JABBERWOCKY
by Lewis Carroll - 1832-1898
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Ricardo&Weinstock©2015
I am an endangered species
You don’t know anyone else like me.
Part of an endangered population
Your kids may never see…
You are an endangered species,
I don’t know anyone else like you.
Part of a vanishing expression
Noone ever knew
While we may be the most dangerous species,
We just never get enough
While we may see strange changes unfolding
We cannot call their bluff…
But we won’t buy their friggin’ stuff
We are the endangered species
We don’t even know anyone else like us
Just stories passing –
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
I don’t know how to get this over but I’m still crying
Why can’t we just love each other ‘til we die?
I don’t know how to make this better but keep trying –
Yeah, love takes practice, practice, practice – no lie…
EINSTEIN’S LINES
All attributed to Albert Einstein, ed. by Ricardo
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Look deep into nature, and then you will
understand everything better.
Life is like riding a bicycle – to keep your balance
you must keep moving.
The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
and expecting different results.
I love to travel, but I hate to arrive.
Science can flourish only in an atmosphere of free speech.
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of
life's coming attractions.
THE ONE YOU ARE
Ricardo © 1996
First of all, I'd like to take this chance
To welcome you all to this circumstance
Let's chase the promise to its end
Though you never know where it may send you
Your good spirits in these rooms
Fills us all and none too soon
And if it's ever in our way
Then we'll know that's not it anyway
In this lifetime, in this light
In this life – shine like the sun
You are free, or can be
You are the one
It's what we share, it's what we're of
It's where we meet, it's what we love
It's in the air, it's in our blood
Humans care, you are the one
Life goes by like the music
Though somehow more completely
And it seems sometimes all we can do
To play along even half as sweetly
So when it all starts to get to you
Remember what we knew
A glass half empty is half full too
If we can find our way in gratitude
If you're like me, you'd like to see
All the world discover peace
But though I know I may not see it
I do believe that we can seed it
In human form, we're shining light
Look around you here tonight
Thanks for now and for the future
May we keep each other bright
Waves of Crazy
Instrumental
PRESENT PERFECT
Ricardo © 2012
Driving home, through a tunnel of pines
Tryin' to boil it down to a few short lines
Seems like we're passing so many signs —
Waiting for the one
This time things might be different
Though they may look just the same
Don’t be distracted by the stories
Of past or future pain
Here, in the present perfect, it’s clear – we’re better off alive
There are no words, and no likely suspects
for the sweetest things we find
So what do I say to my heart today?
"Come on, please—pick me up again
For another year, or just another page
Hold steady please, just let me stay”
Words just cannot do justice to what they’re tryin’ to describe
You can promise anything, but you’ll only know it if you tried
I can feel the years passing, and some things get easier to see
But how we made it this far…remains a miracle to me
Here we are, in the present perfect –
where we’re better off awake
No explaining and no waiting – you just give
more than you take
So that’s what I say to my heart today:
"Come on, please—lift me up again
For another year, or just another phase
Hold steady please, let me stay…
So I can play, your rhythm live
Back to the world, every day and night
Your pulses are my deepest food
Every beat is gratitude”
LIVE IN THE LIGHT
Ricardo&Weinstock - 2019
Wind runs
Trees sigh
Birds converse
Clouds walk
Grasses dance, grasses dance
Sun – the big light
Shines above it all
Before setting into the sea…
Darkness reminds me
that I need to live in the light
That’s why I’m stopped here, again
gazing at the stars, gazing at the stars
* * * * *
Dew falls
Light grows
Shadows shrink
Fog lifts
Colors show, colors show
Sun – the big light
Shines above it all
As it moves across the sky…
Morning reminds me
everything’s going to be alright
After some rest, some sleep, a dream –
another new start, another new start,
another new start, another new start
gazing at the stars
LOVE ‘EM ANYWAY
Ricardo ©2008
You gotta wonder at this life we live,
walking around on this earth
Back and forth we pace, furiously,
careful not to stir anything up…
If we never take a risk, we never stretch;
never forgive, we never forget
And then aren’t we just as strange
as the ones we’re pointing at?
