B i o g r a p h y (by James Christopher Monger)
Singer/songwriter Samuel Beam, who rose to prominence with a blend of whispered vocals and softly homespun indie folk, chose the moniker Iron and Wine after coming across a dietary supplement named "Beef Iron & Wine" while working on a film. Raised in South Carolina, Beam received his bachelor's degree in art from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and later his Master of Fine Arts degree from Florida State University Film School. Although Beam would later expand his sound to include electric instruments and rich, lush textures, he was firmly exploring the former style when several of his lo-fi recordings caught the ear of Jonathan Poneman, co-owner of Sub Pop Records. The songs had been recorded in Beam's bedroom without the aid of studio flourishes, but Poneman nevertheless requested that additional material be sent to the label for submission, and Beam responded by sending two CDs in the mail -- both of them full-length albums. Poneman considered releasing them both, but instead slimmed down the set to 12 songs and released it in September 2002 as The Creek Drank the Cradle. The similarly themed The Sea & the Rhythm EP followed in 2003. It was Beam's 2004 full-length, Our Endless Numbered Days, that signaled his arrival on the indie pop scene. Recorded in Chicago with producer Brian Deck, the album was resolutely hi-fi, but the addition of a full band only illuminated Beam's deft lyricism and intimate vocal delivery, resulting in one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year. Late 2004 found the newly marketable Iron and Wine popping up on television commercials and movie soundtracks (In Good Company, Garden State), culminating in a busy 2005 that saw Beam release two EPs, the lush Woman King and In the Reins, a collaboration with Arizona spaghetti Western aficionados Calexico. The politically charged Shepherd's Dog, Beam and company's most diverse -- and most listenable -- record to date, was released in 2007. A two-disc collection of B-sides, rarities, soundtrack inclusions, and discarded tracks from the Iron and Wine archives called Around the Well arrived in early 2009. Kiss Each Other Clean, Iron and Wine's first collection of new music in nearly three years and one that found Beam further expanding the group's sound, was released in January 2011 by their new label, Warner Bros. After a move to 4AD and Nonesuch, Iron and Wine released the more relaxed and intimate Ghost on Ghost in early 2013. The Brian Deck-produced album featured jazz drummer Brian Blade and bassist Tony Garnier of Bob Dylan's band, among others. Together with Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell, Beam released a covers album titled Sing Into My Mouth in 2015. The record featured versions of songs from the likes of Talking Heads, John Cale, and Sade.
Our Endless Numbered Days - 2004-03-24 -
On Your Wings Naked As We Came Cinder and Smoke Sunset Soon Forgotten Teeth in the Grass Love and Some Verses Radio War Each Coming Night Free Until They Cut Me Down Fever Dream Sodom, South Georgia Passing Afternoon
All Tomorrow's Parties A Book Unfinished A History Of Lovers Beauty And Family Beneath The Balcony Blue Leaves Broken Spinning Wheel Burn That Broken Bed California Calm On The Valley Cattle on Calvary Chelsea Hotel #2 Cold Town Cowgirl In The Sand Dead Man's Will Evening On The Ground (Lilith's Song) Expecting To Fly Fistful Of Roses Foot Of The Manger Foreign Photos Freedom Hangs Like Heaven God Gave A Stone Gray Stables Halfway Home
He Lays In The Reins In My Lady's House In Your Own Time It's The Same Old Song Jesus The Mexican Boy Jezebel John's Glass Eye Like Patsy Would Love Is The Foundation Love You This Hound Mothers Of The Rodeo Mr. Soul My Lady's House My Side Of The Road Never Meant Our Friends Shine Overhead Phoenix Place To Be Prison On Route 41 Rattling Bone Red Dust Sacrifice Burning Shake
Sixteen Maybe Less Sleeping Diagonally Smokestack Lightning Someday The Waves Stolen Houses (Die) Summer In Savannah That's How You Know The Night Descending The Sea and The Rhythm The Specter Of Jasper County The Sun Will Rise The Waves Of Galveston The Years Seal Their Beauty This Solemn Day Thousand Miles Wade Across The Water Watch And Chain We All, Us Three, Will Ride What I Am Wild Horses Woman King Your Blue Eyes
The Creek Drank the Cradle
Lion's mane Run like a race for family When you hear like you're alone The rusted gears of morning To faceless busy phones We gladly run in circles But the shape we meant to make is gone Love is a tired symphony Tou hum when you're awake Love is a crying baby Mama warned you not to shake Love is the best sensation Hiding in the lion's mane So I'll clear the road, the gravel And the thornbush in your path That burns a scented oil That I'll drip into your bath The water's there to warm you And the earth is warmer When you laugh Love is a scene I render When you catch me wide awake Love's a dream you enter Though I shake and shake and shake you Love is the best endeavor Waiting in the lion's mane Bird stealing bread Tell me baby tell me Are you still on the stoop Watching the windows close I've not seen seen you lately On the street, by the beach Or places we used to go I've a picture of you On our favorite day by the seaside There's a bird stealing bread That I brought out from under my nose Tell me baby tell me Does his company make Light of a rainy day How I've missed you lately And the way we would speak And all that we wouldn't say Do his hands in your hair Feel a lot like a thing you believe in Or a bit like a bird stealing bread Out from under your nose Tell me baby tell me Do you carry the words Around like a key or change I've been thinking lately of a night on the stoop and all that we wouldn't say If I see you again On the street, by the beach In the evening Will you fly like a bird stealing bread Out from under my nose Faded from the winter Daddy's ghost behind you Sleeping dog beside you You're a poem of mystery You're the prayer inside me Spoken words like moonlight You're the voice that I like Needlework and seedlings In the way you're walking To me from the timbers Faded from the winter Promising light Time and all you gave I was the jerk who preferred the sea To tussling in the waves Tugging your skirt singing please, please, please Now I see love Tracked on the floor where you walked outside Now I seek love Looking for you in this other girl's eyes Time and all you took Only my freedom to fuck the whole world Promising not to look Promising light on the sidewalk girls Now I see love There in your car where I said those things Now I see love Tugging your skirt singing please, please, please Time and all you gave There on your cross that I never saw Well beyond the waves Dunking my head when I heard you call Now I see love There in the scab where you pinched my leg Now I see love There on your side of the empty bed The rooster moans
Crack of dawn the rooster moans Wake up boy you're far from home Serpentine the tracks in flames Longest path the devil laid Led you straight aboard this rusty train Lift your head cuz you can't sleep Bite your lip cuz you can't eat Darkest den the devil made Jesus weeps but he's been paid Not to ride inside this rusty train Buzzard's breath the rooster moans Stow it boy you're far from home Stow your sorrows stow your fear What'd you do to end up here End up on the devil's rusty train Upward over the mountain Mother don't worry, I killed the last snake that lived in the creek bed Mother don't worry, I've got some money I saved for the weekend Mother remember being so stern with that girl who was with me Mother remember the blink of an eye when I breathed through your body So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten Sons are like birds flying upwards over the mountain Mother I made it up from the bruise on the floor of this prison Mother I lost it all of the fear of the Lord I was given Mother forget me now that the creek drank the cradle you sang to Mother forgive me I sold your car for the shoes that I gave you So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten Sons can be birds taken broken up to the mountain Mother don't worry I've got a coat and some friends on the corner Mother don't worry she's got a garden we're it planting together Mother remember the night that the dog had her pups in the pantry Blood on the floor and the fleas in their paws And you cried 'til the morning So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten Sons are like birds flying always over the mountain Southern anthem Just like the way that you ran to wine When they made the new milk turn Jesus a friend in the better times Let your mother's Bible burn Freedom a fever you suffered through And the dog drank from your cup Frozen the river that baptized you And the horse died standing up But when a southern anthem rings She will buckle to that sound When that southern anthem sings It will lay her burdens down Just like the way that you lost your guns When they cut the clothesline loose Jesus a friend of the weaker ones Said "I'm all they stole from you" Freedom a thistle that withered dry Still a baby in your hands Frozen the ground refused to die And the guitar rose again But when a southern anthem rings She will buckle to that sound When that southern anthem sings It will lay her burdens down An angry blade Who left you so? Who left you so? Who left you so? Striking a match for the keyhole Dark as the evening laid When he left you all alone Turning to fade through the sawgrass Tall as the only love That you'll ever really know Who left you so? Who left you so? Who left you so? Grace is a gift for the fallen dear You're an angry blade and you're brave But you're all alone Turning a shade of an angel born In a bramble ditch when the doors Of heaven closed Weary memory Found your mittens behind a box of pictures You would wear them before I brewed the tea That's one memory I can easily conjure Weary memory I can always see Found your rosary broken into pieces Every night by the bed you'd kiss the beads Those are moments that I can always relive Weary memories I can always see Found a photo of you when we were married Leaning back on a broken willow tree That's one memory that I choose to carry Weary memory I can always see Promise what you will Lately she don't care for a warmer breeze Or shade around the base of the maple trees Spring was on the mountain we climbed upon Stopped to see how high and how far we'd gone I said "love is waiting and better days" She smiled and placed a kiss on my waiting face Promise what you will something good for me Time will take it all and it will you'll see Muddy hymnal We found your name across the chapel door Carved in cursive with a table fork Muddy hymnals and some boot marks where you'd been The shaking preacher told the captain's man The righteous suffer in a fallen land Then pulled the shade to keep the crowd from peeking in We found your children by the tavern door With wooden buttons and an apple core Playing house and telling everyone you'd drowned The begging choir told the captain's man We all assume the worst the best we can And for a round or two they gladly drag you down We found you sleeping by your lover's stone A ream of paper and a telephone A broken bow across a long lost violin Your lover's angel told the captain's man It never ends the way we had it planned And kissed her palm and placed it on your dreaming head
Her Tea Leaves
( Bonus 7" with vinyl of The Creek Drank The Cradle LP )
Come the evening of my days The dark birds in the trees and in her garden I think I'll be there somewhere too The yarrow by my head where I have fallen And she will lick her thinner thumb And ringless finger too and douse a candle And though she never gave a thing The way she said my name, we'll be together When autumn comes, she'll be there Jasmine still in her hair Her tea leaves dry by the sea Many men behind her door Have heard the bathtub run and longed to love her And though she doesn't wait for me We never ask the time when we're together
Carissa's Weird
(Bonus 7" with vinyl of The Creek Drank The Cradle LP)
Is there a race involved? You run and hide, you get two stars Last night two fat skinheads whistled at her But she sleeps it off A whiskey scent on her kitten's fur And when it's time to go I'll push her high as she wants to go Red pants down, she's pissing out by the car And though she'll never know Carissa's weird but I love her so
Our Endless Numbered Days
On Your Wings God, there is gold hidden deep in the ground God, there's a hangman that wants to come around How we rise when we're born Like the ravens in the corn On their wings, on our knees Crawling careless from the sea God, there are guns growing out of our bones God, every road takes us farther from home All these men that you've made How we wither in the shade Of your trees, on your wings We are carried to the sea God, give us love in the time that we have Naked As We Came She says wake up, it's no use pretending I'll keep stealing breathing her Birds are leaving over Autumn's ending One of us will die inside these arms Eyes wide open Naked as we came One will spread our Ashes round the yard She says if I leave before you darling Don't you waste me in the ground I lay smiling like our sleeping children One of us will die inside these arms Eyes wide open Naked as we came One will spread our Ashes round the yard Cinder And Smoke Give me your hand The dog in the garden row is covered in mud And dragging your mother's clothes Cinder and smoke The snake in the basement Found the juniper shade The farmhouse is burning down Give me your hand And take what you will tonight, I'll give it as fast And high as the flame will rise Cinder and smoke Some whispers around the trees The juniper bends As if you were listening Give me your hand Your mother is drunk as all the firemen shake A photo from father's arms Cinder and smoke You'll ask me to pray for rain With ash in your mouth You'll ask it to burn again Sunset Soon Forgotten Be this sunset soon forgotten Your brothers left here shaved and crazy We've learned to hide our bottles in the well And what's worth keeping, sun still sinking Down and down Once again Down and down Gone again Be this sunset one for keeping This june bug street sings low and lovely Those band-aid children Chased your dog away She runs, returning, sun still sinking Down and down Once again Down and down Gone again Teeth In The Grass And when you give me your clothes And when we're lovers at last Fresh air, perfume in your nose There will be teeth in the grass And when you give me your house When we're all brothers at last There will be food in our mouths There will be teeth in the grass And when there's nothing to want When we're all brilliant and fast When all tomorrow's are gone There will be teeth in the grass Love And Some Verses Love is a dress that you made long to hide your knees Love to say this to your face I'll love you only For your days and excitement What will you keep for to wear? Someday drawing you different May I be weaving in your hair? Love and some verses you hear Say what you can say Love to say this in your ear I'll love you that way From your changing contentments What will you choose for to share? Someday drawing you different, May I be weaved in your hair? Radio War Did the wine make her dream Of the far, distant spring? Or a bed full of hens? Or the ghost of a friend? All the while that she wept She'd a gun by her bed And the letter he wrote From a dry, foundered boat. And the train track will take All the wounded ones home. And I'll be alone. Fare thee well, Sara Jones. Now we lie on the floor While the radio war Finds its way through the air Of the dead market square. And the beast, never seen, licks its red talons clean. Sara curses the cold No more snow, no more snow. No more snow. Each Coming Night Will you say when I'm gone away "My lover came to me and we'd lay In rooms unfamiliar but until now" Will you say to them when I'm gone away "I loved your son for his sturdy arms We both learned to cradle then live without" Will you say when I'm gone away Your father's body was judgement day We both dove and rose to the riverside Will you say to me when I'm gone "Your face has faded but lingers on Because light strikes a deal with each coming night" Free Until They Cut Me Down When the men take me to the devil tree I will be free and shining like before Papa dont tell me what I should've done She's the one who begged me "Take me home" When the wind wraps me like the reaper's hand I will swing free until they cut me down Papa dont tell me what I could've done She's the one who begged me "Take me home" When the sea takes me like my mother's arms I will breathe free as any word of God Papa dont tell me what you would've done She's the one who begged me "Take me home" Fever Dream Some days her shape in the doorway Will speak to me A bird's wing on the window Sometimes I'll hear when she's sleeping Her fever dream A language on her face "I want your flowers like babies want God's love Or maybe as sure as tomorrow will come" Some days, like rain on the doorstep She'll cover me With grace in all she offers Sometimes I'd like just to ask her What honest words She can't afford to say, like "I want your flowers like babies want God's love Or maybe as sure as tomorrow will come" Sodom, South Georgia Papa died smiling Wide as the ring of a bell Gone all star white Small as a wishing well And Sodom, south Georgia Woke like a tree full of bees Buried in Christmas bows And a blanket of weeds Papa died Sunday and I understood All dead white boys say, "God is good" White tongues hang out, "God is good" Papa died while my girl Lady Edith was born Both heads fell like Eyes on a crack in the door And Sodom, south Georgia Slept on an acre of bones Slept through Christmas Slept like a bucket of snow Papa died Sunday and I understood All dead white boys say, "God is good" White tongues hang out, "God is good" Passing Afternoon There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon Summer warmed the open window of her honeymoon And she chose a yard to burn but the ground remembers her Wooden spoons, her children stir her Bougainvillea blooms There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days Autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made And she's chosen to believe in the hymns her mother sings Sunday pulls its children from their piles of fallen leaves There are sailing ships that pass all our bodies in the grass Springtime calls her children until she lets them go at last And she's chosen where to be, though she's lost her wedding ring Somewhere near her misplaced jar of Bougainvillea seeds There are things we can't recall, Blind as night that finds us all Winter tucks her children in, her fragile china dolls But my hands remember hers, rolling around the shaded ferns Naked arms, her secrets still like songs I'd never learned There are names across the sea, only now I do believe Sometimes, with the window closed, she'll sit and think of me But she'll mend his tattered clothes and they'll kiss as if they know A baby sleeps in all our bones, so scared to be alone
The Shepherd's Dog
Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car Love was a promise made of smoke In a frozen copse of trees A bone cold and older than a body Slowly floating in the sea Every morning there were planes, the shiny blades Of pagan angels in our father's sky Every evening I would watch her hold the pillow Tight against her hollows, her unholy child I was still a beggar shaking out my stolen coat Among the angry cemetery leaves When they caught the king beneath the borrowed car Righteous drunk and fumbling for the royal keys Love was our father's flag and sewn like a shank In a cake on our leather boots A beautiful feather floating down To where the birds had shit on empty chapel pews Every morning we found one more machine To mock our ever-waning patience at the well Every evening she'd descend the mountain stealing socks And singing something good where all the horses fell Like a snake within the wilted garden wall I'd hint to her every possibility While with his gun the pagan angel rose to say "My love is one made to break every bended knee" White Tooth Man Said the plain clothes cop to the beauty queen “I've seen nothing but a spoke in a wheel” So she gave up her crown to a kid with a crutch And they both felt cheated after closing the deal And the white tooth man I ran with him Got all cut up from pissing out in the weeds And a fight upstate with a broken blade And a wife whose finger never wanted a ring Said the plain clothes cop to the Indian chief “I've made nothing but an honest mistake” The postman cried while reading the mail And we all got trampled in the Christmas parade And the white tooth man who sold me a gun A map of Canaan and a government bond Said “I love this town, but it ain't the same” The ski mask ripped as he was putting it on Said the plain clothes cop to the holy ghost “i've heard nothing if it wasn't the wind” And we all got sick on a strip club meal While the statehouse was frying all the witches again So the white tooth man with his kids in the car And a wad of money that was already spent Said “I love my dog but she just ran away, She'll keep running like the world never ends” Love Song of the Buzzard In the failing light of the afternoon Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms Yesterday the solace of a poison fish Tomorrow i'll be kissing on her blood red lips And no one is the saviour they would like to be The lovesong of the buzzard in the dogwood tree With a train of horses laughing through the traffic line And the cradles unimaginative sense of time Springtime and the promise of an open fist A tattoo of a flower on a broken wrist Lucy tells me jokingly to wipe her brow With a pocket map to heaven and the sun goes down Carousel Almost home When I missed the bottom stair You were braiding your grey hair It had grown so long since i'd been gone And the perfect girls By the pool they would protest A cross around their necks But our sons were overseas We all know 'bout the hive and the honey bees Almost home With an olive branch and a dove You were beaten on a Persian rug With your bible and your wedding band Both hidden on the TV stand And the cruel wind blew Every city father fell Off the county carousel While the dogs were eating snow All our sons had sunk in a trunk of Noah's clothes Almost home We got lost on our new street While your grieving girls all died in their sleep So the dogs all went unfed A great dream of bones all piled on the bed And the cops couldn't care When that crackhead built a boat And said "Please, before I go "May our only honoured bond "Be the kinship of the kids in the riot squad." House by the Sea There is a house by the sea Two jealous sisters, they're waiting for me And one is laid on the floor And one is changing the locks on her doors And i've been buying the time on my knees And i've been selling their blankets to bleed Around the house by the sea The scent of roses and raspberry leaves And there is smoke in my clothes Too much time with just smoke in my nose And i've been making the meaning they lack And i've been burning that book they come back to There is a house by the sea And an ocean between it and me And like the shape of a wave The jealous sisters will sing on my grave And i've been living to run where they've led And i've been dying to rise from their bed But i've been sparing my neck from their chain And they've been changing the sound of my name And i've been swimming to them in my sleep But i've been dreaming our love and our freedom Innocent Bones Cain got a milk-eyed mule from the auction Abel got a telephone And even the last of the blue-eyed babies know That the burning man is the colour of the end of day And how every tongue that gets bit always has another word to say Cain bought a blade from some witch at the window Abel bought a bag of weed And even the last of the brown-eyed babies see That the cartoon king has a tattoo of a bleeding heart There ain't a penthouse