Adrianne Lenker Complete Lyrics Archive

B i o g r a p h y
(by Marcy Donelson)

Also known for her evocative songwriting and performances with indie folk-rock band Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker's solo material is spare, brittle, and often deeply personal. Featuring only a couple of backing vocalists alongside Lenker's voice and acoustic guitar, her label debut, Hours Were the Birds, arrived in early 2014, the same year she began collaborating with guitarist/songwriter Buck Meek. They went on to form Big Thief, which found critical acclaim (as well as the Billboard Heatseekers chart) with their 2016 debut, Masterpiece. Lenker continued to release solo work as her band's indie clout grew, including the 2020 double album songs and instrumentals.

A Minneapolis native, Lenker learned her first few guitar chords from her father at a young age and began writing songs at ten. After her parents divorced when she was 12, she dedicated herself to music, an endeavor encouraged by her father throughout her teens. She released her first solo material as a teen in 2006. Frustrated with subsequent recording sessions in Nashville, cash-strapped, and with no high school diploma, she applied for a summer program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston with help from her dad. That led to a scholarship to attend full-time. Lenker graduated in 2012 and relocated to Brooklyn.

Soon after arriving in New York, Lenker ran into fellow Berklee alum Buck Meek, whom she remembered from a brief interaction in Boston, where they had shared the same bill at a show. Fast friends and musical kindred spirits, they released two EPs as a duo -- A-Sides and B-Sides -- in 2014 before forming Big Thief with bass player Max Oleartchik and drummer James Krivchenia. In the meantime, Lenker signed with Saddle Creek, which released her solo album Hours Were the Birds that same year.

The quartet's debut album, Masterpiece, followed on Saddle Creek in 2016, a year that also saw them make appearances at the South by Southwest Festival and in support slots on tours with Eleanor Friedberger, Yuck, Frankie Cosmos, and M. Ward. They made their national TV debut with a performance on Late Night with Seth Meyers in March of 2017. Big Thief's second album, Capacity, arrived that June and reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Heatseekers, independent, Americana/folk, and vinyl charts.

After touring in support of Capacity, including a headlining run and dates with Conor Oberst, Meek released a self-titled solo album. A solo Lenker followed up with the intimate Abysskiss on Saddle Creek later in 2018. It was produced by Luke Temple, who also performed on the album. Back with Big Thief, a third straight album with producer Andrew Sarlo (Nick Hakim, Hand Habits), the atmospheric U.F.O.F., marked the band's debut for 4AD in May 2019. Punchier counterpart Two Hands followed that October, and both albums cracked the Billboard 200, with Two Hands peaking at 113. The group spent much of the rest of the year touring North American and Europe, including stops at Norway's Oya Festival and the U.K.'s Green Man Festival.

With touring cut short in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lenker returned to New York, then learned of a cabin for rent near some friends in the mountains of Western Massachusetts. Taken with the sound of the acoustics in the empty cabin, she invited engineer Philip Weinrobe to join her in the remote locale to record an acoustic album. Written mostly on-site, the resulting, double-length songs and instrumentals consisted of 11 minimally arranged songs and a collection of guitar and windchime improvisations. The set was released in October 2020 on 4AD.

STAGES OF THE SUN

Dig Down

Come on
Put your mind in motion
Dip into my well, dive to my depths
Feel what I'm feeling, yeah
Getting down below me
Dare to mine the subterranean me
See what you'll find there
Underneath the black earth, you will touch unique history

Dig down to my heart
If you want to know me where I start
And if you want to feel what's in my blood
Dig yourself down, dig yourself down
Dig down

Now it's not easy
To see what's past my surface
Look into my eyes and be surprised
See what I'm seeing, yeah
Getting down to business
Amaze me with your mind, think hard this time
And go for the gold

Dig down to my heart
If you want to know me where I start
And if you want to feel what's in my blood
Dig yourself down, dig yourself down
Dig down to my heart
If you want to really play the part
And if you want to get what I'm about
Dig yourself down, dig yourself down
Dig down

I've been this way on my own before
I've dug a deep well to uncover my source
I've tasted my truth and have been satisfied
I'm keeping it real and I won't live a lie

Dig down to my heart
If you want to know me where I start
And if you want to feel what's in my blood
Dig yourself down, dig yourself down
Dig down to my heart
If you want to really play the part
And if you want to get what I'm about
Dig yourself down, dig yourself down
Dig down

Dig down, dig down, dig down

Imperfection

Rusty water in this place
Cupboards filled with empty space
Withered flowers in a vase
Pimples on a pretty face

Grass that's gone to seed
And bracelets with broken beads
Gardens filled with weeds
And books that no one reads

The imperfection of this life
It's what makes us perfectly alright
Without your every little flaw
You wouldn't mean anything to me at all

Broken promise to a friend
Nothing in your heart to lend
Stubborn so you never bend
Fearful so you just pretend

Smile with crooked teeth
Song with broken beat
Sun with burning heat
And secrets that no one keeps

The imperfection of this life
It's what makes us perfectly alright
Without your every little flaw
You wouldn't mean anything to me at all

The imperfection of this life
It's what makes us perfectly alright
Without your every little flaw
You wouldn't mean anything to me at all

Rusty water in this place
Cupboards filled with empty space
Withered flowers in a vase
World that needs a bit more grace

My Bliss

Wake up to the sound of my crazy town
Wish that I could get away from this
People running 'round over sideways down
Turning their lives into a mess
I remember a time when my mind wondered wild
Running through an open field
I remember a time, such a wonderful time
When I close my eyes real tight I still can

Feel the summer breeze fall into the trees
Let my senses fill with happiness
Shimmering morning mist, don't see clouds like this
Don't see clouds like this

And I'm gonna keep turning it over
Yеah I'm gonna till I find my bliss
My bliss

I need to wrestle my mind up to the sky
It's up to mе to live my dream
Only when I find good in what is mine
Will I be free

And I'm gonna keep turning it over
Yeah I'm gonna till I find my bliss
I'm gonna keep turning it, turning it
Yeah I'm gonna till I find my bliss

I'm gonna keep turning it over
Yeah I'm gonna till I find my bliss
I'm gonna keep turning, turning it
Yeah I'm gonna till I find my bliss
I'm gonna keep turning it over
Turning it over till I find my bliss
And I'm gonna keep turning it over
Turning it over till I find my bliss

Wake up to the sound of my crazy town
Wish that I could get away from this

When You Lead Me On

Met you at the corner shop
I got a soda you got a pop, dippidy dop
I read the story in your eyes
Looked too long got hypnotized, what a surprise
Your smile mesmerized me and the things you said took hold of me

At first I thought you were so cool
Gave my heart and let you rule, what a damn fool
You told me things you never meant
I thought that you were heaven-sent, you made a dent
But then you turned it off and told me we were through

Do you feel the way I do, the way I feel when I'm with you
Why can't you show it to me
Seems so hard to recognize what is truth and what are lies
When you lead me on

Fickle as a weather vane
With every breeze your mind would change and rearrange
Cause every girl who came along
With low-rise jeans and high-rise thong would turn you on
How could you carelessly just turn away from me

Do you feel the way I do, the way I feel when I'm with you
Why can't you show it to me
Seems so hard to recognize what is truth and what are lies
When you lead me on

If your intention wasn't to stay
Why did you look at me that way
You're gonna regret it now that I'm gone
Wishing you hadn't done me wrong

Do you feel the way I do, the way I feel when I'm with you
Why can't you show it to me
It seems so hard to recognize what is truth and what are lies
When you lead me on
Do you feel the way I do, the way I feel when I'm with you
Why can't you show it to me
Seems so hard to recognize what is truth and what are lies
When you lead me on

Read the story in your eyes
Looked too long got hypnotized, what a surprise

Stages Of The Sun

I wait in the dark for the day to start
For the sun to show, for my sight to grow
And if it should be an eternity
I will wait right here for you

A silent choice to hear the voice
Rising from my soul, for my heart to hold
And if it should bring an awakening
I will sing its song with you

I become, I become
I become the sun
I become, I become
Oh I become the sun

I walk through the day trying to obey
What I learned from you and I feel is true
And if it should break every step I take
I will rise and set with you

I become, I become
I become the sun
I become, I become
Oh I become the sun

I become the sun, I become the sun
From the morning till the day is done
I become, I become the sun
I become the sun, I become the sun
From the morning till the day is done
I become, I become the sun

