1. |
Unexpected Kindness
02:49
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If I could tear the tears from my sorrow I would only weep with joy?
If I could sheer the years from tomorrow I wouldn't know what for?
If I repaid a day of your kindness I wouldn't ask for more.
No, I couldn't ask for more.
No, I won't ask for more.
If I could quell the wells of my sadness could I still be anyone?
If I controlled a hold on my passions, would it make me poor?
When I find an unexpected kindness I never know what for,
but I'm humbled all the more
and I love you even more.
If I compelled the tells of my habits I would no longer lie.
If I removed the ruse from my secrets I could no longer hide.
And if you dried my eyes with compassion, I could face you as I am.
Maybe be a better man
with the kindness from your hands.
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2. |
Not the Same
02:51
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You can throw your past away; you're not the same.
They won't know you anyway.
You don't have to play the game,
and you can go by anyway you want to.
You can rewrite history; make it into a movie.
Who's to say you're wrong?
And if they do then you'll explain
that it isn't what you say, but what you mean.
If someone pushes you; you can run away.
Why stay, if you don't want to?
And if they say they want your love,
tell them what they want is not enough for you.
You can throw yourself away and be nothing
but a blank page in the light of day.
You can put your pens away;
it doesn't matter what you write. You're going to change.
You're gonna change today.
You're gonna change today whether or not you want to.
And you can do what you like, tell the truth or lie, you can quit or try, you can live or die.
Or you might just get by.
And then you'll change again and again and again.
Into whatever you want,
a fireman or an astronaut,
into a princess or a ghost,
into the least or the most.
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3. |
Mostly We Hold Space
04:02
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We wear shoes irrelevant to walking.
We say words meaningless to talking.
We do things just to avoid nothing,
but mostly we hold space.
We work jobs that make us tired
to buy dreams long since expired.
We spend money just because we have it,
but mostly we hold space.
We cry because we can't sleep,
and complain as if we want peace
and quiet.
But we're too quiet when mostly we hold space.
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4. |
L and L
04:53
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With every tough choice you made along the way
you opened up ten possibilities, while ten thousand more were staid.
And every tough choice you made didn't always pay the way
anyone hoped it would, but if you could, maybe you change it.
But just pause and let me say...
...that I won't love you any less.
And I won't care for you without giving my best.
Mistake, mistake on the wall, who's the biggest fuck up of them all?
And if I fall, will it be just me? Or will I take others with me
by inability to fix my mistakes when all I wanted was something great
for everyone else.
And even if I'm doing damage control to hold, to hold us,
I still think you should know...
...that I won't love you any less.
And I won't care for you without giving my best.
We don't talk like we once did when we met back when we were kids,
and I do miss that. And sometimes I miss you.
Even if there be a whole galaxy between us, I know you feel me.
I know you love me, and I know you miss me too.
But I won't love you any less.
And I won't care for you without giving my best.
I could walk the sky and still not be so blessed without you.
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5. |
When the Oak Nymph Calls
05:08
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The intoxication, the twinge in my head,
from my left ear down to my neck.
It blinds my eyes like the rain,
and it burns my brain. It's your scent.
Always come running, when the oak nymph calls,
but my heart keeps tumbling just like the acorn falls.
The sleep deprivation from my fingers to toes,
'cause I can't stop my ears, my eyes, or my nose.
It piles my thoughts up in my chest.
And I would die lest I lose your scent.
Always come running, when the oak nymph calls,
but my heart keeps tumbling just like the acorn falls.
The forced separation as I tumbled away,
bouncing down the hill into the light of day.
The sun blinds my eye. I can't see.
But I'll not die, 'cause I still have your scent.
Always come running, when the oak nymph calls,
but my heart's cracked open just where the acorn falls.
And a tree grows the forest tall and remembers the scent of all.
Would that I come running, when the oak nymph calls,
but I've taken root here and I spread my limbs for the cause.
And I smell your scent in the fall.
Maybe I'll give you a call.
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6. |
I Still Need
02:45
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You were painting the past as you laid beside me in bed.
Without knowing you referenced the song stuck in my head.
And suddenly now was the past, the past was now; sometimes I live inside that song.
But as I'm getting older I can't help but fear I've got it wrong.
Now I've had so long to listen, but did I listen? Well I don't know, and that's the issue.
Especially when we've seen the same scene but we each describe a different view.
And how could I expect you to give it meaning, when there's no meaning, but that's what I've asked of you?
