Heard in 2013

Favorite Song:

Pray for Tucson



On a sunset I-10 mile lies a body beneath a sheet
The orange sky don't seem to mind but I'm on the edge of my seat
There's ten thousand auto lights dead stopped in dirty Tucson heat
We crane our necks to get a glimpse, and ride on by while I nurse defeat
Nurse defeat

It's that same old sinking feeling that blows on in from time to time
The only consolation comes tying despair to a rhyme
And knowing some are at home working, raising kids and saying prayers
Unaware of modern science, they may be wrong but I don't care

They pray for Tucson, they pray for me
They pray these roads lead home and won't take us too far
Take us too far

Well we get these years to play with and I've been game to roll the dice
But lately staring in the mirror has been showing me the price
Of all the reckless toxic gambling; having my fate hang from a string
The lonesome nights with pills and powders, the fuel I pretend helps me sing

So pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray these roads lead home and won't take us too far
Pray for Tucson, pray for me
I hope your faith is what will cover me
If there's something past those stars

'Cause the spell breaks every time I see those funeral cars
Or when they throw the floodlights on and I'm left stranded at the bar
I spend so many nights tempting fate with this guitar, but I'm coming home

So pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray these roads lead home and won't take us too far
Pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray these roads lead home and won't take us too far
Pray for Tucson, pray for me
Pray for Tucson
I hope your faith is what will carry me
If there's something past those stars
Pray for me

Wish on the Moon



Six thousand miles from Gainesville to Cali, open road rocking my soul
I'm here to get it, I won't quit it 'til I'm rolling up to my door
Got some good times, ten cylinders that fire and a woman at the end of the road
Chasing down a dream, running hard and clean with a worn out old radio

I'm gonna lay my head on the chest I know
We're gonna find that Yuba River shore
Yeah, we'll wash these miles off of us soon
For now stay between the lines and wish on the moon
Sing along strong to a highway tune
Wrestle my eyes, my mind, my heart for you

Sticking to my guns, rolling up the miles, running down, chasing the sun
I'm here to get it, I won't quit till I'm waking up with the one
Girl of my dreams, got me in between the seams, got me right, right ready to show
All of my cards, all of my wrongs, all of myself and more

I'm gonna lay my head on the chest I know
We're gonna find that Yuba River shore
Yeah, we'll wash these miles off of us soon
For now stay between the lines and wish on the moon
Sing along strong to a highway tune
Wrestle my eyes, my mind, my heart for you

Take my hand, take my whole life too
I haven't bought no ticket, haven't sold my soul
For the one way lonesome road

I'm gonna lay my head on the chest I know
We're gonna find that Yuba River shore
Yeah, we'll wash these miles off of us soon
For now stay between the lines and wish on the moon
Sing along strong to a highway tune
Wrestle my eyes, my mind, my heart for you

Dept. of False Hope



Welcome my son to where the work is never done
And the hungry are seldom ever fed
The department of false hope is a proving ground for dopes
And they'll grind your tiny bones to make their bread
(Hosanna)

So hold your head up high forgotten man
Tomorrow won't be made for you
And everybody's got to try to lend a helping hand
For God and man there's nothing more to do

It crackled on the radio through bright plumes of the sun
The announcer said the age of faith was dead
Though the adolescent nation was just looking for salvation
The beast of reason reared it's ugly head
(Hosanna)

So hold your head up high forgotten man
Tomorrow's not for me and you
And everybody's got to try to lend a helping hand
For God and man there's nothing more to do

From your cradle of destruction
With the poorest of instruction
And the merest sliver of a tune
You managed somehow to muddle through

So hold your head up high forgotten man
Tomorrow's not for me and you
And everybody's got to try to lend a helping hand
For God and man there's nothing more to do
There is nothing more

Carry My Body Down



How long can this journey go on?
Will I find the place I'm meant to go?
Will dreams fall down around us, just like the winter snow?
Another year has come and gone
Will my luck hold on for one year more?
I think of how far that I've come, and what's been left behind

When will they carry my body down?
When will they carry my body down?
Will they take it from the river after I've jumped right in and drowned?
Will they find it on the battlefield, on the spot I stood my ground?

