-------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (1) President Of What? -------- I saw the scene unfold on a rainy Sunday Creases indicating folds that kept four walls from caving in I took a little more of what I take for granted And filled my plate with fear that gears would turn And wheels would roll away Something's got to break you down [x2] Entered the scene (I'm told) on I think it was Monday You drove straight through and mined that quarry For all it could bleed 'til dry I took a little more 'til I got taken for granted 'cause beautiful boys gave chase And when they arch your backbone It's such a dreadful sight Something's got to break you down [x2] [x2] I'll react when faces find you With jealous fits that gag and bind you 'cause nothing hurts like nothing at all When imagination takes full control I saw the scene unfold [x4] -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (2) Champagne From A Paper Cup -------- I think i'm drunk enough to drive you home now I'll keep my mouth kept shut from under lock and key That's rusted firm, no lie 'cause all these conversations wind on and on... Drinking champagne from a paper cup Is never quite the same And every sip's moving through my eyes And up into my brain At half past two; about time to leave 'cause the dj's playing rhythm and blues A sad-sorry state, stutter step to those slammin' grooves As i'm waiting around for you... -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (3) Pictures In An Exhibition -------- I think you caught me on the downslide, downturn I was busy writing with a pen and paper thin dream And all your plastic people with plastic hearts and smiles They had the worst intentions all along after all... The royal castle holds the mellow drama kings and queens And all their dazzling children; they're so regal (clean) With pristine fingertips they wash behind their ears And let their hair down 'til the audiences leave I'm definitely shaking The silence isn't breaking Backwashed and stranded memories Of something i thought could be -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (4) Hindsight -------- Three wasted years, standing still As you opened up, 18 miles wide On this country drive I can't keep up 'Cause you're so far gone And it's all too much hindsight Three wasted years, wasting time As the hunger pains grow inside I can't keep up 'Cause you're so far gone And it's all too much hindsight -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (5) That's Incentive -------- (That's incentive...) You see nothing to be adored, when obsession takes it's toll You can't place you in between the pages of fashion magazines Paper cuts from turning pages, just like a bad dream Is it this or that or me that makes you love what you can't defeat Boiled over burning clean toward the flesh blocks in your knees It's a lesson that just might keep suppressing appetites Paper cuts from turning pages, just like a bad dream Is it this or that or me that makes you love what And I live this life just to bear these scars Will the hurt subside, if you decide? That's it's me and you this time Is it you that always... is it you that decides And I live this life just to bear these scars Will the hurt subside, if you decide? And I live this life just to bear these scars Will the hurt subside, if you decide? -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (6) Amputations -------- And if it was just how you wanted You'd be glued to his bones and his brainstem And changing your image and attitudes Won't bring you back into your bedroom Amputating as he's waiting He's unresponsive 'cause you're irresponsible Little swinger your bottle is thinking too much 'cause you're aiming to please way off target And i'll tell you what you must already know Of amputating that too slow -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (7) Two Cars -------- I try to scrape it off, the thought of skin against skin And move it from the front to back and started go again But the depression and time breed and multiply And I've got more mouths to feed than I could ever Fit in this auto You go have a good time Bring back stories 'cause I will stay behind So punch the clock, two months are up, and I am stuck down Against the floor the heat rises out and leaves town As the depression and time breed and multiply 'Til I've got more mouths to feed than I could ever Fit in this auto You go have a good time Bring back stories 'cause I will stay behind That's the story of a boy who tried to play it cool But found it hard to keep it up when you were changing rules With the depression and time breed and multiply 'Til I've got more mouths to feed than I could ever Fit in this auto You go have a good time Bring back stories 'cause I will stay behind -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (8) Line Of Best Fit -------- There things take my time and energy Don't stand too close without apologies Cutthroat; cut out candid glimpses and Wind me up; i'm ready Can't escape this line of best fit I remember being inside something more than you... -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (9) This Charming Man -------- On two bicycles On a hillside desolate Could nature make a man of me yet? When in this charming car This charming man Why ponder life's complexities When the leather runs smooth On the passenger seat? I would go out tonight But I haven't got a stitch to wear This man said it's crucial That someone so handsome should care Ah! I'm just a country boy Who never knew his place He said return the ring He knows so much about these things He knows so much about these things I would go out tonight But I haven't got a stitch to wear This man said it's crucial That someone so handsome should care La, la-la, la-la, la-la, this charming man ... La, la-la, la-la, la-la, this charming man ... Ah! I'm just a country boy Who never knew his place He said return the ring He knows so much about these things He knows so much about these things -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (10) TV Trays -------- Summer's gone, I overslept and woke up to the chill of fall. Overworked and now I'm all used up This TV haze sucks me through I watch the world from the inside Overworked and now I'm all used up Final drag fills my lungs and makes me high They fill up as I bottom out Steering wheels watch them driving with someplace to go I'd steer myself, but I don't have a route. Working on demand, no ice cream man, beaches filled with sand. While the TV trays wasted Summer days, slowly slippin' away But you're so little, Hell, the days are slow, and I'm down inside I'll have to go you're so little, Hell, when months are slow, and I'm down inside Summer's gone, I overslept and woke up to the chill of fall Overworked and now I'm all used up. This TV haze sucks me through I watch the world from the inside Overworked and now I'm all used up Working on demand, no ice cream man, beaches filled with sand. While the TV trays wasted Summer days, slowly slippin' away But you're so little, Hell, the days are slow, and I'm down inside I'll have to go you're so little, Hell, when years are slow, and I'm down inside I'm down inside, I'm down inside, I'm down inside. -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (11) New Candles -------- You tried you all 13 channels, but they burned me out again 'cause it's over whenever they say I quit sending postcards 'cause no one know what to revere, and the mailman can't come in to explain So I'm out of gasoline, and I hate see, and it's hard to never mind. It's hard to never mind. I bought myself new candles, they only burn old flames. I guess it's all the same anyway Looked through my high school annuals to see who I still knew but my point of view's forever changed All this gasoline just goes to show that no one never minds. It's building up, bottled up in time All your energy just says to me that you never can't unwind. Just bring it down, bring it down this time. And should it count against me, if I keep everything that you send me? Are you going to find me so the bogs? aren't empty all the time? I think way too much about the way things should be said 'cause it just can't leave my head all the way. It seems my brand new candles would catch on fire today I think I might get burned anyway All this gasoline just goes to show not everything is nice. I do my best, I know not everything is right All your energy just says to me that you never can't unwind. Just bring it down, bring it down this time. Please bring it down, bring it down. -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (12) Tomorrow -------- Believe in me, I'm sad and blue Left with nothing but a picture Third or fourth weekend in June December seems to come too soon Will you wait until tomorrow? Will you wait until Head is swirling with the scene Of you and him embraced in rapture Dirty trying to come clean But every thought I have is obscene Will you wait until tomorrow? Will you wait until Quilted in our hands And keeping you tucked in too deep Struck in the shot of two Twenty-four hours in June Will you wait until tomorrow? -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (13) Flustered / Hey Tomcat! -------- Once when my folks were gone I saw a lot of liquor I saw my tomcat Famose I saw my tomcat What? Tomcat What? My tomcat Tomcat I saw a bowl of milk And I said "Hey" What? I got news for you That's weird I got news for you I got news 10, 5, 0 meters I think it's, um . . . I like the beat a lot And I like the pool And I can dance around the room And I Tomcat Hello, tomcat News for you What, tomcat? News for you What, tomcat? As you're listening to heart sounds And murmurs Instead of using words to Describe them It's somewhat like eating an apple And trying to describe how it tastes What Tomcat So what? The LSD What? I'm unsure I got news for you Some kind of LSD Sure enough, I'll come Tomcat And I'm sure The rumors I got news for you Hey, tomcat And I'm sure the rumors What, tomcat? And I'm sure the box I And I'm sure the box Some kind of L word One of the LS words What the LS? The L word The LSD pill and the cat What is going on, motherfucker? No, no Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba There's salt Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba You're so flustered Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba You're so flustered I excel at stone When given the exposed I am Brian -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (14) State Street Residential -------- Holding fast until the rent checks wear thin because it hasn't sunk in... so far. Well it's a drab routine, the dust starts building until it's hard to come clean. Then the months stack up to an addict crutch As if the drink weren't enough A stagger cannot compete There's no charm in being residential state street And if I was sober could I kill caution and stay over And if I was sober would I rip hearts apart like paper? I wish you could know better than you show with parted lips pointed down That the whiskey soothes more than you could ever do. And if I was sober Could I kill caution and stay over? And if I was sober Would I rip hearts apart like paper? What a difference it made What a difference it made And if I was sober Could I kill caution and stay over? And if I was sober Would I rip hearts apart like paper? What a difference it made What a difference it made -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (15) Wait -------- Every town has a diner where I'll meet you, and your friends too. Things are just a bit nicer over some coffee; you can tell me all about your day. I don't know much about you, not that i want to, not that i want to. Sometimes I can't escape from my room so excuse me, I'll be just a little late. You will wait for me, you will wait for me Every town has a corner, where I'll see you and your friends too; hanging out looking cool, saying the same things over and over (again). Sometimes we all feel stupid, we say the wrong things; you're not the only one. Sometimes we all get left behind in a race of style, it's a dumb thing. you will wait for me you will wait for me you will wait for me you will wait for me -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (16) Prove My Hypotheses -------- Just admit that you're wrong and I'll give back what I borrowed or stole From the parent's house, from the studio, it's the principle of... You said wait here, prove all my hypotheses. Catching up with the band; their drummer had left to pursue his career. I rode in their van; they stated, "The parting was ugly, it brought him to tears." You said wait here, prove all my hypotheses. -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (17) Song For Kelly Huckaby -------- Photographs of the best time you had, windows smugded by the speed. Leaving home with our bags from Iron Street, as morning turned into California, And smoke trailed from the butt of my cigarette. Our glass house it threw rocks at all those it past. Waking up to the sound of 5 A.M. to take my turn at the wheel. Climbed up Shasta, oh how the engine ached as the sun tortured California, and old alleys turned deep at the heart of me. Murals of heros defacing the blank concrete. Vision tunneled, Mission Street, hunger beat lodged out as the engine wheezed. Still moving regardless of stable ground and this stable ground. Photographs of the best time you had, windows smugded by the speed. Leaving home with our bags from Iron street as morning turned into California. -------- You Can Play These Songs With Chords (1997) -------- -------- (18) Army Corps Of Architects -------- Leaving the central state from shallow ground Home in the valley but the rent's paid south You said the urn was half full when I said it was half empty With what was left of our fair city Call in the army corps of architects To flatten the skyline and begin again I knew the years would move quickly, But never quite as fast as this So bring the discrepancies, I'll pour the drinks. -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (1) Bend To Squares -------- Gravitated towards a taste For foreign films and modern plays But that machine could only Bend to squares five to six times Before your fingers came unwired... Weights down so that you could move forwards Pinch to snub that restless nerve And knock the wind from one last urge With two fingers a rock glass, Time passed and that was that Quite a slip (a loosened grasp) ... what a way to cut lengthwise... -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (2) President Of What? -------- I saw the scene unfold on a rainy Sunday Creases indicating folds that kept four walls from caving in I took a little more of what I take for granted And filled my plate with fear that gears would turn And wheels would roll away Something's got to break you down [x2] Entered the scene (I'm told) on I think it was Monday You drove straight through and mined that quarry For all it could bleed 'til dry I took a little more 'til I got taken for granted 'cause beautiful boys gave chase And when they arch your backbone It's such a dreadful sight Something's got to break you down [x2] [x2] I'll react when faces find you With jealous fits that gag and bind you 'cause nothing hurts like nothing at all When imagination takes full control I saw the scene unfold [x4] -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (3) Champagne From A Paper Cup -------- I think i'm drunk enough to drive you home now I'll keep my mouth kept shut from under lock and key That's rusted firm, no lie 'cause all these conversations wind on and on... Drinking champagne from a paper cup Is never quite the same And every sip's moving through my eyes And up into my brain At half past two; about time to leave 'cause the dj's playing rhythm and blues A sad-sorry state, stutter step to those slammin' grooves As i'm waiting around for you... -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (4) Your Bruise -------- It's a backwards attraction to your forward eyes But you're so far-sighted that you can't place trust In what or who you recognize We sped the Plymouth cross the banks of the Mississippi river Mary Timony was smaller then a super ball Chitter-chatter all these secrets started giving me the shivers Plain and simply broken down near Olympia I think your bruise was understated Cause you can't feel this anymore It's getting bluer and you can't keep faking That you can't feel this anymore -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (5) Pictures In An Exhibition -------- I think you caught me on the downslide, downturn I was busy writing with a pen and paper thin dream And all your plastic people with plastic hearts and smiles They had the worst intentions all along after all... The royal castle holds the mellow drama kings and queens And all their dazzling children; they're so regal (clean) With pristine fingertips they wash behind their ears And let their hair down 'til the audiences leave I'm definitely shaking The silence isn't breaking Backwashed and stranded memories Of something i thought could be -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (6) Sleep Spent -------- I can't expel the truth It's much more than i thought i could do And with time my worth with stain And split your heart from my name... So drive away your mouth from my ears And waste a day so i can think clearly And what's left to wait for here As my hands sleep spent this last year Choking the bottle's neck that pulled you from my bed -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (7) The Face That Launched 1000 Shits -------- And I'm standing up In my practice room I'm all alone Speakers almost blown On my new Gibson amp Oh, what the hell Things are not so different In my vocal master You are the face that launched One thousand shits Greeks and Trojans And a thousand shits The shits lining the shores Of Asia minor Lining all the shores Of Asia minor You can tell that I'm not A minor in Asia no more I'm standing up This is the face that launched A thousand shits I'm standing up This is the face that launched One thousand shits This is the face that shot You'll never have replaced Splitting up his kids to three separate parts For his sons and the three separate hearts -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (8) Amputations -------- And if it was just how you wanted You'd be glued to his bones and his brainstem And changing your image and attitudes Won't bring you back into your bedroom Amputating as he's waiting He's unresponsive 'cause you're irresponsible Little swinger your bottle is thinking too much 'cause you're aiming to please way off target And i'll tell you what you must already know Of amputating that too slow -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (9) Fake Frowns -------- Bent at the knee, a last resort Backfired and made things worse Once on the bus, it was quite possible You'd be the jailhouse queen Jury and judge were screaming to hang You spat the sweat from brow He shrugged his shoulders, nothing would work It had to end right now... I can't drive straight counting your fake frowns Focusing in; details a must Trying to make each one count All on your fingers stopping at ten Magistrate's keyed in how The jury and judge were screaming to hang You spat the sweat from brow He shrugged his shoulders; nothing would work It had to end right now... We can't keep your interest now Increasing pixels and sound -------- Something About Airplanes (1999) -------- -------- (10) Line Of Best Fit -------- There things take my time and energy Don't stand too close without apologies Cutthroat; cut out candid glimpses and Wind me up; i'm ready Can't escape this line of best fit I remember being inside something more than you... -------- Forbidden Love (2000) -------- -------- (1) Photobooth -------- I remember when the days were long, And the nights when the living room was on the lawn. Constant quarreling, the childish fits, and our clothes in a pile on the ottoman. All the slander and double-speak Were only foolish attempts to show you did not mean Anything but the blatant proof was your lips touching mine in the photobooth. And as the summer's ending, The cool air will put your hard heart away. You were so condescending.. And this is all that's left: Scraping paper to document. I've packed a change of clothes and it's time to move on. Cup your mouth to compress the sound, Skinny dipping with the kids from a nearby town. And everything that I said was true, As the flashes blinded us in the photobooth. Well, I lost track, and then those words were said. You took the wheel and you steered us into my bed. Soon we woke and I walked you home, And it was pretty clear that it was hardly love. And as the summer's ending, The cool air will rush your hard heart away. You were so condescending. And this is all that's left: Scraping paper to document. I've packed a change of clothes and it's time to move on. And as the summer's ending, The cool air will rush your hard heart away. You were so condescending, As the alcohol drained the days. And as the summer's ending, The cool air will rush your hard heart away. You were so condescending. And this is all that's left: The empty bottles, spent cigarettes. So pack a change of clothes, 'cause it's time to move on. -------- Forbidden Love (2000) -------- -------- (2) Technicolor Girls -------- Technicolor girls are always on the phone talking about their homes and the conversations continue endlessly. Technicolor boys, transistor radios blasting their treble tones and the arguments are disputed after school, in the parking lot as the teachers bend the rules. Patiently you waited for a courting boy's embrace, then everyone would know. But the letter jacket wasn't yours to own and it proves to be on temporary loan. And as they all grow older the truth will be understood, cause we never turn out the way we thought we would. -------- Forbidden Love (2000) -------- -------- (3) Song For Kelly Huckaby -------- Photographs of the best time you had, windows smugded by the speed. Leaving home with our bags from Iron Street, as morning turned into California, And smoke trailed from the butt of my cigarette. Our glass house it threw rocks at all those it past. Waking up to the sound of 5 A.M. to take my turn at the wheel. Climbed up Shasta, oh how the engine ached as the sun tortured California, and old alleys turned deep at the heart of me. Murals of heros defacing the blank concrete. Vision tunneled, Mission Street, hunger beat lodged out as the engine wheezed. Still moving regardless of stable ground and this stable ground. Photographs of the best time you had, windows smugded by the speed. Leaving home with our bags from Iron street as morning turned into California. -------- Forbidden Love (2000) -------- -------- (4) 405 (Acoustic) -------- I took the 405 and drilled a stake down into your center, And stated that it's never ever been better than this. I hung my favorite shirt on the floorbaord, wrinkled up from pulling pushing tasting. You keep twisting the truth that keeps me thrown askew. Misguided by the 405 'cause it lead me to an alcoholic summer. I missed the exit to your parents' house hours ago. Red wine and the cigarettes... hide your bad habits underneath the patio. -------- Forbidden Love (2000) -------- -------- (5) Company Calls Epilogue (Alternate) -------- Synapse to Synapse: the possibility's thin. I'm dressed up for free drinks and family greetings on your wedding your wedding your wedding date. The figures in plastic on the wedding cake that I took were so real. And I kept a distance: the complications cloud the postcards and blips through fiberoptics, as the girls with the pigtails were running from little boys wearing bowties their parent bought them: "I'll catch you this time!" Crashing through the parlor doors, what was your first reaction? screaming, drunk, disorderly: I'll tell you mine. You were the one but I can't spit it out when the date's been set. The white routine to be ingested inaccurately. Synapse to Synapse: the sneaky kids had attached beer cans to the bumper so they could drive up and down the main drag. People would turn to see who's making the racket. It's not the first time. When they lay down the fish will swim upstream and I'll contest but they won't listen when the casualty rate's near 100%, and there isn't a pension for second best or for hardly moving.. Crashing through the parlor doors, what was your first reaction? Sreaming, drunk, disorderly: I'll tell you mine. You were the one but i can't spit it out when the date's been set. the white routine to be ingested inaccurately. -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (1) Title Track -------- Left uninspired by the crust of railroad earth that touched the lead to the pages of your manuscript. I took my thumb off the concrete and saved up all my strength to hammer pillars for a picket fence. It wasn't quiet what it seemed... a lack of pleasantries (my able body isn't what it used to be). I must admit I was charmed by your advances... your advantage left me helplessly into you. Talking how the group had begun to splinter and I could taste your lipstick on the filter... I tried my best to keep my distance from your dress but call-response overturns conviction every time. My memory cannot recall... a wave of alcohol we shared a cigarette and shaved the hours off. Lushing with the hallway congregation, my best judgement signed its resignation. I rushed this. We moved too fast, and tripped into the guestroom. -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (2) The Employment Pages -------- We spread out and occupy the cracks in the urban streets. Idle now... I rearrange the furniture as you sleep. It's so appropriate... the way we amplify the sound, And then the neighbors drop by and they ask (us) to turn it down again... We spread out and everyone is frightfully more aware. So impressed... the cocktail politics and obscure details. And it was true that I was truly failing. But you were gone and I was home calling around but nothing was found worthwhile. -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (3) For What Reason -------- This won't be the last you'll hear from me... it's just the start. I hope that he keeps you up for weeks like you did to me. I will hold a candle up to you to singe your skin. brace yourself... I'm bent with bitterness. When your apologies fail to ring true, (you're) so slick with that sarcastic slew or phrases like 'I thought you knew', while keeping me in hot pursuit. Tracing the plot finds skin touching skin (abscence follows). In the end, i win every time as ink remains. Sour tastes prevail as you play back the tape machine. -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (4) Lowell, Ma -------- You've been forewarned of the shakedown. Opinions stamped on the pulp of the tabloid newsstand gossip that's stacked at your door. You swallowed the last of free MA. Car starts, four windows lowered away... last views of cityscapes crumbling. Skyscrapers sink into the ground. All static, no noise... turn the radio down. Those bandwidth signals can't reach this far. Don't go holding out on me now (i thought that you had come to expect more...) -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (5) 405 -------- I took the 405 and drilled a stake down into your center, And stated that it's never ever been better than this. I hung my favorite shirt on the floorboard, wrinkled up from pulling pushing tasting. You keep twisting the truth that keeps me thrown askew. Misguided by the 405 'cause it lead me to an alcoholic summer. I missed the exit to your parents' house hours ago. Red wine and the cigarettes... hide your bad habits underneath the patio. You keep twisting the truth that keeps me thrown askew [x2] -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (6) Little Fury Bugs -------- You'll discover that casual friends kept notes In their pockets to remember your name. And all these places we went to see sights Just gave them excuses to get into the game. There's a look in the faces tonight that's untrustable As the hope that you'll never return in a while. But you're always on time, so... Sleeping soundly... The back of the car felt more like a home than I would ever have thought. And through the evening the engine kept on Until we hit Chicago and decided to stop. There's a look in the faces tonight that's untrustable As the hope that you'll never return in a while. But you're always on time so... -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (7) Company Calls -------- I'll take the best of your bad moods and dress them up to make a better you, 'cause all the company calls amount to one paycheck. I'd squeeze a heart through my fingertip but i type too slow to make expressions stick. And it's like TV with a microchip. Set your sights to sink the partyline, 'cause it's so tired. Set your sights! destroy this mock-shrine, 'cause it's so tired. Let's cut our losses at both ends and aim your car away from all our friends, Leaving the dishes stacked in the sink. I'd keep a distance 'cause the complications cloud it all, And mail a postcard sending grettings from the eastern bloc. Synapse to synapse... possoibilities will thin or fade. Your wedding figurines... i'd melt so i could drink them in. -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (8) Company Calls Epilogue -------- Synapse to synapse... the possibility's thin. I'm dressed up for free drinks and family greetings on your wedding date. The figures in plastic on the wedding cake that i took were so real. And I kept a distance... The complications cloud the postcards and blips through fiberoptics, As the girls with the pigtails were running From little boys wearing bowties their parent bought... "I'll catch you this time!" Crashing through the parlor doors, what was your first reaction? Screaming, drunk, disorderly... I'll tell you mine. You were the one but I can't spit it out when the date's been set. The white routine to be ingested inaccurately. Synapse to synapse... The sneaky kids had attached beer cans to the bumper So they could drive up and down the main drag. People would turn to see who's making the racket. It's not the first time. When they lay down the fish will swim upstream And I'll contest but they won't listen when the casualty rate's near 100%, And there isn't a pension for second best or for hardly moving... Crashing through the parlor doors, what was your first reaction? Screaming, drunk, disorderly... I'll tell you mine. You were the one but i can't spit it out when the date's been set. The white routine to be ingested inaccurately. -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (9) No Joy In Mudville -------- Last night I dreamt that I was you. I was dressed all in black with dark glasses and attitude. Such a pose I could simply not hold through days In a northern town that I had once called a home. Your studies of fringe New York streets... I was reading the pavement in every work you would speak. To a "brownstone up three flights of stairs" and it's on... Buying drinks for the poets upstate, this southern corrupting towed you down the interstate, And they all said that you were the king of gloomy disruption that surfaced when you would speak. This town simply cannot compete so I'm packing my Bullets and Silverstones And heading east to a "brownstone up three flights of stairs" and it's on... If I could have (had) my way this year would bridge '66 (again?) Trust fund hipsters were casing the room chock full of amphetamines. The overturned kick drum book set the pace with incomparable cool. And if the tempo was lousy it was lost on all but you... -------- We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes (2000) -------- -------- (10) Scientist Studies -------- What ghosts exist behind thses attic walls? There's got to be a simpler explanation, 'cause i scrimped and i saved just to find that they've been splicing my inventions. Cold skin and bones and this latitude... we ain't payin' until the heat comes through. So you slept in a stocking cap and wool scarf. Promises of payment were upon your shoulders constantly, But don't forget to entertain 'cause this is your first defense. A four-year offense to the devoted type. I may have got an invitation but i wasn't invited. But i thought that this meant something more than broken hearts and new addictions. We'll leave our sins within the carpet twine. Our bodies will dissolve the chemicals in due time. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (1) Steadier Footing -------- It's gotten late and now i want to be alone All of our friends were here, they all have gone home And here i sit on the front porch watching the drunks stumble forth into the night "you gave me a heart attack; i did not see you there. i thought you had disappeared so early away from here." And this is the chance I never got to make a move. But we just talk about the people we've met in the last 5 years. And will remember them in ten more? I let you bum a smoke, you quit this winter past. I've tried twice before but like this, it just will not last. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (2) A Movie Script Ending -------- Whenever i come back, the air on railroad is making the same sounds. And the shop fronts on holly are dirty words (asterisks in for the vowels). We peered through the windows... new bottoms on barstools but the people remain the same, with prices inflating. As if saved from the gallows. There's a bellow of buzzers and the people stop working and they're all so excited. Passing through unconscious states. When i awoke i was on the highway. With your hand on my shoulders, a meaningless movement... a moviescript ending, And the patrons are leaving, leaving. Now we all know the words were true in the sappiest songs (yes, yes). I'll put them to bed, but they won't sleep, they're just shuffling the sheets, they toss and turn, (you can't begin to get it back). Passing through unconscious states. When i awoke i was on The onset of a later stage... the headlights are beacons on the highway. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (3) We Laugh Indoors -------- When we laugh indoors, the blissful tones bounce off the walls and fall to the ground. Peel the hardwood back to let them loose from decades trapped and listen so still. This city is my home, construction noise all day long and gutter punks are bumming change. So i breed thicker skin and let me lustrous coat fill in and i'll never admit that I loved you guenivere. I've always fallen fast with too much trust in the promise that "no one's ever been here, so you can quell those wet fears." I want purity, i must have it here right now. But don't you get me started now. December's chill comes late, the days get darker and we wait for this direness to pass. There are piles on the floor of artifacts from dresser drawers, and i'll help you pack. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (4) Information Travels Faster -------- I intentionally wrote it out to be an illegible mess You wanted me to write you letters, but i'd rather lose your address And forget that we'd ever met and what did or did not occur. Sitting in the station, it's all a blur Of dancehall hips, pretentious quips. A boxers, bob and weave. And here's the kicker of this whole shebang You're in debt and completely fooled, that you can look into the mirror and objectively rank your wounds. Sewing circles are not solely based in trades of cloth... There's spinsters all around here taking notes, reporting on us. As information travels faster in the modern age, in the modern age As our days are crawling by so slowly Information travels faster in the modern age, in the modern age As our days are crawling by so slowly Information travels faster in the modern age, in the modern age As our days are crawling by so slowly Information travels faster in the modern age, in the modern age As our days are crawling by so slowly -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (5) Why You'd Want To Live Here -------- I'm in Los Angeles today... It smells like an airport runway. Jet fuel stenches in the cabin And lights flickering at random. I'm in Los Angeles today... Garbage cans comprise the medians of freeways always creaping Even when the population's sleeping. And I can't see why you'd want to live here. I'm in Los Angeles today... Asked a gas station employee if he ever had trouble breathing And he said "It varies from season to season, kid." It's where our best are on display... Motion picture actors' houses Maps are never ever current So save your film and $15. And I can't see why you'd want to live here. Billboards reach past the tallest buildings, "We are not perfect - but we sure try." As UV rays "degraded" our youth with time. The vessel keeps pumping us through this zentropic place In the belly of the beast that is Californ-i-a, I drank from a faucet and I kept my receipts For when the weigh me on my way out (Here nothing is free). The greyhounds keep coming Dumping locusts into the street Until the gutters overflow And Los Angeles thinks, "I might explode someday soon." It's a lovely summer's day And I can almost see a skyline through a thickening shroud of egos. (Is this the city of Angeles or demons?) Here the names are what remain... Stars encapsulate the gold lame And they need constant cleaning for when the tourists begin salivating. You can't swim in a town this shallow - you will most assuredly drown tomorrow. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (6) Blacking Out The Friction -------- I don't mind the weather I've got scarves and caps and sweaters I've got long johns under slacks for blustery days. I think that it's brainless to assume that making changes to your window's view will give a new perspective. And the hardest part is yet to come I don't mind restrictions or if you're blacking out the friction It's just an escape (it's overrated anyways) The hardest part is yet to come When you will cross the country alone. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (7) I Was A Kaleidoscope -------- I put on my overcoat and walked into winter - my teeth chattered rhythms And they were grouped in twos or threes, like a morse code message was sent from me to me. cars on slippery slopes, they're stuck... People pushing through their mittens as i was beginning to feel it soaking through my shoes, getting colder with every step i took to your apartment, dear. And i was a kaleidoscope... the snow on my lenses distorting the image of what was only one of you and i didn't know which one to address as all your lips moved. This is when i forget breathe all the things i scripted, they sound unfounded. And the look that you're giving me, it tells me exactly what you are thinking... "this ain't working anymore." They got their mothers worked into a panic Sledding down hills into oncoming traffic The parents layered clothes until the children couldn't move then kept them outside til their noises were blue and I got left there, too. I put on my overcoat and walked into winter, my teeth chattered rhythms. And they were grouped in twos or threes like a morse code message was sent from me to me. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (8) Styrofoam Plates -------- There's a saltwater film on the jar of your ashes I threw them to sea but a gust blew them backwards and the sting in my eyes which you then inflicted was par for the course just as when you were living It's no stretch to say you were not quite a father but a donor of seeds to a poor single mother that would raise us alone we never saw the money that went down your throat through the hole in your belly Thirteen years old in the suburbs of Denver standing in line for Thanksgiving dinner at the Catholic church the servers wore crosses to shield from the sufferance plaguing the others Styrofoam plates, cafeteria tables charity reeks of cheap wine and pity and I'm thinking of you I do every year When we count all our blessings And wonder what we're doing here. You're a disgrace to the concept of family the priest won't divulge that fact in his homily and I'll stand up and scream if the mourning remain quiet you can deck out a lie in a suit but I won't buy it I won't join in the procession that's speaking their peace using five-dollar words while praising his integrity and just 'cause he's gone it doesn't change the fact he was a bastard in life thus a bastard in death -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (9) Coney Island -------- Sitting on a carousel ride without any music or light. Everything was closed at coney island, and i could not help from smiling. I can hear the atlantic echo back roller coaster screams from summers past. And everything was closed at coney island, and i could not help from smiling. Brooklyn will fill in the beach eventually and everyone will go except me. -------- The Photo Album (2001) -------- -------- (10) Debate Exposes Doubt -------- The workadays were propping the bar quietly erasing the week and i was in a cornerbooth thinking (pretending to read) about the impossiblity of one to love unconditionally and the words that we drive into the ground... Their repetition starts to thin their meaning. Then everything got frighteningly still as they entered and intersected the floor and i tried to choke my stare at the perfection that others would kill for. But all of the parts are the same on every face (few variables change). The differences pale when compared to the similarity they share Finally there is clarity and there is purpose after all, but every night ends the same as i'm collapsing once more by your side. Finally there is clarity... this tiny life is making sense. and every drop numbs the both of us, but i alone am staggering. -------- Stability (2002) -------- -------- (1) 20th Century Towers -------- We'll correct collegiate mistakes, A shower of formal ideals, Completely soused, The hearts on our sleeves, As they drowned we could hear them screaming, "Oh what a tragic way to see our final days." I attempt to talk up the town: "The answers are in the arches of the 20th Century Towers and in comfortable cars in motion." And yet it still remains, this incessant refrain: "You're just like the rest. Your restlessness makes you lazy." Keeping busy is just wasting time and I've wasted what little he gave me. (All Around) I know the conscious choice was crystal clear, too clear the slate of former years: When I sang softly in your ear and tied these arms around you. -------- Stability (2002) -------- -------- (2) All Is Full Of Love -------- You'll be given love You'll be taken care of You'll be given love You have to trust it, Maybe not from the sources you have poured yours maybe not from the directions you are staring at, Twist your head around it's all around you all is full of love all around you, All is full of love you just aint receiving all is full of love your phone is off the hook all is full of love your doors are all shut all is full of love! All is full of love All is full of love All is full of love All is full of love All is full of love -------- Stability (2002) -------- -------- (3) Stability -------- Time for the final bout. Rows of deserted houses.. All our stable mates are highway bound. Give us our measly sum: Getting the air inside my lungs is heavenly. We're starting out with nothing but crippling doubt. We'll rest easy (justified). I've suffered a swift defeat. I'll endure countless repeats. The gift of memory is an awful curse, with age it just gets much worse, But I won't mind. I won't mind.. I won't mind.. I won't mind.. -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (1) The New Year -------- So this is the new year. And i don't feel any different. The clanking of crystal Explosions off in the distance (in the distance). So this is the new year And I have no resolutions For self assigned penance For problems with easy solutions So everybody put your best suit or dress on Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn As thirty dialogs bleed into one I wish the world was flat like the old days Then i could travel just by folding a map No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways There'd be no distance that could hold us back. There'd be no distance that could hold us back [x2] So this is the new year [x4] -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (2) Lightness -------- There's a tear in the fabric of your favorite dress And I'm sneaking glances Looking for the patterns in static They start to make sense the longer I'm at it Ivory lines lead Oo wha-ho, oo wha-ho Your heart is a river that flows from your chest Through every organ Your brain is the dam And I am the fish who can't reach the core Ivory lines lead Oo wha-ho, oo wha-ho Oh, instincts are misleading You shouldn't think what you're feeling They don't tell you what you know you should want Ivory lines lead Oo wha-ho, oo wha-ho [x2] Oh, instincts are misleading You shouldn't think what you're feeling They don't tell you what you know you should want Ivory lines lead Oo wha-ho [x2] -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (3) Title and registration -------- The glove compartment is inaccurately named And everybody knows it. So i'm proposing a swift orderly change. Cause behind its door there's nothing to keep my fingers warm And all i find are souvenirs from better times Before the gleam of your taillights fading east To find yourself a better life. I was searching for some legal document As the rain beat down on the hood When i stumbled upon pictures i tried to forget And that's how this idea was drilled into my head Cause it's too important To stay the way it's been There's no blame for how our love did slowly fade And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all And here i rest where disappointment and regret collide Lying awake at night There's no blame for how our love did slowly fade And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all And here i rest where disappointment and regret collide Lying awake at night (up all night) When i'm lying awake at night. -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (4) Expo '86 -------- Sometimes I think this cycle never ends We slide from top to bottom and we turn and climb again And it seems by the time that I have figured what it's worth The squeaking of our skin against the steel has gotten worse But if I move my place in line I'll lose And I have waited, the anticipation's got me glued I am waiting for something to go wrong I am waiting for familiar resolve Sometimes it seems that I don't have the skills to recollect The twists and turns of plots that turned us from lovers to friends I'm thinking I should take that volume back up off the shelf And crack its weary spine and read to help remind myself But if I move my place in line I'll lose And I have waited, the anticipation's got me glued I am waiting for something to go wrong I am waiting for familiar resolve I am waiting for another repeat Another diet fed by crippling defeat And I am waiting for that sense of relief I am waiting for you to flee the scene As if you held in your hand the smoking gun And on the floor lay the one you said you loved And it's strange They are basically the same So I don't ask names anymore Sometimes I think this cycle never ends We slide from top to bottom and we turn and climb again And it seems by the time that I have figured what it's worth The squeaking of our skin against the steel has gotten worse The squeaking of our skin against the steel has gotten worse The squeaking of our skin against the steel has gotten worse -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (5) The Sound Of Settling -------- I've got a hunger Twisting my stomach into knots That my tongue was tied off My brain's repeating "if you've got an impulse let it out" But they never make it past my mouth. Baa bah, this is the sound of settling Baa bah, baa bah [x2] Our youth is fleeting Old age is just around the bend And i can't wait to go grey And i'll sit and wonder Of every love that could've been If i'd only thought of something charming to say. Baa bah, this is the sound of settling Baa bah, baa bah [x4] I've got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots. -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (6) Tiny Vessels -------- This is the moment that you know That you told her that you loved her but you don't. You touch her skin and then you think That she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me. Yeah, she is beautiful but she don't mean a thing to me. I spent two weeks in Silver Lake The California sun cascading down my face There was a girl with light brown streaks And she was beautiful but she didn't mean a thing to me. Yeah she was beautiful but she didn't mean a thing to me. I wanted to believe in all the words that I was speaking As we moved together in the dark And all the friends that I was telling All the playful misspellings And every bite I gave they left a mark And tiny vessels oozed into your neck And formed the bruises That you said you didn't want to fade But they did and so did I that day All I see are dark grey clouds In the distance moving closer with every hour So when you'd ask, "Is something wrong?" I'd think, "You're damn right there is, but we can't talk about it now. No, we can't talk about it now." So one last touch and then you'll go And we'll pretend that it meant something so much more But it was vile, and it was cheap And you are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me Yeah you are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me Yeah you are beautiful but you don't mean a thing to me -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (7) Transatlanticism -------- The Atlantic was born today and I'll tell you how... The clouds above opened up and let it out. I was standing on the surface of a perforated sphere When the water filled every hole. And thousands upon thousands made an ocean, Making islands where no island should go. Oh no. Those people were overjoyed; they took to their boats. I thought it less like a lake and more like a moat. The rhythm of my footsteps crossing flatlands to your door have been silenced forever more. The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row It seems farther than ever before Oh no. I need you so much closer [x8] [instrumental break] I need you so much closer [x4] So come on, come on [x4] -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (8) Passenger