• a few nights’ confusion
• a million little rocks
• afford to pretend
• after i’m gone
• amelia (with nothing left to say)
• anti-hero
• apple green and charcoal gray
• austin, i made a mess
• big time underground (denouement)
• blackout
• bonnie & clyde
• borrowed time
• burning cross
• canceled
• coming to meet me
• crooked
• drowning in amsterdam
• easy
• first lesson
• gone
• good news (the siren song)
• grammar of a sinking ship, the
• hero and the heroine, the
• hooked
• i wanted to ask you
• if i stay
• it’s been a long time
• january
• july
• just down
• keep your chin up (misunderstood)
• little films
• love story
• marathon
• maybe love song
• medals
• moving day
• never been good
• next big bang, the (penelope’s song)
• no sense
• nothing i should cry about
• okay from now on
• parting scene
• piazza song, the
• rather bad day
• saint anthony (lost things)
• science of memory and forgetting
• signposts
• so long to get here
• so what
• sparkler
• such good actors
• thin thread
• too far gone
• war, the (odysseus’s song)
• you’re losing me
• you still wait for me
I’ll pretend I never smiled at you
that I never tried to catch your eye
while my brain told me to look away
and my words got scattered and shy
so you go on, you get away
go and find someone not me
someone who is free to say
things I can only think
and I’ll be watching you go
I’ll be cheering you on
cause I only want you to be…
and if a few nights’confusion
is the only price I pay
then I guess I got off easily
and kept danger at bay
and if you don’t look me in the eye
then I won’t be so helpless
and I can say that I am brave
and oh so selfless
and I’ll be watching you go
I’ll be cheering you on
cause I only want you to be…
and I’ll be closing the door
I’ll be watching you leave
cause I only want you to be happy (Back to top)
i let go of your hand
when the nails filled the air
the sky splintered apart
and the pieces pierced our hearts
it would’ve been better to end there
’cause at least i could say
that i died loving you
doing nothing wrong
no one yet betrayed
and dear god, i am small here at the edge
please pick me up and float me across the sea
put me in a little boat and i swear i’ll try to row
and i swear, i won’t give up this time
and i swear, i won’t give up this time
there are a million little rocks to throw
or place inside my pockets
i could start another war
or sink down under without a second thought
lift my skirt above my ankles
and just start to wade on in
but as the water rises your face
it floats up again
and dear god, i am
small here on the road
it bends and it folds and finishes at the sea
so put me in a little boat and i swear i’ll try to row
and i swear, i won’t give up this time
and i swear, i won’t give up this time (Back to top)
so it seems this two lane became a four lane
and now they’re working on eight
and I half hope before too long
that they obliterate
every strip of these familiar fields
this new asphalt is blinding my eyes
and right now I’m so poor that I can’t even afford
to pretend I’m fine
cause I can take me out of here
and move me halfway across the world
but these roads belong to a time
when I swore I’d always be your girl
and I can’t even afford to pretend
the horizon’s wavering from the hunger or the heat
cause it really ain’t that hot yet
and I’ve had enough to eat
and i am so afraid you’re gonna stone me
and I never wanted to be a martyr
can someone please explain to me why after all this time
it just keeps getting harder
and it’s the heat that makes me faint
it’s the heat that makes me flush
it’s the heat that makes me sick to my stomach
and keeps my voice to a low low hush
and all the traffic is leaving town
and I’m the only one still headed west
and the gold rush is long since done
and I can’t even say I did my best
but it doesn’t matter now
cause what’s done can’t be undone
so I’ll keep this red curtain pulled round my face
and when this song is done
I’ll quietly close the lid of the case
pack up my guitar
and run (Back to top)
how long will you love me after i’m gone?
will you give me five minutes to get out the door?
will you still be holding on to all the things i did wrong,
will you still be keeping score?
and we’re turning white
yeah we’re fading fast
and the credits have rolled past and off the screen
they’ve gone into the sky or wherever it is they go
off to chase some unattainable dream
and i wonder if you knew that we’d end up this way
with no desire to talk it out and nothing left to say
i wonder if you knew but were just afraid to speak
cause i always have to be right
and you were sure that i’d disagree
and how long will you love me after i’m gone?
will you give me five minutes to get down our street?
to turn into traffic, my flashers on
a hazard to all that i meet
and we’re turning pale
so see-through we’ve become
i used to think that we’d be two fortunate ones
and i guess we’re still here
still alive and full of luck
some would kill to still be standing after lightning
had twice struck
and i wonder if you knew this is how it would end
a shade or two darker than i normally recommend
a joke that fell flat on too-attentive ears
a black line straight through the record of these years
and i wonder if you knew that we’d end up this way
with no desire to talk it out and nothing left to say
i wonder if you knew but were just afraid to speak
cause i always have to be right
and you were sure
you were positive
you were sure
that i’d disagree (Back to top)
amelia (with nothing left to say)
well i waited till it got good and hot
and everyone went to the water
and i was thinking how amelia took her plane to sea
and they never caught her
and the mailbox is at the house not the road
so i can’t just leave this letter and run
and i pay the kid next door my last dollar
and hope it’s enough for him to get the job done
and it’s easier to think you just didn’t notice
when i snuck away
and it’s more romantic to consider
that the letter just didn’t get delivered
and it’s not that you just had nothing left to say
i told him i’m tired of being known in small small circles
as the girl that could have - but didn’t
the one who had everything lined up in a row
and then walked away, indifferent
and he just scuffed his shoes on the sidewalk
and kinda cocked his head up at me sideways
he checked the dollar bill to see if it was real
and glanced over my shoulder, out towards the freeway
and he said it really is this hot,
we learned in school that the earth is baking
and i was thinking about the last plane to Bermuda -
was it a risk worth taking?
