Small Swift Birds lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I've been told that it's just the way life goes.
Once the wildest river is now a trickle to the sea.
The peak we risk our lives to scale becomes dirt beneath our feet.
The wisdom of a life time always disappears untapped.
Paradise once given will always be taken back.
And the love you hang your life upon will start to slowly crack.

I have seen people suffocate the dream.
Forgetting to turn that one last time while she watches through the door.
Focusing on the garbage that she use to ignore.
Thinking she looks so beautiful but not yelling it out loud.
He should have thought to kiss her before he headed out.
Just forgetting how fucking lucky you are to have found her in such a crowd.

But we've seen a cloud of starlings rising on a crisp autumn day.
We were handed the weight of a child sleeping and bore her away.
We've tasted the tears that fall when saying goodbye forever.
And we've seen the silver from a waxing moon wash upon the shore.

I have heard about the lives of small swift birds.
They dazzle with their colour and their deftness through the air.
Just a simple glimpse will keep you simply standing there.
Legendary journeys made on fragile hollow wings.
The night skies rich with whistling each and every spring.
And then there's the day we look for them and can't find them anywhere.

I've been told that it's just the way life goes.

Beneath The Gate lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

She was found beneath the gate,
Forsaken at the gate.
Who would have thought that so much love
Could be so carelessly misplaced.
Found. Beneath the gate.

We gazed upon the moon,
A honed and whetted moon.
Wondered if you saw the same
An hour from your mothers womb.
Gazing at the moon.

We stood beneath the gate.
Three beneath the gate.
The rare good will of the random world,
Smiling like a sickle moon.

She was found beneath the gate.
Forsaken at the gate.
Found beneath the gate.

Close My Eyes lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I want to walk away
Like Judas from the table.
Turn my back
And walk away.

I want to close my eyes
Like that novice at the altar.
Bow my head
And close my eyes.

Sorrow took Love's splintered hands
And waltzed her 'cross a painted floor.
Whispered softly in her ear,
"let's get outta here".

I'm going to breathe the air
That my children will be breathing.
Breathe them out
And breathe them in again.

I'm going to close my eyes
And walk away.
Turn my back
Bow my head
And close my eyes.

"Miles From Our Home" (1998)

New Dawn Coming lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Hold on honey, there's a new dawn coming
and a big bird to sweep you away

Are you born yet? Are you listening?
Are you sick of staring at the walls?

Are you hungry? Are you angry?
Are you wondering if there's anyone at all?

Hold on honey there's a new dawn coming
and a big bird to sweep you away
Keep on dreaming soon there'll be a reason
to see it through one more day

Are you weary? Are you sinking?
Are you tired of holding up the walls?

Are you done with all your thinking?
Have you found that there's no one at all?

Hold on honey there's a new dawn coming
and a big bird to sweep you away
Keep on dreaming soon there'll be a reason
to see it through one more day

Ain't got no answers here
What I see is not clear
Time to shake it around
Turn my world upside down
and watch as the stars come unhinged

Hold on honey there's a new dawn coming
and a big bird to sweep you away
Keep on dreaming soon there'll be a reason
to see it through one more day

Hold on honey there's a new dawn coming
and a big bird to sweep us away
Keep on dreaming soon there'll be a reason
to see it through one more day

Are you born yet?
Are you born yet?

Blue Guitar lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I wish I had a blue guitar,
a blue guitar to play all night long
Singing songs of loss and love
Singing songs till morning comes

Ghosts in the basement
screams from the kitchen
I tell you folks I think I'm leaving
Seems I can already here the door slammin'
I tell you folks I think I'm leavin'

Goodbye to the highway
goodbye to the sky
I'm headed out goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye to the highway
goodbye to the sky
I'm headed out goodbye, goodbye

I wish I had a blue guitar,
a blue guitar to play all night long
Singing songs of loss and love
Singing songs till morning comes

Miles From Our Home lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

No one in sight for fifty miles,
sleeping fields sigh as I glide across their spines
If I could just reach the crest of that hill
this whole day will tumble and out the night will spill

The sky is still as a spinning top,
shooting stars drop like burning words from above
If I could just connect all these dots,
the truth would tumble like a Cynic vexed by love

And yet the people keep saying
I'm miles from my home,
miles from my home

I met you again in my sleep last night,
these are days of slow boats and false starts
Hearts remain under lock and key,
you will be the one to set them both free

And yet the people will tell you
your miles from your home,
miles from your home

But that's where I want to be
Out there searching,
out here fumbling,
out here waiting,
for you and you for me

The moon hangs like a question mark,
pale as milk, bold as a promise
When will you share the sights with us?
when will we hold you in our arms?

And the people we'll tell them
we're miles from our home,
miles from our home

Good Friday lyrics - Cowboy junkies

Sat at my window watched the world
wake up this morning
Purple sky slowly turning golden,
distant elms so orange
you'd swear they're burning

All this flowing water
has got my mind wandering
Do you ever finally reach
a point of knowing
or do you just wake up one day
and say I am going?

What will I tell you
when you ask me why I'm crying?
Will I point above
at the Red Tail gracefully soaring
or down to below where its prey
is quietly trembling?

Two thousand years ago Jesus is left is left there hanging
Purple sky slowly turning golden
Cowards at his feet loudly laughing
Loved ones stumbling homeward
their worlds reeling
Red Tail above my head quietly soaring
Water turns from ice, creek is roaring
He says enough of all this shit, I am going

Darkling Days lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

The beautiful is not chosen
The chosen becomes beautiful
The beautiful is not chosen
The chosen becomes beautiful

Please do not forsake me now,
sparkling gone
with darkling days
I drift at times, I know it's true,
but I always drift on back to you

The beautiful is not chosen
The chosen becomes beautiful

I have never tired of
manna falling from above
When conscious thought
meets careless heart
and two lost souls find one fresh start

Lie with me upon the earth
feel its curve beneath our spines,
soon we'll follow it around,
one lost soul
finally found

The beautiful is not chosen.
The chosen becomes beautiful

These are known as darkling days
rhyming schemes gone askew,
crackling gifts of light and air,
exploding worlds,
ours to share

The beautiful is not chosen
The chosen becomes beautiful

Hollow As A Bone lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

She hugged his head so hard to her heart
it made her gasp for air
If this was not the way Love felt
then for love she did not care
I want to run beside a moving train
yelling farewells in the rain
The tears will be bittersweet,
'cause I know I'll see him again

If I lost you now,
I would feel as hollow as a bone

He could not help but hang his eyes
her beauty held him so
If this was not a state of Grace
then Grace he'd never know
I want to yell farewell from a crowded pier
just me and a thousand good-byes
The tears will be bittersweet,
'cause soon she'll be back my side

If I lost you now,
I would feel as hollow as a bone

You won't lose me, he replied,
together our lives have been sewn
If I lost you now,
I would feel as hollow as a bone
We will kiss goodnight under a starlit sky
whisper oaths at a lumbering moon
dream sweet dreams before the morning comes
and serves us the dawn in our room

If I lost you now,
I would feel as hollow as a bone

Someone Out There lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Someone
out there
kneeling

No one
out there
listening

But what I want to know
before you save my soul
is who gave this power to that fucker up there?

Someone
out there
crying

Someone
out here
waiting

But what I want to know
before you save my soul
is who gave this power to that fucker up there?

Summer Of Our Discontent lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Another note afloat upon this paper sea
Explain to me
how this can be

Another face erased
from this tidal pool
Found one day
then swept away

I will carry you my love
If you can carry me
through this summer of our discontent

Another day away
from clutching hands
Explain to me
how this can be

I will carry you my love
If you can carry me
through this summer of our discontent

Another falling wave
upon this crumbling beach
How many more
until we meet?

