HISTORY

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Chorus
You got a history, history 
You’re a mystery, mystery 
You got a history, hidden in these walls 
You’re a mystery 
But not for long 

There’s a story hovering ‘round here 
A ghost floating through the halls 
It’s like all of us can feel it 
But when you turn around, it’s gone 
And it’s hard to say I’ve seen it 
But here’s something that I know 
Your voice is always close behind 

Chorus

Well, you’ve taken to whispering  
Behind closed doors 
In that room lined with books that makes you look so smart 
And I bet you think these walls 
Are gonna keep your secrets safe 
But I’ve been hangin’ round, 
And I can hear ‘em start to talk 

Chorus

Well, the lie won’t live forever, 
Oh, but it’ll hang on 
The lie won’t live, the lie won’t live. 

You got a history, history 
You’re a mystery… 
You got a history, hidden in these walls 
You’re a mystery, a mystery 
But not for long

Miles of Green (2016)

Bless the Ones // bless the one who walks down the sidewalk while the wind blows all around/bless the one who crosses that bridge though the waters threaten to down/bless the one who hungers and thirsts for love though it’s nowhere to be found/bless the girls who walk through that door just looking for a softer sound/the ones you long to call daughters and sons are just outside my window/they’re lookin’ for love any way they can mostly going where the wind blows/bless the kids who stand on the corner with no father to be found/bless the mothers doing the best they can needing more love to spread around/chorus/bless me Lord who thinks I’m not needy got it all figured out/there are storms that rage in me and their floods will threaten to drown/the ones you long to call daughters and song are just inside my window/we’re looking for love any way we can mostly going where the wind blows/will we find out what the wind knows // 

Take Me With You // got my start in the northern parts place they call Midwest/adults who do not know they are, school-bound by morning/made my way through the prairie state before the sun arose/rocking lonely ones to sleep, still many hours to go, oh/I see gold fields dry from the August heat/where the delta and city meet/lonely houses sit atop those hills/And the playground where no children play/streets that once knew better days/before empty after empty building started falling down/I’ll find my end and begin again where we drop below the seas/and by this time you will not believe what I’ve already seen/empty bottles from Saturday night left down by the railroad tracks/old men lean in the shade of the trees who know they can’t look back/chorus/and every day I pass you I can hear/oh, every day I pass you I can hear you say/take me with you/but someone’s gotta stay/someone’s gotta stay/someone’s gotta stay/someone’s gotta stay/in those gold fields, dry from the August heat/that one day will remember green/and know new life again/know new life again //

Miles of Green // miles of green, at least miles it seems/more between you, between me/still I have come to see you grow up/and move on like we both know you should/and one day we’ll call them memories/but today they’re the wounds of what was/and you’ll go and cry into your pillow/but, baby, what else could I have done/at the edge of your bed, but you’ve long fled/to the mountains you’re so sure will give you life/in two months time this little note you’ll find/to remind you what I never did forget/chorus/and one day I hope you’ll be proud of me/and wipe away what I should not have done/and we’ll sing these songs as memories/and we’ll know this is the best we could have done/yeah we’ll know this is the best we could have done/miles of green, well at least it seems //

Little Robin // Little robin red breast why do you run/across the yard and up the hill/little robin red breast why do you chase/everyone so far away/from where you are it might be hard to not be afraid/of what other want to take from you/but from where I sit I must admit you look pretty lonely/and still afraid/little broken heart you set out on your own/and left behind the ones you love/desperate and a victim, it’s the part you love to play/it’s the part you love to hate/chorus/do you know what you’re afraid of/do you know what brings you pain/is it shouting from the silence/does it sound like your own name/from where I sit I must admit you look pretty lonely and still afraid/and from where you are it might be hard to not be afraid/of what other want to take from you/but from where I sit I must admit you look pretty lonely and so afraid, you look so afraid, but it doesn’t have to be that way //

