COVENHOVEN - Lyrics

EVERYTHING I SAID YESTERDAY

Strike the match and light the lantern, watch the patterns on the wall

These parts are changing, they’re dark and strange now, I’m out of range and I can’t hear your call

Everything I said yesterday is shit I would never say to you now

Batten down the hatches, and try to imagine, everything that happens… happens for a reason

And where we started from, this broken-hearted bass drum’s been beating hard, but it’s a far cry from even

Everything I said yesterday is shit I would never say to you now

Did we really come all this way to watch the words fall away from our mouths?

How the hell did we find ourselves here? The warning bell was ringing way before we heard it

And the writing on the wall was misspelled after all, why are we always the last to call it like we see it

Everything I said yesterday is shit I would never say to you now

Did we really come all this way to watch the words fall away from our mouths?

It’s like oil and water are one and the same

And we’re pouring the bottle over the flames

It’s like shattering windows to shut out the pouring rain

Are we watching the whole thing circle the drain?

EASY OUT

I heard you stole a sip from the holy water bowl

You’re pulling for a miracle to make the whole thing stop

You pray it pours and talk in fancy metaphors

And wonder what’s behind the doors of all the passing shops

When we were small, remember how we’d trip and fall

And clean the cuts with alcohol and cry until they healed

And even now, you’re sowing all your seeds of doubt

You always were an easy out, daydreaming in left field

You watched them draw the universe’s fatal flaw

Was that the curse that Adam saw the serpent give to Eve?

Just smile and wave and give the fuck that no one gave

Don’t press your luck or try to save the time that no one keeps

The time you stole a sip from the holy water bowl

Your voice was barely audible, a whisper on the wind

Just try to feel, remember what you know is real

And put your hands back on the wheel, give it another spin

EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

Like a call that’s never answered, I’ve been ringing off the hook

Hail Marys, taking chances, to take back all the time it took

The second son of a preacher’s daughter, I was raised on holy hymns

But I never tasted the river water, or felt it wash away my sins

And now we’re shouting hallelujah, without knowing what it means

You feel the power coursing through ya, like water through the evergreens

And you see it glowing on the screens, and everything in between

And now we’re seeing with brand new eyes, like we did when we were young

Like how we try to get our words out, before we learn to use our tongues

TALL BUILDINGS

We were under tall buildings, we were lost in the crowds

I heard you calling my name out, I saw your face in the clouds

They caught us climbing the ladders of the fire escapes

And we could only just make out what they were trying to say

And we could see our shadows getting longer

Every passing window was a mirror

Staring through the stained glass of the stone churches

And all the neon words calling us in cursive

When we were under tall buildings like we were lost in the trees

An unfamiliar feeling, like we could suddenly breathe

Play it on a VCR, we’re ready to rewind

If we could turn every stone over, what would we find?

Hear it in the passing cars, we’re ready to rewind

Play it on a VCR, we’re ready to rewind

If we could turn every stone over, what would we find?

I WAS SALT, YOU WERE THE SEA

Say you want to stay, I could use the company

It was only yesterday, you were right in front of me

I was salt, you were the sea

Say you want to stay, I could use the company

A thousand miles away, you were right in front of me

I was salt, you were the sea

You were June and I was Johnny, singing perfect harmony

And right beside you, there’s a me-shaped hole that’s been pulling you sideways

Deep down inside, I know the universe wants to push us all the right way

So say you want to stay, cause I need you next to me

It was only yesterday, you were right in front of me

I was all that you could see, you were the moon and I was the ocean, tethered to your gravity

And right beside you, there’s a me-shaped hole that’s been pulling you sideways

Deep down inside, I know the universe wants to push us all the right way

GOD’S EMPTY CHAIR

It’s hard to see the blue below the surface, guess I just hope that it’s still there

As far as we can tell the world’s still turning, but for what and headed where?

