February Sisters

laws lyrics

BE BY YOUR SIDE
I did you wrong – your sorrow my creation
when all is gone - maybe reconciliation
mother, sister, brother – come forgive each other – past is past
anyone will tell you– hate will only kill you – love will last

I will be by your side
I will be by your side
if it comes to a fight
I will be by your side
I will be by your side

dark all day – still you keep on shining
you make your way – without a silver lining
talk about the weather – you know that it never rains – it pours
wrap the sun around you - now that I’ve found you – I am yours

I will be by your side
I will be by your side
‘til the end of the light
I will be by your side
I will be by your side

when there’s no hope in sight
wrong has turned to right
I will lie for you, cry for you, die for you tonight

VOLUNTEER GODS
if you believed enough to pray
if you were strong enough to stay
if you were hard enough
if you were smart enough
we wouldn’t be where we are today

we’ll make you better than you are
fix your hair and fix your heart
you will be fabulous
you will be one if us
you will be a shining star

we are volunteer gods

there is no looking back for fear we’ve gone too far
we can’t be seen for what we are………volunteer gods

ACCIDENTALLY BEAUTIFUL
she wakes up in the morning – flowering to a flame
she glares back at the mirror pulls her t-shirt down like she’s ashamed
she sits down to her makeup begins to rehearse the part
oh if only there was something to cover up the nothing in her heart

she’s accidentally beautiful
accidentally beautiful
accidentally beautiful
absolutely blind

she says she don’t know nothing but I know she knows her mind
she gives a buck to a beggar as if to make the world a little more kind
she reaches in the dumpster claims an abandoned rose
then she stares at it the whole day like there’s something the flower knows

she’s accidentally beautiful
accidentally beautiful
accidentally beautiful
absolutely blind

yesterday a truck came hauled away all her stuff
don’t know what’s harder falling out of or into love
everyday I wake up and look myself in the eye
taped to the mirror the roses are hung to dry

FORGETTING:
I miss you

better to forget than to forgive
no broken moments to relive
I’m not there

standing on the great divide
angels and animals collide
close your eyes and taste the poison
drink the thinning air
turn around and turn the noise on
I’m not there

better to forget than to forgive
no broken moments to relive
where there is no past or future
the infinite aware
you can’t see, you can’t be too sure
I’m not there

ONE ARM TIED BEHIND MY BACK
everyone’s telling me what to do
one arm tied behind my back
I don’t need them and I don’t need you
one arm tied behind my back
no one’s getting the best of me
precisely what I lack
they’ll be getting the rest of me
one arm tied behind my back

gotta go - there’s no time to think
one arm tied behind my back
all I need is another drink
one arm tied behind my back
whiskey kicks like a 45
serious as a heart attack
it’s a wonder I’m still alive
one arm tied behind my back

Tell me where and when
I will count to
10…..9….8…..7654321 arm tied behind my back

COULD BE YOURS
careful what you wish for

could be yours, all of this
all of this could be yours

it starts with a little man
in love with his own voice
builds a church out of a soapbox and starts
selling noise

the weak, the poor, the brokenhearted
come in to be found
they leave like soldiers marching
to his sound

could be yours, all of this
all of this could be yours

you’ll come to fear the sky
the helicopters song
bombs in the garden
all day long
they came in fast and hard
took the town by dawn
they hold the bridge and road and the
water’s gone

could be yours, all of this
all of this could be yours

careful what you wish for
the gods are cruel and we are simply
here for entertainment
so step on up and welcome to
The greatest show on
earth

2014 James R Irwin - City Of Trees Music ASCAP

THE SCAR
crisscrossing the dateline
running from the day
You flew into a night time
that never went away
you know I couldn’t help you
I could not help myself
fear or fear of failure
only time will tell

I wish you well
wherever you are
you were the wound
I am just the scar

the soldier at the airport
the child who’s washed ashore
the mother and the father
forever looking for
home, an understanding
those who can’t ignore
a tear from a stranger
wanting something more

I wish you well
wherever you are
the world is the wound
we are just the scar

THE SHOOTING TREE
going down to the shooting tree, the shooting tree, the shooting tree
don’t bother trying to remember me
nobody ever has
sing the song of the morning rush, the children’s bus, the cooing doves
our dogs will look after us
smiling as we pass
going down to the shooting tree, the shooting tree, the shooting tree
don’t bother trying to remember me
nobody ever has

going down to the shooting tree, the shooting tree, the shooting tree
going down to the shooting tree
going to make my bed
down at the coffee shop, someone will stop, then he’ll look off
like he heard a distant shot
then he will shake his head
going down to the shooting tree, the shooting tree, the shooting tree
going down to the shooting tree
going to make my bed

soon on a summer’s day, a flower may take my place
it will take your breath away
that will be my prize
going down to the shooting tree, the shooting tree, the shooting tree
going down to the shooting tree
going to rest my eyes

STARVING THE GHOST
shoot the moon break the sky
cut this light out of my eye
make him blind so I can see
I will set both of us free
after all the poisons and the knives
the pale passenger survives

words and tears spit and blood
he takes it all it’s not enough
I used to think that we were friends
now I know how the story ends

I’m starving – starving the ghost
I’m starving – starving the ghost
I’m starving – starving the ghost

I used to think that we were friends
now I know how the story ends

I’m starving – starving the ghost
I’m starving – starving the ghost
I’m starving – starving the ghost
I’m starving

now I see you as you are
angel to my bête noire
reflected in your monochromes
hanging in your broken homes
and everyone’s left to assume
I’m the shadow in the living room
but you forget the times we had
you were best when you were bad
you finished every stolen kiss
the taste of poison on your lips
at least I know who I am
when did you last give a damn
fuck you

WHEN IT GETS DARK
sirens wail, the city moans
the winter wind bites your bones
hope and faith just payday loans
counted out in sticks and stones
you want to cry
you want to scream
when it gets dark, dream

well dressed wolves are at the door
fed on fear, warmed by war
us or them, either or
makes you forget what you’re fighting for
let them lie
let them scheme
when it gets dark, dream

hard to believe that once we were kings
now we can’t even buy a spark
the world has turned and now the night it brings
us back to the cave to make our mark

the money’s gone, the car won’t start
the welcome wagon was sold for parts
no one’s home, but standing guard
the broken toys left in the yard
what used to shine
what used to gleam
super 8 frames of a dream

SOME RAINS
some rains taste like honey dripping from the trees
drunk on sin and summer, we made discoveries
careless words, hummingbirds buoyed on the breeze
one day to fade and fall like autumn leaves

some rains shine like broken
pieces of the night
falling on the traveler
out of luck and light
wounded cars, broken stars
those who’ve lost their fight
I wish I may
I wish I might

I love the rain, I love the rain

some rains fall like fire
squeezed out of the flame
they are the tears of astronauts
who’ve seen what they can’t name
into the sky to be baptized
they never were the same
to bring them back to earth
just seemed a shame

I love the rain, I love the rain
like hope and heart and other things I can’t explain
I love… I love… the rain

laws lyrics