Shawn Mullins

she gets high
she gets low
she lives her life straight
just like a serpico

she starts to sneeze
and pronounces bless me
whipes her nose on a shirt that says
kill whitey

she takes away the hurt real fine
kinda like listenin to Jimi
or Patsi Cline

whirlin round
in the air
people say shes crazy
but she just dont care

and if I could see through Amy's eyes
chances are I would realize
somehow she sees bluer skies than I do

she picks a seat
at Johnny Cash
but she hates Courtney Love
with a passion

she's got a mom
she calls Denise
her daddy cuts hair
but he always wanted to be a priest

heaven know's where she's from
she blows me away
just like a machine gun

and if I could see through Amy's eyes
chances are I would realize
somehow sees bluer skies than I do

if I believed in myself
if I was somebody else
I'd run right up to her and say
your faith is my pride
I've gotta have you beside me

and if I could see through Amy's eyes
chances are I would realize
somehow she sees bluer skies than I do

and if I could see through Amy's eyes
chances are I'd be satisfied
somehow she sees bluer skies than I do

A good bit of me sleeps underneath
In the bed of my soul
lying next to belief
If i toss where i lay, I may turn her away
so i try to fall still, dreaming someday i will
wake up with you beside me, with all of your love inside me
so when i am gone, it guides me on
everywhere i go
you know
I take you with me sweet darling
everywhere i go, you know
i take you with me ya

A good bit of me keeps to the sky
on the back of a cloud
unaware of how high
if i stay where i lay, i might drift away soon
from the pull of the sun, i am full of the moon
baby your the one that grounds me
when the sounds of the worlds surrounds me
your love took and found me
lost and on my own
eveywhere i go, you know
I take you with me sweet darling
everywhere i go, you know
i take you with me ya

and baby i, always try
looking the life throughout the night
and baby my dream came true
with the treasure i found inside of you

Everywhere i go, you know
I take you with me sweet darling
Everywhere i go, you know
i take you with me sweet darling.... continued

we are the children of god wherever he may be whoever she may be
we go through life feelin odd like a bird inside a cage nowhere to pour the rage
its a mystery i know
to try and figure out what lifes gonna throw
we've been around for a while
i know i'll never go as long as i can see you
hold on to what we got
cause what we got is all we got
we are the future they say
whatever comes your way you gotta make it yours today
and when you got nothin at all dont be sorry
if you fall you keep on standin tall
you've got to pave your own road
and i will carry you if you got a heavy load
we've been around for a while
theres nothin you can do to make me want to lose you child
what we got is all we got
hold on to what we got
cause what we got is all we got
we got to hold on to what we got
cause its all we got
hold on to what we got
cause what we got is all we got
hold on to what we got
cause what we got is all we got

(Listen to the rhythm)
Your in your mind half the time
Trying to find someone to hide behind
But still they poured right in on you
And everyday you try to walk away
From the stupid things they say..
They say to hurt you

But I'm singing Baby,
I know you know
That's when the music's pumping
And the lights are low
You become someone else
(Yeah)....(When the lights are low)
(Hey Hey...Yeahh, No No )

Well I gotta pay respect where respect is due
I ain't never seen a woman who can move like you
I said..I gotta pay respect where respect is due
I ain't never seen a woman who can move like you

(Yeaaahh, yeah)
I'm singing Baby
I know you know
When the music's pumpin'
And the lights are low
You become someone else
I'm singin' Baby
I know you know
When the music's pumpin'
And the lights are low
You become someone else

(Shelby Lynne ) I feel it burnin from my soul
It takes me higher..yeah
And baby there's no reason to control
Your hot dance with my desire
Ohhhh, yeaah..mmmmmm

You're in your mind half the time
Tryin' to find someone to hide behind
But still they poured right in on you
And everyday you try to walk away
from the stupid things they say
They say just to hurt you

I'm singin' Baby, I know you know
when the music's pumpin' and the lights are low
you become someone else
I'm singin' Baby I know you know
When the music's pumpin' and the lights are low
You become someone else

(both sing scat)

It's 3am and the snakes have moved in,
I'm playing to 4 drunks and me,
but the beer is cold and the memories old
and the lights are so bright I cant see

And lonesome I know you to well,
You ring in my ears, Just like a bell,
And your hollow Like a dark empty well
Lonesome, I know you to well

(Break)

Now time stands still
and it spins like a wheel
whenever I see her around,
but she doesn't know and I'll never show,
there's to many eyes in this town

And lonesome, I know you to well,
You ring in my ears Just like a bell,
And your hollow Like a dark empty well,
Lonesome, I know you

It's 3am and the snakes have moved in!

