Three Hits
Galileo
Ghost
Joking
Jonas & Ezekial
Love Will Come to You
Romeo and Juliet
Virginia Woolf
Chickenman
Airplane
Nashville
Let it Be Me
Cedar Tree

Three Hits
three hits to the heart son
and it's poetry in motion
one could send you down the river
three's a strange way to be delivered
would you trade your words for freedom
that's a barter for a blind man
three hits to the heart son
and it's poetry in motion
are you levee'd like a treasure
only words can help me find you
and this world's a fickle measure
I would painfully remind you
from a wise man to your red hand 
you lay covered ion our best sins
three hits to the heart son
and it's poetry in motion
well I dream you constant stranger
with your best bloods and your anger
you say mother do you claim me
my beloved do you blame me
well the first two might release you
but the last one sings in me son
three hits to the heart son
and it's poetry in motion
three hits to the heart son
and the last one sings in me

Galileo
galileo's head was on the block
the crime was looking up for truth
and as the bombshells of my daily fears explode
i try to trace them to my youth
and then you had to bring up reincarnation
over a couple of beers the other night
and now i'm serving time for mistakes
made by another in another lifetime
how long till my soul gets it right
can any human being ever reach that kind of light
i call on the resting soul of galileo
king of night vision, king of insight
and then i think about my fear of motion
which i never could explain
some other fool across the ocean years ago
must have crashed his little airplane
how long till my soul gets it right
can any human being ever reach that kind of light
i call on the resting soul of galileo
king of night vision, king of insight
i'm not making a joke, you know me
i take everything so seriously
if we wait for the time till all souls get it right
then at least i know there'll be no nuclear 
annihilation
in my lifetime i'm still not right
i offer thanks to those before me
that's all i've got to say
'cause maybe you squandered big bucks in your 
lifetime
now i have to pay
but then again it feels like some sort of inspiration
to let the next life off the hook
but she'll say "look what i had to overcome from my 
last 
life
i think i'll write a book"
how long till my soul gets it right
can any human being ever reach the highest light
except for galileo god rest his soul
(except for the resting soul of galileo) 
king of night vision, king of insight
how long
(till my soul gets it right) 
[til we reach the highest light] 
how long
(till my soul gets it right) 
[til we reach the highest light] 
how long

Ghost
there's a letter on the desktop 
that i dug out of a drawer
the last truce we ever came to 
in our adolescent war
and i start to feel the fever 
from the warm air through the screen
you come regular like seasons
shadowing my dreams
and the mississippi's mighty
but it starts in minnesota
at a place that you could walk across 
with five steps down
and I guess that's how you started 
like a pinprick to my heart
but at this point you rush right through me 
and i start to drown
and there's not enough room 
in this world for my pain
signals cross and love gets lost 
and time passed makes it plain
of all my demon spirits 
i need you the most
i'm in love with your ghost
i'm in love with your ghost
dark and dangerous like a secret 
that gets whispered in a hush
(don't tell a soul) 
when i wake the things i dreamt about you 
last night make me blush
(don't tell a soul) 
and you kiss me like a lover 
then you sting me like a viper
i go follow to the river 
play your memory like a piper
and i feel it like a sickness 
how this love is killing me
i'd walk into the fingers 
of your fire willingly
and dance the edge of sanity 
i've never been this close
i'm in love with your ghost
unknowing captor
you never know how much you 
pierce my spirit
but i can't touch you
can you hear it
a cry to be free
oh i'm forever under lock and key
as you pass through me
now i see your face before me 
i would launch a thousand ships
to bring your heart back to my island 
as the sand beneath me slips
as i burn up in your presence 
and i know now how it feels
to be weakened like achilles 
with you always at my heels
this bitter pill i swallow 
is the silence that i keep
it poisons me i can't swim free 
the river is too deep
though i'm baptized by your touch
i am no worse than most
in love with your ghost
you are shadowing my dreams
(in love with your ghost) 
(in love with your ghost) 
(in love with your ghost)

