When I dream of you
and I always do
you’ve just rushed in
in a gust of wind
and it’s Christmas eve
and you’ve come for me
And your face is flushed
I smell the winter sky
your hair is like a nest
your eyes are like a light
and you’re singing out
how I love the sound
My name is like a bell
my heart is like a hound
and I need you then
and I need you now
No it’s not just today
it’s years away
see us gaining weight
see the weather change again
but still you bring the sky
and the hallway light
You’re the wind, you’re the one
that I want to arrive
and I need you now
I need you all the time
whether Christmas eve
or in the heat of July
but when I dream of you
and I always do
it’s tonight
That’s no way to talk about the year we left behind
all that time, that full rainbow of light
I know when you look at it like this it’s ghostly thin
and mostly it’s like you weren’t even there for it
But love, let me see you
love, let me see you again
oh let me see right through you like a lens
and then let me see everything again
Out into the canvas-coloured streets we all were sent
to draw our dreams in our vanishing breath
But as we get older then we fold all our dreams away
the breath will fade and just the vanishing stays
So love, let me see you
love, let me see you again
bending the light as you slide into frame
that same unwavering flame
Love, let me see you
love, let me see you again
oh let me see right through like a lens
and then let me see everything, and sing:
Happy New Year everyone
let us look back in love
let us look on
Happy New Year everyone
raising your glasses up
give us a song
Happiness to all my friends and to all I haven’t met
it’s not the Christmas that we dreamt, but then it isn’t over yet
yeah all my records and my decorations, they’re second hand at best
and all of the presents that I wanted to get you, well there wasn’t much to wrap
But I ain’t just talking, I don’t care what you bought
all i want, you know I already got:
to watch you watching all the light coming on
On all of the good in you, I see it pushing through
that’s what I’m drinking to: seeing the good everywhere that I look
yeah seeing the good everywhere that I look
What does it mean, do I even believe, and why’d I try to get you these things?
That I do, I think it’s just so you at least believe in me
cause sometimes, in the long dark nights, it’s hard to see the brighter side
but I won’t lie, I only light the light just to see it in your eyes
They’re open wide, and I know what you’re thinking:
if only life could be all like this weekend
you’d wanna try it if you saw you like I did, oh i could see it:
All of the good in you, I seen it pushing through
that’s what I’m drinking to: seeing the good everywhere that I look
yeah seeing the good everywhere that I look
Happiness to all my friends and to all I haven’t met
it’s not the Christmas that we dreamt, but still it isn’t over yet
when we arrive they’ll be spilling their wine, they’ll be swinging the side door in
and our empty hands are just open hands and that’s the only way to feel it
Yeah all of the good in you, I see it pushing through
that’s what i’m drinking to: seeing the good everywhere that I look
oh all of the good in you, I see it pushing through
and that’s what i’m drinking to: seeing the good everywhere that I look
pushing the shadows from the edge of the room
trying for one night just to live like I should:
seeing the good everywhere that I look
Tibb’s Eve
Everything is alright
no, I’m feeling just fine
just too fine to be inside
I need a minute in the clean air of the night
I can’t believe I’m back home
but I know it when the wind blows
when I’m listening to the backhoes
reversing in the early falling snow
They’re clearing out the parking
just one day left of shopping
and I hardly even started
and I’m here at this party with all of you
On a day that they say never comes
yeah when all of our work will be done
when our friends and our enemies drink from the same cup
I don’t see peace or some heaven above
but at least the tree and melodies are reaching up
How high can they reach? Oh can they take me?
That’s what I came to see
I try and feel the spirit
but I swear it’s disappearing
it gets fainter every year man
and I don’t ever want to let it go
I wanna keep the music playing
I wanna keep the bodies swaying
I wanna keep the old boys saying:
if it was any better there’d be something wrong
On a day that they say never comes
yeah when all of our work will be done
when our friends and our enemies drink from the same cup
all our debts and regrets will be left and forgiven
but don’t be holding your breath you’ll be dead before Christmas
I don’t see peace but I can see love
just like we need, like a fine feast piling up
like a child’s dream, flying over the trees
like one final drink, lifted up in the stifling heat
like the snow in streets, how high can we reach?
Well that’s what I came to see!
Will it ever come?
Will it ever come?
We waited all year long
(A day they say will never come)
We waited all year long
(when all our work at last is done)
If it ever does
(and all the world has filled their cup)
I’ll give you all my love
(and oh there always was enough!)
