Across the vein of night there cuts a path of searing light
Burning like a beacon on the edges of our sight
At the point of total darkness and the lights divine divide
A soul can let its shadow stretch and land on either side, either side
And balanced on the precipice the moment must reveal
Naked in the face of time, our race within the wheel
As we hang beneath the heavens, and we hover over hell
Our hearts become the instruments we learn to play so well

So wealthy the spirit that knows its own flight
Stealthy the hunter who slays his own fright
Blessed the traveler who journeys the length of the light

Outside the pull of gravity, beyond the spectral veil
Within our careful reasoning, we search to no avail
For the constant in the chaos, for the fulcrum in the void
Following a destiny our steps cannot avoid

Across the vein of night there cuts a path of searing light
Burning like a beacon on the edges of our sight
At the point of total darkness and the lights divine divide
A soul can let its shadow stretch and land on either side

Wealthy the spirit that knows its own flight
Stealthy the hunter who slays his own fright
Blessed the traveler who journeys the length of the light

In a spiral never-ending are we drawn toward the source
Spinning at the mercy of an unrelenting force
So we stare into the emptiness and fall beneath the weight
Circling the Nexus in a fevered dance with fate

Wealthy the spirit that knows its own flight
Stealthy the hunter who slays his own fright
Blessed the traveler who journeys the length of the light  
 

The Innocent Age

Capture the moment, carry the day
Stay with the chase as long as you may
Follow the dreamer, the fool and the sage
Back to the days of the innocent age
Storybook endings never appear
They're just someone's way of leading us here
Waiting for wisdom to open the cage
We forged in the fires of the innocent age

(Chorus)
Back at the start it was easy to see
No one to own to, nowhere to be
Deep in the heartlands a sad memory calls to me (calls to me)

Fretful horizons, worrisome skies
Tearful misgivings burning your eyes
Yearnings unanswered, reckon the wage you pay
To recapture the innocent age

(Chorus)

Fretful horizons, worrisome skies
Tearful misgivings burning your eyes
Yearnings unanswered, reckon the wage you
Pay to recapture the innocent age
   

The Sand And The Foam

Dawn, like an angel, lights on the step
Muting the morning she heralds
Dew on the grass like the tears the night wept
Gone long before the day wears old

(Chorus)
Time stills the singing a child holds so dear
And I'm just beginning to hear
Gone are the pathways the child followed home
Gone like the sand and the foam

Pressed in the pages of some aging text
Lies an old lily a-crumbling
Marking a moment of childish respects
Long since betrayed and forgotten

(Chorus)

(Repeat First Verse and Chorus)

Gone like the sand
Gone like the sand
Gone like the sand and the foam
   

In The Passage

There's a ring around the moon tonight and a chill in the air
And a fire in the stars that hang so near, so near
There's a sound in the wind that blows through the wild mountain holds
Like the sighs of a thousand crying souls, crying souls

There's a time when the traveler is fated to find
That insight has turned his gaze behind, behind
And the steps taken yesterday will beckon again
And lead to his weary journey's end, his journey's end

(Chorus)
And in the passage from the cradle to the grave we are born, madly dancing
Rushing headlong through the crashing of the days
We run on and on without a backwards glance
We run on and on without a backwards glance

I cast my fate with the wife of Lot I turned my gaze around
Knowing neither what I sought nor what was to be found
Heeding weakness, feeding strength, oh life at length is frail
I seek again the river's source through time's dark shadowed veil

In the fast fading century, as we spin through the years
I pray that our failing vision clears, our vision clears

(Chorus)

The places dash and the faces dart like fishes in a dream
Hiding 'neath the murky banks of long forgotten streams
The lines of life are never long when seen from end to end
The future's never coming, and the past has never been
There's a ring around the moon tonight, and a chill in the air
And a fire in the stars that hang so near, so near
   

Lost In The Sun

Every night I ask myself that same old question why
And every day the answer seems more distant
I always knew the final truths lay just beneath the lies
But I never thought they'd be this hard to find
I never thought they'd be this hard to find

Every time I try to put this puzzle in to place
There always seems to be a piece that's missing
And through the eyes of someone else I look in to my face
And can't believe the sorrow there I see
I can't believe this lonely man is me...

