Over the Rhine

All I Need Is Everything
words and music: Detweiler and Bergquist
recording: Good Dog Bad Dog

Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
a little lower than the angels.
And it's got nothing to do with me.
The wind blows through the trees,
but if I look for it, it won't come.
I tense up. My mind goes numb.
There's nothing harder than learning how to receive.

Calm down. Be still.
We've got plenty of time to kill.
No hand writing on the wall:
just the voice that's in us all.
And you're whispering to me,
time to get up off my hands and knees,
'cause if I beg for it, it won't come.
I find nothing but table crumbs.
My hands are empty. God I've been naive.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

Slow down. Hold still.
It's not as if it's a matter of will.
Someone's circling. Someone's moving
a little lower than the angels.
This voice calling me to you:
it's just barely coming through.
Still, I clearly hear my name.
I've been fingering the flame
like tomorrow's martyr.
It gets harder to believe.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside, feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

So from now till kingdom come,
taste the words on the tip of my tongue.
'Cause we can't run truth out of town,
only force it underground.
The roots grow deeper
in ways we can't conceive.

All I need is everything.
Inside, outside feel new skin.
All I need is everything.
Feel the slip and the grip of grace again.

these are the (whose are the?)
these are the raw materials
you and me
these are the (whose are the?)
these are the angels' inferiors
who
someone breathed this breath in us
"oh amelia, we've so far to go
oh amelia"

these are the (whose are the?)
these are the ordinary clothes
you and me
around extraordinary flesh and pulsing madness deep and close
who
someone breathed this breath in us
"oh amelia maybe we're not that far
oh amelia is this who we really are
my amelia"

this night is so big
this night has stars falling into my hands
and if i listen real close
i can hear some distant train crossing
(it makes me wonder)

cast your shadow
cast your shadow across my heart
investigate me
i hope i've been yours right from the start
(it makes me wonder)

and can it ever be
i would know
experience
the casualty of your love
all i can ever see
is the need
climb out of here
find the way to some quiet place
where you are

this night is so dark
this night has silence and very little fear
tell me this welcome peace
isn't dancing with the ghost of future tears
(it makes me wonder)

see how the road melts
hear how the flowers fall
feel how the smoke rolls
in front of my eyes

see how the trees bend
hear how the heavens hush
feel how the earth fades
in front of my eyes

I follow you from town to town
I need it
I'm better off when you're around
I mean it

Sooner or later
Things will all come around again
Sooner or later
I won't need anything
Anything at all

I walk these streets alone at night
When it hurts me
A perfect life's an oversight
You curse me

Should've known better
Than this esoteric love
Down to the letter
It don't mean anything
Anything at all

I wrestle with these guilty thoughts
And I'm losing
You're all I am I'm what you're not
Confusing

Sooner or later
Things will all come around for good
Sooner or later
I won't need anything
Anything at all

it's enough for now
besides I feel so awkward
anyway
and there is no doubt
I could sleep for hours
anyway
(i'll never leave you now)

any recourse now
well it's much too late
anyway
and our hate
like toys
should be put away
anyway
(i'll never leave you now)

we can right the end
we can close this chapter
anyway
we can start again
no matter what comes after
anyway
(i'll never leave you now)

You're makin' a mess
Somethin' you can't hide
A slow suicide
Just one bite at a time

birds of a feather and a featherless cap
poor lovers breed songs in a two-room flat
moist hands fold to pray for a painless truth
we dance on the tracks of a train called youth

truth's on the table like a toxic spill
and we wrestle in the sheets with our own freewill
if we never shake hands with a phantom called fame
I'll still have your picture in a picture frame

forty-acre farm we can call our own
with a chocolate lab and no telephone
the full moon's leering in a lover's swoon
and the apple tree's swaying to a windy tune

but we won't get to heaven if we just sit still
if we don't cry murder maybe no one will
we're riding tandem down Sycamore hill
if we hit the brakes we're gonna take a big spill

and if my hand were taken hold of
I'd slip away with you love
slip away with you love

Bluer
Than the blue devils
Bluer than this pale blue angel
Bluer than all of my troubles
Are we gonna leave here strangers

I was born to laugh
I learned to laugh through my tears
I was born to love
I'm gonna learn to love without fear

Put your elbows on the table
I'll listen long as I am able
There's nowhere I'd rather be

Secret fears, the supernatural
Thank God for this new laughter
Thank God the joke's on me

We've seen the landfill rainbow
We've seen the junkyard of love
Baby it's no place for you and me

I was born to laugh
I learned to laugh through my tears
I was born to love
I'm gonna learn to love without fear

Don’t be bothered by the fears.
I’ll try to bottle them like my mother’s perfume.
She wore it only on Sunday,
kept it safe in her room in a chest with a key.
We found it anyway.

Don’t be bothered by the fears.
They’ll only join us like the sky that blushes red tonight.
And makes the wind die down,
calms the troubled sea (more out of duty than pleasure,
but out of pleasure nonetheless.)

Your fire burns me like a favorite song.
A song I should have known all along.
I feel you move like smoke in my eyes.
And that is why.

Don’t be bothered by the fears
that sing from my eyes like carillon ringing only on Sunday
on the roof down our street finally Over the River.
Ring for you, ring for me, finally, forever.
It’s just I never, it’s just I never thought,
I never thought that I could be this free.

I have my father's hand
I have my mother's tongue
I look for redemption in everyone

I wanna wear your ring
I have a song to sing
It ain't over babe
In fact it's just begun

I wanna have our baby
Somedays I think that maybe
This ol' world's too fucked up
For any firstborn son

There is all this untouched beauty
The light the dark both running through me
Is there still redemption for anyone

Jesus come
Turn the world around
Lay my burden down
Turn this world around
Bring the whole thing down
Bring it down

Maybe you can tell my why i'm prone to wander
i'm like a gypsy to the bone
every time i hear the rain amid the thunder
i want to run outside and shed my clothes
but i want to stay with you
long enough to love you right
and i want to say to you
i love the patience in your eyes

here i am standing in a circle of quiet
where a truce is tactily observed
standing in a circle of quiet
waiting for the world to turn
waiting for the world to turn
waiting for the world to turn

and a hundred days and night could find me scattered
all around the world without a name
but you're more than just a feather in my hat
more than just a fetter on my frame
when I look up in the sky at night
i want to go out and chase the stars
but like the catcher in the rye
i want to stay where you are

Conjectures Of A Guilty Bystander
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
recording: Eve

you are a gardener
you cultivate my soul
you water thirsty vines
that snake along my spine
in case I forget to shiver
you are a carpenter
you build the scaffolding
replace the windowpane
I see the sky again
as if I've been delivered

you are a fisherman
my weather lets you know
when and when not to wait
your hook's inside the bait
I'm wary but I swallow
you are a messenger
you bring me all the news
the kind that never lies
it's written in my eyes
you beckon and it follows

you are a singer too
carry me like a tune
I'm like a newborn child
I'm wrapped up for a while
you're swaying like a hobo
you are a circus clown
I've never laughed before
beneath your canopy
oh say a prayer for me
I want this in a photo

so be a photographer
I'm dancing naked now
across the maple floor
above the lion's roar
your pictures will protect me
you must be a scientist by now
with rumpled midnight hair
you've studied every pore
and every follicle
of my bewildered body

yours is a different light
I like my face that way
the canvas of my skin
serene and strange but true

He woke
He knew that he was dying
He spoke
And found that he was flying
Upstairs
High above the city
Through the ceiling of the stars
So cruel and pretty

Arms spread across the dark river
The night air causing him to shiver
Like the fluorescent lights in the Seven Eleven
Meet me in the backstreets of heaven

I don't wanna kiss you goodbye
I don't wanna kiss you goodbye
Hello, hello, hello, how the time flies
I don't wanna kiss you goodbye

He woke
He knew that he was dying
He spoke
And found that he was flying
Upstairs
High above the city
Through the ceiling of the stars
So cruel and pretty

Electric lines and wispy jet contrails
Ships at sea and B&O train rails
A tunnel of light like the Seven Eleven
Meet me in the backstreets of heaven

Daddy Untwisted
words: Detweiler and Bergquist
music: Hordinski and Bergquist
recording: Eve

I don't wanna cut you up
drink you from a paper cup
I don't wanna spit you out
or kick you in the shin
I don't wanna knock you down
be your mother be a clown
I don't wanna talk about
the shit you're really in
I don't wanna take a bow
no one's clapping anyhow
I don't wanna sneak around
and pray you'll understand
I don't wanna call your bluff
enough's enough
I don't wanna see you
chained up

I don't wanna ruffle you
cut the deck and shuffle you
don't wanna come to fisticuffs
or stick you with a pin
I don't wanna argue
hurt your pride or make you blue
your tongue is forked and clearly
there are scales upon your skin
I don't wanna help ice crack
give you a surprise attack
I don't wanna cut you slack
and watch it go to hell
I don't wanna tell you lies
like presbyterians or spies
I don't wanna see you chained up

don't you run away
leave me like a rainy day
I don't wanna make you stay
or stand up high above you
don't want you to see me cry
I'm just trying not to lie
I don't wanna see you chained up

Sometimes I like to stick my fingers
where they don’t belong.
Sometimes I like to fake a fever
and just stay home.