Joking
you said the world was magic
i was wide-eyed and laughing
we were dancing up to the bright side
forget about your ego
forget about your pride
and you will never have to compromise
and you were only joking
you were only joking brother
we talked about our mothers 
kissed the wounds of our fathers
i could have been your sister
i would have been your brother
you kissed me like i was a soldier 
headed for a war
i dying man but i don't know what for
and you were only joking
you were only joking brother
you were only joking
(wide-eyed and laughing) 
you were only joking brother
(dancing up to the bright side)
gravel and glass on the bottom of my feet
i bruised my heels on the swollen street
we were girls in bars 
boys on the town
bumping like a pinball off a careless crowd
you said good friends are hard to come by
i laughed and bought you a beer
it's too corny to cry
well sentiment given 
oh sentiment lost
you shake it off with a smirk and a toss
and you were only joking
you were only joking brother
you were only joking
were only joking brother
and you were only joking
(gravel and glass on the bottom of my feet) 
you were only joking brother
(i bruised my heels on the swollen street) 
you kissed me like a soldier heading for a war
(joking) 
i'm a dying man
(you were only joking) 
and you were only joking
(don't know what for) 
(dying man) 
you were only joking brother
(don't know what for) 
and you were only
and you were only
and you were only joking
brother
one two three four
ah yeah
sha la
sha la
sha la
sha la
sha la
(wide eyed and laughing) 
sha la
(dancing up to the bright side) 
sha la
(wide eyed and laughing) 
sha la
(dancing up to the bright side)

Jonas and Ezekial
i left my anger in a river running highway 5
new hampshire, vermont, bordered by
college farms, hubcaps, and falling rocks
voices in the woods and the mountaintops
i used to search for reservations and native lands
before i realized everywhere i stand
there have tribal feet running wild as fire
some past life sister of my desire
jonas and ezekial hear me now
steady now and don't come out
i'm not ready for the dead to show it's face
whose turn is it anyway? 
anyway?
now when i was young my people taught me well
give back what you take or you'll go to hell
it's not the devil's land, you know it's not that 
kind
every devil i meet becomes a friend of mine
every devil I meet is an angel in disguise
jonas and ezekial hear me now
steady now and don't come out
i'm not ready for the dead to show it's face
whose angel are you anyway? 
white - chain - rope - fear
(hush my darling) 
be still my dear
a bullet in the head, now he's dead
a friend of a friend, someone said
he was an activist with a very short life
i think there's a lesson here - he died without a 
fight
in the war over land where the world began
prophecies say it's where the world will end
but there's a tremor growing in our backyard
fear in our heads, fear in our hearts
prophets in the graveyard
jonas and ezekial hear me now
steady now and don't come out
i'm not ready for the dead to show it's face
whose turn is it anyway?
jonas and ezekial hear me now
steady now i feel your ghost about
i'm not ready for the dead to show it's face
whose angel are you anyway?
i said there's prophets in the graveyard 
(now i walk in beauty) 
prophets in the graveyard
(beauty is before me) 
prophets in the graveyard
(beauty is behind me) 
(above and below me)

Love Will Come to You
guess i wasn't the best one to ask
me myself with my face pressed 
up against love's glass
to see the shiny toy i've been hoping for
the one i never could afford
the wide world spins and spits turmoil
and the nations toil for peace
but the paws of fear upon your chest
only love can soothe that beast
and my words are paper tigers
no match for the predators of pain inside her
i say love will come to you
hoping just because i spoke the words that they're 
true
as if i offered up a crystal ball to look through
where there's now one there will be two
i was born under the sign of cancer
(love will come to you) 
like brushing cloth I smooth the wrinkles for an 
answer
(love will come) 
i'm always closing my eyes and wishing i'm fine
(i close my eyes and wish you fine) 
even though I know i'm not this time
(even though I know your not this time)
i say love will come to you
hoping just because i spoke the words that they're 
true
as if i offered up a crystal ball to look through
where there's now one there will be two
dodging your memories a field of knives
always on the outside looking in on other's lives
i say love will come to you
hoping just because i spoke the words that they're 
true
as if i offered up a crystal ball to look through
(i have offered up to you) 
where there's now one there will be two
and i wish her insight to battle love's blindness
strength from the milk of human kindness
a safe place for all the pieces that scattered
learn to pretend there's more than love that matters

