MY LUCK PUSHED BACK
There is no fuel like conversation
But now there’s nothing to discuss
We were two scared skinny white kids
With heavy eyelids
Knowing no-one really cared about us
And I said too much
And I can’t take it back
And I pushed my luck
Until my luck pushed back
And I think I’m still absorbing the impact
Of saying something
The truth is somewhere in the middle
That’s why I prefer the edge
Is she a hundred carrot headline
Or just the black cloud that’s forming right above my bed
And I said too much
And I can’t take it back
And I pushed my luck
Until my luck pushed back
And I think I’m still absorbing the impact
And everyone’s avoiding eye contact
I pushed my luck until my luck pushed back
DEATH ON THE LIPS
Those girls weren’t thinking ‘bout the weather
When they decided what they was gonna wear tonight
They curl their lips yeah they huddle together
On the curb outside a dive called the Satellite
They do their best to look unimpressed
They suck on cigarettes like cancer doesn’t exist
One night only is what they suggest
But it’s alright
I’ve kissed death on the lips & I said goodbye
To the lie that I’d been living
I’m not sure it exists ‘cause tonight I’m getting by
On what the streets were giving
I am the ghost of the un-forgiven
I’ve got eyes like the back of a mirror
I hide in the shadows of my bad decisions
And she’s the only one that can make them disappear
Those girls weren’t thinking ‘bout tomorrow
They say that they don’t care what anyone thinks
They spend a lifetime getting ready to go dancing
So they can stand there in the corner
Circling their straws in their drinks
She’s the first light in the distance after decades in the dark
She’s a pair of jumper cables on a heart that wouldn’t start
She’s a splash of Coca Cola in a glass of Maker’s Mark
I’ve kissed death on the lips & I said goodbye
To the lie that I’d been living
I’m not sure it exists ‘cause tonight I’m getting by
On what the streets were giving
I am the ghost of the un-forgiven
I’ve got eyes like the back of a mirror
I hide in the shadows of my bad decisions
& she’s the only one that can make them disappear
RED AND WHITE
The rain ricochets off the windshield
And He idles by the curb
Under his breath in a whisper
He repeats a single dirty word
He has to do a friend a favor
He made a promise he can’t keep
A cigarette burns between his fingers
Just in case he falls asleep
He says “I’ll take care if everything,”
“But I can’t ask you to marry me if I can’t afford the ring.”
The road ahead is red & white
Strung out forever like Christmas lights
I should change my ways ‘cause I know it ain’t right
I should turn around but I drive all night
The interstate became a canvas
It turned him into someone else
He argued with his own existence
But he can’t convince himself
He won’t take no for answer
But it’s the only one he’ll get
He wants to leave the past behind him
But it ain’t done with him yet
He says “I’ll take care of everything”
“But I can’t ask you to marry me if I can’t afford the ring”
The road ahead is red & white
Strung out forever like Christmas lights
I should change my ways ‘cause I know it ain’t right
I should turn around but I drive all night
There is no one without the other
You can run forever but the past is never far behind
Standing in between two mirrors
I crossed my heart
I crossed my fingers
I crossed the line
The road ahead is red & white
Strung out forever like Christmas lights
I should change my ways ‘cause I know it ain’t right
I should turn around but I drive all night
SOMEBODY ELSE
Outside the city’s waiting for a chance to prove me wrong
She’s trying to talk me into doing something stupid
And it doesn’t seem to take her very long
I took a hard look in the mirror
I think I recognized defeat
I should close my eyes ‘til tomorrow disappears
Instead I throw my life like a pair of dice out into the street
I can hardly recognize myself
It’s time to turn into somebody else
All these knuckle dragging numbskulls
They’re gonna push their luck
But I think they might have me mistaken
For someone who gives a fuck
Downtown is dead on Sundays
Someone should check this city’s pulse
I don’t intend to do a damn thing different
So why am I expecting different results?