‘Cause we smile in here
we don’t get too close to sadness.
‘Cause what’s holding us
is just about to break.
Ain’t it funny how life can drag behind us
just like so much dead weight.

Sometimes what feels like pretty good music
is just the same old song.
Sometimes we deal with bygone bruises
and find it’s been too long.

But we laugh in here
we don’t get too close to sadness.
We know good enough
is a thousand miles from grace.
Ain’t it funny how life can drag behind us
just like so much dead weight.

And my hometown train
is pulling from the station.
And I know for once
I really will be late.
And I’ll dream that we can leave the past behind us
just like so much dead weight.

And in that motion
I long to drown
And be lost not to be found
You're my water
You're my wine
You're my whiskey
From time to time

Don't speak.
Words come out your eyes.
You're wet with this nightmare.
Like thorns you hold these secrets to your breast,
your slender fingers closing into fists.

Trace your bruise
like a guilty streak.
Hold the pain.
You're a connoisseur.
You think you have no other gift to give,
but we have so much left to live.

We don't need a lot of money.
We'll be sleeping on the beach,
keeping oceans within reach.
(Whatever private oceans we can conjure up for free.)
I will stumble there with you
and you'll be laughing close with me,
trying not to make a scene
etcetera. Whatever. I guess all I really mean

is we're gonna be alright.
Yeah, we're gonna be alright.
You can close your eyes tonight,
'cause we're gonna be alright.

So come on now,
I can almost see
that place
on a distant shore.
And courage is a weapon we must use
to find some life you can't refuse.

is we're gonna be alright.
Yeah, we're gonna be alright.
You can close your eyes tonight,
'cause we're gonna be alright.
All that I can see is your eyes.
Close your eyes.
Close your eyes.

Everyman's Daughter
words: Detweiler and Bergquist
music: Bergquist
recording: Good Dog Bad Dog

Look inside for the elusive goldmine.
Broken glass and a little cheap wine
is all that I can find.
And bundles of contradictions,
my heart full of loose connections,
hands across my eyes.
I cannot disguise I'm everyman's daughter.

It's always the same old question.
Who am I and whose invention?
This armour's full of dust.
There's so much of us in each other.
If I hate you you're my best reminder
of all I wish I was.
I hate you just because I'm everyman's daughter.

Who do you think that I am?
It don't matter long as we can understand.
I am hurting someone.
I am hurting someone just like, just like you.

Insulting the wounds of others,
my sisters, my brothers,
my vision's way too good.
I carry the inward aching.
Like you, I too am naked.
I don't look that good,
but this is flesh and blood. I'm everyman's daughter.

Look at all the blood we've spilt.
I can't deal with all this fundamental guilt.
I am hurting someone.
I am hurting someone just like, just like you.

Eyes Wide Open
words: Detweiler
music: Hordinski and Detweiler
recording: Till We Have Faces

eyes wide open
to the great train robbery of my soul
impending blindness
of the kind that's beyond my control

eyes wide open
to the secret forest beyond those tear-filled trees
heart-rending blindness
won't testify that i'm on my knees

maybe i'm a little young to care
maybe i'm a little old to cry
i don't know
maybe i'm a little weak to dance
maybe i'm a little strong to die
i don't know

concentrating
love and i'm hating myself again
impersonating
the smallest shadow of my original self again

does anybody really want to grasp
my hand and lift me to my feet? does
anybody really want to be the breeze
that frightens off this heat?

Fairpoint Diary
words and music: Linford Detweiler
recording: Films For Radio

i can't see my hands in front of my
face on a night like this
i just look back on my life
and think of all i've missed
i grew up south of here in towns
they tore apart for coal
as if to excavate the darkest
secrets of my soul

so it seems
life is just a troubled sea
that we sail for free
don't let me drown
if the rest of the world's goin' down
you've got to breathe your breath in me

everybody's story is more
interesting than mine
it took me twenty-some-odd-years
to see i'd been born blind

so i just feel my way to you
i try to keep you close
i'm never very good at getting
what I need the most

so it seems
life is just a troubled sea
that we sail for free
don't let me drown
if the rest of the world's goin' down
you've got to breathe your breath in me

the darkest part of every night
is just before the dawn
the sun begins to rise
when we admit that we were wrong

so here i stumble home to you
to find the words to use
it seems the voices in my head
i seldom get to choose

so it seems
life is just a troubled sea
that we sail for free
don't let me drown

Your paint dries, the canvas smiles,
with two eyes you lift yourself up.
Stroke your skin, there are teeth marks to be sure.
Maybe we're best close to the ground.
Maybe angels drag us down.
I wonder which part of this will leave the scar.

Dip your hands in colours
while the young night flutters in on you and
finger paint me pictures of all you see.
No matter what they say, you'll always be
faithfully dangerous, lost and lovely,
so beautiful to me.
I'm not too blind to see.

Red is blood. Black is sky.
White's the dove that longs to fly.
You set it free and it beats its wings in me.
It leaves us at a loss for words.
Is that me now in your arms?
We cradle together and fall down on our knees.

Let the whole world drift downstream.
We'll always be different.
Swim the silent slipstream inside of me.
No matter what they say, you'll always be
faithfully dangerous, lost and lovely,
so beautiful to me.
I'm not too blind to see.

The heart that beats is yours inside me.
Red is love. Black is night.
I'm drunk with angels taking flight.
The heart that beats is yours inside me.
The heart that beats is yours inside me.
The heart that beats is yours.

I'll awake to find your love
falling like leaves to the ground
I'll awake to find your love
falling like leaves
you will look to find me down
upon my knees without a sound
you will look to find me down
upon my knees

then we can fling wide the gates
let go the last of our hate
then we can sigh
like the cool clear wind up high
through the sky above
then we can say we're in love

then we can rest mortal eyes
laugh as we run out of temporal breath
then we can move we can sing
we can tremble like birds
through the sky above
then we can say we're in love

One satellite with a lazy eye
Caught me by surprise
With an ache in my belly
And a taste in my mouth for fire

Mmm firefly in the night sky
Only lights on the rise
After the killing frost
Where do you go
Firefly

Fly Dance
words: Detweiler
music: Hordinski and Detweiler
recording: Till We Have Faces

fly dance
the liberation of love with my two hands
fly dance
the cultivation of love with my two hands
fly dance
the sensation of love with my two hands
fly dance
the revelation of love with my two hands

i can tell you what i have to
i can tell you what i need to
but it won't really stick in your head

i'd really rather liberate
yes i'd really rather free you
i wanna rip you from your spider's web

spider's in your head
creepin' 'round your bed
the spider's lookin' now what does he see

Fool
Fool me
I'm just a sentimental fool
It happened again
When
I remembered you
And all that we've been through
Love
Truly
I know this world it can be so cruel
I won't let you go

Fool
Use me
This is the part that I can't refuse
Just do what you do
My heart's becoming true
It aches to make room for you
Fool pursue me
To heaven above or to hell below
Just don't let go

Gentle Wounds
words: Detweiler and Hordinski
music: Hordinski and Detweiler
recording: Till We Have Faces

entertaining visions of a
lucid nature
emotional precision
it's our best behavior
rattling the streetcars on
forgotten streets
making a connection with
the bittersweet

crawling into your mind
for some radiant reunion
tapping out the messages
that signify your
folded wings
the ground around receding
feel love's stinging sword
cut deep and catch
the joy that's bleeding out of
gentle wounds

feel the pang of hunger
feel the new life awaken
restoring everything
that once was taken...

symbolizing agony that
made the women weep
feel love's stinging sword
slice deep and catch
the joy that's bleeding out of
gentle wounds

bruised and beaten torn apart
the price that's paid for love divine
can't spare your life don't spare
your heart
just feel the joy...

