THE BEST GAME IN TOWN (2009)

1. Road to Nowhere at All

10 miles of sorrow, I’ve got five more left
I should be there tomorrow but I won’t forget
How the journey started, when I made that call
On the road to nowhere at all

With a heavy heart and a tight hard fist
There’s a brand new start if you make the list
I’ll keep quiet and I’ll stand tall
On the road to now where at all
I’m a good girl always looking for a friend
With my loose change in hand and a need to lend
Stopping at the border to be conned again
Is still playing by the rules I understand

10 miles of sorrow, I’ve got one more left
All the strangers’ faces filled with blame and sweat
That dealer on the corner, that watcher in the hall
On the road to now where at all
Solo on 1/2 Chorus
The last mile’s the hardest; it’s not a test of skill
When you’ve come this far, it’s a matter of will

10 miles of sorrow, I’ve got no more left
It’s the last place I’d go; now I’ll call it home instead
I’ll slip right in; I’ll live behind the wall
On the road to nowhere at all


2. Big Kid

It’s the first day, not the last
And what will you do when it’s past
A year’s a storm that settles in
And tempts as soon as it begins

The papers, they are piling up
You’re asking for a little luck
To come your way and break your fall
You know you can’t do it all

You can hold me down
You can drive me around
But I’m still on my own
Just a big kid who’s grown

The offers made are not enough
They barely fill your little cup
It’s not hard to fall behind
When you’ve finally got the time

You can hold me down
You can drive me around
But I’m still on my own
Just a big kid who’s grown

I’ve been lost before and made it back
Was never very far off track
So you just have a little work to do
Cause I tried hard to be your friend
But it got me locked up again
And that’s not the kind of love I want from you

You can hold me down
You can drive me around
But I’m still on my own
Just a big kid who’s grown


3. Hard Times

You call me into the room
For some strong advice
And since I’m feeling sorry for you
I let you set the price

Hard times, baby
You’re falling behind
So get yourself together
Cause it’s hard times

Someone made a mess of you
What an easy thrill
Build you up until you’re full
And twist until you spill

When the world is dangerous
The thieves seem like good men
Who come to pull you from the dust,
Your sudden, good luck friend

Hard times, baby
Innocence is blind
So get yourself together
Cause it’s hard times

Numbers used to be so small:
Pennies, nickels, dimes
Now the same collectors call
Calling on hard times

Hard times, baby
You’ll be standing in line
So get yourself together
Cause it’s hard times


4. All the Birds

Lost my heart from my sleeve
When it dropped it skipped a beat
Just takes once to lose your faith
Not everyone will be saved

All the birds fly away
It just happens one day
Between you and me somebody’s bound to run
I guess I’m the one

I stay inside but winter bleeds
Through the wall from the streets
In my gloves are frozen wings
I fall in love with burning things

All the birds fly away
It just happens one day
Between you and me somebody’s bound to run
I guess I’m the one

The colder you get the more I see
I don’t know you and you don’t know me
Time rolls by and we keep score
Who knows what we do it for

All the birds fly away
It just happens one day
Between you and me somebody’s bound to run
I guess I’m the one
I guess I’m the one
I guess I’m the one


5. The Best Game in Town

Riders beware of the jumping girls
They fall like little angels to the world
And trailers line the spot where hope will rise
High above and right before our eyes

I’m a little wanderer in my home
Looking for a memory or a bone
Running till the air runs out my lungs
To remove the shouting matches from my tongue

And now yellow lines
Rusty nails, modern times
All grown up, all worn down
Still the best game in town

I’ll be damned if you have any right
To be close, to be holding me so tight
Because I know the dust and dirt agree
With the older, darker, secret parts of me

And now yellow lines
Rusty nails, modern times
All grown up, all worn down
Still the best game in town

I feel like I am living on the moon
Holes and craters fill the earth like little tombs
And whatever be the message or the trend
That I knew you now; I knew you when

Yellow lines
Rusty nails, modern times
All grown up, all worn down
Still the best game in town




DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS (2007)

1. Birds

When there is only time and all is still
I crawl back inside the space I used to fill
And just at once the whole world opens up
I hold onto my heart and hold out my cup

Did you see that little bird taking flight?
Could it be that it has left its cage tonight?
Maybe it’s time to be forgiven for my crime
And go on, and go on

Memory that takes up the whole room
So heavy that it almost could consume
Any hope or any flame
But I’m burning up again, and again

Did you see that little bird taking flight?
Could it be that it has left its cage tonight?
Maybe it’s time to be forgiven for my crime
And go on, and go on

Did you see that little bird taking flight?
Did you see that little bird taking flight?
Did you see that bird open up its wing?

