Wings Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : Hello Starling

at night we crossed the border following a Black robe
to the edge of the reservation—to Cataldo Mission
where the saints and all the martyrs look down on dying converts
what makes the water holy she says is that that it's the closest thing to rain

I stole the mule from Anthony—I helped Anne up upon it
and we rode to Coeur d'Alene—passed Harrison and Wallace
they were blasting out the tunnels—making way for the light of learning
when Jesus comes a'calling she said he's coming round the mountain on a train

Yeah
It's my home—last night I dreamt that I grew wings
I found a place where they could hear me when I sing

we floated on to Hanford in a lumber boat up river
past the fisheries and the mill towns like a stretch of future graveyards
she was driven to distraction—said I wonder what will happen
when they find out they're mistaken—the land is too changed to ever change

we waded through the marketplace—someone's ship had come in
there was silver and begonias—dynamite and cattle
there were hearts as big as apples and apples in the shape of Mary's heart
I said inside this gilded cage a songbird always looks so plain

Yeah
It's my home—last night I dreamt that I grew wings
I found a place where they could hear me when I sing.

and so they came with cameras—breaking through the morning mist
press and businessmen—tycoons—Episcopal philanthropists
lost in their appraisal of the body of a woman
but all we saw were lowlands—clouds clung to mountains without strings

and at last we saw some people...
at last we saw some people...
at last we saw some people huddled up against
the rain that was descending like railroad spikes and hammers
they were headed for the border—walking and then running
and then they were gone into the fog but Anne said underneath their jackets she saw wings


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California Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : Hello Starling

California
going out to California
gonna let the water warm my clothes
I'm alone but I'm not lonely
gonna trade the weather for the Western coast
no don't cry
I'll be back and I'll
bring the sun to shine
in your eyes
on your shoulders
Sunset Boulevard will strip for money
Mulholland is a long drag for the lonely hearts
down along the Imperial Valley
runs a river of homelessness and cinema stars
don't say
the trip's been done
a hundred thousand times
cause this one
is mine
so I will work at what work finds me
and I will take what comfort I can get
I'll be back when I'm good and ready
California doesn't seem to think I'm ready yet
no don't cry
I'll be back and I'll
bring the sun to shine
in your eyes
on your shoulders


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Snow Is Gone Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : Hello Starling

Birds beneath my window dustying their wings upon the lawn
I hear them in the morning light giving last amen to a migratory song
They're never looking round for me their eyes are on the sky or the ground below
But I'd rather be the one who loves than to be loved and never even know

Hello blackbird, hello starling
Winter's over, be my darling
It's been a long time coming
But now the snow is gone

You were beautiful when i first saw your feathers and confectionery airs
Like the earth it up and promised you the stars but you really didn't care
I sang in exultation pulled the stops - you always looked a little bored
But I'm singing for the love of it - have mercy on the man who sings to be adored

Hello blackbird, hello starling
Winter's over, be my darling
It's been a long time coming
But now the snow is gone

I'm underneath your window now - it's long after the birds have gone to roost
And I'm not sure if I'm singing for the love of it or for the love of you
But I've flown a long way honey hear my confession then I'll go
I'd rather be the one who loves than to be loved and never even know

Hello brown one, hello blue one
Last night's feathers exchanged for new ones

Hello blackbird, hello starling
Winter's over, be my darling
It's been a long time coming
But now the snow is gone


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Bone Of Song Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : Hello Starling

just where it now lies I can no longer say
I found it on a cold and November day
in the roots of a sycamore tree where it had hid so long
in a box made out of myrtle lay the bone of song
the bone of song was a jawbone old and bruised
and worn out in the service of the muse
and along its sides and teeth were written words
I ran my palm along them and I heard
lucky are you who finds me in the wilderness
I am the only unquiet ghost that does not seek rest
the words on the bone of song were close and small
and though their tongues were dead I found I knew them all
in the hieroglyphs of quills and quatrain lines
Osiris—the fall of Troy—Auld Lang Syne
Kathleen Mauvoreen—Magnificat—Your Cheatin' Heart
the chords of a covenant king singing for the Ark
then I saw on a white space that was left
a blessing written older than the rest
it said leave me here I care not for wealth or fame
I'll remember your song – but I'll forget your name
the words that I sang blew off like the leaves in the wind
and perched like birds in the branches before landing on the bone again
then the bone was quiet it said no more to me
so I wrapped it in the ribbons of a sycamore tree
and as night had come I turned around and headed home
with a lightness in my step and a song in my bones
lucky are you who finds me in the wilderness
I am the only unquiet ghost that does not seek rest


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Baby That's Not All Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : Hello Starling

Fold yourself against
Me like a paper bird
Tonight we'll fly awhile
Just give me the word

And hold onto me
Like I hold onto you
A steeple holds a bell
The night sky holds the moon

Melting flakes of snow
Will catch you when you fall
Baby that's not all

Then like falling stars
Back down to sleep will go
Into our waiting arms
In orbits round the glow

Cover lets and down
Will catch you when you fall
Baby that's not all


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The Bad Actress Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : Hello Starling

she's a bad actress- but hey
you give her the big lines anyway
though her eyes are big as Canada
and the hips are South Australia
and the shoulder blade is Africa
looking out on South America
I'm out here on the sea
and her heart ain't where it oughta be
she's a bad actress- but hey
she's got a big part in your play
now my apartment lies awake at night
it tosses every time she sighs
tries to take it easy on her eyes
but I can feel it giving up the fight
my whole building's on its last floors
her heart's not in it anymore
she said she gave her heart to you
if it was precious why'd you lose it
but if it was golden it'd shine
if it's big it won't be hard to find
if it's real it stains your hands like wine
you can look but there is no use trying
cause no matter what she said the truth
is that she never gave her heart to you
she's a bad actress
bad actress


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Girl In The War Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

Peter said to Paul you know all those words we wrote
Are just the rules of the game and the rules are the first to go
But now talking to God is Laurel begging Hardy for a gun
I got a girl in the war man I wonder what it is we done

Paul said to Peter you got to rock yourself a little harder
Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire
But I got a girl in the war Paul the only thing I know to do
Is turn up the music and pray that she makes it through

Because the keys to the kingdom got locked inside the kingdom
And the angels fly around in there but we can't see them
I got a girl in the war Paul I know that they can hear me yell
If they can't find a way to help her they can go to hell
If they can't find a way to help her they can go to hell

Paul said to Peter you got to rock yourself a little harder
Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire
But I got a girl in the war Paul her eyes are like champagne
They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain
They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain
They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you got is rain


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Wolves Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words
But I started listening to the wolves in the timber
Wolves in the timber at night
I heard their songs when I looked in the mirror
In the howls and the moons round my eyes

So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long

Then winter came and there was little left between us
Skin and bones of love won't make a meal
I felt my eyes drifting over your shoulder
There were wolves at the edge of the field
But I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words

So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, so high

Then one day I just woke up, and the wolves were all there
Wolves in the piano, wolves underneath the stairs
Wolves inside the hinges, circling round my door
At night inside the bedsprings, clicking 'cross the floor
I still don't I don't know how they found me, I'll never know quite how
I still can't believe they heard me, I was howling out that loud

So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long

At times in the frozen nights I go roaming
In the bed she used to share with me
I wake in the fields with the cold and the lonesome
The moon's the only face that I see
I still remember that time when we were dancing
We were dancing to a song that I'd heard
Your face was simple and your hands were naked
I was singing without knowing the words

So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, so high
So long, Oh


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Monster Ballads Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

Radio waves are coming miles and miles
Bringing only empty boats
Whatever feeling they had when they sailed
Somehow slipped out between the notes

Out on the desert now and feeling lost
The bonnet wears a wire albatross
Monster ballads and the stations of the cross
Sighing just a little bit
Sighing just a little bit

