2.

Everything About It Is a Love Song.

Locked in a struggle for the right combination—
of words in a melody line,
I took a walk along the riverbank
of my imagination.
Golden clouds were shuffling the sunshine.

But if I ever get back to the twentieth century,
guess I'll have to pay off some debts.
Open the book of my vanishing memory,
with its catalogue of regrets.
Stand up for the deeds I did,
and those I didn't do.
Sit down, shut up, think about God,
and wait for the hour of my rescue.

We don't mean to mess things up,
but mess them up we do.
And then it's "Oh, I'm sorry."
Here's a smiling photograph
of love when it was new.
At a birthday party.

Make a wish and close your eyes;
surprise, surprise, surprise.

Early December, and brown as a sparrow,
frost creeping over the pond.
I shoot a thought into the future,
and it flies like an arrow,
through my lifetime.
And beyond.

If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow,
or even the wind-blown dust;
find me on the ancient road
in the song when the wires are hushed.
Hurry on and remember me,
as I'll remember you.
Far above the golden clouds,
the darkness vibrates.

The earth is blue.

And everything about it is a love song.
Everything about it.
Everything about it is a love song.
Everything about it.
Everything about it is a love song.

3.

Outrageous.

It's outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor.
Outrageous, the crimes some human beings must endure.
It's a blessing to wash your face in the summer solstice rain.
It's outrageous a man like me stand here and complain.
But I'm tired.
Nine hundred sit-ups a day.
I'm painting my hair the color of mud,
mud okay?
I'm tired, tired. Anybody care what I say? No!
I'm painting my hair the color of mud.

Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Aw, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?

It's outrageous the food they try to serve in the public school.
Outrageous, the way they talk to you like you're some kind of clinical fool.
It's a blessing to rest my head in the circle of your love.
It's outrageous I can't stop thinking 'bout the things I'm thinking of.
And I'm tired.
Nine hundred sit-ups a day.
I'm painting my hair the color of mud,
mud okay?
I'm tired, tired. Anybody care what I say? No!
Painting my hair the color of mud.

Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Tell me, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?

God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill.
Take me. I'm an ordinary player in the key of C.
And my will was broken by my pride and my vanity.
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill.
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?

4.

Sure Don't Feel Like Love.

I registered to vote today.
Felt like a fool.
Had to do it anyway.
Down at the high school.
Thing about the second line.
You know, felt like a fool?
People say it all the time.
Even when it's true.
So, who's that conscience sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Who's that conscience sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Cause it sure don't feel like love.

A tear drop consists of electrolytes and salt.
The chemistry of crying is not concerned with blame or fault.
So, who's that conscience sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Who's that conscience sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Cause it sure don't feel like love.
How does it feel? Feels like a threat.
A voice in your head that you'd rather forget.
No joke, no joke. You get sick from that unspoken.
Sure don't feel like love.
No joke, no joke. Some chicken and a corn muffin
Well that feels more like love.

Yay!
Boo!
Yay!
Boo!

Wrong again.
Wrong again. Maybe I'm wrong again.
Wrong again. Maybe I'm wrong again.
Wrong again. I could be wrong again.
I remember once in August 1993,
I was wrong, and I could be wrong again.
I remember one of my best friends turned enemy.
So, I was wrong, and I could be wrong again.
I remember once in a load-out, down in Birmingham.
Yeah, but that didn't feel like love.
Sure don't feel like,
Sure don't feel like,
Sure don't feel like love.
Sure don't feel like,
Sure don't feel like,
Sure don't feel like love.
It sure. Don't feel.

Like love.

5.

Wartime Prayers.

Prayers offered in times of peace
Are silent conversations.
Appeals for love, or love's release.
In private invocations.
But all that is changed now.
Gone like a memory from the day before the fires.
People hungry for the voice of God
Hear lunatics and liars.
Wartime prayers.
Wartime prayers in every language spoken.
For every family scattered and broken.

Because you cannot walk with the holy
If you're just a halfway decent man.
I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind
With a genius marketing plan.
I'm trying to tap into some wisdom.
Even a little drop will do.
I want to rid my heart of envy,
And cleanse my soul of rage
Before I'm through.

Times are hard.
It's a hard time,
But everybody knows. All about hard times,
The thing is, what are you gonna do?
Well, you cry and try to muscle through.
Try to rearrange your stuff.
But when the woulds are deep enough,
And it's all that we can bear,
We wrap ourselves. In prayer.

Because you cannot walk with the holy
If you're just a halfway decent man.
I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind
With a genius marketing plan.
I'm trying to tap into some wisdom.
Even a little drop will do.
I want to rid my heart of envy,
And cleanse my soul of rage
Before I'm through.

6.

Beautiful.

Snowman sittin' in the sun
Doesn't have time to waste.
He had a little bit too much fun,
Now his head's erased.
Back in the house,
Family of three:
Two doin' the laundry
And one in the nursery.

We brought a brand new baby back from Bangladesh,
Thought we'd name her Emily.
She's beautiful.
Beautiful.

Yes sir, head's erased,
Brain's a bowl of jelly.
Hasn't hurt his sense of taste,
Judging from his belly.
But back in the house,
Family of four now:
Two doin' the laundry
And two on the kitchen floor.

We brought a brand new baby back from mainland China,
sailed across the China Sea.
She's beautiful.
Beautiful.

Go-kart sittin' in the shade:
You don't need a ticket to ride,
It's summertime, summertime,
Slip down a water slide.
Little kid dancin' in the grass,
Legs like rubber band.
It's summertime, summertime.
There's a line at the candy stand.
Keep an eye on them children,
Eye on them children in the pool.
You'd better keep an eye on them children,
Eye on them children in the pool.

