I walk the country roads
But why, God only knows
I walk from here to there
Spend time growing hair
And empty hearted souls
Walk on superheated coals
Could try to guess my name
Could drive themselves insane

Or they could find their answers in the dust
Or in their rusty pickup trucks
Could twirl around until they’ve had enough
This is how I choose to change the subject

Do you hear me?

I walk the city streets
See what people I can meet
I travel coast to coast
Read the Washington Post
And empty hearted souls
Walk on superheated coals
Could try to guess my name
Could drive themselves insane

Or they could find their answers in the stars
Or in their small commuter cars
Could make a valid point and get disbarred
This is how I choose to change the subject

Do you hear me?

Were you watching, friend
When I said I’d be here ’til the end?
Did you see me ask you why
You were laughing, friend
When I said that I would bend
When I said I couldn’t
Bear to see you through?

Were you the reason why I stayed here
Deep inside the night when I can’t stand
The dark?
Was that the meaning lost when I
Translated you to starlight?

Were you listening, friend
When I asked if my life was well spent?
Could you catch me in a lie?
You were talking, friend
When I said it all would end
When I said I couldn’t
Bear to see you cry

Were you the reason why I stayed here
Deep inside the night when I can’t stand
The dark?
Was that the meaning lost when I
Translated you to starlight?

Were you watching, friend
When I said I’d be here ’til the end
Well it’s the end
Well it’s the end
It’s the end . . .

These mornings, spring mornings
Flowers blooming, melting snow
Children’s voices saying something
Singings songs I do not know

That’s slick, slick like every song
Life is longer, but today is long

These days, these hollow days
Seem so sprightly when they start
Their wishes rightly wanting something
Simple notes and broken hearts

That’s slick, slick like every song
Life is longer, but today is long

These mornings, spring mornings
Flowers blooming, melting snow
Children’s voices saying something
Knowing things I cannot know

‘Cause that’s slick, slick like every song
Life is longer, but today is long

These mornings, slick mornings
These mornings, slick mornings
These mornings . . .

You look out the windows of your tower
To the ghettos from your halls of power
The light shines out your window blinds
You’re gonna hold on for real this time

Can you hear the roll of thunder?
Are the shadows glaring at your feet?
Is this what you’d call justice?
Is there a justice still to meet?
Is your light still shining from the castle?
Are your smiles worth anything to me?
Is time creeping up on you slowly
Like the tyrant you’re trying to be?

You look out the windows of your tower
To the minions that toil in the fallow
You will fall, they will rise up against you
Spit you out like that tobacco that you chew

Can you hear the roll of thunder?
Are the shadows glaring at your feet?
Is this what you’d call justice?
Is there a justice still to meet?
Is your light still shining from the castle?
Are your smiles worth anything to me?
Is time creeping up on you slowly
Like the tyrant you’re trying to be?

They break in, your castle walls crumble down
They’ll parade your head on a stake in the town
And all that was heard was an endless babble
As the singular light went out in the castle

Fast driving by the freeway lights
These dashes dancing just outside my window
Tears fallin’ like a summer rain
And every morning now they fall again
Like something’s torn apart now
Something’s ripped away now
There was nothing I could say
To hold on to it
Something’s missin’ from me
Yeah, it’s missin’ from me
But everywhere I go I know
That I will be at home

So I’ll take this road
Far as it will go
And inside I know
This is how I want to live
Yeah, how I want to live

Pulled off into a restive town
It’s got homely feelings and I’m sinkin’ down
People wave hello and act all nice
But they’ll turn against me when the timing’s right
And so I tear myself away now
Pull myself away now
It’s a sad time but I’m
Moving forward slowly
And everywhere I go I know
That I will be at home

So I’ll take this road
Far as it will go
And inside I know
This is how I want to live
Yeah, how I want to live

Mornin’ sun shining on my face
Got an open highway and map to nowhere
Feels like I’ve got forever, but I’ve got
No time left, no time left

Yeah, I’ll take this road
Far as it will go
And inside I know
This is how I want to live
Yeah, how I want to live

I am nothing more than here
I am nothing less than gone

What if we woke up tomorrow and
The sky weren’t quite so blue
What if we couldn’t sing another song

What if we woke up tomorrow and
The truth stopped being true
What if we were lying all along?

Would the world still turn
In quite the same way?
Would I know all the words
I still would have to say?
Would I have to stand here waiting?
Would I have to go away?

