If you hear people talking about me
Don't you pay them any mind
They don't care about me
They don't want me to find
What it was that I was looking for
Whoever she may be
They'd rather not be lonely
But at least they can kick me
If you're waiting for the train, you just might wait all day
Waiting for your good man, save your breath he's gone away
But if you're looking for new lovin' today could be your lucky day
Get my lovin' on the run seems to be the only way
These days life is crazy
These days its hard to tell
These days we're all so busy
Trying to figure out what will sell
These days I just want to be lazy
But these days go by so fast
I only wish I could find me
Something that would last
If you see me acting crazy
Do me a favor and please do tell
If you see my mind get weary
Don't just smile and wish me well
'Cause I need a soft hand to guide me
I need a little faith
I could use a little smile
Everyone likes a pretty face
Honey if you'll scratch my back
I'll massage your toes
I'll give you some of these
Won't you gimme some of those
I just want to be around you
I just want to be near
Even if I were there
And you were here
So if we ever cross paths
And our eyes happen to meet
On a crowded north-bound train
Sit right down, here's an empty seat
I'd say hello and smile
Then you'd probably look away
But if you smiled back at me
It would make my simple day
Copyright © by Todd Hope
Can't tell nothing from nothin'
Nothin' seems to have changed
Nothing seems the same to me any more
You can't get something for nothin'
Or somethin' like that
Something tells me we got nothing at all
I don't want nothing from you
Nothing I wouldn't do
I just wish something would come true
I just wish there was something I could do
To get it through
Through to you
Nothing's something I would never do
Just got back from nowhere
Can not get there from here
Can not get there from anywhere at all
Saw the man in the mirror
Mirroring my every move
Tore all the mirrors down from off my wall
I don't want you to see
What became of me
Please, please believe
There's a price to be paid on anything that's free
And if you could only see
See what became of me
Nowhere's somewhere you don't want to be
Nothing has changed, somehow been rearranged
I don't know, I don't know which way I should go
Nothing has changed and something is still the same
Nowhere is here, nowhere is there, it's everywhere
Nothing has changed and someone is to blame
Nothing has changed, nothing has changed
Copyright © by Todd Hope
Tell me, how long will the lilacs last
Before they fall to the ground
And how long can we hide our love away
Desperately hoping that it won't be found
Tell me, how long will the lilacs last
Before they fall to the ground
And how long can we hide our love away
Desperately hoping that it won't be found
It's the same thing as a holy man
Who finds he's losing his faith
Or a small child who thinks he can't be found
When he covers his hands over his face
It's a sad song, that takes too long
Yet it's over before it begins
It's a vacant stare, one without no hope
A loneliness that betrays every grin
Tell me, how long will the lilacs last
Before they fall to the ground
And how long can we hide our love away
Desperately hoping that it won't be found
It's an empty promise, but it sounds so good
That you can smell it on the air
A shiver, from a scented lover's touch
That says take me anywhere
(Bridge)
Tell me how long will the lilacs last
Before they fall to the ground
And how long can we hide our love away
Desperately hoping that it won't be found
Copyright © by Todd Hope
Down the Yellow River
I knew a girl named Ann
She lived with here three fathers
And her poor ol' widowed Gram
Ann loved a dancing
To twirl and to sing
She was a silly girl, in a darkening world
She never knew what hit her, not a thing
I was going nowhere
With my umbrella dream
I couldn't count the toes I had
Without another drink
My dying horse got better
And that made things all the worse
I had to hang my shoes on cactus blues
Along the Yellow River
The river had never seen
Two more undeserving fools
Who couldn't find the one who spit on them
Even when the guilty party drooled
Ann was slowly sinking
With her gold plated eyes
That always saw the color of people's tear
And the fear behind their lies
She knew that her luck was changing
Around to back there again
She left her second father
Fresh on the Arizona scent
So I went down past the dead grasses
That lined the shadows of her face
And drowned my horse in the gentle current
Then I took his place
A horse don't need much
Don't ask for a ring or a house only some oats
But couldn't see, she didn't even care
That's what I liked the most
Without even trying
The river left the bank
When the travelers came in their silver carriages
They had to fly away
Down the Yellow River
There lived a girl named Ann
And a fool with an umbrella in his hand
And a head full of cactus plans
Copyright © by Todd Hope
I can never tell what's going on in your mind
Behind those eyes
I can never tell the truth from the lies
Behind those eyes
You could tell me anything , you could tell me anything I'll believe you
You could ask me anything, ask me anything and I'll tell you
