Music

Sometimes I feel like I’m inside out
Like you’re hearing my soul though you’re watching my mouth
And do you hear me? Can you see inside?
Or do you leave me wanting to hide?
Oh yes, I’m so afraid
But this is a decision that was already made
So you can listen or choose not to
But this is who I am, this is what I do

Cause this is like a story that was already wrote
And my job is to just hear the notes
Hear the song that’s there
Bring it up for air
When I feel like my insides are outside my skin
Well, that’s the place to begin
So I listen inside
And I find the courage to bring it alive

Bring it up, though I am just one voice
Bring it up, as though I have a choice
Bring it up, cause this is what I’ve got to share
Bring it up, for air

So amidst all the worry and fear that we don
And the intricate armor that we’ve all got on
And in spite of that fact that there’s so much about
The way this world works that I can’t figure out
And because I have a brain
And a network of neurons to feel all the pain
And because I was blessed with a voice and a mouth
I see no choice but to wear my insides out

I feel the weight of the world upon my shoulders
And a pounding in my head
I feel an ancient hunger and the deepest sadness
Just thinking about what you said
Now, why does life have to be so hard?
Make me want to run and hide
Now I’m finding I need something strong and pure
To fill me up inside

So let it be love, let it be love, let it be nothing short of a miracle
Let it be love, let it be love, let it be just what we need
Let it be love, let it be love, let it be nothing short of a miracle
Let it be love, let it be love, cause love is all we need

See I’m holding on and I’m clenching tight
Too scared to let it go
Afraid of what might see the light
If I just let it flow
So give me hope and give me strength
To make it through another day
Give me the one thing that I’m sure
Can never walk away

And I thought they should love me
Well, it turns out I had to love myself
And I thought they should heal me
When I wasn’t ready to be whole
Now I’m ready for you to fill me up body and soul

Here I stand on the threshold of a dream
Here I stand where things are as they seem
And here I stand ready to take flight
And I dreamt a wind blew my sail to distant lands
And I dreamt a wind lifted my wings upon your hands
And the rain that fell cleansed the sorrow from my heart

Cause I know you’ll catch me when I fall
And I know that you’ll hear me when I call
And I know as my ship sails out to sea
You’re with me

And the winds of change are blowing through the air
And the winds of change are blowing everywhere
And the winds of change are all we’ve ever known
And all we’ll ever know
Like in time the birds that fly through the western breeze
In time those birds will be flying next to me
And in time these wings will be like the legs I knew
Like the legs that I once knew

And one day we’ll laugh and hold our dear ones tight
And we’ll laugh and love throughout the starry night
And we’ll laugh and love as if it were the end
And we’ll raise our voice in praise of what we feel
And we’ll raise our voice in praise of something real
And we’ll raise our voice and sing our common song

Cause we’ll know you catch us when we fall
And we’ll know that you hear us when we call
And we’ll know as our ship sails out at dusk
That you’re with us.

It's that time of year
The long lazy summer days
When the light and the shadows play on the river
And oh, that dense, hot air
How a breath of it brings me there
Just one breath of it
Brings me tumbling back into those places where
I miss you

And when fireworks rain down
Besieging the darkened sky
As well as the fortress of my guarded heart
And oh, those smells, those sounds
Of life bursting all around
Just the sight of a newborn flower
Piercing through the tender ground
Makes me miss you

Can I stop the Earth from turning?
Can I stop the tides?
So I don’t know when
When will I stop asking why?

So, when I’m inside these walls
And the tears flow so easily
When I think of what couldn’t be, well not this time
And can you hear me call
From amidst all the summer fun
And from all of the places from which I run
So I can’t hear at all
How much I miss you
Cause I miss you

(From the amidah, the daily silent prayer)
Elokai nitzor lishoni meirah
Usfatay midaber mirmah

Oseh shalom bimromav
Hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu
V’al kol yisrael v’imru amen

My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully
May the One who makes peace in high places make peace for us and all of Israel
And let us say: Amen

Welcome to my world
Welcome to my brain
Make yourself at home
And I’ll remain here
Singing for you like I always do

Cause I’m magical and I’m mystical
And I’m simply irresistible
Kissable, invincible
And I’m whimsical, flimsical
You would never, ever call me cynical
Just another beatnik feeling kind of homesick
Digging on the songs for you

Cause the rhythm of the music
And the rhythm of my soul
Beat as one with the greater whole
So enjoy the dance, enjoy the fun
Step into the rhythm of the song that’s sung
Cause you never know when it’s your time
You never know when you’re next in line
You never know what’s in store for you
You never know when your song is through

Here we go again
Cause nothing starts and nothing ends
Nothing’s different than it should be
Nothing’s different than it could be
Here we go again
Cause nothing starts and nothing ends
Nothing’s good and nothing’s bad
And I’m sure you’d like to argue with me
Over that for an hour or two
But don’t
Cause I’m not rational or logical
I’m simply tautological
I don’t even know what that means but I heard it in college.

