Catch Me!

December 2005

You know, I’m going to run out of fresh things to say about these if I don’t find a new theme. But hell, it’s bouncy and kind of Belle & Sebastian-y. And it does touch a somewhat different tone than other things I’ve written: full of enthusiasm, but not quite ready to jump.

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Catch me! I’m not falling but I’ll fall for you
Catch me! I’m not falling but I’m trying to
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but this is true
If you catch me I’ll be there to carry you.

Wake me! I’m not sleeping but I dream of you
Wake me! I’ve been out for near a month or two
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but so are you
And together there’s no telling what we’ll do

Save me! I’m not dying but that’s all I do
Save me! I’m an inch away from breaking through
Don’t be scared, honey! We’ve got everything to lose
But that’s only if it’s what we want to do

Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool I know it’s true
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but so are you
Don’t be scared, honey! I don’t have to fall for you
But I’m telling you there’s more that we can do

Oh, catch me! I’m not falling but I’ll fall for you
Catch me! I’m not falling but I’m trying to
Don’t be scared, honey! I’m a fool but this is true
If you catch me I’ll be there to carry you.

Keep on Dreaming

November 2005

It’s got that enthusiastically uncertain vibe that I do so well. And I also seem to have drifted into a bit of a… roots rock? … mode lately, which is why I come up a bit clichéd on the choruses. But it’s been fun to sing, and it’s one of my more inspired songs lately. Think Johnny Cash.

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There’s a song you hear in the dead of night when your thoughts have all gone dry
And you keep on thinking till your head goes numb and you keep on wondering why
And you keep on falling down
And you keep on trying to fly
And there’s a song you hear in the dead of night when your thoughts have all gone dry

But you keep on moving
You keep on trying way too hard
And you keep on losing
But you keep on going back to the start
But you keep on dreaming
You keep on keep on keeping on
You keep on saying, babe, don’t make me sing this song

And there’s a face you see when you close your eyes that you don’t even try to explain
And you keep on talking till you’ve figured it out and your friends all think you’re insane
And you keep on looking up
And you keep on down the drain
But there’s a face you see when you close your eyes that you don’t even try to explain

But you keep on moving…

And there’s a voice you hear when you wake up cold and you color your days with your dreams
And you keep on believing till you’re scared to death that it’s nearly as hard as it seems
And you keep on breaking down
And you keep on gaining steam
But there’s a voice you hear when you wake up cold and you color your days with your dreams

But you keep on moving…

And there’s a song you hear in the dead of night that’s burning a hole in your mind
And you keep on trying to disguise yourself like you know what tomorrow will find
And you keep on looking for daylight
And you keep on flying blind
And there’s a song you hear in the dead of night that’s burning a hole in your mind

But you keep on moving…

So don’t you kill me, honey
Don’t you walk me down the line
Don’t you kill me, honey
You know you’re a friend of mine
And don’t you worry, baby
It’s all right now I’ll be fine
Don’t you worry, baby
You’ll be on my mind

Hymn to St. Elmo the Sailor

November 2005

This is my first attempt at a drinking song. I’m not entirely sure how this idea came around, but I managed to write almost all of it on the CTA going home for Thanksgiving.

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Protect me, Saint Elmo, though I am no sailor
I’m running on seaweed and fumes
And I’m in no navy but that’s not important
I’ve no one to turn to but you

Protect me, Saint Elmo, I’m drowning
I’m drowning my troubles in booze
I’m up to my eyeballs in cheap gin and vodka
If you won’t help drink it, I’m through

Protect me, Saint Elmo, a sailor
For the deck is a-heaving and swaying
I know I’m not shipboard but I’m getting seasick
It’s making a mess of my brain

Protect me, Saint Elmo, though I am no sailor
I’m sure that you’re wondering why
There’s nobody else who can help with my problem
I can’t seem to keep myself dry.

Protect me, Saint Elmo, a traveler
My compass is guiding me stray
My sea-legs are presently rather unstable
And the bartender says I can’t stay

Protect me, Saint Elmo, I’m grounded
I’m beached on the side of the street
What I mean to say is I’m stuck in a gutter
And the liquor has capsized my feet

Protect me, Saint Elmo, though I am no sailor
Just heed this poor vagabond’s cry
I’ll shiver my timbers and batten my hatches
If that’s what it takes to get by

Chicago Rain My Blues Away

November 2005

Somehow, these things are always really good when you finish them at 4 in the morning. Even if I just can’t seem to avoid the weather imagery. This one was fun. It started out sort of Bell & Sebastian inspired, although I think the tempo changed along the way and there a bit of melody I may have stolen from the Allman Brothers. Do I even have to say it’s about a girl at this point?

