The Ballad of Richard and Mary Helen

D
There was a young woman whose name was Mary.
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She made grown men cry, she was just that scary.
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But one young man she did bewitch,
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And his name was Rich.

Folks thought they were crazy or not that bright,
But they knew in their hearts that the feeling was right.
Though most assumed she’d never get hitched,
Well, she did to Rich.

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Richard and Mary Helen!
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Their love would span the years.
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The vows they spoke were from the heart,
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Though they weren’t for children’s ears.

Before too long she began to increase,
And they knew from then they'd have no peace.
Though it frightened both kin and kith,
She bred with Rich.

They had two boys, each worse than the other,
And just one girl as bad as her mother.
Folks did say they were the mail man’s get,
But they came from Rich

Richard and Mary Helen!
They did the best they could.
Their kids weren’t bad, thought most would say
They also weren’t all that good.

(Bridge: D G ADom7 D)

Slower
The years went by - they grew long in the tooth,
But they loved each other and that's the truth.
A miracle happened when Mary met Rich,
A tempo
That lucky son of a -- Yeehaw!

Richard and Mary Helen!
They spent their life together.
And all they ways they thought it would be,
They would tell you it was better.

Older

When I was just a girl
I had so many thoughts about love.
Now that I'm older
I just want someone to come home to.

I used to think that
eyes were windows.
Now that I'm older
I just want someone who will see me.

I don't need anybody else.
I do just fine on my own.
And everything I am
is everything.
But I don't want to die alone.
I don't want to die.

I used to have so many
things to say.
Now that I'm older
I just want someone I can talk to.

I always wanted
to know everything.
Now that I'm older
I just want someone who'll understand me.

It’s just an ordinary hope
for such and ordinary life
where everything you are
is everything
And I don’t want to die alone.
I don’t want to die.

Holy, holy

In this temple
of hollow holiness,
a mind collapses
with the solitude.

We have nothing but our bodies and
our spirits calling for another day.
And terrible the kindness of an old revelation.
Terrible the voices in our heads.

In this city,
in the alleyways,
the fevered glances
of a million different faces.

Light that falls from shuttered windows,
the space between forgotten longings.
And angel choirs singing out their hallelujahs,
calling to the voices in our heads.

Whispered words pass
from lips to lips.
An ancient verse to
carry on our shoulders.

We have nothing,
we have everything
that spills from cracks in cobbled city streets.

Holy, holy sings an angel choir.
Holy, holy shout the people
and the streets are ringing out with sounds of hallelujah,
echoed by the voices in our heads.

Imperfect Day

Monday morning, same as the one before.
Sometimes I think I can't do this anymore.
Then I feel you put your hand in mine,
saying, "Darling, everything's gonna be fine."

Car is broken, bills are piling high.
Sometimes I don't know how I'll ever get by.
Then I see you smiling down at me,
saying, "Darling, what will be will be."

On an imperfect day, it will be okay
with you right by side.
And if the days are long,
then it won't be wrong
to hold you through the night.

Friday evening, working late again.
Sometimes it seems like this day will never end.
Then I hear your voice on the telephone,
saying, "Darling, I can't wait for you to come home."

And when you smile,
it's all worthwhile,
the things that we must do
for an imperfect day
to be okay.
They're better spent with you.

All For You

Waves and wonder,
songs of summer
where time's askew
and hearts all new.
This broken glass,
this love that lasts,
this distant view -
it's all for you.

Your hands, your face,
a holy place.
Your voice a call
within my soul.
The shifting sand
a golden band
to mark the view
that's all for you.

No more waiting for the sunrise -
Light will always shine through your eyes.
Every morning all because of you.

A storm, the wind,
a new beginning.
And morning dew -
the world's all new.
A quiet hour,
an ancient power,
this lofty view -
it's all for you.

Your hands, your face,
your voice a call
within my soul
that's all for you.

People are all vampires

Your words are calm
But your voice sounds thin.
"Did you ever really let me in?"
If thoughts are dead
and words are all,
these letters are all six feet tall.

