• 1957 (Grandpa Song)

    Hold me by the sea
    Tangled in the spirit of the Japanese
    The specific use of pacific blues
    Mixed with red and golden hues

    I always knew I’d find you here
    I never knew how long it’d take
    But here we are together now
    Bound by nothin’ but fate

    Been dodgin’ bullets all my life
    Still I couldn’t keep a wife
    Let me tell you how I loved her, darling,
    Let me tell you how I tried

    But the times will change and so will we
    Grace of God please cover me
    Mountains, ocean, land and sea

    I only knew her about 6 weeks
    Before I asked her to marry me
    Then I watched her walk right out that door
    But I’m not angry anymore
    The past is in the past my love
    I’m only lookin fo’ward

    Take it slow around these turns
    We don’t need your brakes to burn
    Don’t be stupid, you can wait
    Take the time you need to take
    You’ve got so long

    Been dodging bullets all my life
    Couldn’t keep a goddamned wife
    Let me tell you how I loved her, darling,
    Let me tell you how I tried

    But the times will change and so will we
    Grace of God please cover me
    The men I’ve killed can’t forgive me

    My friends, my friends where have they gone
    Off into the great beyond
    Without me

    Follow the ocean, follow the sea
    Follow the ocean, and come to me
    Follow the ocean, follow the sea
    Follow the ocean, don’t keep your love from me
    Follow the ocean, follow the sea
    Follow the ocean, and come to me

  • Egypt to Zion

    Mother, mother, it’s been a while,
    But I’m coming home
    Mother, mother, when I come home
    I’m coming alone

    And I’m aware that when you saw me last
    You saw me clinging dearly to my past
    But no more

    Earth and seed, they marry
    In the spring I watch them grow
    But my heart drowns with the rain fall
    When it breaks, it breaks slow

    And I’m aware that these things take time
    But I can’t get that man off my goddamned mind, oh!
    I have been so lost and yet I wander still
    With grace as my crutch, with song my lungs are filled, oh!

    If circles and circles I run,
    I will still be running home to you
    And if miles and miles I come,
    Take one look back and just see who I was
    Egypt has held me long,
    But Zion has held me longer
    If you don’t think I will come
    Just take one look back and see who I was

  • Psalm 39

    The way things are, the way things were
    They don’t agree and that’s where it hurts
    Long lost songs from voices with empty lungs
    Melodies so sweet, never to be sung

    Youth stained love will fall away
    The things we share no longer permeate
    The old dreams that we held at night
    That never seem to take flight

    But Here and now
    Is all life has to give
    Dwelling on the past
    Wont teach me how to live
    I’ll never learn how to live

    I praise the sky as I curse my own breath
    A sojourner gasping for rest
    But in the end
    what will I hang on to

    Here and now
    Is all I’ll ever be
    I’m breathing

    But these fears of mine
    Take a hold of me
    They won’t let go

    But here and now
    Is all life has to give
    Dwelling on the past
    Won’t teach me how to live

    Will I ever learn how to live

  • Time

    Time is moving faster everyday
    And scientifically it will stay that way
    But I will make the most that I can
    Out of these moments here you’re holding my hand

    Time is never on my side
    My memories slip out of my mind
    But I never have to wonder my life’s worth
    Cause you prove that I became something after birth

    When I look back at my life I can say
    That every moment with you out of every day
    Meant more than dust and empty breaths just seeping out of my chest
    Our treasures here will never fade away

    There is an anxiety consuming the dreams placed inside of me
    I’ve never truly learned how to turn away
    But the beauty here surrounding me awakens a security
    That those deep brown eyes will cherish all my days

    When I look back at my life I can say
    That every moment with you out of every day
    Meant more than dust and empty breaths just seeping out of my chest
    Our treasures here will never fade away

    Golden streams of little things you know they mean so much to me
    Lady Time will never make us pay
    For all the tears and silly fears you’ve wiped them all away my dear
    From now until the years that we turn grey

