windowsills (2007)
Gold Fever
Mark the devil by a stone and the rock be surely gold
So I’ve come to stake my claim along Main Avenue
I believe that this here town was built on hollow ground
And down underneath our feet are treasures to be found
I dig for friendship, I dig for love
I dig for all the things that I’ve been dreaming of
Every penny that I’ve earned got me this inch of land
Every rock or spec of dirt has my name in the book
So I’m armed with little more than the clothes upon my back
If the rocks could only talk they’d tell me where to look
I dig for wisdom, I dig for health,
I dig for all the holy dollars in the bank
I’m getting deeper while the world is bought and sold
Still getting deeper always closer to the gold
Just about richer though you find me in the hole
To sum it up I’m close but one can never know
I’ve been digging for a time and hit no rock of shine
There’s talk of me in town from no such friends of mine
They say I dig my grave, that I’ll die without a home
But until it takes my life I’ll work down to the bone
I dig for country, I dig for man, I dig for a silver pistol planted in my hand
I will strike it solid gold!
Bucket, shovel, pickaxe, wash-pan tell me where to go
I’m getting deeper while the world is bought and sold
Still getting deeper always closer to the gold
Just about richer though you find me in the hole
To sum it up I’m close but one can never know
Jim & Ruth
Jim’s not talking to Ruth, she still acts like his dad
She could learn how to stand on the anthill
But she’s not in the mood and the cat’s in the bag
and the cow and the dog are in there too
But Jim’s not really mad, it’s his speech impediment
Flap your hands as you dive in the carpool
Though it’s not what he meant
Today they come and take the drivers away
Tomorrow they will set the building ablaze
Let the ash and the dust fill the air
Person A lost a shoe, person B lost his teeth
Good thing they fought the war on the sidewalk
And the kids love their meat, like a dog loves a bone
invite the girl with the pig from the sidewalk
She’ll come some other week
Today they come and take the cowboys away
Tomorrow they will steal the haloes of saints
Let the moans and the cries fill the air
Qualify from a coffin to lifeboat
Common eyes see ‘why’ in an eyeful
Who am I in a war of the wasted?
Kill the truce if the flag isn’t blowing
Man by Name of Denver
Two hooves upon the plain, two hooves down in the graveyard
My horse does have a name, one undisclosed to me
We wait just by the grave for a man by name of Denver
He brings the ball and chain, one custom-fit for me
My story is a shame that started last November
I pulled into a town, just stopping on my way
My heart fell for a girl of husband, hence the mayorHe found us as we lay, he vowed to shoot me dead
Now the sheriff of this town is a man by name of Denver
Our destinies were bound as the shots rang through the rain
The shootout that he found was in the house of mayor’s
One body on the ground, the other ran away
We wait just by the grave for a man by name of Denver
My horse does have a name, one undisclosed to me
One foot upon the plain, one foot down in the graveyard
I bear this ball and chain, it’s custom-fit for me
Somedays
The world was supposed the end last century
I’m still playing the waiting game
Sail my ship to Africa
I just want to know I can go that far
Today the future feels like memories
I want a past that can go that far
Today my accidents are remedies
‘Cause my karma can go that far
The world was supposed make my fantasies
I’m still playing the playing game
Cross the plains Africa
I just want to feel I can go that far
Today my actions feel like melodies
I want a tune that can go that far
Today my body feels the gravity
and thinks it can only go so far
A stone for every grave
Good Friends Won’t Rip You Off
I’m taking some time now every day to walk around the block
And see what’s new so I’m not surprised when
I’m running out of time in this fast city, you’d better run quick
Or you’re running late or running into me
City Hall’s locked up no one’s getting in no one’s coming out
No one gives a damn about politics anymore
You say your mind’s messed up we’ve got medicine, pills for aches and pains
If you’re feeling ill, take a few of these and a bottle for the road
I don’t have a friend who will promise everything
And then break each and every word
I don’t have a friend who will tax me when I work
And then tax me once more when I spend
Oh yeah, good friends won’t rip you off but your government probably will
Oh yeah, good friends won’t piss you off but your government probably will
I’m taking a break every yesterday to examine my life
And the way I’ve lived it and how I’m comfortable
In search of the life of luxury, we forget our dreams
And what they mean to find what we don’t need
And I see the lights they light up the night, so much you can’t