Seat -------- I roll the window down And then begin to breathe in The darkest country road And the strong scent of evergreen From the passenger seat as you are driving me home. Then looking upwards I strain my eyes and try To tell the difference between shooting stars and satellites From the passenger seat as you are driving me home. "do they collide?" I ask and you smile. With my feet on the dash The world doesn't matter. When you feel embarrassed then i'll be your pride When you need directions then i'll be the guide For all time. For all time. -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (9) Death Of An Interior Decorator -------- You were the mother of three girls so sweet Who stormed through your turnstile And climbed to the street But after conception your body lay cold And withered through autumn and you found yourself old Can you tell me why you have been so sad? He took a lover on a faraway beach While you arrange flowers and chose color schemes Can you tell me why you have been so sad? Can you tell me why you have been so sad? The girls were all there They traded their vows The youngest one glared with furrowed brows They tenderly kissed then cut the cake The bride then tripped and broke the vase The one you thought would spend the years So perfectly placed below the mirror Arriving late, you clean the debris And walked into the angry sea It felt just like falling in love again [x2] Can you tell me why you have been so sad? Can you tell me why you have been so... -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (10) We Looked Like Giants -------- God bless the daylight, the sugary smell of springtime Remembering when you were mine In a still suburban town When every thursday I'd brave those mountain passes And you'd skip your early classes And we'd learn how our bodies worked. God damn the black night with all it's foul temptation I become what I always hated When I was with you then We looked like giants in the back of my grey subcompact Fumbling to make contact As the others slept inside And together there In a shroud of frost, the mountain air Began to pass from every pane of weathered glass And I held you closer than anyone would ever get Do you remember the JAMC? And reading aloud from magazines I don't know about you but I swear on my name they could smell it on me I've never been too good with secrets. No... And together there In a shroud of frost and mountain air Began to pass through every pane of weathered glass And I held you closer... -------- Transatlanticism (2003) -------- -------- (11) A Lack Of Color -------- And when i see you I really see you upside down But my brain knows better It picks you up and turns you around Turns you around, turns you around If you feel discouraged That there's a lack of color here Please don't worry lover It's really bursting at the seams For absorbing everything The spectrum's a to z This is fact not fiction For the first time in years all the girls in every girlie magazine Can't make me feel any less alone I'm reaching for the phone To call at 7:03 [and] on your machine I slur a plea for you to come home But i know it's too late I should have given you a reason to stay Given you a reason to stay [x3] This is fact not fiction For the first time in years -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (1) Marching Bands Of Manhattan -------- If I could open my arms And span the length of the isle of Manhattan, I'd bring it to where you are Making a lake of the East River and Hudson If I could open my mouth Wide enough for a marching band to march out They would make your name sing And bend through alleys and bounce off all the buildings. I wish we could open our eyes To see in all directions at the same time Oh what a beautiful view If you were never aware of what was around you And it is true what you said That I live like a hermit in my own head But when the sun shines again I'll pull the curtains and blinds to let the light in. Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound But while you debate half empty or half full It slowly rises, your love is gonna drown [4x] Your love is gonna drown [4x] Your love is gonna... -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (2) Soul Meets Body -------- I want to live where soul meets body And let the sun wrap its arms around me And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing And feel, feel what its like to be new Cause in my head there’s a greyhound station Where I send my thoughts to far off destinations So they may have a chance of finding a place where they’re far more suited than here And I cannot guess what we'll discover When we turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels But I know our filthy hands can wash one another’s And not one speck will remain And I do believe it’s true That there are roads left in both of our shoes But if the silence takes you Then I hope it takes me too So brown eyes I hold you near Cause you’re the only song I want to hear A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere Where soul meets body Where soul meets body Where soul meets body And I do believe it’s true That there are roads left in both of our shoes But if the silence takes you Then I hope it takes me too So brown eyes I hold you near Cause you’re the only song I want to hear A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (3) Summer Skin -------- Squeaky swings and tall grass The longest shadows ever cast The water's warm and children swim And we frolicked about in our summer skin I don't recall a single care Just greenery and humid air Then Labor day came and went And we shed what was left of our summer skin On the night you left I came over And we peeled the freckles from our shoulders Our brand new coats so flushed and pink And I knew your heart I couldn't win Cause the seasons change was a conduit And we left our love in our summer skin -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (4) Different Names For The Same Thing -------- Alone on a train aimless in wonder An outdated map crumbled in my pocket But I didn't care where I was going 'Cause they're all different names for the same place. The coast disappeared when the sea drowned the sun And I knew no words to share with anyone The boundaries of language I quietly cursed And all the different names for the same thing There are different names for the same things There are different names for the same things... -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (5) I Will Follow You Into The Dark -------- Love of mine, someday you will die But I'll be close behind I'll follow you into the dark No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white Just our hands clasped so tight Waiting for the hint of a spark If Heaven and Hell decide That they both are satisfied Illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you When your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black I held my tongue as she told me "Son, fear is the heart of love" So I never went back If Heaven and Hell decide That they both are satisfied Illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you When your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark You and me have seen everything to see From Bangkok to Calgary And the soles of your shoes are all worn down The time for sleep is now But it's nothing to cry about 'Cause we'll hold each other soon In the blackest of rooms If Heaven and Hell decide That they both are satisfied Illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you When your soul embarks Then I'll follow you into the dark Then I'll follow you into the dark -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (6) Your Heart Is An Empty Room -------- Burn it down till the embers smoke on the ground And start new when your heart is an empty room With walls of the deepest blue Home's face: how it ages when you're away Spring blooms and you find the love that's true But you don't know what now to do Cause the chase is all you know And she stopped running months ago And all you see Is where else you could be When you're at home Out on the street Are so many possibilities To not be alone The flames and smoke climbed out of every window And disappeared with everything that you held dear And you shed not a single tear for the things that you didn't need 'Cause you knew you were finally free 'Cause all you see is where else you could be when you're at home Out on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone And all you see is where else you could be When you're at home There on the street are so many possibilities to not be alone -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (7) Someday You Will Be Loved -------- I once knew a girl In the years of my youth With eyes like the summer All beauty and truth In the morning I fled Left a note and it read Someday you will be loved. I cannot pretend that I felt any regret Cause each broken heart will eventually mend As the blood runs red down the needle and thread Someday you will be loved You'll be loved you'll be loved Like you never have known The memories of me Will seem more like bad dreams Just a series of blurs Like I never occurred Someday you will be loved You may feel alone when you're falling asleep And everytime tears roll down your cheeks But I know your heart belongs to someone you've yet to meet Someday you will be loved You'll be loved you'll be loved Like you never have known The memories of me Will seem more like bad dreams Just a series of blurs Like I never occurred Someday you will be loved You'll be loved you'll be loved Like you never have known The memories of me Will seem more like bad dreams Just a series of blurs Like I never occurred Someday you will be loved Someday you will be loved -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (8) Crooked Teeth -------- It was one hundred degrees, As we sat beneath A willow tree, Whose tears didn't care, They just hung in the air, And refused to fall, to fall. And I knew I'd made a horrible call, And now the state line felt like the Berlin Wall, And there was no doubt about which side I was on. 'Cause I built you a home in my heart, With rotten wood meant to cave from the start. 'Cause you can't find nothing at all, If there was nothing there all along. No you can't find nothing at all, If there was nothing there all along. I braved treacherous streets, And kids strung out on homemade speed. And we shared a bed in which I could not sleep, At all 'Cause at night the sun in retreat, Made the skyline look like crooked teeth, In the mouth of a man who was devouring Us both. You're so cute when you're slurring your speech, But they're closing the bar and they want us to leave. And you can't find nothing at all, If there was nothing there all along. No you can't find nothing at all, If there was nothing there all along. I'm a war of head versus heart, And it's always this way. My head is weak, my heart always speaks, Before I know what it will say. And you can't find nothing at all, If there was nothing there all along. No, you can't find nothing at all, If there was nothing there all along. No, you can't find nothing at all, If there was nothing there all along. There were churches, theme parks and malls, But there was nothing there all along. -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (9) What Sarah Said -------- And it came to me then That every plan Is a tiny prayer to father time As I stared at my shoes In the ICU That reeked of piss and 409 And I rationed my breaths As I said to myself That I'd already taken too much today As each descending peak On the LCD Took you a little farther away from me Away from me Amongst the vending machines And year-old magazines In a place where we only say goodbye It stung like a violent wind That our memories depend On a faulty camera in our minds And I knew that you were truth I would rather lose Than to have never lain beside at all And I looked around At all the eyes on the ground As the TV entertained itself 'Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news And then the nurse comes 'round and everyone lifts their head But I'm thinking of what Sarah said That "Love is watching someone die" So who's gonna watch you die? So who's gonna watch you die? So who's gonna watch you die? -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (10) Brothers On A Hotel Bed -------- You may tire of me as our December sun is setting because I'm not who I used to be No longer easy on the eyes but these wrinkles masterfully disguise The youthful boy below who turned your way and saw Something he was not looking for: both a beginning and an end But now he lives inside someone he does not recognize When he catches his reflection on accident On the back of a motor bike With your arms outstretched trying to take flight Leaving everything behind But even at our swiftest speed we couldn't break from the concrete In the city where we still reside. And I have learned that even landlocked lovers yearn for the sea like navy men Cause now we say goodnight from our own separate sides Like brothers on a hotel bed Like brothers on a hotel bed Like brothers on a hotel bed Like brothers on a hotel bed You may tire of me As our December sun is setting Because I'm not who I used to be -------- Plans (2005) -------- -------- (11) Stable Song -------- Time for the final bow Rows of deserted houses All our stable mates highway bound Give us our measly sum Getting the air inside my lungs is heavenly Starting out with nothing but crippling doubt We'll rest easy justified Suffered a swift defeat, I'll endure countless repeats The gift of memory's an awful curse With age it just gets much worse, but I won't mind I won't mind I won't mind I won't mind -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (1) Bixby Canyon Bridge -------- I descended a dusty gravel ridge Beneath the Bixby Canyon Bridge Until I eventually arrived At the place where your soul had died Barefoot in the shallow creek I grabbed some stones from underneath And waited for you to speak to me In the silence it became so very clear That you had long ago disappeared I cursed myself for being surprised That this didn't play like it did in my mind All the way from San Francisco As I chased the end of your road 'Cause I've still got miles to go And I want to know my fate If I keep up this way And it's hard to want to stay awake When everyone you meet, they all seem to be asleep And you wonder if you're missing a dream You can't see a dream You can't see a dream You just can't see a dream A dream [x12] And then it started getting dark I trudged back to where the car was parked No closer to any kind of truth As I must assume was the case with you -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (2) I Will Possess Your Heart -------- How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me. It's like a book elegantly bound but, in a language that you can't read. Just yet. You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. There are days when outside your window I see my reflection as I slowly pass, and I long for this mirrored perspective when we'll be lovers, lovers at last. You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. I will possess your heart. I will possess your heart. You reject my... advances... and desperate pleas... I won't let you... let me down... so easily. So easily. You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. You gotta spend some time, Love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find, love I will possess your heart. I will possess your heart. I will possess your heart. -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (3) No Sunlight -------- When I was young, lying in the grass I felt so safe in a warming bath Of sunlight, of sunlight Vast open sky could do no harm Like an embrace of a mother's arms In sunlight, in sunlight In sunlight, in sunlight With every year that came to pass More clouds appeared till the sky went black And there was No sunlight, no sunlight And there was No sunlight, no sunlight anymore And it disappeared at the same speed The idealistic things I believed The optimist died inside of me No sunlight, no sunlight No sunlight, no sunlight And it disappeared at the same speed The idealistic thing I believed The optimist died inside of me No sunlight, no sunlight No sunlight, no sunlight No sunlight, no sunlight No sunlight, no sunlight No sunlight anymore -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (4) Cath... -------- Cath, she stands with a well-intentioned man But she can't relax with his hand on the small of her back And as the flashbulbs burst She holds a smile like someone would hold a crying child And soon everybody will ask what became of you 'Cause your heart was dying fast, and you didn't know what to do Cath, it seems that you live in someone else's dream In a hand-me-down