The Scissors-Grinder's Song
Fetch on your scissors, your slender blade--
To make them brilliant and sharp's my trade;
To every door-step my grindstone comes,
And on and ever it strolls and hums.
I and my grindstone, we wander by,
And no one asks me from whence come I;
How poor I am, no one cares to know,
None care to hear of my spirit's woe.
I'm ground by sorrow both day and night,
And yet I never am polished bright;
I'm ground by hunger, and though it pales
The face, to sharpen the wit it fails.
I'm ground by grief, but the work is ill,
For notched and rusty my heart is, still.
The wheel is whirling, the stone has grit--
Fetch on your steel--shall I sharpen it?
poem by Carmen Sylva
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Related quotes
It's tough trying to keep your feet on the ground, your head above the clouds, your nose to the grindstone, your shoulder to the wheel, your finger on the pulse, your eye on the ball and your ear to the ground.
Step On You
You're in my way
You crossed my line
You're in my face
You're on my case, you really waste my time.
Don't like your style
Don't like your sound
You talk too much
You got no touch, you drive it in the ground
I'm gonna step on you
I'm gonna step on you
I'm gonna step on you
I'm gonna step on you
Don't like your smile
Don't like your clothes
Don't like your hair
And I don't care about your ruby pierced nose
You push too far
You talk too loud
You stay too long
You're in my song but you ain't in my crowd
I'm gonna step on you
I'm gonna step on you
I'm gonna step on you
I'm gonna step on you
You ruin my day and you're wrecking my night
I'm biting my lips because I'm ready to fight
I'm gonna sharpen my spikes
I'm gonna strap on my boots
I'm gonna squash you on sight
I'm gonna step on you
Step-step-step-step
You ruin my day and you're wrecking my night
I'm biting my lips because I'm ready to fight
I'm gonna sharpen my spikes
I'm gonna strap on my boots
I'm gonna squash you on sight
Don't leave no message on my telephone
Cut right through the bull, right to the bone
The snow in your nose and the crack in your brain
It used to be cool, now it's just insane
I'm gonna step on you
Step-I'm gonna step on you-step
Step
song performed by by Alice Cooper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Off The Ground
There must have been a lot of heartache
For you to sink so low.
You must have had a ton of pressure.
Only answer if the answers no.
I need loving, you need loving too.
Doesnt take a lot to get off the ground.
There must have been a lot of magic
When the world was born.
Let me be the one you wish for,
One you call for, when youre all alone.
I need loving, you need loving too.
Wouldnt take a lot to get off the ground.
Off the ground, off the ground.
Fly around, fly around.
Hear the sound, hear the sound.
Off the ground, off the ground.
Though it takes a lot of power
To make a bog tree grow.
It doesnt need a pot of knowledge.
For a seed knows what a seed must know.
You need loving, I need loving too.
Doesnt take a lot to get off the ground.
Off the ground, off the ground.
Fly around, fly around.
Hear the sounnd, hear the sound.
Off the ground, off the ground.
Hear the sound, hear the sound.
Off the groound, off the ground.
Yeah yeah, off the ground.
song performed by by Paul McCartney
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Burning Ground
And I take you down to the burning ground
And you change me up and you turned it around
In the wind and rain Im gonna see you again
In the morning sun and when the day is done
And you take my hand and you walk with me
Sometimes it feels like eternity
And I turn the tide I get back my pride
And I make you proud wont you say it out loud
When I take you down to the burning ground
To the burning ground, to the burning ground
To the burning ground, to the burning ground
And I take you down by the factory
And I show you like it has to be
And you understand how the work is done
And I pick up the sack in the midday sun
And I pull you through by the skin of your teeth
And I lift the veil, I see whats underneath
And you return to me and you sit on your throne
And you make me feel that Im not alone
And I take you down to the burning ground
To the burning ground, to the burning ground
To the burning ground
Hey man, whats that youre carrying?
Feels like lead
It weighs a ton - lets see if we can dump it by the side of the hill
Hey wait up, why dont you dump it on the burning ground
Dump it down there
Yeh man, dump the jute
Hey man dump the jute on the burning ground
Dump the jute?
