B i o g r a p h y
 (by Darryl Cater)

Over the Rhine had already developed a large and intensely loyal following in its native Cincinnati, OH, before they independently released their first two albums, Till We Have Faces (1991) and Patience (1992). Their music, which they aptly dubbed "post-nuclear, pseudo-alternative, folk-tinged art-pop," is difficult to pigeonhole. They have been compared to 10,000 Maniacs, the Innocence Mission, U2, and Shawn Colvin, but the band's personality seems to owe more to their literary influences (which include Dylan Thomas, C.S. Lewis, and T.S. Eliot). They drew attention to their independent albums with their attractively arty CD packaging, and when IRS signed them in 1992, Patience became the first album in the label's history to be re-released with its original indie cover art. But 1994's Eve would end up the only album the band would record on an IRS budget (with the exception of a slightly touched-up re-release of Till We Have Faces in 1995). When the label was bought out in 1996, Over the Rhine escaped from its five-record contract, fearing a loss of artistic autonomy. By the end of the year the band had released two imaginatively sparse acoustic CDs on its own: Good Dog Bad Dog and The Darkest Night of the Year, a melancholy Christmas album. 1996 also saw significant personal changes for all four bandmembers: Over the Rhine's chief songwriters (bassist/pianist Linford Detweiler and classically trained lead singer Karin Bergquist) were married in October. In December, guitarist Ric Hordinski left to devote more time to his own band, Monk, and drummer Brian Kelley followed (before he changed his mind in 1997). The group issued Besides, a fan-club-only compilation of rarities, in early 1997; the official album Amateur Shortwave Radio appeared in 1999. The band's sixth studio effort Films for Radio appeared in early 2001. Two years later, Detweiler and Bergquist returned with Ohio. This double-disc set, which marked Over the Rhine's tenth album overall, reflected the band's Midwestern connections. Following a tumultuous year of heavy touring, the band returned to the studio (Bergquist and Detweiler's living room, to be precise) and recorded their next album, Drunkard's Prayer, which came out in 2005. They released a career retrospective, Discount Fireworks, two years later.




Till We Have Faces
- 1991-xx-xx -



Eyes Wide Open
Someday
Like A Radio
Iron Curtain
Cast Me Away
And Can It Be
Gentle Wounds
Like A Radio
(Reprise)
If I'm Drowning
Sea And Sky
Fly Dance
Paul And Virginia
Ubiquitous Hands
The Genius Of Water

Patience
- 1992-07-xx -

Jacksie
I've Been Slipping
How Does It Feel
How Does It Feel
(Reprise)
Sister
Il Est Dans Mon Poche
Flanders Fields

Little Genius (Instrumental)
Lullabye
Circle Of Quiet
I Painted My Name
Rhapsodie
Grey Monologue


Eve
- 1994-08-23 -

Happy With Myself
Within Without
Should
Conjectures Of A Guilty Bystander
Melancholy Room
Sleep Baby Jane
Daddy Untwisted
Birds
June
My Love Is A Fever
Falling
(Death Of A Tree)


Good Dog Bad Dog
- 1996-06-30 -

Latter Days
All I Need Is Everything
Etcetera Whatever
I Will Not Eat The Darkness (Instrumental)
Faithfully Dangerous
The Seahorse
Everyman's Daughter
A Gospel Number
Poughkeepsie
Willoughby (Instrumental)
Jack's Valentine
Happy To Be So
Go Down Easy


The Darkest Night of the Year
- 1996-12-09 -

The First Noel (Instrumental)
Silent Night
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
Greensleeves (Instrumental)
O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Instrumental)

Coal Train (Instrumental)
Thank You My Angel
Mary's Waltz
Up North Here Where The Stars... 1945 (Instrumental)
Silent Night (duet)
O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Instrumental)
Amelia's Last
A Little Lower Than The Angels (Instrumental)


Besides
- 1997-03-11 -

The People Here Are Not Shy
Hej
(I Do)
My Love Is A Fever
(live)
Within Without
(rough mix)
(An American DeeJay)

Last Night
Murder
Dead Weight
Bothered
All I Need Is Everything
(chamber music mix)
Lucy
Miles
(Polish DeeJay)

If I'm Drowning
(Live)


Films For Radio
- 2001-03-13 -

The World Can Wait
If Nothing Else
Give Me Strength
Fairpoint Diary
I Radio Heaven
Little Blue River/In The Garden
Goodbye (This Is Not Goodbye)
Whatever You Say
The Body Is A Stairway Of Skin
Moth
When I Go


Ohio
- 2003-08-19 -


CD1
B.P.D.
What I'll Remember Most
Show Me
Jesus In New Orleans
Ohio
Suitcase
Anything At All
Professional Daydreamer
Lifelong Fling
Changes Come

CD2
Long Lost Brother
She
Nobody Number One
Cruel and Pretty
Remind Us
How Long Have You Been Stoned
When You Say Love
Fool
Hometown Boy
Bothered
Idea #21 (Not Too Late)


Drunkard's Prayer
- 2005-03-29 -

I Want You To Be My Love
Born
Drunkard's Prayer
Bluer
Spark
Hush Now (Stella's Tarantella)
Lookin' Forward
Little Did I Know
Who Will Guard The Door
Firefly
My Funny Valentine


Snow Angels
- 2006-11-xx -



All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue
Darlin'
(Christmas Is Coming)
White Horse
Little Town
New Redemption Song
Goodbye Charles (Instrumental)
Snowed In With You
North Pole Man
Here It Is
One Olive Jingle
Snow Angel
We're Gonna Pull Through

The Trumpet Child
- 2007-08-21 -



I Don't Wanna Waste Your Time
Trouble
I'm On A Roll
Nothing Is Innocent
The Trumpet Child
Entertaining Thoughts
Who'm I Kiddin' But Me
Let's Spend The Day In Bed
Desperate For Love
Don't Wait For Tom
If A Song Could Be President

The Long Surrender
- 2011-02-08 -



The Laugh Of Recognition
Sharpest Blade
Rave On
Soon
Undamned
Infamous Love Song
Only God Can Save Us Now
Oh Yeah By The Way
The King Knows How
There's A Bluebird In My Heart
Days Like This
All My Favorite People
Unspoken (Instrumental)


Meet Me At The Edge Of The World
- 2013-09-03 -

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World
Called Home
Sacred Ground
I'd Want You
Gonna Let My Soul Catch My Body
All Of It Was Music
Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down
Highland County
Wait
All Over Ohio
Earthbound Love Song
Against The Grain
It Makes No Difference
Blue Jean Sky
Cuyahoga (Instrumental)
Baby If This Is Nowhere
Wildflower Bouquet
The Birds Of Nowhere Farm (Instrumental)
Favorite Time Of Light

Blood Oranges in the Snow
- 2014-11-04 -



Blood Oranges in the Snow
Another Christmas
My Father'
s Body
If We Make It Through December
Let It Fall
Snow Birds
Bethlehem
First Snowfall
New Year'
s Song

Love and Revelation
- 2019-03-15 -



Los Lunas
Given Road
Let You Down
Broken Angels
Love & Revelation
Making Pictures
Betting on the Muse
Leavin’ Days
Rocking Chair
May God Love You
(Like You've Never Been Loved)
An American in Belfast (Instrumental)

 Non Albums Tracks
- Misc -

Angel Band
Anyway
Baby, It's Cold Outside
Blackbird
Everybody Wants to Feel Like You
Failed Christian
Fever
Green-Clouded Swallowtail (Version 1.0)
Helpless (Live)
I Let It Go
It's Never Quite What It Seems
I Will Remember

Last Night On Earth Again
Moondance
Motherless child
Orphan Girl
Paper moon
Ruby Tuesday
Son of a preacher man

Spinning
The Poopsmith Song
Toledo


Add some NEW lyrics (B-sides, live tracks, Cover), want to CORRECT some of them or found a BUG ? Just send a little EMAIL or simply post a message on the FORUM. Thanx !

Till We Have Faces

Eyes Wide Open

Eyes wide open
To the great train robbery of my soul
Impending blindness
Of the kind that's beyond my control

Eyes wide open
To the secret forest beyond those tear-filled trees
Heart-rending blindness
Won't testify that I'm on my knees

Maybe I'm a little young to care
Maybe I'm a little old to cry
I don't know
Maybe I'm a little weak to dance
Maybe I'm a little strong to die
I don't know

Concentrating
Love and I'm hating myself again
Impersonating
The smallest shadow of my original self again

Does anybody really want to grasp
My hand and lift me to my feet?
Does anybody really want to be the breeze
That frightens off this heat?

Someday

And if you call my name
Make it clear
And if you call my name
Make it plain
And if you call my name
Make it evident
I wouldn't miss it for the world

And if you need my attention
Be bizarre
Feel free to ignore convention
(it's alright)
And if it's a matter of permission
You can do me harm
I wouldn't miss it for the world

Someday
I'll pray
Don't leave me alone

And if you call my name
Call it again
My mind's been known to wonder
Call it again
You know I've been waiting
For this since God knows when
I wouldn't miss it for the world

Like A Radio

Confused
Ever since I spied you in the rooms of my mind
Now I can't deny you

Bleeding and bruised
Like a vagabond in rags I've walked the streets to you door
To find just what's in store

I see you
You and many others in your clean well-lighted place
Where I would find disgrace

But I do
Know I'd find contentment just to be your furniture
I need nothing more

In the thick of the night take me out of the cold
Let me sing inside
Like a radio
In the thick of the night before we grow too old
Let me sing inside
Like a radio

Shivering and cold this night's conducive to a
Flight into my soul but I stand here
Though my heart grows bold
Once on the inside I can quietly persist
And hold my tears

And so still I wait
Though I grow much weaker
I will not faint
I'll stay true

Believe me when I say
I'd climb to heaven
Crawl beneath the lowest hell
To stay near you

Iron Curtain

Yesterday I saw
The iron curtain
Around your heart

Making me cry
Making me wonder
Bringing me down
But making me love you

Making me sad
Making me sorry and
A little afraid
But making me love you

Yeah

Yesterday I saw
The iron curtain
Around your heart

Cast Me Away

Cast me away
From yesterday's things
In deed and in my memory

Sweeten the taste
Of the past
And borrow just a little more time for me

And Can It Be

This night is so big
This night has stars falling into my hands
And if I listen real close
I can hear some distant train crossing
(it makes me wonder)

Cast your shadow
Cast your shadow across my heart
Investigate me
I hope I've been yours right from the start
(it makes me wonder)

And can it ever be
I would know
Experience
The casualty of your love
All I can ever see
Is the need
Climb out of here
Find the way to some quiet place
Where you are

This night is so dark
This night has silence and very little fear
Tell me this welcome peace
Isn't dancing with the ghost of future tears
(it makes me wonder)

See how the road melts
Hear how the flowers fall
Feel how the smoke rolls
In front of my eyes

See how the trees bend
Hear how the heavens hush
Feel how the earth fades
In front of my eyes

And can it ever be?

No
Please no

Gentle Wounds

Entertaining visions of a
Lucid nature
Emotional precision
It's our best behavior
Rattling the streetcars on
Forgotten streets
Making a connection with
The bittersweet

Crawling into your mind
For some radiant reunion
Tapping out the messages
That signify your
Folded wings
The ground around receding
Feel love's stinging sword
Cut deep and catch
The joy that's bleeding out of
Gentle wounds

Feel the pang of hunger
Feel the new life awaken
Restoring everything
That once was taken...

Symbolizing agony that
Made the women weep
Feel love's stinging sword
Slice deep and catch
The joy that's bleeding out of
Gentle wounds

Bruised and beaten torn apart
The price that's paid for love divine
Can't spare your life don't spare
Your heart
Just feel the joy...

If I'm Drowning

If I'm drowning within your open sea
Save me, save me
If I'm lost within your strange anatomy
Talk to me, talk to me
If I'm on fire and I'm melting in the heat
Touch me, touch me
If I'm tangled in your raw philosophy
Then you better walk with me
Walk with me

I'm just walking across your heart
In spite of the weather
(won't you walk with me?)

If I'm dancing through your passages and fall
Catch me, catch me
If I'm screaming in your sky and tell you all
Hear me, hear me
If I'm feigning coherence and calmness
Laugh with me, laugh with me
If I tremble at your close proximity
Then you better believe me
Believe me

I can see you now
I can hear you now
I can feel you now
I can taste you now
In spite of the weather
Yeah

Sea and Sky

I feel like a castaway but I'm not afraid
You and me and a couple dusty volumes
I wanna be your messiah but there's no way
I feel the tide roll in around us

You be the sea and i'll be the sky
I want you with me now don't wonder why
You be the sea and i'll be the sky
Endeavour with me now don't wonder why

This love's like a labyrinth but I'm not afraid
You and me and a strong sense of forever
Like the old Swiss Family Robinson
Let's drift away
If we go down at least we'll drown together
(i can't forget you)

It's a little like this, it's a little like being afraid
It's a little like yesterday, though I don't mean
To invade Clouds rolled in front of your
Face your tears became the rain I heard
Wonderful thunder as you murmured as
You murmured my name
(take me far away, teach my soul to feel
That way You take me far away
It's wonderful, wonderful)

Roll away, roll away with me
You be the sea
And i'll be the sky

Fly Dance

Fly dance
The liberation of love with my two hands
Fly dance
The cultivation of love with my two hands
Fly dance
The sensation of love with my two hands
Fly dance
The revelation of love with my two hands

I can tell you what I have to
I can tell you what I need to
But it won't really stick in your head

I'd really rather liberate
Yes I'd really rather free you
I wanna rip you from your spider's web

Spider's in your head
Creepin' ‘round your bed
The spider's lookin' now what does he see

Sly and ceremonial
You know he's a phony old
Tycoon with a penitentiary

Paul and Virginia

Spill-tainted pages of poetic prophecy
Tickle my interest and taunt at my fantasy
Gentle new lover, favorite friend
With hidden desire that bothers my conscience
Again

Like Paul and Virginia!
Sit close to me on the swing
Like Paul and Virginia!
Sit close to me and I'll sing
(whisper my name, kiss me again)
I'll sing for you
With you
Oh, you

Cobalt blue vessels, clean same sex rabbits
Old movie romance and a healthy new habit

Moving in passion, resting in reason
With a strong tender poet who touches each region within

Illuminations that shine on the river
Subliminal glances provoking a shiver

Palms full of mystery, fingers of magic
Greetings so glorious, partings so tragic

Like Paul and Virginia!

Ubiquitous Hands

It's a first impression
Silence is deceiving
But just around the corner I can hear
I can hear you breathe

It's a calm confession
A curious obsession
No matter when I listen I can hear
I can hear you breathe
I can hear you breathing

If you stay and never go away
I'll repeat the same mistakes I've made
I'll believe most anything you say and
Watch my heart of stone melt into clay

First I'm disbelieving
Then I'm almost drowning
Swimming in the ocean with the sound
I can hear you breathe

Walking in the heavens
Falling on the ground
Rolling on the earth
You're all around
I can hear you breathe
I can hear you breathing

In your hands
In your hands
(fall into your Ubiquitous hands)

It's an indication
I'm your destination
I hope it's not just
My imagination

The Genius of Water

Meet me in the morning
At the bus stop
We'll ride into the town
Down to the square
To see the angel
See the angel in the fountain
Meet me in the morning

Meet me after daybreak
Tie your hair back
We'll drift into the crowd
Get lost among the loud
And they'll be singing
They'll be singing in our daydream
When we're tired we'll leave them
All behind and walk away

I love you a lot

Meet me in the courtyard
Where the saints pray
Musing in our stare
Still painfully aware
That there are others
Shoulds and woulds with names and faces
Close your eyes and open up your mind
And hear me say

See the angel
She's dancing in the water
Hear the angel
She's laughing in the water

Something in the way that you
Said you really felt that we could be
Good friends forever
Together for a long time

Patience

Jacksie

Her hair
Her face
Her figure in your window
Her hands unlace your innermost
As you retrace your steps of her familiar
Her ghost appears with raven eyes

To dance
To spin
To spill into your memory
To glare
To grin
To chill you now
But through the din of silence all around you
She stirs within she still knows how

They laid her in the ground
She still comes around
A love that never dies takes you by surprise

Hello
Hello
Now she's the voice inside you
Hello again so soft and low
Do you suppose your disbelief could blind you
She's still alive for all you know

Heaven couldn't hold her
She'll be by your side when it's your turn
All she's seen without you
To you she'll confide when it's your turn.

I've Been Slipping

I've been slipping down in the grass
Counting the steps to your back door

I've been praying you'd see me pass
Knowing somehow you've seen me before

I've been sighing more than I should
Spilling my glass there's ice on the floor

But I've been busy gathering wood
Hoping our fire will burn all the more

I've been stealing hundreds of bells
Ringing my way along your shore

And I've been smiling all to myself
Savouring signs of what's in store

I've been climbing branches and vines
Gathering leaves for long festoons

And I've been rhyming myriad lines
Full of your face and the gleam of the moon

How Does It Feel (To Be On My Mind)

Now if I could disclose secrets heaven only knows
If I'd lose all my ground and see your smile decompose
So I rest on the fact that I love you I suppose
And I hang like the colors on a blind man's clothes

How does it feel
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on my mind

I'm the pale moon rising I'm the ghost in flight
That steals through the spaces of your inward night
I'm the moth that's resting on your window sill
With a lust for light and an iron will

Pray tell talk to me can you feel me in the fingers
Of the wind in your hair as if I'm standing there
Very well like a child running to some mademoiselle
In his hand to his ear is pressed a great seashell

I'm the moon-eyed fish swimming up to you
You're the tall Titanic but you'll be subdued
There's someone mapping out a rendezvous
It seems to me.

You're in my shadow here in my room
Love's such a strange word here in my room
I'm standing barefoot here in my room
Sad as a gypsy here in my room

Sister

You say he feels it
His face reveals it
My sweet trepidation
An eagerness of my own
A shiver ships through my bones
Can you see cobblestone roads
Running through his stare.

