"New Song"

My heart it is eternal
And my soul it often flies
You can see it in the evenings soaring through the skies
And it takes me close to madness
Though it never really tries

I've crossed a million rivers
And I've walked a million miles
I've kissed a holy angel and I've tried to show some style
I never even questioned
How I know it's all worthwhile

But I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
I will fall

My legs they get so tired
And my head it often screams
You can hear the thoughts all turning overload of fears and dreams
I don't mind the sting of feeling
But it burns when I'm empty

I'll ride the road I've chosen
And at times I know I'll fall
I have nothing to lose now so I want to taste it all
Wintertime in Glendale
Till the next location calls

But I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
I will fall

I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
I will fall

I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
I will fall

Well there's no one left but you now babe
Got to say that it's your call

I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
And I'm gonna make it through and I'm gonna do it all
I will fall

"Eight Years Old"

Eight years old
I was in love with a girl
Eight years old
My only love meant the world
We'd hang out
Play catch and kiss at lunch time
I was young she was something to call mine
I'd be lying if I said I was not
Devastated and broken when she
Opened my hand slid hers in
Then walked away

It was bad
The only eight year old kid suicidal
In the school
Convinced I was down to survival
Melodramatic in my usual way
I was sure that the whole world would end
When the girl left that day
And it did

Seventeen years old
Riding home on the bus
Seventeen
Looking for someone to trust
The seat next to me
Sits down a girl I once loved
She looks at me
And then I remember her touch
She smiles
Then touches my knee
All of the sudden I'm eight years old not seventeen
Again

Here's this girl
I was in love, I was eight
Almost a decade later
A decade too late
So she smiles
Asks me "so how you been?"
Then gives me her number to go out sometime this weekend
My head is spinning it's all too surreal
Deja vu doesn't begin to describe how I feel
So I laugh
There's nothing to say
Maybe everything in my life's gonna end up this way

"Career Choice"

When I was a kid I was best at whatever I did
When I was a kid I was smart, at the top of the class
When I was a lad I was sure I had the world in my hands
I was my own teacher I had my own plan

I could have been an athlete could have trained all the time
Been just like the others could have left them behind
But I was too lazy I could not see ahead
All I thought of was music that was filling my head

I could have been a painter painting life in a rush
All I saw in a day on canvas with my brush
But I was just painting my life in a song
Getting all the chords right getting all the words wrong

I could have been a writer with a back catalogue
Full of stories of crimes, sex and beer, girls and drugs
But instead I was writing my first song so bad
On the cheapest guitar that the music store had

'Cos instead I strummed on guitars
Instead I wasted my time
And I strummed on guitars

I could have been a lawyer defending some guy
With a paycheck so big for my heart paid to lie
But instead I was keeping the truth to myself
In the records I placed one by one on my shelf

I could have been a champion, man of the year
Wave to the crowd as they scream and cheer
But here I am playing to people sat down
Nursing their beers while I play the clown

And instead I strummed on guitars
Instead I wasted my time
And I strummed on guitars

I could have been a racing car driver speed mad
Seeking the thrills that my youth never had
But instead I was busy enjoying my age
With teen punk rock anthems and hearts paid to rage

I could have been a scientist, doctor or man
With a stethoscope diagnosing ladies' old hands
But instead I built fret-callous fingertip scars
On my ten year old hands meant for toy ships and cars

And instead I strummed on guitars
Instead I wasted my time
Strummed on guitars

I could have been so much
But I wasted my time on useless guitars
I could have been so much
But I'm not
And I'm glad
And I'm glad
'Cos when I was a kid I was best at whatever I did

"Ketchum"

Today I got my call from Ketchum Idaho
From Hemingway and railways and whiskey wine and snow
But if you've never been in pain before then I guess you wouldn't know

I'm leaving in a while now for Ketchum's icy sting
To walk and fish and write some songs, to stay up late and drink
And if I stay there long enough then I'll never feel a thing

And Ketchum will be good to you if are strong and brave
She caters to the melancholy every single day
And babbles like a drunk old man unloading all his pain

I'll lock myself in Ketchum's stare I'll make her my whole world
I'm gonna roam the Ketchum streets to find a Ketchum girl
And then I'll let her break my heart 'cos that's all that I do well