And I was thinking 'bout what Katy done
Thinking 'bout what Katy did
The fairest daughter of the Pharaoh's son
Dressed in gold 'neath pyramids

Out on the desert now and feeling lost
The bonnet wears a wire albatross
Monster ballads and the stations of the cross
Sighing just a little bit
Sighing just a little bit

Ones and zeroes bleeding mesa noise
And when you're empty there's so much space for them
You turn it off but then a still small voice
Comes in blazing from some vast horizon

And I was thinking 'bout my river days
I was thinking 'bout me and Jim
Passing Cairo on a getaway
With every steamboat like a hymn

Out on the desert now I'm feeling lost
The bonnet wears a wire albatross
Monster ballads and the stations of the cross
Sighing just a little bit
Smiling just a little bit


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Lillian, Egypt Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

I remember back in Illinois I found her
The lily of the valley the lily of the West was a rose
The daughter of the biggest big town banker
He kept her like a princess, I stole her like the Fort Knox gold

She used to pour Four Roses like it was going down the chimney
Like the bottle was on fire or the boiler was about to blow
She's up on the table when we hit Missouri
Dancing with a movie man he was holding her a little too close

La didi da da da da da da da
La didi da da da da da da da

He made her the star of the silent movies
But all she did was mouth the words all she did was mouth the words, "Oh no!"
And he cast me as the villain as the sheriff's worst enemy
I practiced falling off of buildings and out windows

La didi da da da da da da da
La didi da da da da da da da

The last time I saw she was tied to the train tracks
I was up there with the extras riding on a tiger roan
The villain on the left with the studio mustache
Winking at Lillian, blowing kisses from the second row

La didi da da da da da da da
La didi da da da da da da da


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Idaho Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

All that love all those mistakes
What else can a poor man make?
So I gave up a life of crime
I gave it to a friend of mine
Something else was on my mind
The only ghost I'm haunted by
I hear her howling down below
Idaho oh Idaho

Wolves oh wolves oh can't you see?
Ain't no wolf can sing like me
And if it could then I suppose
He belongs in Idaho
Packs of dogs and cigarettes
For those who ain't done packing yet
My clothes are packed and I want to go
Idaho oh Idaho

Out at sea for seven years
I got your letter in Tangier
Thought that I'd been on a boat
Til that single word you wrote
That single word it landlocked me
Turned the masts to cedar trees
And the winds to gravel roads
Idaho oh Idaho


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In The Dark Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

We started looking for you
In the darker caves
We had a lot of love
We thought would light the way
We saw the wrecks of buildings
And ships that sank in starlight
We saw the ghosts of angels
That spoke of falls from tremendous heights

Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the dark

We saw your old flames
And some were burning yet
It made us smile to see just how well tended each was kept
But other fires were burning too
And I saw the battlefields
The dying Light Brigade stretched out upon the wheel

Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the dark

Every heart is much the same
We tell ourselves down here
The same chambers fed by veins
The same maze of love and fear
We thought you were a saint
But the halo is a lie
It's hard to see how there could be so much dark inside the light

Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the dark

Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ark
Don't you leave us in the da-ah-ar-ar-ark


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One More Mouth Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

Honey how you gonna make it on your own?
Honey how you gonna make it on your own?
When you wake up in the night and see the stars just city lights
You can't find home

You act like you don't need nobody else
And you dance like you don't need nobody else
And all the other moths need light to circle round you just fly
around yourself

Oh I stir my sugar with a spoon
And watch your white dress float around the room, and I
I try to see what you're about
But even my candles are down and out

Honey why you gotta hide your face from me?
Honey why you gotta hide your face from me?
Will I starve in this eclipse while you treat every hungry kiss
Like one more mouth to feed


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Good Man Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

These chords are old but we shake hands
'Cause I believe that they're the good guys
We can use all the help we can
So many minor chords outside
I fell in love with the sound
Oh I love to sing along with you
We got tunes we kicked around some
We got a bucket that the tunes go through

Babe we both had dry spells,
hard times in bad lands
I'm a good man
for ya, I'm a good man

Last night there was a horse in the road
I was twisting in the hairpin
My hands held on my mind let go
And back to you my heart went skipping
I found the inside of the road
Thought about the first time that I met you
All those glances that we stole
Sometimes, if you want them then you've got to

Babe we both had dry spells,
hard times in bad lands
I'm a good man
for ya, I'm a good man

They shot a Western south of here
They had him cornered in a canyon
And even his horse had disappeared
They said it got run down by a bad, bad man
You're not a good shot but I'm worse
And there's so much where we ain't been yet
So swing up on this little horse
The only thing we'll hit is sunset

Babe we both had dry spells,
hard times in bad lands
I'm a good man
for ya, I'm a good man

Babe we both had
Babe we both had
Baby we both had
Babe we both had
You and I both had
Babe we both had
Babe we both had

Babe we both had dry spells,
hard times in bad lands
I'm a good man
for ya, I'm a good man


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Best For The Best Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind

I realized that Illinois was more than I could stand
They say working's best cause poverty is hell on a man
Now I ride a lazy river through the Mississippi fan
And if the best is for the best then the best can be damned

I spent a few years on the Queen of Spain
She was a leaky little boat that went up in flames
When the boiler blew some people started naming names
But if the best is for the best I guess the best is to blame

I spent a few more as the Cairo Crown
A heavyweight wrestler in the Midwest towns
But I was lonesome for a girl who could pin me down
They say the best is for the best but that's not what I've found

Now I listen to my sweetheart and I listen to my thirst
I don't spend time listening to other people's words
Sometimes they're right most times the reverse
They say the best is for the best when the best's for the worse

Once I knew a girl in the hard hard times
She made me a shirt out of fives and dimes
Now she's gone but when I wear it she crosses my mind
And if the best is for the best then the best is unkind


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Thin Blue Flame Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

I became a thin blue flame
Polished on a mountain range
And over hills and fields I flew
Wrapped up in a royal blue
I flew over Royal City last night
Bullfighter on the horns of a new moon's light
Caesar's ghost I saw the war-time tides
The prince of Denmark's father still and quiet
The whole world was looking to get drowned
Trees were a fist shaking themselves at the clouds
I looked over curtains - it was then that I knew
Only a full house gonna make it through

I became a thin blue wire
That held the world above the fire
And so it was I saw behind
Heaven's just a thin blue line
If God's up there he's in a cold dark room
The heavenly host are just the cold dark moons
He bent down and made the world in seven days
And ever since he's been a-walking away
Mixing with nitrogen in lonely holes
Where neither seraphim or raindrops go
I see an old man wandering the halls alone
But only a full house gonna make a home

And I became a thin blue stream
The smoke between asleep and dreams
And in that clear blue undertow
Saw Royal City far below
Borders soft with refugees
Streets a-swimming with amputees
It's a Bible or a bullet they put over your heart
It's getting harder and harder to tell them apart
The days are nights and the nights are long
Beating hearts blossom into walking bombs
And those still looking in the clear blue sky for a sign
Get missiles from so high they might as well be divine
And now the dogs are howling at your door
Singing 'bout vengeance like it's the joy of the Lord
Bringing justice to the enemies not the other way round
They're guilty where killed and they're killed where they're found
If what's loosed on earth will be loosed up on high
It's a Hell of a Heaven we must go to when we die
Where even Laurel begs Hardy for vengeance please
The fat man's crying on his hands and his knees
Back in the peacetime he caught roses on the stage
Now he twists indecision, takes bourbon for rage
Lead pellets peppering aluminium
Halcyon, laudanum and opium
Sings kiss thee Hardy this poisoned cup
His winding sheet is busy winding up
In darkness he looks for the lights that've died
You need faith for the same reasons that it's so hard to find
And this whole thing is headed for a terrible wreck
And like good tragedy that's what we expect