It’s hard to know which wat this path is going, can’t see the forest for the trees

So many things there’s just no way of knowing, the answer’s blowing on the breeze

And I’ve been underneath these waves just wondering

If what’s in front of me is worth coming up for air

The mountains will turn to dust, just like the rest of us

Our whole lives looking just to find God’s empty chair

We are the poets of this modern moment, the words are hanging on our tongues

And when we say them all our cards are showing, well better this than to have none

And I’ve been underneath these waves just wondering

If what’s in front of me is worth coming up for air

The mountains will turn to dust, just like the rest of us

Our whole lives looking just to find God’s empty chair

Who am I to say that I know anything at all?

‘Cause I’ve been underneath these waves just wondering

If what’s in front of me is worth coming up for air

The mountains will turn to dust, just like the rest of us

Our whole lives looking just to find God’s empty chair

IN CURSIVE

Pick a random letter, put them all together in a line

Think of something clever, something that you never thought would rhyme

Spell it out in cursive, in a picture-perfect sky of blue

Line the clouds with verses, all of this to tell you I love you

I’ll see you sort of soon, some rainy afternoon

Maybe May or June, when flowers start to bloom

You were only trying, playing what the thought you never could

I can see the stars now, doing what you thought they never would

I’ll see you sort of soon, some rainy afternoon

Maybe May or June

When all I have to lose is feigning resolute, is playing by the rules

I’ll see you sort of soon

THE LAST ONE CLICK

It’s the bite in the bark, it’s the light in the dark, it’s a spark getting harder to see

And it’s just like the embers are part of the fire, but the flame never claimed to be free

And it’ll burn every branch, so you learn what you can, ‘til it turns what you planted to ashes

And every mile’s been a trial, but you keep climbing the pile, and all the while it’s been granting you passage

You couldn’t count all the killer’s notches, but still you tried

Like the black of the pillars cracking, caught in the corner of your eyes

And your building is tall, but you borrowed every brick

With every door about to close, well that’s just how the story goes

But it ain’t over ‘til you hear the last one click

We were tattered and torn, we were blind in the morning, we were born for the boredom of hue

And nobody thought to ask when the last one passed but it was cast in an ancient blue

And these words, they won’t dance where the answer’s a chance, where the candles still can’t get lit

And the sign on the door’s just a line from before, it’s a target you sure couldn’t hit

And heaven sent you a winking emoji in the night

‘Cause even angels know when the joke’s gone too far and the stained glass stops letting in the light

And your building is bought, but the universe has got other plans

And tomorrow’s been waiving from the window, you’ve been saving up your nickels for a halo you can hold, in your own two hands

MONTEREY

All the way from Monterey, be there by the 3rd

Call you from the interstate and try to find the words

I say more in the pauses now, and hear more in the rests

What all these lines are crossing out is anybody’s guess

All the way from Monterey, it’s either swim or sink

Way out past the bottleneck it’s deeper than you think

The white lines of the 101 are winding through the dark

The bright lights of the passing cars keep trying to leave a mark

What you said to pass the time is all you had to say

Out on the edge, just past the light is where I’m gonna stay

All the way from Monterey, with two words in the sand

Yeah I’m gonna find a better way to be a better man

All the way from Monterey, be there by the 3rd

Call you from the interstate and try to find the words

ALL BUT BEHIND US NOW

Drove through the night to see the sea, trading gas for poems

Tillamook to Toketee, Toyota take me home

Half the light’s behind us now, with half the day ahead

I half remember writing down, half of what you said

I’ll whisper you ya hallelujah, all the way up to the shining clouds

Leonard called it the minor fall, but the fall is all but behind us now

NOTHING LEFT TO BE

There it is again, that word unspoken

No use in fixing what was never broken

And for you the gates were surely just hanging open...

We gave your ashes to the soil and grass

Where time has nothing more to do but pass

Where all the wild blooms are blue and gold

With nothing more to be, but beautiful

I wrote the letters down in steps and stages

I wrote the same ones passed down through the ages

Then watched a gentle wind just turn the pages...

