Denison Witmer Lyrics, Photos, Pictures, Paroles, Letras, Text for every songs

B i o g r a p h y
( by Matt Fink )

Tagged by many music journalists as one of the most likely songwriters to fill the void left by Elliott Smith in the acoustic indie singer/songwriter movement, Denison Witmer catalogs the experiences of young adulthood in almost painfully honest detail. With a soft and sensitive voice that perfectly matches his laid-back 1970s California pop production and subtly expressive guitar work, he has gone from writing in his journal to becoming an intimate of like-minded artists like Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion over the span of a few albums. Growing up in Lancaster, PA, Witmer picked up the guitar at the age of 16 and was soon showing enough promise to draw the interest of the Innocence Mission's Don Peris. As Peris became Witmer's musical mentor, he would oversee and play guitar and keyboard on his apprentice's first recordings, 2000's River Bends EP and the much-heralded Safe Away. His reputation rising among singer/songwriters and bolstered by appearances on the summer festival scene, Witmer would sign on with Burnt Toast Vinyl for 2001's The '80s E.P. and 2002's Of Joy & Sorrow, the latter finding him expanding into more electric sounds and having his efforts rewarded with overwhelmingly favorable reviews and extensive North American tour dates. Philadelphia Songs followed later that year before Recovered was released in summer 2003 on Fugitive. Are You a Dreamer? marked Witmer's debut on The Militia Group two years later; the label then reissued Safe Away in October 2006 as a double album coupled with the EP Are You a Sleeper? (a tie-in to the Dreamer album) and several live bonus tracks.

Say You'll Stick Around

Open your life
Can you feel me rushing in
And unshield your mind
I can tell what you are thinking

And all you hold inside
Was just as much mine
The same questions of who
The same stories I hide
And I know that this is your beginning

Blow me a kiss
I can feel it hitting my face
And what have I missed
Why are you leaving my embrace

And what's left to do
I can think where you are
But you know that I can't blow my kisses that far
Hold my hand
While you're leaving for Japan

Say you'll stick around
Say you'll stick around
Say you'll stick around

Don't be surprised
Sometimes I think you're way out of my class
And push off the time
What I'm left with, you're still my photograph

Steven

This was the first year of our years together
Your mother got sick
And your sister got married
And this was the first year of our songs together
Simple cords are lovely
Simple words are heartfelt

It’s the best friends that need you
In my case believe you
It’s the best friends lives kiss you
In my case miss you

And you were there on Queen Street
When I was feeling down
And every word I said felt like it meant nothing
The only one I have
That understands my blues
Is making big predictions
Of life on the west coast soon

It’s the best friends that make you
Sometimes they break you
It’s the best friends that move you
In my case see through you
It’s the best friends that need you
Sometimes the leave you
It’s the best friends lives kiss you
In my case I’ll miss you

It’s the best friends that make you
Sometimes they break you
It’s the best friends that move you
In my case see through you
It’s the best friends that need you
In my case believe you
It’s the best friends lives kiss you
In my case I’ll miss you

Breathe in this life

I hear you calling me by name
You come around the corner smiling again
And I know
You're feeling better

And so the sun might turn to rain
The clouds will come together over us again
And they
Will soak us to our bones

Comfort our thoughts when we're feeling down
Say what we need until we come around
As a matter of fact
A matter of these times
When we're all feeling
It's getting hard to breathe in this life

I'm going back now to the time
When we sat out all night and looked to the sky
And dreamed it would be our escape
And so that night did turn to day
The sun so bright and warm
And make its way inside of me
Send a shiver through my bone

Comfort my thoughts when I’m feeling down
Say what I need until I come around
As a matter of fact
A matter of these times
When we're all feeling
It's getting hard to breath in this life

I don't know what I’m doing now
I don't know what I’m doing now
I make myself so sick inside my bones

Comfort my thoughts when I’m feeling down
Say what I need until I come around
You're the matter of fact
The matter of these times
When we're all feeling
It's getting hard to breath in this life

Over my head

Taking myself back to the time
When we were in your room
You looked straight through the life that I’ve led
The things that I’ve said made you tired

But you could always find the best in me
You can always sense the times that I’ve been falling apart
The shape of my heart shows its marks

It's a lonely life
We both know that
Things are gonna change

You’re over my head, over my mind
Walk with my face down and my eyes
Over my head, over my mind
Walk with my face down
Walk with my head down

I'm going on two weeks since i last saw
The smile that depended on my life
For things that she needs
I just called to see if you're fine

It's a lonely life
We both know that
Are you safe away

You’re over my head, over my mind
Walk with my face down and my eyes
Over my head, over my mind
Walk with my face down
Walk with my head down

This and that

All of the words keep coming
For me to settle down
But I think I heard us falling
Before we hit the ground
So much for my dark takes
On how we got this far
Funny that we can't make a thing
Of what we really are

She sits on the bed
She's so beautiful
She thinks I’ll be scared of what she's feeling
It's time you ought to know
Time you had the facts
I’m feeling like this, if you can live with that

I don't believe in some things
Like living for myself
And I don't believe in loving
Unless there's someone else

Closer to the sun

Downtown in the fall
Across the sidewalks
The leaves will all make fossils, left behind
Balancing your life this way against mine
I know you're in me somewhere
I have the marks to prove of this

Closer to the sun
Out in the open farms
To the reason for this growing, I will come
And you will be near
And I am not old
When we are close together we are young

If I had no arms to fold into
If I had no joys to breathe back to you
Surely this could slow the life of mine
Surely this could stop the love of mine

Far from everyone
Down where the river runs
To the reason for this valley, i will come
And wash myself there
Of all of my cares
Through mystery and water there is love
There is love

If I had no arms to fold into
If I had no joys to breathe back to you
Surely this could slow the life of mine
Surely this could stop the love of mine

What will stay

What will stay
When everything is going, what remains
When everything is leaving, when all has slipped away
What will stay

What will change
When everything is different, what's the same
When everything is leaving, when all has slipped away
What will change

Am I safe
When everything is going, I’m afraid
When everything is changing, if nothing good has stayed
Am I safe

Miles

We'll get in my car around 10:30 that night
For the New York City skyline
Destination of our sights
It's the biggest healing session that I’ve had for some years
The laughter and the driving and the letting go of

She seems to have a way of making me feel
You always have a way of keeping me real

Hold me, my world is closing
Help me to keep it open

We stand in the parking lots of late afternoons
Talking of the ways we pray for healing of wounds

She seems to have a way of bringing me down
You always have a way of bringing me out

Hold me, my world is closing
Help me to keep it open

We feel the push of
The love directed life for us
We feel the push of
The Christ directed life, the love directed life

