From The Other Side

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All I Know

I saw myself through her eyes

Where I never should have gone

Somewhere to watch the morning

And find out whose side I’m on

All I know is all I, I want to believe

All I know is I don’t, I don’t want to leave

The world had caught her 

She didn’t know what time it was

But, it didn’t matter

Because it rarely does

When you throw a stone into the water

It finds the fastest way to the floor

But when you throw yourself in

You wash up on the shore

All I know is all I, I want to believe

All I know is I don’t, I don’t want to leave

She can laugh and cry at the same time

Should I go home, I lost her love

Buy the girls a drink and leave the writer

Raw to the world above

It exists nowhere

But in the mind that creates

Once seen and lost, the moment

Belongs to me (It’s too late)

All I know is all I, I want to believe

All I know is I don’t, I don’t want to leave

All I know is all I, I want to believe

All I know is I don’t, I don’t want to leave

Stripper Pole

She runs that gold right through her fingers

Sometimes right through her soul

She moves right down along your body

Like it was

Like it was a stripper pole

Like it was

Like it was a stripper pole

She takes sometimes without forgiving

A heart as black as coal

You know to her it’s just a living

(Rap)

She looks right through you across the crowded room

The smell of danger, just like perfume

And when she opens up her legs, it’s just like the dawn

And when she opens her dark heart, well yours is gone

She runs that gold right through her fingers

Sometimes right through her soul

She moves right down along your body

Like it was

Like it was a stripper pole

Like it was

Like it was a stripper pole

She’ll make you promise, one that you can’t keep

Then she’ll take you home with her and never let you sleep

So if you’re wondering if she’s worth the cost

Just one twenty dollar lap dance and your soul is lost

I run that gold right through my fingers

Sometimes right through your soul

I move right down along your body

Like it was a stripper pole

From The Other Side

She woke up laying in the shower

Her entourage was there trying to keep her awake

She remembered that she stopped breathing for about an hour

Had a strange dream floating in a lake

Do you think you’ll be ready for that ride

I wonder what it looks like from the other side

Then she wrecked the afternoon

Started drinking not a minute too soon

Had no recall of just who or where she’d been

Then she gets up and starts all over again

Do you think that you’ll be ready for that ride

I wonder what it looks like from the other side

Now I know I forgot along the way

All the things that I learned just yesterday

So close the shades and block out all the light 

‘Cause just like her, I’m a prisoner of the night

Do you think you’ll be ready for that ride

I wonder what it looks like from the other side

Do you think you’ll be ready for that long ride

I wonder what it looks like from the other side

From the other side

From the other side

One Night Stand

A waitress in a roadside diner, her name was Anna

Don’t need a menu I know what I want

An original piece of AmericAnna

Here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together and we’ll make our stand

Here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together and make a one night stand

Vegas skyline Sunday morning, I’m in first gear

She leans across the seat whispers erotic prayers in my ear

Here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together and we’ll make our stand

Here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together and make a one night stand

I’ll see you again on a new day

You’ll pretend that you don’t know me 

As I look away

Friday night Hermosa Beach, that girl just looks right

Then she turns to me

What a beautiful night

All my dreams are out of reach, but she’s two feet away

So I stumble over words as the band begins to play

Here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together and we’ll make our stand

Here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together and make a one night stand

Here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together and we’ll make our stand