He's so clandestine
He's such a vision
So tell me sister
He sits here in this small dive
There's something behind those eyes
Did you perceive the wilderness
Resting there... So did I

Laughing he stalls me
Crazy he calls me
He thinks me artless
For not stocking berry wines
From certain Australian vines
Have mercy sister
He's travelled ‘round the world

He's like a shadow
There by the window
But no man's an island
No man's an artesian well
He loves the cathedral bell
It sings about him
When he goes home at night...
So do I

Il Est Dans Mon Poche

Here is my fortune
Here is my fame
Here is my future
It's in my pocket

And if my fortune
Weren't only lint and small change
Wishing in one hand
Bird in another
See which one will take me farthest from here

Here is my hopelessness
Though I'm not helpless
I need a window
That I can climb through

Just one small opening
A little lantern to light my way
Discovering my hands
Catch at the altar
I fall on my face as the words hit my ear

Here is my fortune
Here is my fame
Here is my future
It's in my pocket

Il est dans mon poche

Flanders Fields

In flanders fields far away
I lost my love one day

Lullabye

The night has a thousand eyes and ears
The rain tends to wash away my fears
It's not been long but it seems like years
And now you're here

Brush away my tears
Brush away my tears

The lullaby in your quiet eyes
Instinctive as the night
And just as warm

Brush away my tears
Brush away

Circle of Quiet

Maybe you can tell my why I'm prone to wander
I'm like a gypsy to the bone
Every time I hear the rain amid the thunder
I want to run outside and shed my clothes
But I want to stay with you
Long enough to love you right
And I want to say to you
I love the patience in your eyes

Here I am standing in a circle of quiet
Where a truce is tacitly observed
Standing in a circle of quiet
Waiting for the world to turn
Waiting for the world to turn
Waiting for the world to turn

And a hundred days and night could find me scattered
All around the world without a name
But you're more than just a feather in my hat
More than just a fetter on my frame
When I look up in the sky at night
I want to go out and chase the stars
But like the catcher in the rye
I want to stay where you are

There is no shadow of turning with thee
There is no shadow of turning

I Painted My Name

I painted my name on a bridge today
In black and white and red and grey
You know it's really not far away
From the banks of the river
Where the president used to play

I put it high above the rocks below
It's sheltered from the wind and rain and snow
You know the bridge where we used to go
Our childish trolls and freaks and giant demons

Sunday i hope you might come by
On a big white boat with the sails up high
Sunday i hope that you'll be true
To all it is i see in you

Yet strange enough I'm still in love with you
And so it seems there's work to do
I've got my bow and arrow and Barlow blade
Come dawn I want to ride in your brigade

Sunday I hope you might come by
On a big white horse in the big white sky
Sunday I know we'll reconcile
Down by the river we'll dream awhile
Down by the river we'll sing awhile
Down by the river we'll play awhile
Down by the river we'll cry awhile
Down by the river we'll dance awhile
Down by the river just you and i

Rhapsodie

And I couldn't love you
Any more
Than I do right now

And The Furies that I feared were
Eumenides to lead me here
Here i linger

And the cadences we hear
May grow different in coming years
Still I'll tell you

That I couldn't love you
Any more
Than I do right now

And if you should ever leave
Then I would love you for what you need
I could still tell you

That I couldn't love you
Any more
Than I do right now

Grey Monologue

This is as close as you and I ever get to the ocean
My third story bedroom window
Overlooking this rain-drenched night
You breathe, and I recall the power of trains

Let's let the night sleep in
Let's pray that it engulfs us

You know
I can't even begin to see your eyes
But if I'm ever really drunk
It will be from drinking every drop of your soul
And running till I sweat your spirit

Eve

Happy with myself

I'm happy with myself
I'm happy with myself
And I don't have what it takes to please you

I've been trying to write you a letter
I've been trying for two or three years
Maybe I could just say it better
Practice some in front of a mirror here oh

I've been trying to build you a heaven
Crowns of thorns in mason jars
Angels that dance on pins and needles
Maybe I've tried a little too hard oh

Within without

Is it because I cannot see you
That you feel so free to steal
My excess baggage full of darkness and despair
While I fumble with my locks
You're content to stand and knock
Yet I know your knack for thievery is rare

Do you know they call it arson
Setting fires without permission
In my heart for sure and maybe elsewhere too
Though your lack of inhibition
Captures my imagination
I end up a wiser person thanks to you

It's coming to fruition
The sympathetic vibration
Your train is at my station
Within without

Then there is your flare for murder
There's a dagger in the border
Of your cloak and I suspect a captain's gun
As you put to death suspicions
Kindly kill my fears as well
Exorcise and slay the demons one by one

Though I'm usually pacifistic
You are mercifully sadistic
And I didn't know that murder could be good
But the roses came crimson
Springing from the prison
Of the floorboards where there once were stains of blood

It's coming to fruition
The sympathetic vibration
Your train is at my station
Within without
It's calming my suspicion
With soothing intuition
Your train is at my station
Within without
Within without
Within without
Within without

Should

Bone dry

Should I never dance
Like Salome danced
Bathing in rain
And moonlight and flame
Should I never sweat
Surreal shadows
Rushing through my veins
Good red blood run red

Bone dry

Should I never speak
The wisdom of hands
Should I never use
The fingers that find
Should I never read
The words on my feet
Leading me to you
The blind lead the blind

Bone dry

Always
Doesn't mean anything
Always
No

Should I never feel
The healing you bring
Take a look at me
I'm breathing, I'm breathing
Should I trace a line
From lips to heartbeat
Shoulder and across
To shoulder again

Bone dry

Always
Doesn't mean anything
Always
No

Always
Doesn't mean forever
Always
No

Bone dry

Conjectures of a guilty bystander

You are a gardener
You cultivate my soul
You water thirsty vines
That snake along my spine
In case I forget to shiver
You are a carpenter
You build the scaffolding
Replace the windowpane
I see the sky again
As if I've been delivered

You are a fisherman
My weather lets you know
When and when not to wait
Your hook's inside the bait
I'm wary but I swallow
You are a messenger
You bring me all the news
The kind that never lies
It's written in my eyes
You beckon and it follows

I get to be guilty

You are a singer too
Carry me like a tune
I'm like a newborn child
I'm wrapped up for a while
You're swaying like a hobo
You are a circus clown
I've never laughed before
Beneath your canopy
Oh say a prayer for me
I want this in a photo

So be a photographer
I'm dancing naked now
Across the maple floor
Above the lion's roar
Your pictures will protect me
You must be a scientist by now
With rumpled midnight hair
You've studied every pore
And every follicle
Of my bewildered body

I get to be guilty

Yours is a different light
I like my face that way
The canvas of my skin
Serene and strange but true

Melancholy room

Someone's moving ‘round inside of me
Someone's setting up shop where I can't see
But I'm fine
But I'm fine
In this melancholy room

Someone opened up my mouth to speak
Someone pulled the words back into me
But I'm fine (lie)
But I'm fine (lie)
In this melancholy room

Scream like a silent movie
Call off the curious fingers
Feeling my heart
Spring on an arctic island
Pushing against my ribcage
Takes me apart
Smiles on my Friday face
Call it amazing grace
Are you leaving so soon
I'm mad as a march hare in June
In this melancholy room

Oh you can you
Can you see how I've fallen
In the fog
Cannot see very far
Cannot see the fallen
In the fog
Can you see what I see
Can you see
Do you wanna
You fallen
Can I call you god or messiah
You know you must...
Your body down

Sleep baby jane

Sleep baby jane
Sleep baby jane

Suicide suicide
Katie's talking suicide
Homicide homicide
Mama killed my man
Turpentine turpentine
Potion for my valentine
Take a ride and take it
In a long black hearse

Sleep baby jane
Sleep baby jane

Vaseline vaseline
Ruby's selling vaseline
Kerosene kerosene
Everyone's a fetus
Chamomile chamomile
Someone spiked the chamomile
Shake it mama shake it
It was my idea first

Sleep baby Jane
Sleep baby Jane
Don't scream
Sleep baby Jane
My baby

If you think I'm Jane
Let me kiss you
If you think I'm Jane
If you think I'm Jane
Let me call you an angel

Daddy untwisted

Are you my daddy
Are you

I don't wanna cut you up
Drink you from a paper cup
I don't wanna spit you out
Or kick you in the shin
I don't wanna knock you down
Be your mother be a clown
I don't wanna talk about
The shit you're really in
I don't wanna take a bow
No one's clapping anyhow
I don't wanna sneak around
And pray you'll understand
I don't wanna call your bluff
Enough's enough
I don't wanna see you
Chained up

Are you my daddy
Are you

I don't wanna ruffle you
Cut the deck and shuffle you
Don't wanna come to fisticuffs
Or stick you with a pin
I don't wanna argue
Hurt your pride or make you blue
Your tongue is forked and clearly
There are scales upon your skin
I don't wanna help ice crack
Give you a surprise attack
I don't wanna cut you slack
And watch it go to hell
I don't wanna tell you lies
Like Presbyterians or spies
I don't wanna see you chained up

Are you my daddy
Are you

Don't you run away
Leave me like a rainy day
I don't wanna make you stay
Or stand up high above you
Don't want you to see me cry
I'm just trying not to lie
I don't wanna see you chained up

Birds

Fall on me
Fall on me

Birds of a feather and a featherless cap
Poor lovers breed songs in a two-room flat
Moist hands fold to pray for a painless truth
We dance on the tracks of a train called youth

Truth's on the table like a toxic spill
And we wrestle in the sheets with our own freewill
If we never shake hands with a phantom called fame
I'll still have your picture in a picture frame

If you should fall
Fall on me

Forty-acre farm we can call our own
With a chocolate lab and no telephone
The full moon's leering in a lover's swoon
And the apple tree's swaying to a windy tune

(save me I'm falling for you)

But we won't get to heaven if we just sit still
If we don't cry murder maybe no one will
We're riding tandem down sycamore hill
If we hit the brakes we're gonna take a big spill

If you should fall
Fall on me

And if my hand were taken hold of
I'd slip away with you love
Slip away with you love

June

June the clouds in your eyes remind me of the way I feel
June the river will rise on all the secrets I conceal
June I'm following you somehow I've fallen far behind
June lately I feel I'd rather not believe love's blind

Crazy it used to be so clear
What's hazy used to be so clear
Am I lazy should I swallow all this fear
Crazy it used to be so

June I'm feeling so good I'd love to die here just like this
June I'm feeling so strange screams are tangled up with bliss
June when I'm afraid I find a thousand ways to laugh
June when I'm alone I forget you anyway I can

June help me help me I'm running out of things to say
June tell me tell me will he love me anyway
God look over there there's pigeons nesting on your saints
God all I can say is forgive us rather forgive me

My love is a fever

My love is a fever
My love is a fable
My love is jazz licks
Improvised by toddlers
Bold Ulysses by nursery rhyme
And firelight

My love is a metamorphosis
Reason cold logic
Intuitively speaking
My love is syncopated
Spoon-fed ignorant
Well-read

My love is singular
My love is commonplace
As a gravedigger's own birthplace
My love is a medicine
Feeds the sick heals the poor
Turns up the volume on the blind

My word it's a trip
Like a migraine
On a moving train
It parachutes aeroplanes
Watch it fly

Eyes soar hands clap
Ears ring it's a sand trap
Hair raising amazing
Grey city transformations
As lips sink stomachs ache
Monkeys shine fire flies
Foxes trot hobs knob
Porches swing brains storm
Hearts attack and air supplies
Heads light tails spin
Steeples chase you along your chin
Rock slides

Out of the woods now
A virgin in buckskin
Moccasins tall thin
She plays your mandolin
So maudlin you begin to spin
Out of the woods now

Falling (death of a tree)

I'll awake to find your love
Falling like leaves to the ground
I'll awake to find your love
Falling like leaves
You will look to find me down
Upon my knees without a sound
You will look to find me down
Upon my knees

Then we can fling wide the gates
Let go the last of our hate
Then we can sigh
Like the cool clear wind up high
Through the sky above
Then we can say we're in love

Then we can rest mortal eyes
Laugh as we run out of temporal breath
Then we can move we can sing
We can tremble like birds
Through the sky above
Then we can say we're in love

Good Dog Bad Dog

Latter days

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear.
Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me.
You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin' like sleepin' on a bed of nails
Nothin' much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails
Nothing' is ever quite what it seems.
And I'm dyin' inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear.
Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me.
You dance so gracefully.
I really think i'll be o.k.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

But tell them it's real. Tell them it's really real.
I just don't have much left to say.
They've taken their toll these latter days.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

All I need is everything

Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
A little lower than the angels.
And it's got nothing to do with me.
The wind blows through the trees,
But if I look for it, it won't come.
I tense up. My mind goes numb.
There's nothing harder than learning how to receive.

Calm down. Be still.
We've got plenty of time to kill.
No hand writing on the wall:
Just the voice that's in us all.
And you're whispering to me,
Time to get up off my hands and knees,
‘cause if I beg for it, it won't come.
I find nothing but table crumbs.
My hands are empty. God I've been naive.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
A little lower than the angels.
This voice calling me to you:
It's just barely coming through.
Still, I clearly hear my name.
I've been fingering the flame
Like tomorrow's martyr.
It gets harder to believe.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

So from now till kingdom come,
Taste the words on the tip of my tongue.
‘cause we can't run truth out of town,
Only force it underground.
The roots grow deeper
In ways we can't conceive.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

All I need is all I need.

Etcetera whatever

Don't speak.
Words come out your eyes.
You're wet with this nightmare.
Like thorns you hold these secrets to your breast,
Your slender fingers closing into fists.

Trace your bruise
Like a guilty streak.
Hold the pain.
You're a connoisseur.
You think you have no other gift to give,
But we have so much left to live.

We don't need a lot of money.
We'll be sleeping on the beach,
Keeping oceans within reach.
(whatever private oceans we can conjure up for free.)
I will stumble there with you
And you'll be laughing close with me,
Trying not to make a scene
Etcetera. Whatever. I guess all I really mean

Is we're gonna be alright.
Yeah, we're gonna be alright.
You can close your eyes tonight,
‘cause we're gonna be alright.

So come on now,
I can almost see
That place
On a distant shore.
And courage is a weapon we must use
To find some life you can't refuse.

We don't need a lot of money.
We'll be sleeping on the beach,
Keeping oceans within reach.
(whatever private oceans we can conjure up for free.)
I will stumble there with you
And you'll be laughing close with me,
Trying not to make a scene
Etcetera. Whatever. I guess all I really mean

Is we're gonna be alright.
Yeah, we're gonna be alright.
You can close your eyes tonight,
‘cause we're gonna be alright.
All that I can see is your eyes.
Close your eyes.
Close your eyes.

Faithfully dangerous

Your paint dries, the canvas smiles,
With two eyes you lift yourself up.
Stroke your skin, there are teeth marks to be sure.
Maybe we're best close to the ground.
Maybe angels drag us down.
I wonder which part of this will leave the scar.

Dip your hands in colours
While the young night flutters in on you and
Finger paint me pictures of all you see.
No matter what they say, you'll always be
Faithfully dangerous, lost and lovely,
So beautiful to me.
I'm not too blind to see.

Red is blood. Black is sky.
White's the dove that longs to fly.
You set it free and it beats its wings in me.
It leaves us at a loss for words.
Is that me now in your arms?
We cradle together and fall down on our knees.

Let the whole world drift downstream.
We'll always be different.
Swim the silent slipstream inside of me.
No matter what they say, you'll always be
Faithfully dangerous, lost and lovely,
So beautiful to me.
I'm not too blind to see.

Red is blood. Black is sky.
White's the dove that longs to fly.
You set it free and it beats its wings in me.
It leaves us at a loss for words.
Is that me now in your arms?
We cradle together and fall down on our knees.

The heart that beats is yours inside me.
Red is love. Black is night.
I'm drunk with angels taking flight.
The heart that beats is yours inside me.
The heart that beats is yours inside me.
The heart that beats is yours.

The seahorse

Welcome to the goldrush.
Wait till after dark.
Open up the ceiling, we'll be kneeling,
We'll be breathing on a spark.

Flying kites at midnight,
Such a dizzy height.
Up above the small town,
Pulling moonlight down and wearing it skin tight.

You can always tell me
Anything at all.
Think of all the times
You've let my lips move, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Suddenly i'm weightless.
Gravity is mine.
I see it with my eyes closed,
What my heart knows: we must leave this world behind.

‘cause when I wake from dreaming,
It's then i'm most alive.
Eye lids barely open, no words spoken,
Ah, but you were by my side.

You can always tell me
Anything at all.
Think of all the times
You've let my lips move, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, what you're missing.
Don't you wanna see what you're missing?

I can always tell you
Anything at all.
Break the alabaster,
Hearts beat faster, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You can always tell me
Anything at all.
Think of all the times
You've let my lips move, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, what you're missing.
Don't you wanna see what you're missing?

Everyman's daughter

Look inside for the elusive goldmine.
Broken glass and a little cheap wine
Is all that I can find.
And bundles of contradictions,
My heart full of loose connections,
Hands across my eyes.
I cannot disguise i'm everyman's daughter.

It's always the same old question.
Who am I and whose invention?
This armour's full of dust.
There's so much of us in each other.
If I hate you you're my best reminder
Of all I wish I was.
I hate you just because i'm everyman's daughter.

Who do you think that I am?
It don't matter long as we can understand.
I am hurting someone.
I am hurting someone just like, just like you.

Insulting the wounds of others,
My sisters, my brothers,
My vision's way too good.
I carry the inward aching.
Like you, I too am naked.
I don't look that good,
But this is flesh and blood. I'm everyman's daughter.

Look at all the blood we've spilt.
I can't deal with all this fundamental guilt.
I am hurting someone.
I am hurting someone just like, just like you.

I am. I am. I am everyman's daughter.

A gospel number

Will a man called jesus ever take me in his arms?
Will a man called jesus ever take me in his arms?
I lack grace and I lack charm.
This is cause for no alarm,
If a man called jesus ever takes me in his arms.

Will a man called jesus ever touch me on my face?
Will a man called jesus ever touch me on my face?
The tears I cried would be erased.
This to me would be amazing grace,
If a man called jesus ever touched me on my face.

Waiting, waiting, waiting,
I'm still waiting.
If a man called jesus ever touched me on my face.

Will a man called jesus ever look me in the eyes?
Will a man called jesus ever look me in the eyes?
Burn away my alibis,
Separate the truth from your vicious lies,
If a man called jesus ever looked me in the eyes.

Waiting, waiting, waiting,
I'm still waiting.
If a man called jesus ever looks me in the eyes.
Mercy, mercy, mercy,
I'll cry mercy
If a man called jesus ever looks me in the eyes.

Poughkeepsie

I thought i'd go up poughkeepsie,
Look out o'er the hudson,
And i'd throw my body down on the river.
And i'd know no more sorrow,
I'd fly like the sparrow
And i'd ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

I'd ride on the backs of the angels tonight.
I'd take to the sky with all my might.
No more drowning in my sorrow,
No more drowning in my fright,
I'd just ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

There are those who know sorrow
And those who must borrow
And those whose lot in life is sweet.
Well i'm drunk on self-pity,
Scorned all that's been given me,
I would drink from a bottle labelled sure defeat.

I'd ride on the backs of the angels tonight.
I'd take to the sky with all my might.
No more drowning in my sorrow,
No more drowning in my fright,
I'd just ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

Then the skies, they fell open
And my eyes were opened
To a world of hope falling at my feet.
Now i've no more or less
Than anyone else has,
What I have is a gift of life I can't repeat.

So I go up poughkeepsie,
Look out o'er the hudson
And I cast my worries to the sky.
Now I still know sorrow,
But I can fly like the sparrow
‘cause I ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

I ride on the backs of the angels tonight.
I take to the sky with all their might.
No more drowning in my sorrow,
No more drowning in my fright,
I'll just ride on the backs of the angels each night.

Jack's valentine

Help me. Spread my table.
I've been tryin' but i'm just not able.
There's so much left inside,
So very much i've been tryin' to hide.
Life gets pretty heavy and I wish it was light,
But after all I love the night.
And there's that word again.
I still hear it every now and again.

I breathe you ‘cause you help me forget
Everything I don't know about love yet.
I need you ‘cause you help me forget,
Yeah, you help me forget.
I drink you ‘cause you help me to see
It's mostly myself that's killin' me.
I think I have to, to help me forget
Everything I don't know about love yet.

Someone said these were the best days,
Best days of our life.
I suppose there could be worse ways,
Worse ways to learn to cry.
And if these should be the last days,
The last days for you and i,
I suppose this is the best way,
Best way to say goodbye.

I breathe you ‘cause you help me forget
Everything I don't know about love yet.
I need you ‘cause you help me forget,
Yeah, you help me forget.
I drink you ‘cause you help me to see
It's mostly myself that's killin' me.
I think I have to, to help me forget
Everything I don't know about love yet.