Come, come out with us
Come, come out for Christmas
Ice on the river, make me a road
the colder the weather, the sooner I’m home
Snow on the heather takes hold of my legs
but the colder the weather, the shorter the fence
You thought it would be softer
you thought it would be soft
you thought it would be softer
but that won’t hold you up
Eater of daylight, stealer of strength
but the longer the dark night, the deeper your rest
Oh gift of the winter, like a palm in a fist
oh the sweeter the centre, the tougher the skin
You thought it would be softer
you thought it would be soft
you thought it would be softer
but that’s not hard enough
no that won’t hold you up
Now that all the leaves are gone
all the leaves are gone
now that all the leaves are gone
I can see the sun coming up
on my bedroom walls
and it’s been so long
Christmas Rose
You say you wanna just get outta town
no old man gonna track you down
but no matter what you do (no matter what you do)
he’ll be finding you (he’lll be finding you)
You say all their smiles are too wide
the room’s too warm, the lights are too bright
but no matter what you do (no matter what you do)
they will shine on you (they will shine on you
Here they come – and soon enough
your heart will grow – let it unfold
like a Christmas rose
You try to stop a bell from ringing
you try to stop a choir boy from singing
well no matter what you do (no matter what you do)
they’ll be getting through (they’ll be getting through)
You don’t have to buy the toys that they sell
don’t have to buy the stories they tell
cause no matter what you do (no matter what you do)
they believe in you (they believe in you)
Let them come – soon enough
your heart will grow – let it unfold
like a Christmas rose – there is a poison root
and despite the cold – it will bloom
like a Christmas rose
And if you dig down real deep
you’ll find a child trying to sleep
In the frozen ground there is seed
there in the seed there is a dream
Let it come – soon enough
it will unfold – like a Christmas rose
there’s a poison root – and despite the cold
it will bloom – like a Christmas rose
There is no love
and there never has bean
like this love is to me
like this love is to me
I went back
to long ago
it was her bent back that carried the show
it was her bent back that carried us all
Oh mother
you wove the wreath
and every year it was evergreen
every year it’s evergreen
I tried so hard
to pass it on
but it seems it’s ours and ours alone
it seems it’s ours and ours alone
There is no love
and there never will be
like this love is to me
it’s evergreen, it’s evergreen
every year it’s evergreen
I’ll be home for Christmas
you can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
and presents under the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
where the love light gleams
I’ll be home for Christmas
if only in my dreams
Keep your eyes on the horizon
Watch the sunlight paint the clouds coming down
That’s the key to your surviving
Just believe you’ll make it out, all the way out
and you’ll make it out, all the way out
You keep your hand on the rudder, man
as you watch the squall run in
You’ve seen a lot of weather, yeah but never worse than this
It’s like it’s only bad news everywhere
and the past you knew has disappeared
It’s a terrifying scene, and there is no easy win
But if you make it through this, you can get through anything
It’s just good to be here again
after such a trip left me so far from it
I can see time touching everything
but somehow it’s still the same as it was back then
So come on, come on and be young again
or just pretend we can, I know you know the dance
We’ll beat time like a tambourine
oh shaking everything, letting the waves come in
All day I’m waiting
waiting on something I’m not sure I want
waiting in line for this key to get cut
and when the grinding starts
it’s like it’s inside my heart
One for the neighbours
though I never lock up and I never go out
Was there ever a house half as empty as ours
after you moved out
and only I remained?
They say everything changes, that it all fades away
but why does this pain make me wait in vain?
Like the birds in their circles
that watch us go around, and they try to sing out
cause as surely as all the young lovers bend down
they’ll soon sow doubt
their tears water the ground
But looking over the valley, looking over the street
nothing ever comes at me even half as sweet
I came to in our empty room,
strange like a stranger’s, as if we’d already moved
and folded the sheets and the fantasies
Who knew what a bachelor basement could manage to hold in its teeth?
We were happy here and we were all the rest
hot tears in anger, yes, hot tears in tenderness
I guess the dream I had wasn’t big enough
wasn’t big enough for all this
I don’t know what we left
I don’t know what it meant
I don’t know what’s coming next
but it’s good, it’s just good
it’s just good to be moving again
I drove east until the sun appeared,
red like a memory, as if we were already here
In the weirdest light, it felt like an omen,
turned out it was forest fires and all this pink coloured smoke blowing in
Is this the year of our waking up?
Of our waking up?
Cause the dream cannot fit all the details in it
They’re too real, too rich, all the teeth in your kiss
So much height, so much depth, swings so wide you get sick
But it’s not what we left
It’s not even what it is
It’s just what it’s becoming
yeah and it’s good, yeah it’s good
it’s good to be moving again
like a dancer, with no drink in my hand
like a youngster, when they cut off my cast
like an eagle, just leaving my branch
yeah I can feel it, and it’s good to be moving again
It’s good to be moving, it’s good to be moving again
If this was another time, you’d’ve been one of the holy kind
clasping hands and talking soft to the night
Rising up a pilgrim on the road, begging bread for your bowl
waking from this dream you’re in now, where you just scroll and scroll
Just give me patience, just give me strength
just let me taste that sweetness again
I know it’s waiting, I feel it just around the bend
just give me patience, I’ll get to it yet
If this was another time, I’d be coughing in the mine
but here we are now getting on a plane and feeling bored in the sky
As wildfires take the west, you put the eye mask on your eyes
Was there some summer in my youth, before I knew what was dying?