Headed north on 95
I was feelin' very much alive
And if I don't come back read a little Kerouac
It would be good for you, yeah

Now I'm stuck inside a line
Tryin' to find a decent rhyme
I loaded up my van and left the promised land
For a different view and I'm still lookin'

So tell me where did we go wrong
And give me one more chance to prove you wrong

I saw a monarch butterfly
Spread its holy wings and fly
Beneath the velvet sun
I watched her come undone and then disappear

So I got out my old guitar
And I dug down really hard
And then a voice inside said
I gotta ask you why you're still comin' here

And tell me where did we go wrong
And give me one more chance to prove you wrong

It's hard to say where love turns cold
We never thought that we'd grow old
We filled up fast and went down slow
Enough to fake us out and make us fold

Tell me where did we go wrong
And give me one more chance to prove you wrong

And tell me where did we go wrong
And give me one more chance to prove you wrong

She was sitting in the corner of a cafe
In the burning heart of downtown Santa Fe
Picking on a Gibson and singing "Baby Can't You See"

She was buzzing like a battlefield tracer
She was grinding like gears on a Pacer
I said sister Bloody Mary, won't you do a little number for me?

She said I'll sing you any song that you wanna hear
Just pull up a barstool and buy me another beer
Take me away, take me away from here
Take me far away......Santa Fe......Santa Fe

He was living with some hippies in school bus
They had puttered here from Boulder covered in dust
He said I know a little lady living 30 miles up the road

I got a feeling that my ride aint gonna take me
If I dont see my little lady it will break me
Another 24 hours here, I think I might just explode

I been doing everything I know to try and stay free
Working for the man just aint no kind of plan for me
So take me away, take where I wanna be
Take me far away Santa Fe......Santa Fe......

I'll sing you any song that you wanna hear
It will sound alot better if you have yourself another beer
Take me away, take me away from here
Take me far away Santa Fe......Santa Fe......

I've never been the one who had my head on straight
So i gave myself this job now I'm waitin' at the gate
For my bag to inspected
For some crazy reason i am always suspected
Of smugglin' somethin' through
Like smoke or dope or airplane glue
The sargeant waves me through

Chorus:
And I know you've got somethin' to believe in
Down deep inside your soul
Hey friend, don't you stop believin'
n dreams that you had, when you were just a lad

Bear down, take another town and station by storm
Crank up the tunes and meet the full moon and the Carolina corn
But don't let it pass you by
'Cuz someday you'll wake up asking yourself why
You sat there at your desk
Suckin on the corporate breast
You turned out like the rest

Chorus

Hey you, check out the view windin' down to one
Me and the miss sharin' bliss and soakin' up the sun
And i feel like i've been resurrected
In my lifetime I have never felt protected
And loved like I do, when I am here with you

And I know you've got somethin' to believe in
Down deep inside your desparate soul
Hey friend, don't you stop believin'
In dreams that you had
In the dreams that we all had, when you were just a lad

Keep on dreamin'

I said something wrong, it never fails It kept us up all night But
time has her own way of showing Today in a different light Friends come and
they go, everyone knows That's the way it goes But Time has her own way of
showing Today in a different light Dreams sometimes come true Like mine of you
When you love me like you do Time has her own means To show us our dreams And
I'll dream of you

Hitched a ride from sunny L.A.
With a soldier who'd gone AWOL Stockade bound
And they got off in the Texas rain
And they hopped a southern diesel train
Headed to Atlanta
My hometown

Where she danced all night
In a go-go bar
And he tried his best
To play bass guitar
In the absolute worst punk bar ever heard
Yeah, but she got tired of that Georgia clay
And a drunk musician
Who couldn't even play
So she took a bus to Boston
Without a word

He never got to say goodbye
And he has to wonder why
It keeps him up all night
The way she wore her hair
It keeps him up all night
Her voice is everywhere
It keeps him up all night
She's out there
Searchin' somewhere
For somethin' of her own

Well old Will kept makin' bad music worse
But the whiskey and the pills
Wouldn't quench his thirst no more
So he stuck a needle in his arm
Then he lost his band
He started liftin' shops
It didn't take long
To get cuffed by the cops
And right about now
He's workin' on the county farm

It's never easier to say goodbye
And she has to wonder why
It keeps her up all night
The way he held her hand
It keeps her up all night
He was her only man
It keeps her up all night
She's out there
Searchin' somewhere
For somethin' of her own

To get where you need to be
You'll go thru anything
Yes, you will
And on your way to be free
You know, love is everything
Baby, love is everything

It keeps us up all night
Yes, love is everything
It keeps us up all night
Yes, love is everything
It keeps us up all night
We're out there
Searchin' somewhere
For somethin' of our own
It keeps us up all night
We're out there
Searchin' somewhere
For somethin' of our own

