1. |
Live Your Life
03:59
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I’m getting old and irrelevant
and I’m starting to watch my friends die.
Let’s give ‘em hope, give ‘em sentiment,
make ‘em laugh so they don’t wanna cry.
Right now I’m alive and so are you.
Better take a few names while we still can.
‘Cause you go around once, ‘till you’re through
and you ain’t gonna get another chance.
Can’t spend your whole life
with your head in the clouds
searching for a sign.
It might be better just to live life and be kind.
‘Cause whatever doesn’t kill you
might just be taking its time.
Don’t take it for-granted.
You’ve gotta live your own life.
I’m getting bored. Always discontent.
And I’m longing for the time when I was not.
I’m breathing in and breathing out.
So there’s still time to give it whatever I’ve still got.
Right now it’s alright. It’s okay.
Even if it’s not, it’s the best we’re gonna get.
I’ve seen it all and I’ve seen a lot.
But I think that I ain’t seen nothing yet.
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2. |
Then & Again
05:48
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Something reminded me of the way
we used to be so unafraid;
riding around in your first car.
The speakers were half blown out
but even so it was so loud we had to shout
to hear each other say “do you know where we are?”
Van Halen on the radio with the Best of Rush tape ready to go.
Lost in the songs wherever we may roam.
Those bands are gone now and maybe we’re getting too old to shout.
But getting lost with you always felt like home.
I loved you then and I love you again.
And I’ve missed you, my friend.
Sometimes I still think of the day
I said all those things I knew I shouldn’t say.
The day I broke your heart.
I was angry and jealous and zealous and dumb.
Thought I was right at the time, where was I coming from?
We could’ve had it all, but I blew it apart.
Now The RAMONES are on my stereo and I listened to The Who about an hour ago.
Both make me miss the sound of your guitar.
A couple lifetimes gone by and these days I’m getting too quick to cry.
So I weep for the years we were apart.
I love you then and I love you again.
And I’ve missed you, my friend.
Let’s get that drink that we both talked about.
Let’s play those songs that we can’t live without.
Let’s sing along until our voices give out.
Let’s plug in and blow the windows out.
I loved you then and I love you again.
And I’ve missed you, my friend.
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3. |
Rebecca
04:40
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I had a dream...
A bad dream of a bad place and just one name...
"Rebecca..."
A fortnight love affair.
Such a pretty girl. I can't compare.
She's a queen.
Rebecca still surrounds me..
But she's gone.
And she's been gone for so long.
And I'm alone
where Rebecca cannot reach me.
I wake up in cold sweats.
Regrets from the outset.
I've been just a bit upset.
But I don't think I'll ever forget
Rebecca.
I can't (seem to) do anything right.
A mistake in the dark comes to the light
so everyone can see
that Rebecca's still above me.
And when I dress up nice
for a perfect night in a perfect life,
I'm haunted by her still.
Rebecca goes before me.
Her memory's a silhouette.
It's all such an ugly mess.
I'm just trying to do my best.
But I don't think I'll ever forget
Rebecca.
It's no accident that the ship sank
before I got here.
If anything's Heaven-sent it's the mercy
of losing your fear.
All it takes is one shot to prove you're not
taking what you're handed.
Whatever comes next, it's for the best,
even if no one understands it.
So let the place burn down.
And then we'll leave this town.
No sorrow left to drown.
No need for epithets.
It's just an empty threat.
I'll live to outlive this yet.
But I know I'll never forget
Rebecca.
I had a dream...
A bad dream of a bad place and just one name...
And the ashes blew up toward me upon the wind.
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4. |
After the Storm
02:21
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Everything is fading
and I wonder just what got me here.
And it bears repeating
that I’ve lost track of all my doubts and fears.
Needless to say I’m stranded.
Needless to say I am afraid I’m lost.
But I keep holding on
to what I can’t see that I’m holding onto.
Everything is ending
and I feel like I am winding down.
But I keep believing,
tossed in the deep end I’ll refuse to drown.
Needless to say I’m shaken.
Needless to say I am afraid I’ll fall.
But I keep reaching out
to what I don’t know.
