I promised I would keep in touch, and I’ve been writing letters
The last one that I sent her should have kept her satisfied
I told her about Loretta how I drove her to the ocean
How she held her ground and waited to be swallowed in the tide
I promised I would call her when my time is at hand
Long-distance operator
Don’t tell me that you can’t place my call
She was stuck on Coney Island; I was trying to keep my love awake
With adeline ten steps away from the tracks of the train
I was desperate to write something; Adeline just held my hand too hard
So I send my regards and she sends back the rain
I promised I would call her when my time is at hand
Long-distance operator
Don’t tell me that you can’t place my call
You sang a mountain melody, a lullaby but I cant sleep
I’m losing time
You say you’re from the city but you know that you can’t fool me
Adeline, Adeline
Loretta seems indifferent, like there’s always something shattered
She says its not the truth that matters: it’s all what we believe
But her bedroom walls are well-lit, shards of sunlight warm as velvet
Your story, tell it to me before midnight makes me leave
I promised I would call her when my time is at hand
Long-distance operator
Don’t tell me that you can’t place my call
Don’t you think that I could reach her; I’ve been dreaming of her smile
Like a secondhand revival, I could hear the touch that heals
The mercy voice in written word speaks to something in the spirit
But wont you let me hear it so it could speak to something real
I promised I would call her when my time is at hand
Long-distance operator
Don’t tell me that you can’t place my call
The snow kept a comin, did you really think the roof would collapse?
Like a hummingbird humming, just to stay in place you had to flap your wings so fast
Dance across the garden when the flowers start to push through the ground
The top is mighty hard but it gets softer as you make your way down
Whatcha gonna do when the money’s already spent?
You swallowed every dollar and you don’t know where it went
You could ask for some assistance but nobody’s gonna help you for free
And every penny in your pocket marks the distance between you and me
There’s dust around the edge but I can’t see the point in wiping it clean
The sun sits on the window ledge and imitates the pattern of the window screen
The cold comes through the curtains but there’s no good way of keeping them closed
You don’t have to tell me that you’re hurting; you should know by now that everyone knows
Whatcha gonna do when the money’s already spent?
You swallowed every dollar and you don’t know where it went
You could ask for some assistance but nobody’s gonna help you for free
And every penny in your pocket marks the distance between you and me
Not one more dollar if you’re only gonna holler and scream
Not a single subway token cause the last time we spoke you said you’d seen the last of me
I’m sweating in my bed, I’ve got a letter on my television set
It’s from a stranger, and she said you gotta grab a hold of something so you might as well hang
onto regrets
So I’m trying to repeat it to whoever needs to hear it from me
There’s a line between defeated and destroyed that can be so hard to see
Whatcha gonna do when the money’s already spent?
You swallowed every dollar and you don’t know where it went
You could ask for some assistance but nobody’s gonna help you for free
And every penny in your pocket marks the distance between you and me
The streets are seized by antique leaves buried neath the snow all winter
The trees don’t need their lessons repeated: they’ve seen each season wither
But she’s been called away til fall so she’ll return to find the forest dying
She’s bound for Arizona where the time is wide and the sunrise follows behind
She tears all the paper off of the walls as if her memories had fallen beneath
But she can’t capture every picture of her past: they break the windows and scatter toward the
sea
Her hair pulled back, she looks down and laughs: her face framed to find me when I need
She’s bound for Arizona where mirages outnumber the images that burn and bleed
Daydreams become nightmares: they’re seamless like the sky
She lets go of me tonight and in the morning she’ll be ready to fly
One kiss says goodbye darling one kiss says thank you dear
For a minute I’ll be honest; another minute and you won’t be here
You can’t fight fate if it makes you wait: it casts its shadow on the path of time
She’s bound for Arizona where the air’s so warm it dries your tears before you cry them
From the attic of the basement where the clear-eyed church bells moan
Where the change is held from wishing wells to buy a drink before you go
The lights fight through wrought iron til the girls glow like madonnas