Even see the stars, unless they happen to be on the TV screen
And the roads cracked up, we’re still driving them, and the lake
Dried up, we’re still fishing for any compliment a person can get
I don’t have a friend who will drop minimum wage
While raising the tuition rates
I don’t have a friend who will tax judge what I am worth
By my income in a fiscal year
Oh yeah, good friends won’t rip you off but your government probably will
Oh yeah, good friends won’t piss you off but your government probably will
Ballad of a Jailbreak Wedding
My good friend is a half-breed, a mut all jokes aside
He picked a neighbor’s roses and for that they’ll have his hide
The got him in a jail cell and that is where he stays
And they’ll keep him past tomorrow, which it be his wedding day
Friends they will be rounding up the wine
And I hope to god I get him out in time
Yours truly has no money, so I cannot pay the bail
The sheriff won’t believe me that the cheque is in the mail
I’m begging for their mercy, to show it if they may
And not let a bunch of roses ruin someone’s wedding day
Flowers will be lining up the aisle
And I hope to god I get him out in time
After much persuasion, in the end a nope
Time was running short so I got myself a rope
Tied one end to the window bars, the other to the train
And waited for the whistle-blow, which meant my friend’s escape
His sweetheart will be putting on her gown
And I hope to god I get him out in time
And as the train lurched on the line, jus then the sheriff
changed his mind and let my friend out with a slap on the wrist
With a crash the wall came down and through the dust I see the frown
Of the sheriff standing on the other side
They got me in a jail cell and that is where I stay
But I must go meet my darling when her train comes in today
She left me very sorry, many tears I cried
She comes back with my promise now that everything is fine
Her train enters the station after nine
And I hope to god someone gets me out in time
And I hope to god someone gets me out in time
Communication’s Dead
I’ve made a thousand calls today, no one’s calling me back
Telephones only work one way or not at all
Dissolving, disappearing, all my cares are gone
We’re born alone, I fear the world is lonelier than me
If I left my heart at home, you’d call just to say you’ll take my hand
But you know that’s impossible because all communication’s dead
I send a letter out today, wrote my address on the back
The cause of all this seemed to say ‘don’t ever give up’
Encrypt the answer just to hide what you’re scared to divulge
I’ve solved the riddle just to find the answer’s just another one
If I left my mind at home, you’d call just to say you’ll take my head
But you know that’s impossible because all communication’s dead
Corruption’s hominal, I’m not too bold to say that
Love must be seminal for us to solve our problems
If I left my heart at home, you’d call just to say you’ll take my hand
But you know that’s impossible because all communication’s dead
Devil’s Cauldron
As I pass through these hills, blowing over me a dead chill
And if blows through my bones, I’m in company of ghosts
It’s April 17th, 1843, and I’ve just crossed the desert
With the sunset on my back, skies are turning black
I camp though I know better than to stay in the devil’s cauldron
Your heart may protect you, your mind may keep you sane
But your soul will desert you in the devil’s cauldron
Hungry and tired, I shake off the cold by the fire
Through the sputtering flames, I see enemies and friends
From the depths of the night, a beauty comes to me and lays down by my pillow
And at the rise of dawn I wake alone and find my body hollow
Because I slept with the devil’s children
Your heart may protect you, your mind may keep you sane
But your soul will desert you in the devil’s cauldron
My heart I’ll carry it, to a physician
My mind I’ll take it to a psychologist
My soul is forever lost to them
Your heart may protect you, your mind may keep you sane
But your soul will desert you in the devil’s cauldron
Coming Back
Coming back is a sad, sad thing
And the world feels so small again
Some part of me is overseas
And waits ‘til I’m back again
I’ll meet you out on the train
In a heartbeat do it all again
And nothing’s out of the way
If we can save up and pay the fare
Time is all but a constant thing
Only faster the older I get
Precious moments that slip away
And camera snapshots of what I missed
I’ll talk to you in the plane
I want that 9 hour ride again
And though the date may be far away
All my luggage is packed and I’m ready
Muj navrat je smutku den
A svet se zas maly zda
Kus ze mne je dal za morem
Nam muj novy prijezd ceka
Rencontre moi sur le train
Ce voyage j’vais encore le faire
Et ou on va n’est pas certain
On depart n’importe quand tu prends ma main
Where Does the Garbage Go?
