Some talk about the global situation, and some change the station I talk about climate change and you’re just out of range Singing about the obvious to the oblivious to some it’s inconvenient and to some it might be hideous I'm just singing the obvious to the oblivious Some scoff at what science finds, invent new ways to be blind But if we all take the easy route, the bad outcome won’t be in doubt Singing about the obvious to the oblivious to some it’s nonexistent and there’s nothing really to discuss I'm just singing the obvious to the oblivious You get distracted and bored about the subject what's it going to take for you to connect? Why bother talking it falls on deaf ears you're going to find out when your world disappears When things you know start going extinct will it make you think? or just look at your phone and stare, or rearrange the deck chairs Singing about the obvious to the oblivious Thinking that some of us just want to be lascivious to some it’s inconvenient and to some it might be hideous to some it’s nonexistent and there’s nothing really to discuss Singing about the obvious to the oblivious © 2014 M. Skliar

Love - you can turn the world around You can lift us off the ground Land us on my feet Love - you can lead us to the light I know it’ll be alright You make us feel complete Every day I’m thankful For everything you are Every night I know we can touch the stars And when we touch the stars, we have touched the infinite And the music plays us as if we are the instrument Love - you can fill the world with bliss You can give it happiness Everything sublime Love - love can make the world alright Love can be a guiding light Just like yours and mine Every day I’m thankful For everything you are Every night I feel like we can touch the stars And when we touch the stars, we have touched the infinite And the music plays us as if we are the instrument © Nancy Rost & Mike Skliar 2014

What makes someone go down like that, to a place from which he can’t get back Not just anyone, but the best at what he does, who always stood out from the pack You played hundreds of characters, played and lived them all the way Who else could do it, and who would want to throw it all away? to do your work you had to visit the darkness, stray so far from conformity Is the fix that good, is the high that high, that it’s worth checking out for all eternity I could namecheck all the movies that I saw you in, make a list long and full of magic But I never thought that list would end like this, so damn tragic You played hundreds of characters, played and lived them all the way Who else could do it, and who would want to throw it all away? © M. Skliar 2014

Bernie and Sylvia, brother and sister, in a little town in the Polish Ukraine It was 1942 the Germans marched in, nothing would be ever be the same They were 9 and 11, their mother had died, a couple years before, nobody knows why Their father Jankel and Uncle Usher were tall and strong, known throughout the countryside Their father argued with a local policeman, a stupid thing to do, to pick a fight That week a man named Sandrick gave them a warning that a mob would kill them tonight Now they bundled up the kids, and the old grandmother, walked into the forest in the Polish Ukraine They made no fire that would give off any smoke, in hiding in the forest they remained After a few weeks, venturing out to a farm, to take some potatoes just to stay alive They found out all the other Jews in their village were marched to ditch then shot and died The father and uncle swam frozen rivers, for miles in search of food they’d go They almost didn’t make it back one time and the grandmother died in the snow When Jankel and Usher made it back, Bernie and Sylvia were barely warm By good luck a farmer decided to help, a night or two sleeping in the barn But most of the time they were out in the forest, sleeping in the snow, in the rain and sleet Bernie asked his father will there ever come a time when we will sit at a table and eat His father replied, there will come a time, when you’ll even have herring with black bread and jam And if we can just stay here a little while longer, the Germans will be gone from this land Two years passed, in the forest they hid, it’s hard to conceive of this living hell Sylvia remembers when they cut off her pigtails, those pigtails walked away by themselves Moving thru the forest, to beat back the Germans, a small group of Russian partisans Came across the four wandering souls, who by then could hardly stand They told them to go to the town of Manievich, and they would be safe for the rest of the war The Russians had no great love for the Jews, but hated the Germans even more They were there for four years and then emigrated, to a relative in Montreal Leaving the ghosts of a thousand little towns, and too many of the dead to recall Bernie went to school and became an attorney, he married and had children 1 2 3 4 5 Sylvia also got married and also had five children, it’s amazing that Bernie and Sylvia survived Sylvia doesn’t talk about the war years much, and her daughter Helen is now my wife And Bernie just died at the age of 80, such a strange and improbable life Bernie and Sylvia, brother and sister, in a little town in the Polish Ukraine It was 1942 the Germans marched in, nothing would be ever be the same © 2013 M. Skliar