I’m Gonna Lose You // I can’t stop staring at you/the rise and fall of your chest ‘neath the heavy white blanket and the years/sing from the little brown hymnal/words I am hoping you hear/through the beeping and crying I’m tryin to hide/I’m not naive I know how the ends/I’m gonna lose you/the memories have flooded but still can’t distract/I’m gonna lose you/I’m gonna lose you/good intentions say there’s still hope/written on little notes/but I know that you know the end has come/chorus/I know you wanna go home/I know you wanna go home/I know you wanna go home/I know you’re ready to go/I’m not naive/I know you wanna go home/I know how this is gonna end/I know you wanna go home //

Up From the Bottom // It must be hard to see your old friend’s face there/in the headlines of the news/another body on the bathroom tile/cold from years of overuse/there are things we do in the darkness/we wait until we’re all alone/it’s there that we convince ourselves we’re useless/and need this hit to pull us through/I am not the one to say I told you so/you know it by now/but I will be the one to tell you/you need people to love/people to hold your hand/people to walk you from the bottom of the bottom back up onto dry land/whether you’ve known the big lights of L.A./or the darkness of my street/you need something that can’t be found in the needle or the bottom of that drink/chorus/need is a powerful force tells us many a good lie/shut the door push them away/lands us back on the bathroom floor/it must be hard to see your own worn face there/looking back across the room/telling you that you’ve got two choices/and only one you’ll make alone/I am not the one to say I told you so you know it by now/I am not the one to say I told you so/chorus //

Sorrow’s Joy // how would we mark the seasons without life and death to send us on our way/well, I can think of 10 good reasons to keep you here to keep you here, oh/with every wedding I remember my vow/with every death my grief rises from the depths/this new life together begins as one long life ends/on the joy oh the pain/skies of piercing blue cover over us/I watch you walking toward your awestruck groom/and I wonder can I hold such joy in my heart/I can’t contain cannot contain/chorus/he’s sitting in a wheelchair off of highway 49/a tired soul with flesh just hanging on/and I wonder can I hold such sorrow in my heart/I can’t contain cannot contain/she was so beautiful in that 50s black and white/but now she’s gone and he cannot hold on/chorus/Luke and Kristin let me sing this to you/life is short whatever way you go/but I wish you full of the true and good/I wish you full of the true and good/I wish you full of the true and good/50 years to learn to love to learn to die/‘cause no now knows how to love until they lose their life //

Stairs // I remember climbing those stairs/but I don’t remember seeing you there/your dad so elusive your mother so shy/it’s enough to make the brothers cry/it’s enough to make the brothers cry/were you just there hiding out back/or out making up for things that they lack/is the grass really greener is everything fine/or did you lose your head in beer and wine/did you lose your head in beer and wine/you’ve got the grace to keep movin’ on past their mistakes/but maybe you’d rather stay maybe you’d rather stay/do you remember words that they said/or tell yourself it’s all in your head/now you’ve grown older picked up your own stones/‘cause they’re easier to throw at yourself/so much easier to throw at yourself/chorus //

Lonely Guy // I passed a prisoner driving into town/he was wearing those stripes that scream out so loud I’ve messed up/he was all alone I couldn’t figure out why/maybe they trusted him more than the other guys/still I wonder if he liked being alone/I put on my make-up and the clothes to play the part/of a girl who’s really done something with her life/and you might not see chains on me and I might not wear stripes/but I’m no different than that lonely guy/I don’t spend my days walking concrete floors/and my eyes see the sun rise just fine/and you might not see chains on me and I might not wear stripes/but I’m no different than that lonely guy/I’m no different than that lonely guy //

Rich Ones // more money than I’ll ever see/buying more house than I’d ever need/it’s a life that I can only imagine on a TV screen/but I guess that someone can believe/it's a life that we should think we need/but I know what it means to make your own way/well I said it before and I’ll say it again/we are the rich ones baby/we are the rich ones/the rich ones yeah/every now and then we think we should trade it in for something sleek and shiny/so we can show ‘em yeah we’re doing fine/but then the door flings open wide/and the table’s full and the wine is fine/and we remember this is the good life yeah/chorus/the cupboard's never seen empty/the dinner table’s never been alone/it’s a life that I cannot imagine not having for our own/chorus //