And it’s a long way from here to heaven

And there’s a garden here that still needs tending

On this line that blurs the new and old

There’s nothing left to be but beautiful

GONE WITH THE WIND

I can see the sun is rising, illuminating the horizon

And every tear we’ve ever cried is gone with the wind

Watch the birds flying in circles, the sky is turning blue and purple

And all the pain we’ve ever felt is gone with the wind

Don’t try to chase it, it’s slowly erasing

Don’t try to chase it, it’s only the place we live

Never glance over your shoulder, you’ll understand when you get older

And none of this was ever planned, you’re raising your hand

Stand beside the endless ocean, life is forever in motion

Watch the waves topple the house you made in the sand

Don’t try to chase it

(the change we gave away, don’t ever be afraid to say)

It’s slowly erasing

(the change we gave away, don’t ever be afraid to say)

How I’ve tried to fix the wreckage, I never meant to mix the message

Crossing all the wires

See the light come through the curtains, nothing’s ever certain but I’m breathing now

I’m breathing now, and I believe in love

I believe in love, I believe in love

No one said it would be easy to see the forest for the trees, we

Wait for all the smoke to clear and dawn to begin…

The change we gave away, don’t ever be afraid to say

The change we gave away, don’t ever be afraid to say…

I believe in love

All songs by Joel Van Horne.

A Kind of Revelation

WHERE TO BEGIN

Where to begin?

With the spring time coming around again

We were drenched in color, it was all we had for medicine

Through melting snow

We could see the green begin to grow

Every seed of summer was waiting for the wind to blow

And the cold will come again

Like the whole thing never happened

Like the story hadn’t passed the point of no return

We may never learn

Where were you when

We were still naïve and innocent?

Clinging to each other, not a tired root in the loose sediment

But who wants to know?

Every current has an ebb and flow

And you never know when the uplift will turn to undertow

Maybe I’ll be better then

Like the whole thing never happened

Like the story hadn’t passed the point of no return

We may never learn

We may never learn…

SIRENS OF THE SEA

Morning came golden like the universe was holding kerosene

And Apollo flicked his cigarette

All proud and mighty, trying to bluff out Aphrodite with the queens

But she always has the bigger bet

Like the Sirens of the Sea were singing for me

There’s no use in hiding that the trident of Poseidon was your crutch

Like everything you touched was water

Out on the high seas, trying to catch a glimpse of Pisces in the rough

But she spit out everything you brought her

Like the bells of the St. Marie were ringing for me

Like a seaborne symphony was suddenly sounding

And our hearts were the timpani quietly pounding

STONE AND CLAY

If only this train was bound for glory

If only this heart was made of gold

If only these words could tell the story

Of the kid that kept from getting old

But these pages will burn and blow away

And their ashes will turn to stone and clay

If only this train was bound for glory

If only these eyes could see it plain

The dust that settles in the early morning

Will be buried by the evening rain

But these pages will burn and blow away

And their ashes will turn to stone and clay

Nothing is carved in stone

GIANTS

Among the giants, I was lying just to try and measure up

Playing David and Goliath, acting like there never was

Something that separates the mighty from the broken winged dove

And I might find it out there hiding, if I was looking hard enough

I’ve spent enough time up against the ropes, just praying for the bell

So I know when to pick the stone up, and when to run like hell

While all the swarms, they swam the channel, I was standing ankle-deep

Paying dearly for admission, while they were getting in for cheap

Clinging tightly to the guard rails, watching lovers take their leap

Singing “I won’t wet my coat tails”, trying to steal a few more feet

And I learned it all from listening to the nocturne of the trees

So I know when to put my fists up, and when to whisper please

Out on the prairie I was praying for a baptism by rain

For all the cherry trees to tremble in some kind of biblical refrain

Like from the moment the first drops fell on my face, I’d feel a change

And then my eyes would train their focus on the words and not the page

But I was taking it all for granted, like the sky would never dry

So I know when to take it all in, and when to close my eyes

Among the giants, I was lying just to try and measure up

Buying time before they noticed there’s just no way I’d make the cut

Looking straight-faced in the line-up, holding out my empty cup

When a giant dropped his coin in, before my hand could close it shut

I’ve seen a flower find its footing in the barren desert soil

So I know when to let it die down and when to bring it to a boil.

