1. |
Jack of Hearts
03:44
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Waiting for a sign, for the perfect fit
Oh I'm wasting time because I can't commit
When the puzzle's almost complete
But there is still a hole where I should be
A cutout of my hopes and of my dreams
Is no one gonna find me
Just another missing piece
I guess it's no surprise, 'cause I'm the jack of hearts
Just some empty eyes in a stack of cards
You hold me in your hands
You shuffle me around, I don't understand
Why you put me down, you're just playing me again
It always ends the same
I'm sick of playing this game
If I don't let you in, I'll never let you down
Oh I've learned to win by not keeping count
So tell me what's in a name
It seems to me our hearts all break the same
We're acting out these parts that never change
At the end of the day
Just some pretty words on a page
And as I wander on
Down this lonely road I'll sing my song
And I will hold out hope, but the evening's wearing on
And the sun's not gonna stay
Pin my hopes on another day
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2. |
Forever
04:09
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You asked me so innocently
At this time next year, oh where will we be?
And girl you know that I want to be with you
For tomorrow and at least a month or two
I don't mean to sound so flippant
I promise I'm not afraid of commitment
But we're only just catching fire
Don't make a liar out of me
Cause I'd love to lie beneath this spell
And I love you but I know myself too well
I guess what I am trying to say
I can promise you forever
At least till something better comes my way
Maybe I am just overthinking
Maybe not all ships are prone to sinking
Still if I go by my prior history
I would feel much better betting on the sea
So won't you please forgive me my discretion
Oh I'm not trying to avoid your question
I just know that there's little chance
I have the answer that you seek
Cause I'd love to lie beneath this spell
And I love you but I know myself too well
I guess what I am trying to say
I can promise you forever
At least till something better comes my way
Oh seasons change
But the reason stays the same
It seems my heart resists being tamed
For long
Oh for long
I'd love to lie beneath this spell
And I love you but I know myself too well
I guess what I am trying to say
I can promise you forever
At least till something better comes my way
I'd love to lie beneath this spell
And I love you but I know myself too well
I guess what I am trying to say
I can promise you forever
At least till something better comes my way
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3. |
Southbound
03:55
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Winding through the hills, southbound, look down and see the city
I see a sign for sixty-five but I am fine doing fifty
Cars flying by on my left
See my out-of-state plates
And assume that explains my speed
Oh but they don't know the truth
That I don't want you to leave
I'm stretching out each mile
Cause I don't want to let you leave
I'm savoring every last imperfect harmony
We sing along to songs we've known so long, I let you take the lead
But can you hear it my voice
It's a waver, just a quaver
A vibrato that I try to mean
Oh can you hear it in my voice
That I don't want you to leave
I'm stretching out each note
Cause I don't want to let you leave
I'm dreading the departures sign I know is around the curve
I ask you which airline you fly you reply and we pull to the curb
I grab your suitcase, we embrace
But it rolls away you chase it
Should have waited till it was secure
Oh let it roll into the street
Can't you see what I'm trying to preserve
I'm stretching out the moment
Cause I don't know when you'll return
As soon as I get home, I get a note your flight has been delayed
And now we're both alone, wish I'd known, we could have passed the time at baggage claim
Instead I'm cursing out the specious TSA
It's so egregious
That I'm not allowed to wait at your gate
Oh I know it's not their fault
But I wish that I could have stayed
I know it's not your fault
But I wish that you could have stayed
We forget how much we miss it
When we're too busy to visit
But that isn't how it's supposed to be
Oh I know I'll see you soon
But I wish you didn't have to leave
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4. |
Make it True
04:40
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I'm sick of trying to tell myself
That I'm meant for someone else
Cause I know you were made for me
But I refused to see
Just a hair shy of two years
Of hopes and dreams and doubts and fears
Of new loves come and new loves gone
Yet the old still lingers on
Yet the old lives on
And I want to find
The boy who said goodbye
And ask him how
And ask him why
He would turn his back on the sky
Everything seems out of reach
