Black & White

Produced by David Bradstreet & Carl Keesee
David Bradstreet - vocals, BGs, acoustic and electric guitars
Carl Keesee - electric bass, BGs
Bill Dillon - electric guitars
Bucky Berger - drums
David Houghton - drums, "Back to Basics"
Jane Siberry, Wendy Davis - BGs
Bruce Fowler - keys on "Back to Basics"
Cover Photo: Julie War
Cover Design: Brenda Bradstreet
Recorded and mixed at Roxborough Studios, Toronto, ON
Mastered by George Graves, The Lacquer Channel, Toronto, ON

BACK TO BASICS

So here's another year gone by
Still we're standing on this solid ground
And still we reach each other now and then you and I
And everything is going 'round
In it's own unhurried pace
You're still that constant light
That brings a twinkle to my eye

I'm counting the lessons of the past
They're still the same old songs
That we were singing in the morning
Of the dawning when we first come along
Yes I still love you too
And it grows with passing time
And now we're back to basics you and I
Back to basics eye to eye
Back to basics all over again
All over again

I guess we've had those doubting times
When nothing was too clear
But we held on to each other
In the face of the fear
Then something comes back to remind
That these are not such different times
It's been better and worse
Through laughter and hurting
But we've come right through the other side

To count the lessons of the past
They're still the same old songs
That we were singing in the morning
Of the dawning when we first come along
Yes I still love you too
And it grows with passing time
And now we're back to basics you and I
Back to basics eye to eye
Back to basics all over again
And now we're back to basics you and I
Back to basics eye to eye
Back to basics all over again
All over again...

TORPEDOS IN THE MAINSTREAM

In the doorway there's a broken light
Scattered fragments all through the night
It can leave you dark and barely moving
So we take our chance tonight
And blow the top off it serves them right
Can't stay in one tight spot forever

Torpedoes in the mainstream
Torpedoes in the mainstream

Day to day the same damned thing
Nine to five when the siren sings
It can leave you screaming in the neon
So we do what young men do
When you push them over what they want you to
And we leave them laughing in the rubble

Torpedoes in the mainstream
Torpedoes in the mainstream watch out
Torpedoes in the mainstream

They're upon us it's four to one
Intent on sending us Kingdom Come
We gotta show them we are not the ones to fool with
Guts burning just to stay alive
Ancestral instincts to survive
Hearts bursting in the final drive to prove it

Torpedoes in the mainstream...

Where are you silent partner?
All I see now you're gone
Is the dark side of the room
Come back soon
Silent partner

Looking through
The painting you left behind
Little boy in the window
Footprints in the snow
But where do they go?
When I needed you so?

Well it looks so new
Fresh snow falling
Cold white line
Silent lovers try
But how do they know
To melt all the snow
When frozen tears cry
It's do or die

I'm on the dark side of the room
So come back soon
Silent partner.

I spend most of my time colouring in spaces
Just a shadow in places wasting my nights
Then you gave contrast to me and you helped me to find it
You always design it in black and white

Black and white
It's hard to see the simple way
Black and white
And you wait as the colour drains away
Black and white
And you stand in the failing light
Shouting in the night
Oh don't let the anger get the best of you
It's black and white, just black and white
But you know I'm holding on a light for you
It's black and white, it's black and white
And we hold on tight 'till the morning light brings us through
It's black and white, black and white
Black and white

It's not that different you say
To have a bad morning
That comes without warning
To throw off your game
And the news is not much better today
Than it was on the weekend
Continuing cold trend, just more of the same

Black and white
Ah take a good look at what you read
Black and white
It's someone's view of the things you see
Black and white
You've got the final choice to use your only voice

So don't let the anger get the best of you
It's black and white, it's black and white
But you know I'm holding on a light for you
It's black and white, it's black and white
And we hold on tight 'till the morning light brings us through
It's black and white, black and white
Black and white

Oh don't let the anger get the best of you
It's black and white, yea it's black and white
But you know I'm holding on a light for you
It's black and white, it's black and white
And we hold on tight 'till the morning light brings us through
It's black and white, black and white
Black and white

Now I spend the rest of my time
Remembering your faces
In warm hidden places all through the night
And you give contrast to me
And you help to find it
You always design it in black and white

Black and white
It's hard to see the simple way
Black and white
And you wait as the colour drains away
Black and white
And you stand in the failing light
Shouting in the night
Oh don't let the anger get the best of you
It's black and white, it's black and white
But you know I'm holding on a light for you
It's black and white, it's black and white
And we hold on tight 'till the morning light brings us through
It's black and white, black and white
Black and white

As a boy I served a term as a mud puddle sailor
I had a sea of my own at the side of the road
And with a patch on my eye
I was Morgan the Pirate
And in my rubber boots
The Colossus of Rhodes

And the cars sped on by like the Spanish Armada
And the spin of their wheels sent a storm on my sea
Until one of the fleet came too close to the sidewalk
And rammed at my ship and she sunk at my feet

So I dry docked my wreck in my grandfather's kitchen
And climbed on his lap as he picked up the thread
And he mended my sails with a flash of his fingers
And then drying my tears, here's the words that he said:

"Blues is like shoes, ranging in sizes
When you're a young boy, the sizes are small
Blues is like shoes, you'll find when you're older
The shoes you have now are the nicest of all."

