Songbook

The men have shared their tales
Their laughter, joy, and ale
The memories they’ve earned
The women share their dreams
Their coffee poured with cream
And what they’ve yet to learn
The children sing
And play their games
Eager for their turn

It’s a moment
It’s a bounty
It’s enough

What will it take
To make these days linger on?

I’m feelin’ overrated
I’m feelin’ old
I can’t escape the everyday I feel the same
Everyday I feel the cold

I got a great idea
I got it sold
I only gotta make it
Can’t because I’m scared
and I’m scared because you know
You know…

If there’s a place in this world for me
Then there’s a place that I have to be
There’s nothing scarier I could dream
But if the air in this world is free
Then why has it been choking me
With fumes of gasoline?

I’ve been the underrated
and undersold
I’ve been the venerated
Couldn’t breathe the air
Couldn’t breathe it to a soul
Couldn’t breathe it… 
and now I know

If there’s a place in this world for me
Then there’s a place that I have to be
There’s nothing scarier I could dream
But if the air in this world is free
Then why has it been choking me
With fumes of gasoline?

We’re on the edge of an aftermath
We’ll light a match
and that is that

If there’s a place in this world for me
Then there’s a place that I have to be
There’s nothing scarier I could dream
I’ll just take everything left to me
Put it out there for all to see
and soak it in gasoline
But if the air in this world is free
Then why has it been choking me
With fumes of gasoline?

It’s your first pack of cigarettes
and then you started going downtown
You always tried to make the scene
But they don’t want you hangin’ round

You can’t buy sophistication, and
You can’t buy determination, and
Don’t know what can make you understand
You can’t hold problems in your hand

Now everybody’s coming in
And they all want to get a piece
Oh yeah you think you’re making friends
But they’re just people that you meet

You’re calm collected and you’re cool
But it don’t really mean a thing
Don’t want the money or the fame
Just want the happiness it brings
Oh yeah you thought it would
And you thought it would but you…

You can’t buy sophistication, and
You can’t buy determination, and
Don’t know what can make you understand
You can’t hold problems in your hand
Problems in your hand
In your hand
Hand

I got time
Don’t need to stop on a dime
But now my hand’s being forced
Cause when it rains, then it pours

All night
I’ve been accused of a crime
Can’t get my foot in the door
Cause when it rains, then it pours
Of course

No one seems to mind
This spinning head of mine
Can’t find these silver lines
If I can’t make amends
and there’s no room to forgive
and the thunder never ends…

Then I’m shook
Can’t let myself off the hook
There must be some change in store
For when the rain is a pour

Some night
If you have grace on your mind
I know it still won’t be earned
But if it rains, then it pours

I guess this is my lot
I can’t pretend it’s not
A downpour ever more
If I can’t make amends
and there’s no room to forgive
and the thunder never ends…

Then it’s fine
Can’t make demands of your time
For all the pain you’ve endured
Cause when it rains, then it pours

In time
I wish us both peace of mind
Even without a cure
For when the rain is a pour
Of course

If I can’t make amends
and there’s no room to forgive
and the thunder never ends
Then I’ll find a way to go
Where the rain will someday slow
and leave a well enough alone

At a hungry age, not yet a man
I was thrust out in the world
I couldn’t seem to understand
Just how to make it work
With men to speak, but none to lead
Adrift in war-torn glory past
With eyes to see, and ears to hear
But no one left to ask

How do you sail on a landslide?

A learned man with a book of truth
Spoke a wisdom for my life
Until another man, just as true
Contradicted his advice
I was left there more confused
Than I had been at the start
Until the god they claimed
Threw their words away and said
The truth was in my heart

How do you sail on a landslide?

How do you sail on a landslide beneath the heaven’s dome?
How do you herald the end when you’ve only just begun?
How to prepare for a victory when loss is all you know?
How do you sail?