At night I make plans for a city laid down
The hips of a girl on the spring covered ground
Spirals and capitals in the twists of a script
Streets named for heroes that could almost exist
Fruit trees of Eden and the gardens that seem
To float like the smoke from a lithium dream
Cedar trees growing in the cool of the squares
Young women walking in the portals of prayer
The future glass buildings and the past an address
The weddings in pollen and the wine bottomless
And all wrongs forgotten and all vengeance made right
The suffering verbs put to sleep in the night
The future descending like a bright chandelier
The world just beginning and the guests in good cheer
In Royal City I fell into a trance
'Cause it's hell to believe there ain't a hell of a chance

I woke beneath a clear blue sky
The sun a shout, the breeze a sigh
The old home town and the streets I knew
Were wrapped up in a royal blue
I heard my friends laughing out across the fields
The girls in the gloaming and the birds on the wheel
The raw smell of horses and the warm smell of hay
Cicadas electric in the heat of the day
A run of Three Sisters and the flush of the land
And the lake was a diamond in the valley's hand
The straight of the highway and the scattered out hearts
They were coming together, they were pulling apart
And angels everywhere were in that midst
In the ones that I loved, in the ones that I kissed
I wondered what it was I'd been looking for above
Heaven's so big there ain't no need to look up
So I stopped looking for royal cities in the air
Only a full house gonna have a prayer

Only a full house
Only a full house


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Here At The Right Time Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Animal Years

Under wide blue skies
There's a place to lie
For me and Evelyn to hide tonight
I'll try my best to make a go
But I'm not sure what I don't know
Oh chariots, if you're out there
Please swing low

Tell me I got here at the right time
If I did it's probably the first time
No second guesses or secret signs
Tell me I got here at the right time

You're so red in the eyes
Either too low or too high
When I met you you
Were sick but you did not know why
I was a pretty poor cure
But my love for you was always sure
The bucket was broken
But the water was pure

Tell me I got here at the right time
If I did it's probably the first time
No second guesses or secret signs
Tell me I got here at the right time


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To The Dogs Or Whoever Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

Deep in the belly of a whale I found her
Down with the deep blue jail around her
Running her hands through the ribs of the dark
Florence and Calamity and Joan of Arc

I love the way she looks in her underwear
I lose my page then the book then the plot then I swear
She makes the most of her time by loving me plenty
She knows there'll come a day when we won't be getting any

The stain of the sepia the butcher Crimea
Through the wreck of a brass band I though I could see her
In a cakewalk she came through the dead and the lame
Just another bird floating on a hurricane

I was flat on my back with my feet in the thorns
I was in between the apples and the chloroform
She came to me often, I was sure I was dying
It was always hard to tell if she was laughing or crying

I thought I heard somebody calling
In the dark I thought I heard somebody call

Joan never cared about the in-betweens
Combed her hair with a blade did the Maid of Orleans
Said Christ walked on water we can wade through the war
You don't need to tell me who the fire is for

Oh bring me the love that can sweeten a sword
A boat that can love the rocks or the shore
The love of the iceberg reaching out for a wreck
Can you love me like the crosses love the nape of the neck?

Was it Casey Jones or Casey at the Bat
Who died out of pride and got famous for that
Killed by a swerve laid low by the curve
Do you ever think they ever thought they got what they deserved

Don't pity the bullet, but pity the man
Who both find their place in the same sad plan
Who both are like the barrel going over the falls
Crying all the way down I never asked to be involved

I thought I heard somebody calling
In the dark I thought I heard somebody call

General George began the day by taking pink little pills
Sent his men to the top of some hell of a hill
Through the whisper of trees came artillery breeze
He said I love the way the wind comes a'tickling my knees

Jane shot the apple right between the eyes
I was thinking of her when you came outside
Lemonade on your breath sun in your hair
Did I mention how I love you in your underwear?

Deep in the belly of a whale I found her
Down with the deep blue jail around her
Running her hands through the ribs of the dark
Florence and Calamity and Joan of Arc

I thought I heard somebody calling
In the dark I thought I heard somebody call


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Mind's Eye Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

What's it take to make the dime drop?
All of these kids who think they're quick on the draw
Always shooting at outlaws
I'm busy keeping my Colt cocked
I'm gonna know you when you finally come
'Cause I got you in my mind's eye
I got you in my mind's eye

I'm gonna take up the Steinway
Waiting for the bullet that I'll never see come
I'm gonna start me a new wave
I'm putting up with you lightweights
Calling me out to the middle of the street
Ooh, I've got you in my mind's eye
I got you in my mind's eye

Oh, I got you in my mind's eye
My day might be coming yours is coming first
I'll knock you outta your daylights
And when you come for me some night
You better bring a shovel and be expecting the worst
'Cause I got you in my mind's eye
I got you in my mind's eye
Oh, I got you in my mind's eye
I got you in my mind's eye


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Right Moves Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

All of a sudden now you're back again
I thought you were happy with whoever
Or did you dream about me now and then
Did you look up at the stars and feel something for the constellations

All those lovers circling round their loves
Slings and arrows, dogs and lions
Rivers separating touch from touch
The comedy of distance, the tragedy of separation

Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?

I said how is it that you come back to me?
You don't need the stories of my scars
Or in the stars to tell you nothing's free
I traded all the innocence I ever had for hesitation

I said won't you tell me where you been?
You put a finger to my lips
And then you kissed me once and once again
The crickets all leapt up and met the moon with a standing ovation

Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?

I heard the night birds picking up the song
You threw your hair back and sang along
And I realized that I might lose you, you might lose me
Drift apart in the night and never know why and not know how

I said what if we are like the Northern sky?
What if there are things that come between us
That we can't take back and we can't make right?
You said, "I don't know darlin' but I'm here with you.
And we're coming to the chorus now!"

Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?

Am I making all the right moves
Am I singing you the right blues
Is there a chance that I could call you
Just to see how you are doing?


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The Temptation Of Adam Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

"If this was the Cold War we could keep each other warm."
I said on the first occasion that I met Marie
We were crawling through the hatch that was the missile silo door
And I don't think that she really thought that much of me

I never had to learn to love her like I learned to love the Bomb
She just came along and started to ignore me
But as we waited for the Big One I started singing her my songs
And I think she started feeling something for me

We passed the time with crosswords that she thought to bring inside
What five letters spell "apocalypse" she asked me
I won her over singing "W.W.I.I.I."
Oh, we smiled and we both knew that she'd misjudged me

Oh Marie, it was so easy to fall in love with you
It felt almost like a home of sorts or something
And you would keep the warhead missile silo good as new
And I'd watch you with my thumb above the button

Then one night you found me in my army issue cot
And you told me of your flash of inspiration
You said fusion was the broken heart that's lonely's only thought
And all night long you drove me wild with your equations

Oh Marie, do you remember all the time we used to take
Makin' love and then ransack the rations
I think about you leaving now and the avalanche cascades
And my eyes get washed away in chain reactions

Oh Marie if you would stay then we could stick pins in the map
Of all the places where you thought that love would be found
But I would only need one pin to show where my love's at
In a top-secret location three hundred feet under the ground

Oh, we could hold each other close and stay up every night
Looking up into the dark like it's the night sky
Pretend this giant missile is an old oak tree instead
And carve our name in hearts into the warhead

Oh, Marie there's something tells me things just won't work out above
That our love would live a half-life on the surface
So at night while you are sleeping I hold you closer just because
As our time grows short I get a little nervous

Oh, I think about the Big One, W.W.I.I.I.
Would we ever really care the world had ended
You could hold me here forever like you're holding me tonight
I think about that great big button and I'm tempted


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Open Doors Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

I thought I heard you pulling up outside
It's just the wind whisperin' through the pines
I haven't seen who I'm looking for
Just empty shadows in my open door

