Forever and Ever Amen

Song for the Universe

In my dreams, you’re always there
And in my dreams, you never die alone
You never stop, the car rolls on,
You let it carry you until you’re safely home
So what’s the point in even going out tonight
What’s the good in all the good we do
If every single moment’s just another one that’s stolen
And all we love is all we’re bound to lose
Do you see your life before your eyes
Before you close them for the final time
Like a tiny hell that we give ourselves,
To realize all that we’ll leave behind
So what’s the point in even going out tonight
What’s the good in all the good we do
If every single moment’s just another one that’s stolen
And all we love is all we’re bound to lose

The Light

Lay down your defenses and just swing for the fences
In the book of your life you’ve got to bleed on every page
Fill in the margins and empty spaces
Ask the great lovers; they’d say, God, it’s a struggle
It’s tears and it’s trouble
But there is a light that never fails to bring the ships into the harbor
Don’t you worry about a thing, my darling
All your tears can be forgotten now
Tonight’s a sailor’s moon
But you just sit here in your room
All the words in the OED but still you hold your tongue
‘Cause the right ones never come
Ask the great lovers; they’d say, God, it’s a struggle
It’s tears and it’s trouble
But there is a light that never fails to bring the ships into the harbor
Don’t you worry about a thing, my darling
All your tears can be forgotten now
There is a light that never fails to bring the ships into the harbor
Don’t you worry about a thing, my darling
All your tears can be forgotten now

Love Comes to Us All

In a dream after the end
Blood is washed from our skin
Dirt is brushed from our eyes
And no one speaks ill of us
The shimmer-shake of your laugh
Confined now to summers past
As they tear through our clothes
For once we are not alone
Because love comes to us all
Love comes to us all

My Exploding Head

I’ve got all these thoughts running though my head
It’s getting so sometimes I wish I was dead
And I’d like to replace them with you instead
So get out of my dreams and get into my bed
Someday soon I think my head will explode
Just like on that Unsolved Mysteries episode
That we watched on your TV that I lost the remote to
I wonder if there are things I maybe shouldn’t have told you
Now I’m drinking whiskey by the gallon
Looking like Jim Morrison but I’m feeling Woody Allen
I want to be your bodyguard but you want to be my pal
And I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to throw the towel in
Someday soon I think my head will explode
Just like on that Unsolved Mysteries episode
That we watched on your TV that I lost the remote to
I wonder if there are things I maybe shouldn’t have told you
I’ve got all these thoughts running though my head
It’s getting so sometimes…

Neurotic Anthem

Lead me on, for just a little longer
Though I know you don’t belong to me, I’m already yours
And your ears are tired, but put a record on
And we’ll both just play along ‘til it runs out
You don’t have to stay
I’m just asking you to fake it for a little while longer
You don’t have to stay
I’m just asking you to fake it for a little while longer
Lead me on, ‘cause God, I’m terrified that you’ll leave
I don’t know why you stayed so long
And while I sing this neurotic anthem
I imagine your eyes scanning for a new shoulder to hang on
You don’t have to stay
I’m just asking you to fake it for a little while longer
You don’t have to stay
I’m just asking you to fake it for a little while longer

The Price

You’re gonna die alone, she said
And when you’re gone, they will forget you
You’re gonna die alone, she said
And when you’re gone, they will forget you ever lived
And that’s the price you pay for going your own way
And that’s the price you pay for going your own way

Song from a Bowery Opera House

I’m dreaming of the days when you tread upon the stage
And your voice tore through the hall like the screaming of an angel trapped in wire
Remember how the sweat clogged the pores upon your neck
And the boards’ creak down beneath your feet rose to meet the organ player’s tune
Oh, Eliza, how I wept at your curtain call
And the way the people spat your name upon that dusty floor
You must have felt the sting as the blackness of the ink
Was drawn up through your veins into the hardened muscles of your heart
And the brown tobacco haze on the window that you raised
Held impressions of your fingertips that faded with the coming of the fall
Oh, Eliza, how I wept at your curtain call
And the way the people spat your name upon that dusty floor