Christian wants the pain of the scab but they all want the scar How every mouth sings of what it's without So we all sing of love And how it ain't one dog who's good at fuckin' And denying who he's thinking of Cain heard a cat tumble limp off the rooftop Abel heard his papa pray And even the last of the black-eyed babies say That every Saint has a chair you can borrow and a church to sell That the wind blows cold across the back of a master and the kitchen help There's a big pile of innocent bones Still holding up the garden wall And it was always the broken hand We learn to lean on after all How God knows if Christ came back He would find us in a poker game After finding out the drinks were all free But they won't let you out the door again Wolves (Songs of the Shepherd's Dog) Wolves by the road And a bike wheel spinning on a pawn shop wall She'll wring out her colored hair Like a butterfly beaten in a summer rainfall And then roll on the kitchen floor With some fucker with a pocketful of foreign change Song of the shepherd's dog A pitch in the dark in the ear of the lamb Who's going to try to run away Whoever got that brave Wolves in the middle of town And the chapel bell ringing through the wind-blown trees She'll wave to the butcher's boy With the parking lot music everybody believes And then dive like a dying bird To any dude with a dollar in the penny arcade Song of the shepherd's dog Waiter and the check or a rooster on the rooftop waiting for day And you know what he's gonna say Wolves at the end of the bed And a postcard hidden in her winter clothes She weep in the back of a truck To the traitors only trying to find her bullet hole And then run down the canopy road To some mother with a baby and a cross to bear Song of the shepherd's dog Little brown flea in the bottle of oil For your wool and wild hair You'll never get him out of there Resurrection Fern In our days We will live Like our ghosts will live Pitching glass at the cornfield crows And folding clothes Like stubborn boys across the road We'll keep everything Grandma's gun and the black bear claw That took her dog And when Sister Lowry says “Amen,” We won't hear anything The ten-car train will take that word That fledgling bird And the fallen house across the way It'll keep everything: The babies' breath, our bravery wasted, and our shame And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire Both our tender bellies wound in baling wire All the more a pair of underwater pearls Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern In our days We will say What our ghosts will say We gave the world What it saw fit And what'd we get Like stubborn boys With big green eyes We'll see everything And the timid shade Of the autumn leaves And the buzzard's wing And we'll undress beside the ashes of the fire Our tender bellies all wound around in baling wire All the more a pair of underwater pearls Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern Boy With a Coin A boy with a coin he found in the weeds With bullets and pages of trade magazines Close to a car that flipped on the turn When God left the ground to circle the world A girl with a bird she found in the snow Then flew up her gown and that's how she knows That God made her eyes for crying at birth Then left the ground to circle the earth A boy with a coin he crammed in his jeans Then making a wish tossed in the sea Walked to a town that all of us burned When God left the ground to circle the world The Devil Never Sleeps Dreamin' again of a train track ending at the edge of the sea Big black cloud was low and rolling our way Dog at the barbed wire barkin' at my buzz-cut friends Friend with a switch blade shinin' in the summer rain No one on the corner had a quarter for the telephone Everybody bitchin' there's nothing on the radio Dreamin' again of a city full of fathers and their white clothes Chatterin' boys and a chicken at the choppin' block All of us lost at the crosswalk waitin' for the other to go Didn't find the field but boy you're really waterlogged Someone bet a dollar that their daddy wasn't comin' home Everybody bitchin' there's nothing on the radio Dreamin' again that it's freezin' and my mother's in a flower bed Long dead rows of daffodils and marigolds Changin' her face like a shadow on the ground This is what she said No one lives forever and the devil never sleeps alone Everybody bitchin' there's nothing on the radio Peace Beneath the City Here's a prayer for the body buried by the interstate Mother of a soldier, a tree in a forest up in flames Black valley, peace beneath the city Where the women hear the washboard rhythm in their bosom when they say "Give me good legs and a Japanese car and show me a road” Sing a song for the bodies buried by the riverbank A well-dressed boy and a pig with a bullet in the brain Black valley, peace beneath the city Where the white girls wander the strip mall, singing all day “Give me a juggernaut heart and a Japanese car and someone to free" Say something for the body buried like a keepsake Mother of million mouths with the very same name Black valley, peace beneath the city Where the women tell the weather but never ever tell you what they pray They pray "give me a yellow brick road and a Japanese car and benevolent change" Flightless Bird, American Mouth I was a quick wet boy Diving too deep for coins All of your street-light eyes Wide on my plastic toys Then when the cops closed the fair I cut my long baby hair And stole me a dog-eared map And called for you everywhere Have I found you Flightless bird, jealous, weeping Or lost you American mouth Big bill, looming Now I'm a fat house cat Nursing my sore blunt tongue Watching the warm poison rats Curl through the white fence cracks Pissin' on magazine photos Those fishing lures thrown in the cold and clean Blood-of-Christ mountain stream Have I found you Flightless Bird, grounded, bleeding Or lost you American mouth Big bill, stuck going down
Around The Well
Dearest forsaken To my dearest forsaken Who the earth now has taken Empty, the bottle drains no more It is true that i loved you Despite the harm that i own you Wash out the river has you boy Here on the eve of too long Where you'll think i've done wrong Waking in fear of you no more I'll put my trust in the savior Fielding forces of nature Strength of the stump i tied you boy To my dearest forsaken Dearest vow i have broken Afraid of your angry hands no more I'll put my trust in the savior River may help me later Sleeping my lost love for you boy
Morning
Hard light, take the wings of the winter Song bird, they were strong hands that held her Miles above ground, we can't see you now Morning took the reins from the rider Strong hands on the lap behind her They tear her nightgown, we can't see you now
Loud As Hope
Darling behave, though your boy is gone, or so we've heard I feel you would rise if it was a song who'd say these words Summer comes with its color all to take your breath away Winter turns all the summer's love to grey Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh Ah, ah, ah, ah Darling behave, though the barnyard won't say where he's gone I feel you would sing if the orchard let on what went wrong Summer comes, yeah, as loud as hope and takes your breath away Winter takes what the summer had to say
Peng! 33 (Stereolab cover)
Curiosity was far greater than our fear It felt so simple, so prodigious at the same time Incredible things are happening in the world Magical things are happening in this world Across the river there are all kinds of magical instruments While we really keep on living like monkeys Incredible things are happening in the world Magical things are happening in this world, yeah
Sacred Vision
“There's no way to temper your thirst With lasting' impressions or pictures of home There's no way to grow that don't hurt” She growled from the station then hung up the phone There's no sacred vision like her No eye-crushing mountain or jewelry to wear There's no granted wish I prefer Then she to be with me, for us to be there “I'd rather to be all alone Forgiveness is fickle when trust is a chore It's not every sin that's atoned” I heard her speak softly then heard her no more
Friends They Are Jewels
Dreamless sleep will fall like a deep, poisoned well On the steeple birds and this red-light hotel So lay your pistol down, Granny The company men never came to you But don't unknit your brow, Granny The mice in the yard ate the potted plants you grew Pour your bitter tea for our sweet, liquored host Perfect polished stones but this breeze beats you both So lay your pistol down, Granny The duty of men never fell to you When you unknit your brow, Granny Your friends, they are jewels, twice as beautiful and few
Hickory
He kissed her once as she leaned on the windowsill She'll never love him but knows that her father will Her fallen fruit is all rotten in the middle but her Breast never dries when he's hungry The money came and she died in her rocking chair The window wide and the rain in her braided hair A letter locked in the pattern of her knuckle Like a hymn to the house she was making Blind and whistling just around the corner and there's a Wind that is whispering something Strong as hell but my hickory root there She kissed him once cause he gave her a cigarette And turned around but he waits like a turned down bed And summer left like her walking with another and a Sound of a church bell ringing The money came and he died like a butterfly A buried star and the haze of the city lights A gun went off and her mother dropped her baby on the Blue feathered wing - we were lucky Blind and whistling just around the corner and there's a Wind that is whispering something Strong as hell but my hickory root there
Waitin' For A Superman (Flaming Lips cover)
I asked you a question I didn't need you to reply Is it getting heavy And then realize It's getting heavy Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be Is it overwhelming To use a crane to crush a fly It's a good time for Superman To lift the sun into the sky Cause it's getting heavy Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be Tell everybody Waiting for Superman That they should try to Hold on the best they can He hasn't dropped them, forgot them or anything It's just too heavy for Superman to lift
Swans And The Swimming
“Take me again," she said, thinking of him “To the pond with the swans and the swimming" Far from his room the familiar perfume How it left her aware she was naked The lesson she learned when her memory serves Is to marvel with love at the sunset And walking away at the dark end of day She will measure and break like a habit Oh, how the rain sounds as loud as a lover's words And now and again she's afraid when the sun returns “Take me again,” she said, thinking of him “I don't care for this careful behavior” A brush through her hair, children kissing upstairs Keeps her up with her want for her savior The sun on the sand, on her knees and her hands As she begs for her fish from the water But turned them away, she's a whip and a slave Given time she may find something better
Call Your Boys
Call your boys now that the table's set and shining No one's seen any of them in many days Call your boys they shut a buzzard on a Chrysler And you still taste all that you swallowed before grace And you'll forgive even the time they burned the hen house And ran from you ran to the hills with burning hands Setting sun framed in the doorway right behind you Several chores, surely some lessons left to tell Setting sun was in the hills and now before you Set your boys each with their shining silverware They'll bury you under the wood beside the carport They'll bury you some neon stop along the way Radio fuzz on the fence post by the pasture Long ago Liza and you would dance all day Now you lay buried, the stern and sacred father And sacred earth under the billboard in the rain For one last toast here's to the brave who went before us Who died in vain, died in a movie for a dream
Such Great Heights (Postal Service cover)
I am thinking it's a sign That the freckles in our eyes Are mirror images And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned And I have to speculate That God Himself did make Us into corresponding shapes Like puzzle pieces from the clay And true it may seem like a stretch But it's thoughts like this that catch My troubled head when you're away When I am missing you to death When you are out there on the road For several weeks of shows And when you scan the radio I hope this song will guide you home They will see us waving from such great heights "Come down now" they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away "Come down now" but we'll stay I've tried my best to leave This all on your machine But the persistent beat It sounded thin upon listening And that frankly will not fly You'll hear the shrillest highs And lowest lows with the windows down When this is guiding you home They will see us waving from such great heights "Come down now" they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away "Come down now" but we'll stay
Communion cups and someone's coat
Talk of yesterday and She will show her Brothers photographed In callous clothes Say tommorow and She'll say come find me On a beach, and there will no moon But say today, and she will kiss your face And maybe forget Talk of yesterday like baragain shoe strings She will kick the car and find her friends Say tommorow and then She'll describe some old communion cups And someone's coat But say today and she may look your way And lead you home
Belated Promise Ring
Sunday morning my Rebecca sleeping in with me again There's a kid outside the church kicking a can When the cedar branches twist she turns her collar to the wind The weather can close the world within its hand And my mother says Rebecca is as stubborn as they come They both call to me with words I never knew There's a bug inside the thimble, there's a band-aid on her thumb And a pony in the river turning blue They say," Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take" My Rebecca says she never wants a boy To be barefoot on the driveway as they wave and ride away Then to run inside and curse the open door I once gave to my Rebecca a belated promise ring And she sold it to the waitress on a train I may find her by the phone but with a fashion magazine She may kiss me when her girlfriends leave again They say, "Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take" I think I could never love another girl To be free atop a tree stump and to look the other way While she shines my mother's imitation pearls Sunday evening my Rebecca's lost a book she never read And the moon already fell into the sea Saw the statues of our fathers in the courthouse flower bed Now they blend with all the lightnin' tattered trees They say, "Time may give you more than your poor bones could ever take" My Rebecca said she knew I'd want a boy A dollar for my boardwalk red balloon, to float away She would earn a pocketful to buy me more
God Made The Automobile
God made the automobile to pass all the pretty girls The smoke by the side of the road, the blues lovin' boys in tow To drive to the end of the day and bow to a borrowed flag To ride all the brave and the blind, and men without men in mind To pass all the things He made and then never bothered to name And no one will tell the truth, and no one will hide it from you Like birds around the grave God made the automobile and I made a little boy To pass on the blissfully young, the snake with a forked tongue To praise on the wanting for time, and makes in the sleepless waves The fear of the Black and the Jew, and blood for the camera crew And passes the things He made and then never bothered to name And no one can tell the truth, and no one can hide it from you Like birds around the grave
Homeward, These Shoes
Homeward the new road meanders Washed out the old road as to what did I bring Flowers, a verse about spring time Perchance in the tree line she's awaiting for me Homeward these shoes worn to paper Thin as the reason I left here so young Homeward and what if I see her There in the doorway I walked away from White house asleep on the hillside Firm as a habit I struggled to shed Homeward with heaven above me Old road behind me, a door up ahead
Love Vigilantes (New Order cover)
Oh, I've just come from the land of the sun From a war that must be won in the name of truth With our soldiers so brave your freedom we will save With our rifles and grenades and some help from God I want to see my family My wife and child are waiting for me I've got to go home I've been so alone, you see You just can't believe the joy I did receive When I finally got my leave and I was going home Oh, I flew through the sky, my convictions could not lie For my country I would die, and I will see it soon When I walked through the door my wife she lay upon the floor And with tears her eyes did soar, I did not know why Then I looked into her hand and I saw the telegram Said that I was a brave, brave man, but that I was dead
Sinning Hands
Midnight, and her eyes Hide like kittens, new and wet Mine are sinning hands On her lying on my bed The river still may rise Wild and water take us both Mine are sinning hands Take our bodies, take our clothes Bloodless moonlight, may my lady Give her lovely skin and bones Midnight, and my bride Treads in distant water now Mine are sinning hands And my teeth have fallen out The river still may rise Though it took more than it gave Mine are sinning hands On a broken windowpane Bloodless moonlight, like my lady Gave me only skin and bones
No Moon
Black dog bit through the keeper's chain Small and angry when the Devil came Sold my soul like a pocket knife There was no moon, there'll be no milk as sweet Tomcat curled on a rabbit cage Brittle fingers in the potter's clay Sold my soul and I laid her down There was no moon, there'll be no milk as sweet Blue bird laughs on a fallen tree Sunset burns on a quiet sea Sold my soul and they ran me down There was no moon, there'll be no milk as sweet
Serpent Charmer There's a woman hater with a broken record player And a dusty compass, off to map the country's new behaviour Strange words, and we all roll back into the river Brave boys in the empty coats of men There's a kitchen timer, distractions and reminders Look, a roly-poly slowly crawling across your family china Strange words, and we all roll back into the river Dead dogs only want to live again There's a serpent charmer with a pair of shoes and wander A speeding ticket, you got leading that last lamb to slaughter Strange words, and we all roll back into the river Good girls come and kick you in the shin There's a hopeful hunter with a hapless sense of wonder And a million claw marks on the rock he hid his money under Strange words, and we all rolled back into the river And made men only want to live again (close your eyes, you can too) [in reverse]
Carried Home
The kettle burned ‘cause I left it too long When we were kissin' with the radio on The cat was chokin' on a rattlesnake bone The town had gathered ‘round the soldier boy Carried home, carried home The sick kids ate a bowl of red clay And every summer day was endin' in rain The late judge teetered in a john boat The town had gathered ‘round the soldier boy Carried home, carried home The broken window and the pretty blue sky And cold water for my swollen black eye We shook some money from your mother's old clothes When all had gathered ‘round the soldier boy Carried home, carried home…
Kingdom of the Animals
Jenny was gone and the moon blooms all shinin' As we dragged our panic up and down the riverbed Sweatin', wild, and weird in our Sunday clothes Jenny was gone, though I thought that I knew her And the rain came howlin' out of Virginia Blue tick blowin' the water out her nose Jenny and me in the front row and singin' About how heaven calls the kingdom of the animals All and all revealed to us one day Jenny and me on the hilltop and peekin' At all their upturned bottles Jumpin' like a leopard's jawharp Teasin' the brushfire in its rage Jenny came back and the wet road was still shinin' And our eyes an angel clear and coronal Clothed in all that's prodigal and strange Jenny came back and I thought that I heard her Murmur something about no men in Virginia Spat on the ground like a letter tossed away Jenny and me in a dead truck and turning Over just where heaven calls the kingdom of the animals Scratchin' our heads where the wolf would go to lay Jenny and me as the moon blooms were closing Both her wide-eyed brothers runnin' like shepherds Dreamin' the heat of the fields all in flames
Arms of a Thief Mr. Henry and the muscle man, yeah With shoes on a night there was no road to stand Like a letter in a stolen purse She was bored of her weight, she was bored of her words The daughter of a soldier told the fallen priest "That's a cold, cold place in the arms of a thief" And reaching out to touch the steering wheel She said, "Leave me alone but just don't leave me here, all right?" Aye, all right Mr. Henry and another guy gave her gold On a night that it fell from the sky And like a body when the buzzard came She was bored of her look, she was bored of her name The daughter of a lawyer told the fallen priest "That's a cold, cold place in the arms of a thief" And tapping at the air with her heel She said, "Leave me alone but just don't leave me here, all right?" Aye, all right Mr. Henry was a dying man with a vice And a tongue that she didn't understand Like the water when the sea got rough She was bored with the breeze, she was bored of her luck The winner and the loser told the fallen priest "That's a cold, cold place in the arms of a thief" And holding everything he made her steal She said, "Leave me alone but just don't leave me here, all right?" Hey, all right
The Trapeze Swinger
Please, remember me Happily By the rosebush laughing With bruises on my chin The time when We counted every black car passing Your house beneath the hill And up until Someone caught us in the kitchen With maps, a mountain range A piggy bank A vision too removed to mention But Please, remember me Fondly I heard from someone you're still pretty And then They went on to say That the pearly gates Had some eloquent graffiti Like "We'll meet again" And "Fuck the man" And "Tell my mother not to worry" And angels with their gray Handshakes Were always done in such a hurry And Please, remember me At Halloween Making fools of all the neighbors Our faces painted white By midnight We'd forgotten one another And when the morning came I was ashamed Only now it seems so silly That season left the world And then returned And now you're lit up by the city So Please, remember me Mistakenly In the window of the tallest tower call Then pass us by But much too high To see the empty road at happy hour Leave and resonate Just like the gates Around the holy kingdom With words like "Lost and Found" And "Don't Look Down" And "Someone Save Temptation" And Please, remember me As in the dream We had as rug-burned babies Among the fallen trees And fast asleep Aside the lions and the ladies That called you what you like And even might Give a gift for your behavior A fleeting chance to see A trapeze Swing as high as any savior But Please, remember me My misery And how it lost me all I wanted Those dogs that love the rain And chasing trains The colored birds above there running In circles round the well And where it spells On the wall behind St. Peter's So bright with cinder gray And spray paint "Who the hell can see forever?" And Please, remember me Seldomly In the car behind the carnival My hand between your knees You turn from me And said, "The trapeze act was wonderful But never meant to last" The clown that passed Saw me just come up with anger When it filled with circus dogs The parking lot Had an element of danger So Please, remember me Finally And all my uphill clawing My dear But if I make The pearly gates Do my best to make a drawing Of God and Lucifer A boy and girl An angel kissin on a sinner A monkey and a man A marching band All around the frightened trapeze swingers Na-na Na-na-na Na-na Na-na...