It snows in here. It snows forever,
But there's no christmas underneath this weather.
When it blows here and gets real cold,
I wanna trip myself and fall upon your fabulous sword
And move here by the stained-glass window.
Forget about the inside ghetto.
Down here on the hardwood floor,
The lines on the ceiling start to swim once more
Like a cheap renoir, a fake van gogh,
A pop monet, a blue degas.
I breathe you. I need you. Ah.

Happy to be so

Anything I say will be held against me,
So I won't say much or i'll spill it all.
By the light of day it's an elusive feeling,
But every single night that's immaterial.

I know a love that will not let me go.
My heart is bound and happy to be so.
It's so happy to be so,
Happy to be so,
Happy, happy, happy to be so.

If I try to pray, it's like a game of red rover.
I take a real good run at it, but I can't break through.
Don't matter anyway. I'm so red-handed.
The game is over. I'll just tell the truth.

I know a love that will not let me go.
My heart is bound and gagged and on death row.
It's so happy to be so,
Happy to be so,
Happy, happy, happy to be so. Ooh.

Go down easy

Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
Take all the time you need.
We've no place else to go.

Gonna put on my favourite dress.
Put my hair up too.
Take me north, south, east or west.
I guess i'll leave it up to you.

You threw a noose around my shadow.
Got me into all this mess.
I would have dove in head first anyway
For less, for a whole lot less.

Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
Take all the time you need.
We've no place else to go.

Say farewell to the confines of my own back yard.
Weeds growin' ‘round the flowers.
Sometimes the only way to break the curse
Is to leave it all behind.

Find the slow curve of a back road,
One hand on the wheel.
Drive till I remember how it feels.
So this is how it feels. Oh.

Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
If there's anything better than this
I'd like to know.

The Darkest Night of the Year

Silent Night

(Words & music by Mohr - Gruber)

Sleep

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
'Round young virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night
Darkness flies, all is light;
Can you hear the angels sing
"Alleluia! to our King
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born

Sleep in heavenly
Sleep in heavenly
Sleep in heavenly
Sleep in heavenly peace

Oh silent night, holy night

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

(Words: Ed­mund H. Sears)

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven's all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

Thank you my angel

Thank you my angel
For blessing me
With these words and for giving me
What I was hungry for
Taste of dirt
From the floor of heaven

Thank you my angel
For cutting off my hands
Forbidding me
To trace the lines of this miracle
Across the great divide
For making love a foreign language

Thank you my angel
For fluttering
Out my window for telling me
All those lies about myself
It was your way of bandaging the bleeding

Thank you my angel
For the clutter of my life
For dragging me
To the edge of the wilderness
To lie here by myself
Just outside the land of promise

Mary's waltz

There was a blind girl with braids and a black dress
Lived next to me i could tell you the address
I saw her climb out her window one midnight
In to the oak tree scared sacred with moonlight
See Mary dance with the light on her shoulders
She has a secret, like a lover discovers her
Guardian angel with limbs white as lambs wool
Expensive perfume on her feet

Blind Mary taught me how eyes can make pictures
I showed her mine and then she showed me all hers
You have to close them she whispered a warning
Be sure to open them before it's morning

See how we dance with the light on our shoulders
We have a secret like lovers discovering
Guardian angels with limbs white as lambs wool
Expensive perfume on our feet

Mary fell ill on a night in December
And how they tried then to cool down her fever
But she lay so still like a child in a manger
While I closed my eyes tight and prayed for a savior

Let Mary dance with the light on her shoulders
Tell her a secret and let her discover her
Guardian angel with limbs white as lambs wool
Expensive perfume on his feet

Silent Night Duet

(Words & music by Mohr - Gruber)

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
'Round young virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night! Holiest night!
Wondrous Star, lend thy light!
With the angels let us sing
"Alleluia! to our King!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!"

Silent night, holy night
Silent night, holy night

Amelia's last

These are the (whose are the?)
These are the raw materials
You and me
These are the (whose are the?)
These are the angels' inferiors
Who
Someone breathed this breath in us
“Oh Amelia, we've so far to go
Oh Amelia"

These are the (whose are the?)
These are the ordinary clothes
You and me
Around extraordinary flesh and pulsing madness deep and close
Who
Someone breathed this breath in us
“Oh Amelia maybe we're not that far
Oh Amelia is this who we really are
My Amelia"

Besides

Hej (I Do)

Hej, Hej, Hej, Hej, Hej...
Hej, you wanna sit right here?
Here beside me?
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna say my name?
Say it slowly.
Do you like that? I do.

Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won't be your last chance.

Hej, you wanna smile at me?
I'll adore you.
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna read my poetry by the sea boy?
Do you baby? I do. I do.

Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won't be your last chance.

Hej, you wanna hear a secret?
C'mere i'll whisper.
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna hear it again?
Maybe one day we'll be sayin' I do.

Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won't be your last dance.

My Love Is A Fever

My love is a fever
My love is a fable
My love is jazz licks
Improvised by toddlers
Bold Ulysses by nursery rhyme
And firelight

My love is a metamorphosis
Reason cold logic
Intuitively speaking
My love is syncopated
Spoon-fed ignorant
Well-read

My love is singular
My love is commonplace
As a gravedigger's own birthplace
My love is a medicine
Feeds the sick heals the poor
Turns up the volume on the blind

My word it's a trip
Like a migraine
On a moving train
It parachutes aeroplanes
Watch it fly

Eyes soar hands clap
Ears ring it's a sand trap
Hair raising amazing
Grey city transformations
As lips sink stomachs ache
Monkeys shine fire flies
Foxes trot hobs knob
Porches swing brains storm
Hearts attack and air supplies
Heads light tails spin
Steeples chase you along your chin
Rock slides

Out of the woods now
A virgin in buckskin
Moccasins tall thin
She plays your mandolin
So maudlin you begin to spin
Out of the woods now

Within Without

Is it because I cannot see you
That you feel so free to steal
My excess baggage full of darkness and despair
While I fumble with my locks
You're content to stand and knock
Yet I know your knack for thievery is rare

Do you know they call it arson
Setting fires without permission
In my heart for sure and maybe elsewhere too
Though your lack of inhibition
Captures my imagination
I end up a wiser person thanks to you

It's coming to fruition
The sympathetic vibration
Your train is at my station
Within without

Then there is your flare for murder
There's a dagger in the border
Of your cloak and I suspect a captain's gun
As you put to death suspicions
Kindly kill my fears as well
Exorcise and slay the demons one by one

Though I'm usually pacifistic
You are mercifully sadistic
And I didn't know that murder could be good
But the roses came crimson
Springing from the prison
Of the floorboards where there once were stains of blood

It's coming to fruition
The sympathetic vibration
Your train is at my station
Within without
It's calming my suspicion
With soothing intuition
Your train is at my station
Within without
Within without
Within without
Within without

Last Night

Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair,
Discarded all your beauty in despair,
Declared yourself a concubine,
Filled the bathtub full of wine,
Bathed and drank the night away,
And said there'd never come a day
When politics would ever mean a thing.
Last night I dreamt you came and crowned me king.

Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair
And laid it at the bottom of my stair
And waited by the garden gate
For one more rendezvous with fate,
Kept a pistol in your dress
(the iron loved your sweet caress
As trigger-finger twitched at your command.)
Last night I dreamt we fell upon the sand.

Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair
And sold your stockings at the county fair
And how the clowns did dance and sway
(the sheep and goats all had their say)
And there I'm sitting at the side
Of the one who loved to ride
The ferris wheel in nothing but bare skin.
Last night I dreamt you knocked. I let you in.

Murder

Murder's just a word
For lack of something else to say.
Murder's just a game
For lack of something else to play.

Put your finger,
Put your fingers on it.
Something's got me,
Something's got my heart by the throat.

Blood is just a shade
On the palette of your blushing body.
Blood is not afraid
Of all of this internal bleeding.

Put your finger,
Put your fingers on it.
Something's got me,
Something's got my heart by the throat.

Love is just a flame
Burning us with indiscretion.
Love, is not to blame
If murder is a man's invention.
Love is not a man's invention.

Inhale, exhale, dovetail, set sail,
Nightingale, blackmail, go to jail, make bail,
Prevail, unveil every detail,
Read my braille, put your fingers on it.

Dead Weight

Sometimes I like to stick my fingers
Where they don't belong.
Sometimes I like to fake a fever
And just stay home.

‘Cause we smile in here
We don't get too close to sadness.
‘Cause what's holding us
Is just about to break.
Ain't it funny how life can drag behind us
Just like so much dead weight.

Sometimes what feels like pretty good music
Is just the same old song.
Sometimes we deal with bygone bruises
And find it's been too long.

But we laugh in here
We don't get too close to sadness.
We know good enough
Is a thousand miles from grace.
Ain't it funny how life can drag behind us
Just like so much dead weight.

And my hometown train
Is pulling from the station.
And I know for once
I really will be late.
And i'll dream that we can leave the past behind us
Just like so much dead weight.

Sometimes I like to stick my fingers where they don't belong.

Bothered

(Don't be bothered, no.)

Don't be bothered by the fears.
I'll try to bottle them like my mother's perfume.
She wore it only on Sunday,
Kept it safe in her room in a chest with a key.
We found it anyway.

Don't be bothered by the fears.
They'll only join us like the sky that blushes red tonight.
And makes the wind die down,
Calms the troubled sea (more out of duty than pleasure,
But out of pleasure nonetheless.)

Your fire burns me like a favorite song.
A song I should have known all along.
I feel you move like smoke in my eyes.
And that is why.

Don't be bothered by the fears
That sing from my eyes like carillon ringing only on Sunday
On the roof down our street finally Over the River.
Ring for you, ring for me, finally, forever.
It's just I never, it's just I never thought,
I never thought that I could be this free.

All I Need Is Everything

Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
A little lower than the angels.
And it's got nothing to do with me.
The wind blows through the trees,
But if I look for it, it won't come.
I tense up. My mind goes numb.
There's nothing harder than learning how to receive.

Calm down. Be still.
We've got plenty of time to kill.
No hand writing on the wall:
Just the voice that's in us all.
And you're whispering to me,
Time to get up off my hands and knees,
'Cause if I beg for it, it won't come.
I find nothing but table crumbs.
My hands are empty. God I've been naive.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
A little lower than the angels.
This voice calling me to you:
It's just barely coming through.
Still, I clearly hear my name.
I've been fingering the flame
Like tomorrow's martyr.
It gets harder to believe.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

So from now till kingdom come,
Taste the words on the tip of my tongue.
'Cause we can't run truth out of town,
Only force it underground.
The roots grow deeper
In ways we can't conceive.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

All I need is all I need.

Lucy

Oh Lucy, it's not as bad as you think.
Oh Lucy, love's a fact that can make a girl drink.
And you say that it's over.
You say it's the end of Lucy, Lucy, Lucy.

Oh Lucy, there's a cold look in your eye.
Oh Lucy, I believe this is the way most dreamers die.
And Lucy's starting over.
Lucy's at the edge of Lucy, Lucy, Lucy...

God have mercy,
The house stands empty with the garden.
God have mercy,
Your young girl's heart will learn to harden.

Lucy, you can't pray a lie,
No matter how hard you try.
Lucy, you can't pray a lie.
You're a bloody-minded girl and that's alright.
You're gonna be just fine.

Oh Lucy, it's not as bad as you think.

Miles

I wanna be real,
Something you can sink your teeth into.
I want you to feel,
All it is that I feel for you.
I'm firelight for your seeing hands.
Rich perfume for your tastebuds.

Your eyes are always
Dark and deep,
But we have promises to keep
And miles to go before we sleep.

Are you drunk,
With the wine of God?
Did your ship wreck
As the tempest tossed you?

You can write your name on the water,
It'll drift on out to sea.
You can treat me like a daughter,
You can write your name on me.

We touched a funeral, drank a parade.
We stole a wedding, melted and prayed.
It always hovers just around the bend.
We're never quite there, but then again.
Once a stranger now more than a friend-
It all makes me pretty tired.
I suppose that you're still wired.

Your heart's on mine
Beating double time,
But we have promises to keep
|and miles to go before we sleep.

And miles to go...

If I'm Drowning

If i'm drowning within your open sea
Save me, save me
If i'm lost within your strange anatomy
Talk to me, talk to me
If i'm on fire and i'm melting in the heat
Touch me, touch me
If i'm tangled in your raw philosophy
Then you better walk with me
Walk with me

I'm just walking across your heart
In spite of the weather
(won't you walk with me?)

If i'm dancing through your passages and fall
Catch me, catch me
If i'm screaming in your sky and tell you all
Hear me, hear me
If i'm feigning coherence and calmness
Laugh with me, laugh with me
If i tremble at your close proximity
Then you better believe me
Believe me

I can see you now
I can hear you now
I can feel you now
I can taste you now
In spite of the weather
Yeah

Films For Radio

The world can wait

If this should end tomorrow
All our best laid plans
And all our typical fears
Am i running out of lifetimes
This is not the first time
Something ends in just tears

But tomorrow i can't imagine
How am i supposed to know
What's yet to go down
Is there only one religion
The kind that whispers
When nobody comes around

The world can wait
The world can wait
I want to drink the water from your well
I want to tell you things I'll never tell
The world can wait
The world can wait
I'm wide awake
And the world can wait

I want to feel and then some
I have five senses
I need thousands more at least
Every day a page of paper

Every night a photograph
A moveable feast

So fade to black and white now
Roll the movie of my life
Inside of my head
‘cause like all true believers
I am truly sceptical
Of all that I have said

The world can wait
The world can wait
I want to drink the water from your well
I want to tell you things I'll never tell
The world can wait
The world can wait
I'm wide awake
And the world can wait

Haven't I said enough
Haven't I said far too much
Haven't I done enough
Haven't I done far too much
Far too much
The world can wait

If nothing else

I'm so tired in the mornings
I try to go back
I try to remember
The light appearing
Without warning
Tying up my hands
Like I'm good for nothing

If nothing else I can dream
I can dream
I'll never tell never tell
All I've seen
Right in front of me
Like the ghost of every thing that i could be

For the night sky is an ocean
Black distant sea
Washing up to my window
All the stray dog night owl junkies
Orphans vagabonds
Angels who lost their halos

If nothing else I can dream
I can dream
I'll never tell never tell
All I've seen
Right in front of me,
Like the ghost of every thing that i could be
In the cool and callous grip of reality

Words in my head
Like misfits after midnight
Begging for a light
Words left unsaid
They may never see the light of day
And that may be okay
If nothing else I can dream

Give me strength

Sitting in the rain alone
Looking at a place that's gone
Boarded up my memories
But something's drawn me here again and i
I cannot leave the past alone
Hoped that I would never find
All the shit I left behind
Now I find the child in me is going to remind me that i
I can't forget my past for long

So take a look outside yourself
And tell me what you see
I can't believe
That you won't see the change in me

Give me strength to find the road that's lost in me
Give me time to heal and build myself a dream
Give me eyes to see the world surrounding me
Give me strength to be only me

I don't want to hear the things
You say you know all you've redeemed
‘Cause I can't change what's come before
Build myself some better dreams
And cast off the fear that holds me here

So take a look outside yourself
And tell me what you see
I can't believe
That you won't see the change in me

Give me strength to find the road that's lost in me
Give me time to heal and build myself a dream
Give me eyes to see the world surrounding me
Give me strength to be only me

Fairpoint diary

I can't see my hands in front of my
Face on a night like this
I just look back on my life
And think of all I've missed
I grew up south of here in towns
They tore apart for coal
As if to excavate the darkest
Secrets of my soul

So it seems
Life is just a troubled sea
That we sail for free
Don't let me drown
If the rest of the world's goin' down
You've got to breathe your breath in me

Everybody's story is more
Interesting than mine
It took me twenty-some-odd-years
To see I'd been born blind

So I just feel my way to you
I try to keep you close
I'm never very good at getting
What i need the most

So it seems
Life is just a troubled sea
That we sail for free
Don't let me drown
If the rest of the world's goin' down
You've got to breathe your breath in me

The darkest part of every night
Is just before the dawn
The sun begins to rise
When we admit that we were wrong

So here I stumble home to you
To find the words to use
It seems the voices in my head
I seldom get to choose

So it seems
Life is just a troubled sea
That we sail for free
Don't let me drown

I radio heaven

I radio heaven
I get mixed signals
I move the antenna
I switch the channels
I lie in this bed
My satellite dish
Is there room in the universe
For one last wish
(I say)

Do you read me
Over
You wanna come
Over

I guess i never told you
‘bout this life I'm livin'
It's heaven versus hell
In a split decision
This secret religion is
The best that I've found
I radio heaven
When no one's around
(I say)
Do you need me
Over
You wanna come
Over

This song is grinning
Go on and undress it
It's just the beginning
Go on and possess it
You're no longer a child now
Don't let them molest it
The wound is deep
I'm just trying to confess it

The truth is i bleed you
When these frequencies cut me
I'm a slut with a mission
A singular vision
I radio heaven
I get mixed signals
I move the antenna
I switch the channels

I radio heaven
I get mixed signals
I move the antenna
I switch the channels
I lie in this bed
My satellite dish
Is there room in the universe
For one last wish

Little blue river/in the garden

Roll me over the little blue river
Church child
Roll me over the little blue river
Now church child

Silence and dumb tongues
It's a different kind of ghetto
Carry the weight
(it's heavy)
Of a disreputed fellow

Roll me over the little blue river
Church child
Roll me over the little blue river
Now church child

Every step that you've been taking
Is straying a little further south
As for me i am so tired of living (babe)
So hand-to-mouth

Roll me over the little blue river
Church child
Roll me over the little blue river
Now church child

Hey you wanna steady that cue card
Make it a billboard today
Everybody's saying they want their money back
Ah well baby just roll me away

Out of the mouth of them babies
How they can talk
Best be saving your pennies
Put ‘em back for a very long walk
Roll me over the little blue river
Now church child
Roll me

Goodbye (this is not goodbye)

Help me tell the truth you see
That's all I'm trying to do is
Tell the truth
I'm not that shy
This is not goodbye
And later on I won't know how
I don't know who else to be
More and more I'm secretly just me
Open your eyes

Help me tell the truth you see
That's all I'm trying to do is
Tell the truth
It's just in my head
All I've left unsaid
And later on it won't come out

I have seen the final curtain fall
If I have to I'll surrender all

I'm always coming around too late
Too late

It's not too late

Whatever you say

In this dream
It is as easy as it seems
I put you away at the end of the day
In this dream
There are two hands untangling
The knots in my throat
But they won't go away

So what about you
Whatever you say
Why can't it be true
Whatever you say
But this is no dream
You are the deaf ear listening
I know what it means to be seen
And not heard
It's no dream
You are the blinded eye observing
Open my mouth
You can finger your way to the words

I'm talkin' ‘bout you
Whatever you say
Why can't it be true
Whatever you say

There are some things I must let go
I must let go
I must let them go
Just keep on tellin' me I told you so
I know I know I know I know
Whatever you say

I fall into bed
The whole horizon's turning red
Writing our names with a needle and a thread
Stitching the clouds
As if the wounded sky had bled
All of these words that will never be said
Without you
Whatever you say
Why can't it be true
Whatever you say

The body is a stairway of skin

The body
Is a stairway
Of skin
You open the door
I let you in
Carry your story
Through the thick and thin
I feel the angels
Dancing on a pin
They dance

The body
Is a book
Of matches
A little fire
Is required
Of this kindling flame
Ohio blue tip strike anywhere
Strike me
Anywhere

The body
Is a hallway
Of mirrors
You have to jump
And a net will appear
You can see
There are so many of us
Here
Breaking
Is the one thing
We all fear
Breaking is the one thing
Break it down
Break me down like the quiet part of a song
The body
Is an apple
On a tree
The body
Is an apple
On the very first tree
Ripe
Round
Forbidden
Ripe
Round
Shake it down

Moth

Same old question
Without words
So familiar
Seldom heard
If i answer
I confess
I am only
Just a guess
And with my eyes
It's hard to see
With my ears
It's hard to believe that
If I ever lose my will to live
It was me that I could not forgive

There's no savior hanging on this cross
It isn't suffering we fear but loss
This is closer than i ever came
Just a burning moth without a flame

Isaac's knife can
Cut away
All the poisoned
Yesterdays
And the anger
Ease it down
Into the ocean
Let it drown
As far as east is
From the west
I let you go
I know it's best
And my answer to the years of strife
Is the way I choose to live my life

There's no savior hanging on this cross
It isn't suffering you fear but loss
When there's no one else around to blame
You're a burning moth without a flame

Maybe I should take your face tonight
Let you see yourself in a different light
If i were to take your place tonight
Wouldn't Jesus be surprised

There's no savior hanging on this cross
It isn't suffering we fear but loss
This is closer than I ever came
Just a burning moth without a flame

It's an offer that you can't refuse
It's a trophy that you'll want to lose
But you'll do anything
You're a burning moth without a flame

When I go

It makes a difference
When you walk through a room
With that worrisome smile
Road weary perfume

But this isn't the place
And it isn't the time
For this beautiful delusion
That is robbing me blind

I want to know
I want to know
Will it make a difference
When I go

It makes a difference
That I'm feeling this way
With plenty to think about
And so little to say

Except for this confession
That is poised on my lips
I'm not letting go of god
I'm just losing my grip

I want to know
I want to know
Will it keep you guessing
When I go

What is a love
If the love's not my own
This is not my home
This is lonely
But never alone

I just want to hold you
In my gaze for awhile
So I can remember
Every line around your smile

Then I want to know
I want to know
Will it make a difference
When I go

Ohio

B.P.D.

