Lyrics

when the sirens' song
casts its lazy spell on you I'll dive in deep and long
before it leaves a shell of you
and bring you home
and bring you home
to me

when my tears have made
a salty ocean of me
I'll chart a course across
the dark sea of me
and bring you home
and bring you home
to me

when my fears have made
a desert island of me
I know in my broken heart
you will find me and bring me home
and bring me home
to you

when the crescent moon
is floating on her back
I'll sail in her to you
across the sky so black
and bring you back
and bring you back
to me

and bring you back
and bring you back
to me
and bring you back
to me

mourning doves in the early evening
old freight trains in the middle of the night
sweet little birds in the early morning
and barking dogs when things ain't right

they can't follow me
south of the border
these things that remind me of you
lines on my face that just keep getting older
will be the only route back to
the love we knew

I won't hear your singing in the mission bell chimes
in the dusty streets as diesel trucks shift gears
like a jail priest hears confessions of prison cell crimes
your memory will fall on my deaf ears

I'll just keep on driving
'cross the border south
about as far as I can go like words out of a fugitive's mouth
past the border guards and on into Mexico

past maquiladores and cinder block homes
that won't remind me of you my dear
past nothing for miles but victims' bones
where things are quiet and I won't hear

mourning doves in the early evening
old freight trains in the middle of the night
sweet little birds in the early morning
and barking dogs when things ain't right
and barking dogs when things - they ain't right

blind boy put a nickel the vase
blind boy put a nickel in the vase
blind boy put a nickel
in the vase

more than money it's for love you save
when you're looking for your safe place
shake them up and hear it clank
against the walls of your glass bank

blind boy put a nickel the vase
blind boy put a nickel in the vase
blind boy put a nickel in the vase

in the school yard where bullies pick and play
and you're looking for your quick get away
wake on up and begin your day
against the odds, you'll find your way

when the mist clears, it's your Father's grace
looking at you through tears on Mama's face
make it up when memory fades
against papered walls of weathered shades

blind boy put a nickel in the vase
blind boy put a nickel in the vase
blind boy put a nickel
in the vase

the story of my heart
is so much more than a photo in a locket
shot of whiskey,
pool stick chalk,
eight ball in the corner pocket

the smell of cash money,
spilt liquor, and stale beer
your lips as sweet as honey
baby
take me anywhere

the story of my heart
is so much more than a photo in a locket
shot of whiskey,
pool stick chalk,
eight ball in the corner pocket

once I had a diamond
I used to like to wear
spin me one more time and
baby
take me anywhere

all night diner coffee,
"What'll it be dear?"
I ain't where I oughtta be
baby
take me anywhere

the story of my heart
is so much more than a photo in a locket

come and follow me in your dreaming sleep
under yellow moons and midnight blue skies
lulled by horses' hooves in quarter streets
or by the swaying of the ocean tides
the rocking of the ocean tides

along the way I'll leave you little specks
breadcrumbs of broken borrowed desires
delicate treasures from our old shipwrecks
and moments of hallelujah choirs
blessed hallelujah choirs

we will walk the way of old friends
shouldering each other's secrets
along Royal Street in New Orleans
looking for antique garnets
we will look for antique garnets

from under glass the shop keep brings them
as I often do with my precious regrets
but tonight we'll go down to the river to sink them
and crush them out like cigarettes

tonight we'll go down to the river to sink them
and drown our precious regrets
our precious regrets

chilly Valentine morning
left me cold to the bone
a broken heart sign warning
when a red tail hawk flies alone

too far a drive for an old friend
too many miles to cover
twelve hours west on the I-10
is even too far for a lover

that silver moon has done cast its spell
and pulled you away from our happy home
baby I guess it's just as well I do better when I'm on my own

stay gone, stay gone, stay gone then
while I lay back and moan
I'll bed down like we did back when
but I won't be beddin' down alone

that silver moon has done cast its spell
and pulled you away from our happy home
baby I guess it's just as well I do better when I'm on my own

