Song for the Open Road


Robin

Wake up Robin now don’t feel blue
I won’t be leaving here without you
And come on Robin now don’t be scared
We’ll make it, forget how worse they faired

And then, when it’s not worth it
He’ll come back for more
And he’ll say…

Think of how the bluebird sings
He don’t care that they clipped his wings
If you just stand proud you’ll rise above
But if you let them in they’ll trap you like a dove

And then, when it’s all over
You’ll stand in for her
If she’d said…


The Merchant

Tour the penny fare, my son
Taunt the merchant, anyone
Well I’ve seen pigments
From every state along that golden beach
And yours ain’t nothin special,
The glint is dead, the hue is weak
The hue is weak

Now come and listen close, my son
Tales and fortunes for everyone
I’ve seen your death, boy
I see your ghost behind you as we speak
But you can stop him dead, son
A simple fee, and you’ll be free
You’ll be free

Take away the pain, my
Faults for any gain, I want to
Realize the kind of life I want to live

Well, you remind me of myself
Friends and family left on the shelf
Then I met a merchant
From far away who sold answers for a fee
He leaned in close and told me
Tell me what you need, and you’ll be free
You’ll be free

Take away the pain, my
Faults for any gain, I want to
Realize the kind of life I want to live

I once was a drifter like you, you know
I’d fight a lot and ask who lives
A kind of life that leaves you searching for a sign
And then I went to school
And I was told it’s all by design
And if you ask me, that’s shit
They’ll only feed you lies

After all I’ve said and done
Wouldn’t it be silly, son?
To follow the advice of a man
Who would first sell his soul
Than to stand on his land?


It Has To Be


Runaway

Runaway car on a southbound train
If you leave me now you won’t see me again
I’m taking time to live out my life
A little each day to keep me alive

There something more than all you could give
A memory of lives once lived
Lives where we had no regrets
Just come with me, we’ll try to forget

Let’s leave this tired world behind
Start walking past the end of the line
Start moving toward the things we feel inside

Just close your eyes and jump on three
You’ll realize, just wait and see
How simple, all our lives, they used to be

Just come with me, we’ll
Run away from everything
It’s simpler on the road, you’ll see
It’s all just one big opportunity
Just come with me, it’s
All supposed to be done soon
We’ll rear our heads in May or June
We’ll face these problems both, just me and you

I know you’ve locked away your pain
You don’t rock the boat, you stay in your lane
To me that sounds like something needs to change

There’s a world outside those open doors
If you just say its mine and yours
Its only there if you’ve searched for it before

But sometimes it’s not
Simple as that
I know that you can’t just leave
Tell me that I’m not moving too fast
Or tell me to wait and I’ll wait
But I’ll say until then...

If you
Just come with me, we’ll
Run away from everything
It’s simpler on the road, you’ll see
It’s all just one big opportunity
Just come with me, it’s
All supposed to be done soon
We’ll rear our heads in May or June
We’ll face these problems both, just me and you


Petrichor

Dance like a firefly
In the fading sun
Hush, there’s no need to cry.
You have all but won
This dreary heart

Eyes like the ocean sun
Over hills of blue
There, that’s the starting gun
I’ll take it for me and you

Come, while we’ve still got the sun
Oh, there ain’t no need to run
‘Cause effortlessly, we’ll find
Everything
Ain’t what it seems
And as for the sun

If timeless, as time goes on
Seems longer than good,
Then maybe with each new dawn
We say to one another what we always wish we could

Gold as the setting sun
In autumn’s peak
I just need someone
To hold me when I’m weak

Come, while we’ve still got the sun
Oh, there ain’t no need to run
‘Cause effortlessly, we’ll find
Everything
Ain’t what it seems
The rain’s coming down


8th Ave

There’s nothing left to say
Warm nights under the shutters
You can’t keep me here forever
But I want you to stay
Warm without my number
Promise me, say more
About people you’ve met since when we were together

And I’ll miss you
But I’ll miss me more

I came here with nothing to return
I only have the lessons I’ve learned
If you came here for truth but you don’t want it
Then there’s nothing left to say
There’s nothing left to say
There’s nothing left to say
There won’t be a simpler way