You’re always leaving, running out of time
You’re always leaving, running out of time
You’re always leaving, but you never arrive
Just give me patience, just give me strength
just let me taste that sweetness again
It’s out there waiting, I can see it if I squint
just give me patience, I’ll get to it yet
I’m up before the sun
there’s an ever-lightening load I’m carrying
along the mountain road
with all the animals
where the dream keeps going
The air is cool and bright
and there’s room enough to work outside
and there is no news to read
I learn all I need
from the wind upon my sleeve
always driving past
pressed against the glass
like an open hand
calling me back, back, back again
But will I ever get the strength
just to let my legs walk into it?
Like a child too cold to sleep
with a blanket at her feet
I ride the freeways
looking east
All my life I was driving past
all I wanted but I never had
wondering if she’ll ever have me back
have me back, back, back again
I’ve stayed too late
just fell asleep here in this temporary state
And time will not wait
I’ve seen so many of my dreams carried away
But this dream never fades
green is the colour and deeper is the shade
I’ve seen everything change
but green is the colour and easy is the way
back, back, back again
It’s too bright for too late at night
my eyes are tired, all I would like
is to close them with you
and see the things that you do
I miss you, I miss everyone
If I haven’t met you yet, well then I miss you most of all,
I want your heat & your sweat & your hand in my back at the festival
Picture a room full of people all feeling the same way,
it’s hard to explain
crying or laughing, you try understand it and you can’t
Are we meant just to try, try, try to overlap?
I miss you, all of you, I miss my life before
we are the lucky few, I know it’s true, but God my eyes are sore
I want to close them with you and see the same things that you do
Rain on the bay, terror in the streets
yeah but nothing in the way of the sunlight through the trees
and your hand on my hand across enemy lands and sea
Let’s take a long ride
I want to go right through the shield
into the white light
into the wide silent fields
Out where the land lies
telling lies wherever you look
see it hides the lows and it hides the highs
and the whole roller coaster ride
I can drive while you’re sleeping
we’ll be long-gone by the light
you know we all got our reasons to stay up at night
Come on let’s go, I don’t mind the driving snow
Let it wipe away the way back home
But it’s not what you ever thought
you can leave it but it’s never gone
Let’s take a long ride
I want to go into another time
when the world was still ours and the jury was still out
and the hills were just clouds in the sky
But there’s only one way out
and it’s on up over uneven ground
so as hard as it seems, take just what you need
cause too much and you’ll never succeed
So come on let’s go, I don’t mind the winding road
you know I kind of like to drive it slow
Like we’re coming home, and the memory’s overflowing
and your lungs just sing the songs they know
Cause it’s not what you ever thought
you can leave it but it’s never gone
no it’s not what you ever thought
you can leave it but it’s never gone
Wait for me there
hand like a hook in the air
and your bright blue eyes
like a green traffic light up ahead
I’m coming I swear
just gotta comb my hair
and push my way
through the crushing weight on my chest
But I won’t go back to all that trouble I been through
I won’t go and drag you into the shadows I know too well
No no
Someday (someday)
I’ll get (I’ll get)
out of my own way baby
out under the morning breaking
somewhere (somewhere)
out there (out there)
I’ll step away clean and empty
and start again like I’m meant to be
free and easy
with a new name and everything
And it’s more than a dream
I hear your voice in the street
through the ink of the night
it’ like colours that I’ve never seen
And i need to be in it
lifted clear from my bed
and finally stepping
in the right direction again
no I won’t go back to all that trouble I’ve been through
no I won’t go, I swear to you
Someday (someday)
I’ll get (I’ll get)
out of my own way baby
out onto the sunlit pavement
somewhere (somewhere)
wind in my hair (out there)
step away clean and empty
start again like i’m meant to be
something (something) so much better than this (better than this)
oh you know I gotta stay ready
to start again like i’m meant to be
Free and easy, with a new name and everything,
don’t know what you’ll call me
but you can call me
Love
come to me
slow
like a memory
I won’t deny what I feel anymore
I feel like I know you
or i know that I’m going to
spend my time in your bedroom light
in the black of your eyes
somehow I see that I’m bound to love you
You told me your name
like a song that I sang for years in my mind
now the light through the leaves
seems to write on your sleeve all the missing lines
and now I’m singing I’m bound to love you
My love
come to me
slow
like a memory
I wont deny what I want anymore
I keep learning the same old lessons
making the same old mistakes
I know I’m too old not to know better
but maybe I’m not too old to change
cause I think I’ve reached the edge of the shadow where I been
and through the wind i feel a new light on my skin
and you know i sing my thanks for everything i’ve had
but i wont go back
no i wont go back
