1. |
Buckle to Burn
04:29
|
|||
There's a knock on the door, I'm counting my way back
From what I mean to what I'll say
There's a hole in the floor that I've worn with all this carrying on
I don't turn in the moon like you wanted me to,
But I shine like the sunniest steel
Buckle, burn just to hold you in
There's a nip in your thigh from the blue vinyl ride down the freeway
There's a scratch down the side where the porch took the paint out last week
There's a nest in the eaves, you're dodging and weaving
I don't have the words to say
'Fuck it', and 'I love you' all at the same time
Honey, how I tried to save you
Honey, how I tried to be the one to fall, holding you in
Funny, how I tried to save you
But the best I could be was the buckle
That burned your skin as you slid along
How do, how do
How do you do?
If beer can confessions were the same as affection
I'd have married you five times this week
But the rings 'round my eyes don't come close to fitting on my finger
Now I'm playing the man, helping you stand
Just to lay you back down again
It's not a promise 'til you crack it open and see the light
Honey, how I tried to save you
Honey, how I tried to be the one to fall, holding you in
Funny, how I tried to save you
But the best I could be was the buckle
That burned your skin as you slid along
How do, how do
How do you do?
|
||||
2. |
Blame the Sky
03:03
|
|||
No one blames the little birds for flying off so fast
No one blames the words when they don't last
No one blames the sun when it's got somewhere else to be
So don't blame me, don't blame me
No one blames the leaves when they go flying off the trees
Leaving all their party clothes scattered in the street
Driving all the girls to laugh as they're running by
If you're gonna blame someone, blame the sky
'Cause I never said this would be nothing
Any bigger than what we already had
I don't blame you for wanting someone
To take your hand, but can't you see I'm not that man
No one blames a sunflower when it grows too tall to stand
And I don't blame that tightrope guy for wanting somewhere soft to land
I don't blame the snow when it starts sticking to my shoes
And I don't blame you, I don't blame you
I don't blame you, I don't blame you
|
||||
3. |
Hard Love
03:46
|
|||
4. |
Nadine
04:05
|
|||
Climb the fence behind the high school
Where the bad boys go
It's too damn cold for them tonight
It's just you and me and the first fall snow
Clockwork of branches ticks the time away
You lay your story down
Skipping words like rocks across a river
Watch 'em close until they drown
Nadine
Nadine...Nadine
You say your father was a weapon
And you the target of choice
We spread our coats like blankets
Over the fire of maple leaves
I curl into the smoke of your voice
Book bag hard beneath my head
Your fingers soft, cigarette on my tongue
And there is no word for being
This strong and this undone
Nadine
Nadine...Nadine
Bells are ringing, no one's listening
The bells are ringing, no one's listening to you
Must have been a month before
You skipped town
Yeah, about a month before
Those boys back there drowned
|
||||
5. |
It Was Billie
02:15
|
|||
It was late, it was Billie, it was the color of the moon
Had us walking, maybe stumbling, surely flying through the room
Fall in the same old chairs, throw the same old cares to the wind
That's how this begins, Mama told me,
'Bout dark stormy nights and the wolf at the door
But she didn't say nothing 'bout looking at someone
I've seen a thousand times before
How the red in the wine might bring out the blue in his eyes
Leave me wanting more, and more, and more, oh, oh, oh
Cold comfort is the company I've come to understand
But if you should find yourself wanting a better friend
Lie here, listen to the music, let me know where you want this to go
'Cause I can't keep pretending you don't know
No, I can't keep pretending anymore
|
||||
6. |
Figure it Out
04:24
|
|||
Find the time to spend the dime and pace the floor
Find your heart's got an old expiration
Pat it down and plot the line from where you're crying
Right across all the stars in the pavement
All your broken relations are laying their bets
In veiled exaltations and forgivenesses too cruel to forget
You've got to figure it out, you've got to figure it out
No expectations, no worries, no doubts
Figure it out
Wind the twine around the time it took to say goodbye
Tie the knot and pull it like a toothache
In the blurry afternoon, the yellow living room
Reminds you of the times that trip you like a suitcase
All your packing and leaving and pretty regrets
It's a fine line 'tween grieving and learning you didn't know best
You've got to figure it out, you've got to figure it out
No expectations, no worries, no doubts
Figure it out
Where you running to now?
Figure it out
You've got to figure it out
No expectations, no worries, no doubts
No expectations, no worries, no doubts
No expectations, no worries, no doubts
Figure it out, figure it out
C'mon and figure it out
|
||||
7. |
||||
8. |
Fool for Loving You
04:14
|
|||
Fell out of the house and into your hands
Diamond promise of the promised land
I took it on faith, I was too young to wait
I was just trying to keep myself warm
Went looking for fire, found a summer storm
It blew me down south, knocked the words from my mouth
I don't know where I'm going but I know that I can't stay
Seven years is more than long enough to try and look the other way
I'd rather be broken-hearted than broken down with you
You call me a fool for leaving, better than a fool for loving you
We built a little house of stone and lies
Just 'cause it's not what I hoped for don't mean it's a big surprise
To watch you set 'em on up, drink your words from the cup
I don't know where I'm going but I know that I can't stay
Seven years is more than long enough to try and look the other way
I'd rather be broken-hearted than broken down with you
You call me a fool for leaving, better than a fool for loving you
Every answer has a question, somewhere down there in that well
Throw your pennies in the fountain, buy your ticket out of hell
Every answer has a question, somewhere down there in that well
Throw your pennies in the fountain, buy your ticket out of...
I don't know where I'm going but I know that I can't stay
Seven years is more than long enough to try and look the other way
I'd rather be broken-hearted than broken down with you
You call me a fool for leaving, better than a fool for loving you
|
||||
9. |
5 a.m., Western Ave.
