Sam Roberts Album

Over land, I traveled time and space and quicksand
And for sixty days I knew no other road
And through the maelstrom, which turned in time with the kick drum
I was swallowed and twisted and spit out on a coast
And in this place there stands a gate that leads to the heart of the city
And I've spent seven years and a sea of fears in this broken mirror of a city
Listen to the streets there's a heartbeat missing in the city
Sweet sunlight, I can see it in my mind's eye
And I remember feeling alright
And I saw black clouds and Turin shrouds and it smelled of a faded empire
It's all concrete and steel, we're asleep at the wheel, and the mayor's just a gun for hire
Listen to the streets there's a heartbeat missing in the city
Listen to the sound there's a time bomb ticking in the city
I've heard the song the morning sings
Outside the gate is everything
Let in the light! Let in the light!
Streetwalker said to me she has no need for history
She has the key she has the key
Sweet sunlight, I can see it in my mind's eye
Let in the light! Let in the light!
Waking up from a dream where I was the stone and you were the stream
Chemical City isn't all that you need but it's all that you're getting and they've hidden the key
Listen to the streets there's a heartbeat missing in the city
Listen to the sound there's a time bomb ticking in the city
I said this place is an unnatural disaster
And I'm a visitor here so I asked her:
Where are the trees, where are the trees?
And she said free yourself from history
That is the key! That is the key!
Sweet sunlight, I can see it in my mind's eye
I see the light! I see the light!
The gate is gone now, you better run
Can you feel it? There's a heartbeat missing in the city
When all the fat cats are hissing at your pity
You better run, run run run...

Another day breaks and the last one's gone
You dig deep just to carry on
Your debt's paid off but it don't feel gone
So you slip out the back and you're moving on

I can never figure out how to make a case
That this don't amount to a fall from grace
She wants to know can I replace
This tired wool with satin lace

She says you're on a bridge to nowhere and you're gettin' there fast
Put it in the past, put it in the past
If this is a race then I hope you come last
You're on a bridge to nowhere and you're gettin' there fast

Pressure builds till it breaks the dome
You can build a house you can't build a home
And it's a fool who believes love is bred in the bone
And there're no guarantees that you won't get stoned
Yeah, I'm a fool who believed love is bred in the bone
And there're no guarantees that I won't get stoned

Says you're on a bridge to nowhere and you're gettin' there fast
Put it in the past, put it in the past
If this is a race then I hope you come last
You're on a bridge to nowhere and you're gettin' there fast

I don't know where it leads, oh no
All I know is that I don't wanna breathe this chemical breeze no more

So another day breaks and the last one's gone
You dig deep just to carry on
Your debt's paid off but it don't feel gone
So you slip out the back and you're moving on

Says you're on a bridge to nowhere and you're gettin' there fast
Put it in the past, put it in the past
If this is a race then I hope you come last
You're on a bridge to nowhere and you're gettin' there fast

Our love is dark thoughts as it is bright lights
It's the sound of a teardrop falling down from a great height
So don't let go, let waters flow

And babe you have nothing to fear for
This is as real as the rain
My love for you is as deep as a coalmine

You move like moonshine straight to my head
This is a storyline we write from the same bed
You had for sale a holy grail

And babe you have nothing to fear for
This is as real as the rain
My love for you is as deep as a coalmine

And our love is dark thoughts as it is bright lights
And it's the sound of a teardrop falling down from a great height

And babe you have nothing to fear for
This is as real as the rain
My love for you is as deep as a coalmine
No, babe you have nothing to fear for
This is as real as the rain
My love for you is as deep as a coalmine

If you were marked with a bullet
I'd jump in front of it
I'd rather die for love than die for the want of it
Forever alive, forever forward
I have no use at all for any more words

I'll take on all of your sorrows for mine my dear, till the days run clear, until they start to shine, coming through your window, head on your pillow, the sight is honey for my mind girl and I've been digging, ever deeper, this love gets easier the more it's sung to, the more it rings true, the more I find the breath to help sing with these miner's lungs...

When it comes calling, will you heed the call?
When it gets heavy now, will you let it fall?
And as the loon cries it opens minds
The stream reflects these Northern climes
Through these days we walk the line
Sixteen dollars and a couple of dimes

There've been a number of times
Took a step back, couldn't read the signs
Cross the plains till they start to climb
Down to the valley where the river winds
Sing it for me, sing it for me
When the water comes down, get yourself up high...

