From Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic (2000) by Traffic

Paper Sun (Capaldi, Winwood) - 4:12

Well you think you had a good time
With the boy that you just met
Kicking sand from beach to beach
Your clothes all soaking wet
But if you look around and see
A shadow on the run
Don't be too surprised if its just a paper sun

Ahh Paper Sun, Ahh Paper Sun

In the room where you've been sleeping
All your clothes all thrown about
Cigarettes burn window sills
Your meter's all run out
But then again its nothing
You just split when day is done
Pitching lips to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun

Standing in the cool of my room
Fresh cut flowers give me sweet perfume
Too much sun will burn!

When you're feeling tired and lonely
You see people going home
You can't make the train fare
Or the six pence for the phone
And icicles your crying
From your cheek have just begun
Dont be sad, good times are had
Beneath the paper sun

Daylight breaks while you sleep on the sand
A seagull is stealing the ring from your hand
The boy who had given you so much fun
Has left you so cold in the paper sun

Hole in My Shoe (Mason) - 3:00

I looked to the sky
Where an elephant's eye
Was looking at me
From a bubblegum tree
And all that I knew
The hole in my shoe
Was letting in water (letting in water)

I walked through a field
That just wasnt real
Where 100 tin soldiers
Would shoot at my shoulder
And all that I knew
The hole in my shoe
Was letting in water (letting in water)

(I climbed on the back of a giant albatross
Which flew through a crack in the cloud
To a place where happiness reigned all year round
Where music played ever so loudly)

I started to fall
And suddenly woke
And the dew on the grass
It stuck to my coat
And all that I knew
The hole in my shoe
Was letting in water (letting in water)

Heaven Is in Your Mind (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) - 4:13

You ride on the swing in and out of the bars
Capturing moments of life in a jar
Playing with children, acting as stars
Guiding your visions to heaven and heaven is in your mind
Take extra care not to lose what up feel
The apple you're eating is simple and real
Water the flowers that grow at you heel
Guiding your visions to heaven and heaven is in your mind

Dear Mr. Fantasy (Capaldi, Winwood, Wood) - 5:35

Dear Mister Fantasy play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar
Make it snappy
You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that you break out in tears
Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years

You Can All Join In (Mason) - 3:35

Here's a little song you can all join in with
It's very simple and I hope it's new
Make your own words up if you want to
Any old words that you think will do, yeah
Yellow, blue, what'll I do? Maybe I'll just sit here thinking
Black, white, stop the fight, does one of these colours ever bother you?

Here's a little dance you can all join in with
It's very simple and I hope it's new
Make your own steps up if you want to
Any old steps that you think will do
Left, right, don't get uptight, keep in line and you'll be alright
Clap hands, move around, make sure no one puts you down

Here's a little world you can all join in with
It's very simple and I hope it's new
Make your own life up if you want to
Any old life that you think will do
Love, yeah, it's nothing new, there's someone much worse off than you are
Help me set them free, just be what you want to be

Feelin' Alright (Mason) - 4:16

Seems I've got to have a change of scene
'Cause every night I have the strangest dreams
Imprisoned by the way it could have been
Left here on my own or so it seems
I've got to leave before I start to scream
But someone's locked the door and took the key

You feelin' alright? I'm not feelin' too good myself
Well, you feelin' alright? I'm not feelin' too good myself

Well, say, you sure took me for one big ride
And even now I sit and wonder why
That when I think of you I start to cry
I just can't waste my time, I must keep dry
Gotta stop believin' in all you lies
'Cause there's too much to do before I die

Don't get too lost in all I say
Though at the time I really felt that way
But that was then, now it's today;
I can't get off so I'm here to stay
Till someone comes along and takes my place
With a different name and, yes, a different face

Pearly Queen (Capaldi, Winwood) - 4:18

I bought a sequined suit from a pearly queen
And she could drink more wine than I'd ever seen
She had some gypsies' blood flowing through her feet
And when the time was right she said that I would meet
My destiny

I traveled round the world to find the sun
I couldn't stop myself from having fun
And then one day I met an Indian girl
And she made me forget this troubled world
We're living in

I had a strange dream. In my hair
I saw a pearly queen lying there
And all around her feet flowers bloomed
But they were made of silk and sequins two by two

Forty Thousand Headmen (Capaldi, Winwood) - 3:14

Forty thousand headmen couldn't make me change my mind
If I had to take the choice between the deafman and the blind
I know just where my feet should go and that's enough for me
I turned around and knocked them down and walked across the sea

Hadn't traveled very far when suddenly I saw
Three small ships a-sailing out towards a distant shore
So lighting up a cigarette I followed in pursuit
And found a secret cave where they obviously stashed their loot

Filling up my pockets, even stuffed it up my nose
I must have weighed a hundred tons between my head and toes
I ventured forth before the dawn had time to change its mind
And soaring high above the clouds I found a golden shrine