maybe she’s been there faking it
all this time
and i almost always woke up first
the sun hitting my face on its way through the blinds
there was no way to know in that comfortable bed
in that comfortable time
that the sun was breeding cancer in my head
a good excuse for how it came about
that our cars are parked in separate driveways
and you never leave the house and you never do go out
and I think she probably went down somewhere
but it hurt less over water than the pavement
and I kinda think that little boy read it
and even with his 10 yr old logic
saw that maybe it was better
thrown away
thrown away
and it’s easier to think you just didn’t notice
when i snuck away
and it’s more romantic to consider
that the letter just didn’t get delivered
and it’s not that you just had nothing left to say (Back to top)
i dreamed last night that i lost the first vampire i ever loved
to the cold and snow of Michigan
and those six months of staying up till the dawn have changed my entire life
i’ll never be the same again
and on nights when i can’t sleep
i touch my neck and think of him
looking for the scars i know he’s left
the evidence of how i know he’s changed me
the blood i know he must have kept
and i blinked and then he charmed me
he totally disarmed me
but reminded me to keep the shutters closed
cause he was willing, but only somewhat
or maybe that was me, cause at this point
no one really knows
he was the first time i stayed up till five
to go to work at six
my eyes were heavy but i held on
cause otherwise i’d never got a first kiss
chorus
or maybe it really was that easy
he just made his mix tapes and moved along
knowing all he ever had to do was write me some great line
from an indie rock’n'roll song
chorus (Back to top)
apple green and charcoal gray
and a sweet white blue
I’m marrying friends off today
as I sit here on this swing set without you
and there’s nothing left to atone for
there’s nothing more that I can do
no sins left to be forgiven
and certainly not by you
so I think I’m gonna drive north to Canada
something you said I’d never do
gonna get in my little blue car and drive
till I don’t remember you
gonna drive past all the small houses
and down a long gray stretch of road
listenin’ to talk radio and static
gonna feel myself growing old
apple green and charcoal gray
and a sweet white blue
I’m marrying friends off today
as I sit here on this swing set without you
and there’s nothing left to atone
for nothing more that I can to say
I’m kicking off my shoes and pressing the pedal down
the other girls can fight for the bouquet (Back to top)
i had a heart full of good intent
a sweet little house, paid a decent rent
but i shouted and shouted
and no one heard
i tried to carve out my own little place
i followed the rules til i was blue in the face
but someone else
always had the last word
and if a tree falls and no one hears
well it’s like that with all of these years
no one knows what happened
so maybe nothing really happened…
and austin, i made a mess out of this
and i’m going home
i only saw the dark of your sunny side
it left me feeling alone
and you won’t even notice
cause a lot of people come and go
you only hear what you want to hear
you only know who you wanna know
well i guess i tried to tame you
but you know that you can’t blame me for that
cause i know i’m not the first
to make that mistake
and you never made me a promise
but you seemed so full of promises
was i fool to think
there’s one in there for me?
and if a tree falls and no one hears
well it’s like that with all of these years
no one knows what happened
so maybe nothing really happened…
chorus (Back to top)
big time underground (denouement)
don’t you come in here and tell me how this story goes
cause i know a lot of things that you don’t know
and they don’t know either and no one will understand
how this quilt got pieced together
and don’t even try to start throwing things
i’ve glued down all the furniture and breakables
i’ve put away the best pieces
and all we have left are our hands
and what we hold in them
so i could make you a cup of tea
or you could kick a hole in the door
are you going for an oscar
or are you happy with an independent film award
would you like to give your lovely speeches
or are you content to stay underground
only recognized in your hometown
don’t you come in here and say i broke your heart
cause it’s cheap for an ending
and doesn’t even begin to start
to unravel what we’ve done here
cause it’s inflammable, and this blanket that we’re covered with
will likely go up in smoke
and don’t even try to start throwing things
cause it’s completely against your character
and the audience will never fall for this one
you’ll be called an over-actor
you better, better go for subtle
or downcast
chorus
cause everyone loves the lovable loser
when he’s up on the big silver screen
hold your head high and pretend you don’t see the holes
cause only by playing dumb are you gonna steal this scene (Back to top)
lights are out all over the country tonight
you can’t even turn on a porch light
and everything’s a crisis
and ice cream is going for a dollar in the street
strangers fall in love with the first face they meet
cause there’s something about the dark that’s full of catharsis
and there’s a couple on the corner playing a game
and every time the outcome’s the same
she wonders why he cannot be stopped
but it’s as classic as a blackout in the 21st century
she always throws scissors but she cannot see
that he nearly always throws rock
so you win again
you get to go first
you can spin the bottle
but don’t kiss the other girls
and here in the dark
what if I see us more clearly
we grow up, grow old, grow apart,
and what’s the difference really?
and it’s getting late now
but no one can tell with no streetlights on
and no ringing church bells
cause even those run on electricity these days
and she says I didn’t want you to love me,
I only wanted you to pretend
I did not want to get caught up again
in the madness, the sadness, and the long lonely Sundays
chorus
but he reaches for her hand,
the street lights flicker
she feels her heartbeat just a little bit quicker
and she thinks maybe, just maybe
this love won’t break her
and he says let’s change a few things around
stop trying to cut us up and I won’t weigh us down
and baby, baby we’ll both be paper
we’ll both be paper, translucent as sky
cause love never fails
and love never dies
it’s plain as day if you look in my eyes
it’s written right there
on this dark black night
and we’ll both be paper (Back to top)
stripes of colors on the flowers
and we are loading up the car
you got a backpack and i got a handbag
and we are trading barbs
about the evolution of a heavy language
and where the words come from anyway
and I find I’ve swallowed the sun
I’m exploding with this April day
and maybe with just enough help
and the lights all turning green
we could get out of here without looking back
there’s nothing wrong with fleeing the scene
tell me where your loyalty lies
in your poetry or your prose
cause around here only film stars
are national heroes
and the eels are singing loudly
track one on a homemade mix tape
I’m hanging my head out the window
I’m scaring little old ladies with their mouths agape
as we fly past at the speed of song
making more noise than we have the right
it’s a small town, there are laws against this
but we’re singing, they blink, and we’re out of sight
and maybe with just enough help
and the lights all turning green
we could get out of here without looking back
there’s nothing wrong with fleeing the scene
it’s too cliched to be bonnie and clyde
but we won’t make it if we keep laying low
and around here only film stars are national heroes
and this sunburn, it is my souvenir of a day
lived outside the law
this soft sweet kiss, this hand in mine
the winter that we thought would never thaw
and maybe with just enough help
and the lights all turning green
we could get out of here without looking back
there’s nothing wrong with fleeing the scene
it’s too cliched to be bonnie and clyde
but we won’t make it if we keep laying low
and around here only film stars are national heroes (Back to top)
I know we are on borrowed time
but I’m still not sure who we’ll have to repay
music fills the long car ride
and lyrics sketch in what we’re not brave enough to say
and I’ve spent so much time pretending it’s not real
I think reality is really going to sting
so many feelings I can’t let myself feel
still I can’t lay my finger on any one thing
and I could ask you how you let me get away from you
but to be fair I’d have to say I let myself get away from you too
and I guess I’m a magnet for all fall apart
I guess I’m an expert at breaking your heart
I guess there was a place where this got its start
but I never knew keeping it would be so hard
and I’m trapped up in this tiny space
trying to find a way out
a solution where we can all escape
a foolproof fireproof route
and I could ask you how you let me get away from you
but to be fair I’d have to say I let myself get away from you too (Back to top)
in a city of 5 million faces
how come I’m afraid that I’ll always see yours
I see you looking through windows
stepping out of cars and walking through closed doors
and I’m always so afraid of that chance encounter
where I don’t know what I’d say
or if it’d even really matter much anymore
cause you are the bitterness that wells up inside of me
when I try to sit up straight and I try to see
the goodness inside each and everyone one of us
you’re the savior I’m hanging on a burning cross
and it’s always so much harder this time of year
there’s a person on every corner
and that guy dressed head to toe in red ringin’ a bell,
asking for another dollar
and I guess I half expect to see you in that suit
reminding me that I’m not there yet
cause I’ve learned to forgive
but not to forget
cause you are the bitterness that wells up inside of me
when I try to sit up straight and I try to see
the goodness inside each and everyone one of us
you’re the savior I’m hanging on a burning cross (Back to top)
every thing you thought that you could count on
backed up every check you wrote
but it was not enough to pay off what you put down
and now you’re broke
and you’re sitting in this diner
your face carved from the saddest stone
and you place your order and you laugh with the waiter
when all you want to be is left alone
so stop pretending it’s all gonna be okay
and stop pretending you wanted it this way
and stop pretending that you know what to say
if you don’t know what to say
and your plans are canceled
and every dream that you’ve been building
since you were just a little boy
just went up in the grayest of smoke -
so long to build, and so easy to destroy
cause just like a kid who knew just what she wanted
she got it but then she changed her mind
and you were stuck on the losing end
of a past that you could not rewind
chorus
and you were always such a romantic
and she was the queen of reality
and you could never reconcile
that discrepancy
chorus (Back to top)
it’s not the wings of pegasus
that carry me tonight
across a deep, dark sea
so i cannot sit back
i cannot relax
enjoy the flight and get some sleep
but over the freeway,
i see a pair of lights i think recognize
could that be you, coming to meet me?
