It came and went so fast I couldn't see it
It was like a flash of lightening breaking the dawn
It came and went so fast I just can't believe it
One minute here and the next one gone

They say life gives you choices
They say love won't let you forget
They say there's hope for tomorrow
They say a lot I don't get

And the world gives us people to care about
And the world shares people from above
And the world always takes them back eventually
And the world is cruel place for love

It came and went so fast I couldn't see it
It was like a flash of lightening breaking the dawn
It came and went so fast I just can't believe it
One minute here and the next one gone

I thought that I'd always have you
I thought your body would always hold life
I thought forever was reality
I thought I would get to say goodbye

I hope you're sleeping so softly
I hope you feel no more pain
I hope you knew love with every breath of me
I hope to see your warm smile again

It came and went so fast I couldn't see it
It was like a flash of lightening breaking the dawn
It came and went so fast I just can't believe it
One minute here and the next one gone

Dear one I just want to tell you
Dear one those things I just didn't say
Dear one I meant to share with you
Dear one just how much you brightened my days

Goodbye to those kindhearted lessons
Goodbye to the laughter we shared
Goodbye to an entire part of me
Goodbye, please know how much I cared.

She looked at the side of the road and saw
The rest of her life
Through that car window
And everywhere else the wind blows

It's a hard hard lesson to learn
It's a hard hard path to burn
Half the battles knowin where you've been
And where you're going
And half that battle's knowin
That it's gonna be alright
Make it through tonight

Growin up in a small town
Hadn't been any fun
But that was fine with her
She knew there were plenty of places to run
Don't be afraid
You'll figure it out some day
Miles from here
And as she rolled that window down
Somethin whispered in her ear
It don't get worse than this
But it sure as heck gets better
A town can't make you disappear
Anymore than you can live in a letter
She was going to find a boy out there
Who would make her feel alright
Who he was she didn't care
She just knew she was ready for a life
And a cowboy was the answer
But she didn't know where to find one
There was no blue jean, baby, messed up hair
Spinnin a pair of six-guns
But she saw him in her mind
Don't be afraid
He said
I'm here to save you from now on
It'll be alright
Make it through the night

It's a hard hard lesson to learn
It's a hard hard path to burn
Half the battles knowin where you've been
And where you're going
And half that battle's knowin
That it's gonna be alright
Make it through tonight

So there on the road that day
With the cool afternoon breeze singing
She thought of ways she might find a way
To get away from that old beginning

Someday I'll get out of this town
Someday I'll turn it around

And as she sat there starin into space
She heard a knock at the window
And there before her stood a six foot four
Tall cool glass of a man she thought
She'd like to know
Don't be afraid
He said
I saw your car here
And thought you might like a lift
To somewhere better than this
So they rode off into the sunset
And that girl got her happy ending
It just goes to show you never know
What'll bring around a new beggining
Those two are married now
But they never looked back even once
And late at night when they're side by side
She tells him about how once
She looked out a window
And planned her get away
And how he'd been the one
To make her dream come true that day

It's a hard hard lesson to learn
It's a hard hard path to burn
Half the battles knowin where you've been
And where you're going
And half that battle's knowin
That it's gonna be alright
Make it through tonight

Great Divide

I saw you outside and you said come on let's take a ride
We'll go and search for the Great Divide
I said "sure" and I put up my kickstand and went
We held hands and hoped that the day wouldn't end
There were mountains that we almost climbed
But when it came down to it you said some other time
And I knew you were scared and I knew I was scared too
But pretended that we had better things to do
And I am sure this is not good for me
And I am sure this is not good for me
And I am sure this is not good for me
But there were mountains that I wanted to see

To see
What did we see
I saw you with me
Saw you with me

And after that night I hoped that I could see you again
Cause really you were becoming my very best friend
And bike rides and holding hands was just fine with me
We could laugh through the night and wake up in happy in the morning
And there were still mountains that we could probably climb
When it came down to it we just had such a good time
That you forgot them and I forgot about them too
Cause we had so very much else to do
And I am sure that this is not good for me
And I am sure that this is not good for me
And I am sure this is not good for me
But there was so much life I so wanted to see

And sometimes an adventure
Doesn't fit a happy ending
And sometimes we don't know
When we're beginning

Later in life I decided that I'd hold you tight
And when you smiled I knew that it'd all be alright
I said sure and hoped into your car and went
Cause who's better than to love than your very best friend
There were mountains that we finally climbed
When we needed to we made sure we took the time
And never forgot the day we left after school
To find a place that was really less real than we knew
And I am sure this is not good for me
And I am sure this is not good for me
And I am sure this is not good for me
But I don't care anymore this is where I want to be

I'm left with this feeling
And I can't lie
You’ve got me believing
You could make my life
If I wrote you a love song
Would you leave your girlfriend?
Didn’t think so.
That’s okay I know.
I’ll leave in the morning
And I won’t pout
Won’t leave my earrings.
This place ain’t for my things.