You're makin' a mess
Somethin' I can't fix
This time you're on your own

I'd make it alright
But I wouldn't get it right
I'm leavin' it alone

For cryin' outloud
Cryin' outloud
Cryin' out
You're cryin' out

Yeah

You're makin' a mess
Is that what you do best?
Is madness just a hand-me-down?

It's anyone's guess
But I must confess
The performance isn't that profound

Yeah

I'm waiting for the end
Waiting to begin again

You're makin' a mess
Somethin' you can't hide
A slow suicide
Just one bite at a time

I should love you less
But I can't I guess
Only God can save us now

Cryin' out

Yeah

What I'll Remember Most

The saddest songs are the happiest
The hardest truths are the easiest
Put us both to the test
And tell me if you still need me
And I will swallow these words
And see if I can still believe

The biggest lies are the little ones
When the look in your eyes is the distant one
Angel or demon
You know that they can share one bed
I've laid awake so long
I've got them both inside my head

This is what I'll remember most about dying
So many moments like ghosts
Slipping through my hands in vain
You were 80% angel
10% demon
The rest was hard to explain

This American dream may be poisonous
Violence is contagious
Crowded or empty
I walk these city streets alone
Whoever brought me here
Is gonna have to take me home

This is what I'll remember most about dying
Loading these moments like a gun
Hoping to kill the pain
You were 80% angel
10% demon
The rest was hard to explain

Show Me

I've lost the words
It ain't my way
Takes some a breath
What takes me twenty-five years to say
Baby you're my favorite rolling stone
Elvis left the building
I have never been so alone

Come on and show me how it feels
Come on and show me how it feels
Can we make it last can we make it real
Come on and show me how it feels

It's only me in this flimsy dress
I could spread this love from the east to the west
The bed is made the world's a mess
Maybe we've got it backwards
Maybe we should just care less

I close my eyes I see your face
Every inch of your skin I begin to retrace
Let me be the voice inside your head
Listen to me whisper
We can sleep when we're dead

Jesus In New Orleans

The last time I saw Jesus
I was drinking bloody Mary's in the South
In a barroom in New Orleans
Rinsin' out the bad taste in my mouth

She wore a dark and faded blazer
With a little of the lining hanging out
When the jukebox played Miss Dorothy Moore
I knew that it was him without a doubt

I said the road is my redeemer
I never know just what on earth I'll find
In the faces of a stranger
In the dark and weary corners of a mind

She said, The last highway is only
As far away as you are from yourself
And no matter just how bad it gets
It does no good to blame somebody else

Ain't it crazy
What's revealed when you're not looking all that close
Ain't it crazy
How we put to death the ones we need the most

I know I'm not a martyr
I've never died for anyone but me
The last frontier is only
The stranger in the mirror that I see

But when I least expect it
Here and there I see my savior's face
He's still my favorite loser
Falling for the entire human race

Ohio

Hello Ohio
The back roads
I know Ohio
Like the back of my hand
Alone Ohio
Where the river bends
And it's strange to see your story end

In my life I've seen a thousand dreams
Through the threshers all torn to pieces
And the land lay bare
Someone turned a profit there
And a good son lost his life in a strip pit

When the sun went down we would all leave town
And light our fires in Egypt Bottom
And the reservoir was just as good for Joni
‘Cause we knew we would
Dream out loud in the night air

Holly said, Don't go inside the children's home
Mary said, Don't leave your man alone
Valerie was singin' to the radio
Ohio

It was summertime in ‘83
We were burnin' out at the rubber tree
Wonderin' what in the world
Would make all this worthwhile
And if I knew then I was older then
Would I see regret to the last mile

Hello Ohio
The back roads
I know Ohio
Like the back of my hand
Alone Ohio
Where the river bends
And it's strange to see your story end
How I hate to see your story end
It's so sad to see your story end

Suitcase

Whatcha doin' with a suitcase
Tryin' to hit the ground with both feet runnin'
Aren't you trippin' on your shoelace

You're stealin' away on a sunny day
Well aren't you ashamed at all
Funny but I feel like I'm fallin'
I wanna beg you to stay
You're stealin' away on a sunny day

Why'd you love me in the first place
You were always closer than a brother
I can barely look at your face

I've said my I've said my
I've said my piece
I'm on my
I'm on my
Down on my knees

Whatcha doin' with a suitcase
Whatcha doin' with a suitcase

Anything At All

I follow you from town to town
I need it
I'm better off when you're around
I mean it

Sooner or later
Things will all come around again
Sooner or later
I won't need anything
Anything at all

I walk these streets alone at night
When it hurts me
A perfect life's an oversight
You curse me

Should've known better
Than this esoteric love
Down to the letter
It don't mean anything
Anything at all

You and I

I wrestle with these guilty thoughts
And I'm losing
You're all I am I'm what you're not
Confusing

Sooner or later
Things will all come around for good
Sooner or later
I won't need anything
Anything at all

Professional Daydreamer

Part of me
You are a part of me
I never want to lose
Hard for me
This is too hard
Maybe I can't get through
What will I miss the most
Pray that I'm haunted by your ghost

Listening
You're always listening
I don't know what to say
Why don't you turn and run at break-neck speed
Just to get away
And when you catch your breath
Pray I said every word I meant

Alright it's alright now
Alright it's alright

Broken down
We're all so broken down
Bandages on our wings
I know I don't have to tell you
Only broken hearts can sing
I'm hoping for a sign
Pray that I'm anything but fine

Some things are never gonna change
You ought to know by now

Lifelong Fling

The moon blind-sided the sky again
As we grabbed loose ends of the tide and then
The slippery slide
You know I can't say when
I ever took a ride that could slap me this silly
With roiling joy
Lazy as sin
Lyin' up in heaven with my special friend
And the space he's in
It can make a girl grin
In the beginning of a lifelong fling

I wrote down a dream
Folded the note
Slipped it in the pocket of my tattered coat

I wrote down a dream
In invisible ink
It never was mine I'm beginning to think

I wrote down a dream
What more could I do
I drew myself a picture and the picture was you

I wrote myself a riddle
I said, what I wouldn't do
To give something good
To a love like you

I wrote down a dream
Folded the note
Passed it to you we stepped in our boat

Sailed ‘round the world
We were hoping to find
More than the sum of all we left behind

I wrote down a dream
But what was it now
And why does it feel so distant somehow

Did I take too long
Did I get it wrong
You're still the missing line in my favorite song

Changes Come

Changes come
Turn my world around

I have my father's hand
I have my mother's tongue
I look for redemption in everyone

I wanna wear your ring
I have a song to sing
It ain't over babe
In fact it's just begun

Changes come
Turn my world around
Changes come
Bring the whole thing down

I wanna have our baby
Somedays I think that maybe
This ol' world's too fucked up
For any firstborn son

There is all this untouched beauty
The light the dark both running through me
Is there still redemption for anyone

Jesus come
Turn the world around
Lay my burden down
Turn this world around
Bring the whole thing down
Bring it down

Long Lost Brother

I thought that we'd be
Further along by now
I can't remember how
We stumbled to this place

I loved you like a long lost brother
On a bad day maybe I thought why bother
I've seldom seen so much anger
In a face

I wanna do better
I wanna try harder
I wanna believe
Down to the letter

Jesus and Mary
Can you carry us
Across this ocean
Into the arms of forgiveness

I don't mean to laugh out loud
I'm trying to come clean
Trying to shed my doubt
Maybe I should just keep
My big mouth shut

More often than not
When it comes to you
You want whatever's not in front of you
Deep down I know this includes me too

So tell me your troubles
Let your pain rain down
I know my job I've been around
I invest in the mess
I'm a low cost dumping ground

Trouble is I'm so exhausted
The plot, you see, I think I've lost it
I need the grace to find what can't be found

She

What she would like to do
Is get you out of her head
She's tried every trick
She's so sick of thinking about it

What's so special about you
You're an ache she's learned to crave
You're a blade too dull to raise

But she cuts herself
On you every night
She's just dying
To lay down the knife

What she would love to do
Is get you out of her bed
She's played it over and over and over
In her head

But she cuts herself
On you every night
She's just dying
To lay down the knife

She clings to what's familiar
She thinks a change would kill her

What she ought to do
Is put a gun to your head
For all the things you said and did

But what she will not do
Is let you go before you're gone
It's everything that's ever been wrong
But it's all she's ever known

So she cuts herself on you every night
She's just dyin' to lay down her life

Nobody Number One

I'm afraid I've lost the piece of me
I need the most you see
This puzzle is really just about the need
To be somebody
I'm afraid I'm not all that you see
All along the coast of me
I'm camouflaged, a desert mirage
A nobody

But you came so close and I assumed
You were looking
For the piece of yourself that's lost
It is the hiding place inside everybody
And though we love to numb the pain
We come to learn that it's in vain
Pain is our mother
She makes us recognize each other

C'mon now child don't cry
C'mon now child don't cry
Let's give it one more try
C'mon now child don't cry

Sometimes I feel so all alone
Here in this city I call my home
They say, Hey, you're one of us
Funny, I should feel so anonymous
But I'm drawn to you
And that still small voice is talking too
And that's the voice that so seldom can get through

You can't put no Band-Aid on this cancer
Like a twenty-dollar bill
For a topless dancer
You need questions
Forget about the answers
Do you really wanna die this way

That's the trouble with you and me
We always hit the bottom ‘fore we get set free
I'm so far down
I'm beginning to breathe

C'mon now child don't cry
C'mon now child don't cry
Let's give it one more try
C'mon now child don't cry
‘Cause we're just too young to die

Cruel and Pretty

He woke
He knew that he was dying
He spoke
And found that he was flying
Upstairs
High above the city
Through the ceiling of the stars
So cruel and pretty

Arms spread across the dark river
The night air causing him to shiver
Like the fluorescent lights in the Seven Eleven
Meet me in the backstreets of heaven

I don't wanna kiss you goodbye
I don't wanna kiss you goodbye
Hello, hello, hello, how the time flies
I don't wanna kiss you goodbye

He woke
He knew that he was dying
He spoke
And found that he was flying
Upstairs
High above the city
Through the ceiling of the stars
So cruel and pretty

Electric lines and wispy jet contrails
Ships at sea and B&O train rails
A tunnel of light like the Seven Eleven
Meet me in the backstreets of heaven

Remind Us

I don't know where this is going
I'm taking a ride on a wing and a prayer
Follow me there
We'll both be surprised
If we forget anything
Hopefully nobody will remind us

Can't bear the news in the evening
We're going to bed and we're going to war
All of this for
Anyone's guess
If we forget anything
Heaven forbid someone would remind us

Sinners and saints, priests and kings
Are we just using God for our own gain
What's in a name
Open your eyes
If we forget everything
There will be no one left to remind us

I don't know where this is going
I'm taking a ride on a wing and a prayer
Follow me there
We'll both be surprised

How Long Have You Been Stoned

What's it like to be the only somebody in the room
Tell us all what does it cost you to be you
Takin' out Daddy's trash now ain't it a drag
Trippin' on Papa's brand new body bag

How long have you been stoned

Places
Everybody places
Embrace it
It's the way it has to be
Wasted
Is everybody wasted
Complacent
Is anybody free

How long have you been stoned

When You Say Love

I'm thinking of a word that has been
Knocked up and overused
You could say it's lost all meaning
From so much abuse

But when you say love, OH

Most everything I ever wanted
Doesn't really have a name
But baby you're as close as I've come and
I know that it sounds strange

But when you say love, OH

So open up my heart-shaped box
It's full of combination locks
I've swallowed all my love-sick pills
To keep from getting chills
Look at all the books I've read
In my lonely single bed

But when you say love, OH

Fool

Fool
Fool me
I'm just a sentimental fool
It happened again
When
I remembered you
And all that we've been through
Love
Truly
I know this world it can be so cruel
I won't let you go

Fool
Use me
This is the part that I can't refuse
Just do what you do
My heart's becoming true
It aches to make room for you
Fool pursue me
To heaven above or to hell below
Just don't let go

Fool me
I'm just a sentimental fool
I can't let you go

Hometown Boy

Hey love
What do you say
We get outta here today
You ain't found your footing yet
But someday you're going to fly
My hometown boy

Cars up on blocks
The neighbourhood's gone to hell
You wonder if the whole world's breakin' down
But you feel somethin'
You feel the need to run
But you don't know why
My hometown boy

No love
No sloe gin back porch nights for you
We've got work to do
White trash blowin' down the street
Just pipe dreams on paper
But starting tomorrow
We've gotta try
Me and my hometown boy

Bothered

Don't be bothered by the fears
I'll try to bottle them
Like my mother's perfume
She wore it only on Sunday
Kept it safe in her room
In a chest with a key
We found it anyway

Don't be bothered by the fears
They'll only join us like the sky
That blushes red tonight
And makes the wind die down
Calms the troubled sea
More out of duty than pleasure
But out of pleasure nonetheless

Your fire burns me like a favorite song
A song I should have know all along
I feel you move like smoke in my eyes
And that is why

Don't be bothered by the fears
That sing from my eyes like carillon
Ringing only on Sunday
On the roof down our street
Finally over the river
Ring for you ring for me
Finally forever
It's just I never
It's just I never thought
I never thought that I could be this free

Idea #21 (Not Too Late)

Till we lay these weapons at your feet, Lord
How long, how long
Till we call all hatred obsolete, Lord
How long, how long
Till we walk like lovers thru Bethlehem
How long, how long
Till the lion lies down with the lamb, Lord
How long, how long

Too late
I know it's not too late
To wrestle with this angel
Higher and higher
Don't let go
Higher and higher
Before we know
How does it end
How does it end
We're all riding on the last train
Trying to find our way home again

Till we wash the blood from the hands of our fathers
How long
We're all sisters and brothers, sons and daughters
How long, how long
Our eyes all shine in different colors we cry, Lord
How long
Our dreams our tears are all the same by and by, Lord
How long, how long

Too late
I know it's not too late
To climb up Jacob's ladder
Higher and higher
Don't let go
Higher and higher
Before we know
How does it end
How does it end
We're all riding on the last train
Trying to find our way home again

It's not too late

Drunkard's Prayer

I want you to be my love

I want you to be my love
I want you to be my love
'Neath the moon and the stars above
I want you to be my love

I want you to know me now
I want you to know me now
Break a promise make a vow
I know you want me now

Like I want you

I want you to be my love
I want you to be my love
'Neath the moon and the stars above
I want you to be my love

'Cause I want you
I know all you
All you've been through

Born

I was born to laugh
I learned to laugh through my tears
I was born to love
I'm gonna learn to love without fear

Pour me a glass of wine
Talk deep into the night
Who knows what we'll find

Intuition, deja vu
The holy ghost haunting you
Whatever you got
I don't mind

Put your elbows on the table
I'll listen long as I am able
There's nowhere I'd rather be

Secret fears, the supernatural
Thank god for this new laughter
Thank god the joke's on me

We've seen the landfill rainbow
We've seen the junkyard of love
Baby it's no place for you and me

I was born to laugh
I learned to laugh through my tears
I was born to love
I'm gonna learn to love without fear

Drunkard's prayer

You're my water
You're my wine
You're my whiskey
From time to time

You're the hunger
On my bones
All the nights
I sleep alone

Sweet intoxication
When your words
Wash over me

Whether or not
Your lips move
You speak to me

Like an ocean
Without waves
You're the movement
That I crave

And in that motion
I long to drown
And be lost not to be found
You're my water
You're my wine
You're my whiskey
From time to time

Bluer

I cry just a little bit
Just a little bit
Everyday

Get by just a little bit
Just a little bit
That way

I know, I know
I should have known

Bluer
Than the blue devils
Bluer than this pale blue angel

Bluer than all of my troubles
Love is never far from danger

I die just a little bit
Just a little bit
Everyday

Get by just a little bit
Just a little bit
That way

Let go, let go
Now that you've gone

Bluer
Than the blue devils
Bluer than this pale blue angel
Bluer than all of my troubles
Are we gonna leave here strangers

Spark

It's not the spark that caused the fire
It was the air you breathed that fanned the flame
What you think you'll solve with violence
Will only spread like a disease
Until it all comes 'round again
Was john the only dreamer?

Sleep with one ear close to the ground
And wake up screaming
When we lay our cold weapons down
We'll wake up dreaming

Obsessions with self-preservation
Faded when I threw my fear away
It's not a thing you can imagine

You either lose your fear
Or spend your life with one foot in the grave
Is god the last romantic?