and it’s true i’ve been away
but now i’m coming home to stay
is that too much to ask that that’s you
coming to meet me?
and the plane touches down
i see relief in the faces all around me
and i know that i said the wrong thing
i know i left it hanging by a string
but i’m hoping it’s still there, hanging on…
chorus
he’s at the service of the poets
at the service of the oil men
he’s still king of the magnolia
even though you can’t see him
and the buildings now are much too tall
cause modern times have changed it all
but i still remember when i was a kid
and i remember thinking
that a prince would come and save me
swoop down on pegasus to where i hid
chorus (Back to top)
if i told you you take away my strength
would you think that i was weak
would you want somebody who could hold you up
and if i could wring something new
out of the same three chords
would it prove to you how hard i try
to keep you from getting bored
i just want to be your anything
is that too much to ask?
i’m here to be your canvas
i am here to play this straight
i’m here to be anything you would like to paint
i’m here to be a curved or crooked line
here to be here for you anytime
and i’ll be your gray or blue
cause those are what i do the best
and everyone took all the words
sounds like a poor excuse
for having no way to say how i feel
and besides it’s not the truth
cause that everyone is you
and so it’s your own damn fault
if i have everything to tell you
but find my mouth glued shut
the fear of one misstep
holding back my tongue
cause i’m here to be your canvas
i am here to play this straight
i’m here to be anything you would like to paint
i’m here to be a curved or crooked line
here to be here for you anytime
and i’ll be your gray or blue
cause those are what i do the best (Back to top)
well it could rain for days
and then where would i be?
tethered to this chair
barely capable of gravity
tethered to the earth
to the tram bell and the rain
tethered to a ghost
that i may never see again
and it could rain for days
and then where would i be?
drowning here in amsterdam
on my way out to the sea
so i’m tethered to this moment
like i am to all those past
to all those sworn forever
that still managed not to last
i’m tethered to this frame i wear
that keeps me just upright
tethered to these dream of you
that keep me up at night
chorus
well they’re stacking up the chairs outside
before they float away
all of man’s handiwork won’t keep the sea at bay
they pumped the country dry here
to claim a piece of land
but we’ve melted down the icebergs
water’s comin’ back again…
and it could rain forever
and the streets would never dry
i’d struggle on against the flood
unable to cry
cause the sea’s closed off
and i cannot drift away
i’m tethered here in amsterdam
with what i didn’t say
chorus (Back to top)
i dare you to even argue this time
cause it’s clear there’s no other conclusion
and it’s clear we’ve reached the end of the line
but all that’s there is confusion
we sat on a park bench in late july
and watched the landscape melt to hot white sky
and we tried to figure out why
we failed we failed and failed and failed
but i would have given all i have
to find the easy answer to this
but there’s no getting over or around
this farewell kiss
i send you postcards cause there’s less space
to fill with brilliant things to say
to try and explain why we ended up this way
and i burn and i burn all the letters
and the places i send to you are hopelessly lovely
cause they are places designed for two
they’re places you could build a life in
but now i build mine without you
and sometimes i still ask myself why
i failed and failed and failed and failed
but i would have given all i have
to find the easy answer to this
but there’s no getting over or around
all the things about you that i’m gonna miss
all the things about you that i’m gonna miss
all the things about you i already miss (Back to top)
well I can take your picture down now
and put up new ones of happier times
and not be afraid of your angry ghost
with its face like sucked limes
that sour expression may very well be my fault
but it’s time now for me to let that go
there will be less checking around corners
for the thumbs-up man to give me the say so
and sometimes there aren’t fireworks,
and the explosions go pop quietly in the night
a misfire or two that no one can explain
sometimes all the gunpowder in the world will not light
it will not light up the sky
will you come haunting my last good breath?
i think there will be more good breaths for us both
is it okay for me to smile when i wake up
instead of worrying about if you’ve climbed off that rope?
and i had faith that it all would pass
but it wasn’t until i saw exactly how
that i was able to somewhat understand
the way these things sometimes work out
chorus (Back to top)
this is my first lesson in dying
how we are no longer even friends
and now you’re just one of the many
that i may never see again
but you may as well have been
in the towers that came crashing down
folded in upon themselves
and went way down underground
but maybe you were in the harbor
when the planes flew overhead
in the market square where the holy man decided you were dead
they never found you in the square
or at the bottom of the sea
they never found you in manhattan
so there’s some place you might be
and this is the next lesson in dying
sometimes the dead just don’t stay dead
you came along when my brain was concrete, freshly poured and now i have the imprint
of every word you said
but now you’re one of many casualties
and there’s no list of names
you vanished somewhere in the crowd
and it all went up in flames
chorus
and you’re dead to me and i’m dead to you
at your request
i wonder if this is what they mean
when they say it’s for the best
cause we were all inside the towers
when they came crashing down
in the market square where the holy man blew up the whole damn town
but you were nowhere near the square
or at the bottom of the sea
you were nowhere near manhattan
so there’s some place you might, you might be…
where could you be?? (Back to top)
well it was barely six in the morning
as I stumbled out of bed and buckled on my shoes
and strapped my heavy pack onto my tired back
and walked out with nothing left to lose
and it was nearly seven when the train pulled in
the platform full of people
headed to work and back home again
but they could tell I only had a one-way ticket
sadness on my face and they wanted no part of it
and then I was gone
and then I was gone
and then I was gone
and then I was
but I kept my face pressed to the window
I swear I could see it still though we were ten miles down the road
cause look, there’s the tower and a field of yellow flowers
all turned to face the sun’s early morning glow
and look, there’s the man who never knew my name
but he said good morning every morning just the same
and he asked if you’re so sad to be leaving then why do you have to go?
