-- IN ALL THE NOISE

006 -- ROCKSLIDE

“ i hear a rumblin’, honey. “

“ this wild weather’s got the mountain shakin’ weak. “

“ i know you long to plant your feet. “

“ we best get a move on, or the devil we will meet. “

“ i feel a quakin’, honey. “

“ rocks are a - tumblin’ while the people are asleep. “

“ i pray the day my soul to keep. “

“ drop dead sprint, my darlin’, now! “

“ don’t look back now, honey, just try to breathe. “

“ that monster’s comin’ and it don’t care for you or me. “

“ the angels we may someday see. “

007 -- METAPHOR

“ i’ve gotten good at leaning on metaphor. “

“ i’ve gotten good at living on someone else’s page. “

“ i’ve cut my teeth on secondhand sentiments. “

“ you can’t trust a single thing i say. “

“ i keep my closet free of skeletons ‘cause i’m much better at digging graves. “

“ i always dig up bones in your sympathy. “

“ i can’t trust a single thing you say. “

“ you won’t like the scars he put in me. “

“ i’ve gotten good at making up metaphors. “

“ i’ve gotten good at stretching the truth out of shape. “

“ all these words are sweet and meaningless. “

008 -- THE HAND THAT FEEDS

“ i’ve seen good men spoil. “

“ they work and sleep and work again. “

“ in their darkest nights, they howl. “

“ their cries are a warning. “

“ no man should stand to work all of his days and have nothing at the end of them. “

“ i’ve got no money but the change that jangles in my pockets. “

“ i am powerless to stop it. “

“ it keeps rambling on like a mad, wandering man. “

“ my dear papa gave me lessons in regret. “

“ the hand that feeds deserves to be bitten. “

“ he taught me how to break my chains. “

“ i may never be a rich man, but i can make sure i’m free. “

009 -- LITTLE SOLDIERS

“ it was a march we made towards ruin and despair. “

“ i swear that i loved you. “

“ ‘neath the table you would offer up my bones. “

“ i’d drag dirt through every room inside our home. “

“ you still held me at night. “

“ we didn’t give up ; we wouldn’t surrender. “

“ it was an honest loss. “

“ the aftermath will ring with songs you’ve sung. “

“ i fought with tooth and nail before the flag had flown. “

“ you were already gone. “

010 -- SLEEPING GIANTS

“ i feel the mountains shifting under me. “

“ i hear something calling me. “

“ the moon is humming lovely melodies. “

“ the trees are crowing hungry harmonies. “

011 -- OF EVERLONG

“ ‘twas there i wrote me a sad, sad song. “

“ if my lover will not hear it, take my voice and take my spirit. “

“ leave me wicked and dig my hole. “

“ only my lover, not i, can keep my soul. “

001 -- KEEP YOU SAFE

“ my nerves ran wild when i watched my friends rise to the top of the trees. “

“ i never climbed at all. “

“ every day i told myself i’m not ready. “

“ nothing worth doing comes easy. “

“ time is not your friend. “

“ time is not your remedy. “

“ no amount of waiting will make you brave. “

“ no amount of fear will keep you safe. “

“ the older i get, the more fears i collect. “

“ i carry them with me. “

“ what if the steps i take turn out to be mistakes? “

“ how can somebody like me learn to say come what may? “

002 -- THE MOON WILL SING

“ i could have been anyone -- anyone else -- before you made the choice for me. “

