Bah bah bah bah bya ba ba dada
Bah bah bah bah bya ba ba dada
Bah bah bah bah bya ba ba dada
Bah bah bah bah bya ba ba dada da

Welcome my friends
To a place that may seem
Most disturbing
Quite unnerving

Lend me your dreams
And we'll add what we need
To be free
Terminally

We'll fly to a spot
Where I know there is not
Any sorrow
No tomorrow

People just laugh
Cause they know how it feels
To have loved
And be loved

Don't you worry
Ain't no need to hurry
All you really need
Is love

Bah bah bah bah bah

Now you may say
Tell me more of this place
So inviting
And exciting

Here and above
Children love without doubt
And can be
They can be

Listen my friends
Carefully to direction
To get there
And you know where

Love is the place
Skewed to matter and space
For us all
For us all

Don't you worry
Ain't no need to hurry
All you really need
Is love, love, love



Interpretation

The places that the song is referring to are places in a person's heart, mind, and soul; and love is the only way to move from the bad places to the good places.

Lady, when you're with me I'm smiling
Give me all your love
Your hands build me up when I'm sinking
Touch me and my troubles all fade
Lady, from the moment I saw you
Standing all alone
You gave all the love that I needed
So shy, like a child who has grown

'Cause you're my lady of the morning
Love shines in your eyes
Sparkling, clear, and lovely
You're my lady

Lady, turns me on when I'm lonely
Give me all your charm
Evenings when she lays down beside me
She takes me gently into her arms

Lady of the morning
Love shines in your eyes
Sparkling, clear, and lovely
You're my lady

Lady of the morning
Love shines in your eyes
Sparkling, clear, and lovely
You're my ... lady

La traduction fran?aise

Woke up in rainy autumn
Morning mist beginning to wane
And the birds of the winged trees
Calling my name

Care less the clouds above me
The wind is gently lifting my hair
Where the rivers of the wind fall light rain
Now stand bare

Listen to the flowing streams
Golden in the shelter of my dreams
Playing a song on the meadow that echoes with love

Walk alone through the garden
The leaves are wet with morning's tear
And the whispering of someone
Is drawing me near

Content to rest awhile
Pondering the motion of time
Over unforgotten memories
Dipped in wine

Listen to the flowing streams
Golden in the shelter of my dreams
Playing a song on the meadow that echoes with love

[extended instrumental solos]

The god of dusk is falling around me
The night air now restless and dank
Yet the fields are specked with flowers
Few and rank

Moon reflecting off the water
Rippling an image to me
Of the way that it is
And the way that it's going to be

Listen to the flowing streams
Golden in the shelter of my dreams
Playing a song on the meadow that echoes with love

I met a little girl sittin' in the front
Pardon me miss for seeming quite so blunt
But your beauty and your presence
Just took me by surprise

She said there's a meaning in my sexy stare
But that's my old man that's sittin' over there
And that's not the look of love that he's got for you in his eyes

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

I took her home and we was doing nip and tuck
How was I to know that I was out of luck
And before I knew it, the devil took my soul

In two weeks time it seemed to be the steady con
She told me "you're about to be a papa, John"
And I just looked around and tried to crawl into the nearest hole

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

[instrumental solos]

Well, in two more weeks I started feelin' sore
I found myself waiting at my doctor's door
He said, "son I'm sorry but I've got some slightly less than tragic news

"yeah, it seems you've been sociable with certain she's
Cause you've contracted what we call a social disease
And next time you better ask and use it, no don't refuse"

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask

You know what you've gotta do
There's no one else to blame but you
Nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask



Interpretation

A reflection on all the things that can go wrong as a young man looking for a good time with a woman. First, he hits on a girl at a bar that turns out to have a jealous boyfriend nearby. After two weeks, the girl is pregnant. In another two weeks, he discovers that he has a sexually transmitted disease ("a social disease"). When the doctor breaks the bad news he adds "and next time you better ask and use it, no don't refuse," apparently suggesting that the use of a condom would be advised. The chorus really says it all, "you know what you gotta do/there's no one else to blame but you/nobody's gonna tell you so next time you just had better ask." In other words, take responsibility.

Instrumental

Father
You're a sad old man
Your tawdry vest is gray

Memories
Of a former man
Are all your words convey

Father
Oh can't you see
The tarnished robe you wear

A crown
For fools
The people laugh
You never seem to hear

Father
You're life's a ship
That's never been to sea

The bottle
That surrounds your life
You'll sail eternally

[keyboard solo]

Children
Please understand
A man must stand alone

And face a world
He'll never know
And never call his own

Ba ba bum bum
Ba ba bum bum
Ba ba bum bum
Ba ba bum bum
Ba ba bum bum
Ba ba bum bum
Ba ba bum bum
Ba ba bum bum
[continue echo]

Father
Father
Father
Father
Father
Father
[continue echo]



Interpretation

O.S.A. stands for Order of St. Augustine, so Father O.S.A. is probably about a priest or monk of that order. He is apparently still living in the past, and he is mocked by those around him as a result.

Oh oh oh oh oh

Penny pitching on the walk
Waiting for the bus to arrive
Me and Davy playing sport
Watching for the cops to go by

Spider man and the human torch
They cover Barney's newsstand
Morning crowds start to gather round
Fast finger steals what he can

Morning leaves for the afternoon
The boys show up on time
In the streets near the people's store
Below the electrical sign

Catch a glimpse of a passing car
Raced and ready to drag
Then the skirts start to tantalize
The boys how they boast and they brag

Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland

Where has he gone?
A memory at dawn
You're just a bit of the past

[guitar solo]

Oh oh oh oh
Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland

Me and Davy gazing back
See ourselves as we were
How we laugh when we think of things
That we did yesteryear

I can see Charlie on the porch
Johnny clicking his sticks
And two boys I don't even know
Rehearsing electric string tricks
Ya ya ya ya ya ya

Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland
Oh the earl of Roseland



Interpretation

Roseland is the community on the South side of Chicago where the founding members of Styx grew up. This song reminisces about their boyhood days, told from Dennis DeYoung's point of view. There are many references to those days, but the verse most important to the Styx fan is the following one:

I can see Charlie on the porch
Johnny clicking his sticks
And two boys I don't even know
Rehearsing electric string tricks

"Charlie" is Chuck Panozzo, the bass player for Styx. "Johnny" is his twin brother John, the original drummer for Styx, "clicking his sticks." Dennis has told the story many times of hearing the Panozzo brothers playing as he walked past one day and asking if he could join in on his accordion, starting a lifelong collaboration and friendship. The "two boys I don't even know" are probably John Curelewski and James Young, the original guitarists for Styx, "rehearsing electric string tricks." Even though JC lived in Roseland and JY lived in a nearby neighborhood, DeYoung and the Panozzos did not meet either future bandmember until their days at Chicago State University, when the band was still called TW4.

Every day I get the feeling
When you move on down the street
Wondering when I'll be your lover
And you'll make my dream complete

The way you walk is so inviting
That I quiver and I shake
The way you move it makes me wonder
How much more can I take

I'm gonna make you feel it
Basically that's what I say
I'm gonna make you feel it
Cause you want it just that way

Every time that we're together
My head starts to rock and roll
I get this strange electric feeling
That I simply can't control

I'm gonna make you feel it
Basically that's what I say
I'm gonna make you feel it
Cause you want it just that way


I'm gonna make you feel it
I'm gonna make you feel it
I'm gonna make you feel it