The Stranger

Well we all have a face
That we hide away forever
And we take them out and show ourselves
When everyone has gone

Some are satin, some are steel, some
Are silk and some are leather
They're the faces of a stranger
But we love to try them on

Well we all fall in love
But we disregard the danger
Though we share so many secrets
There are some e never tell
Why were you so surprised that you
Never saw the stranger?
Did you ever let your lover see
The stranger in yourself?

Don't be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You've done it...why can't
someone else?
You should know by now...
You've been there yourself

Once I used to believe I was
Such a great romancer
Then I came home to a woman
That I could not recognize
When I pressed her for a reason
She refused to even answer
It was then I felt the stranger
Kick me right between the eyes

Don't be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You've done it...Why can't
Someone else?
You should know by now...
You've been there yourself

You may never understand how
The stranger is inspired
But he isn't always evil, and
He is not always wrong
Though you drown in good intentions
You may never quench the fire
Don't give in to your desire when the
Stranger comes along


Performed by Billy Joel
Written by Billy Joel
"The Stranger" 1973

Tapestry

My Life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the ever-changing view
A wondrous woven magic, in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see
Impossible to hold.

Once, amid the soft, silver sadness in the sky
There came a man of fortune
A drifter passing by
He wore a torn and tattered cloth
Around his leathered hide
And a coat of many colors
Yellow-green on either side

He moved with some uncertainty, as if he didn't know
Just what he was there for, or where he ought to go
Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree
And his hand came down empty.

Soon within my tapestry along the rugged road
He sat down on a river rock, and turned into a toad

It seemed that he had fallen
into someone's wicked spell
And I wept to see him suffer
Though I didn't know him well

As I watched in sorrow there suddenly appeared
A figure gray and ghostly beneath a flowing beard
In times of deepest darkness, I've seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry's unraveling...he's come to take me back!

...He's come to take me back!

Performed by Carole King
Written by Carole King (1971).

A Love Song

There's a Wren in a willow wood
Flies so high, sings so good
And he brings to you
What he sings to you

And the love in his lullaby
seems to tell me if I try
I could fly to you
Lover I wanna try for you

Cause

I wanna sing you a love song
I wanna rock you in my arms all night long
I wanna get to know you
I wanna show you
The peaceful feelin' of my home

Summer thunder on moon bright days
Northern lights in skies ablaze
I'll bring to you
If you'll let me sing to you

Silver moons in a firey sky
Show the trail of our love and I
wanna sing to you
Love is what I bring to you

And

I wanna sing to you

I wanna sing you a love song
I wanna rock you in my arms all night long
I wanna get to know you
I wanna show you
The peaceful feelin' of my home

I wanna sing you a lovesong
I wanna rock you in my arm all night long
I wanna get to know you
I wanna show you
The peaceful feelin' of my home

Performed by Loggins and Messina
Written by: Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina (1973)

The Pretender

I'm gonna rent myself a house
in the shade of the freeway
Gonna pack my lunch in the mornin' and
go to work each day

And when the evenin' rolls around
I'll go on home and lay my body down
And when the mornin' light comes streamin' in
I'll get up and do it again... Amen
(say it again..Amen)

I wanna know what became of the changes
we waited for love to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams of some
greater awakening?

I've been aware of the time goin' by
They say in the end, it's the blink of an eye
And when the mornin' light comes streamin' in,
we'll get up and do it again...Amen.

Caught
Between the longing for love and the struggle for
the legal tender
Where the sirens sing, and the church bells ring,
and the junk man pounds his fender.
Where the veterans dream of the fight
Fast asleep at the traffic light
And the children solemnly wait for the ice cream vendor

Out into the cool of the evening, strolls the Pretender
He knows that all his hopes and dreams
Begin and end there

Ahhh the laughter of the lovers as they
run through the night
Leaving nothing (for the others) but
to choose off and fight
And tear at the world with all their might...
While the ships barring their dreams
sail outta sight

I'm gonna find myself a girl
who can show me what laughter means
And we'll fill in the missing colors in
each other's paint by number dreams
And then we'll put our dark glasses on
And we'll make love until our strength is gone
And when the mornin' light comes streamin' in
We'll get up and do it again (Get up again)...
Amen

I'm gonna be a happy idiot
and struggle for the legal tender
Where the heirs take aim. and lay their claim
to the heart and soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie in those
things that money can buy...
For true love could have been a contender

Are you there?
Say a prayer for the pretender;
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender.

Say a prayer for the Pretender
Are you there for the Pretender?

(Are you prepared for the pretender?)

Performed by Jackson Browne
Written by Jackson Browne (1975)