Kevin Devine Album

I got a wolf's mouth
And it suits me
I chew the sides out
With my sharp teeth

I cut my tongue up
I make my gums bleed
I scare the people
That pay to see me
When I sing

And I see white steam
Above your blue face
It makes my hands hot
It makes my lips bake

And the sweat just makes my shirt stick
To that scratch across my ribs
That space where you fell from
And I haven't sewn up since

I'm trailing off again

And the strain just makes my face tic
And it messes with my head
That space you tore open
Well, I've had trouble closing it

They come to this place alone and they leave in two's.
Except for you and me who just come to use.
And if you're all done like you said you'd be,
Then what are you doing hanging out with me?

Why do you tell me things so plainly and true?
If you be straight with me I'll be straighter with you.
And if you're all done like you said you'd be,
Then what are you doing hanging out with me?

I been wanting to do anything for a long time
But whatever you got right now will probably suit me fine.
And if you're all done like you said you'd be,
Then what are you doing hanging out with me?

I been wanting to do anything for a long time
But whatever you got right now will probably suit me fine.
And if you're all done like you said you'd be,
Then what are you doing hanging out with me?

Joey,
Baby,
Don't get crazy

Detours,
Fences,
I get defensive

I know you've heard it all before
So I don't say it anymore
I just stand by and let you fight your secret war

And though I used to wonder why
I used to cry 'til I was dry
And still sometimes I get a strange pain inside
Oh joey, if you're hurtin' so am I

And Joey,
Honey,
I've got
Some money

And all is forgiven
Listen, oh listen

And if I seem to be confused
I didn't mean to be with you
And when you said I scared you
Well I guess you scare me too

But we got lucky once before
And I don't want to close the door
So if you're somewhere out there
Passed out on the floor
Oh joey, I'm not angry anymore

And if I seem to be confused
I didn't mean to be with you
And when you said I scared you
Well I guess you scare me too

But we got lucky once before
And I don't want to close the door
So if you're somewhere drunk
And passed out on the floor
Oh Joey,
I'm not angry anymore
And Oh Joey,
I'm not angry anymore

Come a little bit closer
Hear what I have to say
Just like children sleepin'
We could dream this night away.

But there's a full moon risin'
Let's go dancin' in the light
We know where the music's playin'
Let's go out and feel the night.

Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon.

When we were strangers
I watched you from afar
When we were lovers
I loved you with all my heart.

But now it's gettin' late
And the moon is climbin' high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin' in your eye.

Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon.

One, two, three, one ready go...
You're up with the sunrise
And down when the work's been done
Your excellence industry
Diligence naturally
I would like to be you
Just for a few habit-forming years
Laziness cuts me like fine cutlery
I need a miracle - someone to help me
Help myself

Sweet jesus, i need you
Forgive me this sin
Not hookers or heroin, gambling or gin
It sounds so ridiculous, but i just can't lick this
I need a miracle - someone to help me
Help myself
Someone to help me
Help myself

The only girl I've ever loved
Was born with roses in her eyes
But then they buried her alive
One evening 1945
With just her sister at her side
And only weeks before the guns
All came and rained on everyone
Now she's a little boy in Spain
Playing pianos filled with flames
On empty rings around the sun
All sing to say my dream has come

But now we must pack up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on

And now we ride the circus wheel
With your dark brother wrapped in white
Says it was good to be alive
But now he rides a comet's flame
And won't be coming back again
The Earth looks better from a star
That's right above from where you are
He didn't mean to make you cry
With sparks that ring and bullets fly
On empty rings around your heart
The world just screams and falls apart

But now we must pack up every piece
Of the life we used to love
Just to keep ourselves
At least enough to carry on

And here's where your mother sleeps
And here is the room where your brothers were born
Indentions in the sheets
Where their bodies once moved but don't move anymore
And it's so sad to see the world agree
That they'd rather see their faces fill with flies
All when I'd want to keep white roses in their eyes

Tonight i'm posed and popping like a peacock. i'm pressing flesh. i'm smiling big. my spinning head sings "stop, just stop." 'cause what used to calm me down just rips my life to ribbons now. so i keep smiling. i find my window and quick cut out. these days my hangman's hunger makes my gut kick. my sleeping mind could map it blind: a flask, a key, a bag, a fifth. i try to will myself away while shouting habits plead their case. so when the sun seers through my eyes, a beggar's brain can't compromise. i splash cold water. i draw the curtains. i stay inside. and i can't say that it's a sickness, more like a stranger i ask in and later realize it was a strangler slipping nooses in my den. but i was lonely, so i asked him, "could you tie that one on me?" it wasn't his fault. i was eager and i was weak.

So as i inched towards resolution, yeah, i'm not sure which life feels right. no narrow noose or the wading water will hang in hex or open eyes. i know my brother, he went one way and at the fork i heard him say, "don't you follow. don't go making my mistakes." and i realized what he meant: don't kill yourself to raise the dead. it never works. you'll only end up joining them. it never works. you'll only end up joining them.