Brother John

Brother John was a car mechanic
And every night, he’d go home and panic
As he’d watch the evening news
He’d read the Bible from cover to cover
But he’d skip chapters and usually Numbers
And he feared God and the Devil just the same
At Sunday school he’d teach the kids Revelation
All seven-headed monsters and Horsemen and damnation
And it was the only time when he felt really proud
The kids, they’d go home and grind their teeth
Dreaming of the hands reaching up from the deep
And in truth, it was the beasts and the blood
And the fire that Brother John loved
It was the fire that Brother John loved
It was the fire that Brother John loved

When This Winter Ends

You told me that you’d marry me come the springtime
And you told me that you’d wed me come the thaw
But the nights are getting longer
And the days are getting shorter, it seems
When will this winter end
The frost on the glass is getting thicker
And I haven’t seen your face in such a while
But the nights are getting longer
And the days are getting shorter, it seems
And the snow on the ground is getting thicker with every hour
When will this winter end
When will this winter end

Summer of Love

Hey there, baby, you’re crying all the time
But doesn’t somebody love you
There must be someone who cares
Hey baby, you’re crying all the time
But doesn’t somebody love you
There must be someone who cares
So keep your chin up, fake a grin
You can’t be cryin’ through the summer of love
Keep your chin up, fake a grin
You can’t be cryin’ through the summer of love
You can’t be cryin’ through the summer of love
You can’t be cryin’ through the summer of love

I Can’t Take You Anywhere

Oh, I can’t take you anywhere
But you make me laugh like I was young
The days and nights are so much fun with you
Oh, we could take this anywhere
And we could race the setting sun
And it would never set on us, it’s true
But what’s the point in even going out tonight
When today’s a day like any other day
We’re just counting down the minutes
We’re just racing for the finish
We’re just counting down the minutes of the day
We don’t need to go anywhere
We might just put down roots and leaves
Build a house of old cars and live in the back seat
Oh, I can’t take you anywhere
I can’t take you anywhere

The Sun Porch

I don’t want to knock down the walls
I don’t want to live in the sun
I just want to live out my days naked and warm
I wish I could live on the sun porch
I don’t want to leave an arm between us
But I’m scared not to just go it alone
I just want to live out my days naked and warm
I wish I could live on the sun porch
On the sun porch
On the sun porch

The Light (Reprise)

There is a light that never fails to bring the ships into the harbor
Don’t you worry about a thing, my darling
All your tears can be forgotten now

Song for You

When I have come and gone
You may still have this song that I wrote for you
I wouldn’t take it back
I wanted to give you something that would last
It’s the best my dizzy, crippled heart could do
If you leave me far behind, at least make a place
For this melody and fragile chords and the memory of a day
When someone loved you as hard as they knew
When someone loved you as hard as they knew
When someone loved you as hard as they knew how to
And everyone could go to hell but you

Player Piano

The Plan

I had a plan. I had a plan to tell to you, that you were right when you said there’s nothing we can do. I had a plan; I had a plan a while back: live in a star and never come back.
I remember the plan, I remember the plan, I remember all and all you said to me.
Visions persist, an after-image echo back. The way you kissed, like a satellite detached.
I remember the plan, I remember the plan, I remember all and all you said to me.
I remember the plan, I remember the plan, I remember all and all you said to me. And was it all you wanted it to be?

Girl, You’ll Be a Lawyer Soon

Girl, you’ll be a lawyer soon. You’re already used to having every eye in the room. Will you become what you despised, like all your cell phone friends in their designer ties?
‘Cause it’s inside your heart that you might be mistaken. This is all what you make it.
Finding loopholes in regulations, do you think your mother’s heart is breaking?
‘Cause it’s inside your heart that you might be mistaken. This is all what you make it.
‘Cause it’s inside your heart that you might be mistaken. This is all what you make it, and you’ll never be the same again.