When you're brought down to your knees
And life all seems to fade to gray
You close your eyes and it slips away
All your life, they've come and gone
They empty your heart, then move on
It takes so long to fill it up
It's never quite filled enough
It's never quite enough
And I want to find
The girl who hides behind
All the pain
And all the pride
And all the tears still in her eyes
You think I know just what you think
And I know you know everything
So what's to say when we both know
We're too afraid to let it show
We dance all night around the truth
Circling ever closer to
A new beginning from an old end
I need you in my life again
I need you again
I'm sorry for the way it ended
But broken hearts they can be mended
You take my hand, say I know, I believe it too
Let's make it true
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5. |
Meant to Say
04:46
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Well I've known the future I want
I've known it since the age of nine
And I can see the story when it's all said and done
I just don't know how to make it mine
You see it's hard to reach the horizon
When the bridge is out
And all this water just rising rising
if I stay here I will surely drown
So I'll keep climbing
Cause I don't know what else to do
And it's no use lying about it
And saying I don't think of you
Well I got the message you sent yesterday
It hit me like a heart attack
I tried so hard to put that life away
And now you go and bring it back
Ain't it funny how the memories fade away
But the feelings never do
And now I'm lying in bed awake
Cause I'm too afraid to dream of you
And now your number's on my phone again
And now I'm pushing to send
And all I know is that I am not alone
When I hear you on other end
Well I'd moved on it seemed
But the past won't let me get away
And I guess it finally dawned on me
That maybe you were meant to stay
Maybe you were meant to stay
Maybe I was meant to say
Don't walk away
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6. |
Appalachia
06:15
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Another dozen miles down
Another Susquehanna ghost town
A boarded up truck stop’s all that’s left
Nothing behind me, nothing ahead
Oh Appalachia sing to me
Sing of life
Of loss and misery
Oh Appalachia sing
Cause I don't know what tomorrow will bring
I pick up a few different stations of static
Each with their own voice, enigmatic
If I hadn't given up my faith
I'd think they all had something to say
Oh Appalachia sing to me
Sing of life, sing of loss, sing of misery
Oh Appalachia sing
Cause I don't know what tomorrow will bring
I didn't know you left last night
Until you opened the door and let in the morning light
I can see my questions would be a waste
Cause you're wearing the answer all over your face
And sometimes I wish I could not feel at all
So I could fall
So I could fall
Out of love, just as easily
As I fell into
As I fell into you
Well I protest but it's in vain
Cause you're already late for your morning train
You tell me to lock up and leave my key
You don't even say goodbye to me
So now I'm here alone and I bare my soul
To the hosts of the morning show
What a scene
I'm falling to pieces in front of a screen
And now I'm here alone
In someone else's home
In someone else's home
In someone else's home
Oh it's not my home
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7. |
Tired
05:19
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Sometimes I'm too tired to try
To sing the high notes that I
That I can't reach anymore
Sometimes I'm too tired to try
To put on that face that I
That I can't face anymore
But what do I see
In the open sky
But another chance to roll the dice
Oh it calls to me
It's such a pretty lie
It's easier to change my luck than change my life
Sometimes I'm too tired to leave
To turn my back on my history
To stray from the storyline
Sometimes I'm too tired to stay
Pick a direction and drive all day
And leave it all behind
Oh but what do I see
In the open road
But a chance to change the scenery
Oh it seems to me
The further from home I go
The less that each mile means to me
Sometimes I'm too tired to break
Your heart though I know if I wait
I'm only making it worse
Sometimes I'm too tired to face
The fact that I still have not changed
And after this I've never learned
Oh but what do I see
In the open door
But a way out of this hole I've dug myself
Oh it calls to me
Can't you see the allure
A way to make all the same mistakes with someone else
Sometimes I'm too tired to try
To sing the high notes that I
That I can't reach anymore
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8. |
Imperfect
03:27
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So here we are at the end of the line looking back
A bittersweet reverie
Reliving every memory
I wouldn't ever want to change a thing
I know it wasn't perfect but
