Nancy

I woke up lonely again
Another morning she up and left
It's enough to stay sleeping so she would stay
And not go away once I wake

I memorized her eyes 
How they're blue, green and brown
Spinning round, in the darkness.
Just ask the stars to forget but they will confide
You see 'em and you're staring for life

Who's doing this to me?
Is it her or me torturing me?
If I'm wide awake or sleeping, still dreaming.

I can't forget that smile
And how it floated down, broke the clouds, 
Filled the valleys to the mountains
And if that song of love should escape her lips
A jealous moon would start an eclipse. 

Who's doing this to me?
Is it her or me torturing me?
If I'm wide awake or sleeping, still dreaming.

If you ain't gonna get in my bed, 
Please, darling stay out of my dreams
You and that heavenly body I'm orbiting

I woke up lonely again
Not the first, not the last, 
Not the worst thing to happen to me.
And when she comes back I'll say please stop.
And I'll end up asking her to stop by again.


Thousand Bottles

Black top walking down the street again, and I know I'm alone
Neon bar lights and city street signs show where to go
My shadows, big and tall, follow me down the street.
Revolving, and dissolving, and re-appearing from the deep of me
I'm alone.

I can't remember my friends faces, 
They've been replaced by blurry spaces.
Of Shape-less beings doing nothing but sucking my life dry.
I can't go, and I can't stay.  How I'll wake tomorrow I can't quite say.
And I fill my soul with some holy Spirits and fan the flame burning me.

I'm done talking to you because you don't remember my name
And it's all the same to you, I'm just another pawn in your game.
If there's still a heaven it's a thousand bottles away
So I think I'll drink myself to hell and back,
So it's all the same to me.

Cast out, I'm a red-white bobber, bobbing up and down in the sea.
There's me:  In my ups and downs, waiting for the teeth from beneath.
I'm a nothing atoll, floating along, 
I've been on an island with myself for company,
And I'm beside myself with hunger, wondering
What my insides taste like....what they taste like?

I'm done talking to you because you don't remember my name
And it's all the same to you, I'm just another pawn in your game.
If there's still a heaven I sent a thousand bottles their way
But I still aint got no message back,
So it's all the same to me.


Hometown

I left my Hometown with some dreams
And I was gonna see them through
And someday I'd return some kind of hero
because I did just what I said I'd do
Well, the Big City made me a failure
An apparition barely there.
No one wants to hear this Frontier music
I miss my Hometown and I'm scared.

Dreams aren't broken they're just pushed to the side.
You can read about them in a bar late at night.
Dreams, we all have them, but we'd rather we didn't sometimes
In my Hometown.

You know your Hometown is a small one
When you know for sure your dad's the Town Drunk
What's worse, you know just what cursed him there
Was living a life he didn't want, 
or having a wife he didn't love
or having some kids for the hell of it.

Dreams aren't broken they're just pushed to the side
You can read about them in a book you didn't write 
Or in all the movies you watch, what escape you can find.
In your Hometown

Like the Carpentars house is never done, 
I'll run home just Buy The Farm
Spend the rest of my Life far away from Harm
In my Hometown

Now there is no Hope, I'm at the end of my rope, 
Singing and swinging back and forth.
From the Bottom of the shower you can feel the hours 
Drain as you stay.

Well, now I head back home, and though I'm welcome
I remember that I don't belong.  
With some words on my tongue and some heart-strings strung
For living on the open road.
And I recall my Grandpa's words, and how they hurt at first,
But they Cure me now.  He said "Can't Never Did One Damn Thing,
So Do Something Even If It's Wrong".

Dreams aren't broken they're just pushed to the side.
As you get older they'll stay younger and you'll wonder
Did I do all I could do in my time?  
Did I Spend every minute like my Heart was in it?
I don't think so and though I can't go back, there's Tomorrow.
maybe that is the Problem, there's only Today,
In my Hometown, in your Hometown, in our Hometown.

The Man in the Moon says You're Not Alone
I'm your Lonely Midnight Chaperone
While you're gone I'll look out for your Hometown


Flowers At the Wrong Time

Flowers at the wrong time are about as good a gift 
As a kick to the head, a boot for my hand, she said.
And what the hell are you doing on my doorstep 
It's 3 AM. In my defense I said:

Oh my Dear I know not what I do, please take my Pain away.
Oh my Love I can't live without you, please give my Love back to me.

