The Demons Inside

All these different definitions
Of my elusive vision
Won’t ever sacrifice what I’ve done
When you live like this
I’m tellin’ you son
It’s not a long shot to turn and run

I’ve got these long nights
Lying on this empty bed
And this skin is not my own
You can bleed me dry
Or cut me to the bone
But it’s a long way to my home

And all of these thoughts
Are a poor man’s change
His own chronicle to misconstrue
But you looked dismayed
That you can’t save your grave
With a list this overdue

I guess more and more
I find my way to the door
But I can’t tell you where I’ve been
I’ve seen oceans commandeer
Those that don’t come near
And what’s more is that I’m finally seein’

The way everything you do
Is gonna catch on up to you

And this time don’t make
No difference to me
It ain’t even real
And I can’t see
the lines on this road
I’m not a thief here waiting to steal

A few dollars from a stranger
Or beg you for your time
‘cause your time aint what I want
give me respite, this recluse,
and then we can talk
about the demons inside me that haunt…


Hard Line

The Wolves at my door
Just crept into my bed
They just keep coming back for more
Tearing holes into my head

So make me blind or be my eyes

I’ve been walking a hard, hard line
And I’m out of time, I’m out of time

You are the quiet angel
My fleeting great revival

You’ve become a landslide
You’ve become a landslide
You’ve become a landslide
And I’m a long, long ride

The nature of sin
In a circle of torment



Smother

Everything you’re on
Has been turned over and done
Cause we all know how you like
To get wasted and run
But then you’re just bleeding
And you’re on fire
And I won’t ever be
Your water for hire

Cause it’s a long road
And the clouds are building up in the sky
So I looked the wrath of god in the eye
And I came out the otherside
Not I’m gonna need a grace like Jesus Christ
To make it through the long day of my life

The Chills all over me
Make it hard enough to breathe
Though we’re the branches of a different tree
I still don’t know how to leave
So I’ll keep praying to what I can believe

I’m grabbing at ghosts
I’m coming close
I’m blowing smoke
And I can’t see
Annie you’re killin’ me

You just can’t smother everything you see



One of my Own

Call your bank
And loan me your resolve
Because the road I’m on is long
And the faces that I pass,
Well they won’t leave me alone
And I’m in need
Of a loan

So as you walk away from me so slow
Just take my love with you as you go

I can’t wait to make it back home
But I’ve got this feeling lurking in my bones
That I’m gonna have to build one of my own
It will be simple and warm and small
With a place to lay my head at the end of the hall
And a living room without walls
Oh no it won’t be bad at all
No it won’t be bad at all

I lay down in this bed with the light so low
And listen to you talk about love like it’s someone that you know
Show me your soft science so sure and so slow
Just don’t talk about life like it’s someplace that you go

And I can see
A little shine
And I think you’re scared


Man on Fire

There’s a big noise coming
Oh there is a a big noise coming
Loosen your jaw some
I’m dodging the machine gun from your mouth

I’ll show you fear in a handful of dust****

The man on fire cools not by water
Victim of a selfish slaughter
Life for an alien desire
He’s the selfless soul
He’s the man on fire
So say a prayer for the man on fire



Same Front Door

You forgot the way you came
So you left your heart to find your brain
You lost track of those things that made you feel good
They took back the only thing you understood

Baby,
You’ve gotta see
It’s not the signature or symbol or sign
It’s just the rhythm behind the rhyme

The background music
So faint and soft
Apartment bum
Content and oft
Rising up to reach something
Not close enough to cling
But lost and roaming we connect

It’s hard to look at the same front door
When its not what it will be or what it was before
The tendency is to yearn to embrace
That which has no form and has no face

So it becomes this constant battle
Within my mind
Half beats the drug
Half bides the time
And the rest, well it all gets left behind

Oh goodnight,
So lazy and long
Alone with the orchestra
Caught in song
Conducted with purpose
Ultimate composer
Unendeing shade
The song of the night,
So naturally made
The symphony plays
A soundtrack of sorts
And the ground it shook
What earthquakes come
The ground mistook
The sleeves they fell
And the mind, it fled
A sheltered shell
No love to bed
I know….



Virtue & Vice of Death & Life

The years I’ve seen
Bring immeasurable strife
It’s morose
To think
That I’ve
Learned the virtue and vice
Of death and life
In some cosmic ball
Of fire and ice

And through the thick globe of glass
Stands a man with his past
And he laughs, he laughs, he laughs, he laughs, he laughs, he laughs

He indulges himself
Watching life on a shelf
From a vantage point I can’t comprehend
It’s a comic display
The consumption at play
It’s enough for me to send

This sad syrum I’ve found
Down my throat til I drown
In my own escapist way
He’ll incite war and peace
Like a missing piece
That he has but won’t put in it’s place

But you’re so beautiful
You are not me
You are not me
You are not me

Well I saw hate and lies
I saw the worst of folks
Saved with a prayer and a sigh

They got their ticket to ride
Up the golden train
Where the sky, it shines blue
And the clouds don’t rain

So I fell asleep
On the hood of my car
And I swear I heard the tears of god
You awoke to the thunder
You just did not understand
That the record wasn’t skipping
But you were missing the point



Rest Yr Eyezzzzzzzz

A summer chill, playing for keeps
Frightened still, I walk alone
Release, reload
Repeat, regrow

The traveling man
He comes
He stands
Leaves the floor to beg the answer
But this is no dance
I am no dancer

Because I’ve seen shadows in the dark
And I’ve seen statues fall apart
But I don’t sleep so much these nights
Make me pay for this despite
That this life it will undo you
It will possess your mind
See, everything we take
It takes our time



My Broken Arm

Take the best out of me
Kept inside your nostalgia dream
But don’t leave me with my broken arm

Well I know how much that’ll be
The price we pay for a pair in green
But my empty pockets just won’t leave me be

But the money’s no good
Your money’s no good

So go on and lead the way
With your crumbling hands
And lie awake in bed humbled
Wondering, damn,
Why you can’t raise your plans in a tired city

But the race, it won’t stop
With each day’s end
It’s not a life worth living
When you can’t talk to your friends
In this crowded city

I’ve got a big love in my heart
And peace all in my mind

Still the money’s no good

Take the best out of me
Take it as far as your eyes can see
But don’t leave me with my broken arm

This greed has left my family
With heavy hearted humility
But this drought won’t dry their soaking sleeves

‘cause the money’s no good