Jim Steinman — Lyrical Bits & Pieces

Unreleased songs and various bits and pieces found around the web.

Private of Privates (ca. 1976)
The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be (Phantom of the Paradise / alternate lyrics) (1/5/87)
A Kiss Is a Terrible Thing to Waste (Phantom of the Paradise / alternate lyrics) (1/5/87)
(It Hurts) Only When I Feel (January 31, 2005)
Dear Mamma / Always It’s the War (February 12, 2006)
Dear Mamma (February 13, 2006)
Speaking in Tongues (alternate/Christmas verse) (February 12/13, 2006)
Untitled (July 8, 2006)
Renagade Angel (July 19, 2006)
Paradise Lost
The Monster is Out of the Cage
The Devil’s Playground (October 26, 2007)
Why God, Oh Why (Fragment from NUTZ) (2015)

Private of Privates

He was young, he was eager to learn
He was stung, with a passion to burn
He was hung, and he hung in return—
My private of privates

He was mean, flowers died where he spat
Full of spleen, when he took tit for tat
He was green, but I loved him for that—
My private of privates

At the height of passion, he would dangle me
When he wasn’t mashin’, he would mangle me
Mornings he would dash in and untangle me
My private of privates was empirical
If I’m still alive it’s a miracle

If I shut, both my eyes when we kissed
I got cut, at the neck and the wrist
At my gut, how his fingers would twist—
My private of privates

As my warrior grew gorrier
My body, it grew sorier

When he marched off to war, I was crushed
I was parched and downtrodden and hushed
Cause he marched on my back, while I gushed—
My private of privates

How much more in love could anybody be?
I kissed the ground he walked on while he walked on me
How much more in love could anybody be?
I kissed the ground he walked on while he walked on me

He wrote to me direct from overseas—
A note that made me weak at the knees
A depiction of war on a picture post card
A description of war that would make a ghost hard

How would I ever compete with that?!

Then and there I knew that I had lost
To a wanton bitch of a holocaust
Then and there I knew that I had lost
To a bitch … of a holocaust

Oh, my private of privates was gone
But his mark and his marks linger on
Yes, his mark and his marks linger on …

How much more in love could anybody be?
I kissed the ground he walked on while he walked on me
How much more in love could anybody be?
I kissed the ground he walked on while he walked on me

Rebel Without a Clue

I’m on a freeway to nowhere
Running on empty time
I gotta ticket to somewhere
Anywhere a long way down the line

I wanna go on the red light
I wanna go on the green
I wanna go on all the colors I see in between
There ain’t no holding us down

The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be (Phantom of the Paradise / alternate lyrics)

I never knew so many bad times
Could follow me so mercilessly
It’s almost surreal
All the pain that I feel
The future ain’t what it used to be

It doesn’t matter what they’re thinking
It doesn’t matter what they’re thinking of me
It’s always so cold
Guess I was born to be old
The future ain’t what it used to be

There’s never been anyone else
Who could believe in me exactly like you
And all I ever needed was another moment
And a chance to make it all come true

When I saw you I was sure that we must have been dreaming each other
It was just too perfect to last
Every memory that we made was golden
But memories often come and go in a flash
And all you got’s a lot of golden oldies
And I still don’t believe that the best of my future
Is forever just a part of my past
But I believe it when you—

Hold me now and then a little longer
Show me how to live a little stronger tonight
Dream on now and then a little harder
Show me how to go a little farther tonight
Touch me now and then a little gently
Tell me how the angels must have sent me tonight
Show me what the meaning of romance is
Show me how the dancers all get lost in the dance

Say a prayer for the falling angels
Stem the tide of the rising waters
Toll a bell for the broken hearted
Burn a torch for your sons and daughters
The endless night has got a hold of me
Dark days are pulling me forward
These ancient tears are washing over me—
I’m crying and I’m trapped forever—
In a future that ain’t what it used to be
No more, no more, no more, no more

It’s like a storm that’s never ending
It’s like a shadow on the land and the sea
There’s nothing so sad as
A tomorrow gone bad
The future ain’t what it used to be

Some days I feel so numb and empty
And those would be the good days for me
Nothing gets to me now
Unless I’m thinking of how
The future ain’t what it used to be

Were there ever any stars in the sky
Did the sun ever shine so bright?
Do you have any dreams I could borrow
Just to get me through the lonely night?
Is there anything left to hold on to
When the rivers wash it all away?
Is there anyone left to hold on to
Is there anything left I can say?

