He went to Hyannis to let go of Alice for the third and final time 

I asked him if it worked when he got back, he said he didn’t have the time 

the time to tell me anything or the time to let her go

But I guess it wasn’t a good time to press, so I guess I’ll never know, I’ll never know

on the way back looking straight ahead, we were hypnotized by the road

saw the coins on the dashboard truck and decide that they could float

in the air I looked down at the time, and mistook it for the radio

I thought about the little choices we made along and the song played on as if it didn’t know 

May we all be forsaken:

Like the soldier trying to leave, the mother trying to sleep

May we all be mistaken:

about our current state, about the current of hate 

bleeding on and on and on to sell our soul

Asked me why I was crying, said I stubbed my toe, and I wanted to blame the roots of the trees for pushing up the concrete but now I know

in the air I looked down at the time, and mistook it for the radio

I thought about the little choices we made along and the song played on as if it didn’t know 

May we all be forsaken:

like the black man trying to breathe, or the woman that’s never believed 

May we all be mistaken:

about our current state, about the current of hate 

Bleeding on and on and on and sell our soul

Ask me why I was crying, said I stubbed my toe and I wanted to blame the roots of the trees for pushing up the concrete but now I know 

May we all be forsaken:

Like the soldier trying to leave, the mother trying to sleep

May we all be mistaken:

about our current state, about the current of hate

May we all be forsaken:

like the black man trying to breathe, or the woman that’s never believed 

May we all be mistaken:

about our current state, about the current of hate

I saw it for a second but then the light was fading 

Sister morphine was my lady in waiting

Can I help it if I can’t help it now, all the stories I tell myself 

What can I say to you all, it’s fair to say, no words will do 

All this time, time is speeding, it’s hard to recognize the life we’re leading 

it’s time to trip the light of the evening and go now

And in this land there’s shade and shadow, we break bread and consecrate the battle

cradle to the grave, sword to the saddle, it’s each other we will miss 

Oh the happiest moment of my life, was the saddest moment of my life

Was in prison when my daddy died

They didn’t tell me for fear of suicide 

Told me when I got outside, I started using as soon as I was alone that night 

And I died and I went up straight to him

He said where you been, my troubled son

All this time, time is speeding, hard to recognize the life we’re leaving 

it’s time to trip the light of the evening and go now

And in this land there’s shade and shadow, we break bread and consecrate the battle

cradle to the grave, sword to the saddle, it’s each other we will miss 

Oh the happiest moment of my life, was the saddest moment of my life

Oh my love can I just sit and hold your face. We finally made it here but now the light is low.

All this time, time is speeding, hard to recognize the life we’re leaving 

it’s time to trip the light of the evening and go now

And in this land there’s shade and shadow, we break bread and consecrate the battle

Now I’m feeling kind of faint, I think I need to lay down    

Oh you almost saved me

You almost saved me

You almost saved me now

All this time we pledge allegiance to the tune of a thousand treasons 

One nation under something, under water, under mass incarceration

In the age of feast and famine can we disrupt the social canon

Let our children lead s’we all believe, let us see the forest for the trees

Came of age racing round the Georgia hills

Grew tall and straight around the backwood stills

you could do anything on the court and field, but you preferred getting high on the roof of the motel

One by one all the living that we done, how the days they seemed so long and true

One by one all the whiskey that got drunk, nothing ever felt as good as you

I saw you first from the back of the room

We drank together by the light of the moon

Built a fire and slept when the ground chooses you and wake up with the morning sun

One by one all the living that he done, how the days they seemed so long and true

One by one all the whiskey that got drunk, nothing ever felt as good as you

But can you give us all a sign, I don’t know how to let go or hold tighter still,

remember when you were mine

but now it’s all over, no chance to reconsider, I want to call you in from the outside, I want

to call you in for dinner

but you’re not there, you’re not there, what do I do with the years I have left that don’t belong to you

One by one all the living that he done, how the days they seemed so long and true