Grey skies, the waters rise
Mind flood's gonna break the bank
Will it wash us away now? Will it wash us away now?
Blue skies, the river dries
A light goes out before your eyes
Till the break of day now, till the break of day now

Sing it for me, sing it for me
When the water comes down, get yourself up high...
Goin' down to the river now, mind flood's got my head in the gutter
Will it wash us all away?
You come to with a shiver now,
Flash back eighth grade with a stutter
Will it wash us all away?

If love is a cult we are all believers
Cruel, passionate underachievers
Fools lashing out at the dreamers
Kiss the enemy and kill the redeemer
We are indeed a dying breed
We are the people of the sky
So when the river floods and you're made from mud
Get yourself up high....

Sing it for me, sing it for me
When the water comes down, get yourself up high...
Goin' down to the river now, mind flood's got my head in the gutter
Will it wash us all away?
You come to with a shiver now,
Flash back eighth grade with a stutter
Will it wash it all away?
Goin' down to the river now, mind flood's got my head in the gutter
Will it wash us all away?
Whoa, come and wash it all away, all away...
Get yourself up high...

The wolf's eyes have found their prize
And you have found your place in it all....

You feel the weight of the weight on your shoulders
Cuz everyday gets shorter and colder
And hand in hand we walk through leather fire
The mountains bleed red as the sun gets higher

All the things that you are I provide
'Til your footprint is swept away by the tide
I can wait for awhile I don't mind
Yeah I can wait for awhile cuz I got time

Wish you was less of a way his
With it were more of the way you could be
And you could put your faith in me for a while
In the end I hope you're free cuz I'll be out of style

All the things that you are I provide
'Til your footprint is swept away by the tide
And I can wait for awhile I don't mind
Yeah I can wait for awhile I got time (I got time)

Whoever said you can't be saved by a song
Whoever said that is stringing you along
We're all afraid to be dead and gone
This will live on it will live on it will live on

And all the things that you are I provide
Til your footprint is swept away by the tide
And I can wait for awhile I don't mind
Yeah I can wait for awhile I got time

And all the things you're looking for I hope you'll find
Before your footprint is swept away by the tide
And I can wait for awhile I don't mind
Yeah I can wait for awhile I got time
And I can wait for awhile I don't mind
Yeah I can wait for awhile I got time (I got time)

Ooh, it's got me mystified, heavy now
Deep down to my soul
You try to keep the wheel steady now
Easy as she goes
I can hear on the wind a tale that needs to be told again
The horizon bends at either end and the sea can't tell a foe from a friend

I know it was only a dream
As delicate as a dragonfly wing

I was never satisfied with any life 'til she called my name
The air on the high ground was rarefied, every day the same
And old fears were always near but when we set sail they disappeared
There are those who fear the deep but the world don't wait when your faith won't leap

And I know it was only a dream
As delicate as a dragonfly wing

Then we watched as the Southern Cross led the sailors home, constellation borne
We set sail in a heavy gale and to the sea many of us thrown
And there were times when my courage failed but I never bowed to the storm
Whatever path you choose to walk, in the end, you walk alone

Ooh, it's got me mystified heavy now
Tongue-tied to the anchor chain
You try to keep your hand steady now
But it slips again
And landfall surprised us all and she broke on the rocks like a china doll
You can hear the siren call for the last dance at Poseidon's Ball

I know it was only a dream
As delicate a dragonfly wing
I hope it was only a dream
As delicate as a dragonfly wing

He was born in a small town
And he was given every reason to stay
Hallelujah, Mississippi, postcard living no sign of decay
Till Vietnam moved next door, then Hallelujah was off to war
In the dream he couldn't finish the deed
He didn't smoke any weed so why leave?

Going where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round

His father Tom said you better sign on
You'd better take up your gun and fight
I got nothing against them Viet Cong
What did they do wrong and why am I right?