Say a prayer for the falling angels
Stem the tide of the rising waters
Toll a bell for the broken hearted
Burn a torch for your sons and daughters
The endless night has got a hold on me
Dark days are pulling me forward
These ancient tears are washing over me
I’m crying and I’m lost forever
In a future that ain’t what it used to be
No more, no more, no more

The future just ain’t what it used to be
It’s never gonna be like it was
The future just ain’t what it used to be
I wish it wouldn’t come but it does
I wish it wouldn’t come but it always does

A Kiss Is a Terribe Thing to Waste (Phantom of the Paradise / alternate lyrics)

I was lost till you were found
But I never knew how far down
I was falling
Before I reached the bottom

I was cold and you were fire
And I never knew how the pyre
Could be burning
On the edge of the ice field

And now the chilly California wind
Is blowing down our bodies again
And we’re sinking deeper and deeper in the chilly California sand

Don’t let it all get away from you
Don’t let it slip through your hands
You’ll never feel the rain if you never know it’s coming
You’ll never heal the pain if you never stop your running from it
Baby, baby don’t you know by now
Everything in life will fade
Baby, baby we’ll all get by somehow
There’s no reason to be afraid
It’s just an innocent taste
And a kiss is a terrible thing to waste

A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
Just tell ‘em your mama said so
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
And one of these nights you’re gonna show me that you already know

I was damned and you were saved
And I never knew how enslaved
I was kneeling
In the chains of my master

I could laugh but you could cry
And I never knew just how high
I was flying
Ah, with you right above me

And now the chilly California wind
Is blowing down our bodies again
And we’re sinking deeper and deeper in the chilly California sand

Don’t let your dreams get all rusty
Keep on using them as hard as you can
The night is so much darker than it has any right to be
Don’t let it all get away from you
Don’t let it slip through your hands (and)
Blessed are the lovers just beginning to learn
Blessed are the fires just beginning to burn
You’ll have to pay for it later
If you don’t get it when it’s going for free
And believe me that—

A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
Just tell ‘em your mama said so
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
And one of these nights you’re gonna show me that you already know

A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
Just tell ‘em your mama said so
A kiss is a terrible thing to waste
And “if only” are the loneliest words you’ll ever know
And “if only” are the loneliest words you’ll ever know

(It Hurts) Only When I Feel

There are things I have come to believe
Since the new resurection of love
There are visions I finally see
There are signs everywhere, they’re below and above

There are things that I finally know
There are secrets and dreams never seen in the light
And we’re suddenly plunged in the dark
Our soul is a beast that goes bump in the night

There are endless nights, they just go on forever
There are scars on scars that I know will never heal
There’s relentless pain – it tortures me forever
I’ve got to pretend it ain’t real

But at least it only hurts
At least it only hurts… only when I feel

It hurts only when I feel....

Give me some words I can live by
Give me commandments to know
Give me some fables and proverbs
Give me some signs where to go

I’m a desperate, lonely child and I don’t have enough
I’ve come to know the rules of all the scriptures of love

If it ain’t real – fake it!
If it ain’t yours – take it!
If it’s all gone bad – forsake it!
And if it ain’t broke – break it!

Everything I’ve ever dreamed of
Has begun to fade to black
I don’t know where I ever lost love
Or where to go now to get it back

There are designated angels who just might save our soul
They give me rules to live by – and that’s all that I know

If it ain’t real – fake it!
If it ain’t yours – take it!
If it don’t exist – you make it!
And if it ain’t broke – break it!