I wander long, I wander far
Someday, I'll wander no more
I search to find what I have lost and that which I've never known
And when I find it, I'm gone
Across the river I go
I'll take only my memories and things that might have been

When will they carry my body down?
When will they carry my body down?
Will they cut it from a hangman's noose after the sentence has come down?
Will anyone be there to mourn a villain's passing to the ground?

When will they carry my body down?
When will they carry my body down?
When will they carry my body down?

Prophets



I was a silent partner, I found
Myself with the rabble who stood on the mount
Hipshot, thinking, but not out loud
"There are too many prophets here"

On the unlucky side of a stab in the dark
I took it in silence, I took it to heart
I carried it quietly over the wall
There were too many prophets there

I was behind it

One by one by one by one
One by one by one by one

Strike on zero
Strike on zero

One by one by one by one
One by one by one by one

I was a silent partner for once
And I had been split into two sections
Here is my heart and here is my song
There are too many prophets here

I am divided

One by one by one by one
One by one by one by one

Strike on zero
Strike on zero

I was a silent partner, I know
The part of the forest where you shouldn't go
Now out of the woods and out in the day
I see there's too many prophets here

One by one by one by one
Strike on zero
One by one by one by one
Strike on zero
One by one by one by one

10 West



Oh California, one thing I like to see
It's miles of asphalt boiling
Under the sun, I'm rolling up my sleeves
And I'll wait for the moonrise for any phase it's in
Pray I see no black dogs running
And drive all night 'til the early morning

Steer with the memories that swim around my head
Some are foolish, some so wise, and some just better off dead
And I won't slow down

Oh California, one thing that I'll see
It's miles of blacktop burning
Under the gun, running state to state
And I'll wait for the sunrise and the calm before the storm
Pray I see no black dogs running
And drive all night 'til the break of dawn

Steer with the memories that swim around my head
Some are foolish, some so wise, and some just better off dead
And I won't slow down

Oh California, you're where I need to be
I'm heading to your mountains
Through your rivers, on to your sea
And I'll make it only if I stay rolling
From there don't care where I'm going
Break for food, smoke, and fuel
Come on 50 cent cup to burn up my throat

Steer with the memories that swim around my head
Some are foolish, some so wise, and some just better off dead
And I won't slow down
I won't slow down

The Hands That Thieve



I felt no guilt until I was caught and I was told that I was guilty
And even then I wasn't really sure
Yeah, yeah
That the thing I felt was guilt itself
Or maybe it was something else
Frustration at the fact that I was ever caught at all

I told a lie that multiplied and by the time I realized it
I'd given up everything I ever loved
Yeah, yeah
Because the thing you lack when you're looking back
Is the pressure, the fear that you have to act
Yeah, everything is clearer when you're looking at the past
Oh no

And I don't care if I lose
Because my heroes did too
They shouted, "Court should be adjourned because the jury are fools!"
And the judge can't decipher his left from his right
Or his right from his wrong

And we will bite the hand that thieves
We will not turn the other cheek
This is no threat, it is a promise we will keep
So what's the point pretending
When we've seen behind the curtain
And there's nothing much to see
Oh yeah

I felt no pain 'til I was down and I was told that I was bleeding
And even then I knew I wasn't done
Yeah, yeah
Because the wounds I get they will just collect
Ensuring that I won't forget
Reminders of the battles that I've lost and that I've won

And I will fight 'til I have died
Or all my enemies are allies
And even then I will sleep with an open eye
Yeah, yeah
Because the night is long and our foes are strong
But I know that the road that we're travelling on
It only seems so dark because we've almost reached the dawn
Oh no

And I don't care if I lose
Because my heroes did too
They shouted, "Court should be adjourned because the jury are fools!"
And the judge can't decipher his left from his right
Or his right from his wrong

And we will bite the hand that thieves
We will not turn the other cheek
This is no threat, it is a promise we will keep
So what's the point pretending
When we've seen behind the curtain
And there's nothing much to see
Oh yeah

And everyone will claim
That they knew from the beginning
That what they did was wrong
But they still just went on sinning
The sudden rush you feel when realizing
Everything you know will fade away
It haunts you, dear
But you won't want to let it go
Someday we'll lose the war
But until then we will dream of winning

I won't forget the things you said when I was down and I was tired of it
The words you spoke, they brought me home

