Sitting at a Red Light

There’s a laughing girl behind the wheel in my peripheral vision The radio is dancing through her hair There’s a black man on the corner yelling like he’s on a mission With his head back and his arms up in the air The lights crawl through their cycles, everybody talks to no-one And the anger’s barely sleeping in their hands All this movement sitting still would surely stop if looks could kill The light is green, I think she’s seen me, here’s my chance

Hey you, in the rusted out Nova With “just do it” stuck on the glass Hey I think that maybe I know ya But its hard to tell, cause everything’s changing so fast

There’s a rattle in the trunk and there’s a trash-truck up ahead And I’m not really sure how I got here at all I can remember getting in, I turned the key and took a left It’s automatic now, I just hold on and fall Her car’s another kind of blue, it prob’ly isn’t safe to drive But everybody knows there are no accidents It’s way to warm for late October, I think she’s pulling over Maybe this is where the trip starts making sense

Hey you, in the rusted out Nova With “just do it” stuck on the glass Hey I think that maybe I know ya But its hard to tell, cause everything’s changing so fast

There’s a face in every back seat there’s a wasp on every dashboard Let me out, let me in, let me out let me in There’s no street just intersections, the illusion of connections There you are, here I am, where’ve you been...

Hey you, in the rusted out Nova With “just do it” stuck on the glass Hey I think that maybe I know ya But its hard to tell, cause everything’s changing so fast

Tear Gas (You're Like Mine)

You’re like tear gas, every time you fall somebody cries You’re like night-court, full of wicked thoughts and alibis You’re like gold dust, you glitter for a while and then blow away You’re like a pop song, I can’t believe a pretty thing you say But you’re like something else That I let fool me every time When you’re sleeping next to me at night….

You’re like mine, if I close my eyes You’re like mine, if I change your mind You’re like mine, if I live with lies You’re like mine, if I turn back time

You’re like an Earthquake, when you’re shakin’ there’s nowhere to hide You’re like a mobile home, I never know what’s going on inside We both see what’s coming You’ll be leaving me behind But for now when I turn out the light….

You’re like mine, if I close my eyes You’re like mine, if I change your mind You’re like mine, if I live with lies You’re like mine, if I turn back time

Someone’s getting hurt, and someone’s gonna be just fine Who is who, well I think we both know So I just tell myself that love’s imperfect by design And make believe we’ve got it ’til it goes

You’re like moonlight, the darker that it gets the more you shine You’re like everything, and I keep pretending

You’re like mine, if I close my eyes You’re like mine, if I change your mind You’re like mine, if I live with lies You’re like mine, if I turn back time

The Meteorite

She can’t complain, her life’s too beautiful for that Her home’s too big, her closet’s full, her bank account is way too fat Her husband’s cute, and all he touches turns to gold Except his heart, except her hand, except a world grown too cold She wonders how she got so far away

Wasn’t there a time just yesterday she was at the Black Crows concert singing Didn’t give a damn then who could hear happy just to be alive and now Staring at the empty too-blue sky, feeling like her face might crack and thinking Maybe this will be her lucky night and God will send a meteorite

The light is green, has she been sitting here too long It might have changed, she isn’t sure, is someone shouting, what’s gone wrong Her hands won’t drive, she thinks of biting through the wheel Or through her arm, or through this smile, how would it taste how would it feel All she wants to do is drive away

Wasn’t there a time just yesterday she was at the Coldplay concert singing Didn’t give a damn then who could hear happy just to be alive and now Staring at the empty too-blue sky, feeling like her face might crack and thinking Maybe this will be her lucky night and God will send a meteorite

Just one innocent disaster, one brilliant ball of flame Out of her control, no-one has to know Just erase and start again

Wasn’t there a time just yesterday she was at the White Stripes concert singing Didn’t give a damn then who could hear happy just to be alive and now Staring at the empty too-blue sky, feeling like her face might crack and thinking Maybe this will be her lucky night and God will send a meteorite