All their faces wait for kisses but you wouldn’t even wanna
Generosity and ignorance: the tenets of my faith
Sink softly in the wooden walls til I can barely touch a trace
Love can only muster half itself once its recognized the cold
It veils itself in old wives’ tales that mean less each time they’re told
116 highways, I could never drive them all
Before you disappear into the fog
She points out the tower like the moon has been replaced
I’ll depart convinced I’ve memorized her saintly face
But if the vision sinks, I’ll have no strength to raise the wreck
The bells about to wring another hour’s brittle neck
Those aren’t fallen angels; those are schoolgirls in disguise
Those things you think are wings are pulsing shadows in your eyes
You could hurt my heart like heaven if you really want to join them
But the minute that they failed to fly we’d both be disappointed
116 highways, I could never drive them all
Before you disappear into the fog
Somewhere in the summer, the heat will strike a nerve
You’ll swear through the sweat you’re gonna get what you deserve
But all that comes is night, and night don’t offer no release
You’re gonna want someone to love you, but you’ll settle for a breeze
Midnight beats me like a drum; I’m halfway home and haunted
I got more than what I came for but not half of what I wanted
The headless horseman warns me don’t surrender to the night
He takes one shot to hold him over; I’ve got one shot to make it right
116 highways, I swear I’ll ride them all before you disappear into the fall
I meant to kiss your death wish lips
I stuttered when I asked permission
Must have had the will to live buried somewhere deep and hidden
Well I robbed Paul and murdered Peter
For the sake of those believers
Who fall prey among deceivers, never feel the Lord’s forgiveness
You wore a cotton boutonniere
I didn’t mean to sound sincere
The wrecking ball will swing this way again
We’ll both wind up in the wind
Do your lips leave salty tracks behind
That would sting the cuts and cracks in mine?
Do you close your eyes and take your time?
I imagine that you would
Insomnia of wasted days
Wreaks havoc on a restless brain
By those who’ve never felt the pain, it can’t be understood
I praised the empty faceless sky
Then cursed the sleep that clouds your eyes
The stars against the storm could not defend
I watched them wind up in the wind
The arrogant remains cascade
Like wingless martyrs on parade
Toward ground below toward fate repaid; to chase but not be chased
A life of savings left unspent
A man must sin before he can repent
Even the most firm of the firmament must long to be embraced
You were born on water and
I was born on fire
Someday we’ll wipe the dust from our skin
It’ll wind up in the wind
Last time I saw Desdemona, she was hidden neath a cloak
She spoke to me about the way a man should never say goodbye
She wrote me the sweetest note about how she thinks I saved her
I didn’t speak but meant to say I think that she was right
Then slid beneath my door was a note from you about the joys of moving on
This is burning springtime, cause the worst of winter’s come and gone
Outside a church, a worker perched himself at the feet of their virgin mother
She bowed her head forever, so miraculously demure
Ten paces from the base, Father John looks on in silence
To convert the unbelieving with his monastic lack of words
And the passersby left to decide which one of them does not belong
This is burning springtime, cause the worst of winter’s come and gone
She confused her own reflection with my real identity
I miss her
I miss her
I miss her
I miss her but I’m glad that she is free
Good night Desdemona: may the city keep you hidden
May your home escape your memory so you’ll return to me someday
You said I had all I wanted; I said I’d had enough
I wiped the last hairs from your face and refused to say your name
I had one stop left to make and then I’d leave alone I knew it all along
This is burning springtime cause the worst of winter’s come and gone
The wind doesn’t whisper; it whips and it burns
It does every old thing but stand still
I can’t see my breath cause the air in my lungs
Is cold enough on its own to kill
I’ve been making mistakes that I keep for the sake
Of posterity; bury me low
Cause after I go, I won’t want you to know
Every memory’s a joke that moves painful and slow
It snows by the ocean like it snows in the city
But it can’t hope to compete with the sand
The horizon seduces the snow home to the sea
So a drift doesn’t have long to stand
She never complained when it rained on our nights
Though we never could seem to keep dry
She said show me something honest that won’t burn like a forest
And I will show you a lie