Kiss Each Other Clean
Walking Far From Home I was walking far from home Where the names were not burned along the wall Saw a building high as heaven But the door was so small, door was so small I saw rainclouds, little babies And a bridge that had tumbled to the ground I saw sinners making music And I dreamt of that sound, dreamt of that sound I was walking far from home But I carried your letters all the while I saw lovers in a window Whisper "warn me like time, warn me like time" I saw sickness blooming fruit trees I saw blood and a bit of it was mine I saw children in a river But their lips were still dry, lips were still dry I was walking far from home And I found your face mingled in the crowd Saw a boat full of believers Sail off talking too loud, talking too loud I saw sunlight on the water Saw a bird fall like a hammer from the sky And woman on a speed train She was closing her eyes, closing her eyes I saw flowers on a hillside And a millionaire pissing on the lawn Saw a prisoner take a pistol And say "Join me in song, join me in song" Saw a car crash in the country Where the prayers run like weeds along the road I saw strangers stealing kisses Given only their clothes, only their clothes Saw a white dog chase its tail And a pair of hearts carved into a stone I saw kindness and an angel Crying, take me back home, take me back home Saw a highway, saw an ocean I saw widows in the temple to the Lord Naked dancers in the city How they spoke for us all, spoke for us all I saw loaded linen tables And a motherless coat then it was gone I saw hungry brothers waiting With a radio on, radio on I was walking far from home Where the names were not burned along the wall Saw a red road form a circle And it came like a call, came like a call From the Lord Me And Lazarus Me and Lazarus, we shovel all the ashes out Black bare linens blowing 'round Back and forth and up and down Guess I had nowhere else to go Me and Lazarus kept bailing on the riverboat Floating by the choir rose Bobbing in the ebb and flow Guess I had nowhere else to go He's an emancipated punk and he can dance But he's got a hole in the pocket of his pants Must be a symptom of outstanding circumstances Me and Lazarus, we fiddle with a baby spoon Fever flowing through the room Far too long and way too soon Guess I had nowhere else to go Me and Lazarus, we pick up papa's white boy blues Hand-me downs and Sunday shoes Never made the local news Guess I had nowhere else to go And I'm a liberated loser that can roll But where my pocket was I'm peeking through a hole A couple second-chances surely would console me Tree by the River Mary Anne, do you remember The tree by the river When we were seventeen Dark canyon wall, the call and the answer And the mare in the pasture Pitch black and baring its teeth I recall the sun in our faces Stuck and leaning on graces And being strangers to change Radio and the bones we found frozen And all the thorns and the roses Beneath your window pane Now I'm asleep in a car I mean the world to a parted-mouth girl A pretty pair of blue-eyed birds "Time isn't kind or unkind," you liked to say But I wonder to who And what it is you're saying today Now I'm asleep in a car I mean the world to a parted-mouth girl A pretty pair of blue-eyed birds "Time isn't kind or unkind," you liked to say But I wonder to who And what it is you're saying today Mary Anne, do you remember The tree by the river When we were seventeen Dark canyon road, I was coy in the half-moon Happy just to be with you And you were happy for me Monkeys Uptown I knew you well, I know you best A baby mouth and I the breast A lazy bone, an eagle eye Circling a city that's higher than the sky And it's looking like you better do what they say Those monkeys uptown, I told you not to fuck around Heaven's the name and the river is brown With all the mud and the rain, it never settles down It never settles down Your baby left you unimpressed But no one likes a beggar slightly overdressed Trouble comes in funky clothes You can always find a razor lying in the road And it's looking like you better do what they say Those monkeys uptown, I told you not to fuck around Heaven's the name and the river is brown With all the mud and the rain, it never settles down It never settles down I knew you well, I know you best Everybody owes something to everybody else Gabriel gave me some news to give to you Maybe taken for granted, you've nothing better to do And it's looking like you better do what they say Those monkeys uptown, I told you not to fuck around Heaven's the name and the river is brown With all the mud and the rain, it never settles down It never settles down Half Moon Halfway home in the hilltop trees And all our footprints in the snow And the evening glow, leaving Low night noise in the winter time I wake besides you on the floor Counting your breathing I can't see nothing in this half moon Lay me down if I should lose you Halfway working on a worn out house And all our friends, the ragged clothes The naked bones, whining Where are we when the twilight comes? The darker valley and the breeze And the frozen leaves, chiming Because I can't see nothing in this half moon Lay me down if I should lose you Rabbit Will Run Last I saw mother she rose from a chair When they caught me I'd just finished combing my hair 'Cause a rabbit will run, as a colt does along with the mare We've all learned the earth while we carried the throne We dove under the rivers and under our clothes Now I still have a prayer, as sure as my settling bones Last I saw mother she covered my ears When they caught me I offered the captain a beer 'Cause a rabbit will run, and a lion has nothing to fear We bricked up the garden and oh, what it means And we've all kissed a virgin as if she were clean And I still have a prayer, despite all the colors I've seen And judgment is just like a cup that we share I'll jump over the wall and I'll wait for you there Well past the weeds and our vision of things to come We've all heard the rooster and all been denied And we've seen through the haze and the spit in our eyes And I still have a prayer, a well-weathered word to the wise Last I saw mother she smelled like a rose When they caught me the captain, he opened my nose 'Cause a rabbit will run, and the wind takes a bird where it blows We all traded lovers and woke up alone And we clapped for the king, though our fingers were cold And I still have a prayer, because I love what I cannot control Last I saw mother, she acted surprised When they caught me the captain, he cried like a child 'Cause a rabbit will run, and good dogs together go wild We all live in grace at the end of the day And we've armed all the children we thought we'd betrayed I still have a prayer, but too few occasions to pray Judgment is just like a cup that we share I'll jump over the wall and I'll wait for you there Well past the weeds and our visions of things to come And we've all found a reason for hiding the gun We've helped out a few if we've hurt anyone I still have a prayer and so be it, I've done what I've done Last I saw mother, she blew me a kiss When they caught me the cups caught the blood from my wrist 'Cause a rabbit will run, and a pig has to lay in its piss We've all given half to the hand in our face We've all taken a stone from the holiest place Now I still have a prayer, and I've furthered the world in my wake Godless Brother in Love Godless brother in love You might as well Lay down that rose And fold the flag She is money and tabs That broken freedom bell See her big children burning rags By the riverside And you can hear them on the hilltop laughing Cursing every bird in the air Telling her what fun they're having Driving eyes closed Godless brother As far as I can tell The night won't compensate the blind She looks lovely As lightning Aw, but what the hell Her big kids all run down the road With no memories at all And you can hear them on the hilltop laughing Cursing every bird in the air Telling her what fun they're having Driving eyes closed Big Burned Hand When the arrogant goddess of love came to steal my shoes She had a white-hot pistol and a homemade heart tattoo Singing, "one's to give and one's to take away, But neither of them will keep you off your knees" Her children bowed ad bolted off the stage While the lion and the lamb kept fighting for the shade tree When the winsome god of war came to set me free He had a couple of coke bottles full of gasoline Singing, "all I love is all hat I allow" And he blew me a kiss off a big burned hand I nearly choked with smoke and fell down While the lion and the lamb kept shooting at a tin can When the gun shy goddess of love came back to patch things up She had a purple heart and mother's milk in a plastic cup Singing, "one will lay you gently in the grave, And one's the flag you fold before you go" When the curtain rose the crowd was blown away While the lion and the lamb kept fucking in the back row Glad Man Singing I've become a glad man singing a song About a soldier wanting food and fallen angel Naked as a fish at night About a sad man climbed up a willow bough And the cops are on the fence around the dog in the manger And the mouth of the river is wide Wide I've become a glad man singing a song About the bushes by the gas pump gone to flower And a constant star collides About a sad man singing they forgotten how And the baby quit sucking when the milk went sour And the mouth of the river is wide Wide About a sad man lost in the hammock sway When the bridal gown came on and spit out the window And the cops say the dog won't bite And the sad man's saying they've forgotten when And the blood running black in the valley shadows And the river running all the while Yeah I've become a glad man singing a song About a lover rolled over, said you must be tired And the truth coming towards the light About a sad man knocking on a chapel door And a burned out boat called "Tried by Fire" And the mouth of the river is wide Wide Your Fake Name Is Good Enough for Me Fake watches in your broken hand Barely keeping time Barefoot in the city and your phone is ringing Bet you're watching all the happy kids Climbing on a car They were singing something Maybe they were singing: "Become the weeds, we will become Become the sea, we will become" Your fake money gave you everything Left along the road You're cursing by the furnace and your phone is ringing Bet you're watching all the happy kids Clapping in the cool They were singing something Maybe they were singing: "Become the weeds, we will become Become the sea, we will become" Your fake name is not for everyone It's good enough for me Forgotten by the garden and your phone is ringing Bet you're watching all the happy kids Kiss each other clean They were singing something Maybe they were singing: "Become the weeds, we will become Become the sea, we will become" Become the rising sun We will become, become Become the damage done We will become, become Become the river sway We will become, become Become the love we made We will become, become Become the endless chain We will become, become Become forgotten name We will become, become Become sinner and the saint We will become, become Become bandage and the blade We will become, become Become the word and the breath We will become, become Become the card in the chest We will become, become Become the liked and the loathed We will become, become Become the bruise and the blow We will become, become Become the fruit and the fall We will become, become Become the caress and the claw We will become, become Become glory and the guilt We will become, become Become the blossom and the wilt We will become, become Become both right and wrong We will become, become Become the sound and the song We will become, become Become tooth and the tongue We will become, become Become the target and the gun We will become, become Become so cruel and kind We will become, become Become the weary and the wild We will become, become Become allegiance and doubt We will become, become Become the whisper and the shout We will become, become Become the honest and the veiled We will become, become Become the hammer and the nail We will become, become Become the blessing and the curse We will become, become Become their crooked words We will become, become Become the blood and the bone We will become, become Become an ice cream cone We will become, become Become the way and the wall We will become, become Become a disco ball We will become, become Become both now and then We will become, become Become again and again We will become, become
Black Candle (I-tunes Bonus Track)
I gathered my luck and I went with my brother To where the witch on the hill threw the bones of her mother To where the bravest birds in the height of the sky Tumble down the mountainside And gather to pray like a blanket on the fallen pines Like praying ain't a waste of time She told me again that she knew I'd be coming And she padded her gown with all my counterfeit money She said your love is locked in the garden you grow A soldier's wound that bleeds through his clothes Pick up your gun and pray there's no one left to fight Like praying ain't a waste of time Ain't a waste of time Ain't a waste of time I said you've given me less than you know I can handle So the witch on the hill lit a single black candle Said the name of God is carved on a blade The wheels you make will turn in flames So pray for love and the world to praying kind Like praying ain't a waste of time
Lean Into The Light (I-tunes Bonus Track)
We're not happy most of the time We're not sad too often We'll keep walking blind in the sun While the rain's falling and then we'll Laugh 'bout the rage and never sigh Laugh just as long as we're side by side Laugh as we lean into the light Laugh We're no better off than we were We're no worse for trying We'll keep walking blind by the gates Now the church bells chiming But we'll laugh as the tears roll from our eyes Laugh holding hands and our knuckles whine Laugh as we lean into the light Every morning, every good night Every wrong word in our minds do make me say come right Every welcome, every goodbye Every dark room our bodies made We're leaning towards the light
Ghost On Ghost
Caught in the briars The back alley's full of rain and everything's shining As holy as she can be, the trick's in the timing Free as the morning birds, fragile as china She's stuck in the weakest heart of South Carolina Where all of the naked boys who lay down beside her Sing her the saddest song, all caught in the briars I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake I never meant to fall so hard in her doorway All of the sinners here have crosses for Sunday Kissed at the county fair, frisked in the city Where proof is an answered prayer but ain't it a pity That all of the naked boys who lay down beside her Sing her the saddest song, all caught in the briars
The Desert Babbler It's New Year's Eve And California's gonna kill you soon The Barstow boys Buckeyes in the shadow of the moon Black houses in the hills and roadside hearts Dying for a place to fall apart Who knew what you could learn to live without Mother Mary's lying in your mouth, now I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Back home the kitchen's warm with Christmas wine And every girl has got an axe to grind You live to look for heaven But you're far from that hard light tonight So quietly we've lost another year The desert put a babbler in your ear Mean fireweed and I miss you again Barstow boys are spit into the wind Back home the hammer always has to fall Crosses barely hanging on the wall Someday I know you'll never leave me But we're far from that hard light tonight
Joy Deep inside the heart of this troubled man There's an itty bitty boy tugging hard at your hand Born bitter as a lemon but you must understand That you've been bringing me joy I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake And I'll only lie when you don't want the truth I'm only frightened cause you finally gave me something to lose And it's as loud as a thunderclap and you hear it, too But you've been bringing me joy Deep inside the heart of this crazy mess I'm only calm when I get lost within your wilderness Born crooked as a creek bed and come to confess That you've been bringing me joy When I'm alive I'm living for you Another blue bird dying but singing the blues And it's a heartfelt silly sort of bumbling tune About how you're bringing me joy
Low Light Buddy Of Mine He's in a white car waiting for the light to change He's a buddy of mine but I can't complain He can make a lot of money, he can touch his toes He knows you never look until the lights are low I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake But I love you and you love me So we never demand and we never agree I love you and you love me And there's new fruit humming in the old fruit trees He's in a white car waiting in a parking lot And he's jealous of me and what we've got He can buckle his belt, he can shine his shoe But he can never end up where I found you And I love you and you love me So we don't talk back and we don't say please I love you and you love me And there's new fruit humming in the old fruit trees He's in a white car waiting for the rain to pass He's a buddy of mine but that won't last Cause he ain't the dumb grin on an empty cup We both took him for when he showed up Cause I love you and you love me So we both get stuck and we both get free I love you and you love me And there's new fruit humming in the old fruit trees
Grace For Saints And Ramblers But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) There were banged up heads stealing first base Underneath the table so we never said grace Falling out of bed for the workday week There was kissing in the cracks of the flashflood street There were budding blossoms blaring Johnny Rotten Chewed up and swallowed by the prophet they were trying to follow Picked to green and we payed no tax on our quick romantic cul-de-sacs But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) There were crashed out cars in our barcode clothes There was rubbing on each other, rubbing ghost on ghost There were jumped-up punks and the Jesus freaks Weaving in and out of trouble, wrapping round and round a leash There were sleepless dreamers, doomsday preachers The message and the messenger, the gun beneath the register The sweet gum tree by the tough drunk tank We could never give enough to the bad blood bank There were hopeless sinners, sweepstake winners They danced with the farmer's daughter, capered with the corporate lawyers I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake All came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I There was laughing in the light, sugar in the shade There were backstab handshakes made on faith We were never out of time and we'd never entertain Anybody say the habit of the wind was gonna change There were mislead misfits, teething biscuits Fountains full of penny wishes, potties full of pretty fishes Side by side with the birds and bees And we never said grace, never ever took a knee With the saints and ramblers, movie star handlers High above the aviary, underneath the cemetery And we never wondered why Cause the sun was in our eyes There was seed for the field, there was grease for the wheel We were drinking with the luminaries eaten with the missionaries All came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I (down to you and I) But it all came down to you and I