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I’ve been talking in the station of the crow’s unsteady flight
I‘ve been waking in the morning to a grey and shaky light
I could stake my reputation on my never being right
Oh Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

Cause it’s been so long without sunshine
I can’t stand it when the skies are clear
And I’ve been so long chasing shadows
That I don’t know what to do when one gets near

And it takes more than a smile to move me… sometimes
And it takes more than the wind to move me anywhere at all
But I’m hiding from the blue sky with my back against the wall
So Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

And it gets so cold in the sunshine
That I don’t even try to warm my nights
And it gets so dim in the daytime
That I don’t even think to turn the lights

But if everything I try to do is something
And if nothing that I know is nevermore,
Still it seems that I get burned whenever I walk out the door
So Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

Cause it takes so much to be sensible
I’d rather have a complicated twist
And a clear autumn day seems so simple
When I’m fixed upon an unexpected tryst

So I’m sorry that my thoughts are always cloudy
And I’m sorry that I’m caught up in the breeze and just a kiss
And I fear we may get snowed in before we get out of this
So Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?
Oh Chicago, can’t you rain my blues away?
Cause I’m really not so worried when the world’s in shades of gray.
Oh Chicago, won’t you rain my blues away?

Pull Myself Together

October 2005

Built off a bouncy little stop-and-go rhythm I got stuck in my own head over the summer, which makes it feel like such a happy song. I wish it could be happier, though it sits on the cheerful, well-meaning side of a tough goodbye. I printed out a copy, and then somebody asked to read it in the elevator, and then asked to keep it. So that’s reassuring.

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I want no one, to tell me what to live for
I’ve got no one, there’s nothing I can be
But I need only one, to put it all together
I need only one, to help me to be free

And I’ve no faith, I seek no mighty savior
And I’ve no pride, nor simple vanity
And I’m no fool, I seek no perfect stranger
I am only looking for the one I need

And I need only one, to pull myself together
And I need only one, to love me tenderly
I need only one, only one and nothing better
I need only you, if only you could see

But it’s too late, to put it back together
And it’s too long, too strange to wait and see
So it’s “fare thee well,” and beware of stormy weather
And it’s “fare thee well,” I guess I’d better leave

So I’m going away, a long, long way away
Though I don’t know if I’m going anywhere
And I’m going away, I got to get away today
And I don’t know if I’ll come back anymore

I’m going away, ‘cause there’s no place I can stay
But then again I could be right back here tomorrow
And tomorrow I don’t know, there’s no place I can go
But everything I need I can borrow

So it’s fare thee well, I’m bound for stormy weather
And it’s so long, I’ll find another way
And it’s such a shame, but nothing lasts forever
If you need me I’ll be back again someday

And I need only one, to put it all together
And I need one chance; I guess it’s hard to see
Cause it’s so strange, and it’s neither now nor never
I’m still looking for the only one I need.

Ought to Know Better

June 2005

More of a pop/rock idiom this time. A song for a time of hopeful anticipation and a bit of frustration. Been finished for a while, just never bothered to post it.

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And all the things she has to tell me are the things she doesn’t know,
And all the things she has to give me are the things she doesn’t own,
And the only thing I ask of her is what she doesn’t show
And I really ought to know better, I really ought to know better
But I’m not letting go.

Tell me something,
Tell me I can hang around awhile
Tell me that you want me, that you need me, that you love me
But I don’t really mind if you don’t.

Because I really ought to know better anyway,
But I’m not taking good advice today.

And sometimes I try to listen for the things she doesn’t say
But no matter what she tells me I can wait another day
And there’s no use in explaining for it just gets in the way
And I’m supposed to get over it anyway

Tell me something
Tell me not to give up for a while
Tell me that you want me, that you need me, that you love me
But I don’t really mind if you don’t

Because I really ought to know better anyway
But it’s –
Well, it’s –
Because it’s –
You know it’s something but it’s more than I can say.
And you won’t really mind if I don’t.

To You (Like a River)

July 2005

A “remix”, if you will, of my earlier poem. And yeah, I know the theme has been done. But I came up with the last two stanzas and felt they fit onto “To You”. Another one I actually have a way to sing. Obviously I could sing most of it before, but the new stanzas have a different, though partly similar, melody.

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Like a river to the ocean
Like a salmon to the stream
Like a dying man to water
Like a lobster to the steam

Like a freight train, slowly rolling
Slowly rolling down the line
I’ll come rolling to your doorstep
If you’ve ever got the time

And I’m running out of options
And I’m running out of time
I’ll come running straight to your arms
That is if you don’t mind.

Like an arrow to the target
Like a bolt from the blue
If you’ll answer one more question
I’ll come flying straight to you

I’ve got nothing left to give you
I’ve got nothing left to lose
If you give me one more answer
Then I’ll fall in love with you.

Like a coward out of danger
Like a prisoner going free
Like a hammer needs an anvil
Like a blind man needs to see.

Like a river, slowly flowing
Slowly rolling to the sea
If I ever get close to you
Won’t you please stay close to me?

Like a river, to the all-receiving ocean
Like a sailor, to the all-forgiving sea
Like the rain comes, in one ever-loving motion
Let my heart fly, to wherever you may be.

As the gulls cry, across the all-believing ocean
As the storms roll, up from the all-redeeming sea
Like a river, full of swift torrential motion
Let my love flow, to wherever you may be