Home State

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• 1 All At Once

  All at once

  All at once

  It comes on in a rush

   

  Satellite

  Copper wires

  Merciful and kind

   

  Spinning like a ceiling fan and you've

  Been chasing me around the map

  Engines turning make me who I am

  Call me when you can

   

  Big and bright

  The runway lights

  Show me what I miss

   

  If the sky is blue for your today

  I'll be staring at the moon half a world away

  Bouncing my thoughts off its beautiful face

  To rain down upon you

   

  Spinning like the Milky Way

  And closer to you day by day

  Time's just a construct

  Let it lay

  Call me when you can

• 2 This Is What It Feels Like To Die

  It had been a month of hanging out to dry

  With a cold south wind blowing

  Through me all the time

  I had Hallelujah running through my mind

  Thinking, "This is what it feels like to die"

   

  The moon's a friend who rarely lets you down

  Every now and then she fades a bit

  And can't be around

  And on the panic of those frightened chilly nights

  I think "This is what it feels like to die"

   

  When you're hamstrung by happenstance

  So you're second-guessing what is wrong and right

  And the tendrils of your searching roots

  Are cut off in the night

  This is what it feels like to die

   

  Rebirth repeating like a roulette ball

  Rising like a phoenix from the heart of it all

  And if you ever find the meaning to your life

  That is what it feels like to die

• 3 Kindness Is A Dying Art

  I could smell it as we flew through the night

  Packed like sardines in a tin satellite

  And the jet fuel made its way into my dreams

  When we landed all the restaurants were closed

  I was hungry; I had dirt on my clothes

  And I waited for my friend to come get me

   

  Kindness is a dying art

  In this world of back-announce and muscle cars

  Kindness is a dying art

  Oh honey, kindness is a dying art

   

  In the morning in the best shirt I own

  I went walking through the tunnels below

  Off to beat the drum

  Gonna spread my message wide

  While I waited for the king and his men

  Tapping S.O.S with the tip of my pen

  I was praying I'd find a way I could get inside

   

  But kindness is a dying art

  In this world of girly mags and photographs

  Kindness is a dying art

  Oh honey, kindness is a dying art

   

  My friend says you should measure your time

  By the ones who keep you warm on the line

  And I'm trying to live that message through

  Like the last kid left to root for the team

  Or the jet fuel in an aeroplane dream

  There's a fire and it's waiting in the wings

   

  Kindness is a dying art

  In this world of twitter feeds and credit cards

  Kindness is a dying art

  Oh honey, kindness is a dying art

  Kindness is a dying art

  In this world of politicians and movie stars

  Kindness is a dying art

  Oh honey, kindness is a dying art

• 4 Rings

  A ring for every finger

  An eye for the workings of musical theatre

  And ancient history

  Wrapped up in a jumper

   

  Like a wall to protect her from all kinds of weather

  And an excuse to leave

  She does not believe

   

  Once she'd been damaged

  And she learned her lesson well

  That nobody owes you nothing

  And the hardest thing to do is love yourself

   

  Six months, many drinks later

  She's boarding a plane

  Bound for somewhere in Asia

  Where her money goes far

  Throwing up in a gutter

  Like she's trying to get rid

  Of the monsters inside her

  And that pain in her heart

  Wondering, "Where do I start?"

   

  There's something in the way

  She can't get up off the bed she made

   

  Tucked in tight for the evening

  Flickering lights cross her mind while she's sleeping

  And up from her dreams

  Comes a voice she remembers

  Says, "Your mind is a kite that will fly to the heavens

  If you let it be free"

   

  Once she was damaged

  But she learned her lesson well

  When nobody owes you nothing

  The only thing you can do is love yourself

• 5 Berlin

  Standing at a window sill

  Like a statue on a hill

  Watching all the cyclists saunter by

  German food and German cars

  German manners, German bars

  Everything is German here but I

   

  Spinning like a satellite

  Turning through a lonely night

  Without a body I can orbit 'round

   

  Don't be such a silly thing

  Ride your bike around Berlin

  It will help you get your feet back on the ground

   

  Grandpa came here once before

  At the end of the second war

  He bought his way with cigarettes and gin

  But times have changed since V-E day

  Churchill and Enola Gay

  So I just use my credit card and pin

   

  Down along the eastside wall

  I met a man dressed as a horse

  And he took me out sailing for the day

   

  Don't be such a silly thing

  Ride your bike around Berlin

  You know everything will be ok

   

  Like an empty soda can

  Like a dancing plastic bag

  I'm blown 'round this town I hardly know

  I came in on a loving wind

  And love will send me back again

  And I'm gonna take some memories when I go

   

  The beer is good the price is right

  As I plunge into another night

  While dawn rains down on everyone I love

   

  Don't be such a silly thing

  Ride your bike around Berlin

  And do your best

  Because that is good enough

• 6 A Way With Me

  She's got islands on her shoulder

  Smiled at me when I first told her

  Looks for truth like agent Moulder

  It's hard and heavy like a boulder

   

