8/6/2019 Romantic Song Lyrics - Stephen Richard Eng

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Romance

A Womans Work is Never Done

It takes a lot of trouble and toil forgetting you,

But everybody says Ill find me someone,

But Ive been working overtime on your memoryA womans work is never done.

It takes a lot of labor and effort to greet the day,

It takes a lot of courage to face the sun,It aint easy but Ill be getting up one more time

A womans work is never done.

Ive struggled hard to make a love as if theres really nothing wrong.And everybody down at work respects me, and they say I do belong.

It takes a lot of practice at home to get things right,

A fishing poleand baseballand B-B gun.

I wrap each package, sign your name to the greeting card

A womans work is never done.05-27-84

*

Agoraphobia

No walls! Naked spaceAnd panic born of openness,

Where we confront loves dread expanse.

Beware! Terror-place

Of freedom where our hearts undress,

And too much candor kills Romance.

Retreat! Goretrace

Our trail and trek where fear is less,

And sentiment (old-fashioned) has a chance.04-21-81

*

Aloha Street

The others always set her high

And latter dirtied her to die,

8/6/2019 Romantic Song Lyrics - Stephen Richard Eng

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Until the only thing I found

Was Carol crippled on the ground.

I lifter her a little late

For any of her love or hate,

When all she wanted me to touchWere tears that trickled down her crutch.

And when I kissed her mirror cleanOf all the images between

Tomorrow and the past she made,

I found her quivering and afraid.

And so I fled the heavy gloom

Of Carol in her furnished room,

Where musty memories still feed

Her feelings till they burst and bleed.08-27-68

*

And I Never Got Over You and Me

I missed the last few class reunions,Youve been to one, theyre all the same;

I shut my eyes and see those yearbook faces

That silly heart you drew around my name.

Growing up for some means growing older

Ive traveled light, Ive traveled farBut out there on that lifetime highway

Sometimes you find exactly who you are:

And I never, never, never got over you and me.

Hate to see how you have changed, for God knows time

Has left its lines on me.Growing old but still I cant outgrow remembering

What we said wed be, you and me.

Ive traveled continents and oceans,

Ive slept in palaces and cheap hotels,

Ive danced with ladies of a foreign language,But all Ive really learned is what time tells:

And I never, never, never got over you and me.

02-04-84

8/6/2019 Romantic Song Lyrics - Stephen Richard Eng

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*

And Then Make Love

Im glad of April rain,

Keeping us indoorsInside our rattled window pane

While the night storm pours.

The rains a winding sheet,

Shrouding up the night;

Inside we drink and talk and eat

By a fire built bright.05-28-79

*

April Flight

Tear-times,Cloud chimes,

Wind-tunes,

Ice-moons:

Nancy.

Sun-lines,

Spring wines,Once more

Shell soar:

Nancy.07-16-77

*

Bad Goodbye

We tried to tie the time,

But now I find that ImA drifter down a road of make-believe.

We tried so hard to care,

But still we didnt shareOur secrets for the other to receive.

And now our futures past,For flowers never last,

They bloom, and then they wither in a year.

For flowers are not real

They bloom and then they peel

8/6/2019 Romantic Song Lyrics - Stephen Richard Eng

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Their petals to the ground and disappear.

I think we played too free,I think we tried to be

The hero and the queen upon the stage,

But now the curtains down,And you can pawn your crown,

Too late for love, we learned to act our age.

1967*

Be Good To You

Be good to you,

Love yourself true,

Ill take care of me,

Whatever else you do, be good to you.

Be good to you,Look your mirror in the eye,

Give yourself another try,

Clear that cloudy sky,

Ill take care of me, whatever else you do,Be good to you.

Be good to you,Make your color gold, not blue,

Its just another name for falling rain,

No more pain,Not as long as you make sure youre good to you.

Be good to you,Love yourself true, Ill take care of me,

Whatever else you do, be good to you.

Be good to you,Someone else will be

Good to you, youll see,

Love loves companyIf you want the love you think that youre entitled to,

Be good to you.

Be good to you,

Find a mountain with a view,

Leave all the tears of yesterday below,

Melting snow,

8/6/2019 Romantic Song Lyrics - Stephen Richard Eng

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And youll be so good to me, and me to you.