and I just looked at him and said I don’t know
chorus
and I can barely remember getting off the plane
I don’t remember my family calling out my name
and everything around me should have been so familiar
but even English sounded foreign and strange
and then it hit me
chorus (Back to top)
i’m getting tired of this one-way conversation
i’ve been singing at the top of my lungs
and nothing seems to be getting through
i guess these are songs you’ve already been sung
and the girls say don’t get lost in the job
it’s just a way to make ends meet
but it’s so hard when i sing and you don’t hear me
you just keep staring at your feet
but there’s good news in the paper today
this war keeps draggin’ on
and they’re sending more sailors out to sea
to get sucked in by a song
so i sing my songs in a minor key
but it don’t seem to do any good
i guess they’re all a whole lot stronger than me
they just sail on home like they should
and i’ve never been much good at this job
but it’s the only place that i call home
so i sink down and get under the waves
and they keep sailin’ on
chorus
so i guess she’s a pretty one waiting in your bed
i could’ve made you the king of the sea
but i watched as you turned that ship around
you chose her instead of me
chorus (Back to top)
grammar of a sinking ship, the
well it’s so unfair for you
and it’s so unfair of me
to be swaying back and forth
i’m a lot more saw than see
and i am more gone than going
i’m more past than i am present
i left or i am leaving
the tense makes little difference
cause it’s the meaning of the word
that really matters more
it’s the action of the verb
i was tearing then i tore
your heart right out of place
and sent it out to sea
no captain or a first mate
to guide back to me
but i pulled up on the drawbridge
i hoped the ships would pass
but metal scraped on meta
i knew this song would be our last
i tried to call and save you
when i realized what i’d done
but only the gods could have saved you
and then my dear, you were gone….
and the clearance was too low
i’d waited too long
and everything went under
and all the siren songs
couldn’t tempt you into jumping
you were already overboard
choking on our memories
while i refused to cut the cord
chorus (Back to top)
cameras and guidebooks
no ice cream on Mondays
sticking to their schedules
the actors find their way
they’ve got shutterbug impulses
and voices that linger
scripts always in hand
following their lines with an index finger
and we giggle cause we can
cause we are the hero and the heroine
and this is just a giant movie set
and the faces just keep changing
and we are the backdrop
we are the stuffing of this plot
we are the stuff that dreams are made of
and all the would-be juliets and romeos
fall over themselves to make the cut
to be the star of this show
and we giggle cause we can
cause we are the hero and the heroine
and the wind is cold when it hits your face
and it gets dark here by 4 o’clock
and they have to keep all the lighting in place
cause otherwise the extras get lost
and they stumble around
their maps turned upside down
but we know our way through
this sleepy little town
and you take me through the alleys
and you take me by the hand
and we dart down a back street
as the camera starts to pan
and we’re laughing cause we can
cause we are the hero and the heroine
yeah we’re laughing cause we can
cause we are the hero and the heroine (Back to top)
it’s a drug this mouth of yours
and i always thought i was such a good girl
but i remember when you told me
that you wanted to see the whole world
and so i drew us up a map
i charted out exactly where we’d head
i planned it all with a heavy touch
and i ignored you when you said we shouldn’t get carried away
and it did not occur to me
that this could all be over soon
i have a well-practiced way
of over-shooting the moon
but i’m hooked, i’m fixed
i could not get out
without help from greater hands than these
and you won, i give up
it’s stupid to pretend
i could do as i please
i could even leave if i wanted to
i could even leave
and you have heard this all
before cause this is what i mumble to myself
when i roll over into sleep
and i pretend that i am somewhere else
somewhere i am safe
somewhere that i have been before
and look, i’m not just a visitor -
i have a place to hang my keys
just inside the door
but maybe you just have good manners
and parties are what you like most
but it did not occur to me
that maybe you were just a good host
chorus (Back to top)
i wanted to ask you
am i someone you are curious about
am i a chance you want to take
i wanted to ask you
but i didn’t want to hear the answer
so i watch and i wait
and i wanted to ask you
if you thought that i was pretty
if i was someone you thought about at all
i wanted to ask you but i didn’t want to hear the answer
so i watched that i didn’t fall
and i wanted to ask you
but i didn’t
cause you can talk all day long
about putting it out there
and all the chances we should take
but i know there are still a few bets
too expensive for me to make
we stayed up late on a rainy night in june
and it was colder than late september
we traded stories and we made them much more dramatic
much more tragic to remember
and we stayed up late but i wondered if maybe
you’ve stayed up late anyhow if i’d gone on to bed
we stayed up late but i wondered if maybe
we’d fallen for something that was only in our heads
and i wanted to ask you
but i didn’t
chorus
and you are mister positive thinker
you wear the stamp of eternal optimist
so then mister positive thinker
can you tell me what the odds are on this?
chorus (Back to top)
should I be surprised to find you on this bend
where the road curves then turns and straightens out again
a place where you and I have never been
did you get here on the wind?
