Magpie and the Dandelion

Open Ended Life

Pack a change of clothes
And a pillow for the road for when you drift off to sleep
Put the sketches and the notes in a box labeled "burn with furniture"
We will watch the fire burn the whole entire house we built down to ashes
From the mirror we'll admire how the flame quickly retires
We won't waste no long goodbye on the smoke or foolish lies
That finally passed us

I was taught to keep an open-ended life
And never trap myself in nothing

Let's find something new to talk about
I'm tired talkin' 'bout myself
I spent my whole life talking to convince everyone
That I was something else
And the part that kinda hurts
Is I think it finally worked
And now I'm leaving

I get the feeling things have changed
But the mystery to me
Is where and when along the way
Did anyone decide that they believed me

I was taught to keep an open-ended life
And never trap myself in nothin'
I was told to keep an open-ended life
To never trap yourself in nothing

When we settle down in another nowhere town
Let's tell our neighbors
We won't be here long
And we'll be quiet but don't go asking any favors
I can't stand the unexpected, uninvited visits from too many strangers
My trust has dwindled down
And I can leave just as abruptly as I came here.

I was taught to keep an open-ended life
And never trap myself in nothin'
I was told to keep an open-ended life
To never trap yourself in nothin'
I was taught to keep an open-ended life
And never trap myself in nothin'

Morning Song

Hurt so bad
You don't come around here anymore
Worse than that
Nothing's really helping I've been thinking
'bout drinking again

It's alright
If you finally stop caring
Just don't go and tell someone that does
Cause even though I know there's hope in
Every morning song
I have to find that melody alone

Her name became
The flame unto the fire
A magpie on the wire warned of those
Dead until the high
Shamelessly alive until the low

It's alright
If you finally stop caring
Just don't go and tell someone that does
Cause even though I know there's hope in
Every morning song
I have to find that melody alone

But we can go ahead
If no one notices
What's the point of it?
I have to ask

How you learn to see
Hope inside of me
When you're soon to be
On leave at last

Hurt so bad
More than I expected that it would
Worse than that
It seems to be lasting just a little
Longer than it should

It's alright
If you finally stop caring
Just don't go and tell someone that does
Cause even though I know there's hope in
Every morning song
I have to find that melody alone
I have to find that melody alone
I have to find that melody alone
I have to sing that melody alone

Never Been Alive

Woah, money won't do the trick
But it will help
Woah, to open the doors we need it to
To help someone else.

Still we won't need it
To turn things around.
I've never been alive, Woah.
I've never been alive, Woah.
I've never been alive like I am now.

Woah, you need only tell me
When you're under the gun.
Woah, if you need someone to lend a hand
Consider it done.

Still you won't need me
To turn things around.
I've never been alive, Woah.
I've never been alive, Woah.
I've never been alive like I am now.
Like I am now.
Like I am now.
Like I am now.

Another Is Waiting

It's a fake
It's a hoax
It's a nowhere road where no one goes
Anywhere
Anyhow
Where you're following your heart right down

She's a rose
She's a queen
But she's staring at a magazine
In the dark
On that path
Where they doctor every photograph

Another is waiting
She isn't saying anything

If you care
If you like
Well I'm standing in the lantern light
With our weapons
And our love
And I use 'em both to cover up

Another is waiting
She isn't saying anything

But I love you and I care
So you got to get off that conveyor belt
If I could
I would come right in and take you off myself

It's a fake
It's a con
The nature of the road you're on
Lets me see
Your skeleton
Well before your life is done

Another is waiting
She isn't saying anything
Another is waiting
She isn't saying anything

Bring Your Love To Me

Bring your love to me
I will hold it like a newborn child
One of my own blood
And I might just even sing a song to keep it calm

If you're wondering
Am I capable, God knows I am
And if it's meant to be
I will go alone, God knows I can
Just not as well
And besides what kind of fun is there
To be had with no one else

And I can only stand here still
And I can only hope you will
Keep me in focus long enough to tell
I'm trying to help
I'm trying to help
I'm trying to help

Bring your love to me
I will hold it like a dandelion
One I want to save
One I want to keep from the breeze
That follows me and no one else

And I can only stand here still
And I can only hope you will
Keep me in focus long enough to tell
I'm trying to help
I'm trying to help
I'm trying to help

Good To You

I know you were needing more of me than I gave
When we heard your cousin had crashed and passed away
I hate it when I talk without thinking
I will do what you are needing me to do

I want to be good to you.
I want to be there for you.
And when I come home
You still want me to.

