It's curious, you only blame yourself
for not quite knowing how to live
when your family tree is tangled at the root
you dig down deep, you get caught up
when we are born we're aged 100 years
our father's faces become our own
with the touch of your hand we're better
blow us a kiss we're off to heaven
if you're kind we'll promise to be yours forever
it's dangerous to take upon yourself
these generations of experiment
how can we know, until that final hour
how good or bad this science went
but with the touch of your hand we're better
blow us a kiss we're off to heaven
if you're kind we'll promise to be yours forever
don't you know that same hand can break us
you should know from your own experience
how the weight of words can send us
tumbling backwards...tumbling
i forgive myself that means i've forgiven you
and the best intentions of those before
because with the touch of my hand we're better
blow us a kiss you're off to heaven
with the touch of my hand you're better
blow us a kiss you're off to heaven
we'll keep the promise we made and we'll be yours forever
...it's curious
if i took a boat to the water's edge and i began to row never looking back and i found myself out in the middle of nowhere, now that freedom rings do i call out to you or plan my own survival? with water to balance me, i'll make a blanket out of the sky but can i call you when i reach the end? and if our ties would break, sending me over the edge and i landed safe and motioned for you to come would you run and leap, fall with faith in your mind or plan your own survival? the wind makes a mighty friend when you give in, you can call me when you reach the end. the further we can bend, the less we tend to break, desire made us run, brought us face to face alone is good sometimes, together is heaven sent oh, let's just take our chance, we make a mighty friend when we give in, you can call me when you reach the end if we took a boat.
"where's your life?" he asked
"what a question,
it's in the books i read, it's in my head"
little genius
she sees black on white,
then lives full color
just as long as she don't forget to breathe
she's a little genius, she don't forget anything
all she learned in school
it didn't take too long to learn
to separate body from mind
so when ignorance surrounds her
she drowns in words
are facts a thrill for you?
her love is fiction
endless possibilities occur
she's a little genius, it's so fun being her
she gets to break every rule
it didn't take too long to learn
to separate body from mind
so when ignorance surrounds her
she drowns in words
words to live by, words to take, words to touch and words to taste
words to live by, words to feel, words that speak and words to hear
she's tried reality, she couldn't control it
she never liked the way the stories ended
little genius makes up her own
so if she gets bored, she jumps to the ending
she'll skip a chapter, maybe two, who's to blame
little genius, all by herself
because her friends keep changing names
words to live by, words to take, words to touch and words to taste
words to live by, words to feel, words that speak and words that hear
chasing beauty, we stumble in the dark. hoping to trip over luck
mind laid open to catch you if you fall, hoping creation will come
calling madalene, give us voice, show us kindness
judge and jury refuse our need to speak,
sweet perfection is avoiding us
motion and emotion begin to imitate,
the mere act of doing doesn't make a masterpiece
calling madalene, give us voice, show us kindness
send a message, use the wire, clear the lines in case we hear her
why do you make us wait so long?
please don't make us wait so long
don't make us wait so long.
patience, patience, can't pull it from thin air,
words can be heavy, hard to control.
tired, tired, it's easier to rest
but first, could you show us you even exist?
calling madalene, give us voice, show us kindness
send a message, use the wire, clear the lines in case we hear her.
why do you make us wait so long?
why do you make us wait so long?
please don't make us wait so long --- hold on.
He was just standing there
so we were driving home, talking about the weather, rainy again no change, we complain. i look out my window, what do i see, is that a man overboard? oh god no, did you see what i saw? and how i wished it, oh how i wished that it wasn't so, he was just standing there, how i wished it, oh how i wished that it wasn't so, but there it was in black and white. i wanted to push rewind, follow him to the bridge and offer him wings in case he changed his mind. if his decision's reversed mid-flight, he could hold out his hands and i'd throw them down he could catch them, fly off. and how i wished it, oh how i wished that it could be so, he was just standing there, now the air has taken his place. how i wished it, oh how i wished that it could be so but it was not written in black and white.
you said you saw jesus painted on a trash can
all the saints in heaven surrounding him
held up by a red light you looked into his eyes
hoping for redemption, a compromise
i asked, "what have you done, who have you betrayed?"
