Archive for the ‘By Album’ Category

Whiskey and Cigarettes


16 Apr

A real woman drinks whiskey and smokes cigarettes
Until the room’s spinning she feels no regrets
And when closing time comes she’ll face the night alone
A real woman don’t need a man to walk her home

You ask if she’s lonely, she says, “Not for one minute.
I strangled trouble before you could begin it.”
You don’t understand her and how distant she gets
When she drinks her whiskey and smokes those cigarettes

She gets under your skin and stays there somehow
You cannot possess her, but you can hold her for now
She’ll leave you with questions, she’ll leave you with regret
Someday she’ll just leave you even though you can’t see it yet

’cause a real woman don’t need anyone’s help getting home
A real woman don’t feel lonely even when she’s alone
A real woman conquers you and then quickly forgets
A real woman drinks whiskey and smokes cigarettes

Broken Soldiers


17 Feb

When I was bright and new
I volunteered to keep watch over you
and when you sent me far from all I know
I thought of you waiting for me when I get home
if I get home

When it was over you didn’t want to play
with the toy soldiers you refuse to put away
I risked my body, I spilled my blood
All I’m asking you is just come pick me up
come pick me up

Now I’m broken and used
I feel forgotten, abandoned and bruised
After all I gave for you, what I endured
You said, I’m sorry, I can’t see you anymore
I can’t see you

When it was over you didn’t want to play
with the toy soldiers you refuse to put away
I risked my body, I spilled my blood
All I’m asking you is just come pick me up
come pick me up

Never Let Them See You Cry


17 Feb

Bullets and stones may break your bones
And names may be tattooed on your skin
They say that all wounds will heal in time
Whether the cause lies without or within

Your body is a road map of all the places you have seen
You should be proud of the fault lines and the ravines
You’ve been battered and scarred, you’re not afraid to die
But you never let them see you cry
You never let them see you cry

You’re flesh and blood, you’re skin and bone
But your spine is iron, your will is steel
They say that idle hands are the devil’s tools
So you use them to distract yourself from what you feel

Your body is a road map of all the places you have seen
You should be proud of the fault lines and the ravines
You’ve been battered and scarred, you’re not afraid to die
But you never let them see you cry
You never let them see you cry

You and Me


26 Jan

We walk in shadow, we walk in light
and what’s to become of us?
There may not be another tomorrow or tonight
so why do we waste today on the same old fight?

don’t stop now, we’ve only just begun
don’t stop now, we thought we were so young
but you and me, while we can sing and we can breathe
there’s still time to believe in something
and I believe in you and me

The moon turns red, the sun grows weak
and it breaks our hearts
Can’t look at what’s looming above or what’s beneath
So where do we turn when the earth shudders under our feet?

don’t stop now, we’ve only just begun
don’t stop now, we thought we were so young
but you and me, while we can sing and we can breathe
there’s still time to believe in something
and I believe in you and me

I believe in something
I believe in you and me

Don’t Come in Here


14 Dec

I know the lock won’t hold
I could pry it open with a butter knife
and the door’s only a cheap piece of plywood
but I still get the urge to check it twice

I sit on the floor with my back against the door
trying to disappear, just don’t come in here
please just don’t come in here

I wrote on the wall with black ink
A caricature saying, “happy holiday”
Then I drew all over my arms and legs
It’s permanent but it washes away

I sit on the floor with my back against the door
trying to disappear, just don’t come in here
please just don’t come in here

I never wore a cap and a gown
They said I’d never get out of this town
But I defied everyone
I always knew how to hide, then I learned to run

So I don’t have to sit on the floor with my back against the door
Trying to disappear, please just don’t come in here
please just don’t come in here
just don’t come in here

Half Moon


30 Oct

Half-circle moons glow in my palms
The mark will fade if that’s what I want
But I need it to conjure your trembling ghost
You’re still the drug I crave the most

You meant well, yeah you meant for good
But it all turned to shit like we knew it would
Now I can’t see your eyes or taste your lips
Your moon killed my sun in a noiseless eclipse

Will it wax, will it wane, the way I feel?
Will it reveal that we are strangers?
Some of us lie together, some of us lie alone
but we all lie to hide what we cannot show

I feel my body break away from me
Fragments spinning out without gravity
In the stereo static I can’t be read
I tried to laugh but I screamed instead

You put me together, you pulled me apart
You cradled my head, you buried my heart
The day was too long but it ended too soon
My sun wastes away in the glow of your moon

Will it wax, will it wane, the way I feel?
Will it reveal that we are strangers?
Some of us lie together, some of us lie alone
But we all lie to hide what we cannot show

So I straighten my shoulders and hold up my head
Pour out my wine and break my bread
I wanted to walk but I danced instead
Under the half-moon

Will it wax, will it wane, the way I feel?
Will it reveal that we are strangers?
Some of us lie together, some of us lie alone
But we all lie to hide what we cannot show

