Category: Lyrics

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Love comes and love goes
In time it’ll come again
Love ebbs and love flows
So take what the good lord sends

Warm nights are long gone
And it feels like another storm
But I’ll last until the dawn
If mem’ries can keep me warm

Cause, good times never last too long
You’ve got to catch them fast when they come along
And when they pass put them in a song
To sing to yourself when they’re gone, gone, gone

Love tries but love fails
It’s a common tale but true
It brightens up but then it pales
And it fades like the morning dew

The wind’s cold and the road’s so steep
But at least I have my pride
No need to laugh or weep
I’ll just get to the other side

Cause, good times never last too long
You’ve got to catch them fast when they come along
And when they pass keep them in a song
To sing to yourself when they’re gone, gone, gone

Love’s kind but love’s cruel
No matter how we try
It starts warm but turns cool
As the years go rushing by

Yes, love comes and love goes
In time it’ll come again
Love ebbs and love flows
I’ll just bide my time ‘till then
Yes, love comes and love goes
So take what the good lord sends

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Hey, mon! You ought to lead a simpler life
Take all of your woe and your strife and throw it all away
Hey, mon! I’m just one of the common folk
Down at heel and I’m nearly broke
But there’s truth in what I say

Just for fun I went wandering down to Wall Street
Some angry young men were there – throwing paper in the air
I said “how can you stand this noise and all this heat?
People glaring, tempers flaring – no time to spare

And I say if that’s winning, – then I’d rather be losing
I’d rather be cruising – out on the waves with a cool, clear mind
And if that’s successful, then I’d sooner be a failure (failure)
A penniless sailor – leaving it all behind

I went underground to a downtown station
People packed in all around in their sardine cans
Pushed up against the glass – felt the suffocation
The key to the city was slipping slowly from my hands

And I’d gladly stay a poor man
Just leave me my boat to take me from this shore
Will I find freedom? I’m not sure man
But I’d empty my pockets just to unlock its magic door
Freedom’s door, freedom’s door… now, open it a little wider
Freedom’s door – who knows – now, who knows what’s in store
But I’m walking through freedom’s door

Think I’ll go back to me boat – read the evening papers
Look back at the skyline – the Statue of Liberty
So many souls locked up in those skyscrapers
They’ve climbed too far up the ladder, now, to ever be free

And I say if that’s winning – then I’d rather be losing
I’d rather be cruising out on the waves away from this crazy maze
You call this freedom? Huh! Then we’re all our own jailors
And this Jamaican sailor’s heading back home to stay

So listen what this sailor has to say, mon
You ought to lead a simpler life
Take all of your woe and your strife and throw it all away
Hey, mon! I’m just one of the common folk
Down at heel and I’m nearly broke but there’s truth in what I say

Words and music by Robbie Smith

On the first day of school we marched in from the playground on parade
Most of us were feeling glum and some were even afraid
But the teacher looked at us fondly as she picked up her chalk with ease
She began drawing pictures of flowers and squirrels and trees

Layers of joy – there was so much for us to do
She taught us to see what she saw and to draw what she drew
Learning wasn’t hard – it was as fun as a brand new toy
She was filling up our eyes with layers and layers of joy

Well, the wall at the back of the room looked so gloomy and bare
Just a few leftover thumbtacks scattered here and there
So we filled it up with all sorts of artwork – proudly on display
With a big, friendly sign that said: “have a nice day!”

Layers of joy – ev’ry day brought a new surprise
Lesson after lesson dressed up in disguise
Until a smile touched the face of every girl and boy
Pictures of our childhood – layers and layers of joy

And then I joined the choir – boys singing lower, girls singing higher
The world opened up with sound and the sound seemed to set us free
And as we searched for each melody, we felt like a team – like a family
Imperfect voices in an imperfect world singing perfect harmony

Layers of joy – there was a song in our hearts to sing
We knew what the music could do – what the message could bring
There was strength in our voices and life was ours to enjoy
As the music came together in layers and layers of joy

Now when we think about our minds, they’re a lot like the blackboards in school
They need to be filled with the right kind of thoughts and rules
It does us all good to be giving and caring and kind
Each time we make someone happy it leaves a good impression in our minds

With Layers of joy – there is so much that we can do
Take something old and add something shiny and new
We have hope for the future no one can ever destroy
We are filling up our lives with layers and layers… (Ah, layers and layers)
Filling up our lives with layers and layers of joy!

