LONG WALK HOME
I broke her trust
I broke her grandmother’s plate
I broke everything I touched
when I looked the other way
she said how can I kiss you
you’ve bruised me on the heel
and filled me with a silence
a venom I can feel
you’ve started up a storm
in the last place I was safe
you’ve soaked me to the core
with your little hurricane
It’s a quick road down
until you think you know
the only way out
is the long walk home
When I was a child
there were things I’d see
a spirit in the hall
a coyote in the trees
you came up on me fast
like a fever in a dream
and I can feel the moonrise
your shadow in my sleep
it’s hard to tell what I want from what I need
the cause from the cure
the stinger from the bee
It’s a quick road down
until you think you know
the only way out
is the long walk home
Please, don’t walk away
to just go hiding
with your hurt
I hear the creaking
of our bones
but you don’t have to ache
you don’t have to break
all alone
I’m so sorry
for this room I’ve got us in
the carpet is damp
there’s a bulb out in the lamp
and it smells like sin
sometimes I get so cold
feel like my blood is gonna freeze
I sit home with the fire
the Boss and The Dirty Three
I stare into the flame
for the hottest part
I say her name
a whisper in the dark
It’s a quick road down
until you think you know
the only way out
is the long walk home
WHO HERE?
I can tell by your camera
that you never trust your eyes
you look like someone
who’s seen one too many lies
standing in the twilight
with the sun at your back
did you see them coming?
they shoot out the light just to paint it black
we all want to do what’s right
but it’s so hard in the middle of the night
what in Heaven made you brave?
what on earth laid your grave?
Who here?
who here among us
Who here?
hasn’t fallen
All the lives that rain down on us
that come streaming through the wall
and the phone just won’t stop ringing
we’re all stars in Omaha
it’s a crime to keep your head up
until the sky comes falling down
it’s so hard to say much of anything
without looking like a clown
what was it that you heard
that made you want to speak the word
when the world fights fire with fire
you were talking about something higher
Who here?
who here among us
Who here?
hasn’t fallen
we all want to do what’s right
but it’s so hard in the middle of the night
what in Heaven made you brave?
what on earth laid your grave?
ANNA MARIE
Beneath the rows of cottonwood I waited
I watched as the stars rose from the sea
the day came and went with the sound of a hungry lion’s roar
I heard her cubs cry on the breeze
and now I wander and search for a sign of you
in the faces of all I meet
and I’ve never felt so alone or so ashamed
as when I realized you were gone
How long will you be lost to me?
how long will I hear you breathing?
how long?
Anna Marie
You tried to keep up with the changes that changes bring
but somewhere you fell behind and you got lost
you gave away your best days to others’ worst
even joy now has its cost
I tried to listen and to understand you when you said
that God was getting thin
but in the shock and awe of everything that didn’t matter
part of me just went dead
All the dreams dreamt beneath the lesser light
where do they go when we’re gone?
I climbed the steps of Christ Church just to hear the bells
and the world just sang along
Can I linger here in your little nest?
until every cell goes to sleep
then I’ll walk the rows of cottonwood waiting
for the stars to fall into the sea
How long will you be lost to me?
how long will I hear you breathing?
how long?
Anna Marie
BETTER ANGELS
All your life you waited for something to take hold
now you’ve seen it and you’re frightened
thunder and lightning are so beautiful to behold
when you’re somewhere you’ve been invited
you crawl through the door with the ransom
for two fireflies in a jar
sleep drifts across the transom
you watch them flicker from afar
you watch them flicker from afar
you watch them flicker
I’m looking for my better angels
I’m looking for my real heart
Lying in the sun with a toothache and the book of Psalms
blues for a blue sky if you know what I mean
when I was nine I was afraid of the devil and napalm
now I know there’s no in-between
you beg the dentist for forgiveness
you thank the soldier for his arm
you draw a map for your sister
you bury treasure in the yard
you bury treasure in the yard
you bury treasure
I’m looking for my better angels
I’m looking for my real heart
I’m looking for my better angels
I’m looking for my real heart
The story goes it was what you wanted
but a house knows when it’s haunted
there’s no place to stand
ghosts drip from the tip of your hands
Laney, we did the best we could
save me, there are ghosts down in the wood
I’m looking for my better angels
I’m looking for my real heart
I’m looking for my better angels
I’m looking for my real heart
WESTERNSIDE
I live on the westernside of you
I know you think it’s funny
but you know it’s true
ducking out the backroads
running out the dark
throwing stones at shadows
kissing on a lark
I’m the shiver in the corner
you’re the speck in my eye
I’m the drink you didn’t order
the cloud in your sky
In spite of my love
in spite of my heart
in spite of my head when
we’re a sunset apart
I live on the westernside of you
beneath a sky that’s painted blue
the rain in your eye
you’re the life of the party
before the stars come through
you breathe in all their bad dreams
and then you wear them like a suit
It’s like watching your hometown
get beat up on the news
you feel like a car crash
with nothing left to lose
In spite of my love
in spite of my heart
in spite of my head when
we’re a sunset apart
You say you want romance
but you know I just stall
we all want someone
who can teach us how to fall
I’m the shiver in the corner
you’re the speck in my eye
I’m the drink you didn’t order
the cloud in your sky
In spite of my love
in spite of my heart
in spite of my head when
we’re a sunset apart
DEMOCRACITY
There’s a picture of the future
it looks much like today
all the technicolor visions
paint it in grey
there’s more going on
than one big eye can see
but it won’t let me sleep
it won’t let me dream
You won’t find it in the paper
dressed up real pretty
I’ll call you when I get there baby
Democracity
If it sounds familiar
like you’ve heard it before
well listen closer
and you’ll hear much more
you see it at the mall
in billboards and magazines
it’s not in the words
but the spaces in between
You won’t find it in the paper
dressed up real pretty
I’ll call you when I get there baby
Democracity
When the world goes minor
hold your note
when you swallow something bad
stick your finger down your throat
wait for the wind to blow
wait for the wind to blow
wait for the wind
You won’t find it in the paper
dressed up real pretty
I’ll call you when I get there baby
Democracity
MAKE IT UP
I was the last of my friends to lose his shirt
but I didn’t mind; it sure didn’t hurt
gravity’s pull can drag light down a hole
but your love was like a curse in reverse
that night in June when no one was home
I shook like a thief and sank like a stone
you turned out the light and came in close
you whispered in my ear, “let’s just make it up”
Bang, bang, another day
with no room to move, no time to play
little bits of conversation, get stranded at the station
we both go to bed a little frayed
people like us just don’t go out and dance anymore
maybe we’re tired, maybe we’re scared, maybe it’s something more
let’s go out and find a slippery floor
and if we don’t know what to do, we’ll just make it up
Sometimes I let you down
and my feet come up off the ground
it’s not enough to love each other through
it’s too much, it’s too cruel
You always say there’s no such thing as a puppet on a string
but whatever’s pulling on us is a wicked thing
is this who we are?