The golden glow dims from my soul
As the sun dives to the earth below
But with each new day I will find
My way through the stages of the sun

I become, I become
I become the sun
I become, I become
Oh I become the sun

Don't Talk So Much

Your mouth is moving but noting's being said
Blah-blah's on your mind
Is that all that's really in your head
Why are your thoughts so blind

Poverty of consciousness, poverty of mind
Poverty of what really matters
Shut up will you, eat before you speak
Shovel it in before you shovel it out

And you've, you've got it, you've got it in your head
It's a picture of the universe drawn from your TV set

Your mind is running on the lowest setting
You're just like all your friends
No one bothers to explore the questions
Life's just one big dead еnd

'Cause you've, you've got it, you'vе got it in your head
It's a picture of the universe drawn from your TV set
And you've, you've got it, you've got it in your mind
It's the basic misconception that your words can fill up time

Don't talk so much that you miss your chance to learn
Listen and you'll grow what you know

Your life is headed in the wrong direction
It's time to straighten it out
Find yourself a new affection
That's bigger than your mouth

'Cause you've, you've got it, you've got it in your head
It's a picture of the universe drawn from your TV set
And you've, you've got it, you've got it in your mind
It's the basic misconception that your words can fill up time

Your mouth is moving but nothing's being said
Blah-blah's on your mind

So Little Life

Leaves are blowing, summer's fading
I'm not even hesitating, hesitating

So little life to live, so many words to say
When I stop and try to say them, everything fades away
When I drift out of this dream world, it's usually just in time
To realize everything will be fine
To realize everything will be fine

I wanted the time to move, I wanted the time to think
My words drift through the atmosphere before I even speak
I wanted the time to feel, I wanted the time to breathe
My heart is trapped in time and it won't be released

So little life to live, so many words to say
When I stop and try to say them, everything fades away
When I drift out of this dream world, it's usually just in time
To realize everything will be fine
To realize everything will be fine

Oh dreams have come and gone but my life has just begun
Some things in the past are just not worth holding onto
I can think about the future and what there is to come
But that would only take away from the life I'm living now

So little life to live, so many words to say
When I stop and try to say them, everything fades away
When I drift out of this dream world, it's usually just in time
To realize everything will be fine
So little life to live, so many words to say
When I stop and try to say them, everything fades away
And when I drift out of this dream world, it's usually just in time
To realize everything will be fine
To realize everything will be fine
To realize everything will be fine

Fine

Same As The Beginning

I got my spin, got my circle, got my orbit around you
Where it starts is where it ends, then it starts again

Around and round and round I go
Held by your gravity I flow
Round and round and round again
You hold me close, there is no end

Yet I feel so still, feel so stuck, feel so stationary
Night after night, though I move like the moon, I'm predictable

Around and round and round I go
Held by your gravity I flow
Round and round and round again
You hold me close there is no end

I've tried to cycle through
Variations on who I am
But every time that I do
I turn back to you the same as the beginning

I'll spin my facts, churn my truth, recycle all my evidence
But truth be told, in the end I'm so glad I belong to you

Round and round and round I go
Held by your gravity I flow
Round and round and round again
You hold me close there is no end

I've tried to cycle through
Variations on who I am
But every time that I do
I turn back to you the same as the beginning

Round and round and round I go
Held by your gravity I flow
Round and round and round again
You hold me close there is no end

I've tried to cycle through
Variations on who I am
But every time that I do
I turn back to you the same as the beginning

Got my spin, got my circle, got my orbit around you
Where it starts is where it ends, then it starts again

Friends 4ever 4 A Day

You seemed beautiful when you came into my life
Everything about you shined like the sparkle in your eye
Hopelessly I trusted you, I shared my deepest things
Then one day you turned on me with animosity

Friends forever for a day cause you didn't get your way
Where in hell did you learn to be so cruel?
Start to give and then you'd take, say you're real when you're fake
Turn around and walk away until you learn to be true

Tell me what offended you to such intense extremes
Was it that I wouldn't turn my heart against my dreams

Friends forever for a day cause you didn't get your way
Where in hell did you learn to be so cruel
Start to give and then you'd take, say you're real when you're fake
Turn around and walk away until you learn

What I've learned is that as time goes by
I can choose how to live and how to die
And who I'm going to be inside

I choose strength instead of fear, joy instead of hate
And now, I'm moving on from here to leave you to your fate

Friends forever for a day cause you didn't get your way
Where in hell did you learn to be so cruel
Start to give and then you'd take, say you're real when you're fake
Turn around and walk away until you learn to be true
Learn to be true

You seemed beautiful when you came into my life

Release Yourself

Let go, let it all go
Leave it, leave it alone

No need to worry, there's no time to hurry
Life's so much better when you take things slow

Just throw all of your fears away
Tomorrow is another day
You think too hard and live too small
Release yourself from it all
Throw all of your tears away
And choose to live a brighter day
You're stuck with how you choose to see
Release yourself

Breathless from running too fast
Lay back and learn to relax

No need to worry, there's no time to hurry
Life's so much better when you take things slow

Just throw all of your fears away
Tomorrow is another day
You think too hard and live too small
Release yourself from it all
Throw all of your tears away
And choose to live a brighter day
You're stuck with how you choose to see
Release yourself, release yourself

Don't miss the moments passing by, collect them one by one
And keep them in your heart so that they'll warm you like the sun
Warm you like the sun

No need to worry, there's no time to hurry
Life's so much better when you take things slow

Just throw all of your fears away
Tomorrow is another day
You think too hard and live too small
Release yourself from it all
Throw all of your tears away
And choose to live a brighter day
You're stuck with how you choose to see
Release yourself

Throw all of your fears away
Tomorrow is another day
You think too hard and live too small
Release yourself from it all
Throw all of your tears away
And choose to live a brighter day
You're stuck with how you choose to see
Release yourself

Let go, let it all go

Graduation Day

Everything seems to be changing
I feel like I'm spinning around
Cause the minute I get it together
You come crashing down
Look I know that you want me to make it
You've got my best interests at heart
But there's no way that I'll ever finish
Unless you let me start, you let me start

So I'll run out this door, I can't take it no more
This weight you've put on me is driving me away

You say that you've got it together
You say that you've figured it out
But the second I tell you I don't agree
You shut me down, shut me down

So I'll run out this door, I can't take it no more
This weight you've put on me is driving me away
I feel the tension build until I start to spill
My bursting soul declares it's graduation day
Graduation day

I hope you find a place in my new world
I want you to share my freedom with me

Cause I am not a child no more
What do you think my mind is for
I know more than you think I do
It's time I let my heart renew
Time to let my heart renew

So I'll run out this door, I can't take it no more
This weight you've put on me is driving me away
I feel the tension build until I start to spill
My bursting soul declares it's graduation day

I'll run out this door, I can't take it no more
This weight you've put on me is driving me away
I feel the tension build until I start to spill
My bursting soul declares it's graduation day
Graduation day

My Life Is Fine

First of the winter snow
It's falling just in time
And it's not too late to go with you again
Even if it's the first time

And I know that poems don't always have to rhyme
And I know that my heart doesn't beat in perfect time
But my life is fine

Just like the seasons change
There's beauty in each one
And you and I have been through changes too
And I think they've just begun

And I know that poems don't always have to rhyme
And I know that my heart doesn't beat in perfect time
But my life is fine
Even when it's dark

A year or two or more (a year or two or more)
Someday it will be done (someday it will be done)
And then this life that you and I have shared
Will be setting like the sun

And I know that poems don't always have to rhyme
And I know that my heart doesn't beat in perfect time
But my life is fine
And my life is fine

HOURS WERE THE BIRDS

Hours Were The Birds

I've got something here, it's a chance
I'm-a make my changes as I go and the city lights dance away stars
I've met all kinds of reasons why the seasons leave their scars
I am thin as cinnamon and tarnished like these metal cars
That drive along the rivers of tar

I am weatherproof as the rain
And I've fooled every lover into drinking up my pain
I am hanging by the edges of my name, but I am warm
So comfortable forgetting 'bout the storm

I love Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado too
Atlanta and Montana, Nebraska and the moon
And you

I must have been a traveller inside of the womb
Never had a place with a living room
You said a house is a tomb

Well, zoom, zoom, zoom
Here we go, Annie
No more planning
Isn't this dandy
I've got you and you've got me

I'm going back to the lake
This time of year, it's frozen through
Ain't nothing gonna break
I'll take you there and show you where
I used to spend my time
Before working, before leaving, before wine

