Gene Allan Original Music

ON THE BALL Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down, Sometimes I’m square, sometimes I’m round But whatever I am, I am always on the ball If I were not on the ball, I would not be anywhere at all Sometimes I’m here, sometimes I’m there I could be almost anywhere But wherever I am, I am always on the ball If I were not on the ball, I would not be anywhere at all When the people see me on the street, Everybody jealous of my two left feet Got a pocketful of mints, so my breath stays sweet If you’re married and you want me, I can be discreet When I’m walking on the avenue, Everybody jealous, including you Don’t try to imitate me, your plan will fall through You’ll just have to deal with it, nothing else you can do Copr. 2020 – Gene Schwimmer

BEAUTIFUL AT NIGHT (Elegy for a once-great city) I remember the first time I saw you, Glowing, in soft morning light How could I know, in that soft morning glow, You’d be even more beautiful at night? Now, see how your beauty is fading! Sallow and no longer bright Dismal and gray in the full light of day, Yet, somehow, still beautiful at night BRIDGE: Do not pretend all good things do not end, Cynics and sophists may say But [For] all ends depend on decisions made by men It did not have to end up this way [Does it really have to end up this way?] Where, once, there was beauty, There is homelessness, violence, and blight Such a sad, forlorn sight, but at least from a height New York City still looks beautiful at night At least, you’re still beautiful at night Copr. 2020, Gene Schwimmer

77 MOEBIUS STRIP If a minute were an hour, Would you spend your last hour with me? If an hour would a minute, Could we make it last till eternity? If a penny were a dollar, Would you spend your last dollar on me? If a dollar were a penny, Should we put it in a bank, in Memphis, Tennessee? CHORUS: You can go and tell it to the highest mountain You can go and tell it to the deepest sea You can go and tell it to anyone who’ll listen And if no one will listen, if no one will listen, you can tell it to me If a river were an ocean, Would we sail, together, over seven seas? If an ocean were a river, Could we wade in water up to your knees? BRIDGE: Why don’t you meet me at the station, Southeast corner, Lexington and 59? We can take the 6 train from salvation To the end of the line Copr. 2020 – Gene Schwimmer

CANAL Won’t you walk with me, Baby, beside the canal? The Martian sky is so clear, we can almost see the earth Won’t you walk with me, Baby, won’t you hold my hand? We can lay on the sand and gaze up at the planet of our birth Silver spaceships bringing in more everyday Pretty soon, we’ll have to move, but for now, we’ll stay right here Silver spaceships, shining like stars in the night My eyes ignore their light; I can’t see a thing when you are near Who would have thought that we would end up here, Away from the home of our mothers and fathers, Free to become Martian lovers? Sweet, soft breezes blowing off the shifting sand, As soft and cool as your touch as we walk beside the canal Sweet, soft breezes disturb my thoughts very little As we gaze into the water so still, where, long ago, ancient ships once sailed Who would have thought that we would end up here, Away from the home of our mothers and fathers, Free to become Martian lovers? Copr. 2020 – Gene Schwimmer

PRETTY FACE I hear your voice, calling through the years I see you, now, through a veil of bitter tears No amount of time or distance could erase The sadness that I feel when I remember your pretty face You came to me like a vision in a dream But sometimes, things are not the way they seem Maybe, if we’d met in some other time and place, I would still be kissing the smile on your pretty face Can’t hold back the tears, see how they fall More than a million; I’ve counted them all I ask my friends, but nobody explains How, even now, so much love remains Oh, why can’t I forget that final sad embrace? And why no look of regret on that pretty face? Copr. 2021, Eugene Allan Schwimmer

RISING SUN Give me a ship, a ship of solid timber, A ship to sail upon a vast and open sea A wind to fill my sails, a star to guide me Give me all, all of these things and that is where I will be Take me, Wind, wherever you would take me, To places I have never been before Who knows what treasures may lie, buried Beneath the sands of some bright and distant shore? Forward, ever forward, into the future Seek – seek and you will find Fix your eager gaze on the horizon The past is past, so leave the past behind Let not your past become an anchor, Mooring you to things you have said and things you have done Let your memories be a wind, pushing you forward, Sailing into the dawn of an ever rising sun Copr. 2021, Eugene Allan Schwimmer

LITTLE SONG Sitting around the old homestead, Nothing much to do So I thought I’d take a minute to write A little song for you Nothing in it really special Nothing in it really new Nothing in these verses that will change the world, It’s just a little song for you Summer turns to winter Flowers wilt away But true love lasts forever, And ever, and a day Can’t afford a diamond ring Or a penthouse with a panoramic view This song is all I have to give, But I wrote it just for you I wrote it just for you, For nobody else but you Copr. 2021, Eugene Allan Schwimmer