1. The Starline
© words and music by g. betts
Zip’s the third quarter back at the Starline
Where the walls are photographs of leatherheads
And neighbourhood kids that never came back
He stepped in to help out for a while – 1959
And some say they’ve caught a glimpse of his old man
Before the sun comes up and the train comes in
Chorus:
Cross from union station, since 1925
Oh the world woke up and walked right through
The Starline
There’s his old man second on the right
The morning looked so dark, the squadron so bright
Quarter back to the neighbourhood
The padre of toast and coffee, yes he understood
Chorus:
Cross from union station, since 1925
Oh the world woke up and walked right through
The Starline
Bridge:
Spitfire propeller is looking down on your window booth
A defender of faith in an age
And a witness to all the changes too
Where the real cost of your cup’o Joe
Is digging in or letting go
Once you’re deep in the play, never say no,
Never say no
Chorus:
Cross from union station, since 1925
Oh the world woke up and walked right through
The Starline
Zip’s the third quarter back at the Starline
And he’d pass the world out to ya
A patron of so many dreams
The world walked through the Starline
And he could never leave
Chorus:
Cross from union station, since 1925
Oh the world woke up and walked right through
The Starline
Yeah the world woke up and walked right through the Starline
2. 1925 instrumental © music by j. r. church & g. betts
3. Get What You Want
© words and music by g. betts
Talk at the counter, they say you’re crazy
You could get what you want for this place
Fifty years, hanging over that grill
Aren’t you ready for a change?
You can ask what you will, and get what you want.
Even the church rezoned, now it’s Palm Towers
And all her red bricks are gone
Long as you can stand alone – we are the hours
You can ask what you will, and get what you want.
Chorus:
Times change like we stand and wait
But when the streets are empty and it’s not too late
To the last square foot of the neighbourhood
We’re the pilgrims here, still it’s understood
You can ask what you will, You can ask what you will
You can ask what you will, and get what you want.
We are the alleys, we are the street
On the endangered list but still on our feet
You can ask what you will, and get what you want.
Repeat Chorus:
Bridge:
One man’s art is a tower of steel
Years to plan and make it real
Another man’s art is holding on to what he’s got
My friend you’re the last hold out
The last hold out on a long chrome block
Repeat Chorus
We are the alleys, we are the street
On the endangered list but still on our feet
You can ask what you will, and get what you want
Maybe you got what you want
4. Window Booth
© words and music by j. r. church & g. betts
Must have stayed long as she could
In her waiting window booth
‘Till I saw her walkin’ by the window
Starting to rain
But the letter she’d been holding
Still held that window booth
With a ticket back to Baltimore
There on the floor
I tried to catch her
Couldn’t help but read the note
A world all on a page
With every word he wrote
This was a window into hope
What courage does it take
To take a chance again?
What courage does it take
Not to make the same mistake?
I tried to catch her – down the street
Won’t soon forget the words I read
See this is what he said:
“I know you haven’t had it easy
Life gets scattered to the wind
But at thirty seven the world has time enough
To give us both a chance again.
So meet me at the Starline
The booth we called our own
And I promise I won’t be late this time
Thanks for coming home
I’ll be waiting for you right here
Where all the years have gone.”
But I, Oh I, though I tried
I couldn’t catch her
Had he pledged again and lost his nerve?
Was he only strong enough in word?
So I tracked her number down
And when she called me back she said,
“Meet me at the Starline, a window booth at two
And put my ticket on the table
That way I will know it’s you.
And thanks again for calling,
Can’t be getting home too soon
But I, oh I, see I called cause I,
I couldn’t catch her
So here I am a little early
In a waiting window booth
Where all the years have gone before
Could years to come, come walking through that door?
All ‘cause I, oh I, ‘Cause I‘Cause I couldn’t catch her
5. Never Look Back
© words and music by j. r. church
Well I’d walked out the door
And I froze in my tracks
I’d loved her so much
I just couldn’t look back at her
So I sucked up my pride
And with every step I took
It got harder to swallow
And I’ll never forget
It was a lesson I’ve learned the hard way
Never look back
Well I got to the road
Didn’t which way to go
There’s something inside a man
Explain I just don’t know
I tried to become
What I should have already been
And even though my back was turned
I knew that she could see
Right through my soul
It’s a lesson I’ve learned
Never look back
Chorus:
Never looking back from now
Only look ahead some how
Don’t you take a chance
Not even a glance
Never look back
If you look back you’ll regret it
Simple as it is
Why don’t we get it
Don’t you take a chance
Not even a glance
Never look back
Chorus:
Never looking back from now
Only look ahead some how
Don’t you take a chance
Not even a glance
Never look back – never look back
6. Oh Brother
© words and music by g. betts
We were those days together
Made our plans for change
When the light from a window booth
Could light up the whole world too
Chorus:
Oh brother, oh brother
See a change was going to come
Yeah, a change was going to come
War made no gain
Just a napalm shame
And what’s worth a war today
Only love and time will wear away
Chorus:
Oh brother, oh brother
See a change was going to come
Oh brother, oh brother
Yeah, a change was going to come
Now the light from a window booth
Can still light up the whole world too
Chorus:
Oh brother, oh brother
Still a change is going to come (still it’s a change that will come)
Oh brother, oh brother
Yeah, a change is going to come ( from everyone, for everyone)
7. What Could Be Wrong With That
© words and music by g. betts
Been living in a cardboard wonder
A dream we thought was stone
And now the pressure that we’re under
Is a storm all our own
Guess you have to be strong
Walking in a hurricane
But when you get to pay the price
That comes along
You’ll never get fooled again
Chorus:
Drive it faster, ask it after
Live it like it’ll never matter now
Drive it faster, ask it after
What could be so wrong with that anyhow
What could be so wrong
What could be so wrong with that?