One by one i got whiskey i got drum, nothing ever felt as good as you

Let’s get a jump on this, before it’s too late, can we love each other harder before we all fade away, if there’s any way that we can live without you, it’s to live with all the love that you gave

higher yet my love, the water is rising 

up on the counter my love, grab a hold tightly — 

don’t you let go my dear, I can’t let you die 

Til your old as I, as old as I, old as I 

look both ways my dear, don’t trip on your laces

But here you lie shot in your sleep by a bullet gone stray 

you gave me your blessing, to keep you alive til ur 

old as I, as old as I, as old as I …  

I’ll take all your baggage, and I’ll give you mine,

For the passage of the time, for the distance as old as i, as old as I … as old as I 

Down on the courts in Bed Stuy

A legend rose from the streets

Just a poor kid with no use for what the others called gravity 

People came from all around to see young connie Hawkins do his thing

When the hawk went up against the best at Rucker park

oh how the choir would sing   

High flying kid do you know what you just did 

Is It just a dream love, is it just a dream love, steady you go

Hey pa I think I’m gonna make it, I’m going away on a one way ticket 

Is it just a dream love, is it just a dream love, steady you go 

round here those are always sinking, folks will say connie what were you thinking 

He lead the team in Highschool he never once got beat two years in a row

Got a scholarship to Iowa and knew that he had to go

he sent a letter home, to his papa, said papa I’m going to the nba 

But then out of nowhere his name got dropped into a scandal, always someone got to pay 

I got to got to got to get going now pop, there’s a detective here from the DA 

He’s telling me they’ll lock me away, if I don’t say what he wants me to saaaaaaaay 

So to all the kids on the back home lots, I swear it isn’t like they say 

the investigators pushed me around, and then I was black balled by the nba 

That playground legend, who could dunk when he was eleven, with super natural abilities, long before MJ before the Doctor. 

His Dreams were stolen, stomped on and thrown in, never got his day in the sun 

And now here lies High Flying Hawkins the greatest player that never was

So to all the kids on the back home lots, I swear it isn’t like they say 

the investigators pushed me around, and I was black balled by the nba 

His Dreams were stolen, stomped on and thrown in, never got his day in the sun 

And now here lies High Flying Hawkins the greatest player there ever was

Rode our horses in the pelting rain over the graves of the last war

Rooster was on a tare about something he’d seen the night before

Then he went quiet, when his horse stopped still in the night

I guess every now and then he the silent type

From a ramshackle shotgun house we heard a woman just a screaming a name 

said why’d they take him lord, he hasn’t done a thing

But in that moment seemed god slipped out of sight

I guess every now and then he the silent type 

I guess every now and then he the silent type 

Another storm is coming, we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

Another storm is coming, we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

Further up the trail we came to ghastly sight

a man hanging from an old oak tree, for looking someone in the eye 

I asked the governor but he ducked back from the light 

I guess every now and then he the silent type 

I guess every now and then he the silent type

Another storm is coming, we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

Another storm is coming, 

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

we gotta take a stand, so we don’t fall

Oh Do you know there’s a place you can go

A place that is weathered and worn

But you can’t stay there long

like the plow and the stone

but you can wait if you like to be born

Born to a dark heaven on earth

Plagued by man’s greed and sorrow, sorrow and hurt

Born also to the beauty of tomorrow

Leading us back to the dirt

The old oak tree watches us like we were bees

Flitting and frittering in the golden

Everybody knows, we all died yesterday

And the day after that we were born

Born to a dark heaven on earth

Plagued by man’s greed and sorrow, sorrow and hurt

But Born also to the beauty of tomorrow

Leading us back to the dirt

Oh I need a helping hand

how unAmerican

I’m a Second class soldier

And i’ve gotten in too deep

Just a pawn in their scheme

i don’t think I’ll get much older

All lies on the inside, don’t everybody get to

oh as high as I am    

on daizepam.      

they got me running both 

Sides of the border

Oh I need to get out    

Need to make my way south 

Skirt the Hindu Kush to skirt their orders

I got the letter in the post

The one you fear most

It says they share your sorrow

oh But i know that it’s not right

Their convenient suicide

They tell me to take a number

All lies on the inside don’t everybody get to die

cuz I just know he wouldn’t go that way     

He wrote me just the other day

talked about all the plans he wanted to make 

Said that you got to. 

