Joe Henry Album

The carriage horses stamp and fume
Until all color's gone
They leave the street in black and white
And bring the evening coming on
Lovers tug their way out of gloves
Out of shoes, and gray chiffon
The driver pulls his blanket high
And pretends to look beyond

Oh, pray for you, pray for me
Sing it like a song
Life is short but, by the grace of God
This night is long

Girls crowd into bathroom stalls
The boys smoke in their cars
The general, he's in civilian clothes
Standing at the bar
He waves at the deaf flower lady
"Come sit by me, sweetheart"
He draws a napkin battle plan
Says, "this is where we start"

Oh pray for you, pray for me
Sing it like a song
Life is sort but, by the grace of God
This night is long

There are no more hummingbirds
Like there used to be
They're fat and slow and careless now
They've turned blue and mean
And the parrots sound like monkeys
Screaming from the trees
As the decent people
Fumble for their keys

We used to spend the night in town
Down by city hall
And the water works of Irish Beach
Just below the falls
We'd walk down to the Park Hotel
Past the Baptist Veteran's Mall
Back then, a man in uniform
Might mean anything at all

Oh, pray for you, pray for me
Sing it like a song
Life is short but, by the grace or cruel heart of God
The night is long

Where's my sock?
Where's my other shoe?
I didn't know what time it was
When I came o.
The only light in here
Is fmy flickering TV
Watching back at me..
Oh, my love is here to stay

Saints alive
And all the saints be praised,
I see them all around me now
They've been called and raised;
Their jaws gone slack.
Their yellow nails long and curling back
To scratch the phantom of ache
Of our lost days...
Oh, my love is here to stay

I came home this morning
I was dead on my feet,
drunk on the victory
Of my own defeat.
Now, I'm reeling on the ceiling
But what yard-bird law is this,
When a heart in chains is what remains
The prelude to a kiss?

God is in the details
Of the smoke in the air,
The devil, he's a pauper prince
Nesting in your hair.
The things we put together
The world will ear a part,
But I've beat them to the start
Alone the way..
Oh, my love is here to stay.

I don't know you to wear a hat
But I came home late and there it sat,
You rose to show what hats are for
When living through a civil war,
When living through a civil war

Christmas mornings and New Years Days
They flood with dreams and drift away,
They cling to logs and cupboard doors
Riding out this civil war,
Riding out this civil war

Some fighters came and pitched a tent
And everyone around here, we went,
The fix was in, but we bet and we swore
From both sides of a civil war...

We build this up and we knock this down
We call our little mob a town,
We nail a sign up above the door
"God bless our little civil war,"
"God bless our little civil war"

Three dogs at a party an a boat at night
Play checkers in a lantern light,
They sing a song out to the shore
Of women, gold, and civil war...

Every truth carries blame
And every light reveals some shame,
Progress rides with thieves and whores
The stowaways of civil war,
The stowaways of civil war.

If you fear the angels above while you sleep
Then I'll be the blood, you paint on your door
Your dream is a worry that nothing will keep,
But time is a story and there will be more
Your dream is a worry that nothing will keep,
But time is a story and there will be more

And death and disgrace can seduce anyone
Who needs to believe there's judgment at hand,
God may me kind and see you like a son,
But time is a lion when you are a lamb
God may me kind and see you like a son,
But time is a lion when you are a lamb

The years see the best of intentions and greed
They come without shame, they'll leave you with some
Men become old when their hurt becomes need,
But time is a lover and your time is young
Men become old when their hurt becomes need,
But time is a lover and your time is young

The sun is a soldier, out crawling the hill
Setting fire to every house that's in view,
Lighting the ruin of my hope and my will
Till I'm like a shadow and I'm falling on you,
Crawling on you,
Oh you know how I do…

So sleep here with me and I'll keep you close
For now while i try to live up to you,
You can't see the challenge of this, I suppose,
But time is a dare and I'm trying to
You can't see the challenge of this, I suppose,
But time is a dare and I'm trying to
But time is a dare and I'm trying to ( 3x )

I know that fan is moving air
I can see it in your hair
But I can't bear to
Breathe it in somehow-
I'll rise and fall with you
Cause you can't fail me now,
I'll rise and fall with you
Cause you can't fail me now