(Chorus)
The faster we run, the futher away the dreams that we chase become
And lost in the sun, spinning and turning, blind in the burning light of day
We have to turn away

Every night I ask myself that same old question why
And every day the answer seems more distant
I always knew the final truths lay just beneath the lies
But I never thought they'd take this long to find
I never thought they'd be this hard to find

(Chorus)  
 

Run For The Roses

Born in the valley and raised in the trees
Of Western Kentucky on wobbly knees
With mama beside you to help you along
You'll soon be a-growing up strong
All the long, lazy mornings in pastures of green
The sun on your withers, the wind in your mane
Could never prepare you for what lies ahead
The run for the roses so red

(Chorus)
And it's run for the roses as fast as you can
Your fate is delivered, your moment's at hand
It's the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance
And it's high time you joined in the dance
It's high time you joined in the dance

From sire to sire, it's born in the blood
The fire of a mare and the strength of a stud
It's breeding and it's training and it's something unknown
That drives you and carries you home

(Chorus)  
 

Leader Of The Band

An only child alone and wild, a cabinet maker's son
His hands were meant for different work
And his heart was known to none
He left his home and went his lone and solitary way
And he gave to me a gift I know I never can repay
A quiet man of music denied a simpler fate
He tried to be a soldier once, but his music wouldn't wait
He earned his love through discipline-- a thundering, velvet hand
His gentle means of sculpting souls took me years to understand

(Chorus)
The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band

My brothers' lives were different for they heard another call
One went to Chicago and the other to St Paul
And I'm in Colorado when I'm not in some hotel
Living out this life I've chose and have come to know so well

I thank you for the music and your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go
I thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough
And, papa, I don't think I said 'I love you' near enough

(Chorus)
I am a living legacy to the leader of the band
   

Same Old Lang Syne

Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve
She didn't recognize the face at first
But then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried

We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totalled up and bagged
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged
We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldn't find an open bar
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how

She said she'd married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She would have liked to say she loved the man
But she didn't like to lie
I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw doubt or gratitude
She said she saw me in the record stores
And that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly but the traveling was hell
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence, another 'auld lang syne'

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out and I watched her drive away
Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned in to rain...
   

Stolen Moments

Every time we speak, our words betray intentions
Insincere inventions that never quite reach the heart
So we turn the other cheek and gather our defenses
Again rebuild the fences that just been keeping us apart

Waiting out the worst, we keep the best inside us
In hopes our hearts can hide us, in hopes our tears don't show
And you know we're not the first to try and breach the distance
And though we meet resistance the love between us grows

(Chorus)
And in the time it takes us to look beyond the lies
We could be sailing through each other's eyes
And in those stolen moments when love is caught off guard
We see it never had to be this hard

(Repeat First Verse And Chorus)
   

The Lion's Share

Grand slam, your moment's at hand, the day holds a costly bargain
Lost lamb asking the lion's share
Homespun, a prodigal son, comes begging a humble pardon
But no one rises to hear his prayer
Lone star, you've wandered so far and long in the unfamiliar
That now you travel a map unknown
Starbright, a constant delight to those in the dark
And still your birthright's to shine in the night alone

(Chorus)
Living in the shadows of the things that might have been
Torn between the blessing and the curse
You may stop the hunger but you'll never slake the thirst
For the nectar you remember but you'll never taste again

Nonesuch, your Midas' touch, has gilded your heart and left you
So much playing the prince of clowns
Hell-bent, empty and spent, just look what your gamble's got you
Exile far from the sacred grounds

(Chorus)

Grand slam, your moment's at hand, the day holds a costly bargain
Lost lamb, asking the lion's share
   

Only The Heart May Know

Silent sea, tell this to me
Where are the children that we used to be
(Silent sea): At picture shows where nobody goes and only the heart can see
Starry skies, soft lullabies
Where do they go when their melody dies
(Starry skies): To a day, far, far away, that only the heart may know

(Chorus)
Friends we knew follow us through all of the days of our lives
Love we shared waits for us there where our wishes forever reside

