Braid Album

[No lyrics]

nineteen ninety eight looked great on
plain white paper on the fiftieth plane to champaign
but to tell you the truth
if i had a chance to kill it
i'd pick it up and take it and shake it and
kiss it to death
there's something inside like a conscience
that says "you're painting floors while
your pals are renaming the stars
get up get up and go do what you started
if you want to be a martyr, try harder"

go my son have you grown?
go make a home
and put the kids in their beds


and i will talk about this year
if there was something to talk about
and you sell and you sell with your heart
so you can make a few bucks and lose a few friends
and this is the stuff that makes you
and it will be the same that breaks you
move on get on with your life
it's pointless to play if you don't get paid


why not go my son have you grown?
go make a home
and put the kids in their beds
the kid's in our heads
we've got a lot of great mistakes to make
we've got a lot of chances to take
so let's take our time and hurry


go my son has come home
i said no and made my own
and put the kids in their beds
the kid's in our heads
we've got a lot of people to fear this year
so addy if you want to be near
sing will to the wind and worry
oh addy do i love you
but god such things i have to do
addy do i want to hear you
but i just can't get through
addy do i miss you
these dreams i sing when i
kiss you

oh addy do i love you
but got such things i have to do
addy do i want to hear you
but i just can't get through
addy do i want to hold you
but anyone may do
addy do i miss you
these dreams i sing when i'm


introducing the new nathan detroits.

got caught kicking the canvas down
i had plans but they never seemed to work out
wide-eyed and on the lookout
got caught tearing the whole thing down
i was halfway done
but then you know this painted scene
could never leave me
oh please believe me

caught killing a camera
now it seems calming and clear to hire
a cast of kittens, the cats we've been kissing
for the cameras we're lowering here
got caught tearing the whole thing down
i was halway done
but then we sang it for memphis
the new slang in frame and canvas
just for the cameras


when we are awake we sing "never... ever"
this is where you must make up your mind
should beauty be design this time?
this time you decide cause we go with whatever
we take our time


got a cough
my throat kills from singing
my ears are ringing
the stage is slowly sinking
and we're all thinking the same thing
let's not settle for satisfaction
we are women and men of action
let's stop clapping let's start doing
a dream for the teens and in-betweens
and twenties yet unseen.

wake up
and dry your eyes
cause you've been dreaming of mourning
you can't disguise it
I've got a picture we can doctor right up
"So what" you sigh "alright" I reply

get up
I got a feeling
we've been staring at the ceiling too long
and downstairs there's a party going on


and it's your number she goes
"please drive faster."
spoken like a champion
oh no, disaster.


wait up, we got to a hospital groove
and here's some bad news
carrying a crutch
on you crush
gotta hurry boys
we've got a lot to lose


we've got a lot to loosen up
and you know that we can take it
cause we're so tough
a one and a two and the red light out of you
oh vein contusion or two


and it's your number she goes
"please drive faster"
spoken like a champion
oh no, disaster.


code blue I want you
cold blue emergency room
some buckle some bloom
when I want you


wake up wait up wake up
don't you know you've plenty of your life to lose


carrying a crutch
on you crush
gotta hurry boys
we've got a lot to lose


we're getting number
we go "please drive faster."
spoken like a champion.
oh no, disaster.

let's go undercover
like young lovers should
cause I can kiss you better
then this letter could
and you say

at least under
these covers
I listen to you
And all this music about you
I hope it finds you smiling again

till never begins
or till forever ends
I'll still be lost in poetics
or lost in the mail
can nobody tell you
these guys have a passion for fashion
but are sincere like a statue
and if you have to choose
I am gonna lose
I always do
we always do
nostalgia is drunk
and frustration can be gorgeous
but can i keep my mouth shut

(I listen to you
And all this music about you
I hope it finds you smiling again
till never begins
or till forever ends )

cause sometimes gorgeous can be frustration
when your life is nothing
but an honorable mention
on a radio, on the radio.
maybe i'm a baby
but i think it's time to grow.
you're everything i live for
-ever got shorter.
i'll know on a radio better
I'm a quitter than a starry
tortured soul

the lips I kissed now shape songs of sadness
hold me dear when I'm away
and I'll know when I hear your name
even if I have to sing it to myself.

1:15 began with a phone ring
i heard i stirred but I wasn't hurt
tonight's lines are yours to keep
go back to sleep

and that's wonderful
when your world at it's worst seems bearable
is it no so terrible to stay
and terrible to say
why won't you change
and walk into the rain
where we love to splash and play
it will be here forever
while everyone's so convinced
theyknow everything is true
all I believe in is you


it was a wonderful puddle that I played in
and I was so young when it hit me
in no one you can believe


but that's terrible
when these evil white lies make hysterical
habit forming beautiful
I miss my friends
they live next door
but insincerity is so hard to ignore


it was a wonderful puddle that we played in
and at two and a half we hit back


isn't that wonderful
that as they gather round our grave
to splash and play they'll say
why'd you have to change


and walk into the same
where the dirty rain drains
you're gone in the morning
while everyone is so convinced
they know everything is true
all i believe in is you.

as slow as rapid city
we must be gathering speed
here for something
trained for these tracks
but afraid of the frieght
and it doesn't get played on the radio

travel
wires and worries unravel
faced with unlacing the drinks
trade taps for tanks
a new ram in the ranks
our friends say way to go and where to go

never if you're out there
come along and save us from ourselves
oh how we missed it everything's twisted around

when the clouds come clear
open your eyes and we'll be here
never will come for us
everything's sung
never will comfort us
everything's wrong
never will come for us
never will come come
why won't you come?

never if you're out there
come to here and toast our merry year.

club starlight
where your eyes
round brown and shine
darted out for the dimes
in world record time
now it's time to give it to them

it's a new dream
it's constant it's madly it's everything to me
as the sun set on the set
on the set ready set go
go make a mess of the mystery
of your perfect love history


and everyone knows your name
and everyone knows we're the same
you're lucky to be alive


little bee stings and little happenings
they're all just silly things
they never made our scene interesting
they never made it into a movie screening


so hey love
she darts in and out for the drinks tonight
she misses your eyes at club starlight
she'll be back and blue in the summertime
together we'll ride wherever and forever


and you think you're insane
a somebody else in a cruel game
you're lucky to be alive
and everyone knows your name
and everyone knows we're the same
you're lucky to be alive


we're sick
and we'll stay sick
in this city
at least you'll keep your distance
but keep me around
our heads in the clouds
both feet off the ground.