Well here I am, just reach out and take my hand

We’ll be alone together for a one night stand

I’ll see you again on a new day

You’ll pretend that you don’t know me as I look away

And I’ll see you again in a new way

I know that I should go, but will you ask me to stay

Valgame Dios 

Llera on el Rio Guayalejo in Tamaulipas

Yo requerdo visions of Maria in the doorway

She is standing barefoot in the sun…light of my life

To cross the street into her arms is to cross into another world 

Another world

Valgame Dios Maria

I’ll leave my wild ways behind

Valgame Dios Maria

Nothing can change my mind

I know su amigas left for Ciudad Victoria

To sell their souls to the men waiting in the hallway

You are better

I see it in the way that you speak to me

The way your smile draws me in but still allows for freedom

Oh, for freedom

Valgame Dios Maria

Enamorarse de tu

Valgame Dios Maria

Oh, to be with you

She walks in beauty to the well of my soul

Draws some water

Sets it gently in my awkward hands

I would tell her, but maybe I was meant to be alone

To travel on a dusty road on to Sonora

On to Sonora

La despedida Maria

I must be on my way 

La despedida me vida

Unless you want me to stay

Valgame Dios Maria

Enamorarse de tu

Valgame Dios Maria

Oh, to be with you

If I Let You In Again

Well I’ve been trying to find myself again

Going nowhere but down

From the furthest reaches of my mind

To the darkest places of this town

And I’m ready to find out who I am

Yeah, I’m ready to be damned if I let you in again

Let you in again, let you in again

I’ll be damned if I let you in again

I don’t need to hear your story

But you can tell me once again

Just include the place you’re staying

The room number that you’re in

‘Cause I’m ready to find out who I am

Yeah, I’m ready to be damned if I let you in again

Let you in again, let you in again

I’ll be damned if I let you in again

I don’t know what’s in your head now

I don’t even know I care

If you look a little closer

Surely you will find me there

So, are you ready to find out who I am

Are you ready to be damned if you let me in again

Let me in again, let me in again

You’ll be damned if you let me in again

She Reminds Me

It’s been so long that I forgot

How it feels to be in love

But she reminds me

And it’s been so long that I forgot

What it means to rise above

But she reminds me

And I can’t get any higher than when she comes with me

Reaches in like fire in an endless sea

And she reminds me

My walls were high but then again, she melted them away

And they were as strong as they’ve ever been

But she took my heart that day

And I can’t get any higher than when she comes with me

Reaches in like fire in an endless sea

And she reminds me

Oh, yeah she reminds me

It’s been so long that I forgot

How it feels to fall in love

But she reminds me

And it’s been so long that just one girl

Was all I’m thinking of

But she reminds me

And I can’t get any higher than when she comes with me

There’s lots of girls out there, but there’s only one Natalee

And she reminds me

Oh, she reminds me

The System

Oh, but you don’t understand the system

You took aim right away again

But you know you missed ‘em

You didn’t solve the problem, you ran away from it

And she cried herself to sleep again

It was a maudlin scene and she knew it

Where’s it all gonna end

Oh, but you don’t understand the system

You took aim right away again

But somehow you missed ‘em

She’s nervous and she’s scared 

Some dirty little (ME)109 will spit in her eye

And that’ll be that

That’ll be all, goodbye

This doesn’t change anything

One of them asked him something and after they had all gone 

He finally understood the question

But it didn’t matter because he had no answer

On the other hand they all had to live together

And now the roads are narrow

This is not about boundaries

Oh, but you don’t understand the system

You took aim right away again 

But somehow you missed ‘em

Reminds me of my younger days

In the chemistry lab

It was a maudlin scene and she knew it

Oh, where’s it all gonna end

Oh, but you don’t understand the system

You took aim right away again 

But somehow you missed ‘em

Merchant Of Ideas

In love with himself

Killed by ideas that are living

What is it about?

Forces of nature 

Revealed in countless ways

Merchant of ideas

The pattern of law of the workmen

Of the future of everything

Bizarre ambitions survive secretly

Forces of nature revealed in countless ways

Merchant of ideas

It’s a mountain that I dig into from all directions

But I don’t know what I’ll find

Bizarre ambitions survive secretly in our language

Recorded in every revolution of the earth

Forces of nature revealed in countless ways

Merchant of ideas

Forces of nature revealed in countless ways

Merchant of ideas

Merchant of ideas

Merchant of ideas

I’ve Been Changed

Well I was on the beach trying to catch some rays

I guess the sun is getting pretty hot these days

‘Cause when I fell asleep, I was on my back

But when I woke up, my skin, it was black

My head was reeling the color wasn’t pealing

I couldn’t believe the new cards that life was dealing

Like Nigger, Coon, the ace of spades

Like the ignorance throughout this land pervades

Let’s hope it fades

I was changed, that’s all I can say

Swear I didn’t look like this yesterday

My pigment’s been rearranged and now

People look at me like I’m strange

Well I got in my car and I started to drive

I pinched myself to see if I was really alive

And of the people I saw, there were nothing but whites

I checked the mirror again that’s when I\saw the lights

Yeah, a cop pulled me over to the side of the road

He said, “Where’d you get that car Boy? 

Where you work? Where you going?”

I tried to explain, but before I could

He said, “Get out of that car and put your hands on the hood!”

Then he cuffed me and said, “You’re gonna be my guest.”

I said, “What’s the charge?”

“Resisting arrest.”

I was changed, that’s all I can say

Swear I wasn’t like this just yesterday

My DNA’s been rearranged and now

People look at me like I’m strange

To make a long story short, I was back on the street

Twenty hours later with zero hours sleep

I went back to my apartment, thought I was in the clear

Then the manager said, “We don’t want your kind ‘round here!”

