Faces change-Rearranged by the hands of time
Colors fade-Once again into black and white
From the mantle I hear a clock
The moments tick away
Chorus:
Even kings bow to their master, time
Empires crumble to the ground
All their armies cannot save them now
No shelter can be found
When time comes marching around
Fertile lands-Best laid plans turn to dust again
Earth and man-Life and sand become one again
In the distance I hear a bell
The moments ring away
Chorus:
Even kings bow to their master, time...
Setting sun-Rising moon and the ocean tides
Move as one-Day by day as the sands of time
Slowly pass through the hourglass
Our moments slip away
Chorus:
Even kings bow to their master, time...
©2005 by Paul Buchignani
~MATCH OF THE CENTURY~
(The Ballad of Bobby Fischer)
Summertime in Reykjavik - 1972
All the world was wondering what next would he do
As the Russians waited (he was two days late you see)
They had to make some new arrangements for the American prodigy
Still one question lingered through a dramatic opening scene
Could the lone man Fischer beat the Soviet machine?
A chess crown for America - The first in history
It was soon to be determined in the Match of the Century
Chorus:
Two great minds were now prepared
To meet on 64 small squares
As flags of both their nations were unfurled
Kings and bishops - Pawns and knights
Each move they made both black and white
Broadcast to every corner of the world
When it finally started there was tension in the hall
There had been reports that it may never start at all
But when the first game ended Mr. Spassky held the lead
Bobby did not play the next round and it was feared he would concede
Down already two full games it seemed the match was lost
Still he had his principles no matter what the cost
But soon the tide would turn could he have known instinctively?
When forty one moves later he was the winner of game three
Chorus:
Two great minds were now prepared...
In those days a cold war raged it seemed both sides would lose
Two great powers held their ground and pondered their next moves
But for just a few weeks it was called a different name
Where the battlefield was chessboard and the cold war was a game
Days turned into weeks until it reached September one
News reports announced that Robert Fischer had just won
And history was made that day in a faraway Iceland town
Never once before in Chessic lore had America held the crown
Chorus:
Two great minds were now prepared...
©2014 by Paul Buchignani
~MELANCHOLY MIND~
I went out late Sunday afternoon
Evening shadows growing fast
Took a ride to put my thoughts aside
But yesterday just seemed to last
Chorus:
You think you're on to something
But a melancholy mind
Makes it hard for those like me
To leave it all behind
I came by to see you one more time
But you wouldn't see me through
Now here I am so many years away
Still holding on to what we knew
I was all right before I-drifted away
Back to a time where I should-not be today
©2001 by Jay Sinclair & Paul Buchignani
~MY OLD TOWN~
I can feel the early days of autumn
I'm back in town but no one seems to know me here
I stop to look at places I remember
There's the school I spent so many early years
You began your new life where you left your old
Even though they say you never can go home
Walking through my old town
Chorus:
And everywhere I see
Memories of you and me
I must be moving on-No good for me to stay
It's the last time I'll be
Walking through my old town
So I asked someone if they could help me
Try to find what ever had become of you
I was told that you had found another
And you lived the life you always wanted to
You began your new life where you left your old
Even though they say you never can go home
I'm walking through my old town
Chorus:
And everywhere I see'
©2004 by Paul Buchignani
~OLD WORLD TIME~
The spires of the ancients rise above the European skyline
Towering dreams of the past among the modern day ruins
The spirits are here still living from the mountains to the coastline
Keeping the centuries alive and watching all that we're doing
Chorus:
Come with me we'll ride along the rails of history
There's no time to waste because there's so much left to see
I hear the old bell tower chime
It takes me back to old world time
Ages have past but it seems somehow that I've already been here
Building cathedrals or fighting in a battle over England
Now under siege I wonder if my life is going to end here
But I can see horses approaching with defenders of the kingdom
©2000 by Paul Buchignani
~ON THE THRESHOLD~
It's the cold
It followed me here
And laid right down beside me
Any road
I chose to take
It always seemed to find me
Then I heard someone say-These words to help me
Chorus:
On the threshold of the rest of our lives
Lies the choice to either love or despise
Could it be that I've been wrong all these years
Grounded by fear
And drowning in tears
Spirits of
The future appeared
And laid right down beside me
I tried to run
But soon it was clear
That they were here to guide me
Then I heard them say-These words to help me
Chorus:
On the threshold of the rest of our lives...
©2002 by Paul Buchignani
~ONE OUT OF TWO~
Riding like the wind on the sands of this desert we call time
Never really knowing just who or what we leave behind
All the precious moments we take for granted like the air
And it is so easy to forget-I wonder if we care
Chorus:
Now I know that it's true
The answer is finally coming through
You see it is written in the stars
Take my hand we'll be one out of two
Can you remember when you were helpless as a child?
