South of Cheyenne

It took days to drive to Illinois
Looking back it all feels like a dream
You always defy my expectations
But I’ll always believe you when you tell me what you need

Summer on the road can make the strong break
Sleeping with your head against the glass
We sure like to do these things the hard way
But nothing makes us softer than memories that last

Salt Lake City, you were pretty, we were tired
And we stayed south of Cheyenne
Well Peoria, you thundered and we watched it from our bed
Close together in the end
So I would take Peoria again

What drives across the country has to find its way back home
What flies will always find a place to land
We stayed an extra night when we reached Vegas
Nothing like the strip to show your hand

Years ago I thought that we had missed this
You and I, a sight I’d never see
I kept my heart as open as the highway
And time was kind enough to bring you back to me

Salt Lake City, you were pretty, we were tired
And we stayed south of Cheyenne for a while
Well Peoria, you thundered and we watched it from our bed
Close together in the end
So I would take Peoria again (and again… x6)

Chicago

I was in the middle of a crowded room
And I was unaware of all the traces left of you
On the concrete and the brick walls and the light strings
Reverb in the overtones and memories

They rushed back to my mind
That one night years ago here in the summertime
When I sat here and watched you and you made me cry
I know I can’t go back there but my heart still tries
Because I miss you more than all my songs can say

But here I go, I’m somehow trying to write another one
There’s nothing I can say that I have not already sung
But I know you’ll love Chicago, and I can’t wait til I see it,
And we will stay up all night, and I’ll never want to leave it

You rush back to my mind
In just the way a thunderstorm advances
It barely gives a warning, then you glance into the clouds
And it pours down, and all the flashes
Are a distraction from what I was trying to say

Well I know you wish you’d been a better friend to me
But I know you were trying to keep your head above your feet
And I promise that I saw you underneath the things that haunted you
And kept it all in context like the way I thought you’d want me to

Smoke Signals

You know what they say
That you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone
But I say that leaving’s not enough to go on
I don’t know if I’ll remember what it’s like to be known
Until you’re here and we lie down
And you have me in your hold

And I let go
And let my body fold

But you’ve been chasing smoke signals
From the future and the past
Oh the timeline’s got you spinning but it stops you in your tracks
And I know that you’ve been busy, and I know that you’ve been tired
With twice the weight that one can carry
But I’m waiting here outside

‘Til you let go
And let my body fold into you
It’s getting old
Every day it’s something new

And every time you close your eyes
You just keep falling farther and farther and farther away
And you say that we’ll be fine
But it just gets harder to stay, stay

So I let go
And let my body fold into you
It’s getting old
Every day it’s something new

Every day it’s something new
And all I wanted was you

All My Metaphors

How far have I twisted to protect the ones I love
But never saying no has made an artifact of us
I didn’t want to hurt you, but now it’s two for one
I was so scared I’d lose you, but here we are and we’re still
On our own, own

I should’ve known
I should've known

Now all my metaphors keep coming back to
Oceans and thunderstorms

Truth is on the front porch, and patiently she waits
Waiting til I notice and welcome her inside from all the rain
Not imposing, but never goes away
Oh isn’t that just like her
She never seems to change, change

She’s always the same
Always the same

And all my metaphors keep coming back to
Oceans and thunderstorms

It’s like you wanted to be branches when we’re really separate trees
And gravity kept cracking us apart from all our dreams
The lifeboat was defective, I was staring at the leak
But I didn’t want to scare you, so I tried to be discreet

But we kept on taking water and it quickly weighed us down
Now we’re stuck on different islands but we managed not to drown
And now all my metaphors keep coming back to
Oceans and thunderstorms

All my metaphors keep coming back to
Oceans and thunderstorms

Wind and Waves

Maybe I’m lying to myself
Maybe I’ve squandered all my wealth
Why have I wasted so much time
Trying to keep myself in line?

If it isn’t the waves then it’s the wind
How did I live with walls so thin?
Holding the roof up with my hands
But the rain kept pouring in

So I’m taking the pictures off the walls
Trailing mud through all the halls
How did I harbor here so long?
Pale resemblance of a home

If it isn’t the wind then it’s the waves
Drowning out every word I say
So I loosen my grip on all my plans
And watch them fade away

If it isn’t the wind then it’s the waves
Tearing my last defense away
Tether my restless wandering brain
Before I lose my way