We brought a brand new baby back from Kosovo.
That was nearly seven years ago.
He cried all night.
Could not sleep.
His eyes were bright,
Dark and deep.

Beautiful.

7.

I Don't Believe.

Acts of kindness,
Like breadcrumbs in a fairytale forest,
Lead us past dangers
As light melts the darkness.
But I don't believe,
And I'm not consoled.
I lean closer to the fire,
But I'm cold.

The earth was born in a storm.
The waters receded, the mountains were formed.
"The universe loves a drama,"^* you know.
And ladies and gentlemen this is the show.

I got a call from my broker.
The broker informed me I'm broke.
I was dealing my last hand of poker.
My cards were useless as smoke.

Oh, guardian angel.
Don't taunt me like this,
On a clear summer evening as soft as a kiss.
My children are laughing, not a whisper of care.
My love is brushing her long chestnut hair.
I don't believe a heart can be filled to the brim
Then vanish like mist as though life were a whim.

Maybe the heart is part of the mist.
And that's all that there is or could ever exist.
Maybe and maybe and maybe some more.
Maybe's the exit that I'm looking for.

I got a call from my broker.
The broker said he was mistaken.
Maybe some virus or brokerage joke
And he hopes that my faith isn't shaken.

Acts of kindness,
Like rain in a drought,
Release the spirit with a whoop and a shout.
I don't believe we were born to be
Sheep in a flock.
To pantomime prayers with the hands of a clock.

8.

Another Galaxy.

On the morning of her wedding day,
When no one was awake,
She drove across the border.
Leaving all the yellow roses on her wedding cake.
Her mother's tears, her breakfast order.

She's gone, gone, gone.

There is a moment,
A chip in time,
When leaving home
Is the lesser crime.

When your eyes are blind with tears,
But your heart can see:
Another life, another galaxy.

That night her dreams are storm-tossed like a willow.
She hears the clouds,
She sees the eye of a hurricane,
As it sweeps across her island pillow.

But she's gone, gone, gone.

There is a moment,
A chip in time,
When leaving home
Is the lesser crime.
When your eyes are blind with tears,
But your heart can see:

Another life, another galaxy.

9.

Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean.

Once upon a time there was an ocean.
But now it's a mountain range.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different, but everything's changed.

It's a dead end job,
And you get tired of sittin'.
And it's like a nicotine habit
You're always thinking about quittin'.
I think about quittin' every day of the week.
When I look out my window it's brown and it's bleak.

Outta here.
How am I gonna get outta here?
I'm thinking outta here.
When am I gonna get outta here?
And when will I cash in my lottery ticket,
And bury my past with my burdens and strife?
I want to shake every limb in the garden of Eden,
And make every lover the love of my life.

I figure that once upon a time there was an ocean.
But now I'm a mountain range.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different, but everything's changed.

Found a room in the heart of the city,
Down by the bridge.
Hot plate and TV
And beer in the fridge.
But I'm easy, I'm open—that's my gift.
I can flow with the traffic, I can drift with the drift.
Home again? Naw, never going home again.
Think about home again?
I never think about home.

But then comes a letter from home,
The handwriting's fragile and strange.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different but everything's changed.

The light through the stained glass was cobalt and red.
And the frayed cuffs and collars were mended by haloes of golden thread.
The choir sang, "Once Upon a Time There Was An Ocean."
And all the old hymns and family names came fluttering down
As leaves of emotion.

As nothing is different, but everything's changed.

10.

That's Me.

Well I'll just skip the boring parts
Chapters one, two, three
And get to the place where you can read my face
And my biography.

Here I am, I'm eleven months old,
Dangling from my daddy's knee.
There I go, it's my graduation,
I'm picking up a bogus degree.
That's me. Early me.
That's me.

Well I never cared much for money,
And money never cared for me.
I was more like a land-locked sailor,
Searching for the emerald sea.
Just searching for the emerald sea, boys,
Searching for the sea.

Oh my God. First love opens like a flower.
A black bear running through the forest light
Holds me in her sight and her power.
But tricky skies, your eyes are true,
The future is beauty and sorrow.
Still, I wish that we could run away
And live the life we used to.
If just for tonight and tomorrow.

I am walking up the face of the mountain.
Counting every step I climb.
Remembering the names of the constellations.
Forgotten is a long, long time.
That's me. I'm in the valley of twilight.
Now I'm on the continental shelf.
That's me—I'm answering a question
I am asking of myself.

11.

Father and Daughter.

If you leap awake in the mirror of a bad dream,
And for a fraction of a second you can't remember where you are,
Just open your window and follow your memory upstream.
To the meadow in the mountain where we counted every falling star.

I believe the light that shines on you
Will shine on you forever (forever).
And though I can't guarantee there's nothing scary hiding under your bed,
I'm gonna stand guard like a postcard of a golden retriever.
And never leave 'til I leave you with a sweet dream in your head.

I'm gonna watch you shine,
Gonna watch you grow.
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know.
As long as one and one is two.

There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you.

Trust your intuition.
It's just like goin' fishin'.
You cast your line and hope you get a bite.

But you don't need to waste your time
Worrying about the marketplace,
Try to help the human race.
Struggling to survive its harshest night.

I'm gonna watch you shine,
Gonna watch you grow.
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know.
As long as one and one is two.

There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you.

I'm gonna watch you shine,
Gonna watch you grow.
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know.
As long as one and one is two.

There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you.