Esk

Click any track to expand the lyrics.

• 1 Honey, Do You Know The Way Back Home?

  Tell me the way back home dear, I’ve had enough

  A Sisyphus with reverse Midas touch

  Come and see the noble struggle on!

   

  Honey, do you know the way back home?

   

  Whatever works

  It's not like you owe me

  But I thought you were really smart and pretty

  Whatever works.

   

  You can wear your best dress every night

  And do your makeup in the rear-view as we drive

  Keep your watch set on a time you know

   

  Honey, do you know the way back home?

   

  Whatever works

  It's not like you know me

  But I thought you were really smart and pretty

  Whatever works.

   

  I could be your stable home-base boy

  Make meals and excuses for you to enjoy

  And never hunt another pot of gold

   

  Honey, do you know the way back home?

• 2 Be Like The Water

  Tumblers of tonic and boxes of wine

  To medicate maladies and buy you some time

  Before the world crashes in like a shot up the spine

  Spinning

  Like a planet in an empty sky

   

  Don’t forget to write

  From the place you spent the night

  Never fear

  Be like the water my dear

  Be like the water my dear

   

  The hills you remember from when you were young

  They are still standing tall like the day you were born

  But in ten thousand years they will likely be gone

  By the water worn

   

  Don’t forget to write

  From the place you spent the night

  Never fear

  Be like the water my dear

  Be like the water my dear

   

  You are an arrow shot from a womb

  You are destined for things that a destined for you

  There’s a quivering wind and some fighting to do

  So keep your eyes open and pray that your aim is true

   

  Don’t forget to write

  From the place you spent the night

  Never fear

  Be like the water my dear

• 3 If I Am A Candle, You Are A Spark

  Surrounded by light in a bar by the seaside

  I decided to play the cards hid up my sleeve

  A string of goodbyes and a gaping divide

  Cut the things that I want from the things that I need

   

  Forget what you know about me

  I’ll write songs in a major key

  So tune your antennae

  We're notes in a symphony

   

  A man needs a muse like the forest needs fire

  Or a river needs floods to help it change its path

  You’re no good for me, but I swear you could be

  Like a rain-check, a friendship, a shot in the dark

   

  Forget what you know about me

  I’ll write songs in a major key

  So tune your antennae

  We're notes in a symphony

   

  You learn when your life is a string of goodbyes

  That the further you wander the fonder you are

  There’s a quotable phrase running ‘round in my brain

  Says “If I am a candle, then you are a spark”

• 4 Lay Low

  You can fight your battles on your own

  Kiss the boys all knocking on your door

  Forget it all if you can find a way

   

  But I am gonna want you all the same

   

  Bite my tongue to stop words falling out

  Take my pride and blood, swallow it down

  Seven girls since I’ve been in your space

   

  But I am gonna want you all the same

   

  Lay low

  Steady as you go

  I don’t want to know

   

  H.M.A.S Caesar all aboard

  Hot knives in your back is the reward

  Words are weak when honesty brings shame

   

  And I am gonna want you all the same

   

  Lay low

  Steady as you go

  I don’t want to know

   

  Wasting all my youth on you again

  Time will take your beauty and your friends

  When you’re alone and your features start to fade

   

  I am gonna want you all the same

• 5 The Universe

  All the world

  In the palm of a hand

  A tiny grain of sand

  In a giant cosmic landside

   

  It still takes a day

  To get yourself as far away

  As it's possible to be

  When you live on a spherical sea

   

  The Universe gave life to earth

  So it could learn how to sing

   

  The hurt that we cause

  Remembering you will get yours

  A Governments laws

  Who you working for?

   

  The Universe gave life to earth

  So it could learn how to sing

   

  I swear we could be

  Formidable, friendly and free

  If love was enough

  And our pockets are empty

   

  The Universe gave life to earth

  So it could learn how to sing

  So sing at the top of your lungs.

• 6 Summer In New Zealand

  I woke up under mountains that were rugged proud and steep

  I jumped out of a cable car with a rope around my feet

  I flew across the Tasman so I could see things more clearly

  And work out what the hell’s been going on with me.

   

  And everywhere I’ve been it seems essentially the same

  The light just hits my eyes in slightly different ways

  But I saw beauty in a sunset, so I think things are gonna change

  Oh what the hell’s been going on with me?

