Welcome to The Wailin' Jennys Web Site.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Burlington, VT
Lyrics
The Devil's Paintbrush Road (Annabelle Chvostek)
I held on for so long
Dusty quaint old song
Things attach with glue
Live and die and gone
June flowers are so bold
On the devil's paintbrush road
The devil paints a double life
And there I dare not go
Live and die and gone
Live and die and gone
The devil paints a double life
Live and die and gone
I'm not the cheating kind
It snuck from behind
Kicked in the door to someday
I can't get her off my mind
All or nothing now
Might as well be true
Leave the dream of hearth and home
That never will come true
Live and die and gone
Live and die and gone
Leave the dream of hearth and home
Live and die and gone
Sweet wild road ahead
Sweet wild road ahead
If I lied and said that all was well
I might as well be dead
Single I was born
And single I will die
I'll marry myself to the whole wide world
And never make her cry
Live and die and gone
Live and die and gone
I'll marry myself to the whole wide world
Live and die and gone
Live and die and gone
Live and die and gone
The devil paints a double life
Live and die and gone
Glory Bound (Ruth Moody)
When I hear that trumpet sound
I will lay my burdens down
I will lay them deep into the ground
Then I'll know that I am glory bound
I'll be travelin' far from home
But I won't be looking for to roam
I'll be crossing o'er the great divide
In a better home soon I will reside
Hallelujah
When I'm in my resting place
I'll look on my mother's face
Never more will I have to know
All the loneliness that plagues me so
So I'm waiting for that train to come
And I know where she's coming from
Listen can you hear her on the track
When I board I won't be looking back
Hallelujah
Begin (Nicky Mehta)
Hey, maybe the time
just wasn't right to hang on
When are you gonna learn
Sometimes things turn instead of turn out
Hey, when are you gonna stand
Stop looking over your shoulder
Me, with a head full of words
And not one useful expression
Hey, let go
We, with holes in our hearts
Were whole at the start
Our story began
We film ourselves 'til the end
Try to suspend our lives in the dark
Hey, when are you gonna stand
Stop looking over your shoulder
See, there's a sun in the sky
And a moon that will take us til morning
When are you gonna stand
Stop and begin this moment
Hey, let go
Let go
Things That You Know (Ruth Moody)
It's been a long time since you saw your home
Even those you call the closest
Have slipped away somehow
Feels like a lifetime you've been on the road
With so many miles behind you
You'd think you'd have left this world by now
You've seen more than they could ever know
No matter what they say
You've earned the right to be so bold
But this life it takes its toll on you
Every face around you looks so tired and so old
And you have not seen everything
You have not seen everything
But there are things that you know
Things that you know
From where you've had to go
Where you've had to go
Maybe soon you'll find a place
To call your own
To call your home
You've walked a good mile in your brother's shoes
'Til your legs could walk no further
And your tired soles would burn
You know there's peace somewhere around the bend
It's been a long time coming
And you're ready for your turn
And you have not seen everything
You have not seen everything
But there are things that you know
Things that you know
From where you've had to go
Where you've had to go
Maybe soon you'll find a place
To call your own
To call your home
Swallow (Annabelle Chvostek)
Oh swallow
What did you swallow?
You swoop so low
You come and you go
You flew right in from that ship on the sea
Pirate sails on the wind coming for me
You wooed me, pursued me
You hooked me, you booked me
I signed up my name
Said I'll be your game
You got me, arrow shot me
Now come connect the dot me
And if you don't want it
then free me, I will flee
Oh swallow
What did you swallow?
You swoop so low
You come and you go
Something, something
You think you got something
Something to show
For all that hellbent letting go
I got me a handful
A handful of pebbles
One ball of light
One shining flght
You glide on the air
You swivel and turn
Fast beating heart
What do I gotta learn?
Oh swallow
What did you swallow?