PASSING THROUGH

Suddenly, the spring was the summer

Out of the blue, everything was another color

Looking through the glass at you

I could see my own reflection

Next to you, looking back in the same direction

Then your train pulled out of view

Was it everything you thought?

Cut the cold hand from the knot

(and forget what you were taught)

Back when silence didn’t ring

But it just somehow seemed to sing out

If it was something I could bring back now…

Bathed in a light that seemed everlasting

Until the night it was bright red, flashing blue

I guess we’re all just passing through

Guess we’re all just passing through

We’re all just passing through

CAMINO REAL

Morning came blurry to watery eyes

Westbound I-80 as the drunken crow flies

We rang every bell down Camino Real

And sang every sad song ‘til every star fell

And it’s coming in waves down this royal highway

I can almost make out your name in the constellations

Cause there’s all kinds of ways that the notes find their staves

Just look at all those words on the page getting lost in translation

Clouds hug the coast like their leaving for good

And Vollebekk’s calling “she’s just like a book”

She promised she’d warn ya if it wasn’t enough

But old California’s been calling your bluffs

And it’s coming in waves down this royal highway

I can almost make out your name in the constellations

And there’s all kinds of ways that the lost can be saved

Just counting all those cracks in the pavement, looking for salvation

GHOST OF KEROUAC

One of these days I’ll wake up

And one of those waves will catch the light just right

The storm will break up, and the heavens will ignite

One of those things they told us

Would never come true just went ahead and did

And the light that holds us turned us back to wide-eyed kids

Like a dead poet come back, like the ghost of Kerouac

Like the ocean you’ve been staring at

Is just a photograph she gave ya

And the shores that you swore you were standing on

Were just a story that you’ve been telling wrong

And you’ve been dwelling on the last line

Like it’s somehow gonna save ya

One of these days I’ll wake up

And all of these words will fall right in to place

Just for the sake of giving time a little space

One of these days I’ll make up

For all of the breath I’ve wasted on the rain

And the space I take up won’t be taken in vain

Like a dead poet come back, like the ghost of Kerouac

Like the ocean you’ve been staring at

Is just a photograph she gave ya

And the shores that you swore you were standing on

Were just a story that you’ve been telling wrong

And you’ve been dwelling on the last line

Like it’s somehow gonna save ya

MINER OF THIS HEART

Miner of this heart, black with soot and dark with stain

Been pushing up these empty carts, been betting on these empty veins

Miner of this heart, breathing in what could one day kill me

Playing every part of this bittersweet symphony

But oh, every once in a while

Oh, I can hear the violins

Slowly, the light comes shining in

And the low flame that flickered turns to sunlight on my skin

When the stars are veiled, or just altogether imagined

When it’s hard to tell whether what you got’s even worth having

And the only thing turning gold is the leaves in autumn

And it’s hard to sing when you’re standing all the way at the bottom

But oh, every once in a while

Oh, I can hear the violins

Slowly, the light comes shining in

And the low flame that flickers turns to sunlight on my skin

A KIND OF REVELATION

I remember when a song was a kind of revelation, some sort of magic

In the low light, listening close, trying to hear Beethoven’s ghost, come through the static

Out of sight and out of mind, hid away for someone to find, up in the attic

Dust if off and watch it glow, take it back to when it all wasn’t so automatic

Now the angels huddle around the upright in the corner of the room

Like they’ve stumbled on the sweetest song, just to play it out of tune

Hear the preacher call out promises that nobody believes

Yeah, we’re climbing up the treetops, just to fall down with the leaves

Were we making up everything? And now we’re waking up from a dream, like it never happened

