Young and Free

When I was livin' high and light,
I lived with passion, lived with might,
but I'd find a love, not pick a fight,
when I was young and free!

I'd travel round and shoot men straight,
I'd see each pub, and drink my weight,
My heart didn't have an ounce of hate,
for I was young and free!

But there was loss and there was war,
it beat me down, it beat me sore,
but I was strong right through my core,
for I was young and free!

As time went on it beat me down,
It turned this smile into a frown,
I felt like I began to drown.
I knew I wasn't free.

to live so free was a gift to me,
a gift I shunned, but now I see!
I lived a life so young and free,
but that's no longer me.

My work's a chain,
My life's a chain
I think I'm starting to go insane!
I liked to be so young and free,
and that's the life for me!

So I'll leave my work, I'll leave my store!
I'll leave my woman, I know's a whore!
For I won't settle to be a bore,
As I am young and free!

I am livin' high and light,
I live with passion, live with might,
and I'll find a love, not pick a fight,
for I am young and free!

Still Don't Know

I came with eyes wide open, as bright eyed as could be.
I came to see all that I could, but mostly came to see.
It's easy here to lose yourself off the stuff that is all wrong,
and It's easy here to lose yourself in a stupid, simple, song.

Life won't stop for you and not stop for me even if we die today,
Life won't give a damn for what you think, and sure not what you say.
We sit and wonder what we are, as puppets in a show.
Truth be told the smartest folks just say we still don't know.

They say when you are dead and gone, will it matter who you were?
Did you live life's every second, or run through it like a blur?
If there's nothing after life, what would it matter what we all do?
We ignore the simple questions, and pretend like we all knew.

We're discontinuous and oblivious and most of all ridiculous.
and in us all we try to hide that most of all we're hideous.
I hate to sound so mean, as the villain in the show.
I just hate that we all stumble around and say we still don't know.

There's truth outside, but it's oh so true you have to look inside
There's a truth that's all around us, but we tend to make it hide.
We'll go our lives afraid of saying what we want to say,
but why wouldn't you just say it, if this was your darkest day.

There's a woman in the Nevada that is crying in the sand,
and her life would be much better is someone would hold her hand.
And there's a man that's in the arctic that is sitting in the snow,
he's alone, but he is happy, because he knows what we don't know.

We're bad to one another, and sometimes we show some good.
but when you're gone, another'll stand exactly where you stood.
and your life won't mean a damn, except for what it meant to you,
So why don't you just live your life, won't you finally get a clue.

In every love, in every war, you'll find a time where you find a door.
and if you choose to open up you might just want to find some more.
The answers you are looking for might be from long ago,
They might be round the corner, but we know we still don't know,
We still don't know.

The Fired Trail

There's kindling inside that just won't burn.
Though love never dies I just won't learn.

This town is a shell of the times I had,
with you or the others and the good and bad.

On every corner is a memory stamped
each thought is a push in head so cramped.

They've loved me so and I push away,
It's easier alone, or so I say.

But with each girl that comes and goes,
Do I feel each less? Have I lost my glow?

Did my job take me from who I am?
Do I still live free, or stuck in a scam?

I've lost a piece, and this I know.
But I'm trying hard to make it grow.

and this town is a shell of the times I had,
with you or the others and it makes me sad.

To know I've lost without a care.
and given so many so much to bear.

To finally stop and turn around,
to see my trail of fired ground.

I think it's time to begin anew.
To start a new path, that ends with 'you'.

I'm sorry, I know what y'all will say.
That you regret me so from our first day.

I promise the next, I'll do it right,
I'll be a man, that walks the light.

I'm so very tired of feeling alone,
but there's no one to blame for my empty home.

This town is a shell of the times I had,
and I hope the next one just isn't as bad.

That on each corner is happy thought
of me and 'you', and love that's caught.

It's time I think to leave this town,
to leave this shell, to leave my frown.

and where I go the memory stays.
Of the fired trail and the hell raised.

but when we get to judgment day,
I pray there's a woman with some good to say.

Beautifully Lost

I'm lost in a forest, surrounded by beauty
and all I must do is take a path.
I was so stuck on my sense of duty,
that now I feel the lost map's wrath.

At once, it would have made my way,
but that was before it disappeared.
I know it'd guide me, ne'er astray,
but it was gone when the clouds had cleared.

I see the north, the south, the west
for the east is to my back this year.
I know, to go, would be my best.
To walk away until I'm clear.

Yet the forest, it draws you,
and it forces your grin.
It's beauty a marvel,
though it feels like a sin.

