1. |
Home
03:15
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It's not to say where I am headed
It wouldn't do no one no good anyway
It's all a crapshoot, just a poor man's gamble
Make a guess, nothing to lose, everything to gain
Rise with the sun, feel the cold air demanding
open passage to restricted lungs
Breathe deeper for to let it all in
Wide awake, another day has just begun
Don't be said, friends, when I leave you
It breaks my heart to hear you're feeling alone
We'll meet again sometime down the road
You're the only thing I want to call home
The possibilities sit on a platter
not waiting to be chosen, they just exist
Pick a piece and let the change unfold
The choices are all that matter, they're all there is
There's a bar right along the traintracks
There's a beach at the end of the road
There's red cedar in a swamp in Florence
There's something there wherever you go
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2. |
Departure
03:39
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Hey, love, where'd you go, I thought I saw you in that song
The key changed with the track, I looked around and you were gone
You tricked me over sound waves just so I could hear your voice
Our connection cut off when you found what you were looking for
I moved on the next morning to another place in time
Another stop, we're still connected, just through different lines
What changes in the river, changes in both you and I
It's flow can't be reversed, it'll do no good to try
I play with my own heartache, trace the eyes that make me cry
Mischievous desire you concealed could only shine
You tried to tint the windows to block the world outside
but were betrayed by doors wide open, showing what you had denied
Now it seems that you and I are interchangeable
And it's strange, I know we'll never recognize it all
But like the changing of the river is the changing of the heart
You can't see where you'll end up unless you depart
So I'll move on tomorrow morning to another place in time
Another stop, we'll still be connected, just through different lines
And what changes in the river, will change in you and I
It's flow can't be reversed, it'll do no good to try
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3. |
Just Beyond Our Sight
04:54
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The music filled the air as the booze filled our blood
Notes of sorrow, keys of pleasure, flashing like a flood
Through busy streets, the people stopped to see things they'd never seen
Feelings forged from fantasies to foreign to believe
Sidewalks lined with people, some in dance, some in awe
Wide-eyed anticipation with each changing of the song
The streetlights echoed moonlight while the shadows strummed and screamed
Scratching at the surface, breaking through the sheen
Oh the possibilities
Overwhelming as they seem
Dancing in the darkness, thriving in the light
Impossible is empty, no, there just beyond our sight
The shadows stepped into the moonlight, joined us for a beer
The dice, they hit the concrete as time questioned "where from here?"
The people kept on moving, soon enough we, too, moved on
The drink, the dance, the fantasies, they live on through the songs
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4. |
Same Old Lonesome Tracks
04:39
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It's written on your face, it's choosing all your words
It's finding ways to sneak out every time your back is turned
You always catch it too late, once it's finished all it's work
In red-eyed, lonely mornings when the images return
The stand-in says the feelings that you promised not to feel
Mixes them with half-truths 'til you can't tell what is real
The fear that grips you mirrors now the shame you had denied
The emptiness you claimed was full as you sat and laughed at pride
Don't feel the fear that leads you down that same old lonesome track
Don't chase the cheese that guides you towards that same old loaded trap
The patterns that you try to hide will demand of you the truth
And you know you never hide it near as well as you feel that you need to
Now walking down the tracks again and cursing to the sky
As empty and as open as your heart that beats inside
you recognize there are stars that shine, accompanying the moon
but in these times, these cloudy nights, it's one big empty room
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5. |
It Still Burns
02:58
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You might no longer notice
You might no longer care
But that feeling is the fire
and it still burns in there somewhere
At times I've been the chaser
other times I've run away
Sometimes I've been the hero
Many more, I've been to blame
I sat up on that wagon
rode through the valleys, towards the hills
And then I fell off, tumbled down
destroying all I'd built
I've outstretched my hand
gave myself a kick to help out
And then I hid away pretending
that I couldn't hear their shouts
You all watched me throw the towel in
you watched me give up on myself
But somehow you stood by me through it all
You'll never know how much you've helped
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6. |
Where I Belong
05:24
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I love you, spoken softly sitting on your bed
Arms graze slightly, fingers slide gently over my head
Shining eyes, quiet smile, then everything disappears