Hold me, my world is closing
Help me to keep it open

Dain

I look out my window, I’m catching the view
Where Queen Street meets chestnut one block west of you
These strange conversations will set our hearts free
These strange conversations lift burdens from me
My friend, come back again

Now we're back at my place with Morrissey on play
And you missed your Ritalin, you're truest this way
Our strange conversations will leave us amused
You're faster and clearer, you seem less confused
My friend

What you're impressed by
I get depressed by
And what we rely on
Is the strength we get by on

Los Angeles

I remember thinking
That you'd never leave
Praying in your bedroom
Before I fell asleep
I still feel the moment
When you came alive
Like a poem about springtime
Nothing to hide

All of these homes
Are lined up so straight
But here on the inside
It's not that way

I gave you my life and more
From sadness to sunshine,
I'm yours, I’m your lost happiness
Up in your Los Angeles sky

Lately I’ve been thinking
That you'll never know
If you don't mark the way back
The further you go
Lately I’ve been feeling
Like I’m the bright star
That fell behind the mountain of feeling you are

Around everything

I need to take a look before you go away
Before I spend my time with what I need to say
You're so free around everyone but me

It's the city lights
And it's a New York sky
You don't want to hear
And I’m not ever right
You should be with anyone but me

We talk around everything

I need to hear a word before you go away
But you don't speak of my hurt
And that might never change
You could be with anyone but me

We talk around everything

I would call you now

This cannot be real
Looking out into the cold
This window holds a view
Of you and I and growing old

I would call you now
If i had strength on telephones
I would call you now
And say the words to bring you home

This cannot be real
Looking out into the rain
This window holds a view
Of you and I and how things change

I would call you now
If you weren't sleeping three hours from here
I would call you now
And sing the words that bring you near

I would call you now
If you weren't sleeping three hours from here
So lay your sweet head down
And dream of me
So far yet near

I won't leave

I think it's fair
To say that I knew you best
Way back when...

The place you live
The things you'll do
The choice you have that I could never understand

You could throw it all away
Or you could throw it back to me
I won't leave

I think it's fair
To say you've changed
But day by day that's something i can understand

You could throw it all away
Or you could throw it back to me
I won't leave

I'm sorry that it ends this way
I hope you can still love me
I won't leave...

Broken

You hate what I said
You're scared that there
Might be some truth inside all of this
That makes your life look bad

There's still more to this
You said that you
Have to go make what you want of this
It's not just you involved
It's not just you involved

What happened to the girl I used to know
What happened to the girl I've always loved

I hate what you did
I'm scared that I
Might have to let go for good this time
So I get out of line

There's still more to this
I think that you
Know how you hurt me so deep inside
And if you don't then you should know
If you don't then you should know

There's no doubt that we could get through this
There's no doubt that you have left him in
There's no doubts that I need to forgive
There's no doubt that I might stay broken

Forgiven

Daniel and for everything this year
I never meant to pull your strings so hard
In a room with just a door to where you slept
If you only heard the secrets that i kept

I'm sorry things I said, hurt you bad
I'm sorry things I’ve did, made you sad
Do you think I’ll be forgiven
Do you think I’ll be forgiven

And it shouldn't have to be so hard to say
And I know that I don't have to use big words
And the longer I wait it gets hard to say
And I know that I don't have to use big words

I thought about the day when we first me
I knew from there on out you'd be my friend
Do you think I’ll be forgiven
Do you think I’ll be forgiven

I'm sorry things I said, hurt you bad
I'm sorry things I’ve did, made you sad
Do you think I’ll be forgiven
Do you think I’ll be forgiven

I'll be waiting on your train
When you come back
Through the western states
Where I left you on the platform
Life gets so hard
But I know that you'll be fine

Stations make me think of my own travels
All the people
And places I’ve been through
When you find that they're the same thing
As the people
In places that you knew

Can you promise me
You still love
What you loved
When you left

Will you promise me
You still have
What you had
When you left

All I want is to be honest
Like the seasons
As talk about that slows
There's compassion that holds no words
It holds no words
You feel it as you go

Can you promise me
You still love
What you loved
When you left

Will you promise me
You still have
What you had
When you left

Rise And Fall

Yesterday I felt so sad
I came home early from work
Fell asleep with my clothes on
Woke up when the sun was gone

There's an ocean in my heart
From the hurt for words we said
Trust, these days just feels like
some wave without a shore

Everywhere I go I rise and fall
Colors they all turn to one
Days and weeks and months so fast
How can I hold on to that

April with your eyes so bright
Come and stay with me tonight
You hold promise in your hands
Hope I understand

Everything you say turns night to day
Light pours over every word
Days and weeks and months so fast
Suddenly come rushing back

Everywhere I go I rise and fall
Feelings they turn into one
Days and weeks and months so fast
How can I hold on to that
How can I hold on to that

Simple life

I will live a simple life
In a place I understand
You were always welcome here

With no favourites in my love
Never put myself above
You were always welcome here

Well tomorrow is another day
Well tomorrow is another day
That is what we'll say, heyay

From the poems in your hands
To the flowers in the lawn
You were always welcome here

There are pictures left to see
There are songs still left to sing
You were always welcome here

Well tomorrow is another day
Well tomorrow is another day
That is what we'll say, heyay, heyay

You will know how much I’ve tried
I will be the arms that you can rest inside
I will be the place that you could run to hide
I will be the ears your secrets can confide
Any given day, heyay, heyay
Any given day, heyay

Any given day

Rock run

We are leaving for rock run
Weekend's just begun
And we are gathered in the car
Antique stores and river homes
Stretch along the water
And they point to where we go
It's my first time up to the north
And though the day is short
We make our plan into the night.
Swimming holes and radios
That only gets the station
That the mountain range lets in
And light the way
There are angels that are gathered in the sun
Light the way
We are beautiful but unsure who we are
From the trees down to the water's edge
We will come
April, with your eyes so bright
Promise me that you will come and stay with me tonight
You hold promise in your hands
And hope that I can never
Now I finally understand
And light the way
There are angels that are gathered in the sun
Light the way
We are beautiful but unsure who we are
From the trees down to the water's edge
From the trees down to the water's edge
Light the way
We are beautiful and unsure who we are
From the trees down to the water's edge
We will come

You and Me

You would not believe how this came up
Two apartments ago and downtown
A picture of you sleeping in my chair
I sang songs for you because I cared
About you and me
You and me

Don't tell me that I’m the clever one
We live like it's all been said and done
Everything I say now feels contrived
I just want you to believe I tried
I tried hard for you and me
You and me

There's a little section of my town
That reminds me of the place you lived
Cherry blossoms blow out of the trees
I get lost but I know what I’ve seen