Too Late to Leave Her Alone

She wears the Sun in her hair when it’s raining She wears the rain like some women wear pearls When she smiles my hands shake, when she laughs hearts will break But she cries like the end of the world

She says I’m a fool to believe her When she whispers she loves me at night But when she’s in my bed, there’s a voice in my head That says “people don’t change ...but she might”

She’s got a wild streak that shines in the moonlight Got some high cards that she hasn’t shown And if there’s scars I can’t see...well that’s alright with me It’s too late to leave her alone it’s too late to leave her alone

I know she don’t want to be needed She just needs to be wanted so bad She swears I’ll get hurt, truth is I’m using her Cause she gives me what I’ve never had

She gives me that light in the distance She gives me a place to be strong And if I give her just two hands she can trust Tell me how that can be wrong

She’s got a wild streak that shines in the moonlight Got some high cards that she hasn’t shown And if there’s scars I can’t see...well that’s alright with me It’s too late to leave her alone it’s too late to leave her alone

Disintegrate

Fall apart if you want to and I’ll pick you up piece by piece I’ll get down on my hands and knees and put you back together Go on and leave if you’re going to but I’ll tear the dark out of the sky I’ll use the Moon’s unblinking eye to reach you...so you better…

Disappear without a trace, into the air, disintegrate Change the past and then erase my mind too Run out tonight, it’s not enough, do anything you’re thinking of But if you leave a breath of love behind you I can close my eyes and find you

Tell me that you don’t need me and I’ll shine the truth into your soul I’ll hold you and I won’t let go until the night surrenders Rip my heart out completely or I’ll whisper through these bleeding lips I’ll make you want just one more kiss forever…so you better...

Disappear without a trace, into the air, disintegrate Change the past and then erase my mind too Run out tonight, it’s not enough, do anything you’re thinking of But if you leave a breath of love behind you I can close my eyes and find you

I've Been There

She’s riding down lover’s lane the wrong way Singing Sergeant Pepper’s while Sinatra plays Looking in her rearview, messing with her hair She’s holding hands with a man she doesn’t know She tries to tell herself it’s love but it’s not so If you’re cold enough it doesn’t matter what you wear But oh the lights look pretty as you’re flying by From so very high

I’ve been there, broken blue, anything to hang on to Who needs right, real will do when you’re floating in thin air I’ve been there, so far gone, giving up is holding on Hoping Chance will have some change to spare I’ve been there

Another morning sneaking through the curtain crack Another mirror asking who is looking back Wondering if you’re waking from another sad affair Trying to read the future in a coffee cup Checking if your ringtone’s loud enough Wishing they would call or that you didn’t care The world ends at 10:30 but another face Will take it’s place

I’ve been there, broken blue, anything to hang on to Who needs right, real will do when you’re floating in thin air I’ve been there, so far gone, giving up is holding on Hoping Chance will have some change to spare I’ve been there

You laugh in ultra-violet though you’ve seen it all before Dancing madly backwards toward an accidental door They’ all seem well rehearsed but no-one gave a script to you And hurting is so easy when there’s nothing else to do

I”ve been there, too far down, looking up to see the ground In my head the siren sound of dreams too big to dare I’ve been there, broken blue held together just like you Looking for an answer anywhere. Hoping Chance would have some change to spare I’ve been there

I Can't Wake Up

Look at these lines, they keep on coming Into the distance, backwards and forwards Infinite time, I hear it humming All my resistance is just a joke King of the World, who am I kidding Can’t even tell my head what to do Hand on the rail, keeping my balance Let go and disappear into the blue

I can’t wake up, I can’t wake up And I can’t fall asleep
The start won’t stop, the loop keeps running And I‘m caught outside looking in, watch myself still saying…

Look at that kid, dreaming of dreaming Halfway alive I can see through him Hoping things move in automatic Baby I love you, is that enough Show me my face, I haven’t seen it I think I’m a dancer if I could let go Say I’m alright and make me believe it I don’t want to know anything that I know

I can’t wake up, I can’t wake up And I can’t fall asleep
The start won’t stop, the loop keeps running And I‘m caught outside looking in, watch myself still saying…