   

  I jumped into a harbour that was forged by ice and snow

  I swam out through the waves I held my breath and went below

  And as I came back up I made a vow to let it go

  What it is that’s going on with me

   

  I drank beer beside a lake as we sat camping in the rain

  I told my friend “I’m loosing it, I think I’ve gone insane”

  He said “you’ve gotta keep on moving, no you can't go back again”

  Oh what the fucks been going on with me?

   

  Every view

  It has a postcard charm

  Perspective is my own personal game

  So if the worlds a painting

  I’d better see it through a different frame

   

  I met a girl in Arrowtown, she had hair of amber red

  And I took her out to dinner, then I took her to my bed

  And I never felt so lonely as when she looked at me and said

  “You make me feel there’s something wrong with me”

• 7 What Am I Gonna Do With All Of My Love Now?

  Skipping stones on open water wasting time

  Revolving door of ditzy, shiny valentines

  This city's just a constant drone with some fluoro lights

  But you slipped in through the cracks and now you never leave my mind

   

  Drinking tea and watching Return Of The King

  I like the way the gates are guarded but they still sneak in

  And I don’t get no weekends, only days that I don’t sing

  But I’d like to spend my time with you on every one of them

   

  I was saving it for you

  Before you cut me out

  What am I gonna do with all of my love now?

   

  Hanging on your porch after laying ‘round all day

  I like the way you get real close and then you pull away

  Waking in the dead of night to a ball of flames

  Some kids will burn their boredom down because they’re so afraid

   

  I was saving it for you before you cut me out

  What am I gonna do with all of my love now?

   

  Policeman asks me if I’m heading home

  I just say “man, I don’t really know”

  Pour everything I have into a breathalyser blow

  He waves me on says “kid, you’re good to go”.

   

  If there’s honour in defeat I don’t think it’s worth the pain

  I’d rather die a coward buried in an unmarked grave

  I suppose it all depends on the heights at which you aim

  And you’d better take it in the chest if your gonna play the game

   

  From the space between my ribs it keeps on pouring out

  What am I gonna do with all of my love now?

  Cold hands, warm heart, taxi rides in a dressing gown

  What am I gonna do with all of my love now?

   

  What am I supposed to do with all of my love now?

• 8 Interlude

  Instrumental

• 9 Esk

  I’d been running like a river down the path of least resistance

  When I got caught in the eddy’s of your deep calm pool

  I was thinkin’ i’d keep moving till my body gave out

  And my knee’s began to tremble at the sight of you

   

  Meet me when I make it to the outer south

  On that tiny island you won't get away

  Following the river through it’s changing seasons

  Till we find a place we can stay

   

  Is it just in my imagination; all this longing?

  I have heard that everything is always as it must be

  When you’ve only got a little, you’ve got more room for moving

  And for carrying the friends you find along the way

   

  Oh my god

  Where am I going?

   

  Meet me when I make it to the outer south

  On that tiny island you won't get away

  Following the river through it’s changing seasons

  Till we find a place we can stay

   

  You said it must be lonely when you’re always moving

  But there’s comfort found in doing what you’re born to do

  I had always thought that I was born for singing love songs

  But I’m thinking now that I was born for loving you

   

  Meet me when I make it to the outer south

  On that tiny island you won't get away

  Following the river through it’s changing seasons

  Till we find a place we can stay

   

  I was like a wave upon an endless ocean

  'Til I found a shore on which I could break

• 10 Be Brave

  Bleary eyes

  And something passed me by

  Passed me by

  It had feathers blowin’ around

  And I wasn’t sure if there was something wrong

  Something wrong

  Or there had been until now

   

  Stay kind as the spindle unwinds

  Every one of us the same

  Spinning blind forward in time

  Know you’re lucky and be brave

   

  I know a girl who holds a steady calm

  Steady calm

  And she lives in her own way

  She tell’s me about the good in slowing down

  Slowing down

  And she wants me to be brave

   

  Stay kind as the spindle unwinds

  Every one of us the same

  Spinning blind forward in time

  Know you’re lucky and be brave

   

  The sum of all the suffering I’ve seen

  That I’ve seen

  Comes to visit me sometimes

• 11 The Joneses

  Every day I’m walking in my sleep

  Running a race at a pace I can't keep

  No matter what I tell you I cant help but give a fuck about the Joneses

   

  Every night I’m waking in a daze

  Sweating it out while my dreams wash away

  And staring at the ceiling I can’t help but give a fuck about the Joneses.

