Ballade Of The Dead Cities
The dust of Carthage and the dust
Of Babel on the desert wold,
The loves of Corinth, and the lust,
Orchomenos increased with gold;
The town of Jason, over-bold,
And Cherson, smitten in her prime -
What are they but a dream half-told?
Where are the cities of old time?
In towns that were a kingdom's trust,
In dim Atlantic forests' fold,
The marble wasteth to a crust,
The granite crumbles into mould;
O'er these--left nameless from of old -
As over Shinar's brick and slime,
One vast forgetfulness is roll'd -
Where are the cities of old time?
The lapse of ages, and the rust,
The fire, the frost, the waters cold,
Efface the evil and the just;
From Thebes, that Eriphyle sold,
To drown'd Caer-Is, whose sweet bells toll'd
Beneath the wave a dreamy chime
That echo'd from the mountain-hold, -
'Where are the cities of old time?'
ENVOY.
Prince, all thy towns and cities must
Decay as these, till all their crime,
And mirth, and wealth, and toil are thrust
Where are the cities of old time.
poem by Andrew Lang
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Related quotes
Rock n Roll Cities
Rock n roll cities, look out here we come
From buffalo to the gulf of mexico
Rock n roll cities, look out for our bus
Does anybody know the way to idaho?
Well its good to be back
Had some trouble on the way
I never thought wed get here
But we made it just the same
The flight over was real rough
So could you lead me to a beer
I see the pretty girls getting younger
Every year
Rock n roll cities, look out here we come
From new york state to the gulf of mexico
Rock n roll cities, look out for our bus
Does anybody know the way to idaho?
Wcvr konk, wsos, are we still on that playlist?
Well, its anybodys guess
But what does it matter when youre out on the town
Rock n roll cities, with a pizza to go
Rock n roll cities, philadelphia p.a.
I got my radio
Promo for mtv
Whats next on the itinerary? can anybody tell?
Whats the hotel like? is there cable t.v. as well?
Get up with a headache, fall asleep on the plane
And we get there, start all over again
Rock n roll cities, look out were coming through
Kansas city, fresno, san diego
Rock n roll cities, look out here we come
Richmond, cleveland, ohio, nebraska, st. paul
Rock n roll cities, look out here we come
From buffalo to the gulf of mexico
Rock n roll cities, watch out for our bus
Does anybody know the way to idaho?
Flight 62 now leaving for memphis stopping at boston
Washington d.c. with continuing service to los angeles
Seattle, portland... etc...
Rock n roll cities, look out here we come
90 miles on highway 61
Rock n roll ladies, watch out here we come
Does anybody know the way to madison?
Rock n roll cities look out here we come
Rock n roll cities
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Absence
I speak to you across cities
I speak to you across plains
My mouth is upon your pillow
Both faces of the walls come meeting
My voice discovering you
I speak to you of eternity
O cities memories of cities
Cities wrapped in our desires
Cities come early cities come lately
Cities strong and cities secret
Plundered of their master's builders
All their thinkers all their ghosts
Fields pattern of emerald
Bright living surviving
The harvest of the sky over our earth
Feeds my voice I dream and weep
I laugh and dream among the flames
Among the clusters of the sun
And over my body your body spreads
The sheet of it's bright mirror.
poem by Paul Eluard
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Absence
I speak to you over cities
I speak to you over plains
My mouth is against your ear
The two sides of the walls face
my voice which acknowledges you.
I speak to you of eternity.
O cities memories of cities
cities draped with our desires
cities early and late
cities strong cities intimate
stripped of all their makers
their thinkers their phantoms
Landscape ruled by emerald
live living ever-living
the wheat of the sky on our earth
nourishes my voice I dream and cry
I laugh and dream between the flames
between the clusters of sunlight
And over my body your body extends
the layer of its clear mirror.
poem by Paul Eluard
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Cities
(Justin Hayward)
Neon the city's sun
Taxis like beetles run, and I see
Pavements with yellow lines
Grey walls and big bold signs with darkness
Up above, all around
In the sky, on the ground
This is what, I have found
Cities, cities
Here the flowers don't grow
Here the river's just a sewer
People who move below
Buildings with smells and noise and darkness
Up above, all around
In the sky, on the ground
This is what, I have found
Cities, cities
Not for me
No, no I don't believe you
It's not the place to be
No, no I won't believe you
Here the flowers don't grow
Here the river's just a sewer
People who move below
Buildings with smells and noise and darkness
Up above, all around
In the sky, on the ground
This is what I have found
Cities, cities, cities
*************************************************************
song performed by by Moody Blues
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cities On Flame
My heart is black, and my lips are cold
Cities on flame with rock and roll
Three thousand guitars they seem to cry
My ears will melt, and then my eyes
Oh, let the girl, let that girl, rock and roll
Cities on flame now, with rock and roll
Gardens of nocturne, forbidden delights
Reins of steel, and it's alright
Cities on flame, with rock and roll
Marshal will buoy, but Fender control
Let the girl, let that girl rock and roll
Cities on flame now, with rock and roll
My heart is black, and my lips are cold
Cities on flame with rock and roll
Three thousand guitars they seem to cry
My ears will melt, and then my eyes
Let the girl, let that girl rock and roll
Cities on flame now, with rock and roll
song performed by by Iced Earth
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Drums Of Heaven
By the time the luminous descent of the bright star unfolds
And tablets of strange love are shattered and bruised
By the time the oleander has fallen from bloom
And the tears of the crocodile water the sun
By the time you make up your mind
If ever you do
I hear the drums of heaven too
By the time paradise alley is littered with rust
And the arc of the dayglo is curtained in gloom
By the time the kidney bone cities are crumbling to dust
And the empires and all of the emirates burn
Ice on the mountain
Wind and the dust storm
Sails in the desert
Its old and exploding
Seers and the prophets
Dramas of heaven
(hirst/moginie/garrett)
song performed by by Midnight Oil
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Babylon
If you could bring her glories back!