Friends, we’ve put it off, you know it’s time
We’ve got a lot of work to do, much bad we must undo
Now the time has come to tell the world
Spread the word to everyone, until all the bad’s undone
Too many people are getting fat, struggle for their breath
Getting sickness from their water taps
Too many people born handicapped
Not to mention populations keep on rising off the map
Brother traded fathers’ fields for smokestacks
Watch out memories turning black
Neighbors filled our father’s creek with cow crap
And I feel it seeping through
Friends, let’s realize the necessities
And differentiate between what you want and what you need
This economy’s priorities, we’ve got to turn the upside down
So our health is number one
Too many people are getting fat, struggle for their breath
Getting sickness from their water taps
Too many people born handicapped
Not to mention populations keep on rising off the map
Brother traded fathers’ fields for smokestacks
Watch out memories turning black
Neighbors filled our father’s creek with cow crap
And I feel it seeping through
Too many product ads
Too many fashion fads
Too many TV sets
Too many garbage bags
Too many power plants
Too many bureaucrats
Too many promises
Not enough cleanup plans
Too many people don’t know the facts
Too many people don’t care to ask
Too many people trust governments
Too many people are ignorant
Too many people don’t see the mess
Too many people follow the rest
Too many people don’t ask themselves
Just where in the world was their garbage sent
Brother traded fathers’ fields for smokestacks
Watch out memories turning black
Neighbors filled our father’s creek with cow crap
And I feel it seeping through
River
I’m taking a ride down the river
To forget the troubles I’ve had
I come from the swamps and the sewers
I’ve passed through the sweet lemon grass
To find better times on the river
To find time that moves ahead
And if my fortune is sour down river
Then I’m better off dead
I still remember the singer
Of a band that I never like
He told me the song of the summer
Kept getting stuck in his head
But when I hear the song of the river
I open my heart and sing
We carry our tune down river
And it spreads through the land
Bernie Ebbers is a winner
Clifford the dog is a fraud
No action belongs in the middle
I guess that’s why they believe in a god
I know I belong on the river
And if I hear them call me back
Tell them my home’s on the river
And I’m not coming back
When I Was Old
When I was old, in elementary school, on my way home
I put fruit in the road, watched it all explode
When I was old, I lit a plastic bag, it dripped down on
My hand, boy did that burn
When I was old, I stole all the change from on top of
The fridge, when to the corner store for candy and chips
No one has to know, pinkie-swear and cross you heart
Stick a needle- scout’s honor- on my mother’s soul
This story won’t be told
Now that I’m old and driving down that road, on my way home
I pick up some fruit at the grocery store
Now that I’m old and falling in live has quickly come and gone
It’s time to have kids- not before a divorce and an invitation
Card to my funeral
No one has to come, if I were you I wouldn’t go
Send your dear condolences on a travel card of
A beach in Mexico
The signs are pointing to home again
Run ‘til I’m losing my breath
I know the door would be open if I came right away
Animals Are People Too (2009)
Turtle
I found a turtle in a shell, looked in and saw that you were there
I dragged you outside by the hair, and showed you just how much I care
You say what goes around, it comes around and come around
Each time I’m sicker than the last
Next time you go around I’m stepping down and out
And leave you spinning in the past
I put you in my fairytale, enchanted you with my spell
I knew that the magic wouldn’t last, and soon you’d put me to the test
You say what goes around, it comes around and come around
Each time I’m sicker than the last
Next time you go around I’m stepping down and out
And leave you spinning in the past
Don’t you know who you’re lying to, x-ray eyes and psychic clues
I found a turtle in a shell, looked in and saw that you were there
The Quietest Voice
You talk too loud and don’t hear it
If you have a secret, then keep it
If you want me to know that you’ve been around
Keep your tongue in your mouth and feet on the ground
The quietest voice has much more to say
Than the salesmen of words that get in your face
The greatest of minds seldom make a sound
Keep their tongues in their mouths and feet on the ground
I hear what you’re saying now
But get tired when you talk so loud
Making Your Own Stuff
You, you can make your own rope out of plants
and some clothes, shirts and pants
Food, it grows by the road, in the forest
and right under your nose
Ooo weee, and you get it for free!
