Words to Wade Through
There's an awful lot of words to wade through
and I know that neither of us know the way.
You don't want to hear about the ways I blame you,
I don't want to hear a single thing you say.
How did we run aground?
Once there was so much water, we'd drown.
Mother Theresa makes a daily habit
loving a man she cannot touch or see.
She'd loose her sanity in half a moment
if he looked at her the way you look at me.
How did we run ashore?
Once I was someone you adored.
And oooh, I want to howl at the moon: it hurts!
Ahoooh, will I ever not be blue?
Lets not talk about our rerun sorrows
or spin our wheels inside that ancient pain.
The door is open, we just have to walk through,
right outside is the living day.
How did we come undone?
Once I was someone you loved.
And oooh, you want to howl at the moon: It hurts!
Ahoooh, will you ever not be blue?
I want to take you out in the desert
and make love under a million stars.
The solution might be not to solve it,
we can only be right where we are.
How did the well run dry?
Do me a favor, darlin' -- don't try.
And oooh, we can howl at the moon: It hurts!
Ahoooh, maybe then we don't have to be blue.
First Train West
put me on the first train west
put me on the first train west
I ain't got no money left
I got this pistol in my vest
put me on the first train west
put me on the first train home
put me on the first train home
it's a wicked world everywhere you go
they pay a dollar for your soul
put me on the first train home
let me out where the wildfire burns
let me out where the wildfire burns
lickin' up the lodgepole pine
reflecting in the fox's eyes
let me out where the wildfire burns
give me the chance to look
one small spark is all it took
"come the minute that you can,
life's a flicker" read the telegram.
that's when I ran.
a thousand acres everyday
a thousand acres everyday
men up on the Ridgway train,
they ain't got an inch contained
a thousand acres everyday.
I'll walk right through the flames
straight to the home where I was raised
if my daddy had to die
with a smoke stained rage in his eyes
so will I
give me the chance to look
one small spark is all it took
if my sweetheart had to die
In a fiery bed under a gravestone sky
so will I
I'll walk right through the flames
straight to the home where they were raised
if my daughters had to die
without the whisper of a lullaby
so will I
Stillness Speaks
In the darkness, in the vastness
the quiet - it is a canvas
so be still; stillness speaks.
I'm not waiting on any god there
I'm not sending up any prayer
I am still because stillness speaks.
Oohs
When the fury blows fast around you
there is one word to always ground you
It is joy; joy will speak.
And the hateful, they may shout louder
but to their judgments they are bound
So be joy; joy will speak.
Oohs
In the darkness, in the blackness
your kindness, it is a candle
so be kind; kindness speaks
And the hateful, they may shout louder
but to their judgment, they are bound
so be kind, kindness speaks.
Oohs
So be kind; kindness speaks.
Be joy because joy will speak.
Be still; stillness speaks.
See in the Dark
(Louise/Thompson)
As you and I lay sleeping
shoulder to shoulder
we met in an orchard
you were much older
but it's easy to know you
know you by the shape of your hands
reaching up now to touch me
to do more than speaking
your eyes are telling
my eyes are seeking
it's easy to know you
know you by the sweet way you stand
There was a shadow
on a cold, damp wall
it was a featureless version of me
standing so tall
there was a flame
it came from a spark
from the only one I've ever known
who could see in the dark
Oh but time is a tyrant
taking all that is tender
so I wait in the orchard
where I can remember
how easy I know you
know you by the shape of your hands
reaching up toward the branches
for the fruit hanging round you
and caught in a spotlight
where the sunlight had found you
it's easy to know you
know you by the sweet way you stand
There was a shadow
on a cold, damp wall
it was a featureless version of me
standing so tall
there was a flame
it came from a spark
from the only one I've ever known
who could see in the dark
Time
I'm hopeful in the morning
but it vanishes by noon
I keep seeing you
in the next room
I know you can't do right by me
til you do right by you
which I gave up hoping
you'll do
Lay here in bed til ten
just staring at the ceiling
life alone is healthy
but it ain't got no feeling
It's just time, time, time
all there is is time
Every so often
a boy will come around
lay
where you lay
and if I don't think to hard
I might not realize
my hands
can't find your face
now I'm in bed by nine
just staring at the ceiling
life alone is easy
it ain't got no feeling
It's just time, time, time
all there is is time
Now I'm in bed by nine
the wood stove is blazing
life alone is simple
it ain't half as crazy
it's just time, time, time
all it is is time
Anxious
Doctor, doctor, I can't sleep
been out drinking every night this week
he's real gone, he ain't coming back
and I'm anxious
Pace the floor, cut my hair
go out walking should I find him there
strangers ask "what is your name?"
