In Retrograde

In Retrograde Lyrics

(All songs copyright 2025 by Matthew and Joseph Perry)

Alone for a Day

Been alone for such a long time now,
I’ve been alone for a day,
I left for home and counted every mile,
As you got further away

If I close my heavy eyes, I see my love, she’s waving her goodbye,
And when I concentrate my mind, I remember how you gave me sight

Haven’t spoken for such a long time now,
Haven’t spoken for a day,
My heart aches, my soul is a blaze,
Will it always be this way

If I stay so very quiet, I can hear your soft heartbeat,
If I linger beneath my sheets, I can hear your breath so sweetly

I’ve gone without for such a long time now,
Been deprived since Saturday,
You keep nectar and agave on your sideboard,  
Oh to conjure up the taste

When I close my mind down, your rhythms, they come on to me,
I feel a tremor in my being, from my soul down to my feet

Oh how I miss you
Oh, How I miss you
What am I going to do
Oh how I love you
Oh, Yes I love you
Oh and you know that’s true

I’ve been obsessed for such a long time now,
Let me tell you something new,
Just the subject and intensity has changed now,
Stage left enter you

If I concentrate my thoughts, I can hear you through the panes of time
When I focus my attention,
Word has it, I can be alive

Save Me

Save me and I’ll save you, 
Take my hand and I’ll take yours too.
Be my angel, 
Do that and I’ll help you to be well

Circumstance may keep us running back and forth, 
‘May keep us on a hazard course
And I look back at you and I see all that you do

Fix me and I’ll mend you, 
No need to say words of gratitude 
Be my comfort, 
As I try to take away your hurt

The world may keep us guessing what comes next, 
And what’s in store,
We find out sometime what we’re in for,
One more surprise, 
‘May bring tears to our eyes

Alone we can’t survive, 
Together we have the will that tries
I may talk until I’m blue, 
You may push until it’s through 

There’s no other way
You build me and I’ll keep you humming, 
Through the trials, 
And we’re off and running
Gliding into flight
We hold each other’s light 

Where Is The Sun

Keep the light on for me baby, 
keep the fire burning warm, 
Oh, won’t you please,
I am in winter and I am frozen,  
I see a conveyor belt of storms
Head towards me now

Oh, where’s the sun

I had a moment with you baby, 
In a dream I had last week while I was awake,
Now I’m walking through ice curtains,
And windswept desert scenes,
Where has summer gone 

And where has she gone, I don’t know,
Where is the sunshine 
Where is the sun, I don’t know

Now I’m drowning in my papers,
I’m lost inside the box where I keep my files,
There’s nothing in my labors,
I couldn’t leave behind come summertime

Oh, where has she gone, I don’t know
Where is the sunshine
Where is the sun, I don’t know

Oh, when she goes away, 
The sky becomes dark and gray, 
The sun doesn’t shine anymore,
And my heart doesn’t know what it’s for

Is It Wrong

Well I love you,
So I wrote out this song,
But you’re troubled, 
and you can’t sing along,

Well, I try to hold on, 
And I try to hold on to you,
‘Don’t know if I’m gripping, 
Gripping anything at all,

Is it wrong, Is it wrong, 
Is it wrong for me to want to be with you

Well I want you, 
And I can wait just as long,
As you let me try, 
I try to belong,

I tried to be simple, 
And be unobtrusive,
I tried to be a leaf,
At the mercy of the wind,

Is it wrong, is it wrong, 
Is it wrong for me to want to be with you,
Is it right, is it right, 
Is it right, I should tolerate the solitude

Well there is the sun shining, 
Below the horizon,
I know, I’ve seen it, 
I saw it just the other day,
The engines are gunning, 
Passengers are queueing, 
I’m on a platform, 
Waiting to come down

I tried to be simple, 
And be unobtrusive,
I tried to be a leaf,
At the mercy of the wind,

Is it wrong, Is it wrong, 
Is it wrong for me to want to be with you,
Is it right, is it right, 
Is it right, I should tolerate the solitude

Is there room for a love that never takes any space
Is there ground for a flower that never needs any water, 
And never needs any care

Well I love you,
So I wrote out this song

Meet Me In The Middle

You’re out there, I’m over here
Meet me in the middle
Always high when I go low
Meet me in the middle