I’ve been seeing the future in stain glass mosaics
Like puzzles of color and light
They all tell a story I can’t piece together
They’re only illuminated at night
The root of the problem, the truth at the bottom,
The core that explodes through the skin
My love is all fiction, but I’ve been conditioned
To fall in again and again and again
So if you think I’d be better at the bottom of the sea
Thrown through a window like a hurricane breeze
Then the story ends now, but it won’t end with me
I think that it’s time to let go
Cause I’ve got a date I was late for an hour ago
Where the necklace meets the neck it’s getting wet from sweating through the song
It might take a voice to make it but it takes a spirit to belong
By the first line I’m hypnotized, my eyes are following your cowboy boots
I’d believe you if you told me you walked all the way from Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz
Reckless angel
Santa Cruz
You’re no stranger to me now
There’s something bout the city that’s as pretty as the great unknown
You can watch the stars collapsing past the ground to burn out on their own
Your picture’s black and white and faded, but the spotlight shades your bare skin blue
Nashville died alone but it was born again in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz
Reckless angel
Santa Cruz
You’re no stranger to me now
The country’s getting dusty: someone must have seen it coming undone
Your words were piling up; I tried to touch them as they left your tongue
And I thanked the lord above that I could trust that everyone was true
There’s nothing quite as sacred as that aching voice from Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz
Reckless angel
Santa Cruz
You’re no stranger to me now
He is swallowed in the crashing crowd, stumbling toward a spot to call his own
She stays step-for-step beside him, but it’s obvious he’s perfectly alone
Through a haze he waits impatiently for her to repeat a sign she’s never shown
He glances toward her sideways though he means to look her straight into the eye
A touch would tell the story but he’s tied and trapped and can’t afford to try
So he seeks his satisfaction reflecting in the windows they walk by
Get along home to the one that you love
And pray to whoever may hear you above
But listen for the fire
For to see is not enough
Summer’s barely still a memory, so the warm wind brings the cold rain out of spite
Once the winter has its way, the details of the skyline will burn white
So she dreams a dream like city steam that she could disappear into the night
Someone sighs and someone bleeds; her eyes light up and give into the word
She is torn between epiphany and the wait to see what has sparked itself in her
What glows from both directions is the lesson that you get what you deserve
Get along home to the one that you love
And pray to whoever may hear you above
But listen for the fire
For to see is not enough
Although they share a fever, a common fate of fear is something stronger
The sun can only heal so much: the curse of dusk must always fall upon her
The soaking sands the barren land, she understands that they belong to her
She occasionally scans his face for ways to trace the depth of his devotion
He stares straight toward the highway: the rain reminds him of the crush of the commotion
Until she dominates his vision singing love songs as she slides into the ocean
Get along home to the one that you love
And pray to whoever may hear you above
But listen for the fire
For to feel is not enough
Real live words from along dead maiden
Written in French with no translation
Nightingale to red-eyed raven
A bottle in a message
I speak from neath the monument
Who starts to sing the sacraments
The great unstated poet
Who electrifies the blessings
My signal turns to smoke and fades
The skyline suffocates the flame
That speaks in distant tongues
But saves its strength for eyes to hear them
The beggar tries to seal his fate
And steal from the collection plate
The last word hung, the last song played
Leaves no reason to fear them
The doors I’ve tried have all been locked
The trails I’ve traced have all been blocked
These roads aren’t paved with touchstone or great foundation rock
Visions of the Midwest trembling
Displaced skeletons assembling
Messages that they’ve been sending
Cannot cut through winter
The eyes that peer across the ocean
Waiting for a forfeit motion
Apology and pure devotion
Sightlines start to splinter
The warrior returns unchanged
To the city walls from where he came
Not hero villain crazed or sane
Dissolves into the alley
Long lost strangers I can’t see
Point their fingers straight at me
No secrets stagger to the peak
They’re hidden in the valley
The doors I’ve tried have all been locked
