LYRICS
Part A: Forget Yer Face
1. Nightcrawler (Alertnate title: Elsewhere Bound)
He tried slipping her a note underneath the door
But she caught him with a lump in his throat, he can’t see her no more
Well he hides from himself as he runs from his problems
People he’s with tell him he ain’t no better
So he walks through the hall like an unopened letter
That he’ll never read til he’s dead
Nightcrawler, moving underground
Give him a holler, he can’t be found
Nightcrawler, move without a sound
Give him a holler, he can’t be found
He’s elsewhere bound
He tried to slip into the distance with pressing thoughts that lost their way
But a memory puts up a strong resistance and haunts her still today
Well she hides from herself as she runs from her problems
People she’s with tell her she ain’t no better
So she walks through the hall like an unopened letter
That she’ll never read til she’s dead
Nightcrawler, moving underground
Give her a holler, she can’t be found
Nightcrawler, move without a sound
Give her a holler, she can’t be found
She’s elsewhere bound
They can’t be found, they’re elsewhere bound
2. The Tune Unfamiliar
In West Carolina the mountains look down
On a place near forgotten, I hope it ain’t found
Golden string banjo that plays on its own
A tune unfamiliar that you’ve always known
And I’ve finally found something that feels like it’s true
And I’ll not never let go of Asheville
I’ll not never let go of you
If you wake up in Texas and you’re walking the street
Find you a drummer to pound out the beat
You might find yourself playing at yesterday’s bar
The tune unfamiliar cause that’s how it are
And I’ve finally found something that feels like it’s true
And I’ll not never let go of Austin
I’ll not never let go of you
I’ll not never forget about nothing
I’ll not never forget about you
3. Dichotomy
If you give up all yer anger and you give up all yer pride
They’ll put two nails through yer hands and a spear right through yer side
That’s just what we did to Jesus and his men
To stomp out the message before it could begin
...but it did begin
A gross miscalculation in the courage of mankind
Kept on spreading his good news paying danger no mind
And what they left behind was a legacy
For those who’ll never see the wounds but still believe
...I still believe
Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that
You're different from the ones who nailed him to that tree
Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that
You're different from the ones Who spread the word to you and me
That’s dichotomy
He came down from heaven, Father’s only son
Started spreading love around to each and everyone
Some said, “He called himself a king!”
He’s gonna raise an army and conquer everything
That’s not what he mean
He made friends with beggars, sinners in their cells
Some say, “I don’t need your grace” but he loves them just as well
Some said, “Why can’t he save himself?”
He gathered up the sins of man and dropped them off in Hell
Then he got the hell out of there
Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that
You're different from the ones who nailed him to that tree
Don’t deceive yourself into thinking that
You're different from the ones who spread the word to you and me
That’s dichotomy
4. I Knew
I met you last week and I knew
That I’d like to see a lot more of you
We were hanging out on the bench
Talked about nothing and it made sense
I met you last week and I knew
I met you last summer and I knew
That there wouldn’t be any getting over you
Both finally came around
Jumped off the edge and never hit the ground
I met you last summer and I knew
Met you 25 years ago and I knew
That we’d still be sticking it out
Through the stormy weather and through the doubt
I met you last week and I knew
5. NTLTT (Alternate title: Meditations of the Transcendental Trucker)
Ain’t taking my time cause there’s no time left to take
4 tons is a 55, I’m doing 95 with 8.
Ain’t taking my time cause there’s no time left to take
Called you up cause I feel lonesome, and I can’t stay awake
When I try it seems so far away
But when I die I’ll have no more to say, okay?
Maybe I will have more to say but no way to say it
Ain’t taking my time cause there’s no time left to take
Carolina mountain high and I ain’t touched the brake
Ain’t taking my time cause there’s no time left to take
Been riding between the lines for a hundred hours straight
When I try it seems so far away
But when I die I’ll have no more to say, okay?
Maybe I will have more to say but no way to say it
When I try it seems so far away
But when I die I’ll have no more to say, okay?
Maybe I will have more to say but no way to say it
I know I can’t delay it
Don’t slow down, keep them tire rolling all night long
6. E. Rose (written by Jerry Ater)
She was like a candle, she burned like fire
All my thoughts were petty, but she only spoke in flowers
I could swim for hours in deep blue her eyes they glow
Soft and free as my Elizabeth Rose
She said I gotta move to Asheville, it’s time I had a change
Staley won’t stop barkin, he knows the mountains call my name
The starlight smiles to shine inside, the darkness slowly grows
Pullin petals for my Elizabeth Rose
Elizabeth Rose, can justice be so blind that it must torture me?
Cause you below inside my arms like wind belongs to trees
If I could trace with fingers a face that beauty only knows
Leaves me searching for my Elizabeth Rose, here goes
Shagged out on the streets I held up in a cave
Why’d we close that book before we even turned the page?