Sleep with one ear close to the ground
And wake up screaming
When we lay our cold weapons down
We'll wake up dreaming

Only love can turn this around
I wake up dreaming
Everything we've lost can be found
We'll wake up dreaming

Hush now (stella's tarantella)

Hush now my sweet little noisy boy
There is trouble enough in the world
Pick up your feet little lazy boy
Come dance with your little girl

Spin me 'round this kitchen floor
Like a carnaval
Troubadour
I know we're only two-bit clowns
In a one-ring circus

But make me a little bit dizzy boy
Swing me on your trapeze
When I'm in the arms of my dreamy boy
It still makes me weak in the knees

Right here on this record player
Is our scratchy song
We're alone
Slide trombones like an orchestra
Full of fortune tellers

Come now my sweet little breathing boy
I'm listening hard to your heart
It's as strong as a lion's boy
Let's leave here and make a new start

I remember once you said
Lying in this bed
The past is dead
Everyday is a one-act play
Without an ending

Lookin' forward

Walking out in the freezing rain
I feel nothing 'cause I numbed the pain
I'm lookin' forward to lookin' back
On this day

Prayed last night
Dear god please no
But I was never good at letting go
I'm lookin' forward to lookin' back
On this day

Good news can be so unkind
When it's everything you have to
Leave behind
I'm lookin' forward to lookin' back
On this day

In the taillights
So much hindsight
Telling me what I already know
I know

Little did I know

Little did I know
That I almost let you go
Until I caught a glimpse of life
Without you

Little did I know
How deep these roots had grown
Until I felt the earth quake here
Without you

And this ache is gonna break me love
Until you come back home
Right or wrong
There is no home without you

And these eyes are never gonna dry
I never knew how I could cry
Until I thought I'd really lost you

Little did I know that I almost let you go
Until I caught a glimpse of life
Without you

Who will guard the door

You were the hand that I tried to take
You're the decision that I could not make
You're the religion that I should forsake

You were the story I tried to tell
You were the savior that tripped and fell
Beautiful dancing infidel

Who will guard the door
When I am sleeping
Who will guard the door
When I am sleeping
I'm not sleeping

You were the season that would
Not change
I often was the same
Then four horseman came and stole
My name

I never saw you fall apart
I never saw you work so hard
Never saw you need no one
I am my father's son

Firefly

My memory will not fail me now

Hmm firefly in the night sky
Only lights on the rise
And I need you so firefly

One satellite with a lazy eye
Caught me by surprise
With an ache in my belly
And a taste in my mouth for fire

My memory will not fail me now

Hmm firefly in the night sky
Only lights on the rise
After the killing frost
Where do you go
Firefly

My memory will not fail me now
And the rest is history

My funny valentine

( Rodgers / Hart )

You're my funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Still you're my favourite work of art

Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart

But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay funny valentine stay
Each day is valentine's day

Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart

But don't you change one hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay funny valentine stay
Each day is valentine
Each day is valentine's day

The Trumpet Child

I Don't Wanna Waste Your Time

I don't wanna waste your time
With music you don't need
Why should I autograph the book
That you won't even read
I've got a different scar for every song
And blood left still to bleed
But I don't wanna waste your time
With music you don't need

I don't wanna waste good wine
If you won't stick around
I love to laugh but I'm more than just
Your alcoholic clown
I won't pray this prayer with you
Unless we both kneel down
I don't wanna waste good wine
If you won't stick around

Come on lighten up
Let me fill your cup
I'm just trying to imagine a situation
Where we might have a real conversation

But I don't wanna waste the words
That you don't seem to need
When it comes to wanting what's real
There's no such thing as greed
I hope this night puts down deep roots
I hope we plant a seed
‘Cause I don't wanna waste your time
With music you don't need

Trouble

If you came to make some trouble
Better make it good
Your sexy cocktail hour stubble
Is doing what it should
Looks may be sweet and subtle
I think it's trouble honey
I think it's good
If you came to make trouble
Make me a double honey
I think it's good

Novices have expectations
‘Cause they think they should
Experts have their revelations
Like they knew they would
What may seem complicated
Is overstated downright misunderstood
Love will not be outdated
Maybe placated but it's got to be good

We're so precarious with semantics
I think this could be trouble
I think it's trouble honey
I think it's good
If you came to make trouble
Make me a double honey
I think it's good

What may seem complicated
Is overstated downright misunderstood
Love will not be outdated
Maybe placated but it's got to be good
We're far too serious
I think we could be
Such nefarious pyromantics

I'm On A Roll

Black flamenco shoes
Dahlias in my hair
Garters on my stockings
The sidewalk bends to stare
I'm on a roll

Ambition may be blind
Diamonds come from coal
You provide the rhythm babe
I'll provide the soul
I'm on a roll

This oyster is my world
My oyster's got a pearl
This ain't no dress rehearsal
I'm a very lucky girl
I'm on a roll

Tastes sweet on my lips
Tender on my tongue
All the road's ahead of me
Oh the night is young
I'm on a roll

I'm on a roll
Just like I oughta
I'm on a roll
I can't be bothered
I'm on a roll
I want the whole enchilada
I'm on a roll

Baby's got his bullhorn
Confetti's in the air
We're shakin' up Show Ponies
‘Cause we haven't got a care
I'm on a roll

I'm on a roll
Just like I oughta
I'm on a roll
I can't be bothered
I'm on a roll
Cincinnati to Ensenada
I'm on a roll
From the thrift store to Prada
I'm on a roll
La de dah…

Nothing Is Innocent

We'd wake the dead
With voices in our head
We've gotten used to ignoring the truth

We close our eyes
And breathe and eat the lies
That tell us we're so much better than you

Silence is loud
Humility is so proud
Nothing is innocent now

All the king's men
Will serve scrambled eggs again
When white-washed walls come crashing down

We'll blink and nod
And say, How odd
And wonder why old friends don't come around

Silence is loud
Humility is so proud
Nothing is innocent now

The acid rain
We fear the pain
Will blister and burn the skin

But what is more
The fear we bore
Will eat us alive from within

Silence is loud
Humility is so proud
Nothing is innocent now

For you and me
In the land of the free
Is anything innocent now?

The Trumpet Child

The trumpet child will blow his horn
Will blast the sky till it's reborn
With Gabriel's power and Satchmo's grace
He will surprise the human race

The trumpet he will use to blow
Is being fashioned out of fire
The mouthpiece is a glowing coal
The bell a burst of wild desire

The trumpet child will riff on love
Thelonious notes from up above
He'll improvise a kingdom come
Accompanied by a different drum

The trumpet child will banquet here
Until the lost are truly found
A thousand days, a thousand years
Nobody knows for sure how long

The rich forget about their gold
The meek and mild are strangely bold
A lion lies beside a lamb
And licks a murderer's outstretched hand

The trumpet child will lift a glass
His bride now leaning in at last
His final aim to fill with joy
The earth that man all but destroyed

Entertaining Thoughts

I've been entertaining thoughts
Of what I wanna say to you
I've been entertaining thoughts
Of what I'm gonna do
I've been saving what I got
And wondering who to give it to
I've been entertaining thoughts all over you

The way this works is so mysterious
If it gets much worse it's called delirious
If I were mad I would be furious
But this could be so much more than
Just another euphemism for...

I've been entertaining thoughts
Of what I wanna say to you
I've been entertaining thoughts
Of what I'm gonna do
I've been saving what I got
And wondering who to give it to
I've been entertaining thoughts all over you

You smoke your cigarette
And wonder if it's happened yet
The heavens slowly part and you ascend
I wish that I could say that I'll have no regrets
But I may have one of two
Or three or four more than you...

You will never even know
Till it hits you fool
Ooh, but I'm entertaining thoughts
All over you

Who'm I Kiddin' But Me

Walk into the room with that curious grin
Ain't nobody need to know the actual shape I'm in
But oh, who'm I kiddin' but me

Call you on the phone, I got nothin' to say
Put my lips a little closer and stand there anyway
‘Cause oh, who'm I kiddin' but me

I hang from my desire
Like a rope swing from a tree
I kick a little higher
Singin' I Shall Be Released
But oh, who'm I kiddin' but me

The devil's in the details

Call you on the phone, I got nothin' to say
Put my lips a little closer and stand there anyway
‘Cause oh, who'm I kiddin' but me

You smell like sweet magnolias
And Pentecostal residue
I'd like to get to know ya
And shake the holy fire right out of you
But oh, who'm I kiddin' but me

The devil's in the details


Let's Spend The Day In Bed

Let's spend the day in bed
Yeah that's what I said
Let's lie down draw the shades
Ditch the plans we made
Rest your lovely bones
And just stay home

Turn off the telephone
Picnic on the sheets
Toss the dogs some treats
Rub each other's feet
We're not ashamed
Of a little lazy love
Till we're through
I'm gonna spend the day in bed with you

Let's spend the day in bed
On our very own bed spread
A pajama holiday
Catch a black and white matinee
Spoon-feed these new daydreams
And just stay home

We'll read Shel Silverstein
Where The Sidewalk Ends
Smile about old friends
Try to comprehend
One single day
No work and only play
Kick off your shoes
I'm gonna spend the day in bed with you

When life's a drag we'll get stoned on love
Stoned on love
Just stay home

We need a groove that's all our own
And we'll get stoned
Just stay home
We'll get stoned on love
Stoned on love

Let's spend the day in bed
Forget all that I said
We'll eat your favorite pie
Ice cream on the side
Lie here a la mode
And just stay home

Desperate For Love

Are you feelin'
A little desperate
Get on your knees
And confess it
Honey please
Don't second guess it
You're desperate
For love

Is this just
A little fling
Or is it about
A little bling bling
Either way
You feel the sting sting
You're desperate
For love

It might only take a kiss
For the plot to take a twist
That you hadn't counted on

Just a tiny little minute
But eternity will be in it
If you turn me on

Red wine on my lips
Got this black silk slip on my hips
The kitchen faucet just drips and drips
You're desperate for love

Don't Wait For Tom

He's got the hands of a blind piano player
He's got a feel for the dark like a soothsayer
He takes a little bow and tips his fedora
Shouts like he's gonna save Sodom and Gomorrah

Workin' for the circus X railroad bum
Carnival barker for kingdom dot come
Dusty ol' Gibson opposable thumb
Bangs out the rhythm on a 50-gallon drum

Don't wait for Tom
Tom's long gone
He's already moved on
Don't wait for Tom
I saw an ol' '55 Buick
Just before dawn
I said, Hey, hey Tom
The sun's comin' up
You got your wipers on

Are you tryna make it rain again?
Are you tryna make it rain again?
Is it rainin' just around your bend?
Are you tryna make it rain again?

Sittin' in a corner with his pet muskrat
Tossin' his cards into an old man's hat
He grins at the girls and they always grin back
He bets an old waltz he could get ‘em in the sack

He makes his own music from the bell of a ‘bone
A waitress's falsie and a railroad phone
Bobs on his knees to an old tarantella
South of the border he stole it from a fella

Don't wait for Tom…
His triple-jointed juke fingers splay like a scarecrow
He kneels down and whistles to a fallen sparrow
His eyes light up when they wheel in a piano
He reads a dirty joke out of an old Baptist hymnal

He wears a tuxedo made of sackcloth and ashes
Has a tattoo of a girl who can bat her eyelashes
Down on the river he was fishin' with a sword
He knocked off John the Baptist for a word from the Lord

He takes his coffee with the blood of a turnip
Blushes his cheeks with an Amsterdam tulip
Choppin' up a rooster for a pullet surprise
If the gravy don't getcha he'll getcha with his eyes

Hey Tom

If A Song Could Be President

If a song could be president
We'd hum on Election Day
The gospel choir would start to sway
And we'd all have a part to play

The first lady would free her hips
Pull a microphone to her lips
Break our hearts with Rhythm and Blues
Steve Earle would anchor the news

We'd vote for a melody
Pass it around on an MP3
All our best foreign policy
Would be built on harmony

If a song could be president
We'd fly a jukebox to the moon
All our founding fathers' 45's
Lightnin' Hopkins and Patsy Cline
If a song could be president

If a song could be president
We could all add another verse
Life would teach us to rehearse
Till we found a key change

Break out of this minor key
Half-truths and hypocrisy
We wouldn't need an underachiever-in-chief
If a song could be president

We'd make Neil Young a Senator
Even though he came from Canada
Emmylou would be Ambassador
World leaders would listen to her

They would show us where our country went wrong
Strum their guitars on the White House lawn
John Prine would run the FBI
All the criminals would laugh and cry
If a song could be president

Snow Angels

All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue

Strings of lights above the bed
Curtains drawn and a glass of red
All I ever get for Christmas is blue

Saxophone on the radio
Recorded 40 years ago
All I ever get for Christmas is blue

When you play my song
Play it slowly
Play it like I'm sad and lonely

Maybe you can solve
Solve my mystery
Wrap me in your arms and whisper
You miss me

Weatherman says it's miserable
But the snow is so beautiful
All I ever get for Christmas is blue

It would take a miracle
To get me out to a shopping mall
All I really want for Christmas is you

Let them ring the bells
They won't miss us
I'll be drinkin' down your kisses

Deep into the night
We'll go stealing
Underneath a starry ceiling
Revealing

White lights on the Christmas tree
Thank God you are here with me
All I ever get for Christmas is blue

Darlin' (Christmas Is Coming)

So it's been a long year
Every new day brings one more tear
Till there's nothing left to cry

My, my how time flies
Like little children hiding their eyes
We'll make it disappear
Let's start a brand new year

Darlin' Christmas is coming
Salvation army bells are ringing
Darlin' Christmas is coming
Do you believe in angels singing
Darlin' the snow is falling
Falling like forgiveness from the sky

If I could have anything
What would I want this new year to bring
Well, I'd want you here with me

Tear these thorns from my heart
Help the healing to start
Let's set this old world free
Let's start with you and me

White Horse

Bring me a white horse for Christmas
We'll ride him through the town
Out into the snowy woods
Where we will both lie down

Underneath white birches
Our faces toward the sky
We will make snow angels
With our white horse standing by

Hush now baby
One day we're gonna ride
Hush now baby
Our white horse through the sky

Bring me a white horse for Christmas
We'll ride him through the snow
All the way to Bethlehem
2000 years ago

I wanna speak with the angel
Who said do not be afraid
I wanna kneel where the oxen knelt
Where the little child was laid

Hush now baby
One day you're gonna ride
Hush now baby
Your white horse through the sky

No bridle will he be wearing
His unshod hoofs they will fly
Keep a watch out this Christmas
For that white horse in the sky

Hush now baby
One day we're gonna ride
Hush now baby
Our white horse through the sky

Hush now baby
Let every angel sing
Hush now baby
One day we'll ride again

Little Town

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy dark and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by

Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

The lamplit streets of Bethlehem
We walk now through the night
There is no peace in Bethlehem
There is no peace in sight

The wounds of generations
Almost too deep to heal
Scar the timeworn miracle
And make it seem surreal

The baby in the manger
Grew to a man one day
And still we try to listen now
To what he had to say

Put up your swords forever
Forgive your enemies
Love your neighbor as yourself
Let your little children come to me

New Redemption Song

Lord we need a new redemption song
Lord we've tried
It just seems to come out wrong
Won't you help us please
Help us just to sing along
A new redemption song

Lord we need
A new redemption day
All our worries
Keep getting in the way

Won't you help us please
Help us find the words to pray
To bring redemption day

Snowed In With You

When you come home
And all the world's asleep
I'll close my eyes
And breathe with sweet relief
This world has had you
Long enough for now
And when I get you home
I'll show you how

I wanna get snowed in with you
I wanna shake off these winter blues
These ain't no blues that I can use
And when the lights are gleaming
I'll be leaning into you
What's a girl to do?

I wanna get snowed in with you
I'm gonna make every effort to
Be so good to you
That when the snow melts away
You'll want to stay

Snowed in with me
Till it's time to take down the tree
And it's all I really need baby
To be alone awhile with you
What's a girl to do?

Drift with me
While we're still awake
Every new snowflake
Is like a wish we make
Dream with me
Leave your cares far behind
Is all love snowblind?
Let me awake in time to find

That I'm snowed in with you
I'm gonna make every effort to
Be so good to you
That when the snow melts away
You'll want to stay
Snowed in with me

North Pole Man

( Words and Music: Bergquist/Detweiler - Live from nowhere vol.2 )

North Pole man
Come out of the cold
North Pole man
It's gettin' old
Cold hands cold feet
Darn snow darn sleet
It takes good friction
To make good heat
Alright

North Pole man
Come in from the storm
North Pole man
Got to get you warm
Hot rum steam heat
My lips taste sweet
I got warm cookin'
Spread the table take a seat
Alright

Northpole man
Can you afford to
You outta come here
Come south of the border
Come down real slow
It's warm down below
It takes perspiration
To melt the snow

Here It Is

I cried when I wrote this
I'll always remember
The worst kind of lonely
Is alone in December

The act of forgiveness
Is always a mystery
The melting of ice
And the future of history

Some call it obsession
I call it commitment
I make my confession
I make it in public

I hope that it's helpful
That others can use it
That it's more than my ego
And my need to abuse it

I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
And here it is

The leaves on the oak tree
Hold on through the winter
They're brown and their brittle
They clatter together

I can't seem to let go
I'm so scared of losing
The deeper the love goes
The deeper the bruising

The trouble with talking
Is it makes you sound clever
The trouble with waiting
Is you'll just wait forever

There's a loop of excuses
That plays in your mind
And makes the truth
Even harder to find

I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
And here it is

When they blow Gabriel's horn
Rip fiction from fact
I want to get caught
In some radical act

Of love and redemption
The sound of warm laughter
Some true conversation
With a friend or my lover

Somewhere down the road
We'll lift up our glass
And toast the moment
And moments past

The heartbreak and laughter
The joy and the tears
The scary beauty
Of what's right here

I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
I'm wrappin' up my love this Christmas
And here it is

One Olive Jingle

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way

Now you look dashing in the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
Over the fields we go
Laughing all the way

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle through the night
Bells on bob tails ring
Making spirits bright

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle through the night
Oh through the night


Snow Angel

Once upon a winter
It seems so long ago
My one and only love and I
Fell down upon the snow

And as the dusk was falling
From our gray and goose down sky
We heard the old cathedral bells
Ring out our lullaby

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I'm gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I've cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I'll meet you in the sky

The rumors of a distant war
Called my true love's name
He packed his leather suitcase
And spoke no word of blame
We walked awhile together
I tried to hide my fear
He told me not to be afraid
And whispered in my ear

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I'm gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I've cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I'll meet you in the sky

They brought my love home from the war
In a cart pulled by white mules
The Christmas bells rang out that day
Oblivious as fools

And as the snow began to fall
I kissed his frozen face
They told me in his woolen coat
His last few words were placed

Snow angel, snow angel
Someday I'm gonna fly
This cold and broken heart of mine
Will one day wave goodbye
Goodbye to this cruel wicked world
And all the tears I've cried
Snow angel, snow angel
I'll meet you in the sky

We're Gonna Pull Through

You take your own sweet time
Order us a glass of wine
And wink at all the rich folks in the room
We're gonna pull through

We've been careful, we've been good
Doing most of the things we should
But the picture is much bigger than we knew
We're gonna pull through

There's no such thing as cool
And we're gonna pull through

I'd rather feel your heat
On a wicked winter day
Than watch a holiday parade

With dancers and balloons
We're gonna pull through

You hold me just the same way
Levon would play
And The Weight is my favorite song
We're gonna pull through

Breaking our own rules
We're gonna pull through

Maybe, sorta, kinda
If I really had to say
Something good is on its way
And we're gonna pull through

The Long Surrender

The Laugh Of Recognition

Come on boys
It's time to settle down
What do you think you'll gain
From all this running around

Come on boys
It's time to let it go
Everybody has a dream
That they will never own

Come on boys
It's time to let her down
You might be surprised
How far she'll get
With her feet on the ground
So come on boys

Every night we always
Led the pack
There and back

And we never could do anything half
You just have to laugh
Oh you gotta laugh

So come on boys
It weren't not for trying
It's called the laugh of recognition
When you laugh but you feel like dying

Come on boys
Now don't be shy
If we gotta walk away
We gotta hold our heads up high

You're not the first one to start again
Come on now friends
There is something to be said for tenacity
I'll hold on to you
If you hold on to me
Come on boys

Sharpest Blade

There was a time
I could sleep anywhere
My feet on a chair
My heart in the woods

But love was aloof
Just a beggar for tips
A mime on whose lips
No promises stood

But you cut me quick
In the light of the shade
With the edge of the green
Of the yard's sharpest blade
When nothing I knew
Was all that it seemed

I still dreamed
Of a love to outlive us
I still prayed
That this night would outlast us
And redeem some small thing
Far beyond me