The empty closet where you hung your clothes
The empty hooks where you hung your coat
The cellar steps or the kitchen floor
They don't catch shadows like an open door

Do open windows keep the rain away?
Do open eyes keep the ghosts at bay?
I thought an open door would bring you in
Now I guess I'm gonna have to guess again

I find myself hoping for a storm
Each silver lining is a crown of thorns
I find myself hoping for the rain
You don't see shadows on a cloudy day

Go to the corner where the ghosts hang out
They'll all agree with what I'm talking about
They'd haunt your halls and walk through walls before
They'd ever set foot in an open door

Do open windows keep the rain away?
Do open eyes keep the ghosts at bay?
I thought an open door would bring you in
Now I guess I'm gonna have to guess again

I'm saving nickels and I'm saving dimes
I'm gonna kiss you where the sun don't shine
And all those shadows gonna kiss them too
Just so long as they come in with you

Do open windows keep the rain away?
Do open eyes keep the ghosts at bay?
I thought an open door would bring you in
Now I guess I'm gonna have to guess again

I guess I'm gonna have to guess again
I guess I'm gonna have to guess again
I guess I'm gonna have to guess again


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Rumors Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

Serenade me with rocks, love
No lullabies through the locks, love
I locked myself in with the band
But the music's never loud enough

Decibels in the belfry
Hey what the hell if it helps me
I put a whip to the kick drum
But the music's never loud enough

So you're gonna have to show me
How that dance is done
The one where somebody leaves someone
Woah

My orchestra is gigantic
This thing could sink the Titanic
And the string section's screaming
Like horses in a barn burning up

He plays pianos with fistfuls
Of broken Belvedere crystal
But he can't seem to forget you
And the music's never loud enough

So you're gonna have to show me
How that dance is done
The one where somebody leaves someone
Woah

He's impaling the front row
Fighting fires with arrows
And he'll act like he forgot you
But the music's never loud enough

So you're gonna have to show me
How that dance is done
The one where somebody leaves someone
Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah


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Wait For Love Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

I wait for love
I wait for love
Wait for love, wait for love
Wait for love

I got someone on my mind
And she don't make me wait the way you do
But time, oh she holds me all the time
And she don't make me wait the way you do

Wait for love
Sometimes babe, we all have to wait for love
Wait for love, wait for love
Sometimes babe, we all have to wait for love

I got someone on my mind
And she holds me pretty much the way you do
But time, oh she holds me all the time
And she don't make me wait the way you do

Wait for love
Sometimes babe, we all got to wait for love
Wait for love, wait for love
Sometimes babe, we all have to wait for love


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Real Long Distance Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

You're a real mean mama but you got a lot of time for me
And I know it ain't common to find your kinda love for free
It's a drag and a sigh and that's not all
I'm calling real long distance, it's a real long distance call

Telephone ringing mama please don't you leave it alone
Don't leave no breaks in the line it's the only thing that's tied to home
It's a drag and a sigh and that's not all
It's this real long distance, it's a real long distance call

It's a drag and a sigh and that's not all
Calling real long distance, it's a real long distance call
This is real long distance, it's a real long distance call

Calling real long distance, it's a real long distance call
Calling real long distance, it's a real long distance call
Woo!


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Next To The Last Romantic Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

He's riding the plains living up to his name
As the next to the last true romantic
He knows that his story is tragic
But he can't rest
Till he's next to you

All the girls know his fame, the men curse his name
And they talk about him like he's magic
But he's the next to the last true romantic
And he can't rest
Til he's next
To you

He's stolen hearts like they're horses
And horses when hearts can't be found
He keeps riding from one horse to one horse
To one horse towns, it gets him down

He know's he's a fool to get caught up with you
But he's the next to the last true romantic
He can't let go of love once he's had it
And he can't rest
Till he's next to you

There's always whiskey and women
And women and whiskey around
He can't tell which is worse to be dying of thirst
Or to drown, it gets him down

So he smiles through the pain he pinch Estelle he dance with Jane
Sometimes even he don't know how he stands it
But he's the next to the last true romantic
And he can't rest
Till he's next to you

Well he can't rest
Till he's next to you


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Moons Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

There are planets you don't know
And there are moons that you don't see
Invisibles between the rings of Mars and Mercury
The harbors that they built for the ships to set us free
And sometimes when it's all too much I know they'll come for me
Come for me


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Still Beating Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

I know the dog days of the summer
Have you ten-to-one out-numbered
Seems like everybody up and left
And they're not coming back
The shadow that you're standing on's still here
Sometimes that's all that you can ask
And your heart's still beating

You're not the fastest draw in town now
How many times you been shot down now?
Seems like everybody else could see the things you never did
But if you could yourself
You'd probably never have made it through the things you did
And your heart's still beating

I know the dog days of the summer
Have you ten-to-one out-numbered
It seems like everybody else saw trouble sneaking up behind
Had left you half dead in the street
But that just means you're half alive
And your heart's still beating

Still beating, still beating
Still beating, still beating
Still beating, still beating
Still beating, still beating
And your heart's still beating


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Empty Hearts Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

So save all of your light
For those who can't sleep at night
And who can't even sing to their shadows
Oh they ride into town
And they throw the shots down
And they save the last round for the windows

Singing don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

I'm inside with my friends
We build fires and pretend
That the night could just bend on forever
While outside in the frost
Are the wolves and the lost
And we sing to the dogs or whoever

Singing don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

There's a friend that I have
And for her I'll go back
You see all of these empties that I'm holding
They're too much for a man
Empty arms, empty hands
And she'll know me by the sound of my hoping

Singing don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

Don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

Don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

Don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

Don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

Don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

Don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart

Don't let me into this year with an empty heart
With an empty heart
Don't let me into this year with an empty heart


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Wait For Love (You Know You Will) Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

I wait for love
I wait for love
Wait for love, wait for love
Wait for love, wait for love

I got someone on my mind
And she don't make me wait the way you do
But time, oh she loves me all the time
And she don't make me wait the way you do

Wait for love, wait for love, wait for love
Somedays babe, we all have to wait for love
Wait for love, wait for love
Somedays babe, we all have to wait for love

I got someone on my mind
And she holds me pretty much the way you do
But time oh she holds me all the time
And she don't make me wait the way you do

Wait for love, wait for love
Somedays babe, we all have to wait for love
Wait for love, wait for love
Somedays babe, we all have to wait for love


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Wildfires Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

You must be livin' on wildfires
You must be livin' on wildfires
That's why your eyes
Are smoke and ash

You must be livin' on earthquakes
You must be livin' on earthquakes
Must be why my heart breaks
Every time you pass

Oh no matter how I try
I just watch you blow by
In a laugh

Aye . . .

You must be livin' on front lines
You must be livin' on front lines
Must be why sometimes
I can't get past

You must be livin' on land mines
You must be livin' on land mines
Must be why you're cryin'
Broken glass

Oh no matter how I try
I gotta watch you blow by
In a laugh

Oh . . . oh . . . oh . . . oh . . .

With all your livin' on land slides
With all your livin' on flood tides
It's a wonder how you rise
Above all that

Oh no matter how I try
I gotta watch you blow by
In a laugh

Oh no matter how I try
I gotta watch you blow by


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Spot In My Heart Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

She's a great actress, and I um, think we met the first time in '73
And she was doin' a little play off-broadway,
Ah, Heart of a Dog
And there was something different about her, put my finger on it


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Naked As A Window Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

How hard for the covers to be pulled from their slumbers,
but a ghost never gives up its sheet.
Tell me, is it the same for the rattling chains or whatever you wear when you sleep?
You remember the time that I told you to take off your clothes?
You were naked as a window.
But I'll take all that nothing over nothing at all.
I'm just a hallway for ceilings and walls, babe
and emptiness all the way through.
You know you're asking too much to be held and not touched,
but somehow that's just what you do.
You remember the time that I told you to take off your clothes?


