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To Be Freed

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Recorded and mixed September 92 - March 93 at CAS-Studios, Germany

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Info

Format: CD Album
Label: Columbia
Catalogue No: COL 473687 2
Country: Germany
Released: 1993

Vocals - Hazel O'Connor
Guitars - Armin Sabel, Tommy Blug, Volker Conrad, G.Coach, Dick Farrelley
Bass - J Rimson, Paul Harryman
Drums - Bodo Schopf
Percussion - Roland Peil
Keyboards - Wolfgang Grasekamp, J Rimson, Peter Bizarre, G Coach, G Dillinger, Marcel Himbert, Achim Kredleck
Backing Vocals - Hazel O'Connor, Billie Webster, J Rimson
Brass - Ludwig Goetz, Carsten Grohnwald
Trumpet solos - Gust Waltzing
Sax solos - Derek Jones
Programming - Peter Bizarre

Produced and mixed by J Rimson
Additional production and mixing - G Coach
Recorded by Bernie Getz, Ian Remmer
Photography Jim Rakette
Design by bLUE

Lyrics

Tracklist Lyrics
01 - My Friend Jack Lyrics

My Friend Jack
(© Hazel O'Connor
A. Karner)

How many roads had I gone, I got to
Feeling like I can't go on and on
Lord it seems, it gets so lonesome when
You're following dreams
And why was I on that road, where
The angels fear, like a fool I chose
To give a stranger a ride in the night
He said, ''heh listen here darling, I'll
Open your eyes''

I've been up to the bottom, and down to the top
Better not give up until you drop
There's a time to live, there's a time to die
My friend Jack said, he'd tell me why

You see Jack was a guy back in Vietnam
He had a key to survival, to dream of a better time
And boy, joy is a thing of the past
You gotta believe in the future or you won't last

Oh I believe, I believe in love
Oh I believe in the lord above
Oh I believe in a better life for
You and me and you

Well, the next day he was gone, was he dead
Or had he up and run
And talk with him all his hopes and his dreams
Me I was left with my nightmares and screams

I've been up to the bottom, and down to the top
Better not give up until you drop
There's a time to live, there's a time to die
My friend Jack said, he'd tell me why

Well I made it back from that bloody war
My future what had it all been for
No heroes welcome and my woman had left
See my name is Jack in case you hadn't guess

Oh I believe, I believe in love
Oh I believe in the lord above
Oh I believe in a better life for
You and me and you

So little lady when your feeling lost
Remember old Jack, remember the cost
So you got no shoes and you wail and weep
But remember there's a guy who ain't got no feet
02 - Reach Lyrics

Reach
(© Hazel O'Connor)

I've been waiting here so long for this train
I nearly left the station time and time again
I could change my plans I could go another way
Or I could just have lived my life for this day
(and I'm singing)

(Chorus)
Reach, reach oh I'm reaching out (this time)
I, I, I, I, I'm fighting back (for what is mine)
I'm reaching out, I'm fighting on and on and on

See I got a place to go to this time
And the train and me we're leaving all these
bad things behind
I've been around I've seen every kind of
hell hole and town, now I'm on my way home

(Chorus)

Unification, liberation
Unification, reciprocation

I would have done this a long time before
But I wasn't sure, I wasn't sure of your reciprocation
I said forget what the body said and search the
very heart of it and you too, come in from the cold

(Chorus)
03 - Tell Me Why Lyrics

Tell Me Why
(© Hazel O'Connor
Major Black)

Tell me why, why oh why
When a man wants a woman
Does he give her his best
Does he try to impress
All the things he will do
For her why
When that man gets that woman
Does he tend to neglect her
Does he tend to forget all the things, all the things
That he said
To get her
All the promises that he made
Gonna lose what he gained
Cause the time has come for things to change
You gotta change

Tell me why, why oh why
When a woman wants a man
Does she give him her best
Does she try to impress
All the things she will do
For him why
When that woman gets that man
Does she give him her heart
Does she then fall apart
When he's late start to hate
All those long
Lonely nights alone
When the lovin' feeling has gone
When her homes not a home
When the time has come for things to change
You gotta change

And why does a woman
Why does a man
Turn something special
Into a battle ground
When they both know
What they're fighting
is just a losing battle
Against the power of love
Of which nobody ever wins

Tell me why, why oh why
When a man loves a woman
Why can't he change
Just rearrange all the things
That he does to hurt her why
When a woman gets a man
Why can't she forgive him
Cause time has come for things to change
You gotta change

Cause time has come for things to change
Gotta change
Gotta change
Gotta change
Gotta change
04 - Time After Time Lyrics

Time After Time
(© Hazel O'Connor)