The Maginot Line

Wishing it were simple, you grind to a halt, knowing that there’s no way you could ever take this on. Your nerves and vessels remain exposed from all the summer nights when you were never more alone.
And it’s clear that you’ll destroy me but I’d rather burn out than just become boring and waste away in this town.
A Maginot Line around your heart for protection only works if you get just what you’re expecting. And still we try and soldier on, even though you know we’ve both been wrong before.
And it’s clear that you’ll destroy me but I’d rather burn out than just become boring and waste away in this town.

It’s a Lie

The sun hits your face and makes you feel like you are winning, like you’re up 13 to nothing with the bases loaded at the bottom of the final inning.
But it’s a lie that they tell you just so you will stop complaining. It’s a lie that they tell you just so things will stay the same.
The words that you tell yourself keep your feet pressed to the ground, and there are nights when you pick up the bottle and ones when it puts you down.
But it’s a lie that they tell you just so you will stop complaining. It’s a lie that they tell you just so things will stay the same.
And you tell yourself it all comes back around.

An American Wake

They raised up their pints and said, “Here’s to you, Michael. For the rest of our lives we’ll nae see you again.” And they all gathered ’round and they offered their blessings, believing that these things would follow him on.
And the old men are whistling songs they learned in their youth, and the boys are looking for roads that lead out of town.
After a year, the letters stopped coming; soon after, no one to take them remained. For decades the house stood open and empty, slowly beaten to dust by the rains.
And the old men are whistling songs they learned in their youth, and the boys are looking for roads that lead out of town.

A Song for Thomas, Who Doubted

Old Thomas he sat with his chin to his chest, and the sweat stung his eyes and the sobs shook his breast.

And the words that they’d said to him gave him no rest: he cried, “Lord, won’t You come back for me?”

Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Lord, won’t You come back; Lord, won’t You come back; Lord, won’t You come back for me?

And while Thomas was pondering what he’d been told, there appeared The Almighty, all lightning and gold.

And the holes in His hands were the eyes to His soul. Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Lord, won’t You come back; Lord, won’t You come back; Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Though the wound in Your side my hand hasn’t touched, and my desires and sorrows will soon crumble to dust,

Wherever I could run would never be far enough. Lord, You’re gonna come back for me.

Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Lord, won’t You come back for me?

Lord, won’t You come back; Lord, won’t You come back; Lord, won’t You come back for me?

When I Took Your Hand

Let’s get out of town and take a holiday tonight. We’ll take 51 and chart a course by the moonlight.
Yeah, you laughed when I took your hand, but I can’t think of a better plan.
We’ll drive all night and beat the dawn to your father’s place, and greet the morning as the sun slides warm across the lake.
Yeah, you laughed when I took your hand, but I can’t think of a better plan.
Yeah, you laughed when I took your hand, but I can’t think of a better plan than to lie here and dream of you.

Being an Account of the Amazing, Improbable Journey of a Mr. Phineas T. Snodgrass, Balloonist Extraordinaire

Pull up the final stake, my dear, and upward we shall depart. The air is crisp but our balloon is warm, and we become light as the stars.
Look how the buildings fall away, the shrinking of the London streets, whose trudging gait we let drop away and plot our course above the sea.
Our balloon shall set itself on the lunar shore. We’ll leave the troubles of poor London far behind. Astronomers will bestow new names upon us, and our mothers’ names will make the front page of the Times.
Your eyes no longer a scullery maid’s, our hearts are now kin to gulls’, and I no more a stable boy shall die now that I heed a poet’s call.
Your winsome beauty shames the sun, and brings a cynic to his knees; your sighs make the zephyr catch his breath and wring tears from the Pleiades.
Our balloon shall set itself on the lunar shore. We’ll leave the troubles of poor London far behind. Astronomers will bestow new names upon us, and our mothers’ names will make the front page of the Times.

How We Lost California

California broke away and into the sea it withdrew, over sandbars and ancient currents, and before long you were gone.
When the revenant cried, it was long and low.
We ran to the shore to catch you, but our thrashing limbs would fail. Our arms were not long enough to hold the Republic before it slipped away.
When the revenant spoke, it was long and low.