Grass Windows We found each other blown between the trees Waning moons wanting to be swallowed by the sea Like we finally saw the colors of the world We grew the garden snake within the weeds Laid each other long across a flat backstreet Like we finally saw the colors of the world We felt the sun leave us for the west Little lips always folding farther from the breast Like we finally saw the colors of the world We ran a white flag up the mast Puckered up like a widow dreaming in the grass Like we finally saw the colors of the world I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Like we saw black Like we saw black and blue You pressed a pillow full of snow on my bruise Like we saw black Like we saw God green too You saw it awful but it's over too soon Like we saw black Running around red ripe vines I find you in the folds of lonely red night Like we saw black Lying in golden white Lonely so you tried to love me alright We threw our money to the river stones Led each other through the woods to wander back alone Like we finally saw the colors of the world We let the taste linger in the mouth South Chicago never gave us more to sing about Like we finally saw the colors of the world
Singers And The Endless Song When we all ran back into the briars We told our children about the foreign shore When we threw our boots into the fire We told them all about the tug of war Gonna tell them about the seed and the shovel About the prison and the promised land Gonna tell them about the dream of the devil About the hurting and the healing hand, that hand I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song When we held our words up in the mirror We told our children how to hold their tongues When we held our heads beneath the river We told them all about the iron lung Gonna tell them about the sins of the father About the junkie and the jubilee Gonna tell them about the roots in the water About the killing in the quiet line of trees Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song All our morning kisses in the covers And told our children what 'worthy' means And then you wrapped your arms around another And told them what was worth a pile of beans Gonna tell them about the call of the ocean About the singers and the endless song Gonna tell them about the body and the motion And how the music never lasts too long, too long Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song About the low lit alley and the wedding bed About the first born sucker and the spider's web Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song About the mind and the muscle and the weary mile About the heart and the hustle and the empty sky Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song About the tangled up truth in the perfect teeth About the pilgrim and the picking through the chaff and wheat Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song About the butterfly kiss and the call for blood About the pig and the preacher and the holy mud Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song About the breeze in the summer and the nose will know About the sleep through the winter when the cold wind blows Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song About the lame duck lion and the thorny crown About the proud punk mule and the heavy plow Cause the music never lasts too long for the singers and the endless song About the sunburned belly and the mother's moon About the end of the music coming way too soon
Sundown (Back In The Briars) There go the cops with the tomcat teeth Here come the church mice trying too hard She had a way to be kind with words I had a knife in the back of my car I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Nobody knows when the rain may come Nobody wants to wake up and be cruel She locked the door and the sun went down In South Carolina with nothing to lose All of her naked boys And not even I was true
Winter Prayers Well it's cold and you're bored From counting the Smart cars on 94 When you dream, you're back home But the lakeside don't trust you to walk alone Hollow trees talk offhand All the neckties are toasting with empty cans And you know why she's gone Like the clothes in the river drifting on Slide down south Cause once in a while your confidence leaves you Like smoke falls out her red mouth Well she left you the holes That tracks in the backyard December snow But those sad souvenirs They end at the fence line and disappear I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Why'd you follow her there Milwaukee's a deaf ear for winter prayers There's no night, there's no day With only hope in your pocket and hell to pay Slide down south When once in a while your confidence leaves you Like smoke falls out her red mouth New Mexico's No Breeze God gave you red light on every green road sign when you left Santa Fe We were two string beans and you were too nineteen to be blowing away There were thieves in the square hiding hands and hiding prayers in all their mumbling Nothing left you alone, tangled hills and tiny verio singing something Stuck with her pin curls, your mama was scared of the world, it was born with a bang I was stepping on sea shells by the old Mission San Miguel when a bell tower rang And the sky fell apart heard the rain, I heard your heart, and what was spoken Was "nothing begs for a name, nothing wants to stay the same, and nothing's broken" I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake When your friends and their friends passed the pipe or tied the knot Honeymoon music played in the drive thru parking lot I woke up by your bed, you were wandering around the yard Window wide as a day but the sun just hit too hard Little low votive doors, Mama's house slowed a little more every evening Naked boys throwing stones, beady eyes and desert bones, they saw you leaving God gave you bobwhites and the good kind of black night when you left Santa Fe New Mexico's no breeze and you were so nineteen, you were blowing away
Lovers' Revolution I came to you and you to me And we were tapping on the window at the children when the piggy bank broke Pitching quite a fit About how the makers of the medicine will always say you're looking sick I came to you and you to me And we would whimper to the women washing milk off of their formal white clothes But the funny thing Was how when God was in his people we were dreaming about who else to be And all the fingers that we damaged when all we wanted was a diamond ring I came to you (came to you) and you to me (came to me) And we were barking at the drug dogs, blood dried black on their hands And never realized You never tussle with a giant til you can hit him right between the eyes (I came to you, I came to you) And that no matter how we chewed it, we'd be choking on a compromise (I came to you, I came to you) Cause all the jaws, all the claws lay restless by the riverside (I came to you, I came to you) And it wasn't muscle in the shadow that was shoving us into the light I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake I came to you and you to me And we were snatching at a war baby's bottle just to trade it for change But now it's come to pass That every eye beneath the mountain saw the smoke but no one heard the blast That no one knew the arm was broken although everybody signed the cast And until the government was good, she said “Man, I thought you'd never ask” And when love wore out her welcome, they just booked her for a bag of grass That while she cried on the cross, we were sucking on the laughing gas And when the head had left the body, not a flag was hanging half-mast (I came to you, I came to you) I came to you and you to me And then we lost our own lovers' revolution but it started again And now we're one One of the parade wake widows walking home into the setting sun One of the soldiers lost in the dreams that never lose the gun (I came to you, I came to you) One of the wise men wandering the podium without a tongue One of the trophies tarnished by the mess we made of being young (I came to you, I came to you) One of the prayers, one of the promises swallowed with our chewing gum One of the deaf ears, dumber all the time for all the years of drums (I came to you, I came to you) One of the wide-eyed soap boxes buried under Washington One of the beat cops combing every sidewalk crack for love (I came to you, I came to you) One of the crowded stars uncounted when the map was done One of the withered in the garden left to wonder when the rain will come Baby Center Stage Mama called you "Baby Center Stage" She could really run her mouth Baton Rouge called you "Petite Ange" When Birmingham had run you out Doesn't anybody see how scared you are? There was a time when I was running you down But the world kept spinning around Doesn't anybody see how scared you are? There was a time when you were running to me But the lightning spared the tall tree I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake When your moon lights up the riverside Slinging mud and bad blood You can call me anytime For all it's worth, Louisiana's still not enough In your restless days I got lost, I got saved In your restless nights I swung blind, somehow falling into the light Doesn't anybody see how scared you are? There was a time I was running you down But the world kept spinning around Doesn't anybody see how scared you are? There was a time when you were running to me But the hurricane had mercy In your restless days All that wind, all those waves In your restless nights We closed our eyes, killed each other, and came to life In your restless days I made my bed and dug my grave In your restless nights We both swung blind, somehow falling into the light
Archive Series Volume No. 1
Slow Black River Lost my watch, watch and chain But time's not lost This time we walk together beside the slow black river Water-walking over mud You whisper something Something good in my ear So I stop so I can hear: "Darling, I'm the one to blame I threw your watch and chain To where I don't know Inside the tall grass meadow You'll forget, forget in time Remember this: Your hand in mine forever Beside the slow black river" Lost my watch, watch and chain, to her today But time it has no meaning When her and me are walking Darling, I'm the one to blame I love you still And timeless now forever Together by the river
The Wind Is Low
You, strong as a virgin birth Me, keeping your every word Two dots where a single was Three, counting the little one We sail in the smallest boat Sleep just when the wind is low You see from the sparrow's height Me, seeking you every night Two sailing towards the sun Three, counting the little one
Eden Whisper in my ear everything my dear Every wicked legend that you carry On your naked breast I believe it was your best ... since we married As God will be my judge I'm not the man I was Before I found you lying in the garden Let's go buy some clothes Some warm socks for your toes Cause it might be much colder in the morning
Two Hungry Blackbirds
Lovers accustomed to tragedy See every kiss in the window across the street Breezes and blessings passing by, ah ooh-oh I'm in the shade of the dogwood tree Not the one where you told your name to me Two hungry blackbirds land near by, ah ooh-oh If I could be over you when the sky starts falling Would you be happy under me? If I could be under you if the earth was burning Could you be trusted over me? Spoke to a mother whose baby drowned Gave me advice, or a rumor she once heard: “Heaven's a distance, not a place,” ah ooh-oh Gave her an ear from the corn we grew You were away but she gave her thanks to you That was a year ago come May, ah ooh-oh If I could be over you when the sky starts falling Would you be smothered under me? If I could be under you if the earth was burning Would you be cryin' over me? I could hear kids in the yard next door Cats in the brush when the calendar fell down Wait by the shade-tree one more year, ah ooh-oh Poetry tempered with tragedy Tempted and pulled when you cry upon my sleeve Two flocks of blackbirds meet the air
Freckled Girl Someday soon I'll just live over yonder Bring you coffee to taste Crossword puzzles to ponder And I hope you're well And you know that I love you Though I write so seldom And call every blue moon There's some tall Georgia boy Searching out a freckled girl with style Wait 'til tomorrow Someday soon when we hail from Atlanta We won't need some Christmas to spend time together And I hope you're well And you sleep every evening Never lying awake for your dreaming of children There's some tall Georgia boy Searching out a freckled girl with style Wait 'til tomorrow
Judgement
Day walks out and there's no sound There's a candle burning by me now Light enough for to see the things beyond me Door is wide as a rise on me So the night comes in and starts to breath The only name that I really know Tell me did he think of me At a drop of rain, or when you see When it rakes as it moves across the water Judgement comes when I'm all alone Like a spyglass on the furthest coast Favored now that it's left behind When you talk to me you could swallow me Nighttime brings me a place I fear Where I hear your words and feel you near Fingers only to find a frozen memory Sometimes clothes chosen long ago A direction down a gravel road Makes you wish you could take him back Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh Days walk on and when there's no sound I go straight to you and find you down Kneeling next to the water where I left you Knee-deep now in the creek I made From the landscape lost I want to save Save it now or be punished more When you talk to me you could swallow me Nighttime brings me a place I fear Where I hear your words and feel you near Fingers never to find a warmer memory Sometimes friends we knew long ago Or affections we set free to go Find you right where you ran to hide
Sing Song Bird Give me your shoulder, I'm a sing song bird My savior says that I'm the words I map across a daylight blinding you Chicken-boned and with a 10-cent bunk Claimed Jesus spoke, though I was drunk Untied my shoe and told me what to do: "Warn the boys are about the dimmer rooms That try to woo them all with their cheap perfume Rooms like this, a pathway to the fall Warn the girls about the dimmer stars That try to woo them all with the cheap guitars The morning fades the glitter on their song Warn the boys are about the dimmer rooms That try to woo them all with their cheap perfume The sun don't sweat the souls that get the call Warn the girls about the dimmer stars That try to woo them all with the cheap guitars Dear Lord, give me the strength to shade you all"
Beyond The Fence
Two flat tires on the Model T Two birds fightin' for a worm Faded squares like snowy TV screens Where your photographs were hung Keep Old Glory folded on a shelf In a cabinet full of guns Sell that engine block to someone else Maybe they can make it run How'd that calf get out beyond the fence How'd that hole get in your jeans Movie show was once but twenty cents That mud there was once a stream The moon is high, your nose is burnt Your dog is gone Your mouth is dry, the milk is turned But Barbara's home Hand in hand you watch the sun go down Colored lullabye of God Barbara wears her mother's old nightgown Sleepin' with a nightlight on White sheet blowin' on a short clothesline New tree bendin' to the breeze This clock's beautiful but can't keep time What's that scar on both your knees The moon is high, your nose is burned Your dog is gone Your mouth is dry, the milk has turned But Barbara's home
Quarters In A Pocket Like the setting sun And more than anyone You look warmer when you're sinking down Find your favourite tree And come sit next to me I've a sheet that's softer than the ground This time spent with you Feels like charcoal sketches for a painting That you won't let me see But I've come to find That comfort comes like quarters in a pocket I thought were lost to me All your favourite clothes And all the pain we know Came from those you favour for a time Take it off your chest And throw your loneliness In a surly river, cold and wild This time spent with you Feels like charcoal sketches for a painting That you won't let me see But I've come to find That comfort comes like quarters in a pocket I thought were lost to me Lie about your sign And hang your worry line On a missing poster for a dog Find a promise ring And blind affinity For a match the gypsy said was wrong This time spent with you Feels like charcoal sketches for a painting That you won't let me see But I've come to find That comfort comes like quarters in a pocket Discovered accidentally
Loretta "Look at the shadow on our tree Seems we'll meet an early dusk" Loretta looked up, the grey sky low Two-by-two on the bus Water and anger in our house Though she spoke of rainbows Reaching the roof with soaking shoes River's up, where'd she go You're wiser, Loretta You're wiser, and only twenty-five Churning, the TV floating by Through our room and out the door Loretta, she prayed for what to do If it rained anymore She was a washcloth wet with love I was not. She was mine I'm in the olive tree next door River's up to my eyes You're wiser, Loretta Much wiser, and only just in time
Everyone's Summer Of '95 They heard a car sputter away too soon Me and the boys from the billiards room Found a shady tree Halfway home and going nowhere Casey was asked for his favorite joke Fluttered away just before he spoke But he came to me Halfway home and going nowhere All I can tell you, is how we spent the time Friends are made in the strangest ways And I'll miss them by and by Late in the day and the dust kicked up Me and the boys with the windows shut And the music on Halfway home and going nowhere Everyone's summer of '95 Vivid and there till the tape had died On our favorite song Halfway home and going nowhere Hitching a ride with a crusty girl Me and the boys stole her tie dye shirt And a kiss or two Halfway home and going nowhere Casey wars words with the mud flap guy Smothered and bruised in the neon lights And we all went down Halfway home and going nowhere All I can tell you is how we spent the time Friends are made in the strangest ways And I'll miss them by and by Back on our feet, and the car backs in Me and the boys at the billiards room Coming back on beer Halfway home and going nowhere Casey will crack up, a fight broke lose I'm in the back, thinking I must choose But I like it here Halfway home and going nowhere
Minor Piano Keys
Say, say something nice to her Fragrant and sturdier Delicate hands for shoulders sliding down Days, days like a summer rain Blink and they're gone again Soaking she sits alone, outside and down Prays, prays for a soldier boy In fire and angry noise Under the thumb of the Lord And waits, quilting and quietly Her minor piano keys Slip through the screen of the door Say, say what you mean to her Washing her colander Eyes on the stranger cresting ‘round the bend Days, days like the winter snow Linger ‘til heaven knows Naked she sings the table grace and then Prays, prays for her soldier boy In fire and angry noise Under the thumb of the lord And waits, quilting and quietly Minor piano keys Slip through the screen of the door