You could go anywhere, go anywhere and I'll follow you
I'll follow you
I can never tell just what you hide
Behind those eyes
I can never seem to get inside
Behind those eyes
I can only guess at the reasons you cry
Behind those eyes
I can never tell why
Behind those eyes
Copyright © by Todd Hope
Well yesterday I saw a girl
I said, yesterday I saw a girl
Not just any girl, most beautiful girl in the world
She was standing there with her blue eyes and her curls
She was standing there with her blue eyes and her curls
Not just any girl, most beautiful girl in the world
They say that love is for the simple-minded fools
They say that love is for the simple-minded fools
Well I never claimed to be that smart and I don't play by the rules
Well for that girl, I'd buy her diamonds and pearls
Yes for that girl, I'd buy her diamonds and pearls
Not just any girl, most beautiful girl in the world
Well yesterday, yesterday I saw a girl
I said that yesterday, yesterday I saw a girl
Not just any girl, most beautiful girl in the world
Copyright © by Todd Hope
I used to think love was just a game
It starts out new, but always ends the same
And I'd do anything not to feel that way again
I told myself "to play it cool
Don't forget your Golden Rule
Love's only for the crazy fools"
Everybody needs to love someone
Everybody need to love someone
Everybody needs to love someone 'fore its all said and done
So I decided to turn off my heart
It worked pretty good, at the start
But for too long I felt another spark
So here you are and here I go
Back to the place I said I never again wanted to go
But now there's one thing, one thing that I know
CHORUS
And even though I've been here before
This time it feels like so much more
And for once in my life, I'm not afraid of what's is store
CHORUS
I wouldn't want to wake to any other face
I wouldn't want to be any other place
Than right here with you, takin' it all on faith
I know there's going to be twists, there'll be turns
I know that in the end I'm liable to get burned
But if there's one thing, one thing that I've learned
CHORUS (repeat)
Copyright © by Todd Hope
"What makes you happy?" she asked, and I had no reply
"Where have you been all these years?" I can't believe how the time passed us by
"Who you been with lately?" seems like everyone except you
"I though you might have forgotten me," that's something I could never do
Oh well I tried to disappear, but it did me no good
I desperately tried to disengage as if I ever could
All that I wanted was out, but I was too far in
And it would take so long to get it back that I don't know where to begin
Well I'm gonna try once again
Yes I'm gonna try once again
I'm gonna try, try, try, try once again
Yes I'm gonna try once again
I'm gonna try, try, try, try once again
But I don't know where to begin
"Do you ever think of me?" only when I try to sleep
"Do you ever wish we could start again?" I'd still make promises I couldn't keep
"Is there anything you want to say to me?" more than you could ever know
"Where could we have been today?" Anywhere we'd chosen to go
CHORUS
Copyright © by Todd Hope
When I saw you at the party, I liked the way you bit your lip
You said that things had come undone So I took you in
It seems that Mr. Everything And before I knew it, honey,
Had you on the run I was crawling under your skin
Who could you think I was Such a pretty picture
To dump such a load on me But such a foul taste
Who could you think you were Such an easy manner
That you'd paid the price to be free For such numerous complaints
Step out into the Spanish courtyard My slash-and-burn philosophy
Where the hidden bones lay That always suited me so well
Ask them about Father Suicide Didn't play out the way that you planned
And the games he likes to play When you tossed your coin into the well
Well if I can do it baby But I made it baby
You can do it too And you can do it too
If I can do it baby And if I can make it baby
Why, why can't you Don't you think you can do it too
I remember you yesterday Little did you realize
In your Amsterdam dress As you thumbed your way down the road
Your coughing, cackling laughter That the highway circuit
In your moment of great distress Ain't like you were told
Your new crystal menagerie There's no Prince Dazzling
And your earth-tone breath Only pickup trucks
Carrying around imprints of your bass-playing boyfriend That'll turn the queen of swans
The one with the half-assed dreds Into the six of ducks
How you stood there dumbstruck So you wound up at the plantation
In the wasteland of your mind Tended by the stick figure men
As if you were the last one Who don't give a damn about innocence
Who would ever be left behind Or your heroic, tragic end
Can't you see that I did it baby But I still did it baby
So you can do it too And I'm still doing it too
And if I can do it baby And if I can do it baby
Why can't you Anyone can, even you
Here you go again
Putting yourself on display
Your wares are duly noted
On your stained-glass tray
You just keep on going
As if it never occurred to you
The truth stands right in front of you
But it's still out of your view
Run on back to your vampire