Yeah, keep on searchin you

From all that is in me,
I say these words with freedom on my tongue
I give to you all of me,
In this crazy world, life has just begun
No one can take that away,
It just keeps pourin' out like juice from berries on the vine
Nowhere is where I will be,
Without you and me, valentine
Don't mind my preciousness,
I sing these words cause that's the way I feel
Men, men have killed for less,
I'd do the same if harm was ever hurled your way
I, I'll try to explain,
It just keeps pourin' out like juice from berries on the vine
Nowhere is where I will be,
Without you and me, valentine
And when the storms roll in, and nothin's goin' right
I'll be the one who holds you (oh yeah), rock you through the night
No one can take that away,
It just keeps pourin' out like juice from berries on the vine
Nowhere is where I will be,
Without you and me, hey valentine
No one can take that away,
It just keeps pourin' out like juice, like juice from berries on the vine
Nowhere is where I will be,
Without you and me, valentine

In the town that Iwas born in
There rides a boy and a girl in love
And the answer came without warning
Just like an angel from heaven above

They run down moreland into the neon night
They left the others far behind
But they can make believe,even if it??'s for just one night
And if it??'s only in their minds

When they run, when they run,they run in the look
Love is familiar, It warms just like a summer rain
One moment falls into forever We got the power to melt away the pain

When we run down Moreland into the neon night
We left the others far behind
But we can make believe, even if it??'s for just one night

And it??'s only in our minds when we run We loose our way
We run so hard,why don??'t we stay and I don??'t know where we will go
to find our way

We run down Moreland into the neon night
We left the others far behind
The land of make believe seems to be in everybodies sights
But it??'s only in their minds
So they run, so they run, so they run

There is a young man
Driving an old man's car
Down the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Where the treetops meet the stars
There is a warm wind
Blowin' down the lost highway
And he don't know where he's goin'
It don't matter anyway

Cause the dreams pass through his mind
Like the years he'll never find

There is an old man
Night shift at the Stop-N-Go
He reads his dirty magazines
And mops the bathroom floor
He's lived a hard life
He lost a digit in the war
He keeps one hand on the shotgun
And both feet on the floor

And the old dreams fill his head
When he lays down in his bed
(Sometimes that's all you got left)

There is a pretty girl
Walking a yellow dog
Right down Dekalb Avenue
Where the MARTA meets the fog
There is a wild wind
Blowin' down the old railway
And I wonder she's goin'
She walks by every day

Yeah I wonder where she's goin'...

I still don't know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't tell t hem to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Where's your shame
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can't trace time Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace
I'm going through Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

As the lights go down
the drumming clown
whistled a melody
and as the rain pours down
his happy face
turned into a sad one
the autumn wind reminded him
that the circus had come and gone
so he opened a pack of swisher sweets
and whistles down the first one
his clothes are ragged
and his hat is dusty
his drum is missing snares
he maybe laughin and he may be cryin
but no one knows nor cares
his belly's empty
but his heart is full
he knows where he belongs
so he steps aboard that lovely train
and he whitsles his favorite song
and as he sleeps
he dreams of all the pretty girls he's seen throughout his life
and though his dreams are sweet
his aching feet
awake him in the night
he wakes to the sound of thunder
and he thinks of a reason why
then he hangs his head to cry
then he drifted off to a deeper sleep
that no one could disturb
and when he woke
he was at a place that was higher than the birds
he said my God I'm here at last
is this meant to be
I've lived the life of a hobo clown
whistle tunes for money
and his Lord spoke up
and said my friend
you are not alone
you've lived a good life my drumming clown
and now you have a home
and somewhere a stockboy opens a crate
and finds the butt of an old cigar
he hears a distant whistling
then he gazes as the stars

She slees with the windows open
yet she's still locked safe inside
and to block out the sounds of the city's commotion
she turns her fan up on high
yea she lives just far enough away from home
to see the whole scene
and down the street the kids throw sticks and stones
and end up on the the TV screen
yea they throw their sticks and stones
and end up on the TV screen
and she used to walk on these gracefully
but now they crunch beneath her feet
I guess she must be changin'
there's just no way to keep it neat
and her father still barks like a soldier
returning from victory
but now eh's much older
and that bark isn't as scary as it used to be
yea she watches his self torture
no one left to abuse but himself
but still her memory scorches her
and she struggles to love herself
her memory scorches her
and she struggles to love herself
and she used to walk on these gracefully
but now they crunch beneath her feet
and I guess she must be changin'
she never was to good at stayin' in her seat
and this town grows hungry and restless
hungry for what I ain't sure
but they're sweepin' the streets of the trash and the homeless
and raisin' the rent
and breakin' the poor
and I used to walk on these gracefully
but now they crunch beneath my feet
and I guess I must be changin'
there's just no way to keep it neat
I used to walk on these gracefully
I guess I must be changin'