But I can’t help but wonder
What it’s all about
You made me feel so normal
I was barely half myself
But you said it’s far too late for this
So I said I’m heading out
Said I’m heading out

Met you in a mirror
Said hey you’re just like me
Kissed you on a corner
And I wanted it to be
Painful like a bee sting
Ugly like a rat
Instead I went and fell for you
How fucked up is that?

I’ll dream of a fouton
And I’ll leave the light on
And think of how I’ve grown
And curse every wish bone
Keep fighting the feelings
When I can’t sleep
While I think of sad songs
And smile at board games
To the tune of the night rain

But I can’t help but wonder
What it’s all about
You made me feel so normal
I was barely half myself
But you said it’s far too late for this
So I said I’m heading out
Said I’m heading out

It’s wrong to want to fix you
But I could use some support too
Hey that’s healthy, right?
And if I’m speaking honestly
You make me happy
And I think that’s kind of nice
We could play Nintendo
Or stare out the window
While we analyze life
And hope it’s not a prequel
To another sequel
Of all the other messed up things before that we tried to bring to life.

So I guess that’s the story
I wanna hold you tight
Never tell a white lie
And talk through the nighttime
Less than feeling lonely
I guess I’m just pissed off
That everything that’s meant so much
It just can’t mean enough

But I can’t help but wonder
What it’s all about
You made me feel so normal
I was barely half myself
But you said it's far too late for this
So I said I’m heading out
Said I’m heading out

It seems it's far too late for this
So I guess I'm heading out.

not waving. drowning.

I’m over those letters
That you mailed unaddressed
Sending out something
Anything, to speed the happiness
It’s winter again
The cold vines creeping in
And you’re somewhere South
Somewhere where you’ve figured it out
How to calm that weather down

And I swear I’ll leave a light on
If you wanna come back home
I know I took for granted
And what you’ve given is now gone
But I will keep on waiting
Even though I feel like sinking
And I’ll try the best that I can
To call you home again

Black night madness no light
To hold the tears left falling
And no man to hear your voice
If your voice don’t feel like calling
Cause some days I let my hair down
And I swear I scream into the sun
Still when I look to see who’s heard me
Turns out I’m the only one

The green’s a reminder
Of some better days back when
We played in the forest
And followed paths down and back again
Raindrops don’t mask tears
Til the raindrops start to fall
Cause in my world the rain’s just
The saddest thing of all.

I will float on down the river
I will lay beneath the water
And feel new understanding
As it washes me past logs there
Ophelia’s curse wasn’t choosing
The kind of man she loved
But drowning in the sorrows
Of every problem that was too much.

And I swear I’ll leave a light on
If you wanna come back home
I know I took for granted
And what you’ve given is now gone
But I will keep on waiting
Even though I feel like sinking
And I’ll try the best that I can
To call you home again

Some days you’ll see her waiting
With a notebook
On a bench down by the park
Looking for a boy she lost
When her whole life all fell apart
Her pen whispers that she loves him
She pretends that he would care
Thinking of willow trees and
Writing modern tragedies
Wondering if he’s still out there

Rising up against a cold September morn
Left me feeling weightless as the day that I was born
An old love letter sat nestled in a drawer
And I wondered what it’d say to me this time

A life wanders blindly thought the places that it roams
Searching for its last forever home
The glass gets dirty
And it gets hard to see
But the reflections still remain our history

Fault lines and earthquakes
Seem to light the way
But I have since realized my dreams of yesterday
When the mountains stared me down
The way they’re prone to do
Their snowy glare reminded me of you

I thought I heard your melody
Swear I heard it chime
In the places that I’ve come to realize
Keep some of me behind
Then I felt your smile call to me again
So I followed that pathway to the end

I thought less when I loved you
I think I lost my nerve
You always had me tangled up in things I hadn’t learned
And by the final countdown
I knew it all too well
And in the loss I finally found myself.

little red apples

Congratulations,
You made it here.
Through the white winter,
Through those voices in your ear.

Spring comes so slowly,
When you can’t sleep.
When the music gets tired.
And all you do is lie there.

And when you have proven
How much you don’t need me.

And the little red apples
Hang low on the tree
And the silence feels awkward
When the sun’s warming me.
You know it meant everything
Forever ago.
You know I can’t unlove you.
Even when you go.

Let’s cross paths again
Someday.
Let’s forgive all the shadows,
That we’ve put away.

But…

For now I’ll smoke cigarettes
And sing sad, sad songs
About two people on a war path
Who couldn’t leave what they couldn’t have.

And Mondays are gone
They just get lost
In the traffic lights
And sleepless nights

And the little red apples
Hang low on the tree
And the silence feels awkward
When the sun’s warming me.
You know it meant everything
Forever ago.
You know I can’t unlove you.
Even when you go.

I hear you’re in Portland.
I hope you’re doing well.
I’m back in the Midwest.
But there’s not too much more than that.

And you’ve come and gone.
Like it or not.
And you were so right all along,
Too bad you were also so wrong.

So…

For now I’ll smoke cigarettes
And sing sad, sad songs
About two people on a war path
Who couldn’t leave what they couldn’t have.

And the little red apples
Hang low on the tree.