I love Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado too
Atlanta and Montana, Nebraska and the moon
And you

Life is easy come and it's easy go too
Hours were the birds and I guess they flew
I just can't get a grip on this place, Billy Lou

Well, zoom zoom zoom
Here we go, Annie
No more planning
Isn't this dandy
I've got you and you've got me

Lighthouse

Well, I left here in my sleep when I was dreaming
Miles and miles away into a place
My heart was scheming an escape that love drew from me
And I met you on the corner of the seasons
Out of winter's reach and into summer's early sun
You were the moon and I was only seventeen

And now I'm making all these things
And constructing all these scenes
And I'm stitching at the seams
Of the fabric of my dreams
And I'm here in my boat
And I'm rowing up to shore as you sing

Well, I'm ringing all the bells from my lighthouse, dear
Time is just an ocean and you're almost here
One for the mind, two for the soul
Three for the body and the heart that knows
That knows I'll never ever let you go

Oh silence, the silence a-ringing your bells
Singing the words in a whisper
Dispel all this noise, bring back the joy
Ring the world awake
'Cause if the only whole that we have is a world apart
And it's separate and broken and stained from the start
My heart will remain and take it anyway

Well, I'm ringing all the bells from my lighthouse, dear
Time is just an ocean and you're almost here
One for the mind, two for the soul
Three for the body and the heart that knows
That knows I'll never ever let you go

I'm ringing all the bells from my lighthouse, dear
Time is just an ocean and you're almost here
One for the mind, two for the soul
Three for the body and the heart that knows
That knows I'll never ever let you go

Disappear

Lose my words
Lose my thoughts
Lose my dreams
A million different pieces
A million different things
That I can't keep together
That can't seem to see
As they tumble around me

I fall asleep to the sound of the sea
A familiar ocean that's swallowing me
In a whirlwind of wonder
Oh what can it be that I'm missing here
And I disappear

'Cause this world, it keeps trying to pull me down
But my feet, they won't ever find the ground
'Cause my body is made out of sound
And that's all I am

Morning will break
And the winter will take
What it wants of me slowly
But I can't complain
'Cause I'd rather be lonely
And cold and awake
Than asleep in a warm and a comfortable place

And oh oh where do I go from here
Please, direct the melody in my ear
'Cause I have stepped
Deep into a song that I'd like to forget
And I disappear

Well, this world, it keeps trying to pull me down
But my feet, they won't ever find the ground
'Cause my body is made out of sound
And that's all I am
And I can disappear
Just disappear
Just disappear
Find my way out of here
Out of here
Out of here
I can just disappear
Just disappear
Just disappear

Gone

Some days I'll admit it feels a little like rain
Feels a little like falling asleep on a train
I know that you were right, I couldn't let you in
But I held you so tight, your breath burned on my skin
And is it near or is it far that we begin

To know something's near
Not the change in the seasons that scares me, dear
It's the sound in the distance that I start to hear

Some days in my mind, I see you look the same
The way you were two years ago when you came
I see you there softly moving, sweet around my pain
Fixing my heart and my hands and my brain
But we knew we couldn't stay, we couldn't stay

You know something's near
Not the change in the seasons that scares me, dear
It's the sound in the distance I start to hear

When it rolls in just like thunder
When the storm, it breaks
Makes me wonder why you came at all
And you're gone, gone, gone, gone
And when you leave part of you will
Part of me will start to breathe
When you're gone, gone, gone, gone

Some days I'll admit I don't know what to do
You came in, you gave me the deepest parts of you
But now I'm falling asleep and I'm falling awake
And I don't know now how long it's gonna take
No, no, no

You know something's near
Not the change in the seasons that scares me, dear
It's the sound in the distance I start to hear

When it rolls in just like thunder
And the storm, it breaks
Makes me wonder why you came at all
And you're gone, gone, gone, gone
And when you leave, part of you will
Part of me will start to breathe
When you're gone, gone, gone, gone

Steamboat

Well, I'm just a stranger, I'm only a walker
I guess I am human, but sometimes I feel
Like I'm only a ghost, like I'm only a wall
And if you come around, honey
I'll probably just follow you home
'Cause it's all that I know how to do
I was born by a body, I'll die by one too
And places are nothing if they ain't got you

And one day I'm-a be a steamboat, baby
One day I can be your freight train lady
I roll down the river and the miles won't phase me
Oh I wish I was better at being alone
Still, every night, I call you on the phone
Oh I wish I was more than my skin and my bone

Well, I've been arranging each of my movements
And all of my gestures and trying to fool myself
Into thinking that everything's small
That nothing has reason, I woke up and cried
A convulsion of honesty brought me to life
When I thought I was gone
But I can't put a lie in the mouth of a song

And one day I'm-a be a steamboat, baby
One day I can be your freight train lady
I roll down the river, and the miles won't phase me
Oh I wish I was better at being alone
Still, every night, I call you on the phone
Oh I wish I was more than my skin and my bone
Oh I wish I was more than my skin and my bone

Indiana

Daddy wanted me to leave it
Indiana, Indiana in the cold
Said, "You know you really don't need it
Leave the fame for the road"
I remember when I was leaving
I was only six years old
Oh how my heart was beating
About ready to explode

One shot, honey, collect it all
The dust inside the rusted souls
You should get a ride 'cause you can't control
The heart that beats under the bone
Come on, my combat chameleon, give it up
You've got your life to attend to, buttercup
You're entertaining the talk that is told through the teeth of the mouths of the millions dying to meet you
Little do they know

The Mississippi River won't kill you
Unless you stand too close, my dear
Take you to Louisiana
A long, long way from here
And the war's been a long time coming
Yes, a long, long war's gonna come
We're standing at the end of a story
At the foot of a palindrome

One shot, honey, collect it all
The dust inside the rusted souls
You should get a ride 'cause you can't control
The heart that beats under the bone
Come on, my combat chameleon, give it up
You've got your life to attend to, buttercup
You're entertaining the talk that is told through the teeth of the mouths of the millions dying to meet you
Little do they know

Butterfly

Butterfly, butterfly burning up my only sky
This is your highway, this is your height
Never felt more far away than when I fly
My heart is a violin
And I feel my skin coming over me again

Up, up, up, how I flew up, up
And forgot about the only things I knew of
Oh my God, as I grew up, up, thought I knew you

Pulling up, getting down
This whole place is crazy town
Music bumping and the light's gone down
Never felt at home in any place I found
Oh I live in a cold, white wind
And I feel the chill coming over me again

Up, up, up, how I grew up, up
And forgot about the only things I knew of
Oh my God, as I grew up, up
How I flew up, up
And the crowd went hush
And the wild wind shook
And my body was crushed by the loose window
Thought I knew you
Thought I knew you

Snow Song

When you walked in, I just stood still
I said, "I'm sorry, love, I have no will"
If I try to move, I'll break and spill
What's left of me, my weight will kill

If I die inside this bitter shell
It will be upon a frozen lake
My knees will break, my breath will swell
The snow around my blood will paint

Lord, I know my timing's off
And all the earth is ragged to the bone
Tired is the burning sea
That calls me to the bottom like a stone
And I'm sinking alone

Now inside this blinded bend
I'll pour the ink down through my pen
In sentences that will defend
My misery until the end

Lord, I know my timing's off
And all the earth is ragged to the bone
Tired is the burning sea
That calls me to the bottom like a stone
And I'm sinking alone
I'm sinking alone
I'm sinking alone

A Love Of Some Kind

Hello, look, I can't be sure
But I think I've seen you
Maybe once or twice before
Either way, I need you

Will you stay
Nothing much in our way
And the sky is always bending
And I hate pretending like I'm doing fine
Would you mind
I could use a love of some kind

I've read the books, I've tried it all
I've lived behind a curtain
And maybe life is protocol
But I still feel uncertain

Every day I get lost in the gray
Where the light is ever vying
And it finds me trying
To find my will and be still
And let go my heart to fill

I know we're strangers, so it's okay
You don't have to say it
Strange is better anyway
And I think that we can make it
I don't have much, but what I've got
Is something I can give
And I've found that on your own
Is no good way to live

So what do you say
Nothing much in our way
And the world is always turning
And the light is yearning
It'll be just fine
Would you mind
I could use a heart
I could use a home
I could use a love of some kind

A-SIDES

Jonathan

John, listen up
I'm a wreck, I'm a mess
This is not the effect
Of a loss or a vex
This is you

