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Words © Copyright 1984, 2015 Peter Lloyd
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the melody to this number, Divertimento in D KV 334

Bringing my son, David, home from the hospital a day or two after he was born, we heard Mozart's Divertimento in D on the radio—the first music David ever heard. I wrote this bit of advice to him soon after.

You were born with one, essential, fundamental thing that no one ever will explain
And if you use it with a bit of common sense, you will avoid unnecessary pain
It really pays to use
Yes, you were made to use
Don’t be afraid to use your brain

You can have the world and all its wonder as your plunder, but before you make your bed
Be sure to broaden your horizons just in case you want to take the universe instead
Don’t ever choose without
Never refuse without
You’re sure to lose without your head

Now it may seem kind of contradictory to you
From time to time when you are forced to listen to
Some old pedantic fool with nothing else to do
But prattle on and on and on
Then your challenge is to keep your balance
While you find the needle somewhere in the hay

Even though you lead and others follow, you will often feel alone because you’ll find
The very fact that you can keep your head in tact, means others are, in fact, the other kind
Don’t disapprove without
Never behoove without
Don’t make a move without your mind

Every now and then you’re bound to run into a few
Fanatics who will try to razzle-dazzle you
With happy hocus pocus hype and very
Unsophisticated points of view
You know better than to let them fetter
You with any rules that tell you not to use

The most precious and essential, fundamental thing that no one ever will explain
Be sure to use it with a bit of common sense. You will avoid unnecessary pain
It really pays to use
Yes, you were made to use
Don’t be afraid to use your brain

Your Brain

Queria hablar español, and so
I wandered my way to Bolivia 
Now from my cell in the heart of La Paz
I pine for my lovely Olivia

Olivia appeared like a long-lost dream
From Heaven she said God had hastened her
“Sip my elixir of love,” she implored 
 My trust then I readily placed in her

We sang to the stars of the southern sky
And sipped sucumbé, tea and lemonade
Danced to the whims of her passion until
Polícia cut short our escapade

O-li-iv-ia, if God sent you down from the sky to me 
O-li-iv-ia, when I asked you your age, why’d you lie to me?    

My sentence may outlive my life, but now
I must not let misery harden me
Locked in La Paz for the rest of my life 
I pray presidente may pardon me

O-li-iv-ia, if God sent you down from the sky to me 
O-li-iv-ia, when I asked you your age, why’d you lie to me?    

My lovely Olivia. Of course, I forgive ya
Olivia, I give ya my love    
Olivia, te doy mi amor    

© Copyright 2025 Peter Lloyd
Music composed with Suno AI

Olivia

Another November I stand with the trees
Their black branches robbed by a mean autumn breeze
I lean on a tall oak, my cheek to her bark
And mourn my companion as the woodland grows dark

Oh, I miss my companion, always more, never less
As the years wrap around me, they embrace my distress
I return to you empty. Speak again what you teach
From the ages inside you round and as wide as my reach

Then the oak speaks for hours and her wisdom I heed
I hear in her silence all the solace I need
"Stay standing, she minds me, "let death do its worst
"Welcome each sunrise as if it's your first"

Yes, another November I stand with the trees
Their black branches robbed by a mean autumn breeze
I must leave you again now with tears on your bark
But I'll come back each autumn till my memory goes dark

© Copyright 2025 Peter Lloyd
Music with Suno AI

Companion

Justine, you make me feel so clean
Justine, you make me feel so clean
You took my love and run it through the washing machine

Justine, I hate to walk with you downtown
Justine, I hate to walk with you downtown
You talk so loud and you're always putting me down

Justine, you make me feel so clean
Justine, you make me feel so clean
You took my love and run it through the washing machine

Justine, you wear your clothes inside out
Justine, you wear your clothes inside out
Your hearts so full of anger and your heads so full of doubt

Justine, you make me feel so clean
Justine, you make me feel so clean
You took my love and run it through the washing machine

Justine, come and get your cigarets
Justine, come and get your cigarets
You left them on the table and I'm trying to forget