Scan the stations and turn the dial, can we fake it just for a while? and try to imagine…

That the angels crowd the streets and croon in a perfect harmony

And I’m not out here, frozen like the words I couldn’t bring myself to be

All the preachers drank their Matadors and passed out in the park

Where the light won’t be mistaken for a flash out in the dark

the wild and free

PAST LIFE

In a past life, in the last light of a
Summer twilight, we were standing above the
Grand Canyon, holding on to each other
Hand in hand, we were awestruck by the colors

Then you asked me if I had another chance
Would I pass you by… never give a second glance?
Well I would do it all over, I would do it all over
I would do it all over, I would do it all over

SEE YOU IN THE SPRING

I’ll disappear into the trees
To parts that no one ever sees
And if you hear the faint release of my voice

Know that I will sing much louder in the spring time
These melodies that cling to life in the winter
Will blossom with the columbine and aster
When snow’s left lingering…

And we’ll be blinded by the daylight
Yes, we’ll always find it hiding right in the place we left it
Just hibernating…

I’ll disappear out on the open ocean
This sober fear and drunk devotion
Are all that I’ll be taking with me, by choice

But know that I will sing
It loud and clear, cause you found me here
And this sound will steer us home

See you in the spring, I'll see you in the spring...

BLIND SPOTS

With all our pains replaced with scars
Like planes mistaken for the stars
We set out hungry like some borrowed drifter’s appetite

Colored push-pins stuck in paper maps
And spinning globes, like turning laps
Had us all believing that we were satellites
Cause see those blind spots are beautiful
And I’ve got to see them for myself, not
Through someone else’s lens
Oh, this passenger plane will be our traveling train
But either way we won’t be chained up again

And we’ll be pavement-chasing troubadours
Up through the peaks and down to the shores
Cause every place we’ve never seen before’s still waiting

Let’s go always where the weather’s changing
Forever leaving, never saying goodbye ‘til the music’s playing
Off the pages…

Cause see those blind spots are beautiful
And I’ve got to see them for myself, not
Through someone else’s lens
Oh, this passenger plane will be our traveling train
But either way we won’t be chained up again

THE WILD AND FREE

I’ve been closing my eyes to see
All the places I’d rather be
We belong in fields of wildflowers
Just losing count of all the days and hours

Let’s tell everyone we’re leaving
Just vanish for no good reason
I heard there was better breathing
Out there in the wild and free, cause there is a child in me

I’ve been pacing this same old trail
Feels like I’m chasing some unholy grail
We belong to a wild, untethered wind
With our fates like feathers, weathering what ever’s up ahead

Let’s tell everyone we’re leaving
Just vanish for no good reason
I heard there was better breathing
Out there in the wild and free, cause there is a child in me

I hope these holes in our clothes
Will help us keep from growing old
And let the cold in just enough
To keep us holding on to who we love
And I know this heart was meant for something more
And I know we’re farther gone than ever before
And it all just came into focus
And now we’re standing in the rain, just letting it soak us

Let’s tell everyone we’re leaving
Just vanish for no good reason
I heard there was better breathing
Out there in the wild and free, cause there is a child in me

LANTERN

Well, it’s the way it goes like the hungry crows
Combing the endless highway graves
And like the drifter throws up his thumb and goes
Hoping to find the high he craves

And like the ocean shows us what she knows just
Down below the waves
When you’re both the captain calling out and the crewmen crawling out
Just looking up, amazed

Isn’t it always the things you try for can float just out of reach
Just a mirage that fades out moments before breaking through the breach

Well I guess you pick your poison, and mix the oils and
Water like it will
'Cause it’s a drink of joys and pains and toils
Only the lucky ones can spill

And if you feel like running from the fate that’s coming for you
Well you might just get in line
When you’re both the engine turning and the sparkplugs burning out
With just one more hill to climb

Isn’t it always the things you try for can float just out of reach
Just a mirage that fades out moments before breaking through the breach
And wasn’t it fall then winter, spring then summer twenty times at least?
And doesn’t it all feel like the perfect sunrise, but your back’s turned to the east?

