"When You're Ready" Collection
WHEN YOU'RE READY RECORDING © 1998
Any and all recordings and lyrics are property of Leslie vanWinkle, Magic Stream Music BMI
No portion of any material on this website may be used without permission from the copyright owner, who can be reached at [email protected]
Stay Hungry
I see you in the corner, I see you everywhere.
You want things perfect but you’re just scared.
You say that you’re not ready. For what?
Would a smile kill you? Do I ask too much?
Now didn’t I hear you say you’d love me (love me) from the start?
And didn’t I give you (give you) give you (give you) all my heart?
I missed a cue somewhere. I thought you meant to stay.
But all you want to stay is hungry…
You want to stay hungry. You want to stay hungry
Eyes don’t lie. I see eye to eye from the heart.
I’ll stop your clock with truth. I won’t fall apart.
I tossed and tossed and tossed the alternatives. I see the trap.
Now, didn’t I prove that I could make out here it on my own?
When you turned your back on me and never phoned.
You kissed me off, now it’s back to fun and games.
But a bullet in my heart would have been less pain.
Just between me and the wall, I could be doing better.
Was I just another loving lesson in your life?
I heard a funny story ‘bout a man tossed back in time
To relive his hell on earth and I thought of you.
You want to stay hungry. You want to stay hungry
Let it Rain
The floors are swept, my cupboards bare, the bathroom cabinet empty.
Ghosts of pictures stain the walls. The house sounds empty.
We kept our promises to end it all so civilly. And now I’m just waiting for the rain to fall.
I’m waiting for the rain to fall and wash your face away. I’m waiting for the rain, rain to fall.
Sunshine caught our wedding toast and loving vows sustained us
As days dissolved into years and daily life maintained us.
Til the image in the mirror was no one I remembered.
And who’s that fellow walking off? He looks sort of familiar
I’m waiting for the rain to fall and wash your face away.
I’m waiting for the rain, rain to fall.
I’m waiting for the rain to fall, let it wash away The morning that we made love in the rain.
Here’s the key, take it please. I don’t live here anymore.
Take the car and credit cards and everything you had before.
But please leave me the kids. ‘
I’m waiting for the rain to fall and wash your face away.
I’m waiting for the rain, rain to fall.
When You’re Ready
“Go away, now,” you say as you turn from my smile but the curve of your cheek tears my heart.
You’ve been running from love all your lonely days While I’ve been waiting here. Yeah.
Waiting for you to fall into my arms And loosen the chains on your heart
You’ve been running from time, knowing time is the winner, But I’ll be waiting here when you’re ready.
When you are ready to show me your tender smile. It’s worth waiting for.
When your empty arms cry to heaven for love I’ll be right here when you’re ready.
There is a touch in your hand that tells me the truth You’re lying if you think you’re safe
You cannot hide your passion inside I know it is mine, Yeah.
Cause I see through your eyes to that gray castle wall entwined with vines & sharp thorns,
You have thwarted each lover who has sought your heart but I see through your guise.
When you are ready. Whenever that time arrive. What’s an eon more?
When your heart is on fire and you give it away I’ll be right here when you’re ready.
I want to reach out and brush off your tears kiss away the pain in your soul
But I’ll stay out of reach, never breaching your keep. Your secret is safe.
'Til you’re ready to-to fly on the wings of my love beating in time with your own
I will soften your fall with the wings of a swan and keep you afloat ‘til you’re steady
When you’re ready.
Auguries of Innocence
Lyrics by Wm. Blake (1712-1772); music/ arrangement Leslie vanWinkle © 1997
To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.
Every night and every morn some to misery are born every morn and every night.
Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to endless night Every morn and every night.
A lie that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent .
It is right and it should be so; man was made for joy and woe.
And when this we rightly know, thro’ the world we safely .
We are led to believe a lie when we see not thro’ the eye,
Which was born in the night to perish in the night,
when the soul slept in a beam of light Every morn and every night.
God appears and God is light To the poor souls who dwell in the night,
but does a human form display to those who dwell in realms of day?
Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to endless night every morn and every night.
Walking Wounded
Life catches you off guard, like a knife in the back, like daggers
Some twisted turn of fate, gets you in the gut cuts you to the quick.
Don’t you trust those lying eyes, they’ll do it to you every time, with their false promises.
No one means what they say, they’ll do it to you any way, they can. Damn.
Just when you think that you’ve been blessed, you’re in a holy mess. You’re staggered.
You’ve given them your blood, you’ve given them your love, and their words cut out your heart.
Til you scream murder. ‘Til you scream murder.
