1. THE RING

You thank me all the time
But now it’s my turn
Cause truly a word of gratitude so due
Can’t go unheard
And it made me feel better
To have you there in my corner
My eyes cast so low
My face could not have been
Drawn longer

I know you’ve been impressed
You’ve seen me at my best
But oh, how it hurts
When I can’t hide my worst
Well thank-you for carrying on
For playing with me and this song
It made me feel better
We sat it out like some passing bad weather

My mind was like kid’s boxing gloves
The kind blown up with air
That are put away after play
And get limp just lying there
But you knew they’d fill up again
And you gave me your shoulder
And I got up in the ring
Because I had you there
In my corner
And I got up in the ring
Because I had you there
In my corner


2. I AM AGLOW

I am aglow with thoughts of you
Are the stories that you told me true?
It doesn’t matter if they are
They are to me
I am aglow

Some might say these thoughts are wrong
That you might see yourself in this song
I hope that you don’t mind if you do
I am aglow with thoughts of you

Does it matter that what I remember might be
Just my own imagination painting scenes more pretty
Is it obvious? Does it show?
With thoughts of you I am aglow

Some might say I’m thinking in sin
So I’ll just sit back and take you in
You’re a map of a place; maybe someday I’ll go
With thoughts of you I am aglow

Does it matter that what I remember is not true
Does it matter that all I can think of is you
Does it matter that what I remember might be
Just my own imagination painting scenes more pretty
Is it obvious? Does it show?
With thoughts of you I am aglow


3. OLEANDER

Oleander, Oleander
Will you bloom again this spring?
I adored you
Then I ignored you
And now to me you’re everything
And those white blossoms that you gave freely
Are now just twinkles in your eye
Oh behold her
Oleander grows on the inside

She will forgive me
For I bring water
A sunny window to sit by
Oleander, I understand her
She’s just waiting for the time
To say it’s all right
Another season has brought us another chance
We’re together in this hot weather to dance

Oleander, I think you’re better
I think you made it through another winter.

Nothing has ended
It’s all been mended
It’s the way that it should be
You’re coming back
You’re coming back
It was so lonely here just me
This time no promises of what’s to come
We’ll just live it for the day
Oleander I see you stand there
And I know you’ll be ok

Oleander I think you’re better
I think you made it through another winter


4. I'M A MOUNTAIN

Well now how did they get that lady on TV
Laughing so naturally
For a Wal-Mart ad
Is it not as bad as I thought?

There’s a woman sending poisonous mail
And they caught her now she’s sitting in jail
While the weather station forecasts hail
From the tropics

Oh I spent the day in a shopping mall
Through the biggest storm of the century
I’m a mountain
I’m a mountain like you said to be

The sports man and his double chin
Don’t listen to me in this state I’m in
Saying things about people that I don’t know

Well it’s just that way when you get hurt
And the things you need you’re made to work
You must decide if you will die or grow

Oh I spent the day in a shopping mall
Through the biggest storm of the century
I’m a mountain
I’m a mountain
Like you said to be


5. GOING' OUT

When the days close on the memories
That you’ve acquired
And your body cannot hold your soul inspired
You are here and not alone
Everybody has come home
There’s a bed made up upstairs
If you get tired

All the heaviness around you will get light
And your worry lifted up into the night
Left with nothing but pure love
Left with all you are made of
Can I stay around awhile
Is that all right?

Oh lives don’t end
Goin’ out to be brought back again
Our lives don’t end


6. WILL HE BE WAITING FOR ME

I can still see that lonesome road
Stretched out before me
The road that led me out of his life
I can still feel the tears he cried on my shoulder
The day that I told him goodbye
I never should’ve left him
Never should’ve gone
Oh what a crazy fool I’ve been
Will he be waiting for me?
He will be, won’t he?
And will he take me back again?

He will be waiting for me
He will be won’t he?
Or will I find his love for me
Has faded and has died
He will be waiting for me
He will be won’t he?
Or will I find that this time
I’ll be the one to cry?

Shadows from the trees
Shade the path that I am walking
As I make my way up that winding road again
The smell of Mountain Laurel fills
The air with sweet perfume
My heart beats faster as I reach my journey’s end
I wonder if he missed me
Wonder if he wants me
O wonder does he love me still
Will he be waiting for me?
He will be won’t he?
Oh how I hope he will

He will be waiting for me
He will be won’t he?
Or will I find his love for me
Has faded and had died
He will be waiting for me
He will be won’t he?
Or will I find that this time
I’ll be the one to cry?


7. ESCARPMENT BLUES

If they blow a hole in my backyard
Everyone is gonna run away
The creeks won’t flow to the Great Lake below
Will the water in the wells still be ok?