again
Heavy breathing, grieving brother of mine
you seem like another of my kind
at the blackout paper, kissing cracks in the light
your people are out there, you can hear them laugh in the night
I’m done with waiting, wasting all my days
as the body erases the brain
I remember the fine shape of your face
there was something ‘round the eyes, always making me stand up straight
Run like the sea wind, cool on your upper lip
run like this freedom is everything you ever need
run from your enemies, from even your family
and you won’t go back to all that
All my kingdom for your hands on me
or just for the heat where your hands had been
through my cold window we go down to the street
and move through the dream with these two real feet
and run like the sea wind, cool on your upper lip
the pull of the feeling, look down man your hovering
gone from your enemies, from even your memories
and you won’t go back to all that
After the storm has gone
and peace returns to us
the poet speaks
Says: thank you for coming
for bringing all of your pain and suffering
how else could you show me how we need to love
how we need to love
It blew the fig leaves off
now they look so thin and lost
but it isn’t ugly at all
To need your love
And to thank you for coming
for bringing all of this fear and trouble
how else could you show me what it means to love
Thank you for coming
for bringing all of your pain and suffering
how else could you show me how we need to love
how we need to love
Haul away boys, it’s time that we left
haul away boys, you know I don’t know why I began
I guess saw redemption, but I saw so many things
I was a blind drunk freshman singing high and dry in the rain
New York, New York, what were you before?
before we all rode up, lay our highest hopes on your lowest floors?
Saying: good luck, good luck, good luck, why won’t you come
or: good luck, good luck, good luck, don’t say your done
Either one
we know our time has come
see the sun
climb the hill like a flood
So goodnight, goodnight, goodnight everyone
Haul away boys, no matter who you ask
you can haul away boys, but you never get to go back
no there’s just one direction, and that’s the only we have
so go with affection on up the strange dark path
Saying: good luck, good luck, good luck, shine your flame
or at least: good luck, good luck, good luck, help me forget
Either one
we know our time has come
see the sun
climb the hill like a flood
So goodnight goodnight, goodnight, it’s been fun
goodnight, goodnight, a goodnight, what else do you want?
we put up a good fight, a good fight, a good fight to be here at all
Yeah goodnight, goodnight, goodnight, everyone
What is this shadow passing over us
like a cloud across the sun?
Where did it come from, was it something I’ve done?
We’re so close now, you know, it’s bound to get us both.
Do you feel it like I feel it now
cold hands around your neck pushing down?
But you’re from another land, and I’ll never understand it
the strange sounds, the summer in your mouth.
See us in your room, side by side
see us seeing two different nights
when I see all the shadows, you just see the light
but like opposites, our edges align
Was it the pull of the stars, the year of the dog,
the long-hidden spirals that sleep in the blood?
Was it the fools I grew up with, the water we drunk?
Whatever carved me as a hand to your glove,
that’s what I love
I was born at 9am sharp
it was a scheduled affair
but you came late in the night, always picking your place and your time
when all the other dreams come alive
Put us in the chairs at the wedding there
the ones they lift in the air
place our love and our people all together
underneath us in the shape of a tear
Was it the pull of the stars, the year of the dog,
the long-hidden spirals that sleep in the blood?
Was it the fools I grew up with, the trash that we talked?
Whatever carved me as a hand to your glove,
that’s what I love
At last, I lay down my bags, half dead in the pacific sand
I’d been chasing something west, but it stayed just ahead
And today, today is the same as it was then in 2008
in the stillness of central LA, nothing ever blows my way
It’s the same blank sky and the sun so much I don’t even look up
no clouds to dream against, is heaven so far from us?
And no wind waving the trees
It’s as if god’s hands are hid in his sleeves
like he’s packed up and gone to the coast
and left us alone in the street, hands going slowly east
Oh hands, hold in the prayer, pull the dream from the pacific air
all day you say your namaste, looking for light in the blinding day
You pose and you patiently wait, your arms held out like a sail
so close, you just need the wind, to come blow you up the hill
Those hills, that’s what you need
that cool breeze washing you clean
and you fly high like a kite
onto the other side of the hard Angelino night
Give us the wind like a smack in the face
the kind that i miss from my easterly days
and when the palm fronds all fall in the street
aren’t they like hands reaching out, hands reaching out to me?
I can see your raincoat, bright in the fog
you dance and float like a flame in the dark
but the wind is up
The old house is empty, closed up like the church
all your gold and crystal’s cold and covered in dirt
but isn’t that just how we were
Which is worse, all that we lost
or all that we had when we did not yet even know what it was?