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Change Of Time Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

I had a dream last night
I dreamt that I was swimming
And the stars up above
Directionless and drifting
Somewhere in the dark
Were the sirens and the thunder
And around me as I swam
The drifters who’d gone under

Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of time

I had a dream last night
And rusting far below me
Battered hulls and broken hardships
Leviathan and Lonely
I was thirsty so I drank
And though it was salt water
There was something ‘bout the way
It tasted so familiar

Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of time

The black clouds I’m hanging
This anchor I’m dragging
The sails of memory rip open in silence
We cut through the lowlands
All hands through the saltlands
The white caps of memory
Confusing and violent

I had a dream last night
And when I opened my eyes
Your shoulder blade, your spine
Were shorelines in the moon light
New worlds for the weary
New lands for the living
I could make it if I tried
I closed my eyes I kept on swimming

Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of
Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of
Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of
Time, love
Time
Time, love
It’s only a change of
Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of
Time, love
Time, love
Time, love
It’s only a change of time

(rough seas, they carry me wherever I go)


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Labelship Down Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter

(Here we go, a one, two, a one two three)

We heard it over the wires
That everybody here was fired
But we never even really felt hired
So we felt bad, but not that bad
We just pressed record
And started singin' like we'd sung before
We got enough, so who needs more
Of what we never really had?
As the label when down in flames
Red ink and legal claims
We kept singin' for the same
Reasons that we sang before


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The Curse Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

He opens his eyes falls in love at first sight
With the girl in the doorway
What beautiful lines and how full of life
After thousands of years what a face to wake up to
He holds back a sigh as she touches his arm
She dusts off the bed where 'til now he's been sleeping
And under miles of stone, the dried fig of his heart
Under scarab and bone starts back to its beating

She carries him home in a beautiful boat
He watches the sea from a porthole in stowage
He can hear all she says as she sits by his bed
And one day his lips answer her in her own language
The days quickly pass he loves making her laugh
The first time he moves it's her hair that he touches
She asks, “Are you cursed?” He says, “I think that I'm cured”
Then he talks of the Nile and the girls in bulrushes

In New York he is laid in a glass covered case
He pretends he is dead people crowd round to see him
But each night she comes round and the two wander down
The halls of the tomb that she calls a museum
Often he stops to rest but then less and less
Then it's her that looks tired staying up asking questions
He learns how to read from the papers that she
Is writing about him and he makes corrections

It's his face on her book more and more come to look
Families from Iowa, upper west siders
Then one day it's too much he decides to get up
And as chaos ensues he walks outside to find her
She's using a cane and her face looks too pale
But she's happy to see him as they walk he supports her
She asks, “Are you cursed?” but his answer's obscured
In a sandstorm of flashbulbs and rowdy reporters

Such reanimation the two tour the nation
He gets out of limos he meets other women
He speaks of her fondly their nights in the museum
But she's just one more rag now he's dragging behind him
She stops going out she just lies there in bed
In hotels in whatever towns they are speaking
Then her face starts to set and her hands start to fold
And one day the dried fig of her heart stops its beating

Long ago on the ship she asked, “Why pyramids?”
He said, “Think of them as an immense invitation”
She asked, “Are you cursed?” He said, “I think that I'm cured”
Then he kissed her and hoped that she'd forget that question


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Southern Pacifica Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

Southern pacific,
Red, white and blue.
Where are we running to?

Over the wide plains.
Over the wide plains.
Take me to some place new.

Remember me to Roxianne.
(You know she's still lovely)
Tell her I was on the move.
(Last time you saw me)
That you only saw the back of my head.

Climb through the timbers,
And I'll breathe the dust of
Cosmos and wild rosebud.

Thunder from unknown
Phosphorous white glow
Sabre-tooth bones in the dusk.

Remember me to Roxianne.
(You know she's still lovely)
Tell her I was on the move.
(Last time you saw me)
That you only saw the back of my head.

Remember me to Roxianne.
(You know she's still lovely)
Tell her I was barely there.
(Last time you saw me)
That you only saw the back of my head.

Southern pacific,
Take me to meet
Whatever is hunting for me.


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Rattling Locks Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

There was a time I had the right key
Rolled the tumblers
Threw the bolt
On every wandering eye I caught
But something has changed
It's all wrong
I'm out here in the cold
With a wet face
A-rattlin' your locks
There ain't nothin' new about the world
That I ain't learned from 'a just standin' here in this spot

Ain't nothin' new about the world
That I ain't learned from just watchin' you go by
I tell myself people are cold
And strangers pass
Separate themselves from love
By buildin' walls a hundred thousand miles high
Frostbite and heartsickness
Ain't neither one of them so bad
You can understand the reason why

Black hole, black hole
Are your eyes as empty as they look?
Black hole, black hole
How can your two eyes be as empty as they look?
All along I thought I was givin' you my love
But you were just stealin' it, now I want back
Every single thing you took

Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole

Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole

Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole

I had a dream where I was dyin'
But it wasn't no nightmare
I was peaceful as I fell
And if I was fallin' in to heaven
Heaven must be hotter than the bible tells
I woke up sorry I was living
Rather than rattlin your locks
I'd rather spend the night in hell
In hell
In hell
In hell

Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black hole
Black hole, black


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Folk Bloodbath Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

Lewis Collins took a trip out west
And when he returned
little Delia had gone to rest
The angels laid her away

Lewis said to Delia
that's the sad thing with life
there's people always leaving
just as other folks arrive
the angels laid her away

And when the people heard
that Delia was dead
all of them gentlemen
they dressed in red
the angels laid her away

Angels laid her away
laid her six feet under the clay
the angels laid her away

Lewis went downtown
for a new suit of clothes
He's gonna dress up
for Delia like a fine red rose
the angels laid him away

He bought a ten-gallon stetson
it was ox-blood red
and then Stacker Lee shot Lewis
in the back of the head
the angels laid him away

Stacker Lee said to Lewis
oh now don't you grieve
I'm sending you to Delia
you won't ever have to leave
the angels laid him away

Angels laid him away
laid him six feet under the clay
the angels laid him away

Oh the judge was a mean one
his name was hangin' Billy Lyons
He said you've always been a bad man, Stack
You're gonna hang this time
the angels lay you away

And the jailer said to Stacker Lee
What's the problem with you?
Oh jailer, Lewis Collins ghost brought Delia's with him too
and the angels laid him away

Angels laid him away
laid him six feet under the clay
the angels laid him away

Well they buried little Delia
in the churchyard deep
With Lewis Collins at her head
Stacker Lee at her feet
the angels laid them away

And out of Delia's bed came briars
and out of Lewis' bed a rose
and out of Stacker Lee's came
Stacker Lee's cold lonely little ghost
the angels laid them away

And I'm lookin' over rooftops
and I'm hopin' that it ain't true
that the same God looks out for them
looks out for me and you
the angels laid them away
the angels laid them away
the angels laid them away


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Lark Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

The golden ratio the shell
The stairs ascending round themselves
The trees rustle as if to kneel and listen
To the heartbeat of a lark or the lark in my heartbeat

The oxygen in priestly green
The answers dressed in labyrinthine
The telescopes atop the mountains of ecstatic vision listening
To the heartbeat of a lark or the lark in my heartbeat

I am assured, yes I am assured yes
I am assured that peace will come to me
A peace that can yes surpass the speed yes
Of my understanding and my need

The meteoric warp and went
In counterbalance to the spark ever ascending
The arrow time shoots forward though it moves through repetition
To the heartbeat of a lark or the lark in my heartbeat

What is it that drives the driven snow now?
Upon whose temples with I rest my weary hopes now?
The rain distills down steeples fills the ears of lonely church mice with the
Heartbeat of a lark or the lark in my heartbeat

I am assured yes I am assured yes
I am assured that peace will come to me
A peace that can yes surpass the speed yes
Of my understanding and my need


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Lantern Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, be the light
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, be the light
I need light in my lantern, light in my lantern, tonight

It's a hungry world out there
Even the wind will take a bite
I can feel the world circling
Sniffing round me in the night
And the lost sheep grow teeth
Forsake the lambs and lie with the lions

And the living is desperate
Precarious and mean
And getting by is so hard
That even the rocks are picked clean
And the bones of small contention
Are the only food the hungry find

I'll need light for my lantern, light for my lantern tonight
Light in my lantern, light in my lantern tonight

Where the thistles eat the thorns
And the roses have no chance
And it ain't no wonder that the babies
Come out crying in advance
And the children look for shelter
In the hollow of some lonesome cheek

And the sky's so cold and clear
The stars might stick you where you stand
And you're only glad it's dark 'cause
You might see the master's hand
You might cast around forever
And never find the peace you seek

I need light for my lantern, light for my lantern tonight
Be the light in my lantern, the light of my lantern tonight

For every cry in the night
Somebody says, "Have faith!"
"Be content inside your questions"
"Minotaurs inside a maze"
Tell me what's the point of light
That you have to strike a match to find?