Blossoms begin
Like the tip of a spear
Or the curve of a tear
From a soldier who weeps
Seducing the guard
Of lost years falling by
As flowers to lie
On the dead feigning sleep

But you cut me quick
In the light of the shade,
On the edge of the green
Of the yard's dark parade;
When nothing we knew
Was all that it seemed
I still dreamed
Of a love to outlive us
I still prayed
That this night would forgive us
And redeem some small thing
Far beyond me

But you cut me quick
In the light of the shade,
On the edge of the green
Of the yard's sharpest blade;
When nothing we knew
Was all that it seemed
I still dream
Of a love to outlive us
And I still pray
That this night will convince us
And redeem some small thing
Far beyond me

Rave On

Ramblin' over caliche
With a busted muffler set it free
Rock on

Blastin' Buddy on the radio
The Baptist wheat fields rolling low
Rock on
Rave on

Messiah come in a flat-head Ford
To the Kansas young and dumb and bored
Rock on

Adrenaline spills like blood that pours
Screamin' out
Prepare Ye the way of the Lord
Rock on
Rave on

Redman scored between his teeth
Jackrabbits scatter underneath
Rock on

Bear down deep into the soul
The floorboard groans the rubber rolls
Rock on
Rave on

Yeah we're hauling ass to Arkalon
The ghost town on the Cimarron
Rock on

With eyes backlit by some wicked fire
He pops the wheel of raw desire
Rock on
Rave on

Blood is sweet, the veil is thin
Let your wreckage cleanse my skin

Never give up, never say die
To the long surrender
When the red tail dives
Rock on
Rave on

Soon

Soon
The near parade will find us
Soon
The fall-by-the-way may bind us

Tongue and groove, body and fender
The weight of your world is splendor
Soon

Soon
The troubled past will leave us
Soon
The bird of fear won't need us
The blood of our veins will guide us
A map of the train inside us
Soon

Soon

The howl of the angels will mark out time
The gift of your heart frees me from mine

Soon
The night that we call forever
Burns like a lost love letter
Soon
Soon
Soon

Undamned

Sometimes all we believe
Turns out to be just a scam
Just trying to get my world
Get it undamned

It's been my lifelong song
Who'll take me just as I am
Help me to get my world
Get it undamned

I've got a thousand lost songs
Far too many they just got away
I've done a thousand things wrong
Far too many for me to name
But I'm not too far gone
To fall
Headlong
Into the arms that love me

Don't count me out just yet
I'm not your little lost lamb
God might still get my world
Get it undamned

I've got a thousand lost songs
Far too many they just got away
I've done a thousand things wrong
Far too many for me to name
But I'm not too far gone
To fall
Headlong
Into the arms that love me

I've got a thousand lost songs
Far too many they just got away
I've done a thousand things wrong
Far too many for me to name
But I'm not too far gone
To fall
Headlong
Into the arms that love me

But I'm not too far gone
To fall
Headlong…

Infamous Love Song

I sing
The bebop apocalypse
Lean into you
God's hands on my hips
Grip the midnight microphone
Steel every cell of my flesh and bone
I wrestle my angel
In smoky stage lights
Climb Jacob's ladder
Two thousand more flights
Tell St. Valentine, Hey gimme five
Baby our love song must survive

We were born in the dirt
On our hands and knees
But started out climbing
Deciduous trees
We learned to sway
Ridiculously high
Hungry to taste
Mouthfuls of sky
Now I bring all our secrets
To show and tell
How we dragged each other
Through heaven and hell
It's our smoking gun
But hey, we're still alive
Baby our love song must survive

Your third-story windows
On thirteenth and Main
Still glow with an eerie
Mysterious flame
Where we learned to slow dance
By dawn's early light
And tried to be tender
With all of our might
And just down the street
At the Milner Hotel
Rosie's slopping the hogs
And the infidels
They all went out of business
When the market took a dive
Baby our love song must survive

There's nights when I mostly
Just feel like a thief
With a prized possession
A gleeful belief
That love's both a joke
And a serious matter
You don't quite know your muse
But you know when you've had her
When I first saw your face yeah
It hurt you to smile
Your lips tasted like tears
I could kiss them for miles
On a midnight train
May it never arrive
Baby our love song must survive

There's days when we lose
Our appetite
And days when we're bruised
And losing the fight
Of a lifetime, days
When we're looking inside
Wondering if
We're half dead or alive
But the slow honey drip
Of those young nights long gone
The memory's a friendly whip
Urging us on
My mouth on your lips
Is just trying to revive
Baby our love song must survive

This love's the affirmation
Of everything good
The oxygen coursing
Through the blood
The feel of being understood
The belief that, oh yes
Somehow we could
And the milky way looks
Like a flimsy blouse
But now we're gentrified
In our civil war house
Safe as a painting
By Currier and Ives
Baby our love song must survive

So I still sing
The bebop apocalypse
Lean into you
God's hands on my hips
Grip the midnight microphone
Steel every cell of my flesh and bone
I still wrestle my angel
In smoky stage lights
Climb Jacob's ladder
Two thousand more flights
C'mon St. Christopher, how ‘bout a high five
Baby our love song must survive

Only God Can Save Us Now

Margie struck Geneva with her baby doll
Barb knocked off the medcart coming down the hall
Bob leads the congregation when he sings
How Now Brown Cow
Only God can save us now

Jean says Fuzzy wuzzy fuzzy wuzzy was a bear
Miss Cleve sings Hallelujah from the choir in her chair
Behind his busy apron Raymond's naked standing proud
Only God can save us now

Who will save me
From myself
In the night

When my time has come and it may be coming soon
Don't mind me if you come to find me howling at the moon
I'll need a busy apron and a half-sedated crowd
Only God can save us now

A baby doll some chocolates and flowers made of silk
A clean room with a window and some Prozac in warm milk
And sneak us in some whiskey ‘cause it's probably not allowed
Only God can save us now

Oh Yeah By The Way

Oh yeah by the way
Oh yeah by the way
The thought of you it shook my head
Just today

Oh yeah by the way
Oh yeah by the way
What a waste that I still love you
After the mess you've made

What a waste that I'm not jaded
Once in awhile I even smile
What a waste you're just a stranger
To me now

Oh yeah by the way
Oh yeah by the way
There are still so many things
I wonder if I should say, like

What a waste that I still love you
But I can't erase one scar
All your self-inflicted wounds
Have made you what you are

So goodbye yesterday
Goodbye yesterday
I probably should have guessed that it could
End this way

What if I'm as good as you at
Walking away

The King Knows How

I feel as lonely
As anybody
Who's crying on a Friday night

Once in a while
On my radio dial
I accidentally get it right

I'm thinking I might be tempted to
Slide on over
Slide on over

I'm thinking I need a little something to
Tide me over
Tide me over
Till Memphis

You know that lonesome
Whippoorwill
I know a girl who is bluer still

Is that a jukebox altar call
Or just a soft smoky place to fall

I'm thinking I might be tempted to
Slide on over
Slide on over

I'm thinking I need a little something to
Tide me over
Tide me over
Till Memphis

Cause the king knows how
To take me all the way
Yeah the king knows how
The King knows how
To take me all the way
To Memphis

I feel as lonely
As anybody
Who's crying on a Friday night

I'm not laughing
Because it's funny
Hank is laughing ‘cause he's always right

I'm thinking I might be tempted to
Slide on over
Slide on over

I'm thinking I need a little something to
Tide me over
Tide me over

You strike the match boy
But do you know how
To burn it all the way down
To Memphis

‘Cause the king knows how
The King knows how
To take me all the way…

There's a Bluebird In My Heart

There's a bluebird in my heart
One that's drowning in its own wistful tune
For fear of pending tomorrow and lofty full moons
And never knowing where to start

There's a bluebird with a song
With little effort how she sings it so well
Like a lover with a broken-throated story to tell
I've kept her secret for so long

Why do you always make me drink alone
When it comes to losing you I'm always on my own

There's a bluebird in my heart
Drowning in bourbon and brushstrokes all night
When all the ordinary sinners take flight
No one will ever see your wings

Days Like This

Days like this
You look up at the sky above you
Days like this
You think about the ones that love you

All I wanna do is live my life honestly
I just wanna wake up and see your face next to me
Every regret I have I will go set it free
It will be good for me

Days like this
You think about the ones that went before you
Days like this
Have you ever seen the sky it's such a clear blue

All I wanna do is live my life honestly
I just wanna wake up and see your face next to me
Every regret I have I will go set it free
It will be good for me

Days like this
You think about the ones that love you
Days like this
Have you ever seen the sky it's such a clear blue

All My Favorite People

All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just wanna hold you
And let the rest go

All my friends are part saint and part sinner
We lean on each other
Try to rise above

We're not afraid to admit we're all still beginners
We're all late bloomers
When it comes to love

All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers
Step forward
You can stay right here
You don't have to go

Is each wound you've received
Just a burdensome gift
It gets so hard to lift
Yourself up off the ground

But the poet says
We must praise the mutilated world
We're all working the graveyard shift
You might as well sing along

All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

As for your tender heart
This world's gonna rip it wide open
It ain't gonna be pretty
But you're not alone

‘Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know

Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers
You're welcome
Yeah, you're safe right here
You don't have to go

‘Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me
I should know

Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just wanna hold you
And let the rest go

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World

Meet Me At The Edge Of The World

One lone tupelo stood against the ironweed
The goldenrod that tamed our need
For something other than fear and greed
Meet me at the edge of the world

Expectations great and small
Unfettered us as I recall
From dreams we scaled before the fall
Into the lap of the world

Cold hard tied like rebar frames
Pale skeleton of the man remains
We're floating checks and naming names
Paper airplanes to the edge of the world
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
But I remember that face
All the miles we misplaced
Leave behind all but one trace
And walk me to the edge of the world

That lone tupelo soon will be on fire
For all I know with God's desire
As Autumn in Ohio spirals
Off of the edge of the world

Here we stand on cold concrete ground
‘Cause someone said they liked the sound
I'm thankful that they've hung around
But I'm craving the edge of the world

Is it time to disappear
Oh babe, can we just get out of here
You and me love and no one near
Walk me to the edge of the world
Meet me at the edge of the world
I'm waiting at the edge of the world

Called Home

Just shy of Breakin' Down
There's a bend in the road that I have found
Called home

Take a left at loneliness
There's a place to find forgiveness
Called home

With clouds adrift across the sky
Like heaven's laundry hung to dry
You slowly feel it all will be revealed
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Where evening shadows come to fall
On the awful and the beautiful
Every wound you feel that needs to heal

And silence yearns to hear herself
Some long lost memory rings a bell
Called home

Old pre-Civil War brick house
Standin' tall and straight somehow
Called home

Mailbox full of weariness
And a word of hard won happiness
Called home

Leave behind your Sunday best
You know we couldn't care a less
Out here we've learned to leave the edges wild

And stories they get passed around
And laughter – it gets handed down
Read it in the lines around a smile

Our bodies' motion comes to rest
When we are at last
Called home

Sacred Ground

Love me like a memory held too long
Like the need to feel some forgotten song

Kiss me to chills like there's only me
Like it's hard to kill the last cottonwood tree

Love me later when the stars fall down
A burning light for a wedding gown
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
They stole the blood right out of this ground
They'd still kick a flower when it's down

Help me trace the scars on mountains
The sun that sets in a bloody fountain
Take me home and lay me down
On the hungry earth (Love me, love me)
On the sacred ground

Love me like the breath you held too deep
Like the need you feel to lay still beneath

Leave me with teeth marks on my skin
Like some holy spirit's tryna get in

Love me like a rumor you can't outlive
Like the deepest cut you'll ever forgive

They stole my blood right out of this ground
They'd still kick a flower when it's down

Help me trace the scars on mountains
The sun that sets in a bloody fountain
Take me home and lay me down
On the hungry earth (Love me, love me)
On the sacred ground

I'd Want You

If the moon fell from the sky
Rendering everything black and blue
I'd want you
I'd want you

If the swallows fell like snow
Tumbling tiny angels with wounds
I'd want you
I'd want you
I'd want you
I'd want you

I will lay my body down
When the storm is finally through
I'd want you
I'd want you
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
If my faith should ever fail
Faltering look what I dragged it through
I'd want you
I'd want you

If the music all went still
Enabling all my fears to come true
I'd want you
I'd want you

I will lay my body down
When the storm is finally through
I'd want you
I'd want you

I'd want you
I'd want you

Gonna Let My Soul Catch My Body

Gonna let my soul catch my body
My body make up my mind
Gonna let my soul catch my body
My body make up my mind
This world makes me weary
I'm livin' here on borrowed time

Gonna pray the Lord free my spirit
The spirit gonna give a sign
Gonna pray the Lord free my spirit
The spirit gonna give a sign
This world makes me weary
Sellin' me what's never been mine

Now if I'm good to be my body
My body she'll point the way
Now if I'm good to be my body
My body she'll point the way
Oh these days they are numbered
I might not have too long to stay
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Gonna lay out fine linen
Gonna make up my dyin' bed
I'm gonna lay out fine linen
Gonna make up my dyin' bed
If you call me sweet Jesus
I'm ready to lay down my head

Gonna let my soul catch my body
My body make up my mind
Gonna let my soul catch my body
My body make up my mind
This world makes me weary
I'm livin' here on borrowed time
Oh, this road makes me weary
I'm livin' here on borrowed time

All Of It Was Music

The night was bending in a grin
As streetlight shadows tattooed skin
Whatever we were tangled in
All of it was music

The bed sheets were our whitest flag
The war became a game of tag
We surrendered all we had
And all we had was music

The humming of the window unit
The street noise often sang right through it
A drunken song somehow we knew that
Even it was music

The newness of uncovered skin
Your messy hair your goofy grin
Your shattered places deep within
All of it was music

To those I've wronged, Please forgive me
I hope this song, helps you believe me
The holding on the letting go
It all gets buried soft and low
But even then a song might grow
All of it was music
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
We left the city far behind
We traveled light we traveled blind
With no idea what we'd find
Or whether we could use it

The rolling fields were lined by trees
Wild flowers brought us to our knees
The poison ivy thick as thieves—
We swung an ax to bruise it

A place where we could rest awhile
Where hummingbirds could thrum for miles
And we could leave the edges wild
And let wild birds sing through us

Fires where all our sparks could scatter
Midnight stars could drop their ladders
I'm not sure any of it matters
But all of it was music

To those I've wronged, Please forgive me
I hope this song, helps you believe me
The holding on the letting go
It all get buried soft and low
Don't ask me how but I still know
All of it was music

To those I've wronged, Please forgive me
I hope this song, helps you believe me
This world so full of joy and pain
Was more than one heart could contain
We let it spill and flood the plain
All of it was music

Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down

Feel the ache of Ohio
Through the veins of Illinois
Mine the seams of West Virginia
Land of buried joy

Lean into the half-light
Fade into the night
Moonrise hovers on the highway shoulder
And scatters into light
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Don't let the bastards get you down
Don't let the bastards get you down

Backroads shining in the moonrise
She's a dragon with a lazy eye
Canary's in the coal like a fallen soldier
Drunk on the song of a little white lie

Don't let the bastards get you down
Don't let the bastards get you down

Are they gonna steal my love
Are they gonna steal my love
Are you gonna free my love
Are you gonna free my love

Three birds sittin' on a chainlink fence
Got no cares in this world

Don't let the bastards get you down
Don't let the bastards get you down
Don't let the bastards get you down
Don't let the bastards get you down

Highland County

How did you find me
I can't remember anymore
Along the Ohio
My wreckage washed upon your shore

As sure as the snow is gonna fall
In Highland County
I want you to know your kindness
Through this night has found me

Now that you found me
How do I offer all my thanks
A river's still flowing
Love can still overflow its banks

As sure as the snow is gonna fall
In Highland County
I want you to know the angels that you sent Surround me

How I'm gonna miss
How I'm gonna miss
How I'm gonna miss your smile

It's good to reminisce
Now that it's come to this
I hope and pray it's been worthwhile

Now as the day dies
Fading into gray
Straight as the crow flies
Silence speaks all we need to say

As sure as the snow is gonna fall in Highland County
I want you to know that mockingbird you sent it found me
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
As sure as the sun is gonna shine in Highland County
I want you to know your kindness through this night has found me

How did you find me

Wait

Wait for the sound of the water dog
To call up the ghosts through the cracks in my past
Make the hair raise on my skin
Tonight we'll settle in
Into a promise that I've held fast

Life is a beauty that's mocking you
She's a river to drown in while singing the blues
Let the backstroke pull you in
On your lover you descend
Leaving your mark without leaving a bruise

Make the sound
That I need you to
Hit the ground
Like it's haunting you
Come around
Like you're dying to
Then wait…
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Wait for the sound of the water dog
To call up the ghosts through the cracks in my past
Make the hair raise on my skin
Tonight we'll settle in
Into a promise that I've held fast

All Over Ohio

Well the rain it has been falling
Like it wants to drown us all
And the trees are gently swaying
Like they're thinkin' ‘bout the fall
I still get shivers when I hear
You singin' down the hall
I'm gonna kiss you all over Ohio

And the starlings they were flying
Earlier today
Doing their maneuvers
Clouds of feathers on display
Makes me wanna kneel in prayer but
I've forgotten what to say
I'll just name all the birds in Ohio

Now the reason I am writing
Is to tell you ‘bout the flood
Ahh, the river is so beautiful
But it leaves a load of mud
All I have now are these dirty songs
I guess they're in my blood
They make me wander so far from Ohio

(Yeah) It's a silly undertaking
To fly halfway ‘round the earth
With an imaginary womb of songs
Intent on giving birth
I gave all that I had to give
I'm not sure what it's worth
Scatter the ashes right here in Ohio

All I wanna be is a thousand black birds
Bursting from a tree into the blue
Love, let it be not just a feeling
But the broken beauty
Of what we choose to do
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
And the halleujah chorus
Used to make my Daddy cry
I still wonder ‘bout the ruckus
Angels make up there on high
In the meanwhile there are measures
We can take to get us by
Lay me down next to you in Ohio

But my expectations stand still
Like beggars at the door
I'm flat broke from the dues
I've paid them all before
Gonna let the Cuyahoga
Wash me up on burning shores
Shipwrecked with you in Ohio

All I wanna be is a thousand black birds
Bursting from a tree into the blue
Love, let it be not just a feeling
But the broken beauty
Of what we choose to do

I have seen the slow corruption
Of the best ideas of Christ
In the pulpits of our nation
Gospel turned into white lies
If you preach a subtle hatred
The bible as your alibi
Goddam you right here in Ohio

But my shameless hallucination:
He's still knockin' at my door
And I know how this one's gonna end
He's gotten in before
I've run as fast as I can run
I've had to ask, what for
He haunts me all over Ohio

All I wanna be is a thousand black birds
Bursting from a tree into the blue
Love, let it be not just a feeling
But the broken beauty
Of what we choose to do

Well the rain it has been falling
Like it wants to drown us all
And the trees are gently swaying
Like they're thinkin' ‘bout the fall
I still get shivers when I hear
You singin' down the hall
I'm gonna kiss you all over Ohio

Earthbound Love Song

When you find your little dream
Costs you everything
I hope your broken bluebird heart
Still sings

When you find the kiss that brings
The holy aftermath
Follow that blinding light down a crooked path
And wind up here
In an earthbound love song

I wanna see you smiling
On Sunday afternoon
I want your soul to sing you
An everlasting tune

Some questions cannot be answered
Who's gonna bury who
We need a love like Johnny
Johnny and June