Your Sly Smile Blue light setting lotus style in your A-frame in the countryside Stillness slides the door and walks inside Candle on the windowsill Burnt wickless through our low-lit meal Heaven only knows the things you hide In your blue eyes, in your sly smile Tangerine on both your hands Smells strong as the tobacco can Roll me up a smoke if you don't mind Touch me like that afternoon When your friends would all be over soon And you said, “"what the hell, we'll make the time”" With your blue eyes, in your sly smile
Halfway To Richmond I'll make supper for myself I'll watch the clock upon the shelf I'll clean this broken house you denied Is your time much better spent By giving such a small percent To every pleasantry that I tried What's the ugly thing I see When was this cold and uncomely Animosity begotten Fucking with the lights left on Till every ounce of strength was gone Is there something you'd forgotten When a new sun warms the bedroom wall I'll be halfway to Richmond I'm a fool just to care at all You're the free vagabond London Bridge is falling down And Simon says to turn around These games ain't too fun when you're grown Where'd you go, and why'd you leave I'll close my eyes and count to three Then hurry up and wait by the phone But when a new sun warms the bedroom wall I'll be halfway to Richmond I'm a fool just to care at all You're the free vagabond
Wide Across The Water I saw you wade across the river Winter coat across your shoulders Calling out, what did you say? If I wade across the water When I rise will you be there Holding on or turned the other way? I saw you wade across the river Handkerchief in your fingers Just in case, well, just in case If I lose to the water Lose it all for you, lover You were all I wanted anyway
Postcard This postcard tells you where we've been And dirty dreams of pious men Who wake in fear but sleep again With what they've done With what they've done With all they've done Some profit died but wrote it down Our serpent bell is on the ground And all the ladies sing it loud Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah The meadow birds have found the bones of righteous men Like ragged clothes, like precious stones And fell like evil in the end and eight of them Those evil men, those perfect men Some knuckle broken heart disease Which pulled a preacher off his knees A callous whisper through the trees Blows patience boy More patience boy More patience boy And watch her children by the flame The ones you gave your father's name Whose evil and his love remained Inside you boy Inside you boy Inside you boy The meadow birds have found the bones of righteous men Like ragged clothes, like precious stones And fell like evil in the end and eight of them Those evil men, those perfect men We'll sing a song we've never heard Formed out of small forsaken words And all the while that this occurs We'll love you all We'll love you all We'll love you all And for the beauty that we've lost The measures time for love it cost Despite our feelings for the cross We love you all We love you all We love you all
Sing into My Mouth
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Talking Heads)
Home is where I want to be Pick me up and turn me round I feel numb, born with a weak heart I guess I must be having fun The less we say about it the better Make it up as we go along Feet on the ground Head in the sky It's ok I know nothing's wrong, nothing Hi yo I got plenty of time Hi yo you got light in your eyes And you're standing here beside me I love the passing of time Never for money Always for love Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight Home, is where I want to be But I guess I'm already there I come home she lifted up her wings Guess that this must be the place I can't tell one from the other Did I find you, or you find me? There was a time, before we were born If someone asks, this where I'll be, where I'll be Hi yo we drift in and out Hi yo sing into my mouth Out of all those kinds of people You got a face with a view I'm just an animal looking for a home Share the same space for a minute or two And you love me till my heart stops Love me till I'm dead Eyes that light up, eyes look through you Cover up the blank spots Hit me on the head Done This One Before (Ronnie Lane)
Well, in the morning we'll have to pretend again, smiling You'll be my good friend again, hold me The light comes a-creeping in the morning, the curtain will rise again I know, I know, cause I've done this one before Well, it's the end there, just the beginning, and I'm here Caught in the middle, loving you comes As easy as breathing, loving you comes when everyone's leaving I know, I know, cause I've done this one before I know, I know Why must it be so Why ask for the moon Well, there's just so much, to want to be with her Where was I when she was in trouble? Now I'm here and Too late, as usual in the morning Well, she'll be returning I know, I know, because I've read this one before I know, I know Why must it be so Why ask for the moon Any Day Woman (Bonnie Raitt)
If you don't love her you'd better let her go You'll never fool her you're bound to let it show Love's so hard to take when you have to fake Everything in return You just preserve her When you serve her a little tenderness If she's a woman she'll try to make it last If you're a man now you'd better end it fast There's no reason here, no treason here Just the way a womans mind Well she has no blame, she has no shame She just loves you It's not easy to undo what's done Or to speak too freely to just anyone And if this takes more than you bargained for Boy it's time you learned Not to talk so loud or walk so proud When you're comin' on You Know More Than I Know (John Cale)
But us, like other angry whores Discuss what threats were made before You don't need them anymore You know more than I know You know more than I know You know more than I know Instead I read the morning news In bed, what endlessness ahead And there's no more to be said You know more than I know You know more than I know You know more than I know The blind may see but stay behind relief Of all liability and greed And there's nothing more you need You know more than I know You know more than I know You know more than I know No one listens to it They don't believe it But it's the only way for me You know more than I know You know more than I know You know more than I know What crap, old chap, fills up the gap we set Like traps, like traps for us, the rats And there's nothing more to catch You know more than I know You know more than I know You know more than I know Then bury me deep down among the weeds That creep into the hearts of all the weak And there's nothing more so weak You know more than I know You know more than I know You know more than I know Bullet Proof Soul (Sade)
I was so in love with you You rarely see a love that's true Wasn't that enough for you Wasn't that enough for you I would climb a mountain I wouldn't want to see you fall Rock climb for you And give you a reason for it all You keep on thinking You were the only one Too busy thinking Love is a gun Hit me like a slow bullet Like a slow bullet It took me some time to realise it You keep on thinking You were the only one Too busy thinking Love is a gun I know the end before The story's been told It's not that complicated But you're gonna need a bullet proof soul You were trigger happy baby You never warned me let me free It's not that complicated But you're going to need a bullet proof soul I think you got it But you got all the trouble you need I came in like a lamb But I intend to leave like a lion It hit me like a slow bullet (like a slow bullet) It hit me like a slow bullet (like a slow bullet) It hit me like a slow bullet (like a slow bullet) It hit me like a slow bullet (like a slow bullet) There's No Way Out of Here (Unicorn)
There's no way out of here When you come in you're in for good There was no promise made The part you played the chance you took There are no boundaries set But time and yet you waste it still So it slips through your hands Like grains of sand you watch it go There's no time to be lost You'll pay the cost so get it right There's no way out of here When you come in you're in for good And never was there an answer, there an answer Not without listening without seeing There are no answers here When you look out you don't see in There was no promise made The part you played the chance you took There's no way out of here When you come in you're in for good And never was there an answer, there an answer Not without listening without seeing There's no way out of here When you come in you're in for good There are no answers here When you look out you don't see in There was no promise made The part you played the chance you took (There's no way out of here When you come in you're in for good There are no answers here When you look out you don't see in There was no promise made The part you played the chance you took...) There's no way out of here God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get) (El Perro Del Mar)
God knows I've been taking a lot without giving back God knows I've been taking a lot without giving back You gotta give to get You gotta give to get back You gotta give to get You gotta give to get back You gotta give to get You gotta give to get back to the love God knows I've been taking a lot without giving back God knows I've been taking a lot without giving back God knows I've been asking a lot without giving back You gotta give to get You gotta give to get back You gotta give to get You gotta give to get back You gotta give to get You gotta give to get back to the love Get back got to get back Get back got to get back Get back got to get back Get back got to get back Straight and Narrow (Spiritualized)
The trouble with the straight and the narrow Is its so thin, I keep sliding off to the side And the devil makes good use of these hands of mine And if Jesus is the straight path that saves Then I'm condemned to live my whole life on the curb On the crossroad with the devil, I'll dwell and I'll count my years You know that I got a little something I should say I guess that I'm just so easily led astray It's alright because I know my own way back home from here And I don't fall of the wagon you know I take a dive and go as deep as I can go Don't hold your breath cause I'm coming up slow, this time And the trouble with the straight and the narrow Is its so thin, I keep sliding off to the side And the devil makes good use of these hands of mine You know a little problem or two I guess that I keep on taking a few I've been told its not the best thing that I can do, right now And I don't go looking for my sins you know They come out waiting, and I just get on and go Don't hold your breath cause I'm coming up slow this time And the trouble with the straight and the narrow Is its so thin, I keep sliding off to the side And the devil makes good use of these hands of mine And if Jesus is the straight path that saves Then I'm condemned to live my whole life on the curb On the crossroad with the devil, I'll dwell and I'll count my years And the devil makes, the devil makes, the devil makes, good use of these hands of mine And the devil makes, the devil makes, the devil makes, good use of these hands of mine Magnolia (JJ Cale)
Whippoorwill's singing Soft summer breeze Makes me think of my baby I left down in New Orleans I left down in New Orleans Magnolia, you sweet thing You're driving me mad Got to get back to you, babe You're the best I ever had You're the best I ever had You whisper "Good morning" So gently in my ear I'm coming home to you, babe I'll soon be there I'll soon be there Am I A Good Man (Them Two)
Am I a good man Am I a fool Am I weak Somebody tell me or am I just playin' it cool I have a woman and I know she's no good Still I hold my head up high And try to do the things that a good man should Does that make me a good man Am I a fool Am I weak Somebody tell me or am I just playin' it cool She has made my whole life a mess Still I work day and night for her So she can always have the best Does that make me a good man Am I a fool Am I weak Somebody tell me or am I just playin' it cool The best of her love she gives to someone else But still before I hurt my little girl I'd rather hurt myself Make me a good man Am I a fool Am I weak Somebody tell me or am I just playin' it cool She's made my whole life a mess Still I work day and night for her So she can always have the best Does that make me a good man Am I a fool Am I weak Somebody tell me or am I just playin' it cool Am I a good man? Am I a good man Am I weak? Somebody tell me Am I just playin' it cool You know I love her Am I a fool Am I a fool Ab's Song (Marshall Tucker Band cover)
And if I died at twenty-three Would you bury me in the sunshine? Please let me know that you're still mine Though I'm gone My love for you is oh-so strong And when the grass grows over me Let me know you still love me Never put nobody else above me Then I'll know My love for you will always grow
Coyote, My Little Brother (Peter La Farge)
Coyot', Coyotee-ee-ee! What have they done My brother, where Brother, where Where do you run? They strychinined the mountains They strychinined the plains Brother, the coyote Won't come back again Won't come back again When you hear him singing The few that are left He's warning the human race Of his death, of his death Don't poison the mesas Don't poison the sky Or you won't be back Little brother Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye There will be no one to listen And no one to sing And never ever be... Be spring...
Beast Epic
Years To Burn
What Heaven's Left One, two, three You take my tears off my face You give me dawn for all the night that I make What wave of a wild hand called you into this world You take my fear, give me a fist When I come to fight, you come with a kiss What wave of a wild hand called you into this world I could be lost in the hills, laid on the street And like the morning, you'll find me in time Ask me what heaven's left I'll say, "Nothing comes to mind" What wave of a wild hand called you into this world I could be lost in the hills, dead on my feet And like the morning, you'll find me in time You take my doubt, let me believe You find the lightning in the tops of my trees What blink of a wild eye called you into this world You take my tongue when I try to say "I'm always coming home the same castaway" What wave of a wild hand called you into this world I could be lost in the hills, down on my knees And like the morning, you'll find me in time Ask me what heaven's left I'll say, "Nothing comes to mind" Comes to mind Comes to mind Comes to mind Mind Mind Mind Midnight Sun They say seen the king of birds And the queen of hearts Wore each other's keys Before they called the wedding off And all the feathers rained down And the town fell asleep Pulling on the poems For the midnight sun Pulling on the poems For the midnight sun Yeah she shook the ground (shook the ground) With every breath (every breath) Tossed his troubles aside (troubles aside) Made a shrine of every mess Well, a woman appeared (woman appeared) With a guillotine smile (guillotine smile) She handed him a rose (handed him a rose) Then he turned to stone She handed him a rose And he turned to stone Then they laid him in the creek Where the river ran dry To the mouth of wisdom And the end of doubt Then the woman reappeared With a blank spread smile Took him by the rose Then he turned to stone Yeah she handed him a rose Left him all alone Well, they lifted the stone (the stone) And the mapped the stars (the stars) Brought back the keys (the keys) And unlocked their hearts (their hearts) And the birds returned (the birds) With songs in their eyes (their eyes) With maps to the world (the world) Never seen Maps to the world Never seen Father Mountain While my father built a mansion on the mountain I was chasing my Teresa around a tree We were kicking precious stones Sinking ships and swimming home Only crazy for the comfort of our clothes While my father built a mansion on the mountain My Teresa dragged a rag across my brow She said, "The weather's never fair The wind can only blow your hair" And I believed her well enough or didn't care Everyone knows and they don't know Chandelier light ain't love It just watches the time go Across the marble floor, out the ornamental door Even rain can hear it running off the road While my father built a mansion on the mountain My Teresa threw me kisses through the cold We read the writing on the wall Braced each other for the fall There's only one way off a mountain after all While my father built a mansion on the mountain It was me and my Teresa against the world We took all the river had to give Broke the bed and bought a crib And left the mountain mansion nothing to forgive Follow The Water I'll always say I love you still All of that water ran down the hill Every broken thing washes away, washes away You saw my scars and called them skin I saw your garden and gave it sin Every savior needs someone to save, someone to save Two kids climbed on a roller coaster car Got rattled on the track Up and down, around and back Whoever they were No matter who they are No one's walking off the same When I fell out of the palm of your hand With the summer flowers I followed the water and found these friends of mine Where small town thugs and lightning bugs Shine in their final hours And their hearts all come out of the cold In the nick of time Some get lost in a storm Others behind an old chest of drawers Our field got swallowed in fog Flowers and all Everybody climbs on a roller coaster car Gets rattled by the track Up and down, around and back Whoever I was No matter who you are No one's walking off the same When I fell out of the palm of your hand With the summer flowers I followed the water and found these friends of mine Where small town thugs and lightning bugs Shine in their final hours And their hearts all come out of the cold In the nick of time And their hearts all come out of the cold In the nick of time The Bitter Suite (Pájaro / Evil Eye / Tennessee Train) Pájaro : Hay sueños lo suficientemente Salvajes para pasar el tiempo Ese pájaro quiere alas Pero no lo recuerda (Pero no lo recuerda) Pero no lo recuerda No lo recuerda No lo recuerda