I can hardly recognize myself
It’s time to turn into somebody else
On the darker side of daylight
She’s the only light that burns
So if you wanna twist the knife in my back
It looks like you’ll just have to wait your turn
I don’t even recognize myself
It’s time to turn into somebody else
YOURS COMPLETELY
If she has a past it still remains a secret
She decided she should keep it to herself
It happened so fast – You can’t blame a guy for trying
I guess I’m not done lying to myself
She said “I’m yours, I’m yours completely”
You can do anything you want to me”
She said “I’m yours, if you ever need me”
“I can be anyone you want me to be”
When I’m away she sends me red light pictures
And in my ears she offers openings
When were alone we hold on to each other
Like two pages stuck together in a dirty magazine
She said “I’m yours, I’m yours completely”
You can do anything you want to me”
She said “I’m yours, if you ever need me”
“I can be anyone you want me to be”
The rain came down so hard it set off car alarms
but I was safe and warm - safe and warm
The world is right outside but it can’t do me harm
When she’s in my arms - in my arms
She said “I’m yours, I’m yours completely”
You can do anything you want to me”
She said “I’m yours, if you ever need me”
“I can be anyone you want me to be”
HARD TO LOOK AWAY
Crazy might be
Your best quality baby
You make it hard to look away
It’s highly unlikely
That you’ll fall for someone like me
But I’d prefer things another way
There is no shame
I’ll take the blame for losing touch
You don’t leave much to the imagination
Now that your back in circulation
It’s hard to look away
Try to undo all the things that they’ve done to you
And see if it makes a difference
I’ll make it look like an accident
I’ll make it look like an accident
They won’t see it coming - no
There is no shame - I’ll take the blame for losing touch
You don’t leave much to the imagination
Now that your back in circulation
It’s hard to look away
And it’s not enough of an explanation
I think my imagination might be
Having its way with me
BEFORE YOU ARRIVED
Her silhouette stood black up against a shattered sky
Like it never happened my life flashed before my eyes
She says that she needs me but she don’t say what for
She asked to come in as she was walking through the door
You planned your escape before you arrived
You held it all inside
You covered your tracks you killed your headlights
You held it all inside
Torn from the pages of a Miller Manuscript
For every kiss there’s a lie that won’t leave her lips
She’s a stray bullet I’m the smoking gun
She’s got her own way of getting things done
You planned your escape before you arrived
You held it all inside
You covered your tracks you killed your headlights
You held it all inside
Leave the motor running I won’t leave you waiting
In The cold outside
You planned your escape I’m your alibi
You hide it all inside
DON'T OWE ME NOTHIN'
In this cruel city it’s closing time
And I’ve got no place to go
Out here the stars are afraid to shine
They gave up on me a long time ago
The world don’t owe me nothing
Without you where will I be
I don’t want to wake up in the morning
Without you lying next to me
Was it misadventure or was it by design?
I guess the world will never know
My dreams have been circled in a chalk outline
but I refuse to let them go
The world don’t owe me nothing
Without you where will I be
I don’t want to wake up in the morning
Without you lying next to me
Let’s leave the past where it belongs
Like footsteps melting in the snow
The city waits to prove me wrong
But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know
THIS IS HOW IT ENDS
He was driving though the desert
He’d already dug a hole
The moon hangs around
& she sees everything go down
But she don’t dare tell a soul
Carlos had to think about his reputation
He had a dead man behind his seat
With duct tape pulled tight over a rag his mouth
Around his wrists & his feet
So this is how it ends – She’ll never see his face again
The reflection in his eyes - Vultures circling in the sky
If you want to twist the knife you’ll have to wait your turn
If you fly to close to the sun you’re gonna burn
Tony wouldn’t stop his crying & Carlos had heard enough
Tony got the feeling that he might be dying
And he used to talk so much shit & act so tough
Carlos took a hard look at Tony
Then he pulled out his knife
He said “You should learn to keep your mouth shut man.”
And Tony started begging for his life
He said “Next time you won’t be so lucky.”
“Don’t even think about talking to the cops”
He left Tony tied up in a bathroom stall
At the next rest stop
So this is how it ends – She’ll never see his face again
The reflection in his eyes - Vultures circling in the sky
If you want to twist the knife you’ll have to wait your turn
If you fly to close to the sun you’re gonna burn
They threw the book at Carlos
They gave him 7 years
His mother sat in the back of the court room
And when Carlos was sentenced she just burst into tears
When Carlos made parole he had a green tattoo of Jesus
On his chest with a bleeding crown of thorns
He also had a rose and a banner
With his mother’s name filled in
For whom he still mourns
You could say he learned his lesson
Cause he has regrets about what he did
If you ask Carlos what he was doing time for
He’ll tell ya “I did 7 years for letting that snitch Tony live.”
