1. DOWN IN THE MUD

I want to get outside, I want to get outside
Outside my skin, outside my mind

Outside this body I'm in
I want something more

I want to soar above this body
Above this time, above this world

Above this body I'm in
I want something more

It's a dirty filthy habit, but it's mine all mine
And I'm down in the mud, and it feels real good

I want to get outside
This body I'm in

I been out all night, and I like it like that
I like to be up when the sun comes up

2. CHEAP TWO-FACED STAR

Everyone wants something, they just can't get it
You see those guys in their suits
I had lots of friends turn into money grabbers
But you, you're much, much worse
Look down your nose at me, you don't even know me
Think everything is just dirt under your heels
You know what they done, the priests to the magicians?
They hung the heretics they'd stolen all their tricks from
Well I had lots of friends turn into money grabbers
And started wearing fancy hundred-dollar suits
They started shelling out forty dollars for a goddamn pair of pants But you, you're worse

You're a cheap two-faced star
You're a cheap two-faced star
And I hope I never see you again

Just remember: everyone wants something, they just can't get it
And maybe there's just something in their way
Who are you to say what people trying to do
And whether they should or shouldn't pray?
Just find your own god, or not, I don't even care
As long as you stay far away from me
'Cause I had lots of friends turn into money grabbers
But you, you're worse

3. LITTLE PIECE OF GRACE

A little piece of grace just fell on me
And it stretches out about as far as I can see
It may last a week or two or only a day
But I'm gonna savor it until it goes away
I'm gonna let it roll off my tongue and into my dancing boots
I'm gonna let it sweep me offa my feet
'Cause if I had nothing before I got nothing to lose
And I might as well see where it's leading to

A little bit of luck is in my hands
A little bit of heaven is just fine with me

It used to be that I was scared of happiness
It was such a stranger that it made me a little nervous
And I thought that sadness was my one true friend
And I thought that happiness was just something that would end
But I'm gonna let it lift me up in its tender hands
I'm gonna let it rock me off to sleep
I'm gonna let it kiss my forehead when I'm down and out
I'm gonna let it do what it will with me

A little light is shining on me
A little flame is in my heart burning bright

I used to go around with armor on
I used to look at others with a calculated scorn
I just didn't wanna have anything to lose
So I kept the doors to my heart locked up and closed
But now I'm not gonna fight it anymore
Yes I'm gonna take the lock offa my door
Yes I'm gonna strip myself down and bare my skin
Yes I'm gonna let that happiness in

4. ONE-LEGGED WALTZ

But I am not sorry, oh no I'm not sorry
In fact I feel rather simple and clean, and truthful

I've simply decided to no longer pretend
Like I'm having a good time with you when I'm not, or to put up

With jerky behavior
It's simply not worth it
I'd rather be lonely than tolerate fools acting mean as they please
And expecting their women to graciously appease them
No matter what they might do

And haven't you noticed how the kindness in men
So rare and so treasured wears off once a few blessed months have passed?
Why can it never last

Then later, much later, they come crawling back
Wondering how you have been doing, and they seem so concerned

So gentle and kind
Almost as nice as before you let them into your pants
It's a sad excuse for romance
And if you'd ventured to ask me, here's what I would've said:
I am right and you are gone
I am right and you are wrong

Yes, I believe in a one-legged waltz
Yes I believe in a language without talking
Yes I believe in leaving without walking
And I believe I am right and you are gone
I am right and you are wrong

For still they expect you to sing their praises
While your rough-hewn voice goes unheard
Their kindness undisplayed
And your gracious ignorance of all of their faults is so underpaid

So rather than finish this same old story
I'd rather choose nothing at all
I'd rather not answer when you call

Yes I believe in a one-legged waltz
Yes I believe in thinking without thoughts
Yes I believe in seeing with the lights off
I believe I am right and you are gone
I am right and you are wrong

5. FAMILY TREE

An American flag he hung down from the roof
And he hung it askew
He laid down on it in a drunken stupor
And dreamed about his daddy how his daddy used to do
Sleeping on an old cot out in the barn
Working through the heat out in the yard
Kicking back a whiskey 'til the sun come up
And showing up to church half drunk
Playing poker all night long
And playing the accordion that same old song:
Who loves you more than me?
Who loves you more than your family?
Yeah, he remembers it

Lookin' through the crack between the blanket and the wall
He sees his daddy bash a phone into his mamma's skull
Over and over and over again
And his rage and her shame flow through him
Well it's a strange little custom in the family
And the branch never falls too far from the tree
Now some may call that a natural thing
But I call it a good old-fashioned tragedy

'Cause it's an old-fashioned dream to plant a family tree
Mix blood on blood in a family recipe
And it could be so good, it's the oldest story in the book

She sees her stepdaddy comin' and her knees get weak
Just one touch she passes out on the street
But she covers up the bruises so her mamma won't see
'Cause what have you got without your family?
Yeah his mamma beat him just like that too
and now these two lay together in a drunken stupor
She's crying 'cause of what he might do
Now how can two of a kind create something new?

