Robert Urban Rock Widow CD

Track one

YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW
Music & Lyrics by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals & all instruments

I was five years old when Mamma shook me up
She said, "Hey there, son, what you wanna be when you grow up?"
I knew not what to say - I had no clue

I survived (I'm told) and I became a man
But I never quite adjusted to Life's big plan
I drifted in and out, that is, until I met you

And you don't wanna know what I did for Love
You just played your guitar - what was I thinking of?

As a teen in school, I found my Promised Land
Makin' noise with you boys in a rock 'n roll band
"A rose among the thorns" - yeah, I played your Muse

Now I might seem like fool, 'cuz you're all up and grown
You got wives… you got lives - leavin' me here all alone
"The Keeper of the Flame" now sings the blues

But you don't wanna know what I did for Love
You just played your guitar - what was I thinking of?
No, you don't wanna know - I did it all for Love
I knelt here below and held you high above
No, you don't wanna know what I did for Love
You'll never, ever know what I was dreaming of

I was blind to my destiny
I had a heart but it could not see
Just like the star of a tragedy - Oh!

It feels like 50 years ago today
I began this life I pissed away
(They say the "unexamined life" ain't worth livin')

No, don't you cry no tears for this path I took
At least my "non-career" reads like an open book
And hey, you never know, well, I just still might "make it"!

Track two

COMPULSION
Music & Lyrics by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals, all instruments, additional drums
Anthony DeMarco - drums

What do philosophers misunderstand
When they argue for logic and reason?
What does the blast of a shotgun demand
On the first day of duck-hunting season?

What do the timberwolves moan to the moon?
Does anyone here have a clue?
What is the credo of every tycoon?
The answer is long overdue

All is Compulsion
All is on fire with godless devotion
and filled with desire

What did poor Jesus of Nazareth deny
When he pleaded and pounded his breast?
What did old Horace of Greeley imply
When he told that young man to go west?

What do young lovers unknowlingly say
When they make-up, or break-up or fight?
What does the wind in a tempest convey
When it hues with a vengeance all night?

All is Compulsion
All is on fire with godless devotion
and filled with desire

Track three

MY SILENT FRIEND
Music & Lyrics by Peter Farrell
Arrangement by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals, all instruments, additional drums
Anthony DeMarco - drums
Peter Farrell - sax

Hero of my life - my hidden eye
My Silent Friend - he never lies
I can see through myself, and I can see who I am
My memories - they just don't betray who I think I am

Snapshots of my soul… you'll never know
Feelings of madness… you can't control
There's a place I can go where only I have the key
Be anything that you want, there's no one else that can see

My Silent Friend… My Silent Friend….

You never, ever question me, no - I don't know why
'cause I think I've got a right to survive
You never, ever threaten me, no - My hidden eye
'cause I got a right to my life

But we're not alone in this world's life
Ego the killer… a living lie…
Get over feelings of guilt, 'cause you can change what they say
Now there's still time to move on - you know it's better this way

My Silent Friend… My Silent Friend….

Track four

NO LOVE IN SIGHT
Lyrics by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals, all instruments
Peter Farrell - honky-tonk piano (verses two & three)
Meghan Cary & Peter Farrell - phone fight
Edward Douglas - cell phone sounds

Every day on the Great White Way, there's a spectacle for free!
Come hear the noise as the girls & boys fight to death over love's debris!
(he says) "I don't need no one to tell me who I can or cannot see"
(she says) "I thought I was your one and only -
Now I've heard that you've been cheatin' on me"

Well, the more he tries to deny it, the more she screams
The accusations start flying, now it gets obscene
O Mamma! Such drama! Is this how lover's fight?
I'd call it "love", except there is no "love" in sight

There they are in a single's bar, downing whiskey, schnapps and beer
It's getting late, now it's time to mate, so she whispers in his ear
(she says) "I'll take you home with me, honey, for a one night stand
I'm not impressed by your money, just your contraband
I'll rock you, then unlock you, but then let's say 'goodnight'
'cause by the time the sheets have dried, there'll be no love in sight!

