Jack Hardy — Lyrics for Omens

Copyright © 2000 Jack Hardy Music

  1. I Ought to Know
  2. I Can't Love You
  3. Eclipse
  4. Síle na gCíoch (Sheila)
  5. Síar ón nDaingean (West of Dingle)
  6. Memory
  7. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo
  8. Willow
  9. Arrow
 10. Only One Sky
 11. Oh Woman
 12. In the Building of the Boat
 13. The Boney Bailiff
 14. A Change of Heart

I Ought to Know

"I Ought to Know" with Hyperlinks

I ought to know more than I know
I ought to know where this road goes
I ought to know great literature by heart
the history of art
this I ought to know

I ought to know more than 1492
I ought to know what the Buffalo Bills do
I ought to know more than the quarterback's wounded knee
what happened at Sand Creek
this I ought to know
  but I don't

I ought to know about the sacrifices made
I ought to know ration stamps, air raids
I ought to know more than George C. Scott
and John Wayne get shot
this I ought to know

I ought to know what the drinking gourd means
I ought to know more than "I have a dream"
I ought to know about the back of the bus
and the crack of billy clubs
this I ought to know
  but I don't

(chorus:)
I don't know nothing about nothing
but I'm proud to stand upright
I don't know nothing about nothing
but my future looks so bright
illumined by the light
laugh-tracks, soundbites
and a replay to get it right
I ought to know

I ought to know the songs of Joe Hill
I ought to know Trotsky, Marx and Hagel
I ought to know about the Haymarket hangings
and the H.U.A.C.
this I ought to know

I ought to know about Oliver Cromwell
I ought to know about the Gnostics and St. Paul
I ought to know what Jesus really said
and who the preacher takes to bed
this I ought to know
  but I don't

I ought to know what's buried in the landfill
I ought to know about the clear-cutting bills
I ought to know about pipelines and schemes
what extinction really means
this I ought to know

I ought to know for whom the bell tolls
I ought to know the pride and prejudice of polls
I ought to know if the grapes of wrath are union
picked by Victor Jara's hands
this I ought to know
  but I don't

(repeat chorus)

I Can't Love You

I can't love you if you won't let me
if you find reasons to drive me away
I can't love you like heaven sent me
to fix the seasons and make them stay

  through all the falling leaves like another
  lost of their color, piled in the way
  walk with abandon kicking the summer
  flies in the face of talking this way

goldenrod withers, turns brown and broken
and fields of vision turn dark and gray
for I have spoken these words of feeling
I have my own dreams that have blown away

  can't find the shutter to freeze the feeling
  bright in vermilion that maple-leaf day
  stammer and stutter, vagrant and reeling
  that one-in-a-million that came to stay

now and forever this velvet cover
over the hourglass as time runs away
I can't love you more than forever
and still find the reasons to make you stay

Eclipse

the last time the moon was full
it showed its darker side
the mundane had the magic annulled
making vinegar out of wine
and the peddler wheeled his boxes
a long way to the fair
to retrieve his green-eyed daughter
knowing she had followed me there

the last time the moon was full
the sun reneged its shine
as if to prove who owns the pull
of tide and sacrifice
but I loved his green-eyed daughter
and I brought her to that dance
what chance had I, a pauper
but that moon's enchanted trance

the last time the moon was full
it reaped his bitter fruit
with his box of golden baubles
and pencil stubs as proof
the peddler lured the revelers
back to their world of cares
with his calculated laughter
and his "johnny's so long at the fair"

the last time the moon was full
blasphemed its holy three
emasculating maypoles
with material force and thieves
and I watched his green-eyed daughter
as he placed her in his cart
parading her as princess
to eclipse her gypsy heart

Síle na gCíoch (Sheila)

Síle I brought you a dress
I found on the side of the road
and though I know you're deservin' of the best
it's all I could be bringin' ya on my own
  and Síle this dark and flowered dress
  I washed it out by hand till the flowers shone
  reminding me of how you stand out from the rest
  your smiling eyes in these darkened days we've known

(chorus:)
chuir sí uirthi é             (she put it on)
chuir sí uirthi é             (she put it on)
an gúna dubh 's bláthanna     (the dark and flowered dress)
chuir sí uirthi é             (she put it on)

Síle you're young and in your prime
and me my hair's already turnin' gray
and oh how the tongues will go clickety-clack in time
how the dogs will bark when the caravan's on its way
  and Síle in spite of all of this
  in the mist behind of Jimmy Long's house
  my memory does linger long on a kiss
  till this moon ran away behind the clouds

(repeat chorus)

