songbook:
queen jane
Queen Jane she died late last night. With her last breath her last bit of fight. We were not thinking no ‘cause we had been drinking. When Queen Jane she died late last night. The rain started down about four. I was still fucked up from the night before. The news soaked my skin, I sobered up from within. When the rain started down about four. At dawn I stood as stone by her bed. I listened to what the doctors had said. Her heart it seems did break shredding mine in its wake. When at dawn I stood as stone by her bed. I never thought she’d forgive us but I swore she’d outlive us. What now? Sunday the whole town gathered round. We buried Queen Jane six feet down. The church bells kept singing I drank to keep my ears from ringing. Sunday the whole town gathered round. I left without telling a soul. Whatever I couldn’t carry I sold. I planted roses by her tomb and said a prayer that they’d bloom and I left without telling a soul. I never thought she’d forgive us but I swore she’d outlive us. What now? I ran like hell maybe it’s just as well. The less that she gave me the harder I fell. We laid her to rest. Baby, it’s all for the best. Queen Jane was beautiful, too fleeting, too bright. Like the soft aching radio on them hot summer nights when the fire in your bones is burning just right. We let that old love slip away. The fools we were, what could we say? I guess we were well read oh but starved and poorly fed. We let that old love slip away.
tin man heart
Darling take a minute put that red dress on. Meet me out tonight we won’t stay out too long. We’ll chase the rhythm and blues of our favorite songs and carve out a place where we both can belong. All I’ve ever wanted was a night like this. Entranced by romance and sealed with a kiss. This tin man heart and a squeaky fresh start is all I’ve got to give. So take it or leave it, Darling, here it is. Darling take a breath and look at what we’ve sown. You’ve been clicking them red heels and just wishing for home. We both know what it’s like to spend them nights alone. The yellow bricks are laid out, now the city is ours to own. You’ve always kind of wondered about a night like tonight. The street lamps burn with that emerald light. This tin man heart and a squeaky fresh start is all I’ve got to give. So take it or leave it, Darling, here it is. Now I’ve been a fool, it’s true. I’ve bet hard on a weak hand. I’ve got to say to you take these arms, take this breath, take everything that’s left. This tin man heart and a shaky fresh start is all I’ve got to give. Take it or leave it, Darling, here it is.
whitewash
Been holed up in this place too long. I’m singing all the same damn songs. I’m looking for the chords that will break her goddamn heart but tonight I don’t know where to start. No, I shouldn’t blame her, that’s the truth. She gave me chance after chance that I blew. And again I’m hiding in a bar I have no right to be. These demons they’re half-priced after three. Oh-oh tonight I’m gonna whitewash these old sins. Oh-oh clean the windows to let the light back in. Oh-oh my heart is hers to break or mend. I don’t care, ‘cause that’s the shape I’m in. See I was straight almost a year. Then she showed two pink lines bright and clear. We took our $500 and we did what we had to do. I told her I’d just have one drink, maybe two. I made it home that next week to find her note and find her keys. There’s a hole in the closet where her suitcase used to be. Its outline in dust on the floor is killing me. Oh-oh tonight I’m gonna whitewash these old sins. Oh-oh clean the windows to let the light back in. Oh-oh my heart is hers to break or mend. I don’t care, that’s the shape I’m in. See I’ve had my heart broken oh but not like this. So I’ll sit and wait with all the vela santos lit. And I hope that she sees it, that she sees it. Oh-oh tonight I’m gonna whitewash these old sins. Oh-oh clean the windows to let the light back in. Oh-oh my heart is hers to break or mend. I don’t care, ‘cause that’s the shape I’m in.
the scars we choose
Mary, let that hair down. That dress is gonna cause a scene. It has already made a mess of me. The way the light is cascading down your neck to your collarbone. Tomorrow we’ll have some sins to atone. Now this night for fools where we belong. Outside the street lamps they buzz and hum along. And the light from the window - the shadows long. Mary, quit that blushing. That smile is gonna sink this whole room. With every batted eyelash I swoon. On the table Dylan is spinning around ‘bout how he knew when he met her. And I know I’m fucked but never been better. Around round and round we’ve heard this one before. And our breath, shorter now, we breathe in 4/4. As I lean in close for a little more. Mary, please just one dance. Come on, you know we can’t waste this song. It’s one we haven’t sung for so long. And as I inch a bit closer I hear your heart, the backbeat of it all. Before this night ends we both might fall. Now night fades to day and becomes embossed. And our hearts all aflutter but at what cost? So we toast what we gained and what we lost. So what’s a boy to do? I’ve waited a lifetime or two for you. As the music plays low your dress sways slow in tune. The naked truth is this. I’ve never lived before this kiss. Oh, your hands quiver, shake. My heart splinters, breaks in two. The thunder brought us back. Lightning crackled then went black. As we stood there entombed, enshrined, surely doomed by love. The night it grips so loose. Morning light pulls like a noose. Oh your heart black and blue, ripped cleanly through, the scars we choose. Oh your heart black and blue, look mine is too, the scars we choose.