You might feel you gotta find your way home
Mostly all alone
Jacob's ladder's still hangin'
But the angels are gone
Long gone

They left the jukebox loaded
Our world exploded
Did the preacher have it all wrong
Is heaven a place you fly off to
When the day is done
Or do you work right here
On an earthbound love song
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
I wanna see you swayin'
On Sunday afternoon
I want your soul to sing you
An everlasting tune

Some questions cannot be answered
Who's gonna bury who
We need a love like Johnny
Johnny and June

Some questions cannot be answered
Who's gonna bury who
We need a love like Johnny
Johnny and June

We need a love like Johnny
Johnny and June

Against The Grain

Rolling boxcars
Made a big impression on you
200 rolling acres
Singin' them shape note blues

Swinging high and rolling low
Doesn't much matter which way we go
Outbound train moving fast and slow away
Hey…

Heaven's angels
Are they ridin' shotgun with you
Welcome strangers
Sitting at a table for two

People come places go
Only one sure thing that I know
If the train's sold out
You gotta stow away
Hey…

You can ride with me
Far and wide and free…

Sketching familiar faces on the barn
Whitewashed by the dawn…
Against the grain leave the edges wild
Come now child
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Rolling boxcars
Made a big impression on you
200 rolling acres
Singin' them shape note blues

It Makes No Difference

It makes no difference where I turn
I can't get over you and 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

Now there's no love
As true as the love
That dies untold
But the clouds never hung so low before

It makes no difference how far I go
Like a scar, the hurt will always show
And 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

These old love letters
Well, I just can't keep
Just like the gambler says
Read 'em and weep
And the dawn don't rescue me no more

Without your love, I'm nothing at all
Like an empty hall, it's a lonely fall
Since you've gone it's a losing battle
Stampeding cattle, they rattle the walls

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Well, I love you so much
That it's all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you
That I've never felt so alone before

Blue Jean Sky

All the ghosts are in the trees
All afire in the glowing leaves
Love makes me wanna skin my knees
Throw my heart upon your healing

Underneath a blue jean sky
Underneath a blue jean sky
Open up your love and show it to me

Underneath a blue jean sky
Underneath a blue jean sky
Gimme a swig of a little kick ass beauty

Just the whisper of a breeze
Rollin' up these threadbare shirtsleeves
Love makes me want to bruise my knees
Sweet Jesus can you come release me

Underneath a blue jean sky
Underneath a blue jean sky
Open up your love and lay it on me
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Underneath a blue jean sky
It's just a faded blue jean sky
Gimme a swig of a little kick ass beauty
Gimme a swig of a little kick ass beauty

All the ghosts are in the trees

Baby If This Is Nowhere

Baby if this is Nowhere
How sweet it is to find
Baby if this is Nowhere
How sweet it is to find
Now that we are finally here
Nowhere suits me fine

I'm crazy for you baby
I hope that you can see
I'm crazy for you baby
I hope that you can see
When we disappear here
Ain't nowhere I'd rather be

Baby if this is Nowhere
Ain't it good to know
Baby if this is Nowhere
Ain't it good to get to know
We're right where we belong
When there's nowhere left to go

So welcome now to nowhere
Where there's nothin' left to lose
Welcome now to nowhere
There's nothin' left to lose
Out here where the sky's got a big ol'
Case of the blues
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
Baby if this is Nowhere
Then let the good dogs run
Baby if this is Nowhere
Then let the good dogs run
Finally we will lift a glass
When the dog days are done
Finally we will lift a glass

Wildflower Bouquet

If I die in the winter send roses
In the spring, magnolias
If I'm called in the summer or in the fall
Best of all, bring me a wildflower bouquet

In the dirt and clay don't lay me down
And stare at a cold lonely hole in the ground
When I go to my Maker in smoke and ash
It won't be your grief I crave

Your tears will not be necessary
Build a blazing fire, drink something merry
When the sparks fly off into the wind
That will be me blowing away

Bury my ashes with the dogs I've loved
My faithful companions from God above
And ‘neath a sycamore we'll grow strong
And the roots will bear us away

If my one true Love should join me there
Mother nature soon will be aware
That sycamore will thrum and sing
And we'll have left it that way
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
So I don't want you to feel sorry
God knows how I despise your pity
And I'll no longer bear the weight of worry
Those angry robes all fall away

I'll be singing loud and laughing long
A blaze of glory and an untold song
So there's no need for tears my friend
Just bring a wildflower bouquet

If I die in the winter send roses
In the springtime, magnolias
If I'm called in the summer or in the fall
Best of all, bring me a wildflower bouquet
Best of all, bring me a wildflower bouquet

Favorite Time Of Light

Leave the dishes in the sink don't overthink it
Close up the brokenhearted piano
Join me on the porch if you can swing it
Let's dream an ocean in Ohio

You've been working so hard I can feel it -
The clean and honest sweat upon your skin
I wanna see the rosy light on your face
Is this evening free or did it cost us everything

It's our favorite time of light
Just before the day kisses the night
You see the redwing blackbirds fly
The sun's a big ol' lazy eye

And when the day is bending low
And rolling fields begin to glow
Feels like we traveled all this way
Just so I could hear you say
It's our favorite
Our favorite time of light

Can you still hear those children singing?
Remember Jesus Loves Me This I Know
Now there's just a lone blue heron flying
Dreaming an ocean in Ohio

It's our favorite time of light
Just before the day kisses the night
You see the redwing blackbirds fly
The sun's a big ol' lazy eye
I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake
The moon is waiting in the wings
Dreamin' up some midnight song to sing
And I know we'll be okay
Everytime I hear you say
It's our favorite
Our favorite time of light

The dreams I've dreamed I give them all to you now
I'm not really sure what shape they're in
Maybe they were all just too expensive
Maybe after dark we'll try again

So add this to your list of simple beauties
I know we're gonna miss it when we go
While barren fields undress their gentle mysteries
We dream an ocean in Ohio

It's our favorite time of light
Just before the day kisses the night
You see the redwing blackbirds fly
The sun's a big ol' lazy eye

When they lay me down at last
And this life is finally past
Just remember me this way
And don't forget to say
It's our favorite
Our favorite time of light

Blood Oranges in the Snow

Blood Oranges In The Snow

Just a little while longer
Before we know
We'll be eating blood oranges
In the snow

The border crossing
Was moving slow
With all this weather
It's been touch and go

But we keep driving
We're not afraid
The snow in our headlights
Confetti in a parade

And we've got maybe
Oh, a 100 more miles
I'm gonna hold Grace's baby
They say she's all smiles

Just a little while longer
Before we know
We'll be eating blood oranges
In the snow

Daddy's gonna play Red Wing
Like it's the only song he knows
Mama's washin' dishes
Singin' soft and low

She'll ask me to play
From the gospel hymnal
Try to find an old song
She don't know

Who Made The Lilies?
On The Jericho Road
Let The Lower Lights Be Burning
Be Still My Soul

Just a little while longer
Before we know
We'll be eating blood oranges
In the snow

And he will gather us
All of us kids
And read pioneer stories
Of the great north woods

And the silent panther
Patient in the trees
With the pioneer children
Walkin' home beneath

Just a little while longer
Before we know…

Another Christmas

Another Christmas is drifting in softly
Like the ghost of my innocence lost
And the tree in the corner burns brightly
I turned all the other lights off

I think back on my life in this stillness
I consider the days of my youth
And the moments I find myself willing
To surrender and just tell the truth

‘Cause I've committed every sin
And each one leaves a different scar
It's just the world I'm livin' in
And I could use a guiding star

I hope that I can still believe
The Christ child holds a gift for me
Am I able to receive
Peace on earth this Christmas

This old world so sweet and so bitter
Seeds of violence we humans have sown
And these weapons we still love to handle
May our children have strength to let go

When we look at the stars after midnight
Sparkling rumors of redemption at play
Can we still hear the echoes of angels
Who were singing that first Christmas day

‘Cause we've committed every sin
And each one leaves a different scar
It's just the world we're living in
And we could use a guiding star

I hope that we can still believe
The Christ child holds a gift for us
Are we able to receive
Peace on earth this Christmas

Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn king
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled

Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic hosts proclaim
Peace on earth this Christmas

My Father's Body

My father's body lies beneath the snow
High on a hill in Holmes County, Ohio
From there you can look out across the fields
A farmer guides his horses home as day to darkness bends
And finally yields

Dad's gravestone holds the words Be Still My Soul
A song we sang together long ago
And there were times we even shared one hymnbook
His right hand and my left hand side-by-side holding pages
Of music

But now his hands hold nothing but the earth
Hands that held me moments after my birth
And so we must all finally surrender
As we release our grip upon whatever we hold dear
And call familiar

My father's body lies beneath the snow
And I'm still learning how to let him go
I've come to know him better since he's gone
And often wondered if or how I could've been a different
Better son

My father's body lies beneath the snow
Sometimes on Christmas Eve that's where I go
I hear faint Christmas bells from far away
Ring out all the unspoken words I've never found within myself
To say

If We Make It Through December

If we make it through December
Everything's gonna be alright I know
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shiver when I see the falling snow

If we make it through December
Got plans to be in a warmer town come summertime
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine

Got laid off down at the factory
And the timing's not the greatest in the world
Heaven knows I've been workin' hard
Wanted Christmas to be right for Daddy's girl

I don't mean to hate December
It's meant to be the happy time of year
And my little girl don't understand
Why Daddy can't afford no Christmas here

If we make it through December
Everything's gonna be alright I know
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shiver when I see the falling snow

If we make it through December
Got plans to be in a warmer town come summertime
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine

If we make it through December
Got plans to be in a warmer town come summertime
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine

Let It Fall

Have you been trying too hard
Have you been holding too tight
Have you been worrying too much lately
All night
Whatever we've lost
I think we're gonna let it go
Let it fall
Like snow

‘Cause rain and leaves
And snow and tears and stars
And that's not all my friend
They all fall with confidence and grace
So let it fall, let it fall

Have you been carin' too much
How this one ends
Y'know it's not the kind of fight
That you lose or win
When you're down so low
You feel the imprint of the ground
On skin
Look around
Breathe in

‘Cause rain and leaves
And snow and tears and stars
And that's not all my friend
They all fall with confidence and grace
So let it fall, let it fall

Snow Birds

Blue lights hanging from the tall palm trees
White wine, catfish and a light gulf breeze
They're saying it might drop to 60 degrees
For the snowbirds
Here come the snowbirds

Sandals, shorts and mosquitoes
Sunburns, bikinis and Speedos
People swimming in the ocean,
It's cold in there you know
But the snowbirds don't mind
The snowbirds

I just wanna be with you all winter
Fly from the north to the south this winter
Where the sky goes on forever and ever
Where the ocean and my heart come together
No more snow boots no earmuffs no sweaters
Just warm weather

Sailboats and seagulls lined along the causeway
Painters with easels misted in a salt spray
There's only one place I'm longing for today
Like a snowbird
Let me be a snowbird

I just wanna be with you all winter
Fly from the north to the south this winter
Where the sky goes on forever and ever
Where the ocean and my heart come together
No more snow boots no earmuffs no sweaters
Just warm weather

Bethlehem

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Have you been forsaken
In your dark and dreamless sleep
Your heart is breaking
And in your wounded sky
The silent stars go by

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Be still tonight be still

Mary she was just a kid
Jesus was a refugee
A virgin and a vagabond
Yearning to be free
Now in the dark streets shining
Is their last chance of a dream

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Be still tonight be still

Cradled by a crescent moon
Born under a star
Sometimes there's no difference
Between a birthmark and a scar

Oh little town of Bethlehem
With your sky so black
May God impart to human hearts
The wisdom that we lack
Should you chance to find
A hope for all mankind

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Be still tonight be still

First Snowfall

The Christmas decorations
Look ragged and rusty
A little sooty with coal dust
Santa's missing an eye

The neon sign flickers
On the cinder block tavern
By the Salvation Army
And the plumbers supply

The old downtown mission
Has John 3:16 painted
In all capital letters
Above cans full of trash

But the paint is all peeling
Broken glass on the sidewalk
Glitters like chandeliers
Somebody smashed

And my soul feels as empty
As a brown paper bag
The drained bottle inside it
Bought with bummed change

40 ounces of liquor
For 30 pieces of silver
And your temporary suicide
Has all been arranged

It's like an angel starts singing
An old gospel song
In that part of town where
No angel belongs

But what is this music
That falls on my ear
It's the very first snowfall
Of a very long year

I'm so far from home
And all that's familiar
Every prodigal knows
How this story goes

Was I just runnin' from what's
Too dark to mention
Or were angels escorting me
God only knows

So help me Maria
We heard the same call
Our hearts felt as free
As a dove newly flown

When a big city beckons
Ah you just can't imagine
You're left with no choice
Yeah, you just have to go

It's like an angel starts singing
An old gospel song
In that part of town where
No angel belongs

But what is this music
That falls on deaf ears
It's the very first snowfall
Of a very long year

There's two stray dogs runnin'
In Newport, Kentucky
They've got a secret
No one else knows

This old dirty city
Is cleansed of its sin
We're all light-hearted lovers
We're all beautiful beggars
We're all innocent children
As soon as it snows

It's like an angel starts singing
An old gospel song
In that part of town where
No angel belongs

But what is this music
Are these God's silent tears?
It's the very first snowfall
Of a very long year

New Year's Song

Here's a little New Year's song
Don't worry it won't take too long
Just a bit of New Year's cheer
To say I'm glad you're here

Little leftover Christmas tree
Just big enough for you and me
With just a single strand of lights
To tease the stars outside

And we thought perhaps we'd see some friends
But as the old year slowly ends
The dogs are dreaming in their beds
We might stay home instead

Here's a little New Year's song
Don't worry it won't take too long
Just a quiet New Year's eve
There's somethin' up your sleeve

And I might gently take your wrist
Read your body like a Christmas list
The first night that the New Year brings
I wouldn't wanna miss a thing

Let's stay home and play old records
Our future's bright our past is checkered
What do you say we lift a glass

Toast the ghost of another year past
Just a little New Year's song
Happy New Year everyone
It came upon a midnight clear
Another brand new year

New mercy comes with every morning
The unexpected with no warning
For loved ones who've gone on before
Sing me Auld Lang Syne

New mercy comes with every morning
The unexpected with no warning
Let the dear ones you love know
You'll miss them when you go




Love and Revelation


Los Lunas

I cried all the way from Los Lunas to Santa Fe
And on to Raton
Neither one of us wanted things to end this way
But one of us had to be wrong

Shoulda moved to Pasadena when we had the chance
Sold the new home, half the farm
Gone to the dance
I can fix anything except for me
It's easy

I cried all the way from Los Lunas to Santa Fe
And on to Raton
Neither one of us wanted things to end this way
But one of us had to be strong

Tried to rope the moon and drag it across your skin
Raise the sky with dreams so bright
'Til the rain set in
I can fix anything except for you
You don't need me to
You wanted a lover, I needed a friend

I cried all the way from Los Lunas to Santa Fe
And on to Raton
Neither one of us wanted things to end this way
But one of us had to be gone

Given Road

There’s a wall on the corner of Given Road
It’s long and it’s curved and stone and old
Keeps out the sun, keeps in the cold
I just miss the one that loved me

Like the holes bored into the old ash tree
I’m not really sure what’s eating me
I compare myself to the shagbark hickory
But I just miss the one that loved me

I miss the one
I miss someone
I miss the weight of you
And the pain we used to move through
'Til the clouds of our afflictions
Would break and clear
And I miss what I’m forgetting
I try not to, but I’m letting go
Of every shred of anything that held you here

I miss someone, I miss someone
I miss someone, I, I
Given time they say I’ll find
A way to ease my troubled mind
When all that lies in front of me
Are miles and miles and miles
Of Given Road

Let You Down

I don't want to let you down
Be the one who waits to come around
’Til after everything feels lost
So lost it never can be found

I don't want to see you fall
Don't believe the writing on the wall
You can bet I’ll stick around
‘Cause I don't want to let you down

Don't know if we can roll away this stone
But either way, you're not alone
And if a song is worth a thousand prayers
We'll sing 'til angels come carry you and all your cares

I don't want to let you go
That's the one thing for sure I know
You can bet I’ll stick around
‘Cause I don’t want to let you down

If grief is love without a place to go
Well then I've been there, you’re not alone
And if a song is worth a thousand prayers
We'll sing 'til angels come carry you and all your cares

I don't want to let you go
That’s the one thing for sure I know
You can bet I'll stick around
‘Cause I don't want to let you down

I don't want to let you down
I don't want to let you down
I don't want to let you down
I don't want to let you down

Broken Angels

I want to take a break from heartache
Drive away from all the tears I’ve cried
I’m a wasteland down inside
In the crawlspace under heaven
In the landscape of a wounded heart
I don’t know where to start

But the wild geese of Mary
Pierce the darkness with a song
And a light I’ve been running from
And running for so long
As their feathers spin their stories
I can still cling to my fears
Or I can run but they come along
And we both disappear just like all

All these broken angels
All these tattered wings
All these things come alive in me

An empty frame against the madness
Like the fence line holds the fog at bay
It’s gonna roll in anyway
Draw the curtain across heaven
Cut the sky, a cold coyote moon
Kills the season off too soon

Are they sparks or are they embers
Fireflies or falling stars?
Are they fireworks that backfired
Will they leave a scar
Are they evening murmurations
That make me wish that I could fly
Or are they just trespassing satellites
Intersecting my night sky just like all

All these broken angels
All these tattered wings
All these things come alive in me
All these broken
All these broken angels
All these scary things
All these dreams are alive in me

Are they sparks or are they embers
Fireflies or falling stars
Are they fireworks that backfired
Will they leave a scar
Are they evening murmurations
That make me wish that I could fly
Or are they just trespassing satellites
Intersecting my night sky just like all

All these broken angels
All these tattered wings
All these things come alive in me
All these broken
All these broken angels
All these scary things
All these dreams are alive in me

All these broken
All these broken angels

Love & Revelation

One, two
One, two

Ecstatic in the poison
A baby with a toy gun
Someone take my hand
I'm a lover in a band
Just a loner on this highway
Alone and going my way
Something's going wrong
It’s worthy of a song that sings of

Love and revelation
Baby, that is you and me and inspiration
Love and revelation
Baby, that is you and me and inspiration

Can’t wake up from this bad dream
Baby, it's a scream
A semi-automatic heart
A dead weight from the start
Stop confiscating Jesus
Jesus, who believes this
They'd arm him to the teeth
That's not my belief
I believe in

Love and revelation
Baby, that is you and me and inspiration
Love and revelation
Baby, that is you and me and inspiration

Baby, it can't wait
Make a little space
Pay a little time
Baby, just be kind
Make a stronger case for it
Extend a little grace
Return, delete, backspace
Do it face to face
And call it

Love and revelation
You and me and inspiration
Love and revelation
Baby, that is you and me and inspiration
Love and revelation
You and me and all creation
Love and revelation
Baby, that is you and me and inspiration

Making Pictures

I took a photograph
I'm making pictures in my head
I took a photograph
I’m making pictures in my head

Don't want no one to see
These things were haunting me
Darkroom failures bound by the silence
I took a holy vow
But if someone could hold me now
I'd rediscover all that I am

I took a photograph
I’m making pictures in my head
I took a photograph
I'm making pictures in my head

Don't want to make a scene
But the distance in between
Holy madness and blind inspiration
Take shelter in the dark
Like Muybridge throwing sparks
To rediscover all that I am

You took a photograph
I'm making pictures in my head
You took a photograph
I'm making pictures in my head