You gentle sirs who sift the dust
And burrow in the mould and must
Of Babylon for bric-a-brac;
Who catalogue and pigeon-hole
The faded splendours of her soul
And put her greatness under glass -
If you could bring her past to pass!
If you could bring her dead to life!
The soldier lad; the market wife;
Madam buying fowls from her;
Tip, the butcher's bandy cur;
Workmen carting bricks and clay;
Babel passing to and fro
On the business of a day
Gone three thousand years ago -
That you cannot; then be done,
Put the goblet down again,
Let the broken arch remain,
Leave the dead men's dust alone -
Is it nothing how she lies,
This old mother of you all,
You great cities proud and tall
Towering to a hundred skies
Round a world she never knew,
Is it nothing, this, to you?
Must the ghoulish work go on
Till her very floors are gone?
While there's still a brick to save
Drive these people from her grave!
The Jewish seer when he cried
Woe to Babel's lust and pride
Saw the foxes at her gates;
Once again the wild thing waits.
Then leave her in her last decay
A house of owls, a foxes' den;
The desert that till yesterday
Hid her from the eyes of men
In its proper time and way
Will take her to itself again.
poem by Ralph Hodgson
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Layers
Above are layers of atmosphere, stratosphere,
Below layers of topsoil, rock and clay,
People in layers rich and poor,
Cities built on top of cities, on top of cities.
Layers of thought conscious to unconscious,
Felt in layers asleep to awake,
In a dream of a dream, of a dream in a dream,
In a dream of a dream, in a dream.
poem by Richard Jarboe
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Well, first of all the Dominion Bureau of Statistics made a survey in the spring of 1970, which showed that on balance the difference in the cost of living between Canadian cities and American cities was 5 % to the advantage, of course, to the Canadian cities.
quote by Leonard Woodcock
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Time To Heal
In the cities and the towns
The word is coming down
No more doubt, no more pain
Theres been a dragging of the chain
Now theres a price we gotta pay
No way out, no way round
Where is the town that we lived in, brother?
Where is the sound of the church bells, sister?
Now is the time to heal
You keep running from the wheel
But theres nothing left to feel
Empty heart down and out
Now the writers cant explain
Why were playing up again
No way out, no way down
Where is the hope of a clean tomorrow?
Hope only offers when justice is coming
Now is the time to heal
Where is the ground, the beloved country?
Women and men who have fallen silent
Where are the words that can speak forgiveness?
Now is the time
Now is the time
Now is the time to heal
song performed by by Midnight Oil
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cities and Thrones and Powers
Cities and Thrones and Powers,
Stand in Time's eye,
Almost as long as flowers,
Which daily die:
But, as new buds put forth
To glad new men,
Out of the spent and unconsidered Earth,
The Cities rise again.
This season's Daffodil,
She never hears,
What change, what chance, what chill,
Cut down last year's;
But with bold countenance,
And knowledge small,
Esteems her seven days' continuance,
To be perpetual.
So Time that is o'er -kind,
To all that be,
Ordains us e'en as blind,
As bold as she:
That in our very death,
And burial sure,
Shadow to shadow, well persuaded, saith,
"See how our works endure!"
poem by Rudyard Kipling
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Time After Time Etc. (live Medley, 1987-09-14)
Ask the girl of the hour by the water towers watch
If your friends took a fall, are you obligated to follow
Time after time after time
If your tired and youre tried you can find me in my room
You can stay if you want and the third time you cant lose
Time after time after time
Time after time after time
If the bulls on his hooves, when you gather friends by the tower
If you try to refuse, will they judge your worth by the hour?