and how could I have known you’d follow me this far
where the grass has burned and the sky has filled with tar
and everything’s in flames when I’m not where you are
and I’m stuck here with this daredevil heart
and if I stay or if I go
there are a thousand unknowns
and I just gotta get this down
before the next train out of town
I write you letters I don’t intend to send
and I still have a shirt I need to mend
from the time I tried to climb your fence
and wait for you to come back in
and now the time has come for me to make it right
and the only way is to say goodnight
a rope around my chest is pulling too tight
and suddenly everything’s too bright
but if I stay or if I go
there are a thousand unknowns
and I just wanna get this down
before the next train out of town
the rope is pulling too tight
and everything is too bright
I think I’ll leave without a sound
and take the next train out of town (Back to top)
it’s been a long time since i felt this way
since i went to bed with a smile upon my face
since i’ve felt like i haven’t given myself
just enough rope to hang
and it’s been a long time since i let myself see how
we’ve gotten to this place where we are now
and we fought so hard to get here
i don’t think that i’ll erase
a single moment of this encore bow
because we’re here again
and maybe this time i’ll take the right steps
make the right choice
and learn the math
and maybe i’ll be a little more adept
at looking around and seeing what i have
maybe you’ll make me
breakfast in bed
and it’s been a long time since i put this much trust
into someone in whom i’d invested so much
and i never knew that this gambling game
could be so much fun and so easy to play
chorus
maybe you’ll walk me
home under the stars
and the sky is raining gray
but i am not afraid
the sky is raining oh so gray
but i am not afraid
the sky has rained for days and days
and i’m not afraid at all
and that i’m not afraid of you is the only conclusion i can draw
chorus
maybe you’ll hold my hand
and I will finally understand (Back to top)
these words come out dry and clipped
i’m in a state of slipping
into the bath water one toe at a time
and it’s hard enough to write these words
and harder still to force these rhymes
but these hands this place this coffee this table this face
these aren’t mine
and things are strange but what is stranger yet
is that of course they’re not
the stranger things are the things you don’t read about
the blank spaces in the dark
and i find myself making plans for places i never thought i’d go
places i never thought I’d be
and certainly not alone
i want to handpick and name each of these fears
but they loom up large before me like the sum of all my years
of doing nothing
should any of this seem routine or commonplace
should being able to touch the face of someone i loved
now only dimly remembered
should lines be sharper and images more clear
could i have forgotten so much in only half a year
chorus
and i want to handpick and name each of these fears
but they loom up large before me like worthless souvenirs
so i’m gonna handpick and name each of these fears
and then i’ll give them away (Back to top)
i stay up late and watch the absence of stars in the sky
and somewhere halfway around the world
you’re turning over with a sigh
and the light is barely breaking through the window
through your dreams of you and i
at least that’s how i prefer to think you spend
hot mornings in july
and i’ve come home
to almost as much as i left behind
and i’ve nearly got it back on track
i’ve nearly got it right this time
and if there’s a way to turn metal to shine
well it hasn’t yet been found
and all i need’s for you to be here with me
work your magic on this alchemist town
and i’ve moved back in and i’m building from scratch
but i’m surrounded by pieces i just can’t seem to match
and what a funny picture i must make
up to my elbows in unfinished wood
but i’d lay down here anyway to get some sleep
if i thought i could
chorus (Back to top)
well how many times do i have to tell you?
do as i say, not as i do
but i know that you don’t hear me
you’re so far gone, it’s like you never knew me
well i’m still sending up my prayers
but are they listening up there?
and how small were we down below?
did you think you’d pull that trick
and that we’d never know?
and did you think that you were brave
as you flew away with those wings I made?
and i’m still sending prayers to you,
but the smog’s too thick
and they can’t break through…
and now your wings are melting fast
you’re covered in sticky wax
you’re so far gone that you can’t turn back,
and from here… i guess it’s just down.
and what was it like as you fell?
did you think you’d bust right straight through
and go on straight to hell?
or was there a moment
when you thought you were saved? (Back to top)
keep your chin up (misunderstood)
well there are no pills left to swallow
the bitterest part’s gone down
no brick road left to follow
’cause the storm’s blown through town
and i am sifting through old postcards
i filed inside my head
where islands glow like ruby shoes
and you meant every word you said
so kansas, keep your chin up
the good witch is still around
and i am packing up the postcards
and getting out of town
we were trapped inside a camera
convex and upside down
i could not save us from it
the sky was burned and browned
it was curling at the edges
as the fire destroyed it all
and all that kept us on the ledge, dear,
was the memory of the fall
so adam, keep your chin up
i am taking all the blame
and i will bury all the apple cores
and leave you your good name
and there are no wicked witches here
just fairy tales unlearned
princes off their horses
happy endings spurned
in favor of some sad post-modern finish
to our tale
postcards trapped in bottles
and ships that don’t set sail
so sweetheart, keep your chin up
i admit it’s all my fault
the postcards all are water-logged
and the ship has filled with salt
and every postcard held a little lie
that was meant to glue this shut
but i forgot to fix myself dear,
and it was me who fell apart (Back to top)
little films that fade from sight
little flashes of color
little snippets of sound and light
little ghosts uncovered
playing catch with you at a stoplight
or was that somebody else
it’s hard to keep all these memories straight
when you keep them locked away on the top shelf
but I put in you in every box I could find
and the bottom, it fell out every time
and I made running look easy
with the trail of memories I left behind
another sad, foggy detail
dancing on the sidelines
of how wrong everything
went the lie I told you
of how we just ran out of time
and I said this is what we do
we make plans, they fall apart
we fall down and we pick ourselves up
try and make a new start
and you said you put down roots
you tend a garden till it grows
but what good is planting seeds
when you always reap the sadness you’ve sown
and I saw the same man down on the corner
holding the same dirty sign
does he still have your change in his pocket
wearing your coat down on airport drive
chorus
and I remember that your hands were small
but big enough to hold my head up
surely that can’t be all
that those years were made of
chorus (Back to top)
it’s a Friday in autumn
it’s the third of September
and these are the details
the director says we should remember
there’s a scene where you shake your head
but still give her a second chance
cause this was a story marketed to families
and fans of true romance
and she’d always be true
we heard her say it at the start
and the setting was idyllic
the script said: central park
and we all know she meant it
so it can’t all be her fault
an unexplained plot twist
for now they’ll leave us in the dark
and no one pays to leave the theatre in tears
with soft, sore hearts
except all the critics and those always afraid
it’s about to fall apart
but it might end happily
and what else have we got to do
except cling to the edge of our seats
and watch her fall in and out of love with you
and she’d always be true
we heard her say it at the start
and it wasn’t just once
it seems she said it a lot
and we all know she meant it
so it can’t all be her fault
if they fell out of love
if it came to a screeching halt
it’s a Friday in autumn
it’s the third of September
and these are the details
the director says we should remember (Back to top)
and so i’m running scared
does that make me bad or normal
cause i think that anyone would run from you
and so if you’d turned out to be a gemini or aquarius
instead of capricorn or taurus
would that have been a good enough excuse to run and hide
but of course you didn’t
and now i’ve got more to worry about
than charting the course of our stars
and matching up our zodiac signs
so for now i’ve got to run
i know no other way
i’ve talked it over with myself
and though i’d like to stay
i find myself a bit unsure
of where to go from here
so if you need me i’ll be somewhere down the road
running until this is clear
and no it’s nothing that you’ve done
i’m not even mad
it’s just one of my little quirks
a funny feeling that i had
that if i didn’t leave right
then i might never leave again
well how did i find myself on this bench
in the middle of a storm
talking voices to myself
trying to keep warm
watching the foreign cars drive by
race to their destinations
there’s a pair of eyes that always pulls me home
without any explanation
chorus (Back to top)
maybe it’s because it’s easy
or maybe cause i know you won’t stay too long
or maybe it’s because you’re a little bit sweet and shy
and you’d never believe i’d write you a song
maybe cause i know you’re not really my type
and you know damn well that I’m not yours
maybe it’s the lure of something far and away
different than I’ve ever known before
and either way I’m scared
cause there’s still a lot to lose….