Give Me Strength
words and music: Dido Armstrong, Pascal Gabriel, Paul Statham
recording: Films For Radio

sitting in the rain alone
looking at a place that's gone
boarded up my memories
but something's drawn me here again and i
i cannot leave the past alone
hoped that i would never find
all the shit i left behind
now i find the child in me is going to remind me that i
i can't forget my past for long

so take a look outside yourself
and tell me what you see
i can't believe
that you won't see the change in me

give me strength to find the road that's lost in me
give me time to heal and build myself a dream
give me eyes to see the world surrounding me
give me strength to be only me

i don't want to hear the things
you say you know all you've redeemed
'cause i can't change what's come before
build myself some better dreams
and cast off the fear that holds me here

so take a look outside yourself
and tell me what you see
i can't believe
that you won't see the change in me

give me strength to find the road that's lost in me
give me time to heal and build myself a dream
give me eyes to see the world surrounding me
give me strength to be only me

Go Down Easy
words and music: Bergquist and Detweiler
recording: Good Dog Bad Dog

Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
Take all the time you need.
We've no place else to go.

Gonna put on my favorite dress.
Put my hair up too.
Take me North, South, East or West.
I guess I'll leave it up to you.

You threw a noose around my shadow.
Got me into all this mess.
I would have dove in head first anyway
for less, for a whole lot less.

Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
Take all the time you need.
We've no place else to go.

Say farewell to the confines of my own back yard.
Weeds growin' 'round the flowers.
Sometimes the only way to break the curse
is to leave it all behind.

Find the slow curve of a back road,
one hand on the wheel.
Drive till I remember how it feels.
So this is how it feels. Oh.

Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
If there's anything better than this
I'd like to know.

Goodbye (This Is Not Goodbye)
words and music: Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist
recording: Films For Radio

help me tell the truth you see
that's all i'm trying to do is
tell the truth
i'm not that shy
this is not goodbye
and later on i won't know how
i don't know who else to be
more and more i'm secretly just me
open your eyes

help me tell the truth you see
that's all i'm trying to do is
tell the truth
it's just in my head
all i've left unsaid
and later on it won't come out

Will a man called Jesus ever take me in his arms?
Will a man called Jesus ever take me in his arms?
I lack grace and I lack charm.
This is cause for no alarm,
if a man called Jesus ever takes me in his arms.

Will a man called Jesus ever touch me on my face?
Will a man called Jesus ever touch me on my face?
The tears I cried would be erased.
This to me would be amazing grace,
if a man called Jesus ever touched me on my face.

Waiting, waiting, waiting,
I'm still waiting.
If a man called Jesus ever touched me on my face.

Will a man called Jesus ever look me in the eyes?
Will a man called Jesus ever look me in the eyes?
Burn away my alibis,
separate the truth from your vicious lies,
if a man called Jesus ever looked me in the eyes.

Waiting, waiting, waiting,
I'm still waiting.
if a man called Jesus ever looks me in the eyes.
Mercy, mercy, mercy,
I'll cry mercy
if a man called Jesus ever looks me in the eyes.

Green-Clouded Swallowtail
words and music: Detweiler
recording: The Cutting Room Floor

We wake each morning in a foreign country
We walk the outer edges of our room
I think of you in terms of buried treasure
A jilted bride emerging from a tomb

Oh your shadow is still breathing
The close and holy darkness will unveil
Mother she's not dead she's only sleeping
Green green-clouded swallowtail

I've learned to love the feel of this barbed wire
The skin that separates your heart from mine
It tears the fabric of my ordinary
And rips the cloudy curtain of my sky

Oh your shadow is still breathing
The close and holy darkness will unveil
Mother she's not dead she's only sleeping
Green green-clouded swallowtail

So sing the hallelujah chorus of the drunkard
You're the woman blowing kisses to the jail
And dreaming of a different kind of freedom
The breath of God upon your tattered sail

Oh your shadow is still breathing
All this darkness it will not prevail
Mother she's not dead she's only sleeping
Green green-clouded swallowtail

This is as close as you and I ever get to the ocean
my third story bedroom window
overlooking this rain-drenched night
you breathe, and I recall the power of trains

you know
I can't even begin to see your eyes
but if I'm ever really drunk
it will be from drinking every drop of your soul
and running till I sweat your spirit

Anything I say will be held against me,
so I won't say much or I'll spill it all.
By the light of day it's an elusive feeling,
but every single night that's immaterial.

I know a love that will not let me go.
My heart is bound and happy to be so.
It's so happy to be so,
happy to be so,
happy, happy, happy to be so.

If I try to pray, it's like a game of red rover.
I take a real good run at it, but I can't break through.
Don't matter anyway. I'm so redhanded.
The game is over. I'll just tell the truth.

I know a love that will not let me go.
My heart is bound and gagged and on death row.
It's so happy to be so,
happy to be so,
happy, happy, happy to be so. Ooh.

Happy With Myself?
words: Bergquist and Detweiler
music: Bergquist
recording: Eve

I'm happy with myself
I'm happy with myself
and I don't have what it takes to please you

I've been trying to write you a letter
I've been trying for two or three years
maybe I could just say it better
practice some in front of a mirror here oh

I've been trying to build you a heaven
crowns of thorns in Mason Jars
angels that dance on pins and needles
maybe I've tried a little too hard oh

Hej, Hej, Hej, Hej, Hej...
Hej, you wanna sit right here?
Here beside me?
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna say my name?
Say it slowly.
Do you like that? I do.

Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won’t be your last chance.

Hej, you wanna smile at me?
I’ll adore you.
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna read my poetry by the sea boy?
Do you BABY? I do. I do.

Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won’t be your last chance.

Hej, you wanna hear a secret?
C’mere I’ll whisper.
Do you like that? I do.
Hej, you wanna hear it again?
Maybe one day we’ll be sayin’ I DO.

Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna dance here in the sand?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you wanna hold my hand today?
Hej, Hej, Hej, you know it won’t be your last dance.

Hey love
What do you say
We get outta here today
You ain't found your footing yet
But someday you're going to fly
My hometown boy

Cars up on blocks
The neighborhood's gone to hell
You wonder if the whole world's breakin' down
But you feel somethin'
You feel the need to run
But you don't know why
My hometown boy

No love
No sloe gin backporch nights for you
We've got work to do
White trash blowin' down the street
Just pipe dreams on paper
But starting tomorrow
We've gotta try
Me and my hometown boy

How Does It Feel (To Be On My Mind)
words: Deweiler
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
recording: Patience

Now if I could disclose secrets heaven only knows
if i'd lose all my ground and see your smile decompose
so I rest on the fact that I love you I suppose
and I hang like the colors on a blind man's clothes

i'm the pale moon rising i'm the ghost in flight
that steals through the spaces of your inward night
i'm the moth that's resting on your window sill
with a lust for light and an iron will

pray tell talk to me can you feel me in the fingers
of the wind in your hair as if i'm standing there
very well like a child running to some mademoiselle
in his hand to his ear is pressed a great seashell

i'm the moon-eyed fish swimming up to you
you're the tall Titanic but you'll be subdued
there's someone mapping out a rendezvous
it seems to me.

you're in my shadow here in my room
love's such a strange word here in my room
i'm standing barefoot here in my room
sad as a gypsy here in my room

How Long Have You Been Stoned
words and music: Bergquist/Detweiler
recording: OHIO

What's it like to be the only somebody in the room
Tell us all what does it cost you to be you
Takin' out Daddy's trash now ain't it a drag
Trippin' on Papa's brand new body bag

Places
Everybody places
Embrace it
It's the way it has to be
Wasted
Is everybody wasted
Complacent
Is anybody free

Hush Now (Stellas's Tarantella)
(Bergquist/Detweiler)
recording: Drunkard's Prayer

