Bless The People They say that when the going gets tough The tough get going Ah but lovers know that rough and tough That ain't growing that's just showing If you give em what you got Then they got what you give And the people be blessed Everything is moving so fast Cause fast is where the action is Everybody wants to know the answer And there's no question what the answer is Chorus Pushin and a shovin that don't make no room for lovin Everybody know that lovin is the best If you take more than you give That ain't no way to live How can you bless How can you bless Ah They say that when the going gets tough... copyright Michael Bennett 2017

Luxembourg I take it on the road You know this ain't no vacation Everywhere I go I got an open invitation Cool to be forgotten when you're movin around Good to be remembered when you pull into town Luxembourg Luxembourg Wakin up in Luxembourg It's been a little while Since I left Ontario But I can find a smile in a new scenario I still get the blues But I paid my dues So when the devil comes I just say o contrario Luxembourg Internationality it all looks the same Peoples' individuality replaced by a name It's Tommy it's Ralph You put it in your mouth And when you swallow it It makes you look like everybody else I hear the voices I hear the grooves But I make my own choices I choose my own moves I'm likin what I'm doin I'm likin what I'm seein I'm like Marshall McLuhan Only more European Luxembourg I come from Josephine I come from Bill Sometimes I cut the social scene And chill at will There's hi-fi there's lo-fi But my-fi is no-fi It's like the quiet screech of courduroy You get to see a lot And most of it's true But legalised pot And hologram tattoos Open the window baby it won't be long But everywhere I go I still don't belong Everywhere I go I still don't belong Luxembourg copyright Michael Bennett 2017

Guess You Don't Mind So you didn't die young and famous And no one's bangin down your door The problem is never where the pain is So you don't know what you're looking for I forgot all the questions I was gunna ask you Like why the mask is in your mind And how do you do? But I guess that you don't mind Just like the prodigal poet The one who got away with words He came back and he said what he wanted to say Nobody heard Happy heavy dark and beautiful baby You could be your own hero tonight You be dancin on the stairs well aware like Fred Astaire Not everything will turn out all right But I guess that you don't mind Lois Lane didn't know who she was in love with Nothin wrong with tights and a cape But the further you get into dependency The more romanticised becomes the escape She was just another girl in a whirl Sunshine in her frown No matter how many hero's embraces she fell from Her feet never touched the ground But I guess that you don't mind Who was that guy who had it all worked out What ever happened to him He must have left in a huff one day Thinking the light was too dim First you gotta learn to put up a fight Then you gotta learn to sing And if you always have to have things work out right You're never gunna learn a thing Everybody wants to be spiritual And all the spirits wanna wear your body I was thinkin bout buyin a trailer Livin in the woods and learning Karate I was talkin to the Velveteen Rabbit He was sayin that there's nothin new That judging books by their cover Is just force of habit He didn't mention you But I guess that you don't mind copyright Michael Bennett 2017

Make Up Your Mind Talk to me baby what's it gunna be You can have the whole world Or you can just have me I'm just a poor boy that's plain to see Take me heart and soul Or just leave me be Don't you think you better Make up your mind You can do what you want to And I'm sure that you will Maybe I won't be here Once you had your fill I hate to think of you lyin In the bed that you made Wish you come to your senses Call a spade a spade Don't you think you better Make up your mind Nobody said it was easy Call it stayin in love Just don't treat me like a worn out glove It's always been the same All down the line Whatever some one goes looking for That's just what they find Don't you think you better Make up your mind copyright Michael Bennett 2017

Imitation Always Fails Listen to yourself imitation always fails Don't listen to yourself character prevails If you must pretend then I must beware For not all are friends who who speak to you fair I'm a night creature I got all the right features And I don't need a teacher cause I got an inner preacher There's plenty of time but you don't want to unwind You're afraid what you'll find swimmin round in your mind On closer inspection you can see it's a lie Cause you want the resurrection but you don't want to die Imitation Always Fails It Takes a long time to fully realise When they're messin with your mind And when they're tellin you lies It's identification by association For the procreation of alienation They make it sound good they make it sound right But they don't have to live the rest of your little life I don't need to feel sexy cause my mind it protects me So that culture can't vex me then pretend that it accepts me Cause I got the power the power to choose So I put it to use to avoid the abuse Imitation Always Fails Everybody's mopin cause society is gropin But there's no sense in hopin if your eyes aren't open They called me a dreamer when I was in school Now my dreams are still alive I ain't nobody's fool I was the only one in my class and they said I would not pass I wasn't there to learn fast cause I'm here to last I got high expectations for all situations And it gives me frustrations but it has it's occasions When I'm alone I don't need to speak Cause I'm close to the bone I know just what I mean Imitation Always Fails Everybody hears voices and we all make choices But the world rejoices when the heart makes noises It's the same in every land so learn this if you can It's always the simple man who is the hardest one to understand It only hurts when I laugh and they laugh when I hurt But you won't find my path printed on a t shirt So here's an advertisement calling all wise men Open up your eyes man you're bein sterilised You was made in the image but the job ain't finished It don't matter what your sin is when your love is diminished I don't need to progress I don't need to achieve I don't want my success to be normality Cause I'm persuaded not faded can't be infiltrated Sedated mutated by the sophisticated Cause I know what I like and I like what I know And there's no good music on the radio Imitation Always Fails copyright Michael Bennett 2017