Doesn’t matter what I say
You always look the other way
All alone there in your corner
Meet me in the middle

You’re on top, I’m down below
Meet me in the middle
You’re away, and I’m at home
Meet me in the middle

Doesn’t matter what I do
I’m on the baddest side of you
Is it getting warm there, in your corner
Meet me in the middle

I say left, you say right
Meet me in the middle
I make friends, you love to fight
Meet me in the middle

Doesn’t matter what I say
You always look the other way
All alone there in your corner
Meet me in the middle
Meet me in the middle

Birthday

She waited for the summer for so long,
she waited for warm weather to come on
She is a tropical child,
It’s only the sun that’s gonna make her smile

She doesn’t want anything for her birthday,

There’s nothing that you want now, Yes we know, 
There is nothing that you need and now I quote
You don’t want jewelry,
You don’t need any technology 

She doesn’t want anything for her birthday,
She doesn’t need anything but the sun’s touch

Love, I want you to be complete and happy
I want your dreams to be full on
I want you, I need you

You know I must do something for your day,
Something must be specially arranged
I’ll try not to think ordinary
Balloons, chocolates, and luminaries,

She doesn’t want anything for her birthday,
She doesn’t need anything but the sun’s touch

Love, I want you to be complete and happy
I want your dreams to be full on
I want you, I need you to feel loved

So Many Lives

Goodbye East, 
Goodbye to the North
She fled South, 
And then further still

Tropical notion, soulful devotions
Old country’s ocean breaks on Brazil 

Oh, so many lives you’ve lived
Share one here with me

Teacher of scholars, 
Artist’s muse 
Watcher of Latin lights,
Just as you choose

Lover and mother, 
Sister and daughter
How many friends have you under the sun

Oh, so much of yourself to give
Give some here to me 

Every creature,
They have a place,
In every person,
There should be some grace

Blessed vegans, keep the world whole
Be what you’re thinking, an empathic soul

Oh, so many lives you’ve lived
Share one here with me
Oh, so much of yourself to give
Give some here to me 

Everybody Wants You

It was so long ago, 
So long to the day
Even as the crow she flies, 
So long to the night
You were young and vibrant and the morning sun shone down
I saw you in that light, 
And I was enamored

Everybody knows you, Everybody wants you
Everybody loves you, And I wanted to
Everybody saw you, everybody heard you
Everybody touched you and I could touch you too

It was all so far away, 
Far away as dreams
In a tropical embrace, 
That’s where you had been
All the trite and the petty people they all stayed at home
None would be in the way,
Now you were traveled

Everybody knows you, Everybody wants you
Everybody loves you, And I wanted to
Everybody saw you, everybody heard you
Everybody touched you and I could touch you too

Take me off into the distance, 
Take me to your cliffs
Let me in on the secret,
Of the sacred water
Paint for me the pictures in your memory’s eye
And I will climb into that slide, 
And be a time traveler

Everybody knows you, Everybody wants you
Everybody loves you, And I wanted to
Everybody saw you, everybody heard you
Everybody touched you and I could touch you too

Stopped Time

Where were you, when I stopped time, 
where were you when the clock stopped chiming 
You were home under unmetered sky, 
You were ungoverned and you didn’t mind it

From its hands, you broke yourself free,
From its face, you turned yourself away
Now you’re safe and at liberty.
You have no time, no future to betray

Who am I to challenge the sands,
Who am I to ignore the reaper
Look at you, you still have plans,
You pulled out the stitches, with your bare hands

It was time, you escaped from,
You were enslaved, and shackled to a drum
Now you are free to open any door
You’re out of time, you’ve no ceiling and no floor 
And now you can do 
Just whatever that you choose

I kicked back my clock, then watch time fly,
I went back to bed and dreamt of disguises 
It wasn’t long before I realized, 
the sun still shines when the bells stop ringing

It was time, you escaped from,
You were enslaved, and shackled to a drum
Now you are free to open any door,
You’re out of time, You’ve a license to ignore 
And now you can do 
Just whatever that you choose,

Now that you know, 
There is no time left to lose

Someone Said

Someone said that I was mean and a witch
They said I was arbitrary, too
They also said that I was cruel. That’s not true.
I just want to be with you, love
I just want to be with you

