YOUR MEMORY
Your memory, like your walking stride
Is longer than mine
But don’t take the wheel when the road gets wet
‘Cause my night vision is fine
I’m the youngest branch in my family tree
And I’m trying to get the greenest leaves to leave me be
If there’s light above the canopy
Share the sky with me
Move aside so I can see
Your memory, like your walking stride
Is longer than mine
But don’t take the wheel when the road gets wet
‘Cause my night vision is fine
So I don’t want to hear your backseat driving
When I’m in the kitchen don’t be supervising
If there’s something missing in my recipe
The bread will rise a bit more slowly
But still taste sweet
Your memory, like your walking stride
Is longer than mine
But don’t take the wheel when the road gets wet
‘Cause my night vision is fine
I’m the youngest branch in my family tree
And I’m trying to get the greenest leaves to leave me be
If there’s light above the canopy
Share the sky with me
Move aside so I can see
Your memory, like your walking stride
Is longer than mine
But don’t take the wheel when the road gets wet
‘Cause my night vision is fine
Your memory, like your walking stride
Is longer than mine
But don’t take the wheel when the road gets wet
‘Cause my night vision is fine
You know the difference between ale and lager
You know the difference ‘tween canola and olive oil
You know the mountain range
Call every peak by name
I may not have the kind of expertise you’ve found
But I’ve been hired to teach the children how
To write a sentence with an abstract noun
And a predicate
Like all true love is delicate
Your memory, like your walking stride
Is longer than mine
But don’t take the wheel when the road gets wet
‘Cause my night vision is fine
SEE FULL LYRICS
Five Minutes
On Wednesday afternoon, I like to visit you
At your house on the hillside
When I’m so inclined, I take the windy road
Follow the yellow line to your back door
It was just five minutes up the hill
But I still can’t remember
When I had to wait me so long
To see somebody
It was just five minutes up the road
When I was younger I was told
Good things, they come to those who know
What’s worth waiting for
I’m walking to your door
I’m looking at your dog
His eyes are telling me that
Making dinner while you’re on the phone
Do you pay the bills while you’re driving home
Do you socialize during your time alone?
It was just five minutes up the hill
But I still can’t remember
When I had to wait me so long
To see somebody
It was just five minutes up the road
When I was younger I was told
Good things, they come to those who know
What’s worth waiting for
You’re not home
Then he, he takes me for a walk
We walk into the fog
He sits me down so I can write you a song
It was just five minutes up the hill
But I still can’t remember
When I had to wait me so long
To see somebody
It was just five minutes up the road
When I was younger I was told
Good things, they come to those who know
What’s worth waiting for
You’re not home and I don’t have no time to waste
Do we rush too much, being over-productive
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JULIE
God damn, she said
Another day in the life of me
No blade in her hand
She’d like to make a more graceful escape from here
She prays for quicksand
Julie, these rooftops are all that you’ve ever seen
No mountains, no snow
I know there’s a life for you if you can just reach 17
Julie, I know
Don’t quote me, she said to the reporter
But this school’s jacked up
Some kids leave here with the keys to the city
Where the rest of us get locked up
The rest of us get locked up, but
Julie, these rooftops are all that you’ve ever seen
No mountains, no snow
I know there’s a life for you if you can just reach 17
Julie, I know
Your writing it renders me silent
They say your poetry goes over well
You say it stops you from being so violent
To yourself
Up on the roof, another day with the rebel crew
Some need it fills
Under the outcast shine of the city lights
Practicing survival skills
Julie, these rooftops are all that you’ve ever seen
No mountains, no snow
I know there’s a life for you if you can just reach 17
Julie, I know
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SIGNS
You took me by surprise
Wild, laughing, green eyes
Wearing a hat behind the wheel
When we first took a ride
My love
Fire was your sign
Water was mine
We saw the roadside mirages
Appear to vaporize
The river stones that you brought
Were bits of mountain, fallen and washed
Just like the time you went climbing
And fell to the earth
My love
Fire was your sign
Water was mine
You said the river below you
Had all but vaporized
They said that you were too wild
They said I wasn’t the kind to hold a flame
Maybe so, but now I know
How to build a fire in the snow
And now I know to watch for signs
Like cracks of thunder above treelines
Rolling hillsides that slide to the sea over time
My love
Fire was your sign
Water was mine
Even the deepest of oceans
One day will vaporize
My love, my love, my love
My love
SEE FULL LYRICS
Johnnie Cope
Cope sent a challenge frae Dunbar,
'Charlie meet me an' ye daur;
An' I'll learn ye the airts o' war,
If ye'll meet me in the morning.'