From the wars on the battlefield, to wars in your bed
From the foes of our country, to foes that we wed
Even your religion keeps you screwed in your head
Until you finally see the light - There's no love in sight!

We'll, here's my final conclusion - in the name of my song
It's a heartsick world of delusion, but don't get me wrong
There is fire and desire somewhere out there every night
But I've looked both high and low and I've searched from left to right
I even trekked to the Holy Land, but there is no love in sight

Track five

ODE TO CENTRAL PARK
Lyrics by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals & all instruments

To rejoice in the prehistoric emotion
All ancient and childlike and dangerously wild
To search for some more of myself once again

To bathe in your mist on those moist summer evenings
To lick-up the dew as it drops off your leaves
To bury my face in the sweat of your green

All is Compulsion
All is on fire with godless devotion
and filled with desire

And a stranger would come from your forest to greet me
Laden with barter not unlike my own
For the silent exchange of what was most dear

And there, with our knees in the primeveal quagmire
And our souls in the treetops of ages gone by
We exposed our desires to the nameless profusion
We touched while we traded… we held on for balance
We steadied ourselves for the rush of the call

Then way deep inside Nature's emerald center
While softness arboreal swaddled all the moans
Hungers were shared as ends once again

And our source of life, thus spilt, was not lost
But became as water for parched, eager lips
Was downed at once by a thirsty earth
(It's blind and rooted orafice sating)
and returned to us anew each morn
As scented vapour sweetly rising
Purified and glistening clear
Refreshment and wetness… like dawn in the tropics…
Distilled from passion's wake the very night before

O Garden of my ardent heart -
Fold your cool, green arms about my love once more
Protect me… protect me… protect…

And together we'll echo that Mantra of Being
That resonates free in all Your denisons' songs
Together Your ritual's rhythm repeating
Come now - in unison - Your anthem - my ode

All is Compulsion
All is on fire with godless devotion
and filled with desire

Track six

WAITING FOR ROME TO FALL
Music by Robert Urban, Tom O'Neill & Mark Vollenweider
Lyrics by R. Urban
R. Urban - vocals, guitars & certain sounds
Tom O'Neill - synths, programming & fx
Mark Vollenweider - drums & percussion
Yolanda - gospel choir vocals
Wolfgang Busch - sprechstimme

Looking into all your eyes, I see the fires burning
Pages of our history returning once again
I can see the whole world rock beneath its calm disguise
I can feel the nuclear shock as it tears apart my mind
And I'm - waiting for Rome to fall

Revolutions come and go, but diamonds are forever
The situation's lost control, but the power class says "No!"
Now all the dreams that might come true are running out of time
And all the thoughts you can compute have reached the end of line -
And I'm - waiting for Rome to fall

Well, this is the end, my friend, I wanna thank you for the ride
(but I hear the sound of marching feet)
Well, this is the end my friend, I wanna find someplace to hide
(just like Nero in the heat), I am -

waiting for Rome to fall

Hoppe, hoppe Reiter,
Hop-hop, rider
wenn er faellt dann schreit er,
when he falls he shouts
faellt er in den Graben
if he falls into a ditch
fressen Ihn die Raben,
the Raven will eat him,
faellt er in den Sumpf,
if he falls into the Swamp
macht der Reiter... plumps!
the rider falls with a splash!

- TRADITIONAL GERMAN NURSERY RHYME

Track seven

THE CAGE
Music & Lyrics by Charles Ives
(Peer International Corp. Publishers)
Arrangement by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals, all instruments, additional drums
Anthony DeMarco - drum solo/drums

A leopard went around his cage
from one side back to the other side;
he stopped only when the keeper came around with meat;
a boy who had been there three hours began to wonder,
"Is life anything like that?"