Small Town Girls


10 Sep

When things got bad I’d sneak away with a book
Or scribble poems laced with blood and tears
No one thought to ask if something was wrong
While I withdrew to the prison of my fears

Small town girls learn how to tell big lies
When the neighbors know all the details of your lives
And gloss over the heartache in your eyes
Yeah, small town girls have to learn to tell big lies

I’d read all night until the sun scorched my face
And stumble dazed into the hallway
Playing out the colored Classics in my head
While sleepwalking through another shabby day

Small town girls learn how to tell big lies
When the neighbors know all the details of your lives
And gloss over the heartache in your eyes
Yeah, small town girls have to learn to tell big lies

I thought someone was coming to rescue me
A savior or a hero or destiny
I waited patiently, expectantly
And I learned to save myself eventually

Small town girls learn how to tell big lies
When the neighbors know all the details of your lives
And gloss over the heartache in your eyes
Yeah, small town girls have to learn to tell big lies

Broken Rosary


08 Jul

Where were you when she was drinking too much
in the middle of town? We were afraid that she’d pass out.
They poured water on her head until the ambulance came,
and I watched through the car window as they rushed her away.

we believed, we believed

Where were you when he was suffering?
He could barely speak but he knew he had to feed her.
They hung him out the window by two little feet,
and when he played make believe everyone was falling.

we believed, we believed

we will be ok, ok, ok
at least, that’s what we’d always say

Where were you when she tore up her skin
and crippled the hand she used to paint with,
when she crashed her car into a wall on purpose?
She always walked away with new scratches.

but we believed, we believed, we believed

Sun Storm


06 Jul

This morning’s rain is clinging to my blue coat
it still lays in glistening lines on the highway outside my window
the sound of turning wheels whispers a siren call
the warning bell sounds again and I don’t mind it at all

I know how this story goes
You’ll never leave me
You’ll never leave me alone
and that’s why I want to go

You rise like the sun scattering the clouds
I wanna lay in your warmth and hear you say my name out loud
but when the storm rolls in I want electricity crackling on my skin
the thunder and the lightning to strike me again and again

I know how this story goes
You’ll never leave me
You’ll never leave me alone
and that’s why I want to go

Will I see you again?
Will I see you again?
This is all my fault but I can’t change who I am
and that’s how the story ends
that’s how the story ends

You Don’t Want to Taste My Heart


02 Feb

I reached through my own skin
Deep between my lungs and ribs
I fought to hold my heart down
Until it stopped struggling

You can’t live with so much pain
So you learn to turn it on and off again
I can only be free when I sing
Then I have to hurt myself again

You don’t want to taste my heart
You don’t want the band-aid off
But I can’t stop the flow of blood
til it pours out in a flash flood

You can’t live with so much pain
So you learn to turn it on and off again
I can only be free when I sing
Then I have to crush myself again

You think I shut the deluge down
When I chatter and I play the clown
But the fall just takes another form
I lie in the center of the storm

I can only be free when I sing
I’m only free when I sing

The Travelers


12 Dec

I don’t know why I get up each day
and pick up my guitar and start to play
pin down my thoughts so they don’t slip away
then bite my tongue like I’ve got nothing to say

I forget where I am
which country, which continent
all the places I long for but have never been

I guess you’re the only one who understands
with no promises and no demands
Let’s just run away while we still can
It’s not too late, give me your hand

We could drive off and drift around
Playing songs in little beat up towns
For tips and free beer and a place to lay down
Then off to the next one, till the money runs out

I forget where I am
which country, which continent
all the places I long for but have never been

I guess you’re the only one who understands
with no promises and no demands
Let’s just run away while we still can
It’s not too late, give me your hand

The Weather


07 May

You seem set on eroding my trust
On battering my mountain down to a pile of dust
I lie pliant as you pound me until nothing’s left
Your face grieves for my loss, then laughs at the theft

You want to be the weather
Driving clouds above my brow
It makes you feel electric
To see me shiver and bow
But your wind can’t whip forever
And your thunder is silent now

You seem hell-bent on breaking my will
Holding down my fluttering heart till it lies still
I welcome your claws as they slowly sink inside
Your smile keeps your secrets but your eyes reveal the lie

You want to be the weather
Driving clouds above my brow
It makes you feel electric
To see me shiver and bow
But your wind can’t whip forever
And your thunder is silent now

I am ageless and tired
I’ve lived the same life
A thousand cycles now
You want to be the weather
but your wind can’t whip forever
And your thunder is silent

City / Country


07 May

The sky is turning grey as I walk down 4th avenue
but it’s blue above the highway, looming above the roofs
and the statue with her green arms and gold flame is standing guard
How can it be so beautiful and so hard?