So, I went to my girl’s house had to catch some zzz’s

But her old man through me out, he didn’t even say please

I was changed, that’s all I can say

Swear I didn’t think like this yesterday

My pigment’s been rearranged and now

People look at me like I’m strange

Well, I walked for awhile ‘till I thought I would die

And I crashed right there under the open sky

I slept peacefully beneath the stars because 

Nature had accepted me for who I was

But my slumber was disturbed by a man with a hood

He said, “Looks like I just found me some kindling wood!”

The cross was burning my stomach was turning

I couldn’t believe the new words that I was learning

Like Hate, Fear, and Empathy

When all I really wanted was to be set free

I’d given up hope as I lay on that pyre

And I woke up to the sound of bones

Crackling on the fire

Trying Not To Feel

I can hear voices drift across the room that die before my feet

There, another word is drowned

A patriot is buried

Just beyond the rocks

That make a sound inside my glass as I raise it to my lips

But is it worth the pain

That I’m trying not to feel

The light is sifting through the haze

But I’m trying not to feel

I was once as they are, proud and full of life

Standing in the sun, yeah

Ready to go out and catch the dying ember

Hold it in my hand

Let the flame encompass me 

Watch it ignite my soul

But is it worth the pain

That I’m trying not to feel

Oh, I long for your touch

But I’m trying not to feel

The streets are quiet as I stumble past the darkened rooms

Blanketed by night

There, memories of you

Litter every sidewalk

And left upon our stairs

I find the echo of your step and I’ve never been more alone

But is it worth the pain

That I’m trying not to feel

As I reach for the light 

I’m trying not to feel

Not to feel! Not to feel!

Coal Mine

I’d like to see the sunrise maybe one more time

That’s what I say almost every day I work that Hopedale Mine

Loading coal like a mole way down in the ground

I get my paycheck and I go out and paint the town

I’d like to see the sunrise maybe one more time

I used to go to college, but it just wasn’t for me

That coal black prison of the mine

I found could set me free

Loading coal I don’t know if it’s day or night

I take the shaft, hit the seam, and I feel alright

I’d like to see the sunrise maybe one more time

I’ve had my share of problems

They’re still following me

Sometimes I work on my days off

Just to get away

Loading coal with all my soul

Way down in the mine

I bolt the roof and I 

Try to walk the line

I’d like to see the sunrise maybe one more time

Maybe one more time

Maybe one more time

Until We Meet Again

I was here, you were not it was like night

Hanging by a rope in the air

How could I look for you I’ve been everywhere

And your too common name wasn’t there

Until I see you again

Until I can touch your hand

I walk on aimless and dead until we meet again

From the walls of my heart can I escape

To fly like a sail in the breeze

Understand the Master’s hand we cannot be

Shattered on the rocks by the sea

Oh, how could He deny us a love that he surely created

He could not

Why would they send us together alone on a voyage ill-fated

Until I see you again

Until I can touch your hand

I walk on aimless and dead until I see you again

In the night all is quiet except for my heart

It’s keeping me from sleep and you

“Cause when I dream hard enough swear I can feel

You sleeping next to me but I know it can’t be

God, why have you forsaken me

When I have always been on your side

Why should I wait for tomorrow

I say that love delayed is love denied

Until I see you again

Until I can touch your hand

I walk on aimless and dead until I see you again

Until I see you again

Until I can touch your hand

I walk on aimless and dead

Until we meet again, until we meet again

Until we meet again, until we meet again

Until we meet a…

Blue

Sometimes in the morning when I’m still not awake

I recall a time not long ago

I guess when I was free

Then the morning takes my memory

But maybe I’m just feeling blue

And maybe I’m drifting a little further from yo

I walk by your doorway and listen to your heart

It is softly dreaming there

Then my spirits fall

As I realize I’m not there at all

But maybe I’m just feeling blue

And maybe I’m drifting a little further from you

But it’s getting a little late in the game to make a change

But maybe I’m just feeling blue

And maybe I’m drifting a little further from you

Sometimes I wonder if I know who you are

I don’t know myself sometimes

You’re just so far away

If I had somewhere, I’d be leaving yesterday

But maybe I’m just feeling blue

And maybe I’m drifting a little further from you

But it’s getting a little late in the game to make a change

All songs:

copyright©2020 by Frank J. Bengier