and so I’m wrapping this up like a package
and I’m sending it on to you
to do with it whatever you like
cause life is short and our chances are few
so maybe I’ve fallen for an idea
maybe you are really not all there
maybe it’s just the way I get a tingle in my toes
whenever you touch my hair
somebody once told me to always look before I leap
and it seemed like good advice
but I’m already way up here in midair
cause I jumped off a cliff without thinking twice
and I’m still a little scared
cause there’s still a lot to lose….
chorus
and so I’m wrapping this up like a package
and I’m sending it on to you
cause love’s not something that you hold in your hands
and life is short… and our chances are few (Back to top)
well it’s always been such a contest with you
the score is never final til you say we’re through
and i built you a pair of wings and onward you flew
and now every so often i get a small bit of news
but i’m tired of chasing medals
i’ll never run as fast as you backpedal
and a few years after the games have passed
you sit there watching your gold
and i’m not so sure the silver and bronze
aren’t just for the audience at home
and i resign myself to the distance
the million laps it would take to reach where you sit
the salt in my eyes and my weak jello heart
and i wonder if it’s even worth it
well there are some dreams that you’ll never capture
they loom over your head and they block out the sun
and you stare at them, enraptured
and that’s how you fell out of love with me
and in love with higher stature
and your friends shook their heads and said
boy, you’d better hurry and catch her
cause she’s tired of chasing medals
she’ll never run as fast as you backpedal
chorus (Back to top)
well I looked up and I shielded my eyes
as another one, it fell from the sky
it’s raining good intentions
but they hit the ground too hard
smash in a million pieces
and scatter through the yard
where I tried to plant some flowers
where I tried to fit this town
well I got mine and you got yours
but was there really not enough to go around?
and another one hits me
as i try to step aside
all the things that i had packed away
are now out here on the outside
garage sale, it’s moving day
we’re selling off our things
the chair is five, the stereo’s six
and i won’t take less than twenty
for this pair of gold foil rings
well I looked up and I shielded my eyes
as another one, it fell from the sky
it’s raining good intentions
but they hit the ground too hard
smash in a million pieces
and scatter through the yard
where I tried to plant some flowers
where I tried to fit this town
well I got mine and you got yours
but was there really not enough to go around? (Back to top)
I said I’ll call you soon
and like that I closed the phone
pulled the plug on another love
and now I’m chasing the rain
and hoping I’ve still got time enough
and I, I chronicle every mile
from when I, I crossed the state line
from when I left Texas
to the exit where I thought I’d leave this behind.
and the cotton fields spread far
their flowers like early snow on the ground
and the flat shades of gray and blue sky
spread the space above and all around
and at least I am grateful
to be driving east
the sun is in my eyes
but it just means fewer time zones between you and me
and I’ve never been good at figuring out what to do
and I’ve never been able to hear the small voice they tell me to listen to
and I’ve never been able to sit still and look around at what’s been lost
I always just rush ahead, no head for numbers and rarely do I calculate the cost
but that don’t mean I don’t find myself
thinking about all my sins
and when and how I’ll find the time and money
to pay for them
and all the times I stood there - weak -
and toed the line
I dragged my foot through the dirt
and made it blur
and then I changed my mind
chorus (Back to top)
next big bang, the (penelope’s song)
we are many miles apart
and i’m no better than the average jane
the sky is without stars or i miss you cards
so i try hard not to complain
about the weather or anything else here
cause things have pretty much stayed the same
since the call came
and you headed on your odyssey
looking to make a name
and most days i just hold my breath
await the next big bang
cause every new storm that blows in
could bring you back again
i sit at home and work this loom
look straight through the boys
and mutter little prayers
i weave myself a piece of sanity
and hope you’re safe out there
chorus
i know the road is long
i know the sea is wide and deep
but i know you promised to come home
and that’s a promise you should keep
chorus (Back to top)
your face is so so white
the eraser did its job
if i didn’t know then i wouldn’t know
your eyes were so so blue
i dropped it all inside
and then i sealed the box
and then i lit the fuse
i kicked off the bomb
and let it all go to hell
and there’s no sense
in any of this
what good’s a memory
without a face or a voice?
and it’s all smudged
looks like the ink has run
on all the half-drawn sketches
i stored inside my head
so it’s like a horror show
it’s all i’ve got to show
in these silent films
you’re always faceless
but somehow i know it’s you
you try to speak to me
for all i can tell you are screaming
of stolen things, broken dreams,
and mistakes i am making
chorus
your face is so so white
the eraser did its job
if i didn’t know
then i wouldn’t know
your eyes were so so blue (Back to top)
can you believe i’ve driven 7000 miles since july
i could have been back there by now and then some
and with the extra 1000 tacked on at the end
we could have made it down to sicily
and we’d be lying half awake
and baking in the hot italian sun
and it sure would have been nice
but that’s not the way it worked out
and these thoughts run a train track dare inside my head
but it’s nothing i should
yeah it’s nothing i should cry about
and the waiting’s now beside the point
sometimes i forget what the point ever was
in lying awake in the middle of the night
and waiting on a foreign sun
cause i can’t trade these highway miles
for a one-way ticket home
and you can’t translate sunsets back to me
over a crackling pay phone
chorus
can you believe i’ve driven 7000 miles since july
maybe i should give it a rest
go to church on a sunday, read the paper
and try to clean up some of this mess
that i’ve let accumulate
in your absence for too long
you know, i always thought of myself
as something of a neat freak
but i guess i was wrong
and i guess i was wrong about a lot of things
i was wrong not to trust this
and i can feel the worry
slipping out of me
with a steady hum and a steady hiss
cause i talked to you
just a little while ago
and all you had to say
was that you’re finally coming home (Back to top)
while you were sleeping late
the neighbors will debate
who was in your driveway this morning
but here comes the sunrise
and i know how to take a cue
i know when i’ve had my warning
but i back out in neutral
i do not make a sound
i’ve got my cloak of invisibility
wrapped tightly around
and i tell myself that
everything will be okay from now on
if i just close my eyes and believe it
the unraveling of love is sometimes hard
but there is only so long you can grieve it
and it’s not worth admission
to get into this town
and by admission i mean confession
and there’s no getting around
that i’m still pulling up the sidewalk
to find the lost storyline
to find the clues to lead me back
to what i left behind
but the breadcrumbs are all paved over
and the forest has been cut down
so i’ve got my cloak of invisibility
wrapped tightly around
and i tell myself that
chorus
mothers walk their daughters to school
little pig-tailed girls in winter coats
somehow that’s the kind of thing
that i still miss the most
but i tell myself that
chorus (Back to top)
do you suppose you could kiss me goodbye
one last time before I go?