Track eight

DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL
Lyrics by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals & all instruments

We've all been taught to follow the Golden Rule
It's one more thing we all swallowed way back at Sunday School
"Judge not unless you would be judged yourself"
and "To thine own good self be true"

But if your heart should dare proclaim
The Love that dares not speak it's name - Oh

Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Don't break the spell
We built us our heaven - now stay in your hell
It's "All for One but None for All"
Who gave you permission to tear down this wall?

You know we love the sinner, we just hate the sin
We'll ask you home for dinner, as long as you don't bring him
A land of equal opportunity…
Stretching from sea to shining sea…

But if you dare to raise your hand
That's when the shit will hit the fan

Track nine

BURNING HEART
Music by Robert Urban
Lyrics by R. Urban & Anthony DeMarco
R. Urban - vocals, all instruments, additional drums
Anthony DeMarco - drums
Peter Farrell - sax

The day passed by - a slow burning flame
I held my breath when I heard your name
A fire grew quickly - it would not quit
No matter how hard I tried, the flame stayed lit

The night moved in with smoldering desire
You know what they say - "where there's smoke, there's fire"
And the sleepless obsession, I could not erase
Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw your face

A burning heart is worse than a heart in pain
When from the start, you know that your love burns in vain

The sun rose up… invasion of light
I lie across my bed until the wanting ignites
It's a dangerous fixation… it's a lonely unrest
To follow you again through this world like a soul possessed

Track ten

DESERTED CITIES OF THE HEART
Lyrics by Jack Bruce & Pete Brown
(Unichappell Music, Inc. Publishers)
Arrangement by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals & all instruments

On this street where time has died
The golden treat you never tried
In times of old… in days gone by…
If I could catch a dancing eye

It was on the way of the road to dreams
Now my heart drowned in those lost dreams

This street is cold… its trees are gone
The story's told that Dark has won
Once we set sail to catch a star
We had to fail - it was too far

I felt the wind shout like a drum
You said, my friend - "The End has come!"
It couldn't last… It had to stop
It's raining all but the last drop

On this dark street the Sun is black
The winds of life aren't coming back
On this dark street it's cold inside
There's no retreat from time that's died

It was on the way of the road to dreams
Now my heart drowns in those lost dreams

Track eleven

THE BOYS FROM PARADISE
Lyrics by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals & all instruments

How long has he been up in his room?
He's not been 'round for dinner and I've not seen him since noon
Oh… looks like Bobby won't be down today
He's locked inside his music box
Where over and over he strums out the same haunting tune…

God knows what goes on inside his head
He will not sleep - He smokes too much - He looks like he's half dead
Oh… now he's off to see that band again
They bang and crash the whole night through
And who knows the meaning of what they are trying to do?

Who do they sing to?

Now, if you'll close your little eyes
We've prepared a small surprise -
We are the Boys from Paradise

And when Rinaldo lifts his hand
We're transformed into a band
Of angry young men from Wonderland

Fathers - keep your daughters safe at home
And save them for the boys who have no music of their own
Oh… that little calling never really dies
It lingers just outside your door
And if gone unanswered will torment your heart evermore

Now, if you'll close your little eyes
We've prepared a small surprise -
We are the Boys from Paradise

And when Rinaldo lifts his hand
We're transformed into a band
Of angry young men from Wonderland

And if you feel we've lost control
You must remember - We've no souls -
We are the Sons of Rock 'n Roll

Long ago, I lost my soul - I gave it freely
to all the Sons of Rock 'n Roll

Guitar in hand, they led me to this very place
Those lads from Neverland

I close my eyes… I can see them still
It's the Boys from Paradise

Just close your eyes - Can't you hear the sound?
It's the Boys from Paradise

I close my eyes… They are with me at the end
The Boys from Paradise…

Track twelve

SERENITY
Music by Charles Ives
Lyrics by John Greenleaf Whittier
(Associated Music Publishers, Inc.)
Arrangement by Robert Urban
R. Urban - vocals and all instruments

O, Sabbath rest of Galilee!
O, calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee,
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease:
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess,
the beauty of Thy peace.