Landlocked

Home

Daddy’s sitting on the front porch
He’s got a beer in his hands
And Mama’s in the kitchen
Paying attention to a frying pan
There’s a rusty old pick-up truck
On concrete blocks in the yard
And a sky so big it makes you think that heaven
Must be full of twinkling stars

And this is home to me

We’ve got a picture of Jesus on the wall
And some footprints in the sand
Says, That’s where I carried you on our way
To the promised land
But I don’t seem to remember
His version of this song
What I recall is all the times
That I had to walk alone

And this is home to me

When I’m crossing that red state line
I can’t help but to demonize it
I’m watching this road unwind
I’m in a blue state of mind

Growing up down south I guess you could say
That I just really did not fit in
With the Bible beaters and the Teetotalers
The Conservatives and the Republicans
So I made plans to move up north
And that’s where I found my life
So what if it didn’t happen to include
A dog, a fence, or a wife

But it is home to me

I still think of honeysuckle
When it’s blooming bright in the spring
You can take the boy out of the country
But you cannot take my country from me

‘Cause it is home to me

When I look back on that red state line
I can’t help but to romanticize it
I’m watching my life unwind
And I’m in a blue state of mind

When I look back on my red state life
I can’t help but to romanticize it
I’m watching two worlds collide
And I’m in a blue state of mind
I’m in a blue state of mind
I’m in this blue state of mine

Waiting

I was feeling down in the dumps
I could have really used some tea or sympathy
But instead I called you up and asked you
To make your way to my house for some company

Oh this night is taking its time
All my life I've been waiting

When I met you I thought that you would do
I thought I could do a hell of a lot worse
But now every time you open your mouth I'm hoping
To escape from this wretched curse

Oh this night is taking its time
All my life I've been waiting

I guess I need someone who's just a little less fun
I need someone a little less like you
I need a man who can hold my hand
I'm so tired of just making do

Oh this night is taking its time
All my life I've been waiting

Old Man Winter

Things haven't been the same since sunshine left town
The days got shorter and the leaves all fell down
The birds have all headed South I thought of taking their advice
Leave this old North Country, leave this bed of ice

The wind blows a bitter chill and water in my eyes
Old Man Winter ain't no friend of mine
So don't think for a second boy I'm still wet behind the ears
I've been shoveling this same old shit for damn near thirty years

That factory closed its doors six or seven years ago
Sent my dad to the unemployment line and his job down to Mexico
One day he went out for a pack of smokes and my brother went off to war
Now it's a few winters later and I ain't seen either no more

So don't think for a second boy that this is all new to me
I'd love you to be the one who stays but you wouldn't be the first to leave
And if you think you're ready now to see another winter through
I say get out your shovel boy 'cause we got some work to do

All The Things We Knew

It seems some things have changed
Everything got rearranged
The pronouns just get in the way
Of all the things that are left to say

You said that being you
Was the hardest thing to do
And all the things we know
Must go

You say you're under the gun
And always on the run
From a life that was so benign
You said it hardly felt like it was ever mine

So I watch as you take the plunge
I watch these years as they come undone
It's like you're born again
Looking at life from the outside in

You said that being you
Was the hardest thing to do
And all the things we know
Must go

So I wait for you to mend
And I try to comprehend
The science of who you are
And the silence you've known so far

It seems that being you
Was the easiest thing you could ever do
And all I thought I knew
Is through

Thruway

There's nothing on the radio on this lonely stretch of road
Halfway between Utica and the exit for Oswego
I've been driving all night long, I've been driving my life away
The rain is pouring on the windshield tonight on the New York Thruway

And there's only 200 miles to go
Until I have to think about the money for the tolls

I don't think you know the strength of my love and how it motivates me
I don't think you understand how much I need your hands
And your face and your arms and a goodnight kiss
And your smile and all your charms you know baby you are worth all of this

No distance could keep me at bay and no mountain would ever stand in my way
The ocean's breadth won't keep us apart nor all the things we do or say
Tonight on the Thruway I am driving like my life depends
On the next time I see your face so baby don't let this feeling end