Laying down my treasure before the iron gate
Quickly rang the bell hoping I hadn't come too late
But someone came along and told me not to waste my time
And when I asked him who he was he said, 'Just look behind'

So I turned around and forty thousand headmen bit the dirt
Firing twenty shotguns each and man, it really hurt
But luckily for me they had to stop and then reload
And by the time they'd done that I was heading down the road

Shanghai Noodle Factory (Capaldi, Fallon, Miller, Winwood, Wood) - 5:03

In a Shanghai Noodle Factr'y
Place where I once used to be
No where doing nothing
People there were made of steel
Tiny cogs in one big wheel
Turning never learning

Had to make a break
And soon I had to wake up feeling stronger, feeling stronger
In my island of dreams, with impossible schemes

In a Shanghai Noodle Factr'y
Place where I once used to be
No where doing nothing
People there were made of cans
Packed like roosters in a pen
Crowing, never knowing

Had to make a break
I knew I couldn't fake it any longer
Everything just aches
Soon I'd have to wake up feeling stronger, feeling stronger
In my island of dreams, with impossible schemes

Glad (Winwood) - 6:57

Instrumental

Freedom Rider (Capaldi, Winwood) - 5:29

Like a hurricane around your heart when earth and sky are torn apart
He comes gathering up the bits while hoping that the puzzle fits
He leaves you, he leaves you
Freedom rider

With a silver star between his eyes that open up at hidden lies
Big man crying with defeat, see people gathering in the street
You feel him, you feel him
Freedom rider

When lightning strikes you to the bone, you turn around, you're all alone
By the time you hear that silent (or siren?) sound, then your soul is in the lost and found
Forever, forever
Freedom rider
Here it comes

Empty Pages (Capaldi, Winwood) - 4:33

Found someone who can comfort me, but there are always exceptions
And she's good at appearing sane, but I just want you to know

She's the one makes me feel so good when everything is against me
Picks me up when I'm feeling down, so I've got something to show

Staring at empty pages, centered 'round the same plot
Staring at empty pages, flowing along in the ages

Often lost and forgotten, the vagueness and the mud
I've been thinking I'm working too hard, but I've got something to show

John Barleycorn (Traditional, Winwood) - 6:20

There were three men came out of the west, their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die
They've plowed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Threw clods upon his head
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn was dead
They've let him lie for a very long time, 'til the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprung up his head and so amazed them all
They've let him stand 'til Midsummer's Day 'til he looked both pale and wan
And little Sir John's grown a long long beard and so become a man
They've hired men with their scythes so sharp to cut him off at the knee
They've rolled him and tied him by the way, serving him most barbarously
They've hired men with their sharp pitchforks who've pricked him to the heart
And the loader he has served him worse than that
For he's bound him to the cart
They've wheeled him around and around a field 'til they came onto a pond

And there they made a solemn oath on poor John Barleycorn
They've hired men with their crabtree sticks to cut him skin from bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones

And little Sir John and the nut brown bowl and his brandy in the glass
And little Sir John and the nut brown bowl proved the strongest man at last
The huntsman he can't hunt the fox nor so loudly to blow his horn
And the tinker he can't mend kettle or pots without a little barleycorn

Rock and Roll Stew (Gordon, Grech) - 4:24

Sitting in a transit all night long
Playing clubs and rocking right on
The road's much too long since I've been wasting my time
Wish I was home again sipping my wine

And I'm gone, gone, gone, I don't care
'Cause I'm gone, gone, gone, I don't care
It's where I'm from, I'm on the road again

LA to London is a mighty long time
Eight hours flying can bring you down
Sitting near a suit who's a red-neck going,
Eyes are moving but there's no life showing

Now that I'm home again
Things are much better, biding my time with my little go-getter
No matter what they say, no matter what they do,
Gonna end up in the middle of that rock & roll stew
Gone, gone, gone...

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Capaldi, Winwood) - 11:42

If you see something that looks like a star
And it's shooting up out of the ground
And your head is spinning from a loud guitar
And you just can't escape from the sound
Don't worry too much, it'll happen to you
We were children once, playing with toys
And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound of
The low spark of high-heeled boys

The percentage you're paying is too high priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams
But today you just read that the man was shot dead
By a gun that didn't make any noise
But it wasn't the bullet that laid him to rest was
The low spark of high-heeled boys

If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish
Would you ask for something like another chance?
Or something similar as this? Don't worry too much
It'll happen to you as sure as your sorrows are joys
And the thing that disturbs you is only the sound of
The low spark of high-heeled boys

If I gave you everything that I owned and asked for nothing in return
Would you do the same for me as I would for you?
Or take me for a ride, and strip me of everything including my pride
But spirit is something that no one destroys
And the sound that I'm hearing is only the sound
The low spark of high-heeled boys