Are you listening in that kingdom above
rolling your eyes and clicking your tongue
and saying what have we done
we had only just begun
And which is worse, all that we lost?
or that we had what we had but did not yet even know what it was?
no turn of phrase could get it across
the only answer remains
it’s never enough
Oh what do you see?
can you see inside my heart?
I hope you cannot
the hollow is deep, the canyon dark
no, just see us from above
haircut in the summer, toque in the fall,
and you don’t know nothing under it all
just see me nod as i walk around the festival
you’ve got to be strong
even though you feel weak
you’ve got to carry on
though you want to give in
and when you are lost
don’t forget where you began
you’re a survivor
from a long line of the same
there’s no need to rush anything
don’t try to be a machine
because you might really succeed
and you are a human being
go outside
move how your body was made
like a survivor
from a long line of the same
pick up their gift
held up in helix and spit
and at the end of all this
you can’t just cave in and quit
you’ve got to be strong
even though you feel weak
you’ve got to carry on
though you want to give in, you can’t
cause you’re a survivor
see how you’re alive through it all
it’s what your every fibre is for
just to wake up and ride with the sun
like a survivor
listen, they’re singing at the echoey sky
the sound’s coming up hard on all the skyscraper’s sides
it’s coming up hard on the senators’ ties
but they don’t listen to us, they don’t even look up
they’re hustlers and hawkers all talking at you
spinning their lies on your grandmother’s loom
proclaiming, in good faith, what’s not even true
and they’re not even good, we can see through that look
cause we’re looking up
for the ladder above, for the right hand held up, for the golden cup
or just a bottle of suds, a spot on the porch, the kids having fun
and looking at us, they’re looking at us, so we’re looking up
baby, when i met you i was basically blind
swallowing poison and pixels of light
living on fiction and swimming in lies
i tried to cast you aside, like some dirt in my eye
but now i’m looking up
for the ladder above, for right hand held up, for that golden cup
or just a bottle of suds, and a spot on the porch, and soon the kids are in love
and they’re looking at us, they’re looking at us, so we’re looking up
for the ladder above, for the crack there in the dome, where the golden dam will overflow
or just a bottle of suds, and a spot on the porch, so when the kids make it home
and they’re looking at us, when they’re looking at us, we’re looking up
up
Written by Randy Newman
here i am
lost in the wind
round in circles sailing
like a ship
that never comes in
standing by myself
sing a sad song for a good man
sing a sad song for me
sing a sad song for the sailor
a thousand miles from the sea
here I am
alone on the plain
the sun’s going down
it’s starting to rain
papa, we’ll go sailing
push all my papers in the stove
and pull the cotton high across your throat
try to make you warm enough
so i can ply you with my talk of hope
cause boy you got a long way up
and the ladder’s cold and rusted rough
you’re too young to be tested thus
can we put the pain in one of us?
this is all i want
soon the river rising up
and you my guy will ride on top
through the sylvan valley under sun
and on and on the summers come
on and on
this is all i want
if i take care of you, that will take care of me
i will take care of you, and that will take care of me
if i can make you good, thats’ all i really need
i will take care of you, and that will take care of me
soon the river rising up
and you my guy will ride on top
through the sylvan valley under sun
and on and on the summers come
on and on the summers come
on and on, on and on, on and on
on and on, on and on, on and on
here’s to the other side lifted high
you get to the riverside to see the valley rise
sorrow or joy, which do you like?
if that’s the choice, then why cant you decide?
is there nothing left? only rusty flats
a chain link fence pressin into your hands
we’ll get you up and over it
‘cause i want nothing between us
i want to dance with you, that’s what i want to do
i want to dance with you, i want to see you body move
i want to dance with you, that’s all i want to do
i want to dance with you…
i miss our younger years, i stretch to touch them
smoke up the cavalier, and keep the windows shut
do you wanna go back? well you know you can’t
it’s like a chain link fence pressing into your back
but i got you now
i don’t care about what you were before i came
just come out with me tonight
i want to dance with you, that’s what i want to do
i want to dance with you, i want to see you body move
i want to dance with you, that’s all i want to do
i want to dance with you…
late at night in my troubled mind
i go back to those summertimes
a boy in bed, all the windows wide
you can hear the hotrods running from the light
from the light into the dark
that’s all i wanted in my cousin’s car
to listen to the wind and to the lead guitars
and feel the reckless running of your heart
now is that gone or does that all remain?
can i go back and have it all again?