Hand me the key to your door
Give me one solid week
Give me four years
To climb the stairs in pain

John, it's time
Let me be the moon you shine
Let me be the honest home where you can rest your tired mind

You know me
Knew, knew me well
When I was just a girl, only nineteen
Twisted in my head

So don't try and tell me to help
This is not how you help
You don't know me now
In any way, I said

Don't get tired
Honey, I won't keep you long
I was just calling up to find out if you're still in town

Money

Sold my love to a laundry man
He gave me more than money can
He gave me more than money can buy
Than money can buy
Than money can

Sold my heights to Amelia
She took me high like helium
She gave me more than money can buy
When she came by
Than money can

Money can't buy me love
Not your love, honey
It's the only I dream of
What brings you near to me
Well, it feels so funny
When you come home tongue tied from the sea
And I search your face
For one small trace of jubilee
And when I do
Finally find you

Sold the moon for a wrecking ball
She gave him once then they took it all
She gave him more than money could buy
When she stood high like the waterfall

Money can't buy me love
Not your love, honey
It's the only I dream of
What brings you near to me
Well, it feels so funny
When you come home tongue tied from the sea
And I search your face
For one small trace of honest jubilee
And when I do
Finally find you

I get tongue tied, moonstruck
Driving around in a big old truck
Oh my, sweet surprise
Look so pretty, we felt so high
My, my, you're the plane
Walked on home in the morning rain
My, my sweet surprise
Looked so pretty when you felt so high

Kerina

Sweetest Kerina, give me a sign
Still haven't seen you
But I'm calling you all the time
Calling you all the time

Caught in the turning
Losing the line
But I've learned to believe you
When you say it'll be just fine
You say it'll be just fine

Let me know reasons why we change
Why our bodies are more than just breath and veins
Yeah I wonder what remains
Past the forests and borders and pocket change

Wind doesn't blow, baby
Just 'cause I want it to
You don't want me, honey
Just 'cause I wanted you

Caught in the turning
Losing my mind
Lose what I'm learning
When I'm calling you all the time
But you say it'll be just fine

Let me know reasons why we change
Why our bodies are more than just breath and veins
Yeah I wonder what remains
Past the forests and borders and pocket change

Wind doesn't blow, baby
Just 'cause I want it to
You don't want me, honey
Just 'cause I wanted you

Miss Misty

Oh Miss Misty was a stone-skinned girl
Well, she didn't stick around in one town for too long
'Cause "too long is too long," she said

And she said, "I'll be gone by morning
Don't come looking after me
Got to get back to that place I've never been
Never been before"

T-Bone city, up the two-fifteen
She traded in her daddy's old Packard Super Eight Sedan
For a Vincent black Shadow Machine
She opened him up, some fifty horses hot
Foaming at their mouths in a dust cloud headed south
On down the devil's backbone, down his crooked legs
"Fly Away Old Glory" ringing in her head

Saying, "I'll be gone by morning
Don't come looking after me
Got to get back to that place I've never been
Never been before"

The big magnolia down by Buellers pond
In a hand me down sun dress and roper boots
I could go on and on
With my bolt action twenty-two, I'd knock the blossoms down
Misty'd catch them in her skirt before they hit the ground

Saying, "I'll be gone by morning
Don't come looking after me
Got to get back to that place I've never been
Never been before

Indiana

Daddy wanted me to leave it
Indiana, Indiana in the cold
Said, "you know you really don't need it
Leave the fame for the road"
I remember when I was leaving
I was only six years old
Oh how my heart was beating
About ready to explode

One shot, honey, collect it all
The dust inside the rusted souls
You should get a ride 'cause you can't control
The heart that beats under the bone

Come on, my combat chameleon, give it up
You've got your life to attend to, buttercup
You're entertaining the talk that is told through the teeth of the mouths of the millions dying to meet you
Little do they know

The Mississippi river won't kill you
Unless you stand too close, my dear
Take you to Louisiana
A long, long way from here
And the war's been a long time coming
Yes, a long, long war's gonna come
We're standing at the end of a story
At the foot of a palindrome

One shot, honey, collect it all
The dust inside the rusted souls
You should get a ride 'cause you can't control
The heart that beats under the bone

Come on, my combat chameleon, give it up
You've got your life to attend to, buttercup
You're entertaining the talk that is told through the teeth of the mouths of the millions dying to meet you
Little do they know

Yuki Onna

Follow me to the wood
Through the dew fields and the bog
I'll show you what I saw last November
As autumn's curtain closed, something opened
Something old

No one seems to believe
In the stories that I tell
So I keep them to myself
But you see shadows too, my friend
My friend

Something is watching us
From behind
An eye that cannot close
Until the morning blinds and burns
We are hers
We are hers

In an evening gown of gray bloom
Rose the witch, the bitch
The wicked worm
With one cold kiss from her black lips
We froze
We froze

Something is watching us
From behind
An eye that cannot close
Until the morning blinds and burns
We are hers
We are hers

I Still Hear You

Someday, darling, when you're dead
And with this wilting world you've wed
And all I have of you to keep
God rest your blessed busy head
Are words, you tell them to my sleep

Someday when your shadows flower
Then petals blossom by the hour
I'll take my day off to your grave
And let the mighty winds devour
And give you one triumphant wave

God knows that I still hear you
Darling, I still hear you laughing
But only for a minute
And then you're gone the minute
And then you're long gone
Like the day from the moon
Like the child from his high balloon

Someday while my mouth's still warm
And everyone has been informed
I'll think of what you said last May
To let them not be long forlorn
But buried in some better way
Along the Lake Superior shore

God knows that I still hear you
Darling, I still hear you singing
But only for a minute
And then you're gone the minute
And then you're long gone
Like the day from the moon
Like the child from his high balloon

B-SIDES

Angels

I step outside and make my way on from Carolina
Anyway the weather blows, home is where I find you
With the ache inside to ride the mighty wind and nothing more
Oh I just want to see you there, sleeping on my floor

But I don't really like you, I just want to kiss you
I don't know how to love you, but some days I miss you
Oh I just want to see you there sleeping on my floor
With the ache inside to ride the mighty wind and nothing more

And I'm calling on angels now
I want them to set me free
I hope that they're real
'Cause sometimes it feels
Like nobody's listening

When I was only twelve years old, my parents went walking
I hate those wicked words, they'd say when they started talking
He was headed for the open road, she turned and slammed the door
Learning love ain't easy child when all you see is war

And I'm calling on angels now
I want them to set me free
I hope that they're real
'Cause sometimes it feels
Like nobody's listening

And the moon and the sun and the stars shine bright and high
And I can't help but wonder the way that the world goes by
I hope that they're real and I hope they can hear me cry

Pulling all the fences down and pushing on the levies
This water's getting raggy and these hands are getting heavy
And we are all just hypocrites lying for a shore
With the ache inside to ride the mighty wind and nothing more

She came and shook me tenderly one night when I was drinking
The alcohol was quick as sand and took me down to sinking
The sinking took me praying and I fell upon the floor
I said, "I'm waiting for my time to go, please, tell it to me, Lord"

And I'm calling on angels now
I want them to set me free
I hope that they're real
'Cause sometimes it feels
Like nobody's listening

And the moon and the sun and the stars shine bright and high
And I can't help but wonder the way that the world goes by
But I hope that they're real and I hope they can hear me cry
I'm not sure if they're real, but I'll wait for them till I die

A Better Time To Meet

Never more in love than when I'm leaving
Never want you more than when you're gone
Never miss the wind that keeps me breathing
Till it leaves my lungs gasping for its song

You warmed the earth inside me with your bare hands
You took me by the heart and slowed its beat
The dirt within me turned and became money
With your digging and your constant burning heat

But you came swiftly as a snowstorm in October
Unexpectedly, you turned me into sleet
And if I could, I guess I'd love you ten times over
It's just I'd choose a better time for us to meet

I never feel more found than when I'm wandering
I never feel more still than when I'm free
But to hear that quiet voice, I'd give up everything
To follow the soft sighing of the sea

But you came swiftly as a snowstorm in October
Unexpectedly, you turned me into sleet
And if I could, I guess I'd love you ten times over
It's just I'd choose a better time for us to meet

Carolina

Oh in your hands, in your hands
The world beats sweetly
Like a heart
Or a clock

Let's take a walk, take a walk
Down Seventh Avenue
Like we used to
In the snow

Where did you go
Did you go

I've been up late, been upset
I regret that I waited so long
To sing you this song
Now I'm here
And you're gone