He's a walkin' contradiction when he sings his verse.
He's got a caffeine fix addiction but it could be worse.
And he is loved by many understood in time.
But it's easier to love him than to try to read his mind.
He's a mass of words expression and toil,
and his temples in the trees, the water and the soil --
he's a man of evolution, always changing like the seasons.
He finds the right solution but gets lost in his own reason,
and he's got a ways to go.
I know he's doing what he can.
Sometimes this world's a lonely place for the evolution man,
but she's always been there for him.
She's his steady ground, and he'll never ever own her,
it's the other way around.
'Cause she's the way out of here,
she's the needle in his vein,
and he knows she's the only thing that will ever stop the pain.
He stands there naked in the light giving all he's got.
Most folks don't understand that
we're no different than the rocks and stones.
To the evolution man she said,
"I got a funny feelin' that I'm headed somewhere new and
there ain't no use in stealin' your sweet sweet dream from you
'cause I know you'll find what you want if I set you free...
and I'll still be here if you find that what you want is me,
'cause it's a long and lonely road.
I know you're doing what you can
but I never thought it would be so hard to love
the evolution man.
You're an evolution man

Joshua was an old man
his beard like mountain snow
and when I was a boy we'd have jam sessions
I'd sneak off to old Sharptop
with my guitar I would go
when I should have been at school
learnin' my lesson
and I'd sip a little moonshine
and I'd smoke a corncob pipe
and we'd pick all day until our fingers bled
and right around supper time
I'd run home in the night
just in time to get a whippin' from my Dad
oh way back when
he was 65 and I was 10
and I will never be as free again
oh way back when
the summer flew by quickly
and Josh and I spent out time
writing words to songs from memories of his past
he'd tell me bout the way it was
and I'd find the perfect rhyme
and I couldn't believe how we wrote our songs so fast
I never knew an old man
could be so full of life
the love we had was so hard to explain
and I remember how the tears fell when he spoke of his late wife
and I'd give him my 6-string to ease his pain
oh way back when
he was 65 and I was 10
and I will never be as free again
oh way back when
and then in late November
I knocked on his cabin dor
I knocked and knocked but Joshua never came
and I still remember
how he layed there on the floor
and I went home cryin' in the rain
oh way back when
he was 65 and I was 10
and I will never be as free again
oh way back when
oh way back when
oh way back when

She seemed almost demented
as she frantically repented
for the crime in which she filled her empty bowl,
it was empty like her soul
She kneeled inside the confession booth,
and she told that holy man the truth
but the booth was empty,
frozen black as coal,
it was damp and cold.
Where are you gonna run to now?
You lost what faith you had somehow
Your show is over,
it's time to take a bow
Where are you gonna run to now?
She spends her nights with lonely men
and she goes too far every now and then.
But it's her longest running show
and the oldest job around,
they say she's the best in town.
Where are you gonna run to now?
You lost what pride you had somehow
Your show is over,
it's time to take a bow
Where are you gonna run to now?
Now in 5 more years she'll be 23
And in a lot of ways she's just like me
She gives away her body,
I give away my soul.
We're always searching for life's treasures to unfold.
We give it all to you
yet we have no pot of gold.
So where are we gonna run to now?
We lost what love we had somehow,
we're on this one way highway
until the bitter end
but where are we gonna run to then

Lately I've felt deep inside myself maybe something ain't right
I feel like I've been turned and put on the back burner
And there's no rescue in sight maybe I have changed
But you know I feel the same still got this hunger in my bones
I feel like an all night drive all the way to the other side
There's a place I used to call my home
Lately I've seen a different side of me I don't know where I have gone
I'm killin' friend and foe somebody tell me so I know
Whose side I am on like a cat stuck in a tree
I gotta jump before i'll be free I guess the ground will break my fall
Lately I've been lost gotta find me an albatross
To lead me back into my port of call hey I hey I
Got something to tell you hey I hey I never meant to hurt you
Gotta get my stuff and go gotta leave to free my soul
Lately I've been out of my head again
I don't know what I have found
I feel at home here I'm not alone here
Lot of messed up heads in this town
But I never drew one single word from you
You lay there hidden in the prone
I never proved to be anything but an oddity I guess I'm better of alone
Hey I hey I got something to tell you hey I hey I never meant to hurt you
Gotta get my stuff and go gotta leave to free my soul