Some are content to believe the worst of me
They want to justify their hate
But I don’t intend to play their game. They’ll say what they say.
I only want to be with you, love
The only thing I want to do

Why do they murder all my sleep every night
Why do they dynamite my dreams
They’re the architects of the stress that plagues me
Don’t they have some other things to do with all their time
All the good causes they can find
If they would, then I could clear my mind

Someone said that I had devious designs
And a manipulative mind
But I’m not malicious and I’m not capricious
I just want to be with you, love
Only want to be with you, love
Only want to be with you

Don’t Unfriend Me

I saw your anger emoji under the pictures
from my destination wedding
But I don’t care if you offend me
Please don’t unfriend me, don’t walk away

I saw you crossing the street when
you saw me walking towards you with my hand extended
But I don’t care if you offend me
Please don’t unfriend me, don’t walk away

Every time I see you, every time I ring
You just put me off, it’s the same old thing
And you never listen no matter what I say
How can you treat a friend this way

I know you probably saw me there in your driveway
when you nearly ran me over
But I don’t care if you upend me
Just don’t unfriend me, don’t walk away

Every time I see you, every time I ring
You just put me off, it’s the same old thing
And you never listen no matter what I say
How can you treat a friend this way

I don’t think that I’ll open the package you sent me
now that I can hear it ticking
But I don’t care what you might send me
Please don’t unfriend me, don’t walk away
Oh, I don’t care what you might send me
Please don’t unfriend me, don’t walk away

I Wonder

I wonder where you are this night, I wonder where you are
You know I’m thinking of a place, somewhere close to heart
And I am thinking about the things that keep us apart
And how time is wasting
Concentrate on all the good things found in the dark

I wonder how you are this night, I wonder how you are
I see you’re feeling overwhelmed, Like you’re playing your last card
And I’m feeling like you don’t want to look at me hard
I feel that time is ticking
Perseveration, it is something I have down to an art

I wanted to, I wanted to, I wanted to stay there next to you
And be face to face and be there in the same space,

Something woke me up last night, Something made me rise
It was just a dream I told myself, A dream that had your eyes
Now I’m thinking about the good things that gave us our start
The chance was so amazing
Hands were moving but the time was not on our side

I wanted to, I wanted to, I wanted to stay there next to you
And be face to face and be there in the same space,
I wonder what, I wonder what, I wonder what life would be like
And what we’d be, If life was not what it was

I wonder where you are this night, I wonder where you are
You know I’m thinking of a place, somewhere close to heart
And I am thinking about the things that keep us apart
And how time is wasting
Concentrate on all the good things found in the dark
And I am waiting
And I’m feeling like you don’t want to look at me hard
And my heart is racing 
Perseveration, it is something I have down to an art

I wanted to, I wanted to, I wanted to stay there next to you
And be face to face and be there in the same space

Follow You

I will follow you, I’m right behind, 
I’ll follow you to the deep, 
Tell me things that won’t break my heart, 
Take my hand, lead me to the sleep I lost
When we were apart

It will take time, that’s alright, 
If it takes what time it will
I would spend every moment left, 
To be in your arms and be in your sweetest dreams

Take the world and make it spin right 
Give it all the play you have, 
When the axis starts to break, 
Down will come baby but it’s alright 

You’re in the sky, 
You’re the sunlight that’s kindling the rain
Stir the fog and what clouds my mind
Will precipitate all the tears of pain, we’ll be fine 

We will be fine, we’ll endure, 
We keep opening the doors
We’ll drive out and we’ll find our roads 
And they’ll lead us back into all we’ve known and beyond 

There’s nothing we don’t have today, 
We need not wait until tomorrow, 
If you turn the light onto your face
And then home will become a restful place

I Found You

So it goes with the Earth, I found you,
As you were riding away
I was busy tilting again,
Though I found you, you never had strayed

The lesson flies in the face, And all I know,
Doesn’t amount to a thing,
Was tired of dancing in dreams,
Wondering if it is real
All I know, floated through the window

And it’s cold baby, don’t let me go,
The river moves and we go with its flow

Worry me when you can, And I’ll try you,
Your patience running away,
Frustration with every game,
Shudder under the strain,
And I’ll try you, You’ll try some of the same