What if we woke up tomorrow and
Then sun were a different hue
What if we couldn’t learn to sing along

What if we woke up tomorrow and
I woke up here with you
What if we were lying all along?

Would the world still turn
In quite the same way?
Would I know all the words
I still would have to say?
Would I have to stand here waiting?
Would I have to go away?

What if we woke up tomorrow
And it were really just today
Would we do anything different?
Would we know just what to say?

Come with me son, let me tell you
I’ve got a story I’d like to tell
It may not be the type you like
But it’s all true, just as well
You can choose to listen or to walk away
But the time has come, and it’s all I’ve got to say

There are shadows that sometimes haunt this place
There are visions of distant satin and lace
I can’t remember, you know I’m tryin’ to forget
I’ve always been ready and now things are set

To ride on, into that big pie in the sky
To ride on, among the closest of friends
To ride on, into the eastern sunset
To ride on, until the daylight ends

Come with me daughter, let me show you
How I paved the road to hell
The story may be vicious you know
But it’s all true, just as well
I’ve made the penance in shades of grey
So will God listen . . . or walk away?

There are reasons why I do the things I do
Some lie in me, and some within you
I can’t remember, you know I try to forget
I’ve always been ready and now things are set

To ride on, into that big pie in the sky
To ride on, among the closest of friends
To ride on, into the eastern sunset
To ride on, until the daylight ends

Come with me son, let me tell you
I’ve got a story I’d like to tell
It may not be the type you like
But it’s all true, just as well
You can choose to listen or to walk away
But the time has come, and it’s all I’ve got to say

Somehow I knew it couldn’t last
At least not forever
But you know this wasn’t how I
Wanted it to end
I never really wanted it to end

I wish I could’ve done things
So very differently
And you know I never missed a chance
To f### things up
And I never really wanted it to end

I can’t see into the future
But if I could I’d tell you I was there
And the band topped the charts
And I never broke your heart
And I’d made different decisions
In my prophetic voice

Somehow I knew it couldn’t last
At least not forever
And you know I never meant
To leave you this way
And I never really wanted it to end

I can’t see into the future
But if I could I’d tell you I was there
And the band topped the charts
And I never broke your heart
And I’d made different decisions
In my prophetic voice

Time is but an unwed mistress
A beacon in the night
A silent masquerader
On the run and in the light
I can feel the master reign tighten
Feel the foolish rushing to judge
Feel the vibration of lunacy
In the trusted, refusing to budge

Life is but a silent killer
Every moment wearing us down
As to the birds in the thin air
Or the devils that dwell on the ground
Apocalyptic visions of grandeur
As the phones wring their itchy fingers
And the polycrats in the bunkers
Seem to pang their conscience that lingers

So I stand at the delta
Somewhere between right and wrong
Somewhere in the blessed silence
In the voice that sings a song
The tunes fly by in a blender
I oft’ just wish they would stop
And you know answers don’t lie
In your modern-rock teeny-pop

No, the answers lie in you

And so I fall down upon the time
That we define as millennial edge
Standing on the cornerstone
Standing on the ledge
I’m here for a blink of time’s eye
For a moment of with or without
And until I come back to this place again
I’ll remember what we’ve cried about

Yeah, I’m here for a blink of time’s eye
For a moment of with or without
And until I come back to this place again
I’ll remember what we’ve cried about
What we’ve cried about

In the perfect harmony a sword of light
Strikes the clouds and darkness fades
And the blinders fall from our eyes
Echoes . . . echoes . . . echoes
Echoes in the night
Shadows . . . shadows . . . shadows
Fall into the light
Tear this curtain down

The purple sun rises and still sometimes
Touches the faded faces in the crowd
Until they glow with artificiality
Voices . . . voices . . . voices
Voices in the light
Faces . . . faces . . . faces
They glow so bright
Tear this curtain down

But it was just a dream like all the others
Just a taste of what may lie ahead
A bleeding moment of clarity
And the vagueness of an empty bed
So the world’ll turn you upside down
And as the blood rushes to your head
Will you tear this curtain down?

Or am I just dreaming?

So I look up and see the bright of day
As the sun lies within its purple veil
And all that was and is comes to a halt
Singing . . . singing . . . singing
Singing in the night
Freedom . . . freedom . . . freedom
Was it right?
Tear this curtain down

But it was just a dream like all the others
Just a taste of what can’t lie ahead
A bleeding moment of clarity
And the vagueness of an empty bed
So the world’ll turn you upside down
And as the blood rushes to your head
Can’t we tear this curtain down?