Hush now my sweet little noisy boy
There is trouble enough in the world
Pick up your feet little lazy boy
Come dance with your little girl

Spin me 'round this kitchen floor
Like a carnaval
Troubadour
I know we're only two-bit clowns
In a one-ring circus

But make me a little bit dizzy boy
Swing me on your trapeze
When I'm in the arms of my dreamy boy
It still makes me weak in the knees

Right here on this record player
Is our scratchy song
We're alone
Slide trombones like an orchestra
Full of fortune tellers

Come now my sweet little breathing boy
I'm listening hard to your heart
It's as strong as a lion's boy
Let's leave here and make a new start

I remember once you said
Lying in this bed
The past is dead
Everyday is a one-act play
Without an ending

I Let It Go
words and music: Bergquist/Detweiler
recording: The Cutting Room Floor

I wanted to sing you a song
This gift I was given has all come out wrong
I wanted to give you so much
I came all this way just to hand you a (broken) crutch

I let it go
This life I know
Seeds that we sow
May come to dust

I let it go
One thing I know
What's real will grow
Inside of us

I wanted to lay by your side
Take this small world and open it wide
I wanted to write it all down
Your skin was the paper your pages unbound

Lonely is just how I feel
Alone in the world and the world's a wheel
Spinning these thoughts in my head
I tangle with you and we hang by a thread

There may come a day when this dream dies
Fair enough fair enough
Until then we lay down our own lives
Fair enough fair enough

I Painted My Name
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
recording: Patience

I painted my name on a bridge today
in black and white and red and grey
you know it's really not far away
from the banks of the river
where the president used to play

i put it high above the rocks below
it's sheltered from the wind and rain and snow
you know the bridge where we used to go
our childish trolls and freaks and giant demons

sunday i hope you might come by
on a big white boat with the sails up high
sunday i hope that you'll be true
to all it is i see in you

yet strange enough i'm still in love with you
and so it seems there's work to do
i've got my bow and arrow and barlow blade
come dawn i want to ride in your brigade

sunday i hope you might come by
on a big white horse in the big white sky
sunday I know we'll reconcile
down by the river we'll dream awhile
down by the river we'll sing awhile
down by the river we'll play awhile
down by the river we'll cry awhile
down by the river we'll dance awhile
down by the river just you and i

I Radio Heaven
words and music: Linford Detweiler
recording: Films For Radio

i radio heaven
i get mixed signals
i move the antenna
i switch the channels
i lie in this bed
my satellite dish
is there room in the universe
for one last wish
(i say)

i guess i never told you
'bout this life i'm livin'
it's heaven versus hell
in a split decision
this secret religion is
the best that i've found
i radio heaven
when no one's around
(i say)
do you need me
over
you wanna come
over

this song is grinning
go on and undress it
it's just the beginning
go on and possess it
you're no longer a child now
don't let them molest it
the wound is deep
i'm just trying to confess it

the truth is i bleed you
when these frequencies cut me
i'm a slut with a mission
a singular vision
i radio heaven
i get mixed signals
i move the antenna
i switch the channels

i radio heaven
i get mixed signals
i move the antenna
i switch the channels
i lie in this bed
my satellite dish
is there room in the universe
for one last wish

I want you to be my love
I want you to be my love
'Neath the moon and the stars above
I want you to be my love

I want you to know me now
I want you to know me now
Break a promise make a vow
I know you want me now

I want you to be my love
I want you to be my love
'Neath the moon and the stars above
I want you to be my love

I Will Remember
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler and Bergquist
recording: Amateur Shortwave Radio

I will remember
every dream about you
I will remember
I could not doubt you
All my first impressions
of my new possession
I will remember
I will remember

Every shadow
every shiver
every breath of borrowed air
somehow
I feel now
Every whisper
taken prisoner
every brush of cloud
and furrowed brow
I feel
This last day darling
Here with me (darling)
All the rest is history

I will remember
every sliver of you
I will remember
every door we slip through
every curving hour
every dying ember
I will remember
there is no other

Every color of our sorrow
every fallen angel's graceful bow
I feel now
Every broken word unspoken
Every crooked line of this sad town
I feel
This last day darling
Here with me (darling)
All the rest is history

Every kiss and curse
every burning thirst
every fix and flush of fire
I feel right now
Every sound we make
is a new prayer prayed
disappearing disappearing
I hold on now
Every shade of white
in the thieving night
that we steal to grow inspired
I know right now
This last day darling
Here with me (darling)
All the rest is history

But I will remember
every dream about you
I will remember
I could not doubt you
I will remember
No other lover
there is no other

Till we lay these weapons at your feet, Lord
How long, how long
Till we call all hatred obsolete, Lord
How long, how long
Till we walk like lovers thru Bethlehem
How long, how long
Till the lion lies down with the lamb, Lord
How long, how long

Too late
I know it's not too late
To wrestle with this angel
Higher and higher
Don't let go
Higher and higher
Before we know
How does it end
How does it end
We're all riding on the last train
Trying to find our way home again

Till we wash the blood from the hands of our fathers
How long
We're all sisters and brothers, sons and daughters
How long, how long
Our eyes all shine in different colors we cry, Lord
How long
Our dreams our tears are all the same by and by, Lord
How long, how long

Too late
I know it's not too late
To climb up Jacob's ladder
Higher and higher
Don't let go
Higher and higher
Before we know
How does it end
How does it end
We're all riding on the last train
Trying to find our way home again

If I'm Drowning
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
recordings: Besides, Till We Have Faces

if i'm drowning within your open sea
save me, save me
if i'm lost within your strange anatomy
talk to me, talk to me
if i'm on fire and i'm melting in the heat
touch me, touch me
if i'm tangled in your raw philosophy
then you better walk with me
walk with me

i'm just walking across your heart
in spite of the weather
(won't you walk with me?)

if i'm dancing through your passages and fall
catch me, catch me
if i'm screaming in your sky and tell you all
hear me, hear me
if i'm feigning coherence and calmness
laugh with me, laugh with me
if i tremble at your close proximity
then you better believe me
believe me

i can see you now
i can hear you now
i can feel you now
i can taste you now
in spite of the weather
yeah

If Nothing Else
words and music: Linford Detweiler
recording: Films For Radio

i'm so tired in the mornings
i try to go back
i try to remember
the light appearing
without warning
tying up my hands
like i'm good for nothing

if nothing else i can dream
i can dream
i'll never tell never tell
all i've seen
right in front of me
like the ghost of every thing that i could be

for the night sky is an ocean
black distant sea
washing up to my window
all the stray dog night owl junkies
orphans vagabonds
angels who lost their halos

if nothing else i can dream
i can dream
i'll never tell never tell
all i've seen
right in front of me,
like the ghost of every thing that i could be
in the cool and callous grip of reality

words in my head
like misfits after midnight
begging for a light
words left unsaid
they may never see the light of day
and that may be okay
if nothing else i can dream

and if my fortune
weren't only lint and small change
wishing in one hand
bird in another
see which one will take me farthest from here

here is my hopelessness
though i'm not helpless
i need a window
that i can climb through

just one small opening
a little lantern to light my way
discovering my hands
catch at the altar
i fall on my face as the words hit my ear

and your face
I do know well
every breath breathes
farewell
it's so still
no soul could tell
but one day
like this
the angels fell

and it bleeds
this setting sun
and my arms ache
from holding on
let it go
this dying light
makes it hard to tell
wrong from right

all the shadows of our doubts
and the light that burns too bright
soon burns out

and your face
you do know well
that the race is lost
hold still
'cause the first
shall be the last
those that burn with thirst
will lift their glass

Her hair
her face
her figure in your window
her hands unlace your innermost
as you retrace your steps of her familiar
her ghost appears with raven eyes

to dance
to spin
to spill into your memory
to glare
to grin
to chill you now
but through the din of silence all around you
she stirs within she still knows how

they laid her in the ground
she still comes around
a love that never dies takes you by surprise

hello
hello
now she's the voice inside you
hello again so soft and low
do you suppose your disbelief could blind you
she's still alive for all you know

heaven couldn't hold her
she'll be by your side when it's your turn
all she's seen without you
to you she'll confide when it's your turn.

