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Lyrics for Rhythm of the Rustbelt (2006)
The Fire
He walked with a stone
like nothing youve ever known
if the winds start to blow
its
a blessing on a dusty road
as long as the roof stays dry
it’ll feel like early july
the old man left
in spring
some thing had to change
I had a special friend
let me down time and again
never felt
no pain
never felt no shame
they packed him off to jail
ninety days in a pail
thinking about nothing
is no crime
when you live at the bottom of the line
there’s a lady who lives in a shoe
she’s
got nothing better to do
no cigarettes and no tv
she’s got nothing on me
she sure got a lot of soul
when the preacher man comes to call
he takes her by the hand
shows her the promised land
theres
a knife in the road
where a fork should go
somebody missed a chance
somebody missed a dance
did they
hear a whispering voice
did they make the right choice
if you didn’t talk too loud
then you would know
by now
Come on Down
Come on Down, Come on Down
You’ve got to steal the key
Come
on Down, Come on Down
something that you’ve gotta see
when you reach the bottom
you’re in
for a surprise
the other half of heaven
will look you in the eyes
come on down, come on down
its
got to make you bleed
come on down, come on down
who knows everything you need
falling in the water,
ashes on your face
you get that
sinking feeling
this must be the place
there is no use in lying
no one can prepare
it feels just like you’re dying
when you’re falling
down the stairs
come on down, come on down
rest your tired wings
can you feel, click your heels
I
want to hear you sing
you’ve been chasing rainbows
wearing out your shoes
you can’t outrun
your shadow
hell’s been looking for a few
come on down, come on down,
come on down
I’ve been saving you a seat
come on down
Rustbelt
The rustbelt’s winding
down
and isn’t that a shame
you could be any town now,
they all look about the same
they took
your father off the farm,
when they built the factory
and now they moved production overseas
you’re
on your last leg now,
who’s going to fill your shoes
the story they don’t tell you
on the evening
news
your front porch dissappeared,
the kids don’t play outdoors
you went into debt at all
the
brand name stores
on your deathbed now,
hooked up to life support
so afraid of change
we all come
up short
all the moms and pops
had to close up all their shops
when the big names all moved in
right
down the block
Can you see the fire that burns
all across your lands
when everything you love turns
to ashes in your hands
you’re on your deathbed now,
you don’t want to be late
the men
who bought the farm
are carving up your estate
Pump the oil from the ground,
just to put it in the sky
I hope that I get old before I die
Can you see the fire that burns
all across your lands
when everything
you love turns
to ashes in your hands
Aaron Talked to Bill
Went 1000 miles to see my friend
turned around and went back again
the weather changed and so did I
I want to know the reason why
I
couldn’t wake up my dad;
mom was getting mad
I wanted to perspire so
I went to build
a fire
brushed my teeth and combed my hair
fell asleep in the easy chair
TV on and the curtains closed
that’s the way the story goes
Dinner smelled so good;
I’d eat it if I could
the fire was calling me;
so I went to get a tree
spent the night on a stormy beach
the only place a phone wouldn’t reach
I had lost my desire
so I went back to feed the fire
couldn’t
make up my mind
to go or stay behind
the offer had expired
so I went to feed the fire
Aaron’s
singing, the phone is ringing
my cowlick is licking, the clock is ticking
the past is sneaky, the future is sleepy
built a fire 10 feet high
see the flame light up the sky
got down on my knees to pray
kept on burning
for three days
went to see the man
who asks me who I am
I’m too young to retire,
so I went
to feed the fire
Walk on the Water
She can take me any place;
let me fall flat on my face
drop me from up in the sky;
to see if I can fly
She gives me everything I need,
even if it makes me bleed
when I ask her if she’ll stay,
she says how much can you pay
Take a walk on the water,
take
a walk across the sea
take a walk on the water
if you want to walk with me
she gives me lots of little
clues
when I don’t know what to do
Then she leaves me wanting more
standing on the shore
I can see
the rising tide,
is going to force me to decide
Now we’re all in the same boat
and that was all she
wrote
Take a walk on the water,
take a walk across the sea
take a walk on the water
if you want
to walk with me
when my ship is lost at sea,
she likes to have a word with me
when my choice is sink
or swim,
she says jump right in