Yeh you know, dump the jute
Dump the jute!
On the burning ground
On the burning ground
And you make me think what its all about
Sometimes I know gonna work it out
And I watch you run in the crimson sun
Tear my shirt apart open up my heart
And I watch you run
Down on your bended knees
By the burnt out well
Can you tell me please
Between heaven and hell
Wont you take me down
To the burning ground, to the burning ground
To the burning ground, to the burning ground
And you fall and pray, when you hear that sound
As were walking back to the burial mound
And you shake your head and you turn it around
And you see the flames from the burning ground
And you get down on your knees and pray
And I catch my breath as were running away
And I take the jute and I throw him down
On the burning ground, on the burning ground
On the burning ground, its on the burning ground.....
song performed by by Van Morrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Testify
Come a little closer it's a feeling that I can't deny
I was weak, but I never thought I'd speak about the darker side
Is that a ten? I could repent on the side of the road
But, I kept on going yeah I headed for another load
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
I was laid upon the grave by a preacher's hand I cannot lie
And, I forsake many vows I made to be with you tonight
Could you be the salvation cause I never felt like this before
And, could you lend me your hand because I'm falling back on the floor
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
On a road outside of nowhere, in the middle of the night
Well I guess I hit rock bottom and the dawn was not in sight
And a Tempest made of fire, onset the sky aglow
And a sweet young thing called out my name
And this is how it goes, she says...
Choir:
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
Meatloaf: And I got down on my knees
Choir :"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
Meatloaf (over the top of the choirs last two repititions):
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Meatloaf & Choir:
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Meatloaf:
Every cut that heals reveals a scar that you can never hope to hide
All the pain that you restrain keeps building up deep inside
If you think you're above it then it's you my friend that I implore
You've got to talk before you run
See the night before the dawn
Before you pull yourself off the floor
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
Choir Singer: Up from the ground yeah, I testify
Meatloaf & Choir:
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
song performed by by Meat Loaf
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Small Mourning Pieces
No time to prepare
Shoved over cliff by sorrows
Float down now, gently
Grief comes as strong waves
Tide that never seems to ebb
Let it wash your soul
Nasty Opponent
Grief punches all breath away
Never a fair fight
No time for Heroes
Pain strips away a brave face
Wear no mask for now
Heavy stones of grief
Lighten them with memories
Friendships ease the load
Recipe for grief
Fold laughter into sorrow
Make a grief soufflé
Someone, unseen, cares
Patting shoulder from afar
Dwell in gentle thoughts
Some point you forward
Others put words in your mouth
Follow your own voice
Walking in grief's field
Plant dark flowers in the ground
Teardrops are the rains
Morning light is harsh
Wander away from sadness
Dreams infuse the night
poem by Mary Havran
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Scissors-Grinder
The old man had his box and wheel
For grinding knives and shears.
No doubt his bell in village streets
Was joy to children's ears.
And I bethought me of my youth
When such men came around,
And times I asked them in, quite sure
The scissors should be ground.
The old man turned and spoke to me,
His face at last in view.
And then I thought those curious eyes
Were eyes that once I knew.
"The moon is but an emery-wheel
To whet the sword of God,"
He said. "And here beside my fire
I stretch upon the sod.
Each night, and dream, and watch the stars
And watch the ghost-clouds go.
And see that sword of God in Heaven
A-waving to and fro.
I see that sword each century, friend.
It means the world-war comes
With all its bloody, wicked chiefs
And hate-inflaming drums.
Men talk of peace, but I have seen
That emery-wheel turn round.
The voice of Abel cries again
To God from out the ground.
The ditches must flow red, the plague
Go stark and screaming by
Each time that sword of God takes edge
Within the midnight sky.
And those that scorned their brothers here
And sowed a wind of shame
Will reap the whirlwind as of old
And face relentless flame."
And thus the scissors-grinder spoke,
His face at last in view.