   

  Life is long

  You can’t write the future like you write a love song

  If you lie awake waiting for the sun

  It’s never gonna come

   

  The black and blue is fading from my jeans

  It’s rubbing you up wrong / sticks on me

  I can feel I’m getting callous from the pressure of my fingers on the strings

   

  Life is long

  You can’t write the future like you write a love song

  If you lie awake waiting for the sun

  It’s never gonna come

   

  Don’t the days go slow?

  Out here on my own

  Put a record on

  Goodnight Mr Jones

   

  Life is long

  You can’t write the future like you write a love song

  If you lie awake waiting for the sun

  It’s never gonna come

   

  Life is long

  You can’t write the future like you write a love song

  Die awake waiting for the sun

  But it’s never gonna come until you put your sh*t to be and run

   

  And no matter what I tell you I can't help but give a fuck about the Joneses

• 12 Yes, I Am Insane

  Well, I’m just trying to keep up with the endless ebb and flow

  But life seems to keep happening even when my eyes are closed

  If I were to go blind I’d probably never even know

  I mean I see the world through melodies and I feel it through my toes

   

  People are like X-rays or like sturdy aeroplanes

  I don’t know how they operate but I trust them all the same

  When I come crashing down I’ll only have myself to blame

  You told me it would happen and I just thought you were insane

   

  Well I’m insane

  I’m insane

  I studied for a test that I was never going to take

  Believe the lies it’s easier that way

  A handshake and one month’s severance pay

   

  I have a friend called Angus he’s the best there’s ever been

  Proficient on the double bass and arts/philosophy

  He tells me what my chords are called, and when I’m out of key

  I love him like a brother and I hope that he loves me

   

  Either way

  Either way

  I’d take a bullet for him with a smile on my face

  A comrade I can trust to set the pace

  Makes me feel like everything’s ok.

   

  A government for the people is what they sell you when you’re young

  But they forget the part where millionaires and miners come along

  And try to sell us all the f**king rug we’re standing on

  Whilst telling you which kind of love is right and which is wrong

   

  Seems insane

  When the future's facing backwards better turn the other way

  And I suggest a subtle change of name / From government

  To GOD DAMN WASTE OF SPACE

• 13 My Replacement

  Would you let me in on your secret?

  I waited around

  But the other boy you were seeing

  Well he won out

   

  My nerves scream I should forget you

  And my friends say the same

  My sister, she thinks your just young

  And in a lot of pain

   

  Does he follow you around?

  Does he slow your thinking down?

  Does he make you feel like everything is new?

   

  It was crowded at the stage door

  But I could see your frame

  Cutting awkward silhouettes

  Across the crowds mêlée

   

  I had one hand in my pocket

  The other on my phone

  Trying to make out I wasn’t waiting for you on my own

   

  Does he know that you get frightened flying in aeroplanes?

  Or that every single time you lie your eyes give you away?

  Does he mumble when he’s sleeping?

  Does he make your body shake?

  Does he wrap himself around you when it’s late?

   

  Oh my God

  There’s a pit inside my stomach and it’s eating me alive

  Oh my God

  I’ve never felt so used and disrespected in my life

  Oh my God

   

  The last in line to find out

  The last in line to leave

   

  Are you kissing in the photos?

  Do you like it when he’s mean?

  Do you tell your friends that he’s the most beautiful boy you’ve ever seen?

  Does he love you like I loved you?

  Joyful, young and endlessly?

   

  Is my replacement far better than me?

   

  So you let me in on your secret

• 14 And The Ass Saw The Angel

  Oh my darling don’t whimper

  Please be not afraid

  Toil with sickle and hammer

  Toward the dawning day

   

  Stay quiet

  Wipe the sleep from your eyes

  Stay quiet

  Never say a word

   

  Back bent, buckle your belt babe

  Stalk the rustling cane

  Angel sits on your shoulder

  Asking you her name

   

  Stay quiet

  Wipe the sleep from your eyes

  Stay quiet

  Let actions tell your tale

   

  Big black boxes burn brightly

  Sick smoke stings your eyes

  Throw your love and your memory

  Into the towering fire

   

  Stay quiet

  Let it dance in your eyes

  Stay quiet

  Slowly slip away

  Stay quiet

  Let it dance in your eyes

  Not a word

  Never say a word