So throw away those lamentations
We both know them all too well
If there's a book of Jubilations
We'll have to write it for ourselves
So come and lie beside me darling
And let's write it while we still got time

So if you got a light, hold it high for me
I need it bad tonight, hold it high for me
Cause I'm face to face, hold it high for me
In that lonesome place, hold it high for me
With all the hurt that I've done, hold it high for me
That can't be undone, hold it high for me
Light and guide me through, hold it high for me
I'll do the same for you, hold it high for me

I'll hold it high for you, 'cause I know you've got
I'll hold it high for you, your own valley to walk
I'll hold it high for you, though it's dark as death
I'll hold it high for you, and then gets darker yet
I'll hold it high for you, though your path seems lost
I'll hold it high for you, through the thieves and rocks
I'll hold it high for you, keep you safe from harm
I'll hold it high for you, until you're back in my arms

Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight


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The Remnant Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

I know who you are old man keep running
I caught your trail as you left the pines
Out into the fields where you couldn't hide nowhere
Just a thin stitch up against the rising line
And up through the blue I knew the stars were tumbling
Up through the blue I knew the star were tumbling

I know who you are old man keep running
I tracked you down by the look in the eyes
Of a thousand gone faces pressed against their windows
Horses hiding in the willows 'til the storm passed by
And a fine gray dust seemed to settle on the future
A fine gray dust seemed to settle in between
Your hat and the dapple of my appaloosa
The only living things that I could see
And up through the blue I knew that stars were tumbling
Up through the blue I knew the stars were tumbling

I know who you are old man keep running
I walked across the bottom of the lake below
Your boat and did you know that when you landed I was watching
As the sky turned dark as the eyes of a foal
And I'll know you by the shift of the wind in the cobwebs
The sawdust swirls in the fins of the bullheads
The craters that you made when you lay down dreaming
Strange constellations that you gave new meaning
By the teeth marks you made on bones from the ice age
Then smell of the cinder burning slow in your rib cage
Listen in the distance and you'll hear my shadow
Footsteps soft as the tread of an echo
And up through the blue I knew the stars were tumbling
Up through the blue I knew the stars were tumbling

And the ground will open out into a mouth below us
And the mouth will open out into the empty sky
And the whistle as we hurtle through the halls of onyx
The only sound around us as we go by
And I'll follow you out through the wells of charcoal
Moonlit stones around the cones of a black hole
Through the fields where grow the ever and forever
The tessellated blooms with the voids at their centers
Through the million rooms in a bead of luminescence
The filaments on the looms of dimension
The pillars of creation where they make the planets
The billion tiny teeth that tear the charge from your atoms
In a trillion tiny bites they'll eat the meat from the pearl
And throw your soul away a cold grey little world
And nothing that is hidden will be revealed
And nothing that is hidden will be revealed
And nothing that is hidden will be revealed


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See How Man Was Made Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

Please
Man ain’t suppose to live alone
No that ain’t what he needs
He needs to find a home
With someone else who needs a man
A man who needs a home
Man ain’t supposed to live alone

Please
You can see how man was made
He was made to need a home
And home is just a place
A place without a man
A man who needs a home
Man wasn’t made to live alone


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Another New World Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

The leading light of the age all wondered amongst
Themselves what I would do next
After all that I'd found in my travels around
The world was there anything else left?
"Gentlemen", I said, "I've studied the maps"
"And if what I'm thinking is right"
"There's another new world at the top of the world"
"For whoever can break through the ice"

I looked round the room in that way I once had
And I saw that they wanted belief
So I said "All I've got are my guts and my God"
Then I paused,"and the Annabelle Lee"
Oh the Annabelle Lee, I saw their eyes shine
The most beautiful ship in the sea
My Nina, My Pinta, My Santa Maria
My beautiful Annabelle Lee

That spring we set sail as the crowd waved from shore
And on board the crew waved their hats
But I never had family just the Annabelle Lee
So I didn't have cause to look back
I just set the course north and I studied the charts
And toward dark I drifted toward sleep
And I dreamed of the fine deep harbor I'd find
Past the ice for my Annabelle Lee

After that it got colder the world got quiet
It was never quite day or quite night
And the sea turned the color of sky turned the color
Of sea turned the color of ice
'Til at last all around us was fastness
One vast glassy desert of arsenic white
And the waves that once lifted us
Sifted instead into drifts against Annabelle's sides

The crew gathered closer at first for the comfort
But each morning would bring a new set
Of the tracks in the snow leading over the edge
Of the world 'til I was the only one left
After that it gets cloudy but it feels like I lay there
For days maybe for months
But Annabelle held me the two of us happy
Just to think back on all we had done

We talked of the other worlds we'd discover
As she gave up her body to me
And as I chopped up her mainsail for timber
I told her of all that we still had to see
As the frost turned her moorings to nine-tail
And the wind lashed her sides in the cold
I burned her to keep me alive every night
In the lover's embrace of her hold

I won't call it rescue what brought me here back to
The old world to drink and decline
And to pretend that the search for another new world
Was well-worth the burning of mine
But sometimes at night in my dreams comes the singing
Of some known tropical bird
And I smile in my sleep thinking Annabelle Lee
Has finally made it to another new world


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Orbital Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

So it was that everything
That went to make up everything
Was wrapped up tight inside a grain
Of great insistence
Then someone gave the great command
All things paired off for the dance
The great to small the small to grand
Down to this instant

Ooh!

The hawk around the field mouse
The love around a lover’s mouth
I find my mind in settling down
In circuits round you
The angels ‘round their crowded pins
The amber-waved electrons spin
In planetary transits
Round the ones they’re bound to

Ooh!

Who do you circle round
Who is it circles round you
Is it circles round you?
Who is it circles round you
Do you circle round who
It is circles round you?

The ghost around the one it haunts
The want around the thing that wants
The way the mind just wanders off and then returns to
The thought around the second thought
Love or gravity or law
Whatever name it’s got it’s got me
Circling round you
The guess around the second guess
The hornet round the hornet’s nest
The wheel time the wheel fate
The light that bends itself through space
The light that with it carries time
Which also bends in the same line
Relative to point of view
So when I catch a glimpse of you
Every time you come around
The room lights up
And time slow tooooooooooooo!