Salt is sweet upon my mouth
And dark throws sparks against my house
The state of love is a smudge upon my brow-
But you see through me
And you can't fail me now,
You see right through me
You can't fail me now

I've bit off more than I can chew
It's something that I tend to do
When fewer words are what we need, and how-
You bite my tongue
And you can't fail me now,
I rant and rail
But you can't fail me now

solo
Bridge:
I've lost the thread among the vines
And hung myself in storylines
That tell the tales I never would allow-
God knows the name of every bird
That fills my mind like angry words,
but you know all my secret heart avows…

We're taught to love the worst of us
And mercy more than life but trust me:
Mercy's just a warning shot across the bow-
I live for yours
And you can't fail me now,
I live for your mercy
And you can't fail me now
No you can't fail me now

I've seen the best
And the worst you can be,
And all while you're getting
the better of me.
You're fragile but wicked
And fleeting as breath,
And you move up behind me
And scare me to death.
You're fragile but wicked
And fleeting as breath,
But when you move close to me
You scare me to death

At war between all good intentions
And greed,
My love is the kind
Where want becomes need.
Where lust takes the toll
Of a quick stolen breath,
You stir within me
And scare me to death.
Where lust takes the toll
Of a quick stolen breath,
You stir within me
And scare me to death

A dose now of either heart or of mind
Can be lethal, it seems, if they're not combined.
They show but contempt when consideredas two,
And pretend that each is the other to you…

Now, you spit in your hands
And haul on the rope.
And fill up my cup
With the worst kind of hope.
You lift me with words
I haven't found yet,
I fall like your shadow
And you scare me to death.
I fall like a shadow,
You've stolen my breath,
You sleep here beside me
And scare me to death.
You sleep here beside me
And you scare me to death.

I saw Willie Mays
At a Scotsdale Home Depot
Looking at Garage Door Springs
At the far end of the 14th floor

His wife stood there beside him
She was quiet and they both were proud
I gave them room but was close enough
That I heard him when he said out loud

This was my country
This was my song
Somewhere in the middle there
Though it started badly and it's ending wrong

This was my country
This frightful and this angry land
But it's my right if the worst of it might still
Somehow make me a better man

The sun is unforgiving and
There's nobody who would choose this town
But we've squandered so much of our good will
That there's nowhere else will have us now

We push in line at the picture show
For cool air and a chance to see
A vision of ourselves portrayed as
Younger and braver and humble and free.

This was our country
This was our song
Somewhere in the middle there
Though it started badly and it's ending wrong

This was our country
This frightful and this angry land
But it's my right if the worst of it might still
Somehow make me a better man

I've started something I can't finish
And I barely leave the house it's true
I keep her out on my sores and joints
But I've guess I've had my blessings too

I've got my mother's pretty feet
And a factory keeps my house in shade
My children they've both been paroled
And we get back all the peace we've made

I feel safe so far from heaven
From towers and their ocean views
From here I see the future coming across
What soon will be beaches too

But that was him
I'm almost sure
The greatest centerfielder of all time
Stooped by the burden of endless dreams
His and yours and mine

He hooked each spring beneath his feet
He leaned over then he stood upright
Testing each against his weight
For one that had some play and some fight

He's just like us I want to tell him
And our needs are small enough
Something to slow our heavy door
Something to raise one up

This was my country
This was my song
Somewhere in the middle there
Though it started badly and it's ending wrong

This was God's country
This frightful and this angry land
But if it's his will
The worst of it might still
Somehow make me a better man

If it's his will
The worst of it might still
Somehow make me a better man

I waved to you as my boat was leaving
Hats flew up and everybody cheered,
But you turned as I guess someone spoke to you,
And in a sea of arms you disappeared.

I lived the life of a ragged soldier
The secretary to a rebel king,
He kept us drunk and hungry in a jungle
Tangled in the lilies of his scheme.

We gambled and we fought with one another
We had no code to give us unity,
Most died among us without God or honor
As blood became our faith and currency.

And all the while I kept your name beside me
I wrote it, but refused it on my tongue,
Believing you a song still there inside me
I feared your loss if ever it were sung.

