Join Us My father left us in 1910 Said, I'm going to America, I'll be back God knows when But he liked it and stayed At least that's what he said In a letter from Chicago The stamps were bright red. Two years later we left My mom, sister and I They stopped us at the border Something's wrong with my eyes The Germans said anger But the English said fear Kept us months in their camps But we finally got here. So come on and join us They won't know who you were They're not smarter than you, they just think that they are Take a chance, take the trip While the door's still ajar. My father was the oldest of ten so they say Maybe eight, no one knows No one cared, they all stayed Except his youngest sister 1921 Sarah came like the pilgrims Trying to catch the sun. First she married a grocer A good man soon dead Then she wed cousin Nathan Tumors ran through his head Sarah pushed on alone, Raised three children, denied That the great horn of plenty Had brushed her aside. But come on and join us We won't say who you were You come cross the ocean with hope in your heart Take a chance, take the trip Watch your dreams slide apart. My father, my children My grandchildren, too We all became Americans What else could we do? So we drink lemonade, Eat Chinese food and sing Of the dawn's early light And the mountains in spring. It's been many years Since I left the Ukraine But last night I dreamed Of a field, lit with grain My father was standing With his arms open wide Said, " Come on, son, join me Here we'll stand side by side." So come on and join us You can change who you were Why stand around waiting for life to begin? Take chance, take the trip Who can say if you'll win?

The Dream Tossed and turned and dreamed of baseball But instead of gloves they used the hands of God I turned to my companion, who was busy eating steak fries And didn't remark when I said, How odd That God Has so many hands And so many fans That he fills up the stands On a Monday afternoon. The sky grew darker and a band started playing For a loudspeaker I heard my name You said, Love's not salvation and neither is baseball I didn't respond when you said, How odd That God Waves hands and eats fries As he darkens the skies To advise or chastise On a Monday afternoon I seem to spend at least half my life waiting at lights or waiting in line at the bank or the store or waiting for you to get ready so we can go out But I think things are going to get better soon as they gave me a card to use at the bank now I don't have to wait in line anymore just outside in the rain My mother used to say if you can't say anything nice don't say anything but I never really listened to my mother so I piss and moan all day about modern life And I'm so wound up that I can't get to sleep so I toss and turn and have so many dreams about baseball love steak fries waiting and our place in the hands of God The search for love Tints the complaints above And leads me back to you Same confusions Same illusions Same hurts we can't undo And I think I woke up screaming And I think that you did to.

Romeo Loves Juliet Romeo loved Juliet Who was a Capulet Don't forget! Juliet she loved him too Even though she knew He was a Montague Her daddy disapproved As daddies sometimes do Said, Girl that boy's no good for you! Did Juliet listen? Daughters seldom do She said, daddy I love him I love him yes I do I love him yes I do I do I do Romeo Wherefore art thou Romeo Anybody Seen my beau Did you see where Did he go? Oh Romeo We could continue But we think you get the gist This love is doomed And won't be missed Watch them close See them all rant and rave See how love Causes everyone to misbehave One last word It's all a metaphor About the power of love To demolish or endure Romeo loved Juliet And everybody ends up Really upset Romeo Wherefore art thou Romeo Anybody Seen my beau Did you see where Did he go? Oh Romeo

The River Here's a story my mother told me Alright, I must have read it somewhere About the day the you know, what's hs name died That guy with the bright red hair Shot so many times by his own men That his vision began to blur Still he turned to his wife one last time And this is what he said to her Let us cross over the river And rest 'neath the shade of the trees Light will fill our pounding heads We'll finally feel at ease Roosters will crow after we get up We'll always find our keys When we cross over the river And rest 'neath the shade of the trees Was that river the Rappahannock? Or the Jordan? Or the Styx? Will we gather there come summer time With our children and our party mix? Will that river wash our sins away As it flows on, in our dreams? Will we cross in glory? Will we cross in shame? Or will we never cross that stream? Chorus What of those who cross before us And leave us, choked with grief? The empty holes where lives once stood Like an eight-year-olds teeth We will float across to great them In a boat of flowers and lace Grasp their hands and pull on home As if we never left this place Chorus

The Song of the Swamp The sun sets on the swampland All the trees are hanging low Lots of moss grows in our swampland It's hard to stub your toe There lives a lone Skunk Cabbage Who cries softly in her sleep She says, I need someone to love me Before this mud gets too deep The sun rises on the swampland The Cabbage hides from a brand new day But a letter arrives in the swampland You can tell it's from far away It says, Don't you fear my lone Skunk Cabbage You've a friend across the seas And I'm coming for to see you By the way, I'm Chinese (Requisite pentatonic solo) So there came this Chinese Cabbage From his swamp across the seas They were surprised on his arrival At their genetic similarities The sun smiles on the swampland And all the Skunk Cabbages below They're so happy down in the swampland Where the muddy rivers flow There's a moral to this story Being lonely is not much fun And you may find someone to love you Down in the swamp, hiding from the sun

The Promise We promised as we got older We'd grow older gracefully Like the cranes in the rice patties As the moon sets over the sea We thought we could be different Not making the same mistakes But a wind kept blowing in the windows Giving our little house the shakes So hold me close and tell me one more lie Tell me in the morning it'll be alright Tell me it doesn't matter And tell me I don't care And tell me once again how we got here We promised when we were younger We'd be all that we could be Like Penelope waiting for Ulysses As he sailed off over the sea We thought we'd make a difference We thought we'd win the race But a wind kept slipping in the windows Blowing dreams all over the place So hold me close and tell me one more lie Tell me in the morning it'll be alright Tell me it doesn't matter And tell me I don't care And tell me once again the way out of here There's a fire in my stomach Burning out of control It's spreading into the living room Now our life's got a hole We promised when we were married We'd ease each others pain In sickness and in sorrow In sunshine and in rain But there's darkness that hides in the distance You never see the train You just hear the whistle in the night sky asking, Would you do it all again? So hold me close and tell me I won't die Tell me in the morning it will be light Tell me it'll get better Tell me it will get clear And tell me once again how'd we get here Tell me it doesn't matter And tell me I don't care And tell me once again how'd we get here And tell me once again the way out of here

I met her when I was bowlin' She was rollin' a high game With her shoes red and green And a blouse that said "Jean" She was heftin' a Brunswick Wearin' shiny red lipstick Though her form was a dream She was not what she seemed Natasha Nijinsky Anastasia Stravinsky My Latvian lover My Muscovite miss We fell in love in an alley By the Red River Valley And she bowled my heart over With one borscht-soaked kiss She'd slipped through the curtain And her heart it was hurtin' For her sweet Georgia home Where the musk-oxen roam She'd left in a hurry A political flurry Ensued from her yen To be bowlin' Ten Pin Natasha Nijinsky Anastasia Stravinsky My stout Kremlin cutie My sweet Georgia girl To the lanes she brought latkas We drank Lone Stars and vodkas I took to courtin' My Caspian pearl Bridge- Perestroika struck And I was out of luck Natasha grew restless For he communist clan She returned with a mission To improve their condition Built a new Bowl-A-Rama On an old five-year plan So dasvidaniya my little doggie, Dream of home fries and hoagies And remember me when You strike out again I dream of my romance With my angel from Murmansk Though her accent was thick She was great with Bisquick Natasha Nijinsky Anastasia Stravinsky My Latvian lover My Muscovite miss We fell in love in an alley By the Red River Valley But all I've left is the memory Of her borscht-soaked kiss.