If you’ve come back, if you’ve come back
To mince my words then you gotta get back
If you’ve come back, if you’ve come back
To waste my pearls then you gotta get back

I knew the words of your breakdown
I knew the words of your shakedown
I knew the words by their scent
I knew the words, I knew the words
I knew the words that you held back
I knew the words that you let smack
I knew the words that you meant
I knew the words, I knew the words

If you’ve come back, if you’ve come back
With sticks and stones then you gotta get back
If you’ve come back, if you’ve come back
To fix my world then you gotta get back

I knew the words of your breakdown
I knew the words of your shakedown
I knew the words by their scent
I knew the words, I knew the words
I knew the words that you held back
I knew the words that you let smack
I knew the words that you meant
I knew the words, I knew the words

I still recall that fateful night
The same old thing but a whole new light
You were powerless like a leaf in a maelstrom
I found my best as you said your worst
I turned my back on your world of hurt
Ain’t much good to say but I can say
Oh hell no

Say what you know and
know what you mean
Be free with your thoughts and
share all your dreams
Be strong in your voice and
be kind in your words
Be sweet with your sweet thing
and sing like the birds
Say what you’re thinking
and tell what you feel
Always let truth speak
Her words can heal

A song with no rhythm
A bland melody
A waste of a lyric
with no voice to sing

The thought only counts if
you give it a goddamn try
Afraid she’ll scorn you
but you know that’s a goddamn lie

Be warm with your greetings
Give hopeful goodbyes
Laugh with your belly and
even more with your eyes
Be quick with a compliment
and slow with critique
Be careful of bitterness
when your tongue’s in your cheek

Cause she can feel it
when you don’t mean what you say
Oh she’ll feel it
in the way you say her name

Say what you know and
know what you mean
Be free with your thoughts and
share all your dreams
Be strong in your voice and
Be kind in your words
Be sweet with your sweetheart
and sing like the birds

I imagined him for years growing up
I imagine him still
I’m not sure what I would have said
If you had asked me to describe him

He doesn’t yell
He doesn’t need to
Unless maybe it’s out into the air
But it doesn’t hurt
It never hurts

He would have taught me
Of this I’m sure
I would have learned much
watching him
Oh I would have watched him

I imagined him for years growing up
I imagine him still
I’m not sure what I would have said
If you had asked me to describe him

He doesn’t fix me
He doesn’t need to
He sees me for who I am
But it doesn’t hurt
It never hurts

He would have seen me
and marked my potential
Laying the path to surpass him
and then watched me surpass him

He would have shown me
The beauty in failure
He would have modeled the grace
In being wrong
Even as he was wrong

I imagined him for years growing up
I imagine him still
I’m not sure what I would have said
If you had asked me to describe him

I imagined him for years growing up
I imagine him still
He looks me squarely in the eyes these days
In my reflection
and I reflect him

When I opened my eyes
I could only smile
When I could see
Well then I laughed for a while
When I stood up
so weary and slow
Still knew that I’d get
Where I wanted to go

Took a hike down the road
didn’t bother to pack
Took the stars, and some sunshine
down a railroad track
I’m a bridge yeah, I’m a steamboat
I’m a Buffalo Bill
Made love to the wind
I’m a mountain, I’m a hill

I’ve talked with some wise men
some unseen and unheard
Took a long road, to the wrong road
I’m a toad, I’m bird
Saw the shadow of death
Out collecting his toll
I’m a city in ashes
I’m a story untold

When I close these eyes
Once more will I smile
Cause I’ve looked up, and I’ve looked down
And I’ve laughed for a while
When I lie down
Still weary and slow
I’ll know that I’ve been
Where I wanted...
just wanted...
always wanted to go

Home, wrapped in golden fading sunshine
Steals my breath until I still my aching soul
Home, filled with noisy never-still life
Waves of music crash upon my thirsty soul

And on my way home, it’s safe
Despite everything I found a way
To live with the pain I’ve known
And on my way home, with grace
I’ve made a place, a sacred space
A gift to call my own
My home

Old wood grains, filled in with stain
A craftsman laid his hands, his knees upon this floor
More than this, these histories we still receive
We live, we breathe, we pass it on

And on our way home, it’s safe
Despite everything we found a way
To live with the pain we’ve known
And on our way home, with grace
We’ve made a place, a sacred space
A gift to call our own...

Our homes, our homes
We’re born, we die, we share our lives
With the people we call home
Our homes, our homes
With the best we have we’ll give our last
To the people we call home

And on our way home, it’s safe
Despite everything we found a way
To live with the pain we’ve known
And on our way home, with grace
We’ve made a place, a sacred space
A gift to call our own
Our homes

The men have gathered round
To share what made them proud
Their worries and concerns
The women drink their tea
And share their expertise
And get to work
The children see
That in their grief
Joy still returns

It’s a moment
It’s a bounty
It’s enough

What will it take
To make these days linger on?