Jim Bruno
MATTER OF TIME
(written by Jim Bruno)

Keep your hat on your head
Keep your eyes on the road
Always follow your heart
Or your heart will explode

Well it’s never easy
And never that clear
When you howl at the moon
And the moon doesn’t hear

Chorus:
We weren’t meant to discover and never will know
Why the ones that we love disappear like the snow
But I know in the end
It’s only a matter of time


Always cover your tracks
And lean into the wind
There’s no turning back
And there’s no giving in

Oh the anger comes easy
It cuts like a whip
But don’t let it in
Or it might get a grip

Chorus:
It can shake you and break you and take you a way
From the ones that you need for the rest of your days
And I know in the end
It’s only a matter of time

Bridge:
Till we sing this song together
Till the storm we share is weathered

If your vision is keen
And your senses are sharp
You can keep it together
And not fall apart

Don’t stop for a second
Don’t think of the cost
See what you’ve got
Don’t see what you’ve lost

Chorus:
One day they were here
And the next they were gone
But they’re still in our hearts
And they’re still in this song

And I know in the end
It’s only a matter of time



WE WERE BLIND
(written by Jim Bruno)

I should never got this blue tattoo
It’s like a scar that was left by you
Maybe half of what you said was true
But in the end it didn’t matter

You should have never called me from Molene
Late at night on that Halloween
A fading voice from a faded dream
And one that’s torn and tattered

You were shaken
I was shattered
We were blind

I should have never met your family drunk
I came across like stone cold punk
They treated me like a piece of junk
I apologized for the bender

You should have told me what was going on
It hit my heart like a cherry bomb
Our own emotional Viet Nam
And in the end we both surrendered

You were young
I was tender
We were blind


Bridge:
I heard you moved back to San Antone
With a drummer who goes by Ramone
Does he thrill you like I thrilled you back then


I should have never tried to call your bluff
I should have seen that you’d had enough
And even then when the times got tough
I thought you’d come back crawling

You should have never screamed at me like that
As serious as a heart attack
I tried to tell you, I don’t need the flak
But you knew that I was stalling

You were slipping
I was falling
We were blind


RAY TOOK A SLUG IN THE LEG
(written by Jim Bruno)

Ray took a slug in the leg
But they say he’s going to be o.k. and I hear
He just tried
To do what’s right

This world’s such a funny place
You never know what the day might bring, your turn
May come
To put up a fight

Bridge:
Is it me or does it seem
Nothing stays the same
There’s no knowing why we’re going
Right down the drain

Yesterday lying in bed
I tried to shake the cobwebs out of my head
As I read
The morning news

The bomb blew the roof off the bus
Government says it comes down to them or us
Who can you trust?
We’re so confused

Bridge:
Explosions rip through the Gaza Strip
There’re riots in Bombay
Desperate times breed desperate minds
So someone’s got to pay

It seems like it all hit the fan
I may live to 100 and never understand
How some can
Sleep at night

Ray took a slug in the leg
But they say he’s going to be o.k. and I hear
He just tried
To do what’s right



BLUE LOVE
(written by Jim Bruno and Jeff Hanson)

We had a simple breakfast
Coffee and some toast
Jumped into the car
Headed down the coast

We listened to the Nevilles
And slipped into a trance
Something wasn’t right
In your sidelong glance

Blue Love

I remember when I met you
Outside the music store
Hanging with your sister
Claiming you were bored

I said that’s all behind you
But only if you dare
I knew you didn’t buy it
You knew I didn’t care

Blue Love

Just south of Pescadero
We stopped to have a drink
Waitress took our order
Sun began to sink

I knew that we were fading
I saw it in your eyes
Singer on the jukebox sang
Love never dies

Blue Love

Bridge:
No awkward moments
No clichéd scenes were made
No words were spoken
We just left and drove away

Some say love’s forever
And burns just like a flame
For others it’s a drug
Or play it like a game

The one thing that I know
I didn’t know before
I wish that we were back
Outside the music store

Blue Love


CLOSED
(written by Jim Bruno)

Every night I sit here in my lonely room
Staring at a picture tube of doom and gloom
All my friends without a doubt
Say I got to get up and out

CHORUS:
But I…
It’s like his mind is closed
But why…
It’s like his heart is closed
I’ll try…
It’s like his eyes are closed
And he can’t see

Every day I go to work and earn my pay
Like the song, I come back home with nothing to say
It turns my blood as cold as ice
When I hear their sad advice

Bridge:
Deep inside my heart I know they’re right
But every day I put it off for one more night

I can shut the door and keep the world outside at bay
I hit the couch and watch the years just slip away
But friends of mine keep saying that
I shouldn’t fall into the trap

CHORUS

I NEVER WAS THE ONE
(written by Jim Bruno)

Got nothing left to say
I’ve said it all and the words won’t come
No card left I can play
Guess I’m just stunned

Spirits slip by my door
I can almost see them when the moon is full
They whisper, “Are you sure?”
Isn’t that cruel