Crop Circles

There are sirens on the next street painting spirals on a door Someone’s pounding in the upstairs tracing geometric patterns on the floor There’s a dog chained in the back yard walking dead-rings in the dark And the Rorschach in the gridlock… I don’t know what they mean, but I know what they are

Have you seen the one where the guy falls down Or the angry cat, or the eight-year-old Who can play guitar like she’s lived a life Ninety-million likes, It’s got to mean something Crop circles

People drowning in the broadband, I can feel it on my skin Information running through me, hollowed out and filled back in And the headphones are all ingrown, and the ringing never stops It’s the blank stare into nowhere, as the fat lady sings and the microphone drops

But have you seen the one with the singing dog Or the car on fire, or that chick who crawls From the tv screen, man I just can’t stop I could sit right here, it’s got to mean something Crop circles

Have you seen that bear, like it’s just too cute Did you get swiped right, do your eyes have people Who check all day to see just how blue, Don’t you hate that song, play it one more time And those Asian boys, that’s no accident Like your baby jacked-up on nursery rhymes Get your tongue just right while the World burns down Seven billion hits, it’s got to mean something Crop circles, crop circles

Swichblade

On the switchblade edge of darkness, between hope and desperation Where danger speaks in riddles and love feels like starvation He stands outside the cafe and speaks in waiting whispers Listening for her footsteps tattooing the distance She could have been a dancer, she moves in automatic She doesn’t want to hurt anyone, it just comes out of habit She’s turned so many corners another one won’t matter They both know where it’s going as soon as he looks at her

You can almost hear the click You can almost feel the cut You can almost hear the click You can almost feel the cut

Someone will go too far, somebody quits too fast Someone will come home too soon, somebody comes in last The hope is mostly honest but the timing’s always wrong
Somebody wakes up too late and finds somebody gone

You can almost hear the click You can almost feel the cut You can almost hear the click You can almost feel the cut

She has a way of smiling that makes the music louder He walks a tightrope circle of hunger close around her The jukebox almost crying, it’s rhyming lies in rhythm About a love undying and every sin forgiven

You can almost hear the click You can almost feel the cut You can almost hear the click You can almost feel the cut

Linda and Linda

In the mud somewhere in Indiana, There’s a shoe that fit when I was nine Life was so soft back then, you slowly sank in I thought I pulled my leg out just in time But two voices woke me up last night, They broke out of my past somehow It was a look and a kiss from two chances I missed That have nothing to do with me now

Linda and Linda here we go again I guess you’re not done with me yet The tunnel of love has no light at the end And the darkness will never forget

I met a man I don’t know in my bathroom He’s hanging on the wall over my sink Now every time I go in he’s watching me watching him And demands to be told what I think And there’s a woman outside my door screaming She has my name tattooed on her ass Yeah it’s easy to see you can’t tell what will be The one mark you make that will last

Linda and Linda here we go again I guess you’re not done with me yet The tunnel of love has no light at the end And the darkness will never forget

All the things that we do trying to be someone who Someone wants to lie down with at night All the dreams that we chase, the mistakes we can’t face And the wrong ways of being alright

There are dinosaur tracks in Montana They say he was fifty feet tall When they dig up my shoe how will it tell the truth Of the life of a creature so small

Linda and Linda here we go again I guess you’re not done with me yet The tunnel of love has no light at the end And the darkness will never forget

From Now On / Love is a Boat

I’ve got no strings to hold me down from now on I’ll be the king of this old town from now on I can stay out late and you won’t care from now on Yeah, things are gonna be different ‘round here from now on

I can go too far, I can act the fool Ain’t nobody gonna ask me why I can do just what I want to do But when I come home at night I’m gonna cry just a little I’m gonna miss you baby I’m gonna die just a little ‘cause you’re gone From now on

You won’t ever whisper my name from now on I’ve got no-one but myself to blame from now on