I will carry you my love
If you can carry me
through this summer of our discontent

No Birds Today lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

No birds today
Just this square patch of gray
Molting sky moving in on its morning prey

No words today
No one knocking at the gate
I lost my name long before I lost my way

I wonder what he thinks out there
Pastures turn from black to green and black again
The sun it carves a well worn path
from here to there and the next day back

No birds today
Just this dull sky of gray
Winter's quickly moving in on its skulking prey

No dust today
No clouds rising from my driveway
No hope drifting slowly my way

I wonder what he thinks in there
Pastures turn from black to green and black again
The sun it carves a well worn path
from here to there and the next day back

Cold bars of steel
I'm beginning to dig the feel
of all that disappears into....ethereal

Cold words of hate
Now I'm seeing how things break
Much too late now to cure my mistakes

I wonder what he thinks in there
Pastures turn from black to green and black again
The sun it carves a well worn path
from here to there and the next day back

No birds today
Just this barren stretch of gray
Just this barren stretch of gray

Those Final Feet lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Place my body on the funeral pyre,
cut it loose to float downstream
Leave it frozen on a mountain top,
suspend it high to be picked clean

You said never to grow old,
but you forgot to tell me how
You said never to grow old
and then you sank your teeth into those final feet

Last night I dreamt of owls at my window
I knew that time was winding down
Turned to tell you of my premonition,
changed my mind and lay back down

You said never to grow old,
but you forgot to tell me how
You said never to grow old
and then you sank your teeth into those final feet

No sense wasting the time you got,
you got to walk down every road
No sense pretending that you're what you're not,
when you got to shoulder every load

You said never to grow old,
but you forgot to tell me how
You said never to grow old
and then you sank your teeth into those final feet

Cut it loose, cut it loose, cut it loose

You said never to grow old,
but you forgot to tell me how
You said never to grow old
and then you sank your teeth into those final feet

At The End Of The Rainbow lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Again,
At the end of the rainbow
Again,
No gold to be found
Just this cold unmade bed
The last 3 words you said
And this buzzing on the telephone line

Paris, well, there is fog on the Seine
Amsterdam still courses through my veins
All these dark crazy sights,
Wouldn't be so bad
If I could just taste your breath once again

Honey I saw your daddy
Lying by the roadside
His feet sticking out of a sack
Honey they'll be calling
To tell you that your daddy
Never will be coming back

Again
At the end of the rainbow
Again,
No words to be found
Just this voice sad and alone
Me wishing I was home
And the silence on the telephone line

"Lay It Down" (1996)

Something More Besides You lyrics -Cowboy Junkies

One foot strands before the crib
the other by the casket
A question formed upon stilled lips
is passed on but never asked

I guess I believe that there's a point
to what we do
But I ask myself is there
something more besides you?

Two are born to cross
their paths, their lives, their hearts
If by chance one turns away
are they forever lost?

I guess I believe that there's a point
to what we do
But I ask myself is there
something more besides you?

This morning I awoke,
the bed warm where it once was cold
Small blessings laid upon us
Small mysteries slowly unfold

Yet I still wonder is there a point
to what we do?
'Cause I kind of doubt
that there is something more besides you

Although it's hard to find the point
to what we do,
do I dare believe that there is
something more besides you?

A Common Disaster lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

A candle burning for everything I've ever wanted
A tattoo burned for everything I've ever wanted and lost
I had a long list of names that I kept in my back pocket,
but I've cut it down to one and your name's at the top

Won't you share a common disaster?
Share with me a common disaster
A common disaster

I found myself a friend,
but he's crooked as a stick in water
So now I'm writing fairy tales
to catch the spirit of revenge
He's got a plan to steal my little sister,
but I'm not too concerned
'cause I will get him in the end

Won't you share a common disaster?
Share with me a common disaster
A common disaster

Going to find me someone to share
A common disaster
Run away with me from a life so cramped and dull
Not worry too much about the happily-ever-after
Just keep the Caddy moving
'til we're well beyond that hill

Won't you share a common disaster?
Share with me a common disaster
A common disaster

Lay It Down lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

He left his dead in the cottonwood trees
the ground grown too hard with the years
Falling down was not what it used to be
the ground grown too hard with the years

He told his children those little white lies
the truth would only paralyze them
He told himself those little white lies
the truth would only paralyze him

Lay it down, lay it down

He sold most of what he cherished,
the rest he let them steal
Shot his dog out in the open field,
the rest he let them steal

He broke all of his promises,
under a sea green sky
They never thought to ask him why,
under a sea green sky

Lay it down, lay it down

Please bury me in the cottonwood trees
the ground grown too cold for me
Going to sleep tonight in a warm feather bed
the ground grown too cold for me

Lay it down, lay it down

Hold On To Me lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

If you offered me a shade of blue
would I return it saying that it was too
dark or light?
Or would I see it for the precious thing
that it might one day be?
Hold on to me

If you offered me a point of view
would I dismiss it saying that it was too
black and white?
Or would I see it as the special thing
That it would no doubt be?
Hold on to me

I'll hold on to this gift we share
it is as slippery as it is rare
I'll hold on to that feeling
of waking and finding you there
I'll hold on to you and you hold on to me

If I asked you for a simple thing

Would you do it without too much thinking or fuss?
Would you see it for the precious thing
that it would surely be?
Hold on to me

Hold on to me
Hold on to me

Come Calling (His Song) lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

The stillness here,
like what he sometimes finds inside her,
hits so hard it can steal your breath forever
He sometimes wonders
is the sum of their lives together
him on the floor and her lost to a mind in tatters

These days he's drinking for the pleasure of falling
and he's falling for the pleasure of pretending
that she's sitting by the window waiting
for him to come calling

If I could fix me up a week of twilight hours
we'd sit on the point
and watch the sun continually flounder
Bathed in gold we'd plug into some kind of power
and connect with those days
back before all of this went sour

'Cause I'm drinking for the pleasure of falling
and I'm falling for the pleasure of pretending
that you're sitting by the window waiting
for me to come calling

Odd how the darkness always makes us whisper
and with the last of the sun
you can feel the approach of the winter
Now is the time of each day
that I Desperately miss her
I suppose I will learn how to live my life without her

So you're drinking for the pleasure of falling
and you're falling for the pleasure of pretending
that I'm sitting by the window waiting
for you to come calling

Just Want To See lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I don't want to be no patch on no quilt
(I just want to see...)
Tear-stained stitching linking memories to guilt
(I just want to see...)
I don't want to be no hair on no wall
(I just want to see...)
Blood-stained note saying fuck you all
(I just want to see what kills me)

Tommy, are you ready we better head to town
J.D.'s box is waiting to be lowered down
and you know how he hates to be kept waiting 'round

I don't want to be no chalk line drawing
(I just want to see...)
Toe-tagged question mark, until identifying
(I just want to see...)
I don't want to fuse with no economy seat
(I just want to see...)
fuel some fireball at 30,000 feet
(I just want to see what kills me)

Tommy, did you catch his face
before they closed the lid?
I swear I saw him wink once and flash me that old grin
Oh, you know, that would be just like him

I don't want to face no hollow-eyed ending
(I just want to see...)
Loved ones buried, empty days of waiting
(I just want to see what kills me)

Tommy, darling, come to bed
we'll try and sleep away this sadness
These memories, too, are bound to die
so our dreams will have to serve us
Tomorrow may be the day that our love betrays us

Lonely Sinking Feeling lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

She says, "I'm getting that lonely sinking feeling,
you know what I mean?"
With his hand on her back he's thinking,
"Where does that leave me?"
Just when I think I've uncovered the secret
to peace and tranquility
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me

He says, "I'm seeing those doubt filled
questioning eyes
and I can't believe it's true"
With her head in her hands she sighs,
"It's me, not you"

Just when I thought that I'd discovered the joy
of loving one so completely
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me

Here in this silent room we wait on ancient ritual
Staring at our hearts
as if they were two caged animals
If I am the first to unlock those rusty doors
will I be the first found bleeding on the floor?

She says, "I'm getting that lonely sinking feeling,
you know what I mean?"
With his hand on her back he's thinking,
"Where does that leave me?"

Just when I think I've uncovered the secret
to peace and tranquility
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me

Just when I thought that I'd discovered the joy
of loving one so completely
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me

Angel Mine lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

He searched for those wings that he knew
that this angel should have at her back
And although he can't find them
he really don't mind
because he knows they'll grow back
And he reached for that halo that he knows
that she had when she first caught his eye
Although his hand came back empty
he's really not worried
'cause he knows it still shines

I can't promise that I'll grow those wings
or keep this tarnished halo shined
but I'll never betray your trust
angel mine

I search all the time on the ground
for our shadows cast side by side
Just to remind me that I haven't gone crazy
that you exist and are mine
And I know that your skin is as warm and as real
as that smile in your eyes
But I have to keep touching and smelling
and tasting for fear it's all lies

I can't promise that I'll grow those wings
or keep this tarnished halo shined
but I'll never betray your trust
angel mine

Last night I awoke from the deepest of sleeps
with your voice in my head
And I could tell by your breathing
that you were still sleeping
I repeated those words that you had said

I can't promise that I'll grow those wings
or keep this tarnished halo shined
but I'll never betray your trust
angel mine

Bea's Song (River Song Trilogy: Part II) lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Speed River at my feet running low and flat
I'm sitting here burning daylight,
thinking about the past
and that distance out there
where the earth meets the sky
The slightest move and this river mud
pulls me further down
John's at my side, but he's sitting on firmer ground

John says I look at the moon and the stars
these days more often than I look into his eyes
and I can't disagree so I don't say nothing
I just stare on past his face at Venus rising,
like a shining speck of hope hanging over the horizon

With each passing year that I sit here
that horizon seems to inch just that much nearer
and all that appears on it seems as clear as spit
But if there's on thing in my life
that these years have taught
it's that you can always see it coming
but you can never stop it

