1. |
Cracks
03:24
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A crack in the sidewalk, a crack in the road
a bottomless wheel rut from too heavy a load
a crack in your heart, a tear in your eye
a tear in the world from your boots to the sky
So you sit down to breakfast, day-old coffee and toast
you're so tired that you wonder if you might be a ghost
go look in the mirror, see if you're still there
there's relief and confusion for what's next if you dare
Right after the earthquake, the crack is so wide
that you cannot get over, and you're stuck on one side
and the bed that you've made, you still have and you hold
what you choose when you're young is still there when you're old
So you'll wake up the garden when the last snow is gone
scratch a line in the soil, then drop the seeds one by one
imagine tomatoes half as big as your head
eat ‘em right there in the garden with the sun overhead
But the snow is still falling, spring is eons away
and the sun will still rise up each and every day
so remember that garden, and that stems the hurt
know the feel of your fingers as they dance in the dirt
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2. |
Clean The Windows
04:21
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I guess today I’ll clean the windows, there’s so much to do
Not until I see more clearly, make the world like new
Run the water in the bucket, rubber gloves and soap
Don’t climb too high up the ladder, don’t you give up hope
Remember back when we were younger, we did not know squat
Some days we’re a little wise, the other days - so what?
Oh, but over there, just take a look, what’s that all about
Set the bucket by the door, I got to check this out
Might be all my heroes, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King
Stopping by our house for dinner, then sit around and sing
But it was just the mail delivery, flyers, bills and crap
What’s the point in even looking, life is more than that
Don’t you think that we deserve a higher train of thought
Engines fueled by love and wonder that can’t be sold or bought
Every day’s a big dilemma between the means and ends
One is wrapped inside the other, tough to comprehend
Oh, but when’s the day when I’ll grow up and sign on to the deal
Recognize there’s other people and understand they’re real
Bathroom jokes still crack me up just like I’m eight years old
I keep it up ‘til my dad washes my mouth out with soap
Where’s that rag that cleans the glass and doesn’t leave those streaks
Probably on the closet floor, been laying there for weeks
Ah, but will these questions hang around beyond the windows gleam
Washing windows - the perfect pairing with a good daydream
I guess today I’ll clean the windows, there’s so much to do
Not before I see more clearly, make the world like new
Run the water in the bucket, rubber gloves and soap
Climb right up there on the ladder, don’t you give up hope, hope
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3. |
Forgiveness
03:52
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When I leave early morning but get no further
than the end of the driveway and then stop
Look right, look left, take a breath, and then shift back into park
Both hands on the wheel, my mind goes traveling
down some highway to a nondescript hotel
with a view of a parking lot, and that perfumed and antiseptic smell
I had no idea how much I loved you
'til one day you were almost out the door
I was so slow to see that you needed me to give you so much more
Please give yourself a break from your high standards
Nobody's judging you today
especially not me, I got way too much regret to act that way
At the end of every question is a question
is there no end to these nesting dolls of knowledge
you can learn more just sitting still than some folks do in four years of college
Now the sun's looking down at the horizon
How long have I been sitting here like this
with my head in the past and the promise to do better on my lips
I feel like you caught me with my pants down
Cause you're standing at the front door with a grin
Wondering when I'd realize that mistakes are not a mortal sin
So let's go out for breakfast, it's a new day
and we'll cancel all those plans we had for now
ditch the car, take my hand, and we'll walk as far as our feet will allow
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4. |
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Right here between the truth and a lie
From your brain to your mouth to the world
Does it become real when you say it out loud
And take wing like a banner unfurled
Out from the shadows, so bright you can’t see
If you squint hard, it don’t help at all
Go inside yourself to the place you know well
Where your back’s never touching, not touching, not back to the wall
A hole in the truth is a crack in the lie
If you look at it sideways or drunk
What’s right here today might be long gone tomorrow
Your philosophy’s all gone to bunk
You stand up and pace, then you write something down
It’s the first thing that pops in your head
It might not make sense, so you let it sink in
That some things are better, yes better, much better unsaid
If you believe that your blood runs blue
That you’re better than everyone else
You misunderstood what Fred Rogers meant
When he said to believe in yourself
You start at the bottom, and take your sweet time
Get to know how it feels on the ground
You’ll keep coming back here each time you stand up
Like your head hits the floor when you thought you were painting the town
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5. |
The Counting House
03:52
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You best go back to the starting point, and try it once again
beginner’s mind is a funny place to end
You want to say you're sorry but can’t remember why
Are you sorry just for being born like this
There's just so many things to do before your time runs out
How many can you check off from your list?