Help me. Spread my table.
I've been tryin' but I'm just not able.
There's so much left inside,
so very much I've been tryin' to hide.
Life gets pretty heavy and I wish it was light,
but after all I love the night.
and there's that word again.
I still hear it every now and again.

I breathe you 'cause you help me forget
everything I don't know about love yet.
I need you 'cause you help me forget,
yeah, you help me forget.
I drink you 'cause you help me to see
it's mostly myself that's killin' me.
I think I have to, to help me forget
everything I don't know about love yet.

Someone said these were the best days,
best days of our life.
I suppose there could be worse ways,
worse ways to learn to cry.
And if these should be the last days,
the last days for you and I,
I suppose this is the best way,
best way to say goodbye.

It snows in here. It snows forever,
but there's no Christmas underneath this weather.
When it blows here and gets real cold,
I wanna trip myself and fall upon your fabulous sword
and move here by the stained-glass window.
Forget about the inside ghetto.
Down here on the hardwood floor,
the lines on the ceiling start to swim once more
like a cheap Renoir, a fake Van Gogh,
a pop Monet, a blue Degas.
I breathe you. I need you. Ah.

Jesus In New Orleans
words: Bergquist and Detweiler
music: Bergquist
recording: OHIO

The last time I saw Jesus
I was drinking bloody mary's in the South
In a barroom in New Orleans
Rinsin' out the bad taste in my mouth

She wore a dark and faded blazer
With a little of the lining hanging out
When the jukebox played Miss Dorothy Moore
I knew that it was him without a doubt

I said the road is my redeemer
I never know just what on earth I'll find
In the faces of a stranger
In the dark and weary corners of a mind

She said, The last highway is only
As far away as you are from yourself
And no matter just how bad it gets
It does no good to blame somebody else

Ain't it crazy
What's revealed when you're not looking all that close
Ain't it crazy
How we put to death the ones we need the most

I know I'm not a martyr
I've never died for anyone but me
The last frontier is only
The stranger in the mirror that I see

But when I least expect it
Here and there I see my savior's face
He's still my favorite loser
Falling for the entire human race

June the clouds in your eyes remind me of the way I feel
June the river will rise on all the secrets I conceal
June I'm following you somehow I've fallen far behind
June lately I feel I'd rather not believe love's blind

crazy it used to be so clear
what's hazy used to be so clear
am I lazy should I swallow all this fear
crazy it used to be so

June I'm feeling so good I'd love to die here just like this
June I'm feeling so strange screams are tangled up with bliss
June when I'm afraid I find a thousand ways to laugh
June when I'm alone I forget you anyway I can

June help me help me I'm running out of things to say
June tell me tell me will he love me anyway
God look over there there's pigeons nesting on your saints
God all I can say is forgive us rather forgive me

Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair,
discarded all your beauty in despair,
declared yourself a concubine,
filled the bathtub full of wine,
bathed and drank the night away,
and said there’d never come a day
when politics would ever mean a thing.
Last night I dreamt you came and crowned me king.

Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair
and laid it at the bottom of my stair
and waited by the garden gate
for one more rendezvous with fate,
kept a pistol in your dress
(the iron loved your sweet caress
as trigger-finger twitched at your command.)
Last night I dreamt we fell upon the sand.

Last night I dreamt you cut off all your hair
and sold your stockings at the county fair
and how the clowns did dance and sway
(the sheep and goats all had their say)
and there I’m sitting at the side
of the one who loved to ride
the ferris wheel in nothing but bare skin.
Last night I dreamt you knocked. I let you in.

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin' like sleepin' on a bed of nails. Nothin' much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin' is ever quite what it seems.
And I'm dyin' inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

But tell them it's real. Tell them it's really real.
I just don't have much left to say.
They've taken their toll these latter days.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

The moon blind-sided the sky again
As we grabbed loose ends of the tide and then
The slippery slide
You know I can't say when
I ever took a ride that could slap me this silly
With roiling joy
Lazy as sin
Lyin' up in heaven with my special friend
And the space he's in
It can make a girl grin
In the beginning of a lifelong fling

I wrote down a dream
Folded the note
Slipped it in the pocket of my tattered coat

I wrote down a dream
What more could I do
I drew myself a picture and the picture was you

I wrote myself a riddle
I said, What I wouldn't do
To give something good
To a love like you

Sailed 'round the world
We were hoping to find
More than the sum of all we left behind

I wrote down a dream
But what was it now
And why does it feel so distant somehow

Did I take too long
Did I get it wrong
You're still the missing line in my favorite song

bleeding and bruised
like a vagabond in rags i've walked the streets to you door
to find just what's in store

i see you
you and many others in your clean well-lighted place
where i would find disgrace

but i do
know i'd find contentment just to be your furniture
i need nothing more

in the thick of the night take me out of the cold
let me sing inside
like a radio
in the thick of the night before we grow too old
let me sing inside
like a radio

shivering and cold this night's conducive to a
flight into my soul but i stand here
though my heart grows bold
once on the inside i can quietly persist
and hold my tears

believe me when i say
i'd climb to heaven
crawl beneath the lowest hell
to stay near you

Little Blue River/In The Garden
words and music: Karin Bergquist/
In The Garden: C. Austin Miles
recording: Films For Radio

roll me over the little blue river
church child
roll me over the little blue river
now church child

silence and dumb tongues
it's a different kind of ghetto
carry the weight
(it's heavy)
of a disreputed fellow

roll me over the little blue river
church child
roll me over the little blue river
now church child

every step that you've been taking
is straying a little further south
as for me I am so tired of living (babe)
so hand-to-mouth

roll me over the little blue river
church child
roll me over the little blue river
now church child

hey you wanna steady that cue card
make it a billboard today
everybody's saying they want their money back
ah well baby just roll me away

out of the mouth of them babies
how they can talk
best be saving your pennies
put 'em back for a very long walk
roll me over the little blue river
now church child
roll me

Little did I know
That I almost let you go
Until I caught a glimpse of life
without you

Little did I know
How deep these roots had grown
Until I felt the earth quake here
without you

And this ache is gonna break me love
Until you come back home
Right or wrong
There is no home without you

And these eyes are never gonna dry
I never knew how I could cry
Until I thought I'd really lost you

Little did I know that I almost let you go
Until I caught a glimpse of life
without you

I thought that we'd be
Further along by now
I can't remember how
We stumbled to this place

I loved you like a long lost brother
On a bad day maybe I thought why bother
I've seldom seen so much anger
In a face

I don't mean to laugh outloud
I'm trying to come clean
Trying to shed my doubt
Maybe I should just keep
My big mouth shut

More often than not
When it comes to you
You want whatever's not in front of you
Deep down I know this includes me too

So tell me your troubles
Let your pain rain down
I know my job I've been around
I invest in the mess
I'm a low cost dumping ground

Trouble is I'm so exhausted
The plot, you see, I think I've lost it
I need the grace to find what can't be found

Walking out in the freezing rain
I feel nothing 'cause I numbed the pain
I'm lookin' forward to lookin' back
On this day

Prayed last night
Dear God please no
But I was never good at letting go
I'm lookin' forward to lookin' back
On this day

Good news can be so unkind
When it's everything you have to
leave behind
I'm lookin' forward to lookin' back
On this day

Oh Lucy, it’s not as bad as you think.
Oh Lucy, love’s a fact that can make a girl drink.
And you say that it’s over.
You say it’s the end of Lucy, Lucy, Lucy.

Oh Lucy, there’s a cold look in your eye.
Oh Lucy, I believe this is the way most dreamers die.
And Lucy’s starting over.
Lucy’s at the edge of Lucy, Lucy, Lucy...

God have mercy,
the house stands empty with the garden.
God have mercy,
your young girl’s heart will learn to harden.

Lucy, you can’t pray a lie,
no matter how hard you try.
Lucy, you can’t pray a lie.
You’re a bloody-minded girl and that’s alright.
You’re gonna be just fine.