Romeo and Juliet
a love struck romeo
sings the streets a serenade
now he's laying everybody low 
he's got a love song that he made
he finds a streetlight
and he steps out of the shade
and says something like 
"you and me, babe, how about it?"
juliet says "hey, it's romeo!" 
"you nearly give me a heart attack!" 
yeah well, he's underneath the window
now she's singing "hey-la, my boyfriend's back"
"you shouldn't come around here 
singing up at people like that
ah anyway, whatcha gonna do about it?"
juliet
the dice were loaded from the start
and i bet and you exploded into my heart
and i forget, i forget the movie song
when you gonna realize
it was just that the time was wrong
julie
we both come up on different streets
and they both were streets of shame
you know they're both dirty both mean
yes and the dreams were the same
and i dreamed your dream for you
and now your dream is real
so tell me honey
now how can you look at me 
as if i was just another one of your deals
now you can fall for chains of silver
and you can fall for chains of gold
you know you fall for pretty strangers 
and the promises they hold
well you promised me everything 
and then you promised me thick and thin
now you just turn away and say 
"romeo, i think i used to have a scene with him." 
ah juliet
when we made love you used to cry
you said "i love you like the stars above
gonna love you till i die"
there's a place for us
i you know this song
now when you gonna realize 
it was just that the time was wrong
julie
but i can't do the talks like they talk on my tv 
screen
i can't do a love song not the way you song them to 
me
i can't do everything but i would do anything for you
oh no i can't do anything except be in love with you
yeah now and all i do is miss you 
and the way it used to be you know
and all i do is keep the beat
i keep bad, bad company
and all i do is kiss you 
through the bars of a rhyme
when julie i'd do the stars with you
anytime
ah juliet
when we made love you used to cry
you said "i love you like the stars above
i'm gonna love you till i die"
there's a place for us
i know you know the movie song
one day we're gonna realize 
it was just that the time was wrong
julie
julie
julie
now this love struck romeo
he sings the streets a serenade
now he's laying everybody low 
he's got a love song he made
he finds a convenient streetlight
and he'll step out of the shade
and he'll say something like 
"you and me, babe, how 'bout it?

Virginia Woolf
some will strut and some will fret
see this an hour on the stage
others will not but they'll sweat
in their hopelessness and their rage
we're all the same the men of anger 
and women of the page
they published your diary
and that's how i got to know you
the key to the room of your own and a mind without 
end
and here's a young girl
on a kind of a telephone line through time
and the voice at the other end comes like a long lost 
friend
so i know i'm all right
life will come and life will go
still i feel it's all right
cause i just got a letter to my soul
and when my whole life is on the tip of my tongue
empty pages for the no longer young
the apathy of time laughs in my face
you say "each life has its place"
the hatches were battened
the thunderclouds rolled and the critics stormed
the battle surrounded the white flag of your youth
if you need to know that you weathered the storm
of cruel mortality
a hundred years later i'm sitting here living proof
so you know you're all right
(all right) 
life will come and life will go
(life will come and go) 
still you'll feel it's all right
(all right) 
someone'll get a letter to your soul
(someone gets your soul) 
when your whole life is on the tip of your tongue
empty pages for the no longer young
the apathy of time laughed in your face
did you hear me say "each life has its place"
the place where you hold me
dark in a pocket of truth
the moon had swallowed the sun and the light of the 
earth
and so it was for you
when the river eclipsed your life
and sent your soul like a message in a bottle to me
and it was my rebirth
so we know we're all right
(all right) 
though life will come and life will go
(though life will come and life will go) 
still you'll feel it's all right
(all right) 
someone'll will get a letter to your soul
(someone gets your soul) 
then you know you're all right
(when my whole life is on the tip of my tongue) 
then you feel you're all right
(empty pages for the no longer young) 
and your hear dry you eyes
(you said) 
and you know it's all right
(each life has it's place) 
and your hear dry your eyes
(you said) 
and you know it's all right
(each life has it's place) 
and it's all right
(it'll be all right)