    After all this time you still look at me this way
    Now I wonder why I wondered if you’d stay

  • Life or Death Affair

    A broken bottle shatters
    And my lungs, they can relate
    My breathing falls to pieces
    Under sore and sobbing weight

    I’ve tried to put the knife down 
    Please believe me when I say
    But my skin is slipping at the stitches
    My knees are starting to give way

    I am made of fragile substance 
    Nests of wasps and flowers hung
    So be gentle when you hold me
    ‘Tween life and lover I am strung

    The lust of life consumes me
    Every moment every breath
    These marble mountains grow upon me
    On my arms and in my chest
    The phrase “I don’t owe you anything”
    Dances in my head

    I am made of fragile substance 
    Nests of wasps and flowers hung
    So be gentle when you hold me
    ‘Tween life and lover I am strung 

    I am made of fragile substance 
    A tattered spirit broken song
    So be careful when you touch me
    ‘Tween life and lover I am strung

    And I never meant to hurt you
    I only meant to care
    But when neither life or love believes you
    Every thought becomes a prayer

    And I’m afraid a fear of living
    Is a life or death affair

  • Versus Verses

    I was told that if I said
    The right words that are in my head
    I would be held and home
    Never to let go 

    But the words I find are undefined
    I don’t know how to make them mine
    If only I could write my own
    Reach inside my soul

    The songs I write are out of time
    My tongue has fallen out of line
    I knit my thoughts into a broken cloth
    Never to be sold

    To think to feel is what makes us real
    But to share in words is the letters seal
    I don’t belong in this open book 
    Forever I am closed

    Now I have 
    spoken words that are not mine
    I’ve taken the mind to take and take time
    But one day soon I will make myself home
    In the light of the love that I’ve found and I’ve grown
    Oh love of my life this light I have know
    Love of this light shows the way home

  • This Mountain

    I thought I was climbing this mountain right
    But now I’m rolling down the other side
    My body is an anchor as my fears take flight
    I never thought you’d love me, I guess I was right 

    Over and over I’ve walked this hike
    But you stand at the top and look at me like
    Once I reach your level you’ll push me back down
    But still I have hope for tomorrow when I hit the ground 

    This mountain’s height towers far above 
    It will eclipse my heart and hide the one I love
    My eyes are bound to you my mourning dove
    But you turn me away when push comes to shove 

    Yesterday I missed you, so I called your phone
    But quickly I deciphered that no one was home 
    Now it’s been a week, I guess you’re still gone
    I never knew somebody could “lose their phone” for so long

    This mountain’s hight towers far above
    But you turn me away when push comes to shove

    Now I can see that you’re no good for me

    Let down after let down, you’ve blurred my sight
    But now I’ve found my mountain and I’ve claimed this height

  • Will’s Pub, Orlando

  • My Little Adventurer

    I have never seen 
    hands that hold so gently 
    Features doused in light
    My eyes catch fire when lips collide 

    The safety of your smile is a song 
    That I wouldn’t mind spending my whole life singing along to
    And those doe eyes never say goodbye
    Cause in my mind these stars are just now starting to fill my sky

    Oh, my little adventurer
    Won’t you come home and dance with me 
    Share your thoughts and your secrecy
    Oh, my little adventurer

    Your soft brown hair only makes me stare sometimes
    Your hands they fold perfectly when they’re in mine
    You give me gifts and treasures
    That I will hold in my heart forever

    Oh, my little adventurer
    Won’t you settle down and lie with me 
    Share your thoughts and your secrecy
    Oh, my little adventurer

    When you left to move to the coastline
    You left a gaping hole on my insides
    I’m sure in a little while I’ll be alright
    But right now I’m facing the realities of life

    Oh, my little adventurer
    Won’t you come home and sit with me
    Drink this tea, oh I’m so lonely
    Oh, my little adventurer