Let Us Count the Ways

from "christmas in prison" by john prine

"She reminds me of a chess game
with someone I admire
or a picnic in the rain
after a prairie fire
her heart is as big
as this whole goddamn jail
and she's sweeter than saccharine
at a drug store sale."

Warm up their side of the bed before they get in on a cold winter night.

A single rose

Dinner for two

Three cheers

Four Lindt chocolates

Five kisses

Six hugs

Seven "Good Mornings"

Eight fingers on the small of my back

Beethoven's Symphony 9 - Ode to Joy

Ten minutes of extra sleep

Eleven minutes in the shower

and

A dozen roses.

When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty
XTC

When you're near me I have difficulty respirating
When you're near me I have difficulty concentrating
When you're near me I have difficulty standing upright
When you're near me I have difficulty sleeping at night

I used to stand proud like a sphinx
In a noble immovable state
Then your heart nailed me under a jinx
Now I'm feeling like a jellyfish
Just a spineless wobbly jellyfish
And it's great, great, so great

I used to stand high like a pine
Just a piece of emotionless wood
When you put your body near mine
Now I'm feeling like a jellyfish
And it's good, good, so good
I used to be an iceman
Living in iceman town
So I'm warning all you cool cool icemen
You'd better be prepared to be melted right down
down
When you're near me I have difficulty

not sure if i'm playing this game correctly, but i've always loved a good love song


The Mayor of Simpleton
XTC

Never been near a university,
Never took a paper or a learned degree,
And some of your friends think that's stupid of me,
But it's nothing that I care about.

Well I don't know how to tell the weight of the sun,
And of mathematics well I want none,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing,
And that's I love you.
When their logic grows cold and all thinking gets done,
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton.

I can't have been there when brains were handed round
(please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
Or get past the cover of your books profound,
(please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
And some of your friends thinks it's really unsound,
That you're ever seen talking to me.

Well I don't know how to write a big hit song,
And all crossword puzzles well I just shun,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing,
And that's I love you.

I'm not proud of the fact that I never learned much,
Just feel I should say,
what you get is all real,
I can't put on an act,
It takes brains to do that anyway. (And anyway...)

And I can't unravel riddles, problems and puns,
How the home computer has me on the run,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing,
And that's I love you (I love you).

If depth of feeling is a currency,
(please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton),
Then I'm the man who grew the money tree,
(no Chain of Office and no hope of getting one).
Some of your friends are too brainy to see,
That they're paupers and that's how they'll stay.

Well I don't know how many pounds make up a ton,
Of all the Nobel prizes that I've never won,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing,
And that's I love you.

When all logic grows cold and all thinking gets done,
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton.
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton.
You'll be warm in the arms of the Mayor.
(Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton.)

All You Pretty Girls
XTC

Do something for me, boys
If I should die at sea, boys
Write a little note, boys
Set it off afloat, saying

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Village and city girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Quiet or witty girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

I think about your pale arms waving
When I see the caps upon the green
And the rocking roller-coaster ocean
Think about you every night when I'm fathoms asleep
And in my dreams
We are rocking in a similar motion

I think about the salt sea rolling
Down in pearly tears upon your cheeks
Just like the day the harbour pulled away
I think about your warm white sheets unfolding
The more I have to drink
The more that I can think to say

Do something for me, boys
If I should die at sea, boys
Write a little note, boys
Set it off afloat, saying

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Village and city girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Quiet or witty girls by the quayside
Bless you, bless you, all of you pretty girls
Watching and waiting by the sea

When I found out I was pregant with my second boy - we had IVF treatment so were wishing upon a star. Our favourite movie was "It's A Wonderful Life. When I got the call to say "yes" - I made a massive 20 foot banner and put it oustide the house. When hubby cycled up to the house all he saw was ... "Hubbys Name Lassoo Stork" with a small bell attached to the banner.

That was my way.

You And The Candles
Hawksley Workman

When societies crumble
And everything's gone
And the cars are all rusted away
And there ain't no more money
And there's nothing to buy
And all that we have is the day

When the world becomes silent
No planes in the air
When the voices just gather to sing
When the guns are the fence post
The cars are the doghouse
And the telephones no longer ring

And what, what of the night
With no electrical light
So what then?

You, you and the candles
Will be all that I need
Your face bathed in the firelight
Will be all I want to see
And I'll still sing you a song
That will last the whole night long
You, you and the candles

When the grocery stores are hollow inside
And the airports are filled with a breeze
After the anarchy finally subsides
When you reckon with how it will be

When empires are humbled
Before the eyes of the people
And the truth will be like a parade
When industry's fallen
We'll make our own clothes now
And gifts of our hands rise again

And what, what of the night
With no electrical light
So what then?

You, you and the candles
Will be all that I need
Your face bathed in the firelight
Will be all I want to see
And I'll still sing you a song
That will last the whole night long
You, you and the candles

In a waste paper basket
The timing's fantastic
For lovers to mean what they say
And a night lit in candles
On stained wooden mantles
Keep us safe 'til the night
Turns to day

You, you and the storm clouds
And the puddles at our feet
The lightning cuts through the heavens
And light you so briefly
And I'll still write you a song
To last the whole night long
You, you and the candles
You, you and the candles

Re: Let Us Count the Ways

Be there for them when life gets tough, as inevitably it does.

Reyn!

Kris!