Chickenman
i am an only child
born of the wild
riddled to spend my time
defending my land
you are the only one
born in the sun
riddled to spend your time
defending my plan
dead dog on the highway
median cats are growling at me
i turn my lights on brighter
i'm counting through the night ride
and it's one more life for the taker
chickenman chickenman
one more song for the maker
chickenman chickenman
on the road to athens
i saw a dead deer on the highway
i slipped into a desert
five prairie dogs and a rabbit
i was running down on queen street
i saw a woman on the sidewalk
(danger danger) 
she was beaten by a stranger
(danger danger danger danger) 
danger danger danger
and it's one more life for the taker
chickenman chickenman
chickenman hold my hand
one more song for the maker
hold my hand
chickenman
i was on the road to austin
met a man on the highway
he sold me junk and conversation
he was wise and dirty from the weather
i said darkness into darkness
all the carnage of my journeys
makes it harder to be living
he said it's a long road to be forgiven
one more life for the taker
chickenman chickenman
chickenman hold my had
one more song for the maker
chickenman chickenman
chickenman hold my hand
i am an only child
born of the wild
riddled to spend my time
defending my land
you are the only one
born in the sun
riddled to spend your time
defending my plan
i went looking for a car
found myself beneath the stars
i went looking for a girl
found a man and his world
chickenman chickenman
(i went looking for a car) 
chickenman hold my hand
(found myself beneath the stars) 
chickenman chickenman
(i went looking for a girl) 
chickenman hold my hand
(found a man and his world) 
i am an only child
(chickenman chickenman) 
(chickenman hold my hand) 
hold my hand
(chickenman chickenman) 
(chickenman hold my hand) 
i am an only child
(chickenman chickenman) 
(chickenman hold my hand) 
hold my hand
(chickenman chickenman) 
(chickenman hold my hand) 
chickenman chickenman
chickenman hold my hand
chickenman chickenman
chickenman hold my hand
chickenman chickenman
chickenman hold my hand
chickenman chickenman
chickenman hold my hand

Airplane
up on the airplane
nearer my god to thee
i start making a deal
inspired by gravity
if i did wrong i won't do it again
cause i can be sweet and good and nice 
and if i had enemies their friends
i'll hold to my life with the grip of a vice
and i'm up on the airplane
nearer my god to thee
i start making a deal
inspired by gravity
that little spot on the ground is my hometown
i like to call it my home and it's sweet
i'd rather take a seat down there
than a throne up here up above 30,000 feet
and i'm up on the airplane
i never should have read my horoscope
or the fortune on the bubble strip
saying what you think won't happen will
a great thing to read before a trip
on an airplane
pilot says the big blue sky's like a swimming pool
big fluffy clouds like a feather bed
i'd rather have a real pillow underneath my head
lying in my bed which is in my hometown
which is on the ground
far from an airplane
(my bed my hometown)
far from an airplane
(on the ground my bed my hometown)
far from an airplane
(on the ground my bed my hometown)
on the airplane
(on the ground)
[i'll be making a deal]
on the airplane
(on the ground)
[i'll be making a deal]
on the airplane
[i'll be making a deal]
[i'll be making a deal]
[i'll be making a deal]