oh ma it’s getting mad in Asadabad, but there’s no one to report to 

If I reach the bazaar, it will be too far, so I’m leaving tomorrow

One man get killed by a man sworn to protect him

we reeling and dealing and elect a white nationalist president

Unconvicted people just sitting in prison

Families are struggling to swim against the corporate system

is this the promise land 

who is the promised man

He only talks when the chopper blades spinning

chopper help the ego of the narcissist kidling

but we need to look at our selves, more or less how we voted

What’s that tell you now, tells you that we wrote it

I guess it should come as no surprise 

Its just you’d think that we’d have done better, with all the time, all the generations 

And now we’re on the edge of loosing it all, if we don’t kill each other, Mother Nature will 

And can you blame her,, all we have is each other, all we have is you

Oh Do you know there’s a place you can go

A place that is weathered and worn

But you can’t stay there long

like the plow and the stone

but you can wait if you like to be born

Born to a dark heaven on earth

Plagued by man’s greed and sorrow, sorrow and hurt

Born also to the beauty of tomorrow

Leading us back to the dirt

The old oak tree watches us like we were bees

Flitting and frittering in the golden

Everybody knows, we all died yesterday

And the day after that we were born

Born to a dark heaven on earth

Plagued by man’s greed and sorrow, sorrow and hurt

But Born also to the beauty of tomorrow

Leading us back to the dirt

I think we could have seen it

the smoke was rising slow

against the night

the screens and mirrors glowed

As we were shaping stories

and looking through the glass

the sky was moving 

and the planets offered up the past

I say we should have seen it

the light was in the east

while we were blind sculpting songs

about waging peace

———

Never, never would I, never would I believe

believe we got here

Never, never would I believe that we could be so dull

Dull to the way of our voices

And the uptick of our choices

Never, never could I, never could I 

Believe in this show

I am looking for, looking for a way out, way out of this moment

Never, never would I, never would I believe

Believe we bought this

Never, Never would I believe that we could be so cold

Cold to the way of our counting

And the weight of all fears mounting

Never, never could I, never could I

Believe in this show

I am looking for, looking for a way out, way out of this moment

One more time we need, need only be silent

We will reap a field of coal, harvest of pain

Only one thing is needed for the triumph of evil

It’s for good men to do nothing nothing nothing nothing

I am looking for, looking for a way out, way out of this moment

airstream, poetry, New Orleans, the shape of ur mouth 

cafe cars, corner bars, back roads, we did the south

And I told the elevator operator 

see u later, there’s a chance I’m not making it down

the wind and the willows, cigarillos and chairman mao 

Yeah I took a big hit of the counterfeit, but I’m better now

I told the elevator operator 

see u later, there’s a chance I’m not making it down now 

And All you moon drifters, beware of grifters in their glitter there’s a chance that they’re taking you out (now)

And ah if it wasn’t so tragic, I’d tell u everything from start to finish 

But I’m afraid that it would lose its magic

That Slight of hand in the dreamland  

The city of Louisiana that felt like heaven, but everyone was still alive

You said you were travelin and you put me in ur pocket

You said I tasted like summer, U could feel our pine forest bed 

You words played on repeat in my head, and It took me a while to get you out    

But then I’d get a letter with you still calling me baby 

There’s Pine needles in the parchment and you asking me if I was still searching

For the world that I believed 

and I’d write back not meaning to send 

how I was fixing settle down in some quiet southern town

Now I know u were with him all the while 

I didn’t think corporate lawyers were your style

And I told the elevator operator

see u later, there’s a chance I’m not making it d-d-d-down 

And All you moon drifters, beware of grifters in their glitter, there’s a chance that they’re taking you out (aah)

So daisy don’t come, la la la, daisy don’t come to New Orleans 

daisy don’t come, la la la, daisy don’t come to New Orleans 

Daisy don’t come,  la la la  daisy don’t come to New Orleans 

Daisy don’t come ,, ah daisy will you come?