The night has a thousand eyes and ears
the rain tends to wash away my fears
it's not been long but it seems like years
and now you're here

There was a blind girl with braids and a black dress
Lived next to me I could tell you the address
I saw her climb out her window one midnight
In to the oak tree scared sacred with moonlight
See Mary dance with the light on her shoulders
She has a secret, like a lover discovers her
Guardian angel with limbs white as lambs wool
Expensive perfume on her feet

Blind Mary taught me how eyes can make pictures
I showed her mine and then she showed me all hers
You have to close them she whispered a warning
Be sure to open them before it's morning

See how we dance with the light on our shoulders
We have a secret like lovers discovering
Guardian angels with limbs white as lambs wool
Expensive perfume on our feet

Mary fell ill on a night in December
And how they tried then to cool down her fever
But she lay so still like a child in a manger
While I closed my eyes tight and prayed for a savior

Let Mary dance with the light on her shoulders
Tell her a secret and let her discover her
Guardian angel with limbs white as lambs wool
Expensive perfume on his feet

Melancholy Room
words: Detweiler, Hordinski and Bergquist
music: Hordinski, Bergquist and Detweiler
recording: Eve

someone's moving ‘round inside of me
someone's setting up shop where I can't see
but I'm fine
but I'm fine
in this melancholy room

someone opened up my mouth to speak
someone pulled the words back into me
but I'm fine (lie)
but I'm fine (lie)
in this melancholy room

scream like a silent movie
call off the curious fingers
feeling my heart
spring on an Arctic island
pushing against my ribcage
takes me apart
smiles on my Friday face
call it amazing grace
are you leaving so soon
I'm mad as a March hare in June
in this melancholy room

oh you can you
can you see how I've fallen
in the fog
cannot see very far
cannot see the fallen
in the fog
can you see what I see
can you see
do you wanna
you fallen
can I call you God or messiah
you know you must...
your body down

I wanna be real,
something you can sink your teeth into.
I want you to feel,
all it is that I feel for you.
I’m firelight for your seeing hands.
Rich perfume for your tastebuds.

Your eyes are always
dark and deep,
but we have promises to keep
and miles to go before we sleep.

Are you drunk,
with the wine of God?
Did your ship wreck
as the tempest tossed you?

You can write your name on the water,
it’ll drift on out to sea.
You can treat me like a daughter,
you can write your name on me.

We touched a funeral, drank a parade.
We stole a wedding, melted and prayed.
It always hovers just around the bend.
We’re never quite there, but then again.
Once a stranger now more than a friend-
it all makes me pretty tired.
I suppose that you’re still wired.

Your heart’s on mine
beating double time,
but we have promises to keep
|and miles to go before we sleep.

same old question
without words
so familiar
seldom heard
if I answer
I confess
I am only
just a guess
and with my eyes
it's hard to see
with my ears it's
hard to believe that
if I ever lose my will to live
it was me that I could not forgive

there's no savior hanging on this cross
it isn't suffering we fear but loss
this is closer than I ever came
just a burning moth without a flame

isaac's knife can
cut away
all the poisoned
yesterdays
and the anger
ease it down
into the ocean
let it drown
as far as east is
from the west
I let you go
I know it's best
and my answer to the years of strife
is the way I choose to live my life

there's no savior hanging on this cross
it isn't suffering you fear but loss
when there's no one else around to blame
you're a burning moth without a flame

maybe I should take your face tonight
let you see yourself in a different light
if you were to take my place tonight
wouldn't jesus be surprised

there's no savior hanging on this cross
it isn't suffering we fear but loss
this is closer than I ever came
just a burning moth without a flame
it's an offer that you can't refuse
it's a trophy that you'll want to lose
but you'll do anything
anything
you're a burning moth without a flame

Murder
words: Detweiler and Bergquist
music: Detweiler, Bergquist and Hordinski
recording: Besides

Murder’s just a word
for lack of something else to say.
Murder’s just a game
for lack of something else to play.

Put your finger,
put your fingers on it.
Something’s got me,
something’s got my heart by the throat.

Blood is just a shade
on the palette of your blushing body.
Blood is not afraid
of all of this internal bleeding.

Put your finger,
put your fingers on it.
Something’s got me,
something’s got my heart by the throat.

Love is just a flame
burning us with indiscretion.
Love, is not to blame
if murder is a man’s invention.
Love is not a man’s invention.

Inhale, exhale, dovetail, set sail,
nightingale, blackmail, go to jail, make bail,
prevail, unveil every detail,
read my braille, put your fingers on it.

my love is a fever
my love is a fable
my love is jazz licks
improvised by toddlers
bold Ulysses by nursery rhyme
and firelight

my love is a metamorphosis
reason cold logic
intuitively speaking
my love is syncopated
spoon-fed ignorant
well-read

my love is singular
my love is commonplace
as a gravedigger's own birthplace
my love is a medicine
feeds the sick heals the poor
turns up the volume on the blind

my word it's a trip
like a migraine
on a moving train
it parachutes aeroplanes
watch it fly

eyes soar hands clap
ears ring it's a sand trap
hair raising amazing
grey city transformations
as lips sink stomachs ache
monkeys shine fire flies
foxes trot hobs knob
porches swing brains storm
hearts attack and air supplies
heads light tails spin
steeples chase you along your chin
rock slides

out of the woods now
a virgin in buckskin
moccasins tall thin
she plays your mandolin
so maudlin you begin to spin
out of the woods now

Nobody Number One
words: Detweiler
music: Bergquist/Detweiler
recording: OHIO

I'm afraid I've lost the piece of me
I need the most you see
This puzzle is really just about the need
To be somebody
I'm afraid I'm not all that you see
All along the coast of me
I'm camouflaged, a desert mirage
A nobody

But you came so close and I assumed
You were looking
For the piece of yourself that's lost
It is the hiding place inside everybody
And though we love to numb the pain
We come to learn that it's in vain
Pain is our mother
She makes us recognize each other

C'mon now child don't cry
C'mon now child don't cry
Let's give it one more try
C'mon now child don't cry

Sometimes I feel so all alone
Here in this city I call my home
They say, Hey, you're one of us
Funny, I should feel so anonymous
But I'm drawn to you
And that still small voice is talking too
And that's the voice that so seldom can get through

You can't put no bandaid on this cancer
Like a twenty-dollar bill
For a topless dancer
You need questions
Forget about the answers
Do you really wanna die this way

That's the trouble with you and me
We always hit the bottom 'fore we get set free
I'm so far down
I'm beginning to breathe

C'mon now child don't cry
C'mon now child don't cry
Let's give it one more try
C'mon now child don't cry
Cuz we're just too young to die

Hello Ohio
The back roads
I know Ohio
Like the back of my hand
Alone Ohio
Where the river bends
And it's strange to see your story end

In my life I"ve seen a thousand dreams
Through the threshers all torn to pieces
And the land lay bare
Someone turned a profit there
And a good son lost his life in a strip pit

When the sun went down we would all leave town
And light our fires in Egypt Bottom
And the reservoir was just as good for Joni
'Cause we knew we would
Dream outloud in the night air

Holly said, Don't go inside the children's home
Mary said, Don't leave your man alone
Valerie was singin' to the radio
Ohio

It was summertime in '83
We were burnin' out at the rubber tree
Wonderin' what in the world
Would make all this worthwhile
And if I knew then I was older then
Would I see regret to the last mile

Hello Ohio
The back roads
I know Ohio
Like the back of my hand
Alone Ohio
Where the river bends
And it's strange to see your story end
How I hate to see your story end
It's so sad to see your story end

spill-tainted pages of poetic prophecy
tickle my interest and taunt at my fantasy
gentle new lover, favorite friend
with hidden desire that bothers my conscience
again

like paul and virginia!
sit close to me on the swing
like paul and virginia!
sit close to me and i'll sing
(whisper my name, kiss me again)
i'll sing for you
with you
oh, you

cobalt blue vessels, clean same sex rabbits
old movie romance and a healthy new habit

moving in passion, resting in reason
with a strong tender poet who touches each region
within

palms full of mystery, fingers of magic
greetings so glorious, partings so tragic

I thought I'd go up Poughkeepsie,
look out o'er the Hudson,
and I'd throw my body down on the river.
And I'd know no more sorrow,
I'd fly like the sparrow
and I'd ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

I'd ride on the backs of the angels tonight.
I'd take to the sky with all my might.
No more drowning in my sorrow,
no more drowning in my fright,
I'd just ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

There are those who know sorrow
and those who must borrow
and those whose lot in life is sweet.
Well I'm drunk on self-pity,
scorned all that's been given me,
I would drink from a bottle labeled Sure Defeat.

