Playlist Todd Rundgren

todd rundgren - change myself

Half of me wants to knock you out
Half of me wants to tell you that I'm sorry, so sorry
Meanwhile, half of the world wants to scream and
shout at half of the world
Just like you and I
Just another fact of life
We plan and we scheme
'Til there's nothing left of our little dream
But half of the time I can't decide and
Half of the time I'm petrified

I want to change the world
I want to make it well
How can I change the world
When I can't change myself
Try again tomorrow
I'd love to change your mind
Capture your citadel
How could I change your mind
If I can't change myself
Try again tomorrow

Both of us want to win this fight
Both of us think the other is mistaken, so mistaken
Meanwhile, everyone wants to take up sides
So everyone helps us to fall apart
Just another fact of life
It's hard to play fair
And it's so easy to pretend to care
But if nobody wants to share the blame
Then everyone gets more of the same

If I want more peace in the world
Then I must make peace with myself
If I want more trust in the world
Then I've got to trust in myself
If I want more love in the world
I must show more love to myself

todd rundgren - hawking

Whenever I
I close my eyes
Then I don't mind being the way I am
But whenever I try
Explaining why
I know I never can

Now that it's
Gone, paths I used to travel
Gone, things I used to handle
Gone, once I had a choice what to be

But then god kissed me
And I lost it when I fainted in his arms
Have pity on me brother
I'm trapped behind the mirror
I'm out here on the border

Wondering why
Why was it I?
Maybe my mind wouldn't have come this way
If I'd taken my time
Answers only unwind
When you can't look away

Maybe 'cause
I want the secret broken
I want the casket open
I need to see what no eyes can see

And when god kissed me
Then I dreamed them when I fainted in her arms
Now I've got to go on sleeping
Lean in a little closer
And I'll tell you what I'm dreaming
I'll tell you what I'm dreaming

I see time without beginning
Space without an ending
I see bodies strong and running
With minds not comprehending
Have pity on your brother
Please have pity on your sister
Take pity on each other
And on every living creature

Whenever I
Open my eyes
I can't believe it's real
It's a jungle outside
People just survive
They can't reach the high ideal

But I
Know if I can't recover, at least I
Know, I know the book from cover to cover, and who
Knows, I might dream forever
Since I've met the world's greatest lover
When god kissed me
And I knew it when I fainted in his arms

Let's dream together people

todd rundgren - hideaway

I've been watching how you dance
Watching how you smile
Watching how you carry yourself around in a crowd
And watching what you say
You've got something that's a secret to the average eye
You've been saving something nobody's seen until now
In a hideaway
I'm not trying to invade your privacy
There are things you have a right to hide
But it's oh so cold
Standing on the outside

Will you take me to your secret hideaway
I won't tell nobody where I'm going
Won't you tell me that we're leaving right away
For the heart of your hideaway

Everybody's looking for a heaven on earth
A slice of paradise where nobody gets hurt
Someone to put the pieces back together again
When your daydreams die
Are you trying to get a message through the air to me?

Get me on your wavelength and tell me which way to go
To your hideaway
I can't stand another second in this tinker-toy world
Give me your direction
Don't make me wait anymore
It seems so far away

You can trust me with your secret fantasy
You will never know until you've tried
But it's oh so cold
Standing on the outside

I've been trying to get a message
Through the air to you
Get on my wavelength
And I'll tell you which way to go
To my hideaway

I will show you to my secret hideaway
We will tell nobody where we're going

todd rundgren - a dream goes on forever

A million old soldiers will fade away
But a dream goes on forever
I'm left standing here, I've got nothing to say
All is silent within my dream

A thousand true loves will live and die
But a dream lives on forever
The days and the years will go streaking by
But the time has stopped in my dream

We all have our everyday hopes and fears
And you'll find no exception in me
But that doesn't get me through a sea of tears
Over life's biggest tragedy

You're so long ago and so far away
But my dream lives on forever
I guess I believe that I'll see you one day
For without it there is no dream