you answered, "it could be myself, i am afraid"
there are certain moments we're reminded of the things
we chose to protect us, we chose to leave
sometimes when we're alone, we're tempted by the thought
of how good it would feel to believe and just swallow
so you sat there waiting for the light to turn green
you thought it funny, you and jesus waiting for the same thing
when it changed you left him, like so many years before
you told me you felt lighter having gone solo
there are certain moments we choose to lose the things
we thought could protect us, we chose to leave
sometimes when we're alone, we're tempted by the thought
of how good it would feel to believe and just follow
shake their hands say good night, joy will be rising
shake their hands say goodbye, joy is rising
Dream Lifted Up
stolen by my heart, it's here i stand
wishing i could find my own voice carry my own weight
take this love into my own hands
getting burned by all that touches this skin
always letting other hands protect it
never knowing i had the power to heal
as i rise to greet the call, i only start again to fall
swallowed up by the ground beneath my feet
my life lies buried underneath
the weight of all that i don't know
and the fear i will never reach my home.
if i could learn to trust that other side of me
the one that minds its own heart, follows its own way
i could open up and let the others in
without pretending without depending
on what or where i've been
then when i hear the call, i will only rise to greet the call
of a dream lifted up by what could be
blinded eyes are all i need to see
nothing else to do when the only turn
is the one that's been calling me all along
here i stand on the ground beneath my feet
looking down i can see what's underneath
nothing else to do when the only turn
is the one that's been calling me all along.
playing the part of red riding hood,
i run through this city,
like she through the wood
cover my legs, cover my breasts,
cover the beating that enters my chest
grandma says
"there are men with teeth and eyes
to tear the goodness out of every young girl"
oh, why do they stare at you so?
hey, what could these wolves want with you?
oh, why do they glare at you so?
hey, what could these wolves want with you?
hungry to meet, they are hungry to swell,
hungry for anything outside of themselves
i watch every move, clear every space,
walk with a purpose not so much grace
grandma says
"there are men with teeth and eyes
to tear the goodness out of every young girl"
oh, why do they stare at you so?
hey, what could these wolves want with you?
oh, why do they glare at you so?
hey, what could these wolves want with me?
what could they expect to gain
from something so profane?
what could they expect from you by being so cruel?
grandma says
"there's always more than one wolf in the wood"
sympathy's out of style, to smile is not cool, "it's simple division," he says, "you against me against you. alive 70 years, do you think they care? a lifetime means nothing when nothing is all you have" poor george, he thinks the world's come to an end, kids are growing up strange. "they live while i watch," he says "i'm too scared to join them. i've got a body that walks and a mind that can't stop talking, but no one is listening and the silence is creeping up and the faces i see, heavy with the weight of so much fear and revenge for the way they're shaped" poor george, he thinks the world's come to end, kids are growing up strange "they live while i watch," he says, "i'm too tired to join them, the way they shove youth in my face, it's like a loaded gun, as if i never stood in their place, as if they would never step foot in mine don't they know it's a matter of time". oh george, don't you know things haven't changed much it's the dreams they've gone sour, "they live life so loud these days," he says, "i'm too scared to follow and the way they shove youth in my face, it's like a loaded gun meant to warn me, as if i never stood in their place as if they would never step foot in mine, don't they know it's a matter of time,...only a matter of time"
Five Years Old
when he was five years old he split the world wide open
soon he disappeared, he was swallowed by the notion
that his significance depended on the masses
one day he'll wake up laughing believing he can make his life a "happy ever after"
when she was seventeen she reported herself missing
no one took her seriously they said "you must be joking"
when she took her life, they gathered 'round her grave, heads shaking
"such a shame" was all they said, "heaven's surely found her"
can you count how many times you have heard this story?
put a different face on each finger, count another glory lost
what breaks some apart holds others together
depends on how we're built to withstand the weather
when he was forty-nine, he dreamt of teardrops falling
got up, walked out the door, afraid he might be drowning
his wife of thirty years can still be found there waiting
there is always someone left when someone does the leaving
can you count how many times you have heard this story?
put a different face on each finger, count another glory lost
what breaks some apart, holds others together
depends on how we're built to withstand the weather
when he was five years old he split the world wide open
today he wakes up laughing, believing he is closer to a "happy ever after"
All songs written by Grace Hearn and Michael Savage © 1995 SavageHearn Music, BMI, except "passion" and "walker's tune" written by Michael Savage © 1995 SavageHearn Music and
"Dream Lifted up" written by Grace Hearn and John P. Graboski, arranged by Michael Savage © 1995 SavageHearn Music, BMI/OHO Music, BMI.