John J Francis Song Lyrics

Below are the lyrics of John J's songs on the New Release LEGACY...

Can do a straight copy and paste or SAVE AS a "txt" document.

SIMPLE BEN

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was track-2, Side-1 on the 1973 John J. Francis album, ‘Breaks, Works and Thoughts’. It also featured in the classic Oz surf movie, ‘Morning of the Earth’)

CHORUS:
“Just give me sunshine through to Autumn
Sweet snow to the Spring
Corn by the water of an old millstream
And you give me all
You give me all”

Walking on a dusty road
In the countryside
At ease
I heard a song
Drifting on the gently blowing breeze
“Sunshine through to Autumn
Sweet snow to the Spring
Corn by the water of an old millstream
And you give me all
You give me all”

A barrow pushed by a little man
Came rolling from the West
He sang the song as he stepped along
Until we drew abreast

“Why, hello there, my friend
I see you’re on the road here, just like me.
Why don’t we stop and rest, awhile?
I’ll boil a pot of tea.”

CHORUS:

He said his name was Simple Ben
But not as I’d believe
Christened for the way he thought
But more the way he lived

“I’ve seen the best
and worst
that we have here on our earth
I finally decided on the things that I give worth”

CHORUS:

I asked if he had seen the great jets that fly across the sky?
He said he’s seen the smallest bird learning how to fly

“Have you seen the bridges stretched across the bays?”
“I’ve seen the smallest fish alive dying from the haze”

“Have you seen the massive buildings reaching towards the sun?”
“I’ve seen the fields of barrenness from the work that men have done”

“What about the dams, and weirs, that feed the countryside?”
“I’ve seen the brownness of the grass when the dams and weirs run (dry)”

CHORUS:

“What about the fertile lands where nothing once would grow?”
“I’ve seen the lands to the North and South under tons of ice and snow”

“Have you seen the jungles so thick that a man can’t go?”
“I’ve seen a farmer plough a field with nothing but a hoe”

“You must admit, the motor was a boon, to all mankind!”
“The air is sweeter here than a hundred miles behind”

CHORUS:

“What about the time we save to go from place to place?”
“I’ve seen my life go by so fast, I scarce recall a face”

“You must have learnt a lot by now about your fellow man?”
“I’ve seen the waves that break upon the beaches made of sand”

“What about the beauty of great art that man has done?”
“I’ve seen the shapes of mountains up against the morning sun”

CHORUS:

“Ben, do you believe in God and the words that preachers pray?”
“I’ve seen myself in a still calm pool and I’ve heard a donkey bray”

“Don’t you need the tender warmth of a lady in your bed?”
“I used to know a pretty one who liked the stars above her head”

“Still, – You give me sunshine through to Autumn
Sweet snow to the Spring
Corn by the water of an old millstream
And you give me all
You give me all”

“Friend, thank you for your company but I must be on my way.
The road is growing shorter as the sun sets on my day.
Perhaps we’ll meet again sometime, to rest, and share some tea.
If you hear the song when you’re walking along
You’re going to know who it’s going to be.”

CHORUS:
CHORUS:
CHORUS:

TRAIN

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This was track 2, Side-1 of the 1972 John J. Francis album, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Refugee’)

CHORUS:
Train, Train, Train
Do you know where you’re going?
Train, Train, Train
Do you know where you’ve been?
Train, Train, Train
Do you know where you’re going?
Train, Train, Train
Do you know where you’ve been?

Been in St., Paul
Thought I heard some praying
Been in St., Paul
There’s a lot of cursing there

Down on Baton Rouge, yeah
Thought I heard some wailing
Down on Baton Rouge
There’s wailing everywhere

CHORUS

Down at The Gate of Hades
I thought I heard some sighing
Down at The Gate of Hades
There’s a lot of crying there

Out on the Milky Way, yeah
Thought I heard some laughter
Out on the Milky Way, yeah
There’s laughter everywhere

CHORUS

Been at The Door of Knowledge
I thought I heard some questions
Been at The Door of Answers
There’s a lot of questions there

Out on The Sea of Turmoil
I thought I heard some shouting
Out on The Sea of Turmoil
There’s shouting everywhere

CHORUS

Passed through The Pit of Sorrow
I thought I heard some feeling
Passed through The Pit of Sorrow
There’s a lot of feelings there

Outside The Gates of Heaven
Thought I heard some singing
Yes, outside The Gates of Heaven
There’s music everywhere