So raise your glass with me
These days are passing us by
No use in asking why
'Cause we’re all fastened to the mast, and
Last I looked, we’re just casting hooks in the wind
Like something is bound to bite
Like the moth is bound to the lantern's light

GO EASY

Go easy on me, dear
I’ll be there soon
For three seasons, gone wayfaring
But I’ll rest come June

And if I leave a sign behind me
Will you try to come and find me?
Through the pines and the snow
Through the tall grass and woodlands
Will you follow my footprints?
To the place that only we know

Go easy my darling one
The sea is calm now
There’s no pleasing our restless bones
Save chasing the sun

And if I leave a sign behind me
Will you try to come and find me?
Through the pines and the snow
Through the tall grass and woodlands
Will you follow my footprints?
To the place that only we know

Follow all the traces that we left
All over the places that we used to know
With only a path through the pines
We could go back and find what we lost
Somewhere along the line

SCARS (WHAT WE'RE MADE OF)

You wear those scars like proof
That you have lived the truth
'Cause we are meant to fade
It’s what we’re made of

A fragile fleeting turn
A candlestick that’s burning
And I’ve been learning how to wake up, to wake up

And so, it’s like you’ve always been told
The fire won’t keep you from the cold
But it can glow enough to save us
And though it’ll flicker and spark
The light won’t keep you from the dark
But it will show you what you’re made of, what you’re made of

Do you remember when we were ten and still trying
To pretend that we would never be older
Well I remember the cut and I saw your blood and you were crying
All of a sudden we were a little bit colder

And so, it’s like you’ve always been told
The fire won’t keep you from the cold
But it can glow enough to save us
And though it’ll flicker and spark
The light won’t keep you from the dark
But it will show you what you’re made of, what you’re made of

With parts in disrepair, and the fix was temporary
We were speeding on the spare
With our hearts just spilling out, it was all that we could carry
We were needing proof beyond the shadow of a doubt

And so, it’s like we’ve always known
We’ll all be reaping what we’ve sewn
And we won’t be keeping what we’ve saved up
And these scars are proof that we were here
That we were young and free of fear
And we grew old enough to find out
What we’re made of

THE MEDICINE

Do you remember the first time
Somebody told you to forget everything you know?
Like it was all in the last life
And now it’s time to move on and let it go

Well I guess we should’ve known better than to question it
I guess we should’ve known better than to swallow the medicine
We should’ve known better than to shut it out
I guess we should’ve known better than to let it in

It could’ve been us in the backseat
It could’ve been us just keeping to ourselves
Like it was all in a daydream
And we can almost remember how it felt
And the way we looked out the windows
And saw the world pass through our reflections
I never thought we could lose our way
I never thought we’d be asking for directions

We should’ve known better than to question it
We should’ve known better than to swallow the medicine
I guess we should’ve known better than to shut it out
We should’ve known better than to let it in

It was the last thing I heard you say
That it’ll happen anyway
No matter what you do or say
It’s gonna happen anyway.

© 2015. All lyrics by Joel Van Horne (BMI).

Covenhoven (self-titled)

YOUNG AT HEART
Joel Van Horne

I've always been young at heart
Right from the very start
Dreaming of where wild things are
And hitching my wagon to stars

I'm pinching my hands 'til I'm sure that I'm still alive
Watching the sand slip through my fingers, I've been
Abandoning safe bets for fleeting highs
Hoping the ocean won't take what's materialized too soon...