meet me in the ether
There, that’s the look that I’ve seen before. Now we’re drunk like fools and it’s way half past four. The salt on your lips hung like the sun that we cursed at the break of the day, our eyes sharing words we’re both afraid to say. So meet me in the ether. So let’s flip a coin and leave it all to fate. I know we’ve got a curfew but Baby it can wait. Heads I lie, tails you buy us a round and around, down this slippery slope. I’ve been cut up all these years but I never gave up hope that I’d meet you in the ether. Oh no, my Love, the things that we’ve seen - some wouldn’t believe. I know your heart with every suture and stitch. The same scars in me. The streets are waking up but this night don’t have to end. We spent too much time reserved with our hearts still on the mend. I’d sell my soul for another hour or two cups of coffee. Don’t worry about the cost, I’ll pick up the tab and this weekend we’ll spend lost. So relieved in the ether. ‘We drank to forget that our lives were a wreck’. We’ll play that song a hundred times on a second-hand tape deck. And we’ll dance and sway all along the boardwalk a little way with me. This, my favorite view. I know I’m pointing at the skyline but I’m talking about you. So welcome to the ether. Oh no, my Love, the things that we’ve seen. Some wouldn’t believe, but I know your heart with every suture and stitch. The same scars in me. Maria, forgive me for knocking down your door. I’m so tired of sleeping all alone, won’t take one night more. Please forgive me but my heart has been on the run since it ripped and tore from promises swore on a liar’s tongue. Please believe me. I know you’ve heard this one before. But all of you, your bruises too, that’s what I came for. Oh no, my Love, the things that we’ve seen. Some wouldn’t believe, but I know your heart with every suture and stitch. The same scars in me.
the wayfarer
Long ago this boy I knew, he looked a lot like me. He got his heart bruised and wore it all on his sleeve. As years went by I heard his name carried in on the breeze. The tales so tall they fell and fell like the leaves. They said he worked for circus ‘till he got stung by her kiss. No one really knew. But everybody swore he was their best friend through and through. He had a roommate in Boston or a cellmate in Austin. Now I can’t recall. Just stories or legend or maybe he really did it all. He carried his things in this second-hand suitcase nobody’d miss. And all the while his crooked smile hid his sins. Every day he’d confess that he’d probably wind up in hell for this. Lock the picture away in his suit coat fray with a kiss. With a kiss. I heard he was employed at river rouge Detroit working on Henry’s line. But even the raucous machines couldn’t quiet his mind. He stole a fortune in lead pipe, left in the dead of night on a freighter’s south trek. He never even bothered to collect his last paycheck. He took a wife in Tennessee. They bought a house and some land and for a while he felt like an honest man. But as the summer’d start to swell his doubts would as well and he’d feel that itch. He never said goodbye, she found his wedding ring in a ditch. He carried his dreams in this second-hand suitcase nobody’d miss. And all the while his crooked smile hid his sins. Every day he’d confess that he’d probably wind up in hell for this. Lock the picture away in his suit coat fray with a kiss. With a kiss. Every life a token. Collecting scars or souvenirs? The difference was harder to tell with the weight of all the years. He buried them ‘neath the oak tree and then he burned that forest down. Even there at the end he’d rather be lost than found. Late the next day when the fire was contained they searched high and searched low. No sign of him just ash a few glowing coals. The dawn brought such a brilliant red they thought he must be dead. They gathered around. One and all lowered their heads. That’s when they saw it there: a tattered picture of him and a girl so fair. It’s edges torn and scorched nearly to black. In his messy and awkward hand he scribbled three words in one final act: ‘she was home’. His last words written on the back. Written in ash. Twenty years before he died on a now abandoned, rust-filled ferris wheel ride two lovers embraced and posed for the camera’s eye.