Tear this curtain down
Tear this curtain down
Tear it down
Tear it down
Tear it down

I thought I might have been a dreamer
Who thought he saw a different light
I thought I might have had the answers,
But then again I might
I thought I might have known you better
Then I’d ever known me before
I thought I might have known the questions
Thought I knew what they were for

I thought I might have been a dreamer
Who thought he had a master plan
I thought I might have had a meaning
But things just ain’t so grand
I thought I might have known you better
I don’t know you anymore
I thought I might have known the questions
Thought I knew what they were for

And I can’t make the rain fall slower
I can’t make the sky look bluer
I never know just how to think or feel
I’m a dreamer and that’s all I am
It’s all I’ll ever be

I thought I might have been a dreamer
I thought I saw a different light
I’ve never had your answers,
But then again I might
I thought I might have known you better
I don’t know you anymore
I’ve always asked the questions
Never known what they were for

Sunlight streams blindly into the darkness
And the clouds evaporate into dust
The time has come for quiet reflection
Before idle thoughts ease into rust
We’re losing light, the day is gone
And I’m left with no words to say
In the silence so loud do you wonder
If it’s right, what we’ve done today?

If today still were yesterday
And tomorrow were not today
Maybe I’d know how to tell you
The things I’m scared to say
Which way is it to the final trail,
The final wooded path?
When I walk and laughter fades
I’ll utter, “Free at last”
“Free at last”

The past is not repeatable
And yet it plays for me again
It seems I’ve done this all before
But I couldn’t tell you when
Sunlight shines brightly in the darkness
Can you distinguish between love and lust?
Tonight in silent reflection
The wind becomes nothing but dust

If today still were yesterday
And tomorrow were not today
Maybe I’d know how to tell you
The things I’m scared to say
Which way is it to the final trail
The final wooded path
When I walk and laughter fades
I’ll utter, “Free at last”
“Free at last”

The past is not repeatable
And yet it plays for me again
It seems I’ve done this all before
Seems I’ve . . .

Good mourning, Roanoke
I see you’ve found
What’s left of what you’ve been
Searching for
Anymore
Are your stars still shining?
Good mourning, Roanoke
Good mourning

Neon lights shine so bright
Especially at night
And in Virginia
So long as you are them
And they are you
They just might still
Let me be them too

Good mourning, Roanoke
I see you’ve lost
Everything you thought
You never had
Never known
Are your stars still shining?
Good mourning, Roanoke
Good mourning

Neon lights shine so bright
Especially at night
And in Virginia
So long as you are them
And they are you
They just might still
Let me be them too

They just might still
Let me be them too

A young man dreamt of glory
A young man dreamt of fame
A young man grows a bit older
A young man grows a bit tame
And he’s always been a dreamer
Always had his head in the clouds
He’s always listened too quietly
And spoke just a little too loud

And now the dream just seems so hollow
It’s not what he might have wanted after all
Some people think they’re getting older and wiser
And sometimes those people
Aren’t so wise after all

A young man dreamt of freedom
Old men sometimes dream the same
A young man tries a little bit harder
But he’s playing an old man’s game
And he’s always been a dreamer
Always wanted too much too fast
He always wanted to be first
And so he finished last

And now the dream just seems so hollow
It’s not what he might have wanted after all
Some people think they’re getting older and wiser
And sometimes those people
Aren’t so wise after all

An old man dreamt of glory
An old man dreamt of fame
An old man grows a bit older
And he still feels just the same
He still feels just the same
He still feels
Just
The
Same

Sometimes I want it all to end
I can’t always just smile and move on
Sometimes my mind’s just in a blend
I don’t know how to tell you what I’m feelin’
And when I’ve lost control
Sometimes I want it all to end

And after you’ve run out
Of things you can laugh about
Laughter’s all you really have left
All you have left
That bittersweet laughter
Is all you have left

When you’re listening to a silent movie
And you find your mind thinking of me
Don’t bother looking to find my number
‘Cause there’s nobody home
And if you’re tryin’ to find your answers
But you don’t have a question to vex
Don’t smile at me ’cause I’m not lookin’
And tonight I’m gonna lose
What else can I do?

When the drum beast hastens
And it smiles our faces
And the tears become nothing but you
Don’t bother asking for explanation
But what else can you do?
What else can I do?