CHORUS

STEEL MAN

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This was the last track Side-2 of the 1973 album 'Breaks, Works and Thoughts')

Woke up with the alarm this morning
Got out of my bed
There's a ringing going on
and it's right inside my head
Have to make the plant before that day-whistle blows
Step inside those black steel doors
Beat on the steel all day

My legs keep aching from just standing on my feet
My face is sun-tanned from the burning furnace heat
Mama cried when I left school
Said she'd go and pray
I wouldn't end up in a dirty black hole
Beating on the steel all day
Beat on

Think about the game last week
with the sweat trickling on my face
Think about a girl I knew
With a will I couldn't crease
Anything to keep my mind away from what I do
Anything to pass the time
Beating on the steel all day
Beating on the steel all day

Sitting in the lunch-room with my friends
Just playing cards
Day in, day out, day in
Till the spots look like the bars
Of the cells we're working in
We cannot get away
From a lifetime sentence
Of just beating on the steel all day

The foreman stands with his watch in hand as we all come marching in
Says, 'You're over five on your lunch-break and I don't want to see it again.'
That fat pig feels secure when he's had his say
The whip's been cracked
And we all go back
To beating on the steel all day
Beating on the steel all day

CITY LIGHTS, SATURDAY NIGHT 1959

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This was Track-3, Side-1 of the 1974 John J. Francis album, ‘Open Fist’)

City lights
Saturday night
Standing on the pavement again
In my old black jeans
Smelling so clean
Waiting for some of my friends

It's 7 o'clock
Humid and hot
Coke is running out of my ears
Shuffle my feet
Jukebox beat
Pin machines a-ding!-ding!-ding!

You know, it looks like Saturdays rolling again

Noise from cars
Laughter from bars
And people who are stepping out
We hit the street in ripple-soled feet
The occasional scream
Or shout
See a lady there
A wave in her hair
Scared because we look so tough
Somebody says 'Hello'
Would she like to roll?
She stares ahead
We all have a laugh

You know, it looks like Saturdays rolling again

A silver hot-dog stand
A bald-headed man
Gutter-barks in front of the flicks
Inside the big dance hall they do the Town Hall Crawl
Outside, we stand and eyeball the chicks
A lover gets hot
He wants to bop
And everybody's shaking their fists
And then the cops pull up
A blue pickup truck
And everybody fades
Like mist

You know, it looks like Saturdays rolling again
You know, it looks like Saturdays rolling again
You know, it looks like Saturdays rolling again

TO THE END

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was Track-5, Side-1 on the 1974 John J. Francis Album ‘Wassa Matta’)

So you change
And you change
But the world remains
The same
And you live
And you give
But you lose
Yeh, you lose

O, and to the end
To your knees flat
Knees flat
Knees flat
Me flat
You flat
O, to the end
To your knees flat
Knees flat
Knees flat
Me flat
You flat

So you smile
For awhile
Then your gone
And I'm alone
But you give
And I give
But we lose
Yes, we lose

O, and to the end
To your knees flat
Knees flat
Knees flat
Me flat
You flat
O, to the end
To your knees flat
Knees flat
Knees flat
Me flat
You flat

So you change
And I change
But the world remains
The same
And you give
And I give
But we still lose
Yeh, we still lose

O, and to the end
On our knees flat
Knees flat
Knees flat
Me flat
You flat
O, to the end
On our knees flat
Knees flat
Knees flat
Me flat
You flat

A CHRISTIAN WOMAN CAME

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was Track-2, Side2 on the 1974 John J. Francis Album ‘Wassa Matta’)

A christian woman came
She said, 'I'll give advice
I'll tell you how to get the most
out of your life'
I couldn't wait to tell her
Couldn't not let her know
She'd been the eigth one today
with The Jesus Show
Clutching her bible
Like a miser with gold
You knw, sort of possessive

'Brother, let the Lord my God open your eyes
Show you His Kingdom
Where your destiny lies'
I couldn't wait to tell her
Couldn't not let her know
That my eyes were really opened by a blue movie show
ZAP!
With things I never even dreamed of before
Yeah, sort of melted my zip

'Help him Father, help him
Love him,
Cleanse out his soul,
Take him to your breast,
Let him enter the fold'
I couldn't wait to tell her
Couldn't not let her know
That I'd breasted a lamb curry
Just a short while ago
And any minute now,
It's going to cleanse out my sole
Yes, yes, yes