Til you scream murder. Murder, murder, murder
It struck fast and clean. You can still feel the sting. You never saw the swing!
You walk wounded down the street, neon like white hot heat. And the images you see are shattered.
You’ve given them your all. You took all the falls for their false promises.
No one means what they say, they’ll do it to you any way, they can. Damn.
You played it their way, you did what they say, still you got to pay!
When will it be enough? You’ve lost all trust. And your life is dust.
Sold to the infantile god in the black limousine you’re twisting on the knife of their false promises.
In an instant everything, you knew has changed.
Your hope is running, running away. It’s running away. Running away.
Maria’s Alive
Maria makes a dollar every time she goes downtown
picking up tin cans people throw down.
Saturday's the best night to go down to the Square and ask for money:
Spare change to spare?
Most folks ignore her when she begins her tale
about the son she lost in war and one living in jail.
Look upon Maria and realize that fate
Could put you where she is right now, you are not safe,
but Maria's alive. Maria's alive. Whoa, whoa, Maria's alive.
The wind behind the Morrison Hotel cuts to the bone.
All the beds are taken, Maria has no home.
Hoping that tomorrow will ease her hunger pains
She spends her dollar on a coat against the rain.
Whoh, whoa, Maria’s alive
Raven Man
Out behind the woodbine grove is a little hollow stone.
Each night I stop & leave a drop of blood on my way home.
With the sunrise The Raven flies and drinks my ruby wine
And changes from bird to man and tells he is mine.
He sings to me with tender words, sings to me of love.
Tells me I’m the only one who will ever taste his love.
Lifted on his honeyed words to worlds that had no pain.
I hear his whisper even now - - singing …
Oh Mary, come out and play.
Oh my little Mary, I will marry you some day.
Oh Mary, when you are grown.
Oh my, my little Mary, I will come and take you home
The land was torn and each newborn was set against the blade.
The men were killed; the fields untilled; families enslaved.
Take me from these bloody fields. Carry me away
I cannot bear these crying babes, dying as they lay.
When every village green was dead, the empty hills I roamed.
Calling for my Raven Man, blood flowed over stone.
Seasons turn and children learn fantasies will fade.
But still I kept my promise to the Raven Man I’d made.
Oh Mary, come out and play.
Oh my little Mary, I will marry you some day.
Oh Mary, when you are grown.
Oh my, my little Mary, I will come and take you home
The morning of my 13th year I rose to greet the day
I waited for my Raven Man to carry me away.
A cry within the woodbine grove. A flutter. A crack!
My Raven Man fell at my feet -- an arrow in his back.
I cradled up my Raven Man. Listened for his breath.
His eyes close. My heart froze.
Blood ran red all down my arm, washed away by tears.
I looked up from my Raven Man and into empty years.
I wish that I could sing a song that came out in the end.
I wish that I could sing my Raven Man came back again.
From my flesh and virgin blood my perfect man was mine.
Now all I have of my Raven Man are memories of this time
Oh my Mary, when you are grown
Oh my, my little Mary I will come and take you home
I Can’t Afford To Fall In Love
I'm in a hurry, I got so much to do.
I can't slow down, I’ll fall in love with you.
Workaholic, gotta push when it comes to shove.
I can't slow down. I can't slow down, I might … fall in love.
Keep your distance, you know I go all the way.
If you get too close, I'm gonna want to play.
I'm gonna hold you and I'm gonna have my fun.
You'll be important. You'll be important and I'll never get anything done.
I can't handle this attraction, this kind of distraction
It pulls me off my road, into data overload.
Sends my reason out to lunch because your kiss packs quite a punch.
I can't take this kind of action, it starts a chain reaction.
It's more trouble than it's worth, 'cause I'm sure you're just a flirt.
You steer me right off course. This isn't why I got divorced!
When I catch your scent, you’re so pleasin’.
When you touch my skin I lose my reason.
I can’t put you off any longer.
Then you pull me down, and you slow me down and I fall in love.
But you want me to stop, and face to face ignore the clock
And give up all my schemes. Ha! In your dreams.
You think I'll drop my guard, you must want me pretty hard.
I can’t afford to fall in love, I can’t afford to fall in love.
I've gotten this far on my own; even now I'm never home.
I'm strong, complete, but you bring out my loving streak.
You make me want to fall, in love
I’m Listening
You're telling me that you get no respect,
that your life is a mess and you're up to your neck in trouble.
You're telling me that your woman is gone,
And you can't get along and that everyone's wrong except you.
You’ve been talking an hour or more, saying you were born poor
And that life is a bore.
And you’re saying that you're just so confused,
And you're singing your blues about all that you lose. Well, that's a pity.