When it was time to fight, we chose a side
But everyone knew that something didn't feel right
So we stood our ground and waited for a sign

When it was time to fight, we chose a side
But everyone knew that something didn't feel right
So we stood our ground and waited for a sign

You said don't look back
Don't look down
Oh! We won't look back
We won't look down
We've gone too far
We're too high off the ground
The bridge was burned
The lesson learned

Grace for Saints and Ramblers



But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I

There were banged up heads stealing first base
Underneath the tables so we never said grace
Falling out of bed for the workday week
There was kissing in the cracks of the flashflood street
There were budding blossoms blaring Johnny Rotten
Chewed up and swallowed by the prophet they were trying to follow
Picked too green, and we paid no tax on our quick romantic cul-de-sac

But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I

There were crashed out cars in our barcode clothes
There was rubbing on each other, rubbing ghost on ghost
There were junked up punks and the Jesus freaks
Weaving in and out of trouble, wrapping 'round and 'round a leash
There were sleepless dreamers, doomsday preachers
The message and the messenger, the gun beneath the register
The sweet gum tree by the tough drunk tank
We could never give enough to the bad blood bank
There were hopeless sinners, sweepstake winners
They danced with the farmer’s daughter, capered with the corporate lawyers

But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I

There was laughing in the light, sugar in the shade
There were backstab handshakes made on faith
We were never out of time and we'd never entertain
Anybody say the habit of the wind was going to change
There were misled misfits, teething biscuits
Fountains full of penny wishes, potties full of pretty fishes
Side by side with the birds and bees
And we never said grace, never ever took a knee
With the saints and ramblers, movie star handlers
High above the aviary, underneath the cemetery
And we never wondered why, because the sun was in our eyes
There was seed for the field, there was grease for the wheel
We were drinking with the luminaries, eating with the missionaries

But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I
But it all came down to you and I

Don't Swallow the Cap



Gold light breaks behind the houses
I don’t see what’s strange about this
Tiny bubbles hang above me
It’s a sign that someone loves me
I can hardly stand upright
Hit my head upon the light
I have faith but don’t believe it
It's not there enough to leave it

Everything I love is on the table
Everything I love is out to sea

I have only two emotions
Careful fear and dead devotion
I can’t get the balance right
With all my marbles in the fight
I see all the ones I went for
All the things I had it in for
I won’t cry until I hear
'Cause I was not supposed to be here

Everything I love is on the table
Everything I love is out to sea

I’m not alone
I’ll never be
And to the bone
I’m evergreen

I’m tired, I’m freezing, I’m done
When it gets so late I forget everyone
I need somewhere to stay
Don’t think anybody I know is awake
Calm down, it’s alright
Keep my arms the rest of the night
When they ask what do I see
I say a bright white beautiful heaven hanging over me

I’m not alone
I’ll never be
And to the bone
I’m evergreen
And if you want (dead seriously)
To see me cry (don’t swallow the cap)
Play ‘Let It Be’ (pat yourself on the back)
Or ‘Nevermind’ (dead seriously)

Is it time to leave? Is it time to think about
What I wanna say to the girls at the door
I need somewhere to be
But I can’t get around the river in front of me
Calm down, it’s alright
Leave my arms the rest of the night
When they ask what do I see
I say a bright white beautiful heaven hanging over me

I’m not alone (dead seriously)
I’ll never be (don’t swallow the cap)
And to the bone (pat yourself on the back)
I’m evergreen (dead seriously)
And if you want (dead seriously)
To see me cry (don’t swallow the cap)
Play ‘Let It Be’ (pat yourself on the back)
Or ‘Nevermind’ (dead seriously)

Spirograph



Echoes down water wells
Picked up in sacred spirograph
Weekend and winter's unendable bendable baby

They buried him next to his first wife
His widow watched from under a visor
Daughter tried to keep her out of the sun that was blazing
Oh, oh

Then the sun went down
And she went to sleep
She lays her burden down
She don't need to sleep

When they were done they went back home
To a house he built with opposable thumbs
When they were so much younger
Oh, oh

Five years later she died in her house
All the breath that blows all the dust around
It just keeps on sifting
Oh, oh

Then the sun went down
And she went to sleep
She lays her burden down
She don't need to sleep, oh no