Magazine You got a perfect face you got a perfect body Everyone believes what you say but not me You're on every page you're on every street But your're so far away from reality You're a picture in a magazine You advocate a change of style But not a change of heart You say you know just what I need Cause you know where it's at You're the latest thing you got everything But you don't have me and you're so far away from reality You're a picture in a magazine Manipulators lying through your design Forever pushing what no one ever needs If you could sell tickets to a dogfight You'd advertise them on the tv You're a wizard when it comes to moving merchandise But you don't move me and your so far away from doin what is right I must admit it's better to be poor Having nothing precious but your faith Than to be happy only in your riches And to be rich in everything but peace It's the way of the world but it's not my way Cause it's so far away from reality You're a picture in a magazine

Nobody You used to take your clothes off Dance around and play Al Green Criticise the rest of us laugh at the machine The envy of the angels as they gambled for your scemes Every mother's nightmare every lover's dream Nobody's lookin just go back to bein bored It's the part of you that's guaranteed to never become famous Just like Uncle Tony in that parking lot downtown He shuffled cars for thirty years and then just walked away Don't worry I won't bore you with nostalgic inquisition I just wondered if your going soft was a conscious decision You don't have a revolution just a haircut and some change After shooting all your guns you still don't know You're out of range You think that you're misunderstood That's good you should you are But it's better than believing that you're close when you are far You think you have to play the game That's good you should you do But only if you want the world to live it's life through you Emancipation of the nations fifteen minutes and you're free It can cure almost anything and I hope it don't cure me I'd rather be un-reachable un-teachable un-bleachable Un-preachable It's unbelievable what your eyes can't see I suppose it's true what people say except for when it's not How the doctors of indulgence like to tell you what you need Tell what I think tell me what I feel come on Tell me tell me tell me take my soul I'll make a deal Crack the bottle baby raise the potion make a toast You should learn to catch yourself it's a better art than most It all looks good on paper your're so happy and confused You were made to choose but not that much And now you're just being used Words cannot suffice thoughts get in the way I'm not supposed to repeat myself But there's nothing else I can say Everybody wants to walk away they just don't got the style It don't run in the family it grows on poet trees and smiles Hey Mr. Pockethead you've been picked for sure You can't read everything you believe Cecil B. Demure Forget the classic references forget the mule that talks He spent thirty four years in a parking lot Baby that don't come in a box Don't hold you breath don't hold your horses Don't it make your brown eyes blue In the future they'll be talkin about simpler times But they won't be talking about you Where's the voice that called you way beyond belief You're rich but you're not wealthy And you're lying through your teeth Every battle's for the mind it keeps you on your toes There's no reason there's no ryhme That's just the way it goes I guess you thought you'd save us As you stumbled toward the light Ah but all that happened was You got too cool to be kind Nobody does it like you do copyright Michael Bennett 2017

Safe To Say I got a bad haircut I'm in a bad bad way I'm Like a three-legged mutt On garbage day I got myself into a rut Nothing happens when I pray I started off like King Tut I ended up like Fay Wray I guess it's safe to say Every day on earth gunna be this way People look me up and down everywhere I go When I go walkin into town I'm a local side show I'm goin round and round Goin to and fro From a smile to a frown like a yoyo I guess it's safe to say Every day on earth gunna be this way I got a circus in my head Don't know how to make it stop I'm a bull seeing red in a china shop I should go back to bed Maybe take it from the top Look for light to be shed on this pressure drop Blue are the violets red are the roses Rooting out the violence And the hip self-gnosis Soon as I find it the door closes I'm walkin through the desert like my man Moses I guess it's safe to say Everyday on earth gunna be this way Everything that you are Gets tested by the minute Get a fast car Got yourself a speed limit Buy a piggy jar Put your little piggies innit Twinkle twinkle little star How I wonder how you did it Nobody said it was A walk in the park I feel like a ghost who's Afraid of the dark A bird without a feather A dog without a bark I'm tryin to make a fire But there ain't no spark I guess it's safe to say Everyday on earth gunna be this way copyright Michael Bennett 2017

I Get Excited I miss myself When I'm with you I just wanna do What I wanna do The grass ain't green Sky's not blue I miss myself When I'm with you I get excited I get bored You missed your opportunity I was gone before You began to speak That chitter chatter Don't work for me You missed your opportunity I get excited I get bored All my lights are green I got no time for red If all you want to do is dream I might as well go back to bed I get excited I get bored copyright Michael Bennett 2017