And there beside the railroad bridge
I saw the wandering Jew.
poem by Vachel Lindsay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Stamping Ground
The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
Still hang around.
Coming in with the same blokes,
Going home with the same jokes,
If you ever go missing
I know where youll be found :
The stamping ground.
The big fella on the front door knows your face.
The barman pretends that hes saved you a place,
But when your back is turned
They say shes older than she tells.
I could stand the main attraction,
But not the clientelle.
The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
Still hang around.
Coming in with the same blokes,
Going home with the same jokes,
If you ever go missing
I know where youll be found :
The stamping ground.
Everybody knows
Evrybodys trouble,
Who comes in alone,
Who leaves as a couple.
When they seen you coming, babe,
They act like theyre pleased to meet you.
Say its very nice to know you,
But I wouldnt want to be you.
The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
Still hang around.
Going home with the same blokes,
Going home with the same jokes,
If you ever go missing
I know where youll be found :
The stamping ground.
You talk like you dont have a brain in your head.
You act like you dont have a care in your bed.
Th lights are on,
Theres no one home,
It scares you to death.
You stamp on anyone who stops to take a breath.
The stamping ground,
The stamping ground.
All your old gang
Still hang around.
Going home with the same blokes,
Going home with the same jokes,
If you ever go missing
I know where youll be found :
The stamping ground.
The stamping ground.
The stamping ground.
The stamping ground.
The stamping ground.
song performed by by Elvis Costello
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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She dwelleth in the Ground
671
She dwelleth in the Ground—
Where Daffodils—abide—
Her Maker—Her Metropolis—
The Universe—Her Maid—
To fetch Her Grace—and Hue—
And Fairness—and Renown—
The Firmament's—To Pluck Her—
And fetch Her Thee—be mine—
poem by Emily Dickinson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Like A Tall Thin Girl
Well, I dont care to eat out in smart restaurants.
Id rather do a vindaloo: take away is what I want.
I was down at the old bengal, having telephoned a treat
When I saw her framed in the kitchen door.
She looked good enough to eat.
(and I mean eat.)
She was a tall thin girl.
She looked like a tall thin girl.
She said, ''whose is this carry-out?
My face turned chilli red.
Well, I dont know about carrying out,
But you can carry me off to bed.
(and I mean bed.)
She was a tall thin girl.
She moved like a tall thin girl.
Maybe I can fetch for it,
And maybe I can stretch for it.
I may not be a fat man and Im not exactly small
But when it all comes down, couldnt stand my ground.
This girl was tall.
(and I mean tall.)
Big boy doane, hes a drummer. dont play no tambourine
But hes madras hot on the bongo trot,
If you know just what I mean.
Stands six foot three in his underwear;
Going to get him down here and see
If this good ladys got a little sister 'bout the same size as me.
She was a tall thin girl.
She looked like a tall thin girl.
Well, can I fetch for it?
Well, maybe I can stretch for it?
Well, am I up for it? or do I have to go down for it?
song performed by by Jethro Tull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Trying Time
I've been trying real hard, to be a man,
Doing all I can, to make things right,
Here I go again, deep into the night,
Well who knows how this will end,
As long as I stay true to you, my friend,
So where are we going to now?
And how much love will you allow?
Don't want to be alone,
Or is it me you have outgrown?
Maybe I should not try so hard, to be your friend,
One day our hearts will mend,
What do any of us really know?
Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow!
What is it that we seek?
Need the courage to make it through the week!
My life seems to be a mess,
You say that you could care less,
That's okay, time to stand my own ground,
The melody of my mind is the only sound,
You'll hear when they put you in the ground!
If Angels could care at all,
Then I would see you more,
That sound might be you at my door,
What is it gonna take to get you off your throne,
And bring you home?
Can't you see I'm all alone.
15 July 2012
poem by David Andre' Klopper
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Is There A Legal Ground
Is there a legal ground?
One can stand on to feel safe and sound.
Is there a legal ground?
One that can be found that's not shaking around.
Is there a legal ground?
One that is near,
Not to be feared...
