1. |
Clear
04:56
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Clear
the windows of st christopher's
aren't stained glass anymore
they took them out and filled them up
put bars upon the door
the lights are on but there's no-one at home
the wheels that you would die for
keep rolling down that road
there are limitations on your time
the salvation of each moment's on the line
there's no-one at home
you'll find you will only feel
what we've all agreed upon
about what's consensually real
about the prizes to be won
clear to the left; clear to the right
clear just about anywhere that isn't out of sight
the lights are on but there's no-one at home
the hypnotist has done his work
where the least of aspirations lurk
and the onion tastes so sweet
I would not trust myself to know
the choices that will let you grow
I sit by my convictions
nothing would surprise me anymore
the lights are on
© Steve Butler / Sticky Music
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2. |
You Decide
05:18
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You Decide
let me be your father
let me be your son
let me be a mother
to the sister you’ve become
let me walk beside you
when the darkness has come down
load me with your anger
spin me round and round
I am a lonely dancer - I seem to take it in my stride
an imposter for as long as you decide
some of us were busy
some of us were fools
some of us did the wrong thing
and some of us were cruel
my cup can be empty
or as full as yours can be
don’t suppose that I feed you
more than you feed me
I know some of the good things
the quiet sacrifice
love that leaves me standing
on the thinnest of the ice
all that you have done here
will not go unsung
God in her own time will finish
the work that you’ve begun
© Steve Butler / Sticky Music
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3. |
Lose Again
04:08
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Lose Again
Save me, free me from my heart this time
Train's gone down the track and I've stayed behind
Nothing can free me from this ball and chain
I made up my mind I would live today
And you're keeping me going, I know it's insane
Cause I love you, and lose again
When the heart calls, the mind obeys
it knows better than me babe
Hold on just one more day and maybe she'll be true
Nothing can free me from this ball and chain
I made up my mind that I would live today
And you're keeping me going, I know it's insane
Cause I love you, and I'll lose again
Save me, free me from my heart this time
Train's going down the track and I stay behind
Nothing can free me from this ball and chain
I made up my mind that I would live today
And you're keeping me going, I know it's insane
Cause I love you, and I'll lose again
© Karla Bonoff / Seagrape Music
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4. |
You Don't Know Me
04:45
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You don't know me
I may be a criminal
I may be a judge
and whatever kind of excess you can name me
I maybe take too much
I may be a hero to some
to some I know I am uncouth
could be that I'm the victim
of the privilege of youth
I might be the lover you have dreamed of
I might hold you strangely in my spell
but I think maybe
you don't know me so well
what you see as predatory
what you take to be guile
my celebrated siblings
would remember with a smile
do you think that it is feasible
do you think that it could be
that in the short time we have had
I know you more than you know me?
for all your misinterpretations of my anger
perhaps there's never quite enough of it on view
and in the reconciliations I remember
I'm longing for another loving fragment in the tapestry that's you
© Steve Butler / Sticky Music
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5. |
Barriers
05:39
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Barriers
today I saw you from a distance
from way up high
I picked you out from the crowd in the corner of my eye
but you don't look my way anymore
smile at your friends and then go running out that door
I'm left wondering, which one of us are you running from
there was a sadness in your eye – I've seen it before
like the stare of a lover on a troubled shore
I guess we need some resolution
of this unintentional collusion
it doesn't suit you, my friend
a desert of silence is not an end
I believe nothing comes to those
who wear their sorrows well
it's how you lose yourself
in the pale shadow of your smile
I see traces of the you I once found
it's time to take those barriers down
I'm not proud of everything that I have wanted,
everything that I have been
but you were my companion when it mattered
I can't say how much that means
I'm not denying what's been broken
but the voice of reason is soft spoken
are you listening, my friend?
the silence has come to an end
© Steve Butler / Sticky Music
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6. |
Take It With Me
04:40
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Phone's off the hook
No one knows where we are
It's a long time since I
Drank champagne
The ocean is blue
As blue as your eyes
I'm gonna take it with me
When I go
Old long since gone
Now way back when
we lived in Coney Island
Ain't no good thing
ever dies
I'm gonna take it with me
when I go
Far far away a train
whistle blows
Wherever you're goin
Wherever you've been
Waving good bye at the end
of the day
You're up and you're over
and you're far away
Always for you, and
forever yours
It felt just like the old days
we fell asleep
on Beaula's porch
I'm gonna take it with me
when I go
All broken down by
the side of the road
I was never more alive or
Alone
I've worn the faces off
all the cards
I'm gonna take it with me
when I go
Children are playing
at the end of the day
Strangers are singing
on our lawn
It's got to be more
than flesh and bone
All that you've loved
is all you own
In a land there's a town
and in that town there's
A house
and in that house
there's a woman
and in that woman
there's a heart I love
I'm gonna take it
with me when I go
I'm gonna take it
with me when I go.
© Tom Waits and Kathleen Waits-Brennan / Jalma Music
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7. |
Troubles Of My Own
03:42
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Troubles of my own
there are things inside my head I can’t express
turbulent and angry none the less
and the people who surround me continually astound me
they grumble and they groan
haven’t we got troubles of our own?
there are people who I meet but cannot touch
our mutual discomfort is too much
and the sadness of it all seems to underline my fall
I think I should be home - haven’t I got troubles of my own?
and love is such an undefined emotion - though it fills my mind
I hear its constant tone, rising to a drone
hovering and floating round my home
there are things we said I still don’t understand
arguments that shifted and dissolved in our hands
and in the end I think we could have saved it if we’d wanted to
by then the bird had flown
it seems we both had troubles of our own
there are ways in which I never will be whole
limitations built into my soul
and the people who surround me hurt themselves as much as me
listen to them moan, we’d rather be alone
haven’t we got troubles of our own?
© Steve Butler, Charlie Irvine, Dot Reid / Sticky Music
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8. |
Nothing 'Bout This
08:19
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Nothing 'bout this
sailing down this long narrow road
that leads to destruction
wondering what I could possibly say about you
the only one in the room who's speaking
the only one who's here that you never knew
nothing more that I can do
than say over and over that I'm thinking of you
nothing 'bout this is easy, nothing 'bout this is free
when the call came in we were thinking about dreams of home
hoping with our prayer hats on that nothing would be wrong
all we could do was smoke and drink at the station bar
dissolving some of the fear away before the night got long
little more that I can do
than say over and over that I'm thinking of you
and as high heeled feet crashed through the river of memory
sailing out those boats to the loving horizon
the sound of the little ones was what we could hear
calling back that they'll always know the arms that long for them
it's really all that I can do
to say over and over that I'm thinking of you
I see you walking when the streets are empty
stealing some time you can call your own
and because I know what your smile has cost you
it kindles holy fire within my bones
forgive me if it's all that I can do
to say over and over that I'm thinking of you
© Steve Butler / Sticky Music
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9. |
Alive In The World
04:24
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Alive In The World
I want to live in the world, not inside my head
I want to live in the world, I want to stand and be counted
With the hopeful and the willing
With the open and the strong
With the voices in the darkness
Fashioning daylight out of song
And the millions of lovers
Alive in the world
I want to live in the world, not behind some wall
I want to live in the world, where I will hear if another voice should call
To the prisoner inside me
To the captive of my doubt
Who among his fantasies harbours the dream of breaking out
And taking his chances
Alive in the world
To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
To open my eyes and finally arrive in the world
With its beauty and its cruelty
With its heartbreak and its joy
With it constantly giving birth to life and to forces that destroy
And the infinite power of change
Alive in the world
To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
To open my eyes and finally arrive in the world
© Jackson Browne / Swallow Turn Music
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