You swoop so low
You come and you go
Starlight (Nicky Mehta)
I have come back to you broken
take me home
And my body bears this trouble
take me home
Take me back to my beginning
Before the hell of night set in
And I came to this border
take me home
I have toured the endless starlight
take me home
I have shattered under midnight
take me home
There are no vultures in this clearing
Except the ones who brought me here
And I'll no longer feed them
take me home
Kingdom come, their will was done
And now the earth is far away
from any kind of heaven
Hallowed be these frozen fields
And every single one of us
still left in want of mercy
Take us home
Now the bells stand still and hollow
take me home
And no one has come to mourn me
take me home
Find me where I close my eyes
Beneath this sky of powerlines
And let me see us clearly
take me home
Kingdom come, their will was done
And now the earth is far away
from any kind of heaven
Hallowed be these frozen fields
And every single one of us
Still left in want of mercy
cTake us home...
Apocalypse Lullaby (Annabelle Chvostek)
Hurricanes will come
Earthquakes break the walls
Oceans rise
Empires fall
Enter world, light unshown
Follow heart, follow home
Here we are, light unshown
One round heart, one round home
Spin the speed of light
Tetrahedron blue
One last paradise
You can make for you
Enter world, light unshown
Follow heart, follow home
Here we are, light unshown
One round heart, one round home
Faster than a ship
Further than bomb
See the glowing grid
Send love throughout the throng
Enter world, light unshown
Follow heart, follow home
Here we are, light unshone
One round heart, one round home
This Heart Of Mine (Ruth Moody)
If all is fair in love and war
I haven't seen the score
But it can't be either of those
And all this time, thought I was in control
But fate she held her own
Even when I thought I chose
Now the coldest day of winter
Has made a home of my heart
It burns a cold right through me
Tearing me apart
When did I lose you?
It feels like such a crime
When did I lose all
The reasons for this rhyme
So many questions burning
In this heart of mine
A thousand memories
Of when and where
Four walls and a rocking chair
Our story sticking to my skin
A dusty wind
Blows through this broken frame
Echoes of your name
Shadows fall and night pours in
Now the coldest day of winter
Has made a home of a heart
Says it plans to stay forever
Just like you did at the start
When did I lose you?
It feels like such a crime
When did I lose all
The reasons for this rhyme
So many questions burning
In this heart of mine
Now the coldest day of winter
Is here and here to stay
And it burns a cold right through me
'Round the heart you threw away
When did I lose you?
It feels like such a crime
When did I lose all
The reasons for this rhyme
So many questions burning
In this heart of mine
Long Time Traveller (Traditional)
Ye fleeting charms of earth
Farewell, your springs of joy are dry
My soul now seeks another home
A brighter world on high
I'm a long time travelling here below
I'm a long time travelling away from home
I'm a long time travelling here below
To lay this body down
Farewell kind friends whose tender care
Has long engaged my love
Your fond embrace I now exchange
For better friends above
I'm a long time travelling here below
I'm a long time travelling away from home
I'm a long time travelling here below
To lay this body down
Avila (Nicky Mehta)
Oh sweet peace, never have you fallen
never have you fallen upon this town
Oh sweet peace, never have you fallen
never have you fallen upon this town
The black crows are loaded
with the call of things discarded
the ribboned shard of battle
And everything burned
Have they forgotten we live here
Do they think that we gave up
lay down and grew over
weeds at every turn
Oh sweet peace, never have you fallen
never have you fallen upon this town
Oh sweet peace, never have you fallen
never have you fallen upon this town
I will not rest
until this place is full of sunlight
or at least until the darkness
is quiet for a while
And we will not wait
for that murder to come calling
The night will simply fall
and the morning will rise
Oh sweet peace, never have you fallen
never have you fallen upon this town
Oh sweet peace, when will you come calling
when will you come calling upon this town
Some Good Thing (Nicky Mehta)
Think of this heart as an old accident
A hardened hit and run
Looking ahead but just a little scared
To keep all eyes on the road
Can you be sure
Will this be some good thing
Lucky stars to reckon appear again and again
Can you believe all that has brought you here
You say come on baby let's go ahead and live
Who ever knows if love's a sleight of hand
Will it hold up to the light
And do you ever stop unravelling a happy end
With a mind still wound up from a fight
Can it be real
Will it be some good thing
Weathering the fortunes
What those stars are gonna bring
Will it stay true