You, you can make your own drums out of cans
Toothbrush sticks, pots and pans
Ooo weee! It’s for free!
After All
After all we have each other, we’ll be friends when this is though
Glaciers freeze or turn to water, after all I’ll still have you
What if it’s our house that’s burning?
What if it’s the world stops turning?
What if it’s the bombs start falling?
What about hurricanes?
After all we have each other, we’ll be friends when this is though
War and peace or nasty weather, after all I’m still with you
What if our money stops flowing?
What if y baldness starts showing?
What if out talents go nowhere?
What about accidents?
Don’t fret when you’re living
Treehouse Lullaby
Come back down you said
Down he came and left
Go where your love went
Or leave your love for dead
But don’t be sad
The roads are rough ahead
Scarred by doubts, regrets
And empty like your bed
The empty song you sang
You won’t forget
Fast now, you don’t want to lose it
Judo
You wanted to stop being weak, so you learned judo
But your hand and your feet won’t move when you are meek
You are who you are
You wanted to show you have style, so you bought new duds
But your the word on the street is your duds are getting old
You are who you are, no less and no more
Don’t you fret about scenes
Don’y you fret about vanity
Maybe life is a dream and you’re not enjoying it
You are who you are, no less and no more
It is what it is, so you have to let go
Art & Work
What’s my love to you
What my art to you
More than I can mean
And if you agree..
What’s my time to me
What’s my art to me
What my love is worth
And what’s popular
It’s either dead if it’s lost to me
Or rather, what does it mean to you?
Bats in Flight
Bats in flight, bridge the sunset dim into the night
From their heights, praise the darkness dawn into the light
Waters speak from the valley to the mountain peaks
Skies will weep, tears will flow right to the ocean deeps
Seeds will sow anywhere the summer wind will blow
Seeds will grow in the sun or under earth and snow
All in light, all in life
Sleeping Lions
Find me in the town or on the mountain
Down low or up high
Look me in the eyes and see the violence
Calm beneath the skies
And we’re all running out our taste for science
Turns sweet then to sour, we’re sleeping lions
People with the power don’t have the answer
They only have the power
And power is just the ice under the dancer
And spring is on the rise
Miracles and accidents, intention and coincidence, don’t lie
The Sun
The sun is secretly casting doubts today
On the walls around our town
We know that everything has to die someday
Who knows the time will come
Who knows what will be done
Dying is a fantasy, we move on and everything is gone
Life and death are harmony, without one the other would be wrong
No morning without evening
Spooks
Not unique but different to most
You are or you aren’t, but get out of the road
You look like you’ve seen a ghost
The spooks in the closet are tied in their ropes
Skeletal homes, dry walls and bones
I’m beginning to believe you more
The spooks have retired and shut up their stores
Closed all their windows, locked all their doors
Where are the people that open their hearts?
Truth is to show, painful to know
And the spooks in your heart are the thorns in your love
Sail Away (2020)
Wave of Emotion
Open my eye and what do I see
I melt with the sky, I’m part of the trees
Falling in love with the air that I breathe,
grow in the dirt a heart I will beat
The sound of the her voice unfolds in my dreams
I’m careful to touch and yet stay asleep
Around the fire, recounted stories
The waters of time flow into the sea
A wave of emotion, out on the planet
A wave of emotion
Open my door and what do I see
A fracturing town, blood on the street
Out in the cold and not up to speed
I know it’s my home when I start to leave
A wave of emotion, out on the planet
A wave of emotion, a wave of emotion
Shadows and light dance around
Ecstasy builds and tears me down
The love and the fear make a sound
I wait for that voice to call me out
A wave of emotion out on the planet.