Christian woman came to my door
Somehow I don't think she'll be coming
Anymore

LIVING IN SYDNEY

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This was Track-1, Side-1 of the 1974 John J. Francis album, ‘Open Fist’)

Living in Sydney is like city living anywhere
The plainest things, the strangest things
They seem to go 'bout hand in hand
All the time looking for bread
Feeding the lions in your head
Trying to learn how to squeeze
Fighting to stay off your knees

In neon nights the city song is blue
While the days are brown
The smacked-up freaks
The juiced-out heaps
Dot the lanes
and gutters
Going even further down
Spewing their pain on the street
Selling their souls for the meat-buyers gold
Smiling while they're screaming inside
Filling in time till they die
Oh, till they die

The churches say the city's doomed
'Cause they're finding that there's lots of room on Sundays
The politicians priss and prance
And lead us all a merry dance
To nowhere
Keeping the money-wheel turning
The Profit-King's hands must be burning
And that you get for your gain is the music
That's keeping you sane
And
We all need that

Countryside Angelus

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This was Track-7, Side 1 of the 1974 John J Francis album "Open Fist" )

A wooden rowboat, drifting slowly on the current of a freshwater stream,
Above the distant mountains a summer storm builds,
Rounding a bend come a group of young girls, laughing. They wave.
A little further down a horse neighs and moves away.
Approaching, the sound of a cowbell,
Standing in a clearing by the water, a small herd shelter from the heat
under overhanging trees in which small birds talk to each other,
A dog begins barking,
In the nearby village the noonday bell of Angelus tolls.

LIBERATED ROADSIDE LADY

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was Track-1, Side-1 on the 1973 John J. Francis album, 'Breaks, Works and Thoughts')

As I was driving down the road one day
I saw a chick with her thumb hung out going my way
Sent my Aston-Martin screaming into the curb
Have to be more careful, I nearly ran over her
After we'd been driving down the road for quite a while
I looked across at her and thought I'd try a smile
She was a babe thumbin' a ride
How could I miss?
So, I pulled in off the road and asked her for a (laughs)

She said, 'I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry baby
I ain't gonna pay no - for no ride
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry baby
Quit foolin' 'round and start your - and drive'

So I started the car, I did as I was told
My face was red, I was starin' at the road
Then, after a while, we began to talk
Then I popped the question again
She got out and walked
All of a sudden my conscience began to play
So I did a U-turn and went back the other way
Too late I knew as a car went by me
And I could hear this chick's voice as plain as could be

She said, 'I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry baby
I ain't gonna pay no - for no ride
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry baby
Quit foolin' 'round and start your - and drive'
She said, 'I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry baby
I ain't gonna pay no - for no ride
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry baby
Quit foolin' 'round and start your - and drive'

Ohhhhh, you're an evil man

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This was Track-4, Side-1 of the 1974 John J. Francis album, ‘Open Fist’)

I've tried talking about it
I've tried singing along
Ah, there's no doubt about it
I've lost the feel to the song
So I'm going on memory
Vaguely humming the tune
Talking through my hatful of rainbows
Mostly howling at the moon

I don't even know who I am
So what can you see
Something that can only boil down
To your side
of me

SOLO

I don't even know who I am
So what can you see
Something that can only boil down
To your side
of me

I've tried talking about it
I've tried singing along
Ah, there's no doubt about it
I've lost the feel to the song
So I'm working on memory
Vaguely humming the tune
Talking through my hatful of rainbows
Mostly howling at the moon

I don't even know who I am
So what can you see
Something that can only boil down
To your side
of me

SOLO

Ooooo, talking about it
Tried singing along
I've lost, lost lost, lost
The Feel

A WIND IS RISING

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was Track-1, Side-2 of the 1973 album, 'Breaks, Works and Thoughts')

A wind is rising on the plain
Black clouds rolling
And it looks like rain
Dusty shapes are rising in the air
Higher and higher til they're just not there

A bird-cry steals upon the ear
Will it make it?
Can it see another year?
Distant hills stand solidly alone
Wonder if I'll ever get back home

Yes, I feel like the world is closing in
I shudder with the thunder that trembles in the ground

A wind is rising on the plain
Some tears falling but they mix with the rain.