He's on his way to Thunder Bay
Crossed the border late at night
And it was high stakes until he saw the Great Lakes
And he felt the cold wind bite

Going where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
No, I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood

Missing his home, he would wake up in a cold sweat
And pick up the phone and hope that Tom found a way to forget
He's been teaching at the high school, learning the game
In Thunder Bay we're all the same
He's one of us, he has our trust
But there's no going back once the line is crossed

I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood

You can't ask what you're asking me to do
And I hope you understand when I refuse
I'm going North with my point of view
And I'm never gonna think the same as you
And I'm where I can't be found
And I won't be coming 'round
No, I'm an American on the Canadian Shield
And I'm putting down roots in your frozen fields
It gets cold but you feel so good to be a stranger in a town and you're understood

Come make your complaint to the Bootleg Saint
He's been gone, keepin' on, keepin' on for your freedom
Black boots, brown skin he has chemical roots
He's taking back the city one sinner at a time

He'll sacrifice if you pay the price

He remembers a time when everything was alright
We had water from wine, the streets were alive
Then old Captain Industry who sold his soul at Wounded Knee
Bought himself a little property
The Saint had found his enemy

He'll sacrifice if you pay the price

The laws might sleep, but they never die
Lions for sheep - an eye for an eye

He wears a ring with the brand of a three-legged dog
His rose-coloured glasses cut through the fog

The laws might sleep but they never die
Lions for sheep, an eye for an eye

He came down on a storm cloud hard as the Amazon rain
Took him on, took him on and on
And you can pay your respects in the form of a cheque
He's taking back the city one sinner at a time
He'll sacrifice if you pay the price

The laws might sleep but they never die
Lions for sheep, an eye for an eye
The Bootleg Saint, well he walks the line
Between an everyman hero and a waste of time

We are descendants of the free
We are the soldiers of the Cause
We shouted out the same decree
To hold the truth above the law

Those were the nights to remember
Now they're the nights to forget
We sang from May to September and we danced
While the city slept

I was born a restless soul
I never did what I was told
That old fire rages on
I hope it burns after I'm gone

I'm getting tired of the same old thing
It only takes one soul to make a change
It takes two young hearts to make it beat again
Three long nights and you're on the mend
Living, loving, swinging, ducking
We might fail but we have to try
I poked my finger in the public eye

Those were the nights to remember
Now they're the nights to forget
We sang from May to September and we danced
While the city slept

We are the only chance
This is our resistance
And if we fail then we all know
How it goes, it goes
How it goes, it goes

I navigate the mines we lay
And I'm comin' home but not today
I fought my way through the hungry mob
The Mayor and his henchmen on the job
We faced-off like it was High Noon,
We both let fly and our aim was true
Yeah!

Those were the nights to remember
Now they're the nights to forget
We sang from May to September and we danced
While the city slept
Those were the nights to remember
Now they're the nights to forget
We sang from May to September and we danced
While the city slept

So even if you can't see it
You can still believe in it
It's easier if you lose all the things that prevent you from seeing it
In the evening sun when the Earth and sky are one
We all come undone and remember where we came from

So even if you can't see it
You can still believe in it
It's easier if you lose all the things that prevent you from seeing it
In the evening sun when the Earth and sky are one
We all come undone and remember where we came from

The cinematic after effects of alcohol
Have led me to believe
That there's nothing more beautiful
Than a face as it starts to fade
From your memory, what had once been clear as the day
Obscured by the shade

And I was always the thorn to your rose

A long string of disappointing days
Led me to concede that I'd been losing sleep
And I'm tired and frayed at the seams
And things are changing in me
It's been two hard months since I could call you my own
It cuts to the bone
Is there anything that I can do when I've been turned into stone

But I was always the thorn to your rose
Some doors are better left closed

You move like a rolling wave
One that don't fade when it's gone
Beyond a doubt it gets so hard that a stone would cry out

I know there's a lesson in here
But it's so hard to find
I've been searching my mind
A little pearl of wisdom for the later years
When the thread of this life starts to unwind
I never had to fight for my love
But that's over I know
It's just how it goes
I never had to fight for my love
But that's over I know
It's just how it goes

And you move like a rolling wave
One that don't fade when it's gone
Beyond a doubt it gets so hard, it gets so hard
That a stone would cry out
Some doors are better left closed

Some say this place makes it hard to hold your head up
Some days this face makes me feel like I've been set up