Lyrics

Birdsong

I’m staring out towards a little island

Smothered in pine

Road of muddy clay, covered in puddles

Long empty line

Rain has come and gone

From where I’m standing

The light upon the sea

Looks more like diamonds

If I pause here

One second becomes an hour

The sun could rise and fall

Before I know how long I’d spent

Waiting on the birdsong

In Port Levy

Nothing but the quiet of the mountains

Would let it in

I followed my gut to find the road here

Windy and wild

Many things were wrong when I arrived

Not that I mind

Water in the bay is slow and steady

The tussock on the hills

Gracefully bending

What ever I was seeking

It has found me

Came on the wind

Wherever I may turn

I know its name now

The sediment beneath the settled water

 

Hold Your Light High

You had hope in the morning 

So much hope in the morning

And who wouldn’t want a good, good life?

All us felons want a better life

Now the sunlight won’t touch you

You don’t feel no warmth at all

And who wouldn’t want a good, good life?

All us felons want a better life

When you hands feel tired 

And your feet stay put 

Hold your light high, don't let it down

Can you see through the choke smoke?

Can you see through the haze at all?

There is pain in the offering

My hands are small but they are yours

And who wouldn’t want a good, good life?

All us felons want a better life

Hold your light high, don’t let it down

 

Sunset Swimming

Thick green grass by the waterside 

Tall enough for someone to hide 

Barefoot padding down a dusty track 

Bag slung close, and my heart intact 

Sheltered by the harbour

Underneath the nor-west arc

In secret

Fanning all the colours

Where love was just a spark

There’s still heat in my body

Sunset swimming

Where all my years collapse into a minute

Slip underwater

Sunset swimming

Where all my years collapse into a minute

Ripe full lemon in a dry front yard

Simply living with no credit card

Worn brown boards underneath my feet

House is tidy but my heart’s unclean

Sheltered by the harbour

Underneath the nor-west arc

In secret

Fanning all the colours

Where love was just a spark

There’s still heat in my body

Sunset swimming

Where all my years collapse into a minute

Slip underwater

Sunset swimming

Where all my years collapse into a minute

Where all my years collapse into a minute 

 

Tears Don't Fall

Alarm don’t ring in the morning          

So you’re left out on the road 

Roommate drank all the coffee

Now I’m damned if I don’t wake up

Plains stretch out for the eastern bays

And the wind tears down the road 

You, longing for a holiday

But I turn us back to work

So the mountains are blue 

But my words they don’t fool you

Oh there’s sweat on your brow

But your tears they don’t fall down 

When you call me up on a payphone

You know I faked a sleepyhead 

Fool me more than I fool you

Stacked years of regret

So the mountains are blue 

But my words they don’t fool you

Oh there’s sweat on your brow

But your tears they don’t fall down 

 

Darksong

Oh imagination travel quick

On the fastest slipstream 

Down through the broken valley 

Where my heart sits unraveled

Sing of a new song 

Maybe then I will think of staying 

Loud, are there ears still listening? 

Yes, and their voices golden

Honey don’t leave me now   

‘Cause I just don’t get it

Half asleep for so long

And empires come

And move along

Long are the days between the fall

Of our proud ambitions

Read through the draft appraisal

Hold a few scattered pages

Hope comes in different sizes 

Some never fit the answers

I should’ve spoken louder

Dropped the white alabaster

Honey don’t leave me now

‘Cause I just don’t get it

Half asleep for so long

And empires come and move along

By the blackened bush I waited for your order

Terrible sons and a beautiful daughter

Boy you marry me or you’ll get left

Mother don’t you worry now, don’t you fret 

 

What A Friend

Buddy, you don’t talk

You don’t say much

Your words fizzled out

Evaporated

Jekyll, Mr Hyde

Which one are you?

What is left inside

That I can’t tell you

Flashing in the dark

Your name on my phone

I won’t pick it up no more

What a friend I have become

What a friend I have become

You’re barely holding on

Middle of the night

You’re not sleeping

All the hands you want

Ain’t forthcoming

Cigarettes tipped on the carpet

There’s a lot to burn

There’s a lot to burn

We’ve a lot to burn

Flashing in the dark

Your name on my phone

I won’t pick it up no more

What a friend I have become

What a friend I have become

When you were barely holding on