| |  Lyrics
Walking on the World (2007)
Jake Armerding
(2003)
Cagèd Bird (1999)
Walking on the World (2007) (BUY)
1)Walking on the World
Spent last night on a lonesome red-eye flight
But I don't get down, doesn't get me down
Taxi no, boy my ride is rumbling low
Beneath the ground - the Underground
It ain't hard to find the avenue the Bard
Is living on, and he's living on
When in Rome, we will meet by Peter's dome
At the break of dawn, the break of dawn
Maybe you're above the Great Beyond
But I must get me gone
I will spend my time walking on the world
I'm alone, but those hostels take me home
And they give me love
I was called to the cliffs of Gimmelwald
But then I had to shove
I ain't got no sedentary style
I kiss, I wave, I smile
I will spend my time walking on the world
Even the telephone
Won't tell you where I've been
Even the photographs
Won't show you what I've seen
I hit my jet with my appetite all whet
But the damage done
As I lift my eyes to those orange Spanish skies
And the copper sun
2) Hole In The Sky (Mandolin Man)
There's a hole in the sky where your voice gets through
There's a harmony high on a ridge of blue
There's a hole in my heart since the day you died
Brother every single melody cried
Backbeat of mine
You lost your buck ninety-nine
But I am telling you
buddy you're the best damn groove I ever got into
Those lights go down
Upon your high lonesome sound
The crowd roars, One more tune
Won't you come on back and do
What you were born to do - you ain't through
My old F-5
You have kept me alive
While I've been stuck at school
You taught me all the changes
And the bluegrass rules
You're the Mandolin Man and I miss you so
When you're picking and singing your Bill Monroe
You're the Mandolin Man, baby what went wrong
Made you sing a lackadaisical song
You're the Mandolin Man and I can't let go
It's like I looked in the eyes of a Vince Van Gogh
You were born with your hand on a mandolin
You were born in the back of the Station Inn
I remember when I was a tough little kid
I wanted to do everything you did
3) Falling In
In a deep, dark pub in the back of London
I fell in love and I lost my cool
With a beer in hand and the jukebox humming
A little Liverpool
We all went out on a Thursday evening
And I just tried to be myself
But the drinks got poured and the talk got flowing
And I was someone else
Hey, could you make up your heart
I'd like to begin
Love is spreading her arms
I'm falling in
Her cheeks were red and her hair was crimson
Her eyes would laugh and her mouth would smile
And I washed in her like a river Jordan
For a little while
My heart was young with an old demeanor
My heart was grey and my heart was bored
But you never know it until you've seen her
What you're looking for
She's the patch of grass underneath my snowfall
In my iron sky she's a streak of blue
She's the toes of the trees underneath my sidewalk
And she's breaking through
You're breaking through
4) Flirting
In the shadows of the party
There's a little game we play
If you're licking all the competition
Feel free to walk this way
I'm looking around for the honey
Who can start my pickup truck
She stands right there with chocolate hair
Come on and wish me luck
I am sipping on her wine
She is nibbling on my food
I am swinging on her vine
She is swinging on my mood
We are dying to be captured
We are dying to be free
I am flirting with disaster
And disaster is flirting with me
There's a couple little fundamentals
When you walk Seduction Street
There's a flurry of indifference
If the eyes should ever meet
You're flipping your hair in the craziest contortions
I recall the golden rule:
If she's looking oh so fine
She will treat you oh so cruel
You consult your lighter
I re-engage myself
I start a temporary conversation
I stick it back on the shelf
You gave it away pretty honey
You were looking at my shirt
We've done the dance, enough romance
It's time to get me hurt
I am flirting with disaster
And I do not think I should
All my friends are getting plastered
And she's looking so damn good
I thought I could outlast her
But she will not let me win
I am suavely looking past her
But my cool is wearing thin
Like a bright red Stratocaster
She is curving on me now
And I'm sure I must have asked her
But I could not say just how
I acknowledge her the master
I am falling to my knees
I am flirting with disaster
Disaster is flirting with me
5) The Fleece
Hold me close, October
Let me dance, you gracious May
I will love you both the same
Thinking about my lovelies
A pair of petals, on my knees
My timing always is to blame
Help me now
I never, never need the one I want
Teach me now
I never, never want the one I need
You left your fleece at my place
I drape that fleece across my face
On lonely nights when you're not there
And we're riding on the prairie
When I die, just bury me
Deep within your ocean hair
I was sold
When I saw you pull your ponytail through your hat
I've been told
Don't you ever, ever lose a girl like that
So hold me close, October
Let me dance, you gracious May
I will love you both the same
6) Keep The River On Your Right
On a hell of a morning
In a hell of a life
Do you try to get it right
With your heart full of suburbs
And your head full of cars
Do you wonder where you are
Keep the river on your right
Darlin' everything in sight
Is a poor indication
There's a lesson you will learn
Love is not at every turn
But you will find your love
When all the same conversations
Leave you sick to your soul
And the laughter leaves you cold
Take that road to New Orleans
Wash you off a couple years
And the way you'll smile
When you are shifting gears
Keep the river on your right
When the stars are out of sight
And the moon is a-waning...