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Who is a failure and who’s a success?
You know the teachers want to know and so we’re taking a test
Inside my head I keep pacing the floor
The teachers tap their pens as they tally up the score

Don’t they know that life is just a travelling show?
Why won’t they just let me go?

You don’t have to force me to think and to learn
If you just give me some leeway my ambition will burn
You don’t have to tell me what’s right and what’s wrong
Just send me out in the world and I’ll try to get along

Cause I know that life is just a travelling show
Give me my freedom to grow

Books to encumber and lessons that bind
It’s seeking then finding that strengthens the mind
The key to survival is to think on your feet
The teachers can’t protect you when you’re out on the street alone

So I’m waiting for the travelling show
Please let me go – I’d rather just learn as I grow

Don’t give me problems you’ve already solved
The most important of problems are still unresolved
I’m looking behind – I should be looking ahead
How come you’re making me read what’s already been read

Youth is so fleeting like a dream during sleep
Impermanent beauty that no one can keep
Don’t imprison my youth in a guilt-plated cage
The goodness will wither – rebellion and rage will grow

‘Cause life is just a travelling show
Please let me go – oh, please let me go
Let me go-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
On a travelling show
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
On a travelling show…

I’m wasting my time not using my gift
Studying a life that someone else has lived
History’s over so just let it die
When I’m weighted down with books my spirit can’t fly, oh no
So let me join the travelling show
Please let me grow – I’d rather just learn as I go

Life is a game that’s meant to be played
Don’t keep me on the sidelines ’cause I’m not afraid
My soul isn’t crippled – I don’t need a crutch
Why won’t you take off my training wheels, I’m moving much too slow

I want to join the travelling show
Give me some freedom to grow

Youth is a river that grows from a stream
But you’re damming the river and controlling all my dreams
The water will stagnate – its strength will be spent
I know that youth is a river – a river that was meant to flow

And Life is just a travelling show
I’m climbing aboard now, let’s go

A lesson on the seven wonders of this land
I just want the freedom to see them first hand
Lower the drawbridge over the mote
Let me out of this castle ‘cause I’ve got some wild oats to sow

I wanna join the travelling show
Ah please let me go, oh please let me go, let me go –

I still want to discover I still want to learn
I’m just jumping ahead now and taking my turn
To keep moving outward like the spokes of a wheel
Keep turning with the world and seeing what is real

I feel the need to be windborn – to truly survive
And I’ve been patiently waiting for my freedom to arrive
Second hand knowledge means little to me
I’ve got to look for myself and then maybe I will see
Maybe I will see, maybe I will see…

Feelings have surfaced that need to be felt
I need to start living while I’ve still got my health
Life is a struggle and maybe I’ll fail
Ah, but after I falter well then maybe I’ll prevail and grow

I’m leaving with the travelling show
Come on, give me your blessings – I’d rather just learn as I grow

I can’t stop to argue – I’m pulling up stakes
Taking more risks and making more mistakes
I’ve got the soul of a gypsy – I’m thirsty for more
Than sitting at a desk on the wrong side of the door

Cause I know that life is just a travelling show –
Dry your eyes – I’ll try to leave you laughing ‘fore
I go – wo, wo…

Life is a cycle and soon I’ll be gone
Just like a dimly lit mem’ry turning off and then on
But don’t be upset – don’t be grieving my friend
Because I know in my heart that it won’t be the end – no, no

Life is just a travelling show
There’s another show further down the road
Where we’ll go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh – on a travelling show
Oh-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh – on a travelling show
Oh – on a travelling show – ooh – on a travelling show…

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Take little Suzie by the hand
Swing her all around the land
To the strains of Fiddler Dan, Fiddler Dan
You’re a woman and I’m a man
I will dance the best I can
If I don’t you’ll understand, understand

