I grew up in declivities
Others grow up in cities
Where first love and soul takes rise
There were times in my life
When I felt mad and depraved
And only the slopes gave me hope
When I pass through the leg high grass I shall die
Under the jasmin I shall die
Under the elder tree
And need not try to prepare for a new coming day
Where is it that fills the deepness I feel
You will say I’m not Robin the Hood
But how could I hide from top to foot
That I lost something in the hills
I lost something in the hills
Oh I lost something in the hills

Now I lean on my window sill
And I cry, though it’s silly
And I’m dreaming of off and away
Oh I know further west these hills exist
Marked by apple trees marked by a straight brook
That leads me wherever I want it to
Well I lost something in the hills
I lost something in the hills
Oh, I lost something in the hills

* * *

Listen on Youtube.

Packed and all eyes turned in
No one to see on the quay, no one waving for me
Just the shoreline receding
Ticket in my hand I’m thinking wish I didn’t hand it in
’cause who said sailing is fine?
Leaving behind all the faces that I might
Replace if I tried on that long ride
Looking deep inside but I don’t want to look so deep inside yet

[Jonathan Meiburg]

Sit down, sit down on the prow to wave back
There might not be another stop further on the line
Look out, look out at each town that glides by
And there’s another crowd to drown in crying eyes

[Will]

And see how that light you love now just won’t shine
It might just be another star that’s high and far in some other sky
So we sing, ‘Is that marionette real enough yet to step off of that set
To decide what her dance might be doing?’
Ruining the play, too, and in the ensuing melee escaping.
Packed up all of our bags, the ship’s deck now sags
With the weight of our tracks as we race beneath flags black and battered
Rattling our swords in service of some fated foreign lords

[Jonathan]

We sail out on orders from him but we find
The maps he sent to us don’t mention lost coastlines
And nothing we’ve actually seen has been mapped or outlined
And we don’t recognize the names upon these signs

[Will]

And every night finds us rocking and rolling on waves wild and white
Well we have lost our way, but nobody’s gonna say it outright
So we just go,

La la, la la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la laaaaa
Oh oh ohhhh
(x2)

* * *

Listen on Youtube (Lost Coastlines)

Listen on Youtube (Ends With A Fall)

Listen on Youtube (Red)

I made a mistake in my life today
everything I love gets lost in drawers
I want to start over, I want to be winning
way out of sync from the beginning

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it

Looking for somewhere to stand and stay
I leaned on the wall and the wall leaned away
Can I get a minute of not being nervous
and not thinking of my dick
My leg is sparkles, my leg is pins
I better get my shit together, better gather my shit in
You could drive a car through my head in five minutes
from one side of it to the other

I wanna hurry home to you
put on a slow, dumb show for you
and crack you up
so you can put a blue ribbon on my brain
god I’m very, very frightening
I’ll overdo it

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years

You know I dreamed about you
for twenty-nine years before I saw you
You know I dreamed about you
I missed you for
for twenty-nine years

* * *

Listen on Youtube (Slow Show)

Listen on Youtube (Mistaken for Strangers)

Listen on Youtube (Apartment Story)

Listen on Youtube (Lucky You)

They handed you map to show you where to go
Gave you everything but what you need to know
You know your friends enough to say
Where they’ll be on any day
Come what may

Surprise surprise
The morning sun is in your eyes
Get up throw that life away
Yesterday is yesterday
And lies they lied
They said you get what you deserve in life
But that’s just not the way it seems
You end up living someone else’s dreams
It’s true
It follows you around
You don’t have to love this town

Friday night beneath the bridge just one more time
You wish that you could leave this dirty town behind
There never seems to be a way
Hold on for another day
You will find

Surprise surprise
The sun that hits your lonely eyes
It wipes out every other day
Yesterday is yesterday
And lies they lied
It’s not what you deserve
It’s what you try and try and try again
Failing’s just a step along the way
It’s true
There’s no one here for you
In time you wait and you will find
The ones who never let you down
You don’t have to love this town

Like this particular fella, walks around
all day long singin’ this song
sha na lah dah dah lah dah dah dah dah

Harry Hippie, lies asleep in the shade,
life don’t bug him cause he
thinks he’s got it made.
He never worry about nothin’ in particular
Oooh he might even sell free press on Sunset.

I’d like to help a man when he’s down
but I can’t help him much
when he’s sleepin’ on the ground.

