John Gorka's best

John Gorka is a member of the folk music pantheon, a well-earned residency. Posting his legacy songs is quite the chore in narrowing them down to a workable number. Here's the best shot (in no particular order):

"Love is Our Cross To Bear"



I didn't know where to look for you last night
I didn't know where to find you
I didn't know how I could touch that light
That's always gathering behind you

I didn't know that I would find a way
To find you in the morning
But love can pull you out of yesterday
As it takes you without warning

I want to be a long time friend to you
I want to be a long time known
Not one of your memory's used-to-bes
A summer's fading song

CHORUS:
It's from me, it's to you
For your eyes
It's a weight, a wonder that is wise
I am here, you are there
Love is our cross to bear

I know I'll think of us upon that hill
With the golden moon arising
And the stars will fall around us still
While the love is realizing

And so it is until we meet again
And I throw my arms around you
You can count the gray hairs in my head
I'll still be thankful that I found you

CHORUS:
It's from me, it's to you
For your eyes
It's a weight, a wonder that is wise
I am here, you are there
Love is our cross to bear

+++++

 "I'm From New Jersey"



I'm from New Jersey
I don't expect too much
If the world ended today
I would adjust

I'm from New Jersey
No I don't talk that way
I watched too much TV
When I was young

I'm from New Jersey
My mom's Italian
I've read those mafia books
We don't belong

There are girls from New Jersey
Who have that great big hair
They're found in shopping malls
I will take you there

I'm from New Jersey
It's not like Texas
There is no mystery
I can't pretend

I'm from New Jersey
It's like Ohio
But even more so
Imagine that

I know which exit
And where I'm bound
The tolls on the parkway
They will slow you down

New Jersey people
They will surprise you
Cause they're not expected
To do too much

They will try harder
They may go further
Cause they never think
That they are good enough

I'm from New Jersey
I don't expect too much
If the world ended today
I would adjust
I would adjust
I would adjust

+++++

 "The Gypsy Life"



There is nothing in my head today
Nothing awful there to ponder or confuse me
Go ahead in what you have to say
And I will listen as I listen to the news

I know the whole truth there is horrible
It's better if you take a little at a time
Too much and you are not portable
Not enough and you'll be making happy rhymes

Chorus
You might like the gypsy life
You judge your progress by the phases of the moon
Get your compass and your sharpest knife
People love you when they know you're leaving
Soon

If you choose to settle in one place
You may be harder over on the ones you love
Like a tree without the growing space
You will be taking from below and from above

Chorus:
You might like the gypsy life
You judge your progress by the phases of the moon
Get your compass and your sharpest knife
People love you when they know you're leaving
Soon

There is nothing in my head today
I'll cross the river people as I cross my heart
The pigeon bridges are a place to stay
I will go under as I try to do my part

Chorus 
You might like the gypsy life
You judge your progress by the phases of the moon
Get your compass and your sharpest knife
People love you when they know you're leaving
Soon 

+++++

"Armed With A Broken Heart"



Take this as a warning
To stay away from me
Because the man that you used to know
Is not the man that you're going to see
Someday we may laugh at this
Someday we may be friends
But for now you can keep your distance
Stay away till the pieces mend

(2)
This sudden loneliness has made me dangerous
Please don't watch me while I fall apart
'Cause I'm sad and I'm angry
And armed with a broken heart

(3)
And what will get me through the night
Is what I'll use with all my might
And to some peace I have a right
But I pay so dearly

And at my age I should be wise
Now I'm untying all those ties
The evidence is in the eyes
That should see so clearly
I once saw so clearly

(4)
You know I will say anything
If it will keep you away
But I don't know what I would do
If you said you were gonna stay
Don't do me any favors
Don't try to ease the pain
Won't you please let me hate you now
So I won't fall for you again

(Repeat stanza 3, then stanza 2)

+++++

"People My Age"
 
 

People my age
Have started looking gross
I cannot say all
And I shouldn't say most
I've seen 'em in the grocery
I've seen 'em up close
And people my age
Have started looking gross

People my age
Are showing some wear
There's holes where their teeth was
And their heads have gone bare
Their brains are shrinking
Faces sinking into fat
And as for the mirror
We won't be looking into that

People my age
Have started looking gross
Maybe not in Colorado
Or up the Silicon Coast
Back in Pennsylvania
I'd eat scrapple on toast
Those were my first steps
On the road to looking gross

People my age
Are looking overripe
Some are getting operations
To tighten up what ain't tight
What gravity's ruined
They try to fix with a knife
What's pleasant in the darkness
Is plain scary in the light

Gross

+++++

"Semper Fi" The video is comprised of several performances



My father met Eleanor Roosevelt
In 1945
The war at last was over then
And they were still alive

Her husband was the President
Till he ran out of time
Her Franklin D. was history
And they'd put him on the dime

My father joined the leathernecks
To stay out of the mines
The new marine was just fifteen
In 1939

There were medals and malaria
The south pacific war
Through jungles that were paradise
And were paradise no more

Soldiers fight and soldiers die
Soldiers live to wonder why
Semper fi fe fo fum
Look out peacetime here we come

Some of the men who did survive
Were not the lucky ones
War is only good for those
Who make and sell the guns

My father lay recovering
The hurt was all inside
Sometimes the wounds that never heal
Are easiest to hide

When Eleanor came bearing gifts
To San Francisco Bay
She gave my dad a blanket
In the hospital that day

That blanket meant a lot to him
My mother has it still
Some forget the kindnesses
That others never will

Soldiers fight and soldiers die
Soldiers live to wonder why
Semper fi fe fo fum
Look out peacetime here we come