What's to be left of me
A Kodak memory
The kids will donate my lens to science
But nothing goes unseen
The distance in between
Where shadows lengthen all that I was
All that I
All that I am

You took a photograph
I'm making pictures
You took a photograph
I'm making pictures
I’m making pictures

Betting on the Muse

Another golden evening is dying on the vine
A rehearsal for the final act
When the light that's lost is mine
All this blinding beauty has left me no excuse

I know the sun is setting
Who knows where it’s heading
I'm still betting
Betting on the muse

My courage often staggers but still we climb the stairs
I lie awake and wonder, are they songs or are they prayers
This beautiful delusion
If it's all a ruse

It’s such a lovely setting
For my snakeskin to keep shedding
I'm still betting
Betting on the muse

You've got to die inside so many times
While you're trying to learn to live
You've got to get taken for everything
To have anything to give

Your signal is receiving
Some days it's called breathing

I'm remembering your kisses
Our lips raw with love
But the fact that you still make me laugh
Is what I'm most proud of
You learn to be astonished
That’s how you pay your dues

What am I forgetting
Nothing I’m regretting
I'm still betting
Betting on the muse

What am I forgetting
Nothing I’m regretting, I'm letting go
What I'm not getting
I'm still betting
Betting on the muse

Leavin’ Days

I don’t like these leavin’ days
Might be too late to change my ways
My body leaves, my soul it stays
I don’t like these leavin’ days

I can’t fight these leavin’ days
Might be too late to change my ways
My body grieves, my soul, it craves
I can’t fight these leavin’ days

I’ll take my leave in the morning
Before the light breaks the day
Before the night wakes up a-warning
I’ll drive the deep blues away

If I don’t take these leavin' days
I miss the road and all her ways
She frees my mind, we roll and sway
God I need these leavin’ days

To rage against the dying
Roll, baby, roll, rag, mama, rag
Like every bird we fly the same crosswinds
Gravity, lift and drag

So I don’t mind these leavin’ days
Might be too late to change my ways
My body breathes the long refrain
I don’t mind these leavin’ days

I can’t fight these leavin’ days
God I need these leavin’ days

Rocking Chair

Hey, hey rocking chair
Here in the middle of nowhere
I can’t take you anywhere
You just wanna rock in your rocking chair

Hey, hey rocking chair
Got any room for me over there
In various states of disrepair
I just wanna rock in your rocking chair

Hey, hey rocking chair
A stack of old records and your record player
Rocking back and forth between hope and despair
Heavy lifting in a rocking chair

Hey, hey rocking chair
Look at the sun, you know it’s really laying low out there
I could hold you anywhere
But there’s so much music in your rocking chair

Goodbye rocking chair
The long road beckons and you’ll find us out there
Lookin’ for the song in a traveler’s prayer
Who’ll watch over our rocking chair

Hey, hey rocking chair
Stuck in the middle of nowhere
I can’t take you anywhere
You just wanna rock in your rocking chair

May God Love You (Like You’ve Never Been Loved)

With the darkness surely falling
May I propose a toast?
Is it sacrilegious dancing
In the light of all we’ve lost
Open and woundable
Good evening, I’m your host
May God love you like you’ve never been loved

Is your heart beating sadness
The longest goodbye yet
Share your bruises on my body
That’s as close as we can get
I’ll never say I’m sorry for offering respect
May God love you like you’ve never been loved

There is no land of promise here
There’s only wilderness
You may not recognize this place
You live here nonetheless

There are no wise men traveling
There is no gift to bring
But if you welcome home a child
You’ve thrown your hat into the ring
We’re not curable, but we’re treatable
And that’s why I still sing
May God love you like you’ve never been loved
May God love you like you’ve never been loved

May God love you like you’ve never been loved
May God love you like you’ve never been loved

Non Albums Tracks

 Angel Band

( Traditional / Live From Nowhere Volume 3 )

My latest sun is sinking fast
My race is nearly run
My strongest trials now have past
My triumph is begun

Oh, come, angel band
Come and around me, stand
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my immortal home
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my immortal home

Bear my longing heart to him
Who bled and died for me
Whose blood now cleanses from all sin
And gives me victory

Oh, come, angel band
Come and around me, stand
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my immortal home
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my immortal home

Anyway

(Amateur Shortwave Radio LP)

It's enough for now
Besides i feel so awkward
Anyway
And there is no doubt
I could sleep for hours
Anyway
(i'll never leave you now)

Any recourse now
Well it's much too late
Anyway
And our hate
Like toys
Should be put away
Anyway
(i'll never leave you now)

No wonder this confusion
You've suffered all my delusions

We can right the end
We can close this chapter
Anyway
We can start again
No matter what comes after
Anyway
(i'll never leave you now)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

( Frank Loesser Cover / Live from nowhere vol.2 )

I really can't stay - Baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away - Oh baby it's cold outside
This evening has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice - I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry - Beautiful, what's your hurry
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful, please don't hurry
well maybe just a half a drink more - Put some music on while I pour

The neighbors might think - Baby, it's bad out there
Say, what's in this drink - No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how - Your eyes are like starlight now
To break this spell - I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, sir - Mind if I move a little closer
At least I'm gonna say that I tried - What's the sense in hurting my pride
And I really can't stay - Baby don't hold out
Oh, but baby it's cold outside

C'mon baby

I simply must go - Baby, it's cold outside
The answer is no - Oh baby, it's cold outside
This welcome has been - I'm lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm - Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious - Man, your lips look so delicious
My brother will be there at the door - Waves upon a tropical shore
My granmother's mind is vicious - Gosh your lips look delicious
Well maybe just a half a drink more - Never such a blizzard before

I've got to go home - Oh, baby, you'll freeze out there
Say, lend me your comb - It's up to your knees out there
You've really been grand - Your eyes are like starlight now
But don't you see - How can you do this thing to me
There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Making my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied - If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can't stay - Get over that old out
Oh, but baby it's cold outside
Oh yes it is

Wanna take a little walk out to the barn
Is that where you keep your big white horse

Blackbird

(John Lennon & Paul McCartney / Amateur Shortwave Radio LP)

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
Life, all your life, all your life
You were only waiting
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life, all your life
You were only waiting
You were only waiting for this moment
For this moment to be free

Oh Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Fly into the black dark night
Fly into the black dark night
Fly

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Everybody Wants to Feel Like You

( John Prine cover / Live from nowhere vol.2 )

I wake up to a clock that's rinning
And the birds are singing on my telephone line
I work all day and I chase my baby
Why don't he chase me sometime

Everybody wants to be wanted
I mean I ain't no scarecrow cop
I don't need no transalazation
I don't need no diddly bop

Next time tell me that you want me
Put your little foot inside of my shoe
Next time you tell me that you need me
Everybody wants to feel like you
Everybody wants to feel like you
Everybody wants to feel like you

I used to love you so hard in the morning
I'd make you stutter and roll your eyes
I put your mind on a brief vacation
To the land of the lost surprise

Next time tell me that you want me
Put your little foot inside of my shoe
Next time you tell me that you need me
Everybody wants to feel like you
Everybody wants to feel like you
Everybody wants to feel like you

You got a heart that beats like mine love
You got a bell that rings so true
I got this feeling I got to tiptoe
Round every little thing you do

Next time tell me that you want me
Put your little foot inside of my shoe
Next time you tell me that you need me
Everybody wants to feel like you
Everybody wants to feel like you
Everybody wants to feel like you
Like you, like you

Failed Christian

( Nick Lowe Cover / Live from nowhere vol.2 )

I'm a Failed Christian
I don't go to church
I smoke and I drink
And I lie and I curse

It never got to me
Your sermon and all
You talked and you talked
About nothing at all

I'm a Failed Christian
Failed Christian, yeah

I've got two recollections
Taking the collections
And tears when the choir sang in harmony
It scared me half to death
I swore as I left
With a inside pocket full of change and memories

I'm a Failed Christian
Failed Christian

I'm a Failed Christian
I've got my own church
I pray with my soul
To this great universe

All over the world
The bloods on their hands
Religious instruction
I can't understand

I'm a Failed Christian,
Failed Christian, yeah

I'm going to meet my maker
A firm believer
Of spirit in music
There's a prayer in a song

I'm a Failed Christian
And if I'm go under
And you're coming with me
That much I can't tell

I'm a Failed Christian
Failed Christian, yeah
Failed Christian
Failed, failed, failed...

I'm a Failed Christian
I don't go to church
I smoke and I drink
And I lie and I curse

Fever

( Eddie Cooley, Otis Blackwell / Live from nowhere vol.2 )

What a lovely way
What a lovely way
What a lovely way to burn

Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get the fever that's so hard to bear
You give me fever

When you kiss me
And fever when you hold me tight
Fever
In the morning
Fever all through the night

Sun lights up the daytime
Moon lights up the night
I light up when you call my name
Cause you know I'm gonna treat you right
You give me fever

When you kiss me
And fever when you hold me tight
Fever
In the morning
Fever all through the night

Listen to me babe
Here are the real words I say
No-one can love you the way that I do
Cause they don't know how to love you my way
My love your fever

When I kiss you
Fever if you live and learn
Fever, and you sizzle
What a lovely way to burn
What a lovely way to burn, oh baby
What a lovely way, oh, to burn

What a lovely way
What a lovely way, oh to burn

Green-Clouded Swallowtail

(The Cutting Room Floor LP)

We wake each morning in a foreign country
We walk the outer edges of our room
I think of you in terms of buried treasure
A jilted bride emerging from a tomb

Oh your shadow is still breathing
The close and holy darkness will unveil
Mother she's not dead she's only sleeping
Green green-clouded swallowtail

I've learned to love the feel of this barbed wire
The skin that separates your heart from mine
It tears the fabric of my ordinary
And rips the cloudy curtain of my sky

Oh your shadow is still breathing
The close and holy darkness will unveil
Mother she's not dead she's only sleeping
Green green-clouded swallowtail

So sing the hallelujah chorus of the drunkard
You're the woman blowing kisses to the jail
And dreaming of a different kind of freedom
The breath of God upon your tattered sail

Oh your shadow is still breathing
All this darkness it will not prevail
Mother she's not dead she's only sleeping
Green green-clouded swallowtail

Helpless

(Neil Young Cover / The Cutting Room Floor LP)

There is a town in north Ontario
With dream comfort memory to spare
And in my mind I still need a place to go
All my changes were there

Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless
Baby can you hear me now (helpless, helpless, helpless)
The chains are locked and tied across the door (helpless,helpless, helpless)
Baby, sing with me somehow (helpless, helpless, helpless)

Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless...

I Let It Go

(The Cutting Room Floor LP)

I wanted to sing you a song
This gift I was given has all come out wrong
I wanted to give you so much
I came all this way just to hand you a broken crutch

I let it go
This life I know
Seeds that we sow
May come to dust

I let it go
One thing I know
What's real will grow
Inside of us

I wanted to lay by your side
Take this small world and open it wide
I wanted to write it all down
Your skin was the paper your pages unbound

Lonely is just how I feel
Alone in the world and the world's a wheel
Spinning these thoughts in my head
I tangle with you and we hang by a thread

There may come a day when this dream dies
Fair enough fair enough
Until then we lay down our own lives
Fair enough fair enough

It's never quite what it seems

(The Cutting Room Floor LP)

And your face
I do know well
Every breath breathes
Farewell
It's so still
No soul could tell
But one day
Like this
The angels fell

And it's never quite what it seems

And it bleeds
This setting sun
And my arms ache
From holding on
Let it go
This dying light
Makes it hard to tell
Wrong from right

And it's never quite what it seems

All the shadows of our doubts
And the light that burns too bright
Soon burns out

And your face
You do know well
That the race is lost
Hold still
'Cause the first
Shall be the last
Those that burn with thirst
Will lift their glass

And it's never quite what it seems

I will remember

(Amateur Shortwave Radio LP)

I will remember
Every dream about you
I will remember
I could not doubt you
All my first impressions
Of my new possession
I will remember
I will remember

Every shadow
Every shiver
Every breath of borrowed air
Somehow
I feel now
Every whisper
Taken prisoner
Every brush of cloud
And furrowed brow
I feel
This last day darling
Here with me (darling)
All the rest is history

I will remember
Every sliver of you
I will remember
Every door we slip through
Every curving hour
Every dying ember
I will remember
There is no other

Every color of our sorrow
Every fallen angel's graceful bow
I feel now
Every broken word unspoken
Every crooked line of this sad town
I feel
This last day darling
Here with me (darling)
All the rest is history

Every kiss and curse
Every burning thirst
Every fix and flush of fire
I feel right now
Every sound we make
Is a new prayer prayed
Disappearing disappearing
I hold on now
Every shade of white
In the thieving night
That we steal to grow inspired
I know right now
This last day darling
Here with me (darling)
All the rest is history

But i will remember
Every dream about you
I will remember
I could not doubt you
I will remember
No other lover
There is no other

Last Night On Earth Again

(Discount Fireworks LP)

Down south where Elvis is king
And Jesus is Lord
We drove just shy of forever
In our wheezy old Ford
Hey love, don't you think this life
Has grown a little absurd?
He said, Not bad for a Yankee girl
Destined for Betty Ford
(Oh Lord I said)

Help me, it's our last night on earth again
Help me, it's our last night on earth again
I've been livin' this so-called life since I can't remember when
Help me, it's our last night on earth again

Down in Texas where guns and guitars
Are the friends a man loves best
You might feel like your spinning wheels
Are truly headed West
Someone said the best we can hope for
Is to make a beautiful mess
I put my soul up for sale
And the whole world asked,
Could you take any less?

Help me, it's our last night on earth again
Help me, it's our last night on earth again
I told Jesus he could have my heart
He said, What kinda shape's it in?
Help me, it's our last night on earth again

Down South where Elvis is king
And Jesus is Lord
We played our songs in a field
Where they found a Civil War sword
I was singin' Amazing Grace
And someone yelled, Freebird
I strummed and smiled to myself and said,
Honey, it's a bitch to be ignored

Help me, it's our last night on earth again
Help me, it's our last night on earth again
I've been wonderin' my whole life,
How's this goin' to end?
Help me, it's our last night on earth again

Moondance

( Van Morrison Cover / Live from nowhere vol.1 )

Well, it's a marvelous night for a Moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of December skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

Can I just have one more Moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love

Well, I wanna make love to you tonight
I can't wait 'til the morning has come
And I know that the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you're never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true, dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that you can't hide...

Motherless child

( American Negro Spirituals / Live From Nowhere Volume 3 )

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
A long ways from home

Sometimes I wish I could fly like a bird up in the sky
Sometimes I wish I could fly like a bird up in the sky
Sometimes I wish I could fly like a bird up in the sky
But I'm a long way from home

Sometimes I feel like a change is gonna come
Sometimes I feel like a change oh, oh, like a change
Oh sometimes I feel, oh like a change is gonna come
But we're a long way from home

Orphan Girl

( Emmylou Harris cover / Live from nowhere vol.2 )

I am a orphan
On God's highway
But I'll share my troubles
If you go my way

I have no mother
No father
No sister
No brother
I am an orphan girl

I have had friendships
Pure and golden
But the ties of kinship
I have not known them

I know no mother
No father
No sister
No brother
I am an orphan girl

But when he calls me
I will be Able
To meet my family
At God's table

I'll meet my mother
My father
My sister
Oh my brother
No more an orphan girl

Blessed savior
Make me willing
And walk beside me
until I'm with them

Be my mother
My father
My sister
Oh my brother
I am an orphan girl
I am an orphan girl

Paper moon

( H. Arlen / Live from nowhere vol.1 )

Said it's only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me

Yes it's only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me

Without your love
It's a hunky tonk parade
Without your love
It's a melody played
In a penny arcade

It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me

Said it's only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me

Yes it's only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me

Without your love
It's a hunky tonk parade
Without your love
It's a melody played
In a penny arcade

It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me

It's phony it's plain to see
How happy I would be
If you believed in me

Ruby Tuesday

(The Rolling Stones / Amateur Shortwave Radio LP)

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday don't matter if it's gone
While the sun is bright
Or in the darkest night
No one knows
She comes and goes

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

Don't question why she needs to be so free
She'll tell you it's the only way to be
She just can't be chained
To a life where nothing's gained
And nothing's lost
At such a cost

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

There's no time to lose, I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams
And you may lose your mind
Ain't life unkind

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

Son Of A Preacher Man

(Dusty Springfield Cover / Live From Nowhere Volume One)

Billy-Ray was a preacher's son
And when his daddy would visit he'd come along
When they gathered round and started talkin'
Thats when Billy would take me walkin'
Through the back yard we'd go walkin'
Then he'd look into my eyes
Lord knows to my surprise

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was, ohh, yes he was

Being good isn't always easy
No matter how hard I try
When he started sweet-talkin' to me
He'd come and tell me everything is alright
He'd kiss and tell me everything is alright
Can I get away again tonight?

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was, ohh, yes he was

How well I remember
The look that was in his eyes
Stealin' kisses from me on the sly
Takin' time to make time
Tellin' me that he's all mine
Learnin' from each others knowing
Lookin' to see how much we've grown

And the only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was, oh, yes he was

(The only one who could ever reach me) He was the sweet-talking son of a preacher man
(The only one who could ever teach me) I guessed he was the son of a preacher man
(The only one who could ever reach me) Sweet-lovin' son of a preacher man
(The only one who could ever teach me) Sweet-lovin' son of a preacher man

Yes, he was, he was, oh

Spinning

(The Cutting Room Floor LP)

My head's spinning like a broken record player
Come and drop the needle, drop it down up there
Steal me from this jaded God-forsaken place
Write some new lines on my face

I need you my love to come and sing for me
A brand new revolutionary melody
I am ready now to throw away the rules
We're all beggars, tramps and fools

The Poopsmith Song

(For The Kids Three! LP)

Not on your arm
Not on your leg
Not in the toast
Not in the eggs
Not on the carpet
Nor the linoleum
Just how'd your little brother get it smeared all over him

Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty

Not on your brother
not on your sis
not on any family member, you might wanna make a list

not on the plants
not in your hair
not on the porch
no, we do not want to share

Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty

Not on the swing
not on the slide
not while we're spinnin' on a carnival ride
not on the window
not on the wall
no more surprises on the light switch down the hall

hey!

Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty

Not in the yard
you're on your honor
don't go gettin' no ideas from the neighbors weimereiner

Poop in the potty, poop goes in the potty...

Toledo

(The Cutting Room Floor LP)

As the salt on your skin
Heals the wounds
Rub it in, rub it in
'Til I see tumbleweeds
Blowing through my head like Toledo, Ohio

Are we blessed
Are we cursed
Are we messed-up or worse
Either or neither nor
We're tumbleweeds

What are we mumbling
What are we mumbling for
What are we tumbling
What are we tumbling toward

Oh take me
I can do it for you babe
Oh take me
One way or another

Are we dead or alive
Driving I-75
Hard to say either way
Tumbleweeds
Blowing through my head like Toledo, Ohio

Pretty eyes pretty lips
Pretty thighs pretty hips
Pretty hip
We will feed tumbleweeds

What are we waiting
What are we waiting for

Oh take me
I can do it for you babe
Oh take me
One way or another

When you have no destination in your head
Any road will take you there
I don't care where
It's not about arriving
Does it even matter one way or another
Rust is just a slow form of fire
In my tail lights

Oh take me
I can do it for you babe
Oh take me
One way or another
One way or another
One way or another

As the salt on your skin
Heals the wounds
Rub it in, rub it in
'Til I see tumbleweeds
Blowing through my head like Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio

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