What lies on the other side? I think I’m ‘fraid to know
Soft and free as my Elizabeth Rose
Pullin petals for my Elizabeth Rose
And it leaves me searching for my Elizabeth Rose
7. (Just To Be) In the Crowd
She tried to make it through without any help from you
But as a memory you just refused to stay
She took you one more round, and you took her down
Stopped her heart and took it all away
What she ever had or she ever wanted
Dreams that she never dared talking about
Now we’re left standing with a drink in our hands
Wondering what we’ll ever do without her
Well she smiles in our minds and we’re wishing we could hear her laugh
One more time, even if it’s too loud
Even if it’s too loud
Now we sit around always talking about songs that he used to play
Is he still alone? Did he ever make it home? And would he write if he were around today about...
What he ever had or he ever wanted
Dreams that he never dared talking about
Now we’re left standing with a drink in our hands
Wondering what we’ll ever do without him
Well he smiles in our minds and we’re wishing we could hear him play
One more time, just to be in the crowd
Just to be in the crowd
(And hearing him play it loud)
8. Landmine of Mine
Landmine of mine
What’s on your mind this time, what’s on your mind this time?
I didn’t notice
I forget what your showed us
I didn’t notice
I figured you owed us
Passed out on the ground
Passed up in the lost and found, passed up in the lost and found
(I’m elsewhere bound)
I didn’t notice
I figured you owed us
For all the bad songs
The not-quites and the long-gones
9. Before Long
Today is gone, and tomorrow will be here before long
Before short before meaning appeared
There was you trying to hide from yourself once again
And it gets so hard to tell if he's your foe or he's your friend
But he knows where you’re going just a second before you do
Yeah he do.
Since you couldn't get away you hung out every day
and you don't have much to say when they came
for you and your friends and your family and the kids
down the street so you hid in the basement looking down at your feet
As you tried to block out all the screams and the shouts
and the cries for your help in their moment of
need and wealth, misery and health, poverty
and injustice you can’t see
transcendence and greed and wounds that bleed and vampires that feed and shirts without sleeves
and the pants that you wear when your lounging around
thinking how will I get myself up off the ground
when you already are standing strong and tall with your back at the wall looking on down the hall
looking up the street looking down the road looking out if front looking back at the load
That you carry around and won't let you run
And the choices that you made when you thought that it was dumb
but it really was the most important thing you ever did
yeah you did, yeah you did
and if you didn't then you will before long, before long,
before it’s gone
Today is gone and tomorrow will be here before long
10. One Chance (It’s Yer Turn)
You only get one chance and it your turn now
Make your mark in the sand before you burn down
Cause they’ll forget your face and won’t remember your name
You’ve just got yourself and time to blame
You only get one chance and it’s your turn now
One more test, let’s see what you learned now
Cause everything you got’s the only thing it take
Getting born was your first mistake
Ripple from the source
Altering the course
Changing it for better, or for worse but forever
You only get one chance and it your turn now
Make your mark in the sand before you burn out
Cause they’ll forget your face and won’t remember your name
We only hope that you stay sane
Cause we all know that you can’t remain
Ripple from the source
Altering the course
Changing it for better, or for worse but forever
Part B: Cosmic American Heritage
11. Onward and Upward
Missed the best one looking for a better one
Got the worst one but it suits me
Left the living too young to justify
Watch from above as my friend shoots me
Fall on back to better space
I can see the writing on your face and the tracks you try to trace
Missed the best one looking for a better one
Got the next one but it lets me
Forget the feeling of searching for something
Watching the last one that forgets me
Fall on back to better space
I can see the writing on your face and the tracks you try to trace
I see another one running out to the west
Cause he couldn’t face dying like all of the rest
He always went to sleeping with a gun beneath his head
But the best laid plans can’t help you when you’re dead
Onward and upward
12. Towin That Line
Another day of eternity and another Sunday afternoon of doing what I please
Another night of staring at the stars
When you put it in your pocket it won’t take you very far
Walk slow, there ain’t too many places you really gotta go
Chopping wood and carrying water, she tried to run before I caught her
A moment in the sun
Lost as soon as it was found, convenience store on sacred ground
There grows another one
We let go of holding on to something we didn’t want to throw
We’re towing that line with all our might
Burning with indifference, a single candle light
That flickers when we move along too fast
It’s longer than we wanted it to last
Just a thought I came upon, a dew drop hiding from the dawn
That burns off with the day
Like a saving river through the sand
The water flowed right through my hand
Nothing left to take away
They sowed the seeds for ending suffering but we didn’t let them grow
We’re towing that line with all our might
Burning with indifference, a single candle light
That flickers when we move along too fast
It’s longer than we wanted it to last
The dumbest joke you ever tried to understand
A masterpiece of meaning, creation planned
Either/or, both/and
13. (Aren’t You) Grateful (?)
See yourself standing on the corner
Waiting for the lights to change and along with them the way that you been living
Wishing things were better than they used to be
But you had no choice cause you had to learn to take what you been given
Open wide, beware of the hateful
Go outside, aren’t you grateful?
Aren’t you grateful?
When the other side of the traintracks
Is where you’ve always been
When the roof above your head is filled with holes
It’s hard to keep the rain from coming in
But your eyes have seen the key that opens every door
And it’s good to know you have it when you just can’t take no more
Open wide, beware of the hateful
Go outside, aren’t you grateful?
