dark as night

e---------------g-e
The night is not dark.
f-----------------e-d-----c----e
City lights refract in the smog.
You can only see stars
if you hold your breath for too long.

You must close your eyes.
Shapes without ends are not real.
Night tells the truth:
Trust only what you can feel.

(b)e------(d-c)g---f
Take this night
              a
hold me down, down
deep, down, down, deep down.
whisper words
but don't make a sound, sound, deep down.
       f ------d----b
just hold me down, down
deep down.

This is dark's embrace:
Held tight for hours by the mist.
Why would you sleep?
Daylight has nothing on this.

wild ride

this is not my path
but i can't get away
i fade, i fade, i fade
all shimmer and gray

it's wild, wild, wild
these ghosts i see
we'll go high, high, high,
so dangerously
there's no time, time, time
or place to hide
it's wild, wild, wild
it's a wild ride.

everything is a fight
i just want to retreat
but these ghosts, these ghosts, these ghosts
drop me at your feet

it's wild, wild, wild...

you are not my reward
yet only you remain
this call, this call, this call
echoes in my brain

i'll be gone, gone, gone
before you wake
this road, road, road
is one i must take
please wait, wait, wait
i'll be by your side
it's wild, wild, wild
it's a wild ride.

Em thing

You hold the weight of the world.
You are the sun.
Don't try to turn away.
You are the one.

What is there to do?
Everything's on you.
No rest and no home,
you must stand alone.

Mary Helen

Mary Helen, there's no tellin'
what you're gonna do.
Your ADD's alright with me
because your love is true.

Mary Helen, there's no tellin'
what you're gonna say.
You may be small, but, through it all,
you brighten every day.

Oh Mary Helen,
You never waver
to lend a hand
or do a favor.
In our thoughts,
you're always dwellin'.
Oh Mary Helen!
Oh Mary Helen!

Oh Mary Helen,
through all our drama,
you'll always be
the greatest mama.

When you're around,
our hearts are swellin'.
Oh Mary Helen!
Oh Mary Helen!

brother

C                  Em
e-g-e-g-f-e-d-e
After you're gone,
Dm                           G                 G7       C
a-a-f-b-d-g-g-f-e-d-e
think of the girl who loved you for so long.
Though you love another,
please don't forget me, brother.

When you're at your worst,
think of the girl who loved you first.
She taught you to care for another
and please don't forget me, brother.

A                            Em     A
Though I miss you all the time
And I wish you were nearer
Dm                    C (d-du)             Em
What's in you is in me too, so
Em                   G                G7    C
I can see your face in the mirror

Though we must part,
I'll keep you close to my heart.
You'll give your life to another,
but you will always, always be my brother.

The artist

You're an artist.
Don't take leave
of your senses.
Leave your
sentence behind.
You are free.
You are flowing.
You're a fighter.
You take care
and take over.
Never hostile,
always gentle.
Bring them close
and close your eyes
to tell the story
of the death
and the hatred
and the wonder
of the womb
where you hide
where you sleep
slowly growing
'til the day
when the world
and all its people
wait no longer.
They long for words
about the bombs
and the bullets
and all the ways
you'll make it right
if you can find it
in your heart
in your mind
in your soul
to paint the picture
of the peace
that will mangle
every malice.
Then all who speak will say:
"There's a man
with a vision
and the will
to make it well.
He's a poet.
He's a preacher.
He's the answer.
He's an artist."

whiskey mouth

His words tore through me,
Sung in the key of fuck me dead.
Upstroke, downstroke,
Strumming chords both blue and red.

I want your whiskey mouth,
Warm in these cold-sweat nights.
Use those charms you learned down south.
Throw me from your smokey highs.

His six strings held me,
Strung me up clear down to the bone.
Upstroke, downstroke,
Strumming chords for me alone.

I want your whiskey mouth...
 
His music bound me,
Clung to my heart and burned my skin.
Upstroke, downstroke,
Strumming chords that tell my sins.