The Red-Blooded Years
Rhythm Records: RR116 (2011.03.10)
Catch Alight
Sit down and drink with me
The remains of today are still shivering
Sleep is tedious
Only tossing and turning
Are you listening?
Catch a light for me
Soaked up and simmering
A mumbling stranger in need
Of some company
Talk is tedious
Only cussing and slurring
The blood in my head is singing
The Runaround
Waiting on devilish hands
To come roll me over
A dog bleeding to death
Tried to eat through the wire
From the brim to the dregs
Not a mouthful was savored
Wings overhead
As eager as lightning to open fire
Its all give and take
I've tested and tried
(Working against the clock even if it kills us)
In a sea of dead lovers
You're a hard to recognise
(Working against the clock even if it kills us)
It's all give and take
So do yourself a favour
Tie yourself down
You've rushed into a runaround
Flashes of humour
Disappear in the distance
Stages of labour
They glittered like violence
From border to trench
No room for a saviour
Heels overhead
Struck in the back,
Hip and thigh
Cut-Throat-Tongue & Razor
It's a dangerous garden
Swamped with simpletons
a bad jangle of dirty silver
the nuts and bolts of a pipe-bomb wedding
the parade is over
lift that cursed skirt vicious young jackal
my confidence is coming
grind the bones to powder
bring the blood to a boil
free hands shouldn't be too careful
cut-throat tongue and razor
Ivory hear, iron lung
keep an ear to the ground
you can hear them howling the death-charm
can you hear them marching
getting drunk to the same song
low and behold
my confidence is coming
Kick Me
Kick me
I'm already down
I don't feel as easy as I used to
Even the worst of us look lovely in the dark
Sweet Jesus
it's been a troubled year
I am not as sane as what your're used to
Look for me where the sun runs aground
Hand to the headstone
Between the devil and the ocean
Rewired but still broken
Knocking for an answer
You know I'm waiting on an open door
Still knocking for an answer
Kiss me
I'm running my mouth
Been smearing lipstick on the concrete
Caught clamped between the pale thighs of this town
Flirtatious
Everyone is welcome here
But I need to get out of here
Look for me where the sun runs aground
So Close
Smoke in the rear-view mirror
The wheels are coming off at top speed
Signs can be misleading
Everything is under control
Hit the ground shaking
Moving to the heartless rhythm of a dead beat
It came without a warning
The collision in me
So close
We came so close
Get on with what has to be done
So close we came so close
There's nothing left to learn
There's nothing left for us
Nothing left to burn
Get on with what has to be done
Sticking needles and pins into lonely skin
Suck the marrow without thinking
Today feels like ages ago
Hanging over balconies
Smoke bellowing up and out
Always comes without a warning
The collision in me
Holding On
The day stabbed my eyes through the blinds
A subtle omen to a discerning mind
Outside lightly frosted life
The dream had run away with me and left a part of you behind
The sky found weeping irresistible
And almost mockingly it fires at my window
It's a moonless night
Easy come easy go
It's too dark to close my eyes
Holding on to a breath in mid-air
I know what you want
But don't know how to take you there
Holding on to a breath of mid-air
I'll never be brave enough to keep you there
Pardon this polished approach
Tired and over-rehearsed
I am overcompensating for a mind gone slow
Time moves quick and unkind
I took mine easy though
The dream had run away with me and left a part of you behind
All In The Wind
Been awake for a while
In a blink of an eye you can lose your mind
A runaway needs no direction
I don't drink too much just enough
To sink my teeth into the evening
And grind through the days
It's all in the wind now
Forgotten more than I remember somehow
It's all in the wind now
Getting further away
For the life of me
I cannot remember why
Perhaps I'm hell bent on acceptance
Brought up on bruised knuckles
Crawling through red lights
Lousy listener, bad advice
Lately I don't believe in love
But it's unavoidable to miss you
These wounds are better off if left alone
Weak Man's World
Suppose this means we're not on holiday anymore
The truth flows like wine
Through the vines so in vein
You'll cut yourself looking through a broken window
You see this is a weak man's world
Oh no, I cannot shake this feeling off my bones
The damage is done
Now it's time to let it go
Carried away on dumb feet
I've got to run with it before I lose my touch
This isn't the time to be standing still
Better burnt out then turned to rust
This is a weak man's world
It's first come first serve at the fountain of youth
We had everything
We had nothing to lose
When your eyes are filled with simple music
You'll see this is a weak man's world
Young branches take the bends they're given
These passing years will steal one thing after another
So smile without reason
Any Other Way
Struck a nerve
You could say I am a loss for words
Crippled and crazy mess
It's pissing down with careless love
Coming down feels like a rat-bite fever
What stops you in the outside world
Can not get to you here
I wouldn't have it any other way
No, I really wouldn't have it any other way
Oh no, it's nothing of the kind
You're mistaking me for someone else
I have no problem with denial
The trick is to nod and smile
But never listen
I'm fine
What gets me in the outside world
Can not get to me here
First Brush
At first brush
Didn't know me well enough
I was trying to get my message across
I was nervous
You noticed
You didn't show it
I don't know why I chose not to follow my gut
I don't know where my heart got stuck
Lost in the panic of urgency
But you already knew this
A man is seldom better than his words
So let them be heard
Serious
Don't you get it
This isn't serious
On a tight rope we'll sway in the dark
Keep your composure for the night
Haven't I had enough
I'm happy to neither know nor care
with recklessness I have been blessed
You don't need to know this
Red Blooded Years
In hindsight my red blooded years will offer nothing to learn
In lingering nightfall it's easier to see with no light at all
Rebuilding bridges still burning strong
Time to rekindle
What's gone is gone
No need to dwell on the face of the one
That runs with your shadow
Leave the suitcase
Lose the gloves
Save your warm hands for the shovel
Watching a landscape unravel we hear sleepers yawn
The most vigilant eyes will someday grow tired of waiting
It all comes from nothing
It doesn't matter that we're going nowhere
More a means than an ending
Fate hanging from a nail
So terribly beautiful
I beat myself up for too long
No one has time for my sorrow
The Sleeping Sound
Instrumental