The Mascot Theory

44

Bring me down • Hold me when my feet don't touch the ground • Bring me down • I can't see with my head up in the clouds • If I'm sick and turning pale • Calm the winds that drive my sail • Just a spoonful • Something I can take, when I drift away • I might get stuck inside a car • Travel far from where you are • Just a phone call • When the walls are torn away • And there's nothing left to save • Be my shelter • I might get lost along the way • I might die before I wake • Be my anchor •

32

Hope found me somewhere on the road to Carolina • Sanity caught me in a daze and disconcerted • So I escaped, six strings and me • Made my way past the muddy shores of Mississippi • Wrote my name, carved it in a tree down by the river • So you remember, remember me • And oh...oh my eyes see • There are better days ahead of me • Humbling, wandering the desert of Nevada • Love and shame, you can keep your little drops of water • A sea is storming and it calls to me • Fast asleep, awakened on the coast of California • Seasons changed, slowly it dissolved the rearview highway • And there's a new day straight ahead • I know some day when I'm standing at the pearly gates of heaven • With no key, I guess I'll pound my fist until its bleeding • If there's no answer I'll wait and see • Who comes for me • To set me free •

7

The odds are stacked against us every day • Like a pile of vinyl records • Collecting dust, not being played • A longing in your heart can take you down • With a trail that leads to nowhere • Devastation all around • The sun it rises and I drift off to sleep • And I'm waiting for the twilight come rescue me • If you jump in to a river hold your breath • Pray the current takes you somewhere new • But not lead ya to your death • In the arms of choral city I belong • Where the darkness can be brightened • By a stranger with a song • I realize I could spend my whole life dreaming 'bout the sun • As I'm waiting for the twilight come rescue me •

35

The walls of the city in Old Monterey • Holding in comfort, keeping out rage • Until the synchronized steppers come to take it away • We're burning your city today • Never wanted the vision of death in my eyes • But Father said go, while my mother she cried • "Dear God won't you save them from the bullets that fly • My boy's not the murdering kind" • You win, I throw my hands in the air • Take me away from this place • We march through the gates eyes blinded by rain • And I'm restless with guilt and nervous with shame • I break rank and start running to the church by the bay • To hide from both sides, and my name • I slip through the door and follow the sound • Of a local girl praying, both knees on the ground • "Dear God won't you take me away from this town and be lost, so I can get found" • "I'll get lost, so I can be found!" • She turns and looks at my face • Strangers in life but connected by fate • Both in need of a drastically, quick change of pace • So we flee bound by silence and grace • We'll ride and we'll never look back at the memories that scatter the way • We'll build a new Monterey •

9

I blame the future • I blame the past • I blame the things in life that start but never last • I blame the highway • I blame the tracks • I blame momentum that is pushing me too fast, way too fast • I blame the Gulf Stream • I blame the cold • I blame the weather • I blame the snow • I blame forever • I blame the sea • I blame the devil who put these thoughts in me • I blame the fault lines • I blame the coast • But I don't blame the Father, Son or Holy Ghost, oh no • I blame the long drive • I blame my bed • I blame the silence where a thank you should be said • I blame the grave yard • I blame disease • I blame the evil that can travel in a breeze and bring me to my knees • I blame the dark clouds that hide the truth • And if you love me well I don't blame you • I blame the rhythm • I blame the blues • And if you leave me I won't blame you • I blame December • The plants that froze • I blame the hurt inside that I could never show • I could take you with me when I go • But if we stumble I blame the snow • I blame the houses lined up in rows • But above all else I blame the snow •

10

How can we think about tomorrow when we're stuck in yesterday • I told you I'm a front porch and you're the car that rolled away • It's a shame that we can't see through this broken window in the cold • You're a question with no answer and I'm a story that's been told • Oh and who knows where the wind goes when it blows • When it knocks you off your toes • Who knows where the wind goes • I don't know • In the middle of a daydream its hard to change the details of the plan • But if you don't know where you're going it doesn't matter where you've been • I'm so sorry that I hurt you and then I did it once again and again • You're the sparkler in my darkness • My beginning and my end •