the frame’s still on the mantle
and I know - I know - I promised not to argue
do you suppose you could play the part
for just a few more bars?
cause I’ve found grownups are no fun to play with
and I’m always so tired these days
and do we ever get to take back the things we didn’t say?
and do we ever get to take back the things we didn’t say?
do you suppose that you’ll miss me much
when we are really apart?
and not this in between that we’ve played at
while we trampled on our hearts
do you suppose that you’d write me a song
to get me through this cold?
the winter’s so heavy inside my mouth -
it’s like a warning i’ve been told
and do we ever get to take back the things we didn’t say?
and do we ever get to take back the things we didn’t say?
do you suppose you could kiss me goodbye
one last time before we’re through?
the frame’s still on the mantle and I know - I know - I promised not to argue (Back to top)
i haven’t been here in so long
i forgot what that look on your face could mean
i guess that half sweet smile and slightly crazy look in your eyes could mean
you’re glad to see me
and i’ve been living this foreign life
and i’ve been wondering if what i’m doing here is right
and i always thought that i would know when it was time to go
but now i’m not so sure
but how i’d love to have you here during this,
my favorite time of year
we could watch the leaves change
and the snow fall down in the valley
after november rains
we could sit in my fair piazza
drink cappuccino and talk about the mafia
even though they’re just a joke round here
they haven’t been in these parts for years
at least that’s what they tell the american girls
and we could go for a walk down a shady little vicolo
and find two cobblestones that look almost alike
find a sharp stick and carve with all our might
and try to leave our mark
and maybe it’ll still be clear
when we come to visit our piazza in a couple of years
see, i already think of it as his and hers even though
you haven’t ever seen it
but i know you’ll like it when you come to visit
chorus
and i can’t even picture a december day
it’s just a little bit beyond the fray
of my imagination right now
but that spark is in the air
and it can only mean one thing
i’ve run into that brick wall
of someone on my mind
and i think it’ll be a long fall this time
chorus (Back to top)
i need someone to talk to
but myself is never enough
i’m the worst kind of needy
trying to find answers
on the inside of a coffee cup
but the only thing i know for sure
is that i spend too much on coffee
too much time inside myself
never trusting anyone else
and it’s finally catching up with me
but how to get my head around
this ridiculous idea of eternity
well that’s the problem i’m dealing with today
the supposed promise that nothing i do
can hurt me in a permanent way
as long as i hold tight to what i believe in
well what if i’ve forgotten what that is
and what if i forget everything all at once
and i’m standing here, blank mind,
as you walk away you walk away
the summer grass tall and hot and full of bugs
crawling at my ankles
and leaving little bites that we’ll call love
we call this love?
chorus (Back to top)
well saint anthony, i’m slipping
i’ve gotta learn to walk with a rope tied round my waist
if i insist on digging up every past mistake
and resurrection’s a scary thing
when it sneaks up on you
maybe the tomb should stay closed
’cause ghosts aren’t for talking to but
and saint anthony
there seems to be something i’ve lost
and it’s staring me square in the face.
and st. anthony
can you take a moment’s pause
and sift through what can still be saved?
well i thought i saw a rooftop, covered in snow
but it was only made of steel reflecting light in the sun
and i could use nerves of steel now ’cause i’m coming undone
and sometimes there’s bridges to burn
but what if you burn the wrong one?
well you’d better be a good swimmer in the long run
chorus (Back to top)
science of memory and forgetting
well it’s a game i play with myself
it’s a twisted state of loyalty
a toss up at best ’cause whoever gets the prize
is whoever was the last to leave
and importance or duration of feeling
is hardly taken into account
’cause it’s the freshest imprint, however shallow,
that always calls me out
’cause there is a science to memory and forgetting
and both are cut from the same cloth
both consist of remembering pieces of the past
in a way that it was not
and if he knew i’d kissed another and another
well i wonder what he’d say
that they come up in the freeze frame but so does he
well it’s more than i can explain
’cause i recall all the others i’ve known
all those Decembers to Mays
but he’s a three year block of my past life
i only see on holidays
chorus
a hypothesis must be formed
a check and balance system to weigh
the damage done in keeping it
or giving it away
chorus (Back to top)
there were signposts pointing every which way
as we were loading boxes in the car
and autumn leaves fell in the trunk, covering up,
the evidence we’d fallen so far
and I made out like it was no big deal -
I made out like I was coming home!
this is the scene where I made out like a bandit
and I made off with all that I could handle
and thou shalt not steal!
the heart of the one you try to heal
leave the healing in the hands of those
who understand the power of the drugs they hold
will mailboxes always take me back to you?
the little red flags, signaling need
saying stop here, please don’t forget me!
cause I have something that someone wants to see
and the smell of rain on dirty city streets
the pavement worn and cracked and tired
reminds me: I never liked it much here anyway.
still, it feels strange without saying goodbye.