Where did you go
Did you go

New York City

New York City gripped me like a big old machine
I went into one side and landed in a dream
It stirred me up and made me shout
And sometimes i forgot about
The way the wind blows in and out of cottonwood trees

And oh it's easy to lose your mind
I might've lost mine if I hadn't found you

The avenues, the boulevards
Businesses and schoolyards
Shopping malls and motorcars
All in one scene
The lowest lows and the highest highs
The meanest noise and the lullabies
The poison and the compromise
The unspoken scream

And oh its so hard to find your place
And I'd never have found mine if I hadn't seen your face

And you can be my Buster Keaton
I'll be Blossom Dearie
We can see the world so clearly
You'll cover the gray away
I will sing you songs all day
The decay will just turn to bloom
As we look at the good old-fashioned moon

Well, New York City split me like a log in a mill
Half of me happy, the other half ill
But I feel myself a-warming to the old neon chill
I still feel a longing, but it's chased by a thrill

And oh it's so hard to find your place
I'd never have found mine if I hadn't seen your face

And you can be my Buster Keaton
I'll be Blossom Dearie
We can see the world so clearly
You'll cover the gray away
I will sing you songs all day
The decay will just turn to bloom
As we look at the good old-fashioned moon

Ringing Bells

Isolation calls me in again
I see the white bark on the willow tree bend
I saw a flash spark, then a hurt heart, then a dead end
I don't think I'll be coming back again

You held your cup of coffee in your hand
Said, "There are things we'll never really understand
Like far away, the stars shake the grand plan
And soon this place is gonna be a wasteland"

'Cause there's a flood all around, we don't seem to see
Water's infinite, our bodies will leave
We live till we drown, we're dead till we're free

Colorado girl came in like a cold drip
Swept up in the wind's grip like a weather vane
You were hollow and it followed, she felt the same
She'll fill you up like the pouring rain

And if you love someone, never let them go, never
You're like a tightrope walker tied to a feather
And if you fall down, then you fall down forever
You better keep yourself up, find something better

'Cause there's a flood all around, we don't seem to see
Water's infinite, our bodies will leave
We live till we drown, we're dead till we're free

Well, I want to hear the ringing bells
I want to hear the ringing bells

I'll resurrect the heartbeat of an ancient drum
Don't rhythm go, please, rhythm stay when the rhythm comes
Follow the rays of the light as they run
And through the woods I'm starting to see

That there's a flood all around, we don't seem to see
Water's infinite, our bodies will leave
We live till we drown, we're dead till we're free

Well, I want to hear the ringing bells
I want to hear the ringing bells
I want to hear the ringing bells

Row

Do you know the fastest road to take me to my home
I just want to be there for the long December snow
I may never see the lines, the lines may never show
After turning tables, time is telling me to go

Light along and burn ahead
I'm breaking like the sea
My bed is boxing like a coffin
Fast asleep in dreary doe

There are things we'll never learn and never understand
My heart is like a bowling ball, so heavy in my hand
And still, I hope to kiss you when we're seventy years old

Sixteen years ago, the place was forest overgrown
You pointed to the parking lot that used to be my home
The sun is like a tether ball that's ready to implode
The prophet burning in my mind is loosening her hold

And it seems I'm still here
You have got me madly, dear
Bound by all the things we said
We wish we'd would stay, but sure enough

We'll row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Wallet

Hit me once for broke
Hit me two for the road
But Abilene was a scream and a curse
Tell another joke before I go
For better or, baby, for worse

Back when high was high and low was low
And ten cent would buy you the matinee show
Give a damn who's the star, the theatre was dark
And took you away with a glow

But if I had a dollar for every wallet I stole
Oh I'd buy this whole town
The judge and the pound
I'd let all them bad dogs go
But I don't, so I'll spend my last on the wind
For she runs through my veins like home

I took it spinning, love, with the top down
Rode her three times down the Highway Nine
May have broke a bone, oh I don't know
Anyway, I'm still alive

A haunted heart don't beat, but once a week
The rest is only echoes
A parade of ghosts and dirty sheets
From Govalle to Jericho

Well, if I had a dollar for every wallet I stole
Oh I'd buy this whole town
The judge and the pound
I'd let all them bad dogs go
But I don't, so I'll spend my last on the wind
For she runs through my veins like home

ABYSSKISS

Terminal Paradise

Warm
So warm
Screaming in the field
As I was born

Worm
Will you return me
To the robin's beak
I'll be a bird

Terminal
We both know
Let the rest of me go
See my death become a trail
And the trail leads to a flower
I will blossom in your sail
Every dreamed and
Waking hour

Woman
Woman
Hold me in your heat
Till I re-, don't let me
Till I re-, don't let me
I remember

Terminal
We both know
Let me rest, let me go
See my death become a trail
And the trail leads to a flower
I will blossom in your sail
Every dreamed and
Waking hour

From

No one can be my man, be my man, be my man
Be my man, be my man, be my man
No one can be my woman, be my woman
Be my woman

One ear to the ground
One dog at my neck
One tongue to my tongue
Wanting to protect me
From
From

No one can be my man, be my man, be my man
Be my man, be my man, be my man, be my man
No one can be my woman, be my woman
Be my woman

One ear to the floor
My dog barking loud
I couldn't tell for sure
Where the screaming sound
Was coming
From
From

One ear to your womb
Puppy on the floor
Baby's coming soon
Wonder if she'll know
Where she's come
From
From
From
From

Womb

Seven wide years
And there's soil to till
When you thread your fingers through, I feel quite well
We could be the riptide or two mountains growing still
When the eye gets heavy in the womb

Dripping your tears
Like a precious warm spring
My heart will always find you when your heart freely sings
Mine would never bind you with a diamond or a word
When the eye gets heavy in the womb
when the eye gets heavy in the womb

Woman, mighty woman
You're a friend I need
When you hold me to your breast, you're bleeding as I bleed
Please, reveal the question to me, let the answers leave
When the eye gets heavy in the womb
When the eye gets heavy in the womb
When the eye gets heavy in the womb
When the eye gets heavy in the womb

Out Of Your Mind

It cannot be explained
Like a single membrane
Same old dream from the pillow

Laugh along with her laugh
Lying when she's lying
She gets angry I, feel so

Is it any wonder I get lonesome for you
Get out of your mind
Demons

Demons are the dragons
She is not a dragon
But I'm afraid of her fire

My heart is a wagon
My heart is a wagon
But I can't push her desire

Is it any wonder I get lonesome for you
Get out of your mind
Annie, my love pulls the trigger on you
Get out of your mind
And into my arms

Cradle

Cradle more
The hours reel
Cradle more
How you feel

Baby, you're still too proud to come down
Maybe I'm still too loud to hear
All the waves ascend and disappear

Like a storm
The air you steal
Glacial form
The icy heel

Baby, you're still too proud to come down
Maybe I'm still too loud to hear
All the waves ascend and disappear

Earth is born
To wound and heal
Cradle more
The hours reel

Baby, you're still too proud to come down
Maybe I'm still too loud to hear
All the waves ascend and disappear

Symbol

Fly, make flea, make haste, make waste, eight makes infinity
Times I've tried to make breaks, embrace for the enemy
Meet my face to face, time try to find the diamond
Counting time as time counts me, the river to the island

Do you not, do you not tell
That smile always makes me well
Do you see circling through
That's how one returns from two

Fly, make flea, make haste, make waste, eight makes infinity
Times I've tried to make breaks, embrace for the enemy
Meet my face to face, time try to find the diamond
Counting time as time counts me, the river to the island

Do you not, do you not tell
That smile always makes me well
Do you see circling through
That's how one returns from two

The symbol of your love is time
The symbol of your love is time

Do you not, do you not tell
That smile always makes me well
Do you see circling through
That's how one returns from two

Do you not, do you not tell
That smile always makes me well
Do you see circling through
That's how one returns from two

Blue And Red Horses

Blue and red horses on the run
I think the angel is jumping the gun
Little red lantern watching my son
Maybe the angel is jumping the gun

I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me
I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me

Little red flower on your wrist
Maybe the angel fired and missed
Little red flower on your wrist
Maybe the angel fired and missed

I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me
I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me

Little red forest in your room
I hope the angel is getting here soon
Little red forest in your room
I hope the angel is getting here soon

I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me
I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me

Little red flower on your wrist
Maybe the angel fired and missed
Little red horses on the run
I think the angel is jumping the gun