Your favorite tools in the counting house are your fingers and your toes
Any more than that you can't keep track
Confusion reigns in the counting house when your courage starts to slow
And who is left that you know will have your back?
You best go back to the starting point, and try it once again
beginner’s mind is a funny place to end
one thing you do in the counting house is measure what you’ve lost
it doesn’t do much good, but there you go
remember all the pain you’ve dealt, the roads you didn’t take
Your childish ways you thought you would outgrow
From the playground up to middle age, to counting out your pills
You gather love and then you lose your mind
It goes by like a windstorm, then slows down to a crawl
When was it supposed to be your prime?
You best go back to the starting point, and try it once again
beginner’s mind is a funny place to end
The past hangs there before you, a picture on your wall
Everyone you've loved and then forgot
They parade ‘round you in circles, remind you what you said
And echo it all back around the clock
Eventually the echo stops, there's nothing left to hear
Except maybe the heartbeat of the womb
The past becomes the present, and the future fades to gray
Breathe in and the whole world becomes your room
You best go back to the starting point, and try it once again
beginner’s mind is a funny place to end
You best go back to the starting point, and try it once again
beginner’s mind is a funny place to end
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6. |
We Got Here
03:29
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This winter’s been the longest one on record, It fell asleep
Decided that it wasn’t gonna end
It got a little spiteful about you and me and everyone
And left us all to fend for ourselves,
So this morning, this morning, we almost missed the light just pouring in
We got here
It took so long, but yeah, we finally got here
It wasn’t looking good, but one more step, and yeah, we finally got here
Childhood was endless, it seemed so long because it was
Adults could do most anything they pleased
The days were filled with wanting, just wanting what we couldn’t have
And mostly we just wished that we could leave
Freedom, freedom, that freedom that was always out of reach
We got here
It took so long, but yeah, we finally got here
It wasn’t looking good, but one more step, and yeah, we finally got here
You and me, we fought like hell, but quietly so you couldn’t tell
That anything was messed up in our world
Even when the sun was on our faces or on our backs
We couldn’t shake the memory of cold
Was it the chicken or the fresh egg was it the sun, or maybe just some love
Now there’s fire in our bellies we don’t need no more reasons, just because
We got here
It took so long, but yeah, we finally got here
It wasn’t looking good, but one more step, and yeah, we finally got here
It wasn’t looking good, but one more step, and yeah, we finally got here
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7. |
The Last Dance
03:47
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Spring ended cold and the rain kept on
She longed just to be warm in the summer sun
With years of all alone, and ice in her bones
Her heart so many miles away from everyone
One cloud dreaming of her favorite son
They drifted together ‘til the two were one
Blocking out the sun, they rained on everyone
And the water filled the rivers when the day was done
Try to learn the dance, and trust your feet to know
Spin your partner clear up to the sky
Step light on the two and four, go for broke, reach for more
Reel the stars down into your eyes
The sky burned down, and the days were long
The cool evening called like a fiddle song
When it was time to choose, she laced up her dancing shoes
Took his hand, and led him out where they belonged
The last dance was called when the moon was high
The last dance would not let them say goodbye
Not quite as bright as noon, but still it came too soon
That the last dance was called when the moon was high
Try to learn the dance, and trust your feet to know
Spin your partner clear up to the sky
Step light on the two and four, go for broke, reach for more
Reel the stars down into your eyes
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8. |
Time To Go
04:12
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I stepped outside, closed the door, heard it click
There was a time I loved you, but it just didn't stick
Carrying this suitcase and a heart like a brick
And it’s time for me to go
When I said that I was leaving the very first time
You didn’t quite believe me, thought I’d lost my mind
Like money from a bank in the crash of twenty-nine
It was time to go, time to go
No, I didn't meet someone else, but I guess I might
I think about it sometimes in the middle of the night
Remember how it was with you when we turned out the light
Before it was time to go
I remember when we met for the very first time
Couldn’t let go of each other, as hard as we might try
Could not imagine that we'd ever say goodbye
or have to go, have to go
The last time you said "I love you dear"
Must have said it in your head, ‘cause I did not hear
I was still thinking we might make it through another year
But it was time for me to go
And the other night you kissed for me the very last time
It was a close encounter of the most mundane kind
and it moved from the back to the front of my mind
that it’s time to go, time to go
It seems I like your family more than I like you
A lousy thing to say but we both know it’s true
But we can’t really dwell on it, there’s too much else to do
And it’s time for me to go
And now I'm finally leaving for the first and last time
I really hope you're happy and your life works out fine
but now that there's a landline 'tween my heart and my mind
it's time to go, time to go
time to go, time to go
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9. |
Listening For The Bell