well now i know it – where i’m going
i’m going back behind the river – i’m going back behind the rain
‘cause no matter where you’re heading – you end up where you been
what’s to come i cannot say
but the mainland calls to take me away
can take my life but when i die
i’m only going back to those valley black nights
going from the light into the dark
i won’t be scared i will not come apart
i’ll feel the wind, sing the riffs
piled in the backseat with all my friends
all hands are with me yeah and it’s like a dream
lovers and kin they all come back to me
and we’re somehow seventeen
and we’re drinking on the beach
and the bays are full of fish
and the blazing fires lit
and our bodies start to lift
but we are unafraid of it
we are unafraid
cause now we know it – where we’re going
we’re going back behind the river – we’re going back behind the rain
‘cause no matter where i’m headed – i’ll only end up where i been
i was tearing at her sweater – i was crying on her chin
all the while she saying – ‘baby you’ll be back again’
‘baby you’ll be back again’
you’ve got a secret room
carved in marble and arching wood
hiding you
you’re so afraid of the wind and the rain
you never let the sun shine in
let is shine on you
show yourself to me
don’t you hide away anything
just be real with me
just reveal what it is you’re thinking
i’m not afraid
of all your sins and your skeletons babe
i will not wince or back away
when you come to meet me
through the clack of your nails on your mac
through your black sarcastic mask you hide
but you’ve got a good spirit
and you’ve got to try and keep it
keep it shining through
show yourself to me
don’t you hide away anything
just be real with me
just reveal what it is you’re thinking
i’m not afraid
of your secret suffering
i will not once start measuring
when you come to meet me
show yourself timmy
don’t you hide away anything
just be real with me
just reveal what it is you’re feeling
i’m not afraid
of all your sins and your skeletons babe
i will not wince or back away
when you come to meet me
slide like a spirit down the same old roads
you’ve been haunting these hills since the morning you were born
now the cracks in the pavement are the cracks in your heart
you go over the same old faults everytime you walk to the bar
ain’t you wet when you get there, whether rain or tears or sweat?
and the wind shaking the panes, it’s the same as in your chest
yes, it’s the same out there as it is in here
it’s the same out there as it is in here
why should it be different, should it be anything but that?
should we open our mouths and spit out california sand?
yeah we sing what we’re given into a piece of shit p.a.
we sing grey foggy day, we sing no change in me
yeah but it’s arm in arm in arm and ain’t it loud enough to stun?
hearing them all heaving along into the one same song
oh is it the same out there as it is in here?
is it the same over there as it is down here?
so pull your cloak around me now
pull your cloak around me now
pull me close and keep the cold night out
oh lean in to me
so you’re near to me now
once a stranger to me but
now you’re the song in my mouth
and you slide like a spirit out to the icy step
feel the night on your face, the mist upon your lips
you pull the cloak around you, as you listen to the wind
and you hum the refrain as you take the hill again
strange river
what kind of water is this?
why can’t i feel it?
why’s not what my body expects
we came from the forest
we came from the caves of the coast
was so long before us
but i think my body still knows
but i think my body still knows
oh when you touch me
lay your body above me
that is the only thing
that i really understand
i wait here in my bedroom
i bend my hips to the chair
cool my face on the fake wood
dream of us all back there
we came from the forest
up from the dirt we rose
and i think my body still knows
oh when you touch me
lay your body above me
that is the one thing
that i understand
when i lean in you’re like a door swinging back
and all the streets are rivers again, they’re rivers again
and under me you lay like a raft
leading me to what i already am, i already am
when i lean in you’re like a door swinging back
and all the trees are living again, really living again
i want to be here with you like this
and all our friends in the river again, in the river again
i want to swim in the river again
there she is
aloft in her long white dress
belonging with someone else
i should have never left
get me out of this
into the southside hills
where i can be calm and still
something i never feel
your so-called friends
they’ll never understand
they want you to ‘chill out man’
something you never can
and your only hope
is to make like you want a smoke
and just fade into the eighteenth hole
don’t even go back for your coat
soon
it will be sunday morning
and you know
your uncle will be out here golfing
saying ‘what have we here?’
yeah cracking his jokes
maybe he’ll give you a beer
and drive you home
and you turn on your phone
and there she is
come in through a late night text
wondering about her friend
i should have never left
when they take the dream from my mind
and unfold it in the light
you’ll be there, every line of your hair
lying against me in the night
how do i explain, the sheer weight of each strand?