and when I’m drowning in my doubt,
she can always help
me out
shines a light to help me see,
that it’s all up to me
she does anything it takes,
to make
sure I stay awake
even hit me on the head,
and this is what she said:
Take a walk on the water,
take a walk across the sea
take a walk on the water
if you want to walk with me
perfect world
“In a perfect world”, that’s what she said
quoting from another book she read
but there
are no words to tell me why
and there is no old white man up in the sky
There’s a perfect world
inside my head
but the lucky monkeys try to wake the dead
we say goodbye, we go and run the race
I find the
time and lose my place
there’s a monster that lives under your bed
was it something you did or something
I said
“In your dreams”, you said, “I’ll see you around”
its not too bad if you don’t
look down
Its a perfect world, when you ring my bell
laughing as the whole thing goes to hell
break the
rules, even if the rules are fair
when the music stops you better find a chair
Its a perfect world when the
pen runs out of ink
and it doesn’t matter what your neighbors think
so play your fiddle while you watch the
city burn
I’ll get in line and wait my turn
Once upon a time,
when we were kids
was
it something I said
about something you did
take me back
to the lost and found
everything happens when
there’s
no one around
Its a perfect world, when the power fails
when the villains rule and the
heroes are in jail
so enjoy the show,
or try to get your money back
someday we may all look back and laugh
In our own perfect world
Carnival Girls
The carnival girls
go to church every sunday
praying for rain
and confessing their sins
but by friday night,
they go right back to playing
the
game that no one ever wins
The carnival girls
have to live in their own world
they’re telling
me that I don’t belong
But I drive out every night
to the carnival
to hear that old love song
The lion tamer, he tried to warn me
that I was getting in over my head
the clowns and jugglers
used to be
strong men
till they took a carnival girl to bed
every medicine is a poison
and every poison a medicine
it all depends on
how much you’re taking
and how often you take it again
The carnival girls
left a child on my doorstep
I took him in and gave him a home
until he started a fire,
while I lay sleeping
my house it burned to the ground
I left that night,
with the clothes on my back
and joined the circus
before they left town
but I lied when I said
I was a tightrope walker
when all I’ve ever been
is a clown
The circus life is making me lonesome
I can see the writing on the wall
when the tightrope
walker,
won’t walk the tightrope
they make him the human cannonball
every medicine is a poison
and every poison a medicine
it all depends on how much you’re taking
and how often you take it again
Close your eyes,
they leave without warning
you’ll never get a goodbye kiss
if only for that
one beautiful morning
you wouldn’t know what you miss
Love is a fire
in the cold and the darkness
burning away the sins of the world
so let me burn, may I never return
I’m in love with a carnival girl
moon
Did you see the moon? She said to me
No, I didn’t see any light in the sky
I’ve been on the ground, looking down
for all I haven’t found
will you show me how you fly
I see crowds walking on the clouds
she remembers every word I said
I’m living in a black and white movie
now
trying to recall all the colors in my head
She spread her wings, began to sing
words that only mean
one thing
someone saying goodbye
Did you hear the birds singing sweet?
and the words I won’t repeat
they would only make you cry
I’ve been down this old road before
nothing ever stays the same
Now
I’m here knocking on your door
and wondering why I ever came
Did you see the trees growing leaves?
do I still believe in the dream of you and me
There’s a flash of light; I close my eyes
flying through the
skies and drifting out to sea
and now I see the moon
Real Men Dig Their Own Graves
real men!
dig their graves
they dig them all over the place
they shoot first and cover up later
they don’t mind
a little blood
when they shave
anyone who disagrees is a traitor
real men dig their own grave
real
men!
are tough as nails
we can pack them like sardines
in the jails
they don’t care about tomorrow
today is the last day
when they’re bringing home the bacon
better not stand in the way
there’s
no place on earth
that they wouldn’t pave
real men dig their own grave
real men!
slash and
burn
they know everything there is to learn
they protect the little children
until their old enough to serve
we’ll turn them into real men
and get all that we deserve
if we ever get to heaven
then we’ll
lay the place to waste
real men dig their own grave
real men!