Chris Christie don’t get misty, but your presidential run is thru You screwed Ft lee, obviously, its what you intended to do You went ahead and closed the bridge Maybe you should have just closed the fridge Chris Christie don’t get misty but your presidential run is thru You can’t deny even if you try you like to throw your weight around That ft lee scheme played like a dream you’ve been dreaming since the last 100 pounds You scream at teachers every chance you get President Christie? Not just yet You cant deny even if you try you like to throw your weight around Your aides were fixin, like Richard Nixon, for a big big second term win Called a special election just for protection, so Corey Booker wouldn’t mess with your spin Endorsements you did not have to rig You still would have won pretty big Your aides were fixin’ like Richard Nixon, for a big big second term win And now those aides they are afraid, so the leaks are starting to flow When they start to sing about everything, your problems are going to grow You weaved your web without much thinking That web won’t hold when you start sinking And now those aides are afraid, so the leaks are starting to flow solo Chris Christie don’t get misty, but your presidential run is thru You screwed Ft lee, obviously, its what you intended to do You went ahead and closed the bridge Maybe you should have just closed the fridge Chris Christie don’t get misty but your presidential run is thru © M. Skliar 2014

My partner in crime in this lifetime the girl with the smile in her eyes She came along just at the right time A mysterious lovely surprise And grabbing my hand she made me understand That the troubles are fewer and the skies are bluer As blue as the blue of her eyes The girl with the smile in her eyes She came here from Toronto The girl with the smile in her eyes One look and I knew that I want to With all that that implies And grabbing my hand she made me understand That the troubles are fewer and the skies are bluer As blue as the blue of her eyes The girl with the smile in her eyes So now all these many years after With the girl with the smile in her eyes The moments are filled with laughter It’s still the best surprise And grabbing my hand she made me understand That the troubles are fewer and the skies are bluer As blue as the blue of her eyes The girl with the smile in her eyes © 2014 M. Skliar

Like falling rain in a monsoon season Cash rains down on politicians even more now and here’s one reason Those fat cat donors got what they’re wishing Money talks money yells Aint no limit to ringing that bell Money talks money screams It’s a one percenter’s dream Wealthy Corporations are free to speak And cash seems to be their nouns and verbs Speaking for the strong against the weak What once was a democracy is getting absurd Money talks money yells Aint no limit to ringing that bell Money talks money screams It’s a one percenter’s dream A lot of green can drown out the truth and make something black look white The message is repeated and sooner or later the masses will say that’s right So many issues like immigration Or gun control, which a majority supports The monied interests kill the legislation And now the money’s even bigger thanks to the Supreme Court Money talks, money yells, money talks, money screams (2x) © 2014 M. Skliar

At my old house on Tardy lane we had a big backyard Lots of grass, and hedges that always needed trimming And in that backyard there were trees of every kind Sycamore Cherry and a weeping willow it was almost forest living I'd climb those trees and my mom made pies from the cherries And a corner garden for cucumbers and tomatoes My first dog Skipper explored every inch of that backyard Dug a hole under the hedge one day decided he just had to go We never saw that dog again, But soon we got another And Alfie wasn't so much the family pet he was almost a brother Last week I saw a for sale notice on the Internet 40 years after we left the house on tardy Lane With photos showing inside and outside of our old house Such a strange experience nothing was the same A giant swimming pools took up half the backyard No trees no shade no hedges that needed trimming Just that big swimming pool surrounded by concrete And right in the middle some big damn fool swimming In the back of my mind I still see those trees Do they still exist if they’re only in my memories? At my old house on Tardy lane we had a big backyard Lots of grass, and hedges that always needed trimming And in that backyard there were trees of every kind Sycamore Cherry and a weeping willow it was almost forest living © 2014 M. Skliar

If you drive less than the limit, they’ll say that moron’s too slow But drive too quick and the nickname will stick, look at that maniac go It's the same with religion and politics, If you're different you must be wrong it’s getting so that even “Hello” means we don’t get along There are those who like division, and subtraction best of all Who only skill is that they can build the same kinds of walls And in the name of their deity, they’re prone to demonize Surrounded by those who wear the same clothes, cause the others are uncivilized If you’ve got a religious belief, that your tribe is better than mine You’d best be prepared to live your life scared, or up on the battle lines Or maybe embrace our differences, and our similarities That might be more fun and in the long run just maybe your god agrees © M. Skliar 2014

When Jesus came back and heard about Obamacare he said count me in A government that does not help the poor is a government of sin When Jesus heard about gun control he said that makes me glad Thou shall not kill was something said to me by my dad When Jesus heard about Occupy Wall Street he said good idea He said you know that shouldn't surprise you, I've been saying that stuff for 2000 years He was embarrassed with all the crazy things that were done in his name But he couldn't wait to try the Cronut, and he loved those new bike lanes But the most surprising thing that we learned about Jesus when he returned Was that his dad really did look just exactly like George Burns When Jesus came back and heard about Obamacare he said count me in Cause a government that does not help the sick is a government of sin © M. Skliar 2013