Echoes down water wells
Picked up in sacred spirograph
Weekend and winter's unendable bendable baby

Led to the Sea



Wake up alone
Oh, you do what you're told
It keeps coming, coming
Matter of fact
I liked you like that
But I'm done in, done in

Followed your breadcrumbs
They led to the sea
Followed your breadcrumbs
Led to the sea, sea, sea

Observe exhibit A
Who never learned to stay
There's nothing in you for the life to hear
Pound it into the dirt
To try and make it work
You won't be happy 'til we've drowned in it
We're never gonna fit

Consider the trade
Your promises made were worth nothing, nothing
Whatever you say
We're walking away
You're still running, running

Followed your breadcrumbs
They led to the sea
Followed your breadcrumbs
Led to the sea, sea, sea

Observe exhibit A
Who never learned to stay
There's nothing in you for the life to hear
Pound it into the dirt
To try and make it work
You won't be happy 'til we've drowned in it
We're never gonna fit

Waited too long
Did everything wrong
Said don't worry, it's not me
You got what you want
And you're not gonna start saying sorry, sorry

Followed your breadcrumbs
They led to the sea
Followed your breadcrumbs
Led to the sea, sea
Followed your breadcrumbs
It led to the sea, sea, sea

Born to Lose



You've got two bad eyes, you got them from your parents
And one bad leg, you got it from the war
Three mistakes in bottles on a shelf, yes
You can't wait to go and make some more

If you sneak out now they'll never know you're missing
Before they're wise, you could be gone and back
While they stand guffawing in the kitchen
You’re down the stair, and leave the screen unlatched
Leave that door unlatched

Swallowed up in silence, holding all your breath now
Wait for that familiar pull

Somewhere in the night a man is standing by
With a deal you won't be able to refuse
No, you can't call him, but expect your phone to ring
And, brother, you prepare yourself to
Offer up what you were born to lose

You move down the block, see curtains hung in tatters
The windows lit, the house is still awake
The girl upstairs is crying like it matters
Will she bend or will she only break
Just one more mistake

In no time she's disappearing through your fingers
Slips away, so make it last

Somewhere in the night a man is standing by
With a deal you won't be able to refuse
No, you can't call him, but expect your phone to ring
And, brother, you prepare yourself to offer up

What you needed the most
Lord, he'll make you a ghost
If you do or if you don't

You've got two bad eyes, you got them from your parents
And one bad leg, you got it from the war
Three mistakes in bottles on a shelf, yes
You can't wait to go and make some more
So go and make some more

Somewhere in the night a man is standing by
With a deal you won't be able to refuse
No, you can't call him, but expect your phone to ring
And, brother, you prepare yourself to
Offer up what you were born to lose

Closure



This is where the lines are drawn and gradually we pull back
To a place that neither knows
Where the anger leaves us breathless
Completely bored and restless
With a silence that explodes

Let it go ’cause it’s over now
Let it die before it eats you up inside
Want you to know if we ever make it out of here alive
I’ll walk away and you can live the lie

Pass and store the isolation
We crash and burn and placate
All the wounds that hold us down
Fading harsh into the same song
What point is there to hold on
‘Cause it's over now

Let it go ’cause it’s over now
Let it die before it eats you up inside
Want you to know if we ever make it out of here alive
I’ll walk away and you can live the lie

Can you live the lie

It's not a crime of passion
More that of subtle lines
Creating lifeless plastic
Out of garbage redefined

So let it go ’cause it’s over now
Let it die before it eats you up inside
Want you to know if we ever make it out of here alive
I’ll walk away and you can live the lie
Can you live the lie

Edge of Evolution



Here I leave my story, I leave it in the dust
Although this psychology's been entertaining enough
Herein lies the witness objective with my stuff
But we're ready to push envelopes into full-blown consciousness

So here we go out here on the edge of evolution
Numbers growing out here on the edge of evolution

I have had my glimpses with and without substances
I have had awakenings, non-abiding for the most part

And here we go out here on the edge of evolution
Numbers growing out here on the edge of evolution

In this sacred duality
The highs and lows and the heres and theres
These aversions and these cravings
Push me beyond identity into pure awareness (we're already here)

