Kevin Devine Album

So what if I'm freezing, I'm awake and I'm happy
The sun's steepling its shards on my floor
I drag my feet to the shower and I hear someone singing
I keep the lights off as the water gets warm
Now I knot up tie and toss my books in a schoolbag
They keep my priorties straight
So I can sleepwalk through work like an outpatient program
I don't buy but I'll get through anyway
And at some point I'll call you and tell you I miss you
And you are the point of my day
And my face will get flushed and my throat will choke up
When you tell me you feel the same
So I have been thinking of splitting up Christmas
To see everyone I'd like to see
And your first on that list
Your the lotto I hit
You're the star at the top of my tree
And I have been feeling this good for a reason
My friends and my family
You are all the backbone
You keep me balenced and settled
And I"m in debt to you all endlessy
So tonight I will call you and try to say
"Thank you for being the sun on my face
I know the world's almost over but you make it seem better
And I hope for you I do the same"

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

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.

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

In a motel room, with the Bible out
Combing scriptures for answers about
What's happening now

'Cause I cant believe my eyes
And I just don't trust my ears
But I've heard a man can always come find
Some solace here

And Lord, I know that we dont talk
Often at all anymore
But desperate folks do desperate things
So I'm stapling this note to your door

Please, turn the ship around
And lock the course in place
And keep the train tracks nailed to the ground
Or pull the emergency break

'Cause I've lost my faith in man
Just like I once lost faith in you
And I've been covering all kinds of ground
Thinking hard 'bout what else i could lose

And I know how I look
To come crawling back
Acting like you owe me proof
But this is bigger than me
I think it's bigger than you too

So if this gets to you
Yeah if you ever come home
Just know I won't be awaiting the postman
I will not be glued to my phone
I'll know a change has come
I'll know that you exist

When all our bombs stop exploding
And when all of those landmines are stripped
And we stop blowin' up strangers' houses
And making orphans of innocent kids
And people stop thinking the world's theirs for the taking
'Cause your world once told them it is

'Til then, i'm gonna shake my head
I'm gonne bite my tongue
When people tell me, 'Have faith and be patient,
We're waiting for God to show up.'

Yeah 'til then, it's one more skeptical song
And i'll be glad as hell
If you come and prove me wrong

i'm running out of things to say to you
this always takes so long is what you said
before you said so long
this kind of wordplay gets you ostrasized
but if you operate inside these perfect lines
you'll be fine

i'm running out faster than i ever had before
i'm seeing double and everywhere i turn my head things look like you again
so get your notebook out and write your story now
write your story now
write your story now

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?

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