If it ain’t real – fake it!
If it ain’t yours – take it!
If it’s all gone bad – forsake it!
And if it ain’t broke – break it....

There are endless nights, they just goes on forever
Scars on scars that I know will never heal
There’s a ruthless pain that tortures me forever
I’ve got to pretend it ain’t real...

At least it only hurts…
At least it only hurts… only when I feel!

At least it only hurts…
At least it only hurts…
At least it only hurts…
At least it only hurts… only when I feel

It hurts only when I feel

If it ain’t real – fake it!
If it ain’t yours – take it!
If it don’t exist – you make it!
And if it ain’t broke – break it!

If it ain’t real – fake it!
If it ain’t yours – take it!
If it’s fallen asleep – you wake it!
And if it ain’t broke – break it!

Dear Mamma (February 12, 2006)

Dear Mamma,

The entire country is burning. You can see the flames like the inside of a mad jukebox. Lost children wander the streets, their heads rocking with dream lighting. Motorcycles reproduce in nocturnal alleys, groanin’ with greasy pleasure. And they’s blown up the YMCA like a giant balloon, full of screaming, lovely, lonely girls.

My best friend, mamma — your remember him — Kenny, from Maple Drive, you know he’s been here a year. Yesterday he stept on a mine and was not hurt. It’s a miracle. Then twelve hours later he looked at me, he held his chest and said that he felt a fluttering, which made him think of the birth of angels. Then a sudden awareness and then thrashing of wings. Then he was dead.

I cried a long time mamma. I’m afraid of angels being born every minute. And mamma, tomorrow, we learn to die.

And all around the world, it doesn’t matter where we’re going or whatever we do, ‘cause we got one thing in common, it’s true: we’ll never let a night like tonight go to waste. And let me tell you something, neither will you.

Neither will you.

Braver Than We Are (Always It’s the War)

Boy: Always it’s the war
And all of us who sang this song
Have long since died
And now are only bloodied ghosts

The war is always here
And it’s always this damnnation
It’s such a raging bore
And the whole world is open fire

Girl: Always it’s the war
And it robs us of our youth
Raping all our dreams
And stealing children far away

You and I are lost
Guarding us, we’ve all gone A.W.O.L.
Now the future is abandoned
And the present slips away

There are times I want to got run
Times I want to hide
Things I haven’t done
Boy:Things I cast aside
Girl:So many things to try
Boy:So many things denied
Girl:There is no denying
Boy:Sooner or later
Girl:I knew I could run now
Boy:Sooner or later
Girl:Has finally come now

How can we fly like the angels in the sacred air?
Higher and higher, above the world and all it’s cares

Boy: Everybody’s ready to fly
But the bombs are never so very far
And I wish my life was shining like a star
But the fears are never very far, and …

We always seem so much braver than we ever are
We always dream we’d be braver but we never are

Both: I need so much
I need your touch

Girl: There are secrets I never can tell
They’re all minefields of darkness and heaven
There are so many suburbs of hell
And their hours are 24/7

Boy:There are so many wounds
Girl:We can’t heal
Boy:So many nightmares
Girl:Are turning too real
Boy:So much of paradise lost
Girl:And you added the cost
Boy:But there’s nothing to be sorry for
Girl:Now we can have so much more
Boy:Now I can be close to you
Both:Nothing that we’re scared to do

We always seem so much braver than we ever are
We always dream we’d be braver but we never are

Let’s run away
Go too far …

Girl: War is always here, and the way it seems to cry
And howl terrifying secrets in your ears
Always it’s the war, and we’re waiting for salvation
You know when you get it it’s the thing we need right here

There are times I’ve gotta run
Times I’ve gotta hide
Things I’ve left undone
Things I cast aside