I know a place
Down avenue eight
Where they’ll give you a story for free
It’ll be more concise
More charming and nice
More knowing than I’ll ever be

And I know it’s not what you deserve
But it hurts less when you know for sure
That everyone got what they came for

Well I’ll miss you
But I’ll miss me more


Lullaby for a Restless Mind


With Soul Set Free

If ever I told you I never would go, then I
Wandered in silence, my fortunes in tow, I can
Tell you for certain
Your memory ain’t workin

But it isn’t your fault, it was long before then, that I
Knew it was time for me to go where it began so I can’t
Listen to you now
I’m so sick of this town


September on the Mississippi


Icicle Leaves

Icicle leaves reaching for ground,
As the sun looks down from the cloud
Bicycle wheels will turn around
Just as sure as the meadow will go brown

Then, say the leaves, singing high in the sunlight,
Where are you ought to go?
No, to you.

Why must the leaves fall to the ground
Bringing with them the color and life
Then the wind will pick up, whistle and howl,
Cutting through like dagger and knife

Specter and seed breaking ground in the moonlight,
Will any call for you?
None, for you.

When it comes to the end, the end of it all
Will you plead, will you struggle, for your life?
Or will you go on, happier now
To be free of the quarrel and strife?

The air will grow thin, as you fly to the spotlight,
Who is to choose who will go?
No, not you.


Ramsey Park

If you turn your pockets out
Onto a bench in Ramsey park
They’ll shake you upside down and throw you to the ground
All for the talk

If I board a Greyhound
Though momma said don’t come back
I’ll feel better Chicago-bound
Can’t feel worse, so thanks for that

You said just one more morning, then I’m free

I remember driving this road, was it 20 years ago?
When you walk those beams you
look straight ahead unless your lunch you throw
When up there, you’re like
some kind of bird
You fly until you dive
Into conversations teetered on the
World in view

I kept my eyes forward but the lanes they did collapse on me
With no other choice, I hit the breaks, I was too blind to see
The cars all speeding by
I was too frightened to breathe or cry.
But I saw
At the edge of our lives, something needs to go

You said it all
You wanted nothing more, ooh
But what does it matter
If you never loved me too?

You said don’t worry, don’t wait on me.


Énouement

My earliest memory
Is staring at an apple tree
Mesmerized by moving bark,
Cicadas screaming, after dark

My mother calls me in and says
It’s Christmas Eve, now get to bed
I cuddle up beneath the hearth
Rustle in the bag, so tromps my heart

Through snow piles seven meters tall
We dig and burrow, slip and fall
Into jagged rocks, into pillow fluff
Our hands into our pockets stuffed

We hold on to each memory
They intertwine like symphonies
Of alpine and serotinous groves
We burn our thumbs and stub our toes

For ev’ry moment far and gone
Even the bad, we soon will long
For simple times are naught but leaves
Digested from afar with ease

I just wish I could tell myself
That future knowledge isn’t wealth
To cherish knowing nothing true
And knowing just what you should do.


Two Realities

I can’t get a move on
I can’t release my spring
I don’t know the answer
Much less anything

I don’t recognize me
I think I’ve lost my way
Between two realities
Is where I’m stuck today

I can’t get no work done
I ain’t got the time
I’m too busy waiting
For that clock to chime

Tomorrow I’ll wake up early
Today is just a waste
Between two realities
Is where I’m stuck today

I can’t tell the distance
The back of my head and my eyes share no existence
I don’t see no difference
From being trapped inside and
living on the outside looking in

My arms, they aren’t my own, now
To me they don’t belong
My body to my legs is
Just a thing to pull along

Long as I keep singing
I think I’ll be okay
Between two realities
Is where I’m stuck today

I can’t tell the distance
The back of my head and my eyes share no existence
I don’t see no difference
From being trapped inside and
living on the outside looking in

I don’t know the ending
I can’t say for sure
I just hope its peaceful
That I’m old as dirt

It could be any minute
But put those thoughts away
Between two realities
Is where I’m stuck today
Between two realities
Can’t get unstuck today