7) Assassination Blues
I did what I did
I said what I said
I did what I said I would do
I want you to know
Before I go
I was always just thinking of you
You gave me these assassination
Assassination blues
Me and my scotch
We sit and we watch
Your movie again and again
Both of us know
The way it will go
But I rewind when it gets to the end
I came to your dorm
Friendly and warm
I tried to be normal and fun
But your face said no
Your friends said go
And me I had nowhere to run
A one-way ticket to Hartford please
I did what I did
I said what I said
I did what I said I would do
8) What I Mind
I don't mind the standing line
I don't mind the waiting
I don't mind this killing time
I don't mind it baby
What I mind is all the time that I can't get back
What I mind are those days that you've painted black
I don't mind experience
I don't mind the learning
I can fall and get back up
If my feet start burning
Chorus
I don't mind the kisses baby
The ones that you permitted
Didn't work out anyway
Our lips they never fitted
Chorus
9) Regulation Blues
There's a place down in hell
Where the people never yell
They just smile as they tell you
"You will have to check your bag"
I was randomly selected
It was for my own protection
I could strangle both the pilots
With my mandolin strap
You are right, they are wrong
But you are weak and they are strong
They have guns and you do not
Or if you do you have a lot
Of explaining to do
Curse your planes, curse your rules
And curse your brains
They are full of friendly skies
Robot people on the rise
Could you help me
Help me lose
These regulation blues
10) Critical Eye
Mary please come in, Mary please sit down
Now am I to understand we'll be working from the ground up?
Your procedure is outlined right here in chapter three
So just lay your body back, leave everything to me
Mary don't you cry
You ain't gonna die
A little here, a little there and baby I'll be satisfied
Mary don't you scream
Life is but a dream
Ain't it good to be alive
When you're living in a critical eye
Now may I suggest just a little off the hips
You've got to harden up that chest, soften up those lips
Living in a critical eye
Let's see what we can do about these subtle little sins
Don't you worry none, this is where the fun begins
Living in a critical eye
11) My House
My house is in the mountains
My house is by the sea
My house is just the next place I will be
I've got a house on Bourbon Street
I live on the bayou to be
When fever is ragin', I'll marry a Cajun
And maybe I'll give her the key
Chorus
I've got a house and it's way down South
Where the food is honestly good
I'll work it all off with a run and a half
Through my New England neighborhood
I've got a flat in Londontown
I catch all the cheap matinees
That's what I did with a couple of quid
On those rainy Saturdays
Chorus
As the sun sets in my wine glass
There's pesto on my plate
In the old Cinque Terre, I call 'Bonasera'
To Isabelle, she's my waitress
Now I live up in Scandinavia
I board on the fjord in June
I don't know where you live
But I swear if you give me an address
I'll be there soon
Jake Armerding (2003) (BUY)
1) Destiny's Flight
We were on schedule
and everything was going as I planned it
Then she deviated
for the life of me I could not understand it
And all this waiting for her
and trying not to bore her
It all came down to nothing in the end
My destiny
She wants to fly
She's leaving me
She wants to try to get a better view
trying to get a better view of the sky
I should have noticed
on the day she ceased to ask me for the answers
She'd play the innocent
and I would try to play the great romancer
But over a maudlin conversation
sobbing obligations
I caught a v-formation in her eye
(chorus)
I know which way her wind blows
She broke my heart and she broke my windows
Darling can't you stand to tell me why
(chorus)
2) Ithaca
Sailing home, sailing home
Woe is me
All alone, I'm on my own
Destiny
And Lord give me some indication
Show me the right constellation
Point me to my destination
Show me the way
O Ithaca, do you call me like
the horizon calls the sun
O Ithaca, when will these days be done
Penelope, will you be forever true
O Ithaca, I'm sailing home to you
Sailing home to you
Every day, the sea and the spray
And no shore in view
And all of my men are trying hard as they can
to see more than blue
And they've not heard a word that I've spoken
