SUNFAIR

1. AT THE SYMPHONY

Smoked a joint, fell asleep

in my chair at the symphony

From the second mezzanine                

the canyon was bright and deep

Staring down at my feet 

The floor gave way so tenderly

A wind swelled up from down below

Something bout the rise and fall of the tremolo

The bows sliced and diced the air with such speed

whipping the room into a frenzy

and it bubbled up 

and overflowed

then it all dropped off

and the oboe rolled

a howl that shook 

some starlings out 

of a ceiling crack

and the moon shown down

And the night crept in

in a sequin gown

started two-stepping

man could she get down

Smoked a joint, fell asleep

in my chair at the symphony

From the second mezzanine                

the canyon was bright and deep

2. GOES WITHOUT SAYING

Stealing through the streets at night

White glow, the supermarket sign

it’s strange to be back here goes without saying

it’s hard to get my story straight

I bluff, and then I hesitate. 

Tell me where you put the years

and how you ended up back here

it’s strange to see you here goes without saying 

it’s hard to make a clean escape

it’s hard enough to play it safe

Do you ever wonder

Do you ever doubt

the way it carved and shaped us

the way it spit us out

An old song plays on the radio

then everything is touch and go

that you’ve got someplace to be goes without saying

there’s so much that I”d like to say

but the words they just evaporate

oh ohhh

3. LAST NIGHT IN MY DREAM

Last night in my dream we were floating in bed

when a blue tidal wave careened over our heads

and you said, “I’m afraid, but I’m glad”

And the mountain was covered with acrylic paints

that twisted and bubbled in candy land shapes

and two little girls sold us bad lemonade

with satisfied smiles

Back on the road with the sun going down

the shadows were stretching real long on the ground

and the rocks were just faces, all lost in their thoughts

and we let go of all of the troubles we’d brought

Everything after that was mostly a blur

cracked round the edges

leaning off ledges

of tall tall tall tall buildings

the ups and downs unending

If you don’t believe me now

One day you will

Back at the bar we all had a toast

it was mostly our friends and some strangers I noticed

across the pool table, weaving and singing “Come on”

The TV was warning about storms in the East

“I feel kinda bad, I don’t care in the least.

I don’t wanna go home. I don’t wanna go, not if you paid me.

We climbed up the rocks, watched another sun sink 

I tell you, this sure changes everything

the wind started up and you held me real close

said “there’s no use in worrying about things we can’t know”

Let’s get back to the heart of things

I kicked around, but I’ve got my footing now

and all in all I’m mending 

the ups and downs unending

I didn’t believe you then, but now I sure do 

4. 141 LIVINGSTON

141 Livingston

Summons to the civil court

months and months of falling short

and even more

wondering what for

sequences of one way streets 

seeking the same things on repeat

rain through the ceiling

getting that feeling

I should have known better

I should have known.

working the hooks loose

breaking the bad news

tearing up the photographs

splitting everything in halves

filled in the blanks

filled up the tank

headed back to Seattle

oh pride, I’ve had a belly full

It left me reeling

getting that feeling

I should have known better

I should have known

5. STAYED TOO LONG

Yesterday I swore I saw you

Leaving the train at third avenue

Climbing the stairs like you weren’t just a ghost

Hair the same old tangled mess

same old faded flowered dress

watched you in the crowd until you disappeared

I keep thinking that I stayed too long

I keep sinking and I can’t get going

Standing at the party

Watching everybody’s lips move

All that pretty small talk

I’ve been getting way too used to

Said you needed something sound

to tie your floating heart around

said “I just want something that won’t disappear”                       