wedding dress Where the things that could have been are repressed But you said your vows, and you closed the door On so many men who would have loved you more And soon everybody will ask what became of you 'Cause your heart was dying fast, and you didn't know what to do The whispers that it won't last roll up and down the pews But if their hearts were dying that fast, They'd have done the same as you And I'd have done the same as you -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (5) Talking Bird -------- Oh, my talking bird Though you know so few words They're on infinite repeat And your brain can't keep up with your beak And you're kept in an open cage So you're free to leave or stay And Sometimes this makes you confused but there is no hint that I'm trying to give you The longer you think, the less you know what to do And it's hard to see your way out When you live in a house in a house 'Cause you don't realize That the windows were open the whole time But, oh, my talking bird Though your feathers are tattered and curled I'll love you all your days 'Til the breath leaves your delicate frame It's all here for you as long as you choose to stay It's all here for you as long as you don't fly away -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (6) You Can Do Better Than Me -------- I'm starting to feel We stayed together out of fear of dying alone I've been slipping through the years My old clothes don't fit like they once did So they hang like ghosts of the people I've been It's like my heart can't be tamed I fall in love every day And I feel like a fool I have to face the truth That no one could ever look at me like you do Like I'm something worth holding on to There's times I think of leaving But it's something I'll never do 'Cause you can do better than me But I can't do better than you [repeat] -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (7) Grapevine Fires -------- When the wind picked up, the fire spread And the grapevines seemed left for dead And the northern sky looked like the end of days The end of days The wake up call to a rented room Sounded like an alarm of impending doom To warn us it's only a matter of time Before we all burn Before we all burn Before we all burn Before we all burn We bought some wine and some paper cups Near your daughter's school when we picked her up And drove to a cemetery on a hill On a hill And we watched the plumes paint the sky gray As she laughed and danced through the field of graves And there I knew it would be alright That everything would be alright Would be alright Would be alright Would be alright And the news reports, on the radio Said it was getting worse As the ocean air fanned the flames But I couldn't think of anywhere I would have rather been To watch it all burn away To burn away The firemen worked in double shifts With prayers for rain on their lips And they knew it was only a matter of time -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (8) Your New Twin Sized Bed -------- You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed. With a single pillow underneath your single head. I guess you decided that that old queen was more space than you would need. Now it's in the alley behind your apartment with a sign that says it's free. And I hope you have more luck with this than me. You used to think that someone would come along. And lay beside you in a space that they belong. But the other side of the mattress and box springs stayed like new. What's the point of holding onto what never gets used? Other than a sick desire for self-abuse. And I try not to worry, but you've got me terrified. It's like you're in some kind of hurry to say goodbye, You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed. You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed. -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (9) Long Division -------- His head was a city Of paper buildings And the echoes that remained Of old friends and lovers Their features bleeding Together in his brain And once it started was harder to Tell them apart He was always distracted By the very mention Of an open door 'Cause he had sworn not to be what he'd been before To be a remain remain remain remainder [x2] The television was snowing softly As she hunted for her keys She said she never envisioned him the type of person capable of such deceit And they carried on like long division And it was clear with every page That they were further away from a solution that would play Without a remain remain remain remainder [x4] He had sworn not to be what he'd been before To be the remain remain remain remainder [x6] -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (10) Pity And Fear -------- I have such a envy for this stranger lying next to me Who awakes in the night and slips out into the pre-dawn light With no words, a clean escape, no promises or messes made And chalks it all up to mistake, mistake, mistake And there are no tears Just pity and fear And a vast ravine Right in between A storm at sea the bow cracked and I was capsizing And I sunk below where I swore I would never go If you can't stand in place you can't tell there's walking away From who remains, who stays, who stays, who stays And there are no tears Just pity and fear And a vast ravine Right in between Cause there are no tears Just pity and fear And I recall The push more than the fall The push more than the fall -------- Narrow Stairs (2008) -------- -------- (11) The Ice Is Getting Thinner -------- We're not the same, dear, as we used to be. The seasons have changed and so have we. There was little we could say, and even less that we could do To stop the ice from getting thinner under me and you. We bury our love in the wintery grave A lump in the snow was all that remained. But we stayed by its side as the days turned to weeks And the ice kept getting thinner with every word that we'd speak. And when the spring arrived We were taken by surprise when the floes under our feet bled into the sea And nothing was left for you and me. We're not the same, dear, And it seems to me There's nowhere we can go With nothing underneath. And it saddens me to say What we both knew was true That the ice was getting thinner Under me and you. The ice was getting thinner Under me and you. -------- The Open Door (2009) -------- -------- (1) Little Bribes -------- The Eiffel tower built to smaller scale The freshest oxygen I'd ever inhale I tapped a bottle against a safety rail, killing time And you were like a walking compliment Tall in stature and exceptionally read In dummy glasses and a cardigan Oh, come on And oh so empty were the faces of the dealers And the waitresses around You said that all these things you've learned to ignore The hidden cameras on the casino floor And what gets paid for behind hotel doors Oh, come on You pretend every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello The people stare into their eyes and they feed them little bribes and then they go The never-ending twilight In a basement where the sun has never spilt You said that you were lonely And then we kissed like lonely people do You said the city has a beating heart That pushes people down the boulevard And they're all hoping for a wish fulfilled In a desert for a dollar bill Those foolish dreams, you know they plague me still Oh, come on And oh so empty were the faces Of the dealers and the waitresses around [X2] They're empty -------- The Open Door (2009) -------- -------- (2) A Diamond And A Tether -------- Pity, take pity on me. 'Cause I'm not half the man that I should be. Always turning to run, from the people I should not be afraid of. And darling, you should know that I have fantasies about being alone. It's like love is a lesson, that I can't learn. I make the same mistakes at each familiar turn. I know you can't hold out forever waiting on a diamond and a tether from a boy who won't swim but who will dip his toe in just to keep you here with him. I've got this habit I abhor. When we go out I'm always watching the door. 'cause if there's someone I'm gonna see who could outdo the things you do to me. And I know you can't hold out forever waiting on a diamond and a tether from a boy who won't fly but who will take to the skies if he thinks you are about to say goodbye. Pity, take pity on me. 'cause I'm not half the man that I should be. And I don't blame you, you've had enough, of all these empty promises and countless bluffs. 'cause I know you can't hold out forever waiting on a diamond and a tether from a boy who won't jump when he falls in love. He just stands with his toes on the edge and he waits for it to disappear again. -------- The Open Door (2009) -------- -------- (3) My Mirror Speaks -------- With every sun that sets I am feeling more Like a stranger on a foreign shore With an eroding beach disappearing from underneath And when my mirror speaks it never minces words 'Cause these eyes don't shine half as bright As they used to do and they haven't for quite a while 'Cause I'm a man who hides from all that binds And a mess of fading lines And there's a tangled thread inside my head With nothing on either end I always fall in love with an open door With the horizon on an endless sea As I look around the ones who were standing right in front of me And then my mirror speaks with irreverence Like a soldier I can't command It sees a frightened child in the body of a full-grown man And he's a man who hides from all that binds And a mess of fading lines And there's a tangled thread inside his head With nothing on either end There's nothing on the end A new position for a different view And nothing changes but the slightest hues And I am standing face to face With a man who hides from all that binds And a mess of fading lines And there's a tangled thread inside his head With nothing on either end I'm a man who hides from all that binds And a mess of fading lines And there's a tangled thread inside my head With nothing on either end 'Cause I'm a man who hides from all that binds And a mess of fading lines And there's a tangled thread inside my head With nothing on either end There's nothing on the ends No, there's nothing on the ends -------- The Open Door (2009) -------- -------- (4) I Was Once A Loyal Lover -------- Will I have learned so very little When these bones are old and brittle? I wait to talk when I should listen And cloud mistakes with false revisions All my friends are forward-thinking Getting hitched and quitting drinking And I can feel them pulling away As I'm resigned to stay the same And you can't even begin to know How many times I've told myself "I told you so" I was once a loyal lover Whose lips did never seek another's But now each love's more like a match A blinding spark that burns out fast And they all conclude with the same sentence: "I've never met someone more self-centered Who thinks that life with a nice girl's like Waiting for a bus to work" And you can't even begin to know How many times I've told myself "I told you so" And you can't even begin to believe There's so many bridges engulfed in flames behind me If you deem it so Just cut the cord and go You'll be fine There's plenty of hills to climb You can't even begin to know How many times I've told myself "I told you so" And you can't even begin to believe There's so many bridges engulfed in flames behind me [2X] -------- The Open Door (2009) -------- -------- (5) Talking Bird -------- Oh, my talking bird Though you know so few words They're on infinite repeat And your brain can't keep up with your beak. And you're kept in an open cage So you're free to leave or stay. And Sometimes this makes you confused but there is no hint that I'm trying to give you. The longer you think, the less you know what to do. And it's hard to see your way out When you live in a house in a house 'Cause you don't realize That the windows were open the whole time. But, oh, my talking bird Though your feathers are tattered and curled I'll love you all your days 'Til the breath leaves your fragile frame. It's all here for you as long as you choose to stay. It's all here for you as long as you don't fly away. -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (1) Home Is A Fire -------- Sleep, sleep with the lights on Shutters and shades drawn There's too many windows Noise Cars on the freeway Attempting a clean break There's nowhere left to go Watching the room sweep Through cracks in the concrete Plates, they will shift Houses will shake Fences will droop We will awake Only to find Nothing's the same Nothing's the same Home, home is a fire, Burning reminder Of where we belong, love With walls built up around us The bricks make me nervous They're only so strong, love They're only so strong, love Plates, they will shift Houses will shake Fences will droop We will awake Only to find Nothing's the same Nothing's the same Nothing's the same Nothing's the same -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (2) Codes And Keys -------- We won't get far Flying in circles inside a jar Because the air we breathe Is thinning with the words that we speak That we speak You and me That we speak You and me You're on the floor Fearful of what's outside your door But the codes and keys They can protect you From the pangs of jealousy When you scream Love you see Like a child Throwing stones at the sky When they fall back to earth As minor chords of major works Separate rooms of single life We are one We are alive We are alive We are alive We are alive We are alive -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (3) Some Boys -------- Some boys are filling, some boys are filling the hole They're making the killing at the top of the billings Their role, and that's all that they know But some boys don't listen, some boys don't listen at all They don't ask for permission, they lack inhibitions No walls, and they get what they want But some boys don't know how to love Some boys are singing, some boys are singing the blues Joylessly flinging with the girls that they're bringing to their rooms And then leave them, they're through Some boys are sleeping, some boys are sleeping alone Cause there's no one that's keeping them warm through evening They know that they're on their own Some boys don't know how to love Some boys are filling, some boys are filling the hole Some boys are sleeping, some boys are sleeping alone Some boys don't know how to love [x4] They won't get what they want -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (4) Doors Unlocked And Open -------- Isolations, dotted lines Seas of concrete, wild eyes Streaking colors, blurred to one Always moving, blinding sun Blinding sun Coldest comfort, safety glass Seasons turning, dying grass California, gilded crowns Mile markers, counting down Somewhere down, down Down in the ocean of sound, sound We'll live in slow-motion And be free With doors unlocked and open Doors unlocked and open Isolation Isolation California, gilded crowns Mile markers, counting down Somewhere down, down Down in the ocean of sound, sound We'll live in slow-motion And be free With doors unlocked and open Doors unlocked and open Somewhere down, down Down in the ocean of sound, sound We'll live in slow-motion And be free With doors unlocked and open Doors unlocked and open Doors unlocked and open Somewhere down, down Down in the ocean of sound, sound We'll live in slow-motion And be free With doors unlocked and open Doors unlocked and open Somewhere down Doors unlocked and open Doors unlocked and open Doors unlocked and open -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (5) You Are A Tourist -------- This fire grows higher This fire grows higher This fire grows higher This fire grows higher When there's a burning in your heart An endless yearning in your heart Build it bigger than the sun Let it grow, let it grow When there's a burning in your heart Don't be alarmed This fire grows higher When there's a doubt within your mind Because you're thinking all the time Framing rights into wrongs Move along, move along When there's a doubt within your mind When there's a burning in your heart And you think it'll burst apart Or there's nothing to feel Save the tears, save the tears When there's a burning in your heart And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born Then it's time to go And define your destination There's so many different places to call home Because when you find yourself the villain in the story you have written It's plain to see That sometimes the best intentions are in need of redemptions Would you agree? If so please show me This fire grows higher When there's a burning in your heart -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (6) Unobstructed Views -------- There's no eye in the sky Just our love No unobstructed view No perfect truths Just our love Just our love And there's no verse No monument of words