For the colors are striking
as the light shines through.
Being lost is like hiking,
if you hadn't a clue.

But to those who know,
who've done this before,
You reap what you sow,
and you'll bleed to the core.

I'm lost in the bloom.
and I know it'll kill me.
and it's worth the gloom,
To be right where I should be.

So where is the map,
that I made long ago.
I'd love just a scrap.
of where I should go.

I've been here before,
and lived to explain,
though my body was sore.
I'd escaped all the same.

I drew a grand map,
if this happened anew.
but now I'm the sap,
For I've lost what I knew.

The one thing that's grand,
as I work all this out
Is here where I stand,
there's still beauty about.

A beauty that rules,
a beauty that kills,
a beauty for fools,
and a beauty of thrills

Tell Me When

Why is it so hard to live these days
So much work for not much pay
From place to place, the same old face
We run so fast, and it's not a long race

The rats are racing but I'm a mouse
I hate my job and I hate my house.
I have to get myself  out of here
but all my money gets spent on beer.

So drink your coffee or drink a beer
just tell your mind what you want it to hear
You're still alive so it's going to suck
But you're still alive so we'll call it all luck
Hit play again, and start anew,
We'd do much better if only we knew.
when will we all be free again
to live our lives, Oh tell me when.

Oh tell me when, 

just tell me when

When will we be free again,

 I have to know, this ain't no show.

Let's live our lives how we want 'em to go.

I saw you happy at the local bar

I got drunk and I smashed your car.

I'm happy too, except when I'm not

It's all this booze and not enough pot.

Things were fun, those times are gone

Now we're waking up on stranger's lawns

Work all week and drink the rest

I'm mess but I'm trying my best.

So drink your coffee or drink a beer
just tell your mind what you want it to hear
You're still alive so it's going to suck
But you're still alive so we'll call it all luck
Hit play again, and start anew,
We'd do much better if only we knew.
when will we all be free again
to live our lives, Oh tell me when.

Oh tell me when, 

just tell me when

When will we be free again,

 I have to know, this ain't no show.

Let's live our lives how we want 'em to go.

I don't cry because it's easy to yell.
Yell "Fuck You!" or "Go to Hell!"
but I know i can't be your fault
The fields of life are filled with salt.

I'm too strong to lose this war,
I think I'm losing, don't know the score
So when you ask how have I been,
I just ask you to tell me when.

Oh tell me when, 

just tell me when

When will we be free again,

 I have to know, this ain't no show.

Let's live our lives how we want 'em to go.

Oh tell me when, 

just tell me when

When will we be free to live again,

 I have to know, this ain't no show.

Let's live our lives how we want 'em to go.

(~184 BPM)

All They'd Need

He lived like he's thirsty

in the middle of a lake.

She lived like she's hungry

with food for the take.

He lived like he's cold

but the heater's not on.

She lived like she's haunted

when her demons were gone.

He lived like he's tired

when his bed was so close.

She lived like she's bored

with many stories to boast.

He lived like he hated

when he had much to love.

She lived without god

while she's watched from above.

He lived in great pain

with the cure so nearby.

She lived without work

but she never applied.

They lived like they're caged

but they've always been free.

They lived without love

but this they'd not see.

Then one day,
so out of the blue.
He met a she
and they got a clue.

She got him a drink
and quenched his thirst.
He made her a meal
That she ate like her first.

She warmed him in bed,
fighting the cold.
He dispelled her fears
with talk so bold.

She made him move on
to see what he had.
He helped her to pray
when things got bad.

She healed his wounds
So he could move on.
He got her a job
where she wasn't a pawn.

They finally found love
their soul's had been freed.
In finding each other,
They had all they'd need.

Too Hard to See

The brain is the king,
it makes the rules.
Yet the heart lives on,
it makes us the fools.

I saw you today,
so happy, so free.
It's what I wanted,
how I knew you should be.

It's clear I miss you.
It's a fact so true,
I admit my loss
The greatest love I knew.

Why, oh why
did I let you go,
I toil and toss,
from the answer I know.

You had to be free,
I did what I must.
The hardest choice
putting love over lust.

I'm lost it's true,
and it hurts me so,
but I did it for you,
not to be your foe.

I wasn't right
and only I knew,
but it pains me so,
to pass that clue.

What did I feel
and was it love?
Was it given to me
from the heavens above?

I weep, and weep,
from a loss I have made.
Yet from your sight
I will slowly fade.