in each strange direction, will only lead me back
look at you here, just like i remember
it feels so strange and yet so familiar
we’re like two mirrors
facing one another
look at us grinning
and going on forever
seen you snap, seen you gnash your teeth
seen you down and drowning out of reach
to tell the truth, i kind of missed your blues
the way your black sunglasses see right through
come to me now, close like i’m in your frame
squint your eyes a bit, and bring us back again
again…
look at you here, just like i remember
it feels so strange and yet so familiar
we’re like two mirrors facing one another
look at us grinning and going on forever
every frame, each and every second
all extending out, out from our beginning
we were just kids yeah you were my best friend
oh with me then, then until the end
saying fuck you to the dark, saying fuck you to the deep
saying fuck off cancer, saying fuck 2017
saying ‘never again’, all together with me
sing ‘never again’, ‘cause together makes a difference
that’s why we’re here, like i remember
reaching for eachother and goin on forever
it’s just good to see you
feel your eyes on mine
clear pools of water where i swum with such delight
you loved me then
maybe you could love me again
i know you have a new boyfriend and i’m happy for you i swear i am
weird, like strangers now again
but don’t walk away, don’t walk away yet
all the walls and changes fade
and it feels the same, it feels the same yeah
we were so close to something
something that we always wanted
too scared to ask for it then, too scared to ask you for it still i guess
let our memory come back
and don’t walk away, don’t walk a way yet
oh feel the current gather strength
saying ‘come make it real, come make it real again’
we could make it real again
you could make me feel again
and all the things i couldn’t give you then
i can give you now i think, before you leave just give me
one look that says you haven’t forgotten
one look that says it wasn’t all nothing
one look to let our memory talk
one look honey you could open it up
that clear pool of water so calm
i want to slip in, let swallow me up
‘cause our love was the closest i got
one look come on now you owe it to us because
you loved me then
you could love me again
anyway i’m just thankful for you here to bring back everything i sent away
it’s just good to see you
you’re like a kinda ghost, alive
a clear pool of water, but its too late to swim tonight
i built this sound for you to lie inside
i want you feel alright
fill your skull with only filtering sunlight
and use your eyes and see this is real life
the sound of the machines – it’s birds in the sky
the smell of the bleach – that’s just the ocean’s bite
the feeling of the sheets – that’s the earth beneath you
that’s the earth beneath you
listen
it’s gonna be okay
it’s gonna be okay
i know you don’t know me but
i know, i know
and you’ll know it someday
it’s gonna be okay
it’s gonna be okay
oh come you can trust me
cause i know, i know
and you’ll know it someday
you will
in real life
you’ll feel
alright
our team wins
no matter what the rest of them do
the sweet black earth
all of them’ll be there soon
deny what you like
that doesn’t make the truth untrue
the sweet black earth
it’s the only thing you belong to
birds up in the sky
while the bulldozer readies the site
the mama feeds her young
while the steel frame’s lifted up
on our side of the tracks
the grass grows up through the cracks
saying ‘climb all you like, ride into the sky
we’ll all fall back
yeah our team wins
no matter what you fuckers do
the sweet black earth
all of us’ll be there soon
deny all you like
that doesn’t make the truth untrue
the sweet black earth
that’s the only thing you belong to’
don’t let it end
say you’ll stay and we can start again
close the blinds and keep the night going
and don’t let me go yet, don’t let me go yet
soon enough
the light will come and slide between us
and try to steal me from your reaching arms
but don’t let me go yet, no don’t let me go yet
‘cause i always leave
and chase some other foolish dream
when i got everything i need right here with me
oh my friends don’t let me leave you again
yeah but there’s another world
that waits to take our love at every turn
pacing dogs at the perimeter
so don’t let me go yet
‘cause I always leave
to chase some false and foolish dream
when i got everything i need right here with me
all i need i got right here with me
oh my friends don’t let me leave you again
cause when we gather in together
and all together we hang our heads
you know it makes a sort of shelter
you know it makes a sort of bridge
but don’t you hear the morning bells?
like a boxer staggers up and steels themself
we’ll leave our dreams for the arterials
but don’t let me go yet, no don’t let me go
i love it here
i stretch my irises to drink it in
i swear it’s something that i won’t forget
but still don’t let me go yet, no don’t let me go yet
no, don’t let me go yet…
here’s to the other side, lifted high
you get to the riverside to see the valley rise
sorrow or joy, which do you like?
if that’s the choice, why cant you decide?
is there nothing else? only rusty flats
a chain link fence pressing into your hands
but i’ll get you up and over it
‘cause i want nothing between us
i want to dance with you, that’s what i want to do
i want to dance with you, i want to see your body move
i want to dance with you, that’s all i want to do
i want to dance with you…
i miss our younger years, i stretch to touch them
smoke up the cavalier and keep the windows shut
do you wanna go back? well you know you can’t
it’s like a chain link fence pressing into your back
but i got you now
i don’t care about what you were before i came
just come out with me tonight
i want to dance with you, that’s what i want to do
i want to dance with you, i want to see your body move
i want to dance with you, that’s all i want to do
i want to dance with you…
lean on the reins of your chariot
come into the place where we’re needing it
and don’t go slow
take this weight, lift the yoke away
knit up my skin, make the bruises fade
then let me rest, my trials met
close your eyes and the fantasy is arriving
close your eyes and the fantasy is arriving
you know the fields they walked are poisoned or gone
and the dream they sold us we never saw
no wood fence white, no blooming bride
no stars through the harsh lights
but close your eyes and the fantasy is arriving
close your eyes and the fantasy is arriving
never mind them, the fantasy is surviving
close your eyes and the fantasy is arriving
slide like a spirit down the same old roads
you’ve been haunting these hills since the morning you were born
now the cracks in the pavement are the cracks in your heart
you go over the same old faults every time you walk to the bar
ain’t you wet when you get there, whether rain or tears or sweat?