The '80s

It feels like the '80s
When we were much smaller
But somehow felt bigger than now
Come summer, my brother
You say you will marry
By this time next year will it be

You came with a ring
The obvious thing
And we were all smiling so wide

It feels like the '80s
When we were much smaller
But somehow felt bigger than now
Bigger than now

It feels like the '80s
When our world was honest
It sometimes feels less honest now
The love of another
The cradle and cover
By this time next year will it be

We long for these things
These obvious things
When we can feel complete inside

It feels like the '80s
When our world was honest
Nothing seems more honest now
More honest now

Yesterday, tomorrow

I called your sister
To make sure you're all right
But she told me that you stepped out for the night
So I thought of all the places you could be
And your Irish eyes of green

And her father turned slowly into light
For the hardest five years
Of her family life
She was lonely so she came to spend the night
In my house, in my bed, with me
In my house in my bed with me

Yesterday, tomorrow
Days of joy and sorrow

Yesterday, tomorrow
Tears of joy and sorrow

Yesterday, tomorrow
Songs of joy and sorrow

Yesterday, tomorrow
Waves of joy and sorrow

Light my way

Listening to records in the living room,
Strings that I attached to things and drag around
Photographs that I can't bear my eyes to see
Books that I keep on the shelf and never read

I have finally found a lamp to light my way
I have finally found a way to speak my mind
I have finally found a lamp to light my way
I have finally found a lamp to light my way

Sets Of Keys

I believe when we were younger
We thought that we deserved the sun
I met you when you were eighteen
I was pushing twenty one
The sentiment, the twists and turns begun

Living close to Philadelphia
We would go there now and then
I liked all the different restaurants,
Neighborhoods, and river bends
Together we made plans that went

I would move there first
In a year you'd come down
And i'd keep my place here
You'd find yours across town

Sharing sets of keys
To our rooms and bigger things
We would write our names on this place
In a way that could not be erased

I Won't Let You Down

Six floors up and two doors down again
She misses her family in Japan
We stand beside the window in the hall
The site of the Drake Tower in the fall

Place all that wait on me
And I won't let you down
I won't let you down
I see it gets hard to stay around

You and I are like these fallen leaves
Let go by the streets named after trees
We circle people we do and don't know
It's so hard to never feel alone

It's so hard to never feel alone

Place all that wait on me
And I won't let you down
I won't let you down
I see it gets hard to stay around

Place all that wait on me
And I won't let you down
I see it gets hard to stay around

24 Turned 25

I see you two times a month
At the bar around town
We have lots of common friends
But we don't talk to much of them

At your apartment it was late
The bus is done but the taxis wait
Should we go down to Second Street
Or just stay here 'cuz that scene's beat

When twenty four turned twenty five
I heard you tried to take your life, why
You don't really know
When twenty four turned twenty five
There's so much pressure in these times to be
Something that you don't
When twenty four turned twenty five
You try to hold your head up high, why
I don't really know
When twenty four turned twenty five
Make this the best time of your life, why
Well I don't really know

Leaving Philadelphia

The yellow city clock
Separates all the blocks
North south and east from west
I watch it glow
Tomorrow I will be
An airplane in the sky
Looking down on this place
I romanticize

Reflections on glass
The bus and taxis pass
Tallest buildings
Parents and their kids
And all the things we did
Or wish that we did

The northwest coastal rain
The purple mountain range
Inside you start to change
You start to glow
Tomorrow I will find
A farmhouse close to here
With lots of trees and quiet
I'll keep my friends near

Sailboats on the sound
And if you turn around
Tallest buildings
Markets and storefronts
And all the things I want
Or wish that I was

Chestnut Hill

Light another candle in my room
Live another season straight through
You're the one that makes me feel nice
From all the things you said tonight

Early in the morning the streets
Run across the shadows of trees
But we just stayed inside and lost time
We talk til we lose track of time

Even in the songs that I sing
Do you fear the history they bring
Sleeping with my head in your arms
You're the one that keeps me from harm

Early in December last year
The biggest moon fell broken and clear
West of where our city lies still
Over there on Chestnut Hill

Philadelphia Streets turned to ice
And my bed felt empty those nights
Sleeping with my head on your chest
You're the one that knew me the best

And you were there so long
You were there for so long
Will you come back

Maybe it's in you that I saw
All the hope I thought I Had lost
Sleeping with my head on your chest
You're the one that knew me the best

Stations

I'll be waiting on your train
When you come back
Through the western states
Where I left you on the platform
Life gets so hard
But I know that you'll be fine

Stations make me think of my own travels
All the people
And places I’ve been through
When you find that they're the same thing
As the people
In places that you knew

Can you promise me
You still love
What you loved
When you left

Will you promise me
You still have
What you had
When you left

All I want is to be honest
Like the seasons
As talk about that slows
There's compassion that holds no words
It holds no words
You feel it as you go

Can you promise me
You still love
What you loved
When you left

Will you promise me
You still have
What you had
When you left

Do I Really Have To

Center City on a bus
Feelings change from want to must
So I pushed the meaning to it all
I carry you from place to place said,
"This is how I spend my days,
Do you understand my shape, my form?"

Do I really have to let you go
Not if I don't want to

Last night spent on the couch
Felt your heartbeat pounding out
Sounds like someone's footsteps on the floor
I dreamt we walked from room to room
Opened doors into those parts of you
All the memories that I have of us before

Do I really have to let you go
Do I really have to

When someone you love dies
You never question where they've gone
Like landscapes under snow
They're blocks you build more life upon
They're the corner of your eye
Their quiet arms still comfort you
Do I really have to

Do I really have to let you go
Do I really have to

Remember the things you have seen

Day after Day
Buildings that stretch
Only hope can touch that high

Rivers Divide
Treetops that line
How I tried
How I tried

Remember the things you have seen
The sun that shines down on the world so still
Think of the places you'll go
Somewhere the language sounds like music to your ears

I took off a year
I put into words
Only hurt and how that feels
Changed by a friend
Shining a light
Only joy and what that yields

Remember the things you have seen
The way her head felt on your arm that night
Think of the places you'll go
Somewhere the music sounds like language to your ears

Remember the things you have seen
Remember the things you have seen
Remember, remember
Remember the things you have seen

Saint Cecilia (Ode to Music)

My love, my Saint Cecilia
My red cross, blue mint green
You have white angel wings
You broke my soft voice to sing

The little blue glass beads
Tear drops drawn on rosaries
You counted Hail Marys
Sad music far from me

Don't leave me, stay with me
Promise you still want me
Forever and ever
Our love is much better

Without you, it's hard to be
Optimistic and happy
But it's the only thing
Life is so worth living

Simple Man

(Graham Nash)