And here we are out here on the edge of evolution
We keep going out here on the edge of evolution
Here we are out here on the edge of evolution
We keep going out here on the edge of evolution

Elephant



She said, "Andy you're better than your past"
Winked at me and drained her glass
Cross-legged on a bar stool, like nobody sits anymore

She said, "Andy you're taking me home"
But I knew she planned to sleep alone
I'd carry her to bed and sweep up the hair from her floor

If I'd fucked her before she got sick
I'd never hear the end of it
She don't have the spirit for that now

We just drink our drinks and laugh out loud
Bitch about the weekend crowd
And try to ignore the elephant somehow, somehow

She said, "Andy you crack me up"
Seagrams in a coffee cup
Sharecropper eyes and the hair almost all gone

When she was drunk she made cancer jokes
Made up her own doctor's notes
Surrounded by her family, I saw that she was dying alone

I'd sing her classic country songs
And she'd get high and sing along
She don't have the voice to sing with now

We burn these joints in effigy
Cry about what we used to be
And try to ignore the elephant somehow, somehow

I've buried her a thousand times
Given up my place in line
But I don't give a damn about that now

There's one thing that's real clear to me
No one dies with dignity
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow

Somehow
Somehow

The Shine



It was exponential Memphis from a thousand feet
But when we landed we were black and blue
Running through the city with apocalypse eyes
Just miles of streets with nothing to do

Your warm heart had been frozen by some cold ideas
You tried to tell me but it came out wrong
I changed my strings, shaved my face and
Locked myself into the tower of song
It gets lonely in the tower of song

But I don't stutter when I sing
My melodies grow little wings
Huddled here grinding tears into red wine
Meet the darkness with the shine

We've got all our sons and daughters virgin blood on our hands
They'll be the offspring of these ugly wars
But if we kill off all our devils, will our angels die?
I found love living life like a whore

So here's some trusty chords and a melody
A pound of flesh for the brutal throng
For the heretics and walking dead and red headed girls
From the fool up in the tower of song
I'm a fool in a tower of song
Make the lonely fool smile, sing along

Cause we don't stutter when we sing
Our melodies grow little wings
Huddled here grinding tears into red wine
Meet the darkness with the shine

If you've got the shine, shine on

3am QVC Shopping Spree Hangover



Limp lines resign
Limp lines resign
Limp lines resign themselves to margins

Like a drunken vampire, I miss the sun
I killed this summer, now it's done
Let's split and reconvene in a warmer space
I'm scratching my head, turning nights into days

Don't talk to me about boredom
Don't talk to me about pride
I sucked it all up
I swallowed it down, it's fine

Gangrene hangs on every word
Bullshit endings to stories unheard
It's unheard of to me to not fathom doom
So what did you find in my emperor's tomb

Some notebooks, some t-shirts
Some bad spelling errors
Strangled syntax, broken bottles and chairs

This here is my legacy
I leave all of this to thee
This here is my legacy
I leave all of this to thee

Don't talk to me about boredom
Don't talk to me about pride
I sucked it all up
I swallowed it down, it's fine

Limp lines resign
Limp lines resign
Limp lines resign themselves to margins

Drink at the funeral
Piss on the corpse
Yell at the sun
'Til your voice is all hoarse
I'm gone, this is goodbye
I'm gone, this is goodbye

Dead as a dream
Beneath a grey Chicago sky

Great Lakes/Great Escapes



I scratched my name into the table
The knife and phone just fucking lay there

I orchestrate a day of routine elements
These letters are so old and faded

And in the end we'll burn in history
I'll take a chance and fall in love tonight
I'm lost and found, so lost again
I wonder as I'm wandering

I used to paint myself with sentiment
But all my colors always turned to gray
I spent the night out on the wire again
But I wasn't looking for a savior

And in the end we'll burn in history
I'll take a chance and fall in love tonight
I'm lost and found, so lost again
I don't worry when I'm wandering

Great lake
I don't need a great escape
Tonight
I've got this city on my side

And in the end we'll burn in history
I could fall in love with her tonight
I'm lost and found, so lost again
Nothing to do but keep on wandering

We can live with our mistakes
All my friends are going out tonight
And I can't sit here just waiting for another day
To die

Fuck all this ancient history

Red Moon Lagoon