I can go too far, I can act the fool Ain’t nobody gonna ask me why I can do just what I want to do But when I come home at night I’m gonna cry just a little I’m gonna miss you baby I’m gonna die just a little ‘cause you’re gone From now on

If I see you out on some summer night And you’re laughing with the one you love I’ll just smile and say, “hey I’m doing all right” But I know when I’m alone

I’m gonna cry just a little I’m gonna miss you baby I’m gonna die just a little ‘cause you’re gone From now on

LOVE IS A BOAT

The waters of life they get deep, they get dark They don’t stand still, no they rage like a river going over a fall And sometimes all you can do is reach out And hold on to anything But then out of the corner of your eye You see the gleam ...in another eye going by You swim hard, suddenly you touch And then it happens, children let me hear you sing....

Love is a boat, through the sea of changes up ahead Everybody’s bound to get a little wet But Love is a boat, when you’re out there struggling all alone When this world tries to sink you like a stone You can stay afloat, yes Love is a boat

Well I’ve done my share of spinning in the tide Shipwrecked, half drowned, Lord I was bedraggled when you found me or did I find you, really doesn’t matter who found who I guess But right here in the center of my heart I felt a message from the center of another heart that was me and you turning into us Now look at us drifting, stars shining up above

Love is a boat, through the sea of changes up ahead Everybody’s bound to get a little wet But Love is a boat, when you’re out there struggling all alone When this world tries to sink you like a stone You can stay afloat, yes Love is a boat

Some boats have got a motor, some just a paddle Some they got an anchor you can’t pull in But oh how some sail..... Like Time’s a blue sky....and Faith’s a fair wind

Love is a boat, through the sea of changes up ahead Everybody’s bound to get a little wet But Love is a boat, when you’re out there struggling all alone When this world tries to sink you like a stone You can stay afloat, yes Love is a boat

Gingham Dress / Faithless Girl

Sitting on the road today, trying just to get back home Racing with the world again, listening to the radio A man was on there saying these are complicated times That no-one knows where they are going or what they want to find But girl you know I’m not lost or confused I’m just coming home to you

Put on that gingham dress, the one that’s the color of your eyes The way that it clings to you soft and warm, that’s the way I want to feel tonight It’s been too long, another lonesome day is through Put on that gingham dress so I can take it off of you

I know you’re thinking it’s too plain, you laugh and say it’s out of style But it’s kind of like the moonlight baby, kind of like the way you smile So effortlessly perfect, so accidentally right It fits you like a whisper and it falls just like a sigh Oh I love everything that you do But right now I’m asking you....

Put on that gingham dress, the one that’s th color of your eyes The way that it clings to you soft and warm, that’s the way I want to feel tonight It’s been too long, another lonesome day is through Put on that gingham dress so I can take it off of you

I want to slip it off your shoulders, pull you close close beside me now And feel the world slow down

Put on that gingham dress, the one that’s the color of your eyes The way that it clings to you soft and warm, that’s the way I want to feel tonight It’s been too long, another lonesome day is through Put on that gingham dress so I can take it off of you

FAITHLESS GIRL

She’s got a look in her eyes that only a daddy could trust And a smile that says “I’m sorry for what I’m gonna do” But still that’s what she always does When she laughs it’s like the breaking of china The pretty shattering of somebody’s youth But when she kisses me somehow it feels like the truth

I still see the look I let lead me astray First I swore that she’d been saving it just for me Then I swore I just got in it’s way And in between I tried believing she loved me And through it all she tried believing it too And when she kissed me it was so easy to do

Let me die with the arms of trust around me Let me walk with one true love by my side Let me find someone incomplete without me But let me lie with my faithless girl tonight

I came home one night and she was with some other man And though she tried to play the part of the guilty one It was clear she didn’t understand So I said she had to change or I’d leave her But those were things neither one of us could do And when she kissed me I knew to her it was true

Let me die with the arms of trust around me Let me walk with one true love by my side Let me find someone incomplete without me But let me lie with my faithless girl tonight

I remember when I finally told her goodbye She cried just like an innocent child then Too often now I wonder why I guess she didn’t want me to need her But she needed to be wanted so much Then she kissed me, but one kiss was never enough