Will we both see the whole thing true
You say come on baby let's go ahead and live
Bird on a wire or heart in your hand
Looking for a place to find some rest
If you batten it down it's not living at all
Leaving's just a different kind of death
Could you believe
Will this be some good thing
A place to lay your head down
And the will to look again
Could it be true
Will we both see the whole thing true
You say come on baby let's go ahead
Come on baby let's go ahead
Come baby let's go ahead and live
Prairie Town (Ruth Moody)
When it rains it snows in this prairie town
There's a good three inches on the ground
It seems I'll be losing any peace I've found
I see your face all over this town
But I know you're nowhere to be found
You're far away, you're safe and sound
Far from this prairie town
Far from this prairie town
So leaving seems the thing to do
When I'm here I'm lost in thoughts of you
And in my dreams I'm city bound
But if you ask me to come to you
To leave these fields and these skies of blue
You know I'd be leaving my sacred ground
Leaving this prairie town
Leaving this prairie town
No one's love comes close to yours
Nothing's what it was before
My eyes are heavy and my heart is sore
Leaving this prairie town
Leaving this prairie town
When it rains it snows in this prairie town
And we just watch it fall to the ground
And wait for love to come around
So ask me in that way you do
And I'll leave these fields and I'll come to you
And watch my heart as it breaks in two
I'm leaving this prairie town
I'm leaving this prairie town
Firecracker (Annabelle Chvostek)
A is for apple, B is for blind
I jumped so fast I left the ground behind
You set your sights homeward
And you are more than wise
It's late night heading into morning
You can get used to almost anything
Deep sea eyes, porcelain skin
Love's sweet nests and their boxing rings
It's late night heading into morning
Firecracker, firecracker
Sparkling in the sky
To those of us who saw
Looked like the fire should die
Knowledge pulls the reigns against
The bliss that I once knew
When you set your sights on me
And the firecrackers flew
Ocean of friendship, diamonds far and deep
We still talk of the future
Remembering soft sleep
A is for apple, apple of my eye
It's late night heading into morning
Late night heading into morning
Arlington (Nicky Mehta)
Where do you go little bird
When it snows, when it snows
When the world turns to sleep
Do you know, do you know
Is there something in the wind
Breathes a chill in your heart and life in your wings
Does it whisper 'start again'
Start again
Where is the sun in the night
Is it cold, is it cold
Does it feel left behind
All alone, all alone
Does it wander through the dark
Does it wait for the dawn, wish on a star
Does it stray very far
Very far
Where is your home restless wind
Is it there, is it here
Do you search for a place to belong
Search in vain, search in fear
Or is your spirit everywhere
Is your voice every tree
Your soul of the air
If there's no home is there no death
Is there no death
Beautiful Dawn (Ruth Moody)
Take me to the breaking of a beautiful dawn
Take me to the place where we come from
Take me to the end so I can see the start
There's only one way to mend a broken heart
Take me to the place where I don't feel so small
Take me where I don't need to stand so tall
Take me to the edge so I can fall apart
There's only one way to mend a broken heart
Take me where love isn't up for sale
Take me where our hearts are not so frail
Take me where the fire still owns its spark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart
Teach me how to see when I close my eyes
Teach me to forgive and to apologize
Show me how to love in the darkest dark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart
Take me where the angels are close at hand
Take me where the ocean meets the sky and the land
Show me to the wisdom of the evening star
There's only one way to mend a broken heart
Take me to the place where I feel no shame
Take me where the courage doesn't need a name
Learning how to cry is the hardest part
There's only one way to mend a broken heart
Come All You Sailors (Cara Luft)
Come all you sailors
Sail upon my sea
Swim in these salty waters
Cleanse the wounds that run so deep
Come all you lovers
Give your hearts to me
Come with your broken dreams and
Your ruined fancies
Come all you seekers
Realize that you can see
Find within your deepest longing
That all you need is me
Heaven When We're Home (Ruth Moody)
Don't know what time it is, I've been up for way too long
and I'm too tired to sleep
I call my mother on the phone, she wasn't home,
and now I'm wondering the street
I've been a fool, I've been cruel to myself
I've been hanging onto nothing
when nothing could be worse than hanging on
And something tells me there must be
something better than all this
I've fallen many times in love and every time
it's been with the wrong man