I'm listening and I'm being real still.
I'm listening. I know just how you feel.
You're blaming your whole life on everyone else,
like maybe they're all out to get you.
I'm listening while you talk it all through.
And I'm wondering what are you going to do?
You're laying your hard times on everyone else
And you wonder why they forget you.
Some people make life a personal fight,
they stay up every night seeking some kind of light.
And others think that they can't get ahead, after everything’s said,
they’re better off dead with no worries.
Some people live what we call a rough road
and they carry a load bound to bury a soul.
Yet they believe deep in their heart every day's a fresh start
at the end of the dark there's a treasure.
I'm listening. and I’m being real still.
And I'm wondering when will you get real?
If you knew the answer, now what would it be?
There are choices and you've got to make them.
I'm listening but its hard to ignore what you're saying
cause there's so much more
If you knew the answer, now what would it be?
There are chances and you've got to take them.
Yes I’m listening. But I’m getting so tired of your old line.
I’m getting so tired of your same old whine. I’m done listening.
I Let You Go
I see you in the distance - walking so fine - I want to touch you.
Find a way to reach you and make you mine; there is so much you.
Spinning round in circles; lost in time.
Oh I’ve seen your face before In my dreams.
And I let you go Yes I let you go
Every little moment with you is like eternity
Let me stay here with you tonight; you are burning me.
Where were you hiding all of my life? Were you looking too?
I open up my arms to you, but I will let you go-
Oh, , I’ve held you close before. You’re inside me.
And I let you go Yes I let you go
Blue waves curl to the shore, Kissing sand they adore
Gypsies dancing by the sea, Dancing to her mystery
Splash me with your dancing fire. Love me with your strange desire.
Moon moving to your beat. Stars are flying from your feet.
I give you forever - my love - you can take it free.
Keep it warm inside you and know you can return to me.
Somewhere in the distance under the sun I’ll be laughing.
Waiting for the moment you come.
Cause we’ve had this love before And we will again.
Wake each morning with delight.. Travel well stay in the light.
Dance may fade with the dawn the day with a gypsy song
And I let you go Yes I let you go
WHEN YOU'RE READY RECORDING © 1998
Any and all recordings and lyrics are property of Leslie vanWinkle, Magic Stream Music BMI
No portion of any material on this website may be used without permission from the copyright owner, who can be reached at [email protected]
WHEN YOU'RE READY RECORDING © 1998
Any and all recordings and lyrics are property of Leslie vanWinkle, Magic Stream Music BMI
No portion of any material on this website may be used without permission from the copyright owner, who can be reached at [email protected]
Stay Hungry
I see you in the corner, I see you everywhere.
You want things perfect but you’re just scared.
You say that you’re not ready. For what?
Would a smile kill you? Do I ask too much?
Now didn’t I hear you say you’d love me (love me) from the start?
And didn’t I give you (give you) give you (give you) all my heart?
I missed a cue somewhere. I thought you meant to stay.
But all you want to stay is hungry…
You want to stay hungry. You want to stay hungry
Eyes don’t lie. I see eye to eye from the heart.
I’ll stop your clock with truth. I won’t fall apart.
I tossed and tossed and tossed the alternatives. I see the trap.
Now, didn’t I prove that I could make out here it on my own?
When you turned your back on me and never phoned.
You kissed me off, now it’s back to fun and games.
But a bullet in my heart would have been less pain.
Just between me and the wall, I could be doing better.
Was I just another loving lesson in your life?
I heard a funny story ‘bout a man tossed back in time
To relive his hell on earth and I thought of you.
You want to stay hungry. You want to stay hungry
Let it Rain
The floors are swept, my cupboards bare, the bathroom cabinet empty.
Ghosts of pictures stain the walls. The house sounds empty.
We kept our promises to end it all so civilly. And now I’m just waiting for the rain to fall.
I’m waiting for the rain to fall and wash your face away. I’m waiting for the rain, rain to fall.
Sunshine caught our wedding toast and loving vows sustained us
As days dissolved into years and daily life maintained us.
Til the image in the mirror was no one I remembered.
And who’s that fellow walking off? He looks sort of familiar
I’m waiting for the rain to fall and wash your face away.
I’m waiting for the rain, rain to fall.
I’m waiting for the rain to fall, let it wash away The morning that we made love in the rain.
Here’s the key, take it please. I don’t live here anymore.
Take the car and credit cards and everything you had before.
But please leave me the kids. ‘
I’m waiting for the rain to fall and wash your face away.
I’m waiting for the rain, rain to fall.
When You’re Ready
“Go away, now,” you say as you turn from my smile but the curve of your cheek tears my heart.