How could you suggest that I'm not giving my best, when you know I hate it too?
Why do I need you to hold me when we're already there?
But still I need you to hold me.
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7. |
Bad Stories
04:06
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It was totally one sided,
a tug of war that just gets harder after one side quits.
She was reborn as fire,
which only hardened him to stone
and even though she only spoke the truth, it was no use to him, because he already believed in lies.
And when she said that she loved him, what she meant was that she loved him. She really did.
But what he heard in those i'love-yous was an echo in the empty part of his heart which sounded in his mind's ear like go away.
He was totally misguided,
determined to wear that shoe, even if it didn't fit.
He was severing the wire
so that though they were together she was already alone.
And even though he said nothing she knew what he did think; she could see bad stories pouring from his eyes.
And when she said that she loved him, what she meant was that she really did care that he was there, which he twisted in abstraction like she was just being nice.
And when she said you can do better, what she meant was that it's too hard to watch someone you love destroy themselves completely. Don't go away without saying anything.
He was totally divided,
but finally he said okay.
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8. |
Getting It Done?
06:10
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A biological weapon gets under your skin, akin to a bomb going off
inside your stomach, but with a little luck you'll be out dancing again.
But in the meantime your brain goes off-line. You're fine or rather you will be.
But all this fighting inside your blood ain't good, while you try to stay healthy.
And it don't really fit with your plans.
You're running out of time on your hands.
How do you work this shit out and still find time to do the things you feel good about?
How can I find time to sing, when all my time is taken up by every other little thing, well...
when all I want to do is play?
I guess I'll just have to find some time one of these days.
Maybe I'll get a chance to practice when I get on stage.
Work calls you in to come when you get off work, that is your other work.
And you do come, committed not to complain about getting paid.
By being poor you signed up for doing a little more, for sure.
But these two jobs ain't what you do for you, unless you count buying food.
You might have to change your plans;
you're running out of time on your hands.
How do you work this shit out and still find time to do the things you feel good about?
How can I find time to sing, when all my time is taken up by every other little thing, well...
when all I want to do is play?
I guess I'll just have to find some time one of these days.
Maybe I'll get a chance to practice when I get on stage.
And now your car's been debarred from the road. You've been told to find a new ride.
In a massive manic panic, rabid you're rapidly texting your friends to get by.
Realizing you're beneath the wheel, you feel you got a raw deal.
Well, are you getting it done? It's no fun, but are you getting it done?
You know what, to hell with your plans.
You're gonna have to make your own time on your hands.
How do you work this shit out and still find time to do the things you feel good about?
How can I find time to think, when all I want to do is sit down and have a drink, well...
when all I want to do is play?
I guess I'll just have to find some time one of these days.
Maybe I'll get more deeply invested when I get on stage.
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9. |
August
04:07
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August came in hot and red, shining bright right through my eyelids.
I couldn't make myself go back to sleep no matter whatever I did.
It's hard to lose someone who knew you when you were young;
when they're gone they take your past with them.
And it's hard to lose someone who knew you when you felt better,
and you fear you'll never feel better ever again.
When summer's gone on too long, and you feel hot and tired and selfish,
it's hard to lose someone and yourself with them.
August came in poor and hungry, anxious, right through my stomach,
and storming every night like a nervous wreck.
It's hard to lose someone who knew you when you were young,
and you know you'll never be young anymore.
And it's hard to lose someone who knew you when you felt better
and the things you used to do before.
When summer's gone on too long and you're wrapped up in all your problems,
it's hard to lose someone who mattered more.
August came in heavy, laying pressure against my head,
but August left no time to stay in bed.
August waited patiently for me to leave my house,
'cause August knew I couldn't hold out.
It's hard to go to work when you feel your past is fading,
and you know you're leaning on a friend.
And it's hard not to feel guilty when I know I'm asking so much
from you each and every time.
And it's hard to be so close when the air is so hot and sticky,
but I just wanted you to hold me in the end.
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10. |
The Symmetry of Space
01:43
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From the jar I took the lid to see what hid inside
but to watch my heart depart flying to the far and wide.
Left bereft I gasped upset. How could I love again?
Left bereft I gasped upset. How could I love again?
Then I did see the symmetry, where my heart had been.
And I did exam the whole of the hole that it once took up...
I did exam the whole of the hole that it once took up
and ceased to care if it is gone, long as that space is filled with love.
And if my heart flies far then good, for love is what it finds more of.
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