The Highest Good

I’ve been looking back over my shoulder
I’ve been looking down at me feet
Trying so hard to see where I’m going
But it’s the details that make things complete

Pale moon’s rising over the ridgeline
A shroud of doubt is rising over me
I’m tired of looking for greener pasture
I’m tired of walking like I’ve got no feet
The highest good is like water
The sweetest love is like wine
You’ll be sure to know it when you find
You’re alive
You’ve got to open your eyes each morning
And work your hands on every day
And remember what it feels like to jump in
The coldest lake on the first of May
(Refrain)
Allow yourself to yield
To every passing day
And you will never lose your way

(Refrain)

The Walk of Shame
.
The day breaks, hard and bright
You are only pieces of whatever happened last night
Don't worry; on your way home, no one will know your name
As you do, as you do the walk of shame
Don't you look so pretty with your raccoon mascara eyes
I don't even care that you hang out with those frat house guys
You fix your skirt that's crumpled, and you feel the same
And you do, and you do the walk of shame
I was in the coffee shop getting rid of all my friends
When I saw the door swing open and a piece of you came slithering in
You ordered some dumb coffee drink; I sat there staring there staring on, feeling lame
I did not know that you were doing, you were doing the walk of shame
By late afternoon your hair is straightened; you're feeling better
You're back out on the sidewalks in your skirts and shorts and the warm fall weather
I know everyone in this town loves to complain that you take all their parking spaces
And keep their miserable restaurants open with your fragile laughter and your pretty faces
I decided right quick that this is not so bad
Seven years old, rolling slow through town, in the Dodge, with my old man
I did not know then some of these things, which I pretend now
I did not know about, I did not understand the walk of shame

Late September
There’s a fog on the hills as I roll on the concrete
Past the shadows that I throw on the fields
Open up this valley, pull out my heart
See what secrets it yields
It shines like El Dorado glowing in the sun
Still I might not get off this road
They don’t remember me all that well and they’d be
Better off, truth be told
But like the way her name rides on my lips
Just to speak is to begin
And despite the miles that I put in between us
Here I am again
Call me back in late September
Look for me and I’ll be gone
But for now I surrender
Hello, it’s me, I’m coming home
And now I’m standing stark on the main drag
The cars are passing, the stars are shining down, and I’m
Hiding from the bar light, sitting in the shadows
While they all talk it up and drink it down
I’d say hello but they won’t know my name
It’s been too long for that now
I don’t belong here but they don’t seem to mind
I keep coming back somehow
But…
Call me back in late September
Look for me and I’ll be gone
But for now I surrender
Hello, it’s me, I’m coming home
Don’t be so sure
‘Cause you’ll always find more
Then you bargained to buy
So what I say is this
You never know how much you’ll miss
Every moment till its gone…
Call me back in late September…

Anna Lee

Can we remember when I waited for you,
Outside the all-girls dormitory?
In the bracing March dark, I stood for you
To come down to me
Were we ever so young as that?
In my head, there was a song from a movie
If you had it all to do again,
Would still come down and let me in,
Anna Lee?
A blonde in the summer,
And a brunette for the colder months
Did one of us think maybe we worked better in pictures,
One time, once?
Everybody’s looking for someone to flee
What have you done to me,
Anna Lee?
There’s not as much room for my
Ego and my thoughtlessness as I had thought, so
I’m up on the roof looking for a little glimpse
Of girls and God
If I could utter one word in faith, one word in praise
I’d mumble, the hymn comes out a muttered
“ Anna Lee”

Pretty Out

Gonna take a shower; gonna shave my face with a new razor blade
Gonna try and clean up some of this mess I have made
Hairstandinall directions, scared of my reflection
Ain’t exactly the picture of good mental health
I hope you’re out there feeling pretty. I’m feeling pretty out there, myself
Some days a fellow wakes up, and he hears those Dixieland horns—they play
Just because his sweetie ain’t so mad as she was yesterday
Darling, what you find alarming, you once found charming
Some folks still think I’m winsome as hell
I hope you’re out there feeling pretty. I’m feeling pretty out there, myself
My honey says she loves me
I guess it means that
Of all the folks who get her wound up
I’m the only one she tells she’s mad at
If you must go round with another fella, I hope his pockets
Are deep as my whiskey-glass well
I hope you’re out there feeling pretty. I’m feeling pretty out there myself
And I hope your evening dress is getting
As much use as my nudie-book-shelf
I hope you’re out there feeling pretty. I’m feeling pretty out there myself