Evil Eye : (instrumental) Tennessee Train : My first mom laughed like she never had She dug a heel deep into the mountainside You know Grace, who gave me back a gold ring She always knew what was hers and what was mine I was only stumbling through her garden gate Trains leave Tennessee moaning as they roll away My last dad was clean as he could ever be Leaning through a window, rubbing at his evil eye Last I heard, he saw it all for what it was There are dreams wild enough to pass the time Then again, there's all we could trade for a hiding place Trains leave Tennessee moaning as they roll away This dead bird wants the wings he can't recall A weak preacher standing with a song to sing Who knows Grace, staring at a kitchen fire That's the way I told her I would give her anything Anything wasn't enough to make her stay Trains leave Tennessee moaning as they roll away Roll away (roll away) Roll away (roll away) Life is bittersweet Years To Burn A night to believe To touch on your tongue A lover to slow you down To see by the moon Like robins in rain And want what the world's holding out Years to burn, years to burn Breezes that die and rise Years to burn, years to burn Our tears hold the light in our eyes A night to be born And another to find The music across the street A friend in its arms Their breath in the cold Disappears like a snake in the weeds Years to burn, years to burn Breezes that die and rise Years to burn, years to burn Our tears hold the light in our eyes Our tears hold the light in our eyes In Your Own Time In your own time, you'll drink something evil Sing like an old crow and worship the land Don't be scared if I walk with the devil Run down the mountain and ask for your hand 'Cause we only want a life that's well worth living And sleeping ain't no kind of life at all Come meet the family and sit by the fire Someone will catch you if you want to fall In your own time, you'll dance in the moonlight Smoke like a freight train and fuck like a dog Don't be scared if I tell you I love you I'll be good to you and then I'll be gone 'Cause we only want a life that's well worth living And sleeping ain't no kind of life at all Come meet the family and get warm by the fire Someone will catch you if you want to fall Someone will catch you if you want to fall
LIGHT VERSE You Never Know You could make gray and call it gold Let it fool your eyes You could make rain and let it have your life Being green grass, any little wind Begs you for a dance You could say love until it lasts You could make good, there's a lot of ways With nowhere left to go Let it be the song on your little radio You could make light, be the silly word Sitting on a tongue You could make nice or beat a drum Don't you wanna know how far you're gonna go Fickle as tomorrow, talking to a wind chime Folding your hands, empty as glass Waiting to break Don't you wanna know how close you're gonna get Kissing like people, stepping on flowers Wishing on stars, empty as glass Waiting to break You could have a heart till it's pouring out If it's in your blood You could make waves and then you better run Being black cloud, there's a lot to say And so much room to grow You could make rain, you never know You never know... You could make gray and call it gold Let it fool your eyes Follow any wave crashing down to size You could be wrong, don't you wanna know Deep into the night Like a little stone thrown across ice Ice Ice Ice
Anyone's Game Anybody born knows how to play this little game First they light a candle in themselves They lean it up against the wind and then they run around the rain Anybody born plays pretty well If they crawl into another's heart while someone counts to ten Let's just say that's the hardest place to hide They jump out of their fame and names until the game begins again They open one another's empty eyes Until they rise like ashes off the ground And fall down like diamonds off the dead Until they go as though they're coming back And take their time like it's all they're gonna get Anybody born knows how to play this little game No one can be born too many times First they kiss their lucky dice, then they dig themselves a grave They do this until it's killing them to try To rise like ashes off the ground And fall down like diamonds off the dead To go as though they're coming back And take their time like it's all they're gonna get To rise like ashes off the ground And fall down like diamonds off the dead Let's just say that the clues are few and the last one in's an egg They bend the map or just turn around If their life gets in the way Let's just say, let's just say That their life gets in the way Let's just say, let's just say, let's just say Let's just say, let's just say
All In Good Time (Feat. Fiona Apple) All in good time, I gave it my best I was alone till I found myself Grew up to be a man more or less All in good time All in good time, I drifted away I ran my mouth till I'd nothing to say You broke my heart then I was okay All in good time All in good time, I trusted my eyes Treated my losses like clouds in the sky Finally picked on someone my size All in good time All in good time, I followed my nose Learned where to bleed when a night comes to blows Tried on your love then I folded those clothes All in good time Throw your bread to falling birds Buried friends and wasted words Something wants to eat us all alive All in good time, my angel came back Made us some money, but that didn't last We wouldn't cry, but we couldn't laugh All in good time All in good time, we fell like a star We closed our eyes and we opened our arms Ran off the road in our own stolen car All in good time All in good time and that's what it was Mistook that cash in the mattress for love Dropped all our weapons and shrank from the blood All in good time All in good time, we'd nothing to prove We took the bait till we lost a tooth No one believed it, but we told the truth All in good time All in good time, our plan went to shit I told my future by reading your lips You wore my ring until it didn't fit All in good time All in good time, we suffered enough We met our muscle when push came to shove Swept all that broken glass under the rug All in good time Dancing till we both collapse Wishing we could hide our tracks Something wants to eat us all alive All in good time, we'll remember when Say our goodbyes and our hellos again Huff and we'll puff until they let us in All in good time All in good time, we'll land on our feet Your mother will sigh and my soldier will sleep We'll swim the ocean, fishes set free All in good time We'll swim the ocean All in good time
Cutting It Close Long-lost friend of mine I know we only fucked a couple of times Love owes nothing to us Nobody's perfect or as dumb as their luck Kissing this, kissing that I'm kissing anybody kissing me back Time likes pulling my teeth I never knew how many teeth I would need So it goes and it goes It doesn't matter but it's cutting it close Anyway, life is long (life is so long) Could be a little longer don't get me wrong And its lights won't leave me alone Crooked fingers keep pointing me home Going here, going there (I guess we're going there) I'm leaving heaven but I couldn't say where Love keeps ringing a bell Clear water for the well in myself Or just a hand for the glove It doesn't matter 'til it totally does (It doesn't matter 'til it totally does) Miracles never cease Depending on which ones you believe I've stopped holding my breath People are passing out hoping for less Anyway, how you been Look at everybody twist in the wind Time just does what it does I only wish it wouldn't do it to us Taken By Surprise I knew someone long ago She wasn't there and then she was That lightning hit the ground without a warning She would laugh and I would laugh Somehow that sound became a day Day turned into night and night to morning If she ever comes back around for something she forgot Or maybe take me for a ride I don't get taken by surprise anymore I don't get taken by surprise anymore I knew someone long ago Although it feels like yesterday She would look me in the eye and say whatever I know this kind of moon It looks too full to come back down And I've seen a couple suns that set forever If she ever comes back around Just to slam an open door Or to lay her hand in mine I don't get taken by surprise anymore I don't get taken by surprise anymore I don't get taken by surprise I knew someone long ago Whether I wanted to or not We never said goodbye that I remember She never knew how much she gave How much she made and left behind I never knew how much I had to surrender If she ever comes back around To see if I'm still sore Or just make me feel alive I don't get taken by surprise anymore I don't get taken by surprise anymore I don't get taken by surprise anymore I don't get taken by surprise I don't get taken by surprise I don't get taken by surprise Yellow Jacket Doves are losing lucky feathers in the sky Appaloosas in the moonlight going blind What a cold world for such a long life Dogs are barking on the record every night A dream can close its tired eyes An old tear can roll itself away If that's all we lose tonight And the cold goes back in its bones Let those bells ring themselves true Your aurora borealis turning green Stopped your bitching motorcycle with a tree What's a cold world to butterfly wings Get to know your yellow jacket by the sting Dreams close their tired eyes Old tears roll themselves away If that's all we lose tonight And the cold goes back in its bones Let those bells ring themselves true True True True Sweet Talk Who's here, let's dance Let's play right into the hands Of a wonderful life, of a wonderful life Let's swing, let's miss Kiss a little harder on the lips Of a wonderful life, of a wonderful life Go with the flow Bleed like color on the clothes Of a wonderful life, of a wonderful life Lose another new year Make it matter and cry a couple real tears We could visit 'til we wouldn't want to live here (no, no) Sweet talk less share Let's get tangled in the hair Of a wonderful life, of a wonderful life Stick and poke, sit and spin Let's get underneath the skin Of a wonderful life, of a wonderful life It's only trouble brewing We'll break even and hide among the ruins Sounds easy if you've never tried to do it (no, no) Let's bow, bow and scrape Sucker punching straight into the face Of a wonderful life, of a wonderful life Who's there, who knows Let's leave nothing on the bones Of a wonderful life, of a wonderful life Feel it moving faster We'll have a cow and then we'll put it out to pasture Pray the moment doesn't take a life to master (no, no) Tears That Don't Matter Open a door, hold hands Empty your pockets and get to know Jesus Have a heart, watch where you're going That's where you'll see enough blood for a lifetime Play nice, learn a lesson Fall apart as easily as moonlight Know what you want, give it to someone Spending their memory's nickels and pennies You're only as empty as the lost and found A cup with a crack, a necklace to tangle Only as true to life as a lost and found Socks and a watch left in a lunchbox Tears that don't matter now Make time, die trying Trust your gut if it's there for the taking Look alive, don't listen Anything worth it is said in cold water Fly right, eat a rainbow Speak of the devil when gods in the details Meet the moment, kill kindness Finding and keeping that pot you can piss in So are you or are you not the lost and found A coat with a phone, a crayon for breaking Only as true to life as a lost and found A rock and roll keychain, that wish you could whistle And tears that don't matter now What goes in is never what comes out The hole in a yard ball, pieces of seashell You're only empty as a lost and found Sounds from a house, the end of a candle That kiss for your trouble, ice and its goosebumps All the runaway meanings of keeping your hat on The names and their bruises, some eyes that got empty One chance in a million, the light where you lost her The miles and a mother shed like a snakeskin Some shame and some anger and all those drugs just for nothing A swimming of colors on a Japanese beetle When the cynic within you finally bowed to a daughter And the sea and its reasoning and the bones of your music And that voice that you love and the life you were dreaming The doors that keep closing, all the hands you let go of And the tears that don't matter Bag Of Cats There's a wealth of opportunity clinging to the world You'll never find a better place to die Love walks down the street With the kind of missing teeth you laugh about Look at all the loneliness sneaking through our dreams Little bugs that bang into the light Love will find a way At least that's what you say to kid around Treat an opportunity like it's treating you Another plum thumbing for a ride Love is only fair Until all its favorite hair has fallen out Let's laugh at ourselves When we listen again It'll blend with the sound of the rain Let's paint with our blood Draw some lines in the sand If the wind isn't blowing our way Let's say what's on our minds Like we know how we feel And just what we're feeling it for Like life isn't outside the door With its bag of cats Think of all the beautiful people saying please If you're gonna do something, do it right Love is in the air I couldn't tell you where but it's around The wealth of opportunity keeps clinging to the world We've blown a million kisses in the sky Love has no regrets Or hasn't had one yet to talk about Angels Go Home All our morning after sudden laughter All our moons bloom overnight Like our happy-hour plastic flowers All our dreamers lose to the light Like our friendly fire, naked liars And tired pomp and circumstance All our true believers break like fever All our bruises beg for a chance (beg for a chance) All our sons and daughters Throw their stones in holy water All our angels go home All our friends and lovers Take our clothes and show their colors All our angels go home Paper tigers, dumpster divers All our phantoms fixing their own hair Our unforgiven count their ammunition All our mercy leaves us unaware (unaware) All us sons and daughters Throw our stones in holy water All our angels go home All us friends and lovers Take your clothes and show our colors All our angels go home
Non Albums Tracks
A Book Unfinished
You returned the book unfinished about a girl with raven hair And a gentleman, her lover, who presented her a mare Which she rode across the country, leaving him to tend the land Which had turned to drier quarter when it met his lonely hands No more weeds left in your garden No more green and no more stone No more guilty left to pardon Only evil of your own Blind man found a baby, and the virgin kissed a man From the farmland proven fertile since the rain returned again But you returned the book unfinished to your friend around the bend Who had scribed a closing passage but you never reached the end No more sparrows in your garden Since you lost your telephone No more guilty left to pardon On your hilltop all alone
A History Of Lovers
(In The Reins EP) Louise only got from me innocent poetry Although she played to not listen But still I can hear myself speak as if no one else Ever could offer the same Some say she knowingly tasts like a recipe Although so foolish and willing I said Babe I can picture you bend as if wanting to Bow as the curtain went down Coddle some men, they'll remember you bitterly Fuck ‘em, they'll come back for more I asked my Louise would she leave and so cripple me Then came a knock at the door “I came for my woman,” he came with a razor blade Bound like us all for the ocean I hope that she's happy I'm blamed for the death of The man who would take her from me Some they saw in me innocent poetry Some, some they'll never be certain But still it's been written, a history of lovers Given and taken in ink Coddle some men, they'll remember you fittingly Cut ‘em, they'll come back for more I asked my Louise would she leave and so cripple me Then came the knock at the door Louise came to rescue me; listen, the irony: Blood made her heart change its beating I hope that she's happy I'm blamed for the death of The man she found better than me
All Tomorrow's Parties (The Velvet Underground / In The Reins EP Japanese Release) And what costume shall the poor girl wear To all tomorrow's parties A hand-me-down dress from who knows where To all tomorrow's parties And where will she go, and what shall she do When midnight comes around She'll turn once more to Sunday's clown and cry behind the door And what costume shall the poor girl wear To all tomorrow's parties Why silks and linens of yesterday's gowns To all tomorrow's parties And what will she do with Thursday's rags When Monday comes around She'll turn once more to Sunday's clown and cry behind the door And what costume shall the poor girl wear To all tomorrow's parties For Thursday's child is Sunday's clown For whom none will go mourning A blackened shroud A hand-me-down gown Of rags and silks - a costume Fit for one who sits and cries For all tomorrow's parties
Beauty And Family
Reading letters Ancient coins And pockets full of earth Chance I'll see you Next December Bathtub running Joining hands And naked as a bird That's a vision I'll remember Pull the covers of the bed The papers of the ground Now a baby Walks where you do Take her book off of the shelf And put your teacup down Know my hopes Lay beside you You're camera set in motion Take a picture of the ocean Catch the seagull up above Make a whisper of your love Put your hair and watch it grow This time durates the floor You're a beauty in the family Spend your money for the month He can afford you more Keep your courage like memory You're camera set in motion Take a picture of the ocean Catch the seagull up above Make a whisper of your love
Beneath the balcony (The Sea and The Rhythm EP)
Let's go out and dance, darling Our last of days And grace the game with a blindfold on The cheaters came to play And outside the soft-handed boys Screaming cars and all their speed Music, math, a hero beggin change His sword across his knees And how he prays to find a man to blame For every sleepless night he spends And for every well that he warned me of But wound up falling in And then for the kids beneath the balcony Who disregard the rain To make sure the king won't grant The dead man one more day Let's go out and see darling What shines tonight And temper your dream about the dying horse With traffic, noise, and light And somewhere the soft-handed boys, Bleeding hearts, and worker bees Give to the holy mother begging change Christ across her knees And oh how she prays to find a man to blame For every loveless night she waits And for every gun that she frowned upon But still some fucker made And then for the kid beneath the balcony Behind the garbage can Who waits for the king to come And hold his sweating hand
Blue Leaves
Strength like a stone, a texture you know And sewn in your children's quilts you made Can you be meek, lowered and weak Possibly tired as to see Her eyes upon you under blue leaves at night And what will you do with your new kind of sight? Cluttered asides and marginal lines Home to the closest jewels you owned Strength like a stone, a pressure you've known Better than footsteps leading home And eyes wanting you under blue leaves at night But you never knew until they sank out of sight
Broken Spinning Wheel Stepping gently down the garden row Susie she prays but yet nothing grows Empty driveway and a flagpole tap Breeze at her back & her hands in her lap Susie says she'd like to talk Sinking sunshine past his bedtime He says, "Talk of what?" Mother passed away and left her these Porcelain cups and hidden memories Photographs of who she used to be Clothes and a broken spinning wheel Susie says she'd like to talk Sinking sunshine past his bedtime He says, "Talk of what?" In a book when he goes out of town "....." Susie can't pronounce Does she want a baby anymore? Does she want the place she wishes for? But Susie says she'd like to talk Sinking sunshine past his bedtime He says, "Talk of what?"