I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me
I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve
Do you want to toy with me
With me
With me
With me

Abyss Kiss

Try and get some rest
I'll do the rest
Think to what the roses find
With the arms of passion
This is how we fashion
War's worried mind
In the hour I loved you
Like a dream, it was true
In the base of my pine

Wilderness
Vast abyss
Will we
Ever kiss

In her mother's fortress
She was brushing horses
Manes and tails flicking flies
Naked as the window
Baby, if it's real
So no need to apologize

Wilderness
Vast abyss
Will we
Ever kiss

Love is on her shoulder
Love is on the boulder
In the eyes, in the eye
Love never leaves
Love is the leaves
In the sky, in the sky

What Can You Say

What can you say to remind me
How to be loved by you
Wave to the winding river
It's a view of you
For the long grass growing in silence
There's an equal knowing inside us
Calmly showing for to guide us

Pray, you can find me
I've been busy turning into
More transparent
I could look a lot like you
For the sharp glass cutting of the cold wind
The sharp glass loosing of your best friend
The story bruising as it's written

Rain in your bedroom
This is how I love you back
To follow the red moon
Follow her and never look back
There's a star that's glowing on your eyelash
And the wet light moaning as we rehash
Oh my darling

What can you say to remind me
How to be loved by you

10 Miles

To die in your arms
Your words forming again
We kiss very hard and wild

To rise in the dark
Like birds praying on skin
We pray with our oxygen

Jo, nothing is real
We still have that feel
You're closing up the bar
I'm warming up the car
Ten miles away

Two children of ours
They came twirling in
We laughed very hard for a while
But they've grown very far
And tall
How we miss them
Though happy they're traveling

Jo, nothing is real
But we still have that feel
You're closing up the bar
I'm warming up the car
Ten miles away

We set no alarm
Eyes wide, six a.m.
Wake up on the farm
Slowly
Walk to the barn
Horse feed
You take the yarn
I'll read, I'll read

Jo, nothing is real
But we still have that feel
You're closing up the bar
I'm warming up the car
Ten miles away

To die in your arms
Your words forming again

SONGS

Two Reverse

Lay me down so
To let you leave
Tell me lies
Want to see your eyes
Is it a crime to say
I still need you
Crime, want to feed you

Light blue, dark blue, grey
Crimson trail
Straight through, stay, don't stray

Grandmother, Juniper
Tell to me your recipe
Is it a cry I hear
From the deep wood
Cry, reappear from
The weeds

Light blue, dark blue, grey
Crimson trail
Straight through, stay, don't stray

Through the jail
See the sun
Flat as a knife
Cold and white
To my home
Two rivers through my home
Two reverse
Is it a crime to do
What you ask me to
Crime

Ingydar

Fragilely, gradually and surrounding
The horse lies naked in the shed
Evergreen anodyne decompounding
Flies draw sugar from his head

His eyes are blueberries, video screens
Minneapolis schemes and the dried flowers
From books half-read
The juice of dark cherries cover his chin
The dog walks in and the crow lies in his jaw like lead

Everything eats and is eaten
Time is fed

Early еvening, the pink ring swallows
The sphеrical marigold terrain
Sleepily, Venus sinks and hollows
The stationed headlight of a plane

You are as far from me as memory
With fixtures fracture varyingly
The juice of dark cherries cover my skin
Six years in, no, baby

Everything eats and is eaten

Ingydar bares a scar like a meteor
Crystalline amber guilds her cheek
Tambourine of the beech leaves lead her
To the raven playing hide-and-seek

Drying blueberries, figurines of the angel leans
At the head of the bed
The juice of dark cherries cover her chin
The dog walks in and the crow lies in his smile like lead

Everything eats and is eaten, time is fed
Everything eats and is eaten
Everything eats and is eaten
Everything eats and is eaten
Everything eats and is eaten
Everything eats and is eaten

Anything

Staring down the barrel of the hot sun
Shining with the sheen of a shotgun (shotgun)
Carol has a little if we need some
Joa has a ride if we wanna come
Hanging your jeans with a clothes pin
Skin still wet, still on my skin
Mango in your mouth, juice dripping
Shoulder of your shirt sleeve slipping

Christmas Eve with your mother and sis
Don't wanna fight, but your mother insists
Dog's white teeth slice right through my fist
Drive to the ER and they put me on risk
Grocery store list, now you get pissed
Unchecked calls and messages
I don't wanna be the owner of your fantasy
I just wanna be a part of your family

And I don't wanna talk about anything
I don't wanna talk about anything
I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again
Wanna witness your eyes looking
I don't wanna talk about anyonе
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I wanna sleep in your car while you're driving
Lay in your lap whеn I'm crying

Circle of pine and red oak
Circle of moss and fire smoke
Fan on the ceiling like a wheel spoke
Push the clutch and I pull the choke
Wanna listen to the sound of you blinking
Wanna listen to your hands soothe
Listen to your heart beating
Listen to the way you move

And I don't wanna talk about anything
I don't wanna talk about anything
I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again
Wanna witness your eyes looking
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I wanna sleep in your car while you're driving
Lay in your lap when I'm crying

Weren't we the stars in Heaven
Weren't we the salt in the sea
Dragon in the new warm mountain
Didn't you believe in me
You held me the whole way through
But I couldn't say the words like you
I was scared, Indigo, but I wanted to
I was scared, Indigo, but I wanted to

And I don't wanna talk about anything
I don't wanna talk about anything
I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again
Wanna witness your eyes looking
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I wanna sleep in your car while you're driving
Lay in your lap when I'm crying

Forwards Beckon Rebound

Wow, that's cool

Over the Dead Sea keeping you company, thinking
I'm unafraid of you now, I'm unafraid of you now
Letting my eyes close, shedding my soft clothes
Wind blows, wind that howls like a hound
Wind that laughs like a clown

Mystery of lack stabbing stars through my back
Forwards, beckon, rebound
Forwards, beckon, rebound

Virtual bedroom rise like a full moon
Show me pictures that hang in your house
Pictures that hang in your mouth
Candescent insects, crosses and fishnecks
I have nothing to pray to you now
Nothing to pray to you now

Mystery of lack stabbing stars through my back
Forwards, beckon, rebound
Forwards, beckon, rebound

Pulling your face close, wanting the inmost, show me
I'm not afraid of you now, I'm not afraid of you now
Villain and violent, infant and innocent
Baby, both arms cradle you now
Both arms cradle you now

Mystery of lack stabbing stars through my back
Forwards, beckon, rebound
Forwards, beckon, rebound
Forwards, beckon, rebound

Heavy Focus

Cemetery at night
And the dog's in heat
The grey, grey owl
Howls and you're
Probably right
Believe in
Better to be leaving

Terrifying like a gun
Like a gun store
The wind roared
Invisible like a blank
Ghost blanket
No trees bent
Shaky like the first dance
Shaky like the first time
Our palms met
In the clam sweat

Heavy focus
Focus, focus
Focus

Set the camera to the flash
For a portrait of thе spirit
Only way it's gonna last
To be near it

Heavy focus
Focus, focus
Focus, focus
Kiss, focus
Focus

Half Return

Shadow, shadow, what a show
Every other strap, there's a crosseyed crow
Half return, half return
Minneapolis soft white snow
Thirty-five bridge, hometown
Half return, half return

Standing in the yard
Dressed like a kid
The house is white and
The lawn is dead
The lawn is dead, the lawn is dead

Illinois toll road, Indiana plain
Roll the windows down, shoot out the change
Half return, half return
Honey in your mouth when you gave me my name
Tears in your eyes when you pull it likе a chain
Half return, half return

Standing in the yard
Drеssed like a kid
The house is white and
The lawn is dead
The lawn is dead, the lawn is dead

Half return, half return
Rusty swing set, plastic slide
Push me up and down, take me for a ride
Standing in the yard, dressed like a kid
The house is white and
The lawn is dead
The lawn is dead, the lawn is dead

Come

Come help me die, my daughter
Walk me beside the river to the beech
Take a branch with your knife
Take my left with your right

Don't be afraid, my girl
Take me into the shore
I'm not cold, I'm not cold
Take my hand, take a hold

Let me lie on your arms
I'm weightless in the sea
Up to my ears the salt sits
In a circle around me
Take my life into your life
Take a branch with your knife

Come help me diе, my daughter

Zombie Girl

What a dream that was
I almost couldn't wake because
I was frozen in bed with a zombie girl
Vacant as a closed-down fair