Only now that I'm grown, I find I'm still a sailor
But I'm up to my neck in the mud puddle now
And under fire by much more than the Spanish Armada
And they're ramming my ship and they're crashing my bow

And the worst of it is that it never stops raining
And the wheels never slow and the storms never cease
And I swear when my bones become too heavy with water
I'll sink too deep to wash up on any one's beach
But I can tell by the stars that I'm close to an island
Would mean nothing to swim but the question is how
And I can't even run to my grandfather's kitchen
'Cause the house where he lived is a parking lot now

Blues is like shoes, ranging in sizes
When you're a young boy, the sizes are small
Blues is like shoes, you'll find now you're older
The shoes you have now are the nicest of all.

Today I ran into a mud puddle sailor
He had a sea of his own at the side of the road
And with a patch on his eye
He was Morgan the Pirate
And in his rubber boots
The Colossus of Rhodes

And the cars sped on by like the Spanish Armada
And the spin of their wheels sent a storm on his sea
Until one of the fleet came too close to the sidewalk
And rammed at his ship and she sunk at his feet

So he dry docked my wreck right there in my kitchen
And climbed on my lap as I picked up the thread
And I mended his sails with a flash of my fingers
And then drying his tears, here's the words that I said:

"Blues is like shoes, ranging in sizes
When you're a young boy, the sizes are small
Blues is like shoes, you'll find when you're older
The shoes you have now are the nicest of all
Blues in the shoes of a child are the nicest of all."

Hello once again
We used to know each other well back then
So many stars, suns and moons my friend
That shined on our parallel roads

I've thought about you in the quiet times
When the world slowed down and my time was mine
I realized I missed out on a heart that time
On parallel roads, out there on parallel roads

Oh, when you decide
To push right through and come inside
I find myself inclined
To meet on common ground, resolution found

And then I felt your thunder as you roared on by
Catching momentary glances on the fly
We got so sad but felt so high
On parallel roads, out there on parallel roads

Oh, eye to eye
Feels so strange to say goodbye
But I trust my heart to try
To meet on common ground, resolution found

Oh, eye to eye
Feels so sad but get so high
But I trust my heart to try
To meet on common ground, resolution found

Children together walking hand in hand
In the park tonight
Wondering whether to take a chance
Just once tonight
Sister and brother taking care of each other
As the years roll 'round
How sister and brother can forget one another
When it all comes down

We were children together and I know you better
Than you want to believe
Remembering hopeful hearts huddled on cold stairs
On Christmas Eve
Brother and sister lost in the whisper
Of a rainy night
Thinking and hoping it can all happen here
If we wish just right

Children together talking heart to heart
In the dark night
Sharing the secrets with no one else
'Cause no one else listens right
(But you know...)
Sometimes it scares me to see you so rarely
As the years roll by
But I guess time has changed things
Since two little hearts heard the same cry

You and I had stumbled on that great design
Making love in the valley anywhere anytime
And we gave it all freely
Forgot what was yours and mine

Beneath the cover of darkness we both ran down
We splashed in the river and we slept on the ground
Kept our heads in the fire light
And our secret bodies brown
And moving like athletes we accidentally found

Two lost lovers in the night
Stepping so light and avoiding the highway
Two lost lovers in the night
Taking the long way home
Taking the long way home

In and out of trouble always hand in hand
With the best of both worlds nothing planned
We understand limits, exceed them when we can
And bring back the prizes, love life surprises

Two lost lovers in the night
Stepping so light and avoiding the highway
Two lost lovers in the night
Taking the long way home
Taking the long way home...

Looking in my book and I see your name
I don't quite understand
'Cause looking in your face I feel the same
Just part of a plan

I found you cryin' in the bedroom
You tried to hide your tears from me
But we didn't go far enough my love
For salty eyes to see

You were dressed in some outrageous outfit
For all the boys to choose
You said you got the number off a subway wall
And there's nothing left to lose
And you said, "come on, let's go out dancing,
and raise a little hell on the street"
Well you shook me by my rock foundation
And you justified the heat.

Ah, we didn't go far enough
To complete the little boy dream
We've come so close so many times
So close that I could scream
Give a little more and try a little harder
Tighten your grip, loosen up
'Cause tonight we're going to go as far as we can
Hang on this could be rough
Hang on this could be rough

Ah, we didn't go far enough
Yeah, we didn't go far enough
Tonight we'll go far enough
Yeah, tonight we'll go far enough