With a door in my face and a good bouquet wasted,
she calls from inside "I've already called the Cops!"
So I throw the roses and proceed to try and find some way in,
It aint happening, in my Frustration I say:

Oh my Dear I know not what I do, please take my Pain away.
Oh my Love I can't live without you, please give my Love back to me.

'Cause I'm Lost til I find you.  Sad, Hostile, Blinded, too.
I'm Lost til I find you.

On the way to the Station, I thank the Cop for dropping me off at home,
At least he got a laugh.  Took me to County, booked me and found me
A nice cold cell, with Colder Company.
Resisting Arrest, Harassment, and Being Drunk in Public,
But all I was was Heart Broken.

Oh My God, I know not what I do, Please take my Pain away
Oh My Lord I can't Live With You taking my Love away from me.
Took My Love Away from me.

With my head in my hands, a guard walks in and says:
"You made bail, you're a free man."
Some 48 hours after our last encounter she's waiting for me
My roses on the front seat.

Oh my Dear I know not what I do, please take my pain away
She said
Oh my Love I can't Live without you, please give my Love back to me.
She gave my love back to me.


Dried Blood

Blood can be spilled if I will it so,
so I'll make no Bones about it.
A whole damn Forest of my Family Trees 
Could be mowed over by me.
The monkey on my back is dancing 'round the knife
With a Home-made Handle made from my Spine.

The Dust on my feet, the Rust on my cheeks in streaks,
and how I never batted an eye at the Ashes I've spilled.
And the Dried Blood on my hands drives me crazy.  
It drives me crazy.

Been caught Red Handed by my Conscience again,
But a balled-up fist persists.
With no digits keeping track of my transgressions
Or laying blame in my direction
The monkey on my back is dancing 'round the knife
With no chance of Evolution in sight

The Dust on my feet, the Rust on my cheeks in streaks,
and how I never ever batted an eye at the Ashes I've spilled.
But the Dried Blood on my hands drives me crazy.  
It drives me crazy.


One Night at Jimbos

I slinged drinks at Jimbos on the weekends
To Ranchers and Underage friends.
Then One Night, near closing time, a man stumbled in
Talking 'bout his Life not worth living.

He said young man, you wouldn't understand
The Questions I have, why I've been drifting sad
How God looked away, and I fell from His good graces 
and how's a man to plan if not in His.  And I asked...

Good God, why was I given the task
Of answering Questions that even I have asked
It's like he took my Thoughts and read them back to me
I guess it's nice to think that maybe I'm not so all alone.

He said his whole life went South when he came out West
He said he'd love to fill his empty soul somewhere on the road
Oh where, oh where, could he find his place to be.
I knew it wasn't this bar, this night, or this company.

So I cut him off 'cause he had enough
He said that he didn't but he never would
I can't let you happen to yourself,
It's a habit I can tell and if it's just as well
Stay with me a while, let's talk about it.
See if we can find a better way to go about it.
Stay with me a while, let's talk it over.
Little did I know that my own soul would do the talking.

He and I past closing time talked through the Mystery
I tried some reassurance, some hope for his misery.
The farther we'd go the less my hollow words were hard to swallow
and I began to believe my beliefs, and I told him:
"Hey man, I got a plan, gonna be a singer in a rock band.
Cross from Custer, on to New York, down to Nashville, and on to San Fran.  
So let's shake hands in old Chicago.  
We got a plan, man, so Hey Let's Go.  Let's Go"

Good God, why was I given the chance,
To answer my Questions.  I like to think perhaps
We helped eachother out, he left my town thinking maybe
this time I'm not so all alone.  


Coming Home

I watch the wind dance it's way across the water
I walk the fields that were plowed by my Father
I see the sloughs where I used to play
I make the Wind swear to take me away, and I say...

I'm Coming Home, back to my home
I'm Coming Home, back where I'm known

I run the river banks where I used to play
I pass the church where I used to pray
I run by the school where my mom taught us to sing
I meet friends Come and Gone, Coming Home along with me, and I

I'm Coming Home, back to my home
I'm Coming Home, back where I'm known 

One thing I have learned is that home is a feeling and not just a place
and a memory that I've embraced when my physical home is just too far away
Montana, Land of Milk Cows and Honeys.  My Hometown is Custer, and I'm a
Hardcore Montana Motherfucker.