is this our car?
time flies with such crazy wings
you ask me to wait until the summer fades
I’ll wait with you until the end of days
and if it’s a dream, if none of this is true
there’s nothing left to do but make it up
MARIONETTE
I know you think you know what the world is really like
but tell me when is the last time you saw daylight
how do you think it feels to live here in this hole
you think you need to fill to protect
You stay up all night just staring at the fire
when you come upstairs you sound just like a marionette
I know you think you’ve found yourself
but from where I stand, baby you’ve lost your mind
You lay your uniform out on the bed
you go through your pockets like you were dead
does the love around you mean anything at all?
I’m tired of worrying about the words
and what I’ll say to you
I’ll tell you the truth of what I see
You stay up all night just staring at the fire
when you come upstairs you sound just like a marionette
I know you think you’ve found yourself
but from where I stand, baby you’ve lost your mind
Bluebird, sing your angry song
tell the world it’s wrong
and I will listen
what will you become
when April’s cruelty is said and done
will you still miss him?
You stay up all night just staring at the fire
when you come upstairs you sound just like a marionette
I know you think you’ve found yourself
but from where I stand, baby you’ve lost your mind
DO ME A FAVOR
Do me a favor, throw me a bone
’cause I feel much safer here than I do at home
you talk about protection
you talk about faith
you talk about moving weather
like you do it everyday
I went out walking
walking by myself
and the taste of tin
from the water in the well
Do you ever feel so lonely
like these bones are home
and the sinners are assembling
blood and stone
Lost in the desert in a car without a name
and all the billboards drive poor Matthew insane
he says, you can take my heart
put its ashes on a plane
but drive out my eyes
they belong to Cain
Do you ever feel so lonely
like these bones are home
and the sinners are assembling
blood and stone
We are shadows
stitched together
from voices I can no longer remember
blood and stone
love and memory
love and memory
love and memory
Do you ever feel so lonely
like these bones are home
and the sinners are assembling
blood and stone
SUNRAY
Walking home from school
holding daddy’s hand
there’s a group of kids you know
he lets go ’cause he understands
he can feel you watch them
you think they’re kind of cool
but then he feels your heart slip
when he sees them look at you
there’s something in your step
a difference they can’t trace
you try to walk like they do
even when they look away
You’re my ray
You’re my little sunray
When you were a baby thunder scared you
the vaccum made you scream
Rumsfeld sent you running
when his face came on the screen
there are scary things in this world
things that big people make
but it’s not your job to see them yet
or to make them go away
and there will come a time
when we’ll talk about war
but on this summer night
I just want to watch you snore
You’re my ray
You’re my little sunray
One day I’ll have to leave
you with this world alone
I can feel it when it rains
in my bones when it’s cold
I will try my best
to let you know
I’ll try and shine right down
through the stardust and the snow
You’re my ray
You’re my little sunray
FADING AWAY
From my kitchen window
The cars drive past, suit and tie fast
standing in line, with quarters and dimes
I hear the frustration, in their conversations
sometimes I see my face
in the reflection of some familiar place
I feel the days turn and twist out into space
like dust that moves, moves through a sunlight ray
and the only thing that keeps me awake
are the same things that I cannot make stay
fading away, you gotta try
baby you gotta try
and I can’t seem to make them stay
When we got to see you
you were down the hall
screaming at the wall
there was blood on your mouth and drops on the ground
and gold all around your brow, we kissed you on the ow
like a fighter who made it to the bell
you raised your tiny fist in the air, and I watched you
fading away, stay a little while
you’re such an honest child
and I can’t seem to make you stay
Last night I took a walk with my little girl
I watched her race her shadow on the wall
as the earth made its turn
the shadows seemed to learn
but for a moment she was faster
for a moment she was faster
for a moment, run, run, run!
The only thing that keeps me now
who will break your heart
turn your smile inside out, make you feel like
fading away, you gotta try
baby you gotta try
your heroes vanish off the air, we just watch them
all songs © 2007 American Mars