I am a simple man
And I sing a simple song
I've never been so much in love
I've never hurt so bad
At the same time

I am a simple man
And I play a simple tune
I wish that I could see you
One more time across the room
Like the first time

I just want to hold you
I don't want to hold you down
I hear what you're saying
And you're spinning my head around
And I can't make it alone

The ending of the tale
Is the singing of the song
Make me proud to be your man
Only you can make me strong
Like the first time

I just want to hold you
I don't want to hold you down
I hear what you're saying
And you're spinning my head around

I just want to hold you
I don't want to hold you down
And I can't make it alone
I can't make it alone

Songbird

(Fleetwood Mac)

For you, there'll be no more crying
For you, the sun will be shining
And I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

To you, I'll give the world
To you, I'll never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

And the songbirds are singing
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before

And I wish you all the love in the world
But most of all, I wish it from myself

And the songbirds are singing
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before, like never before

Love In Mind

(Neil Young)

Woke up this morning
With love in mind
It was raining outside
But my love still shined
Kept me warm
Until my plane touched the sky

And I've seen love make a fool of a man
He tried to make a loser win
But I've got nothing to lose
I can't get back again

Man made rules
Been holding back my love
Can't hold it back no more
Churches long preach sex is wrong
Jesus where is nature gone
What am I doing here
What am I doing here
What am I doing here

Nightime

(Big Star)

At nightime, I go out and see the people
The air goes cool and hurrying on my way
And dressing so sweet, all the people to see
They're looking at me, all the people to see

And when I set my eyes on you
You look like a kitty
And when you're in the mood
Oh, you look so pretty

Caught a glance in your eyes
And fell through the skies
Glance in your eyes
And fell through the skies

I'm walking down the freezing street
Scarf goes out behind
You said, "Get them away"
Please don't say a word

Get me out of here
Get me out of here
I hate it here
Get me out of here

At nightime, I go out and see the people
The air goes cool and carrying on my way

Glance in your eyes
And fell through the skies
Glance in your eyes
And fell through the skies

Farther On

(Jackson Browne)

In my early years I hid my tears
And passed my days alone
Adrift on an ocean of loneliness
My dreams like nets were thrown

To catch the love that I'd heard of
In books and films and songs
There's a world of illusion and fantasy
In the place where the real world belongs

Now I look for the beauty in songs
To fill my head and lead me on
Though my dreams have come up torn and empty
As many times as love has come and gone

To those gentle ones my memory runs
To the laughter we shared at the meals
I filled their kitchens and living rooms
With my dreams and my broken wheels

It was never clear how far or near
The gates to my citadel lay
They were cutting from stone some dreams of their own
But they listened to mine anyway

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say
It could be I've lost my way
Though I keep a watch over the distance
Heaven's no closer than it was yesterday

And the angels are older
They know not to wait up for the sun
They look over my shoulder
At the maps and the drawings of the journey I've begun

Now the distance leads me farther on
Though the reasons I once had are gone
I keep thinking I'll find what I'm looking for
In the sand beneath the dawn

And the angels are older
They can see that the sun's setting fast
They look over my shoulder
At the vision of paradise
Contained in the light of the past
And they lay down behind me
To sleep beside the road
Till the morning has come
Where they know they will find me
With my maps and my faith in the distance
Moving farther on

Brass Buttons

(Gram Parsons)

Brass buttons, green silks and silver shoes
Warm evenings, pale mornings, bottle of blues
And the tiny golden pins that she wore up in her hair
Brass buttons, green silks and silver shoes

My mind was young until she grew
My secret thoughts known only by the few
It was a dream much to real to be leaned against too long
All the time I think she knew

Her words still dance inside my head
Her comb still lies beside my bed
And the sun comes up without her
It just doesn't know she's gone
But I remember everything she said

I remember every word she said
All the time I think she knew
Brass buttons, green silks and silver shoes

So Far Away

(Carole King)

So far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It used to be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're just time away

Long ago I reached for you and there you stood
Holding you again could only do me good
Oh, how I wish I could, you're so far away

One more song about moving along down the highway
I can't say much of anything that's new
If I could only work this life out my way
I'd rather spend it close to you
But you're so far away

Traveling around sure gets me down and lonely
Nothing left to do but close my mind
I sure hope the road don't come to own me
There's so many dreams I've yet to find

But you're so far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It used to be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're so far away
You're so far away
You're so far away

It Makes No Difference

(The Band)

It makes no difference where I turn
I can't get over you when the flame still burns
It makes no difference night or day
The shadow never seems to fade away

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

It makes no difference how far I go
Like a scar, the hurt will always show
It makes no difference who I meet
They're just a face in the crowd on a dead-end street

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Now there's no love
As true as the love
That dies untold

But the clouds
Never hung so low
Before

Without your love,
I'm nothing at all
Like an empty hall, it's a lonely fall

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

I love you so much
It's all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you

That I never felt so alone before
That I never felt so alone before

Suzanne

(Leonard Cohen)

Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that she will trust you
For you've touched her perfect body with your mind

And Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone

And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
And you think maybe you'll trust him
For he's touched your perfect body with his mind

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you know that you can trust her
For she's touched your perfect body with her mind

These Days

(Jackson Browne)

Well I've been out walking
I don't do that much talking these days
These days

These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do for you
And all the times I had the chance to

And I had a lover
But it's so hard to risk another these days
These days

So if I seem to be afraid
To live the life that I have made in song
It's just that I've been losing so long

So I'll keep on moving
Things are bound to be improving these days
One of these days

These days I'll sit on cornerstones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten, my friend
Don't confront me with my failures
I have not forgotten them

Looking For You

It doesn’t matter which way you face me
North, east, west, or south
Put your hands in my two hands
Your mouth against my mouth
We will lean into the sun
Drive without your seatbelt on
Come on

This city’s made of beer
These streets are made of wine
Her bed is whiskey
And her pillow out of grey
The smoke that moves across her eyes
Like clouds go through the skies
I lay down

I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been wandering through the dark
I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been looking for you

Where the train breaks from the ground
Just north of Second Street
Can’t watch it seated down
I stand on my two feet
I like the light there through the window
The light goes over me
And around

I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been wandering through the dark
I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been wandering through the dark
I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been looking for you

It’s not so easy if you want to disappear
If you don’t believe me, stop
Ask anybody here
How this city has a way
Trying to kick you when you’re down
I got out

I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been wandering through the dark
I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been wandering through the dark
I’ve been looking for you
I’ve been looking for you

Are You Lonely

Read the letter that you sent, but I can't
I was talking to our friends, but I'm stressed
Give me back a day, I know which one
Where the pink light of your room
Matched the pink light of the summer

Are you lonely, 'cause I've been lonely
Are you tired, 'cause I've been tired
Another late night on the phone
To remind you just how close we've grown

The drive to Michigan holds weight in me
Thought of someplace I could be myself
Though the Midwest feels so tired and scattered
We were hurt before, but that doesn't matter anymore, now

Are you lonely, 'cause I've been lonely
Are you tired, 'cause I've been tired
Another late night in the car
To remind you just how close we are

Since you've been away
Every day's a phone call, it's an exit sign
How long will you stay?
How long will it be until you come back again?