Let me die with the arms of trust around me Let me walk with one true love by my side Let me find someone incomplete without me But let me lie with my faithless girl tonight

Love Will Come Around / Omens of the End

Jimmy Holsapple had a job at a pay-pond Sortin' out fishin' worms, dozen in a box Sweepin’ up around the place, cleanin’ out the minnow-tank Pickin’ up the Nehi bottles people dropped Jenny Lee Soper drove a two-tone Chrysler Man she’d turn your head, no you couldn’t help yourself Daddy owned the lumber-yard, credit on his credit card Yeah she was a catch far as anyone could tell But down at the pond on any Friday night There’s Jenny Lee staring into Jimmy’s eyes

Singin' hey now, find a hand to hold When it’s gonna happen, man you never know Don’t try figuring it out Love will come around when love will come around Love will come around when love will come around

Another time, ‘nother place, cowgirl in a barrel-race Kelli Ann Walters kickin’ up the dirt Winning every rodeo, all the wranglers loved her though Reins in her teeth and rhinestones on her shirt Up there walkin’ through the stands, tray of peanuts in his hand Johnny Wallace workin, yellin’ “get ‘em while they’re hot” A hundred twenty soakin’ wet, never rode a horse and yet All the cowboys want what they know Johnny’s got Cause down at the chuckwagon when the day is done It’s gonna be Johnny Kelli Ann is kissin’ on

Singin' hey now, find a hand to hold When it’s gonna happen, man you never know Don’t try figuring it out Love will come around when love will come around Love will come around when love will come around

Ain’t no tellin’ how, ain’t no guessin’ who Where’s it gonna fall what’s it gonna do You can stumble through a hundred lonely nights Suddenly you’re lookin right into love’s eyes

Singin' hey now, find a hand to hold When it’s gonna happen, man you never know Don’t try figuring it out Love will come around when love will come around Love will come around when love will come around

OMENS OF THE END

Israel Hendren had three calves born dead on Christmas day Jacob Masters’ well-water’s gone sour Luby Starns’ red layin’ hen done hatched a serpent’s egg And I wonder where you are

There was two rings around the Moon the night that we were wed I took it as a sign your love was true Now the widow Walters swears she saw a crow fly overhead When you said I do

Oh Tribulation I know your name Oh Ruination your hair is brown and your eyes are green Judgement will come, no man may know when But I have seen the omens of the end

You knelt with me there on the ground, you held my hand in prayer You swore the world would crumble ‘fore we’d part Now the preacher’s oldest boy’s run off and your travelin’ bag aint there And the sky is growing dark

Oh Tribulation I know your name Oh Ruination your hair is brown and your eyes are green Judgement will come, no man may know when But I have seen the omens of the end

Lord help us Satan’s not the twisted thing our children dread Oh fall down on your knees the day you learn Her face is fair, her lips are sweet and she’ll lie in your bed Then leave you there to burn

Oh Tribulation I know your name Oh Ruination your hair is brown and your eyes are green Judgement will come, no man may know when But I have seen the omens of the end

Pleasant View Lane / Lenny

In the beginning was a red-dirt road Purple iris and a crawdad hole Three little houses pretty near the same In the beginning there was Pleasant View Lane I was a cowboy I was Superman too Saving the neighbor girl is what I’d do Then I’d jump on my bike and hear my theme-song play Ride into the sunset on Pleasant View Lane

So take my hand, life may change While we can let’s walk together down Pleasant View Lane

I remember the summer when the shop closed down We moved into a duplex in the heart of town The little patch of sky we had was still as blue We just couldn’t see as far as we used to Black-top streets they tore the world apart Seems like all you see is cold and hard You grow too fast when everything is gray You grow too fast away from Pleasant View Lane

So take my hand, life may change While we can let’s walk together down Pleasant View Lane

Everything looked better, everything looked bright
Wheat-field freedom in the daytime, my mother’s lullabies at night The road across forever was never far away It ran right down the middle of Pleasant View Lane