I fear that their hearts may be broken
And I pray that these breezes that blow can take us away
Oh take us away
To Ithaca...
Could I ride on the dolphins and otters
Could I fly could I walk on the waters
Could I know that my wife and my daughters
will see me again, oh see me again
In Ithaca...
3) Peace of Mind (Lost in Back Bay)
How have you been my Arlington
and have you seen my darling one
Down Berkeley Street she loves to hide
I'll work these feet down one more side
I've got to find my peace of mind
How do you fare sweet Clarendon
she's all dressed up in morning sun
I'd climb me up your ivy drapes
I'd swing me from your fire escapes
but I've got to find my peace of mind
There's bricks of gold on Dartmouth Street
I wish I had my heart with me
On a sweet honey golden afternoon
she must be found, it must be soon
I've got to find my peace of mind
My lady Hereford
I can't afford to lose my mind today
so tell me Gloucester
have I lost her on the backside of the bay
Now good Mass Ave., don't torture me
just let me have my sanity
Oh peace of mind she sits right there
she runs her fingers through my hair
She says my love you are unkind
to think that I'd leave you behind
You are my only peace of mind
4) You Took Me In
Dark is in the day, cold is in the gray
as I begin to rain again
I'm dirty as the breeze, head between my knees
as I fiddle with my chain again
But you blew in and smiled me away
You blew in I knew not what to say
You, you brought me home, you took me in
You took me in, with no words of condescension
You took me in, you were giving me a place
to lay my head, and I'll not forget to mention
You took me in
I'm littered with regrets, like all those cigarettes
drowning in the avenue
You've seen my kind before, dripping at your door
with hat in hand, now haven't you?
Up above your desk I see it all
fifteen hundred marks upon your wall
I look down and see one on my skin
You took me in, you were just like any other
You took me in, and I'm living in a place
that drinks your soul, and then it asks you for another
You took me in
You took me in, with the gold of your November
You took me in, and I laid down on the ground
and that's my lot, in the cold of your December
You took me in, now I'm going it alone
and I don't mind, but I always will remember
You took me in
(repeat first verse)
5) Nevermind
Look at this place
the unsaid is in the sink
and all of your disclaimers on the door
The bottles and bottles of differences to drink
and you spill your silent treatment on the floor
Look at this face
girl you've got to let me in
I'll help you put your paranoid away
Am I figuring you out or are you figuring me in
And I never never know what you will say
Nevermind
Maybe some other day
That's what you always say
when you try to hide behind your
Nevermind
Honey I'd hate to say
You're neverminding our love away
Nevermind
After a while
stuff is falling off the walls
And my face is on the floor
with all the rest
The box of denial is sitting in the hall
and these one-way conversations are the best
(chorus)
(repeat chorus)
6) Adonai
Adonai, I'm here in the dark
and I'm ready to start with you Adonai
Adonai, in the thick of the night
and my soul is in sight of the Adonai
Adonai, it's quarter to seven
I'm falling from heaven and Adonai
Adonai, I could be praying it
I could be saying it Adonai
I will sit here waiting for you, waiting for you, Adonai
you will sit there waiting for me, waiting for me, Adonai
Adonai, it's quarter to eight
and I'm sick of debating with Adonai
Adonai, my reason is reeling
I'm losing my feeling for Adonai
(chorus)
Adonai, I think in the end
I could finally depend on you Adonai
Adonai, you've got to be patient
with my situation here Adonai
(chorus)
7) Unsaveable
Hey, it's hard to keep on loving when you don't
His face is looking strange to you
and forever looks to last a little long
I've been around
and I've seen all the crazy things they do
I've been around and I've never been crazier for you
Nothing is unsaveable, I should know by now
Everything is saveable somehow
Hey, it's hard to keep on trying when you can't
When you can't say nothing right to her
but you catch yourself rehearsing just in case
I've been around
and I've seen all the crazy things they do
I've been around and I've never been crazier for you
(chorus)
Hey, it's hard to keep it going when it's not...
