My Shoes

Have you ever had to walk away
From someone you had promised your whole life to
Have you ever had to face your fears, bear the tears
And wonder how you’d ever get it right
Have you ever had to close your eyes
Have you ever had to realize
That nothing lasts forever and a day
Well I’ve done what must be done
I’ve chased the moon and sun
Have you ever had to do what I’ve done

Did you ever have to hold your ears
Pretending that the cries you hear were always there
Have you ever had to re-explain, take the blame
And wonder how you’d  ever get it right
Have you ever had to justify
Look that person in the eye
That someone you had promised everyday
Well I’ve done what must be done
I’ve chased the moon and sun
Have you ever had to do what I’ve done

CHORUS:
Everybody has an answer
Everybody takes a side
Everybody has a ticket
On that never-ending ride
And the old adage is true
Until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes
You don’t know but I do

Did you ever feel the finger point
At everything you felt was meant to happen
Did you ever have to close the door on what went before
And wonder how you’d ever get it right
Did you ever tear your heart in half
Did you ever forget how to laugh
Cause nothing lasts forever and a day
Well I’ve done what must be done
I’ve chased the moon and sun
Have you ever had to do what I’ve done

CHORUS

Until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes
You don’t know just what it’s like
You might call it indiscretion
You might think you’ve got it right
You can draw your own conclusions
Every situation’s new
And no one really knows what I’ve been through
But I do

Did you ever have to sacrifice
The safety of a home you worked so hard for
Did you ever have to pack it in, start again
And wonder if you’d ever get it right
Did you ever have to exit blind
Did you ever have to leave behind
The treasures you had gathered everyday
Well I’ve done what must be done
I’ve chased the moon and sun
Have you ever have to do what I’ve done
Cause no one really knows what I’ve been through
But I do

———————————————-

The Wedding Song

Love is something none of us
Should ever take for granted
Love is something that we often do
It can shake you to the core
And it can turn the planet
Or it can sneak up in an old soft shoe
In the moments that we’re hardest hit
When life gets in the way
Always keep in mind the vows we vow to keep
I will love you in the waking hours,
The hours of the day
I will love you more each night we fall asleep

CHORUS:
Don’t lose sight
Don’t feel bound
Just give thanks for the love we’ve found
Take my hand
Take my heart
And I will keep the prayer to never walk apart

Love is how you say my name
The secrets that we share
Love is how you see into my soul
The way you smile, the way you stand
The color of your hair
Most of all the way our lives unfold
Through the years we grow together
Tried and tried to true
I will strive to keep you safe in every way
I will love you like I’ve never loved, tender only you
I will love you each and every single day

CHORUS

———————————————-

The Apartment

They were 3 in a tiny room
3 in an apartment
A young girl older than her age
By poverty and need
A mother clinging closely to
The daughter of the tragic
While the husband stares remotely
Past his hungry family

The subway rattles overhead
Neon flashing loudly
The heat of summer blisters
Faded paper from the walls
Dressed in Sunday finery
Waiting for some magic
The mother turns her head to hear
The neighbors down the hall

CHORUS:
Will they go on living broken lives beside each other
Will they perish from each other’s sight, each other’s mind
Starved in their indifference and empty in the cupboard
They will go on beating back the tears
And running for their lives

They were 3 in a tiny room
3 in an apartment
One room and a kitchenette
3 plates and a pan
Not a chance of privacy
Not a day that’s easy
The sober girl, the sorry mom
And the steel-eye of the man

CHORUS

The clock keeps time with heartbreak, the ticking tricks temptation
You wind it hoping hands will move the night into the day
You rise before the sunlight to test imagination
To see if maybe this time you will find a better way

And if the girl is lucky
If she can find the nerve
There’s still a chance that she might move
Beyond the bitter fray
But only if she looks outside
The shattered, smoky windows
Only if she bravely bolds the door
And walks away

CHORUS

———————————————-

Bigger Than I

Washington this time of year is so dreary
It rains and it’s dark and it’s hard to stay cheerful
But each time I come here, the sun is so shiny
As if it were trying to prove that I’m wrong
And I’ve traveled so wide, I’ve traveled so far
And I’m looking for something outside this car
And it’s all about music, it’s all about time
And it’s more about something much Bigger than I

Kentucky is blistering hot in the summer
You barely can move, so you lie around naked
It’s slow as molasses, that’s how they tell it
But I’ve always managed to get up and be gone
And I’ve pushed through the heat and I’ve plowed through the snow
And I’ve fought off my demons each place I go
And it’s all about poetry all about rhyme
But it’s more about something much Bigger than I