You step outside of the circle, and after your eyes adjust
You see the headlight of our moon that floats
in the darkness up above;
Then you remember your good fortune
breathing here at all this day,
And though you can’t remember exactly what you learned,
you couldn’t say it out loud anyway
First you try and well may fail
Again and again sometimes, to no avail
Until the day you trust the wind and then you start to sail
When you let love illuminate, and you love ‘em anyway
When you let love light up your way,
and learn to love ‘em anyway
They may make you mad, they may make you crazy,
may be sad as you, but twice as lazy
They may be on your back or maybe at your door,
they could be calling in, or sleeping on the floor
But don’t bother tryin’ to make sense of none
Just take a deep breath and pray that when it’s done love has won
‘Cuz at the other end and no matter what they say…
You gotta look ‘em in the eyes and love ‘em anyway…
It’s what I hear the prophets say…what I hear the wind explain…
Goodbiaduct
Instrumental
THE HUM
Ricardo/Weinstock © 2012
In the distance, sixty cycles, on and on all night long
The chanting of the modern world – monotone and song
No need to wonder why we're all so well entrained
Under these soft attacks, we all feel estranged
It interrupts our dinner and divides the peace
It’s in the walls and at the beach
It's following me everywhere - it's hard to get away
How do I stop my ears from ringing…
When the world just sounds that way?
Silence sends a message only the silent can hear
It lives between the wind and rain, whispers in your ear
I wish we were more afraid of the price that we are paying
Though we may never agree, I know that's what we're praying
It interrupts our dinner and divides the peace
It’s in the walls and at the beach
It's following me everywhere - it's hard to get away
How do I stop my ears from ringing…
When the world just sounds that way?
MY FAULT INSURANCE
Ricardo ©2007
OK I did it, it's all my fault
Everything that ever went wrong with you—I was the cause
Yes I confess, there is no catch
If we settle now, you can relax
I know you worry, I know you care
I know for me you'd probably be the last one there
But even there may be some doubt as to who here is crazy,
We've come too far now to stand around on ceremony
OK, I did it—so what
I did it—now can we just wake up?
OK, I did it—because
I know my fault insurance
Is all paid up
I'm not holding my breath but one can always hope
Even though in the meantime I continue to note
That all that's gone down, all my fault no matter what
Nowadays it's the only way I can remember which way is up
OK, I did it—so what
I did it—now can we just wake up?
OK, I did it—because
I know my fault insurance
Is all paid up…
SLOW ME DOWN
Ricardo ©1990/2020
In between the edge and the river
In between the street and the town
There’s a place I remember
Watching the sun go down
And the moon would rise
It used to slow me down
In between the time and the season
In between insane and profound
There’s a still point if you listen
Makes the lost seem found
If I can find that place…
It always slows me down
Lay me down easy, let me slow
Lay me down easy, let the time go
In between the dark and the morning
In between the earth and the ground
There is the sudden recognition
That we are at no time bound
It gives the whole world pause
To hear a sound
Lay me down easy, let me slow
Lay me down easy, let the time go
A trick so simple, yet so hard to do
Step aside and see the spinning
From outside…it always
Slows me down
HAPPINESS
Ricardo © 1997
Suffering is easy – anyone can do it
Happiness hard, and sadness runs clear through it
Tempers are easily out of control
Patience is hard – it takes real soul
It's easy, it's hard
Both at once, Lord knows
But at least one thing is clear
What you pay attention to – grows
Growing is painful, learning is not
Better be careful you could end up shot
Talk is cheap—it flows right from our lips
Truth is the hardest when you’re right in front of it
Ego is easy for so many here
Humility much harder, but never fear
Playing is easy, working is hard
Compassion simple once forgiveness starts
At the end of the day, there's truth and there's light
This is our chance to refine our sight…
* indicates an instramental song
Lyrics