(chorus)
8) Little Boy Blue (North of North Dakota)
A little north of North Dakota
in the finest June I'd ever seen
I had no business, I said is this
where you buy the gasoline
and might you have an ATM machine
A little sip of Coca-Cola, she sidled over to my side
She said my honey, ain't no money here
to keep you satisfied ... smiling I replied
I'm a little bit of highway, shiny with the dew
little bit of summertime, sitting next to you
Never had a reason, never had a clue
just a little boy blue
Call me the man of Manitoba
I liked those cut-offs she had on
She slid that card real good and hard
and I had strength to carry on, chasing down the dawn
(chorus)
Went to baccalaureate, got my paper keys
Drive a little five-speed, drive it with my knees
Speak a little français, comment allez-vous
I'm the little boy blue
A little north of North Dakota
one drop of rain is on the street
I check the sky, out of the corner of my eye
I see her smiling at her feet, she hops in my front seat
(chorus)
Got myself a debit card, little bit of cash
Petty on the speakers and I'm beating on the dash
Daddy was a highway, Mama was a view
I'm a little boy blue
She was looking so phenomenal, what was I to do
I crumpled up the gas receipt and stuck it in my shoe
Never had a reason, never had a clue
just a little boy blue
9) The Ballad of Sorrow and Joy
Sorrow sits upon a wire
he speaks discreetly to his shadows
I am hungry, I am hungry
Seek me out a pocketful of tears
Breath is short and breath is ragged
all at once you lose your footing
Knowing soon you will go under
drowning in a pocketful of tears
But joy will find you, joy will find you
hold you on one moment longer
Feel his hands upon your shoulders
point you toward the sun
You can put this night behind you
drink of love and drink of laughter
Drown yourself in joy's bright river
till darkness comes again
Come back home, your night is waiting
grinning, spinning threads around you
All your questions, there's no answer
you're drowning in a pocketful of tears
Cry for stop, he keeps on going
poisoning your calm remembrance
Then you hear that safety clicking
clicking in a pocketful of tears
But joy is shining, joy is shining
see him coming round your corner...
10) Too Many People
There's too many people in this little room
but it's all right, it's all right with me
Too many people in this little room
someone show me where to go
Oh Lord
There's too many people in this little building
but it's all right, it's all right with me
Too many people in this little building
someone show me where to go
Oh Lord
There's too many people in this little world
but it's all right, it's all right with me
Too many people in this little world
someone show me where to go
Oh Lord
11) The Girl I Left Behind Me - (Instrumental)
Cagèd Bird (1999) (BUY)
1) Rome
i showed you how to fly, but you couldn't quite believe me
you said that you had other things to do
i asked you if you'd try, 'cause I wanted you up there with me
but you said it didn't matter much to you
so i flew off alone, and scaled the highest mountain
and i swear i had you with me all the time
i knew the great unknown, and i bathed in all the fountains
you don't always have to stay between the lines...