I bet he likes the way you suck blood
Do anything, but stop begging me
I don't want to get my new shoes covered in mud
I'm telling you if I can do it baby
You can do it too
Look at me, I'm doing it baby
And I promise you, you can do it too
You can do it too
Copyright © by Todd Hope
I got so much love in store for you
Tell you exactly what I'm gonna do
I'm gonna give all my love to you
I got so much love in store for you
I know that other guys have tried
I'm sure that some of them lied
I know how late at night you cried
Dreaming of being the picture-book bride
You were dying to wear that white dress
So you decided to settle for less
But you never found that gentle caress
Or your much deserved happiness
And as the years rolled on
Everything just went wrong
Too many verses in that sad song
'Till at long last I came along
(Chorus)
'Till the end of time
I'll be yours and you'll be mine
Forever don't seem like such a long ride
As long as we're side by side
(Chorus)
Copyright © by Todd Hope
Well, she's out on the highway I'm only waiting
And I'm back on the lam For this heat to break
Her wheels are spinning Biding my time,
And his head's in her hands Looking to make my great escape
And all the while his eyes are closed
He can smell her heat, she's oh, so close
His X-ray mind, it bleeds right through her clothes
Just one taste, before he blows
If she would let him I know he measures up
He'd buy her that ring In most every way
She probably would But I grow in her memory
But she remembers my sting With the passing of each day
And she, she says she can not forget
That sounds good, but I know what I'd likely get
'Cause he, he's got his small mind set
An' I'd be caught, caught in his fishing net
Loaded guns and highway blues She has no memory
The fleas on parade Of my countless mistakes
Corporal punishment And he'll never know
For dodging work in the shade Just how much she can take
But somehow, it all makes sense to me
Though he takes it as yet another sign of my insanity
I've never been one who's been known to cop a plea
Proof to the pudding of my brand of disease
Lovers and vengeance She's the painted black cat
They just do not mix That stole the poor skunk's heart
Like charitable fences Of the one-eyed tavern champion
And a complimentary fix Throwing bulls-eyes in the dark
'Cause he's a tired man, he's too tired to run
And she's fair-skinned, easily burned by the sun
And I'm known as a wild son of a gun
But truth to be told, I'm credited for more them I've actually done
Her terminal cool Their little pet names
And my fatal hip You know they always turned my stomach sick
His obsessive patience My lonesome eyes
For her blasphemous lip Watching her high heels click
But no one understands her like me
I've seen her water jump in temperature, so suddenly
And his badge and his gun, they ain't what they used to be
And she'd probably be better off, better off scott-free
But she So he
Gets cold at night Keeps on looking for me in the dirt
And my shadow Not even realizing
Gets chills under the light Just what he got, or what she's worth
They roll on and on in his big, blue Ford
And he drones on and on about salvation and the Lord
Her mind, it wanders back to where she's been before
'Cause he might be blind, but she knows what's in store
It's the same old road She always said she needed something more then a lover
We went down back when An' less than a friend
Before I started running off I've been watching from the bushes
At the mouth and at the pen Ever since then
If you see them coming, stay clear, she's bound to explode
I've seen it happen before, the tattered, scattered remains strewn about the road
She don't let loose until she's got a full load
She's not one to forget what or who is owed
It's a sad, sad story He'll try to apologize
He loses just when he think he wins But he won't know what for
She's only in it for the glory And she'll leave him stuttering
I spit and she grins When she slams that big, blue door
He'll be left to sweep up the pieces the best that he can
He'll look for us with white knuckles, desperate to understand
For the thousandth time she'll swear off every other man
And he'll still be out on the highway and we'll be back on the lam
Copyright © by Todd Hope
Yeah, but we both know, there somethings I'll never do
Yeah, and we both know, there ain't gonna be no me and you
And we lie to ourselves and say "shh, it'll be allright"
And we lie to ourselves so we can sleep at night
And we hide from ourselves in the searchlight
And we cry to ourselves in our moments of delight
But we both know, yeah, we both know
If I could tell you what you already know
If I could take this truth and let it show
If I could just step back and let it go
But there's something that we both know
Yeah, we both know, there sometings we'll never do
Yeah we both know, I'm never saying goodbye to you
So we'll lie to ourselves as it fades away
And we'll lie to ourselves and come what may
We'll hide form ourselves and the passing days
And we'll cry for ourselves and say it "has to be this way"
But we both know, yeah, we both know
We both know, yeah, we both know
Copyright © by Todd Hope
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