The Harvest
Time brought us here, leaves us behind
Pull us faster than what we’d asked for
The well has run dry, the bird won’t fly
Truth will shed the cloak it’s wearing
Nature’s path will lead us home
Or drag us down beneath the stone
Will I be here or over there
Will the harvest even care
If I go will we find out
Which path to choose, which to carve out
If I stay will we still know
Truth in time will let us go
Time brought us here and leaves us behind
Nature’s path will lead us home
Or drag us down beneath the stone
Will I be here or over there
Will the harvest even care
Island Hopping
The holes in my heart are seeping like the cracks in my hull
Never lost when I’m dreaming, the ship awakes to my call
Morning float me to the reef, tides get swept out to the sea
Days in the blinding light, afloat on the molten blue
Wait for the storm to rise
Nights come without a sound, stars in my open palms
Held for the one I love
Walls of foam stretch before me, bar the way to my home
Move the ocean to know me, as below so above
Headwinds force me to believe fate is waiting in the deep
Days in the blinding light, afloat on the molten blue
Wait for the storm to rise
Nights come without a sound, stars in my open palms
Held for the one I love
Take my heart and play throughout my memories
Pound and blow my ship without a name
Spit me out or swallow me profoundly
A million words and nothing left to say
Island Hopping
I awoke to see all your beaches leaving
Morning float me to the reef, tides get swept out to the sea
I’m Over It
Ready to move the road, fold in on itself
The shows, the tone, speaking on behalf
Asleep in the garden buttered bread
Difficult only in the head
What’s with the phone, the house, how you get around
Promise of peace and love, tethered to the ground
Sick with the candy in your hand
Nothing to try and comprehend
Always the pang of what to do and where to be
And whatever end result and how it relates to me
I’m over it.
Family Anthem
We’re good people, we try to live good
Never needful, trust in our words
How to say this and not be selfish
We don’t owe what we inherit
Earned our paycheques and took vacations
The days we hated paved our way in
Will our children know what work meant
Back in our day we will lament
Mother, open up your heart
Father, open up your heart
How to say this and not be selfish
We don’t owe what we inherit
Mother, open up your heart
Father, open up your heart
Hold you til we fall apart
Forced to mend a broken heart
Church
Time is rough, we’re leaves in the maelstrom of the breeze
and towers falls like forests will grow
Down below the wreckage, fossils of a past age
Deeds now undone, many souls now are none
The sea like the sky, mountains will rise
I don’t buy the idea that we’re the sole life in our galaxy
All came before, and all will go on
The sea like the sky, mountains will rise
The land under ice, fires in the night
Who’ll be around to explore in a million years?
In the White Whale
Autumn splashed and we’re decaying on the grass
It’s not the first and I doubt will be the last
How do you find the words I wish to god I never heard
Through cracked lips unstoppable heart swells out to say
Rising up just to fall back down again
Babe, how can feel that nothing’s there
How can feel that nothing’s there
The wheels spin round and carry the big thoughts in my head
The love and fear of what I will find when I come back
Did you stay and how will I know if what I have I can let grow
I am here, wishing that you were here with me
Never sure if it’s who I want you to be
Babe, how can feel that nothing’s there
How can feel that nothing’s there
Born to be free with nowhere to go
Long to real but fake it for now
I bought into hope more than you know
The house of our dreams was built up to be torn down
Babe, how can feel that nothing’s there
How can feel that nothing’s there
The Picture You Hold
Years I am chasing my name and echoes of where I belong
Restless wherever I stay, here now soon I’ll be gone
I’ll ask you do one thing for me, strong though I don’t think you are
Open my neck ear to ear and I’ll be born again
You never can get what you need but always enjoy what you want
The vices you constantly feed, it all goes to the heart
And what do you have now for me, the answer I’ve craved for so long
How can the truth set you free when a lie can do no wrong
The picture you hold, the time is long gone, death in a visual form
The picture you hold is a memory hole, a ghost that will never come out
We’re a Symphony
In the city I live there’s a police department and they know about us
No loud music may happen, they take it so personally
(shut it down, seriously, what time is it, you can hear it like blocks away from here,
we’re getting calls from all over, did it sound good when knocking? )
Close watch where people gather, a note hangs in the air
All around from every basement a quiet chorus begins
Free me so that I may live again
Leave me so that I may breathe again
(let us play!, let us play!)
Forced to play by the rules, and the game is always money man
Something’s got to give in, so we have to keep on pushing it
Free me so that I may live again
Leave me so that I may breathe again
We’re a symphony.