Singin’ at the wingding ‘till morning
All the red-cheeked country girls are smiling
Soon the red haired rooster will be cryin’, cryin’
“Gather up the eggs and milk the cows”

Instrumental

Singin’ at the wingding ‘till morning
All the red-cheeked country girls are smiling
Soon the red haired rooster will be cryin’, cryin’
“Gather up the eggs and milk the cows”

Jump up fast and move in slow
Soon you’re dancing toe to toe
Hug your man and kiss your beau, kiss your beau
Where’s the parson? There he goes
Moving down the middle row
Sipping from the liquor bowl, liquor bowl

Singin’ at the wingding ‘till morning
All the red-cheeked country girls are smiling
Soon the red haired rooster will be cryin’, cryin’
“Gather up the eggs and milk the cows”

Words by Robbie Smith and Anne Smith
Music by Robbie Smith

Every night you’ll see me alone
On a stage in a crowded cafe
Trying hard to swallow my pride
As my hands begin to play
And I try not to choke in the gathering smoke
As I sing of the fresh country air
Then all the faces disappear
And I feel the wind in my hair

I was raised in fields of sunshine
How I loved to follow the plough
And my father was a farmer
Times were hard but we managed somehow
And my mother loved her kitchen
She kept it warm and welcome to friends
It felt good to live in the country
And I wish I could go back again

I call myself a real country man
In my buckskin shirt and my jeans
But how can I speak of hardship and toil
When my hands are soft and clean?
For I miss the good earth and the place of my birth
And the warmth of the sun on my face
Then all the years just disappear
And a barefoot boy takes my place

I was raised in fields of sunshine
How I loved to follow the plough
And my father was a farmer
Times were hard but we managed somehow
And my mother loved her kitchen
She kept it warm and welcome to friends
It felt good to live in the country
And I wish I could go back again

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Giving a fallen bird its wings to fly
Swimming in waters under honey skies
And living in comfort no one else can buy
These are the pleasures we’ve borrowed

Ice-cream (Liza), warm days (Liza), freedom (Liza)
All for you, Liza
All for you, Liza
When we’re young

Showing the sweetness of your tenderness
Sharing the mysteries we both possess
And knowing the feelings deep within a kiss
These are the joys of romance

Love songs (Liza), marriage (Liza), children (Liza)
All for you, Liza
All for you, Liza
In our prime

Seeing accomplishments that we have done
Content to be rising with the morning sun
And being remembered by our younger ones
These are the few things we’ll cherish

Postcards (Liza), music (Liza), friendship (Liza)
All for you, Liza
All for you, Liza
When we’re old, Liza
When we’re old, Liza

When we’re old and gray
Will you pass my way
Will you pass my way?
Oh Liza

When we’re old and gray
Will you glance my way
Will you glance my way?
Oh Liza
Liza, oh Liza
Liza, oh Liza
Liza, Liza
Liza

Words and music by Robbie Smith

I can see you need cheering, you’re feeling so bad
You’re afraid of the world outside you
But we’ve captured our freedom, you shouldn’t be sad
For we’re going to Honeydew Valley

There’s no need in dreading the future to be
The spring will be warmer than winter
Once we were orphans but now we are free
Like the geese over Honeydew Valley

We’ve tasted your honey
We’ve heard of your orchards and streams
And the sweet banjo music
That drifts in the seas of our dreams

Oh, I’m happy to see a smile crossing your face
The boarding school life is behind us
There’s a storm cloud obscuring that cold, lonely place
And a rainbow in Honeydew Valley

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Ooh, ooh, wah, wah, wah
Ooh, ooh, wah wah wah wah

Come tomorrow I’ll be sailing away
To a Mediterranean bay
To the surf and the sand and the spray
I”m gonna close down the shop and call it a day

No one’s messing with my head or my heart
I’m straight and sober and I’ve always been smart
I’m gonna fool all my friends and my relatives too
And disappear right into the blue
And sail right into the blue

