Long Night (You're Not Alone)

midnight in my shabby apartment
back in the town that's not my home
my mind's racin but I don't wanna stop it
suddenly there's so much I have to do alone

but hey just listen to me babe
whenever you can't see the sun
you can take it from me babe
you're not the only one

My eyes were so hazey this morning
then I was forced against the wall
bad days come with so little warning
leave ya feelin too much or nothin at all

but hey just listen to me friend
whenever the seams come undone
you can at least take it from me
you're not the only one

I know we're kinda lost tonight
and the stars are covered in dust
lately I'm not sure if I'm alright
sometimes it's ourselve we gotta learn to trust

but hey listen to me babe
even if you still can't find your sun
just lie back down and believe me babe
you're not the only one

someday I'll leave this old apartment
someday you'll find where you belong
but now my heart is racin and I can't stop it
until someday, the nights could get long
sometimes the night's just gotta be long

Waiting for the Dawn

Remember when I stood in your yard
with the dead leaves at my feet
how I fell from your arms
and then got lost in the street

I saw your face in the window
covered in fingerprints and grime
that was left like a shadow
of the autumn that died

we saw the sun drowning
and i mocked your psalms
all those nights you found me
waiting for the dawn

you said I need a savior
so a savior was made
you thought "that ember might save her"
just left tar where my spirit caved

years ago I clawed at your door
and left scars in the wood
tried to find that answer
but I never could

it's that task of change or truth
that I always got wrong
my thunder left you bruised and
waiting for the dawn

I got a voice in my heart
but it's nothing like faith
and it's gotten so hard
to believe in what you gave

Don't know if I can cry
at the sight of the cross
can't feel your blood in mine
just this burden of loss

but I still remember the warmth of your palms
the taste of your sea
your feet on those rocks
and your arms that can't hold me
your arms that can't hold me
your arms that can't hold me
your arms that can't hold me
your arms that can't hold me
the place where I couldn't belong
still burns in my core
I'm searching for the dawn

"Let me Go"

Maybe it's just that we've been weary too long
talked to the wrong people or I didn't play the right song
or maybe it was my answer that made last night so wrong
you always needed so much of me, but honey I ain't that strong

well ya opened up your window and the light hit the ground
you thought I could be rescued but I had too much outta town
I ran into some tin angel and she wanted to show me around
why do you waste so much time, girl, waitin on me to be found?

don't stand on the shadowy street where ya just won't fit
or inside the shaman's alleyway where the ghosts won't quit
go back to where you came there's no shame in learning to forget
that we once had a sweet love but I couldn't find any use for it

so ignore those black crows, honey, down at the line I crossed
don't worry about sympathy babe it comes at so high a cost
haven't you had enough of lonely mornings filled with frost?
this time you really don't need another reason to just let me stay lost

Battle (Never Enough)

kinda like a prequel to my last song.

couldn't find the river but I still had the rains
thought I'd give them one last try to wash the shame
but I knew
but I knew
wrapped my prayers in barbed wire and set the fields ablaze
what choice is there when you're born into this haze
but you knew
you said you knew
a heart can wait a long time but will eventually rust
were you really thinking of me when you spoke about trust?
how can you find answers in what has turned to dust

and it feels like living just isn't enough

there is no garden, haven't felt that sacred kiss
and something tells me I just wasn't made for this
so I lied
yeah I lied
you stopped calling and faded into the crowd
I stole one drink and then slept with Doubt
Did we try?
Did we really try?
Can you tell me what is left in us?
sometimes a spirit stays lost even after it's touched
maybe we hurt because we expected too much

and it feels like dying just isn't enough

I spoke your words and then turned out the lights
is it my fault they don't calm what's burning me inside?
do you recall
oh yes you recall

that last desperate summer, that last glorious start
something wasnt recieved so I broke your heart
did I fall?
why did I fall....

a stranger ducked me under and then yanked me up
said a few lines about your light and love
then all the people went back to where they came from
as I stepped outside where the sun and the earth was so rough

and thought if we could just believe, we might have enough
if I could just believe...

Battle (Still Standing)

while I was crossing the state line
I saw you, I swear I saw you
wrap your arms around me
my heart was racing to its own time
and I knew what I knew
but what you know isn't always what you believe

so listen....have mercy
on the girl who ran away from home
yes I'm still standing
but don't leave me standing alone

everything moves, everything has a cost
and visions, some visions just fade
but you still want me to try
my soul is moaning for what it lost
reaching, reaching thru the rain
screaming I want to see you but I don't wanna die

won't you listen....have mercy
on the one who tried it on her own
yes I'm still standing
but don't leave me standing alone

as I was landing in a desperate land
I felt you, I swear I felt you
give me something I never asked for at all
my body was shaking, please understand
why i turned from you I turned from you
because I was tired of having to crawl
I'd always been told that I have to crawl
don't even know if I was made to crawl

oh hear me.....forgive me
if I broke your heart when I turned to stone
right now I'm still standing
but don't leave me standing alone

"So Long, Been Good to Know Ya"

Here's some history: I first heard the song done by Woody Guthrie. He used his own lyrics to the melody of "Ballad of Billy the Kid" and the chorus is one of the many varients to Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" (one of my favorite songs, by the way.) I took the lyrics to the chorus and first verse from Woody, and then made up the rest, so that's about four people in one song. Ain't folk music great?

Well, I stole the "rapping at her door" part from Dylan's "It's all over Now, Baby Blue" which also probably came from somewhere else. So that's five. Hell, I could probably keep going. I'll stop now to save time.


I've sung this song but I'll sing it again
of the people I've met and the places I've been
of some of the troubles that bothered my mind
and a lot of good people that I've left behind, sayin'

chorus: so long it's been good to know ya
so long it's been good to know
so long it's been good to know ya
what a long time since I've been home
and I gotta be driftin along

I fell for June and then had to walk away
I don't know if I'll ever see her someday
we met so young and it chained our hearts
maybe it was time or fate that got our signals so crossed, I sang

chorus

A friend from t-town said goodbye once before
then years later I stood rapping at her door
a candle light flickered but eventually died
now we won't crawl back and she's still on my mind, singin

chorus

Robby was just like an older brother to me
so patient when I was too lost to see
maybe i took him for granted when I left town
I never wanted to hurt him, but does it matter now? just sing

chorus

Now to the people who've raised me, please be fair
I won't vanish forever, I just couldn't stay there
I had to move away from the life I'd been shown
a new dawn was rising somewhere deep in my soul, singin

chorus

Gone #3

I must leave now babe for the streets unknown
I left myself open to you and my heart was pressed to the bone
while calypsoes and falling tyrants were outside my door
there's something calling, I gotta know what it's for
I still love you, but I loved you too much to hold on
we both follow a different light and I'm gone

it's not for lack of trying to live my life with you
this hunger took its toll and I didn't know what was truth
so gather your last chorus and watch the swelling tide
you could have made it better, but now it's all behind
it don't matter anymore if you were sorry all along
my nerves are broken but maybe I'll heal some when I'm gone

Dreams can't make promises and jesters don't stand on trial
and blame might comfort some, but only for a little while
but I swear that nothing in me was turned to stone
when I closed my eyes and then let my baby go
just take care of yourself 'cause we need to carry on
tomorrow everything will change and I'm gone