For our love For they can't hold All I know about my love, about my love Storm clouds break Pools remain memories for Earth embrace That umbrate up above They become New love New love There's no eye in the sky Just our love, just our love No unobstructed views No perfect truths Just our love, just our love -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (7) Monday Morning -------- She may be young but she only likes old things, And modern music it ain't to her taste, She loves the natural light, captured in black and white, She sees mirages of mountain ranges, Within a blink of her eyes it changes, Back to the open plain, oh no she can't explain. I cry out "Love keep your arms around me", I am a bird that's in need of grounding, I'm built to fly away, I never learned how to stay. The night is gonna fall and the vultures will surround you, And when you're lookin' in the mirror what you see is gon' astound you. But all these lines and greys refine, they are the maps of our design, Of what began on a Monday morning. Monday morning, Monday morning, Ooh, ooh, Monday morning, Monday morning, Ooh, ooh, The night is gonna fall and the vultures will surround you, And when you're lookin' in the mirror what you see is gon' astound you. But all these lines and greys refine, they are the maps of our design, Of what began on a Monday morning. Oh yes the night is gonna fall, and the vultures will surround you, And when you're lookin' in the mirror what you see is gon' astound you. And all the glow of you from inside the room, Is burning on inside of you, it all began on a Monday morning. Monday morning, Monday morning, Ooh, ooh. -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (8) Portable Television -------- Portable television, shrouded in snow In a raggedy van on the side of the road The night it had frozen through my little bones So you took me in your arms, you squeezed out the cold And oh, ooh, oh, ooh, oh, ooh Upstate New York, autumn, brightly colored leaves Oh, the hills were on fire, they burn for you and me And where we were going it was built like a lie But as sacred as the Bible, so we didn't question why And oh, ooh, oh, ooh, oh, ooh I saw it in the soil just recently Where the rows of teeth they grow in fields of infinite greed And here laid the father, and here stood the son Where the road meets the horizon for everyone For everyone Portable television, take us away From this burden of reflection we've carried today Oh, the generator's running but there's nothing on the air And the static is a comfort, so we huddle around and stare And oh, ooh, oh, ooh, oh, ooh -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (9) Underneath The Sycamore -------- Lying in a field of glass Underneath the overpass Mangled in the shards of a metal frame Woken from the dream by my own name Well I was such a wretched man Searching everywhere for a homeland And now we are under the same sun Feel it through the leaves Let it heal us We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We were both broken in our own ways Sifting through the rubble for the wrong things I know you've got a vengeful heart And I cannot be stopped as soon as I start But you have seen your darkest rooms And I have slept in makeshift tombs And this is where we find our peace Oh this is where we are at least We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore We are the same We are both safe Underneath the sycamore -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (10) St. Peter's Cathedral -------- St. Peter's cathedral Built of granite Ever fearful of the answer When the candle in the tunnel Is flickering and sputters And fading faster It's only then that you will know What lies above or down below Or if these fictions only prove How much you've really got to lose At St. Peter's cathedral There is stained glass There's a steeple that is reaching Up towards the heavens Such ambition never failing to amaze me It's either quite a master plan Or just chemicals that help us understand That when our hearts stop ticking This is the end And there's nothing past this There's nothing past this There's nothing past this There's nothing past this There's nothing past this There's nothing past this There's nothing past this There's nothing past this -------- Codes And Keys (2011) -------- -------- (11) Stay Young, Go Dancing -------- Life is sweet in the belly of the beast In the belly of the beast And with her song in your heart, it can never bring you down It can never bring you down Lost in a maze of a thousand rainy days Of a thousand rainy days But when I heard her voice, oh it led me to the end Yes it led me to the end Cause when she sings I hear a symphony And I'm swallowed in sound as it echoes through me I'm renewed, oh how I feel alive and through autumn's advancing We'll stay young, go dancing As the music plays Feel our bodies' sway When we move as one We stay young (Go dancing) Life is sweet in the belly of the beast In the belly of the beast And with her song in your heart, oh it can never bring you down It can never bring you down Cause when she sings I hear a symphony And I'm swallowed in sound as it echoes through me I'm renewed, oh how I feel alive and through winter's advancing We'll stay young go dancing Stay young go dancing Stay young go dancing -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (1) No Room In Frame -------- I don't know where to begin There's too many things that I can't remember As I disappeared like a trend In the hum of the 5 in the early morning And now I'm taking my time Up through Coalinga through the valley This highway lived in my mind It takes me back to the place that made me Was I in your way When the cameras turned to face you? No room in frame For two You cannot outrun a ghost Speeding south bound lanes with abandon It catches you on the coast Or on the cliffs of the Palisades you killed the engine And then it hovers above Reeling bodies failing to discover The thing they once knew as love Raising their voices to convince one another Was I in your way When the cameras turned to face you? No room in frame For two And how can I stay In the sun When the rain flows All through my veins It's true And I guess it's not a failure we could help And we'll both go on to get lonely with someone else With someone else Was I in your way When the cameras turned to face you? No room in frame For two And how can I stay In the sun When the rain flows All through my veins It's true And I guess it's not a failure we could help And we'll both go on to get lonely with someone else -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (2) Black Sun -------- There is whiskey in the water And there is death upon the vine There is fear in the eyes of your father And there is "Yours" and there is "Mine" There is a desert veiled in pavement And there's a city of seven hills And all our debris flows to the ocean To meet again, I hope it will How could something so fair Be so cruel When this black sun revolved Around you There is an answer in a question And there is hope within despair And there is beauty in a failure And there are depths beyond compare There is a role of a lifetime And there's a song yet to be sung And there's a dumpster in the driveway Of all the plans that came undone How could something so fair Be so cruel When this black sun revolved Around you How could something so fair Be so cruel When this black sun revolved Around you There is whiskey in the water And there is death upon the vine And there is grace within forgiveness But it's so hard for me to find How could something so fair Be so cruel When this black sun revolved Around you How could something so fair Be so cruel When this black sun revolved Around you -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (3) The Ghosts Of Beverly Drive -------- If only you'd have known me before the accident For with that grand collision came a grave consequence Receptors overloaded, they burst and disconnect 'Til there was little feeling please work with what is left Oh I need not be flattered that you've never been here before So there's no need to mention that you've no firsts anymore But if you let me be your skyline I'll let you be the wave That reduces me to rubble that looked safe from far away I don't know why, I don't know why I return to the scenes of these crimes Where the hedgerows slowly wind Through the ghosts of Beverly Drive I don't know why, I don't know why I don't know what I expect to find Where all the news is second hand And everything just goes on as planned You wanna teach but not be taught And I wanna sell but not be bought So let us not be lonesome So let us not be lonesome Lost in between our needs and wants Our needs and wants I don't know why, I don't know why I return to the scenes of these crimes Where the hedgerows slowly wind Through the ghosts of Beverly Drive I don't know why, I don't know why I don't know what I expect to find Where all the news is second hand And everything just goes on as planned I don't know why, I don't know why I don't know why, I don't know why I don't know why, I don't know why I don't know why, I don't know why -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (4) Little Wanderer -------- You sent a photo out your window of Tokyo Told me you were doing fine You said the cherry blossoms were blooming And that I was on your mind But I couldn't make you out through the glitches It's how it always seems to go So we say our goodbyes over messenger As the network overloads When the network overloads You're my wanderer, little wanderer Off across the sea You're my wanderer, little wanderer Won't you wander back to me Back to me Always fall asleep when you're waking I count the hours on my hands Doing the math to the time zone you're at Is an unseen part of the plan But if you'll be my bluebird returning Then I'll be your evergreen Standing tall on your horizon Guiding you home to me Guiding you home to me You're my wanderer, little wanderer Off across the sea You're my wanderer, little wanderer Won't you wander back to me You're my wanderer, little wanderer How I wish that you could see Little wanderer, little wanderer How I need you back with me Back with me You sent a photo out your window of Paris Of what you wish that I could see But someone's gotta be the lighthouse And that someone's gotta be me And I hope your absence makes us grow fonder I hope we always feel the same When our eyes meet past security, we embrace in the baggage claim When we kiss in the baggage claim You're my wanderer, little wanderer Off across the sea You're my wanderer, little wanderer Won't you wander back to me You're my wanderer, little wanderer How I wish that you could see Little wanderer, little wanderer How I need you back with me Back with me -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (5) You've Haunted Me All My Life -------- You've haunted me all my life Through endless days and countless nights There was a storm when I was just a kid Stripped the last coat of innocence You've haunted me all my life You're always out of reach when I'm in pursuit Long winded then suddenly mute And there's a flaw in my heart's design For I keep trying to make you mine You've haunted me all my life You've haunted me all my life You are the mistress I can't make a wife And you've haunted me all my life And so I wait but I never seem to learn How to capture your diminishing returns I still see you through the eyes of a child Not even thinking we could tame the wild You've haunted me all my life You've haunted me all my life You are the mistress I can't make a wife And you've haunted me all my life You've haunted me all my life You've haunted me all my life You are the mistress I can't make a wife And you've haunted me all my life -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (6) Hold No Guns -------- Darlin', don't you understand? That there are no winners? Or medals hung from silken strands To greet you at the finish As we're dissolving into the sea I only take what I can carry As the council's combing through our debris For the treasures we never buried My love, why do you run? For my hands hold no guns Darling though you may pretend Pretend that you are selfless You break with but the slightest bend That leaves you lost and helpless So to whom will you place the call? In the coldest night of winter? As numbers change and people fall And friends, they always splinter My love, why do you run? For my hands hold no guns My love, why do you run? For my hands hold no guns They hold no guns No, not one -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (7) Everything's A Ceiling -------- Way way down in a hole, there's no feeling Cause when you're so far beneath the floor, everything's a ceiling We dug it down as deep as we could just like we planned it But when you climbed out you pulled the ladder and it left me stranded So what am I supposed to do? I'm calling out to you But you're miles away, it's true Digging with someone new So far down in this hole, there's little daylight I feel the shards of the midday sun and then it's black as midnight The only stars I see in the sky, they don't move me Cause they've all been dead for millions of years, they're just light diffusing And the constellations move and the brightest point is full But every telescope you see, was pointed only at you And I've got nowhere to go except further below So I keep digging And it gets darker everyday But I see no other way than just committing And if the earth is as round as they say Then I won't find another place From where I break back through It's farther away from you It's farther away from you So what am I supposed to do? I'm calling out to you But you're miles away, it's true Digging with someone new So what am I supposed to do? I'm calling out to you But you're miles away, it's true Digging with someone new Digging with someone new Digging with someone new -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (8) Good Help (Is So Hard To Find) -------- You'll never have to hear the word "no" If you keep all your friends on the payroll The non-disclosure pages signed Your secret's safe between those lines The scaffolding will cheer and console you But remember what your mother told you That good help is so hard to find For people who are so refined You're trying to turn into the skid In this never-ending grid There's a long, slow fade To a darkened stage And I hear you say "Only a fool gives it away" Only a fool would give Only a fool gives it away You said you wanna stake out your claim High above the city from where you came Don't you know the air's so thin? It starves the brain of oxygen I know it's such a dangerous place For there are more ascensions than there is space Angels causing accidents The camera phones'll document But if I start to levitate Pull me down with all your weight There's a long, slow fade To a darkened stage And I hear you say "Only a fool gives it away" Only a fool would give Only a fool gives it away You're trying to turn into the skid In this never-ending grid But you should know it's not ideal All those hands upon the wheel There's a long, slow fade To a darkened stage And I hear you say "Only a fool gives it away" There's a long, slow fade To a darkened stage And I hear you say "Only a fool gives it away" Only a fool would give Only a fool would give Only a fool would give Only a fool gives this away -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (9) El Dorado -------- Seems you finally found, finally found El Dorado Over in Culver City, shining bright, name in lights And I tried to be kind for you Oh I'm trying to be kind for you It's kinda like a party that you never wanted to attend But when an invitation finally arrives you change your mind And I tried to be kind for you Oh I'm trying to be kind for you As you slip away behind the gates Behind the gates Seems you finally found, finally found El Dorado So why does it feel underwhelming there be real And I tried to be kind for you Oh I'm trying to be kind for you As you slip away behind the gates Behind the gates El Dorado El Dorado El Dorado El Dorado -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (10) Ingenue -------- Ingénue what have we done to you? Under that soft skin I hear a ticking The currency of being twenty-three It turns from gold to dust When you crest the wave of lust So take all you can From the mouth of man Ingénue framed like a cartoon The borders clear and defined The colors bold and bright You'll want to be taken more seriously But they just play a cue And it's such a hard thing to do So take all you can From the mouth of man And escape from this town Before your sand runs out Before your sand runs out Ingénue, what will become of you? When age's glacial pace Cuts valleys into your face The currency of being twenty-three It will remain