You're so far away and so long ago
But my dream lives on forever
And how much I loved you you'll never know
'Til you join me within my dream
And how much I loved you you'll never know
'Til you join me within my dream

todd rundgren - a long time a long way to go

It's a long time and a long way to go
What was once mine isn't mine anymore
All my fears you would not find me
All behind me
It's a long way and a long time to come
When our hearts stray and the troubles begun
I'll forget it if you make me
Please just take me if you will
I know that if you will
Nothing you can say could block my way
Nothing you can do to make me not want you
And love you for a long time
It's a long time and a long way to go
But in my mind there is one thing I know
For as long as we're together
Love forever

todd rundgren - afterlife

They say I don't think enough
about the afterlife
of what's below and above
it's all in black and white
they say there's only one kind of love
you have to choose just right
they say there's ony one kind of love

In the afterlife
kiss it all goodbye
in the afterlife
you don't get another try

But I can't see, I don't know how
that I won't be what I am now, no
even in my afterlife
and I won't have some other heart
that could find peace though we're apart, no
even in my afterlife

It's not enough anymore
to be good in this life
they say you've got to be sure
so you can sleep at night
the only love that endures
gives up without a fight
the only love that endures

In the afterlife
kiss it all goodbye
in the afterlife
it was just a clever lie

If I could never see your face
then I would have to fall from grace, I know
even in my afterlife
or for eternity be blind
to your presence in my mind, no
even in my afterlife

And they could promise me a seat
at the right side of the throne
but all would still be incomplete
within the holy host, alone
without the guiding light so sweet
that has forever led me on
for me there's no eternal rest
you and I have unfinished business
yes, yes

Even in my afterlife

If I could still hold one thought clear
then you will instantly appear, I know

Even in my afterlife

But I can't see, I don't know how
that I won't be what I am now, no
even in my afterlife
and I won't have some other heart
that could find peace though we're apart, no
even in my afterlife

For I could not repose in bliss
nevermore to know your kiss
no, no

todd rundgren - all the children sing

See Ms. Malone
She spends another quiet evening alone
Sits in her study and stares at the phone
And a bell in her head will ring
All the children sing
All the dancers start to sway in time
The orchestra begins to play
Somebody pours the wine
The sun and moon collide
Isn't gravity a funny thing
The universe explodes apart
All the children sing
Of Mr. Malloy
He's always seen himself as one of the boys
He thinks that men are tough and women are toys
But a bell in his head will ring
All the children sing
All the birds are chirping harmony
The scent of love is in the air
Sunset on the sea
The angel of the Lord
Just declared we aren't worth a thing
The galaxy is null and void
All the children sing
Crawled across a thousand miles of desert sand
Looking from an answer from a holy man
And this is what he told me with a wave of his hand
He said, "A bell in your head will ring"

Here's to the Chinaman, wise and old
Here's to the Eskimo, brave and cold
Here's to the Jew in the holy land
Here's to the Arab in his caravan
Here's to the African, strong and proud
Here's to the Redneck, good and loud
Here's one to you and there's one more thing
A bell in your head will ring

todd rundgren - an elpee s worth of toons

Who's that on the racks again?
A portrait of a crazy man
Trying to make a living off an elpee's worth of toons
A picture of a soul in pain
Trying to change the world with an elpee's worth of toons

There's something at the heart of it that's simply awful
A man who makes a living off a plastic waffle

Sweat is forming on my brow
Not a thing can help me now
My life is on the line for an elpee's worth of toons

I can see the write-ups now
The multitudes are crying for an elpee's worth of toons

A man would simply have to be as mad as a hatter
To try to change the world with a plastic platter

What's your problem, sonny?
What's your problem, son?

I want to be loved

todd rundgren - attitude

Kid's kind of dirty and a light on you
But talk, talk, talk is all you can do
You want to know how to play a game of show and tell
But you're just not getting off on yourself
When you got to get a message through
It's not what you do
It's your attitude
And there is nothing stopping you
It's not what you do
It's your attitude
You got to get off on yourself
And give them that attitude

You got shrink wrap rap and a prefab smile
Too much substance, not enough style
You got your new age voodoo, but that won't help
'Cause you're just not getting off on yourself
When you got to get a message through
It's not what you do
It's your attitude
And there is nothing stopping you
It's not what you do
It's your attitude
So you got to get off on yourself
And give it the attitude