Yeah what's the good of forgiveness if the sinners go free
And come back to haunt you in your time of need to say:
Who loves you like I do?
Who else is gonna be there to see you through?

Because vengeance is such a waste of energy
And you get poisoned fruit from a poisoned tree
So let's pull it out by the roots
Let's chop it up and put it to a brand-new use:
It's fuel for the fire of a family tree

6. SUCH A LONG TIME

Now how can I live without whiskey and wine
When I know that forever is such a long time?
Well I know that I could do without it just fine
If only forever weren't such a long time

Oh I know that my heart would relent from its aching
If it could see beyond this turn
I'd forgive and forget and no more would I yearn
For a love that has long ago ceased to burn

I'd shuck the shackles away from my heart
I'd never notice that we were apart
No loneliness would never keep me from shaking you loose
If this weren't true

Yes without your love I'd get along fine
If only forever weren't such a long time

Your leaving me lonely it is such a crime
When you know that forever is such a long time
For solace in sadness is so hard to find
When I know that forever is such a long time

For my longing is lasting long beyond its use
And its taming is beyond my ken
I'd struggle and I'd slave and I'd begin again
If I only would know that your love I might win

But I can see my tomorrows stretched out
In a long and unbearable desert of doubt
And it's too much to bear when I see that you will not be there
If I only wouldn't care

But I think that I may be losing my mind
Knowing forever is such a long time

7. HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM BLUES

I got these mean old hospital blues
I'm sitting in the hospital
And my nose is split clean open
And the doctor's lookin' at me
And he won't give me no painkiller
And his face is red from yelling
Well you shoulda known much better
Well you know it's all your fault
And the feeling is returning
In my face and in my bones
And my brain is slowly waking
To the hospital waiting room

And the doctor says I'll have to wait until the alcohol wears off
The doctor says I'll have to wait until the alcohol wears off

So they can sew my face up straight
And leave me with a crooked line
To remember my mistakes
A souvenir to locate my mistakes
I've got these mean old hospital blues
I'm sitting in the hospital
And I'm waiting 'til the alcohol
Wears off

8. ALL HANG DOWN (PARTS 1 & 2)

Let it all hang down, let us dance all night
I wanna hear the saw whine through the grass outside
I wanna hear the voices of a great choir
Like in the olden days crack the church roof through
I want this to fill me into the wee hours
I've got to spend some time in the smoky air
In the mild madness of a back room somewhere
I want a sweet guitar in my hands
And let the music fill me, and make me drunk again
What else is there beyond this? What else is there to live for?
But to lift up the hearts of our brethren somehow
And let a little joy in somehow

9. A LONG WAY DOWN

And I'm falling, and I'm falling, and it's a long way down
And it fills me with desire, and it burns like fire
If I could be strong as water, as gentle and as smooth
As full of danger and of beauty
Then I would let your arms around me
And my own around you

But I'm falling, yes I'm falling, and it's a long way down
And I don't know what'll happen when I reach the ground
And I don't know if I am ready to be broken again
Though the more times my heart's shot through
The more holes the wind can blow through
And it makes a pretty sound

Ever deeper are the colors the longer I'm around
Ever fuller is my cup and it's overflowing now
If I was strong as water and as deep as the sea
I would let myself inside you
And I would let you within me
And I'd let you within me

But on the other side of gladness there's the awful sound
Of the wailing and the grieving over the loss of what was found
I should be wanting some kind of spell to quell this violence in me
Instead I find myself longing to open up my heart
So you will have the best of me

10. BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS

If I didn't know you, I wouldn't think anything of you
But this fantasy is taking up all of my time

Beyond my wildest dreams is where I'd like to go
Beyond all expectations is what I'd like to turn into

But if you had had as little sleep as I've had, lately
You might understand my confidence waning somewhat

I don't want only just what's been given to me
For there is much more far beyond what we hear and see
And that's where I'd like to be

11. ONCE IN THE MOUNTAINS (instrumental)

12. HEAT OF THE DESERT

More than the heat of the desert
More than the frauds from the Lord
More than the blue of the ocean
Is your heart's longing for home
Donate your soul to the devil
Give up your lungs to the winds of the plain
And all your sins come encroaching
Into that moment of pain

Listen to the sound as the street lights shift
Drinking in that moment of gasping for breath
Her throat held fast upon the bed
Her mind reeling from the things she might have said
The screams of the girl trapped in the upstairs apartment
As she tries to catch her breath as she attempts to head for the door
As the ceiling begins to swirl
And shift

One more time, perhaps the last time
She's on the brink, walking that fine and crooked line
Between this world and the next
And trying to capture that moment of gasping for breath

Well there's just one thing she can count on
And that's the instinct of the lung
Well there's one thing to be said
It's one moment that will never never be recorded and she knows it