So take my hand, life may change While we can let’s walk together down Pleasant View Lane

LENNY

Lenny’s in jail with his dagger tattoo He’s missing his baby, he’s missing a tooth The camera caught him as he slipped out the door Stealing some milk from the grocery store Lenny was raised by his grandfather’s hand He learned the hard lessons about being a man Don’t swallow no handouts, don’t swallow your pride Take care of your family and keep them alive

Draw a line down the page,. make a list, black and white One column for wrong and one column for right And in our wise judgment how will we decide On which side to write down “the will to survive”

The judge says to Lenny as he stands in his court My memory is long but my patience is short Three times before me for the very same crime Now you’re going to prison for a very long time Lenny writes letters to his eight-year-old girl He says, “You’re too young to know the ways of the world This land stands for justice and the right to be free It stands for the rich man but it won’t stand for me”

Draw a line down the page,. make a list, black and white One column for wrong and one column for right And in our wise judgment how will we decide On which side to write down “the will to survive”

We read in the papers and see on the news Junk-bonds and millionaires play fast and loose In a land of free enterprise is it a crime That Lenny’s wife waits in the soup-kitchen line

Now it’s ten years later and nothing’s much changed ‘Cause poverty’s stronger that shackles and chains Lenny’s young daughter, she has a daughter herself It’s a wheel in a wheel and it turns on itself And nobody leaves ‘cause there’s nowhere to go We keep our distance and let the cameras roll While Lenny’s life runs out, a red stain in the dirt Shot in the back by a grocery-store clerk

Draw a line down the page,. make a list, black and white One column for wrong and one column for right And in our wise judgment how will we decide On which side to write down “the will to survive”

Rose Connally / The Wild Midwest

Rose Connally wore a blue flowered dress It was soft, like the color of her eyes I tried not to see how it clung to her breast Lord I prayed but it stayed on my mind I had sworn my affections to another all my life I loved her, did not wish to cause her pain So I hardened my heart to what the flesh would have me do And turned the fair Rose Connally away

Now this world has turned my children into strangers Who won’t call no dead tobacco farm their home My wife sits all day and reads the Revelations While I wander ‘round these wasted fields alone And count the years Rose Connally’s been gone

There’s five miles of fence windin’ round this old farm Strung it myself, back when it held something in With a hundred-pound roll of wire under each arm I’d climb that hill, it weren’t nothin’ to me then And Rose would be standin’ by that property line Callin’ to me with a voice as sweet as her name But I kept workin’ that ground, staying straight and lookin’ down She was gone when I looked up again

Now this world has turned my children into strangers Who won’t call no dead tobacco farm their home My wife sits all day and reads the Revelations While I wander ‘round these wasted fields alone And count the years Rose Connally’s been gone

THE WILD MIDWEST

They came here in a covered wagon It was a ‘57 Pontiac He was born in the billboard wilderness The year the mall shot main street in the back He had a hand-me-down dream about a ranch-house About a woman in a long, green dress But he was too good he thought, too fast to get caught Living in the wild Midwest

In the wild Midwest, the ghosts of the factory whistles blow The streets are alive with desperados, desperate to find where the money goes In the wild Midwest, they’re digging for hope in wheat fields of gold Trying to cash in the promise their dad’s were sold Trying to outrun the outlaw called “Growing Old” In the wild Midwest

Outside of town there’s a cross-roads And a tree where the Renos were hung Parked there one night in the summer moonlight He planted the seed of a son So he gave up the guns of a young man And put on the hero’s white hat He kissed his new wife and went to face down the life That headed him off at the pass

In the wild Midwest, the ghosts of the factory whistles blow The streets are alive with desperados, desperate to find where the money goes In the wild Midwest, they’re digging for hope in wheat fields of gold Trying to cash in the promise their dad’s were sold Trying to outrun the outlaw called “Growing Old” In the wild Midwest

Cowboys and quickdraws working for their two weeks off Trying just to make near what they spend Dance-hall romancers on the trail of an answer For all the things they might have been

In the wild Midwest, the ghosts of the factory whistles blow The streets are alive with desperados, desperate to find where the money goes In the wild Midwest, they’re digging for hope in wheat fields of gold Trying to cash in the promise their dad’s were sold Trying to outrun the outlaw called “Growing Old” In the wild Midwest

Lyda Rose / Wouldn't You

Standing all alone on highway nine Early morning it was summer time They were waiting for the six-o-five to take them away She was quiet, they were holding hands She knew her momma wouldn’t understand He was watching her and wondering about the plans they’d made Praying she would not forget how she felt when he first said...