You wish that I could
let them go,
these troubles that have bound me so.
But I only know how to
be contained.
This nature is my only friend.

These people all are vampires,
needing blood to live.
Open wide - what's inside
is all I have to give.
But it's okay, I'm not mad; I'm a vampire, too.

In the end,
when mountains fall,
these letters will be standing still.
If thoughts are dead
but hearts survive,
ghosts are what will keep us alive.

Every breath that I exhale
is one more death I die.
The air we breath mingled with
other people's lives.
But it's okay, I'm not mad; I'm a vampire, too.

Marilyn

If only I had known
yesterday, yesterday
to memorize your smile,
oh Marilyn, Marilyn.

Tomorrow may not come
for all of us, all of us,
and today is almost over,
oh Marilyn, Marilyn.

If all that I have left
is the smell of your perfume
and the empty space
beside me.
I will not forget
the sound of your voice
singing, Marilyn, oh Marilyn.

All the words we've shared
are not enough, not enough
to tell you how I feel,
oh Marilyn, Marilyn

So I will ask God
for one more day, one more day
and one more chance to sing
with you, Marilyn, Marilyn.

And our last song
I will carry in my heart
to keep you
near me.
And I will not forget
the sound of your voice
singing, Marilyn, oh Marilyn.

C Cmaj7 Em
Dm G (x2) C Em

A little sweeter, too

Yesterday you said the words
I want to feel for you.
But I could not say them back;
I fear what they can do.

I know it's wrong to judge you
by someone else's sins.
But I still hesitate;
I'm scared to let you in.

These things I feel
aren't the same as what you do.
But hold me a little closer.
Whisper a little longer.
Maybe I'll start to feel it, too.
Hold me a little longer.
Kiss me a little sweeter, too.

The places I keep hidden
are what you most need to see.
Would that I could show you
the secret truth of me.

Every dark corner
has stories from the past.
Oh, if I could tell you,
I might be free at last.

Oh Daddy

Oh Daddy, there wasn't anything I needed to be
to make you love me.
Oh Daddy, I should have learned so long ago
that real love is free

If my will was any stronger,
I'd break myself in half.
But what I wanted most
was more than what I had.

Why didn't I see
you wanted me to be still
so I could take a breath,
not so I would stop.

All those other men,
I thought that they were like you.
But kind words aren't enough;
A man's voice is meant to soothe.

Oh Daddy, there was never anything I needed to be
to make you love me.
Oh Daddy, you tried to tell me long ago
that real love is free.

A Sad Song

I love walking at night
A sad song in my ears
So alone
So melancholy

Twinkling lights against
Misty shadows
To move
Even when the city's still

And I loved you
And I wanted you
But desire
It could not change the world

Maybe you'll walk with me
Maybe I'll walk alone
But whatever you do
I know that I must go

And to move
Makes me wonder
Is it life
Or is it loss

And I wanted you
And I needed you
But my desire
Oh it could not change the world

would you stay

Bowed under a heavy yoke, knowing the girl I should have been.
A better woman would have fallen, too.
Weakness brought me to you
And weakness made me leave.
I should have been so much better
than what I had to give.
I know that when I'm with you, I'm free.

I wasn't my best, I know,
but I did not want you to go
I should have asked you,
"Would you stay?"
Now I will wait
until you come and find me.
If you would love me,
and if I would let you,
I know that's when I will be free.

you run, i sing

Every night when I close my eyes,
I watch you leave in my mind.
I can't seem to recall anything at all
from before you want away.

That moment in time has the strength to define
every moment from that day on.
I can't seem to erase the thought of your face
the day you said good-bye.

But you run
while I sing,
"oh what will tomorrow bring?"

If you would stay,
you would hear,
"darling, what have we to fear?"

Maybe if you were here, everything would be clear
about why you were right to go.
But I can't seem to accept when I can never forget
the reason I'm alone.

The things you fear will eat you alive.
If you had courage, to stay would we be okay,
or was it me who was wrong?