Are you lonely, 'cause I've been lonely
Are you tired, 'cause I've been tired
Another late night in your room
To remind you of the lengths gone to

Chestnut Hill

Light another candle
In my room
Live another season
Straight through
You're the one that makes me
Feel nice
From all the things you said tonight

Early in the morning
The streets
Run across the shadows
Of trees
But we just stayed inside and
Lost time
We talk til we lose track of time

Even in the songs that
I sing
Do you fear the history
They bring?
Sleeping with my head in
Your arms
You're the one that keeps me
From harm

Early in December
Last year
The biggest moon fell broken and clear
West of where our city
Lies still
Over there on Chestnut Hill

Philadelphia Streets turned
To ice
And my bed felt empty
Those nights
Sleeping with my head on
Your chest
You're the one that knew me
The best

And you were there so long
You were there for so long

Will you come back?

Maybe it's in you that
I saw
All the hope I thought I
Had lost
Sleeping with my head on
Your chest
You're the one that knew me
The best

22

You're my friend in the afternoon
Evening comes I don't know what to do
You're my friend in the evening
Morning comes I don't know what to do

Been spending nights with a burned out crowd
Dead end bar in a no-name town
Been spending days listing my regrets
Quit smoking after each cigarette

You're the hit on the radio
New hits come I don't know what to do
Graduate from college
I'm 22, I don't know what to do

Been working nights on a different job
Just count the minutes til sunrise
Been spending days sleeping til supper
Just don't ask me what day it is

You're the talk of the town tonight
When the talk is gone I don't know what to do
You're the woman I dream of
When the dream is gone I don't know what to do

Been spending nights on a different bed
Alarm goes off in the morning
Been spending days wondering just what I've said
Keeps me wandering around

Been spending years trying to figure you out
Same old face in the mirror
Always hanging on with the same old crowd
No name bar in a dead end town

You Could Be Anything

Lives don't really end
They bleed into the next
Rivers bend and flow to the sea

Short stories exist
So longer ones can live
Do you understand what I mean

But you could be anything at all
Anything you've always wished to be
You could be anything at all
Anything you've always wished to be

You could be anything at all
Anything you've always wished to be...

Little Flowers

How you found me out
I still never understand
Thoughts you can't take with you when you go

You were waving flags
That bare the colors of your love
I didn't know

Orange for the vineyards
Blue is for the rivers
Green goes like a hillside covered now

White is not surrender
Despite what you've been told
It's clouds of hope

That fall on you now
Save you now
Fall on you
Fall on you now
Save you now

One time we met
You were outside
Floating in the forest
I placed my stigmata on your hands

Little flowers that you have sown
Show people you have known
That I am love

And fall on you now
Save you now
Fall on you
Fall on you now
Save you now

And fall on you now
Save you now
Fall on you
Fall on you now
Save you now

Fall on you now
Save you now
Fall on you
Fall on you now
Save you now

Everything But Sleep

My room has a big white bed
Pictures on the mirrors
Books that last a year
Everything but sleep
Don't you know

Nothing won't fit under there
The Dowmaker's ghost
A heavenly host
Everything but sleep
Don't you know
Everything but sleep
Where does it go
Everything but sleep
On it goes

If it weren't for you
I could be anywhere
I'd rather be here
Don't you know

Now that I know I'll never feel the same way
Everything but sleep
Don't you know
Everything but sleep
On it goes
On it goes

Ringing of the Bell Tower

Do you hear the ringing of the bell tower
Counting off the days you can't replace
I would like to think it's not that way

All the songs that find you in the city
Pull you from your bedroom to the streets
Pushing all your sadness underneath

There's a song I've been singing
All these years as they pass
There's a lot of big questions I never ask
There's a lot of questions never asked

Consider the lilies of the valley
Neither do they toil nor they spin
Still a quiet hand is watching over them

And I became a prodigal and left here
Petals out like windmills in the air
Waiting for a breeze
For any sign of care

There's a song I've been singing
All these years as they pass
There's a lot of big questions I never ask
There's a lot of questions never asked

Are You a Dreamer

Dream, are you a dreamer
Are you a dreamer
Do you dream
Sleep, are you a sleeper
Are you a sleeper
Do you sleep
When your brown eyes close
Do blue skies open up
When your breathing slows
Your mind run fast and free
Will you sleep and dream with me

Love, are you my lover
Are you my lover
Do you love me
Save, are you a saviour
Are you a saviour
Will you save
When my blue eyes close
Will white clouds lift me up
When my body slows
My mind run fast and free
Do you hold me when I sleep
Do you hold me when I sleep
When your brown eyes close
Do blue skies open up
When your breathing slows
Your mind run fast and free
Will you sleep and dream with me
Will you sleep and dream with me
Water, I’m walking on water
Walking on water for you

East from West

Skipping like a stone
Across the bluest pools of what I know
Don't know where to go
Each one leaves a mark
Circles through the dark and sinks into
The place I need you most

As far as the east from the west they say
I should know my east from west I know
As far as the east from the west they say
And I am only human anyway

Now for all your cares
Put them in the air that I breathe in
Until you tell me "no"
And for the smallest hands
Put them in my hand and I walk on
Until you say "let go"

As far as the east from the west they say
I should know my east from west I know
As far as the east from the west they say
And I am only human anyway

I am only human anyway

California Brow

She's the kind of girl that tans to brown
Freckles on her elbows and her knees
And I'm the boy that passes through these towns
I leave before we find out what it means

I'll send a letter addressed to you
It says you're my California brown and blue
Another chorus line gives into waves
It fades away

So I push through another hotel door
And I pull back the bed sheets till they break
And I sleep so hard I don't even dream
Weightless in the arms of Golden Gate

The only music I want to hear
Is the sound of the last light that disappears
Another songbird gives up its wings it fades away

I'll send a letter addressed to you
It says you're my California brown and blue
Another coast line gives into waves
It says you're my California Golden Gate

The only music I want to hear
Is the sound of the last light that disappears
Another songbird gives up its wings
It fades away
Another songbird gives up its wings
It fades away

Castle and Cathedral

There's a dream I have
It comes back when all the days turn into one
I'm in a coat and hat
And I'm standing on the coast of England
With a castle and cathedral on the sand
I reached down to touch the water with my hand
Then you turn and say to me
"You've been talking in your sleep
What did you see, what does it mean?"