Lyda Rose come with me out beyond these fields and fences Lyda Rose come with me and see the things we dreamed about Take this road where it leads find out where the other end is We both know we won’t go if we don’t go now...Lyda Rose

Thinking ‘bout her hand-me-down suitcase The pink dress she had packed away That her momma made for graduation day, one he’d never seen before Imagining how happy she would be A married woman with a family Coming back so everyone could see that she’d found something more But when he said, the bus is here she could not hide her tears

Lyda Rose come with me out beyond these fields and fences Lyda Rose come with me and see the things we dreamed about Take this road where it leads find out where the other end is We both know we won’t go if we don’t go now...Lyda Rose

That day sixty years ago She sat and watched him leave alone Now her suitcase sits by her bedroom door
With a faded dress she never wore

Lyda Rose come with me out beyond these fields and fences Lyda Rose come with me and see the things we dreamed about Take this road where it leads find out where the other end is We both know we won’t go if we don’t go now...Lyda Rose

Ophelia

Ophelia walks down by the water making daisy-chains all day long Ophelia gave her heart and never got it back again, now she’s gone Once a woman she’s become a little child Done with this cruel world that did her wrong

You can hear her singing in a voice like broken glass and nursery rhymes Bells of mourning ringing but she still hears him whispering “will you be mine” Somewhere back in time Ophelia someone should have told you This world is much to hard for love so true

Ophelia keeps memories like butterflies in mason jars inside her mind She’s sealed them up, she hides her young man’s love too deeply in her heart for death to find Barefoot in the river now she speaks his name Then lies down forever in his arms

You can hear her singing in a voice like broken glass and nursery rhymes Bells of mourning ringing but she still hears him whispering “will you be mine” Somewhere back in time Ophelia someone should have told you This world is much to hard for love so true

Chalk Man

He had a tattoo on his forearm that said “vengeance is my name” He had nothing much to live for and everyone to blame With two dollars in his pocket and no promise to believe He was never gonna pay for what a bullet gets for free

Chalk man on the sidewalk With a red cloud on his chest Make a white line where the real man was And let the rain do the rest

He was brought up in the darkness where the truth has jagged teeth His Uncle Sam was crazy and his mother walked the streets He had learned the market’s lesson, “it’s what you have not what you do” And when that’s your only message you’ll kill a man for tennis-shoes

Chalk man on the sidewalk With a red cloud on his chest Make a white line where the real man was And let the rain do the rest

He hit the sidewalk running when he jumped out of the car But when you’ve got nowhere to run to you don’t get very far They brought him down with one shot, a crowd watched as he bled It left a tattoo on the sidewalk, “vengeance is my name” it said

Chalk man on the sidewalk With a red cloud on his chest Make a white line where the real man was And let the rain do the rest

Keeping My Face on Straight

My head’s too big for my body, my head’s too big for my clothes It’s stuffed so full of mis-information it might explode My brain is a movie projector, my eyelids are screens when they close I sit in this seat and learn to repeat and believe everything that I’m told But I check every day, and I’m happy to say…

I’m keeping my face on straight

I don’t know what I believe in, I don’t know what I know I can’t be sure that any opinion is my own But I’ve seen this world is a circle and we’re living our lives on the edge If we look inside we’ll find what we hide, it’s safer to look good instead So I check every day, and I think I can say