Burn That Broken Bed
(In The Reins EP)
How do you bust the clouds Press on your back been hanging in the air I wanna scope you out I wanna touch your mouth when you're up there When are you coming back Bird on a branch will come back home to sing When are you coming back Bringing it back and singing what you bring How do you bust the clouds Head on the ground and feeling what you've seen I wanna scope you out I wanna be your eyes and show you me When are you coming back When are you gonna burn that broken bed When are you coming back I wanna see you drifting overhead California
The postman passed me twice now, I have waited an hour Blue sky churning black now, needled rain with the power Of magnified abandon, soaking through to my moving And vivid truth I'm doubting all the while that it's proven Have you thought you might should be in California Your tactile look of honesty, I know they'd love you, oh-oh-oh A hundred thousand choices, words are stronger inside me And wrote on angry voices spoken even and calmly Do you pretend I'm docile, played it hard for to badger Or disregard me futile, even for to remember Have you thought you might should be in California An actress of your quality, I know they'd love you, oh-oh-oh Calm On The Valley
There's a rooster, a hen, a black dog By my kid in the yard And I've tattooed the head Of the woman I've wed on my arm We sit on the lawn And she winks and she yawns At the sound that the setting sun makes As it lights up the lake and goes down And you ease my troubles with your hands Like the night puts a calm on the valley Moved my shaking castle from the sand When you gave me your soul for to marry Dum da dum, da da dum . . . The cicadas in tune ain't too noisy for you But too fast, as the night eases in Like dark wine on our skin and the grass Now the moon's high above You're the woman I've loved for so long It's the last goodnight kiss and These moments I miss when you're gone Cattle On Calvary Warm in the jailhouse in Brownsville, asleep A bootful of liquor he borrowed He dreamed he was colored and waiting to meet The rich man drawing tomorrow Head full of cotton, the scent in his mouth White coat of paint on the steeple Sharp pins and needles, he cursed, as he woke The smug, sleeping town and its people Sheriff Brown bit through his tongue when he shot out the black boy He thought was stealing Churches burned on the hillside like cattle on Calvary Frightened and thirsty The river swelled up till the valley could feel Its moving like meddling fury Brown asked the creek why the Lord had to steal His horse, his house, and his baby Grasping for branches while floating downstream Scared, unfamiliar and stranded Jumped on a dog, broke its neck on a tree His feet all but once again planted Sheriff Brown bit through his tongue when he screamed like a soldier For justice and mercy Churches burned on the hillside like cattle on Calvary Frightened and thirsty Brown left the jail for a bar across town The street where the weight left his shoulder He walked through the door, finding no one around But Jesus, in a booth in the corner Brown rubbed his eyes, turned his radio off Seeing, but far from believing Jesus stood up, and with a thick southern drawl Said, "Brown, I'm the nigger you're seeking" Sheriff Brown bit through his tongue when he strung up the savior On a hook on the ceiling Churches burned on the hillside like cattle on calvary Dumb of their freedom
Chelsea Hotel #2 ( Leonard Cohen ) I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel You were talking so brave and so smooth Giving me head on the unmade bed While the limousine waits in the street And those were the reasons and that was New York We were running for the money and the flesh That was called love for the workers in song But it still is for those of us left Ah, but you got away, didn't you, babe? You just turned your back on the crowd You got away, never once heard you say I need you, I don't need you I need you, I don't need you All of that driving around I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel You were famous, your heart was a legend You told me again you preferred handsome men But for me you would make exceptions You're clenching your fists for the ones like us Who are pressed by the figures of beauty You fixed yourself, you said if I might We are only, we have the music And you got away, didn't you, babe? You just turned your back on the crowd You got away, never once heard you say I need you, I don't need you I need you, I don't need you All of that driving around I don't mean to say just that I loved you fast I can't keep track of each fallen ribbon I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel That's all, I don't think of you that often
Cold Town
Magazines and paperbacks, the perfect rainy day Jenny's packed the car by now and probably on her way Rise and put the kettle on, this feeling calls for tea Tommy get the telephone, it wouldn't be for me Spring feels so far away when you're unforgiven Now that Jenny's away it's a cold town to live in Evening brings a breaking rain, the dog goes back outside Tommy says that I should sleep in, just to past the time Close the door and cross the room, the moonlight wanders in Crawl in bed with her perfume, the rain begins again
Cowgirl In The Sand (Neil Young cover)
Hello, cowgirl in the sand Is this place at your command? Can I stay here for a while Can I see your sweet, sweet smile Old enough now to change your name When so many love you, is it the same? It's the woman in you That makes you want to play this game Hello, ruby in the dust Has your band begun to rust? After all the sin we've had I was hoping that we'd turn back Hello, woman of my dreams This is not the way it seems Purple words on a grey background To be a woman and to be turned down
Dead Man's Will
(In The Reins EP) Give this stone to my brother Cuz we found it playing in the barnyard Many years ago Give this bone to my father He'll remember hunting in the hills When I was 10 years old May my love reach you all I locked in myself and buried too long Now that I come to fall Please say it's not too late Now that I'm dead and gone Give this string to my mother It pulled the baby teeth she keeps inside the drawer Give this ring to my lover I was scared and stupid not to ask For her hand long before May my love reach you all I locked in myself and buried too long Now that I come to fall Please say it's not too late Now that I'm dead and gone
Evening on the ground (lilith's song)
(Woman King EP) Hey man Evening on the ground And there is no one else around So you will Blame me Blame me for the rocks and baby bones And broken lock on our garden Garden wall of eden Full of spiderbites and all your lovers We were We were born to fuck each other One way or another But i'll only lie Down by the waterside at night Hey man Tiny baby tears I will collect a million years And you can Blame me Blame me, i will wear it In the empty hollow part of my garden Garden wall of eden in the clamour As they raise the curtain You will You will never make me Learn to lay beneath the mountain Because i'll only lie Down by the waterside at night
Expecting To Fly (Buffalo Springfield cover)
There you stood on the edge of your feather Expecting to fly While I laughed, I wondered whether I could wave goodbye Knowin' that you'd gone By the summer it was healing We had said goodbye All the years we'd spent with feeling Ended with a cry Babe, ended with a cry Babe, ended with a cry I tried so hard to stand As I stumbled and fell to the ground So hard to laugh as I fumbled And reached for the love I found Knowin' it was gone If I never lived without you Now you know I'd die If I never said I loved you Now you know I'd try Babe, now you know I'd try Babe, now you know I'd try Babe Fistful Of Roses
A fistful of roses ain't the best thing I could do I called by the clothesline, and the fish pond Called out for you You want an urgent, bent-guitar string kind of man And you built a bridge now for to find him, if you can And Betsy, I see you now that you're gone Gone where I hate you, tell me I'm wrong Wrong that I sent you over that bridge And far from me now, although I don't know how Betsy, I miss you, can't you see that I'm in pain Might you, if I promise, if I behave, come again Would you, if you came back, be beside me by the stairs We're so far past the bridge now, though Faded, I see you standing there Foot Of The Manger
Awake through the night, and this flood water ‘round her Reminds her of the time and low country boys And their bottles without her, though she's on their minds Hands in black mud, at the foot of the manger She'll always be young and free to be wrong A black lamb licks the dirt off her feet with it's tongue We are blessed, aren't we, in the shade of these large auburn leaves Unexpectedly we arrive where we're all meant to be Awake through the night, and she prays in the morning For distance from harm and low country boys With their wealth of protection and mean battle-arms Hands in black mud, as she sits by the manger And closes her eyes, the wind blows outside A black car pulls the gravel and wants her to ride So who will she love, with her head lowed like ashes, The sky lost tonight, the wind blows outside A glass jar in the window, her shape blocks the candle light
Freedom hangs like heaven
(Woman King EP) Mary, carry your babe Bound up tight like lips around a whimper Your fingers over my face Blind eyed sampson driven to the temple And night birds digging until dawn Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone Ain't nobody knows what the newborn holds But his mama says he'll walk on water And wander back home Mary, carry your shame Well past all those eyes across the avenue Fish heads running from rain You know i'll do anything you want me to Lamp oil lovers may say "freedom hangs like heaven over everyone" Ain't nobody knows what the newborn holds But his papa's going to hide shaking gristle And shaking like bone Mary, carry my name Hoof marks hacked up all i had to offer you Looked all over this place Lost your portrait lately when the winter blew In like herod and them Freedom hangs like heaven over everyone Anybody knows what the newborn holds But a dollar says he'll lick that devil And do it alone God Gave A Stone
She belongs back in western Kentucky Or maybe somewhere in Tennessee Far from home there's a way to her body Though she's wind-blown and slightly Long ago there were plums on the table Where momma smoked in the afternoon The guilty played half-asleep in the stable And she would wake when she'd heard you Papa was gone but he's still in the mud And the river runs thick with his innocent blood And God gave a stone but it rolled down the hill It's the shape of His breath, or Her breath if you will She belongs back in western Kentucky Or even somewhere in Tennessee She was born though the womb wasn't ready To give it's love to the strength in this street Papa was gone but he's still in the mud While the river runs thick with his innocent blood And God gave a stone but it rolled down the hill It's the shape of His breath, or Her breath if you will Long ago there was warmth from the kitchen Across the baseboards through every room She belongs back in western Kentucky And I will pray maybe she'll see it soon
Foreign Photos Run to the newsstand, boy For a paper Here's the change you will owe Pass all the smoking girls And their babies Where they nurse in the road And read me, read What has taken place And we might see Sporting races fruitful today Run to the newsstand, boy I'm too tired But I'll show you the way Pass every chain-linked dog Every fire And that music they make And read me, read What building's blowing down And we might see Famous faces riding through town Run to the newsstand, boy I heard maybe Of a chance for some rain Pass every preaching man Talking crazy By the bus stop again And we may read The scandals of the fair And we might see Foreign photos, love changing hands Somewhere
Gray stables
(Woman King EP) Brave lady I could see you through the mosses laid Shameless in the sun My lady with her porcelain and her weightless Face, pleasing everyone Gray stables, and the horses of the righteous Pray daily for the brave Lady, you were gorgeous in your weakness Wet flowers on the ground My lady never told me of her sadness Bones floating in the sound Brave lady, could see me in the darkness Wait, nameless like a stone My lady with her watches by the mattress Bathes lately all alone Gray stables and the horses of the righteous Pray daily for the brave Lady, would you love me if i left her Laid breathless in the sun My lady, like a teacup on the counter Frail, pleasing everyone
Halfway Home (Lori McKenna Cover / feat. Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart L Lori EP ) Halfway Home Well, you ain't so sure he's the one 4AM and you drive alone With last night's clothes on Halfway home Tell yourself you're still strong Wondering what's so damn wrong With needing someone Calling the lovelorn girls Of Davidson County Tired of the games That the boys up there play Calling the dreaming girls Looking for a savior He ain't gonna save you That's just what you think his eyes say Deep down you know You're worth more than this Or the cost of that dinner last night He'd be driving you home If he was worth half the shit And his daddy had raised him up right Let me remind you There's real love out there down the road You're just Halfway home Halfway home Halfway home Making up reasons why Let him sleep through the kiss goodbye Cause neither one of you care Rinse the smoke Out of your slept in hair Wash your face and change those clothes We've all been there Calling the lovelorn girls Of Davidson County Tired of the games That the boys up there play Calling the dreaming girls Looking for a savior He ain't gonna save you That's just what you think his eyes say Deep down you know That you're worth more than this Or the cost of that dinner last night He'd be driving you home If he was worth half the shit And his daddy had raised him up right Let me remind you There's real love out there down the road You're just Halfway home Halfway home tonight
He Lays In The Reins (In The Reins EP)
One more drink tonight as your gray stallion rests Where he lays in the reins For all of the speed and the strength he gave One more kiss tonight from some tall stable girl She's like grace from the earth When you're all tuckered out and tame One more tired thing the gray moon on the rise When your want from the day Makes you to curse in your sleep at night One more gift to bring we may well find you laid Like your steed in his reins Tangled too tight and too long to fight In My Lady's House
There is light in my lady's house And there's none but some falling rain This like a spoken word She is more than her thousand names No hands are half as gentle or Firm as they like to be Thank god you see me the way you do Strange as you are to me It is good in my lady's house And the shape that her body makes Love is a fragile word In the air on the wrinkly lane No hands are half as gentle or Firm as they like to be Thank god you see me the way you do Strange as you are to me
In Your Own Time In your own time You'll dream something evil Sing like an old crow And worship the land Don't be scared If I walk with the devil Run down the mountain And ask for your hand 'Cause we only want a life That's well worth living And sleeping is No kind of life at all Come meet the family And sit by the fire Someone will catch you If you want to fall In your own time You'll dance in the moonlight Smoke like a freight train And fuck like a dog Don't be scared If I tell you I love you I'll be good to you Then I'll be gone 'Cause we only want a life That's well worth living And sleeping Ain't no kind of life at all Come meet the family Get warm by the fire Someone will catch you If you want to fall
It's The Same Old Song (Four Tops cover)
You're sweet like a honeybee But like a honeybee stings you've gone And left my heart in pain And all you left is our favorite song The one we danced to all night long It used to bring sweet memories Of a tender love that used to be Now it's the same old song But with a different meaning since you been gone Oh, a sentimental fool am I To hear a old love song and wanna cry But the melody keeps haunting me Reminding me how in love we used to be I keep hearing the part that used to touch our hearts Saying together forever, breaking up never Precious memories keep lingering on Every time I hear our favorite song Now you've gone, left this emptiness I only reminisce the happiness of when We used to dance to the music Make romance to the music
Jesus the mexican boy
(The Sea and The Rhythm EP) Jesus the Mexican boy born in a truck on the fourth of July gave me a card with a lady naked on the back Barefoot at night on the road Fireworks blooming above in the sky I never knew I was given the best one from the deck He never wanted nothing I remember Maybe a broken bottle if I had two Hanging behind his holy even temper Hiding the more unholy things I do Jesus the Mexican boy Gave me a ride on the back of his bike Out to the fair though I welched on a $5 bet Drunk on Calliope songs We met a home-wrecking carnival girl He's never asked for a favor or the money yet Jesus the Mexican boy Born in a truck on the 4th of July I fell in love with his sister unrepentantly Fearing he wouldn't approve We made a lie that was feeble at best Boarded a train bound for Vegas and married secretly I never him nothing I remember Maybe a broken bottle if I had two Hanging behind his holy even temper Hiding the more unholy things I do Jesus the Mexican boy Wearing a long desert trip on his tie Lo and behold he was standing under the welcome sign Naked the Judas in me Fell by the tracks but he lifted me high Kissing my head like a brother and never asking why
Jezebel
(Woman King EP) Who's seen jezebel She was born to be the woman i would know And hold like a breeze half as tight as both eyes closed Who's seen jezebel She went walking where the cedars line the road Her blouse on the ground where the dogs were hungry, roaming Sayin' wait We swear we'll love you more And wholly, jezebel It's we, we that you are for only Who's seen jezebel She was born to be the woman we could blame Make me a beast half as brave and be the same Who's seen jezebel She was gone before i ever got to say Lay here, my love, you're the only shape i pray to Jezebel Who's seen jezebel Will the mountain last as long as i can wait Wait like the dawn, how it aches to meet the day Who's seen jezebel She was certainly the spark for all i've done The window was wide, she could see the dogs come runnin' Sayin' wait We swear we'll love you more And wholly, jezebel It's we, we that you are for only
John's Glass Eye ( On the Compilation Yeti Three - 2005 ) John don't see well in the evenings Because of his one glass eye That he got just as Martha was leaving Shot him instead of saying goodbye Though the door took the brunt of the buckshot It scattered on the right of his face He was blind to the traveling clothes she'd bought When she caught him down at Lucy's place Dah dah dum Dah dah dah dum Dah dah dum Dah dah dah dum
Like Patsy Would (Lori McKenna Cover / feat. Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart L Lori EP ) If it comes from the whiskey, then pour me a drink If it comes from the heartache, let me feel the sting If it comes from the spirits, set 'em loose in this room Either way tonight it's just me and the truth I wanna pray like Jesus is list'nin' I wanna play like I'm made of strings on wood I wanna write it down like Hemingway, like it's the last damn thing I'll ever say And try to sing it like Patsy would Sometimes it's a blessing, sometimes it's a curse I've let it keep me up all night lookin' for the worst Sometimes a pen knows just what to say And it spills out like a waterfall on a clean white dais I wanna pray like Jesus is listening I wanna play like I'm made of strings on wood I wanna write it down like Hemingway, like it's the last damn thing I'll ever say And try to sing it like Patsy would Try to sing it like Patsy would Love Is The Foundation ( Loretta Lynn ) I've seen her as she wakes up in the morning She reaches out a hand without a word As her fingers softly fall upon my face She lights the flame of desire and makes me want her And love is the foundation we lean on All you need is love to ease your mind And does it have to be right to be called love When she gives me more loving than a lifetime of looking could ever find
Love You This Hound
Walk on lightly far from sorrow Walk and meet me, we'll meet tomorrow Watch me growing, watch me dying Hear my laughing, my hound a-crying Walk on lightly, live what you do While you're walking I'll be beside you Watch you growing, watch you dying Hear me love you, this hound a-crying Mothers Of The Rodeo
Mothers of the rodeo Like anyone who's watched a lover go And their blood thrown down Torn and tossed around Baby, say you'll stay with me We'll build a bridge across it carefully Just let them lie, don't throw At least our river goes Do, do, do, do . . . Mothers of the boys in grey Palms and kisses that were blown away Like this cask and drum Music borne from blood Baby, say you'll stay with me I've lost my money and my family Well I've got friends beside We drink by riverside Satan and the Holy Ghost Like any mother of the rodeo From the flaws they've found Much like no one else I'll be waiting faithfully Until baby says she'll stay with me Let their bible burn Around this river's turn
Mr. Soul (Neil Young cover)
Well hello Mr. Soul, I dropped by to pick up a reason For the thought that I caught that my head in the event of the season Why in crowds just a trace of my face could seem so pleasin' I'll cop out to the change, but a stranger is putting the tease on I was down on a frown when the messenger brought me a letter I was raised by the praise of a fan who said I upset her But any girl in the world could have easily known me better She said, “You're strange, but don't change,” and I let her Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh So in a while will the smile on my face turn to plaster Stick around while the clown who is sick does a trick of disaster For the race of my head and my face is moving much faster Is it strange I should change, I don't know, why don't you ask her Is it strange I should change, I don't know
My lady's house
(Woman King EP) There is light in my lady's house Then there's none but some falling rain Less like a spoken word She is more than her thousand names No hands are half as gentle Or firm as they'd like to be Thank god you see me the way you do Strange as you are to me It is good in my lady's house Every shape that her body makes Love is a fragile word In the air, on the length we lay No hands are half as gentle Or firm as they'd like to be Thank god you see me the way you do Strange as you are to me
My Side Of The Road ( Grace For Saints And Ramblers EP ) Saw you take it on the chin outside the Phoenix Motor Inn You could always find a way to kill the bird and keep the flame Somehow lighter on your feet, crossing the dark end of the street Falling harder than a star cause you could hear the broken heart Within the world, within the world That ain't your song, it won't sing along Mission bugs out every night, they throw themselves into the light Always waking from a dream of blowing up and burning clean Saw you cold and getting wet, sucking the ends of cigarettes You learned how to love a scar cause you could hear the broken heart But you won't sing that sad song Saw you run and hide, I saw you slide across the sky But I never saw you down on my side of the road Saw you take it on the chin and fix it back with bobby pins Saw you lose before the start, I saw you shining in the dark Saw you chained, I saw you choke, saw you running out of rope Saw you shaking off the blues, I saw you recognize the tune But you won't sing that sad song Frisco's too much for me to bear, I thought for sure you'd meet me there But I never saw you down on my side of the road
Never Meant (American Football cover) Let's just forget Everything said Everything we did Best friends (best friends) And better halves Goodbyes (goodbyes) And the autumn nights When we realized We were falling Out of love Not to be (not to be) Overly dramatic God, I just think it's best 'Cause you can't miss What you forget So let's just pretend Everything and anything Between you and me Was never Was never Was never meant Meant Meant Some things Were said Weren't meant... Our Friends Shine
Yeah, you know this place And your friends shine around you now Yeah, you know this place And their hands make the safest house That you know, yeah, you know And the sun's sinkin' slowly down Over time, over time, and again Yeah, you know this face And it sleeps right beside you now Yeah, you love this face And it speaks from inside you now Like your own, yeah your own And the sun's sinking slowly down Over us, over time, and again Yeah, we chose this place Though I don't recognize the ground It's a lonely place That our friend's shine around us now And they glow, yeah, they glow Like the sun sinking slowly down Over us, over us, once again Phoenix
You're a raven on a tractor wheel They don't feel the world the way you feel, no You spread your wings like a phoenix, girl Burnin' out like a song you heard and forgotten since
Place To Be ( Nick Drake ) When I was young, younger than before I never saw the truth hanging from the door And now I'm older, see it face to face And now I'm older, got to get up clean the place And I was greener, greener than the hill Where flowers grew and the sun shone still Now I'm darker than the deepest sea Just hand me down, give me a place to be And I was strong, strong in the sun I thought I'd see when day is done Now I'm weaker than the palest blue Oh so weak in this need for you
Prison On Route 41
(In The Reins EP) There's a prison on Route 41 Home to my father, first cousin, and son And I visit every weekend Not with my body but with prayers that I send I've a reason for my absentee And no lack of love for my dear family But my savior is not Christ the Lord But one named Virginia whom I live my life for And if I don't mind to her I'd rot in that prison for sure Yeah, she'd toss me aside And I'd surely wait to die By decree, law, or demand So unlike my uncle, grandpa, and great aunt Whom I'd most likely see every day If not for the righteous grand Virginia's way There's a prison on route 41 Home to my mother, stepbrother, and son And I'd tear down that jail by myself If not for Virginia who made me somebody else And I owe it to her I'd rot in that prison for sure Yeah, she'd toss me aside And show me the way to die By the precepts of her purity So unlike the habits of my whole family Whom I only see down on my knees In prayer by Virginia whom I live for to please Rattling Bone
A skull and a jewel on a wooden cane A rattling bone on a boat, on the waves you sail away I will lay awake ‘til all your power's gone Whippin' the pig ‘til it broke the gate A table and chair by the creek though his house was washed away I will lay awake ‘til all your power's gone God is asleep in the bed we made Suckling bitch on the porch, and no stick might draw away I will lay awake ‘til all your power's gone Love in the shape of the close of day Kissin' the face in a dream that i thought i tossed away I will lay awake ‘til all your power's gone Hobble and wade in the love we gave Passing your lip from the wine that we raised then threw away I will lay awake ‘til all your power's gone Chuckling lamb by the anchor weight Shuddering wolf on a ship, on the waves you sail away I will lay awake ‘til all your power's gone
Red Dust
(In The Reins EP) Dust gets red, and red dust plays On the wind near Daniel's place Danny's sick and smaller boy Rhythm lingers on and on On and on, on and on Dust gets dead the sun gone down Danny's boy lies in the ground Guitar on the dead boy's chest Devil's granting a last request Play on and on, on and on
Sacrifice Burning Jane sent her hand and then pulled it away She said, "Here's the alternate proof that I love you Two magic children that smile at your name A body that pulls like a pack mule to meet you Tell me, dear Robert, what turns you to town Turns you to empty your place at the table You prefer faces. You don't overthink You prefer feeling you perform a favor By kissing my cheek after brushing your teeth Boots on your feet as you sleep through the morning Loving your children the most as you leave Pacing your walk like a sacrifice burning I see your smoldering feet down the road With smoke in the kitchen, my breath on the windowpane Show me some victory that I can achieve A gentle communion reminds me of yesterday Downtown at work, or wherever you go Does holiness grow with the distance created My marriage was not to a martyr in flames And martyrs don't light up so loved ones will love them" Robert stepped back and he buttoned his shirt The mirror revealed every stain he was hiding Jane cleared her throat, changed her posture and said "I miss you so much that I feel like I'm dying"
Shake (Lori McKenna Cover / feat. Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart L Lori EP ) Don't leave me is all I hear you say Somehow it keeps me from all the plans that I've made Your promises sparkle, I tell myself not to believe The things that I want lose out to the one that I need Time does not waste itself A dream cannot wake itself The truth cannot disgrace itself An unwritten prayer cannot save the lost soul Arms cannot embrace themselves A heart cannot break itself And I cannot shake myself from you There's only so much a person can take Only so far you can reach on a so long you can carry that weight So some of us learn how to live with what we know we can't fix So we walk all and act proud and pretend that it's better than it is Time does not waste itself A dream cannot wake itself The truth cannot disgrace itself An unwritten prayer cannot save the lost soul Arms cannot embrace themselves A heart cannot break itself And I cannot shake myself from you
Sixteen, Maybe Less
(In The Reins EP) Beyond the ridge to the left, you asked me what i want Between the trees and cicadas singing round the pond "I've spent an hour with you, should i want anything else?" One grinning wink like the neon on a liquor store We were sixteen, maybe less, maybe a little more I walked home smiling, i finally had a story to tell And though an autumn time lullaby Sang our newborn love to sleep My brother told me he saw you there In the woods one christmas eve, waiting I met my wife at a party when i drank too much My son is married and tells me we dont talk enough Call it predictable, yesterday my dream was of you Beyond the ridge to the west, the sun had left the sky Between the trees and the pond, you put your hand in mine Said, "time has bridled us both, but i remember you too" And though an autumn time lullaby Sang our newborn love to sleep I dreamt i traveled and found you there In the woods one christmas eve, waiting.