Try to see the world like you did for just a little while
Now when you look back you recall you saw me in a dream
That was long ago but very soon you'll find out what it means
©1998
by Paul Buchignani
~QUESTIONS~
If you lost everything you had
Nearly stripped to the bone
Could you look out across the land
With all envy unknown?
Or would all that you used to have
Keep haunting your dreams?
Well you could live in misery
Or you could feel more free
Chorus:
Oh, it's all borrowed time
These shackles and chains
Are all in your mind
Could it be
That simple is free?
It's a question for you
It's a lesson for me
If you lost everyone you had
Everyone you have known
Could you look out across the land
And be happy alone?
Could you make yourself promises
That you'd try to see through?
Realize there are others who
May be waiting for you?
©1997
by Paul Buchignani
~SHIP OF TRUTH~
I've walked a thousand miles
With a wounded heart
And found it hard to smile
Still I played my part
Chorus:
While we waited through the day
I was staring at the sky
When I finally looked away
The ship of truth was passing by
Oh clowns come take the stage
Join me for a while
And we'll be all the rage
'Cause fools are back in style
Your present is your past
Decisions that were made
But I could not forecast
My kindness was betrayed
©1998
by Paul Buchignani
~THE LEGEND~
Step up to the stone
And take your chances
One and one alone
Will lead us out of this
Chorus:
He who wears the crown
I will follow
To the bitter end
Or on to victory
I will proudly
Wear the colors of the realm
On to Avalon
The once and future king
He'll return again
I hear the people sing
©1998 by Paul Buchignani
~THE LEADING ACTORS~
Here we go again
On we go around and round
It seems that we’ve been here so many times before
And the questions that we have
Are never really answered
Could it be the more we wonder only makes us wonder more?
I sing to those who came before
Who left this world with so much more
Chorus:
Sometimes we’re hopelessly human
Really nothing special
When it takes all that we have to simply make it through a day
Still from the dawn of creation
To the ending of all time
Are we the reason for it all - The leading actors in the play
So the story goes
Pages full of history
How we began with nothing and the struggle to survive
Through the ravages of time
From the Stone Age to the Golden Age
Through plagues and wars to Renaissance we made it through alive
I sing to those who came before…
Who left this world with so much more
Chorus:
Sometimes we’re hopelessly human
©2012 by Paul Buchignani
~TRANSFORMATION~
I stand here
And turn my face to the sun
And welcome
A new day barely begun
Now mornings
I've seen so many before
But this one
I'll honor a little bit more
Chorus:
Bathing myself in the light and the sounds
Of a new day
Breaking the chains of the past now it's time
For a new way
I stand here
Arms embracing the sun
And welcome
A new life barely begun
In the middle of the night
I gained a new appreciation
It's coming to fruition
My transformation
©1998 by Paul Buchignani & Mark Kanning
~TWO ROADS~
Look at them down there-all running around
I can remember when I was part of that crowd
I took my first breath of air and the race was on
It lasted seventy years-and then it was gone
Chorus:
And now you say there's nothing here for you
But there's one thing I think you should know
You say that life is so unfair to you
But you can only reap what you sow
He sat me down and said hear what I have to say
There's two roads waiting ahead-you must choose a way
Your passion flowing within is a place to start
'Cause you've been thinking too much-look inside your heart
Then he disappeared
Left me here alone with my thoughts and my fears
But his words rang true
Maybe they can even be helpful to you
©1999
by Paul Buchignani
~WASTE OF TIME~
We talked about the future but we couldn't leave the past
You told me that you thought your life was moving much too fast
You said you're feeling down and you said you're feeling out
You said you're coming back again but I really have my doubts
Chorus:
And every time you walk away
It seems that you are gone to stay
Then I call you but you're M.I.A.
Could it be that you decided
That I was just a waste of time?
I can't think of a melody and I can't think of a rhyme
I can't make any sense of anything that comes to mind
The up is going down and the in is going out
And I could not begin explaining what it's all about
Here I am back where I started again
Lost in the moment and left to pretend
©2000
by Paul Buchignani
~WINTERGREEN~
I walk along a road-a winter afternoon
With a soul as barren as the trees
Straining under weight of thoughts and memories
And images that seem to walk beside me
I know I have to pull myself'
Chorus:
Away from yesterday
But I don't know when
Thought I could today
But evening's come again
On a lonely road-another afternoon
I can hear the sunlight on the snow
It's the sound of time melting my past away
Though nevermore will you be here beside me
I know I have to pull myself...
Away from yesterday
But I don't know when
Thought I could today
But evening's come again
December days are filled with promises
But so much time before they're seen
Surrounded now by only dark and gray
I'm searching for some wintergreen
©2000
by Paul Buchignani