Time after time after time
Time after time after time
Red rain is coming down
Red rain is coming down
Pouring down on me
I come to you defenses down with the trust of a child
Did you never call? I waited for your call
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city on the river there is a girl without a dream
Im sorry, Im sorry
Eastern to Mountain, third party call, the lines are down
The wise man built his words upon the rocks
But Im not bound to follow suit
The trees will bend, the cities wash away
The city in the mountains there is a boy without a dream
Im sorry, Im sorry
Did you never call? I waited for your call
These rivers of suggestion are driving me away
The ocean sang, the conversations dimmed
Go buy yourself another dream, this choice wasnt mine
Im sorry, Im sorry, Im sorry, Im sorry
I would swim the ocean deep
Climb the highest mountain peak
I come to you defenses down with the trust of a child
song performed by by REM
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lonely Cities Of The Heart
As the midnight fades in boys town
And the hustle stops to glow
This urban landscape sprawls before me
And the hunger starts to grow
But something more than my daddy showed to me
How he wanted to make a man of me
Living in the lonely cities of the heart
Hiding in the shadows and searching in the dark
My mama reads me like an open book
She knows when Im up or down
But every night I stay longer
In the creole part of town
Something more than what the good lord gave to me
Something more, much more than this
Living in the lonely cities of the heart
Hiding in the shadows, searching in the dark
And it never stops, no it never stops, no one defends you now
Living in the lonely cities of the heart
(instrumental)
I can take a little pain, but not tonight again
Outside my hotel window I hear the mardi gras
Keep the candle burning bright babe, Ive come too far
As daylight creeps through the curtains I start to slip away,
And everything that seems so certain is just another day
Living in the lonely cities of the heart
Hiding in the shadows searching in the dark
And it never stops, no it never stops, no one defends you now
Living in the lonely cities of the heart
Hiding in the shadows searching in the dark
And it never stops, no it never stops, no one defends you now
Living in the lonely cities of the heart
Living in the lonely cities of the heart...
song performed by by Ufo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Maze Of Power
Where were you when powers were to blame?
Return to the cities of treasure when it is time.
Going into cities of gold, the gates were bombarded
And the gates were opened to the people of cowardice.
You are not too treasured as a time is,
You are selfless when others are selfish,
Your pen runs thin after a line of ink.
May blame be given not forsaken,
The men who are plain with transgression
Are to be in a fountain of blood.
The blood of places is the blood of reward,
We see like others in this maze of buildings.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Scar
Travelling through
Flashback to you
Fire
I see fire
Sun in my eyes
People in love
Talk far too much
Cities have lights
Cities have lights
Sun in my eyes
Car passenger
Fate at the wheel
Quick kiss of death
Car passenger
Fate at the wheel
Quick kiss of death
Travelling through
Cities have lights
Cities have lights
Car passenger
Fire
I see fire
Lyrics : j kerr music : simple minds (c) emi publishing ltd reproduced without permission
song performed by by Simple Minds
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Cities Of White Men
Those men build many houses:
They dig the earth, and they build;
They cut down the trees, and they build;
They work always - building.
From the elevation of the mountainside
I behold the clouds:
The clouds build many beautiful houses in the sky:
They build, and they tear down;
They build, and they dissolve. . . .
The cities of white men,
They are not beautiful like the cloud cities;
They are not vast, like the cloud cities. . . .
A wind-swept teepee
Is all the house I own. . .
poem by Anonymous Americas
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Topography
After we flew across the country we
got in bed, laid our bodies
delicately together, like maps laid
face to face, East to West, my
San Francisco against your New York, your
Fire Island against my Sonoma, my
New Orleans deep in your Texas, your Idaho
bright on my Great Lakes, my Kansas
burning against your Kansas your Kansas
burning against my Kansas, your Eastern
Standard Time pressing into my
Pacific Time, my Mountain Time
beating against your Central Time, your
sun rising swiftly from the right my
sun rising swiftly from the left your
moon rising slowly form the left my
moon rising slowly form the right until
all four bodies of the sky
burn above us, sealing us together,
all our cities twin cities,
all our states united, one
nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
poem by Sharon Olds
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All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim.
quote by Christopher Morley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Queen without crown
I am queen but have no crown,
I still rule firmly but people not frown,
Down to dusk and dust to down,
All big cities and small small town,
I am straight and act very swift,
Curb the crime an deal very strict,
Criminals on run and their entry restrict,
Happy all towns, cities and district,
What do I ask more from citizens?
Obey the rules and not prove burdens,
Never become unruly and create more hurdles,
State may have peace with no more loop holes,
State is not body but holy invisible institution,
May not have written all in symbolic constitution,
Still it remains and has its existence,
Only welfare measures and no other insistence,
“Live and let others live” should have motto,
Never politics turn to make it ghetto,
State belongs to all and no claim of one,
Larger should be concept as belongs to none,
Time is running out and divine days are over,
Kings and queens find difficult to cover,
Thought many may prevail king rule over,
But ideas not find devour as mooted by fewer,
I may not rule, vast land and track,
but can’t retrace steps and suddenly fall back,
Beautiful green fields and clean sea shore bank,
All put together may form new front and rank,
King can be tyrant and also cruel,
But will nit ignite fire and fuel,
Public opinion matter in most matter,
So is the time to crate new platter,
People may revolt and force to abdicate,
Ruler should know and should indicate,
Populist measures must vindicate,
Forming people’s forum or with syndicate
poem by Hasmukh Amathalal
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You can look at the West Bank. Cities are like prisons. They can be closed quickly by the Israeli forces, and everything stops in these cities. This is the result of Oslo.
quote by Hassan Nasrallah
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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