Guilded Lilies-Words from the Beige Room
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Best-Laid Plans (Every Other Time)
I took you for an angel with your grace.
One smile from you and I forget my place;
That’s all it takes - that's all it takes.
And if, for your affections, I would vie,
(Tell me,) would it do me any good to try
To make you stay? - Or would you walk away?

I dream of ways to sweep you off your feet-
don’t wanna know the failure I could meet,
‘cause every other time I look at you,
I fear my best-laid plans are falling through.

I’m running from the voices in my head-
-they tell me I should run from you instead,
But I can’t yet - I can't yet.
They say that I’m a fool to stand my ground,
But wiser men than me have fallen down;
I won’t pretend - I know more than them

I dream of ways to show you how I feel;
So what if I’m the ground beneath your wheels?
If my best-laid plans have all but fallen through,
Then what have I to lose by telling you?

Lost my way -- now how do I get back?
Who’s to blame? I just can’t keep track
Of things like that - anymore

I took you for an angel with your grace.
I penciled in the lines I can’t erase.
It's so familiar - so familiar
Now I can’t dry the tears upon your face-
When hope has left me here with my mistakes.
Oh Cecilia - I lose my way

So many words I wish I’d said to you,
but Life is short and chances here are few;
‘cause time is one thing I cannot renew -
The best laid plans are falling, falling through
©2004 Howard Hall & Steven Nicoloso, Blind Raspberry Pub. (BMI)

Carolina
Little girl, so beautiful, Carolina, I overheard;
I knew your mother a long, long time ago;
she grew sooner and more awkward than the rest of us,
and so she was cast out of our little universe.
She was a clumsy gosling, even in her home,
but self-defense taught her how to get along,
to bury hurt inside, and act so self-assured,
and I've wondered, ever since, what became of her...

Carolina - if you could tell me
Carolina - how you came to be
Carolina - how I wish I knew
Carolina - the story of you

Are you the product of one last liberty taken
of a girl so alone, so completely shaken,
reaching out to darkness for love and acceptance,
and finding instead a startling evidence...

So here at the mall, quite unexpectedly,
while I turn the corner to hide, in case she remembers me,
I'm cast so far back to a past where my morality
was formed by sheer survival of teen brutality.

Carolina - if you could tell me
Carolina - how you came to be
Carolina - how I wish I knew
Carolina - the story of you

Are you the product of one last liberty taken
of a girl so alone, so completely shaken,
reaching out to darkness for love and acceptance,
and finding instead a startling evidence-
or are you the happiest of accidents,
a good man's selfless love, the consequence,
a joyous joy - where true love is found;
the most human venture can safely abound...
©2004 Steven Nicoloso, Blind Raspberry Pub. (BMI)
Closer to Sober
All the while I've been sittin' here
it's all been gettin' pretty clear,
even as this little shot glass blurs,
somethin's been occur-rin' to me

You say you had enough
and I can't get you back,
So this bar's become my trough,
and now I'm losin' track,
and I can't quite recall if it's been 1 or 22,
but I'm a whole lot closer to sober than I'll ever be to you.

All my pride has completely disappeared
with all my dignity and all my fear;
even as your tattered image blurs,
I'm sure I won't be the first - one to see.

I know you've had enough,
and I won't make you stay-
I'm just tryin' to drown this love
'til it dies and floats away;
and I can't quite recall if it's been 1 or 22,
but I'm a whole lot closer to sober than I'll ever be to you.

You say you've had enough - well I've had one too few,
and I'm a whole lot closer to sober than I'll ever be to you.
©2004 Howard Hall, Steven & Robin Nicoloso, Blind Raspberry Pub. (BMI)

I Am Not (2 Tim. 3:5)
I am not your new age crystal
I am not entertainment director
I am not your 12-step program
I am not your personal trainer
I'm not all with you at the center
I am not your circus act
I am not a story about you
I am not your new world man...

I am not, I am not, I am not, I am not.

I am not your doting grandfather
I am not your new copilot
I am not your frozen dinner
I am not your topical ointment
I am not your central heating
I am not your walmart store
I am not your fishing buddy
I am not your chicken soup

I am not, I am not, I am not, I am not.

I am Patient Hope
I am Fiery Will
I am Quiet Strength
I am Blinding Light

I'm not all with you at the center
I'm not a world with you at the center
I am not your central heating
I am not your 12-step program...

I am not, I am not, I am not.
©2004 Steven Nicoloso, Blind Raspberry Pub. (BMI)