The valley will become my home her hills will keep me safe
I'll give her songs about my soul when there's no soul left to take
And I'll forget I ever lived in any other place

And it may seem inevitable I would love this fate
So beautiful and tragic and her heroes can't escape
And Hemingway he shot himself one July evening late

But me I couldn't bring myself to bloody Ketchum's name
Underneath her passion boils, never spoils surface tame
I'll slowly let her kill me with her lonely wind and rain
Her lonely tears and pain

"My Drifting Nature"

We used to be the best of friends
I wrote a song for you
You'd call me for no reason
Talk about TV and food

We used to be the best of friends
You read my horoscope
You said I wasn't anal enough to be a Virgo
I said that's what I hoped

I admitted I was scared to you
I said I couldn't sleep
I told my jokes and they were bad
You laughed to humour me

We used to be the best of friends
We flirted but no more
Sometimes we'd drop each other hints
That we would both ignore

But now we're not the best of friends
We said we'd always be
There was a night I should've kissed you
That blame belongs to me

'Cos you got a boyfriend, got a life
I guess he took my place
I started speaking to you less and less
Till you were just another face

But sometimes our eyes meet
Sometimes we look around
Then one of us will look away
I usually look down

The other night I was hanging out
Red eyes, wet hair
I looked across the circle
And you were sitting there

The moment lasted forever
The reefer round this time
I took the hit and passed it on
Inside I nearly cried

When I think about the friends I've had
Forgotten faces in a crowd
The many times I've bared my soul
I've grown this old, I've cried out loud

I looked at you, you sat in shock
I looked at you, you sat in shock
My drifting nature has got to stop
My drifting nature's got to stop

"Daisy"

I didn't see it coming
I just thought that you were friendly
But here we are passionately embraced
I suppose it's kind of funny
But it's also kind of scary
That your kiss brought back a feeling I'd erased

When you said that you were lonely
And I said I thought you would be
Then you took me to a darker holy place
Then I said I liked to kiss you
And you said you loved to kiss me
Then kissed the sweetest kiss I'll ever taste

'Cos I've known you for an hour
But you're growing like a flower In me
I've known you for a lifetime
Or we're soul mates from a past life
Daisy

It's all mixed with indecision
And a painful soulful spilling
Of everything I've ever felt or known
And you know that they're all looking
So you kiss me even harder
Then hold me and I just feel right at home

Your touch is soft and tender
So I raise my flag surrender
Then say "I feel you staring at my soul"
And it makes them all feel awkward
But our time here's more important
So we sink into our closed eyed painful hole

I'm scared of what will happen
So I kiss you, say I'll call you
Then I tell you so much I don't understand
Then you kiss me with an answer
And my question seems invalid
And I go to bed with daisies in my hand

I call you there's no answer
But I know I have to see you
So I call and call and call and call again
But you never get my message
Or you choose not to return it
Because you shouldn't, needn't, wouldn't or just can't

I'm lonely and I love you
For the moment that is what's true In me
I've known you now forever
Joined at the soul together
Daisy

There'll be no way to avoid you
When I see you in the movies
And I realize right now you're not here with me
If I'll see you in my lifetime
If again I'll feel you kiss me
I suppose that I'll just have to wait and see

But for now I'll just be grateful
To be touched by such an angel
And put it down as life experience
That my muse is just a daisy
With the most beautiful nature
Will one day fall back in my flower bed

And I know you said you love me
And that's the only memory left For me
'Cos I need you more than ever
Joined at the soul together
Daisy

"2 Sisters"

On the TV there's a picture frame with two separate photos in it
My two sisters that's just about the closest they've been
My folks will tell you they've been that way forever
I can't remember the last time they were in the same room together

You'll hear stories about how they used to fight
Screaming slamming doors keep the neighbors up at night
And me their evil baby child brother
Just about the last thing they have in common with each other

Two sisters everything is awkward, tense
Don't know each other and it doesn't make sense at all
Two sisters both led lives extreme
Tried to erase any similarities

Married, single, secure, a floating balloon
Tried to forget the fact that they both came from the same womb
Two sisters a deadly combination
Avoid it at all costs it's not worth the frustration

