LISTEN TO RECORDINGS / PIANO

ON THE VERGE

I’m on the verge
It’s time again
I’m not quite certain of
the course that it’s taking.

Am I standing on a cliff looking down?
Or am I standing at the base of a mountain looking up
on the verge of climbing through the fog?

The future seems
to like to hide what it’s got in store
leaving me with no other choice
than to improvise…
a song
which maybe just like a magic
carpet will fly me
out of this valley of uncertainty.

THE NUCLEAR AGE

If you think that roller skating in Central Park is ‘in’
That’s nothing compared to what they’re now
developin’
Splitting atoms will no longer be the privilege of a
chosen few
‘cause they’re gonna make atomic fission available
to the public, too.

REFRAIN
It’s the nuclear age
It’s all the rage
They’re standing in line
at the uranium mine
Supply and demand
are way out of hand
‘cause everybody is on a nuclear spree.

The modern all-atomic home is here to stay
Every house got its own reactor pumpin’ night
and day
Just go down to the department store and check out
what they’ve got of late
I hear Westinghouse has got a model that even
kids can operate.

- REFRAIN -

The engine, as we know it, is totally obsolete
Everything from cars to airplanes get isotopes to eat
Even model planes and golf carts run on radioactive
batteries
Now I hear they plan to manufacture nuclear-
powered human beings.

- REFRAIN -

ACOUSTIC MUSIC

REFRAIN
I like acoustic music
You can call me old-fashioned
but the truth is I like
wood…skin…metal…
strings a’swinging and vibrating columns of air.

I like things like vocal chords and diaphragms
I don’t know of any purer instrument
Despite the slick computers they got today
the voice is here to stay
It’s the highest, just like the Hindus say.

- REFRAIN -

I like things like two hands touching many strings
As they move they make those wooden bodies sing
Harmonics flying everywhere in the air
arriving at your ear
What a warm and pleasant sound to hear.

- REFRAIN -

BRIDGE
Transistors and integrated circuits are cool
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with ownin’ a stereo system or two
But Casio try as they may
ain’t never gonna replace Steinway.

- REFRAIN -

I like things like lips caressing brass or cane
Bring them horns to speak, you know, like Miles or Trane
Blowin’ just as hard as a hurricane
or tender as a breeze
It’s so natural, it just can’t help but please.

- REFRAIN -

I like things like drums of every shape and size
When they talk they got the power to hypnotize
Rhythms bouncing furiously off the hide
exploding in the sky
That’s the music that will never die.

- REFRAIN -