Speed River at my feet running low and flat
I'm sitting here burning daylight,
thinking about the past
and that distance out there
where the earth meets the sky
The slightest move and this river mud
pulls me further down
John's at my side,
but he's not noticing that I'm drowning
The slightest move and this river mud
pulls me further down
John's at my side,
but he's not noticing that I'm drowning

Musical Key lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

My mother sang the sweetest melody
although she never sang in a musical key
I'd hear her through the house
My name called out loud
My mother sang the sweetest melody

My mother's hands were always cool and soft
And like her eyes they would caress with every touch
She would listen to my chatter
as if every word I spoke mattered
She'd hold me close and whisper in my ear

She'd say, "girl you are a part of me
I have made you strong
when you grow up and are on your own
remember to win them with your song"

My father sang in perfect harmony
And though he never sang in a musical key
You could hear him when he'd enter the house
the kiss he'd give my Ma
My father sang in perfect harmony

My father's words were always sure and clear
and like his presence they would rid me of my fears
When I crawled up on his knees
I was safe as I could be
He'd hold me tight and whisper in my ear

He'd say, "girl you are a part of me
I have made you strong
when you grow up and are on your own
remember to win them with your song"

My mother sang in perfect harmony
although she never sang in a musical key

Speaking Confidentially lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Speaking confidentially
the fire that burnt inside of me
has turned to ash the tortured tree
that grows beside the anguished sea
Speaking confidentially

Speaking metaphorically
the earth I trust beneath my feet
is moving now ever so slightly
I shift my feet but feel no relief
Speaking metaphorically

Speaking hypothetically
if the air you breathed was so unique
would you use it up to idly speak
or horde it for a rainy week
Speaking hypothetically

Speaking kind of cryptically
the sea that raged beside the tree
burning bright for all to see
it just might mean the most to me
Speaking kind of cryptically

Now I Know lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Now I know, now I know what it means to be broken
Now I know, now I know what it means to be bared
You in the chair perceptibly sinking
I'm on my knees once again made aware
of the world out there
Grief is a word to describe the absense of feeling
Now I know, now I know what it means to be broken

Now I know, now I know,
now I know what it means to be broken
Now I know, now I know,
now I know what it means to be bared
You in the chair systematically sinking
I'm on my knees once again made aware
of the world out there
Grief is a word to describe the absense of feeling
Now I know, now I know,
now I know what it means to be broken

"Pale Sun Crescent Moon" (1993)

Crescent Moon lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Reach a hand to the crescent moon
grab hold of the hollow
If she sits in the palm of the left
that moon will be fuller tomorrow
If she sits in the palm of the right
that moon is on the wane
and the love of the one who shares your bed
will be doing just the same

'Won't you come with me', she said,
'there's plenty of room in my iron bed
You're looking cold and tired
and more than a little human
I know I'm not part of the life you had planned,
but I think once your body feels my hand
your mind will change
and your heart will lose its pain'

Out among the fields gently hipped
beneath the corn,
Assiniboine bones beneath the highway
he stood there and he thought of home
A finger traces the path of a satellite
You're drawn to a distant copse of trees
A voice as sweet as Mare's Tail
clings to the prairie breeze

'Won't you come with me', she said,
'there's plenty of room in my iron bed
You're looking cold and tired
and more than a little human
I know I'm not part of the life you had planned,
but I think once your body feels my hand
your mind will change
and your heart will lose its pain'

Do I reach for you
when I know you're on the wane?
Do I sense you when I know you're not around?
Do I search for you
when I know you can't be found?
Do I dare to speak your name?

Raise your eyes to a moonless sky
and try to wish upon a rising star
Search all you want for her blessing
but you won't find her sparkling there
Now cast your eyes to a part of the sky
where nothing but darkness unfolds
and watch as all around you
she reveals the brilliance of secrets untold

Won't you come with me, she said,
there's plenty of room in my iron bed
You're looking cold and tired
and more than a little human
I know I'm not part of the life you had planned,
but I think once your body feels my hand
your mind will change
and your heart will lose its pain

First Recollection lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

My first recollection is a day in December
black iron steam engine covered in ice
like some Precambrian monster
moaning and snorting
Nothing was ever going to beat that beast
in a fair fight

I've sat and watched the woodpiles
grow through the summer
now I'm sitting, smelling summer burn through the fall
Winter's coming on, days getting dreary
and I'm thinking this is the season
that I leave you all

I've heard a man in crisis
falls back on what he knows best,
a murderer to murder
a thief to theft
And I don't want you to think
that this is some kind of deathbed confession
but run is what I did when put to the test

My first recollection is a day in December
747 tracing lines through the sky
like some old gypsy curse
silently preying upon the dreams of those
who jealously watch life pass by

I've sat and watched my troubles
pile through the summer
now I'm sitting, hearing my youngest cry
down the hall
Winter's coming on, days getting dreary
and I'm thinking this is the season
that I leave you all

I've heard that the son must bear
the burdens of the father
but it's the daughter that is left
to clean up the mess
And I don't want you to think
that I'm asking for absolution,
but run is what I did when put to the test

Ring On The Sill lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

She placed her ring on the sill,
dishes piled high
She's on the front porch step
and the air smells like snow
She's thinking of the siege to come
and how she'll miss those weekends
in the park with the sun on her face
and her book by her side and that
lingering taste that he left on her tongue

He lifts his glass from the table
It leaves a ring where it stood
He sees the light from the window
caress her like he knows he should
He's remembering the first time he kissed her
and how he'd wake
and immediately he'd miss her,
like a spell, with each breath,
he'd taste her breath like a haunting,
irritating as hell

Do you remember when you'd pray
to never see the day
when someone would make you feel this way
'Cause you knew
they would cut right through you
and once inside, you were afraid they'd find
nothing to hold on to

He puts her ring on her finger,
she brushes back his hair
He takes a sip from his glass,
she inhales the cold fall air
And they're thinking of the long road ahead
and the strength that they will need
just to reach the end
And there in the silence they search for
the balance between this fear that they feel
and a love that has graced their lives

Anniversary Song lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Have you ever seen a sight as beautiful
as that of the rain-soaked purple
of the white birch in spring?

Have you ever felt more fresh or wonderful
than on a warm fall night
under a Mackerel sky,
the smell of grapes on the wind?

Well I have known all these things
and the joys that they can bring
And I'll share them all for a cup of coffee
and to wear your ring

Have you ever had the pleasure of watching
a quiet winter's snow slowly gathering
like simple moments adding up?

Have you ever satisfied a gut feeling
to follow a dry dirt road that's beckoning you
to the heart of a shimmering summer's day?

Well I have known all these things
and the joys that they can bring
And I'll share them all for a cup of coffee
and to wear your ring

And I don't know how I survived those days
before I held your hand
Well I never thought that I would be the one
to admit that the moon and the sun
shine so much more brighter when
seen through two pairs of eyes than
when seen through just one

Have you ever seen a sight as beautiful
as a face in a crowd of people
that lights up just for you?

Have you ever felt more fresh or wonderful
as when you wake
by the side of that boy or girl
who has pledged their love to you?

Well I have known all these things
and the joys that they can bring
And now every morning there's a cup of coffee
and I wear your ring

White Sail lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Raise a white sail if you love me
a black sail if you don't
Seal me up in an impregnable tower
or surround me with an impassable moat
I've heard all the stories told about love
(unattainable and pure)
but there is one love of which I'm sure

Your fear as honed as a battle axe,
I'll bear my neck, I'll wear the scar,
and if my nerve should fail the task
I know your faith will not roam too far
I've heard all the stories told about love
(two souls into one)
but this tale of love is one we've just begun

Isoldt had her Tristan,
but love potions are not what we need,
and Paris had his Helen
but it was infatuation that was plain to see
What I desire is your trust to inspire
this love for you which grows in me

Plant a rose tree on his grave
and on mine plant a vine,
as seasons pass and markers fade
watch them slowly intertwine
I've heard all the stories told about love
(till death do us part)
but our love is a vow which has been wrought
from heart to heart

Seven Years lyrics - Cowboy junkies

Haven't seen the sun for seven days
November's got her nails dug in deep
Haven't seen my son for seven years
and the chances are we'll never again meet

If truth be told I don't even know his name
If truth be told he doesn't even know my name

I spend my spare time with my rosary beads
although I never learnt to pray
but you don't need the light
and it's best to pretend
that you've seen the errors of your ways

The darkness in here
is as heavy as a judgement
This darkness, heavy as a judgement

My dreams are now filled with Gilead trees
and other sights that I've never seen
They used to be filled
with the fears of tomorrow
and the horror that it might bring

His eyes felt to me
as cold as a stone mason's chisel
His eyes fell on me, cold
like a stone mason's chisel

Strange how a mind can always recall
what the senses eagerly leave behind
I can remember his face, rage,
disgust and distaste
but to my fear I have grown blind

Memories are just dead men making trouble
this memory is just a dead man making trouble

Pale Sun lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Fifty miles from Dakota territory
Cheyenne scalp hangs from his belt
Found him alone washing in the Bighorn
a steady aim and he bagged his game

Pale sun falls without contest
Here is obedient darkness
He will not return

White Cadillac, white man at the wheel,
white faces on the mountain,
wounds that will never heal
Black clouds overhead, old man says
looks like rain
Thieves' Road winds to the Black Hills sign
says South Dakota, U.S.A.

