Joymaker

Joymaker

the joy that you create
and all the junk we ate
i met you all too late

no furrows in my brow
or not much anyhow
but god i miss you now

and as i was
walking away
sad as i was
i'll sing your name

watched you steal those blooms
smiled and joked with you
no laughter in my room

and as i was
walking away
sad as i was
i'll sing your name
no stretch of land
could fill this space
sad as i am
i'll sing your name

and as i was
walking away
sad as i was
i'll sing your name
no stretch of land
could fill this space
sad as i am
i'll sing your name
sad as i am
i'll sing your name
sad as i am
i'll sing your name

Jo Our Girl

jo our girl
sleeps all day if she could
but she wakes up
and sees the world in good

something so sweet, even i don't mind
that i can't say that she's only mine
no she's jo our girl
jo our girl

jo our girl
forgets bout her plants sometimes
but she walks in
and the room comes to life

ain't all that quick, but i ain't too dumb
to see this girl was meant for everyone
oh she's jo our girl
jo our girl
you go ahead, i'll get my chance
cause i know she'll always save me a dance
oh she's jo our girl
jo our girl
jo our girl
jo our girl

Gentlemen

oh that's some way
to show it off, i guess
putting down each one
around
there goes the big man
puffing out your chest
anger always on your tongue
and you’re proud?

holy picket signs
use your book to change the laws
damning those you say
are wrong
well sunday best
don't make a man of god
oh where is that unconditional love
you're speaking on?

lord get over yourself

lord get over yourself

Quite Some Time

guess that i convinced myself
oh easy love's just hard to find
and i'm always stuck on something else
but i'll be loving you for quite some time

oh when things are looking down
and the silver linings lose their shine
baby i will stay around
yes i'll be loving you for quite some time

parked up on that rainy street
and i told you all that haunts my mind
and i knew right there with certainty
that i'd be loving you for quite some time

ain't no task that i'm above
won't walk away when it's a grind
the two things that i'm sure of
yeah the two things that i'm sure of
ain't no such thing as easy love
and i'll be loving you for quite some time

(Slow Down), Skylark

and so it went
over my head
those days we spent
barefoot in the grass
it's easy now to see
that we held on too long

and so i was in over my head
with just a pot
for my water to boil
the winter here don't count
until the sun goes down

sklyark, slow down
so far, so long

don't get me wrong
your hands are so kind
i felt it all
oh that much i know
but really was i
all you claimed i was?

sklyark, slow down
so far, so long
sklyark, slow down
so far, so long

I Miss New York in Fall

came around and settled in
october sun is on my skin
yeah i'm finally somewhere where
i don't feel small
oh the people here are kind
guess it's a different state of mind
oh but i miss new york in fall

i've been happy as a fool
teaching music at the school
yeah i'm feeling like a man
that has it all
got a girl that treats me right
and i'm sleeping fine at night
oh but i'm dreaming
of new york in fall

oh the valleys and the hills
i think about them still
and driving down a country road at night

oh the mighty mississippi
she's as strong as she is pretty
but the hudson's still the best i ever saw
oh the fire in the leaves
the crisp morning air and breeze
oh new york, i really miss you come fall
oh i miss new york in fall

Words to Myself

early that morning, fluorescent lights started to spin
i'm in the background, just watching these thoughts pouring in
let's all be honest, whose mind is a fortress
whose walls don't fall down time to time?
but every last brick of resolve turns to rubble
as soon as they're looking at mine

oh i don't believe in no god above
just whispering words to myself
and i'm all but convinced, i think i might die
if i keep on drinking to my health

and as the day goes by
here i lie
heeding blind
disorders

not there when i'm needed, the places that i should've been
sitting here helpless, i'm getting angry again
i've picked up the hobby of mulling it over
replaying the spots where i've failed
this year has been torture, i'm stuck inside
too scared to bite my own nails

oh nothing is safe now, can't sleep in my bed
wouldn't wish this on nobody else
i've washed my hands till they're all cracked and bled
oh i'm getting sick of myself

oh and now why can't i
take my side?
lord i tried
to compromise
inner child
is older

the wind on the corner is calling my name
and whispering secrets and passes the blame
and i swear to myself that it's keeping me safe
the spirit's controlling and i'm keeping my faith
so i stare at the ground to not me their eyes
that call me their equal, then skin me alive
well they aren't misguided, they are perplexed
well i am not focused, i am obsessed
and these words don't come easy but they're worse to evict
for they swing the gavel and make me convict myself
over and over for a sabotaged mind
that would all go away if i could learn to unwind
but i won't let it go, no i can't face the facts
and i won't hear you out if i'm off of my tracks
think that i'm underwater, my face is sore
the lows don't come often, but damn are they low

and not a day goes by
that's not a fight
torn and tired
of walking wire
world of mine is
colder

NYNO

my hometown don't care
if insight could spare the insult
so i had my doubts
as i headed south on impulse
can't gather my change
and hop on the train to saint marks
well oh what a time,
but it's gone away

the billboards and mist
they're all singing "this land is my land"
the skyline abashed
she hides behind gas station islands
the streetcar gets beat
as i fly down the street on saint charles
the thunder at night
it keeps me awake

well i know a boy
whose hair seems to coil like livewire
not unlike the girl
who pulls back her curls, singing "wildfire"
with nowhere to go
oh emma says "slow your heart, now"
but no chance in hell
i'll hear what she's saying

and i sit alone
on saturday morn' in sunlight
when march feels like june
what else can you do? it's alright
for all its appeal
new orleans don't feel like home yet
but i've found my feet
and i think i'll stay

just hold me over
so boldly colored
just show me all her

Ancient Egypt

remember those nights we'd fill up your cup for a smile?
this place is too beautiful i think i need to come home
i miss your laughter and those cinderblock buildings in file
we'll sit on a park bench, just give me a month or so

i met a girl, but i talked about you the whole day
bout the myths that you'd tell us, bout love and war when we'd spend the night
and about Ancient Egypt and lunch in the museum cafe
you had a discount, and i had a love for their fries

so how can i be here?
there's rainbows on your wall

i miss the summer when the rest of the world was gone
and you'd play piano, the same three songs every night
and you painted a portrait of a picture of me in mid-song
and i don't know the words now
and i may be a cartoon
but for a moment
you made me a still life

so how can i be here?
there's rainbows on your wall