Pete was a man was a mighty mighty man was a mighty fine man was he He sang in places large and small ofttimes he'd sing for free He sang so many songs that came from every time and place You could not help but sing along as part of the human race Back in the 1930s depression ruled the land Pete sang songs about struggles of the workingman For those whose road was rocky, with no money to ride There was no doubt, that folks like Pete, were always on your side And in the early 50s he had a big pop hit But he never cared about those things, integrity was it So when the right wing congressmen insisted that he talk He took the First Amendment told them to take a walk Pete was a man was a mighty mighty man was a mighty fine man was he He sang in places large and small ofttimes he'd sing for free he sang Irish ballads, Russian ballads, lullabys and blues You could not help but sing along, it was the human thing to do When the civil rights movement needed songs to sing Pete sang an old spiritual to Martin Luther King He changed a few words round, singing as he strummed Got half the country singing ‘we shall overcome’ He was banned on TV, as the 60’s turned more bloody Till the Smothers Brothers insisted, he sang ‘waist deep in big muddy’ He sang of war and peace, and the struggle for liberation although his music wasn’t played on many radio stations) Pete was a man was a mighty mighty man was a mighty fine man was he He sang in places large and small ofttimes he'd sing for free He sang with abandon, with the joy of a young kid You could not help but sing along, and be glad that you did He saw the Hudson River, so dirty you could not swim He said let’s try to clean it up, they all laughed at him He slowly stopped those factories from making it their sink And now the Hudson River, is clean enough to drink I first heard ‘if I had a hammer’ at my summer camp I still remember that feeling, like someone had lit a lamp Then I got home and told my mom, and my jaw it hit the floor Pete Seeger had been my mom’s summer camp music counselor Pete was a man was a mighty mighty man was a mighty fine man was he He sang in places large and small ofttimes he'd sing for free He sang so many songs that came from every time and place You could not help but sing along as part of the human race © M. Skliar 2014

How cold was it It was so cold that the anti-freeze, froze It was so cold that the little red liquid in the thermometer turned blue in the cold It was so cold that Frosty the snowman booked a one way ticket to Miami Beach It was so cold that the penguins started buying long underwear How cold was it It was so cold that soap bubbles turned solid and froze It was so cold that radio stations that played cool jazz decided to stop playing It was so cold that an ice cream truck was colder on the outside then the inside It was so cold that the weather forecasts measured the temperature using negative exponential numbers How cold was it It was so cold that snowflakes decided it was too cold to be different and huddled together for warmth It was so cold that hot chili peppers became edible in bulk It was so cold that people put hot pockets in their pockets It was so cold that striptease artists started putting on extra clothes It was so cold that a woman had hot flashes and a crowd gathered around her for warmth © M. Skliar and N. Rost 2014

Come gather round women gather round men Tell you about bootleg series volume ten Another “Self-portrait” here again 'What is this sh--' Rolling Stone said then We all didn't get it back in the day We didn't know what Bob was trying to say Singing 'the boxer' and 'blue moon' Is it all just a joke or is he crazy as a loon 43 years later and the world has changed fast No one cares to go thru his trash He's just another guy not the holy one And the kids just listen to Mumford and son But on those long ago sessions with David Bromberg Some really nice things we has never heard These hands, thirsty boots and pretty saro And beautiful singing it all just flowed Some gems from new morning like 'time passes slowly' And two great takes of 'went to see the gypsy' Just when you think those sonic wonders will cease Solo piano 'when I paint my masterpiece' The bonus edition has the Isle of Wight show That legendary concert with the band you know Three of the Beatles were there in the crowd Now Paul McCartney can hear what he missed ...loud Now the big question for Bob Dylan junkies What other releases will we all see Will it be the second leg of rolling thunder Or the gospel years maybe they'll plunder One thing that might just send us to heaven Those long rumored songs from 1977 So many things would be just great Like a complete big box of the basement tapes What's in the vault no way of knowing And the pile of recordings seems to be growing Maybe down at the bottom of the pile The duet between him and Gomer Pyle So come gather round women and mostly men Here's the Bootleg series volume ten Rolling stone loves it now Four and a half stars out of five stars...wow © M. Skliar 2013

What once was missing, now is found What once was silent now makes sound Its clearer now than it was before The rainclouds scatter when at your door When tied in knots, and feeling frayed And all our passions can’t be obeyed The time has come to change up gears And cast away the good old fears Grab the chance when chances come Learn to live what life becomes Grab the chance when chances come Learn to love what life becomes What once was missing, now is found What once was silent now makes sound Its clearer now than it was before The rainclouds scatter when at your door © 2014 M. Skliar & T.C. Elliott