Release Date: 1975
Duration: 67:27
Label: Rhino/Bearsville
Catalog Number: RNCD 70866
From the LP liner notes:
When I was a child I thought as a child I spoke as a child I didn't know better But now I'm a man I look like a man I'm old as a man And I should know better Got my head in the sky And my mind knows what it wants But my body just drags me down And my world is something you can't see But it's still very real to me You can find it in the hole where I keep my soul There it is - way down inside me There's a real man Forget about my body and be a real man I see with my heart I hear with my heart I feel with my heart Sometimes it works better And some so-called friends put me down And they pity me for trying Bad emotions push me around But the vision shines on and on It will shine when we all are gone And I'd like to add a little sparkle while I'm here Light it up - way down inside me There's a real man Forget about bad feelings and be a real man Some men's world is only hate and money Afraid of everything and they laugh at nothing And they only live to criticize You can laugh at me now [ha ha ha] But the time comes to everybody When you must decide When that day finally comes along You might wish you'd been a little more strong Then you'll wake up in the morning cryin' "Oh my God" There it is - way down inside me It's a real man You got to grow up sometime Be a real man Suffer them slings and arrows Be a real man Now be a real man Don't sell yourself for nothing Be a real man Don't take no crap from no one Be a real man Get your trip together Be a real man
A handful of nothing is all that I need It contains plus and minus everything The odd combinations are what make up The world that you see before you In one hand I hold what people call good The rest I hold in the other But these are just symbols to the perfected minds Of which we are but mere reflections I was born to synthesize Energize and catalyze I was born to synthesize Like waves on still water the forms reappear Quickly erasing the ones before But forms like these are born only to die But the life in them lives forever Pyramids, spheres, and obelisks are the patterns of all creation But the red polygon's only desire is to get to the blue triangle I was born to synthesize Visions rise before your eyes I was born to synthesize The orbits of consciousness spin 'round and 'round Apparently they go nowhere But the odd combinations are leading you on To your home which is in the center You were born to synthesize Ain't no jive - it's no surprise You were born to synthesize
Just the other day I got a call from a friend "I heard what you been playin' and I think it's a sin Why can't you make a living like the rest of the boys Instead of fillin' your head with all that synthesized noise?" Jackals wait nearby, watching rock and roll die And no one dared to help it Vultures fill the sky I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free But we all got sold It must be the Death of Rock and Roll The critics got together and they started a game You get your records for nothing and you call each other names Things got out of hand and somebody got sore Now we're all tuning up for the Rock and Roll War Time to take up sides, helping rock and roll die Pick up your check at the window No one left to cry I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free But we all got sold It must be the Death of Rock and Roll Nobody paid, nobody played, nobody stayed Just my lonely guitar Nobody paid, nobody stayed, nobody played Just my lonely guitar
As the sun rises in the east As the wind blows the fog across the sea As the hand of Man creeps across the face of the world Caught in a web of glamours Persian perfume and oriental eyes Yogi in knots and Sufi wise Master sublime and swami high Through in some Voodoo on the side And a dash of the old Kung Fu Lord you got me strung out on eastern intrigue Chapter six and verse eleven If you wanna get to heaven You've got to ask the Man who owns the Property Ya gotta dance your dance And do your act And get His Big Attention that's a natural born fact I'm on my knees, one question please Will the real God please stand up? Jesus and Moses, Mohammed, and Sri Krishna Steiner, Gurdjief, Blavatsky, and Bhudda Guru Maharaji, Reverend Sun Myung Moon On the banks of the Holy Nile As the palm tree sways at the base of the sphinx 'Neath a crescent desert moon many thousands younger than ours In fact, forget about time completely Think of it in the abstract please Think of the swaying tropic trees One of your many destinies Like having a hot peyote tea In the palace of Fu Manchu Lord you got me strung out on eastern intrigue Sell your wife and pawn your heater Buy the new Bhagavad Gita Do the pranayama 'til your spine gets sore I'll tell you for free 'Cause God told me We checked it with the Pope and so we all agree I'm on my knees, one question please Will the real God please sit down?
Power changes hands in the unseen worlds 'Cause in '75 something comes alive Watch the silver cup and the golden rod Silently listen and it shall be revealed I was born to fly higher, born to stand where I'm standing now Basking in the light of the neon fire As it burns my useless body to the ground Desire let me go I would fly so high through the sky, never to die Love has come, Love has come Inside outside, it shall be revealed Brilliant stars splash down across a crystal sky And the moon and the sun and the earth are one See the shining soul break the ring-pass-not Spiraling upward and it shall be revealed The spirit is free The Universe wants it to be, It calls you and me Love has come, Love has come Over under, it shall be revealed When the bells ring out And the fire burns within and without Initiation When your star grows bright and fills all of the world with its light Unification Swallow your pride, you don't need it no more Don't have to hide, all I am is only one more Standing at the door waiting for the world's Initiation Thunder roar and lightning crack Snakes of fire dance up and down my back A long, long road is behind me now Too late to be afraid of the choice that I have made But there's one thing I know Where my spirit says to go, you know that's where I must go When the golden ray Of the dawn signifies a new day Initiation And when loves grows strong And the spheres join together in song Unification Swallow your pride, you don't need it no more Don't need to hide, all I am is Only one more, then shut the door waiting for the world's Initiation Over under, it shall be revealed
You know, wishing won't make it so Hoping won't do it, praying won't do it Religion won't do it, philosophy won't do it The supreme court won't do it, the president and the congress won't do it The UN won't do it, the H-bomb won't do it, the sun and the moon won't do it And God won't do it, and I certainly won't do it That leaves you, you'll have to do it I know that you've been wondering if I'm the same man inside Never tried to fool you 'cause I've got nothing to hide I gave you fair warning I could never be tied down 'Til I've seen paradise with my very own eyes Love owns us all, Time owns us all, Life owns us all But the world doesn't own me Dontcha follow me now I ain't afraid to say I may have been wrong I have to go now I'd rather live by a dream than live by a lie And that's why There ain't no cure for what I've got baby We just have to suffer I feel no pain, I can't complain, things could always be rougher But I picked up this banner and I just can't put it down (No) I can't let the world die just 'cause no one would try Dontcha follow me now Everybody's got to find his own place in the sun, everyone So shine on me now I'd rather live by a dream then live by a lie You can say what you will about me talk is cheap and I don't mind When you lay your life down in them grooves you know you're bound to get scratched up sometime It's only just a song, pay me no mind I have to go now You've got to walk that road alone if you walk it at all Don't follow me now I gave you all fair warning Now it's goodbye And every once in a while why don't you think of me 'Cause it's a long, long time and a long way to go Can't you see the light shining in my eyes 'Cause it's just one victory 'Cause your dream goes on forever Don't you know that I've been trying to get my trip together Be a real man I got to be a real man 1, 2, 3, do it one more time Be a real man Everybody be a real man Go then, don't believe, and I don't know 'Cause I got to be a real man You can be a man, a real man I'll swim that river, climb that mountain You and me, we all gotta be, real men
instrumental
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