We opened Pandora's box just to see if she was home
She had an apple pie a jaundiced eye and a big red telephone
She said "boy's I know why you are here, you wanna take me for a ride
But before we go I think you ought to know
that I'm awful hard to hide
I'm awful hard to hide
So how will you do in this town boy's(sic)
How will you call him dead?
Will he die in his rack from a heart attack or from a bullet through his head?"
Then she whispered as we took her out
"He need not be afraid
'Cause deep inside the system hide's the truth
That you've betrayed the truth that you've betrayed."
Nowhere for us to run
Thirty silver pieces got the job done got the job done
Poor Pandora's life it was not as it had been portrayed
A government, an accident and now the bed is made
And we tried to put her back but we were defeated by our greed
Tried again while shadowmen did their dirty little deed
Their dirty little deed
We opened Pandora's box just to see what we could find
And in there was a note pandora wrote just before she lost her mind
It said "my passing will allow a peak(sic) behind the veil of secrecy
It's farther out than you can see
Just no telling where that trail will lead
No telling where that trail will lead

Mormon's are everywhere
battalions of bicycling bachelors
with dark suits
and well cropped hair
we're Mormons too
have been since '72
I'm riding between my brother and sister
in the back seat of a '67 Buick station wagon
with red vinyl seats
we stick by each other
and to those seats
we've been eating cheese and bacon sandwiches
our mother made for thirteen days straight in the August heat
and both my siblings are wakin' on those eggshells
as I will soon learn how to do myself
they play their quiet silly games
with their peashooters
as I sip luke-warm Sprite from a tin can
sold to me by a hunchback silly bastard old woman
a hundred miles back
who is probably the only person with good sense
in this part of the country
I still don't know what to do god-awful bacon and cheese sandwich
but your body is your temple
God tells us so,
so drink up your milk
and reap what you sow
I mold the cheese and bacon sandwich into a ball in my hand
it kind of reminds me of Play-dough
I look around to see who is watchin'
and stuff it between the red vinyl seats
no one will find it
at least not for a couple of weeks
we're in this big place now
it's kind of like 1/2 of an blue plastic Easter egg shell
and there's a hole in the top
where the sun cuts through
and lights up the room
and I hear all these male voices
telling me that black people are inferior
and it's ok to have more than one wife
and as the dry dry breath of the utah sun warms me
I stand before a statue of Jesus that is far too big
and has held these folks hostage for so so long
and I gaze up at the nostrils of the sandstone savior
and wonder if it
can smell all this bullshit
cause I sure can
and I'm only 5 years old
in Salt Lake City
in 1973

I fell asleep about 12:30 last night with the remote held in my hand
I drifted off and I could see the light
I was dreaming of the Promised Land
Oh I had a dream last night
but it's all a little foggy in my head
It was something about brotherhood
and love of all mankind
I spoke with an angel
but I can't remember what she said
You know as people we are powerless
yet we live our lives in any old way
Your people, my people,
we're all God's people,
and I don't guess it matters anyway
Oh I had a dream last night
but it's all a little foggy in my head
It was something about brotherhood
and love of all mankind
I spoke with an angel
but I can't remember what she said
I fell asleep about 12:30 last night
and I woke to the sound of the rounds of a .45
and as the ambulance pulled away
I heard a neighbor way,
""So young and so full of life.""
Oh I had a dream last night
but it's all a little foggy in my head
It was something about brotherhood
and love of all mankind
I spoke with an angel
but I can't remember what she said

My time is your time after all that
You've been through can you hear me calling
You and this line that I'm walking time it's
Pointing write to you I'm living my life with

You so call on me I'll guard myself just wait
And see I'll start a brand new now This time
Is the last time for me my life is in your
Hands you can take me all the way this

Religion in war torn lands the world has seen
Its better days

-------------
Lyrics Powered by LyricFind
Written By MULLINS, SHAWN
<i>Lyrics &copy; EMI Music Publishing</i>

What I feel, I can't say
But my love is there for you anytime of day
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you,
by my side
What I know,
I can do
If I give my love now to everyone like you
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make ev'rything succeed
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you,
by my side
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you,
by my side

instrumental break
What I feel,
I can't say
But my love is there for you any time of day
But if it's not love that you need
Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed
Tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you,
by my side
Oh tell me, what is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you,
by my side
Tell me, What is my life without your love
Tell me, who am I without you,
by my side, oh tell me what...