I thought of moving to the country when I missed the hills
and the sky spangled with stars, the creek’s ripples and rills
to walk along the old rail trail under a green canopy
to disappear slowly and quietly

But I took the G train north on Sunday to see a show
and I sat at the bar, in the candlelight glow
Heard the voices and the guitars bleeding out their tones
This place is so foreign but it feels like home

The rain fell on my face this morning in Manhattan
I’d forgotten my umbrella but I didn’t care
I straightened my shoulders and waited for the light to change
And thought, “I’m really happy to be here”

It gives


27 Mar

I keep running up against the wall
Like this time it will change, like this time it won’t be there at all
And it leaves
red grit and blue bruises
but it never gives
Then I begin to give up and I begin to let you go

I hate the way hope makes me hold up my head
When I know it will betray me, it will slay me and leave me for dead
It leaves
gray doubts and yellow scars
but it never gives
Til I begin to give up and I begin to let you go

The wind tells me to smile, this is for the best
Don’t fret for what you can’t have, put aside your unrest
And it leaves
pink cheeks and pale skin
and it begins to give me
The strength I need to give in and begin to let you go

Geometry of a Heavy Heart


11 Mar

I can fit the puzzle pieces together without a picture
I can solve equations with letters representing the numbers
I can draw us as two points, measure out the line
Plot our position through space and time
But I can’t find a way to chart the geometry of a heavy heart

I can sketch the pattern of stars in the heavens, a perfect replication
I can still remember your depth and dimension without hesitation
I can map the site where our paths meet
And guess at the angle of our defeat
But even Euclid and Descartes can’t solve the geometry of a heavy heart

I can rewrite the rules till our problems are solved
I can fake the proofs till you don’t trust me at all
And it all just falls apart with the geometry of a heavy heart

Foolish Dream


11 Mar

I can’t explain why I do what I do
I wake up from dreaming with music in my head
I remember singin the blues every time I felt bad
Somehow it got me through

Maybe you want to make loads of money
Your face on glossy pages, your voice on the radio
I just want to survive the only way I know how
You can keep the fortune, honey

We always argue and I never see it your way
You always start but I always have the final say

The thing I do, I know it doesn’t make sense
I could take the easy road to a charmed life
But I’ll never belong with the successful and strong
I just want to pay my rent

We always argue and I never see it your way
You always start but I always have the final say

I remember singin the blues every time I felt bad
Somehow it got me through… foolish dream

Lighthouse Keeper


11 Mar

We talk oceans into being between us
with stinging words that taste of salt and rust
then you climb the winding stair, up to the mirror
watch your breath form a mist and let it clear
snuff out the little flame and leave me in the dark
oh lighthouse keeper

There’s nothing to guide me, when you’re out of reach
but why should you worry when you’re safe on the beach
I threw a line out to the shore
but you severed the cord
oh lighthouse keeper

I am a vessel on the sand, stranded and dry
said you can’t give me what I need, but you didn’t try
I will track my sightless path across the fathomless span
I will make my way alone just to prove that I can
keep your little flame, and leave me in the dark
oh lighthouse keeper

There’s nothing to guide me, when you’re out of reach
but why should you worry when you’re safe on the beach
I threw a line out to the shore
but you severed the cord
oh lighthouse keeper

Mayday


01 Mar

I know what I’m doing, I won’t get hurt
Walk off with my heart and I’ll steal the shirt
Off your back, look behind and I’ll laugh
I’ll beat you in the end. Baby, pretend

It’s mayday, mayday

Baby pretend
I’m your friend, the jukebox charlatan
quarter for my dreams, dollar for my skin
for all these things that roll into and out of my head
Like it never happened. Baby, say when

It’s mayday, mayday

Baby, say when
I can stop tiptoeing around what I want to say
Rehearsing the lines to my own play
It might be ok to soften in the sun, a little
Then you’ll understand.
Baby, take my hand, it’s mayday.

it’s mayday.

Broken Thing


20 Dec

When I couldn’t take it anymore
I’d go in the bathroom and lock the door
and think of the choices before me
what the cabinet holds
but I always did as I was told
am I a broken thing?

When the fight began I had nowhere to go
so I closed my eyes and turned up the stereo
The way a voice can tell stories
it’s not supposed to tell
I keep my secrets and keep them well
am I a broken thing?

But I pretend everything’s ok
the bruises are under my clothes
and only the mirror knows
am i a broken thing?

Atlas Shrugged


20 Dec

I’m at the dead-end street
I’m in the darkened alley
It’s like it’s calling for me
It’s like I know it wants me

There’s no escape
no escape

When you told me not to be afraid
I smiled at your innocence
When you told me not to be afraid
I said the world is on my shoulders
If I let it fall it might crush us all

I buy human misery
For two new shiny quarters
Ink runs in the rain
My hands are black and stained

There’s no escape
no escape

When you told me not to be afraid
I smiled at your innocence
When you told me not to be afraid
I said the world is on my shoulders
If I let it fall it might crush us all

There’s no escape,
no escape

Jessi Robertson: Lyrics

Drawing pretty things