Like my friends Dan, RJ, the Wades, and Joe, Kyle, Butch and Aaron,
With Uncle Tupelo blaring, some Bosstones and some David Allen Coe.
Sometimes I ask myself where'd my home go?  It didn't go anywhere 
because I didn't leave.  And I say...

I'm Coming Home, back to my home
I'm Coming Home, back where I'm known


Good Old Days

Well, I'm just sitting in a bar all day playing cards
I've lived here long to know the best fishing spots
Everyone listens to what I say
Especially when I talk about the Good Old Days
A life of pride and some regret
I reflect on what I've yet to forget
When Living is the accomplishment
I just wish that I knew how to get there

Getting too damn old
Sounds like a curse, I will eat the words someday
When I'm old and gray
They say I'm an old soul and I don't know what to say
'Cause I fell weathered 
By a trek barely undertaken yet
I guess that's why I feel
Like I should be somebodies Grandpa

Sitting in a bar all day playing cards
I've lived here long to know the best fishing spots
Everyone listens to what I say
Especially when I talk about the Good Old Days
A life of pride and some regret
I reflect on what I've yet to forget
When Living is the accomplishment
I just wish that I knew how to get there

These damn kids these days
They don't have a clue about the way it used to be
Back in my day 
They would never get away with everything they do and say
Like their shoes, like their hair, and like their earrings 
Or their playing songs about Country music and a life 
that doesn't prove it
I wish I wasn't one of them.

Sitting in a bar all day playing cards
I've lived here long to know the best fishing spots
Everyone listens to what I say
Especially when I talk about the Good Old Days
A life of pride and some regret
I reflect on what I've yet to forget
When Living is the accomplishment
I just wish that I knew how to get there


Space Divorce

It seems you don't love me anymore
Even though I'm a decorated veteran of the 3rd World War
We met once up on a time in New Shanghai
Your hand in mine, I held it tight

We honeymooned on the Moon
And you said how the Stars stayed out all day just for us
And we found ourselves beached up and down the Idaho Coast
Those were the times I think of most

They have yet to invent a cure for heartache
But when they do I'll buy two of them
One for me and one for you
Or I could turn back time, right my wrongs,
Make you mine again
But I can't 'cause that's just Science Fiction

You got the kids, the house, half of my business
And the last kiss that I will ever give
But you didn't get my Dog, my Laser guns, or my Romulan Ale
They won't fail me like that bitch

It's getting harder every day
It's getting hard for me to explain
Worst of all I don't think I know myself anymore

They have yet to invent a cure for heartache
But when they do I'll buy two of them
One for me and one for you
Or I could turn back time, right my wrongs,
Make you mine again
But I can't 'cause that's just Science Fiction

Don't worry about me because I've been staying
With my friend the President RJ Mothershead
And he says he'll put me up in the Lincoln Bedroom
Looks like hot Robotic Servants
And the finest Soylent Green
To Keep me distracted from your Memory

They have yet to invent a cure for heartache
But when they do, come find me, I'll be finding myself
On a mining colony of some moon.
'Cause this universe isn't big enough for me
To get far enough away from you
I can't 'cause that's just Science Fiction


A Better Place

Where could you go that I wouldn't follow
A whale swallows you I'd come smoke you out
Head on South, well I'll head North 
Across the World just to head you off

Because I think of all the times
I was down upon the ground
You'd come around and give me peace
And walk me home again

All I know is the stories you told me
Hold me long after I heard them
And I hope that when I'm old
Those stories will be told half as good as they should be

Because I think of all the times
I was lost in all the sound
Your voice would sound and give me peace
And walk me home again

Sun is set and you went with it
Took my breath away for a minute
But the light didn't go away
It lives in the Stars and there it will stay
Just so long as I am strong and
I remember all you taught me
You got me this far
Well I'm gonna take us farther

Because I think of all the time 
I was down upon the ground
I was lost in all the sound
I was living in the dead of the night
You left this a better place
When you left for a better place
Nothing can take that away, no

Lady Luck

Having such a Gaul damn good day today
Don't think there's too much more I can say
What do you give the man that has everything
Nothing but a hard time
Make him apologize and bring him down to size