07-06-76

*

Blue Ridge

As August melted from its sticky heat,

September watched us traveling to where

Virginia, South Carolina, both do meet:The apple-mountains rich with grape and pear.

Her family and sister welcomed me,

Far too polite to ever seem quite real,

I drowned in country hospitalityAnd careful conversation at each meal.

But underneath I felt a tense unease:

Her elder sister seemed to look through all

The harmony like some lone bird that seesAn animal below about to fail and fall,

Our mutual hatred and respect were likeThe hunted for the hunter as it stalks to strike.

10-04-75

*

Buffalo Skull on the Desert

Buffalo skull on the desert,White from the wind and the sun,

Sometimes I feel like that buffalo skull

I really dont need anyone.

Buffalo skull on the desert,

Spider makes a home in its head;Sometimes I feel like that buffalo skull

When I think of those last words you said.

You said to me, Adios, caballero, were crossing the border,A posses close on our trail;

Were wanted for love, and theres a price on our hearts

Were fugitives from somebodys jail,And our ponies are starting to fail

Buffalo skull on the desert,Gila monster scurries by;

Sometimes I feel like that buffalo skull

Under the dry desert sky.

8/6/2019 Romantic Song Lyrics - Stephen Richard Eng

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Buffalo skull on the desert,

Might make a good souvenir;

Sometimes I feel like that buffalo skullOn a fence post so far from here.

1985

*

Burgundy Morning

Burgundy morning, too early for drinking, no one tells me what to do;

I see your face in that half-empty bottle, purple reflections of you;

Burgundy morning says goodbye to moonlight, opening doors on the dawn;

Lavender curtains you bought for the window, keep out the light when theyre drawn.

Burgundy morning, the neighbors are noisy, wives kissing husbands goodbye;

Wonder what they say about me behind me, they think I dont even try;

Too young for pity and too old for quitting, guess Ill write you one more time;Almost ten-thirty, the mailman is missingservice like that is a crime.

Burgundy morning, some children are playing baseball right next to our yard;

I hope theyre careful and watch where theyre throwing, dont hit that ball too damned

hard;

I should be selling this house and be moving no one would miss me thats right;Maybe if I just re-read your last letter, Id see things in a new light.

Burgundy morning, and Im feeling drowsy, wine reaching up to my brain;I should be with you, but you kept it secret, making sure I would remain;

Noise in the street wont keep me from my sleeping, sirens and whistles they scream;

Burgundy morning becomes afternoon and I only hope I wont dream.1968

*

Byronic

My senses are a symphony

Of violent disharmony,Enjoying any melody

Thats sad.

Self-pitys always sweeter than

Remembering that Im a man,

And sentimental verses canBe bad.

09-27-67

*

8/6/2019 Romantic Song Lyrics - Stephen Richard Eng

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Capitol Hill

She sat in downtown restaurants alone,And read her book until they shut the doors;

Defiant, seventeen, and on her own,

She made her coffee last an hour or more.So when I couldnt find her home I ran

Ridiculously about the neighborhood,

A comic maniac whod been a manBehaving like a wounded coyote would:

I circled, almost howling with brute pain

Around dark Washington, through every place

She ought to be but wasntalmost insaneAshamed of panicking for a mere face.

The restaurants were empty of her everywhere:

Could she have drowned in summers humid air?

05-11-75*

Carolina Border Dream

Carolina Border Dream, forget me,

Autumn winds are thinning out the trees,Everything we started now is over,

Button up your coat against the breeze.

South Virginia summertime was heaven,

Apple orchards, grapes upon the vine,

Something Ill remember for a lifetime,Sorry yours will never fit with mine.

When youre young, you never say the right thing,Always much too pushy or too shy,

Carolina Border Dream, Im leaving,

Autumn clouds are coloring the sky.

Carolina Border Dream, Im sorry,

Blue Ridge mountainsides are turning brown,

Ill be heading north to spend the winter,Try to lose myself in some big town.

Carolina Border Dream, its ending,Like they always hoped it would, one day,

Hate to make them happy, now were parting,

Golden skies are turning into grey.

07-29-77

8/6/2019 Romanti