When you’re asleep and hear the phone ring
Pick up, you know there’s no one there
Don’t bother asking for my wrong number
I’d have nothing to say
And if you’re tryin’ to paint a picture
But the canvas just absorbs your pain
Don’t yell out ’cause no one’s listening
And yet I feel the same
What else can I do?

When the drum beast hastens
And it smiles our faces
And the tears become nothing but you
Don’t bother asking for explanation
But what else can you do?
What else can I do?

And as the pain drips down,
Down to the ground
And stains the teardrops from before
And your fear grows cold
As the thoughts grow old
And there’s nothing left for you
What else can I do?

When the drum beast hastens
And it smiles our faces
And the tears become nothing but you
Don’t bother asking for explanation
But what else can you do?
What else can I do?

And you know that there is something missing
Some chance that you just never took
Don’t bother trying to get back to
The place you were before
‘Cause now you’re all alone in darkness
But a darkness that’s as bright as day
No matter how you try to reach me
I won’t hear what you say
Won’t hear what you say

When the drum beast hastens
And it smiles our faces
And the tears become nothing but you
Don’t bother asking for explanation
But what else can you do?
What else can I do?

And the drum beast hastens
And it smiles our faces
And the fear has finally found you
Don’t bother searching for exculpation
And I know you’re not a fool
No you’re not a fool
What else can I do?
What else can I do?

Silhouettes in the cold evening air
Drift silently towards the light
And we look unto the setting sun
As the brightness turns into night
Can this time of thoughtlessness
Equal these, our inborn truths?
Can we mirror the innocence
The mistakes of nearsighted youth?

Vapor trails in the cold night air
Converge upon a faint point of fact
Lost memories from childhood, so far
And it seems as if something still lacks
The sun is set and time seems gone
Once more we’ve forgotten our aim
Can we mirror the innocence
Of a people once deemed insane?

Silhouettes in the cold night air
Drift silently among the reeds
The setting sun calls us to action
But can it fulfill all those needs?
Will time level our idle thoughts
Urged forth by the will of the gun?
The faces of heroes now forgotten
Silhouetted by tonight’s now-set sun

Was it time?
Or merely the illusion of its passing
That let me know I’d lost my chance
Was it life?
Or merely the illusion of its end
That ceased the flowing of my rants
Was it me?
Or merely a silhouette of who I am
Who felt these things long gone
Was it you?
Or merely who I wanted you to be
That turned me into a pawn
Was it gone?
Or the illusion it was ever here
Before I knew what it was
Am I here?
Or just an illusion of myself
To keep you from feeling alone

I am but a man
Filled with a rage
I am but a man
Locked in a cage
And it’s a dark night
And this castle light
Is long gone

Distant memories
Haunting me
Is time running out
On us again?

I am not the man
I wish I’d be
I am not the man
You want to see
And it’s a cold night
And the stars bright
Are long gone

Distant images
Haunting me
It seems you have run out
On me again

I am still the man
I’ve always been
I am still the man
That I was when
We stole the castle light
And it’s a silent night
Silhouette

Is it all really a lie?
Please don’t tell me it’s a lie

Distant somethings
Holding me
Has the time run out
On you again

I am but a man
Who feels too much
I am but a man
These things aren’t just
And it’s a dark night
And my castle light
Is long gone

Would you rather live
In warm euphoria for
A moment past
Than exist in harsh
Reality . . . lost
Lost in isolation yet
I’ve never been alone
Silhouetted in shadows of
The doors we’ve shut
Is it enough?
Has it ever been?

Would you rather exist
Out of time, alone
Free at last
Than exist in cold
Reality . . . lost
Lost in freedom yet
I’ve always been a slave
Trapped within the walls
We’ve built ourselves
Was it enough?
Have we won the war?

Losing sight of just
What is real tonight
Losing touch
Fading away
Fading away
Fading away

Time slips through unclenched fingers
Words fall through cracks in idle minds
Fear flows out through false ambition
Occurrences once more of malformed kinds
Will you slide unto the depths
Of unclear lunacy?
And when you close your eyes
What do you see?

Breaths slide silently through pursed lips
Sounds fly quietly through untuned ears
Pain curses desperately in closed minds
There’s nothing at all to fear, except for fears
Are you present in the depths
Of untamed lunacy?
And when you close your eyes
What do you see?

Can thoughts of lost tomorrows haunt us still
Can fears of pain and suffering freeze our mind
Will these things help us live months later
Or slip the windswept edge of time
Have we fallen unto the depths
Of unthought lunacy?
And when we close our eyes
What do we see?