Sleep paralysis
I sworn I could've felt you there
And I almost could've kissed your hair
But the emptiness withdrew me
From any kind of wishful prayer

Oh emptiness
Tell me 'bout your nature
Maybe I've been getting you wrong
I cover you with questions
Cover you with explanations
Cover you with music

Then the next night
Dreaming I could feel your skin
But the dream escaped so easily
And I wokе up to the road again

How your words ring through
Something kind of sweet and blue
And I knеw that you'd been understanding
Everything that I'd said too

About emptiness
Tell me 'bout your nature
Maybe I've been getting you wrong
I cover you with questions
Cover you with explanations
Cover you with music

What's on your mind
What's on your mind
What's on your mind
What's on your mind
In your mind

Not A Lot, Just Forever

Through your eyes I see
A smile you bring to me
To your joy I tether

Not a lot, just forever
Intertwined, sewn together
Like the rock bears the weather
Not a lot, just forever

My dog barks wildly
To protect my infancy
From my ex-believer
And I try to calm the wolf
To remind her I am both
Still she tears at my sweater

Not a lot, just forever
Intertwined, sewn together
As the wren sheds her feather
Not a lot, just forever

And your dearest fantasy
Is to grow a baby in me
I could be a good mother
And I want to be your wife
So I hold you to my knife
And I steal your letter

Not a lot, just forever
Intertwined, sewn together
As the rock wears the weather
Not a lot, just forever

So I bash around the house
And the poison stains my mouth
She comes, I let her
And we share a paradise (pair of dice)
And I roll them once or twice
Can't get much better

Not a lot, just forever
Intertwined, sewn together
As the rock bears the weather
Not a lot, just forever
Not a lot, just forever
Intertwined, sewn together
As the wren bares her feathers
Not a lot, just forever

Dragon Eyes

Freezing at the edge of the bed
Chewing a cigarette and repeating
Shadows of the words I've said
I don't wanna blame you
I don't wanna blame

The stars bloom in the warm summer night
They have a clear view
Without the bedroom light
They don't wanna name you
They don't wanna name

Dragons have silent eyes
Cracked eggshells, fireflies
I don't wanna tame you
I don't wanna tame

When the hot sand burns my feet
You have cool hands, you are sweet
I don't wanna changе you
I don't wanna change

Carnations into the vase
Unfold your clothеs out of the case
I just want a place with you
I just want a place

As the coastline is shaped by the wind
As we make love and you're on my skin
You are changing me
You are changing

Stars bloom
On a warm summer night
They have a clear view
Without the bedroom light
I just want a place with you
I just want a place

My Angel

Step over the edge too far
Open my hands that catch your wall
Nothing to hear but my very own cry
Far below the rocks and sky
My angel, my angel
My angel, my angel

Strange as she appears to be
Oldest friend invisibly
She brushes my hair with a physical hand
Lowers my body down to the land
My angel, my angel
My angel, my angel

Beneath the ledge in the morning mist
She kisses my eyelids and my wrists
Wake to the bleeding of the blade of thе sun
Returning to my oxygen
My angel, my angеl
My angel, my angel
My angel, my angel

Real House

Do you remember running
The purity of the air around
Braiding willow branches into a crown
That love is all I want

I'm a child humming
Into the clarity of black space
Where stars shine like tears on the night's face
With a cool wind

Mama, what happened
I never thought we'd go this long
Now thirty-one and I don't feel strong
And your love is all I want

When I was seven
I saw the first film that made me scared
And I thought of this whole world ending
I thought of dying unprepared

We moved into a real house
A wild field behind it
I wanted to be an inventor
Collected scraps to make a portal
I wanted so much for magic to be real

So many dreams of flying
Rising high over the crowd
And they'd go, "Oh man, look at her go"
And I'd go

Do you remember coming to the hospital when I was fourteen
My friends all left me there spinning
Dad was angry, but you saw everything
And you made me laugh as the nurses undressed me
You held my hand as they put the needle in me

I never saw you cry
Not until our dog died
And the whole family came back together
We held her body as they put the needle in her
And then I saw you cry
And then I saw you cry

Sadness As A Gift

Two, one, two, three, four

You and I both know
There is nothing more to say
Chance has shut her shining eyes
And turned her face away

Leaning on the windowsill
You could write me someday and I think you will
We could see the sadness as a gift and still
Feel too heavy to hold

Snow falling
I try to keep from calling
Watch the spring turn to winter
Fireflies all frozen

The seasons go so fast
Thinking that this one was gonna last
Maybe the question was too much to ask

Been searching for your eyes
All I see is blue skies
And that old man beats his crooked cane
It's time to let go

Leaning on the windowsill
You could write me someday and I bet you will
We could see the sadness as a gift and still
The seasons go so fast
Thinking that this one was gonna last
Maybe the question was too much to ask

You and I could see into the same eternity
Every second brimming with a majesty

Oh kiss so sweet, so fine
You could hear the music inside my mind
And you showed me a place I'lll find even when I'm old
Just leaning on the windowsill
You could write me someday and I hope you will
We could see the sadness as a gift and still
The seasons go so fast
Thinking that this one was gonna last
Maybe the question was too much to ask

Fool

I feel like a fool
Yeah, walking downhill with the dogs
You keep it cool
Watching my fire ignite
Heart out of sight
Body and mind fist fight
Heart out of sight
Body like a bat in flight

Oh they say when it's right, it's right

We could be friends
You could love me through and through
If I were him
Would you be my family too
Daddy's advice
Hell in paradise
Momma's advice
Cooking up beans and rice

Oh just say what it is that you want

Tommy had twins
Kenna and Lu-y tied the knot
Zoe and B
Built their house on the spot
We could watch a show
We could watch a garden grow
We could grow old
You could come in from the cold

Oh just say what it is that you want

Jamie's in L.A.
Ali found a five-acre farm
Max is gonna play
Jon got a clown on his arm
Lucky's gonna flip
Jer's gonna go for a dip
Birds gotta fly
I'll love you 'til I die

Oh what more can I possibly say

So if you wanna go, I say, "Baby, okay, okay"

No Machine

Let no machine
Eat away our dream
Baby, take my hand
Let's go together

No surprise
The wound lives in your eyes
A needle shining like a diamond in the desert

Don't know what I'd do
Don't know what I'd do without you
Don't know where I'd go
Don't know where I'd go without you

Talk to me
Tell me everything you see
The sun that's shining lighter than a feather
And every day the moon just sails away
The moon and sun are the keepers of the weather

Don't know what I'd do
Don't know what I'd do without you
Don't know where I'd go
Don't know where I'd go without you

Dragonfly
The clouds are rolling by
The wind across my back, I feel the shiver
Drive around, live from town to town
To the ocean of your love, I am a river

Don't know what I'd do
Don't know what I'd do without you
Don't know where I'd go
Don't know where I'd go without you

Free Treasure

Do you wanna go to the river
I know this spot so deep and green
With wild raspberries and apple trees
And rocks to climb between
Water like a washing machine

Do you wanna dance
Sometimes I think I try too hard
I trip on my shoes and I trip on my shirt
Get caught on the dirt in the yard
Caught on the dirt in the yard

You show me
Understanding
Patience and pleasure
Time and attention
Love without measure
Love without measure

You're cooking dinner
It's getting around half past ten
I haven't smelled food so good
Since I don't know where and I don't know when
Where and I don't know
Stove light glows like a fire
We're sitting on the kitchen floor
Just when I thought I couldn't feel more
I feel a little more
I feel a little

Understanding
Patience and pleasure
Time and attention
Love without measure
Love without measure

There's a guy on the nape of my neck
And he hangs out there all day
He quantifies my every thought
And tells me not to play
He tells me not to play

We lay around for hours
Talk about childhood pain
Mom and dad and past lives too
I can tell you anything
I can say anything
You show me

Understanding
Patience and pleasure
Time and attention
Love without measure
Love without measure
Show me

Understanding
Patience and pleasure
The eleventh dimension
Free treasure
Free treasure
Free treasure

Vampire Empire

(Big Thief)

Watching TV tired, bleeding on the bed
The milk has just expired, all the leaves are dead
I'm not quiet, you've been quiet, just receiving what you said
Reeling, feeding, feeling filled by everything you fed
I see you as you see yourself through all the books you read
Overwhelmed with guilt and realizing the disease