Time after time I will follow you
I lay myself on the line
I'd always try for you

Because you
You are my inspiration
You
You are my destination that's why
Time after time I choose you

Night after night I have dreamed of you
I see your smile, see your face
How could I ever hide from you

Because you
You are my inspiration
You
You are my destination that's why
Time after time I choose you

Time after time I'll choose you, time after time
Time after time I'll choose you, time after time

Time after time I will follow you
I'll lay myself on the line
I'd even die for you

Because you
You are my inspiration
You
You are my destination that's why
Time after time I choose you

Time after time I choose you, time after time
Time after time I choose you, time after time

Because you
You are my inspiration
You
You are my destination that's why
Time after time I choose you

Time after time I'll choose you, time after time
Time after time I'll choose you, time after time
05 - This Could Be Lyrics

This Could Be
(© Hazel O'Connor
A. Karner)

There you go, make like the world owes you a living again
what do you know, I have done for you the best that anyone could do...
times have been hard, yeah I know, and the knocks
destroy your very soul
you should stop, turn around and start again o come on!

This could be, the very best
that ever happened to you, happened to me
This could be, the very best
that ever happened to you, happened to me

And you talk to me, you talk to me in words of love
there you go...
and you're dreaming of your future, but your holding on
holding on to your past stuff, let it go...

Come on over here and hold me tight
we got the power babe to change our lives
we gotta stop, turn around and start again
oh come on!

This could be, the very best
that ever happened to you, happened to me
This could be, the very best
that ever happened to you, happened to me

And I wanna feel love
and I wanna breath love
and I wanna seethe with love
and I wanna be in, be in love
oh come on!
06 - Reinvention Lyrics

Reinvention
(© Hazel O'Connor
A. Karner)

I've seen people walking, sleeping, talking, chalking
up the scorchings of their amores
They're moving, grooving, crusing for a
bruising, winning, losing and I'm singing the blues encore

Cause there's something inside of me I left behind
and there's something inside of me
I just, I just got to find

It's reinvention re-i-n-v-e-n-t-i-o-n
(I'll say it again)
It's reinvention re-i-n-v-e-n-t-i-o-n

At times I have been needing, I've been
feeding on a meeting, with them people
who are cheating with a smile
And they do their best to let me see
heh every dog can have this day
and I'm singing the blues with style

because there's something inside of me
it's ready to explode
and there's something inside of me
I know, just got to grow

It's reinvention re-i-n-v-e-n-t-i-o-n
(I'll say it again)
It's reinvention re-i-n-v-e-n-t-i-o-n

I searched the whole world over
look and never find
but lately I have realised that
all I saw with my two eyes
ain't nothing, nothing

It's reinvention re-i-n-v-e-n-t-i-o-n
(I'll say it again)
It's reinvention re-i-n-v-e-n-t-i-o-n
07 - Those Eyes Lyrics

Those Eyes
(© Hazel O'Connor
A. Karner)

There have been eyes, have mystified me
have blinded me, those eyes
and there have been arms, have held me tight
all through some crazy nights, those arms

Nobody was holding me the way that you do
nobody could get to me the way that you have been gotten through

(Chorus)
It's those eyes, I can't get them out of my mind
it's your eyes, and they're mine
I just wanna tell you, I'm in love with your eyes

At times I love you, you've been my best friend
I hate when you pretend to me, we're enemies at times
did I tell you, I need you, it's like the air that I breathe
and I believe in you, I believe

Nobody no nobody can make me feel the way that you do
Nobody can get to me the way you have gotten through

(Chorus)
08 - To Be Freed Lyrics

To Be Freed
(© Hazel O'Connor
A. Karner)

I was drowning in my anger and my mystery
someone once told me
it's a diver you must learn to be
so I dived to the bottom of the ocean
I made friends with the things that
I feared, and didn't I rise to the tides
and I was freed

I was climbing up the mountain with
My excess baggage getting me down, down, down
My strength had all deserted me, mistakes
They weigh so heavily, Lord I fell to the ground
Then I looked inside my suitcase full
Of trouble and strife and all my victories
And sorrows of my past life and didn't I rise
and I was freed

I was dreaming we were eagles, flying
high, high to the edge of the sky
we vowed before the universe, stars
lit the space like some great church
where many candles shine
and your eyes were bright and firey
like the day that we met, I remembered
how I felt before our war made me forget
And didn't I rise to the sky
and I was freed

Now I realise, these obstacles
that we find - are teachers and the guides -
in my life, in my life, in my

I still love you, and I know
you still love me too

To be freed...
09 - Sing Out Sister Lyrics

Sing Out Sister
(© Hazel O'Connor)