the same Just by another name Oh, Ingénue What will you do? Oh, Ingénue What have we done to you? -------- Kintsugi (2015) -------- -------- (11) Binary Sea -------- Oh Atlas could not understand The world was so much smaller than The one he used to hold before But the weight it brought him to the floor As you watched him struggle to his feet You took photos capturing his defeat And messaged them to all your friends And we all laughed at his expense Oh come my love and swim with me Out in this vast Binary Sea Zeros and ones patterns appear They'll prove to all that we were here For if there is no document We cannot build our monument So look into the lens and I'll make sure this moment never dies Oh Atlas could not stay engaged Was more distracted every day You slowly fell into disarray Just trying to think of something to say For if there is no document There cannot be a monument So lean in close or lend an ear There's something brilliant bound to happen here -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (1) I Dreamt We Spoke Again -------- I dreamt we spoke, I dreamt we spoke again It had been so long, it had been so long My mind filled in the blanks I dreamt we spoke, I dreamt we spoke again It had been so long, it had been so long Your voice was like a ghost In my head In my head Only in, yes, only in a dream Is anything, is anything the way it used to be? I dreamt we spoke, I dreamt we spoke again But when I awoke, when I awoke I could not remember Anything you said Anything you said Anything you said Anything you said -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (2) Summer Years -------- Sometimes I wake at night And watch the rain fall through the street lights 'Cause you're standing still in my mind Fading out, waving goodbye And I wonder where you are tonight If the one you're with was a compromise As we're walking lines in parallel That will never meet and it's just as well Sometimes I'm overcome By every choice I couldn't outrun The junctions all disappear You can't double back to your summer years And I wonder where you are tonight If the one you're with was a compromise As we're walking lines in parallel That will never meet and it's just as well And I wonder where you are tonight If the one you're with was a compromise As we're walking lines in parallel That will never meet and it's just as well It's just as well And I wonder where you are tonight If the one you're with was a compromise As we're walking lines in parallel That will never meet and it's just as well And I wonder where you are tonight If the one you're with was a compromise As we're walking lines in parallel That will never meet and it's just as well It's just as well -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (3) Gold Rush -------- (Gold rush) They're digging for gold in my neighborhood (Gold rush) Where all the old buildings stood (Gold rush) And they keep digging it down and down (Gold rush) So that their cars can live underground (Gold rush) The swinging of a wrecking ball (Gold rush) Through these lathe and plaster walls (Gold rush) Is letting all the shadows free (Gold rush) The ones I wished still followed me Change (Followed me, followed me) Please don't change Stay (Followed me, followed me) Stay the same (Gold rush) I remember a winter's night (Gold rush) When we kissed beneath the street lamp light (Gold rush) Outside our bar near the record store (Gold rush) That have been condos for a year or more (Gold rush) And now that our haunts have taken flight (Gold rush) And been replaced with construction sites (Gold rush) Oh, how I feel like a stranger here (Gold rush) Searching for something that's disappeared (Gold rush) They're digging for gold in my neighborhood (Gold rush) For what they say is the greater good (Gold rush) But all I see is a long goodbye (Gold rush) A requiem for a skyline (Gold rush) It seems I never stop losing you (Gold rush) As every dive becomes something new (Gold rush) And all our ghosts get swept away (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Gold rush) Change (Be this way, be this way) Please don't change Stay (Be this way, be this way) Stay the same Cranes (Be this way, be this way) Devour the light Strange (Be this way, be this way) Appetites I've ascribed these monuments A false sense of permanence I've placed faith in geography To hold you in my memory (Gold rush) I'm sifting through these wreckage piles (Gold rush) Through the rubble of bricks and wires (Gold rush) Looking for something I'll never find (Gold rush) Looking for something I'll never find (Gold rush) They're digging for gold in my neighborhood (Gold rush) Where all the old buildings stood (Gold rush) And they keep digging it down and down (Gold rush) So that their cars can live underground (Gold rush) It seems I never stop losing you (Gold rush) As every dive becomes something new (Gold rush) And all our ghosts get swept away (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Change, please don't change) (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Stay, stay the same) (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Gold rush) It didn't used to be this way (Change, please don't change) (Gold rush) (Gold rush) (Gold rush) (Gold rush) (Stay, stay the same) (Gold rush) (Gold rush) -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (4) Your Hurricane -------- Heaven is a hole in the sky The stars are cracks in the ceiling of night And I just keep watching them for a sign That you'll be alright 'Cause every time there's a knock on my door I fall to my hands and knees on the floor 'Cause when your wreckage washes up on my shore You're not like before And you try to explain who's at fault for your mistakes But I won't be the debris in your hurricane You used to be such a delicate kid A lonely fish in a sea full of squid So I can't blame you for leaving how you did You just fell off the grid 'Cause heaven is a hole in the sky And the stars are cracks in the ceiling of night But you can't be your own alibi As hard as you try It's a tired refrain you're singing over and over again As you try to explain who's at fault for your mistakes But I won't be the debris in your hurricane Oh, I won't be the debris in your hurricane Oh, I won't be the debris in your hurricane -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (5) When We Drive -------- I can't expect you to be honest Or to be faithful every day 'til the end I just need you to always be a friend As the sun sets over Dakotas Underneath a crimson ocean of sky Know I'll always want you be my side When we drive You and I were born in motion Never in one place for too long a time And now it's the only way we know to survive I like the way your hair tangles The way your sun tan's only on one side We always keep the windows open wide When we drive Climb into the back seat and close your eyes I've got the wheel And dream of all the places only we will find I can't expect you to be honest Or to be faithful every day 'til the end I just need you to always be a friend Until the engine kicks and sputters Until we roll the rubber off the tires Know I'll always need you by my side When we drive -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (6) Autumn Love -------- No more lighthouses to deceive me Just leave me floating on the open ocean And let the moonlight take me anywhere on a tidal flow And if I capsize it's alright 'Cause I've been feeling too invincible I need to know depths deeper than the deepest of connections This autumn love is not enough If there's no beacon tonight to guide me I'll finally break the shackles of direction And let the headlights lead me anywhere they wanna go I feel at home now out on a bough In the lattice of the backbone Where the highways are holding in the pieces of our broken hearts This autumn love is not enough -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (7) Northern Lights -------- I remember your silhouette on Dyes Inlet Against the silver sheen of a moon like painted glass Under stars out on a pier; a celestial sphere We were weightless as the waves that disappeared Northern lights filled our skies Empty nights synchronized We shared a clove cigarette on the parapet As the TVs glowed from the windows of the model homes And I'd never be that close again to your lips and perfect skin As the tide receded into the unknown Northern lights filled our skies Empty nights synchronized -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (8) You Moved Away -------- You sold you records by the pile For they were only yours for a while You placed your furniture in the yard And it was gone within the hour When you moved away All your friends came over and you told them what to take When you moved away Everyone thought it was a mistake You mopped floors and filled the cracks To get your security deposit back You closed your account at the bank You checked your tires and filled the tank When you moved away All of your friends got drunk and one by one begged you to stay When you moved away They all felt irrationally betrayed Since you moved away I walk past your vacant apartment almost every day When you moved away You left this town with such an empty space -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (9) Near / Far -------- You flicker like a fluorescent light An intermittent strobe in a lonely night As I am standing by your side Trying to breach this dark and deep divide You're here So far away So near So far I hear you talking to yourself Cursing every card you wanted dealt But I can't help you play your hand If you mistake every word for a command You're here So far away So near So far away You're here So far away So near So far You flicker like a fluorescent light An intermittent strobe in a lonely night But I won't watch you burning out I won't let you be the one I live without -------- Thank You For Today (2018) -------- -------- (10) 60 & Punk -------- There's nothing funny about you slipping away It's nothing funny how you're spending your days But you're laughing like a kid at a carnival I watched you stumbling around this dusty town I heard your bottle talking way too loud As the Federales tried to hunt you down For something you can't remember what was about The curtain falls to applause and the band plays you off He's a superhero growing bored with no one to save anymore I used to watch you on the late night scene The timely rescue of a metal teen Six strings were strumming rhythm and lead And that hadn't occurred to me When I met you I was 22 Trying so hard to play it cool But there was so much that I needed to say And nothing came out the right way The curtain falls to applause and the band plays you off He's a superhero growing bored with no one to save anymore There's nothing elegant about being a drunk It's nothing righteous about being 60 and punk But when you're looking in the mirror do you see That kid you used to be Broke and working in a record store Daydreaming about the upcoming tour Were you happier when you poor -------- The Blue (2019) -------- -------- (1) To The Ground -------- The arms lost control Slipped and began to roll On the wings of an ocean gale Crashed right through the rail Down to the valley below To the valley below Down in the charred remains Stripped the chassis clean And the gravel grew through the frame Till it swallowed everything Swallowed everything Return to the ground To the ground Return to the ground To the ground Trees growing tall Weeds covering all And the animals make their homes Underneath its fusted dome All things come around All comes around Comes around Returns to the ground To the ground Ground Around Comes around To the ground To the ground To the ground To the ground -------- The Blue (2019) -------- -------- (2) Kids In '99 -------- I'm thinkin' 'bout those kids I'm thinkin' 'bout those kids Back in '99 The gas leakin' in the creek A firecracker then a spark And in a moment they were Gone, gone Gone, gone Our house was shaken by the blast Black smoke billowing off the landscape Sirens crying through the streets With choppers hovering like vultures above a meal Gone, gone Gone, gone Gone, gone Gone, gone In the waters where we used to swim Where we thought we would be young forever The beads that glistened on your sunburnt skin Evaporated in the flames and embers I'm thinkin' 'bout those kids I'm thinkin' 'bout those kids Back in '99 And wonder who they woulda been For not a spark and a flash and the moment they were Gone, gone Gone, gone Gone, gone Gone, gone Gone, gone Gone, gone -------- The Blue (2019) -------- -------- (3) Man In Blue -------- If you know my name Why are you calling out To an old love? To an old love? When you need someone Why do you always run? To your lord up above? To your lord up above? I just want to understand you I don't need to be your man in blue Your days all the same Prayers like drops of rain As you wait for the flood To cleanse everyone Can you hear my voice? In a high, lonesome rejoice Sing a song for you In and out of tune And I just want to understand you I don't need to be your man in blue I just want you to see yourself the way I do I don't need to be your man in blue No I don't need to be your man, man in blue -------- The Blue (2019) -------- -------- (4) Before The Bombs -------- Before the bombs Before the walls came down We would lie in the summer sun Watching the clouds pass one by one Before the fires Before the spools of barbed wire You said you would never forget What pierces deeper than the bayonet? There's only one thing that'll save this place The only thing that they cannot face There's only one thing that they cannot take Love, love Before the mobs Before the inside jobs Sleeping in on borrowed time Too distracted for the modern crimes Before the war Before the troops came ashore I held you deep in my arms A fool to think that they could save you from harm There's only one thing that'll save this place The only thing that they cannot face There's only one thing that they cannot take Love, love There's only one thing that'll save this place The only thing that they cannot face There's only one thing that they cannot take Love, love Love, love Before the bomb There's only one thing that'll save this place The only thing that they cannot face There's only one thing that they cannot take Love, love Love, love Love, love Love, love -------- The Blue (2019) -------- -------- (5) Blue Bloods -------- All the east coast blue bloods come out west And I watch them argue about who loved you the best I was conspicuously of my kind Overdressed, but woefully under-refined Well, the story held together like boulders with a piece of twine Three helicopters circling Retreating and returning Your photographs were on the news And I was there just out of view I was standing with a smile chiseled into my head With a mind in retreat to the places I wished I would've been When you caught my gaze, I turned away Planned an exit like a grand escape As I watched you spinning through the revelers like a cheap ballet These words all sound familiar Convictions are forever You tied a wish to a balloon Watched it fly to the moon But you will find some day soon That it will fall Yes, it will fall on you Because they all do Because they all do They all do Because they all do -------- The Georgia (2020) -------- -------- (1) Waterfalls -------- A lonely mother gazing out of the window Staring at a son that she just can't touch If at any time he's in a jam, she'll be by his side But he doesn't realize he hurts her so much But all the praying just ain't helping at all 'Cause he can't seem to keep himself out of trouble So he goes out and he makes his money the best way he knows how Another body lying cold in the gutter Listen to me Don't go chasing waterfalls Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all But I think you're moving too fast Little precious has a natural obsession for temptation But he just can't see She gives him loving that his body can't handle But all he can say is, "Baby it's good to me" One day he goes and takes a glimpse in the mirror But he doesn't recognize his own face His health is fading and he doesn't know why Three letters took him to his final resting place Y'all don't hear me Don't go chasing waterfalls Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all But I think you're moving too fast Don't go chasing waterfalls Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all But I think you're moving too fast Don't go chasing waterfalls Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all But I think you're moving too fast Don't go chasing waterfalls Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all But I think you're moving too fast -------- The Georgia (2020) -------- -------- (2) King Of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1 -------- When you were young, you were the king of carrot flowers And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees In holy rattlesnakes that fell all around your feet And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder And dad would throw the garbage all across the floor As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for And this is the room one afternoon, I knew I could love you And from above you how I sank into your soul Into that secret place where no one dares to go And your mom would drink until she was no longer speaking And dad would dream of all the different ways to die Each one a little more than he could dare to try -------- The Georgia (2020) -------- -------- (3) Fall On Me -------- There's the problem, feathers, iron Bargain buildings, weights and pulleys Feathers hit the ground Before the weight can leave the air Buy the sky and sell the sky And tell the sky, and tell the sky Don't fall on me (What is it up in the air for?) Fall on me (If it's there for long) Fall on me (It's over, it's over me) There's the progress We have found a way to talk around the problem Building towers Foresight isn't anything at all Buy the sky and sell the sky Bleed the sky, tell the sky Don't fall on me (What is it up in the air for?) Fall on me (If it's there for long) Fall on me (It's over, it's over me) Fall on me Well, I would keep it above But then it wouldn't be sky anymore So, if I send it to you You've got to promise to keep it home Buy the sky and sell the sky And lift your arms up to the sky And ask the sky, ask the sky Don't fall on me (What is it up in the air for?) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me (If it's there for long) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me (It's over, it's over me) (It's gonna fall) Don't fall on me (What is it up in the air for?) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me (If it's there for long) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me (It's over, it's over me) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me Don't fall on me (What is it up in the air for?) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me (If it's there for long) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me (It's over, it's over me) (It's gonna fall) Fall on me -------- The Georgia (2020) -------- -------- (4) Flirted With You All My Life -------- I am a man I am self-aware And everywhere I go You're always right there with me I flirted with you all my life Even kissed you once or twice And to this day I swear it was nice But, clearly, I was not ready When you touched a friend of mine I thought that I would lose my mind But I found out with time That, really, I was not ready, no, no Oh death, oh death Oh death, really, I’m not ready Oh death, you hinder me Death makes those dear to me Tease me with your sweet relief You're cool and you are constant When my mom was cancer sick She fought but then succumbed to it But you made her beg for it "Lord Jesus, please, I'm ready" Oh death, oh death Oh death, really, I’m not ready, no, no Oh death, oh death Oh death, clearly, I'm not ready -------- The Georgia (2020) -------- -------- (5) Metal Heart -------- Losing a star without a sky Losing the reasons why You're losing the calling that you've been faking And I'm not kidding It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do Be true, cause they'll lock you up in a sad, sad zoo Oh, hidy-hidy-hidy, whatcha trying to prove? By hidy-hidy-hiding You're not worth a thing Sew your fortunes on a string And hold them up to light Blue smoke will take A very violent flight And you will be changed and everything And you will be In a very sad, sad zoo I once was lost, but now I'm found Was blind, but now I see you How selfish of you To believe in the meaning of all the bad dreaming Metal heart, you're not hiding Metal heart, you're not worth a thing Metal heart, you're not hiding Metal heart, you're not worth a thing Metal heart, you're not hiding Metal heart, you're not worth a thing -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (1) I Don't Know How I Survive -------- Listen to the ringing in your ears The scrambled voices of your fears Whispering, whispering Listen to the sound of your heartbeat Growing louder, gaining speed You're breathin' out, breathin' in In these nights, I don't know how I survive Pacing across the room while she's asleep Tears raining down her cheeks Trying to hold, trying to hold on Praying, even though you don't believe Just in case they are received By anyone, anyone These nights, I don't know how I survive (These nights, I don't know how I survive) These nights, I don't know how I survive (These nights, I don't know how I survive) These nights, I don't know how I survive (These nights, I don't know how I survive) These nights, I don't know how I survive (These nights, I don't know how I survive) No, I don't know how I survive (I don't know how I survive) No, I don't know how I survive (I don't know how I survive) Listen to the ringing in your ears The scrambled voices of your fears Whispering, whispering -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (2) Roman Candles -------- It's been a battle just to wake and greet the day Then they all disappear like sugar in my coffee (Sugar in my coffee) A hint of sweetness but the bitterness remains The acidity devouring my body (Devouring my body) But I am learning to let go Of everything I tried to hold Too long 'cause they all explode Like roman candles I used to feel everything like a flame But now it's a struggle just to feel anything (To feel anything) I watch the world from a window on a hill Everyone moving as I'm standing still (I'm standing still) But I am learning to let go Of everything I tried to hold Too long 'cause they all explode Like roman candles Ah-woo, ah-woo Ah-woo, ah-woo But I am learning to let go Of everything I tried to hold Too long 'cause they all explode Like roman candles Like roman candles -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (3) Asphalt Meadows -------- Your kiss was a lonely prayer When you slipped it into my mouth I closed my eyes and held it in And then I exhaled it out The glow of the downtown lights Casting shadows across your face As if all the buildings knew I could only know half of you And I was a snake under your flowers I just wanted to disappear Into the understory of your beauty Never to reappear But there's a name writ on your cast Above the bruised and broken bones That tells everybody that you meet To whom the damage is owed We rode a wave of white noise Beneath the city sleeping I saw the train doors closing I felt your sorrow deepen Here in the asphalt meadows There's only one thing that grows Finding the life through the concrete Getting trampled under our feet You said all your bridges and roads They all lead to an airport Planes drifting off into the sky Always depart, but never seem to arrive And there in the early hour Lying naked in your unmade bed I was thinking of how to tell you What my ticket read Your kiss was a lonely prayer A single candle, slowly burning down But the light, your light was beautiful Within its here and now We rode a wave of white noise Beneath the city sleeping I saw the train doors closing I felt your sorrow deepen Here in the asphalt meadows There's only one thing that grows Finding the life through the concrete Getting trampled under our feet We rode a wave of white noise Beneath the city sleeping I saw the train doors closing I felt your sorrow deepen Here in the asphalt meadows There's only one thing that grows Finding the life through the concrete Getting trampled under our feet Getting trampled under our feet Getting trampled under our feet Getting trampled under our feet -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (4) Rand McNally -------- A Rand McNally atlas, cheap coffee stained Now, I wouldn't know how to use one with my life at stake You were waiting on a payphone at a truck stop in Houston Trying to call your mother, 'cause she's a worrier A handful of twenties in your overcoat Always rolled into a pillow on some stranger's floor And you tell these stories with happy endings Only when interrupted before they're over But I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade Chasing these roads into dawns I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade Falling asleep in their arms It seemed these highways were never-ending Circling odds and evens, the numbers ascending and Searching through static on the Wyoming plains We danced to both kinds of music, as the old joke claims And I wanted for nothing, I couldn't rent We lived on whiskey and Twizzlers, and youth's discontent With this Rand McNally atlas, dog-eared and frayed Like Old Testament verses that don't make sense in this decade Don't let the light fade I won't let the light fade Chasing these roads into dawns I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade Falling asleep in their arms But I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade Chasing these roads into dawns And I'm holding on Holding on I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade I won't let the light fade -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (5) Here To Forever -------- In every movie I watch from the 50s There's only one thought that swirls Around my head now And that's that everyone there on the screen Yeah, everyone there on the screen Well, they're all dead now They're all dead now And it ain't easy living above And I can't help but keep falling in love With bones and ashes With bones and ashes And when the color is too bold and bright I'm daydreaming in black and white Until it passes Until it passes I wanna know the measure From here to forever And I wanna feel the pressure Of God or whatever Oh, these days it's so hard to relax You gotta hold a gun to my back To make me smile To make me smile And the only way I seem to cope Is by trying to hold onto hope If just for a while If just for a while I wanna know the measure From here to forever And I wanna feel the pressure Of God or whatever Now it seems more than ever There's no hands on the levers And I wanna feel the pressure Of God or whatever Only rollers keep rolling While the searchers keep scrolling I wanna know the measure From here to forever And I wanna feel the pressure Of God or whatever Now it seems more than ever There's no hands on the levers And I wanna feel the pressure Of God or whatever Or whatever -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (6) Foxglove Through The Clearcut -------- There was a man who used to live by the ocean But he never set foot in the sea It made him nervous that the water was always in motion And he feared the creatures who swam beneath And when I asked him how he'd ended up there Above a world he would never know He said he'd driven all the way across America And when he got to the edge there was nowhere left to go Nowhere left to go Nowhere left to go Nowhere left to go Nowhere left to go He said that nothing lives long, only the earth and the mountains As he quoted black kettle's death song The words drifting off into the emptiness Of this great land where we've never belonged And while the frontiers are ever-expanding Our living rooms fall into disarray And no one seems interested in fixing what they've broken They just sweep the pieces into the bushes and slip away Slowly slip away Slowly slip away Slowly slip away Slowly slip away And now he and I watch the foxglove grow through the clearcut Where a forest once grew high and wild For what is a funeral without flowers And ten thousand tombstones reaching for the sky Reaching for the sky Reaching for the sky Reaching for the sky Reaching for the sky -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (7) Pepper -------- Take a picture to remember this by You'll never hold all the details in your mind Fillin' your head with superfluous facts Pushin' out what you're never gettin' back And all that's left is a version of the truth A recollection that is often misconstrued Sgt. Pepper with the faces of friends But the names all elude you in the end Kiss me just this one last time Tell me that you once were mine Take a picture to remember me by To show everybody who you left behind The near-miss that almost shot you out of the blue I was a city you were only passin' through And all that's left is a version of events Favorably framed for the sake of self-defense We barely notice as the pages disappear Floating off into another year Kiss me just this one last time Tell me that you once were mine Kiss me just this one last time Show me that your love was mine Kiss me just this one last time Tell me that you once were mine Kiss me just this one last time Show me that your love was mine -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (8) I Miss Strangers -------- You were by my side on the front lines Do you remember? Do you remember? Two casualties of the punk wars Buried in leather, in leather But these days I miss strangers more than I, more than I miss my friends And the waves of conversations breaking on the shores of my head again Furnishments dumpstered or groundscored You didn't need money, not money Everything you owned in a hatchback Battered and musty, and musty These days I miss strangers more than I, more than I miss my friends And the dive bars filled with hopeless drunks sinking deeper into their sins And I'm trying to be here now, but I'm only asking when Reach out Reach out Reach out To what is choking you To what is choking you Reach out To what is choking you To what is choking you Reach out These days I miss strangers more than I, more than I miss my friends And the waves of conversations breaking on the shores of my head again These days I miss strangers more than I, more than I miss my friends And I'm trying to be here now, but I'm only asking when And I'm trying to be here now, but I'm only asking when And I'm trying to be here now, but I'm only asking when -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (9) Wheat Like Waves -------- Wheat like waves The Canadian plains were an ocean wide Flowing to the sky With prefab sprout Echoing out of your '90s Accord With the mismatched doors Away from the wives For just a few days traveling 'cross the divide My delusions ablaze But a homesteader's life At 45 was just a fleeting dream There's no way I'd survive The winters in Saskatchewan are so cold You talked of your kid How frightened you'd been when she almost died With tears in your eyes But I could not pretend To comprehend the depths of that kind of love As a childless man And there's so little time So many miles to drive before the endless sleep Eventually arrives But I never would've thought That life was so long that we'd be growing old With stories untold You were kindled by the dials on the dashboard Your tattoos like the stamps upon your passport Speeding like we thought we were escaping From everything we feared that we were breaking By trying to hold them in our hands You were kindled by the dials on the dashboard Your tattoos like the stamps upon your passport Speeding like we thought we were escaping From everything we feared that we were breaking By trying to hold them in our hands -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (10) Fragments From The Decade -------- Fragments from the decade are splayed out on your floor Like hundreds of locked doors There's a story that you're trying to find But the pieces don't fit together in your mind Your mother was a drunkard, your father was not a saint Your sister lacked restraint And in photos you were always staring through the lens To some distant place you would rather have been Days are lonely and long Walking in place where you don't belong Here on paved native lands Time disappears from the palms of your hands Fragments from the decade are dancing in the fire Like marionettes on wires And if you stare too long they almost seem alive Too beautiful and helpless to survive Days are lonely and long Walking in place where you don't belong Here on paved native lands Time disappears from the palms of your hands Time disappears from the palms of your hands Time disappears from the palms of your hands -------- Asphalt Meadows (2022) -------- -------- (11) I'll Never Give Up On You -------- I've given up on aspiration And I've given up on ever being cool I gave up the drugs that made me restless Oh and the alcohol that made me cruel But I'll never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you I've given up on confrontation And I've given up on every politician too And I've given up on affectations And the dilettantes they all consume But I'll never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up I'll never give up on you Never give up, never give up Never give up, never give up Never give up, never give up Never give up, never give up