[No lyrics]

a dozen roses in the car
and i don't know where you are
maybe i don't know what i'm doing
you're moving like a movie
you still move me
among the other ones
and twos and threes and twenty-threes
got to keep my conscience clean
but that hurricane what's-her-name
mentality was not for me
and never could be
cause it surely brings bitter things
and misery


and i say
heaven hits me hard
in with the new
heaven hits me hardly


in with the news
whatever gets me started
in with the noose
have you ever had a heaven here
and was it clear?


cause i just wrote a letter
a confession down the ladder
that things could be so much better
and through follow the leader
i met her and then another end
and usually a grudge
but i loved so much
the way we touched and psuedo-kissed
oh i already miss you singing like this
over the phone
every now and every then i tend to pretend
i'm not alone


static made old radio
now i know
static made old radio


heaven hits me hard
in with the new
heaven hits me hardly
in with the news
whatever gets me started
in with the noose
have you ever had a heaven here
and was it clearly better?

i want you to see me out
you know you're bringing yourself down
and i drink too much and
you sing too much
and i think you know it


i want to see you out
you've got no inspiration
to do anything at all


hey when i go out
do i look like you do
hey when i go on
do i look like you do
marigold mary goes
"you gotta come out so we can see you"


we think we bring you down
you're not alone in that
you're not the first
and i think you know it
i want you to see you were right
about inspiration and everything else
but you said it wrong


hey look in the mirror
it's not what you say
it's how you say it.

this is what you made it
you can't separate it
you can't segregate yourself
from everyone else

open
cover your eyes
come on cover your eyes
the light will slow and rise
and i never will lie
so come on cover your eyes
covers over mine

this is how you take it
past whatever you set for yourself
you're killing yourself
and everyone else

open
color your eyes
come on color your eyes
why the disguise
and i never will hide
so come on color your eyes
i'll color over mine

said you could see right through
you and where you will be

impress yourself.

you can be so cold
and it hurts (me) as much as it hurts him
and i know it's partly my fault
if you had said so


son
here's my sweater
it makes you look so young
as long as we're together
it's my favorite one


and it's partly my fault
cause i've done so many things
to make you hate me
and it had nothing to do with me
now i wish you'd take it back


son
i got your letter
it makes you seem so old
and since we're not together
please come home


yes i still love you
but i guess it's unconditional

the carlights are on
the redlights are visible
in the shadow of the door
and again on the floor
sixteen seconds
maybe more


summer is over when you close your eyes
story was over when you closed your eyes
song was over when you closed your eyes
everything's over when you close your ... eyes

So frustrated
That something (so) complicated
Could hang over my head
On my first day back
And already i'm treading on unsteady ground
So strike me down or check me out

So elated
That this soul so understated
Could be making eyes at me
But first I'll be
Another innocent victim looking for some
Sense of sympathy

In the middle of a state
The sorry story of a star
That goes "here's my heart"
It's a start
And if anything, we haven't seen everything

In the middle of a stage
There's a girl and a guitar
But there's your car
Have we forgotten who we are?
We haven't seen anything

So I'm told that Chicago's cold
Can't be cool as california
For the first time ever
I feel severed yet smooth removed
If you approve then check it out

To what do i owe this attention
I'm only half of the reflection
And the conversation goes
Oh, nevermind (oh, nevermind)
To what do I owe this tension
If deception's fine
Then this is divine

Divine define divine

On my first day back
And already I've settled on
My weak front

turn the keys i spin the wheels
if you know how a person feels
you wouldn't make this so hard for me
i'm afraid of everything
wish you had something more to say
behind the wheel i can't stay awake
pass your house or take a coffeebreak
just adult desserts for baby cakes


blame me baby
i'm afraid of everything


there's something wrong with the boy's head
i don't believe what the doctor said
i'm sure one day he'll come around
but he's so quiet now
and when all this talk is over
about how i never spoke
then goodbye mr. good humor
now i'm just your joke


you made me can't you see?
i'm afraid of everything


and all the little come-ons
they were all just run-ons
and when i think of your arms
i forget what street to turn on


and the door slam
it's such a safe sound
i know where i am
i put my keys down
i put my eyes down
wonder why is it
i lost my courage and
passed your exit...

watch you sleeping
try hard not to walk away
cause i haven't got anything to say
when you wake
with nothing in our heads
but an idea
of what we should be
(what we could be)


swing closer


catching ourselves
from close up
i think we're the same
and we've met our match


"this is the chandelier swing"

so cover yourself with whatever
cover your eyes
cause it's not right
you say "it's not what it should be"
but it could be
you know i think a lot like you


swing away


it's not like you had before
when you were two years younger
(my age)
i wait for you

be little
for now
your time will come before
the earth rotates winter
capricorn


he said
i feel like this licorice
and she sticks so well
oh well


i'm not in your stars
but it's still early


you lie because you're in the bed


be little
for now
your time will come before
the flat earth december
remember


she said
he's so hard to hear
so will i outgrow
well if he says so


you can't look at the sky
without looking right through it


i'm not in your stars