I've always been an old soul
Empty has always been full
Lost is my own kind of found
And silence, my favorite sound

I'm pinching my hands 'til I'm sure that I'm still alive
Watching the sand slip through my fingers, I've been
Abandoning safe bets for fleeting highs
Hoping the ocean won't take what's materialized too soon...

A LOVE SINCERE
Joel Van Horne

In the summer of my seventh year
I was overcome with a love sincere
Quiet forests around the still blue waters
There before us, a single moment taught us

We will always know where the tall grass grows
And the sun makes a window in the clouds, where the shadows fill with light

In another life I was a flower in a meadow
Sipping soil in the hills of Colorado

We will always know where the clocks hands slow
Where the wild winds blow 'cross the Medicine Bows
We were young and bright eyed
Standing still and tongue-tied
Hearing music for the first time
Symphonies conducted by the swaying grass on the hillsides...

Staring in to dying embers, forever we thought we'd be the flames
We promised we'd remember, and like the evergreens we would never change...

MISSING PARTS
Joel Van Horne

Light a fire, this cold night has only just begun
And I'm a liar for when I told you that soon we would see the sun
I require a better reason than running just to run
So light a fire, and we just might escape this web we've spun

Somewhere out there in the dark
I still believe we'll find our hearts
And all we'll need's a tiny spark
To get 'em started and all our missing parts
Will be put back again

Only just yesterday we were slowly dying
Yeah, the rust was covering up the truth that we were trying
It's not enough to chop the tree and burn its bleeding limbs
When the dust settles, it's you and me still stuck beneath our skin

Somewhere out there in the dark
I still believe we'll find our hearts
And all we'll need's a tiny spark
To get 'em started and all our missing parts
Will be put back again...

I will love you like the kids do
no one else has a clue
I will love you like the kids do
cause no one else has the slightest clue
I will love you like the children do
no one else has a clue
I will love you like the kids do
cause no one else has the slightest clue

WHO COULD CALL ME WRONG?
Joel Van Horne

It's gonna happen, like it or not
Look all around you, the fire has caught
It's moving up through your ceilings and floors
No time to look through your closets and drawers

Out of the windows, with the black smoke
Goes the last hope of ever going back
You couldn't hold on, I wouldn't let go
But who could call me wrong?

Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust
Sometimes the last thing you want to do is the first thing you must
No use in dreaming of joining the choir
When you've been living in a building on fire

Out of the windows, with the black smoke
Goes the last hope of ever going back
You couldn't hold on, I wouldn't let go
But who could call me wrong?

The ground gave out and down it came
And all our tears couldn't drown the flames

THESE TEETH
Joel Van Horne

These teeth were made to cut, I
Have not forgotten but I
Don't use them like I should, I
have let them go dull

The sharp blade I'm holding on to
It was made to cut and tear through
All that would stand and try to
Tame my animal

I'm perched up high, scanning the plains
Through these bloodshot eyes, cold as the falling rain

There's an old black car coming up in the driveway slowly
And he's holding up a sign for me
Singing 'who you are is only what you remember of me'
Can't put my finger on it, I turned my head but never saw anything

There are white lines on westbound pavement
And bright signs shouting destinations
It's no surprise then if I should decide just to see what's there

And there's an old ghost walking out there somewhere
Along the coast of the middle of nowhere
And I've been closer than most might think to becoming his heir

I'm perched up high, scanning the plains
Through these bloodshot eyes, cold as the falling rain

There's an old black car coming up in the driveway slowly
And he's holding up a sign for me
Singing 'who you are is only what you remember of me'
Can't put my finger on it, I turned my head but never saw anything

MY SEARCH PARTY
Joel Van Horne

I've been clinging to the life raft under me
I've been lost out on the open sea
I've been waiting here to meet my search party
While you've been standing, all this time, right in front of me

No matter what, however near or far
No matter where you are, I will always be close to you
Whichever way you take, no matter where you wake up
I will always be close to you...