venom
I walk that line. And I was doing just fine. Till late the other night when you did cross my mind. That midnight express, its whistle warning distress. My eyes stole a glance to where you used to hang your dress when you lived here, a time that I suppress. Yours is a venom I just can’t shake. Yours is a heart that I’d love to break. Down by them tracks we made a promise, made a pact. There are some things you just can’t take back. The drive-in shut down shortly after you skipped town. The screen it fed our dreams till our furies ran them down. Two kids and a set of keys. We used to park under birch trees. The sign is all that’s left, canvas blowing in the breeze and a concession stand littered with dead leaves. Yours is a venom I just can’t shake. Yours is a heart that I’d love to break. Up on the screen like Clark and Vivien Leigh, some things you cannot unsee. The trouble with you is trouble is your name. The ghost that you are is the ghost that I’ve made. If this all ends tonight I’m gonna make a few things right. I’ll head down to that drive-in. I wrapped your letters in twine, bury them good and deep this time under those birch trees. And by the light of the moon I’ll take state route 62 straight through that state line. No, I won’t look back this time. Yours is a venom I just can’t shake. Yours is a heart that I’d love to break. But here at dawn I’ll say goodbye and move on. Some things you can’t change in me. Some things you won’t change in me.
back to the city blues
We’ve been hustling in this town for too damn long. We need to get. We need to get done gone. So pack up your bags, we’re leaving at dawn. This ain’t how the postcards make it seem. Down here on the ground these streets are mean. Crowded and vile but oh so clean. Conductor, put this train in gear. We’ve stalled here every weekend night this year. Thank god I’ve got you, Dear. I’m stuck in New York City with the back to the city blues. I got a room. No view and the ceiling leaks. The problem is I can’t afford the lease. There’s no way in hell we’re moving to Queens. Let’s take all the cash we ain’t got for rent and drink until we don’t remember what we spent. This whiskey and you are heaven sent. Conductor, put this train in gear. We’ve stalled here every weekend night this year. Thank god I’ve got you, Dear. I’m stuck in New York City with the back to the city blues. Conductor, put this train in gear. We’ve stalled here every weekend night this year. Thank god I’ve got you, Dear. I’m stuck in New York City with the back to the city blues. Yeah, I’m stuck in New York City but at least I found you. Now we’re stuck in New York City and we’re never gonna move.
mama’s front porch
I know it’s late. Please don’t hang up this is my last dime. Baby, I would feel a bit better if we talked now that you’re on the line. Maybe I should get a little sleep and rest these tired and weary eyes. But tonight I’m as lonely as a water tower in these crowded Brooklyn skies. So I won’t wake up ‘cause I ain’t gone to bed. I’m just trying to drown demons and cheap beers instead. Though I know my sins I’ve forgotten yours. I’ll pick you up at six on your mama’s front porch. Now I got you on the phone I don’t have a damn thing to say. So let’s just laugh and talk about nothing for three hours anyway. We promised to keep our inhibitions tight on the East River side. Oh, but Darling they washed away in the Hudson River tide. No, I won’t wake up ‘cause I ain’t gone to bed. I’m just trying to crown Queens before my best lines are said. Though I know my sins I’ve forgotten yours. I’ll pick you up at six on your mama’s front porch. Now the bachata is spilling into the street filling all the cracks in concrete. These telephone lines are stretched tight and stretched thin and I’m tired of this high wire act we’re in. So I’ll take the Northway and wind myself to you and say, ‘hey, let’s see this through’. And we won’t wake up ‘cause we ain’t gone to bed. We’re just trying to right wrongs and use all them words that we read. Though I know my sins I’ve forgotten yours. I’ll pick you up at six on your mama’s front porch.
baby blues
She was headstrong at 23. Baby blue eyes, an old soul underneath. She worked real hard for that normal life but everybody knew she was no normal wife. He was down on his luck but full on his beer when she met him at the bar just before the new year. They talked for hours till the sun came out. She said ‘I’ll pay for the gas if you drive me south’. She said, ‘I’ve always done things right but I’m done thinking for the night. So let’s get real high before we say goodbye’. And then they took two baby blues. She whispered something in his ear they both knew wouldn’t come true but he lied and said it might. Then he shut off the hotel light. The first couple days were all in good fun. Just two young lovers playing on the run. They slept in late and they took their time. And ditched that second-hand Chevy just across the state line. When the money got tight so did the blues. They made a promise to each other that they ain’t gonna use. The first day was hard and the next was worse. He said, ‘we’ll figure it out tomorrow let’s feel better first’. He said, ‘I’ve never done much right but I’ve been thinking on some things tonight. So let’s get real high before we say goodbye’. And then they took two baby blues. She begged him to stay but she knew that he’d refuse. She woke up all alone in the morning light. She’s clear-eyed now at 34. She knows what she wants and what the hard work is for. She wanders at night that their eyes might meet on one of these old new amsterdam streets. He’s looking too but it’s not the same. But on the good days he remembers her name. But in the dark down on the street he’ll take anything for the high of when they first did meet. He’ll take anything for the high of when they first did meet.