I did what was right,
or so I thought.
Yet I miss you now
despite lessons taught.

It burns and burns,
so deep in my chest.
To know I could never
be your very best.

Move on, move on
but go without me,
I wish you the best,
but it's too hard to see.

Was it love we had?
I'll never know,
but you're built to love
and I'm just a show.

Move on, move on,
but go without me,
I wish you the best,
but it's too hard to see.

Fire and ice

It's easy to see
the stars at ease.
It's easy to be
a leaf in the breeze.

We look out upon
the stars above,
we see we're a pawn
to god's real love.

We see the same stars,
we have the same eyes.
In the back of our cars
we continued our lies.

Two blanks in their frames,
the memories that come.
We love what remains,
when we had someone.

And now we're alone,
and here we shall stay.
Is it better to roam,
or to make the play?

My red is no more
and it's not all the same.
do I miss her soft kiss,
or just hate the pain?

Turn away love,
alone once again.
On these cold, cold nights
Needing more than a friend.

The one always there,
The hardest to read.
The tallest tree
And the youngest seed.

The happiest love,
the hardest hate,
the lush green garden
and the rust on the gate.

Who are you,
to fill a hole,
a burning chasm
left in the soul?

Try as we do,
I can't move past.
Are you a healing bone,
or the plaster cast?

But I love your laugh,
I long for your kiss.
And on this cold mountain night
It is you that I miss.

It's that longing that drives,
that longing that spurs.
The longing I seek
That can only be hers.

You are the ice
that would fight her fire.
You are the one
That spurs my desire.

The Shadow

Is, now was, but nothing will stop.

Memories remain, but new ones will swap.

Gone? Oh no. They'll still be around.

A part of your shadow that shows on the ground.

Everyday you'll see it there,

It's always present, but you hardly care.

The body takes the sun's hard blow

as the shadow basks in freedom below.

When the tree will take the hit,

you'll be alone, in shade, to sit.

Can the shadow really not find you here?

Or did it just join the tree's own fears?

Memories may leave, but shadows remain.

Silent silhouettes that dance in vain.

At night, of course, the shadow's at home.

all through your thoughts it knows it can roam.

Bask in the light, but know what remains.

The shadow of the past knows all of the pains.

Too it contains the greatest of time,

of laughter and fun, what was your prime.

The shadow won't leave, but know it is there.

A part of your life that you'll always bear.

The Ballad of Jackson Lee

There's a tale out there, of a boy made a man.
Of blood and guts and the devil's right hand!
And Lil J. Lee was the innocent boy that did it!

He went to school and did his work,
but that Big Bob Reed had such a smirk.
He grinned and smiled as whooped young Lee in the yard

It went like this for a month or two,
'till Lil J. Lee was all black and blue,
but Bob didn't know he was only making him tougher

On a cold afternoon with a dreary rain,
Lil J. Lee had enough the pain,
and he met Big Bob in the yard with a bat and a gun.

and he said:

Listen hear I'm Jackson Lee,
and I swear to God I'll make you bleed!
I've been pushed around, but not no more,
Cause Ol' J. Lee's gonna bust you sore

Well Big Bob Reed didn't stick around too much
cause he left that day with hobble and crutch
and they say J. Lee kept a few of his teeth for keeps.

A bully's a bully, and J. Lee had the worst
but you can go so far before you gotta burst,
and the blood on that bat is something I won't soon forget.

Well Lil J. Lee ain't so little no more,
It's been 8 years since he fought that boar
and he walks like a man that ain't got no problems to deal with.

Until he walked to the store and he heard a scream,
and he saw a man's gun as it began to gleam
and J. Lee shot him down before he could even speak.

and he said:

Listen hear I'm Jackson Lee,
and I swear to God I'll make you bleed!
I've been pushed around, but not no more,
Cause Ol' J. Lee's gonna bust you sore

The man he shot was as big as a steed,
and he was sure he was there to quench his greed,
but Ol' J. Lee's not real big fan of bullies.

Ol' J. Lee's not young no more,
but he helps the sick, the feeble and poor
and he take pride in the man he made himself to be.

He passes the yard where he beat Bob Reed,
and walks through the alley where he shot Mr. Greed.
and thinks on the days he made his stand.

So before you pick a fight with a kid,
or steal from the poor that don't know what they did.
Just keep in mind you may just hear these words.

Listen hear I'm Jackson Lee,
and I swear to God I'll make you bleed!
I've been pushed around, but not no more,
Cause Ol' J. Lee's gonna bust you sore