The Record Store Clerk Has Broken Your Heart

You shivered once and he kissed you like a hot knife, and you wondered where he could’ve hidden all of your life. Then he left you for a girl he’d barely met, although I’m sure he’d bet they’d make a smashing pair.
But oh, come back to me, dear! His company, dear, has left you broken. We’ll get a bottle of cheap brandy and drink until we can scarcely stand at all.
He’d move on the shyest girls, and they’d take cover behind the rows of Modern English and the would-be lovers tired quickly of Duke and Trane, Ornette and Etta James, and moved on to Marvin Gaye, it seemed like every day.
But oh, come back to me, dear! His company, dear, has left you broken. We’ll get a bottle of cheap brandy and drink until we can scarcely stand at all.

Baptism Song

You were baptized on the riverside. It felt so good just to let yourself die, and as you fell away just like the tears from your eyes, you were new.
All these people that you call your friends wonder if some day you’ll let them in. Pushed away by all of your supposed sins only you knew.
You prayed to God that He could change the past and in your dreams you’d watch the house collapse: every wall would crumble and every window crack, levelled and reduced to splintered beams and dust and ash, and you hope there is a Hell where every heart can meet its match.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Bob Dylan

When I get up, I’ve got the shakes. Seems to happen every time I wake. And I’m trying to write a song but the words always come out wrong. I get the feeling I’m no Bob Dylan. Strange how the world feels so small when nobody seems to return your calls.
And I’m trying to write a song but the words always come out wrong. I get the feeling I’m no Bob Dylan. When she steps in a room, the lights start buzzin’. She looks so familiar, like she’s somebody’s cousin. And I’m trying to write a song but everything comes out wrong.
I get the feeling I’m no Bob Dylan.

A Song for Abraham

Before the dawn breaks, before your mother wakes, we set out in the cold and dark. And the blood that courses through my veins runs also through your heart.
My son! But would my hand be stayed! My child! But these plans are made. And in this hour we face, know that I would take your place.

Here’s to the songs of our fathers! We are your sons, we are your daughters!

Let’s Get You to Bed

It’s been a long day; let’s get you to bed. It’s been a long day; let’s get me to bed as well. We’ll spend all tomorrow, all tomorrow sleeping in.

The Union Forever

Like a Storybook Ending

Lay your head on my shoulder and we’ll walk around this town. We’ll pretend to be a little bit older, and I’ll never let you down.
Thread your fingers through my hand, dear, and we’ll do as we please. Everywhere we’ll go they’ll strike up the band, dear, and we’ll bring ’em to their knees.

The Maginot Line

Wishing it were simple, you grind to a halt, knowing that there’s no way you could ever take this on. Your nerves and vessels remain exposed from all the summer nights when you were never more alone.
And it’s clear that you’ll destroy me but I’d rather burn out than just become boring and waste away in this town.
A Maginot Line around your heart for protection only works if you get just what you’re expecting. And still we try and soldier on, even though you know we’ve both been wrong before.
And it’s clear that you’ll destroy me but I’d rather burn out than just become boring and waste away in this town.

Bob Dylan

When I get up, I’ve got the shakes. Seems to happen every time I wake. And I’m trying to write a song but the words always come out wrong. I get the feeling I’m no Bob Dylan. Strange how the world feels so small when nobody seems to return your calls.
And I’m trying to write a song but the words always come out wrong. I get the feeling I’m no Bob Dylan. When she steps in a room, the lights start buzzin’. She looks so familiar, like she’s somebody’s cousin. And I’m trying to write a song but everything comes out wrong.
I get the feeling I’m no Bob Dylan.

