Hospital Hill

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• 1 Facing South

  Facing south into the wind

  A matchstick bobbing, frail and thin

  Friends will leave, and lovers sin

  We've come so far, so let's begin

  Let's begin

   

  There's a fire deep within us somewhere

  It will keep us warm as we sail on

  It's gonna rail until we see the sun

   

  If you don't like me, never fear

  I'm always leaving, rarely here

  Let lonely critics tear it down

  We'll start again on level ground

  Level ground

   

  There's a fire deep within us somewhere

  It will keep us warm as we sail on

  It's gonna rail until we see the sun

   

  I try to love the life I keep

  The artistry in struggling

  When no one heeds the words you speak

  Words are useless, words are weak

  Words are weak

   

  There's a fire deep within us somewhere

  It will keep us warm as we sail on

  It's gonna rail until we see the sun

   

  You lit a fire deep within me somewhere

  I felt it catch and knew you were the one

  Let it rain until we see the sun

• 2 Hospital Hill

  Deep in the breast of you

  Hills on three sides

  I was trying to untangle

  My musical mind

  I was dying to fit in

  And to feel alive

  As the river kept time

   

  I was a schoolboy

  Only fifteen

  Playing super-nintendo

  On an eight-inch TV

  Trying to feel in control

  Of someone or something

  I could feel you

  Shrinking

   

  When I was an infant

  You filled up my head

  With the smooth smell of incense

  And "jazz-cigarettes"

  And I knew that I loved you

  And could never forget

  Though you never

  Knew me

   

  And autumn would come

  With its chill in the air

  And the rustle of leaves

  Like a sigh of despair

  So we'd jump from the branches

  Into the rivers cold care

  And our teeth did chatter

   

  Are you a demon?

  Are you a friend?

  Or a spinning roulette wheel

  Of blurred black and red?

  I was told over-thinking

  Would mess with my head

  And it made me worry

   

  But you were my world

  For the longest of time

  From the hospital hill

  To the valley behind

  And the old sawmill

  Wrecked like a ship in the night

  I could feel us flounder

   

  But the water brings life

  Pumping blood through your veins

  So you flourish and grow

  Stronger every day

  And I come and I go

  But I can't stay away

  Like a figure 8

• 3 People Don't Care

  On the inside, fighting a war

  Against the headless

  The heartless

  The wolves at your door

  I heard them calling

  Loud as a war

  Singin' "people don't care about songs anymore"

   

  Did I hear you correctly?

  There must be some mistake

  I tend to stop thinking

  When my heart starts to break

  My wisdom tooth's aching

  And my fingers are sore

  And people don't care about songs anymore

   

  I'm not singing for money

  I'm not singing for fame

  I'm just singing to let out

  The noise in my brain

  The horse being drawn

  By the cart drawn before

  If people don't care about songs anymore

   

  People don't care about songs anymore

  people don't care about songs anymore

• 4 Hotel Rooms

  Hotel rooms

  Always the same view

  Instant coffee

  And minniature shampoo

  And under my feet

  The carpet wearing through

  Just like me

  It's seen a trick or two

   

  Along the way

  I've broken and I've made

  I've poured my heart out

  Almost every day

  And once in a while

  There's nothing left to say

  Just keep walking

  And you'll be on your way

   

  Every time I close my eyes

  There's a stranger in my head

  Telling me with a whining plea that

  "There are strings attached"

  And I'm a "marrionette"

  And you are two whole states away

  In a half-full double bed

  Wondering if it's worth your time…

   

  There's a concept

  Hanging from a string

  It looks so perfect

  A shiny, pretty thing

  And as I get closer

  It moves away again

  But if I stop

  Who will I be then?

• 5 The Road, A Snake

  What can you teach me?

  How do I learn it?

  It's like trying to cut diamonds

  From the tail of a commet

  Making something from the dust

  Of a fast-moving object

  With the whole world watching on

   

  And I have tried hard

  To be a child of compassion

  But feasting looks good

  When you've been living on rations

  Did you kill for survival?

  Or did you kill for fashion?

  Either way, I guess now it's done

   

  I'm holding my breath

  As I fly down the freeway

  My eyes are bloodshot

  And I think I've come the long way

  If I can hold out

  I'm going to make it to a new day

  It's coming with the rising sun

   

  I've got a chip on my shoulder

  And a sandpaper concience

  I felt the world spin

  Like a political promise

  I swear that it felt bigger

  Before I knew the difference

  Like the memory of your childhood home

   

  I'm holding my breath

  As I fly down the freeway

  My eyes are bloodshot

  And I think I've come the long way

  If I can hold out

  I'm going to make it to a new day

  It's coming with the rising sun

   

  Like those headlights coming on

  And the road snakes out

  Just like a hang-rope

  Black and long

  There's a pattern repeating

  In the back of my mind

  A thousand lonely drummers

  That are playing in time

  And I can never tell

  If it's truth or desire

  That keeps them marking on…

• 6 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

• 7 Low In The Highlands

  Feeling low in the highlands

  History repeats

  There's a scene behind my eyelids

  Luscious blues and greens

  I do this every time

  Always want what I can't find

   

