ladies and gentlemen
we have a great show for you tonight
we’ve got richard nightwell
the southern gothic,
forty horses, but first
and foremost we have
exactly what the world needs:
guy with a guitar
he’s gonna do… that
is that alright with yall?
alright then, regardless,
he’s gonna go for it.
now presenting…
seen the eyes of death in droves
but an exception to fate
is inviting me to new days
hands clutched on the steering wheel
i’m not better than you
but i won’t just sing the same tune
i’ll be home when i’m gone
signed i love you 2-0-2-1
traveling through the waves of grain
and no difference is found
if i don’t break out the new ground
I’ll be home when i’m gone
signed i love you 2-0-2-1
and the feeling of the earth under my toes
and the coffins laid out on the side of the road
mark the lessons left and to be learned
mark the lessons on a road sign
cause i remember valley skies
they’re not easy to do
when they’re all but dry in my view
head’s lost in forgotten days
but much better than youth
if your heart can find its own truth
i’ll be home when I’m gone
signed i love you 2-0-2-1
[walking, snapping]
darkness brings on
a half moon, as the clouds
shadow night-time,
enters hollow aloud
from the earth
rise feeling fingers
to grasp at envy’s hearth
as time lingers
veiled moon in the clouds
give me time to understand
rising fingers in the ground
give me time to understand
darkness confronts
and the giving’s taken out
braggadocio
soliciting doubt
from under
dies all your thunder
to grasp at envy’s hearth
as time plunders
veiled moon in the clouds
give me time to understand
rising fingers in the ground
give me time to understand
you’ve gotta call me baby…
or i’ll just lay here
in these sweaty sheets
cause i am unclean
stupid and mean
even in the morning
could use a cup ‘a joe
while i stir my feet
in these waking dreams
cause i am unclean
stupid and mean
even in the morning
i haven’t seen my teeth
in a million years
gonna get them bleached
i am unclean
stupid and mean
even in the morning
look at these eyes they’re swollen
i tell you what
gonna keep them shut
i am unclean
stupid and mean
even in the morning
we find ourselves labeled
the post it notes waxing
the growth that comes from
our own pores, our own follicles
in the name of appeasement
a pretending that paper and
plastic can keep us from the
biting ice of the outside
but we grow our own hairs
for something.
and what do we label that?
how do we stick to something
without it ripping
to shreds in the process.
and what do we call it?
love, violence, apathy?
can you stand for something like that?
what about you? what do you stand for?
the people around me, and i hope they stand with me, too.
and if that never comes? if they leave you to fall?
we (all) stand on a giant’s shoulders. if i fall, then they (everyone else) stand higher.
perfect, what do we plant trees for if not to know they’ll grow without us?
all of my heart, lovely architect
you’re just what i expect
close both these eyes so
my heart can project
grand and bottomless, in short
a fundamental mess
wouldn’t change it for
no moment of redress
this is you, a place, a tune
a warmth i found inside
this is you a hovel, a mood,
a shack, a castle, a home
this is you, a place, a tune
a warmth i found inside
this is you a hovel, a mood,
a shack, a castle, our home
peer into these eyes, if you would
see they’re drained of their good…
they’re blue and i hide them, as i should,
underneath my hood
these arms are fit to provide
so my eyes remain dry
you see, i’ve held all that i could
underneath my hood
give me what you can with your heart
i’ll give you what is left from the start
and hide my tears, just as i should,
underneath my hood
i am yours to provide
i’ll keep my own inside
when i’m through,
i’ll seep back through the wood
underneath me
is this worth it to you?
do you understand yourself?
i might, and i think that’s good enough.
what if it isn’t?
why settle for less than perfect?
because perfect is the enemy of good.
misunderstanding,
a misunderstanding
easy to lose the meaning
through a misunderstanding
hard to admit to be wrong,
easier to lie to be strong,
but i don’t have a leg to stand on
how did we end up choosing
this misunderstanding?
what can i do to come clean?
was it just never our thing?
shouldn’t have left it undone
for a little piece to move on,
but i don’t got a leg to stand on
everybody tries so hard
sit down, i think i’m talkin’ to you
a misunderstanding
is a moment for healing
just avoid wishful thinking,
take a step into feeling,
take a little break from someone,
hope it don’t last too long…
still, i don’t got a leg to stand on
even keeled and always down
give this guy another round!
whenever i lose control
he’s always kept me sound
oooh, i’m walking with a mellow man
brother sir, here’s your smoke,
like your smile, inviting folks,
inner-scoped and egress choked
oooh, i’m walking with a mellow man
tantalizing tender tinted
carmel eyes; incised precision,
therapizing, and fellow-strumming
oooh, i’m walking with a mellow man
thanks for sticking with us folks,
i had my doubts about this guy
i’ll be honest.
but doubt is fuel to get us
to something better.
doubt gets us home.
i’d like to say something if I can?
absolutely, the floor is yours.
to me, this is love:
i can stand, but i can fall
i will carry and be held
i will lead and also follow
i don’t know how else to be.
love is a practice that way.
and what about you?
i don’t think I do. i never learned.
you can’t be good with money
if you’ve never had a dime.
you can’t juggle knives
if you have nothing to cut with.
it’s hard to start caring
when you didn’t start caring.
yea, but when you’re ready
i believe that you can.
let me find you in the ocean
i’m a diver, yea you know
let me find you in a river
smiling too good to be true
let me find you in my bedroom
see ya look up as you’re humming
let me hear you, how good do i give to you
yea you’re so good to me too
they say nobody knows where
but i know just where you let me find you
let me find you in the ocean
already i know you’re never nowhere
let me hold you, i promise i’ll sing to you
how you’re too good to be true
they say nobody knows where
but i know just where you let me find you
talking through the night
fell asleep as my arms held you tight
our kiss didn’t feel like a first,
felt the time flow in reverse
and i just met you
and already i feel like i am home
talking through the night
fears away as my lips touch you right
you said i might leave you too
but look in my eyes and you’ll see i’m true
and i just met you
and already i feel at home with you
talking through the night
stayed awake until the dawn
talking through the night
i will be here right next to you
and if your dreams are ever way too harsh
just remember that i’m home with you
that’s all the time we have tonight
helluva show wasn’t it?
if we’ve learned anything
is that we can’t give up
when they fall
you pick them back up
even if you don’t know them.
love is how we find ourselves
among giants.
in every hand you grab
you find your mother
your cousin, your son
or your friend
they are in everything
kindness that you do.
nobody gets left behind.
your eyes are still sleeping
and everybody’s leaving
no one can call you
when they ought to
keep down your head
this room is for the dead
you crawled up inside
after the landslide
hear those metal gates
close the night, the crowd abates
getting out in time
it is no crime
too late to redeem
had a night without a dream
slept inside the vault
it’s your own damn fault
you were just left behind
when you were needed the most
at the end of the show
so come out here
we are expecting you
looked for you everywhere
lost at sea without a flair
trouble in your life
it’s your own strife
ventured out alone
til we found you back at home
so it’s breakfast in your bed
when it’s all said
you were just left behind
when you were needed the most
at the end of the show
so come out here
we are expecting you