Grass plains stretch to the horizon,
not a soul can be found on them
They will not return

Old rusted pickup and a mad dog in the yard,
purple paint peels but fails to reveal
the bitterness that grows inside
Cloud of dust in the distance,
strange knock beneath my hood
Is it better to have words left unsaid
than to have words misunderstood?

Pale sun falls without contest
Here is obedient darkness
It will return
I know it will return
It will return

The Post lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Eyed it, dried it, untied it
Chilled it, spilled it, refilled it
Taste it, traced it, erased it

He's my post to lean on
And I just cut him down
So I'm out to land on somethin'
Hopefully a boy will come to me at the ground

Eyed it, dried it, untied it
Chilled it, spilled it, refilled it
Taste it, trace it, erased it

He's my post to lean on
And I just cut him down
So I'm out to land on somethin'
Hopefully a boy will come to me at the ground

He's my post to lean on
And I just cut him down
So I'm out to land on somethin'
Hopefully a boy will come to me at the ground

Cold Tea Blues lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

If I pour your cup, that is friendship
If I add your milk, that is manners
If I stop there, claiming ignorance of taste,
that is tea

But if I measure the sugar
to satisfy your expectant tongue
then that is love,
But if I measure the sugar
to satisfy your expectant tongue
then that is love,
sitting untouched and growing cold

Hard To Explain lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

If it ain't one thing
I tell you it's always another
I wonder why
I started treating you like a step-brother

Love is hard to explain
I know my loss is someone else's gain

Sometime's love is like a bitter pill
But we just have to take it like it is
Sometimes life is the sweetest thing
and sometimes it's just naked pain

Oh, it's so hard to explain
I know my loss is someone else's gain

My troubles started when I found you
But that's when I (wrapped?) my world around you
And now my living ain't so easy
I thought that's what a woman was supposed to do

You see, it's so hard to explain
I know my loss is someone else's gain

I went to see my doctor
'Cause I thought I had a hole in my heart
but he said "Girl, you're just wasting my time
Because some man messed up,
went and messed up your mind"

It's so hard to explain
I know my loss is someone else's gain

Oh, love it's so hard to explain
It'll make you forget your name
It'll turn you upside down
It'll make you wish that you'd never been found

Hunted lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Emma's in a part of town
where she doesn't recognize the streets
named for famous native sons
and out of every crevice comes creeping
a threat in her direction
Lucy's outside her home
heading towards her corner store
she stays on well-travelled paths
and is always making sure
that she doesn't develop patterns

There are trap lines
running up and down Main Street
wire snares thirsting for your neck and feet

Susan doesn't like the way her curtains
are blowing in the wind
She swears she locked that window
before she went out dancing
she stands frozen in her doorway
Judy hears a sound coming from the other room
she knows she should be alone
'cause the kids left at noon
to go visit their father

Quick to your phone dial 911
invite a strange man into your home
who'll be carrying a gun

Leslie's working late
she's got a deadline to meet
In walks her boss,
upon her desk he puts his feet
and says alone at last
Reanne's got a new boyfriend
and they're getting along
until he locks the door and says don't struggle,
I'm stronger than you are.

Just one question I'm dying to ask, you said,
do you know what it's like to be hunted?

Floorboard Blues lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Look under his floorboards, Mama,
I don't trust his silly grin
He's got a beat-up Rambler, Nebraska plates,
and I ain't getting in
I don't like the way his pinky ring
picks up the dashboard light
or his short little piggy fingers
or the way his belt is cinched too tight

Check under his floorboards, Mama,
I don't like his suggestive tone
The way his words drip from his mouth
as he asks can I take you home?
I don't care how many miles I got,
I think I'd rather walk them alone
than to sit in the back seat
as his eyes in the mirror
reduce me to flesh and bone

Check under his floorboards, Mama,
'cause that razor's not just a threat to me
He'll be slicing tiny crescents from your heart,
without laying a sweaty palm to your cheek
Don't accuse me of running scared,
listen to what I'm saying
It's a fucked up ol' world, but this ol' girl
Well, she ain't giving in

"Black Eyed Man" (1992)

Southern Rain lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

The flies have quit their buzzing
Even Bear has stopped his barking
They all sense something brewing
up the James and headed this way

Bobby sips his morning coffee
Says `Have you finished with the funnies?
Looks like a storm's coming honey
guess we'll have to stay in bed today'

I've heard that into every life
a little of it must fall
If there's any truth to the saying,
Lord, let it be a southern rain

Marie was born in Macon, Georgia
She met a west coast lawyer
He plucked that sweet magnolia
and carried her to the hills of West L.A.

She says `I never thought I'd tire of a dollar
But this life has grown so hollow
Every night there's lipstick on his collar
and every morning I wash it away'

She heard that into every life
a little of it must fall
So she spends her evenings praying
for a little of that southern rain

Cars alive on city streets
of sparkling black water
like waves beneath my window
never break just roll away
Tonight, this rain will be my lullaby
these cars, my dreams
to carry me home to stay

The wipers beat a rhythm
Truck spray obscures my vision
But I'm closing in on my destination
Two more hours and I'll be at your door

And it will never cease to amaze me
how a little rain can drive folks crazy
When I'd trade all my blue skies gladly
for your blue eyes, crooked smile
and a steady downpour

I've heard that into every life
a little of it must fall,
but you'll never catch me complaining
about too much of that southern rain

Oregon Hill lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

The hoods are up on Pine Street,
rear ends lifted too
The great-grandsons of General Robert E. Lee
are making love with a little help from STP
Their women on the porches comparing alibis

Greasy eggs and bacon,
bumper stickers aimed to start a fight,
full gun racks, Confederate caps,
if you want some 'shine
well, you can always find some more,
but what I remember most is the colour of Suzy's door

And Suzy says she's up there
cutting carrots still
And Suzy says she's missing me
so I'm missing Oregon Hill

A river to the south
to wash away all sins
A college to the east of us
to learn where sin begins
A graveyard to the west of it all
which I may soon be lying in

'Cause to the north there is a prison
which I've come to call my home,
but some Monday morning no country song
will sing me home again

And Suzy says she's up there
cutting carrots still
And Suzy says she's missing me
so I'm missing Oregon Hill

Sunday morning, eight A.M.,
sirens fill the air
Sounds like someone made the river
Sounds like someone being born again
Me, I'm just lying here in Suzy's bed

Baptists celebrating with praises to the Lord,
rednecks doing it with gin
Me and Suzy, we're celebrating
the joy of sleeping in
because tomorrow I'll be home again

But Suzy says she'll wait there
cutting carrots by the window sill
And Suzy says, 'Always think of me
when you think of Oregon Hill'

This Street, That Man, This Life lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

This street holds its secrets like a cobra holds its kill
This street minds its business like a jailer minds his jail
That house there is haunted
That door's a portal to hell
This street holds its secrets very well

That man wears his skin like a dancer wears her veils
That man stalks his victims like a cancer stalks a cell
That man's soul has left him his heart's as deadly as a rusty nail
That man sheds his skin like a veil

Lord, you play a hard game, you know we follow every rule
Then you take the one thing we thought we'd never lose
All I ask is if she's with you please keep her warm and safe
and if it's in your power please purge the memory of this place

This life holds its secrets like a sea shell holds the sea,
soft and distant calling like a fading memory
This life has its victories but its defeats tear so viciously
This life holds its secrets like the sea

A Horse In The Country lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

The money would be pretty good
if a quart of milk were still a dollar
or even if a quart of milk were still a quart
And the hours, well, I don't mind
how they creep on by like an old love of mine
it's the years that simply disappear that are doing me in

Guess I married too young,
yeah, nineteen was just too young,
but sometimes you meet someone
and your guts just burn
It's not that I don't love him anymore
it's just that when I hear him
coming through that front door
my heart doesn't race like it did once before

But I've got a horse out in the country
I get to see him every second Sunday
He comes when I call him,
yeah, he knows his name
One day I'll saddle up
and the two of us will ride away

This weather I could almost stand
if the sun would shine a little brighter
or even if the sun would shine at all
But lately it just seems to me
that this life has lost its mystery
and these cold fall mornings seem to bite
just a little bit harder

And all my friends have settled down
become their mothers and their fathers
without a sound
Except for Cathy,
she bought a one-way subway ticket
and left us all behind

But I've got a horse out in the country
I get to see him every second Sunday
He comes when I call him,
yeah, he knows his name
One day I'll saddle up
and the two of us will ride away

This town wouldn't be so bad
if a girl could trust her instincts
or even if a girl could trust a boy

If You Were The Woman And I Was The Man lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

If you were the woman and I was the man
would I send you yellow roses
would I dare to kiss your hand?
In the morning would I caress you
as the wind caresses the sand,
if you were the woman and I was the man?

