Lyrics That Speak

A few months ago I went searching for a sense of identity. My search led me to my some of my favorite songs. I started to compile a mix of songs that I felt defined who I am, or who I was at some point in my life. The unifying theme in many of the songs was a certain lyric that resonated and spoke to a part of my unconscious. Some silly, some sad, and some just plain destructive-but somehow, over the years, I felt like I lived a moment in time that was best explained by a few words that some other person put to music. Here are a few of them...

The Captain-by Kasey Chambers
"I've kicked myself at times because I've lied. So I will have to learn to stand my ground. I'll tell him I won't be around. I'll move on over to your town and hide."

Least Complicated- By The Indigo Girls
"What makes me think I can start clean slated? The hardest to learn was the least complicated."

Spring Street-By Dar Williams
"Can I blow this town? Make a big sound- like a star of a film or a postcard. Can I just forget the frames that I shared with you?"

Snow is Gone- by Josh Ritter
"I'd rather be the one who loves, than to be loved and never and even know."

12 Bellevue- by Kathleen Edwards
"I'm not gonna smile. All this shit's that's happened is gonna take a while. And I don't wanna be your friend-just take off your clothes and get into my bed."
"I put a hole in your heart and then fed it to you."
"I'm gonna choose, cuz in the end either way I still lose. And I'm not gonna wait. I was thinking about drinking my way through today."

High and Dry- by Radiohead
"Drying up in conversation, you will be the one who cannot talk. All your insides fall to pieces-you just sit there wishing you could still make love."

Anna Begins-by Counting Crows
"This time, the kindness falls like rain-it washes her away. And Anna begins to change her mind. The seconds when I am shaking leave me shuddering for days."
"Maybe I should snap her up in a butterfly net, pin her down on a photograph album."
"This time, the kindness falls like rain-it washes me away. And Anna begins to change my mind. Every time she sneezes I believe it's love. O lord, I am not ready for this sort of thing."
"Her kindness bangs a gong."

Thunder Road- by Bruce Springsteen
"Roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair. Well the nights busted open, these two lanes can take us anywhere."
"Come take my hand, we're riding out tonight case the promised land."
"And I know you're lonely, those words I ain't spoken. Tonight we'll be free, all the promises will be broken."

I Don't Wanna Talk About It- Emmylou Harris
"God knows how I love you-like a user needs a drug. And I'll never be free of it, you are poison in my blood."
"God know why you don't want me-no one would do the things I do. But to my grave it's gonna haunt me-how I got down on my knees for you. You're my obsession, and the reason that I live. You already got my soul- there's nothing left to give."

The Only Thing- Nine Inch Nails
"I'm drunk. And right now I'm so in love with you. And I don't want to think too much about what we should and shouldn't do."

Lodestar-by Sarah Harmer
"Listen, the darkness rings"

Forgiveness- by Patty Griffin
"It's hard to give-it's hard to get-but everybody needs a little forgiveness."

She-by Over the Rhine
"What's so special about you? You're ache she's learned to crave-you're a blade to dull to raise. But she cuts herself on you every night. She's just dying to lay down the knife"
"She clings to what's familiar. She thinks the change-will kill her."

Touch Me With Your Love-by Beth Orton
"I dreamed of you last night-you had a different face or maybe just a haircut."

Blues Run the Game- written by Jackson Frank
"Where ever I have gone-the blues run the game"
"Living is a gamble baby-loving is much the same."

Away-by Kathleen Edwards
"Memory is a terrible thing....when you use it right."
"Do you pick up your phone? Do you check your mail? Do you answer your door, even if it's late? Cuz I don't know who to call, I don't know who to write. And I think I forgot what your face looks like."

River-by Joni Mitchell
"I wish I had river I could skate away on-I made my baby cry."

Everything is Free by- Gillian Welch
"Everyday I wake up, humming a song. But I don't need to run around, I just stayed home. Sing a little love song-my lover, myself. If there's something you wanna hear- you can sing it yourself."

Nobody's Crying- by Patty Griffin
"May you dream you are dreaming in a warm, soft bed. May voices inside you that fill you with dread, make the sounds of voices of thousands of angels instead-tonight where you might be laying your head."

In Your Eyes-by Peter Gabriel
"When I want to run away, I drive off in my car. But, whichever way I go, I come back to the place you are."

Farewell- by Rosie Thomas
"I never asked you for a sailboat and an island, that fancy dress to wear, a ceiling made of stars-all I got is this broken heart from you."

The Dangling Conversation- by Simon and Garfunkel
"And we note our place with bookmarkers-that measure what we've lost."
"I only kiss your shadow, I cannot feel your hand. You're a stranger now unto me. Lost in the dangling conversation, and the superficial sighs in the borders of our lives.

Something I Can Never Have-by Nine Inch Nails
"This thing is slowly taking me apart. Gray would be the color-if I had a heart."

Come Pick Me Up-by Ryan Adams
"When they call your name will you walk right up with a smile on your face? Will you cower in fear, in your favorite sweater-with an old love letter?"
"When you're walking downtown-do you wish I was there-do you wish it was me?"
"I wish you'd make up my bed, so I could make up my mind. Try it for sleeping instead-maybe you'll rest sometime."

All I Want Is You-by U2
"All the promises we make, from the cradle to the grave-when all I want is you."

Forgiven-by Deb Talan
"You make rift inside me everyday-that you chose to stay"
"It's time to go-I can not stay-you cannot know. My love, so dear-will it be faith, or fear?"

The Darkest Season-by Deb Talan
"I just feel the empty space-I just feel the wind blow through-I just thought in any case, I would always know you."

Reasons To Lie-by Whiskeytown
"Then there wouldn't be somebody else that you would grow accustomed to."

Tenderness-by Deb Talan
"But we made a mess and that is how we will be remembered here."

Good Things-by Kathleen Edwards
"I got a long, long list of things-no one needs to see."
"Don't get down-good things come when you stop waiting around. Good things come when you stop looking. Don't get down-you've just gotta stop looking."
"There are some things I used to be-won't you find the will just to remind me? Because you are so safe inside my memory; and the scar underneath my knee."

Useless Desires-by Patty Griffin
"Every day I take a bitter pill-it gets me on my way. For the little aches and pains the ones I have from day to day. Helps me think a little less, about the things I missed-to help me not to wonder how I ended up like this."
"Somewhere beyond the bitter end is where I wanna be."

Where Does the Good Go?-by Tegan and Sara
"Look me in the heart and tell me you wont go. Look me in the eye and promise no love is like our love. Look me in the heart and un-break broken."
"How do you live so happily while I am sad and broken down?"