don’t think twice
about a little
human sacrifice
they multiply like rabbits
and spread across the earth
the more of them there are
the
less each one is worth
a hungry mouth is waiting
there’s nothing you can save
real men dig their own
grave
real men!
won’t say die
As they scorch the earth
and blacken the sky
by
the dawn’s early light
that banner still waves
as real men dig their own graves
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Lyrics for Two-Track Mind (2007)
change
your mind
Show me, my son, how fast you can run
Racing the passing time
I’m sorry if you are left
with no one
when you cross the finish line
So many questions that you never ask;
so many secrets you
keep
too many times like a lamb to the slaughter
pick up that shovel and dig down deep
everything changes
all the time
tomorrow will leave us behind
Everything is changing all the time
why can’t I change my
mind?
My god, my son what have I done?
left you to fend for yourself
the cupboard is bare, I’ve
taken your share
it looks like we’re in for a long dry spell
The oceans are empty, the wells have gone
dry
forests are turning to sand
isn’t it hard to just watch mamma die
when we’ve all got blood
on our hands
everything changes all the time
tomorrow will leave us behind
Everything is changing all
the time
why can’t we change our mind?
so goodbye, my son, now you are the one
to carry the weight
of the past
and time will tell you, the answers so well
to the questions you don’t want to ask
everything
changes all the time
tomorrow will leave us behind
Everything is changing all the time
why can’t I change
my mind?
Expectations
Hope came through the window, dragging and iron chain
she drank up
all my water,
and left me in the rain
Eve crept up my back stairs,
and offered me the night
I said I’d
think it over,
while my mind and body fight
Expectations, lead me far and wide
Expectations, leave me
way behind
Dawn flew in, from the east,
and settled in my dreams
She’s unbridled, running wild,
and bursting at the seams
The moon is in the meadow,
where all the children play
Tomorrow is always
early
when you wait for yesterday
Expectations, etc
Faith is always quiet,
I have
never heard her sing
yet if I listen patiently,
she’ll tell me everything
Grace is on the mountain,
and always worth the climb
All she ever tells me,
is everything is fine
Expectations, ....
My Own Little World
I’m going in, I got to get my medicine from my own little world
No pill
to take, no movement that I make in my own little world
my shadow will shine like the sun
dancing to the beat of
my own drum
where I’m doing it wrong and its turning out right
you won’t be seeing me tonight
I found the cure, when the lines begin to blur in my own little world
Oh bless my soul, I’m filling in the holes
in my own little world
Looking for some early signs of spring
when the windows are so dirty I can hardly see a thing
The black and white world will come apart
I’ll be walking down the path to my own heart
I’m
all alone, and I’m feeling right at home in my own little world
finding all the clues and giving you the news from
my own little world
at the bottom when it gets too dark to see
I’m the only one who has the key
to pull
myself up and rise above
collect the missing pieces of
my own little world
This old man
This
old man, he played one,
he was following the sun
with a banjo on his knee
he marched right into the
sea
the sun goes down, the flower fades
I lost every bet I made
I got no ring, got no rose
this
old man goes rolling home
this old man he played 2,
and there is nothing you can do
when love
whispers in your ear
you’ll pay dearly for something dear
the sun goes down and flowers fade
I
lost every bet I made
got no ring, got no rose
this old man goes rolling hom
This old man, he played 3,
I guess you got the best of me
goodbye my love, through all the years,
I’m walking down that trail of tears
the sun goes down, the flower fades
I lost every bet I made
I got no ring, got no rose
this old man
goes rolling home
sin coming on
I’m coming down from the top of the mountain
going down to
the valley below
going to give in to every temptation, I know
it’s gonna be a long, hard ride to get
back home
I’ve been good, lord, for such a long time
don’t know where all my good time went
but now I need that feeling of redemption
gonna go get a real good reason to repent
I’m coming down
from the top of the mountain
going down to the valley below
going to give in to every temptation, I know
it’s
gonna be a long, hard ride to get back home
gonna give in to all my senses
I want to go and set my soul on
fire
and you can bet lord, come next sunday morning
I’ll be right back up there singing in the choir
I’m going to walk through the valley of shadow
I’ll rush in where angels fear to tread
and good lord,
you might deliver me from evil
just to see me taking evil back to bed
I’m coming down from the top of
the mountain
going down to the valley below
going to give in to every temptation, I know
it’s gonna be
a long, hard ride to get back home
ROW
Put your back into it,
row boys row!
now
the night is coming,
and we still got a long way to go
the whip keeps crackin’,
the tracker keeps
trackin’,
hear him pound that drum
the night is falling,
the good lord is calling
saying look
out boys, here I come!
