it manifested in the three D.

As Above, So Below

I only lived in San Francisco for two years. There's no better place on earth. So, why am I not living there now? Good question. There is so much history there. Every street or building haunts the present. We walk on sidewalks that echo the footsteps of Jack Keroac and Mark Twain. We can still hear their voices carried on the breeze that cools our arrogance as we share this space with the past. So many San Francisco Stories

We Don't Care

This could be the anthem for the next generation.

Over

This has to be the darkest song I've ever written... which makes sense since it was written during my Dark period.