Hey! Johnnie Cope are ye waukin' yet?
Or are your drums a-beating yet?
If ye were waukin' I wad wait,
Tae gang tae the coals in the morning.
When Charlie looked the letter upon,
He drew his sword its scabbard from,
'Come, follow me, my merry men,
And we'll meet Johnnie Cope in the morning.'
Now Johnnie, be as good as your word,
Come, let us try baith fire and sword,
And dinna flee like a frichted bird,
That's chased frae its nest i' the morning.
When Johnnie Cope he heard o' this,
He thocht it wouldna be amiss,
Tae hae a horse in readiness,
Tae flee awa in the morning.
Fye now, Johnnie, get up an' rin,
The Highland bagpipes mak' a din,
It's better tae sleep in a hale skin,
For it will be a bluidie morning.
When Johnnie Cope tae Dunbar cam,
They speired at him, 'Where's a' your men?'
'The de'il confound me gin I ken,
For I left them a' in the morning.'
Now Johnnie, troth ye werena blate,
Tae come wi' news o' your ain defeat,
And leave your men in sic a strait,
Sae early in the morning.
'In faith', quo Johnnie, 'I got sic flegs
Wi' their claymores an' philabegs,
Gin I face them again, de'il brak my legs,
So I wish you a' good morning.'
SEE FULL LYRICS
Sight of You
Looking up at the planets in Cancer’s June
Another night in the hay and we’re under the moon
Blue Boy is beside us guarding his sheep
You’re already fast asleep
But I’m watching the moon as she creeps across the sky
I woke up in the middle of the night and knew
Why I admire the moonlight
It’s ‘cause she dances with the sight
The sight of you
The day before we had gathered to celebrate
This season’s passing through summer’s gate
We said goodbye to the spring rain
Goodbye to the roses of yesterday
And we welcomed the spirit of those
Who had passed away
I woke up in the middle of the night and knew
Why I admire the moonlight
It’s ‘cause she dances with the sight
The sight of you
The sight of you, the sight of you
The sight of you in the moonlight
And in the morning we wake to an airplane sound
There’s somethone flying above us and looking down
Is it a pilot who’s teaching his child to fly
A father who’s taking his girl for a ride
Or a soul flying west to the other side
I woke up in the middle of the night and knew
Why I admire the moonlight
It’s ‘cause she dances with the sight
The sight of you
SEE FULL LYRICS
TOM'S SONG
There’s a blue suit in a cherry picker on my street
There’s a white bowl in the green leaves
That’s his hardhat helmet
A red X marks the spot for his suspenders
As he reaches across the wire to mend it
And the safety lights are spinning with the radio
As another truck arrives across the road
And they’re just like little kids playing telephone
As they test the wires, is anybody home
I remember playing like that long ago
I took the hundred feet of string off of my kite
And I rode around the neighborhood in my hardhat helmet
With my two tin cans and my bright blue checkered kite
There’s a blue suit in a cherry picker on my street
There’s a white bowl in the green leaves
That’s his hardhat helmet
A red X marks the spot for his suspenders
As he reaches across the wire to mend it
And the safety lights are spinning with the radio
As another truck arrives across the road
And they’re just like little kids playing telephone
As they test the wires, is anybody home
I remember playing like that long ago
I took the hundred feet of string off of my kite
And I rode around the neighborhood in my hardhat helmet
With my two tin cans and my bright blue checkered kite
This is Campbell’s Soup calling out to Spaghettios
This is Sweet Peas and I’m calling Pumpkin Pie
And I’m sending you this message over a shoestring
Or a laundry line
In the middle of the block I found a neighbor’s house
He was the only man I know who stayed at home
Writing legal briefs while he took care of his little girls
‘Cause their mother worked in the city ‘til the rush hour was gone
You don’t look quite old enough to babysit
But come on in you can call me Tom
I’m sure my little girls would love to play with you and talk to you
If you show them how to use your tin can phone
And that’s how neighbors start to feel like your family
Even when you’ve got a happy home
We spent our Saturdays at the ballgame
I got to wear Tom’s Dodger’s jacket all day long
This is Campbell’s Soup calling out to Spaghettios
This is Sweet Peas and I’m calling Pumpkin Pie
And I’m sending you this message over a shoestring
Or a laundry line
And I’m wondering: is anybody home?