just release your mind
when i asked you again, you smiled at your friends
and you said you'd only known me but a day
and then when they had gone, you said it was all over
i knew all i could do was fly away
so i flew off alone again, and rome wasn't the same without you
and i strung my hammock up between the stars
there was room for you, but you had to do some shopping
and you never leave your practical ajar--that's who you are
and i ducked behind a cloud as lois lane flew by me
candidates for heaven were waiting in a line
we could have both flown off and found that world together
if you hadn't said you didn't have the time...
won't you please release your mind
2) Ithaca
sailing home, sailing home, woe is me
all alone, on my own destiny
and Lord give me some indication
show me the right constellation
point me to my destination and show me the way
o ithaca, do you call me like the horizon calls the sun
o ithaca, when will these days be done
penelope, will you be forever true
o ithaca, i'm sailing home to you, sailing home to you
every day, the sea and the spray, and no shore in view
and all of my men, trying hard as they can to see more than blue
and they've not heard a word that i've spoken
i fear that their hearts may be broken
and i pray that these breezes that blow can take us away
take us away to ithaca...
could i ride on the dolphins and otters
could i fly, could i walk on the waters
could i know that my wife and my daughters will see me again
see me again in ithaca...
3) Company Town
joey works the line just like his daddy did
and if he worries about a thing, you know he keeps it pretty well hid
he's got a baby on the way, there's only one place here that pays
so he don't ask any questions at the end of the day
but the stream's running red in the afternoon
and the flowers, they don't bloom in the middle of june
everybody owns property, and they all got job security
so they can live with a sky that's turning brown
you know that's just life in a company town
joey can relax on his suburban lawn
he never knew a thing about being a corporate pawn
until the promise of a little girl died, gone before she ever arrived
and nobody told him that anything was wrong
but the stream's running red in the afternoon
and the flowers, they don't bloom in the middle of june
mommas were crying, babies were dying
and all they could say is that it's something in the ground
and that's just death in a company town
joey hates to think of how it used to be
he don't care anymore about the factory
he didn't know he was getting robbed, he figured it was only a job
he didn't know that it would cost him a family
now the stream runs clear in the afternoon
and the flowers fill the streets in the middle of june
joey's moved to another coast, all that's left are childrens' ghosts
and nobody wants to play or come around
to see the life and death of a company town
the life and death of a company town
4) Place I Know
there is a place i know, where the willows dance and the flowers grow
and i, i wonder why, as i look up at the sky
and there is a part of me, that dreams of things i long to be
but i know that i have all i really need to let me go
to the place i know
place i know
place i know, let me go to the place i know
there is a love i've found, and it loves me more than any love around
if you only knew that it could love you too
and there are some times i fall
but He makes it seem like i never fell at all
He dries my eyes, and He tells me i will go to the place i know
place i know
place i know, let me go to the place i know
and there is an end to time
when my Savior comes, He'll erase the lines
and take me to this place so far from down below
where all the flowers grow
and someday i will go to the place i know
5) Nevermind
look at this place, the unsaid is in the sink
and all of your disclaimers on the door
bottles and bottles of differences to drink
and you spill your silent treatment on the floor
look at this face, girl you got to let me in
i'll help you put your paranoid away
am i figuring you out, are you figuring me in
i never never know what you will say
"nevermind...maybe some other day"
that's what you always say
well, you try too hard to find your nevermind
honey i'd hate to say
you're neverminding our love away
after a while, stuff is falling off the walls
and my face is on the floor with all the rest
your box of denial is sitting in the hall
and these one-way conversations are the best
nevermind...
6) Color you In
i got my brushes, i got my crayons
i got my fingers, i got my hands
and this is an art that i know by heart
won't you show me where to begin
won't you let me color you in
a little umber and a little blue
a little silver residue
and i'll give you a green that you've never seen...
a little jasmine and a little jade
a little sunshine, a little shade
and i'll give you a bite of my black and white...
a little golden and a little tan
now i'm holding onto your hands
and i'll give you a drink of my red and pink...
a little hazel and a little rose
a little freckle on the side of your nose
and i'll wash over you with my navy blue...