I’m keeping my face on straight

Life Among the Cannibals

There’s a face in our window, there’s a voice in our heads There’s a mad dog in the nursery, a cracked mirror above our beds It’s the face of the accuser and the voice is our own While our greed devours our future, we watch And pretend nothing’s wrong

On the table of your neighbor, spread the flag, place the cross Eat his name, eat his history, “bless this house, now it’s ours” And our children’s children’s children may forget and pretend But the lies we choose to tell them, leave the emptiness That will make them feed again

Can’t you hear the drums beating underneath it all Look how far we’ve come, this is life among the cannibals

and the beat goes on, and the beat goes on

Can’t you hear the drums beating underneath it all Look how far we’ve come, this is life among the cannibals

Power

If I cradled your face in my hands right now If I pressed my lips softly to yours Would that make you love me more Or would my tenderness push you away Do you believe truth is made of…

Power, you say you want love but you just want Power, nothing’s enough without Power, I touch you with passion so real But it’s power you want to feel

Have you looked for so long in the eyes of doubt That you no longer trust your desire And now you hide behind bars of pain Where you hunger for one real embrace But all you can taste is

Power, you say you want love but you just want Power, nothing’s enough without Power, I touch you with passion so real But it’s power you want to feel

I gave you honesty, I held my hand out to you I showed you I could wait, was that my mistake Does it all come down to power

Power, you say you want love but you just want Power, nothing’s enough without Power, I touch you with passion so real But it’s power you want to feel

To Be for You

And in my sleep something has changed I stand at the mirror, the image looks strange to me I touch the glass, try saying my name The words come out for you

I wear this face just for you This mask I made for you The World erased just for you I live to be for you

And I look deep into my eyes Inside there’s a voice, a hand reaching out to me When I almost see, almost recognize I turn away for you

I wear this face just for you This mask I made for you The World erased just for you I live to be for you

And if I try to hide, you’re here inside my head Whispering “go to sleep and dream of me”

I wear this face just for you This mask I made for you The World erased just for you I live to be for you

Kingdom Come

Rain beat on his windshield and sin burned in his eyes The hatred that sustained him hissed like steam deep in his mind He had touched the sacred relics, spoken all the holy names And the message that he carried now was the thunder and the flame

He had looked into the future, seen his face in the plan Heard the voices of the lion, heard the voices of the lamb Now he’d make his life a weapon to be driven through the dark Like a cold nail through the prophet’s hand Like a stake through the unbeliever’s heart

Speak in tongues, bite the wire Walk on water, walk through fire Point your finger, point your gun Point the way to Kingdom Come

Was he thinking of a childhood when he was just like you and me Was he dreaming of the girl he loved back when he was seventeen Did he close his eyes and say goodbye just before he let it go Was there anything behind those eyes that you and I Would recognize at all

Speak in tongues, bite the wire Walk on water, walk through fire Point your finger, point your gun Point the way to Kingdom Come

Now there’s bloodstains on the sidewalk and sirens in the night Everybody knows what’s wrong but no-one knows what’s right My Grandma used to tell me crying angels made the rain But I know we’d never see the Sun if angels saw What we’ve done in their name

Speak in tongues, bite the wire Walk on water, walk through fire Point your finger, point your gun Point the way to Kingdom Come

Waiting for You

Last night I heard the god of passion taking giant steps through town He stopped outside my bedroom window,stood there ’til the Moon went down I could hear his huge heart beating, pumping blood like hot perfume I lay half awake, half dreaming...waiting for you

In the morning there were ashes strewn across my bedroom floor In the ash your name was written like some ancient ritual Then I knew that my desire had made a furnace in my soul And all that cannot satisfy it feeds the flame waiting for you

Waiting for you

Bring me your forbidden secrets, lay them naked next to mine Let me touch what’s hidden deepest, tear away the boundary line All the thoughts you’ve tried to bury are alive inside their tomb I will be their sanctuary, can’t you feel them waiting for you

Waiting for you

In the street lights of Temptation hidden doorways are exposed Shadows of anticipation watch with eyes that will not close Every footstep in the distance is my dark dream coming true and every face in every window is my own waiting for you