Síle not to frighten you away
but there are crosses by the side of the road
where many a traveler has met up with his fate
and mine will be no different I know
  and Síle a traveler you would be
  if this dark and flowered dress you would wear
  but though your heart be broken, though the priests turn you away
  I could love you well if you would only dare

(repeat chorus)

Síar ón nDaingean (West of Dingle)

síar ón nDaingean she took off her rings
to play on the fiddle, to hear the night sing
her song was of leaving and leaving no more
of leaving tomorrow all at the church door

one ring was from the lover she never would know
one from the grandmother whose fiddle she holds
one ring was from a faery rath in filigreed gold
one ring just for wishing her future her own

(chorus:)
síar ón nDaingean is as west as you can go
to the west only ameriky and the silkies below
and your fiddle will not carry you over the deep
but síar ón nDaingean is where she shall be

her dark eyes darted as her fingers flew fast
on the ebony fingerboard as if it could last
as if the cracked old varnish 'gainst the bone white cheek
could carry all her anguish her soul to keep

"you'll be back" he told her "you've come back before"
but this time she would not though the words they still tore
through the strings of her heart and the sound of the sea
"you love your damn fiddle more than you love me"

(repeat chorus)

"Saint Brandon preserve us" as she looked to the sea
and "please don't desert us" as she passed through Trá Lí
through the Sliabh Mis onto Abhainn an Scáil through An Daingean by dawn
on the cliffs of Dún Chaoin paused to play one last song

(repeat chorus)

Memory

and the blackberry still has its thorns
and the blackberry still leaves its stains
a dress damp and torn on the forest floor
where nary a trace still remains
and the blackberry may have no memory of you
but I do

and the wild apple still has its thorns
and the wild apple still has its blooms
but the flower that shows doth not smell like a rose
and no one can eat of its fruit
and the wild apple may have no memory of you
but I do

  I viewed this garden from a distance
  especially in the flower of spring
  not knowing of nature's insistence
  not knowing the honey for its sting

and the rose is a barrier of thorns
after the petals have drooped
and the staggering years with their own barren fears
and the rose hips double-edged truth
for these roses may have no memory of you
but I do

  I followed your trail in dream-time
  though the footprints were long filled with sand
  I swore not to walk on that shore any more
  too much wreckage awash on that strand

but that's me all alone on the shore
with the flowers instead of a sword
tempting the fates and the same hurricane
to strike twice where memory is stored
for the storm may have no memory of you
but I do

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo

yellow-billed cuckoo sittin' on that fence
looking both ways like he don't have no sense
sense of direction and sense of trust
but he knows something in this land of dust

and I sat lookin' in her deep blue eyes
at her dark black hair and her little white lies
lies of contrition and lies of deceit
lying to herself and lying to me

(chorus:)
has he heard you singing that wavering song
that don't know the difference 'tween right and wrong
has he heard you wishing that you were free
like the yellow-billed cuckoo that follows me

a distant storm lightening up the sky
frightening the horses that are ready to ride
leaves on the trees turning inside-out
gonna break loose, no shadow of doubt

(repeat chorus)

wildflowers bloom on a little bit of rain
a little bit of hope on a desolate plain
wildflowers wither underneath the strain
of the wildfire burning up another man's name

(repeat chorus)

Willow

how the willow weeps
in the wind it sings
though we've heard that song before
but I planted this one
just last spring
outside my kitchen door
for I knew it was your favorite tree
and I knew that it grew fast
but I think it all now vanity
to think that tree would last

and I planted it
beside the spring
its thirst like mine well known
and the crocuses
and daffodils
to surprise you when they'd grown
and the speckled bird that landed free
and softly built its place
but I think it all now vanity
to think I saw your face

how I wish I had
a willow wand
to burn this memory
or burn the state
of californ-i-ay
in a wicker effigy
for I found the feathers of the speckled bird
where the fox its hunger filled
and the willow weeps although unheard
to think I love you still

and the willow thinks it vanity
to think I love you still

Arrow

as I drive hell bent 'neath the sickle moon
scattering leaves in blood red hues
what tension shot me down this road
hell bent so far that I almost broke

I had once in mind to drag my bow
after hart and hind and stag and roe
if the shaft proved straight and my aim proved true
I would bring it all back home for you

  (chorus:)
  this arrow was my only weapon
  this arrow guarded me quite well
  this arrow held no earthly tether
  no angel feather on a bat out of hell

and with focus narrowed down to will
and eyes cross-hatched against the kill
there are no sins I will atone
for muscle, sinew, gristle and bone

  (repeat chorus)

and I rode and rode as clouds flew past
with six white horses all lathered and fast
my scars and marks have now worn smooth
for I am this arrow and it came for you