And if one should fall,
A solidness is clear!
Is there a legal ground?
Anywhere.
One understood.
One that is shared.
Is there a legal ground?
One that is cemented...
Making feelings of it different,
With a jumping up and down...
Packing heavy weighted pounds.
Is there a legal ground?
Around...
To be found!
Is there a legal ground?
Around...
To be found.
Is there a legal ground?
Around...
To be found.
Is there a legal ground?
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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(Family poems) Family violence
Last night while
you were sleeping
The stars were
brilliant in heaven
Last night when
You were dreaming
we heard those blood
curdling yells as
if in a nightmare
Last night
when you were
Sound asleep
We jumped up
to hide under the bed
Last night when you
were snoring
in dreamland a stray
Bullet hit the wall
you can see the hole
Right there next to
where you're resting
Last night when you
were guarded safely
By God and the angels
we heard the gun shots
Last night when you
were chatting to
The fairies who come
to fetch you to fairyland
We went outside
to see for ourselves
Last night when you
refused to wake up and
You threatened to cut
our bus fares
The police came to
arrest your friend
You know the man of
the house next door
Last night when you
were angry with us
The people from
the mortuary came
To fetch the corpse
of the dead woman
next door
We cry
We will never
see her again
She who
was so full of
life and happiness
You wake up to whimper and
wail and weep about
what's happening
Behind the false smiles
And the closed doors
in this neighborhood
It's not easy to trust
The menfolk
we love so much
poem by Ngaka Motaung
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Blades
SOJOURNER, set down
Your skimming wheel;
Nothing is sharp
That we have of steel:
Nothing has edge:
Oh, whirl around
Your wheel of stone
Till our blades be ground!
Harshly, quickly, under blades
Hafted with horn and wood and bone
Went the wheel:
Narrow long knives that should be one edge,
House-knives that sliced the loaf to the heel,
And scraped scales off mackerel,
And weighty knives that were shaped like a wedge-
Stone wakened keenness m their steel:
Knives with which besom-makers pare
Their heather-stalks, and hawkers' blades
Used by men of a dozen trades;
Broad-bladed knives that cut bacon-sides,
And stumpy knives for cobblers' hides,
With hunters' knives that were thinned with wear:-
All were brought to,
All were laid on,
All were ground by
The Sojourner's wheel.
And those who filled the market-square
Saw hand and eye upon their ware
That were well schooled and scrupulous
To spend upon that task their use.
But sparks came from the eyes and met
The sparks that were from the edges whet
As eagerly and wittingly
The dullness of each blade scoured he,
And the brow he bent was like a stone.
Over the grinding-stone he sang,
'The dalesman's sword shall make you fear,
And the dirk in the grasp of the mountaineer,
likewise the pirate's blue cutlass
have left your blades long edgeless!'
the men were thinking of games of cards,
the looks of the boys were turned towards
corner where they played pitch and toss,
the women thought of the herring across
tongs to roast where pot-hooks hang,
ready and unforward men have no right to any lien
the gifts of Tubal Cain,
The gifts of our father, Tubal Cain!'
But no one drew meaning from the song
As he made an equal edge along
One side of the blade and the other one,
And polished the surface till it shone.
'Now leave a blessing on what you have done.'
'For what I have done I take my fee,
But no blessing I leave on it,' said he,
'Everybody knows,
Everybody knows
That the knife-grinder
No blessing bestows.'
Then the market-place, with wheel a-pack,
He left, and the men to their cards went back
And talked of a bird in the cocker's loft;
And of liming linnets beside the croft
The boys told between pitch and toss;
And the women laid the herring across
The tongs to roast for a sloven's meal.
And he went out beside the Peel
Tower, and through Saint Selskar's Gate,
Heading at a hearty rate
Towards the hilltops and the shades.
And three who brought back sharpened blades
To their fathers' stalls by the Tan-yard Side,
And then stayed while a blackbird cried
Quietly by their groundsills
The butcher's daughter,
The cobbler's daughter,
The hawker's daughter,
Were lost on the hills!
poem by Padraic Colum
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Steel Monkey
As the moon slips up, and the sun sets down,
Im a highrise jockey, and Im heaven-bound.