04:32
|
|||
Standing on the corner, waiting for the morning to find me
Lean my head on the bus stop 'til the wind winds me up
And I can speak the way I should, the way you wish I would
When I come to you, when I come to you
It does no good to grieve if you never leave the past behind
It does no good to leave if I never get you off my mind
Keep packing boxes just to take 'em on down the line
It's good sometimes to cry
Baby, it's good sometimes
Standing on the corner, waiting for the morning to find me
Lean my head on the bus stop 'til the wind winds me up
And I can speak the way I should, the way you wish I would
When I come to you, when I come to you
Have it out again with a ghost behind the bar
Turning riddles, dripping whiskey on the floor
Sometimes you come undone no matter how hard you tie the knot
It's good sometimes to want
Baby, it's good sometimes
Standing on the corner, waiting for the morning to find me
Lean my head on the bus stop 'til the wind winds me up
And I can speak the way I should, the way you wish I would
When I come to you, when I come to you
Try to say my name but the words all come out wrong
You're tired of playing games, well which side are you playing on
Tried to pick the lock but the card slipped on through
It's good sometimes to lose
Baby, it's good sometimes to lose
You know it's good, it's good sometimes to lose
You know it's good sometimes
Standing on the corner, waiting for the morning to find me
Lean my head on the bus stop 'til the wind winds me up
And I can speak the way I should, the way you wish I would
When I come to you, when I come to you
|
||||
10. |
I Don't Mind
02:46
|
|||
Tell a little secret, tell a little lie
Take it easy, take your time
I don't mind, I don't mind
Kiss me like that, honey baby, I don't mind
You say you don't know what we're doing
Well, I can give you a little clue and tell you
I don't mind, I don't mind
It might not be forever but it sure feels good tonight
You and me, all night long
Singing each other silly songs
When the morning comes, the sun will jump in bed with us and fill us up
With more love, more love
Then we'll sit out on the stoop
Watch the pigeons fly off the roof
And I won't mind, I won't mind
I could sit anywhere with you, baby, I wouldn't mind
You and me, all night long
Singing each other silly songs
When the morning comes, the sun will jump in bed with us and fill us up
With more love, more love
Then we'll sit out on the stoop
Watch the pigeons fly off the roof
And I won't mind, I won't mind
I could sit anywhere with you, baby, I wouldn't mind
It might not be forever, but it sure feels good tonight
And I could sit anywhere with you, babe
And I wouldn't mind
|
||||
11. |
Wait for You
03:56
|
|||
Someone's gonna weep, someone's gonna wait by the phone
Someone's going down on her knees, someone's going out for a smoke
Someone's gonna drive too fast, try and lose a love that was never there for the asking
Someone's gonna slow down and wait for you
Someone's gonna slow down and wait for you
Some say they have all the answers, some have nothing but time
Some love for the danger and some for the kindness they're trying to find
Some are trying to lose the past, some are trying to make their losing thing last
Someone's gonna slow down and wait for you
Someone's gonna slow down and wait for you
Some day, we're all gonna learn how to shine
Some day, it won't hurt this much
That you couldn't be mine
I don't know any secrets, I don't know any signs
Mostly, I just try to keep to the softer side
'Cause I know I'm going to fall far more than I fly if I keep running towards the truth
And I know that someone will wait for you
Someone's gonna slow down and wait for you
Someone's gonna slow down
And wait for you
|
||||
12. |
Texarkana
03:19
|
|||
When I was a young man, I set fire to my veins
Made love to every neighbor's girl through my bedroom window
And after all the lights went out, me and all my friends
We'd go flying out of town
Dig myself a grave so deep, ain't no one gonna find me
Pray the lord my soul to keep with the devil right behind me
And there ain't no angel gonna give me wings tonight
If I fall down
Texarkana dirt beneath my fingernails
Tired highway razoring my arms
Going ninety-five with nowhere left to get to in a hurry
We were young, we were something, we were ours for a little while
And I learned to smell trouble from a long way off
I just never thought to pay it much attention
Always turned to fight instead of look the other way
In truth, I never quite got that damn monkey off my back
Tearing hard out of every parking lot
Keep it hidden, it's not the way I thought it would be
Living just to mark the passing time
Until I fall
Now I'm holding onto everything with nothing in my hands
Keep feeling for my angel wings,
There's nothing but the mattress and the wind
At my back, as I go flying out again
|
||||
13. |
Love's Not Crazy
04:29
|
|||
Love's not crazy, love's not cool
Spends most of his nights spinning on a bar stool
Spitting out the seeds of whatever he had with you
Love's not patient, love's not kind
Not kicking his feet up, finger on the rewind
Remembering the good times
Most of the time, he's watching the news
Not all those sunny days before you swore him off
How he'd hang around your head like a moth
Skirting the traps
You couldn't catch him so he flew
Love's not blinking, love isn't changing
These days, love's not doing too much rearranging
It's the same old stories, same old furniture, same old blues
Oh, but love isn't looking, love isn't finding
Any reason to beg you to remind him
Love's just out there doing whatever it is love has to do
All those sunny days before you swore him off
How he'd hang around your head like a moth
Skirting the traps
You couldn't catch him so he flew
Love's not crazy, love's not cool
Spends most of his nights spinning on a bar stool
Spitting out the seeds of whatever he had with you
|
Shelley Miller Chicago, Illinois
Shelley Miller isn't afraid to take chances. Less interested in genre than honesty, she pens darkly soulful tunes about
life just outside the lines. Folk? Perhaps...late-night jukebox folk. Gospel for non-believers folk. Had-one-too-many-and-lived-to-tell folk. Rock hymns for the unhemmed folk.
Shelley released her 4th album, February, in March 2012. She lives in Chicago.
... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Shelley Miller, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp