1. |
The Tree of Life
04:31
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THE TREE OF LIFE
What is the next step, I don’t know
And what have you got left to show?
When all the people have gone away
The electric lights have all gone gray
Now I built this world for you
And I’m sorry that it’s not the truth
But after the comfort and after the lies
After we lift this cold world’s disguise
I’ll make it right, I know
Where the barmaids laugh and the children go
I know I’m not too young to care
And I’m old enough to be aware
It was just a moment in time
And I know that I am walking on a tightrope wire
And it’s just another ring in the tree of life
And I’m glad I made it mine
Glassy water and glassy stair
In the porcelain brigade of the theater chairs
Sweep the floor and sweep the night
And sweep all that was ever wrong or right
After the lake and after the noon
After we wake to break our final croon
All of the windows and their festoons
You look at yourself like a distorted cartoon
And the ice cube breaks into a thousand shards
And I’ve heard the words of a thousand bards
And I’ve thrown the lasso around the night
When I thought that I could make the world up just right
It was just a moment in time
And I know that I am walking on a tightrope wire
And it’s just another ring in the tree of life
And I’m glad I made it mine
Now I know I’ll be there until the very end
When we’re no longer lovers and we’re no longer friends
And even if I never, ever see you again
You had the champagne eyes, you were the highest ten
And I can’t believe you’re gone away
And that I’ll never see you at the end of the day
Was it all worth anything I hear them say
Was it worth all the anguish or the play?
The candle will burn until my wits end
I’ll emerge from the sea like a diver with the bends
Now after the dinner and the afternoons
After the winter and the wine and the ten tall loons
Beyond the earth and beyond the sun
When you and God and I are one
Beyond heaven and beyond fear
Beyond the jungle and the heavy tear
And beyond the scope of my own life
Beyond my words and beyond my sight
I want you to be there for me in the shade of the tree
That we use to laze beneath when we were free
It was just a moment in time
And I know that I am walking on a tightrope wire
And it’s just another ring in the tree of life
And I’m glad I made it mine
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2. |
September Now
03:16
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SEPTEMBER NOW
Golden lake
Dewey morning
Feels like all the morns before
Autumn drake
Floatin’ by
You’re off on some foreign shore
I hear you
In the trees
In the house with cedar shake
Time to pay
The bills again
Time to sit and concentrate
You were good
At fixing my mistakes
And tellin’ me everything would be okay
Shorter days,
Less time to watch the daylight tick away
An empty page as the sun shines a futile ray
I’m fighting not to look
At the sketchbook on my lap
I tried to keep it gray
No feeling in my fingers
The colors went away
Since you’re not on a plane
And I’m feeling all alone
Like it’s the first time in the world
Anyone has felt this way
Taking aim,
Maybe I
Have found someone to blame
Last night
I was at a wedding
I felt asleep while still awake
Last night the spirits were raised
Last night the pomp came like a blaze
How have others felt this way
And not gone totally insane?
You should have seen them last night
Dancing by the light
And their first dance was the kind to shake
You with such might
And open the doors of your soul
So you have nowhere to go
But into a lovers’ arms
Golden lake,
Reminds me of the walks we used to take
September now
And you’ve been gone for two years
There is no place left to look
You’ll see me on the street, I’ll be looking down
You’ll tap me on the shoulder
And ask if I’m okay
I’ll say that I’m okay
And we’ll remember how we used to be
It’s different somehow
Since it’s September now
And summer got lost along the way
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3. |
The Wolf at the Door
03:01
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THE WOLF AT THE DOOR
You bartered for love in Bakersfield
You made a deal and you copped a feel
Isn’t it true?
The finest tuition money could bring
In the spring, the chamber choir
They’d sing for you
And your poster was hung proud
You said your name and you said it loud
But luxury disappeared in a cloud
And locked you out
Oh, you’re not rich anymore
Fancy clothes scattered along the floor
Oh, the future’s so unsure
And you realize you still have to worry
About the wolf at the door
Oh, what’s it like to be poor?
Of the future, oh, you’re so unsure
You threw a penny into the well
A fear to quell, keep you out of hell
But it didn’t work
The mumbling men invite you in
Sippin’ gin in the solid oak den, with wide grins
And hollow smirks
Where do they reside, the ones who decide?
Who gets to hide and who’s taken for a ride?
They write the checks and they play with your pride
No one cares that they lied
Oh, you’re not rich anymore
Fancy clothes scattered along the floor
Oh, the future’s so unsure
And you realize you still have to worry
About the wolf at the door
Oh, what’s in store?
You can’t exist where you once did before
Oh, there’s always someone plotting
With their thoughts of the score
Batten down the hatches
And secure the floors
Ain’t it hard when you realize
You still have to worry with the fear
Of the wolf at the door
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4. |
Lift Me Up
04:17
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LIFT ME UP
Well, I saw you just the other day
My, you’re so much older now
And if I’ve failed, at least I’ve done it my way
And that makes me feel better somehow
But I would be worse off if I never confessed
That I’ve never loved another like I loved you
And if you think that I don’t care, when you catch me
Out of the corner of your eye, you know I do
Wanted to hold you in the long run
And leave like bullet from a shotgun
Raise me up, lift me up
You say heaven ain’t enough
If you want something real
Is it better not to feel?
Lift me up when you say
That you wanted it that way
It goes better when I choose to believe
It’s a world that’s beautiful for me
Well we grew up in the neighborhood together
Twenty city blocks formed an invisible wall
Was it wrong to aspire to something better
Beneath the trees on the playground in the fall?
If you ever need something to believe in
Well, baby you can believe in me
And you ask what matters and what’s deceiving
You know what I see?
I see a woman with a pretty face
Life packed in a suitcase, movin’ on to a better place
Raise me up, lift me up
You say heaven ain’t enough
If you want something real
Is it better not to feel?
Fill me up, lift me up
I have something in my cup
It goes better when I choose to believe
It’s a world that’s beautiful for me
Follow me down a deserted highway
The light you see at the end, it ain’t far
Yeah, if you need someone to believe in
Baby you can believe in me
Because after all in the end if you didn’t win
That’s okay, one day you’ll be free
You can take my hand
And we’ll walk in the sand
Lyin’ on that sandy beach
With the sun shinin’ through trees
And I think everyone will see this is a world
That’s beautiful…beautiful enough for me
Raise me up, lift me up
You say heaven ain’t enough
If you want something real
Is it better not to feel?
Fill me up, lift me up
I have something in my cup
It goes better when we choose to believe
It’s a world that’s beautiful for me
And you
It’s true
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5. |
Wild
06:19
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WILD
She had the heart of a mountain lion
With gold rollin’ through her veins
She was a free spirit
Who did the things
I never had the guts to do
She finished a novel
In the month of November
She said I know the world thinks
It doesn’t need another one
But this is my truth
She’s riding with strangers in trucks
And drinking with them at camp sites
She’s got bugs crawlin’ on her
Talking tales by the light of the moon
While she casts out her fishing line
She says
This is the time I didn’t dance
This is the time I didn’t ask for a chance
This is the time I walked away
When I had so much left to say
This is the time I cried tears of joy
Inside that man there was a boy
Burn all those memories on a camp fire
I’ll go into the wild
The father’s failure to love his daughter
That’s the wildest thing of all, she says, at one point
It’s the wildest thing of all
To be an apple that falls from a tree
That doesn’t care where it falls
She says
This is the trip I didn’t take
This is the decision I didn’t make
This is the path I didn’t choose
This is the apology I couldn’t use
This is the time we almost kissed
This is the train I narrowly missed
Burn those memories on a camp fire
I’ll go into the wild
She visited the lake, it was majestic
She found the benefit in growing up without money
Because it gave her the bravery
To set out on a journey with nothin’ to lose
No hopes, no dreams
She burns her books
At the edge of a cliff
She walked 1,000 miles
With nothin’
The happiest person alive
She says
This is the time that won’t come back
These are the years we spent on the track
This is the time we floated for a while
Looking at the world with the eyes of a child
This is the sorrow, as deep as the sea
This is the stuff inside of me
Now that it’s out, can you feel it, too?
I know you can feel it, too
I’ll go into the wild
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6. |
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ROCK N’ ROLL MAKES A POOR MISTRESS
I thought when I left my home
That I would never be alone
I cared not what friends and family said
I’d make a killing with my head
Family is my rock
Rock n’ roll is my mistress
She makes a poor lover
When she’s constantly been ignored and dismissed
So pull the plane away
As God is my witness
I’m going to struggle to make the dance
And do it all in the name of romance
But rock n’ roll makes a poor mistress
Rock n’ roll demands a lot
A bruised up body, a melting pot
To throw your whimsical fantasies in
And see if it returns or not
Family is my rock
Rock n’ roll is my mistress
She makes a poor lover
When she’s constantly been ignored and dismissed
So pull the plane away
As God is my witness
I’m going to struggle to make the dance
And do it all in the name of romance
But rock n’ roll makes a poor mistress
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7. |
Iowa (Can't Get Back)
02:56
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IOWA
Summer, Des Moines, Arch Point school
That’s where it all began
She was like a vision, her skin was soft
I had held her hands in my hands
Afternoon class, rolling in the grass
Mom did real good, she put my lunch in a sack
I know I can deal with that
With the time that I can’t get back
We walked by her Grandma’s house
On the way back home
She looked out the window and waived
I was no longer alone
I fell from the monkey bars onto the bark
I took on a bully down at the park
I know I can deal with that
With the time that left me scarred
I heard she grew up and stayed in Des Moines
I heard she had some kids
But I have not met them yet
Now she’s takin’ ’em to class like we did
She was 19 and still feelin’ green
I heard she got married then left the scene
I know I can deal with that
With the things that will never be
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8. |
Drained Cups
04:21
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DRAINED CUPS
The wood breaks and the room is humming
There are pine needles on the floor
The wall shakes, ’cause the riders are coming
I didn’t think they came around here no more
And the horn blasts while the oven is churning
The light draws pictures on the wall
We all come at last, but the fire’s still burning
And there’s the dimplet in the hall
There’s my comrade and his eyes are blazin’
And his words are piping hot
To see the evening as it isn’t
He takes a sip from his melting pot
He says, “Hey friend you think I’m quite dangerous
‘Cause I’m stumbling and small”
I say, “No man, but I’m tendentious
Do I scorn you? Not at all, man, not at all”
‘Cause we’re long gone
The cups were tall and long
Now they’re long gone
But we’ll roll on
Now there’s just drained cups
It’s a long night and the smiles are plenty
Rosy cheeks and smoky sentences
Maybe a fight or a song-burst of the many
Cups full of grog and repentance, yeah
There’s confusion and the radio is howling
A fine time around midnight
The cups are sung and the stomachs are growling
The night sings and the air becomes tight
There’s a cup that teeters on the table
‘Neath the pale of the oak-room light
This night has nothing for me, I’m unable
To get myself out of here and into sight
She speaks to me, the brown haired woman
As I drink and try to touch the dawn
She says, “Why do you sink to the moment?”
I say, “The brilliance I possess is now long gone”
She says, “You’re such a romantic sort of fellow,
Perhaps you feel a bit too much”
I say, “You’ve nailed it, my hopes were far from mellow
But they’ve since scattered and left me with this drained cup”
‘Cause we’re long gone
The cups were tall and long
Now they’re long gone
But we’ll roll on
Now there’s just drained cups
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9. |
Frustration
02:54
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FRUSTRATION
I’ve got a million plans
And only two hands
To give them life
You lost your sons in battle
Like slaughtered cattle
You watched them fall
You were such a patriot
Now you’re in a rut
And it seems to suit you
You think loss is abnormal
The white-tie formal
It maybe better
So I suggest you wake up in the morning
Don’t feel lonely
But know that each day
Always feels the way you make it
Don’t let fate take it away
Look all around you, Rita
Don’t let them beat you
You’re better than that
You believe in a life
Where pain and strife
Aren’t part of livin’
So I suggest you wake up in the morning
Don’t feel lonely
But know that each day
Always feels the way you make it
Don’t let fate take it away
You acted like you were sent off to an island
Lived like a pilot who crashed his ship
Look for happiness
Encountered sadness
Dressed your message up
And under-filled your cup
So I suggest you wake up in the morning
Don’t feel lonely
But know that each day
Always feels the way you make it
Don’t let fate take it away
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10. |
Past Your Prime
03:02
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PAST YOUR PRIME
Well I saw you standing proud
Full of ego and talking so loud
And you recalled the days
When you were ingénue
Then you were drunk and feelin’ low
With your two stooges in tow
Saying this bar
Holds nothin’ for you
Well take a look at yourself
You’re past your prime
Those limelight days are all just cheap words now
You peaked early babe
It was such a swift climb
And all things from here on out
Will be post-climatic, somehow
You object to my review
Of your current state, do you?
And you think I’m bitter
About my lack of game?
Well, I know I’m not happy
But don’t put this back on me
You’re responsible
For what happened to your name
Well take a look at yourself
You’re past your prime
Those limelight days are all just cheap words now
You peaked early babe
It was such a swift climb
And all things from here on out
Will be post-climatic, somehow
Do you remember when I’d stall
To hear your voice in the hall
And you’d always look on
Another way?
Well, my ship has now set sail
And you’re stuck dodging the hail
You’ve got to look people in the eyes, now
For the rest of your days
So you’re tired of all the pain that’s come along
You’re tired of all the stress
You looked worried about a minute ago
When you thought you were in a mess
Well take a look at yourself
You’re past your prime
Those limelight days are all just cheap words now
You peaked early babe
It was such a swift climb
And all things from here on out
Will be post-climatic, somehow
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Ben Mish Seattle, Washington
Ben Mish writes songs and performs them frequently.
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