You’ve been running from love all your lonely days While I’ve been waiting here. Yeah.
Waiting for you to fall into my arms And loosen the chains on your heart
You’ve been running from time, knowing time is the winner, But I’ll be waiting here when you’re ready.
When you are ready to show me your tender smile. It’s worth waiting for.
When your empty arms cry to heaven for love I’ll be right here when you’re ready.
There is a touch in your hand that tells me the truth You’re lying if you think you’re safe
You cannot hide your passion inside I know it is mine, Yeah.
Cause I see through your eyes to that gray castle wall entwined with vines & sharp thorns,
You have thwarted each lover who has sought your heart but I see through your guise.
When you are ready. Whenever that time arrive. What’s an eon more?
When your heart is on fire and you give it away I’ll be right here when you’re ready.
I want to reach out and brush off your tears kiss away the pain in your soul
But I’ll stay out of reach, never breaching your keep. Your secret is safe.
'Til you’re ready to-to fly on the wings of my love beating in time with your own
I will soften your fall with the wings of a swan and keep you afloat ‘til you’re steady
When you’re ready.
Auguries of Innocence
Lyrics by Wm. Blake (1712-1772); music/ arrangement Leslie vanWinkle © 1997
To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.
Every night and every morn some to misery are born every morn and every night.
Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to endless night Every morn and every night.
A lie that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent .
It is right and it should be so; man was made for joy and woe.
And when this we rightly know, thro’ the world we safely .
We are led to believe a lie when we see not thro’ the eye,
Which was born in the night to perish in the night,
when the soul slept in a beam of light Every morn and every night.
God appears and God is light To the poor souls who dwell in the night,
but does a human form display to those who dwell in realms of day?
Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to endless night every morn and every night.
Walking Wounded
Life catches you off guard, like a knife in the back, like daggers
Some twisted turn of fate, gets you in the gut cuts you to the quick.
Don’t you trust those lying eyes, they’ll do it to you every time, with their false promises.
No one means what they say, they’ll do it to you any way, they can. Damn.
Just when you think that you’ve been blessed, you’re in a holy mess. You’re staggered.
You’ve given them your blood, you’ve given them your love, and their words cut out your heart.
Til you scream murder. ‘Til you scream murder.
Til you scream murder. Murder, murder, murder
It struck fast and clean. You can still feel the sting. You never saw the swing!
You walk wounded down the street, neon like white hot heat. And the images you see are shattered.
You’ve given them your all. You took all the falls for their false promises.
No one means what they say, they’ll do it to you any way, they can. Damn.
You played it their way, you did what they say, still you got to pay!
When will it be enough? You’ve lost all trust. And your life is dust.
Sold to the infantile god in the black limousine you’re twisting on the knife of their false promises.
In an instant everything, you knew has changed.
Your hope is running, running away. It’s running away. Running away.
Maria’s Alive
Maria makes a dollar every time she goes downtown
picking up tin cans people throw down.
Saturday's the best night to go down to the Square and ask for money:
Spare change to spare?
Most folks ignore her when she begins her tale
about the son she lost in war and one living in jail.
Look upon Maria and realize that fate
Could put you where she is right now, you are not safe,
but Maria's alive. Maria's alive. Whoa, whoa, Maria's alive.
The wind behind the Morrison Hotel cuts to the bone.
All the beds are taken, Maria has no home.
Hoping that tomorrow will ease her hunger pains
She spends her dollar on a coat against the rain.
Whoh, whoa, Maria’s alive
Raven Man
Out behind the woodbine grove is a little hollow stone.
Each night I stop & leave a drop of blood on my way home.
With the sunrise The Raven flies and drinks my ruby wine
And changes from bird to man and tells he is mine.
He sings to me with tender words, sings to me of love.
Tells me I’m the only one who will ever taste his love.
Lifted on his honeyed words to worlds that had no pain.
I hear his whisper even now - - singing …
Oh Mary, come out and play.
Oh my little Mary, I will marry you some day.
Oh Mary, when you are grown.
Oh my, my little Mary, I will come and take you home
The land was torn and each newborn was set against the blade.
The men were killed; the fields untilled; families enslaved.
Take me from these bloody fields. Carry me away
I cannot bear these crying babes, dying as they lay.
When every village green was dead, the empty hills I roamed.
Calling for my Raven Man, blood flowed over stone.
Seasons turn and children learn fantasies will fade.
But still I kept my promise to the Raven Man I’d made.
Oh Mary, come out and play.
Oh my little Mary, I will marry you some day.
Oh Mary, when you are grown.