Only One Sky

only one sky
sometimes in blue and sometimes gray
only one sky
can hold the stars in just this way
though all the weight of wishes makes them fall
though all the flight of feathers that intuition calls
through all the storms that lash the shores
till clouds have blown away
only one sky can hold today

only one moon
shining on down through those trees
only one moon
transposing darkest melodies
whether searing smile or hallowed full
tucks us in at night or drowns us with its pull
when first they told us that our love
could never be this way
only one moon could show the way

only one time
will I embrace you in this way
only one time
will time unlace this passing day
when all the time we hold within our hands
slips on through the cracks of feelings we try and understand
only one time will I love you
will I love you then
only that time will never end

Oh Woman

oh woman you say you did not know
oh woman you say you did not know
it was not your plan, it had no design
got lost in the words but I choked on mine
oh woman you say you did not know

oh woman you say it's just a root
oh woman an herb and a root
picked in the morning dew of the new moon
that caused all the mourning no one can sing to
oh woman you say it's just a root

oh woman you say your hands are clean
oh woman you say your hands are clean
as clean as a whistle cut down between
a blade of grass and a grave
oh woman you say your hands are clean

oh woman you say you had no choice
to sing in the morning or to stifle that voice
and caught in the balance cold as ice
that someone must pay though some would pay twice
oh woman you say you had no choice

oh woman you say it's just a stone
no markings just moss on that stone
deep in the forest where no one will ever know
deep in the forest where no one will have to go
oh woman you say it's just a stone

oh woman you say you did not know

In the Building of the Boat

in the building of the boat
perhaps a fatal flaw
and it catches in my throat
to think that I foresaw
  it's an age-old story told
  but I'll tell it once again
  of a knot that slipped its hold
  and a story has to end

in the building of the boat
perhaps a nail was bent
in the crossbeams set afloat
and by this an omen meant
  in the naming of the trees
  perhaps this one too young
  made it weaken in the knees
  and made it come undone

in the building of the boat
the tools lay side by side
joining tongue and groove
so smoothly it did glide
  in the carving of the bow
  in the likeness of a bird
  as if it could sing now
  everything I'd heard

in the building of the boat
there's always chance unseen
of the white squalls angry shoals
dark faces of the deep
  curse the builder of this boat
  curse him all to hell
  but for an old man's salty hope
  for I know he built it well

in the building of the boat
perhaps a fatal flaw

The Boney Bailiff

well loved for the home that was in it
and the crooked fuchsia'd walls
but with the sow killed for a belly full
how could this a home we call?
with heavy hearts bundled in wool
was it worth fightin' for?
when it come from the sheep that graze the land
that belongs to some distant lord

  until the boney bailiff
  the shrew-eyed boney bailiff
  the silk-pursed boney bailiff
  came a-knockin' at the door

at the time the geese were flyin'
honk over the hoary frost
till road and church and cable knit
all were double-crossed
and neighbor gathered with neighbor
'round rubble a house no more
with the money spent they raised the rent
said "you'll always have the poor"

  until the boney bailiff
  the hackneyed boney bailiff
  the horsy boney bailiff
  came a-knockin' at the door

well met at the well of loneliness
where the dark trees used to grow
before our time but within the time
of the stories that we all know
well fortified with whiskey
and a barrel for one last wake
tonight we'll drink to dear darlin' death
which never made a mistake

  and wait for the boney bailiff
  the knock-kneed boney bailiff
  the dumbfounded boney bailiff
  to come a-knockin' at the door

did not wait for the benediction
nor wait for the battering ram
we took what iron was in it
to reflect the iron in man
sharpened for one last harvest
then it's off to a distant shore
forgive me father for I have sinned
now I'll go and sin no more

  but curse the boney bailiff
  the cantankerous boney bailiff
  the cadaverous boney bailiff
  who came a-knockin' at the door

  but curse the boney bailiff
  the pleadin' boney bailiff
  the beggin' boney bailiff
  who came a-knockin' at the door

A Change of Heart

and so I told you right from the start
I cannot hold you to a change of heart
there are things I could never say
too young, too old to try to change our ways
I'm not the person I care to be
always waiting on bended knee
  for a change of heart

how well we travel these outer parts
yet cannot fathom these depths of dark
and I would never be alone today
if the piper didn't ask his pay
and if that piping didn't drive the dance
always waiting for the chance
  for a change of heart

there's only one way to be alone
and you must learn this on your own
it's not the reason that brings you home
it's not the season for what we've sown
and that flowering I could not share
cold earth and sunlight you would not dare
  for a change of heart

and 'round this old house the wind it whines
with a knocking keeping time
it's not the first time, it's not the last
it's not that springtime covers up the past
and I told you right from the start
sometimes forever just falls apart
  for a change of heart