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Long Shadows Lyrics

Artist : RITTER, JOSH
Album : So Runs The World Away

I’m not afraid of the dark
We’ve been here before
Fallen on hard times, honey
We’ve fallen on swords
But if a long shadow
Falls across your heart
I’ll be right here with you
I’m not afraid of the dark

I’m not afraid of the dark
When the sun goes down
And the dreams grow teeth
And the beasts come out
Cast their long shadows
Every time that they start
I’ll be right here with you
I’m not afraid of the dark

Out on the hills the hounds are baying
Our on the moor the foxes run
To stay alive until the light has faded
Then pray for light that seems so long to come

I’m not afraid of the dark
So if the stars get scarce
And you reach for him
And honey he’s not there
Just a long shadow across your heart
You can reach for me
I’m not afraid of the dark

I’m not afraid of the dark
When the sun goes down
And the dreams grow teeth
And the beasts come out
Cast their long shadows
Every time that they start
You can reach for me
I’m not afraid of the dark


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Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

Apparently they were travelling abroad
And they picked up some hitchhikers...drill
Wake up you're dreaming...what...you're dreading
We were moving away from the border
Uh what border? Have a nice day...uh...have a nice day

We were moving away from the border
Looking for somewhere to sleep
The two of us sharing the driving
Two hitchhikers slumped in the back seat
Hello
I sneaked a quick look in the mirror
She gave me a smile
I said "Is anyone hungry?
Should we stop for a while?"
So we pulled off into a layby
Her dress blew up over her head
I said "Would you like to come with me?"
She said something foreign under her breah

And the sun shone down on her lovely young limbs
I thought to myself she's too good for him
I lay down besider her with tears in my eyes
She said


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4.33 AM (Running Shoes) Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

So I stood by the roadside
The soles of my running shoes gripping the tarmac
Like gunmetal magnets
Fixed on the fron of her Fassbinder face
Was the kind of a smile
That only a rather dull child could have drawn
While attempting a graveyard in the moonlight
But she was impressed
You could see that she thought I looked fine
And when she turned sweeter
The reason (between you and me) was
She'd just seen my green Lamborghini

So we went for a spin in the country
To feel the wind in our hair
To feel the power of my engine
To feel the thrill of desire

And then in the trees I heard a twig snap
Warning lights flashed on my map
I opened my eyes and to my surprise


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Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

There were Arabs with knives
At the foot of the bed
Right at the foot of the bed
Oh my God how did they get in here?
I thought we wee safe home in England
She said "Come on now kit, it was wrong what you did
You've got to admit it was wrong."
Oh god....jesus
Sleep Sleep
I know that I'm only dreaming
Leave her alone..get out..out..get out of my house
Through closed eyes
I see West German skies on the ceiling
And I want to get back
To the girl with the rucksack
To feel her flaxen hair
I want to be there
See the sun going down
Behind Krupps steelworks
On the outskirts of some German town

Guten Abend meiner Damen und Herren Ha Ha Ha Ha
Willkommen in Konigsburg Ha Ha Ha Ha
Wollen zie danzen mit mir oder drinken Bier Ha Ha Ha Ha
Thank you but......
This young lady and I
Will just finish this bottle of wine
It was kind of you...but
I think we'll just say goodnight.
Leave us alone
Goodnight
Leave us alone
Could I have the key to one for three please?
There you are
Thank you, goodnight

Hello yes I'd like to order breakfast please
I'd like coffee for two, and toast with marmalade
No...marmalade.


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Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

For the first time today
I help her naked body next to mine
In this hotel overlooking the Rhine
I made her mine
Ooh babe...ooh babe
Come with me and stay with me
Please stay with me
Uh...what is it?
Stay with me
Stay with me
Stay with me
No...
Stay with me
Forget it


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4.41 AM (Sexual Revolution) Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

Hey...girl
Take out the dagger
And let's have a stab at the sexual revolution
Hey girl
Let freedom for all be our rallying call
Tomorrow lets make...our new resolution
Yeah, but tonight lie still
While I plunder your sweet grave
And remember
Only the poor can be saved

Hey girl
As I've always said I prefer your lips red
Not what the good Lord made
But what he intended
Hey girl
Don't point the finger at me
I am only a rat in a maze like you
And onlly the dead go free
So...please hold my hand
As we blundre through the maze
And remember
Nothing can grow without rain
(Thunder)
Don't point
Don't point your finger at me
I woke in a fever
The bedclothes were all soaked in sweat
She said "You've been having a nightmare
And it's not over yet"
Then she picked up the doggy in the window
(The one with the waggly tail)
And she put him to bed between two bits of bread


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4.47 AM (The Remains Of Our Love) Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

I just cowered in the corner
My pyjama coat over my head
And she smiled as she finished her sandwich
And her cold eyes fixed me to my dark history
As she brushed the remains
Of our love from the bed
And when she had turned back the covers
When all of the prayers had been read
She said "Come on over here you silly boy
Before you catch your death of cold
I was only joking
Let's leave behind the city grime
Let's not compete
It could be fine in the country
Couldn't it though...come on let's go
I said "OK"

Are we going to go now?
Where would you like to go darling?
Mmm...Vermont...Wyoming (yes)
Wyoming...huh huh
Children...(what) we're going to Wyoming
Darling...Which way is Wyoming?
Hook a right here
You're going the wrong way
I know that
I know children...
Let's see how many...Volvos we pass
On the way to our new life in the country
...One
Jade don't do that, that's really negative


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4.50 AM (Go Fishing) Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

As cars go by I cast my mind's eye
Over back packs on roof racks
Beyond the horizon
Where dream makers
Working white plastic processors
Invite the unwary
To reach for the pie in the sky
Go fishing my boy!

We set out in the spring
With a trunk full of books about everything
About solar devices
And how nice natural childbirth is
We cut down some trees
And we trailed our ideals
Through the forest glade
We dammed up the stream

And the kids cooled their heels
In the fishing pool we'd made
We held hands and we exchanged bands
And we practically lived off the land
You adopted a fox cub
Whose mother was somebody's coat
You fed him by hand
And then snuggled him down
In the grandfather bed while I wrote
We grew our own maize
And I only occasionally went into town
To stock up on antibiotics
And shells for the shotgun that I kept around
I told the kids stories
While you worked your loom
And the sun went down sooner each day.

*Chapter six in which Eeyore has a birthday
And gets two presents
Daddy...come on dad
Eeyore the old grey donkey stood by the side
Of the stream and he looked at himself in the water
"Pathetic" he said, "That's what it is"
"Good morning Eeyore" said Pooh
"Oh" said Pooh, He thought for a long time

The leaves all fell down
Our crops all turned brown
It was over
As the first snowflakes fell
I realised all was not well in the camp
The kids caught bronchitis
The space heater ran out of diesel
One weekend a friend from the East
Rot his soul
Stole your heard
I said "Fuck it then

Take the kids back to town
Maybe I'll see you around"

And so...leaving all our hopes and dreams
To the wind and the rain
Taking only our stash
Left our litter and trash
And set out on the road again
On the road again

Bye Bye Daddy, Bye Daddy
You can bring Pearl she's a darn nice girl
But don't bring Liza


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Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

For the first time today
I feel it's really over
You were my everyday excuse
For playing deaf, dumb and blind
Who'd have ever thought
This was how it would end for you and me
To carry my own millstone
Out of the trees
And I have to admit
I don't like it a bit
Being left here beside this lonesome road.
Lonesome road
Lonesome road


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Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

Hey kid, you looking for a lift?...Get on up here
How's it going good buddy?
I nailed ducks to the wall
Kept my heart in dark ruins
I built bungalows all over the hills
Dunroamin, duncarin, dunlivin
Took my girl to the country
To sleep out under the moon
Next thing she's going crazy
Women are like that kid
What the hell can you do?
She waits for the real Mr. Right to come
Gently removing her heart
With his promises of real communication
I saw a program about that on TV........
Who's always picking up the tab
Who built a bungalow for his mum and dad
Me.....
Who took you out to all the shows
Who worked his fingers to the bone
Me....
While you were asleep
It was me...I did
I kept you in buttons and bows
Christ all those clothes
So you could encourage this creep
With his neat feet
And his clean fingernails
With his wise but twinkling eyes
He's a rock standing out in an ocean of doubt
Get movin', get off the road ya Goddam faggot