  Of all the weights that I must carry

  This one sings, I know

   

  She has a way with me, a way with me

  She's gonna run away with me

   

  I've been cooped up like a trophy

  Second floor apartment only

  Writing songs and drinking coffee

  Sleeping like a fallen oak tree

  6pm I hear her engine

  Coming home, I know

   

  Come morning I'm surrounded by

  A warm and loving light

  Falling on my eyes

   

  We can find the quiet places

  See where wanderlust can take us

  Slow and steady wins the races

  Live our lives out of suitcases

  I don't care just where we're going

  Rest my head upon your islands

• 7 Instruments

  You are an instrument of god

  You are exactly what I want

  You are the visions in my brain

  You are the dawning of the day

   

  Come knock my defenses down

  Come and tip my bottle out

   

  I don't understand this world

  We try to build it

  They try to make us hurt

  You are the drug that kills the pain

   

  Come and wipe my memory out

  Come and slow my thinking down

   

  And I won't go to sleep

  'Cause I promised that I would be here

  If you need to talk

  If you forgive my delusion

  I promise that I will stand by you forevermore

   

  Time is a flat circle until you decide

  Everyone's waiting and I don't know why

• 8 The Dive

  The politics and narcissists of culture float on by

  We're held in place by hypocrites

  Geometry and space-time

  We are swallowed by the monster

  With its jaws gaping and wide

  It's a race down to the bottom

  Hold your breath before the dive

   

  There is noise upon the airwaves

  There is noise inside my head

  There's the harsh light of the smart-phone

  The alarm clock by the bed

  I see characters all dancing

  From every book I've ever read

  There is truth but it is quiet

  And I can't hear what it says

   

  What a devastating loss

  When you forget about the past

  I can't be sure I'm thinking clearly

  Anymore

   

  You and I are foreign

  Coming from another time

  There's a look of understanding

  There's a phone-tap on the line

  There's a billion people screaming

  For the ego and the "I"

  It's a case of your intention

  Black and white, so pick a side

   

  And all of the questions you keep

  Locked inside your mind

  They have their answers out there

  Waiting on us to find

  The thieves up in the castle

  Want the blind leading the blind

  But one idea can change the world

  From time to time

   

  The politics and narcissists of culture float on by

  The distraction and the bulls**t

  The disgusting waste of time

• 9 I'm Not Sure I'm Here At All

  Blinked so I missed it

  You move f**king fast

  The diamonds I'd stolen

  Was just broken glass

  Cutting my fingers

  Refracting the past

   

  I'm not sure I'm here at all

   

  So I started bleeding all over the room

  Had to push you away so as to not bleed on you

  Red handed and selfish

  Howling at the moon

   

  A sad sleepy sailor without a boat

  Lashed two hearts together

  Magnetic tape rope

  Until the moment he sunk

  He was sure he would float

• 10 Dear Old Soul

  See you soon dear old soul

  Out there somewhere, further down the road

  Some other time where crows and sheep

  Seem to stumble upon everything

   

  And none of it is ever as it seems

   

  Treading water

  My big achievement

  Growing older

  Just making rent

  Plastic cups and counting silver

  You know me too well

   

  When it comes, let it be slow

  Let it be careful

  Let no one know

  That we are human

  Let no one see

  When you unleash that part of me

   

  None of it is ever as it seems

   

  Treading water

  My big achievement

  Living smaller

  Just to make rent

  Glassy eyes and endless questions

  You know me too well

  Airplane toilets

  Foldout couches

  Leapfrog luck and backstage passes

  Is this really what we wanted?

  I never can tell

• 11 Wedding Song

  Running through a snow storm

  Just a noisy, static white

  When I heard your welcome whisper

  And I saw your steady light

  I was slightly scared to heed it

  But I ended up inside

  And you gave me tea

  And you sat me down

  And you kissed me soft goodnight

   

  You have granted all my wishes

  I'm forever in your debt

  So won't you leave that life of longing

  And come marry me instead?

   

  Drunk on King Street, Newtown

  When we went to meet our friends

  They did not know we'd been making out

  So we had to pretend

  But underneath the table

  I had one hand on your leg

  While I tried to kill my stupid grin

  And keep my eyes ahead

   

  You have granted all my wishes

  I'm forever in your debt

  So won't you leave that life of wandering

  And marry me instead?

   

  I've been building little fires

  In the cockpit of my mind

  A place I could stay warm and dry in

  Never knowing I could fly it

  Lately I'm just so damn glad it was you

   

  Camping by a river

  Staring out into the stars

  And you asked me why I love you

  As if your dimples aren't enough

  And I thought about the universe

  Expanding like a heart

  And I said, "Well it's just infinite

  No ending and no start"

   

  Won't you leave that life of wandering

  And marry me instead?