We’ll need to build some new apartments
And I know we’re gonna have to fix the roads
But if we blow a hole in the escarpment
The wild ones won’t have anywhere to go

If they blow a hole in the backbone
The one that runs cross the muscles of the land
We might get a load of stone for the road
But I don’t know how much longer we can stand

We’ll keep driving on the Blind Line
If we don’t know where we want to go
Even knowledge that’s sound can get watered down
Truth can get sucked out the car window

We’re two-thirds water
What do we really need?
But sun, showers, soil and seed
We’re two-thirds water
The aquifers provide
Deep down in the rock
There’s a pearl inside

If they blow a hole in the backbone
The one that runs across the muscles of the land
We might get a load of stone for the road
But I don’t know how much longer we can stand


8. THE PHOENIX

It was a late-in-the-summer night
Nearing the end of a bumpy ride
Through the backstage parking lots of the country
We went past the cars at the fray
The cops on bikes
The security gate
Into the trees where the dark comes easy
See the light of the Venus shining
High over the mid-western plains
Is it telling you you gotta go?
That your heart’s been burning way to slow
I guess I’m the last to know again

But I will rise up, I will
Who was the Phoenix anyway?
Just some bird that flew away
And flies still

It was a late-in-the-summer day
The breeze had blown the clouds away
The fluttering ones were covering the fields
I’ve been walking by myself
I’ve been thinking about you again
Maybe one day I’ll tell you how I feel
See the light of the satellite tower
The only thing that’s blocking our view
Is it telling you what’s on my mind
That I think about you all the time
That I wish for it even thought I know not to.

I will rise up, I will
Who was that Phoenix anyway?
Just some bird that flew away
And flies still
Flies still
You know I will


9. SALAMANDRE

Salamander, Salamander
You have to help me understand
All the mysteries of the forest,
The secret map, the golden tree
I'm waiting for you patiently
Salamander

Salamander, Salamander
The two of us together
My solitude and boredom
Disappeared overnight
I've led a lonely (slow) life for so long.
Salamander

It's true, one day I'll be King
All of France awaits me
Every word I say will be made law
But for now, my only friend
Please come quickly, I beg you.
Salamander

Salamander, Salamander
The night is approaching, I think
The moon will be our candle
Welcome to my new life
Our adventures await us
My Salamander


10. LUTHER'S GOT THE BLUES

I hate the city it brings me down
I’m a country boy I’m new to town
But I never really thought it was gonna be like that
Spent all my money, I’m busted flat

So I’m eating my dinners at the Sally Ann
Met a fellow named Charlie there, a fellow named Stan
And they laugh at my clothes and the way that I talk
Eight a.m. comes and I hit the streets and walk
And the bus stops, the doughnut shops
It’s raining out today like it’s never gonna stop

And I got the blues
I got nothing left to lose

There’s a hole in my shoe and my foot’s getting wet
And Nick at the arcade made me a bet
That by Saturday noon when my money’s all gone
I’ll be heading out of town like another sad,
Hard luck song
And all the faces on the streets got a look of fear
I can’t go home but I hate it here
Oh why’d I ever go and leave the farm anyway?
Thought the city my help me take my blues away
But the cars go by
Tonight I’ll stay dry
Sleeping underneath an awning
And trying not to cry

I got the blues
I got nothing left to lose

My pappy used to have a little problem drinking scotch
He did a lot of stupid things
We used to hate to watch
But he’s cleaned up his act as a matter of fact
Although there’s something there we lost
We’re never going back

And I got the blues
I got nothing left to lose

And the concrete beneath my feet
Has got inside my soul
And it’s sucking out the heat


11. HOW DEEP IN THE VALLEY

How deep in the valley must you go
To find what your footsteps already know
The way on is the way out
There are signs to follow
There is deep in the valley
And I’m bound to go

How deep in the valley must you stay
To know why your footsteps led you that way
The way on may be truly to stand in one place
And let the deep of the valley
Fill you will grace

And treat yourself lightly
Treat yourself kind
You’ve got nothing to worry on
You will be fine
You will leave this place laughing
And somebody will cry
There is deep in the valley
Wonder not why

Wonder not why go
Wonder not to stay
If it takes me and I follow
Or if I lead the way
It can come when it wants to
But it might have to wait
There is deep in the valley
I don’t hesitate

I don’t take it too lightly
But it don’t weigh down too low
There is high on the cliff top
And there are deep creeks below
There’s a green shade you can’t miss
Where the spring water flows
There is deep in the valley
And I’m bound to go

How deep in the valley must you go
To find what your footsteps already know
The way on is the way out
There are signs to follow
There is deep in the valley
And I’m bound to go