and I'm left disoriented, tangling memories into fears
Are we staring at the same picture, seeing two different things
Am I creating stories with warped details and meanings
I go back and forth rewriting, trying to make sense
but the case becomes more convoluted with each new piece of evidence
But I didn't fall in love with you for story or for song
I didn't get to check the odds, I just knew where I belonged
And I can take the complications, I can deal with the pain
but I can't deal with the feeling that my heart has been restrained
So if you want me, let me know, don't hide it all away
I can't worry about tomorrow, I just want to hold you today
and if everything falls apart eventually
at least we'll know we opened our hearts, we refused to let them freeze
So throw your arms around me or just turn and walk away
If we worry about tomorrow, today will be a waste
because even if everything falls apart eventually
at least we'll know we opened our hearts, we refused to let them freeze
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7. |
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Is it only a matter of time before they all turn away
All attempts have been forsaken, it's all too much to take
The eleventh hour, come and gone, the second hand just ticks
Forgiveness might be finite, something's got to give
History's been mangled, stories labelled fiction
Details and context skewed or lost with each new edition
Warnings and disclaimers have done nothing to set it straight
They don't change the content, they just try to shift the blame
Honesty still comes around, it just leaves from time to time
Over-confidence and despair take their places with resign
Anxiety's excuses lure, so quick to run away
But catching up is inevitable, it so often goes the same
So turn around, meet it half way, learn a lesson for a change
It's not simple, overwhelming puzzles need re-arranged
Moving pieces, finding patterns in chaotic disarray
Amongst the beauty and the poison, life and death must have a place
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8. |
Blackout
03:36
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If I've got five and three quarters, I'll turn it into six
When six drains down to zero, my memory forgets
Tell me what you may, but know that it won't stick
My pockets will be empty, my pride will be missed
I've got very little to tell you above what you already know
I'm either idling or bouncing recklessly with no sure place to go
Romantic possibilities seem infinite as the road
But I'm just lying here, feeling the breeze roll in, pretending I'm stuck at home
My pay slips out my pockets just as quick as they get filled
A day spent washing dishes for a twenty dollar bill
At night, you'll find me at the bar behind two googly eyes
Saying things I'll soon regret and getting into fights
I've got no plans, I'm never sure just what I'll do next
Sometimes I feel like I've got the reigns, but then I wreck
I just want to wander the world just playing my guitar
but theese patterns I've been picking, they ain't getting me too far
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9. |
The Road Ahead
04:05
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I left New Orleans searching home, the one that I'd confused
trying to sort out the battles I'd won and accept that you have to lose
Care-free days on Frenchmen, wine by the fire at night
'til that fire swallowed my good friend, everything got quiet
Then I headed back to Pittsburgh to try to find the ground
Put my feet down, figure things out in my old, familiar town
Maybe it's just too damn familiar or maybe I confused more than home
I still love this city with all my heart but I just gotta go
Most days the road ahead of me seems to lead to nowhere
Passively walking along, not sure where I'll end up
It's the days I realize I lead myself, see through the fog of despair
that keep me trudging along when the road becomes so rough
From the Greyhound stop in Florence to the idling truck in New Orleans
life seemed so new, a different view, I was ready to try again
But somewhere I lost perspective, vision skewed through twisted glass
After all the times it's happened, I still re-enact the past
Well, I know it's not the city, it's the story I create
No matter where I lead me, I'm still there, I make my fate
I sing a song, tell myself "Don't Quit", and just keep pressing on
All I got is time to try 'til all my time is gone
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10. |
Don't Worry About Me
02:28
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Don't worry too much about me
I'll catch up eventually
if only for fleeting moments strewn across a length of years
our paths will cross, I can see it from here
So often I'm too far ahead or oh so far behind
looking for something I can't name and I don't know how to find
I'm rarely in sync and I often look lost
but I'm moving and I don't have plans to stop
All the waves that wash the shore, they build themselves and crash
Momentary peaks decline, but they also lead you back
I've dwelled upon the highs and lows, focused on extremes
Only win or loss, I lost sight of what's between
So, no wonder I go back and forth, hitting limits every way
Never sure if I'm on the path or if I've gone astray
I'll just keep wandering through the moments learning from every dead-end
and I'll see you when our paths cross again
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