SEE FULL LYRICS
One day I went riding past my neighbor’s house
And it had been a couple years since I’d come around
‘Cause I was busy up at junior high playing basketball
With my new friends in my new found crowd
But I noticed as I passed by that the porch was full
With some relatives I knew from out of town
I saw my neighbor’s mother
She was the grandma of the little girls
And people gathered round sad
I had heard my neighbor Tom got pneumonia
And that later it had turned to something worse
But I had no idea that you could die from pneumonia
So I peddled home to find myself the truth
This is Campbell’s Soup calling out to Spaghettios
This is Sweet Peas and I’m calling Pumpkin Pie
And I’m sending you this message over a shoestring
Or a laundry line
And I’m wondering: is anybody home?
Now there’s a blue suit in a cherry picker on my street
There’s a white bowl in the green leaves
That’s his hardhat helmet
A red X marks the spot for his suspenders
As he reaches across the wire to mend it
As he reaches across the wire to mend it
As he reaches across the wire to mend it
There’s a blue suit in a cherry picker on my street
There’s a white bowl in the green leaves
That’s his hardhat helmet
A red X marks the spot for his suspenders
As he reaches across the wire to mend it
And the safety lights are spinning with the radio
As another truck arrives across the road
And they’re just like little kids playing telephone
As they test the wires, is anybody home
I remember playing like that long ago
I took the hundred feet of string off of my kite
And I rode around the neighborhood in my hardhat helmet
With my two tin cans and my bright blue checkered kite
TOM'S SONG
SEE FULL LYRICS
EVERY DAY
I wasn’t thinking about you
When I rode the train today
I saw your image in the bayside station
But I looked the other way
I was listening to their conversation
When I heard them say your name
‘Cause I ride the same old train
To cross the same old bay
And I take it name by name
Every day
I wasn’t watching when the movie screen
Showed a man who liked just like you
Your hair is short, he had grown his long
Just like your mama always wanted
you to
I chose not to remember
That we’d seen this movie twice together before
Cause I’m at that same old screen
Where you were sitting right beside me
And I take it scene by scene
Every day
When I deliver to you
My closet of memories
I’ll leave a row of my questions inside
And if you answer me, answer me these
Can I still hang on your wall like a
picture
When the frame you gave me doesn’t fit at all?
Can I remember the dance you taught me
Underneath the barroom awning?
And was your silence a consequence
Or was it something circumstantial?
I pose the same old stance
You do your silent two-step dance
And I’ll take our circumstance
Out of your way
Every day
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ALTERNATIVE FUEL
You bring the french fries
But keep the ketchup on the side
I’ll bring the methanol
And 3.5 grams of lye
And by tomorrow, we’ll have alternative fuel
Into the methanol you should dissolve all the lye
Then take the french fry grease
And mix it with your sodium methoxyde
And by tomorrow, we’ll have alternative fuel
Insects are swarming
Wasn’t that our warning
For global warming too
Oceans are rising
It’s not a bit surprising
Glaciers are melting through
Inside your blender
The methyl esters will arrive
You can watch the glycerin
Separate before your very eyes
And by tomorrow, we’ll have alternative fuel
Pour out the liquid
That’s what they call bio-diesel gas
Then take the glycerin
Put it in a soapdish and take a bath
Relax, tomorrow, we’ll have alternative fuel
By tomorrow, we’ll have alternative fuel
SEE FULL LYRICS
Airplane Love Letter
I forgot to bring something to write on
But I know I’m really needing to write
I’ve got an early morning arrival
And I’ll be flying all night
Still sitting on the runway
Though my thoughts have circled back to the curbside
Where you dropped me off today
Turning on my night light, reaching for a pen
I’m writing an
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Slipping it into that little white bag
To tape it like an envelope
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Can you read me from way up here?