“ i never gave a single thought to where it might lead. “

“ i made a bed with apathy. “

“ my heart knew the weight of ten years worth of dust and neglect. “

“ we made our peace with weariness. “

“ the moon will sing a song for me. “

“ i loved you like the sun. “

“ i shine only with the light you gave me. “

“ name your courage now. “

“ you hoarded all that’s left of me. “

“ i want to feel the fire that you kept from me. “

003 -- ALLIES OR ENEMIES

“ the words i speak are wildfires and weeds. “

“ they spread like some awful damn disease. “

“ i swear i didn’t mean it. “

“ you owe me ears for dropping eaves. “

“ you caught me in a moment weak. “

“ sometimes i can’t help myself at all. “

“ are we allies or enemies? “

“ remember when i could tell you not to smile when you were mad? “

“ you would always crack, and we’d both be laughing in the end. “

“ you’re not so quick to forget. “

“ all is fair in love and war, but i can’t fight with you anymore. “

“ what happens now? do we have another go? “

“ i’ll admit, i’ve had my doubts. “

“ i want to be let in, not out. “

004 -- UNRAVELING

“ i once loved a tailor. “

“ now my love is gone. “

“ i am left unraveling. “

“ i once loved a gardener. “

“ i am left here withering. “

“ i once loved a carpenter. “

“ i can’t help the fracturing. “

“ i never knew that i needed you. “

“ i once loved a man who kissed me once before he left. “

“ love is gone. “

005 -- HARD SELL

“ i’m trying to make something of myself. “

“ i feel like i’m working with barbed wires and moth wings. “

“ i’m one deep breath away from a breakdown. “

“ the world is hostile, and i’m fragile. “

“ i need someone to kiss the cuts and tell me to keep trying. “

“ is it me? is it really just me? “

“ does everybody have it together or are we all pretending? “

“ i rip myself apart at the seams. “

“ i find one weak spot and start unraveling, hoping i can find a better me. “

“ can we stop pretending now? “

“ can we all admit that we don’t have it figured out? “

001 -- NEW ALBION 1

“ they had a fierce debate about God and chance. “

“ the game went on all day. “

“ we hear his song each afternoon as he flies by. “

“ there’s prisons made of lead. “

“ to join you have to craft a glass pearl from a young girl’s dream. “

“ a group of thieves broke in the lodge to steal the pearls. “

“ in the morning, they were found there sitting, staring unperturbed. “

“ the twilight fog, they say, an aphrodisiac contains. “

002 -- ANNABEL RAISES THE DEAD

“ please come back to me. there’s so much we could be! “

“ with voltage, i invoke! “

“ please come back from empty cracks and berths of black. “

“ i’m summoning the Ghost. “

“ be my angel. “

“ rescue me. “

“ they kicked me out of school. “

“ i’ve reached the goal! “

“ we can have a life at last! “

“ i grab at heaven’s throat! “

“ i beckon, beg, and cry and laugh. “

“ please come speak to me. “

“ i remember you from school. “

“ you didn’t know i was alive until that one night. “

“ you kissed me. “

“ i was expelled. “

“ you’ve died, but i can bring you back to life! “

“ soon, you’ll speak to me. “

003 -- ANNABEL HAS A DOLL

“ a recently deceased man found himself wound in the land of living again. “

“ he has no voice. “

“ his steel joints barely can bend. “

“ he streams radio broadcasts. “

“ he plays a country station if you give him a pat. “

“ she has a friend who was just dead and yet she brought back. “

“ all you love does not love you. “

“ i have a dolly! “

“ we like to go on walks. “

“ we like to stroll around the park all while he listens to me talk. “

“ i wouldn’t leave my house. “

“ we share a world, which is wonderful to see. “

“ it’s like a dream, where no one calls me failure. “

“ it’s like flowers in the spring. “

“ no matter how i talk to him, he never says a thing. “

“ ice cream and carriages i always thought were nice. “

“ you must be brilliant and the best. “

“ you must be better and industrious, or you are worthless. “

“ he’s mute and just plays the radio. “

“ why’d you bring me here again? “

“ we go to shows, parades, and cabarets, though people stare at me. “

“ i’ve shown that i am brilliant. “

“ i’ve conquered life and death. “

“ the only thing my father said is that one must be a success. “