Still I'm out there living one day at a time
and doing the best I can
Cuz we've all made mistakes
that seem to lead us astray
But every time they helped to get us where we are today
And that's a good a place as any
and it's probably where we're best off anyway
It's a long and rugged road
and we don't now where it's headed
But we know it's going to get us where we're going
And when we find what we're looking for
we'll drop these bags and search no more
'Cuz it's going to feel like heaven when we're home
It's going to feel like heaven when we're home
There's no such thing as perfect,
and if there is we'll fnd it when we're good and dead
Trust me I've been looking
bu tonight I think I'll go and take a bath instead
And then maybe I'll walk a while
and feel the earth beneath me
They say if you stop looking
it doesn't matter if you find it
And whose to say that even if I did
it's what I'm really looking for
It's a long and rugged road
and we don't now where it's headed
But we know it's going to get us where we're going
And when we find what we're looking for
we'll drop these bags and search no more
'Cuz it's going to feel like heaven when we're home
It's going to feel like heaven when we're home
One Voice (Ruth Moody)
This is the sound of one voice
One spirit, one voice
The sound of one who makes a choice
This is the sound of one voice
This is the sound of voices two
The sound of me singing with you
Helping each other to make it through
This is the sound of voices two
This is the sound of voices three
Singing together in harmony
Surrendering to the mystery
This is the sound of voices three
This is the sound of all of us
Singing with love and the will to trust
Leave the rest behind it will turn to dust
This is the sound of all of us
This is the sound of one voice
One people, one voice
A song for every one of us
This is the sound of one voice
This is the sound of one voice
Row Him Home (Nicky Mehta)
Across that river through the orange squares of light
Past the streetlamp like a beacon in the rain
You've stopped in all this motion
You're heavy with news too sudden
You're breathing through this undertow of pain
And all your friends will gather soon
And you'll surface then to bring them through
You'll say "it's better this way" and "at least we knew"
But this practice in leaving
All these small moves to grieving
Does it ever really promise what's deserved?
You want to take him in your arms
And carry to the river
Find the boy he once was and row him home
You want a majesty restored
Find the place where love was born and let him go
Many Sundays passed since the day of his first leaving
You stopped asking for the rule to be reversed
And with the grace that follows those who know what love is
You held his hand and walked towards this strange rebirth
And as the friends gather round to bear witness
You struggle with the fight to find some peace, to make it worth it
You want to take him in your arms
And carry to the river
Find the boy he once was and row him home
You want a majesty restored
Find the place where love was born and let him go
Let him go
Saucy Sailor (Traditional)
Come me own one, come me fair one
come now unto me
Could you fancy a poor sailor lad
who has just come from sea
You are ragged love and you're dirty love
And your clothes smell much of tar
So be gone you saucy sailor lad
so be gone you Jack Tar
If I am ragged love and I'm dirty love
and me clothes smell much of tar
I have silver in me pocket love, and gold in great store
And then when she heard him say say
on her bended knee she fell
I will marry my dear Henry, for I love a sailor lad so well
Do you think that I am foolish love
do you think that I am mad
For to wed with a poor country girl
where no fortune's to be had
I will cross the briny ocean, I will whistle and sing
And since you've refused the offer love
some other girl shall wear the ring
I am frolicsome and I am easy, good tempered and free
And I don't give a single pin me boys
what the world thinks of me
Something to Hold Onto (Cara Luft)
There's a light on in your house
but you're not home today
And each time I come on by you seem so far away
Can you give me some reason to hold on
Can you give me some reason to stay
Got some friends knocking on my door
wondring where I've been
Tired of mining for your heart, I've come up for air again
Can you give me some reason to hold on
Can you give me some reason to stay
Stay
Now I'm going away, will I leave you crying
It's been 40 days but this love is dying
I've searched all around for something
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay
So I'm cashing in your promises
gonna leave without a sound
Got a broken heart and aching head
cause I know you can't be found Can you give me some reason to hold on
Can you give me some reason to stay
Stay
Now I'm going away, will I leave you crying
It's been 40 days but this love is dying
I've searched all around for something