So this is how it ends – She’ll never see his face again
The reflection in his eyes - Vultures circling in the sky
If you want to twist the knife you’ll have to wait your turn
If you fly to close to the sun you’re gonna burn
I KNOW YOU'RE LYING
Why am I still holding back?
When I should be letting go?
Why are my lips saying yes?
When my mind is saying no?
I’ll throw myself on your grenade
But I’m not drinking the Kool-Ade
I know you’re lying I just can’t tell
If it’s when you say you love me
Or when you say you wish I’d go to hell
You’ve pretended for so long
That you don’t have to anymore
Everything I know is wrong
I’m stuck in this revolving door
It’s been exposed that chapters closed
I guess I thought that you should know
I know you’re lying I just can’t tell
If it’s when you say you love me
Or when you say you wish I’d got hell
I gave up trying I lost the thread (I gave up guessing)
There is no telling what is going on inside of your head
the truth is somewhere in the middle
I guess that’s why we’re always choosing sides
INTO THE TRUTH
The remains of the weekend laid about the place
I went out looking for some sympathy
I returned from the deep end with my mind erased
I found a stranger lying in the bed right next to me
Where did she come from?
How did we meet?
Her hair spilled like a suicide out onto the sheets
I found her name next to a number on the back of a receipt
She came out of nowhere
Time doesn’t wait for anybody
And I’m talking to myself like it’s you
I didn’t mean to hurt nobody
I took the lie and stretched it into the truth
Vaguely I remember after having a few
Stumbling down the sewers of 2nd Avenue
There was cocktails a cover charge loud music and lights
And some trouble from those knowing
They’re going home alone tonight
I heard a man’s voice come from the corridor
Followed by a sharp knock on the door
He said “I know that you’re in there”
“We’ve been through this before”
I scrambled to find my clothes on the floor
Time doesn’t wait for anybody
And I’m not looking for an excuse
I used to want to be somebody
I took the lie and stretched it into the truth
KING HOOKED
He wears a ring on every finger
He holds his luck in a silver dime
He’s been known to have a nasty temper
If he don’t get paid on time
He drives a white El Dorado
He leaves the keys inside and the windows down
‘Cause all the boys down on Michigan Avenue
Know that he don’t mess around.
God I know your busy
But I’ve never asked you for anything
I know you’ve got your own way of getting things done
But there’s another broken heart
Waiting for the phone to ring
This is the oldest profession
She’s a champion on the track
If her feet give her trouble
She just lays there on her back
Don’t send money man don’t send flowers
Don’t call her on the telephone every half an hour
She obsessed with sex money and power
And you’ll find yourself left behind
God I know your busy
But I’ve never asked you for anything
I know you’ve got your own way of getting things done
But there’s another broken heart
Waiting for the phone to ring
The Storm Below
It’s time to drop the anchor
The storm is closing in
I can see it in the clouds
I can smell it on the wind
I’m floating on the black
In the back of your eyes
On an ocean of tears
Under desolate skies
There’s light in the distance but it makes it hard to see
What’s right in front of me
The tornado touches down
And it grabs a hold of me
There’s no one else around
Not as far as the eye can see
Where do you stop?
Where do I begin?
With pockets full of rocks
I’m learning to swim
There’s light in the distance but it makes it hard to see
What’s right in front of me
I didn’t choose
I didn’t have a choice
I was drawn in like a sailor
To a siren’s voice
Now you wear me around your neck like jewelry
Like a promise waiting to be broken
There’s light in the distance but it makes it hard to see
What’s right in front of me
RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME
It’s time to drop the anchor
The storm is closing in
I can see it in the clouds
I can smell it on the wind
I’m floating on the black
In the back of your eyes
On an ocean of tears
Under desolate skies
There’s light in the distance but it makes it hard to see
What’s right in front of me
The tornado touches down
And it grabs a hold of me
There’s no one else around
Not as far as the eye can see
Where do you stop?
Where do I begin?
With pockets full of rocks
I’m learning to swim
There’s light in the distance but it makes it hard to see
What’s right in front of me
I didn’t choose
I didn’t have a choice
I was drawn in like a sailor
To a siren’s voice
Now you wear me around your neck like jewelry
Like a promise waiting to be broken
There’s light in the distance but it makes it hard to see
What’s right in front of me