If I was the heart and you were the head
would you think me very foolish
if one day I decided to shed
these walls that surround me
just to see where these feelings led,
if I was the heart and you were the head?

If I was the woman and you were the man
would I laugh if you came to me
with your heart in your hand
and said, 'I offer you this freely
and will give you all that I can
because you are the woman
and I am the man?'

Murder, Tonight, In The Trailer Park lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Murder tonight in the trailer park
Mrs. Annabelle Evans found
with her throat cut after dark
Her pockets turned inside out
her dresser drawers turned upside down
Anna's neighbour, Peg, identifies the body
lets out a hollow kind of sound

Homicide is tying yellow ribbons
around her silver Airstream
Red cherries slashing up the night
cutting through that cordoned crime scene
There's been a murder
in the trailer park tonight

Murder tonight in the trailer park
Pack your things Ann Marie,
we're heading west
we're going to make a fresh start
I've been saving pennies,
been looking forward to this day
No time for questions are you coming
or are you going to stay?

Crosstown at the Waterton
George Evans is sitting tall and tight,
buying drinks for all the regulars
bragging about how them bones
danced for him tonight
There's been a murder
in the trailer park tonight

Murder tonight in the trailer park
Faceless man counting crumpled bills,
hotel neon fights the dark
TV set in the corner, they're talking murder
on the late-night news
He turns down the sound,
waits for the sports,
he only wants to know,
'Did I win or did I lose'

There's been a murder
in the trailer park tonight
Murder tonight in the trailer park

Black Eyed Man lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Black eyed man he took the blame
for the poisoning of the well
They found this shoes by the pulley
They found his fingerprints all over the pail

Black eyed man I'm warning you
the people around here
will not be fooled by a simple line or two

Yes your honour I do solemnly swear
that I saw him late last night,
dancing barefoot, bathed in light
and reaching for every star in sight
Yes I did go to him,
but completely against my will
and yes he did things to me
things of which I dream of still

Black eyed man I'm warning you
what I say is what you'll do
to hell with love and truth

I always meant to say I'm sorry
for all the things I said and did
'Sorry,' I feel better now, do you?
But you promised me the sky
and fell short a star or two
What else did you expect me to do?

Black eyed man he took the blame
for the poisoning of the well
They found his shoes by the pulley
They found his fingerprints all over the pail
With a noose around his neck,
cicadas trilling everywhere,
he says to the people gathered round him,
'it ain't the water that's not right around here'

Black eyed man I'm thirsty dear
be a love and bring some water here
drawn fresh from the well

Winter's Song lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

She says, 'it's cold where you brought me'
He says, 'Darling, don't worry
you can stay in my arms
until the springtime comes
We'll let the snow drift around us
and wait for the robin and the crocus
to tell us that our love has again found the sun'

Lone oak stands tall,
bare arms scratch the sky,
dry leaves cracking beneath our feet
Hand in hand we've watched
the autumn fires burn -
Summer's dreams collapsing,
chestnuts in need of gathering,
the whole world lies rotting in the street

Soon we will walk with collars high
like ramparts raised for the siege
We'll bow to her beauty,
cower from her fury
sent as a judgement for a slight
long past forgotten
Winter's love once again unrequited
Winter's love once again unrequited

She says, 'Babe are you sleeping?'
He says, 'No, wide awake and thinking
of a dream I just had about the two of us
He takes his hand to her cheek now,
his lips to her brow,
their whispers pile softly
by the foot of the bed

The Last Spike lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Mornings feel so damn sad these days
without the call of the 8:15
That old familiar echo
has finally died away
leaving nothing but a chill
where there once was a mighty scream

And I've watched the flat cars
take away our timber
I've watched the coal cars steal our rock
And now that we've got
nothing left to take we're told
that the wheels will stop turning,
the whistles will stop blowing,
these foolish dreams must stop

Last year they closed down the post office,
took the only flag we had in town
That old brick building
still stands like a cenotaph
to a vision lost and buried in
a very distant past

And I've watched the flat cars
take away our timber
I've watched the coal cars steal our rock
And now that we've got
nothing left to take we're told
that the wheels will stop turning,
the whistles will stop blowing,
these foolish dreams must stop

The longest train I've ever seen
was the train that you were on
I walked you to the station,
we kissed and you were gone
I dream at night about you coming home
The train in the station,
your uniform on fire
as you step onto the platform
the band plays a little louder,
and as we embrace your cap falls off
Oh, I guess these foolish dreams must stop

Mornings feel so damn sad these days
without the call of the 8:15
Looks like this town is finally
going to die away
leaving nothing but broken promises
where there once was small town dreams

And I've watched the flat cars
take away our timber
I've watched the coal cars steal our rock
And now that we've got
nothing left to take we're told
that the TV station will be closing,
Main Street windows will need boarding,
that these foolish dreams must stop

Cowboy Junkies Lament lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Baby hit the back door
breathin' real heavy
said the boys in the alley
wouldn't leave her alone
Mama did her make-up in a terrible hurry
she finally got ready
but the boys were gone
Mama don't you worry,
night's approachin'
there's a hole in heaven
where some sin slips through
just close your eyes and dream real steady
maybe just a little will spill on you

Dark don't lie
Dreams come true
Could be a few will see you through

Old lady Rose, lookin' down her nose
at lonely Miss Lily hiding in the hall
Lily's just praying for the trial to be over
lady Rose just waiting for the axe to fall
Show me off on the way to town
the sky's still shiny
and the earth's still brown
Tell the judge I'm ready for the vases
gonna dance in their faces
when the guitar sounds

Won't be long
I won't be gone
Been leaning toward the shadows all along

Those in the know say so it goes
you plan on reapin', you better sow
You plan on sleepin',
you better keep movin'
sleepin' ain't allowed around here,
you know

Snake eyes cry
Boxcars sigh
Seven's stuck in the middle
just wonderin' why

Dark don't lie
Dreams come true
All it takes is one or two
Maybe just a few will see you through

Townes' Blues lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

You're clean as a widow woman's washboard, son,
stick it in the wind
Put the mountains to your back
the great plains on your grille
time to take a little spin
Boulder looks like the type of town
that I could spend some time,
but in Houston they got our name in lights
You're clean as a widow woman's washboard, son,
the slab is yours tonight

Townes is in the back lounge
with his hands in his pocket
pulls out two dice and says, 'Let's get at it'

Salina in the headlights, snake eyes on the floor,
Al drops another twenty, Pete heads for the door,
Springer's feeling lucky, sits down for a spell,
Oklahoma City and he's lost his last bill
Jeff is in a bind waiting on sister hicks
seven comes a-calling
as we cross on into Texas

Townes is in the back lounge
with a fist full of fives
he says, 'It's a little bit long
but I'm enjoying this ride'

Be careful with the dice
when you're surrounded by others
with boxcars in their eyes
Never count your winnings at hour 23
of a 24-hour drive
Remember that you're not the one
calling the tune
that's making those diamonds dance
or you'll be clean as
a widow woman's washboard, son,
and those are the facts

Townes is in the back lounge cursing at them bones
he says, 'Ain't this fool ever heard of Raton'

To Live Is To Fly lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Won't say I love you babe
Won't say I need you babe
But I'm going to get you babe
and I will not do you wrong
Living's mostly wasting time
and I waste my share of mine
but it never feels too good
so let's not take too long
I'm as soft as glass and you're a gentle man
we got the sky to talk about
and the world to lie upon

Days up and down they come
like rain on a conga drum
forget most, remember some
but don't turn none away
Everything is not enough
nothing is too much to bear
where you been is good and gone
all you keep's the getting there

To live is to fly low and high
so shake the dust off of your wings
and the sleep out of your eyes

It's goodbye to all my friends
It's time to go again
Think of all the poetry
and the pickin' down the line
I'll miss the system here
the bottom's low and the treble's clear
but it don't pay to think too much
on the things you leave behind
I may be gone but I won't be long
I'll be bringing back the melody
and all the rhythms that I find

We all got holes to fill
and them holes are all that's real
some fall on you like a storm
sometimes you dig your own
But choice is yours to make
time is yours to take
some dive into the sea
some toil upon the stone

To live is to fly low and high
so shake the dust off of your wings
and the sleep out of your eyes

