Lyrics

Araby

I could not see you through the smoke
of all the things I've burned in waste,
to get a taste of you.

But your thought still drove me on,
keeping me resolved to hold,
to fold upon your voice.

As the lights fade out,
my blood will swim
because of all this pointlessness I'm in.
I might as well be done.
Give up. Give in.
Araby.

I made your love the game and I
broke you into things to take,
to have my way with you and your love.
Did it fill your vacancy?
Finding joy in finding me,
in making me a fool.
Your fool.

As the night surrounds,
I am not fine,
and chocked by all this vanity I hide.
I wrapped myself in you,
but just to find,
I wrapped myself in lies.

Araby,
I feel the weight now.
I feel ashamed now.
The room is dark but now I see.

The Selfish Tide

I am just a small, silly boy
on the wings of lesser things,
hoping you will hear me.

I am just the pale, selfish moon.
All my light, I get from you.
My face is ever-changing.

Stay above my tide.
May this child stop and just be satisfied.
You're the glory laid before me, and you I can't deny,
but I would walk away to give you life.

I am just the blink of an eye.
I lack the strength to pass you by.
I lack the right to know you.
I am just the pull of the world.
I bring you shells without the pearls,
nothing fit for wearing.

Stay above my tide.
May this child stop and just be satisfied.
You're the glory laid before me, and you I can't deny,
but I would walk away to give you life.

Oh Love, be plain
for loss or gain.
Oh, to refrain
or run your way.
My hands may tire.
My mind expires,
but you won't fade.

Stay above my tide.
May this child stop and just be satisfied.
You're the glory laid before me, and you I can't deny,
but I would walk away to give you life.

Birds of Prey

On my way,
heading down the Appalachian trail today.
She could be the one to take my heart away,
throw it in that cold dark river flow.

By and by,
meet me by the smoky, lonely river side,
resurrecting feelings of the oldest kind.
Will he be the one or will he cast my love aside?

God above, maker of this woman I am thinking of,
you can have my body, but don't take my love.
I lack the right to ask, but could you make her home?

Through the trees,
I though I saw you hiding in the dreary scene,
as much as I deny it, you're a part of me.
I can see you eyes, but can you see mine?

Birds of prey,
swarming up above me.

I could be,
I could be a better man and work the land,
settle on a rind and then I'll take your hand,
carry you to town and make you my wife.

I write it out,
bearing on the Bible till you hear the shout,
a distant lover calling through the darkened clouds,
quite a measure harsher than your golden voice.

You could be,
you could be the death of me with no surprise.
You could be the skinny little silver line.
You could be the death of me,
but take your time.

Birds of prey,
swarming up above me

The Salt in the Ocean

Oh, I could pour through her pages,
down to the ink in every line.
Oh, but I can't rearrange it.
I fall at the feet of hope and time.

May my breath depend
on love and truth alone.
May it be the ground
on which I build my home.

Oh, I delight in her motions,
goodness and grace in every step.
Oh, as the salt in the ocean,
so is her name upon my breath.

May her heart depend
on love and truth alone.
May it be the thread
with which her dress is sewn.

As a child holds youth,
you hold me now.
As the blood moves through,
you move me now.
Just as patience proves,
you prove me now.
Just as patience,
well I am patient
and I will wait for you.

May it all depend
on love and truth alone.
Do not let it wait
and do not let it go.

Discernment

It's too late to wonder.
It's too late for discernment.
The fire only works
if air and flame agree.

Baby, wait with me.
Baby, wait with me.

You slow my eyes,
you stop my breath.
I cling to the curtains.
I beg you not to draw them back,
lest light reveal my mess.

Baby I confess.
Baby I confess.

Oh, you say
God smiles upon me,
but you were a way
he chose to show me,
again and again,
though much has changed.
A different touch surrounds your name.
As passing waves,
I wash away from you.

But baby, must we move?
Baby, must we move?

The Blame Passes Over

Out of this we flow,
into something less,
into handshakes like strangers.

Past your door frame, red,
where I'm not to stand,
still, the blame passes over.

Gather words like grain,
save them from our cold.
I bide my time till your season.

Did the birds descend
on your breadcrumb trail?
I dare not hope that you left one.

I force the minutes down,
with eyes like bloodhounds, searching,
a heart not quite aligned,
a mind I pray is learning.

On the Face of It

My, oh my,
where has innocence gone?
She opened her wings
and fled fromt the scene of the crime

While he took your heart and
he took your breath.
Pray to God,
there's still a part of you left.
But maybe it's gone.

Why, oh why,
have I let innocence go?
I failed to see she was
never mine to bestow.
I took the grace and I
covered it up.
I failed to see that I
could not cover the cost,
cause baby, I'm lost.

Oh, break my heart again,
or stop the start of it.
Won't you shoot my gun again?
My hands pay none of it.

Won't you take the charge again?
Won't you take my heart with it?
Oh, just stop her ways again,
I can't take watching it,

And it's not by the ruse
that you get what you want,
and it's not my place
to rebuke what you've done and

On the face of it,
it looks so grim and hopeless,
hope there's more than this.

I know there is.

Tangled String

I said, "Oh, her fire's gonna keep me warm."
I said, Oh, that fire's gonna light my way."
But touch the altar with the flame,
and suddenly the joy is pain and I
don't want to see you burn.

We say, "Oh, Lord, she's so sweet."

I said, "That sun's gonna blind my eyes."
I said, Oh, that sun's gonna change my skin."
But waltzing through the lion's den
could be the thing to do us in and I
don't want to see you hurt.

We say, "Oh, Lord, she's so sweet."

Her beauty whispers little things.
They come on air that Patience breaths.
See, I have nothing left to bring,
except my love and tangled string,
but won't you dwell on me?

We say, "Oh, Lord, she's so sweet."

Infant Love

Right on, by the stream,
where my body lay,
Folly bowed his head to drink,
bid me do the same.

See, my still-born heart still beats
at a fraction of the need,
and I eat the bread of lies,
till my body lies, deceived.

Screaming, "Wait! What have I done?"
Tried to raise and infant love.
Moved my praise to flesh and blood,
but my name was not enough.

Right on, by the stream,
where I long to stay,
current, constant, carries on
and changes Nature's face.

See, my lungs are holding air
as the colander contains,
and I've oprhaned off my woes,
but her footprints still remain.

Screaming, "Wait! What have I done?"
Tried to raise and infant love.
Moved my praise to flesh and blood,
but my name was not enough.

All my bones are deeply bruising.
All my blood is raging through me.
All my breath I'm quickly losing.
Courage, make me move.

When we're born, we can not stand.
As we grow, we scrape our hands,
met with tears and harsh demands,
dry your eyes and start again.