and the wind shaking the panes, it’s the same as in your chest
yes, it’s the same out there as it is in here
it’s the same out there as it is in here
and why should it be different, should it be anything but that?
should we open our mouths and spit out california sand?
yeah we sing what we’re given into a piece of shit p.a.
we sing grey foggy day, we sing no change in me
yeah but it’s arm in arm in arm and ain’t it loud enough to stun?
hearing them all heaving along into the one same song
oh is it the same out there as it is in here?
is it the same over there as it is down here?
so pull your cloak around me now
pull your cloak around me now
pull me close and keep the cold night out
oh lean in to me
so you’re near to me now
once a stranger to me but
now you’re the song in my mouth
and you slide like a spirit out to the icy step
feel the night on your face, the mist upon your lips
you pull the cloak around you, as you listen to the wind
and you hum the refrain as you take the hill again
the storm sits above the house
that’s why i’m out
to feel the heat of the weekend
dry my hands on the poison pipes
then weave home through lightning
long hands through the reckoning clouds
reaching down
oh and when i die
will i have to watch my life?
make the same mistakes
act the same drunk disgrace
i would like to see it backwards
slip back to that happy kid
all the crap i collected
put it back into the weary earth
every anger melting
every scar back to perfect skin
see the bombs ascend
see young johnny come home
no messy dreams, no methadone
oh to hear the speeches fail!
the hatred slowly going pale
oh to feel it empty out
every crooked truth and crippling doubt
to watch my body curl
into the promise of a swollen girl
and then i’m a gasp of love
and they’re young and fun and innocent
they drove you toward the foreign highway
you reached that concrete river at dawn
you were scorned by scores of passing travellers
by night you were nowhere but you were nearly gone
you were scared and dared not look behind you
what have you cast away? what have you thrown?
where are your friends that you fashioned the dream with?
where are their hands on your collarbones?
they are here! they are here! they are here and waiting!
they are with you walking, they are with you in bed
come and let them bring you water
come and let them hold your head
and say ‘here is the end of all your troubles
here is the garden wet and bright
here is your seat beneath the cedars
here is the young unfolding night’
they are here! they are here! the are here and waiting!
here in the electric air you lost in your youth
here in the sheets and the shuddering pleasures
here in your children strong and good
here is the end of all your struggles
here is the garden wet and bright
here is your seat beneath the cedars
here is the close and holy night.
like a fool in a foolish coat
trying to be cool but just being cold
i have seen the saddest thing
not you crying, but that you’re hiding it from me
no be free, just be as you like
and sing like a bird, and so in singing fly
oh be free, but connected to the sky
and sing like a bird, and so in singing fly
singing ly-dee-dee-dy…
i saw you shrink back into your sleeves
i saw you shrink until you disappeared from me
what do we hide from? and what hides from us?
what kind of colours have we covered up and lost?
no be free, just be as you like
and sing like a bird, to the oncoming light
oh be free, and connected to the sky
and sing like a bird, and so in singing fly
singing ly-dee-dee-dy…
the way the colours come
out of the dirt
can that be done?
from all the broken shells
the moldy scraps
the rotten flesh
can we do that?
with all this suffering, here
like the sun pulls the flowers nearer
from the residential red bricks
from all the rusted hinges
at last releasing
from the photos of those stolen kids
from the fields of bitumen
from the ash of davis inlet
from the grass of kingston prison
from this shit could something spring?
oh 2017
do you hide a phoenix?
some kind new beginning
on her lifting wings?
is she taking all this suffering, here
the way the sun pulls the flowers nearer, nearer to something good?
see the medicine growing in the clearing, where the entrance was
saying “i only go up, i only go up”
i built this sound
for you to lie inside
i want you feel alright
to fill your skull
with only filtering sunlight
to use your eyes and see
this is real life
the sound of the machines – it’s birds in the sky
the smell of the bleach – that’s the ocean’s bite
the feeling of the sheets – that’s the earth beneath you
that’s the earth beneath you
listen
it’s gonna be okay
it’s gonna be okay
i know you don’t know me but
i know, i know
and you’ll know it someday
it’s gonna be okay
it’s gonna be okay
oh come on you can trust me
cause i know, i know
and you’ll know it someday
you will
in real life
you’ll feel
alright