And its dark baby, I don’t want to go,
Licking flames are all ready to grow

There is no sense and little purpose,
The world turns out,
As the world was likely to be,
Trust in things and believe,
Practice being naïve, 
And there lies bliss, I’m home in time for my dream

Can’t Be Without You

I think I know what they are doing in the barn there
It’s not a secret now they’re threatening the cows there
And it’s time for revolt
The whole thing is revolting me

How did things ever get to be this way
And every day it goes on 

I think I’ll sit inside a cubicle and relax
It’s not me that they are chasing with the big axe
And besides I am green
I believe in clean seas 

How did things ever come to be so bad
Cruelty is the plan

Oh, but I can’t be without you baby
Can’t live without you baby 
Can’t move without you, can’t grieve without you
Can’t think without you, can’t live without you

Let’s see you chew on solidarity and polite talk
Good intentions you can breathe in till your chopped up
What it like to tied 
And then boiled alive 

How did everything get to be so grave
Billions yearly slain 

Oh, but I can’t be without you baby
Can’t live without you baby 
Can’t move without you, can’t grieve without you
Can’t think without you, can’t live without you

Until The Good Day Is Done

I see you in the window watching
blue shadows in the morning light
And I stop in the middle of asking
Won’t you stay a little bit longer
Until the good day’s done

Last night as I lay beside you
I held you and you closed your eyes
And I know this can’t last forever
Please stay a little bit longer
Until the good day’s done

One more hour, one more day
One more moment with you
I would stay right here if I had my way
But holding on is all that we can do

I look at what lies before me
And I see just an empty space
But your love lifts me to the rafters
Please stay a little bit longer
Until the good day’s done

Could Be On Your Way

You could be on your way to me
soon you’d be close enough to feel
Just a few hours now, I will wait, wait
Wait by the window, and pray, pray
Pray that you won’t be so late

You could be moving on the road
With your menagerie in tow
I keep you on the phone while you drive, drive
Drive like a robot, look alive, drive
I’m talking to you while you ride
Ride between the lines
Curve when they curve, and rise on the inclines

You’ll arrive safe and sound 
And in good time
Our souls will re-intertwine
Our bodies and our words line up in a rhyme

She said long distances are cruel
She said it hurts, and that is the rule
There’s no alternative, for me, me
I can’t be what I choose, I’m not free, free
Freedom is nothing to me
Come back will you please
Tear up my home, rip away at my bed sheets

You’ll arrive safe and sound and I’ll get back my mind
All comes in all good time
Soon you’ll slide next to me and give me something to believe in again

One Day

One day soon
I’m going to feel much better then
One day soon
I’ll ride above the weather
No maybes

Maybe Sunday
I’ll be on the top of the world with you
Maybe by Friday
I will have grabbed the ring for sure

Someday we’ll get to sleep ‘neath the same sky
Some fine day we’ll get to test these wings
Will they fly right
Or will they come down in the first stormy night that comes

It’s just the moon
It’s waxing and waning as she does
I’m out of tune
But I’m going to play right through or bust

Someday I won’t have to do this anymore
Some fine day I’ll wave the last goodbye to the shore
Someday I’m going to remember why and what for
One day very soon

When I See You Again

When will I see you again, 
I just don’t know when,
But the stars will realign, 
My friend, I just don’t know when

Although I speak in tongues, I’m talking sense, 
I’m walking out towards something,
The mountains’ hidden gem

The stream flows, 
The clouds in the stratosphere expand,
Contract and move forward
Everything above and below is moving, 
Not waiting for commands

I have plans I’m going through with, 
Take my hand if your inclined to,
Come to a foreign land

Oh, it’s just some sleight of hand,
It’s not deception, 
It’s right in front of you now,
The magic is you don’t know how

When will I be with you again, 
I confess, I don’t know when,
But the earth is full of mystery and surprise, 
Maybe time can bend

Before I make another promise, 
I will channel Nostradamus, 
I say we’ll meet again in some quiet time

Oh, it’s just some stray quatrains, 
Meandering across a page,
You’ll find me in the rain, 
Feeling for that day
When I see you again