Maybe it’s the first day of spring
So go on, and go on


2. New haven

I roll to work just like a stone
The empty echo in my bones
I stole money for the thrill or
Just because I can’t keep still

Dressed up in my business clothes
I’ve been bought and I’ve been sold
I won’t stay away too long
Or they might notice I’ve been gone

And do you know a way to get high?
There must be somewhere nearby

I know a little lonely town
Where rusty tracks run all around
The burning down of cigarettes
The hollow voices that are left

And do you know a way to get numb?
I’ve been looking for one

I used to be angrier
Wrapped up in the sinister
But I got straight and lost my nerve
I get just what I deserve

And do you know a way to get well?
I could use a little help
I could use a little help


3. Million Days

There’s a fire burning on the mountain side
I can see it in the distance as we’re circling by
And I only notice cause I’m looking for signs of destruction.

Too many movies; too much junky food
I’ve been treated badly and I’ve broken all the rules
And mama is coming to pick me up from school. I am waiting.

Traveling again and I’m halfway to the end
But it feels so sad and lonely to think of where I’ve been
And if I don’t grow stronger then I’ll come home just the same
To the things I was afraid of and a million days

Broken windows, hollow wood
I came to be converted but I was misunderstood
And everyone is angry, troubled and unkind
And no body will help me to speak my mind

And now I’m traveling again and I’m halfway to the end
But it feels so sad and lonely to think of where I’ve been
And if I don’t grow stronger then I’ll come home just the same
To the things I was afraid of and a million days

So you wrap your arms around me say you’re willing to commit
And I should be near ecstatic but somehow I’m over it
See I thought of all the outcomes and they seemed to be alike
So I chose to tell my story to you now every night

And now I’m traveling again and I’m halfway to the end
But it feels so sad and lonely to think of where I’ve been
And if I don’t grow stronger then I’ll come home just the same
To the things I was afraid of and a million days


4. Oscar Song

I walk in the rain and I am crying
But I feel no pain. This is all a game and I am lying
And you don’t exist, not the way I knew you
On the stage of my life you held a place to run to

And I played the part so convincing in the role
I deserve an Oscar for loving your heart and your soul

It was strange at first I didn’t know you too well
But then I learned the script and it got so easy to tell
I said my lines and you said yours too
And before very long we acted the whole thing straight through

And I played the part so convincing in the role
I deserve an Oscar for loving your heart and your soul

Maybe you thought you could hurt me for good
But I always knew that you could
So I told myself you are an actor in my play
So I always knew you’d be gone some day

And I played the part so convincing in the role
I deserve an Oscar for loving your heart and your soul

And it feels like a dream when we spoke in the night
When I said I’d be there to make sure we were right
And you promised to try you said we were in control
But you just said your lines and some of mine that you stole

And you played the part so convincing in the role
You deserve an Oscar for loving my heart and my soul

Yeah yeah you played the part so convincing in the role
You deserve an Oscar for loving my heart and my soul.


5. Digging Graves

There’s a world
I seen it once
With ignorance
And icy drugs
I close my eyes
The feeling comes
My aching heart
My thirsty tongue

And I know what you need … but I can’t say
In my mind I’m digging graves

Call the man
He always comes
To see me when
I’m almost done
He fills the space
Inside my lungs
And always leaves
Without his gun

And I know why it has to be that way
In my mind I’m digging graves

Walls of white
Where we begin
That I could
Lose myself in
To speak this soft
The thinnest sound
Fading into
Silence now

The sweetest place I found
The sweetest face around

Digging graves
Digging graves


6. Break Even

I am leaving the bar early, making my way through
The streaming lights of this city, tangled up in red, white, and blue
Under the flickering of street lamps somebody calls my name
And I turn around to find them, hoping to be claimed
But I am tired of chasing every possible lead
I am not a detective, and I am easily deceived.

Oh I break even in the end.
Gambling for love is an addiction I cannot defend
I put my hands in my pockets and I find only one thing left
And I give it to you.
Giving is all that I get.

I have gained some wisdom and lost a wealth of pride
Gone home empty handed with an activated mind
But now I’m stuck in traffic, in limbo between
Somewhere I’ve already been and being redeemed

Oh I break even in the end.
Gambling for love is an addiction I cannot defend
I put my hands in my pockets and I find only one thing left
And I give it to you.
Giving is all that I get.

And we all love what we know; it is not a crime
But I’m so busy loving you all of the time
And I curse myself and swear to stop. I know all the reasons to.
Cause if I stand by what is right, I will always be standing still with you.

Oh I break even in the end.
Gambling for love is an addiction I cannot defend
I put my hands in my pockets
I put my hands in my pockets. Yeah
I put my hands in my pockets and I find only one thing left
And I give it to you.
Giving is all that I get.