I've been hanging from this limb, about to give
Looking down with only seconds left to live
I've been searching for a way to cut me free
While you've been standing, all this time, right in front of me

No matter what, however near or far
No matter where you are, I will always be close to you
Whichever way you take, no matter where you wake up
I will always be close to you...

HATCHET
Joel Van Horne

Won't you steer the wheel steady
And lead us home, leave the last city far behind
Out there's a stillness standing ready
Like a treasure for a lucky few to find
We'll fix our gaze in one direction
So our veins don't become tired and destitute
I found my fuel to be no different
From the water feeding up thirsty willow roots

Slip down deep in a dream, make it last 'til it seems like the truth
Moments are passing too fast now, see my last hours die like the spring flowers of my youth
And all too soon I will be following suit

In a dear and distant memory, forever our bones belong to a day on down the line
And like the mirror ponds and meadows, our heads and hearts in shadows of the pines
We'll take our moments like the monarchs, and our songs will all have sweet and bitter ends
And like the rusty cans and ruins, we'll become dust and dandelions on the wind

Slip down deep in a dream, make it last 'til it seems like the truth
Moments are passing too fast now, see my last hours die like the spring flowers of my youth
And all too soon I will be following suit

Swing the hatchet, aim for the roots
Break the branches and pile them to the roof
It's all we have, this chance to start again
So strike the matches, before the rain begins
In broken fences, I found the frames
To put my portraits and carve my names
To places out past where our eyes can never see
I promise to look for you if you say you'll look for me...

FOREST FIRE
Joel Van Horne

Blank, my paper folded up for flight
But gravity just pulled it down
All soiled and worn, a leaf reborn
To feed the swarms, and I sold it out
Then sank with all the buoyancy of breath
As it's exiting my heavy chest
When all is set a'blaze despite the ways
You try and change its progress

When chance lit the forest on fire and leveled all we'd
Come to love and admire, up through the black floor
Green stems grew up higher, and from that day we knew
That flowers would bloom...

Loose the knot and cut us from the cloth
These nets that caught our hungry stares
And showed us sight so plain, as right as rain
The joy and pain of breathing air
So open up your lungs and fill them up
The songs I have sung, they started there
And this, our hallowed ground now burning down
The fate our hearts were bound to share

When chance lit the forest on fire and leveled all we'd
Come to love and admire, up through the black floor
Green stems grew up higher, and from that day we knew
That flowers would bloom...

ONE NIGHT
Joel Van Horne

Maybe we could get lost
Yeah, we could be across the borderline
By this time tomorrow as the sun goes down

I heard they've got a place there
That no one's bought or claimed their own
Just the endless open world with no one around

I just want to feel like we're the last two people alive, for one night
A long way from home, surrounded by the simple unknown, for one night

Honey, we've been spending
All our time just ending days
In an all too ordinary kind of way, of late
And honestly, I miss you
I wanna see your face all framed
By the starlit skies, and see the ocean in your eyes
As we wait for the sun to rise

I just want to feel like we're the last two people alive, for one night
A long way from home, surrounded by the simple unknown, for one night

One day divides us, the lights fade behind us as we drive through the great wide open
Northbound as far as this solid ground can take us, 'cause we're alive
And our eyes are wide with a hope in 'em

MY PARADISE
Joel Van Horne

I'm leaving this morning, for I don't know where
Why? I'm not exactly sure, or even if I care
There's been a knocking on my door, but when I look no one's there
But the air untamed, unbridled, and unaware

Long forgotten, good and lost
No trail's been trodden, no range has been crossed
Time's been frozen, veiled in ice
This might be my paradise

I could wear my fingers down to the bone
Playing and singing, bound for nowhere known
Up above the tree line, surrounded by sky and stone
It might be that finally I have found a place to call my home

Long forgotten, good and lost
No trail's been trodden, no range has been crossed
Time's been frozen, veiled in ice
This might be my paradise, yeah this might be my paradise...

© 2013 - Joel Van Horne (BMI) All Rights Reserved.