I never was the one
I never was the one
I never was the one
You thought I was

Just like a wreck in the road
People stare as they pass us by
Some say that love can erode
That’s no lie

Now I can’t break through this wall
Now I can’t speak in your secret language
We’re down to nothing at all
Broken and damaged


STEADY RHYTHM OF TIME
(written by Jim Bruno)

Morning come streaming
Through Venetian blinds
Comes to rest on the bedspread
In zebra lines

She’s lying beside me
I can hear the church bells starting to chime

Dresser clock is ticking
Ticking out the steady rhythm of time

I can’t believe what year this is
Moving way too fast
Almost miss my exit
Stop and get some gas

I go to pay at the counter
There’re a couple of strangers waiting in line
Car stereo’s blaring
Pumping out the steady rhythm of time


Bridge:
There’s a beat on this street that is measured
In lives like a melody never heard


Not sure where I’m headed
Barely know where I’ve been
I wonder what this is all about
Is that a sin?

I’m not afraid of the questions
I’m afraid of the answers I might find
Everyday keeps slipping
Slipping at the steady rhythm of time


Shadows grow longer
I grow weary
Put my head on my pillow
She lies there near me

Moonlight is flowing
Like a river through Venetian blinds
I can feel her heart beating
Beating out the steady rhythm of time


SACRED HEART
(written by Jim Bruno)

Parochial stance with a smokestack look
Subtle glance and he was hooked
A vague refrain from a song he’d heard
Was on his mind as his vision blurred

Oh he wish he had
As he fell apart
Her Sacred Heart
Her Sacred Heart

Jukebox flickers and then goes out
A junkie snickers and passes out
Sits alone ‘neath the ceiling fan
Without a chance that he’ll understand

But he thought he heard
Beating in the dark
Her Sacred Heart
Her Sacred Heart

Chorus:
Her Sacred Heart will never be won
Never be given to a single one
Will always be a mystery
And maybe someday he will see

That the answer’s not in the pale moonlight
Not about wrong or right
He looks at the sky, he looks at the ground
Guess it’s time to leave this town

But what holds him back
And what has from the start
Her Sacred Heart
Her Sacred Heart


WE’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER TONIGHT
(written by Jim Bruno)

There’re stars in the sky, ships on the bay
There’re bats in the trees and they all fly away
Past a luminous moon that wears a beret
And we’ll always remember tonight

Darling I love you I have to confess
So put on your heels and that burgundy dress
And we’ll laugh till we cry and your makeup gets messed
And we’ll always remember tonight

Bridge:
No hesitating
It’s getting quite late
And there’s only so much we can do
Throughout our history
Some nights are mysteries
I don’t know why but it’s true

We’ll call up our friends to come sing a song
And we’ll sing about love that went right or went wrong
Tell stories ‘bout places and people long gone
And we’ll always remember tonight


RAYS OF SUN
(written by Jim Bruno)

Can’t get to sleep it’s four am
The minutes creep I’m round the bend
I guess I’ll turn the TV on
I watch a dead man sing another song

And as he sings upon my screen
I start to know just what he means
When he sings of hope and doubt
What we can or cannot live without

Bridge:
But it’s ok
It’s fine
It’s life and life is often less than kind
I know the rays of sun won’t always shine
In my heart

I finally drifted off to sleep
And when I slept I slept so deep
I dreamt I saw you at the fair
The scent of lilacs in your hair

And for a moment it felt real
And in that moment I could feel
There’s been a terrible mistake
A sense of dread that I found hard to shake

Bridge


RUB IT IN
(written by Jim Bruno)

Neon reflection in pools
Rain continues to pour
To this procession of fools
I’m adding one more

Go home and shake the rain off
Watch a little TV
Can’t as easily shake the pain of
What’s happened to me?

Bridge:
Maybe someday I’ll laugh about this
And in the end you’ll barely be missed
Calling you up will be hard to resist
Just to rub it in
I’d love to rub it in
Your face

Some things can last forever
Some things cannot
Some people accept whatever
Happy with what they’ve got

I’m not one to simply sit there
Let the world pass me by
I’m determined some way I’ll get there
I can feel it inside

Bridge:
Maybe someday I’ll be walking on air
I’ll look in my heart and I won’t see you there
Calling you up will only be fair
Just to rub it in
I’d love to rub it in your face



ECHO LAKE
(written by Jim Bruno)

Why can’t summer last forever
Why do strong hearts have to break?
Why’s it always now or never
It was never that way at Echo Lake

Every day now comes unraveled
How much more can a person take?
If I could turn off this road I travel
I would travel back home to Echo Lake

Bridge:
There would be music
We’d be up all night
Singing songs
Staring at stars
We’d sing melodies
Made out of moonlight
To the sound of old guitars

Oh it feels now less than real
But I don’t mean that it’s fake
In those moments that I steal
I still steal my way back to Echo Lake