Coast & Plains
They say that everyone feels a certain way
About the place they grew up in; they either hate it or love it
And every time you try to leave, it pulls you back
Like a lover who’s untrue, you try and leave and it kills you
Back home; the place that you came from
You left the uptight coast behind for the great midwest
What you thought you wanted, but the good life was haunted
And then you get this idea floating around in your head
Home wasn’t so bad, but you know that you can’t go
I’m one person leading two different lives,
Trying to make the coast and plains coincide
Back home; the place where you belong
Large’s Garden State
Sam, you know that you’re too cute
Strobe lights and unexpected shakes
Never got the best of you
My week back home’s been shot
Every which way but loose
You’re the weak link that broke addiction’s hold
What will we do with me?
We’ll break for Sunday
Don’t know why I can’t fly
We’ll break for Sunday
You know what I should do?
Go back home, continue acting
But if that’s my best excuse,
Momentum’s been leading nowhere
And four days has made a change;
What better place to start than love?
Sam, you let the credits roll
And then we’ll sort it out
Turn our whole attention to this love
While I Was Moving About Flyover Country
Hey, love, I heard you walking out
The February sun shines down
One year your steps took, reaching me
Their sound was covered in the chill breeze
I know just what you’re thinking
Time after time
What love, what life we’re missing?
What’s this goodbye?
How is our town and how are you?
Time’s tough; I haven’t come around
I’m scared my ears are getting worse
And I can’t find the words, but…
It wouldn’t take ten minutes to write our fortune
A horoscope; we’re authors of this bestseller
The Times prints us up, we’re translated to foreign languages
Our title; “Love, I Heard You Walking Back”
How can you stand it not to write?
Car Chase
You argue me blind
You rang, you read my mind, what
My melody might bring
A vocal army rallied your side
To say a new thing
It’s no peace they’re offering;
It’s silent rounds,
It’s death to sound
But in this heat wave, on a snow day
I do love you
In the worst way, through all our mistakes,
I do love you
Comfort in words instead of confidence is no comfort at all
Our peace is slowly crumbling by the minute
I said an old thing
You take it where you will,
But don’t ask me to stay, I can’t explain
How in this car chase,
Our greatest escape,
Scot-free, we sing for miles
You come at it once, combing the light to just get by
You’re coming again, learning to love in difference
Now will out, in time it will all work out
You’re coming again, learning to love in time
Lee’s Summit
Six months out, settled in
Frontier town, Mission Hills
Time to change my heart enough to fit our
Lonesome, crowded western state
Teach me how to pray, not as a hero; as a father
No one wins but we all play like high school stars
I quietly try to give the game away
Who can speak the language and not feel a thing?
Silently I saw you asking, “What
Do you call a love the mouths the words?
But isn’t ready for the living?”
I don’t know; it’s not enough
Say something wrong to me
Say something wrong to me;
Create an excuse that I can hold against you
It’s not much, but it’s not nothing, either
Say something wrong, justify me
You haven’t yet, and I don’t think you ever will
Were In Love
We were in love, we were the best of friends
We were an answer to each other
We thought it out, we thought that it could be
So when it broke, you played like it was cool,
That you were grown and you were growing
You little love, you’ll hurt yourself this way
You know you’re not to blame
Maybe I’ll see you in the winter
We’re moving and we’ve changed
Maybe I’ll see you in the summer
And all we are, we offer to the wind
You always said that everything we feel is just attending to a shadow
I learned it well; it had the ring of fate
But in my time I learned another way of loving deep, but never owning
You couldn’t see; you needed to be mine
Market Stress
Well you said “I’m under market stress” and
You said I can’t go on
You said I can’t go on and on and on
I don’t know, babe, just how it is what it is that you’re making me feel
We can hardly comprehend each other’s ways
And I’ll never hide what I don’t know
You said you’ve probably made this same mistake before
But now we’re on each other’s hands with a full day and a full night ahead
You said you needed a place where you could be alone
I’ll make arrangements, if that’s what it takes
This is the last time I will ever offer to…
This is the last time I will use this line
This is the last time I will make it possible
But I promise you this; you don’t know
What it is I’m offering through this song
Green Christine
Green Christine hums under my hands
Sixty-five on the highway
Alternating between moments
Over my driving, a vision, a mixture
I’ve seen them all before, but
This one smiles different
In the dark, in the heat, in the country stars
Could you start, could you see, could you charge, could you breathe,
Did we make love? Did we throw ourselves around?
In the back, on the seat, in the dash light,
Did we say what we mean? Did we promise to make things alright?
Love, we’ll make it home
Rain shortens the road, and chains ring low
I’m riding the breaks, I’m going home
You called as I crawled into my bed at four in the morning
My dad says I should try to forget
“You know, those Catholic girls, they’ll drive you so crazy”
And it’s ringing in my ears; my name when you whispered
Make Our Sound
In this corner of time, you Knower,
We of autumn have lived a long gift
Love reflected in love, in each other
Here I know just how we roll, and what we’re walking into
Another day, the morning breaks, an act of hope; just leaving bed
While these hands will turn to dust, and
I will join those on up
The years are heavy. We ache and wonder
Is there courage to face another?
A second’s vision; now I leave with grace
Let’s hear our fathers, as autumn turns to snow
Listen to our mothers’ thoughts on time will out; time, it will all run out
We will crawl, we will cry, walking into the night, we will make our sound
This is all I can say; love will make our way, and we’ll make our sound
Precious Love, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand, and we’ll make our sound
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light, and we’ll make our sound
E Harbor Blvd
Fast as you are, you’re going to scorch your Chucks
No sooner stop you than I’d slow you up
Kid, you hit the streets and made ’em your own
Your keep your crown and never come home
But it’s all you need right now
Get ready, get ready, kid, come on up
Don’t look back, get ready!
Going your speed means burning up the brakes
We saw the wheel you threw a little too late
When you run so hot, you will break down
The speed you live’s what’s wearing you out
But it’s all you’ve seen ’til now
Yeah, it’s all you’ve seen ’til now