When your best friend got married I was off and gone
You said it wasn't a problem that there was nothing wrong with
Putting my work, my art and my songs
Before spending time at the wedding
As I listened over the phone line
You talked you sounded so sad
Alone in a room full of strangers
Some dude saying I treat you so bad
Who is this guy and what does he know?
Apparently more than I do.

I want to be good to you.
I want to be there for you.
And when I come home
Will you still want me to?
And when I come home
Will you still want me to?

When you were born I promised myself
I'd always be there for you
To help you feel safe and never alone
No matter what life put you through
Time passed by, I lost my way
And didn't find it for years
A strong young woman now stands in her place
The child has disappeared
Now that I'm home,
Do you still want me here?

I want to be good to you.
I want to be there for you.
I want to be good to you.
And when I come home
Will you still want me to?
And if I come home
Will you still want me to?

Part From Me

I was scared but I couldn't admit it
Hatred planted out of fear
If I had, If I had no choice but to hit it
The road, it calls on me my dear

I was lost as lost can be
Being praised for being found
But all that praise got lost on me
As a mood swing was headed down

Part from me
I would not dare take someone in love with me
Where I'm going
Apart you'll see
How true it is and how back then
It possibly was impossible for you or me to know it

Your touch was nothing more
Than a child's goodbye and hello
But it always left me feeling
Worse when it was time to go

Part from me
I would not dare take someone in love with me
Where I'm going
Apart you'll see
How true it is and how back then
It possibly was impossible for you or me to know it

And most of us out there got fooled
Cause the gold it glittered in the night
And we chased it fast like drunk buffoons
The banker lived the artist died
And all our clothes were washed in gray
All our buildings and our cars
As the fluorescent light of day
Bleached the sky into the stars

Part from me
I would not dare take someone in love with me
Where I'm going
Apart you'll see
How true it is and how back then
It possibly was impossible for you or me to know it

Skin and Bones

It's the skin and bones that keep me on the road
The shoulderblades of a beast that haunts my soul
Wandering lonely and scared
I live the tragedy I shared

It's quick to drag you in but hard to shake
A gift that doesn't match how much it takes
Growing stronger and loud
I lived it but now I'm wanting out

I built the fence, I hung the sign
Wine red letters saying 'Keep in mind 
Where I been so don't come in'
But how long can you live in shame
And drop a life long curse on your own last name
The trouble is, I'm used to it

It's the questions that keep me turning back
To see those rumors turned to fact
Wandering lonely and scared
I live the tragedy I shared

I built the fence, I hung the sign
Blood red letters saying 'Keep in mind 
Where we've been so don't come in'
But how long can we live in shame
And drop a life long curse on your own last name
The trouble is, we're used to it
The trouble is, we're used to it
The trouble is, we're used to it

It's the tin and boards that keep me going home
But it's who I am that won't let me alone
Growing stronger and loud
Growing stronger and loud
Growing stronger and loud

Vanity

I've got something to say
But it's all vanity, it's all vanity
I found a tune I could play
But it's all vanity, it's all vanity

Call off the guards
Call off the search
Their heads are chopped off
They're running in circles
They're running in circles

I have a plan for the day
But it's all vanity, it's all vanity
I've got love pouring out of my veins
But it's all vanity, it's all vanity

Call off the guards
Call off the search
Their heads are chopped off
They're running in circles
They're running in circles
Running in circles
They're running in circles

I've got something to say
But it's all vanity, it's all vanity
I've got love pouring out of my veins
But it's all vanity, it's all vanity

The Clearness Is Gone (Bonus Tracks )

Well your hair fell on me
Like I dreamt that it would
When I dreamt your hair was long
Through the linens
A moment of clearness shown through
In a minute the clearness was gone

When to know what I should for my heart to rest
Doesn't meet with the actions I make
I will seek the approval of no one but you
In love for the changes I take

The first time we fell for it
We blamed it on youth
And now we get hell for it
And blame it on truth

Of mind, oh my
Of mind, oh my
Of mind, oh my

Well your hair fell on me
Like I dreamt that it would
When I dreamt that your hair was long
Through the linens
A moment of clearness shown through
In a minute the clearness was gone