1.early spring rain

I tried to sleep in the basement tonight
so I wouldn’t hear the rain on the roof
every drop another nail in the coffin
I’m gonna die thinking of you
everytime I close my eyes I see a thousand times as much
I’ve started to sleep witht the light on
and the roof has started to rust

I try to remember the bad times
and I try not to want you back
but these trains of thought are golden
and I’m frozen on the tracks
trying to remember the bad times

we sauntered out of the video arcade
and straight into a neon rain
and all those hours before I met you
were slowly washing away
now we’re shivering in the back of a taxi
speeding out of the c.b.d
the driver adjusting his rear-view mirror
as you lean in closer to me

I try to remember the bad times
and I try not to want you back
but these trains of thought are golden
and I’m frozen on the tracks
trying to remember the bad times

do you remember the bad times?
do you?
does anyone remember the bad times?
do you?

2.go quietly

one short sweet kiss behind the chocolate factory
you said “I won’t wait forever for you
to come back to me”
I smelt the chocolate drifting through the air
as I untangled my fingers from your hair
and gently pushed you away

I tried to make it easy
I tried to go
I tried to make it easy
I tried to go quietly
to go

I frowned upon my reflection in the dirty train window
I frowned upon my thoughts and wondered why
I have to ride them everywhere they go
I never feel like I have any right
to kick up a fuss or put up a fight
I just ride them away

I tried to make it easy
I tried to go
I tried to make it easy
I tried to go quietly
to go

3.marylands

grandma said “he’s down in hell
but mother’s safe in heaven”
sent me to a catholic boarding school
I was barely seven
the chaplain read me holy stories
from the holy book
I made a vow to get to heaven
any way I could

he sung to me in soothing holy chords
“a child that is lost is still a child of the Lord
a child of the Lord”

I would dream of mother nightly
wake up crying in my bed
the chaplain came to comfort me
he was my only friend
he said “my son, you must be brave
your mother’s looking down on you”
I saw the white light in his eyes
I smelt the whiskey fumes

he sung to me in soothing holy chords
“a child that is lost is still a child of The Lord
a child of The Lord”

4.sunday horrors

every sunday night
I drive over to your mother’s apartment
pick up a bottle of cheap red wine on the way
we get the T.V room to ourselves
‘cos your mother’s got a new boyfriend
we get ready for scenes
that some viewers may find offensive

we pour generous glasses of wine
draw the curtains and turn out the light
and then we turn up the volume
to drown out your mother and her boyfriend
when I see your face lit up by the screen
and I listen to the actresses scream
it all gets a little bit much
for my heart to handle

we kiss on the sofa, roll on the rug
we’ve finished the wine by the time that the credits scroll up
our week begins and ends on Sunday night

we live for the Sunday Horrors
we live for the Sunday Horrors
we live

5.carrion

we don’t know what we’re gonna find
we don’t know what we’re gonna find
when we get there

so we try to imagine what we’re gonna find
we try to imagine what we’re gonna find
when we get there

and if you go first I hope I that it feels
in every vein, I’m gonna keel
over in the sand
and wet the grain
with all the fun we had

I don’t know what I’m gonna find
I don’t know what I’m gonna find
when I get there

and when I’m inside you I wonder aloud
when I’m inside you I wonder
if ‘ll ever get there

and if you go first I hope I never heal
in my head and my heart I’m gonna kneel
down on the ground
and drench the dust
with all the love we found

6.let the light in

let the light in while your lips are still red
buy flowers for the living, not just the dead
soon there will be no tomorrow
and a jealous mind
is a joyless mind
whoa, let the light in

when you linger in the shadows the sun starts to yawn
and those visions of Johanna, they won’t keep you warm
through unforseeable seasons
that only bring toil and loss
when everyone elses dreams turn to truth
and a joyless mind
is a wasted mind
whoa, let the light in

7.high plains drifter

there’s a distance in your eyes today
you’re drifting again, you’re miles away
I love you more than you will ever know
I’ve loved you too long to let you go now
I am making sure I’m ready
this time I am making sure I’m ready

I’m watching your reflection in the t.v screen
as you watch a wild western that I swear I’ve seen before
sons of guns I’m so sick of you
riding in on bullets, shooting through me
with the sunlight, nothing but the sunlight
to hold on to, to hold steady
an I am making sure that I am ready
to catch you
between my teeth

8.meet me in wellington

meet me in wellington
meet me halfway
meet me in wellington
on a windy winter’s day
your voice was sparkling on the answerphone
a flower from the astral zone
it made me feel so alone
it made me wanna fly
home
shifting shadows
trading tones of darkness

meet me in wellington
meet me halfway
meet me in wellington
it’s not over yet so let’s forget
the wanderlusting I confessed
had kicked up dust inside my head
and how it turned to loneliness
and made me say goodbye
home
shifting shadows
trading tones of darkness

meet me in wellington
meet me halyway
meet me in wellington
i’ve got one last hand to play

9.circles

I make a collect call, you’re not there
I clench a fist and I punch the air
next time
next time

I watch the 0900 ads
I think about what we could’ve had
next time next time

the midnight hour slips away from me
like a grip on reality
and next time
there won’t be a next time

I get optimistic, make another call
I clench a fist and I punch the wall
shouldn’t leave the house in the state that I’m in
but the cabin fever is kicking in
so I walk the streets and I turn my eyes
from all the stray dogs that I recognise
my heart lands in my throat when I cough
and my second skin is peeling off
‘cos next time
there won’t be a next time

I walk around in circles
wondering if there’s a connection
between looking for the answers
and running from the questions
and next time
there won’t be a next time

10.if you leave, where will you go

let’s take a walk on the beach
leave some tracks in the sand
still got these rings on our fingers
still got time on our hands
and isn’t this time still delicious?
and doesn’t this water feel like forgiveness
when it laps at your feet

my darling, if you leave
where will you go?

y’know we could still have lots to learn
we never even scratched our surface
we used to tell each other nightly
that what produced us would preserve us
well it’s ok
‘cos don’t you need to see that moon to believe it?
and aren’t those stars too much?
don’t look now, here comes the water

oh my darling, if you leave
where will you go
my darling
where will you go?

11.star craving

we’re all just stars
and the night sky is a pickup bar
and the sky is beautiful
and limitless
and unwatchable
sometimes, sometimes

I need another drink
about time and space I don’t wanna think
‘cos I’m not travelling anywhere
i’m just remembering we’re I’ve been
and imagining
exploding
sometimes, sometimes

when I was passed out at the bar
I dreamt I met a guiding star
she said:
“On the count of three
I want you to open your eyes
and follow me all the way down
back into the earth’s atmosphere
3.2.1…”