“ he’s very stabling, if not a little just too distant. “

“ what you hold may wish to go. “

“ all that brings you peace of mind may not stay for a long time. “

“ can’t you speak to me? won’t you speak to me? “

004 -- ANNABEL’S LAMENT

“ the girl learns to hide. “

“ you could have been my angel and rescued me. “

“ of love, you never knew. you just construed, like well - penned plays. “

“ scenes . . . embraces : things you only knew in dreamt up days. “

“ friends came round to waste her time. “

“ children are not what achievers need. “

“ ghosts of dreams, of who you thought you’d one day be when you grew up. “

“ ghost of days that fade away as failure holds your hand ‘til death. “

“ all are derailed and then you failed them. “

“ liquids and labs, fractions and fact, are all that you had. “

005 -- WE BID THE 1ST GENERATION ADIEU

“ defeated now, she sadly creeps back to her lab. “

“ we’ve three more acts to get through. “

“ the future beckons and won’t wait. “

“ the next generation’s on its way. “

“ dead things and broken love stories for us await. “

001 -- HONEY, THIS MIRROR ISN’T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE TWO OF US

“ the amount of pills i’m taking, counteracts the booze i’m drinking. “

“ this vanity i’m breaking lets me live my life like this. “

“ well, i find it hard to stay. “

“ oh baby, let me in. “

“ well, i’ll choose the life i’ve taken. “

“ you can cry all you want to. “

“ i don’t care how much you’ll invest yourself in me. “

“ we’re not working out. “

“ you can’t touch my brother. “

“ you can’t keep my friends. “

“ i hope i’m not mistaken by the news i heard. “

“ it’s hard to say i’m shaken by the choices that i make. “

“ i get a little shaken because i live my life like this. “

“ you won’t keep my brother. “

“ you won’t fuck my friends. “

“ i’m knocking. let me in. “

002 -- VAMPIRES WILL NEVER HURT YOU

“ you put the spike in my heart. “

“ if the sun comes up, will it tear the skin right off our bones? “

“ as razor sharp white teeth rip out our necks, i saw you there. “

“ someone get me to a doctor! “

“ someone get me to a church! “

“ you must keep your soul like a secret in your throat. “

“ will it fill our hearts with thoughts of endless night time sky? “

“ can you take this spike? “

“ will it wash away this jet black feeling? “

“ now the nightclub sets the stage. “

“ for this, they come in pairs. “

“ we’ll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey. “

“ they’re always there. “

“ someone call the nurse! “

“ someone burned the church! “

“ we’re hanging out with corpses. “

“ someone save my soul tonight. “

“ please save my soul! “

“ i’ll never let them hurt you, i promise. “

“ can you stake my heart? “

“ and as always, innocent like roller coasters. “

“ fatality is like ghosts in snow. “

“ you have no idea what you’re up against. “

“ i’ve seen what they look like. “

003 -- DROWNING LESSONS

“ without a sound, i took her down. “

“ as rice grains and roses fall at your feet, let’s say goodbye. “

“ tomorrow, we’ll do it again. “

“ i left her where no one could see. “

“ i stared as this moment was held for me. “

“ i never thought it’d be this way. “

“ all i’m asking for is a thousand bodies piled up. “

“ i’ll keep on making more just to prove that i adore every inch of sanity. “

“ these hands stained red from the times that i’ve killed you. “

“ we can wash down this engagement ring with poison and kerosene. “

“ we’ll laugh as we die. “

“ we’ll celebrate the end of things with cheap champagne. “

“ i wish you away. “

004 -- OUR LADY OF SORROWS

“ we could be perfect one last night and die like star - crossed lovers. “

“ we can settle this affair. “

“ if you would shed your yellow, take my hand. “

“ we’ll solve the mystery of laceration gravity. “

“ please understand it has to be this way. “

“ stand up fucking tall. don’t let them see your back. “

“ take my fucking hand. “

“ we’ve only got one chance to put this at an end and cross the patron saint of switchblade fights. “

“ you said we’re not celebrities. we spark and fade ; they die by threes. “

“ i’ll make you understand. “

“ you can trade me for an apparition. “

“ who put the words in your head? “

“ oh, how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying. “