and that old love song you wrote

I still can play it note for note

late at night I catch myself singing along

Don’t look back

you might see

everything’s much closer than it seems

6. THE FIGHT

The cities from above

the pixilation of

the human heart

 it stops and starts

a strange array

of moving parts

hold me up to see the lights

hold me up to watch the fight

one right hook

one bruised eye

the crowd goes quiet

the crowd goes wild

I’ll try to write it down

the best I can for now

white handkerchief

 I’m on my knees

I try to smile

 I bare my teeth

You leave with everything

 and all the noise it brings

the red hot sting

of reckoning

of lying down

 and giving in

It’s getting cold / just let it lie

I’m made of glass / they’re twice my size 

I’m on the outside / looking up

they close the gate / they start the count

hold me up beneath the lights

hold me up to watch the fight

pound for pound / eye for eye

the crowd goes quiet / the crowd goes wild

you get me square / in my glass chin

the crowd gets tired / they go back in  

hold me up beneath the lights

hold me up one more time

7.  CALIFORNIA

I’m wide awake at 3 am

Can’t get back to sleep

You’re far away in dreams but I hold your hand

Tell myself just breath

Down on the street there’s headlights in the rain

Wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t so heavy in our ways

weighted and freighted by good times and bad

we’ve had lots of those

and I don’t mean to sound cliche 

just give me some

California Sunshine

Gimme a reason to believe

That we don’t have to stay here

We can always leave

I’m tired of all the running around 

It’ll never be enough

We burn the days like paper

We burn them down to dust

And we’re not strangers to

shaking off the blues of old lives

And we know how to run like hell

Might as well get us some

California Sunshine

Gimme some reason to believe

That we don’t have to stay here

We can always leave

I don’t know where you’re at now

Seems to me the doors wide open

I don’t know where you’re at now

But anyway, here’s to hoping’

Let’s get us some

California Sunshine

Gimme some reason to believe

That we don’t have to stay here

We can always leave

8. THE SHAPE OF THINGS

Wreathed in chatter

strung with flickering lights

keep repeating "it'll be alright"

This is the shape of things

the joy and ache of things

Found you floating in a crowded room

Under your breath "can we leave soon" 

Took the back stairs to the roof

We want more but we get proof

This is the shape of things

the joy and ache of things

all bound to break against

our very last defense

this is the shape of things

Smashing bottles on the lawn

swamping stories all night long

wishing there was something I could say

another sunrise on another day

just piling on and on and on 

This is the shape of things

the joy and ache of things

all bound to break against

our very last defense

this is the shape of things

9. SOME DAYS

The way the light gets in

the shadows lengthening

the television

flashing visions of our action stars

with broken hearts

the same old strings attached

the same old plots unhatched

the dinner getting cold

crackling car stereo

down below

Leave your story with a passerby

they’re just passing through so they won’t try 

to fill the holes in 

Some days it goes in waves

Some days

Oh I tried I tried I tried

to get the words just right

I’m tired, I’m tired, I’m tired

of making all the same mistakes twice

I can’t stomach any more advice

All of these true events

We break our hearts against

the happy accidents

that accidentally 

bend the course of history

it’s common place

the same old strings attached

the same old plots unhatched

the dinner getting cold

crackling car stereo

down below

 DEEP BELOW HEAVEN

Deep Below Heaven

Great city like a dream

deep deep below heaven

people walking 

people knocking 

glasses in the bars

people hopelessly apart

Great city late at night

with your high rise constellations

scraping scraping at the sky

with your multitude of voices

singing high 

won't you remember me when I'm gone

Neon Drag

Teddy was dancing at Sugars where I served cocktails 

from 9 until 5 in the morning

Then we'd pack up our things and we'd drive 

Past the radio tower and Beth's 24 hour

and the hard-living bar on the right,

Past the Texaco station and motel Black Angus

where nobody stays for the night

And Teddy was talking about making a living

“We all gotta do it, just take what you're given

and don't be too selfish and don't be too driven

and given a chance just do right.”

The rain was coming down real soft

round the bus stops and round the parking lots

and Teddy wiped her lipstick off

singing low "your famous blue raincoat"

The sun started rising, I found it surprising

I wasn't the least bit tired.