And compromise
I'd like to go on with this bit of a song
Describing this schmuck
I'd like to go on, but I'm going to throw up
Not in my righ you don't boy...get the hell out of here


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Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

An angel on a Harley
Pulls across to greet a fellow rolling stone
Puts his bike up on it's stand
Leans back and then extends
A scarred and greasy hand...he said
How ya doin bro?...where ya been?...where ya goin'?
Then he takes your hand
In some strange Californian handshake
And breaks the bone
Have a nice day

A housewife from Encino
Whose husband's on the golf course
With his book of rules
Breaks and makes a 'U' and idles back
To take a second look at you
You flex your rod
Fish takes the hook
Sweet vodka and tobacco in her breath
Another number in your little black book

These are the pros and cons of hitchhiking
These are the pros and cons of hitchhiking
Oh babe, I must be dreaming
I'm standing on the leading edge
The Eastern seaboard spread before my eyes
"Jump" says Yoko Ono
"I'm too scared and too good looking" I cried
"Go on", she says
"Why don't you give it a try?
Why prolong the agony all men must die"
Do you remember Dick Tracy?
Do you remember Shane?
And mother wants you
Could you see him selling tickets
Where the buzzard circles over
Shane
The bitch said something mystical "Herro"
So I stepped back on the kerb again

These are the pros and cons of hitchhiking
These are the pros and cons of hitchhiking
Oh babe, I must be dreaming again

These are the pros and cons of hitchhiking


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5.06 AM (Every Strangers Eyes) Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

Hello...you wanna cup of coffee?
I'm sorry, would you like a cup of coffee?
Ok you take cream and sugar?
In truck stops and hamburger joints
In Cadillac limousines
In the company of has-beens
And bent-backs and sleeping forms
On pavement steps
In libraries and railway stations
In books and banks
In the pages of history
In suicidal cavalry attacks
I recognise...
Myself in every stranger's eyes

And now from where I stand
Upon this hill I plundered from the pool
I look around, I search the skies
I shade my eyes, so nearly blind
And I see signs of half remembered days
I hear bells that chime in strange familiar ways
I recognise...
The hope you kindle in your eyes

It's oh so easy now
As we lie here in the dark
Nothing interferes it's obvious
How to beat the tears
That threaten to snuff out
The spark of our love


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5.11 AM (The Moment Of Clarity) Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking

And the moment of clarity
Faded like charity does
Sometimes
I opened one eye
And I put out my hand just to touch your soft hair
To make sure in the darkness that you were still there
And I have to admit
I was just a little afraid, oh yeah
But then...
I had a little bit of luck
You were awake
I couldn't take another moment alone.


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The Story Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : Radio K.A.O.S.

Benny is a Welsh coal miner. He is a radio ham. He is 23 years old, married to Molly. They have a son, young Ben, aged 4, and a new baby. They look after Benny's twin brother Billy, who is apparently a vegetable. The mine is closed by the market forces. The Male Voice Choir stops singing, the village is dying.

One night Benny takes Billy on a pub crawl. Drunk in a brightly-lit shopping mall, Benny vents his anger on a shop window full of multiple TV images of Margaret Thatcher's mocking condescension. In defiance, he steals a cordless 'phone. Later that night, Benny cavorts dangerously on the parapet of a motorway footbridge, in theatrical protest at the tabloid press. That same night, a cab driver is killed by a concrete block dropped off a similar bridge. The police come to question Benny; he hides the cordless 'phone under the cushion of Billy's wheelchair.

Billy is different, he can receive radio waves directly without the aid of a tuner; he explores the cordless 'phone, recognizing its radioness. Benny is sent to prison. Billy feels as if half of him has been cut off. He misses Benny's nightly conversations with radio hams in foreign parts. Molly, unable to cope, sends Billy to stay with his Great Uncle David, who had emigrated to the USA during the war. Much as Billy likes Uncle David and the sunshine and all the new radio in LA, he cannot adjust to the cultural upheaval and the loss of Benny, who for him is 'home'.

Uncle David, now an old man, is haunted by having worked on the Manhattan project during World War II, designing the Atom Bomb, and seeks to atone. He also is a radio ham; he often talks to other hams about the Black Hills of his youth, the Male Voice Choir, about home. He is saddened by the use of telecommunication to trivialise important issues, the soap opera of state. However, Live Aid has decynicised him to an extent. Billy listens to David and hears the truth the old man speaks.

Billy experiments with his cordless 'phone, he learns to make calls. He accesses computers and speech synthesizers, he learns to speak. Billy makes contact with Jim a DJ at Radio KAOS, a renegade rock station fighting a lone rear guard action against format radio. Billy and Jim become radio friends, Reagan and Thatcher bomb Lybia. Billy perceives this as an act of political "entertainment" fireworks to focus attention away from problems at "home".

Billy has developed his expertise with the cordless 'phone to the point where he can now control the most powerful computers in the world. He plans an "entertainment" of his own. He simulates nuclear attack everywhere, but de-activates the military capability of "the powers that be" to retaliate. In extremes perceptions change, Panic, comedy, compassion. In a SAC bunker a soldier in a white cravat turns a key to launch the counter attack. Nothing happens; impotently he kicks the console, hurting his foot. He watches the approaching blips on the radar screen. As impact approaches, he thinks of his wife and kids, he puts his fingers in his ears.

Silence. White out. Black out. Lights out. It didn't happen, we're still alive. Billy has drained the earth of power to create his illusion. All over the dark side of the earth, candles are lit. In the pub in Billy's home village in Wales one man starts to sing; the other men join in. The tide is turning.

Billy is home.

[Jim:] This is K.A.O.S. You and I are listening to KAOS in Los Angeles.
Let's go to the telephones now and take a request.
[Billy:] Hello, I'm Billy.
[Jim:] Yes?
[Billy:] I hear radio waves in my head.
[Jim:] You hear radio waves in your head? Ah! Is there a request that you have tonight for KAOS?


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Radio Waves Lyrics

Artist : ROGER WATERS
Album : Radio K.A.O.S.

Radio waves. Radio waves.
He hears radio waves. Radio waves.
The atmosphere is thin and cold
The yellow sun is getting old
The ozone overflows with radio waves
AM, FM, weather and news
Our leaders had a frank exchange of views
Are you confused, radio waves.

Radio waves, radio waves
AM radio waves, FM radio waves
Radio waves, mind-numbing radio waves
Fish-stunning radio waves
Radio waves.

Magic Billy in his wheel chair
Is picking up all this stuff in the air
Billy is face to face with outer space
Messages from distant stars
The local police calling all cars, radio waves

Hear them radio waves, radio waves
Jesus saves radio, radio waves
Radio waves, AM radio waves, FM radio waves
All them radio waves

Radio waves, radio waves, he hears radio waves
Radio waves, radio waves, hopeful radio waves, dopeful radio waves
Radio waves, Russian radio waves, Prussian radio waves
Eastern radio waves, Western radio waves
Testing radio waves, one two. One two.
Radio waves. Getting through to you
More code radio waves, Tobacco road radio waves
South to Paloma radio waves, Oklahoma City radio waves
Sitting pretty radio waves, nitty-gritty radio waves
Radio waves

[Jim:] Alright, that's a song called Radio Waves. You are listening to
KAOS in Los Angeles and we've got Billy on the line.
[Billy:] I'm from the valleys.
[Jim:] You're from the valley?
[Billy:] No, Jim you schmuck, the Valleys; male voice choirs, Wales.
[Jim:] Ah, you're from Wales! Now is this sperm or blue-tip?
[Billy:] Ha, ha, ha, ha. Very funny Jim.
[Jim:] Sorry.
[Billy:] Me and Benny went out.
[Jim:] Who's Benny?


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