Justine, you make me feel so clean
Justine, you make me feel so clean
You took my love and run it through the washing machine

© Copyright 1976, 2000 , 2025Peter Lloyd
Music with Suno AI

Justine

Well, I never climbed a mountain, no, I never even tried
What’s the point of crawlin halfway to the sky? 
When everything I wanna see is somewhere in your eyes
And I never have to ever leave your side 

No, I’ll never solve a mystery or cure a rare disease
My face will never grace Time magazine 
And though I try to please you and keep you trouble free
I can never ever give you guarantees 

But every day I try to make you smile and never cry
Help you soothe your wounds and chase away your blues 
I’ll never get it all right and always come up shy
But I’ll never ever give you alibis 

Oh, there’s so much more I haven’t done and so much more to do
To be the man you hoped that I would be 
But there’ll always be one promise you can count on comin true
I will never, no not ever, not love you 

And every day I try to make you smile and never cry
Help you soothe your wounds and chase away your blues 
I’ll never get it all right and always come up shy
And I’ll never ever give you alibis 

Oh, there’s so much more I haven’t done and so much more to do
To be the man you hoped that I would be 
But there’ll always be one promise you can count on comin true
I will never, no not ever, not love you

No, I’ll never, no not ever, not love you 

Words © Copyright 2014 Peter Lloyd
Music with help from Suno AI

Never

let’s remember Alice Ball, long unrecognized 
found a cure for leprosy, so long ago   
Alice died at twenty-three      
white men called her work their own
I think we all know why
I think we all know why

let us give Charles Drew his due, long unrecognized
taught us how to share our blood, so long ago
volunteered to donate first
white men turned charles drew away
I think we all know why
I think we all know why

where have all the lepers gone?
Alice healed them all
blood banks save so many lives
Charles made it so
why were they not recognized?
jealous white men feared their fame

I think we all know why
I think we all know why

© Copyright 2025
Music with Suno AI

We All Know Why

If I had to do it all over again
Would I be content to reply
To the question, “What do you do for a living?”
“Me?...

I just teach. It’s what I do. I know I’ve found my groove
I just teach. It’s all I do.  I’ve nothing more to prove
I just teach. I just teach

I awake primeval minds, where dormant wonders lie
Introduce tenderfoot minds  to why they wonder why
I just teach. I just teach 

Those who do can do, do
Those who can’t do, teach
Well, that’s what they say
If you think that’s true
I could teach a thing or two, too, to you

Now diagram that sentence

Let me ask you a question.
 Have you ever seen a  shy, introspective misfit
 Suddenly catch on to what makes  Shakespeare worth reading

 And then watch his writing  slowly evolve from
 Black-and-white into vivid  color? I have.

 Ever have a precocious  preteen smart ass not only
 Prove you wrong, but  replace what you thought was set in stone
 
 With an entirely new idea  using the critical-thinking skills 
 You’ve just taught her?  I have 

 Ever seen a roomful of  smug, surly faces as their
 Dim, un-inquisative eyes start to  blaze with wild, child-like fire

 When it dawns on them  all of a sudden that 
 What they call common sense is actually  complicated?

 And, for the very first time  learn to accommodate
 Inside their green  ripening little brains

 Two diametrically opposed  viewpoints as
 Perfectly  plausible!

 I have. And I wouldn’t have missed it for the world

Those who do can do what they do
I know I can do what they do too 
Let them do what they do
I do all that I can do as well
Maybe even better

I excite young appetites  and nurse them on unknowns
As they grow, I watch them fly  where no one’s ever flown
I just teach. I just teach. I just teach.

© Copyright 2025 Peter Lloyd
Music with help from Suno.com AI

I Just Teach

Everybody thinks jocks are dumb
Not the case where I come from
I know what it takes to read a faking fullback
I know what it takes to anticipate an all-on sack
I know what it takes to make sure you don't head on out onto the gridiron with your
jock on backwards

It takes brains
A lot more than brawn and muscle
It takes brains
So much more than guts and hustle

Cuz if you hustle instead of pace your defense with bump-and-run coverage, you may
miss the sack opportunity and rush around the gap on the snap and meet a stiﬀ-arm
defender when double coverage demands running out the clock, because your
opponent is in field goal range and the kicker's putting yards behind every triple-man
screen around the passing pocket, so now you have the watch the other team's coach
take a Gatorade shower and you're screwed!