Someday, Sarah

Your mother told you you’d break somebody’s heart and I’m sure I wouldn’t be the first. It’s when I’m by the window watching for your car that it seems to be the worst. These days it seems the only glimpse I get of you is when you’re going the other way.
Fluorescent lights drag your shadow on the ground like the sun at the end of one more day. And I know the time is coming, and from your eyes you must have known it from the start that someday, Sarah, someday, you’re going to break my heart.
You’ve dreamed of soft Venetian currents and the places that you’ll never go. Your adoptive father sells UFO insurance and you’ve never even seen the snow. And I know the time is coming, and I guess I should have known it from the start that someday, Sarah, someday, you’re going to break my heart.
Someday, Sarah, someday, you’re going to break my heart.

My Exploding Head

I’ve got all these thoughts running through my head; it’s getting so sometimes I wish I was dead. And I’d like to replace them with you instead, so get out of my dreams and get into my bed.
Someday soon I think my head will explode just like on that Unsolved Mysteries episode that we watched on your TV that I lost the remote to. I wonder if there are things I maybe shouldn’t have told you.
Now I’m drinking whiskey by the gallon, looking like Jim Morrison but I’m feeling Woody Allen. I want to be your bodyguard but you want to be my pal and I’m thinking that it’s maybe time to throw the towel in.
Someday soon I think my head will explode just like on that Unsolved Mysteries episode that we watched on your TV that I lost the remote to. I wonder if there are things I maybe shouldn’t have told you.
I’ve got all these thoughts running through my head; it’s getting so sometimes…

NYC

Almost missed my plane listening to a CD. They moved it 2 gates down trying to strand me in NYC. I could go down to Union Square, down on the platform and play along with the guy who plays drums with his hands but I don’t know quite what I’d say.
I’m leaving New York City for rainy FLA. It’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to stay. My feet are achin’ from walking Manhattan and I dropped half a desk on my knee. Never met any Dustin Hoffman fans and I’m not sure where they’d be.
There’s a rocket in Rockefeller Center and it’s pointed towards the sky and all around Ground Zero there’s people selling videos you can buy. I’m leaving New York City for a girl in FLA. She’s not thinking about me but I’m coming back anyway.
I’m leaving New York City but I’m leaving it a song. I’ve got friends back home and those that aren’t will be before too long. I’m leaving New York City for rainy FLA. It’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to stay.

Song from a Bowery Opera House

I’m dreaming of the days when you tread upon the stage and your voice tore through the hall like the screaming of an angel wrapped in wire. Remember how the sweat clogged the pores upon your neck and the boards’ creak down beneath your feet rose to meet the organ player’s tune.
Oh, Eliza, how I wept at your curtain call and the way the people spat your name upon that dusty floor! You must have felt a sting as the blackness of the ink was drawn up through your veins into the hardened muscle of your heart. And the brown tobacco haze on the window that you raised held impressions of your fingertips that faded with the coming of the fall.
Oh, Eliza, how I wept at your curtain call and the way the people spat your name upon that dusty floor!

Your Name in Cursive

The fluorescent whine of morning always sounds the same. I fell asleep on my feet but I feel my luck could change. When you slept, was I in your dreams and did I write your name in cursive the way I never could?
I sit behind the wheel as traffic trudges on like they know that where they cannot be is the place that they belong. When you slept, was I in your dreams and did I write your name in cursive the way I never could?

American Gothic

The last time I saw you, you were taking a class on the best way to end the world. And as an awkward silence hung onto us like a fog, I thought it might simply cease to turn.
And you and I, so focused on the headlights in the distance, would pretend not to see that it had stopped. We’d stand in place as hours stretched out to days before us, frozen to the spot.
Standing together, staring into space, eyes fixated on something outside the frame, I watched the sun slowly drag itself into the sky. And as it threw itself into the waves, it struck me that everything would change with such incredible force it was still a surprise.
And you and I, so focused on the headlights in the distance, would pretend not to see that it had stopped. We’d just stand in place as hours stretched out to days before us, frozen to the spot.

Magnetic North

Hey, look up so we don’t forget. Shake off the lies we tell ourselves: “We’ll be different”, but life don’t work that well. Concrete holds the shape of leaves that fell when we had just begun to breathe.
Keep good cover on your head when the stars fall. This was not the time. Hey, look up. Look up. Look up.