I was a photograph
Of our daytrip from the window of a train
The one we cut in half
I kept mine and made a bookmark on a page
It fell out today as I was getting packed
Have I left you here more times than I've come back
Like that snowfall out of reach
We kept our details underneath
Once made of stone, we went for broke
I didn't know

Are you a dreamer

Worry All The Time

Lately I've been waking to
The bluest stars that I once slept through
The morning hangs like open chords
That I fill in with my own thoughts and words

I used to worry all the time
But I slowed down to live my life
To live my life now

College campus and warmest grass
We sit and watch the people rush to class
When did we to decide that life had to be
All fasts and cheques, that we lost mystery

We used to worry all the time
But we slowed down to live our lives
To live our lives now

We used to worry all the time
But we slowed down to live our lives
To live our lives now

Grandma Mary

Mary, you are the bird inside the hand
Of St. Francis in the garden where he stands
Handwriting, a birth mark, and a quilt
Mother to my mother and to me, and to me

Mary, you are the mason jars in spring
The kitchen with the view across a hill
First memory is a Bible verse in song
The organ while my family sings along, we sing along

And on the calendar when I leave
A little note for you, so you see
When I'm gone, I never go too far
Your heart is my heart
Your blood, my blood
When I'm gone, I never get too far

Mother to my mother and to me

Finding your feet again

This is what it's like
Finding your feet again
He part of you that couldn't
Finally thinks you can

You're taking off some time to do this
A small apartment bedroom rearranged
To know that you are loved
You're finding your feet again
The part of you that couldn't
Finally thinks you can

A brownstone on a street in Brooklyn
The light tier flash from temperature to time
And people do the same
You're falling asleep again
Part of you a dreamer
And part of you is dreamt

And you said...

Go now in the light of your God
Go now in the love of your God
Go now in the peace of your God
Go now in the joy of your God

Beautiful Boys and Girls

Sense of home is all of this and more
Voice of love flies just beyond the door
Contemplating, I no longer change
Built my hope according to the day

Beautiful boys and girls
Beautiful broken world
Beautiful boys and girls
God if I pray, so long so loud
It's that most days you don't make a sound

Sense of home was lost along the way
Naked bodies buried in my veins
Nations rise and buckle in the weight
Homesick for the words I couldn't place

Beautiful boys and girls
Beautiful broken world
Beautiful boys and girls
God if I pray, so long so hard
It's that most days you don't make a sound

When you find me at the well
Will you comfort me until
Will you recognize my face
And replace, change

Beautiful boys and girls
Beautiful broken world...

Life before aesthetics

I've got more important things
Than shiny diamond rings
And modern furniture

Life before aesthetics was
A nail hole in a wall
A borrowed comforter

Now I wait until the sound
As if I never drowned in my addition
I'm not saying that it's right
But waking through the night I felt it coming

And it crossed my heart
When did all this start
Stand together, fall apart
And it crossed my heart

Hear the oceans as they sing
The mountains and the spring
And all it means to me

Life before aesthetics is
A mindset that imparts impossibilities

Still I waste the chance to give
As if I've never lived throughout deletion (?)
I'm not telling you it's right
But waking through the night
I felt it happen

And it crossed my heart
When did all this start
Fall together, stand apart
And it crossed my heart

And it crossed my heart
I've got more important things
Than shiny diamond rings
And modern furniture.

When did all this start
Life before aesthetics was
A nail hole in a wall
A borrowed comforter

Stand together, fall apart
Hear the oceans as they sing
The mountains and the spring
And all it means to me

And it crossed my heart
Life before aesthetics is
A mindset that imparts impossibilities

From Here On Out

Passing Broken Knee
I could hardly speak
My apology
Felt late at best

So I followed you
Through your living room
Where you offered me
Milk from your breast

And I took it without knowing it's a trade
And we slept together when night turned to day
And your eyes were large and yellow like the rain
If people call this settling, I've changed

I'm a child
At the door I empty
Perfume all over
Your feet

From here on out
It looks like you and me

If our days could be
Like piano keys
Black and ivory
Across the floor

Could I lift you up
With one single phrase
As my fingers shape
Into a chord

Will I know how every moment should be played
That not every note sounds right together
Will the meaning be transparent or opaque
When they ask me I will say whichever

I'm a child
I've lost my mother
My sense of home
Is gone

From here on out it all sounds like a song
From here on out it looks like you and me
From here on out it looks like you and me
From here on out it looks like you and me

From here on out it looks like you and me
From here on out it all sounds like a song
From here on out it looks like you and me
From here on out it looks like you and me

From here on out it looks like you and me
From here on out it looks like you and me
From here on out it looks like you and me
From here on out it all sounds like a song
From here on out it looks like you and me

Carry The Weight

Carry the weight of your brother
Carry the weight of your sister
I'm not afraid to say I don't know

Carry the weight of your father
Carry the weight of your mother
I'm not ashamed to say I don't know, anymore

Carry the weight of your neighbor
Carry the weight of a stranger
I'm not afraid to say I don't know what to do

And so I carry the weight
Carry the weight
Carry the weight
Carry the weight

Carry the weight of each other
Carry the weight of another
I'm not afraid to say I don't know

Isn't It Poetry

Isn't it poetry
Isn't it poetry
Words forces into space

I finally know the way
I follow works most days

Hazel Avenue
If lies are blue
The truth feels grey
Isn't it poetry

Singing a harmony
Singing a harmony
To words that I misplace
Strawberry blond and free
To follow words away

Hazel Avenue
The lines were true
Somehow erased
Isn't it poetry

Isn't it poetry

Turn your leaves towards heaven
Trap your blooms
It's a sign the flood is coming soon
Our eyes filled with water to, back to
I hope someone saves you, saves me too
From all of this poetry
Isn't it poetry
Isn't it poetry
Isn't it poetry

When you think you've had too much
There's still more to come
It all keeps adding up
When you think you've had too much
There's still more to come
Keep your heart full of love

Catholic Girl

There's a war inside
Lighting up my sky
There's a war inside

And a Catholic girl
With and Irish curl
She's a Catholic girl

How am I gonna know you
If I never show you
How am I gonna know you, now
How am I gonna show you
If I never know you
How am I gonna show you now

Another tree I climb
Another song I write
You're the tree I climb

And I'm the flannel shirt
I've got a tag that hurts
I'm the flannel shirt

How am I supposed to
If I never go through
How am I supposed to, now
How am I gonna go through
If I'm not supposed to
How am I gonna go through, now

How am I gonna know you

How am I gonna know you
If I never know you
How am I gonna know you, now
How am I gonna show you
If I never know you?
How am I gonna show you how

And a Catholic girl
With and Irish curl
She's a Catholic girl
And a Catholic girl
With and Irish curl
She's a Catholic girl

Song Of Songs

Now, there is a voice inside the air
Words come down
They haunt me
Hands move from a small back onto
A collarbone is bending

From the bed at night I called you
All the wrongs went right
We both knew

From the bed at night I called you
All the wrongs went right
I showed you

Show me, show me...