Nashville
as i drive 
from your pearly gates
i realize that i just can't stay
all those mountains 
they kept you locked inside
and hid the truth
from my slighted eyes
i came to you with a half-open heart
dreams upon my back 
illusions of a brand new start
nashville
can't i carry the load
is it my fault that 
i can't reap what I sow
nashville
did you give me half a chance
with your southern style
and your hidden dance away
you dance away
and you dance away
all these voices
they whisper through my walls
they talk of falling fast
they say i'm losing it all
they say i'm running blind 
to love of my own
but i'll be walking proud 
i'm saving what i still own
i fell on my knees to kiss your land
but you are so far down
and i can't even see to stand 
in nashville
you forgot the human race
you see with half a mind
what colors hide the face
nashville
i'd like to know your fate
i'd like to stay a while
but i've seen your lowered states today
i've seen 'em today
honey i swear i've seen 'em today
now i'm leaving
i've got all these debts to pay
you know we all have our dues
i'll pay 'em some other place
ah i never ask that you pay me back
we all arrive with more
i left with less than i had
your town is made for people passing through
a last chance for a cause 
i thought I knew
but nashville
you tell me what you are gonna do
with all your southern style
it'll never pull you through
nashville
i can't place no blame
but if you forget my face 
i'll never call your name again
no never again
no never again
i fell on my knees to kiss your land
but you are so far down
and i can't even see to stand 
in nashville
you forgot the human race
you see with half a mind
what colors hide the face
nashville
i'd like to know your fate
i'd like to stay a while
but i've seen your lowered states today
i've seen 'em today
honey i swear i've seen 'em today
i'm running away i'm running away
i'm running i'm running
i'm running away
let it be me
sticks and stones
battle zones
a single light bulb
on a single thread for the black
sirens wail
history fails
rose-colored glass
begins to age and crack
while the politicians shadowbox
the power ring
in an endless split decision
never solve anything
from a neighbor's distant land
i heard the strain of the common man

Let it Be Me
(this is not a fighting song) 
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong) 
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light
well the world seems spent
and the president
has no good idea
of who the masses are
well i'm one of them
and i'm among friends
we're trying to see beyond
the fences in our own backyards
i've seen the kingdoms blow
like ashes in the winds of change
but the power of truth
is the fuel for the flame
so the darker the ages get
there's a stronger beacon yet
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song) 
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong) 
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light
in the kind word you speak
in the turn of the cheek
when your vision stays clear
in the face of your fear
then you see turning out a light switch
is their only power
when we stand like spotlights
in a mighty tower
all for one and one for all
then we sing the common call
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song) 
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong) 
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light
let it be me
sticks and stones
battle zones
a single light bulb
on a single thread for the black
sirens wail
history fails
rose-colored glass
begins to age and crack
while the politicians shadowbox
the power ring
in an endless split decision
never solve anything
from a neighbor's distant land
i heard the strain of the common man
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song) 
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong) 
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light
well the world seems spent
and the president
has no good idea
of who the masses are
well i'm one of them
and i'm among friends
we're trying to see beyond
the fences in our own backyards
i've seen the kingdoms blow
like ashes in the winds of change
but the power of truth
is the fuel for the flame
so the darker the ages get
there's a stronger beacon yet
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song) 
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong) 
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light
in the kind word you speak
in the turn of the cheek
when your vision stays clear
in the face of your fear
then you see turning out a light switch
is their only power
when we stand like spotlights
in a mighty tower
all for one and one for all
then we sing the common call
let it be me
(this is not a fighting song) 
let it be me
(not a wrong for a wrong) 
let it be me
if the world is night
shine my life like a light

Cedar Tree
you dug a well
you dug it deep
for every wife you buried
you planted a cedar tree
the best
the best you ever had
i stand where you stood
i stand for bad or good
and i am green and you are wood
the best 
the best he ever had
i dig a well
i dig it deep
and for my only love
i plant a cedar tree
the best
the best we ever had

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