  My heartbeats and footsteps

  Are falling in time

  As I try to run rings 'round

  These knots in my mind

  And they go on forever

  But I'm still gonna try…

   

  You can tell in the photos

  Seems I'm getting old

  Then the sun let its guard down

  And everything went gold

  I saw your face in the sky

  I'd never seen you so high

   

  My heartbeats and footsteps

  Are falling in time

  As I try to run rings 'round

  The knots in my mind

  And they go on forever

  But I'm still gonna try…

   

  It's a long way back home

  My beard is getting too long

  And you're running like a river

  And I'm pouring like a waterfall

  Oh

   

  My heartbeats and footsteps

  Are falling in time

  As I try to run rings 'round

  These knots in my mind

  And they go on forever

  But I'm still gonna try

  Yeah they go on forever

  But I'm still gonna try

  Yeah they go on forever

• 8 Apple Tree

  I trust our love

  Like I trust gravity

  It's a fact of science

  A fall from an apple tree

  And there will never be

  A Galileo

  To prove us wrong

  No

   

  Watch the sunrise

  And welcome the breaking day

  I do believe

  Things were always going to be this way

  So I just have to say

  No Galileo

  Will get in the way

   

  Some people live

  On a mountain top of pain

  They stare out over a vast valley of envy

  We are the same

  But we face the other way

  And stare out over a valley

  Full of apple trees and plenty

   

  You are my love

  You are my gravity

  Grounded in truth

  We're not the centre of anything

  We orbit and twist and spin

  Oh Galileo

  Love and fear

  And all that we know

• 9 Antipodes

  I was a mess

  Brought to my knees

  Far from my home

  In the antipodes

  A flightless bird

  A dog on a leash

  Like moses of old

  You set me free

   

  You try your best

  To do the right thing by me

  You stay busy

  Putting paint upon the page

  This world of ebb and flow

  Of passports and coffee

  Makes me dizzy

  And I want to make a change

   

  You are a girl

  Who's all on her own

  And you can't get to sleep

  When you feel this alone

  And it's not the same

  When we talk on the phone

  Miss that skin upon skin

  Miss the breath and the bone

   

  You try your best

  To do the right thing by me

  You stay busy

  Putting paint upon the page

  This world of ebb and flow

  Of passports and coffee

  Makes me dizzy

  And I want to make a change

   

  So, let's have a kid

  And move out of town

  Where there's stars in the sky

  Get our own patch of ground

  Let the constant quiet

  Slow everything down

  Alone in our love

  And I'll stick around

• 10 Stargazer

  As I lay here on my back

  Beside the ocean and its depths

  The history of the universe was shining on my head

  And I thought about how I just want to live until I'm dead

  And remember everything

   

  Remember all the songs I wrote

  When I was seventeen

  Those melodramatic verses

  That poured out so easily

  And my brothers and my sister

  Waving outside on the street

  On the day that I left home

   

  Big brother's always watching you

  To make sure you're alright

  Like a camera in a taxi-cab

  Through city streets at night

  It's a pay-per-view experience

  To televise the fight

  You just name your date and time

   

  Oh my god

  I can't relate

  To half the things I've said

  The only way I know it's me

  Is the looping line of memories

  In my head

   

  I remember playing roller hockey

  Outside on the street

  The goal posts were always shifting

  For the cars that slowed and beeped

  And those little plastic caps

  That I had strapped upon my knees

  To protect me when I fell

   

  And our family dog

  That waited for us outside primary school

  She would wonder 'round the town

  With no regard for the road rules

  And she taught me how to live within the moment

  Pure and true

  Things are good right here right now

   

  And our mother used to spend her weekends

  Driving 'round the state

  Taking me and all my football friends

  From game to football game

  And on Monday morning up at five am to start again

  I don't know how she stayed awake

   

  Oh my god

  I can't relate

  To half the things I've been

  The only way I know it's me

  Is the maze of fuzzy memories

  In my dreams

   

  You as I lay here on my back

  And watch the starlight coming down

  Outside a tiny country hall

  Inside a tiny country town

  I can hear the singing sounds

  Of the support act ringing out

  And the crowd all clap and cheer

   

  And I am grateful for the love I've found

  And travelling I've done

  I am grateful to my parents

  That I get to be their son

  I am grateful that I have the strength and will to carry on

  Like some quiet rolling stone

   

  And I am grateful to the artists

  Who have come into my life

  And expanded my horizon

  Like a camera on a kite

  I am grateful for the songs they wrote in hotel rooms at night

  Like a window to the truth

   

  And now the universe is spinning

  And I have to play a show

  And I'm not sure what is coming

  But when it happens I will know

  And until then I will try to live with love

  And take it slow

  I wanna live until I die