If You Are The Writer

Are you walking with your eyes closed
No, I'm wide awake
Are you sorry for the others
I'm carrying the weight
I was hoping that you'd turn around
And you'd show me the way
Are you walking with your eyes closed
No, I feel wide awake

By the time I reached the gateway
Nothing felt as right
I see oil in the water
Darkness in the light
Though I know the time is only time
A place is just a place
And A body just a body
A face only it's face

If you are the water, I am the waves
If you are the writer, I am the page
If you are the fire, I am the rage
You left a light on, in the back of my mistakes

If you are the water, I am the waves
If you are the writer, I am the page
If you are the fire, I am the rage
You left a light on, in the back of my mistakes

One More Day

What if I was wiser
Wouldn't this be easier
What I had to do
Stung like truth on my tongue

I woke up in the city
Somehow it got away from me
I am one of you
You are one of me
He was one of us

One more day to offer you my love
One more day to write it for you
Patches on the elbows of my eyes
Can't you see how much this hurts me

Seven stories high
The lifetime hanging over me
How was I to know
Where there's sense, where there's stars

Seven stories high
I planted a book of stars
How was I to know they'd root in your heart

One more day to know the will of God
One more day to write it for myself
Patches on the elbows of my eyes
Can't you see how much I'm trying

Chesapeake Watershed

Follow the river sound
Taking the words from our mouths
We have a long way to go
We both know
You'll be alright
You'll be alright

Chesapeake watershed
Blue tower overhead
Cul-de-sac road
My father's home
Awake through the night
Awake through the night

Linens and cedar chests
Notepads and instruments
Weeks in a row
I stayed alone
I'll be alright
I'll be alright

( The ‘80s EP)

Christmas time
In the business around that time
I could not lift my head enough to see
The face that I wanted to see

Through the door
Where the packages lie on the floor
Evergreen and incense in the air
There was a year I didn't care

With my voice I sang this before,
That grace would come and sorrow be no more
With my ears I’ve heard this before
That grace would come and sorrow be no more
With my knees I bend to the floor

Christmas day
In the stillness that protects this day
The string of lights was strung into a tree
A string of lights was strung inside of me
I felt at peace and fell asleep
I felt at peace
And slept

( The ‘80s EP)

I am desperate for a friend
Feel like I’m forgotten
And alone
Counting people I have been
And lines across my hands
Doesn't help

Try, try to be
There for me
There for me
All, all I need
Is everything
Everything

Letters came from lookout mountain
Like mercy from a fountain
Over me
But I have watched things come and go
Everybody knows
Everybody knows

She tried, tried to be
There for me
There for me
All, all I need
Is everything
Everything

Gift of grace

There's a bright star hanging over Bethlehem
I was overjoyed so I called to my friends
We crossed rivers, deserts, and mountains
Just to be with you

Take this incense as a symbol of my faith
How can I explain how long I’ve had to wait
You're the only gift I’ve ever wanted
How did you know

On the day you were born
The sky was open as it has been before
An angel sang on high
We all have hope

I've got 30 silver pieces in my hands
At the table where you called out to our friends
Someone here betrays me in the end
But i will be with you

We took bread and wine as symbols of your faith
How could you explain how long you had to wait
Washed my feet, I kissed you on the cheek
How did you know

On the day you died
The sky was open, and it was black as night
And you raised your last voice
I give you hope

Glorious
It's glorious
Glorious
Glorious

By your grace I am a Wiseman bearing gifts for you
By your grace I have been Judas and turned my back on you
By your grace there's never any guilt, now, there's only love

On the day you rose
Our hearts were open as they had been before
Go and tell the world
I give you hope

It was glorious
Glorious
Glorious
Glorious

You're the gift that I have always wanted
How did you know
You're the gift that I have always wanted
How did you know

Healing Time

( River Bends EP )

You don't feel at home
Underneath our Pennsylvania sky
Covered in guitars
Deep inside the music
There's a place for you

Your parents and your friends
You don't think that we know how you feel
Waving to your car
If we had our choice we'd go along with you

We could take a drive
Cities and street lights
Pass you by

We could take a drive
You should give your heart
Healing time

I have been where you are
I am well aware that there is hurt
That never goes away

I have been with you
Things I know will not let your hurt carry you

Where the river bends
I would like to take you there on Sunday
I think it would be good
For you to watch the quiet water move

How To Be Alone

I'm not questioning the way I move
I left here for Wisconsin on a Sunday
With practiced inability
Together what comes close to me
I always choose to leave

Dreaming but indifferent at best
I laid down in the kitchen
With the pain across my chest
Desire to be simplified
The way your stoneholds heat at night
There's nothing left to prove

And this is how I learn to be alone
Story of my life is yours to share
A pendulum that swings
Across so many things
So I will always be first to leave

I'm not questioning the things you do
Go out all night with strangers on a Friday
My practiced insecurity
Put prison walls around you
So I know you had to leave

Proud and independent at your best
You curled up with a novel
And a sweater on your chest
Desire to be rectified
The footend of your bed replies,
"There's space for you to move"

And this is how you learn to be alone
Story of your life is mine to share
A pendulum that swings
You lost so many things
So you will always be the first to leave

And this is how we learn to be alone
The story of our lives is ours to share
A pendulum that swings
We love so many things
So we will always be the first to leave
We will always be the first to leave

I Hope This One Never Ends

You spent your whole night out with friends
I spent my night inside with a book
I hope that this one never ends
If we don't tell each other where to look
Put your favourite music on the stereo
I put my favourites on there, too
You pick the Beatles like you always do
I sing along for you

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
These memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know that I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life, I loved you more
In my life, I love you more

I Tried to Make You Smile

In the voice of Stevie Nicks I feel young
And I become confused
Listening back to Fleetwood Mac
And listen back to careful thoughts of you

I don't want to lose your friendship now
And I’ve been feeling insecure
Maybe we just need some time apart
Everybody does for sure
Can you see how I tried to make you smile

I've always known that I can't change my past
But didn’t know that I changed for the best
You’re responsible for what happens to you now
The choice of what comes next.