Maybe a brother and a sister would be best for all
Two sisters had so much in common
Now they don't know each other at all
You thought that they'd grow closer with age
You were mistaken, they'll go to their graves apart
Not regretting what they didn't do
Never missing the sister that they never knew

Maybe the friendly sibling myth is a scam
I don't know any siblings that walk around holding hands
Maybe we all expect too much of them
Not only to be sisters but also to be friends

Maybe two sisters need to fight scream and weep
Maybe if two sisters don't fight
Then two sisters will never speak
Keep your theories and parent psychology
It doesn't hold with me

A frame with two separate photos in it
Is the closest that my two sisters have been
A frame with two separate photos in it
Is the closest that my two sisters have been
A frame with two separate photos in it
A frame with two separate photos in it

"A Month Today"

Just 18 I've seen the world
Done more than some their whole lives unfold
Still at school just saving face
But a month today I'll be leaving this place

I've lived a million lives so far
But I'm still naive and a broken heart
I feel like I've heard it all before
With a whole life ahead to hear a whole lot more

You wouldn't believe half the things I've seen
Way too much for just 18
I've written songs about them all so far
And played them all on an acoustic guitar

Life is good, it's been alright to me
I've recorded my heart on a couple LPs
It all comes down to the same old thing
Trying to find someone to share it with

I'm lost, I know that the world is weird
I'm swimming in waters that I used to fear
Crazy things have made me kind of tough
Sometimes I think that I've seen too much

Just 18 I've seen the world
Done more than some their whole lives unfold
Still at school just saving face
But a month today I'll be leaving this place
But a month today I'll be leaving this place

"Household Name"

Michael J. Fox was a household name
In 1985
And what about young Mallory
And all of the Family Ties?
I hear they all robbed liquor stores
And are in jail now for life

Kirk Cameron had Growing Pains
Sex symbol of the year
Problem solved so squeaky clean
In half an hour clear
I hear he's been washing dishes
For the last couple of years

Laughter tracks and '80s stars
Predictable jokes
I don't have to tell you what happened
To the kids from Diff'rent Strokes

Punky Brewster's 15 minutes
Lasted for years before it got old
You're never quite so cute
And I should know
Once puberty takes its toll

And no one knows their whereabouts
What they do or what they did
Chew 'em up and spit 'em out
Like all of the Cosby kids

It's the toughest game and the hardest time
It's the longest walk on the thinnest line
Its sad and true that they love then kill
Where do they go when they die?
To the big '80s sitcom in the sky
Michael J Fox was a household name
In 1985

"Grammercy Park Hotel"

It's 3 AM in New York
Sometime in 1995
The other half of the world
The other side

It might have been warm outside, maybe cold
Who could tell?
Three of us stumbled into room 421
At the Grammercy Park Hotel

It's 3 AM in New York
We sat for a while
We started to talk
We started to smile

Then he played a song I knew very well
3 AM in New York
At the Grammercy Park Hotel

He passed the guitar around
Over and over and over again
Till one of us broke a string
It was probably him

But the songs came out strong
They were loud, they were long
There were songs about girls, about boys
Sung a lot, screamed a lot
We made lots of noise

It's 3 AM in New York
It's the time of my life
Minstrels and maidens and heartbroken songs
Made me cry

And we were anonymous, androgynous
Bearers of truth
And the indie rock columnists would have freaked out
If they knew

It's 3 AM in New York
And I knew we were right
We were young, not so young
And in love with our lives

3 AM in New York
I went back to bed
Three lone true prophets
With songs in our heads

It's 3 AM in New York
And I just felt God
Lying awake in the dark
I was in awe

And I know in reality
It might not be true
But for three of us here in New York
It's all we could do

I know it's just songs, played on guitars
It's not rocket science, flying to Mars
And I know it's not much, but it's all that I have
To be sure that I'm real
Again and again

And If there comes a day
When my fingers don't work
Or my voice loses sound
Gives me grief, gives me hurt
Well, I swear on that day
When I lose what's worthwhile
From that day forth I never shall smile

It's 3 AM in New York
I feel fine, I feel well
Sound asleep
At the Grammercy Park Hotel