7) Jessica
some people say that the start of the day is the sunrise
i would agree, if it weren't for my false medication:
me taking you, and semi-living till i do
she said to meet down on asbury street by the station
i got lost on the way and it shattered my day into pieces
it was the corner of blair, and my morphine was there
you were everything that i wanted, jessica
you were everything that i needed, jessica
there was a counselor checking his notes in the meantime
he tapped on his head with his pencil and said,
"this is not what i wrote down"
then he went to the room where he weaves and he rolled up his sleeves
'cause you were everything that i wanted, jessica
you were everything that i needed, jessica
some people say that the start of the day is the sunrise
i drink my decaf and say, "what a beautiful morning"
and i know that He is agreeing with me...
8) Belong to Me
now i'm sitting by the cedar, now i'm fingering a rose
now i'm running down to meet her, i place a kiss upon her nose
she says, "it seems you haven't shaven, and your collar isn't right, but in your arms there is a haven, and i was wondering if i might?"
she says, "i belong to you, and you belong to me, you belong to me"
now we're waving at the ocean, now our hair is full of sand
now she smiles in slow motion, now she takes me by the hand
she says, "i belong to you, and you belong to me"
say you belong to me
i can be strong till you say that you belong
say you belong to me
it won't be long till you say that you belong to me
now we're sitting in the evening, the horizon is a rose
now she says she must be leaving, she drops a kiss upon my nose
she says, "i belong to you, and you belong to me
i belong to you, and you belong to me, you belong to me"
9) (Don't be my) Anything Today
juana wants to wear some flowers in her hair
and her daddy has invited quite a crowd
donny doesn't know, and his head is spinning so
and the bells are ringing really, really loud
don't be my anything today
i ain't got anything to say
don't throw my memory away, but
don't be my anything today
you tell me just to date her, and it might get better later
but i don't really want to wait and see
you like throwing rice, and might-be-right is nice
but i guess it just ain't good enough for me...
well i look around, surrounded by a mess
of flowers and hors d'oerves and dinner guests
babe, i'm as commital as they come
but give me a minute to make sure that you're the one...
10) Cagèd Bird
sam always said he got shot in the back
sam always said it was a rush 'n' attack
and every time after the mirror would crack
there was clearly a problem here
when brother found out, oh he wanted him dead
and mother and daddy said "off with his head"
agammemnon just laughed and he went back to bed
there was clearly a problem here
and it was here that he found a little place to fall down
he took solace here, solace here
and as they led him away, he was heard then to say
"look up in that tree, and there you will see
the caged bird is singing you a song"
he said to himself, "i can keep it in tune"
and he fought all his wars just before afternoon
and he died every night by the light of the moon
there was clearly a problem here
so mary and june turn their backs to him now
and tom and macbeth keep on smiling somehow
he was never told that he wasn't allowed
there was clearly a problem here...
11) Loner
mica night in the sky, gemini is in my eyes
i ain't got a lady, and i'm all right
they don't know who is right
i need a little more of the black and white
i spent all my maybes, and i don't mind
i don't want to become a loner
but that's the only thing that i'll ever be
and it would be nice just to sacrifice and fly, fly away
i am gone with the rise, never mind all the whys
i ain't got an answer, oh and i don't mind
go ahead, brow your eyes, hope you don't mind my goodbyes
'cause i am a loner, oh and i don't mind...
12) Lullaby in E Minor
i'm laying you down to sleep, i pray Him your soul to keep
if you should forget to wake, i pray Him your soul to take
oh my child, oh my child
running so wild among the roses and the thorns
till the streetlights come on
oh my child, oh my child
come to my arms and i will sing to you a song
till the light of the dawn
the sun it will never rise, if you don't close your eyes
your face has a smile my love, oh what are you dreaming of...
Order from CD Baby
Order from Amazon.com
|