So I'm not gonna say I’ve failed us both
I never thought that way of you
Maybe we just need some time apart
And I don’t know what else to do
Was it wrong how I tried to make you mine

My ears ring with that one line she sings in landslide now
It’s never been so true
I have been afraid of change
Because I built my life around you

I don’t want to lose your friendship now
But I’ve been feeling insecure
Maybe we just need some time apart
Everybody does for sure
Can you see how I tried to make you smile

I'll Keep It with Mine

( A Tribute to Bob Dylan's 'Bringing It All Back Home' LP )

You will search, babe
You will search at any cost
But how long, babe
Can you search for what's not lost

Everybody will help you
Some people are very kind
But if I can save you any time
Come on and give it to me
I'll keep it with mine

I can't help it
If you might think that I'm odd
For saying that I'm not
Loving you for what you are
But what you're not

Everybody will help you
Discover what you set out to find
But if I can save you any time
Come on and give it to me
I'll keep it with mine

The train leaves
It leaves at half past ten
But it'll be back
Tomorrow same time again
The conductor he's weary
He's still stuck on the line
But if I can save you any time
Come on and give it to me
I'll keep it with mine

Come on and give it to me
I'll keep it with mine
Give it to me
I'll keep it with mine
Give it to me
I'll keep it with mine

Meant To Be

And the furniture was painted
From natural wood to olive green this year
And the bedroom was done over
To keep up with the fashion of the time

And through the doorway there's a couch where
We killed the afternoon without a try
Through the doorway there's a couch where
We killed the afternoon

I was pulled for conversation
On a payphone at the place downtown you were
And I heard traffic in the background
I hear it all the time
Love you by association
Tell myself that I will look ahead,
But I will see and smell and hear things I cannot forget

And it was clearly never meant to be
It was clearly never meant to be
It was clearly never meant to be
It was clearly never meant to be

Paper Doll

( The ‘80s EP)

Tonight I'm like a paper doll
Dress me in what you wish I had on
And I will not say a thing
I'll just keep smiling

Here I am, wordless again
And you dress me up different ways
Flat and thin, speechless within
And you dress me up different ways
But I just can't be sure I'll ever change

No, I do not like the clothes I wear
I'd sooner loan them to the air
But I will not say a thing
I'll just keep smiling

Here I am, wordless again
And you dress me up different ways
Flat and thin, speechless within
And you dress me up different ways
But I just can't be sure I'll ever change

Why is it now
That you've cut me out
Of everything I was used to now
And it's not that I'm stamped here no charge,
But I will choose not to raise up my voice

Here I am, wordless again, wordless again
But I just can't be sure I'll ever change

Tonight I'm like a paper doll
Cut from the page that I once lived on
But I cannot say a thing
I'll just keep smiling
I'll just keep smiling

Postcard Song

Today my thoughts were watered down
Beneath the flood of London sounds
At Lester Square, the underground pulled me below

I wish that I could be the sun
I'd shine all languages at once
I wish that I could be the one you wake up to

In a world, that's easy
It's so easy on my eyes
It's easy, it's so easy for me
It's easy, it's so easy on my eyes

There is a postcard I will send
I will make a skyline sketch
Of the bridge and river, cathedrals and all the people here

It's as much mine as it is yours
Especially our soul's heavy doors
That song of our soul's heavy doors we wake up to

In a world, that's easy
It's so easy on my eyes
It's easy, it's so easy for me
It's easy, it's so easy on my eyes

So if I only live a day
If I come back with nothing
If I only live a day
What should I be

In a world, that's easy
It's so easy on my eyes
It's easy, it's so easy for me
It's easy, it's so easy on my eyes

Sleep Sound

You're the type
That says "I can't find love for my life
I've been searching around and around
I can't find a thing
To keep myself going"
You're the type
That mounts wings on the birds that don't fly.
Oh, still sometimes it seems you're flying inside.
How do you get around
How do you get around
With your feet on the ground
In your own way

I stay home for tonight
And sleep sound on the love that I have.
Oh yeah, it's about time
I sleep sound on the love that I

Have I gone
Way too far with this mindset that I'm on
I lay up all night thinking
About everything I need and
Everything I think I need
All the love I think I need
And all the love I know
In my own world

I stay home for tonight
And sleep sound on the love that I have
Oh yeah, it's about time
I sleep sound on the love that I have

( River Bends EP )

She was born of missionaries somewhere overseas
And now it was that she was brought to me
Staring from her farmhouse porch and through a heavy rain
She says that inside she felt a change

The seed is for the field and the trough is for your hand
And this is something we can understand
The seed is for the field and the trough is for your hand
And this is something we can understand

But you feel something wrong
And you know what it is
And your father will never understand
But I can
I can pull you out

I can pull you out

Picture of St. Jude is on the candle that i burned
Saint of my lost causes and concerns
Alone and in my bedroom
My guitar and wooden chair
Play out all my thoughts until the end

The prayers go soft, you can feel them even more
As they echo down the hall and hardwood floor
The tubes sound warm and the instrument plays well
How long I have waited I can't tell
How long I have waited I can't tell

Two And A Glass Rose

I remember you in a thrift store dress
Rainfall on the taxi roof on the morning we arrived in Amsterdam
Two church towers and a glass rose in your eyes
Jet lagged on the canal bridge and waiting for the boats to pass us by

If I sang a song for you I don't know what it means
If I played guitar for you it's lost between the strings
It's the way the oldest buildings sink into the street
Two church towers and a glass rose in between

I consider you like a book I’ve read
You never really had an end so it takes a little while till it all makes sense
Two shadows and a glass rose on one stage
Passed out in the dressing room and waiting for an instrument of change

If I sang a song for you, I don't know what it means
If I played guitar for you, it's lot's between the strings
It's the way the oldest buildings sink into the streets
Two shadows and a glass rose in between

I remember you in a thrift store dress
I remember you in a thrift store dress
I remember you in a thrift store dress
I remember you in a thrift store dress

You Got Me Good

( River Bends EP )

The last thing I heard
Was you're coming back
And Italy's love scene
Was going black
The city of love
Was pulling you in
With 200 miles
Between me, you, and him
You got me good
It's understood
You got me good
Yeah, I understand
You got me good
It's understood how
You got me good

September 6
Back in '94
I watched you walk
Til I could see you no more
Out of the airport
All of my love
In the form of a
16-year old girl
You got me good
It's understood
You got me good
Yeah, I understand
You got me good
It's understood how
You got me good

Talking to my brother yesterday
He said
That your new boyfriend
Didn't seem that bad
Long blonde hair
Pushed gently back
The kind that I had
When you used to love me

Hey you can't push away
The sun and stars that way
You can't push away
The changing of the day
You can't push away
The sun and stars that wait...