I can’t think anymore
Can’t figure out what’s wrong
I can’t think anymore
And I can’t write these songs

So the drums beat stranger
And the bass strings higher
The keyboards play a melody
And a guitar strums out of tune
And baby, baby, my voice falters

Maybe I’ve run out of words to say
How I’m feeling
How I’m feeling

I can’t think anymore
Can’t figure out what’s wrong
I can’t think anymore
And I can’t write these songs

Remember the light in the castle?
Somehow that style now seems lost
The lofty sincerity is gone
Buried in a layer of frost
Personal problems find vent
In these lyrics that I wrote
So I’ve sacrificed my clarity
In a style that now seems choked

Do you like it like this?
Am I wrong to think aloud?
Please don’t extinguish the light
Don’t let me fall from misty clouds

Deliverance comes from afar
In haikus and sonnets I refuse to write
The timely brevities lost
A refusal to face the light
So count your syllables
Double-check your rhymes
And put up with this song
I’ve written oh so many times

Do you like it like this?
Have you learned to think aloud?
Do not be afraid of the light
That bathes the misty clouds

In blessed finality the bell strikes
An unattainable thirteenth hour
Clocks chiming in endless harmony
On what blame shall we place the power
Humble thoughts of greener grass
Grow deeper and deeper still
Think of where we’d all be
In unity, if looks could kill

But do you like it like this?
Have I been thinking all too loud
Is there really any light
Amongst these misty clouds

A brief smile passed in the darkness
A soft kiss passed in the night
If there was one thing I could do
I’d pack up and take flight

A brief conversation of lies
A soft bed to rest my head
I wonder in quiet desperation
What will be in the end

And are you crying?
Are you lying?
Are you dying?
In the night

Briefly passing in the darkness
Two lost souls in the night
Is there anything that I can do
To prepare for this last flight

One brief moment in time
A second that’s already past
Still in quiet desperation
I lie down to breathe my last

And would you cry?
Would you lie?
When I die
In the night

In quiet desperation
 . . .
Free at last

I remember a myth of everafter
A lie they told us in our youth
They couldn’t bear to regale us
With the cold hard truths
So they spun their web of laughter
And told us that we’d be okay
Yet in the end it came so clear
There was much more to say

In the burning cold nights of December
When we huddled so close in the dark
We spoke of our futures, the light in our eyes
A thought-insatiable spark
But as the world crept in on our lifetime
The light slowly faded to dust
Perhaps in the end we’ll open our eyes
I think that, now, we must

I remember the light in our eyes
As we theorized late in the night
Somehow sometimes I wonder
How had we been right?
And now we’re the ones spinning the lies
Spinning those webs of laughter
How is it that we’ve been entrapped
By the stories of life everafter?

Life from death
You don’t know it’s happenin’
But there’s something goin’ on here
Life from death
You think you understand it
When it’s really just made of your fears

Life from death
Genesis from Revelation
It just loops and loops and loops around
Life from death
To say that it’s the ending
Would just start it all over again

You run and you run
And you run and you run
‘Til you fall
You look around
There’s nowhere else to go
You fight off your fears
Through all of the years
‘Til you die
You sit down and cry
You never learned to fly

Missing links and chances lost
You price you pay, the lives you cost
The pain inside you growing strong
You know you knew it all along
How did you miss the obvious signs
That you had jumped the starting line
There’s nowhere else for you to go
How is it that you do not know?
How could it all have gone so wrong?
Move along

I’ve run out of time
My mind was somewhere else
Now it’s far too late
To head off my self-built hell
It’s far too late

I’ve run out of time
There’s nothing I can do
It’s oh, far too late
Though it’s nothing all too new
It’s far too late

I’ve run out of time
It’s far too late

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show
You don’t wanna be here, but there’s nowhere else to go
You all run and you run and you fall to the floor
For the five-thousandth time you close all your doors
And through the thunder of the night
Comes a sun so very bright
And life goes on and on and on

Actors and artisans, welcome to the show
You chose to be here ’cause there’s nowhere else to go
You run and you run ’til you can’t anymore
You run and you run to get to the door
You are afraid of the purple sun
And you aren’t the only lonely one
And life goes on and on and on

Animals and lunatics, welcome to the show
You don’t know you’re here, where else can you go
You try as you might to get to the door
You have no idea what we have in store
How is it you do not know
About the glorious fuzzy glow?
And I say welcome to the show