No Way Back (2006)
All songs © 2006 by Jeff Gutman,
Published by Mr. Knees Music, ASCAP
Hitchhiker
Early morning on a desert road
Wheels were turning
Through the sand below
When a shadow fell across my eye
Miles from nowhere and his throat was dry
"I know, it's all I know...
Too late to find the road back home.
I wait through all my days
For stars to fall and guide me on my way."
Door was opened but no words exchanged
Sat beside me, somehow knew my name
All my questions but he only laughed.
Said he'd come too far, he can't go back.
Gears were grinding as the engine died
Rattled slowly pulling to the side
Heat was rising and it cracked the ground
Dug our heels in and we started down.
Voices in the canyon scraped my ears
Turned around, the stranger disappeared.
He left me standing just where I began
But I can't remember who I am...
(Ghost Choir)
Emerald Eyes
Emerald eyes, sweetest song of summer
Stay a while, safe and under cover
And your voice, smooth as velvet moonlight
Melting down over me.
All those nights, carved into my heart
And we tried, and we fell apart
In your eyes, whispered from the start
That we tried all in vain.
All our time seemed to run together
Every night fluttered like a feather
In this crowd full of faceless strangers
Somehow I found you there
Storm is coming, can you hear the thunder?
On the run, we've got to find our shelter.
Money's gone, a long a restless hunger
Soon we start to feeding off each other.
While the world crumbled into pieces
In a whirl, time was all we needed
In this town full of faceless dangers
Somehow I lost you there.
Not Too Late
Do you know the way you're facing?
Do you know the way back home?
All the lines that you're retracing
Just to find where it all went wrong
All of the words unspoken
Are fading away
All of the plans you've written down
Are fading away
It's not too late
And I wondered how I got so restless
And I wondered if you were the one
And the tide was coming in between us
Boiling over till we came undone.
And I want you to come back home
I've forgotten that things were wrong
And I want you to come back home.
And this time...
Do you wonder if the days get shorter?
Do you wonder what you leave behind?
And the shadows
that you crawl down under
Will they catch you
When you fall behind?
Masquerade
If I saw you in your disguise,
The shadows crawling behind your eyes
It's been so long, It's been too long
You wouldn't know me now
The mask I've worn
The hardened leather, the edges torn
It's been so long, It's been too long
Till midnight comes....
And the last of the masquerades was on
Hands that moved the helpless pawns
That danced across the halls
And we sat on the edges of the night
And spiraled in the smoky light
Of alabaster white
And the moon seemed to shimmer
Through the crowd
And silver lined your silken mouth
That spoke without a sound
And we staggered together in the dark
We couldn't tell ourselves apart
But I know who you are...
And I said that I knew that I was wrong
I stayed away for far too long
And left you on your own
And you said that you knew
That I should know
Of how you let yourself unfold
In arms that held you close.
Midnight found us at last
As I lifted your mask
Burning eyes through my bones
As my hands turned to stone
As my arms turned to stone
As my eyes turned to stone
Standing frozen for all our days
I long to hold you and here I'll stay
It's been so long, It's been too long.
Pyramid
Chains around my neck that bind my legs
Pulled along the sand for all my days
Rise into the sun to scorch the earth
Salt within my blood that boils and burns
Those who fell before the falling lash
Buried under stone to cry their last
Pull the muscle tight to grind the bone
Falling into place the cornerstone
From the swollen tongue that spoke my name
Know the child you bear will know the same
To the heaven high, receive the gift
Born a sea of blood, the pyramid.
Once Again
And I would have waited for you,
waited all my days
For the time when I could hear you say
You'd be mine once again.
And I wasn't looking when you
turned your eyes away
Did you know
I would come back one day?
Did you know that one day?
But a sign was on the doorway
"Come again another Sunday"
And I knew you held another
All the weight was on your shoulder
And I would have waited for you,
waited all my days
For the time when I could hear you say
You'd be mine once again.
You'd be mine once again.
Sky is Falling
The sky is falling and how they run
The crowd is crawling
And now, tumbling down
Call out aloud as thunder so high above
And buried under alive, nowhere to hide
Under the sky
So hold your hands high and pray for rain
And hold your head high the same
Never the same
Never the same
The Secret
Long crawling shadows swallow the street
I stagger downward, fall to my knees
Canyons above me, winds howl below
Voices surround me, they'll never know...
I've got a secret I'll never tell
And for my secret, I'll see you in hell
Dark velvet curtains cover the night
Stars falling backward vanish from sight
They'll never stop now, nowhere is home
Heels fall behind me, come and they go
Hide in the doorway, they pass me by
I stay awake and I may survive.
Holiday in the Sun
On our own holiday in the sun...
All of the people down on the street
Where are they going what do they need?
We could escape them, just you and I
Out on the highway, maybe tonight...
I wanted a picture to capture the sky
Driving in circles, we never arrive
Where we could end up, we'll never know
A day to remember when we get old...
Pictures of you, pictures of me
Pictures of hills, pictures of trees
Pictures to show all that I see
Pictures of homes covered with leaves
Pictures of sand covered with sea
Pictures I know that I'll never need...
No Way Back
Days pass by my window
Falling through my hands
Its all behind me now, I've done all I can
All the things I've seen, Was it all a dream?
When you wake to find something missing...
Did you understand what was in your hand
When you held it high to the heavens
There's no way, no way back
There's no way, no way back...
Pictures that you gave me crumble into dust
It's more than I can bare, slowly losing touch
You won't listen now till the lights go down
And you're calling out "How'd I get here?"
But you need to know there's no way back home
So you'll carry on where you're going
There's no way, no way back
There's no way, no way back
What in the World
In the space between the walls
The sound dissolves away
And all the words we say
Are captured for all time
In my hands the clock was standing still
And winding down until
It slowed around the hours you were mine
Lost in photographs
And unaware that all we had to share
Was all the time we had nowhere to be
Stars we caught in shallow dreams
Were fading more,
The shadows seemed to stretch before
As far as eyes could see...
What in the world have I done?
How can I say I was wrong?
All the time you wasted
What was it for?
All the time I waited
To see you at my door again...
All I have to show are years of holding on
To words we said and words we meant
And words that disappeared.
All I have to give you is a simple song
That never scratched the surface on
All the things you were to me...
What in the world have I done?
How can I say I was wrong?