See, we’ve got knowledge seeping through our brains
Judgment seeping through our hearts
Newspapers steeped in fear
No wonder there’s no peace out there
And all I want is peace inside
Forget your jive
Get off you righteous pedestal and feel it all
Feel the sun, the wind, the rain, the air
Then tell me that we’re different, dear
So drop your despair and your intellectual warfare

Here we go again
Cause nothing starts and nothing ends
Nothing’s different than it should be
Nothing’s different than it could be
Here we go again
Cause nothing starts and nothing ends
So take the time to dance and live
Cause this is what it is

Used to be that I wished to stand for something
Now I’m saying to myself, Hey that’s a pretty dumb thing
Cause I’m just living day to day, just minute to minute
Always doing my best but what I got in it I don’t know
And once there was a time that I knew something real
Now I’m reconsidering the whole deal
I’m just wanting to be good, to be kind, to be pure
Trying not to forget, to forget what it’s all for, cause

I don’t know nothing, don’t know nothing at all

Cause I’m just one piece of this puzzle and it’s greater than you and me
It’s all that’s ever been and it’s all that will ever be
Tell me, how do I find my place in this huge world
I don’t know
And now I’m writing song that I already wrote once before
And now that gal from Greenpeace is back knocking at my door
Tell me, how can I save the world when I can’t save myself?
Maybe you ought to be knocking at the world of someone else
Cause I don’t know

And when my heart was bursting and full
I knew when to go cause I felt that strong pull
And I breathed in the air and I breathed it in deep
And I knew in my soul it was not mine to keep
And I walked the earth sacred and strong
The one day it felt like the cord was gone
I said, Hey, hey, hey what’s happening here?
Where’s the love? What’s this fear? I don’t know

And so in closing I want to say, Thank you, good people
For your ears and your hearts and your gentleness
For without you right here right now I wouldn’t be singing this song
And even in times when I’ve lost my way
And darkness surrounds me just like today
I just dig and I dig and I dig through this thing
Cause something in me says sing
So I sing what I know, even though...

Hold my hand, will you hold it tight
So I won’t fly away
And feel this moment here tonight
Cause nothing’s here to stay
Like I know this house, well it’s only bricks and mortar
And I know this car, well it’s only tons of steel
And I know this heart is really only muscle
But oh, the things it feels

And once again I feel I’ve lost my way
Once again I’m not who I want to be
And once again I feel afraid of the past
Cause it’s chasing me
And I know this book, well it’s only words on paper
And I know this song, well it’s only sound in air
And I know this heart is mostly pumping water
Still it whispers a little prayer

So help me please make it through this world
And I will do the same for you
A kind word, a tender smile
A blessing of peace and hope to see us through
Cause I know this life, well it’s gone if you don’t live it
And I know this love is all we’ve got to give
And I know this heart is waiting to be broken
That’s what happens when you live

I’m driving down this road
Don’t even know where it goes
Don’t even know where I am
It’s 2 AM in the Mile Hi City
As this radio host takes no pity
On the people who call into her program

And the neon lights
How they find me and blind me
Want to hug me, mug me and take me home
And just as I feared
It’s everyone for himself out here
Cause everybody’s got somewhere
So important to go

I don’t know why
And I don’t know where
Don’t know where I am going
But I know that I’ve got to get there
And I don’t know when
And I don’t know how
Don’t know much of anything at all
But I know that I’ve
Got to get there somehow

Factories burn all night
Spewing blight
On the neighbors surrounding them
And road workers break
Under the great white light
They brought which ropes them in

And inside Denny’s
A waitress working for pennies
Who is wearing her sadness on her sleeve
Chain smoking her way
Through another night and day
Thinking, "Is this the life that
That I wanted to lead?"

I’ve waited a lifetime, I’ve waited forever
I know in my heart it’s now or never
I know it’s time
It began with a whisper, began with a nudge
A small sign, now finally a shove
Now I know it’s time
It’s time to fly

Cause I used to worry and think it all through
And struggle and ponder then one day I knew
That I know inside
I know
Like I know it is best, although it is daunting
To be who I am when it’s not who they’re wanting
And hear You calling, saying
It’s time to fly

Cause I’m just a little bit of God
Living in this body
And I’m doing all that I can
And you’re a little bit of God
Living in your body
And we’re doing all that we can
To fly