Now that you're OK and I'm OK
Decide to have it out or to get away
If I didn't believe every word I say
I wouldn't be the man that I am today
It ain't no secret, it don't take money
So give it to yourself, in a way it's funny
Just try to do right, and it comes right through
Don't care about the don'ts and do's
If you want to get a message through
It's not what you do
It's your attitude
And there is nothing stopping you
It's not what you do
It's your attitude
You got to get off on yourself, stay up on yourself
Get yourself an attitude

It's the way you walk and the way you talk
And the way you do everything you do
You got the attitude

todd rundgren - baby let s swing

Laura, I saw you open in LA
There's something I gotta say
Laura, you know it's really been such a long, long time

And you know Laura, I knew you'd make it good someday
And you knew it anyway
Laura, I know that maybe this is the wrong, wrong time
But Laura where did that magic go
It's so hard, it's so cold down here
Did you have to leave me behind?
I wish that I could make it
But how I love to shuffle (how I love to shuffle)
Baby let's swing
Now I love to shuffle
Ever since I heard you sing (since I heard her sing)

Laura, I saw you in that magazine
You looked like a gypsy queen
Laura, I beat around the bush 'cause it's oh so hard
But you know Laura, it's not the best it's ever been
I think you know what I mean
I wish you'd take a look in your own back yard
To see that someone has seen it all
Seen you climb, seen you fall so low
If you have to leave it behind
I'll carry it on for ya, 'cause it's oh so hard
Baby let's swing
Now I love to shuffle
Ever since I heard you sing

todd rundgren - bag lady

Like a fly batters itself against a window
Time and again and again it senselessly blunders
Up and down the length of West Broadway
the bag lady wanders

Fifty cents rent goes pretty far
when you live in a subway car
One stop's the same as another
Even Son of Sam sees her sleeping,
she's not worth the bother
Sorrow, do they ever want to cry

Do they see us pass by
Where do they come from (simple answers)
Do they come falling,
falling from the sky like rain
Crawling up the basement drain
Misfits and black sheep
Former brothers, friends of mothers

There is no yesterday, there is no tomorrow
There is only now and that hardly matters
No one cares about sad old ladies
with bags full of tatters

One day it gets a bit too cold
Maybe a little too wet, maybe a little too lonely
Lifelessly she lies amidst her bag world
But maybe she's only sleeping

todd rundgren - bang on the drum all day

I don't want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don't want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day

Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don't want no candy
I don't want no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing 'til I got
Blisters on my hand
Because...

When I get older they think I'm a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with ny hands
But my licks were so hot
I made the teacher want to dance
And that's why...

Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
the boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And i pound on that drum like it was the boss's head
Because..

I CAN BANG ON THAT DRUM
HEY, YOU WANT TO A BANG AT IT?
i CAN DO THIS ALL DAY

todd rundgren - bang on the ukelele daily

I don't want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don't want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day

Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don't want no candy
I don't need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing 'til I got
Blisters on my hand because

When I get older they think I'm a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And that's why

Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the boss's head
Because

I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day

todd rundgren - be nice to me

No catch, no strings
None of the usual things
I'm happy just to lay and look
Let's throw out the book
Now we're off the hook
And please just be nice to me
Won't you be nice to me
So tired, so sad
So sick of being had
By everyone who comes along
Would it be so wrong
If you played along
And please just be nice to me
And would it bring you down if I hang around
Just be nice to me
It's been a long, long lime since I felt so fine
And I know your love is fine
I know what's on your mind but
Don't laugh, don't, cry
Don't make me wonder why
You're doing what you're doing now
Can't you see somehow
It's the wrong time now
So please just be nice to me.

todd rundgren - believe in me

Please don't look at me that way,
I can hardly say what I have to say,
There is nothing that I haven't told to you
That I didn't believe you knew.
I am thinking of another time
I could feel you thinking that you were mine,
Now I hold out my hands 'til my arms get tired
And you wait on the other side.

You and me, we're both the same,
Don't let me take all the blame,
I promise that I will do all it takes to make up for my mistakes.
So, I'm trying hard to be the man
And it's not a hard thing to understand,
For I think that my being would cease to be
If you didn't believe in me, If you didn't believe in me.

todd rundgren