Do the workboot shuffle, loose brains from brawn.
Im a monkey puzzle and the lid is on.
Can you guess my name? can you guess my trade?
Im going to catch you anyway.
You might be right. Ill give you guesses three.
Feel me climbing up your knee.
Guess what I am. Im a steel monkey.
Now some men hustle and some just think.
And some go running before you blink.
Some look up and some look down
From three hundred feet above the ground.
Can you guess my name? and can you guess my trade?
Well, I wont rest before the world is made.
Arm in arm the angels fly.
Keep me from falling out the sky.
Steel monkey.
I work in the thunder and I work in the rain.
I work at my drinking, and I feel no pain.
I work on women, if they want me to.
You can have me climb all over you.
Now, have you guessed my name?
And have you guessed my trade?
Im cheap at the money I get paid.
In the sulphur city, where men are men,
We bolt those beams then climb again.
Steel monkey.
song performed by by Jethro Tull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Out Of The Garden
Out of the Garden of Eden,
Work on the ground from which you were made;
Like the keeper of sheep and the tiller of the land.
A lion,
A calf,
A face of a man;
Sin is crouching at your door like a fugitive!
So be very wise at all times on this earth.
We will ever be searching for peace without rest,
Like one woe after the other on this earth;
For we have to work on the ground of which we were taken from.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Through Agony
I
All night, through the eternity of night,
Pain was my potion though I could not feel.
Deep in my humbled heart you ground your heel,
Till I was reft of even my inner light,
Till reason from my mind had taken flight,
And all my world went whirling in a reel.
And all my swarthy strength turned cold like steel,
A passive mass beneath your puny might.
Last night I gave you triumph over me,
So I should be myself as once before,
I marveled at your shallow mystery,
And haunted hungrily your temple door.
I gave you sum and substance to be free,
Oh, you shall never triumph any more!
II
I do not fear to face the fact and say,
How darkly-dull my living hours have grown,
My wounded heart sinks heavier than stone,
Because I loved you longer than a day!
I do not shame to turn myself away
From beckoning flowers beautifully blown,
To mourn your vivid memory alone
In mountain fastnesses austerely gray.
The mists will shroud me on the utter height,
The salty, brimming waters of my breast
Will mingle with the fresh dews of the night
To bathe my spirit hankering to rest.
But after sleep I'll wake with greater might,
Once more to venture on the eternal quest.
poem by Claude McKay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Shakey Ground
Lady luck and the four leaf clover
Wont ease this hurt,i feel all over
My life was one special occasion
Till u leave me damp in the situation
Well well well standing on shakey ground
Ever since you put me down
Standing on shakey ground
Ever since you put me down
My car got repossessed this morning
Harder times I havent seen in years
Able to throw me a life preserver
'cos Im about to drown in my own tears
Well well well standing on shakey ground
Ever since you put me down
Standing on shakey ground
Ever since you put me down
Well well well standing on shakey ground
Ever since you put me down
Standing on shakey ground
Ever since you put me down
Standing on shakey ground
Ever since you put me down
Well well well standing on shakey ground
Shaking, shakey ground
Standing, standing
Standing on shakey ground
song performed by by Don Henley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Space Oddiity
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God's love be with you
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five,
Four, Three, Two, One, Liftoff
This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare
"This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do
Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell me wife I love her very much she knows"
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....
"Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do.
song performed by by David Bowie
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Space Oddity
[David Bowie]
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills
And put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition
And may God's love be with you
Ten, nine eight, seven, six, five
Four, three, two, one, liftoff
This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know
Whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule
If you dare
This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculair way
And the stars look very different
Today
For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do
Though I'm past 100,000 miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows
Which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much,
She knows
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead,
There's something wrong
Can you hear me Major Tom
Can you hear me Major Tom
Can you hear me Major Tom
Can you....
Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do
song performed by by Helloween
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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