So many things to try
So many things denied

If I ever tell you the truth
Would you ever believe me?
Boy:Show me the proof
Girl:I’m so scared that you’d leave me

We always seem so much braver than we ever are
Both:We always dream we’d be braver but we never are

Let’s run away
Let’s go too far …

All, building up: Say a prayer for those who crawl
Say a prayer for those who run
Say a prayer so all and all
There’s a better life to come

Say a prayer for those alone
Say a prayer for those apart
All those golden boys and girls
The crusaders of the heart

Say a prayer for all the lost
Say a prayer for the unborn
Say a prayer for all the young
It takes a fire to keep them warm

(why should we cry if we can’t be what we might have been?)

Say a prayer for all the dead
Sacrifices grow each day
Dead is dead and that is that
The inferno lights the way

(no questions why, we should let the future now begin)

Say a prayer for those obsessed
Say a prayer for those enslaved
Say a prayer to beat the drums
From the cradle to the grave

(we always seem so much braver than we ever are)

Say a prayer to all the gods
Some are near and some are far
Say a prayer to all the gods
Make us braver than we are

(we always dream we’d be braver but we never are)

Say a prayer for all the fools
Who unleash the dogs of war
They’ll be damned and turn to dust
And we’re braver than they are

Say a prayer for all the fools
Who unleash the dogs of war
This damnation is their death
And we’re braver than they —

Single voice:
The war is always here
And all of us who sang this song
Have long since died
And now are only bloodied ghosts

All: Make us braver than we are …

Dear Mamma (February 13, 2006)

Dear Mamma,

The entire country is burning. You can see the flames like the inside of a mad jukebox. Lost children wander the streets, their heads rocking with dream lighting.

And my best friend Kenny — you remember him mamma, from Maple Drive — you know he’s been here a year, yesterday he stept on a mine and wasn’t hurt. It’s a miracle. But twelve hours he, he held his chest and he looked at me, and he said he felt a fluttering, which made him think of the birth of angels. Then a sudden awareness and then thrashing of wings. Then he was dead.

I cried a long time mamma. I’m afraid of angels being born every minute. And mamma, tomorrow, we learn to die.

Neither will you.

Speaking in Tongues (alternate/Christmas verse)

Ooh-ee-oooh

For a mighty oak to grow
You got to plant a tiny seed
Words are all you know
Body language is what you need

Now I can barely breathe
Your fragrance fill my lungs
It’s time we started speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues

Ooh-ee-oooh

It’s the time to start a fire
And I know we’ll make it good
We’re overflowing with desire
You got the spark — I got wood

Now the mighty oak’s a christmas tree
Ornaments and balls are so well hung
It’s time that we start speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues

Ooh-ee-oooh
Speaking in tongues, ooh, ooh
In tongues

(Untitled)

Saturday, July 08, 2006

4AM
I just read your post Vin. It was really a casual aside, but if u want a song, here goes. Like I scribble lyrics all the time like this: Jim Steinman

I MISS THE LIGHTNING
AND IT ALWAYS WOULD IGNITE
I MISS THE STORMS
AND THE WAYS THAT IT WOULD STRIKE
I MISSTHE FIRES, WHICH WERE MORE THAN I COULD BURN
AND I MISS THOSE DAYS
MAY THEY NEVER RETURN!

I MISS THOSE DREAMS
WHICH WOULD INEVITABLY COME
I MISS THOSE VISIONS
WHICH COULD MAKE MY HEART BEAT RUN
I MISS MY YOUTH
WHICH I JOYOUSLY CRASHED AND BURNED
AND I MISS THOSE DAYS
MAY THEY NEVER RETURN!

I MISS THE FUTURE
NOW ITS COME AND’LL SOON BE GONE
I MISS THE PAST
HOW IT SEEMS SO VERY LONG
I MISS YOUR LOVE
IT MADE MY WHOLE WORLD ALWAYS TURN
I’LL ALWAYS MISS YOUR LOVE
IT WAS SO MUCH MORE THAN I COULD EARN
AND I MISS THOSE DAYS
MAY THEY NEVER RETURN!