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay
Stay
Now I'm going away, will I leave you crying
It's been 40 days but this love is dying
I've searched all around for something
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay
Sun's Gonna Rise (Ruth Moody)
I have lines under my eyes that I didn't have last year
I've got the world's weight on my shoulders and I have wept a thousand years
And I'm looking for a saviour to take me far away from here
Where the storm has passed over and the sky above is clear
I've got lines under my eyes that I've never had before
There's a war outside my window and a wasteland outside my door
And I've been traveling down this road all these days and all these nights
I've been traveling for so long now, I've been searching for the light
We've got pain and we've got sorrow that we've been trying not to feel
We've got trouble all around us and we've got wounds that still won't heal
So let's hold on to each other and let love take us through the night
Help us stumble through the darkness, take us to the morning light
I have lines under my eyes that I didn't have last year
I've got the world's weight on my shoulders but I won't shed another tear
Cause the sun is gonna rise and tomorrow's another day
And we will hold on to each other and we will sing and we will pray
Ten Mile Stilts (Nicky Mehta))
Imagne you're a girl on ten mile stilts
You travel round the world, taking it all in
You'll never touch the ground
Is it a blessing or a curse
And if you're too high to be found
Are you lost or just rehearsed
Got a heart that opens clear in this cool September dark
It rests on treetop leaves
And bursts its little sparks
And sometimes it sings its songs
And it lets its secrets out
Except for one that sears inside
That it cannot live without
But if I tell you wil you take it
Will you shine it up to me
Can you be strong to let me go on
And set this freedom free
The stars are out tonight
Up here they're ripe to hold
But I have learned what comes to those who get too close
I'm no Icarus in flight
And I'm old enough to know
That love is patient, but still unyielding
If you leave it long enough it lets you go
But if I tell you wil you take it
Will you shine it up to me
Can you be strong to let me go on
And set this freedom free
The Parting Glass(Traditional)
Oh all the money that e'er I spent
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all
Oh all the comrades that e'er I've had
Are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I've had
Would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
Good night and joy be with you all
This is Where (Nicky Mehta)
The wind howls 'cross the ice floes
Send the frozen snow skimming
A river on a river hardened over
It deosn't know the way it's going
Is it north or south or westward
It just glides across the shoreline 'til it's over
You came for me in fast forward
On a claim for something ordered
A way through and past the history that held you
I'd tell my own story through you
Tell it loud to never lose you
A moth caught be the flame it could cannot measure
And there we go again, wishing something bolder
Tring to push and pull inside this moment
Trying to mold this life within our hands
This is where the whole world keeps on turning
This is where we come undone...undone
Will they measure me by branches
Count the rings and take my ashes
Mark the ground where I fell and carry on
Or will we bite against the silence
Fill our days with noise and violence
Not recognize our hearts when we are done
There we'll go again wishing something bolder
Trying to push and pull inside this moment
Trying to mold this life within our hands
This is where the whole world keeps on turning
This is where we come undone
We don't know where it's going
Is it noth or south or westward
It just glides across the shoreline 'til it's over
Untitled (Cara Luft)
To the man who lost his mind
Left home for the last time
They found him in the wintertime
Looking for something he couldn't find
They shipped him way out West
Thought they'd put their minds at rest
Now they've thrown the key away
And there's nothing left to say
Waiting for a saviour
Show me you're so sad
Wipe the tears that you've had
Show me you're so sad
To the girl who lives next door
Wonders what her life is for
She's waiting for her valentine
To kiss her in the summertime
He doesn't come and so she cries
Locks her door and hopes to die
Now she's thrown the key away
And there's nothing left to say
Waiting for a saviour
Show me you're so sad
Wipe the tears that you've had
Show me you're so sad
Now to the ones you've left behind
Were they not worth your time
They never heard you say goodbye
They never got a reason why
And here's to you who couldn't see
What it was you did to me
Now you've thrown it all away
And there's nothing left to say
And there's nothing left to say
Waiting for a saviour
Show me you're so sad
Wipe the tears that you've had
Show me you're so sad