I'd ride on the backs of the angels tonight.
I'd take to the sky with all my might.
No more drowning in my sorrow,
no more drowning in my fright,
I'd just ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

Then the skies, they fell open
and my eyes were opened
to a world of hope falling at my feet.
Now I've no more or less
than anyone else has,
what I have is a gift of life I can't repeat.

So I go up Poughkeepsie,
look out o'er the Hudson
and I cast my worries to the sky.
Now I still know sorrow,
but I can fly like the sparrow
'cause I ride on the backs of the angels tonight.

I ride on the backs of the angels tonight.
I take to the sky with all their might.
No more drowning in my sorrow,
no more drowning in my fright,
I'll just ride on the backs of the angels each night.

Professional Daydreamer
words: Bergquist/Detweiler
music: Bergquist
recording: OHIO

Part of me
You are a part of me
I never want to lose
Hard for me
This is too hard
Maybe I can't get through
What will I miss the most
Pray that I'm haunted by your ghost

Listening
You're always listening
I don't know what to say
Why don't you turn and run at break-neck speed
Just to get away
And when you catch your breath
Pray I said every word I meant

Broken down
We're all so broken down
Bandages on our wings
I know I don't have to tell you
Only broken hearts can sing
I'm hoping for a sign
Pray that I'm anything but fine

I don't know where this is going
I'm taking a ride on a wing and a prayer
Follow me there
We'll both be surprised
If we forget anything
Hopefully nobody will remind us

Can't bear the news in the evening
We're going to bed and we're going to war
All of this for
Anyone's guess
If we forget anything
Heaven forbid someone would remind us

Sinners and saints, priests and kings
Are we just using God for our own gain
What's in a name
Open your eyes
If we forget everything
There will be no one left to remind us

I don't know where this is going
I'm taking a ride on a wing and a prayer
Follow me there
We'll both be surprised

and if you should ever leave
then I would love you for what you need
I could still tell you

Sea and Sky
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
recording: Till We Have Faces

i feel like a castaway but i'm not afraid
you and me and a coupla dusty volumes
i wanna be your messiah but there's no way
i feel the tide roll in around us

you be the sea and i'll be the sky
i want you with me now don't wonder why
you be the sea and i'll be the sky
endeavor with me now don't wonder why

this love's like a labyrinth but i'm not afraid
you and me and a strong sense of forever
like the old Swiss Family Robinson
let's drift away
if we go down at least we'll drown together
(i can't forget you)

it's a little like this, it's a little like being afraid
it's a little like yesterday, though i don't mean
to invade Clouds rolled in front of your
face your tears became the rain i heard
wonderful thunder as you murmured as
you murmured my name
(take me far away, teach my soul to feel
that way You take me far away
it's wonderful, wonderful)

What she would like to do
Is get you out of her head
She's tried every trick
She's so sick of thinking about it

What's so special about you
You're an ache she's learned to crave
You're a blade too dull to raise

What she would love to do
Is get you out of her bed
She's played it over and over and over
In her head

What she ought to do
Is put a gun to your head
For all the things you said and did

But what she will not do
Is let you go before you're gone
It's everything that's ever been wrong
But it's all she's ever known

should I never dance
like Salome danced
bathing in rain
and moonlight and flame
should I never sweat
surreal shadows
rushing through my veins
good red blood run red

should I never speak
the wisdom of hands
should I never use
the fingers that find
should I never read
the words on my feet
leading me to you
the blind lead the blind

should I never feel
the healing you bring
take a look at me
I'm breathing, I'm breathing
should I trace a line
from lips to heartbeat
shoulder and across
to shoulder again

I've lost the words
It ain't my way
Takes some a breath
What takes me twenty-five years to say
Baby you're my favorite rolling stone
Elvis left the building
I have never been so alone

Come on and show me how it feels
Come on and show me how it feels
Can we make it last can we make it real
Come on and show me how it feels

It's only me in this flimsy dress
I could spread this love from the east to the west
The bed is made the world's a mess
Maybe we've got it backwards
Maybe we should just care less

I close my eyes I see your face
Every inch of your skin I begin to retrace
Let me be the voice inside your head
Listen to me whisper
We can sleep when we're dead

You say he feels it
his face reveals it
my sweet trepidation
an eagerness of my own
a shiver ships through my bones
can you see cobblestone roads
running through his stare.

he's so clandestine
he's such a vision
so tell me sister
he sits here in this small dive
there's something behind those eyes
did you perceive the wilderness
resting there... so did i

laughing he stalls me
crazy he calls me
he thinks me artless
for not stocking berry wines
from certain australian vines
have mercy sister
he's travelled 'round the world

he's like a shadow
there by the window
but no man's an island
no man's an artesian well
he loves the cathedral bell
it sings about him
when he goes home at night... so do i

Sleep Baby Jane
words: Detweiler and Bergquist
music: Detweiler, Bergquist and Hordinski
recording: Eve

suicide suicide
Katie's talking suicide
homicide homicide
mama killed my man
turpentine turpentine
potion for my valentine
take a ride and take it
in a long black hearse

Vaseline Vaseline
Ruby's selling Vaseline
kerosene kerosene
everyone's a fetus
chamomile chamomile
someone spiked the chamomile
shake it mama shake it
it was my idea first

if you think I'm Jane
let me kiss you
if you think I'm Jane
if you think I'm Jane
let me call you an angel

Someday
words: Detweiler and Bergquist
music: Detweiler and Hordinski
recording: Till We Have Faces

and if you call my name
make it clear
and if you call my name
make it plain
and if you call my name
make it evident
i wouldn't miss it for the world

and if you need my attention
be bizarre
feel free to ignore convention
(it's alright)
and if it's a matter of permission
you can do me harm
i wouldn't miss it for the
world

and if you call my name
call it again
my mind's been known to wonder
call it again
you know i've been waiting
for this since God knows when
i wouldn't miss it for the
world

It's not the spark that caused the fire
It was the air you breathed that fanned the flame
What you think you'll solve with violence
Will only spread like a disease
Until it all comes 'round again
Was John the only dreamer?

Sleep with one ear close to the ground
And wake up screaming
When we lay our cold weapons down
We'll wake up dreaming

Obsessions with self-preservation
Faded when I threw my fear away
It's not a thing you can imagine

You either lose your fear
Or spend your life with one foot in the grave
Is God the last romantic?

Sleep with one ear close to the ground
And wake up screaming
When we lay our cold weapons down
We'll wake up dreaming

Only love can turn this around
I wake up dreaming
Everything we've lost can be found
We'll wake up dreaming

Spinning
words: Detweiler
music: Bergquist/Detweiler
recording: The Cutting Room Floor

My head's spinning like a broken record player
Come and drop the needle, drop it down up there
Steal me from this jaded God-forsaken place
Write some new lines on my face

I need you my love to come and sing for me
A brand new revolutionary melody
I am ready now to throw away the rules
We're all beggars, tramps and fools

Suitcase
words and music: Bergquist/Detweiler
recording: OHIO

Whatcha doin' with a suitcase
Tryin' to hit the ground with both feet runnin'
Aren't you trippin' on your shoelace

You're stealin' away on a sunny day
Well aren't you ashamed at all
Funny but I feel like I'm fallin'
I wanna beg you to stay
You're stealin' away on a sunny day

Why'd you love me in the first place
You were always closer than a brother
I can barely look at your face

I've said my I've said my
I've said my piece
I'm on my
I'm on my
Down on my knees

Whatcha doin' with a suitcase
Whatcha doin' with a suitcase

Thank You My Angel
words and music: Detweiler, MacDonald, and Powell
recording: The Darkest Night of the Year

thank you my angel
for blessing me
with these words and for giving me
what i was hungry for
taste of dirt
from the floor of heaven

thank you my angel
for cutting off my hands
forbidding me
to trace the lines of this miracle
across the great divide
for making love a foreign language

thank you my angel
for fluttering
out my window for telling me
all those lies about myself
it was your way of bandaging the bleeding

thank you my angel
for the clutter of my life
for dragging me
to the edge of the wilderness
to lie here by myself
just outside the land of promise

The Body is a Stairway of Skin
words: Linford Detweiler
music: Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist
recording: Films For Radio

The body is a stairway of skin
You open the door I let you in
Carry your story through the thick and thin
I feel the angels dancing on a pin