And ah if it wasn’t so tragic, I’d tell u everything from start to finish 

But I’m afraid that it would lose its magic

That Slight of hand in the dreamland  

The city of Louisiana that felt like heaven, but everyone was still alive

Hold it now, hold tight to the line, then fall back,  those who are nearly drowned, don’t fear the rain in the storm 

On an earlier night, I would’ve known better but tonight I’m tired, too tired to stay warm 

Stoned enough, stoned enough, to gather in the night 

if your shaking, if your shaking then come inside 

4 and 20 blackbirds 

There goes indigo bunting, a dark eyed junko at her side

they both looked like they’d been crying and I hesitated to ask why 

There was a picture of a lost cat nailed to a tree, you could see it in it’s eyes

Woefully I, woefully I, stood there and tried     to be 

Stoned enough, stoned enough, to gather in the night 

if your shaking, if your shaking then come inside 

the finch was singing to the blackbirds in the pie 

sorry I, sorry I was ever born

but they paid him no mind, they were busy counting

the common grackle in the caucus, as the thrashers they aligned .. they were   

Stoned enough, stoned enough, to gather in the night 

if your shaking, if your shaking, if your shaking then get inside   

She bled so hard during his birth

she was the middle child, the poet nurse

to the union dying swayback horse

and the future of the universe

can we get the king to catch the cannonball

When he was on the high wire

And the queen was on the trapeze, hanging from her knees

She could see revolution in the nose bleeds with a smile a mile wide

She found her son’s heart that lives in a lucky unlucky man

To the strangers chest she holds her hand

he getting lost in the ceiling fan

and his modified American plan

can we get the king to catch the cannonball

When he was on the high wire

And the queen was on the trapeze, hanging from her knees

She could see revolution in the nose bleeds with a smile a mile wide

The outcast, is digging in the yard

He found the mast of the Scottish second guard

But wait, when he found the Van Gogh

but no one lent an ear

can we get the king to catch the cannonball

When he was on the high wire

And the queen was on the trapeze, hanging from her knees

She could see revolution in the nose bleeds with a smile a mile wide

Isn’t there a peace we all been looking for

Day and night Far and wide

Don’t everybody got to just grab hold, lock souls

All rising and prizing on the high tide

oh my son, don’t you go far

i need you not to go

you are long for this world, stay close to the earth

Just like I told you so

sometimes i feel like we’re falling fast

but we never hit ground

* and as we’re falling

i turn to you

now we know the world ain’t round

now we know the world ain’t round

oh sweet baby you blow my mind

with everything that you do

* we’ll sit right here

for every breath he makes

for the sunlight on his face

and we do it til we break in two

and we do it til we break in two

oh sweet baby you blow my mind

with everything that you do

*you said be strong

for this road that we are on

could be dangerous could be long

*you pour into me

and i’ll pour into you

and we’ll do it til we break in two

oh my son, i see how you fight

now you need to rest

*i know your scared

but we are right here,

pullout bed pulled up near,

with the nurses fighting the fever

like smokejumpers leaving

*their plane for the fire,

and pilot climbs higher

so your dreams don’t get tired

lights blinking all round your head

your like a Giant and the city’s your bed

rest now beautiful boy

you’re going to make it now beautiful boy

sometimes i feel like we’re falling fast

but we never hit ground

*and here we’ll stay,

and fall another day

i can’t remember what to say

where do you think he is

*does he feel our gentle kiss

is he coming back

can i hold him in my lap

away from all of these machines

monitors and IVs

*you pour into me

and i pour into you

we’ll do it til we break in two

oh my son, it’s ok

let the machine breath for you

* you’ll breath again

as soon as you can,

maybe open up your eyes

i think i saw a smile

*when i put the sox game on

on the radio

the light is getting a low

still they do not know

We can’t get any answers

*but you know that it ain’t dark,

in middle of fenway park,

and the crowd sings with all their heart

ah ah ah ah

rest now beautiful boy

rest now my beautiful boy

you going to make it now beautiful boy