"The Caution Horses" (1990)

Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Sun comes up, it's Tuesday morning
hits me straight in the eye
guess you forgot to close the blind last night
Oh, that's right, I forgot, it was me

I sure do miss the smell of black coffee in the morning,
the sound of water splashing all over the bathroom,
the kiss that you would give me even though I was sleeping,
but I kind of like the feel of this extra few feet in my bed
Telephone's ringing, but I don't answer it
'cause everybody knows that good news always sleeps till noon

Guess it's tea and toast for breakfast again
maybe I'll add a little T.V. too
No milk! God, how I hate that
Guess I'll go to the corner, get breakfast from Jenny
She's got a black eye this morning, `Jen how'd ya get it?'
she says, `Last night, Bobby got a little bit out of hand'

Lunchtime. I start to dial your number
then I remember so I reach for something to smoke
and anyways I'd rather listen to Coltrane
than go through all that shit again

There's something about an afternoon spent doing nothing
Just listening to records and watching the sun falling
Thinking of things that don't have to add up to something
and this spell won't be broken
by the sound of keys scraping in the lock

Maybe tonight it's a movie
with plenty of room for elbows and knees
a bag of popcorn all to myself,
black and white with a strong female lead
and if I don't like it, no debate, I'll leave

Here comes that feeling that I'd forgotten
how strange these streets feel
when you're alone on them
Each pair of eyes just filled with suggestion
So I lower my head, make a beeline for home
Seething inside

Funny, I'd never noticed
the sound the streetcars make as they pass my window
Which reminds me that I forgot to close the blind again
Yeah, sure I'll admit there are times when I miss you
Especially like now when I need someone to hold me
but there are some things that can never be forgiven
and I just gotta tell you
that I kinda like this extra few feet in my bed

Cause Cheap Is How I Feel lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

It's the kind of night that's so cold, when you spit
it freezes before it hits the ground
And when a bum asks you for a quarter, you give a dollar
if he's out tonight he must be truly down
And I'm searching all the windows for a last minute present
to prove to you that what I said was real,
for something small and frail and plastic, baby,
'cause cheap is how I feel

Half moon in the sky tonight, bright enough
to come up with an answer
to the question why is it that every time I see you
my love grows a little stronger
But your memory leaves my stomach churning,
feeling like a lie about to be revealed,
but I'll horde all this to myself
'cause cheap is how I feel

It's not the smell in here that gets to me it's the lights
I hate the shadows that they cast,
and the sound of clinking bottles is the one sure thing
I'll always drag with me from my past
I think I'll find a pair of eyes tonight, to fall into
and maybe strike a deal
Your body for my soul, fair swap
`cause cheap is how I feel

Thirty Summers lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Caught in the vice of heaven and earth
he turned his life into a cell
imprisoned by the doubts which hound us all
and those desires which we all know so well
His days he lost to promises, his nights he purged of dreams
and he would wake in the hours before sunrise
and dread the coming of the day

Never thought a man could become so desperate
never thought a life could lose so much hope
to be tearing at the roots around you
as if in manacles, or irons, or ropes
They say he told his children that all he taught was lost
that love and pride and honesty
were to be gained at too high a cost

It's been thirty summers that I've spent with him
and I expect thirty more to pass
he has blessed my life in so many ways
that I could never turn my back
But I need just one more reminder
of the man that he used to be
if he would just look deep into my eyes
and say it's in you my love that I will find the key

Mariner's Song lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

The last of man's great unchained beasts lies lapping at my door
The last of man's great unchained beasts lies lapping at my door
I would give it what it wants, but I do know,
it would just ask for more

I search for you with every crest I ride
in every trough I travel through
I search for you in every trough I travel through

I didn't mean to leave you,
I unfurled my sail and the wind did blow
I didn't mean to leave you, darling,
I unfurled my sail and the wind did blow
Why why why why why, oh why I did not drop my anchor,
Oh Lord, I will never know

I search for you with every crest I ride
in every trough I travel through
I search for you in every trough I travel through

On the lee of the island I hear your voice deep inside the calm
On the lee of the island I hear your voice deep inside the calm
Whispering baby, I'll be your delight, if you promise
to be my red sky tonight

I search for you with every crest I ride
in every trough I travel through
I search for you in every trough I travel through

In the storm you are my destination, in the port you are my storm
In the storm you are my destination, in the port you are my storm
But I would weather you my love, if you would be my guide,
if you would be my stars in the sky tonight

I search for you with every crest I ride
in every trough I travel through
I search for you in every trough I travel through

Powderfinger lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Look out, Mama, there's a white boat coming up the river,
with a big red beacon and a flag and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John
'cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side and a gun,
and it's making big waves

Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains
Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy Lou
So the powers that be left me here to do all the thinking
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wondering what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew

Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassuring
He told me, 'Red means run, Son, numbers add up to nothing'
But when that first shot hit the dock, I saw it coming
Raised the rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why
Then I saw black and my face flash in the sky

Shelter me from the powder and the finger
Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger
Just think of me as one you never figured,
to fade away so young
with so much left undone
Remember me to my love
I know I'll miss her

Where Are You Tonight? lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

There's a young man in the corner playing 'Crazy' all night long
quarters piled high upon the table
He orders Wild Turkey and with a quick wit and a smile
he says, 'My darling, you're the one I'll drape in sable'
But his baseball cap and this bar-room rap
tell me a different story
that this is not my prince to grant all my wishes
Just another lonely country-boy grown weary of the night
Just another boy with a sink full of dirty dishes

Where are you tonight?
When I left you in my dreams last night
you promised me that we would be breaking free
Where are you tonight?

He tells me of the back roads
and how we'll drive them all night long
how the days will fade and the moon will hang forever
and how the cloud of dust we'll kick up will linger like a song
and the myth will grow about the two who refused to surrender

Then I catch us in the bar-room mirror
with his arm around my shoulder
this girl I see has grown so unfamiliar
and as she stands to leave with a stranger by her side
she can't help but laugh at a life grown so peculiar

Where are you tonight?
I don't think I can face tomorrow's light
not knowing if you'll be there to guide me
Where are you tonight?

Where are you tonight?
I think that I'll make it through all right,
but I'd love to have you just one more time beside me

Witches lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

There are witches in the hills calling my name
saying come join us sister, come kiss the flame
Come dance in the moonbeams, ride the night wind
make love to the darkness and laugh at man's sins

I shiver with delight, I shiver with fear
my heart wants to go but my soul's filled with fear
So I turn to my lover and ask what do I do
do I answer their call or stay here with you

But under spell of deep sleep he moans and turns away
taking his protection and my desire to stay
So I rise to the hill tops, I ride the night winds
I make love to the darkness and laugh at man's sins

Rock And Bird lyrics - Cowboy Junkies


She captured both Rock and Bird
tied one to the leg of the other
kept them as prisoners
until they knew who was master
then she threw them to the sky

Bird with unbarred wings disappeared
Rock with weighted heart returned
and Rock became her anchor
and Bird became her dream

Now she stands on the forest floor
among the pines and towering firs
Rock still firm beneath her feet
Bird perched high above her
singing songs of love's betrayal

'I offered you my endless skies
you countered with hoods and chains
this song I sing will be the last
to be inspired by your memory'

Escape Is So Simple lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

The way you kissed me this morning
it told me that you soon would be going
You didn't even look in my eyes
when you said goodbye

And last night in your sleep you broke all the promises
that I knew you would never keep
Now I'm reading the letter which you placed on the dresser
and you're five hundred miles down the road

Escape is so simple
in a world where sunsets can be raced
But distance only looses the knife
the pattern of its scar
can always be traced

Yeah, I remember when we said 'forever'
was the craziest word that we knew
but I think that I like it much better than I do 'goodbye'

And I could sit here all evening and think of the reasons
why you are not by my side
Instead I'll go to the kitchen, find a strong chair to sit in
and drink myself far, far away

Escape is so simple
in a world where sunsets can be raced
But distance only looses the knife
the pattern of its scar
can always be traced

You Will Be Loved Again lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

How could he take you in his arms
and help you to be free
then leave you forgotten
and is it enough to cry?
When you're so broken...