Oh my, my little Mary, I will come and take you home
The morning of my 13th year I rose to greet the day
I waited for my Raven Man to carry me away.
A cry within the woodbine grove. A flutter. A crack!
My Raven Man fell at my feet -- an arrow in his back.
I cradled up my Raven Man. Listened for his breath.
His eyes close. My heart froze.
Blood ran red all down my arm, washed away by tears.
I looked up from my Raven Man and into empty years.
I wish that I could sing a song that came out in the end.
I wish that I could sing my Raven Man came back again.
From my flesh and virgin blood my perfect man was mine.
Now all I have of my Raven Man are memories of this time
Oh my Mary, when you are grown
Oh my, my little Mary I will come and take you home
I Can’t Afford To Fall In Love
I'm in a hurry, I got so much to do.
I can't slow down, I’ll fall in love with you.
Workaholic, gotta push when it comes to shove.
I can't slow down. I can't slow down, I might … fall in love.
Keep your distance, you know I go all the way.
If you get too close, I'm gonna want to play.
I'm gonna hold you and I'm gonna have my fun.
You'll be important. You'll be important and I'll never get anything done.
I can't handle this attraction, this kind of distraction
It pulls me off my road, into data overload.
Sends my reason out to lunch because your kiss packs quite a punch.
I can't take this kind of action, it starts a chain reaction.
It's more trouble than it's worth, 'cause I'm sure you're just a flirt.
You steer me right off course. This isn't why I got divorced!
When I catch your scent, you’re so pleasin’.
When you touch my skin I lose my reason.
I can’t put you off any longer.
Then you pull me down, and you slow me down and I fall in love.
But you want me to stop, and face to face ignore the clock
And give up all my schemes. Ha! In your dreams.
You think I'll drop my guard, you must want me pretty hard.
I can’t afford to fall in love, I can’t afford to fall in love.
I've gotten this far on my own; even now I'm never home.
I'm strong, complete, but you bring out my loving streak.
You make me want to fall, in love
I’m Listening
You're telling me that you get no respect,
that your life is a mess and you're up to your neck in trouble.
You're telling me that your woman is gone,
And you can't get along and that everyone's wrong except you.
You’ve been talking an hour or more, saying you were born poor
And that life is a bore.
And you’re saying that you're just so confused,
And you're singing your blues about all that you lose. Well, that's a pity.
I'm listening and I'm being real still.
I'm listening. I know just how you feel.
You're blaming your whole life on everyone else,
like maybe they're all out to get you.
I'm listening while you talk it all through.
And I'm wondering what are you going to do?
You're laying your hard times on everyone else
And you wonder why they forget you.
Some people make life a personal fight,
they stay up every night seeking some kind of light.
And others think that they can't get ahead, after everything’s said,
they’re better off dead with no worries.
Some people live what we call a rough road
and they carry a load bound to bury a soul.
Yet they believe deep in their heart every day's a fresh start
at the end of the dark there's a treasure.
I'm listening. and I’m being real still.
And I'm wondering when will you get real?
If you knew the answer, now what would it be?
There are choices and you've got to make them.
I'm listening but its hard to ignore what you're saying
cause there's so much more
If you knew the answer, now what would it be?
There are chances and you've got to take them.
Yes I’m listening. But I’m getting so tired of your old line.
I’m getting so tired of your same old whine. I’m done listening.
I Let You Go
I see you in the distance - walking so fine - I want to touch you.
Find a way to reach you and make you mine; there is so much you.
Spinning round in circles; lost in time.
Oh I’ve seen your face before In my dreams.
And I let you go Yes I let you go
Every little moment with you is like eternity
Let me stay here with you tonight; you are burning me.
Where were you hiding all of my life? Were you looking too?
I open up my arms to you, but I will let you go-
Oh, , I’ve held you close before. You’re inside me.
And I let you go Yes I let you go
Blue waves curl to the shore, Kissing sand they adore
Gypsies dancing by the sea, Dancing to her mystery
Splash me with your dancing fire. Love me with your strange desire.
Moon moving to your beat. Stars are flying from your feet.
I give you forever - my love - you can take it free.
Keep it warm inside you and know you can return to me.
Somewhere in the distance under the sun I’ll be laughing.
Waiting for the moment you come.
Cause we’ve had this love before And we will again.
Wake each morning with delight.. Travel well stay in the light.
Dance may fade with the dawn the day with a gypsy song
And I let you go Yes I let you go
WHEN YOU'RE READY RECORDING © 1998
Any and all recordings and lyrics are property of Leslie vanWinkle, Magic Stream Music BMI
No portion of any material on this website may be used without permission from the copyright owner, who can be reached at [email protected]