I'm anxious
Oh there's nothing I can do
to keep from feelin' blue
to keep from feelin' sad
A memory is all I have
Doctor, doctor what should I take
my vision blurs and my hands shake
ever since he went away
I'm anxious
Doctor, doctor what should I do
putting all my faith in you
I can't stop my racing mind
I'm anxious
Oh there's nothing I can do
to keep from feelin blue
to keep from feelin sad
A memory is all I have
Doctor, doctor what should I do
putting all my faith in you
Big Unbreakable Heart
(for my mother)
Act 1, curtain up
a little girl falls off the back of a truck
14, she's on the run
chip in her teeth, but she ain't judging her luck
a polaroid at 21
she's just a kid
she's just a kid with a kid!
There's a point in every story where it all falls apart
oh, it's raining in the winter and the car won't start
anybody else would have to fold their cards
but it ain't nothing for Big,
Big Unbreakable Heart
Act 2, his gentle hands
they play guitar
in a rock n' roll band
one kiss, they dream a dream
bring home a dog
and buy a washing machine
he drinks, they start to scream
she loads her girl into the backseat
There's a point in every story where it all falls apart
oh it's raining in the winter and the car won't start
anybody else would have to fold their cards
but it ain't nothing for Big,
Big Unbreakable Heart
Oh but wasn't it something?
When he held her she was home
And wasn't it something?
When she had to let him go
There's a point in every story where it all falls apart
oh, it's raining in the winter and the car won't start
Anybody else would have to fold their cards,
but it ain't nothing for Big,
Big Unbreakable Heart
Don’t Touch Me
Read me!
I’m a marquee
shining over head
Guard dog
with a yard sign
written in red
I don’t mean to
alarm you
but don’t touch me
Bike chain
on a highway
speeding underfoot
Blue flame
a fan blade
hope I’m understood
I don’t want to
have to harm you
so don’t touch me
No one could blame me
it’s easy to see how I’d feel this way
but don’t try to save me
man I don’t want to be saved!
Read me!
I’m a marquee
shining overhead
Good lord
I’m a billboard
heed what I’ve said
I don’t need to
mislead you
so don’t touch me
Sun up in Somerset
Sun up in Somerset
ain't nobody else moving yet
he pours the coffee and he packs his bag
just exactly like his old man
Walks down to the general store
Looks like that building has been to war
holes in the front door
Fall is passing through on the breeze
oh he drifts away on a dream
of the day he'll leave
It's noon here in Somerset
ain't nobody took a break yet
the sun is screaming and it hits his eyes
when he comes walking outa the coal mine
He'd only need about a million now
buy everyplace in this dirty town
maybe he'd burn it down!
Water passing through in the creek
oh he drifts away on a dream
of the day he'll leave
Sundown in Somerset
ain't a soul who's not in bed yet
crooked houses hanging onto the hill
and not a candle in a window sill
He walks down to the liquor store
cause they'll be closing in a few more
bells on the front door
Strangers passing through in the night
oh he drifts away
with their tail lights
Aint nobody here taught to whine
he'll make it out someday
but in the meantime...
Sun up in Somerset
House of Cards
I’m not feeling tired
I’m not feeling worn
I’m feeling like the river bed
after the storm
now I know why the rose bush
needed the thorn
needed the thorn
were you just an illusion?
just a mirage?
or a four story fire
in a house of cards
you think you’re so authentic
you don’t know where to start
until you’re honest with yourself
you’ll break every heart
building a house of cards
A house of cards
A house of cards
I’m not feeling split
I’m not feeling torn
I’m feeling like an earthquake
took out the floor
now I know why the soldier
needed the sword
needed the sword
I guess I thought I was holy
thought I was good
till you hit the highway
to be understood
Maybe I was too fragile
maybe it was too hard
but nobody wins the game
it only falls apart
our house of cards
Deportee
(Woody Guthrie)
The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting
The oranges are piled in their creosote dumps
They're flying you back to the Mexico border
To pay all your money to wade back again
My father's own father, he wanted that river
They took all the money he made in his life
But it's six hundred miles to that Mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like theives
Good-bye to my Juan, good-bye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big air-plane
And all they will call you will be
Deportee
We died in your hills, we died in your deserts
We died in your valleys and died on your plains
We died 'neath your trees and we died in your bushes
Both sides of the river, we died just the same.
Good-bye to my Juan, good-bye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big air-plane
And all they will call you will be
Deportee
A sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos canyon
Like a fireball of lightning, it shook all our hills
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says they are just deportees.
Good-bye to my Juan, good-bye Rosalita
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria
You won't have a name when you ride the big air-plane
And all they will call you will be
Deportee