Wanderer's Lament II

When I was a little boy in this world of woe and sin,
I had neither cart nor pack to carry all my troubles in,
no clothes to wear except my skin,
no food to fill the hole within.

Then one morning where I slept underneath a mighty oak,
I arose to find myself covered in a woolen cloak.
Next to me a strange man woke,
and to me were these words he spoke:

"I have neither home nor wife. I have no daughter and no son.
What I see leads me to think that you yourself are on your own.
Until my trav'lin' days are done,
I do not wish to walk alone."

When I was a little to boy in this world of woe and sin,
I had neither cart nor pack to carry all my troubles in.
But never will I cry again
for I will journey with a friend.

charlie who knew you

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charlie, who knew you?
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the wind blew right through you.
charlie, in any weather
you're there to make it better.

charlie, who knew you?
the sun shone right through you.
charlie, you make it better
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than any song could ever do.



g              c             am    em
days will pass without a word -
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the loudest sound i ever heard.
g                   c             am    em
though your mind's a mystery,
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your heart's as clear as day to me.

nothing i ever say
could make this silence go away.
all the words are on your tongue.
i know your story's just begun.

even if the words are gone,
my heart will say you're not alone.
all the days you stood by me
i will repay quite happily.

ode to the empty place we all carry around inside of us

every night you lie with me
looking at the sky
you tell me of the mysteries
hidden in the night

you say stars are only echoes
of fires from the past
a story of the sadness
of love that did not last
singing through the emptiness
with its final breath

these hands these eyes
search for something beautiful
this heart this mind
this longing unendurable
standing on the edge of eternity
all i want to feel is your hand in mine.

you say stars have found their resting place
in the light behind our eyes
they shine in every corner
of the empty place inside
we'll burn this place forever
with the love that could not die

Man of God

he rolls into town when the sun is high
leave your home and kiss your family good bye
your ears will ring with the words he brings
preach on, preach on, man of god, preach on

he'll pardon your sins and cure your ills
his intentions are pure, but he's hell on wheels
your heart he'll smote with every note
sing on, sing on, man of god, sing on

you wake up one morning, town's quiet again
he's taken his mercies and a bottle of gin
your eyes will burn but he'll soon return
ride on, ride on, man of god, ride on

Bring Me Home

All I see is darkness, darkness
every step from you I roam.
All my dreams are sadness, sadness
without you to make them glow.
If the world is madness, madness,
that which lasts will bring me home.

Every bad thought banished, banished
when you turn your face my way.
All these tears are finished, finished
when I hear you say my name.
What can sorrow damage, damage
when we know we're here to stay?

Leave by the way what shimmers and fades.
Oh follow the light that burns in the night.
Oh at the beginning I know I'll find you waiting there.

Every step is fearless, fearless
which I do not take alone.
All my days are endless, endless
in this place where hearts are close.
If the world is madness, madness,
love is what will bring me home.

before the day is done

burn me slow
if you must go
sing me to sleep
so these dreams i keep
you fade like the sun
but don't go before the day is done

whisper soft
so i don't get lost
hum your song
and i'll sing along
if you stay
i'll find the words to say
before the day is done

hold me fast
so this feeling will last
mark my skin
so this day will never end
i'd be so good
if you could
stay until dawn

all these battles have already been won
there's no reason to run
so don't go before the day is done

in dreams

you call out to me
as in a dream
whisper, "i've so missed you."
you ask me to stay
tell me, "i'm so lonely,
you're so lovely."
but this is the place
where sadness is made.
oh run while you can.
run while you still can.

the look in your eyes,
i don't recognize the sadness,
the quiet madness.
but holding your hand,
i feel the past familiar.
i'm so sorry, but
where you will wander
i cannot follow.
but i'll be true.
i will always love you.

by stars

how did we come so far
when we live our lives by stars?
nothing between you and me
only held together by gravity

why did we think we could fight?
i was the moon
you were the night

spin around me
spin through you
this is all we ever can do

and when the stars fade
what's left is silence and space
always so far away
even as we near infinity

why'd we try to be so bright?
i was the moon
you were the night

spin around me
spin through you
this is all we ever can do