SOMETIMES, IN THE NIGHT

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was Track-4, Side-1 on the 1974 John J. Francis Album ‘Wassa Matta’)

In the night
By the light
I watch you
Sleeping alone
Though I'm near
So very near
I'm a stranger to your bones
You make me feel so lonely
You make me feel like crying
Sometimes, I wish I was dying

I was lost
I was so lost
Until you came along
I was captured
I was raptured
So I gave you my kingdom and throne
You're making me feel sadness
You make me feel like hiding
Where once I used to belong

I was blind
I was so blind
I really couldn't see
I was helpless
I was hopeless
So sweetly you spoke
To me
Your tongue
It ain't a web now
That keeps me caught with what you're saying
I don't know why I'm still staying

But I'm trying
I'm really trying
To stop the pain
You've laid on me
I wasn't happy
Though I was happy
When I see what you've done to me
You make me feel so lonely
You make me feel like crying
Sometimes, I wish I was dying

WATER SON

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was Track-5, Side-1 on the 1974 John J. Francis Album ‘Wassa Matta’)

In the evening I lie on my feather bed
Watch the moon go across the sky
In the evening I cry on my feather bed
Keep on asking Why

Water Son
Water Son
All your life you'll carry loads
Into the setting red sun
Water Son
You Water Son
You'll find the going hard
But you can get things done

In the daytime I walk on the busy streets
Feel the rush of the world go by
Seems sometimes I can hear
A sigh of relief
Echo out in a clear blue sky

Water Son
You Water Son
All your life you'll carry loads
Into the setting red sun
Water Son
You Water Son
Ah, You'll find the going hard
But you can get things done

Three a.m. Moonlight

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was Track-2, Side-2 on the 1974 John J. Francis Album ‘Wassa Matta’)

Three am moonlight
Looking in my window palely
Wraps an ethereal cloak around me
So still the night
I almost think that I’ve stopped breathing
Til a sigh breaks the voice of what I feel

Empty plains that seem to stretch away forever
Can’t begin to touch the emptiness that I feel
Still sipping from the many cups of love so offered
Yet frightened by the cold so very real

It’s like being lost in a forest
All you see are trees
You keep on searching for the path that takes you out
Searching for the strength of company

It’s like when you swim a raging river
Or jump blindly
Straight into a boiling sea
Feel the current take you
It starts to pull you down
All you wanted to was to be free

Memories of so many good and faithful spirits
Who loved and played and fought and defended me
Haunt my soul with visions of a child still caring
I still take
But no longer can receive

Where’s the living light of the child that was of yesteryear
That used to burn so very bright from the depths of me
Is he lost outside the battered walls of self-protection?
Or imprisoned by my chains of self-esteem

In my heart I know the answer
But while sensual pleasures keep attracting me
I’ll stand deaf before the truth of the child of yesterday
Crying
4 a.m.
My misery

It’s like being lost in a forest
All you see are trees
You keep on searching for the path that takes you out
Searching for the strength of company

It’s like when you swim a raging river
Or jump blindly
Straight into a boiling sea
Feel the current take you
It starts to pull you down
All you wanted to was to be free

Play Mumma Play, Sing me a Song

Words and Music
John J Francis
Copyright Control Published with permission
(This song was track 4-Side1 on the 1973 John J. Francis album, ‘Breaks, Works and Thoughts’)

Play Mumma Play
Sing me a song
Like you sang to me a long time ago
Play Mumma Play
Take me away
On the strains of tunes you sang into my soul

The years I’ve been away, they have grown in number
The times that I’ve seen you so few
When my problems keep on bearing down
I draw a quiet strength from you
It wouldn’t bother me it the world stopped turning
Right now, ‘cause I’m listening to you
It’s been such a time since I’ve heard you laugh
And that’s a thing I rarely do

Play Mumma Play
Sing me a song
Like you sang to me a long time ago
Play Mumma Play
Take me away
On the strains of tunes you sang into my soul

The changes that have been since you first did bear me
Never cease to be a wonder to you
Even with the pain of my hurtful pride
At the things I’ve failed to do
Oh, and it wouldn’t bother me if the world stopped turning
Right now I’m listening to you
It’s been such a time since I’ve heard you laugh
And that’s a thing I rarely do

Play Mumma Play
Sing me a song
Like you sang to me a long time ago
Play Mumma Play
Take me away
On the strains of tunes you sang in my youth

There’s no need to worry ‘cause I know them all
The wistful -
Blissful -
Simple ones -
Big and small -
While I listen something in my troubled mind finds peace
Sometimes in The Dark a good friend can’t be found
To grab you by the hand when you’re going down
Stand you up and urge you on
To lead the way again

Play Mumma Play
Sing me a song
Like you sang to me a long time ago
Play Mumma Play
Take me away

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