she's gonna make that last small town drive
leaving behind for good these small town lives
with their closed down stores and closed off minds
she ain't kin to no one here, ain't none her kind
all but that boy of theirs he left behind

sad memories, like ivy vines
they don't easily unbind

tonight she'll turn the radio on
drive slow through old live oaks to a sad sad song
far from young lost dreams she'll be long gone
and after she crosses over that flowing Colorado
like him, she won't be back tomorrow

sad memories, like ivy vines
they don't easily unbind

in a truck of bad luck antique furniture
she'll cross her heart and pray for a kind future
ramblin' right on past that hill top grave
she'll say a little prayer, blow a kiss, and wave
goodbye to her love, so young, so brave

sad memories, like ivy vines
they don't easily unbind

asleep you breathe soft and steady
may God keep you strong and ready
for those answers to your questions
and a thousand tender recollections

summer sunrise shards of light in that place 'tween day and night
where you keep your best intentions
and a thousand tender recollections

soft as sunbeams on the water
gently kissing their reflections
as if to kiss a son, a daughter
and a thousand tender recollections

asleep you breathe soft and steady
may God keep you strong and ready
for those answers to your questions
and a thousand tender recollections
oh a thousand tender recollections
yeah a thousand tender recollections

come on sugar, come back 'round again
like every New Year's Day or winter's end
buds of green on the long tree branches bend
gently waving to me with greetings they send

the bird's song wakes me
and catches on the wind
come on, come on, please come on

come on sugar, come back 'round again
I'm sitting on that fence with my heart on the ground
it sure don't matter which way I fall or how
either way I fall, I'll be broken down

like a wild horse quieted
and rode into town
come on, come on, please come on

when you're gone, your song stays in my body burning
the tide of our love is always turning
like the feast after forty nights of fasting
I need our love to be eternal, love everlasting

come on sugar, come back 'round again
I will stretch myself out in sweet surrender
you are that tall drink of water
on the sultriest of days in the thick of summer

and this time I promise
to push my heart farther

Come on, come on, please come on
Come on, come on, please come on
Come on, come on, come on

I will wait with you
as long as it may take
tadpoles in a gutter pool
ugly ducklings on a lake

I will dream of you
just before I wake
babies havin’ babies
pistols shootin’ blanks

what makes us women
what makes us men
is it what we do with knowing
we'll be forgiven in the end

I will carry you
out of the line of fire
angels wearin' skin
wisdom from the mouths of liars

what makes us women
what makes us men
is it what we do with knowing
we'll be forgiven in the end

we'll be forgiven
in the end

I've tried the drink, the deal, and the dollar
and God only knows the rest
I did it all to mend up that hole I had
deep in my heart I guess

To feel whole, and complete, and lackin' in nothin'
with nothin' more I could need

my God help me get back
to how I felt as a child
with my head restin’ on my daddy's chest
watchin' the Lone Ranger ride

and I felt whole, and complete, and lackin' in nothin'
with nothin' more I could need

my God help me give my heart
to my brother in need
as if he were my very
favorite guest indeed

and I'll feel whole, and complete, and lackin' in nothin'
with nothin' more I could need

I'll feel whole, and complete, and lackin' in nothin'
with nothin' more I could need

the candle's wax and wick have burnt down to the quick
the last dance flickers on the window pane
the heaviness of time passing weighs it down
and the moth moves on to another flame

content with an ordinary life
an ordinary life

innocent child
turned man reconciled
to be an old drunk, sad and prone to fits of rage
the heaviness of time passing weighs him down
like tobacco, smooth and mellow with age

content with an ordinary life
an ordinary life

you and I have moments spent as birds of paradise
flying free in the contentment of our ordinary lives
our ordinary lives

old souls captured in
glass mirrored images
we are ancestors, strangers with no names
the heaviness of time passing weighs us down
returning to the light from where we came

content with an ordinary life
an ordinary life

you and I have moments spent as birds of paradise
flying free in the contentment of our ordinary lives

flying free in the contentment of our ordinary lives
our ordinary lives