Home Oh, to revel Home May we be… Home Oh, to revel To live in revelry Raise up the maypole, throw some bones on the fire Something exotically appropriate appropriated Don’t want to think about the world beyond the privacy trees Tattooing laurels over scars it’s left behind Singing, home Revel, revel Home May we be… Finally home Oh, to revel To live in revelry My troubles slipped when met with ginger lips, naked beneath curls When they returned, I was alone, far from the fire I want to dance! I said dance! I swore that I never would But feeling mortal makes me want to feel alive So I sing, home For to revel Home May we be… Finally home Oh, to revel To live in revelry Home Revel, revel Home May we be… Finally home Oh, to revel To live in revelry I’ve come to terms that I will never be a father I’ve come to terms that my wants don’t align with my needs I’ve come to go – I couldn’t leave you if I were never here I’ve come to realize I get lost when you find me Lost when you find me... Home Oh, to revel Home May we be… Finally home Oh, to revel To live in revelry Home Revel, revel Might we be Finally home Oh, to revel To live in revelry? Home Revel, revel Home May we be Home Oh, to revel To live in revelry

Trapped by trappings Prescribe me subscriptions Oh, I have such slender means And bloated dreams to sound Pressured Conserve the air to breathe Pressured Conserve the air to breathe Steady drip feed My anxiety is caving in So, distract me Cartoon violence Swastikas for Noddy Esoteric dives For pearls of shock and awe Pressured Conserve the air to breathe Pressured Conserve the air to breathe Trapped by trappings Prescribe me subscriptions I have such slender means And bloated dreams to sound And bloated dreams to sound

The worst of times, from far enough We come to call the best I know you don’t want to say no But you know you can’t say yes Carolina’s calling Can’t seem to let it rest Wantin’ ain’t the same as asking I told myself that made it all okay But you knowing how I feel It’s like hearing me ask it every day Carolina’s calling The sun is bleeding in the bay Sometimes you get so quiet Staring past the walls of your living room Then you start to say something Only to smile tryin’ to hide your mood Carolina’s calling You know it’s calling for me too? Yeah, Carolina’s calling… But if you called, I’d answer you I want that warm feeling back I want that warm, damned feeling back It’s a sickness A siren’s whispered kiss Now all I hear is Carolina calling me I see vultures perched in every tree That you try to rest beneath I hope I’m not the same as them But that don’t make me what you need Carolina’s calling And neither you nor I can sleep A friend told me of another girl She could help make stick the lie I saw my face... Reflecting in her eyes... Oh, Carolina’s calling And god knows that I’ve tried I thought maybe with a better job I could plaster all these holes Tried to put on a new coat of paint Ended up painting over my windows And Carolina’s calling In the dark, I hear echoes Of Carolina calling… Can’t get your smell out of my clothes I want that warm feeling back I want that warm, damned feeling back It’s a sickness A siren’s whispered kiss Don’t want your smell out of my clothes! I want that warm feeling back I want that warm, damned feeling back It’s a sickness A siren’s whispered kiss Now all I hear is Carolina calling me… The worst of times, from far enough We come to call our best... The worst of times, from far enough We come to call the best... The worst of times, from far enough We've come to call the best I know you don’t want to say no I’m almost scared you might say yes Carolina’s calling And the worst have done their best Carolina’s calling… What more is there to confess?

It'll be a good year for the vineyards All the riverbeds have dried up Their smooth stones and dreamless sands (Drought) Reeking of sunbaked algae and dead gills The monarchs resort to vampirism Gathering over the carrion in the ditches So many wings, like a dying campfire Slowly opening and closing Flickering orange, white, (yellow) and black As they suckle about the eyes and mouth The widening tears in the bloating skin There used to be tiger lilies: The roadside mandrakes Always popping up where someone lost control (Drunk, speeding, angry) Wrapped around a tree Or were thrown from a window Somebody always had to take their half in the middle And then there's the deer Each year, smaller, weaker, diseased ridden Each year bolder, more desperate They stand in your back yard and stare at you Right through the window, straight at you As you hold your glass to the light Examining the rusty color of the tap water The particulates gathering at the bottom Gut twisting at the thought of how much a new well would cost to dig After all you just spent to keep your car on the road! You say a little prayer Just don't get sick Just Don't Get Sick Thumbing your doom scroll electric rosary But it will be a good year for the vineyards The struggling vine yields the sweetest grape Their lips stained red Idly drinking your sinful, sinful indulgences Your fantasies of quiet outbursts Of repressed Unfulfilled Wrath...