They say that absence makes the heart grow strong
I need some of your presence before too long

There's nothing on the radio on this naked stretch of road
About halfway between Utica and the exit for Oswego
I've been driving all night long and I feel like I drove my love away
The rain is pouring on the windshield tonight on the New York Thruway

Saline River

There is this place just north of nothing
In the middle of nowhere, it's where I come from
This is the only place I ever knew
These are the faces that saw me through

This is the dirt road where I learned to drive
These are the years that flew right by
This is the place where I met the maker
Just between the Ozarks and the Mississippi Delta

Hello nothing you are my homeland
Why won't you take me as I am
Let your hot water roll over me
Let this muddy water roll down to the sea

I've got this darkness that I can't seem to hook
Like your cotton fields or your history books
I know I had a lot to say
But why couldn't you try to meet me halfway

Hello nothing you are my homeland
Why won't you take me as I am
Let your hot water roll over me
Let this muddy water roll down to the sea

You are landlocked you dirt road island
I cannot swim to you but at least I'm trying
Just throw my ashes in the Saline River
That's the only way I'll be delivered

Hello nothing you are my homeland
Why won't you take me as I am
Let your hot water roll over me
Let this muddy water roll down to the sea

Best Defense

I was just a kid when I heard it on the news
When I heard you'd been accused up in West Memphis
And like most I assumed that justice would be served
That you'd get what you deserved and that you deserved it

Damien, did the devil make you do this?
Did they see right through your best defense?

You were just a kid when they locked you in that cell
They could have burned you at the stake, it would've been more fitting
There was no proof and there was no motive
There was only fear

Damien, did the devil make you do it?
Did they see right through your best defense?
Were you sitting in your room just listening to Metallica records?
When the cops came to take you were you surprised?

In this town of Romans you are the chosen one
Now scheduled to be a martyr for all the bastard sons
For the disenchanted outcasts, for the punks and the freaks
For all those black t-shirt wearing kids like you and like me

Damien, did the devil make you do it?
Did they see right through your best defense?
Were you sitting in your room while all the boys were outside playing?
When the cops came to take you were you surprised?

Damien, did the devil make them do this?
Can you see right through their best defense?
And if they strap you to that chair, can you find it to forgive them
For the narrow-minded bloodthirst of this town?

The Sober Light of Day

Last night when the liquor was flowing
You looked at me again
You said I'm not sure where I'm going
But I am so far from where I began

There are days I can't remember
There are years I'd soon forget
Like when you held me last December
And told me of all the traps that you'd set

In the sober light of day
Where there is nothing more to say
There is no reason to wait
To see the sober light of day

Yeah we all have our poisons
Some in a bottle or a glass
Some on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet
Way in the back where no one will ask

Sometimes I wear my sunglasses
To hide the circles around my eyes
Sometimes I stand on this stage
Sometimes it's the only place to hide

From the sober light of day
Where it's not so easy to relate
And there is no reason to wait
To see the sober light of day

I have spent my share of days
Drunk from the pain
The grey sky it was heavy
And there seemed no end to the refrain

Yeah but I survived it darlin'
And I know that you will, too
Just listen to me calling out to you
And let this song guide you through

To the sober light of day
Where you will see things another way
And if for just a day you'll live
In the sober light of day
The sober light of day

Measure Up

Maybe I'm not as tall as him
Maybe he's got a slyer grin
Maybe he knows how to tell a joke
That leaves the whole room laughing

Maybe he's got better hair
Maybe he's got that savoir faire
Or the romanticism that I seem to lack
Maybe he can show me how to win you back

Maybe he's down on his knees
Maybe he's more eager to please
Maybe he's more giving and kind
And careful and sensitive

Do I measure up?
Do I make the cut?
Will I be your only one
When everything is said and done?

Maybe he's more hip
Maybe he's got a stronger grip
On what's cool and what's in
And what makes you, when he takes, when did he take you?

Do I measure up?
Do I make the cut?
Will I be your only one
When everything is said and everything is done?
Everything is done

Maybe I'm just the kid
Sitting in the back of the class
Raising my hand saying
Pick me, pick me, pick me