It takes brains
A lot more than brawn and muscle
It takes brains
So much more than guts and hustle

Cuz if you hustle in the wrong direction, you miss a squeeze play on the balk and get
caught with one run down, bases loaded on an infield-fly base on balls, dirt dog
followed by a screwball clutch pickle full-count, late-run pressure situation forcing a
grand-slam wall climber, because you sent your sweeping curve to a switch hitter with
an RBI pinch-hitter pick-oﬀ at the end of position change close-call, causing your
coach to start cussing out the umpire, instigating a bench-clearing brawl and you're
screwed!

It takes brains
A lot more than brawn and muscle
It takes brains
So much more than guts and hustle

You know, just because some jocks don't interview like philosophy professors, doesn't
mean they don't know a lot more about a whole lotta shit you never even thought
about much less could understand

I know what it takes to keep your point guard clear
I know what it takes to make the bleachers cheer
I know what it takes not to dunk the ball in the wrong damn basket

It takes brains
A lot more than brawn and muscle
It takes brains
So much more than guts and hustle

Cuz if you hustle with the wrong intention and you don't let the game come to your
after a one-and-done wheel oﬀense to answer a zone defense crooked zebra pick-and-
run, you end up putting pressure on the crossover defense clutch shot when you need
a squeeze oﬀense, one-on-one, man-to-man oﬀ pass rather than a triple-dribble hook
shot for less time in the paint in favor of a three-pointer oﬀ the glass with a buzzer-
beater, full-clock laid-oﬀ shot time missed in the last half second to bounce you right
out of the bracket and you're screwed!

It takes brains
A lot more than brawn and muscle
It takes brains
So much more than guts and hustle

You think I'm making this shit up, don't you?
It takes brains

© Copyright 2025 Peter Lloyd
Music with help from Suno.com AI

It Takes Brains

Pay attention, pay attention
Pay attention to me and see what you see

Pay attention, pay attention
Pay attention to me and see what you see

Now I’m not talking about my fantastic figure
Or my knack of wrapping men around my finger 
All I need is almost a master
Someone who's a  challenge and understands
The ins and outs and...
Pay attention, pay attention
Pay attention or lose your chances with me

Pay attention, pay attention
Pay attention to me and see what you see
Now I’m not talking about my fantastic figure
Or my knack of wrapping men around my finger 
All I need is almost a master
Someone who's a challenge and understands
The ins and outs and...
Pay attention, pay attention
Pay attention or lose your chances with me

Pay attention, pay attention
Pay attention or lose your chances with me

© Copyright 1977, 2025 Peter Lloyd
Music by suno.com

Pay Attention

Hello, you wanna have some fun?
My name is Madeleine and I'm the one
My, my, you're such a handsome guy
I love your eyes, oh, your hair
Pardon, I can't help but stare

I've got no needle for my phonograph
The water's running but there ain't no bath
I'm needy, but, oh, you're so greedy
Now, not so fast
I'd love to love you but you make me laugh

Slow down before you break your heart
You're off and running way before we start
Now, there. That's much better
Do that again
Oh, I'd better go before I go too far

I'm in the middle of the mood for love
But what you do you do in such a rush
It's necessary to be fairly nonchalant
That's how I get everything I want

[burlesque music]

Good night. I hope you had your fun
I'm going upstairs, if you wanna come
Bye-bye. Tell your wives I said, Hello
And come back next week, for another show

(c) Copyright 2025 Peter Lloyd
music by suno ai

Madeleine

Songwriter since 1966. Can't believe I still have to write protest songs. Prefer writing love songs and songs of praise for stand-up women and men, parodies, lyrical nonsense, blues and adaptations.