LYRICS /// OREGON
------------------------------------------
1. All The Way To California
He's got his thumb out. Left his teeth in Oklahoma. Burned his skin in Arizona. And California's on the horizon line.
When the body gives out, faith goes on. When justice fails, God rights the wrongs. When the instrument breaks, we'll sing the song.
Down in California.
She's worn out. Third child in her lap. Breasts are dry, hope is close behind. And the morning sun brings no peace of mind.
Chorus
Middle child, hair colored like rust Collects old railroad spikes and plays in the dust . She's sleeping in the back of the car. Starts slowing, hitchhiker picks up his guitar.
Chorus
2. Unless I Get Drafted
The playlist hasn't changed much in the last fifteen years.
It's no wonder you feel like you're spinning your wheels.
There's a neon cross on top of the hill.
And the whole town smells like the paper mill.
If you can't get it to work the first few times through.
Just cover it in plastic and swipe it again.
And if it still won't work, just call me over.
Me and the machine, we're real good friends.
Be careful taking the interstate home.
There's a trooper hiding behind the bridge.
If you're still hungry, or if you're just bored
There's an all-night diner over the ridge.
A few years back, I went off to see the country.
Ate the same three meals every day.
I came back here when I ran out of money.
Unless I get drafted, I'm here to stay.
Chorus.
3. My Work is Never Done
To cast my line into the ocean.
To offer my hand to the drowning sun.
To bury my feet in the sand at the shoreline.
To be the spark between the powder and the gun.
My work is never done.
Seven miles from the reach of sunlight.
Where black water turns inches into tons.
To the last outpost, the frontiers of imagination.
To the end of creation I will run.
My work is never done.
I pick up my feet and leave the shoreline.
Turn my back on the setting sun.
And make a path of my naked footsteps.
And a loving hand places every single one.
My work is never done.
After seven days, I reach the gravesite.
Where a creek by a mountain runs.
I rest my back, but my heart is upright.
And the living color fades into one.
My work is never done.
4. Lullaby Number One
Goodnight, little darling.
I'll see you in the morning.
And none of the tokens
Cast aside, left broken
Will bear their weight upon you.
Will press uneven pictures.
Hanging crooked in the mirror.
The daybreak's getting nearer.
Open up the day.
It's possible.
Goodnight, little darling.
Good thinking is overrated.
They made their case before you
And left, you were still thinking
But they're waiting at the borders
And they're pushing from the corners.
And they scrape with jagged gesture.
For every scrap of your attention.
They're giving toys away
But nothing's free.
It's not possible.
I am always in your crown.
Long after you put me down.
I am the color in your eyes.
That only shows when clouds pass by.
When clouds pass by
Anything is possible.
5. Born and Raised in Tacoma
I can tell you're wired
From too much or too little caffeine.
You're wound up about as tight as a guitar string.
Everyone on this bus is sleeping
Except for me and you.
It's been 18 hours, but I'll stay up just to see if you do too.
Around 2 a.m. we get to talking.
At dawn, we're still going.
I gotta make my court date and you're going home.
You were born and raised in Tacoma.
I got drunk there once.
I woke up in a jail cell, with no idea what I'd done.
But my knuckles were raw, and I was sure I hit someone.
Your baby sister's getting married
And the whole family hates the guy.
If I met him, in five minutes I'd know why.
The wedding's planned for Friday.
The party's at the Sunset Inn.
I half-smile and half-joking,
I ask you to sneak me in.
You say only if everyone's wasted, so it's a sure thing.
Chorus.
On Thursday I have my hearing.
I get alcohol counseling and a fine.
That night, I'm over at the K.O.A.
Drinking a jug of wine.
On Friday I go to the Sunset
Wearing a Goodwill tie.
But there isn't anybody there
Except the catering guy.
Chorus.
6. Who Brought the Cake to the Party
Fingernail marks on a hardwood floor
They tell their own singular story.
The morning found me, under the mat with the door key.
Wondering who brought the cake to the party.
My girlfriend's in back turning her lungs black.
For no particular reason.
She left me to feed a heavier need.
Or maybe it's just that time of the season.
I don't know nothing no more.
I don't know nothing no more.
Fall asleep to the rain.
Wake up on the floor
Of a car going west on I-84.