Well, I'm sitting here wondering what can I do
I tell you I'm half crazy just thinkin' about you
Where can you be babe, I need you so bad
say, I need your love, like I never had

Oh what can I do, heh I'm feeling blue
heh I wanna
sing, sing, sing out sister
sing, sing, sing out sister
sing, sing, sing out sister
sing, sing, sing out sister

See the little girl she be on her way
she gonna make it in the U.S. of A.
and she gonna get her a great big car
she gonna ride that baby, ride that bay very far

Oh what can I do, heh I'm feeling blue
heh I wanna
sing, sing, sing out sister
sing, sing, sing out sister
sing, sing, sing out sister
sing, sing, sing out sister
10 - Over You Lyrics

Over You
(© Hazel O'Connor
A. Karner)

Did you think it's easy to leave me
I dare you baby you try
'cause if that's your fun, this game of hit and run
I ain't gonna waste my life crying

Over you, over you
I ain't gonna waste my life
crying over you

Well my mamma earth she said, heh I've seen love
I've seen hate, I've seen anger and pain
and they stripped my body for all that it's worth
but ain't gonna waste my life crying

Over you, over you
I ain't gonna waste my life
crying over you

The Moral of the story
is she tattered and torn
Hell hath no fury
like a woman scorned
11 - Let There Be Music Lyrics

Let There Be Music
(© Hazel O'Connor)

Well the years go past far to fast for me
and my heart grows cold, too cold, so cold to see
and the old man waits at the door
and the child inside calls out there must be more

Let there be music, dancing, music
flight of fancy, music and dancing with your heart
let there be real life
let there be real life
let there be real emotion
let there be real life let there be real...

Light, that light, dog gone, gone left your sight oh love
them bright light, city lights, got'ya sitting pretty
what you gonna do tonight
when you burned out, beaten and torn
let the child inside call out there must be more

Let there be music, dancing, music
flight of fancy, music and dancing with your heart
let there be real life
let there be real life
let there be real emotion
let there be real life let there be real...

Why must this life be so insecure
why must hide people hide behind close doors
I am gonna change it today
gonna open the door and I'm on my way
gonna change it (real life)
gonna change it (real emotion)
see this girl she's on her way
she gonna open the doors starting today

Let there be music, dancing, music
flight of fancy, music and dancing with your heart
let there be real life
let there be real life
let there be real emotion
let there be real life let there be real...
12 - Driftwood Lyrics

Driftwood
(© Hazel O'Connor)

Sitting on the sunny shoreline, see some driftwood
come to rest
worn out by the tides, born up by its endless rides
never free, just a bit like me.
I've been that piece of wood I've been tossed about
Upon the ocean of illusion, confusion.
Bitter and twisted like waves lashing out at the rock.

Well I now know I just gotta find
that shore line oh yeah, that little peace of mind
and let the sun shine on me

I swam the sea of passion, jealousy and pain,
ignorance pretends to drown, grabs for your hands
again, drags you down again.
Yeah, but my soul cries out just to break those chains,
Well listen you who've travelled all these jungles
concrete and the other kind, you know there's more
you got your own key the door, go on open it open it up

Well I now know I just gotta find
that shore line oh yeah, that little peace of mind
and let the sun shine on me

Been a long time from my home and I want
to get back there,
but most of my memories got washed away with the tide
a friend waits for me at the edge of the sea
my soul is your lover I cry

Oh beloved wipe away these tears from my eyes
of my illusion, my confusion.
Brittle and twisted like waves lashing out at the rock

Well I now know I just gotta find
that shore line oh yeah, that little peace of mind
and let the sun shine on me...
13 - Will You Lyrics

Will You
(© Hazel O'Connor
Wesley Magoogan)

You drink your coffee and I sip my tea
And we're sitting here playing so cool, thinking ''What will be, will be''
But it's getting kind of late now
Oh I wonder if you'll stay now, stay now, stay now, stay now
Or will you just politely say goodnight?

I move a little closer to you, not knowing quite what to do
And I'm feeling all fingers and thumbs, I spill my tea, oh silly me!
But it's getting kind of late now
I wonder if you'll stay now, stay now, stay now, stay now
Or will you just politely say goodnight?

And then we touch much too much
This moment has been waiting for a long long time
Makes me shiver, it makes me quiver
This moment I'm so unsure
This moment I've waited for
Is it something you've been waiting for, waiting for too?

Take off your eyes, bare your soul
Gather me to you and make me whole
Tell me your secrets, sing me the song
Sing it to me in the silent tongue
But it's getting kind of late now
I wonder if you'll stay now, stay now, stay now, stay now
Or will you just politely say goodnight?