I Can Learn

I can learn, I can listen to you,
I can comprehend when I get the cue,
You’ve been speaking clearly, 
You’ve been making good sense,
It’s only my feelings that are taking offence

I used to feel, I used to see you sometimes,
Now I’m adrift on the ocean, the sun is scorching my eyes,
You know my fears, you know my every fault,
See my wounds they are begging for salt

Oh oh, the battle is on us

Look over there, there is a room to breathe in,
Look over here, and it’s all my creature needs,
I’m straddling wall, I see you with a child in your garden,
I start to fall, give me your hand will you please

Oh oh, the battle is on us
Oh oh we’re together in arms
Oh oh I’m for you and for always

Thing of beauty, thing of thorns and of spines,
I surrender to your allies, the stars in the night,
I ask you today, I ask you everyday,
Just imagine me standing on your right side

Oh oh, the battle is on us
Oh oh we’re together in arms
Oh oh I’m for you and for always

Sound Asleep

I don’t know who you are when you’re sound asleep,
Just a woman that looks like you who’s down in the dream land,
I didn’t get to sing you a lullaby, 
Didn’t get to serve you some chamomile, 
Who’s that stranger lying in the sheets, 

Please tell me,
Tell me who,
Cause I really want to know 

I don’t know who you are when you’re sound asleep,
Just a woman that looks like you there catching “z”s,
I can’t say you don’t please me,
I don’t care if you don’t tease me,
But you’re cuddled there so nice with all the sheep

Please tell me why
Please tell me why
Cause I really want to know

Go to sleep, my baby, 
Pleasant dreams, 
My sweet little thing,
Rock you in the treetops gently

I don’t know who you are when you’re sound asleep,
I’ll figure this whole thing out sometime next week,
Will it all be on dream time,
Will it all be on an ethereal climb,
Will arouse that wizard in your mind,

Please tell me now
Please tell me now
Cause I really want to know

Tear Inside My Eye

What you mean to me
I can’t say cause it’s late
I can’t say cause I’m asleep
I can’t say cause I’m in dreams

What you know as truth
I can’t know, because it’s deep
I can’t know, even if you say
I can’t know if I’m asleep

There’s a tear inside my eye
waiting for the morning
to be free, to glide
and mingle with the waters in your mind

What you say will wait
Until the morning sun lies long
Casts the trees upon the fields
And it paints in golden beams

There’s a tear inside my eye
waiting for the morning
to be free, to glide
and mingle with the waters in your mind

What you mean to me
I will say all the time
I will say and you’ll know
I will say even if it rhymes

There’s a tear inside my eye
waiting for the morning
to be free, to glide
and mingle with the waters in your mind

You Can’t Help

You can’t help me darling
But I know you always try
You can’t stop yourself darling
You won’t give up until it flies
You can’t give up until you’ve tried your hardest

I can’t keep it together
Something always slips my mind
Something will take it from me
And when it does, I’ll close my eyes
When it does, I’ll fall back and just slide
But as long as there is life
There’s a chance
Another chance to try

Worlds have tumbled darling
They always have, and always will
All that’s built will crumble
Things together come apart
Got to be accepted finally
Even if it breaks our hearts
It’s a thing we knew from the very start

If anybody has a say
It’s you that will find a way
I know cause I’ve seen you move
Where there’s a will, there’s you

I know what I have to do
I’ll stay here and wait for you
The fog had enveloped me but I
I’m going to let you try

With The Lights On

I sleep with the lights on
So I see what sneaks by
The bed while you’re dreaming of flight
You fly in the night
I’ve been awake for so very long
For so many days
It’s all quiet now
But still I quake

Baby baby, baby baby, I don’t want you
I don’t want you to go mad
Mad like me

I remember what you said
In the morning when you woke
You lifted your head up to say
Have a wonderful day
And be kind as you need to be
And lift your bags and kiss the trees
And do be safe

Baby baby, baby baby, I don’t want you
I don’t want you to go mad
Mad like me

Sooner or later it’s night in the theater
And I’m in my bed once again
Waiting for the sleep
That never begins for me
And all I’ll see
Is you drift off
In the silent stream

Baby baby, baby baby, I don’t want you
I don’t want you to go mad
Mad like me

Weird ass music since 1986