I found myself at last upon a shoreline
I booked my passage home and stood in tears,
With a bag of apples and a forged passport
-The first I'd seen my face in seven years...

Now I wonder at the day when I might find you,
Appear among the living at your door,
Will you have a husband and some children?
Will we share a secret anymore?

Life is brutal to the weak and sober
Its powers of persuasion dark and grave,
lt pushes its way up to the railing
Then turns its face when you start to wave.

Lincoln Street is howling
It's empty, growing colder,
The night has come on limping and
It's bleeding from the shoulder.
Headlights fake a prison break
Of snow that rages and dies,
It's lost its will upon this hill
As one time so did I.

But here comes everybody-
The rounders and the nuns,
The poets sweeping sleeper cars,
The butcher and his sons;
Here comes the restitution
We'd all but given up,
This evening we're content believing
That love will be enough.

Air is what I need
But I try to breathe you in,
Thinking I can get at what I must
Beneath your skin.
Your veins are humming wire
Rushing fire to your face,
I feel it flush against my own,
A pulse that I can taste.

And here comes everybody-
The tyrant and his crew,
His most loyal traitors
And they whisper this to you:
Here comes the restitution
You'd all but given up,
This evening we're content believing
That love will be enough.

The fire escape is folded
Like the cradle of an arm,
Our dread so deep we've learned to keep it
Near without alarm.
But every fear is like the prayer
You've learned to shout out loud,
From your lips to God's ear
It turns the face of every crowd.

And here comes everybody-
The closet renegades,
The weary, hungry soldiers
From the children's lost crusade.
Here comes the restitution
We'd all but given up,
This evening we're content believing
That love will be enough.

If anybody asks what's new
I say, "not much," and it's mostly true,
But when my stars align with you
Then I will write my book.

I turn my face from all the rage
Playing on the grim, dark stage,
But you've show me an open page
And I will write my book.

I have no time for what inclines
Their rhyme or broken reason;
The world is ruthless, shrewdly blind,
My oath to them is treason...

I'd never claim that what I'd heard
Was the first wave or the last word,
But your heart beneath my hand just stirred
And I will write my book.

I have no time for what inclines
Their crimes on every season;
The world is truthless, shrewdly kind,
My oath to them is treason...

I have no words to turn the tide
-Lights go out, and worlds collide-
But by your candle hopes abide
And there I'll write my book,
By your candle hopes abide
And there I'll write my book.

The song wants to repeat just now,
It sings itself to show you how,
It throws away its finest line
Just to keep the feel and time.
Just to keep
The feel and time,
It throws away now
Its finest line.

The word wants just to leave my tongue,
To turn your face, and when that's dope
I've got no use for what it proves,
It only means the way you move.
It only means
The way you move,
I've got no use now
For what it proves.

Close your eyes and shut my mouth,
The day has worn its welcome out.
It pats you down and cuffs your hands
And makes its bed right where you stand…

The prayer wants to believe in you
And does in spite of all you do,
It sings itself just like a song
When hope is weak and pride is strong.
When hope is weak
And pride is strong,
It sings itself now
Just like a song.

The thought wants nothing more than show
How little now you really know.
It burns then it turns cold and mean
Taking any offer sight unseen...

The song wants to repeat just now,
It sings itself to show you how,
It throws away its finest line
Just to keep the feel and time.
Just to keep
The feel and time,
It throws away now
Its finest line.

Darkness settles on the ground
And leaves the day stumbling blind,
Coming to a quiet close
And maybe just in time:
We'd almost lost the heart to know
How to keep our best in mind,
We'd almost lost the heart to know
How to keep our best in mind.

Time has turned an angry face
And throws a dark eye back to see
That what will pass for mercy now
We practice unforgiving.
As if might and will mode right
Or either one could make us free,
As if might and will made right
Or either one could make us free.

Lovers laugh and cross this way
Weaving out into the street,
It seems we never were so young
Or it was never quite so sweet.
But the world is always beautiful
When it's seen in full retreat,
The worst of life looks beautiful
As it slips away in full retreat.


God only knows that we can do
No more or lass than He'll allow,
God only knows that we mean well
God knows that we just don't know how.
But I'll try to be your light in love
And pray that is enough for now,
I'll try to be your light in love
And pray that is enough for now.