Imperfect is perfect enough
For me
It's strange how two lives can blend into one
I don't remember where I'm from
I only know how far I've come
And now it's you who's on a new adventure my dear
But should ever start to fear
Know that I will always be right here
Holding your hand
So cold
Your face so white
You look out of place
Like an angel in this fluorescent light
And I know it hurts, I wish
That I could shoulder all your pain
Though the years may pass
And the seasons change
Know that I
Will never forget your name
I'll never forget your name
So close your eyes, to sleep, perchance to dream
I'll see you on the other side
I'll see you in another life
Far, far away
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9. |
Up to Him
03:46
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If it were up to him he'd wander out
To the old strip mine behind his house
Lay down in the snow
And wake up with his wife
If it were up to us he'd pass in his sleep
We all agree though we'd never speak
About it, afraid of words
As if they hold the power of life
But it's not up to us
The die was cast long ago
There's nothing left for us
But to let
Go
The first time that I ever saw
My father drink was when his father's age
Became so clear
It couldn't be waved away
And all these winter thoughts are dark and cold
They break our hearts, make us feel old
So we laugh a little too loud
And force the smiles on our faces
It's not up to us
The die was cast long ago
There's nothing left for us
But to let go
The call came on a summer morning
I boarded a plane that afternoon
We all knew the day was coming
But there's never a time
That's not too soon
We spent a week in August cleaning house
A lifetime's relics carried out
Till a corkboard and a keg
Were all that remained
But still the air is thick with memories
They gather here like autumn leaves
All the good times around the bar
All the friends that passed through and left their mark
And it's all up to us
The die was cast long ago
There's nothing left for us
But to keep the memories
When we go
And it's all up to us
The die was cast long ago
There's nothing left for us
But to share the memories
When we go
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10. |
Old Year's Day
05:41
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A new chapter, a new page
A new promise meant when made
When I moved out
And settled down
In my new place
I believed
I could almost see
The faces all changed
But mine stayed the same
It's never that easy
Surrounded, alone
By these walls as bare as bone
But where can I start
I don't have the heart
To make it a home
And I know
That we all need something
To help us push through
Doubt and lassitude
And find the will within
But it's so damn hard
When inertia affirms who we are
the weight of the past
and well-trodden paths
always leading back to the start
Nothing changes, they say
If nothing changes today
But that's not quite true
We just finished June
And we're onto the next page
[ Instrumental ]
It's different now
Just watching the summer slip away
The first of July
And already I
Can feel winter's gaze
It's an old years day
And I am feeling old for my age
A quarter of a century
I'm stuck in eventually
I'm tired of waiting
But I believe
Before I see the leaves falling from the trees
As green turns to go
Oh I will follow
I'll set myself free
I'll set myself free
Oh I...
Oooh
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11. |
Passing Thing
04:31
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Here and now
I'm at peace
Don't cry out
Don't wake me from this dream
Cause I know when the harvest comes
I'll have to reap what I've sown
But after this long winter
I just want to see something grow
Someone to hold
Someone to hold apart
You bare your soul
And harden your heart
I came in from the darkness
Just to shiver in your light
And I believe the hardest part is
Remembering when we burned so bright
Should I keep the flame alive
Give it time and hope it reignites
Should I let the fire die
Head back out into the empty night
Oh I know where this will lead
I've been down this road before
No matter how many times I leave
Always end up standing here
In the rain outside your door
You always meant
The world to me
If this must end
Then let it end quietly
Cause I know it's passing thing
Oh yes, love is a passing thing
It seems to me we're waiting
Just waiting to see what tomorrow brings
Oh I know
It's borrowed time is all
So I'll go
Sweet sorrow in my soul
Tomorrows to unfold
And a long long way left to go
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Arin North Seattle, Washington
Using music as a way to explore powerful emotions and turning points. Our lives may ultimately be unique, but we often see ourselves in the stories of others – hopefully you can see yourself in these songs.
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