Heard you been seeing a parsley boy Kind you leave at the edge of your plate While I big talked about a pot of gold The trick to catch it ’s not to chase Yeah, so I got old – died three or four times They never said how long to wait I took a back road south Tripped on a cottonmouth Had me a sit And half a mind to stay You try to save the world with pamphlets He tries to live out of his hat You say these things about love with no limits But I don’t trust your math Girl – you ran away from D.C. three or four times So, why the hell ya moving back? I’ll call your kettle black Got me a crayon map If I could serve lips I’d kiss time on its face You’re buttoning up some changing Took a hammer to a wrought-iron frown Swore you weren’t going back to Oak Heart ‘Til you could see the higher ground Man, all this talk about straightening out Me, I’d rather ride the river down I took a back road south Tripped on a cottonmouth Had me a sit And half a mind to stay Now, Momma knew bootleggers Said – can’t be a cowboy without a cow Then took her books to the top of the wall And threw Easter eggs at the crowd She said – you want to know the true story of my life? Try askin’ someone it weren’t about I called your kettle black Me and my crayon map Still, if I could serve lips I’d kiss time on its smug face I took a back road south Tripped on a cottonmouth Had me a sit And half a mind to stay And half a mind to stay

So summer ends Chairs on the tables Your smile It tells me everything And oh, does it ache to tell I want to know Where do they go? The cats and the sparrows when the crumbs are no more Sun sets down on a tourist town And my world still fits in a duffle I could change my plans I could just dwell But your smile It tells me everything And oh, does it ache to tell

Polly Kazan got a new boyfriend He's got heart full of Warfarin You know, you know, you know, you know, you know me You know, you know, you know the way that I see Johnny B. Good and Rob Roberson Called it love but let the trust funds win You know, you know, you know, you know, you know me You know, you know, you know, you know, you know me Seppuku Sam got a winning horse He beat it to death as you do of course You know, you know, you know, you know, you know me You know, you know, you know the way that I see Things play out Just like they always do It's not like I want to be right Might I comfort you? How would you trust a boy gone bust? I won't lose you If you were never mine to have I won't... You know, you know, you know, you know, you know me You know, you know, you know what I will not be Lenny burned down the revival tent Then changed the names of the innocent Had a public affair with his publicist His finest work of fiction was a grocery list Polly gave his eulogy in the Everglades They shot him from a cannon full of retconned accolades And Sam wanted a punchline without any joke... I watched the alligators as they watched for a scapegoat And you know, you know, you know, you know, you know me And you know, you know, you know, you know, you know me Cordelia, must you be so gay? These tempests give to take away Yeah, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know me You know, you know, you know the way that I see Things turn out Just like they always do It's not like I want to be right Might I comfort you? How would you trust a boy gone bust? I won't lose you If you were never mine to have I won't... You know, you know, you know, you know, you know me You know, you know, you know what I won't be You know, you know, you know, you know, you know me And you know, you know, you know, you know, you know me

You say you’re the life of the party As you make me your matador All these China dolls, they aren’t smiling Those are just cracks in your lacquer Hasn’t it all become so tiring? Haven’t we grown a little old (To be still...) To be chasing after things That will dissolve hitting our pillows? High… functioning You say you’re high… functioning Functioning But I’ve seen you in low places And you ain’t no Goblin King What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger You might as well drink from lead pipes The tiniest stain outside on the sidewalk Where she waited for her getaway ride (What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, you say?) Hasn’t it all become so tiring? Man, haven’t you grown a little old? To be talking so much sulfur And still not speaking any gold High… functioning You say you’re high… functioning Functioning But I’ve seen you in low places And you ain’t no Goblin King No, no-no, no, no-no, no, no, no High… functioning You say you’re high… functioning Functioning But I’ve seen you in low places And you ain’t no Goblin King