Renegade Angel

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

940PM July 19 ‘06
I am STILL going to finish RENEGADE ANGEL, as Im only now realizing how to do it. It started with a boy losing his virginity and "another angel got its wings." Jim Steinman

We hope & dream & strive
Till one day
Theres nothing left but
A Renegade Angel
And Only Lovers Left Alive.

Paradise Lost

No matter how tragic the loss
No matter how heavy the cost
To this very day
I can stand tall & say
I fought for paradise
And Paradise lost
I fought for Paradise
But Paradise lost
Was it this or was it that
But Paradise lost in the final at bat
Paradise lost in the final at bat

The Monster is Out of the Cage

What’s the point of all this fury
All this bitterness and rage
Theres no point at all
We’re only young
And the monster is out of the cage

The Devil’s Playground

Friday, October 26, 2007

LANDMARK BLOG
Hi! I swore Id never do this but here it is!! I wrote these lyrics off the top of my head, stream of consciousness style. SO its not even first draft! But I thought it’d be interesting to get your responses. JUST THE LYRICS! Dont even imagine the music, unless you want to. But its not written yet, except I used my previously published PARADISE LOST chorus s it "seemed just right" at that moment. That does have a melody, a gr8 one, but that could all change as I develop this. This is a song for Hook in BOOH, "THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND". Read it & if u want, please write SPECIFIC detailed observations....each & every line if u wish......I hope you like it. Jim Steinman

I will decorate this city
With Ribbons Of Blood
I will find the endless tears
Soon to be a flood
I will conjure up the magic
Far beyond your sight
I’ll illuminate this city
With the ascension of the light

Eternal terrors hold us down
Keep us plodding in the mud
I WILL DECORATE THIS CITY
IN RIBBONS OF BLOOD.

Broken hearts
Are the Devil’s Playground
Shattered dreams
Disillusioned youth
And all of man
Is the Devil’s Playground
Shameless lies
And Shameful truth

We’ll all succumb!
And some time when
The Dark exults and moons arise
In the blink of an eye
The Devil’s Playground
Is Born Again!
The Devil’s Playground
Is Alive Again!
So Come On Down
To the Devil’s Playground!
Come On Down
Before It Disappears
In the blink of an eye
You see the Devil’s playground
Now it all seems dead
But it used to be here …Once!
(Once it was here)
Once!
Before it disappeared!

Once!
‘Once’ always disappears

Trembling hands
Are the Devil’s Playground
Empty plans
And hollow hopes
ETERNAL TERRORS HOLD US DOWN
AND WE’LL ALL BE DROWNING IN THE MUD!
I will decorate this city
With ribbons of blood …

In the blink of an eye
All is lost
The storms they rumble
And the winds are tossed
In the blink of an eye
You’re a sad old man
Trying to remember
Whatever you can
In the blink of an eye
Death will clutch you
No respect
For fortune or Fame
In the blink of an eye
It all awaits you
Thousand of tombstones
Waiting for the names
Just waiting for the names

In the blink of an eye …
In the blink of an eye …
In the blink of an —
I
I
I
I WILL DECORATE THIS CITY
WITH RIBBONS OF BLOOD!

(soft)

No matter
How tragic the loss
No matter
How heavy the cost
To this very day
I can stand tall and say:
I fought for Paradise
But Paradise lost
I fought for Paradise
And Paradise lost.
It wasn’t your fault or mine
Wasn’t this it wasn’t that
But Paradise lost
In the final at bat
Paradise lost
In the last at bat.

(DARK.)

Why God, Oh Why (Fragment from NUTZ)

Allow me to serve a slice of moonlight
A sliver of the night
And you wear it like a diadem
A jewel so bright
You wear it like the sun
But nothing like the sun could ever burn
Like you.