Sharing with us what he knows
His shining eyes are big and blue
And all around him water flows
This world to him is new
This world to him is new

To touch a face
To kiss a smile
And new eyes see no race
The essence of a child.....the essence

Chorus:
He's born to shimmer
He's born to shine
He's born to radiate
He's born to live
He's born to love
But we will teach him how to hate

And true love it is a rock
Smoothed over by a stream
And no tickin of a clock
Truly measures what thet means
Truly measures what that means

And this thing called our time
I heard a brilliant woman say
She said "you know it's crazy
How I want to try to capture mine"
I think I love this woman's way
I think I love this woman

The way she shimmers
The way she shines
The way she radiates
The way she lives
The way she loves
The way she never hates

Sometimes I think of all this that surrounds me
I know it all as being mine
But she kisses me and she wraps herself around me
She gives me love
She gives me time
And I feel fine

But time I cannot change
So here's to looking back
You know I drink a whole bottle
Of my pride
And I toast to change
To keep these demons off my back
Just get these demons off my back

Cause I
Want to shimmer
I want to shine
I want to radiate
I want to live
I want to love
I want to try and learn how not to hate
Try not to hate

We're born to shimmer,
We're born to shine,
We're born to radiate,
We're born to live,we?re born to love
We're born to never hate

He's born to shimmer
He's born to shine
He's born to radiate
He's born to live
He's born to love
But we will teach him..

I still don't know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don't tell t hem to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Where's your shame
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can't trace time Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace
I'm going through Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

I am in motion
I am blue
Love is an ocean
I'm anchored in you
and I am a dreamer
so you sent me away
sometimes we dreamers just get in the way
but i've always known
since I was a child
that the road is my home
and my spirit is wild
And I have my memories
and I've got lots of time
And I'm stoned in San Francisco
with you on my mind
And I have my memories
and I've got lots of time
and I'm stoned in San Francisco
with you on my mind
I said I'm stoned in San Francisco
I am in motion
I am blue
And Love is an ocean
and I'm anchored in you
Love is an ocean

february rain smoky mountain fire
like a hummingbird to cane
just following desire
watch the firelight
throw shadows across the room
many miles away
not far from cannery row
he beats on his guitar
and does his little show
and all the people say
you got balls to play the game this way
it's one in a million
so he fills all the holes
with good wine from mussel sholes
and the cencemillian
these streets were bound to cross
maybe lifetimes ago
whenever innocence is lost
we got a long way to go
we got a long way
watch the firelight throw
shadows across the room
and on a rainy night
two lovers held each other tight
in the moonlight (he felt so good in her arms)
in the moonlight (he felt so good in her arms)
in the moonlight (he felt so good in her arms

my name's billy jo mckay
I just turned 16 yesterday
I'm gonna get the nerve one day
to get outta here
my ma passed on 3 years ago they said
it was cancer and it took her slow
and ever since then i've been
sayin no to my daddy and my tears
now when you come down our road
you gotta watch the bump
right there across from
the garbage dump
you can find me out back
jumpin on the trampoline
and in the springtime
we'll be skippin school
we sneak off
to the cantrell's swimming pool
man, you can't get much cooler
than me and my friend darlene
now my granddaddy's hands are worn
from 50 years of growin corn
back behind the houe where
I was born before he had to sell
and my cousin eddie,
he got shot in the walmart parkin lot
yeah this little town's changed a lot,
he said it hurt like hell
my name's billy jo mckay,
it's a hot mississippi summer saturday
daddy's on the porch
with uncle dave drinkin dixie beer
16 years of being bored
my window's open, forget the door
hope there's some gas in the
old man's ford cause i'm outta here
I'm outta here, i'm outta here
I'm outta here, i'm outta here
I'm outta here
maybe i'll go down to biloxi
or maybe to new orleans
or maybe hotlanta

she grew up with
the children of the stars in the
hollywood hills and the boulevard
her parents threw big parties
everyone was there
they hung out with folks like dennis
hopper bob seeger sonny and cher
now she feels safe
in the bar on fairfax
and from the stage I can tell that
she can't let go and she can't relax
and just before
she hangs her head to cry
I sing to her a lullaby I sing
everything's gonna be all right
rockabye, rockabye
she still lives with her mom
outside the city
down that street about a half a mile
and all her friends tell her
she's so pretty
but she'd be a whole lot prettier
if she smiled once in a while
cause even her smile
looks like a frown
she's seen her share of devils
in this angel town
but everything's gonna be all right
rockabye, rockabye
I told her I ain't so sure
about this place
it's hard to play a gig in this town
and keep a straight face
seems like everyone here 's got a plan
it's kind of like nashville with a tan
but everything's gonna be all right
rockabye rockabye
everything's gonna be all right
rockabye rockabye

I had a dream I was in school
reading your autograph
pages of green in seventh grade
now like an epitaph
alone in your room
with and artist inside of you
you died way too soon
but I still can feel you
warm in a circle of friends
how have you all been
we'd never die just go through hell
and re group again
so button it down
so the wind won't blow it all away
and pass it around
like champagne on a holiday
pass it around
there's a lot of that to go around

September in seattle
waiting on a train
And I smoked my last cigarette
standing in out of the rain.
There's a cool wind blowin'
down the alley by the depot
Amtrak down the coastline
to the city of the roses.