Home is where you peel Like a tangerine For the stolen Sundays Their essential oils But there are cracks in the ceiling A condensation of condescending builds And there are cracks in the ceiling Draw truth and light from a radiator still Such a trial for a truffle A trifle of the dew Just a drop of you And this hour’s in amber Such a trial for a truffle A trifle of the dew Just a drop of you And this hour’s held in amber… And this hour’s held in amber… But home is currently unavailable Home is currently unavailable Home is where you peel Gather the falling curls Such tender tinder Kindling for the crucible But there are cracks in the ceiling And pictures pinned to the make-up mirror God, there are cracks in the ceiling You smelt the slag but lose the weight of your heart Such a trial for a truffle A trifle of the dew Just a drop of you And this hour’s in amber Such a trial for a truffle A trifle of the dew Just a drop of you And this hour’s held in amber… And this hour’s held in amber… But home is currently unavailable Home is currently unavailable Home is currently unavailable

The calico crept through the violets Through the violets, most gingerly The calico crept through the violets Through the violets and snake berries Through buttercups, and clover blossoms Around the witch grass and the parasols The calico spies the slivering garter Down through the violets, stalking (Through the violets, stalking) (Through the violets, stalking) (Stalking, stalking) Down through the violets, stalking The tuxedo crept through the violets Through the violets, trepidatiously The calico turns to meet, suddenly startled Among the violets and snake berries Among the violets and snake berries Among the violets and snake berries

Nonchalant What you want If it comes It's after the end And I'm all dumb luck here with you Sweet and wrong Still talkin' If it comes It comes After the end You are and so am I I oblige Pervert, be kind Oh, my mind had gone elsewhere We are outside Self-taught Like a bad habit Beautiful lick wounds Romantic Love and fame, please don't forget Or am I to be an inanimate Sweat bee in a dandelion? Taste the ice Pervert, be kind Oh, my mind had gone elsewhere We are outside And you are and so am I So I oblige Pervert, be kind Oh, my mind had gone elsewhere We are outside We are outside We are out... side

I wish that I could never drink Another glass of water Or breathe another breath of air All the things that you must think Seeing your trotter wane to totter Of them, I wish that I didn't care Maybe then I wouldn't need So many useless things Just to get from here to there Where then I come back 'round again Nothing gained but worse for wear I wish that I could never drink Another glass of water Or breathe another breath of air Not for having gorged on grief So as to seek some slow self-slaughter But to be stronger than a bee... Toting a bear Maybe then I wouldn't need So many useless things Just to get from here to there Where then I come back 'round again Nothing gained but worse for wear I wish I didn't need to blow Smoke rings whenever I do smoke I wish that I didn't need to sing Whenever silence joins me on the road I wish I didn't need to paint Every visage flown from ebbing dreams To sleep I'd simply close my eyes Their lids not a movie projector's screen I wish that I could punch a clock, kiss a good wife and save up to die Without all of these useless things That do nothing but make me feel alive Nothing gained but worse for wear Nothing gained, you say, but worse for wear Well, I wish I didn't care! I wish that I didn't care! Maybe then I wouldn't need So many useless things Just to get from here to there Where then I come back 'round again Nothing gained but worse for wear I wish I didn't have a thirst Like a fool that's tasted ambrosia I wish I were a bee and not a bear

With or without fortune With or without following With or without breadcrumbs With or without siblings We don’t know what’s over We just climb to climb it We don’t know what’s waiting But we’ll put it all behind us Just take… from… my mind… Home Better I don’t know Love Better I don’t know Time Better I don’t know Dyin’ Better I don’t know Better I don’t know And if this road Takes us where You fear It is going… And I see Her walk on by In that goddamn Summer dress… With or without guidance With or without extra strings With or without matches With or without a good church key She don’t suffer rain-soaked fools Hold her friends like cigarettes Snake oil’s snake oil be it served In Dixie cups or cut glass Just take… from… my mind… Dawn With the cold water Days Over gravel roads Dusk In the same old town Night Moonrakers Home Better I don’t know Love Better I don’t know Time Better I don’t know Dyin’ Better I don’t know Better I don’t know