The trails I’ve traced have all been blocked
These roads aren’t paved with touchstone or great foundation rock
Atomic vacuum sucks the sand
The desert devils wave their hands
At those afraid to take a stand
They know their names and numbers
The bells on fire each ring burns
The sunset spins the tower turns
From fields of fortune she returns
To find those who’ve outdone her
The dictionary bleeds like me
Into her arms while her eyes might be
The sky whose lightning strikes me when
I try to tell a lie
But deep is the identity
That recognizes honesty
Among the temporary
Miracles they televise
The doors I’ve tried have all been locked
The trails I’ve traced have all been blocked
This dust is neither touchstone nor great foundation rock
The world will wound the heals that run
From finish lines toward stolen suns
Before they realize its begun
The race is all but over
Around the necks of fallen friends
Hang rubber crosses they can bend
In any shape before they send
Fond farewells to their lovers
Delirious dreams of the desert that swallows
The gates of the city and the great storm that follows
The clock hands they held you someplace past tomorrow
Somewhere I couldn’t reach but through waiting
The ghosts bite their tongues but they rattle their blood money
Great waves of change that I didn’t see coming
Time spent with the dead is exchanged for the currency
Of priceless perfection frustrating
Did you know that daybreak is nothing
Nothing but a spark in your eye?
The final nail when darkness fails
To dim the distance between you and I
Those not amused by the shout of a promise
Can bury themselves with the silently wantless
Or suck themselves clean in a vacuum of honesty
My heart belongs to another
From sunset to sunrise and I haven’t slept yet
The overgrown fields have proven fertile for theft
In the absence of dreams you believe in what’s left
Til there’s no frontiers to be discovered
Did you know that daybreak is nothing
Nothing but a spark in your eye?
The final nail when darkness fails
To dim the distance between you and I
It’s black on the border all shadows and bullets
They disprove what you know before you even knew it
There’s a line in the sand and if you whisper through it
I’ll reply as if I’d never doubted
The summer descends down a waterless well
That reaches straight into the hollows of hell
Where no soul still struggles cause we all burn ourselves
With echoes of wishes we shouted
I don’t fight the night cause I’m on western time
I see the sun comin, but I know it’s a lie
Cause she’s gone to bed but she’s still on my mind
And what dream could hope to replace her
The day’s last impression is the same as its first
You can stall your surrender but each time it gets worse
Each encounter unscripted, each word unrehearsed
So I try to keep a secret everything I say to her
Did you know that daybreak is nothing
Nothing but a spark in your eye?
The final nail when darkness fails
To dim the distance between you and I
She was beautifully damaged for all the wrong reasons
She used to say spring was her favorite season
I never said nothing to dispute or to frighten
She could’ve made me believe that the day was the night
And when sunrise don’t come I chalk it up to her sorrow
I gotta make her feel better if I want the sun tomorrow
She’s writing the story I’m trying to live in
The last line should describe the way that I’ve been forgiven
Let’s raise our voices if we could
In a broken hallelujah
Before our voices die down for good
Hallelujah
Phone wire’s hung up for the public execution
There’ll be no call to pardon there’ll be no absolution
The streets are lined with gallows, and we’re both convicts
Telephone rings with the voice of the haunted
Not broke but disheartened hysterically silent
I made my last stand alone while the city turned violent
I shouldn’t have asked, but the question persisted
And given your answer my words must have twisted
Let’s raise our voices if we could
In a broken hallelujah
Before our voices die down for good
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
The sad souls were starving for a reason to be joyful
All they found on their arrival were fields of sallow soil
So with nothing to grow, they could just be used to bury
They thought together of the city while they died out on the prairie
The last refuge of the lonely is to love with no abandon
I’ve found the feel of sanctuary in every heart I’ve had a hand in
I’m admiring the last tree that stands among the smokestacks
I don’t know if it’s the shadows, smoke, or her that turns the sky black
Let’s raise our voices if we could
In a broken hallelujah
Before our voices die off for good
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
hallelujah