chorus
and you are a decision I have made
you are stolen goods I can’t take back
and even if there are things that I would undo by now -
it’s a little bit late for that
chorus (Back to top)
I’m sitting in the driveway and it’s late
I’m staring up at the great black sky
and the occasional car drives by
and their headlights catch my sad thoughts in their great white eyes
and I’m talking to what I do not understand
making a deal I hope that I can keep
cause I will do anything I can as long
as you don’t take this from me
cause it took me so long to get here
with a smile just barely on my face
my nails are ragged and my eyes are tired
and the old me has disappeared without a trace
and I know that this is childish
I know I cannot drive a bargain
I cannot barter to keep
things unearned but given
and I know I should just let go
not worry over what lies in store
and I know there is more to life
than what I’ve been living for
chorus
and I am so afraid of losing
the ones I love the most
of living my life in shadows
always tethered to a ghost
chorus (Back to top)
so what if it’s not okay
if you lose your head
and so what if it don’t work out
if it falls apart instead
and so what if you finally find
there are some things that cannot be found
maybe if you let it alone
they will come back around
and then you will remember
and then you will recall
and you will finally recognize
some things are worth saving after all (Back to top)
could you listen to what i’m saying
could i have your attention
don’t believe me when i can’t finish
every half-formed sentence
try to drag it out of me
and i don’t know why it’s so hard for me to say
the things i need to say
so maybe i’ll start with something easy
on this holiday
happy fourth of july baby
here’s a handful of sparks
for you to see me better by
here in the summer dark
do you remember that crazy walk we took
you turned your ankle in the three am dark
and it was strange because the moon
was just about to rise
and we stopped to rest on that crumbling wall
and i heard the stars tell me not to fall like they do
but all i could see were those baby blue eyes
chorus
and maybe it has a lot to do with what surrounds me
but i can’t imagine not having you around me
i don’t want to go home
but my time here is drawing to a close
and i have to gather up my things and go
but i know i’ll see you soon
so happy fourth of july baby
i wish we could watch fireworks
go out with a bang and a sizzle
and burn away all this hurt
happy fourth of july baby
here’s a handful of sparks
for you to remember me better by
here in the summer dark (Back to top)
the film unreels before me,
the celluloid of all these years
and I still can’t see you
but I hear you telling me
we’ll play it by ear
and this is so far out of tune
that i’m not good enough to fake it
so i close my eyes
and say goodnight to the moon
feel sorry for the winter trees,
so cold and naked.
but I, I crinkled my smile
and hid my eyes from the sun
and I was impatient when you asked
if you were the only one
we’re such good actors
- do we feel, or just think we should?
and I swear that I’d come clean if I,
if I thought I could.
and you gave it all,
but it all slipped through the cracks
and i threw a kiss over my shoulder,
but i forgot to look back
and i want to be witty and clever,
or at the very least - kind.
but i’ve forgotten all the words that used to be
so easy to find.
chorus
and i’m aware that you’d be good for me
if only i would let you be
but mutiny comes in every shape and size
and by now my jumping ship should come
as no great surprise
chorus (Back to top)
thin thread
I need a thin thread
there’s bound to be something
that can bind this together
things said
write down the things said
surely we cannot be as changing as the weather
and I try so hard to get it right
and I try so hard to sleep at night
thin line
I toe a thin line
and it’s so hard to tell
where it begins and ends
feel fine
yes I feel fine
if you need a lie
I’ve got a few to lend
and I try so hard to get it right
and I try so hard to sleep at night
and you know I love you babe
you know I do
I had this childish faith
that we would somehow get through
chorus (Back to top)
i lie awake and listen to you breathe
and i count the spaces in between
as you fall fast and hard and deep
into a sleep that i can’t question
and i know that you can’t hear
as i lay out point by point so clear
this map of cowardice and fear
this half-hearted hope and suggestion
and it’s supposed to be easier in the dark
so imagine how i feel in the day
with my addictions showing on both sleeves
and my face on display
and i find fault in everything
in every single thing you do
cause i have tried
but i cannot hide
this terrible falling into you
it’s sunday night, we’re building fires
and i’m threading invisible flame-proof wires
between me and you
cause i’ve never been one to just let it burn
oh look what a little spark can do
and my heart caught flame
became a runaway under a different name
and i didn’t see it sneak out
i didn’t see it leave i didn’t see it hail a taxi
and pull right to your front door
and by the time i noticed
what was going on
well i couldn’t get it back
it was too far gone
and i find fault in everything
in every single thing you do
cause i have tried
but i cannot hide
this terrible falling into you
and i don’t want to lose me again
i was so hard to find
i don’t want to lose me again
i don’t want to lose this time
and this is too far gone (Back to top)
planes keep on crashing
and lightning bugs ricochet
off my sleeve and into my heart
and i ask them to stay
leave behind a little spark
because sometimes you need some help
out of the dark
and not everything ends well
not everything’s a fairy tale
but i’m here to tell you
i’ve been in the war
not everything works out
but honey, never doubt
i’m gonna fight for us
in the war
push back and away we float tonight
just one more chance to get it right
hold on tight to that tiny spark
let’s pull ourselves up out
out of the dark
chorus (Back to top)
you’ve kind of got this smirk on your face
in the picture i keep by my bed
maybe it was just the slant of sun in your eyes
maybe just the thoughts in your head
so sure you had me
that you didn’t need to try
thought that maybe it was just enough
that you were mostly a nice guy
but i’m a sucker for all the things you won’t give
all the calls that you won’t make
all the late night “i hope you sleep tight”s
that you don’t even fake
and baby, maybe you don’t know it
maybe you don’t even care
baby, maybe you don’t know it
but you’re losing me
you’re losing me somewhere
and it’s funny how i’ve stopped counting time
in the spaces between you and you
and i put away all of the picture frames
though i really didn’t want to
i folded up every letter nice and neat
and sharp on every crease
and put away to read a bit later
on the front porch during winter’s first freeze
and yeah, it’s a little bit sad
but staying would only make me sadder
and i’ve finally reached the bottom of this well i dug
and now i’m reaching for a ladder
and baby, maybe you don’t know it
maybe you don’t even care
but i’m giving you the heads up right now
so you can’t say that it’s not fair
and baby, maybe you don’t know it
maybe you don’t even care
baby, maybe you don’t know it
but you’re losing me
you’re losing me somewhere (Back to top)
i can smell fall like the savior
coming in sharp through the air
and somehow your scent got tangled up in there
and the green of your eyes
is found in every turning leaf
and with every one that falls i pick it up
try to save another piece
this business of keeping you in my pockets
of keeping you from slipping farther away
well now we have different seasons
’cause there’s the chill of an early fall here these days
but we already had different skies
and different stars at different times
so i suppose we can learn to weather this system as well
so tell me what the weather’s like there
tell me anything at all
like what you thought about this morning
while you sat and watched the rain fall
and what you thought about while you were
counting the days by the hour
and tell me the novelty’s still in our novel
and this hasn’t yet gone sour
and tell me you still wait for me to come home
and lights are going down all around me tonight in Ravenna
as i sit this one out
and i watch the racing around
of the rails under wooden cars
and your face is the backdrop
of every falling star
and with every one that falls i make a wish
to end up where you are
and an early night is passing quickly into
a quickly fading dawn
and soon the sun will rise and try to burn clean my memory
but i will hold on
if you’ll tell me you still wait to kiss my lips
and touch my face
to feel the pulse of a thousand misspent days
racing beneath the hand that holds my cheek
and tell me you still want me for your own
and that you bless me at random in case i sneeze
while i’m away from home
you told me that you’d never lie
and i believe you
so tell me you still wait for me
and tell me you still pray for me
and tell me you still wait for me to come home (Back to top)