But you can come along with me if you want to honey
I don’t care
You can come along with me if you’ve got some time to spare
We could share some of that sweet, sweet salt sea air

This winter weather can sting like a knife
And I’ve been tied to that clock almost all of my life
Through school-days, work-days and holidays too
A change has been coming, it’s long overdue

I’m gonna lay right down in that tropical sea
And catch the waves as they wash over me
Squeeze the sand with my fingers and toes
Way out on those beaches where nobody knows me at all
Where nobody knows me at all

But you can come along with me if you want to darling
I don’t mind
You can come along with me just let yourself unwind
We could find some of that precious peace of mind
They always talk about

Ooh, but my patience is thin
I’ve got a feeling that my ship has come in
Soon to carry me ‘round the coast of Spain to Sicily

Mm, no more worry or woe
That ship is waiting and it’s raring to go
Ah, to carry me ‘round the southern coast to Tripoli

Ooh, ooh, wah, wah, wah
Ooh, ooh, wah wah wah wah
Ooh, ooh, wah wah, into the blue
Into the blue
Into the blue

Words and music by Robbie Smith

How could you ever smile so sweetly at another man?
(Another man)
How could you give yourself completely?
I just can’t understand
I thought I wore the shoes that no one else could fill
Jealousy is such a bitter pill and I don’t wanna take it no more
(Jealousy – no I don’t wanna take it no more)

How can you bear to stand by idly while our love grows dim?
(It’s getting dim)
How could you say that you’d stay beside me
And then go out with him?
I thought we had something that no one else could take
Jealousy can cause any heart to break
And I don’t wanna take it no more
(Jealousy – no I don’t wanna take it no more… jealousy)

Why don’t you break down and cry
And say that I must be mistaken
Why don’t you stop and deny
That our future plans have all been forsaken

How can you face the shame that lingers when the night is through?
(The night is through)
What will you do with that ring on your finger
Whenever he’s with you?
It’s just too hard to be civil after all the things I’ve heard
Jealousy is such a nasty word
And I don’t wanna hear it no more
Jealousy – no I don’t wanna hear it no more
Jealousy – no I don’t wanna hear it no more
Jealousy – no I don’t wanna hear it no more
Jealousy

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Lately I’ve been thinking of someone
I never really knew
Lately I’ve been waking and wond’ring
And lately I’ve been blue

Lately I’ve been looking for someone else’s lovelight
In a stranger’s eyes
Lately I’ve been lost and lonely
Needing only love – the love that passed me by

Lately I’ve been waiting for someone
That looks a bit like you
Lately I’ve been playing old love songs
That lately sound like new

Lately I’ve been searching for one familiar flower
In a spring bouquet
Lately I’ve been back home wishing
Somehow missing the love – I lost along the way

Some songs are written overnight
Like dreams coming true
But this song has taken me a lifetime
To tell the world I still love you

Lately I’ve been saving sweet moments
Inside a lover’s dream
Lately I’ve been gazing at sunsets
That I only lately have I seen

Lately I’ve been looking for someone else’s lovelight
In a stranger’s eyes
Lately I’ve been lost and lonely
Needing only love – the love that passed me by
Needing only love – the love that passed me by
Needing only love – the kind of love that passed me by

Words and music by Robbie Smith

My words alone cannot express
The feelings in my heart
Here in the dark, holding you so near
Like timeless lines of poetry
Or ageless works of art
I’ll keep your heart untarnished through the years
Through the years

When the world is colder I will hold you by my side
Your joys will never be denied
And should I find you weeping I will keep your hopes alive
We’ll find a place where love can thrive

And we’ll lay in each other’s arms
Until the sea is safe and calm
And in moments when friends are few
I’ll be here to pledge my love to you
I will be true

Instrumental

And when your hopes have faded, and they’re braided with despair
I’ll find a way to make you care
And if you’re ever frightened on a night when I’m not there
Just think of moments we’ve yet to share

When we’ll lay in each other’s arms
Until the sea is safe and calm
And in moments when friends are few
I’ll be here to pledge my love to you
I will be true – I will be true
I’ll face each storm and lead you through