Sometimes I think I could let go--just let go.
I can only fall so far before I run out of rope.
But something keeps me climbing
I guess it’s hope, if only a fool’s hope.
I keep believing…
Everything is fading
and I wonder just what got me here.
And I keep repeating
after the storm the clouds will disappear...
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5. |
Every Day
03:59
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Every day is another day...
And nothing stays the same forever.
It hurts to say goodbye.
Sometimes it hurts to love.
You’ve got to take the bad things
with the good.
Every happy moment is
a sad one in disguise.
It won’t last long
even though it should.
Every day…
You can’t see the end right now,
or maybe that’s ALL you see.
Don’t lose yourself
losing someone else.
Of all that haunts you
may the greatest ghost be love.
May it lead you
back to yourself.
Every day…
Sometimes you wake up
and that’s when the nightmare starts.
So sometimes you sleep the day away.
But sometimes you wake up
and everything makes sense.
That day’s the gift
that keeps you holding on.
Every day...
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6. |
Everybody's Wrong
04:35
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A good friend lost her daughter.
and I watched it almost kill her.
Though I think we always knew she would die young.
And no I will not name her;
the mother or the daughter.
Some things are better left unsung.
We lost touch, of course, my friend and me
except for anniversaries.
Now birthdays and death days feel the same.
We only talk to share the burden
of both missing the same person.
Sometimes I miss her so much, I’m ashamed.
No one tells you that it never goes away.
No one tells you that you’ll feel it every day.
Everyone wants to say that one day you’ll move on.
Someone ought to tell you that everybody’s wrong.
Now her babies are both growing up
hearing second-hand about their mother’s love.
I know that’s tough, I sorta did it too.
Sometimes love is blink and miss it
and sometimes there’s no chance to fix it.
Once somebody’s gone it’s hard to remember the truth.
I don’t mean to speak unfairly.
Love’s enough, but sometimes barely.
Words don’t speak as loudly as your sin.
You try so hard to keep it down,
to remember the good and shut bad out.
But the truth is that the worst times are
the first times you live again.
No one tells you that it never goes away.
No one tells you that you’ll feel it every day.
Everyone wants to say that one day you’ll move on.
Someone ought to tell you that everybody’s wrong.
Everybody's wrong.
Human beings are prone to suffering.
Everybody’s hurt by something.
There’s no runner-up; no second best.
It’s not the scars, it’s how you bear them,
but even those we get as children
sometimes show up darker than the rest.
No one tells you that it never goes away.
No one tells you that you’ll feel it every day.
Everyone wants to say that one day you’ll move on.
Someone ought to tell you that everybody’s wrong.
Everybody’s wrong.
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7. |
Some People Never Change
02:32
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I remember very well
when your mother left your father.
Or at least that’s what the church-folk had to say.
The truth is he had left her
a thousand times before that
and the last straw was more than anyone should have to take.
You were just a baby then.
And I was just a friend
looking in on something that
still doesn’t make much sense.
I remember very well
the last time I saw your father
and every single lie right to my face.
He was king of his castle.
A smug, self-righteous asshole.
And never once admitted making even one mistake.
I was barely 20 then.
He said I was his friend.
Look again,
another generation has gone by.
He hardly knows you.
And no, he never calls, boy.
That’s not your fault, boy.
Some people never change.
But your mother loves you.
She would die for you
if she were ever asked to...
‘Cause some people never change.
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8. |
Another Protest Song
03:37
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I like the quiet
and the chance to read my books.
TV, movies, guitar strings,
and learning how to cook.
No one to shout me down
or tell me how I look.
But the world goes on outside the door
and sometimes news creeps in.
Another unarmed person dead
and it happens again and again.
When we said, “Get back to normal,”
I don’t think this is what we meant.
We’re so much more than black and white.
It’s so insane that the fight is still happening.
I can’t sit back and close my eyes.
I’m living proof of Reagan’s lies,
and I’ve seen it in decline for too long.
And the world doesn’t need another protest song,
but right now it’s all I’ve got.
It’s been easy enough for me
to sit at home alone.