Her cold eyes tell you you're not welcome
she tells lies but you'll take her back again
and is it enough to die?
When you're so taken

You will be loved again
You will be loved again

But will she sing and will she dance
and will she forever
and will he sing and will he dance
and will he forever

Someday you will feel a love so deep
and you'll find someone not lost in sleep

And you will be loved again
you will be loved again
you will be loved again

"The Trinity Session" (1988)

Mining For Gold lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

We are miners, hard rock miners
To the shaft house we must go
Pour your bottles on our shoulders
We are marching to the slow

On the line boys, on the line boys
Drill your holes and stand in line
'til the shift boss comes to tell you
You must drill her out on top

Can't you feel the rock dust in your lungs?
It'll cut down a miner when he is still young
Two years and the silicosis takes hold
and I feel like I'm dying from mining for gold

Yes, I feel like I'm dying from mining for gold

Misguided Angel lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I said "Mama, he's crazy and he scares me
But I want him by my side
though he's wild and he's bad
and sometimes just plain mad
I need him to keep me satisfied"

I said "Papa, don't cry cause it's alright
And I see you in some of his ways
Though he might not give me the life that you wanted
I'll love him the rest of my days"

Misguided angel hangin' over me
Heart like a Gabriel, pure and white as ivory
Soul like a Lucifer, black and cold like a piece of lead
Misguided angel, love you 'til I'm dead

I said "Brother, you speak to me of passion
You said never to settle for nothing less
Well, it's in the way he walks,
it's in the way he talks
His smile, his anger and his kisses"

I said "Sister, don't you understand?
He's all I ever wanted in a man
I'm tired of sittin' around the T.V. every night
Hoping I'm finding a Mr. Right"

Misguided angel hangin' over me
Heart like a Gabriel, pure and white as ivory
Soul like a Lucifer
Black and cold like a piece of lead
Misguided angel, love you 'til I'm dead

He says "Baby, don't listen to what they say
There comes a time when you have to break away"
He says "Baby there are things we all cling to all our life
It's time to let them go and become my wife"

Misguided angel hangin' over me
Heart like a Gabriel, pure and white as ivory
Soul like a Lucifer
Black and cold like a piece of lead
Misguided angel, love you 'til I'm dead

Blue Moon Revisited (Song For Elvis) lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I only want to say
That if there is a way
I want my baby back with me
'cause he's my true love
my only one don't you see?

And on that fateful day
Perhaps in the new sun of May
My baby walks back into my arms
I'll keep him beside me
forever from harm

You see I was afraid
to let my baby stray
I kept him too tightly by my side
and then one sad day
he went away and he died

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
without a dream in my heart
without a love of my own
Blue Moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
someone I really could care for

I only want to say
That if there is a way
I want my baby back with me
'cause he's my true love
my only one don't you see?

I Don't Get It lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Breaking away to the other side
I wanna make sense of why we live and die
I don't get it, I don't get it

I ask my friends if they understand
They just laugh at me and watch another band
They don't worry, they don't worry

Lookin' for a way to lose my load
I wanna make it easy to walk this road
I can't find it, yeah I can't find it

Yeah, I'm looking for answers in so many places
I open my mind
I don't get it

Walkin' this earth and keepin' my peace
I do what I want but the price is steep
It don't seem right, it don't seem right

My mama she told me "One step at a time
and sooner or later you'll walk that line"
I don't want to, I don't want to

Takin' my time to live and die
I wanna find a way to do it right
and I ease on, and I ease on

They say "One thing always leads to another"
I open my mind
I don't get it

Breaking away to the other side
I wanna make sense of why we live and die
I don't get it, I don't get it
I don't get it, I don't get it
I don't get it

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Hear the lonesome whippoorwill
His song's too blue to fly
The midnight train is a-winding low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

I've never seen a night so long
When time keeps crawling by
The moon is gone behind the clouds
To hide his face and cry

Have you ever seen a robin weep
When leaves have turned to brown?
Like me he's lost his will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple haze
and as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry

To Love Is To Bury lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I buried him down by the river
'cause that's where he liked to be
and every night when the moon is high
I go there and weep openly

He and I were married
By this river 'neath this willow tree
and with God and friends witnessing it
He pledged his life to me

To me he was Earth
and I rooted in his soil
I to he was Sky vast and free
of the burdens from which he toiled

Then one night a terrible fight
Words spoken better left unsaid
With his wedding vows ringing in my ears
He gave his life to me

They say to love is to bury
Those demons from which we all hide
But tonight by this river 'neath this willow tree
Becoming one of Earth and Sky

200 More Miles lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Atlanta's a distant memory
Montgomery a recent birth
and Tulsa burns on the desert floor
like a signal fire

I got Willie on the radio
a dozen things on my mind
and number one is fleshing out
these dreams of mine

I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt in line
before I sleep
But there'll be no warm sheets or welcoming arms
to fall into tonight

In Nashville there is a lighter
in a case for all to see
it speaks of dreams and heartaches
left unsung

And in the corner stands a guitar and
lonesome words scrawled in a drunken hand
I don't travel past, travel hard before
and I'm beginning to understand

That I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt in line
before I sleep
But there'll be no warm sheets or welcoming arms
to fall into tonight

They say that I am crazy
my life wasting on this road
that time will find my dreams
scared or dead and cold

But I heard there is a light
drawing me to reach an end
and when I reach there, I'll turn back
and you and I can begin again

I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt in line
before I sleep
But there'll be no warm sheets or welcoming arms
to fall into tonight

I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt in line
before I sleep
But I wouldn't trade all your golden tomorrows
for one hour of this night

Atlanta's a distant memory
Montgomery a recent birth
and Tulsa burns on the desert floor
like a signal fire

Dreaming My Dreams With You lyrics - Cowbay Junkies

I hope that I find what I'm reaching for
The way that it is in my mind
I hope that I won't be that wrong anymore
and maybe to have learned this time

Someday I'll get over you
I'll live to see it all through
But I'll always miss
Dreaming my dreams with you

But I won't let it change me, not if I can
I'd rather believe in love
and give it away as much as I can
To those that I am fondest of

Someday I'll get over you
I'll live to see it all through
But I'll always miss
Dreaming my dreams with you

Someday I'll get over you
I'll miss dreaming with you
Someday I'll get over you
I'll miss dreaming with you
Someday

Working On A Building lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Working on a building, a Holy Ghost building
For my Lord, for my Lord
If I was a drunkard I tell you what I'd do
I would quit my drinking and work on that building too

Working on a building, a Holy Ghost building
For my Lord, yeah for my Lord
If I was a liar I tell you what I'd do
I would quit my lying and work on that building too

Working on a building, it's a Holy Ghost building
For my Lord, yeah for my Lord

Working on a building, it's a Holy Ghost building
For my Lord, yeah for my Lord
If I was a singer I tell you what I'd do
I would keep on singing and work on that building too

Sweet Jane lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Anyone who's ever had a heart
Wouldn't turn around and break it
and anyone who's ever played a part
Wouldn't turn around and hate it
Sweet Jane, sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane

You're waiting for Jimmy down in the alley
Waiting there for him to come back home
Waiting down on the corner
and thinking of ways to get back home
Sweet Jane, sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane

Anyone who's ever had a dream
Anyone who's ever played a part
Anyone who's ever been lonely
and anyone who's ever split apart
Sweet Jane, sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane

Heavenly widened roses
seem to whisper to me when you smile
Heavenly widened roses
seem to whisper to me when you smile

La la la la, la la la, [etc...]

Sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane

Postcard Blues lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Especially with my head pounding
and lying helpless in my bed
I long for you and your expert hands
To ease this white heat from my head

And you would boast that you knew
All the pressure points inside
And you could just as easily kill me
Beneath the desire that I hide

But as your patient I knew
That your healing powers had grown
From a sore that's far far deeper
Than this heart where the pain was born

With my head again clear
I think of words to send to you
To coax you back to my side
But always leave out "I love you"

And then through my front door
A picture of a faraway land
And ?? to love along the back
And once again I reach for my pen

Walking After Midnight lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I was walking after midnight
Yeah, out in the moonlight
The way we used to do
I'm always walking after midnight
Searching for you
I'm always walking after midnight
Searching for you

I stop to see a weeping willow
Crying on his pillow
Maybe he's a-crying for me
and as the skys turn gloomy
The night winds whisper to me
I'm lonesome as I can be
I'm always walking after midnight
Searching for you

I walk for miles along the highway
Well that's just my way
of saying "I love you"
I'm always walking after midnight
Searching for you
I walk for miles along the highway
Searching for you

I'm always walking after midnight
Yeah, out in the moonlight
Hoping you may be
Somewhere a-walking after midnight
Searching for me
I'm always walking after midnight
Searching for you

"Whites Off Earth Now!!" (1986)

Shining Moon lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Don't the moon look pretty
Shining down through the trees
Don't that shining moon look pretty, baby
Shining down through the trees
You know I can see my baby
When he can't see me

Yeah, I tiptoe to his window
Just to see my baby snore
I tiptoe to his window
Just to see how sweetie snores
You know it makes me feel like jumping, lord, lord
Through the keyhole in his door

Come crawl up to your window
Let me whisper in your ear
Come on and crawl up to your window, darling
Let me whisper in your ear
You know, I got somthing to tell you, baby
I don't want that girl around here
...keep her away

State Trooper lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

New Jersey Turnpike
Riding on a wet night
'neath the refinery's glow
Down where the great black river flow