Sweet understanding, I’m standing on nothing
Holding the thinnest line
Here as I’m falling, I’m calling of something or someone to keep me
Keep me in time

New Hampshire is pretty when the leaves turn to gold
You can drive there for hours and never get tired
Of the colors of autumn before it turns brittle
But watch out for winter, she’ll lock you up tight
And I’m off again Monday and home again May
It may be for the weekend or only a day
And sometimes it’s tiring, sometimes so high
But it’s still about something much Bigger than I

And Texas is hungry and trying to grow bigger
By pushing up derricks and stretching for miles
And remember the Alamo, sweet San Antonio
Driving through Houston can take you all night
And it’s east and it’s west and it’s north for the frosting
70 shows and a hundred ten crossings
And it’s all about beauty, it’s all about ties
It’s more about something much Bigger than I

Sweet understanding, I’m standing on nothing
Holding the thinnest line
Here as I’m falling, I’m calling of something or someone to keep me
Keep me in time

And Michigan’s home for a couple of weekends
Wisconsin is all that I hoped it would be
But I’m hardly at home and I’m hardly with family
But this is the life that is chosen for me
And I’ve pushed through the heat and I’ve plowed through the snow
And I’ve fought off my demons each place I go
And it’s all about poetry all about rhyme
But it’s more about something much Bigger than I

———————————————-

I Choose You

Come hold me hand, come hold me tight
Lose that feeling that you can’t do it right
I may seem distant, I may look blue
It’s just something that I’m still going through

CHORUS:
But I chose you, I choose you still
I always did and I ever will
It was a risk that I would once again choose
You are the love I can’t live to lose

Come here and put your arms around me
There’s a world here together we’re just learning to see
Though I tend to go away, it’s never that far
I come back every time to where you are

CHORUS

All these apologies we’ve been making
All these nights spent so cold and shaking
All I mean to say and haven’t still
Give me time I will, I will
All these fences we’ve been trying to mend
All these days together we spend
All I mean to do and haven’t still
Give me time I will, I will, I will, I will

So don’t get scared, don’t get that look in your eye
We’ve found ourselves together and we both know why
There’s still some changes we’ll both go through
But it’s about me and it’s all about you

CHORUS

Hawk and the Dove
How many people
How many lives
How many times
Humanity dies
Where lies compassion
Where lies the love
We run in fear
As the Hawk devours the Dove

Nothing prepares us
Nothing we’ve seen
Our wars are fought abroad
And on the big screen
We let the darkness in
Let out the love
And run in fear
As the Hawk devours the Dove

CHORUS

Half mast we fly through the time that tears apart
Once more we cry for the beating of the heart
And if hatred took the time for letting go
We just might find that lost rainbow

So many families
So many lost
We fight these senseless wars
At any cost
We pay the most though
For the loss of love
And run in fear
As the Hawk devours the Dove

CHORUS

Let out the mourning wails
Let go the rage
The only way to win
Is to turn the page
And find a million ways for showing love
And run now more
‘Til the Hawk becomes the Dove

———————————————-

How In the World

I was walking down the road one day
I spied a little girl and she was looking my way
And I caught her by the eye and said “how do you do”
She said “much better no that I am talking to you”

So I followed her right down the street
She didn’t seem to mind and she was looking so sweet
And I asked her “if you please where are you walking to?”
She said “no where in particular, I was looking for you”

So I asked her “could I maybe take along
I’ll tell you who I am and I will sing you my song”
She said “I wouldn’t mind it very much you see
I was hoping and a wishing you would stop by me”

CHORUS:
How in the world do we find each other
How in the world does the world come through
When all around us is some harm or another
How in the world do you do

So we sat and talked for hours by the lake
She told me she loved water and she couldn’t stand snakes
And I told her who I was and how I made my way
She said tell me more I’d like to hear all you’ve got to say

And I told her that could maybe take a spell
I got many songs to sing and many stories to tell
She said, “that’s quite alright I haven’t any plans
Why don’t you sit right here beside me, maybe take my hand”

CHORUS

So I told her everything I had to say
By then I was quite smitten and I knew I had to stay
So I asked her “Could 6we maybe try our hand at this”
She put her arms around me and we kissed

CHORUS

So it’s an awfully long way around this world and back
Hard to keep a focus, harder still to keep on track
But if you find someone to walk beside you everyday
There’s nothing you can’t do and even less that you can’t say

So find someone to love and hold on tight
Talk to her all day and hold her tighter in the night
Cause only love can make the difference in a day
It may not last forever, but it’s worth it in every way

CHORUS