7. Say it Now

Listen up – there’s a clue
Everything leads back to you
In this bed, in this room
In this little space to bloom

Silhouette hollowed out
This could be you if you try it out
All the lines broken clean
Slip in somewhere in between

There’s no way out of here
You’re standing at a one-way mirror
On your knees, speak the vow
Say it now

Sugar candy on the wind
Smuggled in, smuggled in
Taste the rain, and the sea
I know you’re looking for me

There’s no way out of here
Take that road until it’s clear
On your knees, speak the vow
Say it now

You’d feel just right if you try
Don’t you want to be higher than high?
Train these eyes, feed this mind
I could leave my life behind
Beyond proof, beyond lie
Don’t be shy; don’t be shy

Cause there’s no way out of here
No way out of here. No way

Listen up – there’s a clue
Everything leads back to you, to you
In this bed, in this room, in this space to bloom
I know you’ll be coming soon.


8. Orchids

I broke the promise in a moment
Slipped my tongue and spoke too soon
Now I’m hiding in the corner
Crouching from the spoon

Count from one until eleven
Count the hours on the plane
Or the steps that climb to heaven
All the letters in my name

Where do orchids bloom?
Somewhere where there’s light
And there’s only darkness in my room;
Every day is night

There is one secret confession
That I only tell my friends
And they turn in one direction
Or they stand in my defense

I was careless in the meeting
Now I’m waiting to be tied
Like a girl who dreams of cheating
On the day she becomes a bride

Where do orchids bloom?
Somewhere where there’s light
And there’s only darkness in my room;
Every day is night

I can only say for certain
That uncertainty is king
The high ruler and the merchant
Buying and selling everything

Where do orchids bloom?
Somewhere where there’s light
And there’s only darkness in my room;
Every day is night


9. Pensacola

The white sand might not be the whitest it could be
But that’s alright with me, Pensacola

I got my tall boots on and I am ready to run
Through the sand into the sea; feel the water over me

In Pensacola tonight there is sure to be a fight
Until we know we are right or wrong

And it’s a crazy tongue they speak when they are young
And I know now I am one and always have been

Miles of lights stretching out, stretching all the way down south
Guiding all those who pass through, following me, following you

Gas up the car, head out to the road, to somewhere I have never known
I am not who you think I used to be

Play the records way up loud cause I have never been this proud
Out on the edge of the land I am ready to see

And it’s all the same; I know what they say. Wherever we go we may be running away
But I have made it out to the road. I’m gonna go as far as I can go

The drive in is empty tonight. Let’s drive in and sit tight
Until the morning breaks, and turns its face our way

And then we’re off, just in time to leave. I’ve had enough of stillness please
And either it’s you or its me. Choose one.

But time calls you on, and so does the land, breaking your heart, breaking your plans
And turning you inside out and strange, pumping the motion through your veins

Cause in Pensacola tonight there is sure to be a fight
Until we know we are right, or wrong


10. Gone

Yes I seem to know too much about the things I shouldn’t touch
But it feels like we dream in sync, the way you laugh, the way I think

It’s hard to say hard to know, when you act that way, and talk so low
But I think you would be relieved to know that I have been deceived

When you’re gone you’re gone and that’s the final word
I guess we’ll all get what we deserve
To be lonely to be proud, to be talking out loud
To be wishing we were safe and sound

My gray eyes, innocent looks, well you know the time it took
To settle into this place, to show you a different face

When you’re gone you’re gone and that’s the final word
I guess we’ll all get what we deserve
To be sorry, to be weak, to be absent underneath
To be wishing to go back to sleep

I was just a little kid, but I knew what the big kids did
Oh let me be like one of them; I could crawl but let me stand
I need some air; I need some spice, I need to satisfy my vice
There must be more to life

When you’re gone you’re gone and that’s the final word
I guess we’ll all get what we deserve to be older, to be wise
To be the bearer of lies, to be wishing we could apologize

Yes I seem to know too much about the things I shouldn’t touch
But it feels like we dream in sync the way you laugh, the way I think


11. Big City Lights

I’m heading towards a center and all my memories blur
We all come for the strangers; who knows who we once were
And I’m tired of the waiting
For the place that puts me right
Big city lights

I used to be a loner, now I’m always at your door
Craving to be held onto, wanting even more
When the road won’t tell its secrets
I push on through the night to those
Big city lights

Motel rooms scatter round the edges lying low
We’ve been driving for hours, but there’s still no place to go
Then it rises from the dark
And pulls me in tight
Big city lights

What was hiding, what was plain
Make it new again
Big city lights


                                              home | twitter | facebook | lyrics | links | contact