You give me chills
I've had it with the drills
I am nothing, you are nothing, we are nothing with the pills
I am empty 'til she fills
Alive until she kills
In her vampire empire I'm the fish and she's my gills
Falling yeah
Falling yeah

I see you there rejecting all your earthly power
Protecting and dissecting until you've emptied every hour
We jump into the pond then we come under the shower
You lay upon my pillow and you open like a flower

I wanted to see you naked, I wanted to hear you scream
Wanted to kiss your skin and your everything
I wanted to be your woman and I wanted to be your man
I wanted to be the one that you could understand

You give me chills
I've had it with the drills
I am nothing, you are nothing, we are nothing with the pills
I am empty 'til she fills
Alive until she kills
In her vampire empire I'm the fish and she's my gills
Falling yeah
Falling yeah

I walked into your dagger for the last time in a row
It's like trying to start a fire with matches in the snow
You can't seem to hold me here, can't seem to let me go
So I can't find surrender, can't seem to keep control
You turn me inside out, you want the outside in
You spin me all around and then you ask me not to spin
You say you wanna be alone and then you want children
You wanna be with me and then you wanna be with him

You give me chills
I've had it with the drills
I am nothing, you are nothing, we are nothing with the pills
I am empty 'til she fills
Alive until she kills
In her vampire empire I'm the fish and she's my gills
Falling yeah
Falling yeah

Evol

Love spells "evol", backwards, people
Words back, words backwards are lethal
Time spells "emit", who can see it
Feel says "leef", tips ease is "sea spit"

Teach, cheat
Part, trap
You have my heart and I want it back
God, dog
Devil, lived
The giver takes, the taker gives

Dream is "maerd", I'm marred in your mind
Four words: forwards
Can't we rewind
Speech spells "hceeps", you say for keeps
To keep me "llehs", a shell to speak through

Teach, cheat
Part, trap
You have my heart and I want it back
God, dog
Devil, lived
The giver takes, the taker gives

Kiss spells "ssik", the vacuum feeding
Words hold, words hold, words from meaning

Teach, cheat
Part, trap
You have my heart and I want it back
God, dog
Devil, lived
The giver takes, the taker gives

Candleflame

Every night I close my eyes
Another day away
You know I love you, I can't explain
Crying over the candle flame

I feel god here and there
People tell me it's everywhere
You know I know you can't explain
Crying over the candle flame

How 'bout that moon looking back
Saying, "Glad you're here"
When we're together only one thing moves
Everything else stays the same

I see you pray, I want to too
I one, two, one, two, four
Four, two, five, six bedrooms
So everyone can close a door

Already Lost

One, two
One, two, three, four

Already lost beside the line
The mirror is your eye on mine
The mirror is your eye on mine

Trying hard to figure it out of here
The center is a hole in the sphere
The center is a hole in the sphere

Say your name, I hope to get it right
You come into my room every night
You come into my room every night

A thousand years or more
And I've never seen this face
Never heard this voice before

The honey hills and the frosted sun
Bluer than the ocean
Bluer than the ocean

Why do leaves turn yellow and fall
And who absorbs it all
Who absorbs it all

Holding so near, standing so far
How slow and how fast you are
How slow and how fast you are

A thousand years or more
And I've never seen this face
Never heard this voice before

Though my love is riding blind
It can always read my mind
It can always read my mind

Shadows shatter at the edges of a smile
We've been down here for a while
We've been down here

A thousand years or more
And I've never seen this face
Never heard this voice before

Cell Phone Says

Cell phone says your name
But I don't even hear it ring
The July in winter and September spring
Where way up north is the warmer weather

So, together, we take the call
And we hold the line through the static sprawl
Though the distances traveled are expanding still
We meet in dreams by the lilac river

Oh giver of empathy
It is a gift so bitter that you brought to me
'Cause I feel what they're feeling
And I know that they're free
And the freedom they take is the earthly burden

Please, deliver their angel eyes
On the wings of moths and dragonflies
Through the morning and evening, their sun set my sunrise
Let them come to me like the breath I'm taking

Donut Seam

(Feat. Nick Hakim)

This whole world is dying
Don't it seem like a good time for swimming
Before all the water disappears

Ever since the day we met
I loved you and I don't regret
The way we'd pass the time
Drinking coffee, drinking wine
Oh my heart has holes in it
And there you were exposing it
How I would lose my mind
To get lost only to find

This whole world is dying
Don't it seem like a good time for swimming
Before all the water disappears

You came in like some good things do
Out of nowhere dream come true
And showed me things I never knew
What it means to walk that line
Like a moth into the sun
I flew in front of everyone
And burned up in the flame
Now it's pouring acid rain and

This whole world is dying
Don't it seem like a good time for swimming
Before all the water disappears

Now our love is dying
Don't it seem like a good time for kissing
One more kiss
One more kiss to last the years

Ruined

Until I'm brave enough to call you
I just fall through every time
I wish I'd waved when I saw you
I just watched you passing by

So much coming through, every hour too
Can't get enough of you
You come around, I'm ruined
You come around, I'm ruined

You gave me no answer
Nor asked me to lie
You just gave me an amethyst
From your jewelled vest as you cried

So much coming through, every hour too
Can't get enough of you
You come around, I'm ruined
You come around, I'm ruined

So much coming through, every hour too
Can't get enough of you
You come around, I'm ruined
You come around, I'm ruined

We shared in the basement
As the fern bent to the window
And we drew to alignment
As the water soaked the pillow

So much coming through, every hour too
Can't get enough of you
You come around, I'm ruined
You come around, I'm ruined

So much coming through, every hour too
Can't get enough of you
You come around, I'm ruined
You come around, I'm ruined

So much coming through, every hour too
Can't get enough of you
You come around, I'm ruined
You come around, I'm ruined

So much coming through, every hour too
Can't get enough of you
You come around, I'm ruined
You come around, I'm ruined

So much coming through, every hour too
You come around, I'm ruined

Once A Bunch

(Bonus Track)

Once a buncha times I took it to heart
Everything you told me I took it apart 
I pulled you in, pushed you out right from the start
I was leaving before I'd arrived

Eyes magnetic, that moldavite flame
Stopping the traffic, all six lanes
Calling me baby, barely saying my name
I was leaving before I'd arrived

Half a margarita
Have a little dance
Let's fine dine the demons
And give peace a chance

On a Tuesday in August, I was holding your hand
Wednesday in August, I was playing with my band
Thursday in August, I was making a plan 
Then I shut like a shutter Friday

Your lips are electric like lightning and rain
Your tastes are eclectic, multigrain
You pull on my shoestrings and you open my bain 
But I was leaving before I'd arrived

Half a margarita
Have a little dance
Let's fine dine the demons
And give peace a chance

We could talk for hours, I could buy you flowers
We could switch off in movies and switch off in showers
We can turn it up, turn it down, watch Austin Powers
I was leaving before I'd arrived

I can take a small thing, blow it up real big
I couldn't fit it in my wallet, I couldn't fit it in my rig
I can twist it out and twist it in, I can really dig
About leaving before I arrive

Half a margarita 
Have a little dance
Let's fine dine the demons
And give peace a chance

You believe in me some, you believe in me a lot 
You see all the good stuff I seem to have forgot 
You can cheer me up, calm me down, you know the spot
You say, "Honey, won't you stay a little while"

And you can make me smile just by looking around 
You take me to the invisible lost and found 
Where I can find a sweater or an old love letter
About leaving before I'd arrived

Half a margarita
Have a little dance
Let's fine dine the demons
And give peace a chance

We can pancake a nickel, we can flapjack a dime
We can waffle a tickle, french toast wine
We can take in bacon in sunshine
Tee off with a coffee and a tan

Half a margarita
Have a little dance
Let's fine dine the demons
And give peace a chance
Let's fine dine the demons
And save all the ants

Feel Better

(Transa LP)

Holding onto an idea
Verse as being right here
It's just an idea
We can let it disappear

Searching through the night for
Someone so dear
Doesn't it feel better when
You hold me near

How fast the time goes
We say it all the time
Look at the cardinals now
Resting on the vine

Searching through the day for
Someone so dear
Doesn't it feel better when
You hold me near
Doesn't it feel better when
You hold me near

Who do we think we are
Verse as where we are now
Who do I want to love
Verse as showing my love how

Searching all the planet for
Answers so clear
Doesn't it feel better when
You hold me near
All love surrounds you
Maybe it's always been
Doesn't it feel better when
You let it in
Doesn't it feel better when
You let it in