We pulled of in a small town east of the Cascades.
The scrublands were burning, a hundred in the shade.
The kid pumped the gas with a crack in his smile.
I gave him a twenty, he handed me a vial.
Now I'm proud as the ocean is constant and wet.
Like I'm watching my child take her first steps.
This big house is mine or so I pretend.
Crawling through the darkness with pockets full of gems.
I don't know nothing no more.
I don't know nothing no more.
I carry my burdens like a God-given chore.
What I didn't forget, I choose to ignore.
They're pouring champagne like water from the well.
Or maybe it's cream soda, you know I can't tell.
It tickles when it goes down and then it burns.
Crawls through my stomach like a pile of worms.
Baptized in sun and then it's tomorrow.
My girlfriend stops by looking for something to borrow.
Leaves me with nothing, no birthday kiss.
It amazes me sometimes, the things I don't miss.
I don't know nothing no more.
I don't know nothing no more.
I never try, but I always score.
You know I think I met you once before.
7. You Can Count On Me
I'd like to evict your spirit
From the ghettoes of your soul.
But I cringe when I get near it.
Because it makes me feel so old.
It's crowded on the gangplank
Compared with what's below.
I've been thinking that my ship sank.
I guess I'll never know.
I keep a good part of my life in the trunk of my car.
I'm ready to go anytime.
With one foot on the pedals and the other out the door.
I'm jumping across state lines.
These might be the final minutes, If I'm the one to say.
A twist of fate from start to finish And I have yet to pray.
You won't ask me for forgiveness.
It's love that drives my anger on.
Where you are is none of my business.
I hope you land where you belong.
I keep a good part of my life
In the bottoms of my shoes.
When I go, gone, that's where I'll be.
You can keep counting down from ten,
Pretending you know when
Or if you care to, you can count on me.
8. Like A Bruise
I got knots on the floor beneath the knots in my back.
I'll work till I'm sixty, then I'll die of a heart attack.
My face is white, my sense of humor is black.
12 bucks an hour sure seems like a lot,
But how the hell am I gonna retire on that?
Will the years wear me into you?
Will I be your purple tattoo?
Like a self inflicted wound.
Like a bruise.
Met a girl last Wednesday day night in a sawdust bar.
She rubs my shoulders when I'm too beat to play my guitar.
She waits tables, while I work concrete machines.
She's plenty good for now, but she's not the girl of my dreams.
Chorus
This must be happiness.
I'm doing the best that I can.
Get my beliefs on Sunday,
Relief still comes in a can.
They tell me that Jesus Christ was a hardworking man.
But when I break that sod, I'm the only God I'll ever understand.
Chorus
9. Lullaby Number One
Baby child, I'm 0 for 2.
I've been all over town, losing just to lose.
The call of the wild, the liquor in my shoes
Turn my smile brown
Turn my eyes to you.
Baby, I don't have to sing.
I know that you're sleeping just as well.
Lately, I don't bring ID.
The handshake team knows me well.
I threw the game.
I destroyed my good name.
I let the hangmen hang on me.
I though I could stage
Still life on a quarter page.
I thought I could advertise for free.
And it's so obvious I was wrong. It's so obvious I was wrong.
Everywhere, I go I know I don't belong.
Baby, baby, baby.
Can I sleep between your eyes?
We can go out dancing every night.
Child, child, child.
Push aside your tears.
With every day that passes
I'm another mile near.
10. Coffee Creek
I woke up, to a waking dream.
Saw her face on the TV screen.
She's in Coffee Creek.
She's in Coffee Creek.
She's in Coffee Creek.
Two years today.
She stole 700 dollars from a downtown store.
Spent it all on video poker and went back for more.
Refrain.
The state took away my mama
Now she's someone else's problem.
Broadcast for everyone to see.
She always looked good in orange.
She'll make a great example.
Poster-girl for some new policy.
She was always up for cartoons on Sunday.
Virginia Slims, new carton on Monday.
Refrain.
I live in those days.
Before things got bad.
About the time
She met my third dad.
Refrain.
The state took away my mama
And I moved on to bigger problems.
Most people are lucky but shit just sticks to me.
I'll see her this coming summer.
I'll tell her I still love her
And fix up a trailer on my property.
|