The body is a book of matches
A little fire is required of this kindling flame
Ohio Blue Tip Strike Anywhere
Strike me Anywhere

The body is a hallway of mirrors
You have to jump and a net will appear
You can see there are so many of us here
Breaking is the one thing we all fear
Breaking is the one thing

(Break me down like the quiet part of a song
I assure you this won't take that long)

The body is an apple on a tree
The body is an apple on the very first tree
Ripe round forbidden
Ripe round

The Genius of Water
words: Bergquist
music: Bergquist and Detweiler
recording: Till We Have Faces

meet me in the morning
at the bus stop
we'll ride into the town
down to the square
to see the angel
see the angel in the fountain
meet me in the morning

meet me after daybreak
tie your hair back
we'll drift into the crowd
get lost among the loud
and they'll be singing
they'll be singing in our daydream
when we're tired we'll leave them
all behind and walk away

meet me in the courtyard
where the saints pray
musing in our stare
still painfully aware
that there are others
shoulds and woulds with names and faces
close your eyes and open up your mind
and hear me say

see the angel
she's dancing in the water
hear the angel
she's laughing in the water

something in the way that you
said you really felt that we could be
good friends forever
...together for a long time

The Seahorse
words: Detweiler
music: Bergquist and Detweiler
recording: Good Dog Bad Dog

Welcome to the goldrush.
Wait till after dark.
Open up the ceiling, we'll be kneeling,
we'll be breathing on a spark.

Flying kites at midnight,
such a dizzy height.
Up above the small town,
pulling moonlight down and wearing it skin tight.

You can always tell me
anything at all.
Think of all the times
you've let my lips move, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Suddenly I'm weightless.
Gravity is mine.
I see it with my eyes closed,
what my heart knows: we must leave this world behind.

'Cause when I wake from dreaming,
it's then I'm most alive.
Eye lids barely open, no words spoken,
ah, but you were by my side.

You can always tell me
anything at all.
Think of all the times
you've let my lips move, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I can always tell you
anything at all.
Break the alabaster,
hearts beat faster, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You can always tell me
anything at all.
Think of all the times
you've let my lips move, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The World Can Wait
words and music: Bergquist and Detweiler
recording: Films For Radio

if this should end tomorrow
all our best laid plans
and all our typical fears
am I running out of lifetimes
this is not the first time
something ends in just tears

but tomorrow I can't imagine
how am I supposed to know
what's yet to go down ?
is there only one religion
the kind that whispers
when nobody comes around ?

the world can wait
the world can wait
I wanna drink the water from your well
I wanna tell you things i'll never tell
the world can wait
the world can wait
i'm wide awake
and the world can wait

I want to feel and then some
I have five senses
I need thousands more at least
every day a page of paper
every night a photograph
a moveable feast

so fade to black and white now
roll the movie of my life
inside of my head
'cause like all true believers
I am truly skeptical
of all that I have said

the world can wait
the world can wait
I wanna drink the water from your well
I wanna tell you things i'll never tell
the world can wait
the world can wait
i'm wide awake
and the world can wait

haven't I said enough
haven't I said far too much
haven't we done enough
haven't we done far too much

Toledo, Ohio
words and music: Bergquist and Detweiler
recording: The Cutting Room Floor

as the salt on your skin
heals the wounds
rub it in, rub it in
'til I see tumbleweeds
blowing through my head like toledo, ohio
are we blessed
are we cursed
are we messed-up or worse
either or neither nor
we're tumbleweeds
what are we mumbling for?
what are we tumbling toward?

are we dead or alive
drivin' I-75
hard to say either way
tumbleweeds blowing through my head like toledo, ohio
pretty eyes pretty lips
pretty thighs pretty hips
pretty hip - we will feed tumbleweeds
what are we waiting for?

when you have no destination in your head
any road will take you there
I don't care where
(it's not about arriving)
does it even matter one way or another
rust is just a slow form of fire
in my tail lights

it's a first impression
silence is deceiving
but just around the corner
i can hear
i can hear you breathe

it's a calm confession
a curious obsession
no matter when i listen
i can hear
i can hear you breathe
i can hear you breathing

if you stay and never go
away
i'll repeat the same mistakes
i've made
i'll believe most anything you
say and
watch my heart of stone melt
into clay

first i'm disbelieving
then i'm almost drowning
swimming in the ocean with the
sound
i can hear you breathe

walking in the heavens
falling on the ground
rolling on the earth
you're all around
i can hear you breathe
i can hear you breathing

The saddest songs are the happiest
The hardest truths are the easiest
Put us both to the test
And tell me if you still need me
And I will swallow these words
And see if I can still believe

The biggest lies are the little ones
When the look in your eyes is the distant one
Angel or demon
You know that they can share one bed
I've laid awake so long
I've got them both inside my head

This is what I'll remember most about dying
So many moments like ghosts
Slipping through my hands in vain
You were 80% angel
10% demon
The rest was hard to explain

This American dream may be poisonous
Violence is contagious
Crowded or empty
I walk these city streets alone
Whoever brought me here
Is gonna have to take me home

This is what I'll remember most about dying
Loading these moments like a gun
Hoping to kill the pain
You were 80% angel
10% demon
The rest was hard to explain

Whatever You Say
words: Linford Detweiler
music: Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist
recording: Films For Radio

in this dream
it is as easy as it seems
I put you away at the end of the day
in this dream
there are two hands untangling
the knots in my throat
but they won't go away

but this is no dream
you are the deaf ear listening
I know what it means to be seen
and not heard
it's no dream
you are the blinded eye observing
open my mouth
you can finger your way to the words

there are some things I must let go
I must let go
I must let them go
just keep on tellin' me I told you so
I know I know I know I know...

I fall into bed
the whole horizon's turning red
writing our names with a needle and a thread
stitching the clouds
as if the wounded sky had bled
all of these words that will never be said

it makes a difference
when you walk through a room
with that worrisome smile
road weary perfume

but this isn't the place
and it isn't the time
for this beautiful delusion
that is robbing me blind

it makes a difference
that i'm feeling this way
with plenty to think about
and so little to say

except for this confession
that is poised on my lips
i'm not letting go of God
I'm just losing my grip

what is a love
if the love's not my own
this is not my home
this is lonely
but never alone

i just want to hold you
in my gaze for awhile
so i can remember
every line around your smile

When You Say Love
words: Detweiler
music: Bergquist/Detweiler
recording: OHIO

I'm thinking of a word that has been
Knocked up and overused
You could say it's lost all meaning
From so much abuse

Most everything I ever wanted
Doesn't really have a name
But baby you're as close as I've come and
I know that it sounds strange

So open up my heart-shaped box
It's full of combination locks
I've swallowed all my love-sick pills
To keep from getting chills
Look at all the books I've read
In my lonely single bed

You were the hand that I tried to take
You're the decision that I could not make
You're the religion that I should forsake

You were the story I tried to tell
You were the savior that tripped and fell
Beautiful dancing infidel

Who will guard the door
When I am sleeping
Who will guard the door
When I am sleeping
I'm not sleeping

You were the season that would
not change
I often was the same
Then four horseman came and stole
my name

I never saw you fall apart
I never saw you work so hard
Never saw you need no one
I am my father's son

Within Without
words: Detweiler
music: Detweiler, Hordinski and Bergquist
recording: Eve

is it because I cannot see you
that you feel so free to steal
my excess baggage full of darkness and despair
while I fumble with my locks
you’re content to stand and knock
yet I know your knack for thievery is rare

do you know they call it arson
setting fires without permission
in my heart for sure and maybe elsewhere too
though your lack of inhibition
captures my imagination
I end up a wiser person thanks to you

it's coming to fruition
the sympathetic vibration
your train is at my station
within without

then there is your flare for murder
there's a dagger in the border
of your cloak and I suspect a captain's gun
as you put to death suspicions
kindly kill my fears as well
exorcise and slay the demons one by one

though I'm usually pacifistic
you are mercifully sadistic
and I didn't know that murder could be good
but the roses came crimson
springing from the prison
of the floorboards where there once were stains of blood

it's coming to fruition
the sympathetic vibration
your train is at my station
within without
it's calming my suspicion
with soothing intuition
your train is at my station
within without
within without
within without
within without