Bridge:
What if we say,”Ok,
Pack and drive away
To the last time we only had a dime”
What if I just loved you
Loved you like the early days
We shouldn’t be the casualty
Of everything we tried to be
No, there’s nothing wrong with you and me
Let’s just pack and drive away
Chorus: repeat
So, you walk away from your cardboard wonder
A dream you called your home
And now the spell that you were under
Has got you turning on a path
Only you can walk on your own
Chorus:
Drive it faster, ask it after
Live it like it’ll never matter now
Drive it faster, ask it after
What could be so wrong with that anyhow
What could be so wrong
What could be so wrong with that?
Well just about – everything
Oh just about everthing’s
Going to be wrong with that
No you can’t go out and shop
If what you had is what you lost
But you can work in an old down town café
But it’s a life time away
Oh, it’s a life time away
It’s a life time away – from yesterday
8. 67 from 11 © music by g. betts
9. Replayed
© words and music by j. r. church & g. betts
I got your letter and every word’s here
Tugging at my coat
Pretend like I don’t mind waiting
On the morning train – so cold
But shoulder to shoulder
Who’s really close?
Oh your words never get any colder
You see they’re still
Chorus:
Replayed on a heart
You know it’s written down
And played on a heart
Where it will always be
Sublime
I’m holding you now
Isn’t it absurd like
Trying to hug a ghost
But what if we really find
The love that we had is lost?
You once wrote a life
A future that was
Now you run through these winter veins
With every word you said
Chorus:
Replayed on a heart
You know it’s written down
And played on a heart
Where it will always be
Sublime
Bridge:
Trains will come and days will go
And chase away the grey we know
Love raised us up
But afraid we’d fall
Word by word do we love
Or just recall?
Chorus:
Replayed on a heart
You know it’s written down
And played on a heart
Where it will always be
Sublime
Coda:
Trains will come and days will go
And chase away the grey we know
Trains will come and days will go
And chase away the grey we knowWaiting on the morning train
10. Broadway
© words and music by j. r. church & g. betts
Nights fallin’ into the summer heat
Rising up as you cross the street
And the boulevard is heavy
Slow and steady like your heart beat
It will never leave you
Night-walking Broadway
Night-walking Broadway
City’s callin’
Can’t resist the beat
And sending it up
The crowd is the street
All the slow motion eyes
So heavy – are you ready?
You’re night-walking Broadway
Night-walking Broadway
It’s a turning to truth in a trickle of sweat
(Letting go of what you thought you had left)
Leave the youth you spent
With your bags at the station
(‘Cause every step you’re takin’…)
You’re night-walking Broadway
Night-walking Broadway
It’s a turning to truth in a trickle of sweat
(Letting go of what you thought you had left)
Leave the youth you spent
With your bags at the station
(‘Cause every step you’re takin’…)
You’re night-walking Broadway
Night-walking Broadway
11. November
words and music by j. r. church and g. betts
Thin grey line of a day
Time to make your mind up
But will November let you go – so easily
Separate lives and separate days
Grains that spill and days are made of
Holding you forever in November grey
Spin your time make your way
Thought that you had time enough
How did you let it go – so easily
Distant sighs and distant ways
Eyes that spill and greys are made of
Chorus:
So cry across the universe
We’re all just hearts that walk the earth
Could love be so perverse
To light a window in your room
That like a fool you closed in vain
And you can’t open up again
But what was done must now begin
Everything can change
Bridge:
What was so hard to deny
And what was so close
Is far away now
Like the stars burning under your skin
Feeling this way
Why can’t the distance
Just fall away?
So speak your mind, it’s o.k.
If you still love enough
November could set us free – so easily
Truth up close is hard to see
But with the universe across the street
Everything can change
Chorus: repeat
12. Tommy
© words and music by j. r. church & g. betts
Zip puts the trash out in Butchers’ alley
O’ course these days it’s a canyon
Of brick and glass
And all the old walk-ups
Have been raised for cash
Well he knows Tommy’s out there
Hasn’t been around in a couple o’ days
So he calls him in for a bite to eat
Yeah, and they both have sore feet
And a shot of rye
And they toast this town,
Love’s lost and found
The ghosts out on the walk
Those who have
And those who have not
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