Once again I befriended a Demon
I make sure he stays at the back of my head
'Cause he's a Black Cloud
Just south of Eden
Biding his time and biting his tongue
Wondering when his time will come

Waiting for the world to count to three
Waiting for the sky to open up on me
Waiting for the Lord to call my name
Say "Ha" boy, you were wrong
What a shame

I've been waiting for a Magicians Assitant
To keep me out fo these Water Tanks
But thanks to my lack of Mystery
All my secrets worth keeping I leave on my sleeve
I don't blame her 'cause what's the incentive
What's the point in having someone all figured out
It's like finding Buried Treasure
And measuring the Worth by how deep you dig

Waiting for the world to count to three
Waiting for the sky to open up on me
Waiting for Lady Luck 
To fuck my brains out and take me out 
On the town

I used to be "Hi, how are you"
Now it's just "Hell-o, Good bye"
I can't say why
I can't say why

Waiting for the world to count to three
Waiting for the sky to open up on me
For the Lords and the Ladies to come around
Like a funnell cloud to my town and pick me off the ground
'Cause I don't see an outside solution to an inside problem
I've come to the conclusion that the only way out 
Is just an illusion
An intrusion on Learning and Losing


The Otherside

I see you from behind everytime I go outside
And I don't see your face and I won't 'cause I can't face
the Otherside

Dreams are meant to keep us alive
So why do I feel like I'm dying
Trying to pry Her name from the fates
I don't know how much more I can take 
'Cause we both drink from the same cup
Two sides of the same knife
And we both think that things will be better on the other side
The Otherside 

I'm gonna follow you home
I'm gonna swallow you whole
I'm gonna hollow you out til you can't live without me
I'm gonna follow you home
I'm gonna swallow you whole
I'm gonna wallow into the stream that runs within me

Maybe Fiddlers Green, we'll see
As real as we feel it can be
Or the cities beneath the sea
Room to move, fresh air to breathe
Because I hold this torch like a fish in the deep
Keeping your light on me
Because the Dark I see I leave it on the Otherside of me
The Otherside

I'm gonna follow you home
I'm gonna swallow you whole
I'm gonna hollow you out til you can't live without me
I'm gonna follow you home
I'm gonna swallow you whole
I'm gonna wallow into the stream that runs within me
The Pools I drool with Thee,
The Sea that roars within me

All I know is wherever I go
I'll always stay Twelve steps behind
All I know is wherever I go
I'll always stay Twelve steps behind

I'm gonna follow you home
I'm gonna swallow you whole
I'm gonna call all of your Demons out
Save some room for me, boys
I'm gonna follow you home
I'm gonna swallow you whole
I'm gonna wallow into the stream that runs within me
The Sea that roars within me
The Pools I drool within Thee
The Sea that roars within me


Leviathan

Used to be you and me and the Sea
And every possibility
Talked away, shared our pain that came in waves
Thought it'd always be that way

But now I see only me in the Reflecting
But I know you're down there somewhere
Looking right back up at me

But now I know I'm all alone
I'm just as alone as all those folks I've known to be
I can't say why I haven't cried
I guess I know I was not supposed to have what we did

Now I know there's no port from the Storm
No end to the blowing Wind
Not to say your my White Whale or anything
But I miss the Helping Hand

I understand now you're just a Leviathan
Or maybe at best we're just two ships
Passing in the night

'Cause now I know I'm all alone
I'm just as alone as all those folks I've known to be
I can't say why I haven't cried yet
I guess I know I was not supposed to have what we did

(gibberish)


You Don't Bother Me at All

We've drank alot more than we should
More than what's good to do
And I got just one more thing to say
See, the rest of these assholes can't hold a candle to you
'Cause you don't bother me at all 

You don't bother me at all
I'm honored to call you my friend
I'd follow you down to Hell and back again
'Cause you don't bother me at all

Folks come and go but they may not know how I feel
Just because I don't take the time to say
Life spent on this earth is surely worth it thanks to you
'Cause you don't bother me at all

You don't bother me at all
I'm honored to call you my friend
There's no shame in saying it
I love you
'Cause you don't bother me 
You don't bother me
I must not bother you too much too
You don't bother me at all