Leaving the Shadows (2012)

Freedom // sister stop your pacing feet/you'll wear a hole in the floor by morning/sister calm those voices loud/they've never done a thing but wear you out/kicking screaming all day long/but the reality keeps hanging on/that everything is falling through/what will they ever come to think of you/have you ever known such freedom/have you ever known the truth/that you are so much more than the flowers of the field/and he'll take care of you/ what in the world are you living for/is it to gain the world or something more/'cause Jesus came to set you free/from all the things that keep you company/chorus/sister what we need is freedom/sister what we need is truth/that we are so much more than the flowers of the field/you are so much more than the flowers of the field/and he'll take care of you //

Memphis Song // guilt hangs over my every move, worse when I try to sit still /‘cause you are so very hard to love, still I will try to love you/sounds of distress come through cell phones, help comes by way of your lies/I’ve never been very good at this, I’d like to give up before I try/(chorus 1) oh Memphis, you’re holding me closely/oh Memphis, you’re holding on tight/but tonight, I wish you would let go/down on your knees on the pavement; I just need a Colt 45/well, at least you are honest, at least you cut straight on through/but the hour is getting late, and you’re falling down, down, down/you’re falling down, down, down/(chorus 2) oh Memphis, you’re holding me closely/oh Memphis, you’re holding on tight/oh Memphis, why do you do this/oh Memphis, I can’t find your light/oh tonight, feels like driving away/we must find a way we can make it/we gotta find ways to speak true/we can’t run away to the next place that might end up looking just like you/(chorus 1)/somehow we will push through the darkness and look for light on the other side/somehow we will push through the darkness and look for light even here tonight //

Mr. Cooley // every year the summer knocks us down/we shut our blinds like there's a criminal in town/and fill our glasses full of the best sweet tea and spend the hours by the light of the TV/old man Cooley he rises with the dawn/sips his coffee while he waters down the garden/pick some okra, pull some weeds when the sun grows hot it's in the house to read and pray/do you pray for us Mr. Cooley/do you see the writing on the wall/where everyone knows everyone but no one knows a thing/is this what you always dreamed/oh Mr. Cooley/the university snatched me up with time/well I waved hello but never said goodbye/now the family's moved and the house is sold/but we don't look back no we don't look back/(chorus)/now I live 300 miles away/on the river where Elvis' body lay/and I wish I'd known you, I wish I'd known/oh I wish I'd known you, I wish I'd known/(chorus) //

Who I Am // I've been writing songs for many years now/some are sad, some are glad and everything there in between/I sit and sing them on the living room floor/or by the candlelight with friends all gathered 'round/oh, they don't break me, they don't break me anymore/no, they don't break me, they just make me/I remember that day back in college when I was sure the sun would never shine again/now we catch each other's eye across the table/just sure that there is no one else in sight/chorus/one day you'l understand just what I sing/and you will look back on that day/and you'll remember all the hurt and happiness/but you won't stay, 'cause you can't stay/you won't stay, 'cause you can't stay/I remember every name and every face/and every roadtrip that we ever made/and I count every single one as my blessing/'cause I know my life never went unlived/oh, they don't break me, they don't break me anymore/no they don't break me, they don't break me anymore/no they don't break me, they just make me... who I am... who I am //

Neha's Song // sister you've been broken/the pain it pours on you/though we cannot stop the rain/we will walk awhile with you/sister you will cry tonight/the tears they won't hide the pain/but we will gather by your side/and we will sit awhile with you//we are your family, your very flesh and blood/we'll carry your pain for you/so lay it on our backs, lay it on our backs//sister you'll reach high tonight/for God to hear your pleas/but when you can reach no more/we will send them high for you/oh, we will send them high for you/(chorus) //