6

Won't you take me and wrap me up in hope • I've lost feeling in my fingers and direction in my toes • Temperature's rising in reverse and its gonna bad then, its gonna get worse • Such a distance from sanity to here • The only path through the mountains, impassable, unclear • No way out for flightless birds and, its gonna bad then, its gonna get worse • No sense in counting pennies • When you're buried under dimes • An avalanche of fortune • Such a painful way to die • I'll speak calmly and I'll tell you I'm okay • But I'm a man who wants it all, overworked and underpaid • Damage won't be reimbursed and, its gonna bad then, its gonna get worse • I can't ignore this flutter in my heart • Like an engine flooded and refusing to start • Call a doctor, call a hearse cause, its gonna bad then, its gonna get worse • We'll try to reach common ground • We'll make it home safe and sound • Test my patience and pray for more cause • Its gonna bad then, its gonna get worse •

19

Who could have ever guessed • This life of mine so blessed • Would feel like such a mess • And every move a test • I cannot judge the altitude • With which I'm struggling to pursue • Afraid to turn around and move • Hold that smile just a little a longer • Even as I wander know that I'm your man • Hold that smile until the sun gets brighter • As you sip your California and I drink my Tennessee • Its tearing me in two • On the road and not with you • Either way I'm bound to lose • Trapped by the things do • It might not seem like a choice • Strangers over our two boys • My little girl or a worn out voice • Its a dangerous terrain • Peaks and valley of my brain • You need a custom-fitted frame • Yeah to put me on display • You're my compass, you're my fate • If you've got patience I've got ways to make the solice work the wait • Life seems so big sometimes • With decisions that can cloud your mind • Relaxation is so hard to find • It happens all the time •

5

As we write our book of poems • We ignore the perfect rhymes • And replace them with the words • That have more meaning in our lives • There is comfort on our faces • Drawn in permanent black ink • The kind of smile that last for days • Until you rinse it down the sink • Uh oh, wha uh oh • If the clouds they never form • And the wind it never blows • Then we'll thank God for all the good times • But stay ready on our toes • Now we cross the shifting sands • Heart in heart and hand in hand • And we can see over the rainbow • There's a distant promised land • Heart in heart • Hand in hand • May we never feel the vacancy again • Heart in heart • Hand in hand • And forever fill the emptiness within •

11

I hear the hum of a train in the distance • While clumsily folding my best Sunday coat • Placed it on top with the rest of my life • Jammed in a ragged plaid suitcase • Oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh • Valentine's night and I wish I was drinking • With someone who needs me and begs me to stay • Instead I must toast to the diesel filled skyline • My emptiness worn as a blanket • I came to town as a stranger • Now I'm leaving tomorrow the same • There's no going back • When they dig up these tracks • No regrets, no blame • One last chance, one last train • Oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh • Down at the station I see the Blue Oxen • The engine that suffers a fate much like mine • In for a moment and out with the smoke • Searching for freedom and fanfare • No children ran as you rolled through the city • No laughing or cheering as you chugged along • The workers asleep or drunk before midday • We'll try a new life at the next stop •

41

16

I bought my ticket for this show • But my seat in the last row • Leaves me wondering why I left my pair of glasses in the car • Aren't we all just blurry shadows? • In an out of focus photo • Just another snapshot of how life can be so hard • I'm not trying to be a poet • I don't know all the words that they do • Like a dog searching for his favorite chew • I'm just trying to reach you • Just a ship out on the ocean • Prepping for the moment • When the waves will tip us over and we're forced to swim to shore • Without food for daily rations • Or a seat cushion for flotation • We must cling tightly to each other • Taking turns and treading forward • I'm not trying to be an astronaut • I don't need space to walk through • Confused by all the voices • The world is struggling with its choices •Win the fight or lose it • That's how you play the game • We're all just blazing trails • Through the darkness, through the hail • It's the placement of the pauses that will drive momentum home • I'm not trying to be fireman • There's too much smoke to see through • I'm not trying to be selfish man • I want what I want when I do • I'm just trying to say sorry • An apology long overdue • I'm not trying to be funny • There's too much pain to undo • I'm not trying to be an old dog • Trying to teach something new •