Mama's hangin hand me downs
Daddy's in the hotel bar
kids reciting mother goose
running naked through the yard.
You see the best and the worst here
the richest and the poor
from the mansions on the hilltop
to the red dirt floor.

Pull into the station
the sun's settin outside.
The pushers and the pullers
tryin to take you for a ride.
Portland is a small town
with a bitter city smile
and as I walk these streets around
I might just hang here for a while.

Sharing with us what he knows
Shining eyes are big and blue
And all around him water flows
This world to him is new
This world to him is new
To touch a face
To kiss a smile
New eyes see no race
The essence of a child
The essence

He's born to shimmer, he's born to shine
He's born to radiate
He's born to live, he's born to love
But we'll teach him not to hate

True love, it is a rock
Smoothed over by a stream
No ticking of a clock
Truly measures what that means
Truly measures what that means
And this thing they call our time
Heard a brilliant woman say
She said you know it's crazy
How I want to try to capture mine
I think I love this woman's way
I think I love this woman's

Way she shimmers, the way she shines
The way she radiates
The way she lives, the way she loves
The way she never hates

Sometimes I think of all of this that can surround me
I know it all as being mine
But she kisses me and wraps herself around me
She gives me love, she gives me time
And I feel fine
I feel fine
But I cannot change time
So here's to looking bakc
You know I drink a whole bottle of my pride
And I toast to change
To keep these demons off my back
Just get these demons off my back

Cause I want to shimmer, I want to shine
I want to radiate
I want to live, I want to love
I want to try to learn not to hate
Try not to hate

We're born to shimmer, we're born to shine
We're born to radiate
We're born to live, we're born to love
We're born to never hate

Sharing with us what he knows
Shining eyes are big and blue
And all around him water flows
This world to him is new
This world to him is new
To touch a face
To kiss a smile
New eyes see no race
The essence of a child
The essence

He's born to shimmer, he's born to shine
He's born to radiate
He's born to live, he's born to love
But we'll teach him not to hate

True love, it is a rock
Smoothed over by a stream
No ticking of a clock
Truly measures what that means
Truly measures what that means
And this thing they call our time
Heard a brilliant woman say
She said you know it's crazy
How I want to try to capture mine
I think I love this woman's way
I think I love this woman's

Way she shimmers, the way she shines
The way she radiates
The way she lives, the way she loves
The way she never hates

Sometimes I think of all of this that can surround me
I know it all as being mine
But she kisses me and wraps herself around me
She gives me love, she gives me time
And I feel fine
I feel fine
But I cannot change time
So here's to looking bakc
You know I drink a whole bottle of my pride
And I toast to change
To keep these demons off my back
Just get these demons off my back

Cause I want to shimmer, I want to shine
I want to radiate
I want to live, I want to love
I want to try to learn not to hate
Try not to hate

We're born to shimmer, we're born to shine
We're born to radiate
We're born to live, we're born to love
We're born to never hate

like fallin rain
the days go by
can't kill the pain
and you wonder why
be strong
hold on
lotta love to go around
stay wild
soul child
don't you let 'em bring you down
it's like a dream
wake me up when it's over
somewhere in between
enemy and lover
walk proud
sing out loud
it always hurts to wonder why
one more mile
my soul child
you'll never know until you try
like fallin rain
the days go by
can't kill the pain
and you wonder why
be strong
hold on
lotta love to go around
stay wild
soul child
don't you let 'em bring you down
walk proud
sing out loud
it always hurts to wonder why
stay wild
my soul child
you'll never know until you try
you'll never know until you try
you'll never know until you try

well I woke up Sunday morning
with no way to hold my head
that didn't hurt
and the beer I had for breakfast wasn't
bad so I had one more for dessert
then I fumbled through my closet
for my clothes
and found my cleanest dirty shirt
and I shaved my face
and combed my hair
and stumbled down the stairs
to meet the day
i'd smoked my brain the night before
with cigarettes and songs
that I've been pickin'
but I lit my first and watched a small kid
cussin' at a can that he was kickin
then I crossed the empty street and
caught the sunday smell
of someone fryin chicken
and it took me back to something
that I'd lost somehow
somewhere along the way
on the sunday morning sidewalk
wishing lord that I was stoned
cause there's something in a sunday
that makes a body feel alone
and there's nothing short of dying
half as lonesome as the sound
on the sleeping city sidewalk
sunday morning coming down
in the park I saw a daddy
with a laughing little girl
he was swingin
and I stopped beside the Sunday school
and listened to the song
that they were singing
then I headed back for home
and somewhere far away
a lonely bell was ringing
and it echoed thru the canyon like
the disappearing dreams of yesterday
on the sunday morning sidewalk
wishing lord that I was stoned
cause therels something in a sunday
that makes a body feel alone
and there's nothing short of dying
half as lonesome as the sound
on the sleeping city sidewalk
sunday morning coming down