+++++

"Part Of Your Own"



I wish that you could live forever
And that I could be there too
And that there'd be generations
To look after me and you

But I know that isn't likely
So I guess I'll say it now
That I'll love you past the boundaries
That time and breath allow

You were my first memory
We were playing in the grass
Like the colors of your apron
Love was colored in to last

Chorus
And I'm glad the light still hits your face
And I'm glad every time you answer the phone
For you life and home have never been an easy place
And I'm glad to be part of your own 

You were the foundation
That we built my life upon
First with Dad and Cass and Mary
Then one was sick and one was gone 

People only get one family
And a lot of them are rough
I'm glad the one I got was one
That wasn't hard to love 

I hope I have your toughness
Along with your will to be kind
And know as I am one of yours
That you are one of mine

Chorus

+++++

"Where The Bottles Break"



I walk where the bottles break
And the blacktop still comes back for more
I walk where the bottles break
And the blacktop still comes back

I live where the neighbors yell
And their music comes up through the floor
I live where the neighbors yell
And their music wakes me up

Life beyond the playground fence
Is serious as basketball
Life beyond the playground fence
Is serious

Four blocks from the steel mill blasts
I paint my claim up on the wall
Four blocks from the steel mill blasts
I paint my claim

From my end of the southside drag
It's a common thought to call the cops
Further west it's been gentrified
They turned biker bars into flower shops

I kind of miss those Harley guys
Who rarely did a body harm
They mostly liked to drink and shout
And flash the pictures on their arms

It happens when the money come
The wild and poor get pushed aside
It happens when the money come
The poor get pushed
The buyers come from somewhere else
And raise the rent so you can't hide
The buyers come from out of state
And they raise the rent

Buy low sell high
You get rich and you still die
Money talks and people jump
Ask how high low-life Donald what's-his-name
And who cares
I don't wanna know what his girlfriend doesn't wear
It's a shame that the people at work
Wanna hear about this kind of jerk

These people aren't saints
No people just are
They wanna feel like they count
They wanna ride in their own car
People aren't saints
No people just are
They wanna feel like they count
They wanna ride in their own car

I just wanna make enough
To buy this town and keep it rough
I just wanna make enough
To buy this town

Buy low sell high
You get rich and you still die
Money talks and people jump
Ask how high low-life Donald what's-his-name
I walk where the bottles break
And the blacktop still comes back for more
I walk where the bottles break
And the blacktop still comes back

I live where the neighbors yell
And their music comes up through the floor
I live where the neighbors yell
And their music wakes me up

Life beyond the playground fence
Is serious as basketball
Life beyond the playground fence
Is serious

+++++

"The Sentinel"



no lyrics available

+++++

"I Saw A Stranger With Your Hair"



I saw a stranger with your hair
Tried to make her give it back
So I could send it off to you
Maybe Federal Express
'Cause I know you'd miss it

I saw another with your eyes
The flash just turned my head
I went to try them on for size
But they looked the other way
And they wouldn't listen

CHORUS:
But you're never hard to find in a crowd
The people around you smiling out loud
Their feet don't touch the ground
No, their feet don't touch the ground
No, their feet don't touch the ground

I heard a stranger with your voice
It took me by surprise
Again I found it wasn't you
Just an angel in disguise
In for a visit

By the way how is my heart
I haven't seen it since you left
I'm almost sure it followed you
Could you sometime send it back
I'll buy the ticket

CHORUS

I saw a stranger with your hair
I saw another with your eyes
I heard an angel with your voice
By the way how is my heart
By the way how is my heart

+++++

"Raven In The Storm"



I'm the latest apparition
Cutting slices in the night
I come through without permission
Moving in and out of human sight
I'm the tapping on your shoulder
I'm the raven in the storm
I'll take shelter in your rafters
I'm the shiver when you're warm

I'm the gold in California
I'm the well in Mexico
Like the vultures in the valley
I will wait for you to go

I'm the gypsy in your pocket
I'm the horseman in your dreams
I'm the reason dogs are barking
I'm the hand that stops the scream

I'm the baby's cry that isn't
I am the distant relative
I'm the scratching in the ceiling
I'm advice you shouldn't give

I'm the ghost of a traveling salesman
My foot will be there in your door
Though I can walk through walls and windows
I will knock just like before

I'm the darkness in your daughter
I'm the spot beneath the skin
I'm the scarlet on the pavement
I am the broken heart within

I won't take a train to nowhere
I will not touch just anyone
Ask a stranger why I'm waiting
In the chamber of a gun

+++++

"Italian Girls"



I used to fall for Italian girls
They filled my dreams, they made my world
If I had moved less awkwardly
They might have had their way with me

The longer names, the darker hair
They made me weak, they made me stare
I couldn't say a word to them
Their figures so full of vitamins

I wasn't cool, I wasn't bad
I was the only one I ever had
And they posessed the world's delights
Espresso mornings, lasagna nights

(Chorus)
Oh, the Italian girls
The Italian girls
They made my world

They were strong and they were proud
Some were sweet and some were loud
They'd fill me up with what they'd cook
And put me down with just one look

I followed them through summertime
I made them laugh, I made them rhymes
But they left me there for other ones
Who had the dough when day was done

Just one thing keep me free
They were not in love with me

Now they've married and gained some weight
But that weight I appreciate
For it's the work of all those meals
And what you eat is what you feel

(Chorus)
For the Italian girls
The Italian girls
They made my world

I used to fall for Italian girls
They filled my dreams, they made my world
But passion dies and fades away
Or lives to fight another day

+++++

Here's an article offering brief describing/interpreting various Gorka songs.