Cape May Ferry
© 2004 Duncan J Purcell

Far too cold to be outside when we got under way with 97
passengers on the ferry to Cape May. I could see her
staring out the window at the view, so I shoved my hand
down in my pocket and found I had a few crumpled dollars
for a beer and as I tried to guess her age, she opened up
a magazine and when she turned the page

I could see the tears through her smile
Clearly through my beer in the aisle
Woman only 20 feet away —
This old guitar is all I’ve ever played
And all that I can sing’s a serenade
And all I ever sing are serenades

An hour out of Delaware we saw the Jersey shore. The sun
had set; the aisle was full of children on the floor. Then she
pulled a brush out and she combed her bangs in line,
shifted legs and smoothed her dress while glancing at the
time. And I looked out the window with a thousand mile
stare, but when I looked her way again she saw me sitting
there and then

I could see the lines on her face
That years of tears had cut into place
Woman only seven feet away
This old guitar is all I’ve ever played
And all that I can sing’s a serenade
And all I ever sing are serenades

A better man than I would know exactly what to do. We both
just glanced away and then the warning whistle blew, and
when the passengers had all gone down below to find their
cars, I was there alone against the wall with my guitar. And
in the booth where she had been, her scent was lingering.
I picked myself up off the floor; she never got to hear me sing

But I still see the heartache and pride
that she kept on display deep down inside
Woman on that ferry to Cape May
This old guitar is all I’ve ever played
And all that I can sing’s a serenade
And all I ever sing are serenades

June
© 2002 Duncan J Purcell

A little scrap of paper
slipped from the leaves
of a dusty album
full of vague memories
just a picture of someone
that I knew somewhere, somehow

June, oh June
I'm in love with her now

I used to stow her away
like my old mandolin
afraid I'd mislay her
she was so paper-thin

June, oh June
I don't know where to begin

Let's watch the sunset
swing out to sea
Tequila sunrise, vanilla freeze
banana daquiries
coconut breeze
Even a sex on the beach

And she was gladness
submerged in a tear
her picture is faded now
and her lipstick is smeared
snow on the mountains
her face in my mind

June, oh June
came down from the sky

Walk Home With You
© 2003 Duncan J Purcell

The raindrops pelt us as we step outside
you ask the quarterback
to give you a ride
and he flicks his cigarette
as you go smiling by —
You don't even wave hi

Why do you want to be
the homecoming queen?
That crowd is way too loud
and way too clean
My shoes are drenched
but I would not mind the solitude
If only I were walking home with you
If I were walking home with you

He's gonna give you the clap
you don't really love him
he's such a fake
He's slept all over the map
why don't you shove him  out —
don't even put on the brake

No letter ever went on
my jacket chest
these rags I wear I got
when my daddy left
your sunny disposition's
cutting through the goo

My shoes are sloshing
on the sidewalk grey
Do pretty girls melt
on rainy days?
This soggy mile would be
a beautiful, sunny afternoon
If only I were walking home with you
If I were walking home with you

Windy Township, Rainy Yvonne
© 2002 Duncan J Purcell

I'm tuning in my radio
like turning over rocks
inside my soul
Hey lady-o
I'm tuning in my radio

Perhaps today will be the day
that I find something
meaningful to say
I've never been too good at sports
but I'm a star at carrying torches
I've never kissed and
run away

Just a little fool
likes to dream he's really cool
a little golden jewel
being followed home from school
Two girls holding hands and she's
feeling chilly in the breeze
oblivious to the little boy
behind her kicking leaves

You're the one I secretly adore
take my bed and
I'll sleep on the floor
and if I only could I'd take you
flying to the moon
we'd wash up in the morning
on some desert island shore

I'm tuning in my radio
Hey lady-o

Stay
© 2004 Duncan J Purcell & Nicholas La Salle

When days drag on and on and on
and all that's good and cool is wrong
When all your friends are in a stew
and it's all because of you
Just stay —
with me.

The leaves are yellow on the hill
The flowers weep like willows will
But autumn's always sad 'til gone
like some forgotten song
That stays —
with me.

Rain dripping down just like my tears
the end result of all those years
Maybe I'll ask just one more time
the years cannot rewind
They just stay —
with me.

And if you ask me to sing you a song
well, it might take too long
But if you're blue
and your friends are far and few
well, I won't get it wrong

The beach is washed wave after wave
and every grain of sand remains
But sands of time
are just like snow —
only come and go
Stay —
with me.

Beatrice Dalle
© 2004 Duncan J Purcell

Been standing here awhile
You could prob’ly guess it from my face
Impossible to smile
Until I’m back in her embrace
I really can’t complain
Although I didn’t dress for rain
It’s a busy avenue —
Where has that bus gone to?

Been waiting all my life
For a woman just like this
Like slipping on the ice
And falling into her abyss
Those fire opal eyes
entrance me, dance me like a waltz
I recognize I’m hypnotized
But that’s what this involves

She looks like Beatrice Dalle
She ought to be a movie star
A world-wide sensation
On the covers of Elle and Bazaar
Even better than Beatrice Dalle
She ought to be a movie star
A world-wide sensation
Then maybe I could drive her car

Been standing here for hours
And I’m singing every song I know
The rain is really coming down
Man, the bus is really running slow
I guess I can’t complain
Although I didn’t dress for rain
But there aren’t any eaves
Between the clouds and me

Been waiting all my life
to kiss this perfect woman's lips
I'm enchanted as she slides
Her Chanel dress below her hips
Intoxicating smiles
Have mesmerized me before
Mr. Driver, please, before I
Have to swim ashore

She looks like Beatrice Dalle
She ought to be a movie star
A world-wide sensation
On the covers of Elle and Bazaar
Even better than Beatrice Dalle
She ought to be a movie star
A world-wide sensation
Then maybe I could drive her car

TAKING THE FREEWAY
© 2004 Duncan J Purcell

Why do artists always feel pain inside their hearts
While writers hide inside their visions in the dark
Wooden actors swimming through my dreams
Are making for a shoreline way upstream
Well he’s got a better face than I
And she’s got a letter that’s making her cry
And sometimes dogs drown in swimming pools
Life's beautiful but God knows it's cruel

I'm gonna be stoned
whenever it snows
And take the freeway
wherever it goes
Don’t need to be shown
which way the wind blows
I'm taking the freeway
Wherever it goes

An empty bottle decorates the out-of-tune piano
That sits here silently as Grandpa’s antique radio
The calendar of Marilyn Monroe
Was hung there almost thirty years ago
Well, she’s got a better life than I
And his wife caught him with some other guy
And I’m drifting down that lifelong river
People, oceans, towns
and I've got news to give her