OG SOLEN EI SIN SALGSKRAFT

De sa hennes ord var lik ballonger
med snorer jeg ikke kunne holde,
at hennes kjærlighet fantes i en butikk
billig og altfor rask å selge;

men treet prissetter ikke sine epler
og solen ei sin salgskraft,
regnet sladrer ikke
eller snakker om sin vei.


NOR THE SUN IT'S SELLING POWER
They said her words were like balloons
with strings I could not hold,
that her love was something in a shop
cheap and far too quickly sold;

but the tree does not price it's apples
nor the sun its selling power,
the rain does not gossip
or speak of where it goes.

Brian Patten - original

Tankeløs nå

Hennes skjønnhet blir først senere tydelig,
stiger opp fra henne som varme,
en duft som tar tak i ham - nært.
Fanget av overraskelse i strømmen av henne
har han sluttet å tenke på henne.
Han er som en gresshoppe som driver på et blad,
tankeløs nå.


MINDLESS NOW

Her beauty only later becomes obvious,
rising out of her like heat,
a scent hugging him close as it can.
Caught by surprise in the flow of her
he has ceased to think of her.
He's like a grasshopper adrift on a blade of grass,
mindless now.

Brian Patten, Notes to the Hurrying Man, 1969

IDea

lift the lust off my shoulders
it's bringing me to the knees
and you'll see how weak i am
that i can't carry anything else

our love once raised me
from a reddish scare
to a kingdom's hair

now when love has fallen off
anyplace i look it can't be found
anyplace i look i can't be found

i know i sound unbalanced
but if we were to find some love
it would have to be without me
without the me i know

i run as fast as possible
run from lust that weighs me down
run from love that makes me invisible

run and run - straight into a wall of fog
just to keep destiny from catching me
just to hang on to a string of hope

løse ord

når hun går
sier de at hun ikke var her nok
når hun kommer
sier de at hun ikke er bra nok
når hun kommer
ler kroppen og smilet er et hoppetau
når hun går
gråter kroppen og munnen er et hoppetau
når hun er her
finnes ikke ord

me afraid

i'm afraid
of being alone

i swing around
reach out my hand
and touch no one

no body to climb
hands to hold
no back to lay close

i raise my voice
speak with volume
walk through the rooms
there is no answer

i look in the mirror
i see nothing
but the wall behind me
and some memories
of a woman and myself

i gather strength to meet you
the new love of my life
don't know you yet
but my nerves tell me

you will hold my hand
answer me see me
when the mirror is in front

and i will tremble with fear
of losing you

negligible work

eight to five
the peak hours of the day
giving it all away

the task ain't your choice
what could be could give
what's every day in demand

then you do it
what you think will be
on the other side of the road

in the position
doing work day work
people telling you telling them

we like it brings joy
as we look out the window
seeing the grass grow grass

a few years
everyone knows your doing
doing you by your eight hours

cannot start to cry
cannot say it's not me
so day on day you go

and do what is different
from you should be
a distance between
is now negligible

director's cut

i paint the image
record the video
high on the wall
frame it with furniture
flat and future

you are tipping in
only toes no shoes
you want to be a part
the lead role
in this home made parody

drawings made upon stereotypes
lines copied on movies
black and whites

flowers kisses all beautiful
in a world built upon love
i see you sign the deal
all by your own will

the whole construction
my own simulation
just to cross it out
except you're still in

framed in lovely colors
will you walk around
make a run for the tape
being caught in the roll

in the end of this movie
you'll walk out the door
know the director
don't know the direction
i'm falling from the chair
it's the final cut

rumours of heavenly scissors

got my eyes fixated
on a heaven bluer
than a mediterranean surface

heavenly icons
colors my life
oxyfeeds my million days

here on the ground
i do my daily grind
the dust is all grey
a desert run all mine

hours filled with
clocks ringing people screaming
turning down the volume
taking it in through shades

the sins of my life
only a handful
minutes to count on fingers
the black moments
pinpoints in a grey world

and at every turn every downhill
i think about forgetting
how these sweet things these bad doings
destroy my heaven like a scissor going wild
drag me down
make it tough to get up

don't let anyone
know these dark hours
the stone age of my actions

the clock pulls me by the hair
i'm so heavy the pull so light
any disruption
of this fine tuned balance
and i'll do an evaporation

soul encounters

i know you a little

the way you smile
the way you sit
walk talk

i liked the way i felt
moving beside you
laughing with you
thinking of you

and now
we no longer talk laugh move
we no longer make any love

thoughts like circling doves
eying crumbs on the ground

could we meet
talk as we're on the feet
should we still try to feel
that inexplicable heartbeat

or take a step back
focus on daily steps
holidays work books

never mention the skin encounters
acting like an astronaut in space
longing for earth and all things safe
imprisoned in a dark universe

forget about all the things
i forgot to tell you
remembering the reason alone
why we still walk talk

i want to know you better

see and feel / touch and believe

i try not to look
my logic tells me not to
but my eyes want the opposite

all over are his scars
a collage of skins in the face
even so - his biggest pain
comes from the stares
and the eyes looking scared


i want to keep
to turn myself away
my eyes to the ground
bodily signals are present
attention is required

from asphalt to moon are legs lean
the face cut as an elle cover
everyone objects her
they point to her
a walking magazine


i bind myself with ropes of self-control
all intentions not to keep it in my mind
the longings are not dormant
no short circuit for this current

the love was so strong
she was for me all that i could see
now it's a memory song
and everyone i know want me to get on
for them there is nothing in it for me

what you are

black or white
how i wonder what you are
night or day
not much between
but a transition

and if i ever communicate
some greyness of perception
not uncertainty
easily more advanced
than olympics of angels

better to be safe
tell as it will be heard
best worst
friend bitch
smooth beard

i like a simple world
i want a simple world
don't need to want what is

now and then a tight grip
around my neck
all wrong all right i'm sick
need to melt good with bad
like being drunk

knowing storms and you

in my dreams we are close
really really close
think of you and start to fear
that i'm all yours
today and forever
by top by feet by rear

when i hold your hand
i don't know where to walk
don't know what i want
wonder who you are
and how come i feel alone

would like to sing like abba
knowing me knowing you
but the only thing to do
is trying to stay calm
even if inside is a storm

like a captain on a ship
when away from you
far far out on the ocean
you are my only harbor

and when the ship is close to land
the captain longs for sea
never is there peace

but as any ship
and any captain
what is the sea
if there are no harbors
like roads and wheels
snow and water
you and me

catching shadows

makes me jump
the energy streams
batteries fully charged
can do everything
appetite like a bear
strength like a tiger
no mountains too high
no water too deep

and when my feet land
i slide on a slippery stone

no energy inside the batteries
cannot do anything
slow as koala bear
when i open my mouth
anything but a leaf is too thick
cannot jump
cannot swim

touched by this greatness
shakes me from within
the ability to be king
and a prisoner
costumes changed
at the speed of a thought

ebbs and tides in mind and body
waves of change for moods and mountains
at the speed of light
and the shadow that follows