Licence, registration:
I ain't got none
But I got a clear conscience
'bout the things that I done

Mister State Trooper
Please don't stop me
Please don't stop me
Please don't stop me

Maybe you got a kid
Maybe you got a pretty wife
The only thing that I got's
Been bugging me my whole life

Mister State Trooper
Please don't stop me
Please don't stop me
Please don't ya stop me

Well, in the wee wee hours
Your mind gets hazy
Radio relay towers
Gonna lead me to my baby

Radio's jammed up
with talk show stations
It's just talk, talk, talk, talk
'til you lose your patience

Mister State Trooper
Please don't stop me
Please don't stop me
Please don't ya stop me

Hey, somebody out there
Listen to my last prayer,
Heigh-ho Silver oh,
Deliver me from nowhere

Me And The Devil lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Early this morning, he knocked on my door
Early this morning he knocked on my door
I said "Hello, Satan, I believe it's time to go"

Me and The Devil are walkin' side by side
Me and The Devil are walkin' side by side
Well, I'm goin' to beat my man until I get satisfied

He says I don't do him right
That I dog him around
Well, babe, you know you ain't treating me right
He says I don't do him right
that I dog him around
Well, it must be this old evil spirit
So deep down within the ground

You may bury my body down by the highway side
...oh, babe I don't care what you do with my body
You may bury my body down by the highway side
So my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride

Early this morning, he knocked on my door
Now me and The Devil are walking side by side
Side by side

Decoration Day lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I had a man, who's good and kind in his way
Yeah I had a man, sweet and kind in his way
Lord, he died and he left me
and I sing the blues on every decoration day

Lord I was standing, standing 'round my baby's bed
Well, my Lord, my lord he take my baby away
Why, why, why, why
when your soul don't come back
Lord, I hung my head and cried

Said, now baby please please don't worry
Said, now baby please please don't worry
'cause everybody's gotta go
Why, why, why, why
The best man, God knows, I ever had

All day, that Sunday
I just hung my head and cried
So sad, that Sunday
When my Lord he take my baby
Why, why, why, why
I need my baby on some old lonesome day
and I sing the blues on every decoration day
on every decoration day

Baby Please Don't Go lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Now, baby, please don't go
Now, baby, please don't go
Now, baby, please don't go back to New Orleans
You know I love you so, you know I love you so

You got me waiting here
You got me waiting here
Before a ??
Baby, please don't go
Baby, please don't go

Don't you call my name
Don't you call my name

Well you got me way down here
On a ball and chain
Oh, baby, please don't go
Oh, baby, please don't go

Now, baby, please don't go
Now, baby, please don't go
Now, baby, please don't go back to New Orleans
You know I love you so, you know I love you so
...no, don't go

I'll Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I'll never get out of these blues alive
No, I'll never, I'll never get out of these blues alive
Well he gone and left me
I don't know what I'll do the rest of my life

Drinking black coffee and smoking cigarettes
Drinking black coffee, yeah, and smoking cigarettes
I can't see no use to try

I'll never get out of these blues alive
No, I'll never, I'll never get out of these blues alive
He gone and left me
Says he'll never come back home

I'll never come out of these blues alive
No, I'll never, I'll never come out of these blues alive
He gone and left me
I don't know what I'll do the rest of my life

Working up a sweat all night long and jumping over my bed
? sweat all night long and jumping over my bed
I can't see no use to try

Well, I'll never, never come out of these blues alive
I'll never, never come out of these, out of these blues alive
You know I miss him
? to the day I die

Take Me lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

Take me to the river
and we'll watch the water roll
Take me in your warmth
and you'll fill my empty soul

Come on and take me, take me, take me
Come on and take me, take me, take me

Take me to the ocean
where the water never run
Take me in your love
and I'll be your lifetime friend

Come on and take me, take me, take me
Come on and take me, take me, take me

Take me to the storm
where the thunder meets the light
Take me in your gentle arms
and I'll love you through the night

Come on and take me, take me, take me
Come on and take me, take me, take me

Forgive Me lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

They tell me God forgives you for almost anything you do
They tell me God forgives you for almost anything you do
Well, if that's the case, that's the case
I think I'm going to kill that man
Then drop down on my knees

Well, this morning, God knows, that man he comes a-waltzing in
Just waltzing in
Well, I got my shotgun, I broke down
I started to mow that man down

Yeah, they tell me God forgives you
If that's the case now, people
I'm gonna mow my baby down

You don't put yourself out, you don't put yourself out
You don't treat Margo right, you don't treat Margo right
Now darling, there come a time
You're gonna need my love again

They tell me God forgives me for almost anything you do

You don't seem to understand
I've got your life right in my hands

Yeah, they tell me God forgives you for almost anything you do
Anything you do
Well, if that's the case, that's the case
I think I'm going to kill that man
Then drop down on my knees

This morning, God knows, that man he comes waltzing in
Just waltzing in
Well, I grabbed my shotgun, I broke down
I started to mow that man down

Yeah, they tell me God forgives you for almost anything you do
If that's the case now, people
I'm gonna mow my baby down
I'm gonna mow my baby down
I'm gonna shoot that man

You don't put yourself out, you don't put yourself out
You don't treat Margo right, you don't treat your baby right
Now darling, there come a time
You're gonna need my love again

Yeah, they tell me God forgives you for almost anything
Anything you do

Crossroads lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

I went to the crossroads
fell down on my knee
I asked the Lord above me for mercy
"Save Bob, if you please"

Standing, standing on the crossroad
Yeah, I try to flag a ride
Don't nobody seem to know me
just everybody passing me by

I went down to the crossroads
fell down on my knee
I asked the Lord above me for mercy
"Save Bob, if you please"

Standing, standing on the crossroad
I try to flag a ride
Don't nobody seem to know me
just everybody passing me by

I'm standing on the crossroad, baby
Yeah, I think I'm sinking down
Sinking, sinking down

Cowboy Junkies other songs:

32-20 Blues lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

If I send for my baby and he don't come
If I send for my baby, man, and he don't come
All the doctors in Hot Springs they sure can't help him none

And if he gets unruly, things he don't wanna do
And if he gets unruly and thinks he won't do
I'll take my 32-20, now, and cut him half in two

I'm gonna shoot my pistol, I'm gonna shoot my Gatling gun
Yeah, I'm gonna shoot my pistol, I'm gotta shoot my Gatling gun
You made me love you, now your man have come

Baby, where you stay last night?
Yeah, I said baby, where'd you stayed last night?
'Cause you got the hair all tangled and you ain't talkin' right
Where'd you stayed last night?
...
He got a .38 Special but I believe it's most too light
He got a .38 Special but I believe it's most too light
I got a 32-20, got to make the camps alright

If I send for my baby, man, and he don't come
If I send for my baby, man, and he don't come
All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none

Her .38 Special, boys, do it very well
Her .38 Special, boys, it do very well
I got a 32-20 now, and it's a burnin'

If I send for my baby, man, and he don't come
If I send for my baby, man, and he don't come
All the doctors in Wisconsin sure can't help him none

Hey, hey baby, where'd you stay last night?
Hey, hey baby, where'd you stay last night?
You didn't come home until the sun was shining bright

Ah-oh, boy, I just can't take my rest
Ah-oh, boy, I just can't take my rest
With this 32-20 laying up and down my breast

A Few Simple Words lyrics - Cowboy Junkies

What does he see in those mashed potatoes?
What secrets does he hold that can be so grin?
The silence like a canyon dividing them
He's on one side she's opposite him
Trying so desperately to get his attention

She says, "honey, you're a bastard of great proportion".
He says, "darling, I plead guilty to that sin."
With potatoes half way to his mouth
He looks her in the eye and says,
"without a doubt
My love for you is all that I believe in.

"With those few simple words
Her heart is sent soaring
She's able to face another day
. through the anger and the laughter
She knows that she matters
And somebody out there cares.

What does she gain by all this sulking?
What trouble can there be for one so young?
Dark tension building like the clouds of a storm
Her daughter's in her room and she's at the door
Trying to figure what all this fuss is for.

She says, "mother, you're a witch
And I'll always hate you."
She says, "daughter, perhaps these words
You speak are true."
She quietly moves towards the bed,
Look her in the eye gently says,
"but I will always believe in you."

With those few simple words
Her heart is sent soaring
She's able to face another day.
Through the anger and the laughter
She knows that she matters
And somebody out there cares.

What do we need to keep us going?
What do we need at the end of the day?
Mysteries keep piling like dirty clothes
In the corner.
You never thought you'd give up.
But you're beginning to wonder
When through the gloom you hear
A familiar voice say....
.... a few simple words
That send your heart soaring
You're able to face another day.
Through the anger and the laughter
You know that you matter
And somebody out there cares.

Followers