We stopped for a coffee and donut and watched it

all come to life just as if it was wrote

in a book full of stories that someone had told

long ago of that neon road

The white lights were glowing, the Walmart was opening

a fellow was pushing the carts around slowly

and praying that somewhere his mom wasn't lonely

staring out at the neon glow

The streets lights were blinking off real slow

and the waitress was talking real low into the phone

saying "why, oh good lord why, just tell me why, don't you come home?”

The radio played and the fog burned away

I said sometimes I'm lost and sometimes I'm saved

and sometimes I feel like I'm wasting my days

Teddy smiled and said “you're doing fine.”

It was all quiet as we pulled in the drive 

we sat there a moment and stared at the sky

and felt a long long way from the highway, 

a long way from the neon drag

Swinging Low

We got spiders underneath the sink

weaving webs on mama's fine china.

You sure look like you've had enough to drink

you're acting like you got a calvary behind you.

Oh you talk, you talk, you talk, you talk

you talk a mile a minute

you keep apologizing but your heart isn't in it

you keep a slow eye on the clock

we're swinging low and I'm afraid we can't stop

We've had heavy rains

they're weighing on the roof

We both got suspicions, and hell if we got proof

that we're not what we were

oh we're not what we were

we got ghosts in the bedroom

and waiting on the stairs

and lord knows it can't come easy

this whole speech you prepared

Chorus repeats

Now say it like you mean it

Say it fast and low

Say it sweet and tender

let a woman go

Now say it like you mean it

Say it fast and low

Say it sweet and tender

and you can let me go

Holy Night

Holy night, hallelujah you were quite a sight

standing in the doorway with your boots on

climbing to the roof top

smoking cigarettes till dawn

Chorus:

white gull in the morning

white church round against the sky

white sun rising from the rumpled sea

honey make her laugh so she don't cry

honey make her laugh so she don't cry

If I could constellate your blues

I’d tell you something wise

that you could use to make it better

I'd do anything you choose 

to make it better

I'd do anything for you

Chorus

You make me wonder what i'm doing

You shake my spine like nothing else

You broke the silence in the valley

Honey ring the bells, oh ring the bells

holy night, hallelujah you were quite a sight

standing in the doorway with your boots on

climbing to the roof top

smoking cigarettes till dawn

Chorus

Home Town

When I came back to my home town very little had changed 

I looked around for my old friends and there were very few that remained

I took Milham back from Westnedge Avenue, down to Thunder Bay, 

where the new roads cut right through, out where the highway stretches 

miles through my youth, we used to say “don't it sound just like the sea”

Chorus:

Give me shelter, give me peace until I'm gone

Give me just a little strength, give me the strength to carry on

Give me your history of sadness in the scars that run too deep

Give me your lonesome lullabies, come on and rock me back to sleep

Late at night in my hometown we drove the strip in Amy’s sister’s car

We’d stretch our hands way way out the windows, past the empty parking lots

We saw it ending long before it ever did and felt it aching though we never spoke of it 

and all those things you just can’t explain to kids, we knew it and we knew it in our bones

Chorus

Things fell apart in my hometown, fell right apart at the seams. 

I fell in deep with some old ghosts,  I had forgot but it seems they keep the streets, 

they keep the paths that I once walked, they keep the fires burning dimly 

behind the doors that I kept locked, they keep the chatter and the small & larger talk

I couldn’t break away at all

We build our houses so they all look just the same

We build our fences tall & wide

We build our families in the shadow of the lord

we’ve always got so much to hide

When I walked away from my hometown I ran as far as I could

I looked around, it seemed like everyone was drowning, 

trying so damn hard to be so good. I worked all summer in a strip mall cafe, 

bought a ticket to the west coast, told my mother I'd be leaving straight away

I’m gonna find what I've been looking for

Chorus

Big Big Fire

You were running real late

I was waiting at the bar

I was telling Jenny how you're gonna win me

Before you go and break my heart 

Texas is burning, Mississippi's under water

I hear you're somewhere in between

I hear you caught a south bound bus

to the Oklahoma bank and trust

and took out every cent you ever saved

Chorus:

You got a voice that shakes the heavens above

It's running slow along the wires

You got a heavy heart, I feel it stop and start

You're gonna start a big big fire

Well, cold day in hell, I hear you settled down 

and gave some pretty little girl your name

But that was awful long ago

And they say old habits die real slow

And then you went and hit the road again

Chorus

Keep It

He woke up and smoked the last cigarette

leaning out his window above the laundromat

He's been writing down his dreams, 

at least the ones that he recalls

Where his son's alive and walking 

down familiar corridors singing

Chorus:

Keep it, keep it, keep it

It’s not for sale

We're gonna run these roots deep in the ground

and carry and carry on

He took the winding alleys

that led to the square

there were students cheering loudly

with their hands up in the air

There were young girls round the fountain

singing loud above the din 

Chorus

He took the long road out of town 

to where the shepherds grazed

out where the city and the desert 

quietly part ways

He motioned to the shepherd, 

has my son been seen alive?

the shepherd showed him where 

the rebels and the soldiers did collide

You see that line of young men, 

all them  soldiers young and green

I buried two boys on this side, 

and one more has been seen

The wind it whipped the sand in swirls 

and to the other side of the strange 

and dusty road no rebels crossed alive

When at last he called his wife he said, 

"they found him yesterday

two weeks in the desert sun, but as if he died today

She wept quietly and said a prayer 

underneath her breath

"The one who gives and takes away 

gave him  honor with his death"

Chorus

Needles River

Down by the needles river 

mama says its dry as bone

the hot wind and the road forgive you

but lord knows you're not going home

Only the Needles River

knows how I put up a fight

Lay me down and let me rest here

Let me sleep once through the night

Chorus:

Dry wind on the dry bank

pray for peace, pray you awake

someplace better, someplace far away

someplace better, someplace far away

Down by the needles river

tallest sky I've ever seen

heaven high and heaven low

heaven kind and heaven mean

God bless the needles river

current carry me along

past my enemies & lovers 

past this earthly right and wrong

Chorus

Dreams

Strange and heavy dreams deep into the night

Weighted with darkness and weighted with light

You ask me where are you going, I said right back to the hill

Oh its making me lonesome, but I love & love you still

The smoke it swirls like saxophones that ease into the dawn

You're looking kind of restless like you might be moving on

You got your coat on honey, and you're standing by the door.

And I could swear I've seen you standing there before

I found you deep deep in dreams

I got a letter from an old friend apologizing for the time

She said "the years just slipped right past me, I hope you're doing fine. 

I hope you found a  little place where you belong and you call home, 

I hope you found the love that you were looking for. 

I found you deep deep in dreams 

I found you deep deep in dreams

Oh and the nights are getting longer but the dawn comes much too soon

and I could swear I heard you laughing in another distant room

I saw our childhood flicker like a song

Oh just stay close, and by and by I'll be along

Sharp White Teeth

Your sharp white teeth 

gnaw at the corners of my sleep

They chase the dreams 

that get the best of me

They are equal parts desire

and equal parts defeat

they are squabbling over memories

I'll meet you at the crossroads

in a hundred years I'll say

I'm sorry and all is swell

it was just trial by ordeal and you did well

at least as well as was expected 

at least as well as you could

but when it came down to it

we didn't do that good

Well then leave now if you must

I know you're just collecting dust

and there's a lot I’d like to see

Like the wind in the tall sands

buoyed by the breeze

and the smiles on their faces

as the last plane leaves

Oh I’ll be waiting at the crossroads

in a hundred years I'll say

I’m sorry and all is good

it was just trial by fire and now you should

lie down now and get some rest

it's getting late and you did your best

and I’ve got no bone to pick with you.