Sleeping Diagonally (Six Parts Seven cover)
Somehow when you laid here by my side Somethin' whispered words like rain is falling Heavy, and she hated, loved to fight Someone from the sun-cracked sidewalk calling out, “Yoo-hoo” “Hey, uh huh” Sometime I may trade this bone-tired fist Somewhere I'll remove this mattress lying Heavy as a healing word and wind Someone from the sun-cracked sidewalk calling out, “Yoo-hoo”
Smokestack Lightning (Howling Wolf cover)
Ah-ha, smokestack lightnin' Shinin' just like gold Why don't you hear me cryin'? Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo Ah-ha, tell me, baby What's the matter with you? Why don't you hear me cryin'? Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo La dah, da da da da la dah Whoa-oh, tell me, baby What's the matter with you? Why don't you hear me cryin'? Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo Whoa-oh, stop your train Let her go for a ride Why don't you hear me cryin'? Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo Ah-ha, fare thee well I'll never see you no more Why don't you hear me cryin'? Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo Ah-ha, who been here baby since I been gone, a little bitty boy Girl, be on . . . a-whoo-hoo Whoo-hoo, ah-ha
Someday the waves
(The Sea and The Rhythm EP) Waking before you I've got a fever and a childish wish for snow Seems like a long, long time since I spun you to this borrowed radio You pick a place that's where I'll be Time like your cheek has turned for me Someday the waves will stop every aching old machine will feel no pain Someday we both will walk where a baby made tomorrow is again Waking before you I'm like the lord who sees his love though we don't know Seems like a long, long time since I've been above you seen and loved you so You pick a place that's where I'll be Time like your cheek has turned for me
Stolen Houses (Die) ( Dark Was The Night LP ) Though our father's fathers slept in stolen houses All that's over now And our babies never cry And we can look you in the eye And say we're not afraid to die And yes our mother's mothers saw in black and white But all that's over now And our children never lie And no matter how we try We are not afraid to die
Summer In Savannah ( Walking Far From Home EP ) Summer in Savannah slowed the jackrabbit down But I'm in your car driving to town Mama's missing finger had a mind of its own And the dog that we lost keeps coming home And now my health is hanging round a soda machine And the birds don't move in the live oak trees Pounding on the table Papa said I would learn You take what you get and you get what you earn Then he said you reap just what you sow So I'm gonna take my white house, paint it gold Summer in Savannah where the breeze never blows But you laid on my lap wearing my clothes Mama told me lately she was praying for you So don't hate me just cause you're the best I can do And I'm a no-neck cursing at a color TV And the gas light swirls with junebug wings Staring at the ceiling Papa struggled to say You'll find it's all such a drag but don't get carried away Someone said you reap just what you sow So I'm gonna take my white house, paint it gold Summer in Savannah takes a measure of faith From under the bed you're kissing my face When Mama told the cop that I was born in the cold She meant in the shade free from the law Now I'm a slack-jaw leaning on a newspaper stand Papa bought a bullet 'bout as big as my hand We trapped a little hornet in a teacup for fun We cut off his head, we still got stung I think that Jesus said you reap just what you sow So I'm gonna take my white house, paint it gold
That's How You Know (Lori McKenna Cover / feat. Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart L Lori EP ) When you take the train to midtown To have coffee by yourself Pull the pictures from the drawer And put them back up on the shelf When you hear the sound of church bells And they don't make you wanna cry And you're not getting drunk Just so you can hide That's how you know When you open up the curtains Start answering the phone Stop driving around for hours Cuz you hate going home When you can talk about it Even say their name When you start thinking you'll survive even though You'll never be the same That's how you know There's no such thing as a long goodbye When you wish it would've lasted Your whole life When you don't need a cigarette Or a pill to help you sleep When you don't end every night On the hard wood on your knees When you wake up one morning Surprised to see the world exists And your eyes ain't full of tears And your heart ain't full of bitterness That's how you know, you know When you're thankful that you ever Knew a love this strong When you finally find the courage To write this song That's how you know You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on You're moving on...
The night descending
(The Sea and The Rhythm EP) Black hair, the night descending Baby never puts her trust in Tight black tie too quick to laughter Ain't no telling what he's after Found a friend without religion Riding on a stolen engine Far too fast to pacify you Ain't no telling what he's up to In time, the night may soften Trust that I'm still hoping, darling Wooden coin, he called my daughter No good knowing what came after Met a man with missing fingers Shaking hands with shaded strangers Far too strong to pacify you Ain't no telling what they're up to Late night, the cock crows shortly Morning through the open doorway All us servants beg the master Ain't no knowing what he's after In a year of fallen angels Broken hands and boys in danger Pray the lord may pacify you Ain't no telling what he's up to
The sea and the rhythm
(The Sea and The Rhythm EP) Tonight we're the sea and the salty breeze The milk from your breast is on my lips And lovelier words from your mouth to me And salt in my sweat and fingertips Our hands they seek the end Of afternoon My hands believe and move Over you Tonight we're the sea and the rhythm there The waves and the wind, the night is black Tonight we're the scent of your long black hair Spread out like your breath across my back Your hands they move like waves Over me Beneath the moon tonight We're the sea The Specter Of Jasper County
The girl down the street saw my ghost on the road But I sailed the backyard asleep in my boat Both paddles broken, no sail for the wind A bathtub, a bottle, to drown myself in And she ran through the town like the end was upon us Screaming like birds above angry high seas The newspaper boys pulled a high-dollar favor And my drunk brother sang of where they could find me The girl told the preacher her vision of doom He petted the Book said, “It's slightly too soon” A flashbulb, a nudge and I left my best dream And rose like the specter of Jasper County
The Sun Will Rise
What if you were told that the sky would fall tomorrow night Would you run and hide or go and play What if you were told that a boy named Cain was right outside Would you run and hide or go and play A smile will bring a smile, a pail filled with rain Your mothers milk will dry, the sun will rise again What if you were told that your lover's hands were dead and cold Would you run and hide or go and play And what if you were told the only point to life is to get old Would you run and hide or go and play The sun will rise again and again and again
The Waves Of Galveston Leave the waves of Galveston but only if you can Cause you've been hit behind the seawall, gently folded in the sand Papa left you for Heaven after your Mama lost her song And though your baby left you for Houston, no one stays there very long There's a graveyard by the pizza parlor, a gate that only closes Snowbirds fly away like secrets sn one really wants to know The climbing moon's always shining on the kind of shells you keep The broken horse tied to the water tower's running in his sleep It's too bad that you ain't got a soft place to fall It's too bad Texas leans to the least of us all And says, “If you can make the music then you can have the dance If you can shoot the pistol then you can wear the pants” So leave the waves of Galveston but only if you can Cause it's the only place the Lone Star kind have offered you a hand Your baby left you nothing and a dog was left for dead You never knew you were a burden til it hit you on the head It's too bad that you ain't got a soft place to fall It's too bad Texas leans on the least in us all And says, “If you can make the music then you can have the dance If you can shoot the pistol then you can wear the pants” The Years Seal Their Beauty
Settle down my frazzled bride You might frighten the children awake With that tempest you hang on your face You raise your fist and it trembles there Like a branch tapping the window pane In the summertime before the rain In the summertime before the rain Come lay thee down my supple bride The years seal their beauty in you Like our time with our mothers can do But how long now since we've been in school? And we drew who we wanted to be? We made love to our sincerity We made love to our sincerity Sitting down, my frazzled bride said, "God takes the anger I save When I save it to throw in your face" But winter's here with it's memories And it's clear that we don't want the truth It's just comfort I'm wanting from you It's just comfort I'm wanting from you It's just comfort I'm wanting from you This Solemn Day
You returned the book unfinished About a girl with raven hair And a gentleman, her lover Who presented her a mare Which she rode across the country Leaving him to tend the land Which had turned to dry a quarter When it met his lonely hands No more weeds left in your garden No more green and no more stone No more guilty left to pardon Only evil of your own Thousand Miles
Pull the braid from your hair, so it falls down your back I just passed Spartanburg, cigarettes on the dash Will you wait on the swing, in the front of the house? Or the steps of the porch in a white cotton blouse? Thousand miles that I drove, thirty more left to go Will you cry when you wake, when you see me today? Is your father at home? Does he know where I've been? He don't like me because I remind you of him Let's just drive to the point, watch the sky lose the light I've been gone far too long not to kiss you tonight Thousand miles that I drove, thirty more left to go Will you cry when you wake, when you see me today? Na na na Na na na Na na na Na na na... Wade Across The Water
I saw you wade across the river Winter coat across your shoulders Calling out, what did you say? If I wade across the water When I rise will you be there Holding on or turned the other way? I saw you wade across the river Handkerchief in your fingers Just in case, well, just in case If I lose to the water Lose it all for you, lover You were all I wanted anyway
Watch And Chain
Lost my watch, watch and chain, but time's not lost This time we walk together beside the slow black river Water-walking over mud you whisper something Something good in my ear, so I stop so I can hear: "Darling, I'm the one to blame, I threw your watch and chain To where I don't know inside the tall grass meadow You'll forget, forget in time, remember this: Your hand in mine forever, beside the slow black river" Lost my watch, watch and chain, to her today But time it has no meaning when her and me are walking Darling, I'm the one to blame, I love you still and timeless now forever Together by the river
We All, Us Three, Will Ride (Will Oldham cover)
In a small far room the bed is set With trinkets all surrounding Yet alone it rests, so dry it sets With souls aside abiding There moves legs warm, and close inside No, no leg braces a hello And pictures on walls where paint is lame Where sinks are friendly running Reflect, reflect metal cast My toe has long been swollen My knees are blue, my eyes are too My love has not forgotten We'll come, we'll come, oh he will come And make me have a baby Then i foresee we all, us three, Will ride and all together The hills have eyes, their trees have lives Disjointed like a hero No saga told, no things unfold To make the ride much finer The length is fine, his hand in mine Does someone hear our chatter A lover's laugh, a bleeding calf A dog out in the harbor
What I Am (Edie Brickell & New Bohemians cover / Spotify Singles: Recorded at Spotify Studios NYC) I'm not aware of too many things I know what I know, know what I mean I'm not aware of too many things I know what I know, know what I mean Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box Religion is a smile on a dog I'm not aware of too many things I know what I know, know what I mean (Know what I mean) Shove me in the shallow water Before I get too deep Shove me in the shallow water Before I get too deep What I am is what I am You what you are or what What I am is what I am You what you are or what Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks Religion is a light in the fog I'm not aware of too many things I know what I know (Know what I mean) I know what I know, I'm not aware (Know what I mean) I know what I know (Know what I mean) Know what I mean (Know what I mean) (Know what I mean) I know what I know (Know what I mean) I'm not aware, I'm not aware (Know what I mean) I know what I know, I know, I know (Know what I mean) I know, know (Know what I mean) Know, know I know, know Know, know Know, know Know what I mean
Wild Horses (The Flying Burrito Brothers Cover / In The Reins Japanese Release) Childhood living is easy to do The things you wanted, I bought them for you Graceless lady, you know who I am You know I can't let you slide through my hands Wild horses couldn't drag me away Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away I watched you suffer a dull aching pain Now you've decided to show me the same No sweeping exits or off stage lights Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind Wild horses couldn't drag me away Wild, wild horses couldn't drag me away I know I've dreamed you, a sin and a lie I had my freedom but I don't have much time Faith has been broken, tears must be cried Let's do some living after we die Wild horses couldn't drag me away Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day Wild horses couldn't drag me away Wild, wild horses, we'll ride them some day
Woman king (Woman King EP)
Blackbird claw, raven wing Under the red sunlight Long clothesline, two shirtsleeves Waving as we go by Hundred years, hundred more Someday we may see A woman king Wristwatch time Slowin as she goes to sleep Black horsefly, lemonade Jar on the red anthill Garden worm, cigarette Ash on the windowsill Hundred years, hundred more Someday we may see A woman king Sword in hand Swing at some evil and bleed Black hoof mare, broken leg Eye on the shotgun shell Age old dog, hornet nest Built in the big church bell Hundred years, hundred more Someday we may see A woman king Bloodshot eye Thumb down and starting to weep... Your Blue Eyes
Blue light setting lotus-style in your a-frame in the countryside Stillness slides the door and walks inside Candle on the windowsill burnt wickless through our low-lit meal Heaven only knows what you hide In your blue eyes, in your sly smile Tangerine on both your hands smells strong as the tobacco-can Roll me up a smoke if you don't mind Touch me like that afternoon when your friends would all be over soon And you said, “What the hell, we'll make the time” With your blue eyes, in your slight smile