Here I don’t fear COVID-19
and I’ve got the whole world on my cellphone.
Even when I’m lonely,
I don’t have to feel alone.
So easy to retreat...
That’s the privilege that I’ve got.
My whole neighborhood’s so white,
I think we’ve lost the plot.
I've never heard anyone say,
“What if one of US gets shot?”
Is there anybody listening?
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9. |
Danielle
04:32
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Where May meets December...
...or maybe February meets May...
Too many months between us
at the time, anyway.
As I lay my head down
in my self-inflicted cell.
I still feel you missing
and I wonder…
Do you dream of me, Danielle?
I feel like a ghost...
Just the echoes all around.
Sometimes I hear your laughter...
Just a memory of a beautiful sound.
It’s dark and I am frightened.
I’m still lost inside your spell.
As I feel you here beside me…
...just a phantom pain…
Do you dream of me, Danielle?
(Instrumental)
I feel like an empty glass.
You are fresh water from the well.
I’m a book of empty pages.
You’re the story I should tell.
In the morning you’ll be gone again.
The nighttime feels like Hell.
The happy ending a nightmare,
vanished into thin air.
Do you dream of me, Danielle?
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10. |
Heaven Knows
05:50
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Everyone gets lost in the desert.
Some of us set up a tent.
Just waiting on an ocean.
Just waiting on a friend.
Everyone’s searching for something.
Most of us just want a way out.
A tender hand to guide us…
A strong arm to lift us before we drown.
Heaven knows if Hell is just a fairytale.
Heaven knows if Jesus walks beside.
Heaven knows if there were ever footprints
or if they were washed away by the rising tide.
The sands must fall…
All of us are dying for water.
Some of us lose weight in the drought.
Desperate for a sacred spring
or anything to quench the doubt.
We all end up in the gutter.
We all need cleaning up.
We all could be crystal clear.
Y’know it’s not hard to believe.
It’s something else to trust.
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11. |
Those Things
02:53
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Wake me when it’s over
when the world’s worth walking through.
Lately things feel colder
and I feel older than I used to.
Some days it all seems impossible.
Some days the fates seem unstoppable.
I don’t know my role to play.
I don’t know what else to say.
So if you happen to pray for me…
Tell God that I miss Her
and I forgive Her, for what it’s worth.
If She wants me, She knows where to find me.
These scales that blind me
belong to Her.
Sometimes life feels so wonderful.
Sometimes the world seems so beautiful.
But sometimes it’s far between
or it all was just a dream.
And I don’t know what that means to me.
But some things keep me smiling
keep me trying…
and those things…
those things…are everything.
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12. |
Futile
04:22
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I’m sorry I bugged you, I just wanted in.
But you seem to think we’re teenagers again.
You’ve always been there, but I can’t pretend
that loyalty is something you can comprehend.
Everything beautiful someday must end.
Even the fantasies on which I depend.
You’ve made yourself clear and I don’t want to offend.
So I’ll see you in three years when you remember we’re friends.
I’m in Stockholm sinking lower, you’re in a bar in Illinois.
I want to be a masterpiece; I am your broken toy.
Lost and left to gather dust, my best efforts fade to noise.
Whatever is left of me is yours to destroy.
The difference between us is I don’t make you cry.
But if it benefits you, then I’m yours for the night.
Yet if anyone sees then you’ll spit in my eye.
Still, I may not kill for you, but I would surely die.
When you said, “I love you” I bought into the lie.
I said, “I love you too” and never thought to reason why.
Next time you say it, mean it. Feel it deep inside.
Next time I say it back, know that it’s going to bleed me dry.
I’m almost moving backwards, you’re posting updates from the road.
I’ve never asked for anything. You tell me what you’re owed.
Empty out my pockets. Every gift I have, bestowed.
Yet what little you pour into me is so much I might explode.
I forgive you.
When we meet again, we’ll drink to your health.
Sometimes living with forgiveness means you can’t forgive yourself.
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Derek Brink St Louis, Missouri
If you press "Buy" and put in your price as $0.00 you can download everything here for free. Or you can pay if you want. I just want to be heard.
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