Aren’t you grateful that you did?
Aren’t you grateful that you’re still just a kid?
Aren’t you grateful for the way that she smiles?
Aren’t you grateful that we talked for a while?
Aren’t you grateful that you ain’t ducking for cover?
Aren’t you grateful for a brother?
Aren’t you grateful for the candy floss that you had?
Aren’t you grateful for your mother and your dad?
Aren’t you grateful for the slower things?
Aren’t you grateful for the joy that the country brings?
14. Turned Away
Jesus take away the voice in my mind
That compels me to stray from you and commit deeds unkind
I fear that I’ll never see your sweet home above
Too many times I’ve turned away from your love
I’ve heard the words you said, that ain’t how I live
Things these two hands have done, too much to forgive
I fear that I’ll never see your sweet home above
Too many times I’ve turned away from your love
I’ll come running if you call my name
But if you should let me burn, I’d be to blame
Yeah I’d be to blame
15. Wear It Like a Hat
You try to make me think I’m doing something wrong
You try to make me feel like I don’t belong
You try to knock me off the road I’m moving down
You’d love to make me scream but you won’t hear a sound
So I’ll pacify your aggression and just like Jesus turn my head
But if it only makes you come down harder and stronger and I get to feeling that I’d like to hit you back instead...
Maybe kill you dead
Cut off your head, wear it like a hat into town
And let the whole world know that I wasn’t put here for you to mess me around
Could be a sane man with an insane mind
Could be a thoughtless fool with an axe to grind
Could be a savage beast with a heart of stone
I may never act out thoughts that I must call my own
So I’ll pacify your aggression and just like Jesus turn my head
But if it only makes you come down harder and stronger and I get to feeling that I’d like to hit you back instead...
Maybe kill you dead
Cut off your head, wear it like a hat into town
And let the whole world know that I wasn’t put here for you to f me around
Don’t try to make me think I’m doing something wrong
Don’t try to make me feel like I don’t belong
Don’t try to cut the cord that separates me from
The devil’s friends below, lest I become one
So I’ll pacify your aggression and just like Jesus turn my head
But if it only makes you come down harder and stronger and I get to feeling that I’d like to hit you back instead...
Forget what I said
16. Do Them In
Treading muddy water, feet can’t touch the ground
You grab the hand that tries to save you, and pull it down
Someone told you long ago we’re bound by evil ways
Since that time you’ve wasted life on miserable days
Drowning promises never intended for keeping
Like your momma says
Gonna do them in when you think they’re sleeping
After all they’re doing you in too
Open doors to limited perception
You see me looking your direction and you close yourself off in introspection
Fascinated by your own reflection
Drowning promises never intended for keeping
Like your daddy says
Gonna do them in when you think they’re sleeping
After all they’re doing you in too
Sometimes it seems so hard to tell the distance
Between this life and meaningless existence
But we’re all born and we all must suffer
Sometimes I dream that we won’t fail each other
Sometimes it seems so hard to tell the distance
Between this life and magnificent existence
But we’re all born and therefore we must suffer
Sometimes I dream that we won’t fail each other
Injuries you won’t let go, scars you won’t let heal
Perpetuate your broken thought and watch it become real
Drowning promises never intended for keeping
Like the Bible says
Gonna do them in when you think they’re sleeping
After all they’re doing you in too
17. Braver Than Yer Thinkin
You’re braver than you’re thinking
Up against doubt and circumstances way beyond your control
You have traveled on path littered with the corpses
Of those who haven’t made it quite as far along as you have
You’re braver than you’re thinking
After a billion years of tinkering and fiddling
You’re the latest model of its great design
And though you’re thinking you’re alone in this world
There’s a trillion more of your kind
And they’re all rooting and hollering for you
Cause the reason they existed was for you
So don’t go f-ing it all up with low self esteem and drinking
You’re more important than you’re thinking
And you’re braver than you’re thinking
18. Red Bird (Lookin For a Sign)
I saw a red bird this morning
I saw a red bird today
It turned my frown into a smile
Turned my laugh into a tear that I let fall down just one time
Cause I know you’ll be fine
I saw a red bird this afternoon
I saw a red bird today
It taught me how to live my life
Taught me how to conquer fear and all the doubts that haunt my mind
You got me looking for a sign
That you taught me to find
You taught me how to find
Beauty hiding all around
A miracle just waiting to be found
I saw a red bird this evening
I saw a red bird today
It flapped its wings and flew away
Its memory will never leave until I’ve left this world behind
Now I’m looking for a sign
That you taught me to find
You taught me how to find
We will miss you cause we love you more than we can describe
19. Instrumental (Stir That Squirrel Gravy)
20. The Message (Part 2)
When I got in I had no idea
That it would end
But I found out the gods had not imparted
Immortality on mortal men
I was angry, I was mad
For the glimpse that I had
Of things I now could see were nothing short of fleeting
And that’s sad, it’s real sad
When I got out I had some idea
Of what had begun
I found out what I thought was separate
Were simply different parts of the same one
I was happy, I was glad
For the glimpse that I had
Of things I now could see had no beginning and no end
And my friend that ain’t bad