Put your back into it,
row boys row!
now the night is coming,
and we still
got a long way to go
your knees are shaking
and your back’s nearly breaking
its a hard row to
hoe
the winners keep winning
and the sinners keep sinning
and we’re all in the same boat
Put
your back into it,
row boys row!
now the night is coming,
and we still got a long way to go
the
rain is falling
and the good lord is calling
now the kingdom is at hand
the rain keeps falling,
better quit your stalling
because I still don’t see any dry land
Put your back into it,
row
boys row!
now the night is coming,
and we still got a long way to go
Wildflower
It all goes by so fast
when love is like fire, and fire turns to ash
we leave with strings attached
there’s
a wildflower in the vacant lot
she loves me, then she loves me not
All I see when I look back
all the things
things I didn’t need to pack
it all goes by so fast,
after all the time I spent waiting in line
the
things I can’t take back
words I don’t remember, the words you can’t forget
Things I can’t
let go of, are the things I’ll never get
I hear the siren’s song, I don’t know right from wrong
but if we get too close, my love, we’re going to crash
it all goes by so fast
everything looks
smaller looking back
If only one day would last
there’s a mountain that I climb, somewhere far away from time
a secret and memory of my lover and my enemy
letters never sent, now I wonder what you meant
when just like that
the story ends
Carry Your Dream
You buried your dream
at the bottom of the ocean
in the deep
blue sea of your heart
If it ever gets free,
there will be such commotion
It just might tear your whole world
apart
Carry your dream
to the highest mountain
the highest mountain in the world
Where the air
is so pure,
and nobody’s counting
the grain of sand inside the pearl
fly off the handle,
the handle is rusted
the flowers have all gone to seed
the tires are bald,
and the windows are busted
everyone’s
out on the street
You carried your dream
to the highest mountain
so no one could find it and come back
for too many years,
we’ve been too busy counting
all of our blessings before they arrive
the
handle is rusted, fly off the handle
your soldiers are lonesome for home
making a wish,
better blow
out the candles
before they go out on their own
bury your fear
where you want to grow flowers
and lay right down in that flower bed
let all your tears
come down like rain showers
washing away
the bad dream from your head
Bed of Nails
I’ve
got a locket on a chain,
a faded photograph
I’m waiting outside in the rain,
I can’t help but
laugh
I’ve got a window and a door,
now I’m looking for a roof and floor
you are a flower in a vase,
no matter what they say
I never will forget your face,
I get down on
my knees and pray
when I reach the final scene
I will wake up from my dream
You are a songbird in a
cage
Longing for the sky
You are the words on every page
I read between the lines
Are they dreams or fairy
tales?
Every night on my bed of nails
I’ve got a mirror on the wall
but I can’t see myself
my mind is playing tricks on me
I think I’m somewhere else
for all the words I like to say
when I can’t
think of a game to play
something to cross
I reach for the phone
to dial your number,
pick up my suitcase instead
I know you’ve been dreaming,
waking up screaming
momma’s little
girl is dead
in an accident down at the factory
they’ve been asking
where the hell have you been
you’re locking your door
and pacing the floor, said
I haven’t seen you since who knows when
sometimes I need a bridge
for something to cross
each time, I think I know where I am,
it turns
out I’m totally lost
all the tears you cried, and the times I lied
awake all night in my lonely bed
I know all the ways around my heart
its a long way from my head
sometimes I need a bridge
for
something to cross
each time I lose everything,
at least I’ve still got my loss
Comfort can kill
you,
like danger can thrill you
and distance
can clear your head
You started saying
why you wouldn’t
be staying
right before the line went dead
the tears you cried, the times you tried
to make the house
feel more like home
until it got too hard
to let down your guard
a heart feels safer when its all alone
sometimes I need a bridge
for something to cross
each time I lose everything,
at least I’ve
still got my loss
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