03:53
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Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
Everything's so loud that I can't hear the words
So I listen for the sounds I recognize
The traffic and the TV and the baby's cries
Can almost hear the music in your eyes
Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
What's the sweetest sound you don't have to strain to hear
it's being the quietest person in the room
you sit there like a yogi on the top of the hill
savoring your solo honeymoon
Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
For whom does the bell ring, who's life might it preserve
It trumpets and it echoes all around
you hear it if you listen, if you shut out all the noise
you feel it as you slow the speed of sound
Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
Listening for the bell that calls me home
the bell that calls you home, too
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10. |
This Ticket
04:47
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It’s not the end of the line, this train will keep on going
We’re not out of luck or out of time
We’ll lay down more track, stoke the fire and keep on riding
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
Together and alone we’re stranded here at home
Going back and forth ‘tween get along and argue
Jettison that cargo, let’s walk out into tomorrow
Rather see a windshield than a rear-view
Some days we cannot see the mountains or the sea
But just these walls that we’ve built up around us
We feel them closing in like sunburn on our skin
And long to get outside into the boundless
It’s not the end of the line, this train will keep on going
We’re not out of luck or out of time
We’ll lay down more track, stoke the fire and keep on riding
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
Just like the river bends and seems to have no end
We flow over bumps and rocks and trouble
You don’t have to wonder, I’ll pull you up if you go under
I meant it then, and now I mean it double
It’s not the end of the line, this train will keep on going
We’re not out of luck or out of time
We’ll lay down more track, stoke the fire and keep on riding
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
I love to hear you laugh as you get out of the bath
Remembering that joke that someone told you
I’m squeaky clean, you said, then you climbed into the bed
And slide across where my arms can enfold you
It’s not the end of the line, this train just keeps rolling
Never out of luck or out of time
We’ll lay down more track, stoke the fire and keep on riding
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
This ticket says I’m yours. This ticket says I’m yours
This ticket says I’m yours and you are mine
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11. |
You Are A Bird
05:05
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It’s the middle of the day, and it already feels like the end of a long hard year
The sun is overhead, you can hear somebody crying, or maybe it’s that old familiar fear
Fear of falling, of falling out of love, falling from a grace you’ve never known
What are the chances that you might never land, maybe you’re a bird, not a stone
It’s late afternoon, and all that you want is to close your eyes and shut out all the clatter
A storm’s coming in, it smells like it might thunder, you wish it would, but it don’t really matter
Does it matter if the rain washes you away, washes you like sand out to the sea
What are the chances that you might love again, wash you clean of all this misery
Finally here’s the rain, quiet and careful, not sure about coming down to earth
Makes up its mind, abandons all decorum, and hurls itself for all it is worth
You find yourself outside with your face towards the sky, drinking in the rain like it’s last call
Grinning like a fool in a way you can’t remember, maybe you’ll get through this after all
It’s the end of the day, and it already feels like the morning that you can’t wait to see
Will you stay awake, wait for the sunrise, or get yourself some clean and dreamless sleep
Hope and expectation comes beating like a drum, proclaiming all the love you’ve ever known
There is little chance of ever coming down, because you are a bird, not a stone
Yes, you are a bird, not a stone
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12. |
The Darwin Prize
02:41
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The sun blinds me in the morning, I forgot to pull the shade
But I try to smile and rise to greet the day
Too many possibilities, it could go high or low
With almost all my faith in disarray
Disarray, disarray, almost all my faith in disarray
And it isn’t opportunity if you don’t have a choice
Free will’s not a gift tied up with string
And if everything can happen, chances are that nothing will
So to beat the odds, I’ll try most anything
Anything, anything, to beat the odds I’ll try most anything
So I must be in the running for a Darwin prize
And tomorrow I’ll be dumber than today’
What’s the world to say about that Darwin prize: Yay
Does cause lead to effect, or the other way around
What we learned in school is probably wrong
It’s taken half our lives to try and figure these things out
And all we know is right here in this song
In this song, in this song, all we know is right here in this song
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Mike Green from Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, Michigan
After decades of representing some of the country’s best folk songwriters, Mike Green had a creative surge that gave birth to several dozen new songs. Many of these songs are on Mike’s debut collection, Listening for the Bell. Mike’s expressive melodies, engaging lyrics, and creative guitar work give depth to a broad scope of topics. His songs are inherently optimistic and touched with wry humor. ... more
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