Grateful and Gracefully

I caught a train at the westbound station
With a fresh snow on the ground
I took my suitcase and this old strange face
And I wandered town to town
The snow melted when spring came
Yet the ground still looked the same
And I knew then I was running
Out of time and out of money
And out of my mind, and so I
Learned to fall like stones sinking
Like bones breaking
Like falling stars
You may get broken, but let it be spoken
To fall with grace is a dying art
Now I've left some towns behind
And they've moved on just fine
My roots are all but deep
And love's just a fleeting pleasure
As two bodies cling together
As if we can hold what can't be held
So my heart don't burst these days
With an aching to be
Someone who I am not or who I used to be
Because I learned to love the silence
The beauty in the pain
And all of the little things that fall in between
And because I
Learned to fall like stones sinking
Like bones breaking
Like falling stars
You may get broken, but let it be spoken
To fall with grace is a dying art
So may your coffee be bitter
And your whiskey sweet
And may your boots be dusty upon your feet
And may you fall slow and sweet
Grateful and gracefully, and may you
Learned to fall like stones sinking
Like bones breaking
Like falling stars
You may get broken, but let it be spoken
To fall with grace is a dying art

Hard Times Songs

When the kisses flowed freely, I never wrote a song
I guess I had better things to do with my hands and my mouth
Now, I say I want you, but you don’t believe me
You say you need me still--you’ve got your doubts
Lonely rides home, moonless nights
Don’t answer the phone,
Honey, that’s fine
Hard times songs are better, anyway
And if I don’t weep, it’s not because I don’t care
But when all that’s left is what we’ve done and we tried,
You never cheated; I never lied
Looks like we lost it square and fair,
So darling why cry?
Alone in my car, rainy nights
Don’t take my call
Honey, that’s fine
Hard times songs are better, anyway
We could hide from our lovers’ woes
In one another’s embrace, but we’d both still know
When we must speak again, our smiles disappear
We cannot forget what has brought us here, to…
Lonely rides home, starless nights
No-answer phones
That suits me just fine
Hard times songs are better, anyway

Zombies
.
I’ve been talking with Henry
But I swear his advice would only ever be get out
I get cold, and I get angry
I walk alone in the dark and I shout
But sometimes…
Moonlight, streetlight, through the window, hits your glowing skin
Your white legs, they move away
There’s gravity in your pallor
In the morning I find that I stayed
Everything new that I see
All of this that washes right through
Everything I undertake to do
These are all a million miles from you
But then…
Your glowing skin comes toward me
Your white legs, they move away
There’s gravity in your pallor
So, toward the center I fall and I’d stay
Thinking now of running farther
I’m not done being lost
I’m not finished with missing you
I want to mix this all up with the sugar and the frost
Your glowing skin comes toward me
Your white legs is walking away
There’s gravity in your pallor
When I wake up, I find that I stayed

One More Reason
The dusty road bends
Like the curve of your smile
Mile after mile of country road
Along the coastline the
Waves whisper your name
Sailing against my windowpane
I not getting bolder
I’m getting older still
And if I’m coming home
You’re why I will
So give me one more kiss before I hit that road
And give me one more reason to drag myself back home
Like those bottles I throw in the river
That I’ll only meet down the line
You are my reason why
Caroline
This dirty river flows
Like your dark hair, ever-fine
Through the hills under the pines
This old boat I’m inside
Sways back and forth like my mind
Only sure of how it rides
I’m not getting wiser but
My heart belongs beside her still
And if I must come home
She’s why I will
Refrain

Me, the Monster

The way you look up at the dark, I’d
Swear you’d never seen it before
And it’s been as long as I have been here
Since I’ve seen it anymore
And there’s always a spark that I’d
Like to call perfect
Until it’s seen, and no one is what
You need to expect
Hey, I’m a monster
Hide your children and your food
Hey, I’m a monster
Don’t stay because you think you should
So I’ll be gentle and scrutinize
Everything I say
Because it all depends on the potential
To go away
Hey, I’m a monster
What else can I say?
I’m a monster
Don’t over estimate me-
I’ve got really big shoes
-All the better to inadvertently
Walk on you
I should be thinking about you
But I talk about problems of my own
Why would I want you to know me
If I can’t be the best you’ve known?
Hey, I’m a monster
Hide your bed and your beer
Hey, I’m a monster
It’s not your fault I’m here

Angeline
I go out
I drive to the river and run out past the shore
To wash you away
I can’t stand to smell you anymore
The city lights
They Shine like the freedom that I hold in my hand
You were dragging me down
Now I’ve got my feet back onto the land
Because…
You ain’t the one for me anymore, Angeline
You ain’t the one for me anymore…
Your picture frames
They lie broken and scattered on my floor
And now your flames
They can’t seem to burn me anymore
I drive in my car
The street signs they know what to do
These avenues
Each one leading me away from you
Because…
You ain’t the one for me anymore, Angeline
You ain’t the one for me anymore…