I dropped you off at the curbside
Because we didn’t have time to park
I forgot to bring something to write on
But I know I’m really needing to write
I’ve got an early morning arrival
And I’ll be flying all night
Still sitting on the runway
Though my thoughts have circled back to the curbside
Where you dropped me off today
Turning on my night light, reaching for a pen
I’m writing an
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Slipping it into that little white bag
To tape it like an envelope
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Can you read me from way up here?
I dropped you off at the curbside
Because we didn’t have time to park
But I made it your gate, I saw your plane
Out the window in the dark
Now I’m standing at the gateway
Though my thoughts have circled back to the curbside
Where I dropped you off today
In a line of darkened windows I think I see your light
You’re writing an
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Slipping it into that little white bag
To tape it like an envelope
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Can I read you from way down here?
Why did we have to have a bad goodbye again?
We let hostility fly again
I don’t express my love
Then the moment is gone
You grab your bags, no time to smile
And you’re off
I’m trying not to call you
So we can have this time apart
I know that you could be with another
If you landed with a change of heart
Now I’m at the kitchen table
Though my thoughts have circled back to the curbside
Where I dropped you off the other day
But the mailman’s on the corner
Now he’s standing at my door
Return address says Chicago
You had a layover in Illinois
And the handwriting is your
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Slipping it into that little white bag
To tape it like an envelope
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
I can read you from way down here
I can feel your thoughts as they’re soaring through the air
SEE FULL LYRICS
On the page of a magazine
There’s something there
On the page of a magazine
Your plane is coming in late tonight
I’m gonna be at that gate alright
And if you stay awake, I hope you write
On the page of a magazine
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
I forgot to bring something to write on
But I know I’m really needing to write
I’ve got an early morning arrival
And I’ll be flying all night
Still sitting on the runway
Though my thoughts have circled back to the curbside
Where you dropped me off today
Turning on my night light, reaching for a pen
I’m writing an
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Slipping it into that little white bag
To tape it like an envelope
Airplane love letter on the page of a magazine
Can you read me from way up here?
I dropped you off at the curbside
Because we didn’t have time to park
Airplane Love Letter
SEE FULL LYRICS
ONE HELL OF A LIFE
Take me to a wooded field
Plant a bush above my head, yeah
Lay me, lay me down
Don’t go writing on my grave
I’ll have said it all before the end
Just lay me, lay me down
And when I’m dead, please don’t philosophize
Or feel regret, just remember me when I said
I had one hell of a life, one hell of a life
I had one hell of a life
Throw my ashes to the wind
Watch them blow into the sea, yeah
Throw me, throw me in
You can cry up there on the cliff,
Scream to heaven about your grief
But throw me, throw me in
You had one hell of a life, one hell of a life
You had one hell of a life
So build it high, on seren-, serendipity
Dipity pity pity dipi, dipity di di, Build it high
And when we’re all dead, they won’t philosophize
Or feel regret, they’ll remember us when we said
We had one hell of a life, one hell of a life
We had one hell of a life
Dipity pity pity dipi, dipity di di,
Dipity pity pity dipi, dipity di di
And when I’m dead, please don’t philosophize
Or feel regret, just remember me when I said
I had one hell of a life, one hell of a life
I had one hell of a life
You know fear and grief accumulate
And the time’s never right to deal with it
But maybe, the time is now
You can live your life on an endless weight
Or build it high on the present tense
And maybe the time is now
Curz when you’re dead, they won’t philosophize
Or feel regret, they’ll remember you when you said
SEE FULL LYRICS
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