He’s like a bottle in water
Harry just floats through life
Walks around all day long singin’ this song
Whoa, whoa, whoa, ohhh yeah

Mary Hippie, she’s Harry’s lady
Panhandles pennies just to feed Harry’s baby.
She can lie down a story so incredible
Man, you wanna help her take the food
home and put it on the table.

I’d like to help a man when he’s down,
but I can’t help ya Harry
if you wanna sleep on the ground.
Sorry Harry, you’re too much weight
to carry around.

But he still walks around all day long singin’ this song
Sha dah dah dah sha nah nah nah nah nah
nah sha lah lah lah lah dah dah dah

Street child, street child, tell me where
will you be goin’
when old man winter gets his horn
and starts blowin’
Will you hang around LA
or hitch a ride on a freeway
Meet an old familiar face in a new place.

I’d like to help a man when he’s down
But how can I help him
if he’s somewhere outta town
Sorry Harry, think I’m gonna put you down.
Sha dah dah dah sha dah dah dah dah
sha lah lah lah lah dah dah dah
Everybody help me sing this song, oh yeah

There’s the wind
And the rain
And the mercy of the fallen
Who say they have no claim
To know what’s right
There’s the weak
And the strong
And the beds that have no answers
And that’s where I may rest my head tonight

I saw all the bright people
In imposing flocks they landed
And they got what they demanded
And they scratched at the ground
Then they flew, and the field
Grew as sweetly for the flightless
Who had longing yet despite this
They could hear every sound

There’s the wind
And the rain
And the mercy of the fallen
Who say they have no claim
To know what’s right

If your sister or your brother were stumbling on their last mile
In a self-inflicted exile
Wish for them a humble friend
And I hope someday that the best of Falstaff’s planners
Give me seven half-filled manors
Where half-dreams may dream
Without end

There’s the wind
And the rain
And the mercy of the fallen
Who say, “Hey, it’s not my place
To know what’s right”
There’s the weak
And the strong
And the many stars that guide us
We have some of them inside us

But you are never gonna open me up
And you are never gonna make me give it up
No, you are never gonna open me up
Oh no

I live to drink and I drink to live
But that’s all the inflow that I will give
A bum, a never ending drive
What you just said is not what you think
Because the cup from which I drink
Is the thing that keeps me alive

There you are
Clear as day
Hot as hell
But even in snow I will say to you
Get your own holy grail

‘Cause you are never gonna open me up
And you are never gonna make me give it up
No, you are never gonna open me up
Oh no

Open the door but watch your step
Try not to trip on your regrets
As you walk towards my open grave
You might be right
That I’m not that bright
And you think you’ll win without a fight

But you are never gonna open me up
And you are never gonna make me give it up
No, you are never gonna make me give up

No, you are never gonna open me up
And you are never gonna make me give it up
No, you are never gonna open me up
Oh no
Oh no
Oh no
Oh no
Oh no
Oh no

Melt me down
To big black armour
Leave no trace
Of grace
Just in your honor
Lower me down
To culprit south
Make ‘em wash
A space in town
For the lead and the dregs
Of my bed i’ve been sleepin’
Lower me down
Pin me in
Secure the grounds
For the later parade

Once I wanted to be the greatest
Two fists of solid rock
With brains that could explain
Any feeling
Lower me down
Pin me in
Secure the grounds
For the dregs of my bed
I’ve been sleepin’
For the later parade

Once I wanted to be the greatest
No wind or water fall could stall me
And then came the rush of the flood
Stars of night turned deep to dust

Do you believe you’re missing out?
That everything good is happening somewhere else
With nobody in your bed
The night is hard to get through

And I will die all alone
And when I arrive I won’t know anyone

Jesus Christ, I’m alone again
So what did you do those three days you were dead?
Because this problem is gonna last
More than the weekend

Jesus Christ I’m not scared to die
But I’m a little bit scared of what comes after
Do I get the gold chariot
Or do I float through the ceiling

Or do I divide and pull apart
Cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark
This ship went down in sight of land
And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands?

I know you’re coming in the night like a thief
But I’ve had some time, O Lord, to hone my lying technique
I know you think that I’m someone you can trust
But I’m scared I’ll get scared and I swear I’ll try to nail you back up
So do you think that we could work out a sign
So I’ll know it’s you and that it’s over so I won’t even try
I know you’re coming for the people like me
But we all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we sleep inside of this machine