maria lays in the tannin bed
and reads the tuesday news
she's down there every week at the
same time with the same ol' blues
she reads the funny papers
and then the classifieds
and if she ain't too lseepy there's the
weather report on the flip side
and this kansas life is a hard one
for a girl from miami
you're just staring out at the oil fields
and that's all that I can see
her old man's in the same place
since the company let him go
just sippin the pabst blue ribbon and
cussin amoco
maria drives home
from the tannin bed
and the black clouds
roll across the sky
she pulls into the trailer park, pops the
trunk and calls the kids outside
said there's a twister comin
and you haven't got a clue
I ain't going to sit here in this double
wide and wait around for you
cause i'm taking the microwave oven
and i'm takin the color tv
and i'm packin up the chevy
with the kids and what's left of me
this kansas life is a hard one
for a girl from miami
just staring out at the oil fields

She cooks him ham and ho-cakes
at 5:30 every mornin'.
She does the dishes
and she irons his uniforms.
And she thinks she might have loved him once
but that was so long ago.
And the rain pours down
like a holy waterfall
over the gulf of mexico.

Boardwalk's deserted
and the beach is all closed down.
And the middle school punkrockers
ride their skateboards through the town.
And she looks back and she daydreams
about things and people she's never
seen just to keep from being blue
and she gets home about a quarter to four
and drives her brother
to the liquor store on Ocean Avenue.

And i'm parked on the state line on this
cold November day
and pretty soon I'll be a drivin' fool
somewhere down this lost highway.
And I hear a voice from
my soul's core sayin
"freedom's just a
metaphor and you got nowhere to go"
and the rain pours down like a
holy waterfall
over the gulf of mexico (x3)

I met him on the cliffs
of Twin Rocks Oregon
he was sittin on his bedroll
lookin just like Richard Brautigan
I thought he was an old man
he wasn't but 37
he said he'd been ridin trains
for 15 years
drawin portraits
to keep his belly full of beer
but it looked to me like he'd died
and missed the plane to heaven
but he was a nice ol' guy
for a younger man
he had a bottle of mad dog
he held in his hand
that he waved around a lot
to make his point
and I listened as he told his tales
of wine and women and county jails
and we finished off that bottle
and smoked a half a joint
he said "I came here to watch the sun
disappear into the ocean
'cause it's been years
since I smelled this salty sea"
he turned his bottle up and down
I saw him lost
and I saw him found
he said "I don't know
what i've been lookin for, maybe me..."
Well, I told him I too had been
travelin around livin out of my van
from town to town playin for tips
and whatever records I could move
I said "I don't reckon i'll be
makin it big,
you know it's hard to get rich
off a tout of coffee house gigs"
and he said "yeah, but ain't it a blessin
to do what you wanna do..."
and I told him "yeah, I pulled off here
to watch the sun disappear into the ocean
'cause it's been years
since I smelled this salty sea"
and he turned his bottle up and down
he saw me lost and he saw me found
and I said
"I don't know what I've been looking for, maybe me"
I said "it's getting kind of late
better be heading down the interstate
can I give you a lift
to san francisco bay?"
he said "nope, I think I'm just
going to sit here and rest
and maybe wait on the
tokyo-montana express
I might just lay here
and dream my life away
i'm going to sit right here,
i'm going to watch the sun
disappear into the ocean
'cause it's been years, it's been years
i'm gonna turn my bottle up and down
you can see me lost
and you can see me found"
I met him on the cliffs
of twin rocks, oregon
he was sitting on his bedroll
looking just like richard brautigan
just like him

I've been on the road too long
And Ive been stuck inside a song
and you know our love
has been through rougher weather
but our passion's like a rose
the season's tell it how it grows
and not much compares
to the times we've shared together

cause love
-heals everything
we're no exception
-to the rule
you mean everything
-to me

So if there's anything at all
all you got to do is call
and you know that Ill
drive 2000 miles
Just to show you that I care
Just to kiss your honey hair
and pull you close
and hold you like a child

love
-heals everything
we're
-no exception
--to that rule
you
-mean everything
you
-mean everything
you
-mean everything
--to me