Falling tears, memories' mirrors Where are the summers, oh, where are the years
(Falling tears): Carried far to a wandering star that only the heart may know

(Chorus)

Starry skies, soft lullabies
Where do they go when their melody dies
To a day, far, far away, that only the heart may know
That only the heart may know
   

The Reach

It's Maine, and it's Autumn, the birches have just begun turning
It's life and it's dying
The lobstermen's boats come returning with the catch of the day in their holds
And the young boy is cold and complaining
The fog meets the beaches and out on the Reach it is raining

It's father and son, it's the way it's been done since the old days
It's hauling by hand ten miles out from the land where their chow waits
And the days are all lonely and long and the seas grow so stormy and strong but...
The Reach will sing welcome as homeward they hurry along

(Chorus)
And the morning will blow away as the waves crash and fall
And the Reach like a siren sings as she beckons and calls
As the coastline recedes from view and the seas swell and roll
I will take from the Reach all that she has to teach to the depths of my soul

The wind brings a chill, there's a frost on the sill in the morning
It creeps through the door
On the edge of the shore ice is forming
Soon the northers will bluster and blow
And the woods will be whitened with snowfall
And the Reach will lie frozen for the lost and unchosen to row

(Chorus)
   

Aireshire Lament
(Instrumental)
 

Times Like These

Tell me a secret or tell me a lie
Tell me the truth if you have to
Say what you see fit but don't ask me why
Love never seems to last you

(Chorus)
In times like these
It's hard to keep a man off his knees
In time like these
It's hard to keep a man off his knees

Over a barrel, under the spell
Money's the demon that drives you
Limping through heaven or running through hell
Happiness smiles but denies you

(Chorus)

Nothing before you, nothing behind
Thoughtlessly chasing the thunder
Traveling lightly, traveling blind
Never detouring to wonder why

(Repeat First Verse and Chorus)

Nothing before you, nothing behind
Thoughtlessly chasing the thunder
Traveling lightly, traveling blind
Never detouring to wonder why
   

Hard To Say

Lucky at love, well maybe so
There's still a lot of things you'll never know
Like why each time the sky begins to snow you cry
You're faithful to her in your careless way
And so you miss her when she's far away
But every time you think you've got it straight you fall

You face the future with a weary past
Those dreams you banked upon are fading fast
You know you love her but it may not last you fear
It's never easy and it's never clear
Who's to navigate and who's to steer
And so you flounder drifting ever near the rocks

(Chorus)
It's hard to say where love went wrong
It's hard to say just when (It's so hard to say)
It's hard to walk away from love
It may never come again

You do your best to keep your hand in play
And try to keep those lonesome blues at bay
You think you're winning but
It's hard to say sometimes

(Chorus)

Lucky at love, well maybe so
There's still a lot of things you'll never know
Like why each time the sky begins to snow you cry
You cry...oh you still have to cry
 

Empty Cages

Waiting in the wings your courage sings before you falter
It's just another way to say what's there but never shows
It's just another day to lay your sins before the altar
And where it's going to end this time around nobody knows
Every time it seems that you have gained an understanding
Those devils at your heels reach up and try to tip the scales
Waking from a dream it seems it's all been done without you
And every vain attempt to make you stay is destined to fail

(Chorus)
Fury rages through your restless days
Shades of time that's gone before
Empty cages where the prisoner plays
'Til the door swings closed behind forevermore
Evermore... Evermore...

Long before we come of age we yearn to leave the garden
And wrestle with a myth the hand of fate has faintly drawn
But somewhere on the way we feel our hearts begin to harden
And see just as we learn to turn around
The garden is gone

(Chorus)
 

Ghosts

Sometimes in the night I feel it
Near as my next breath and yet untouchable
Silently the past comes stealing like the taste of some forbidden sweet
Along the walls in shadowed rafters
Moving like a thought through haunted atmospheres
Muted cries and echoed laughter
Banished dreams that never sank in sleep

Lost in love and found in reason
Questions that the mind can find no answers for
Ghostly eyes conspire treason as they gather just outside the door
And every ghost that calls upon us brings another measure in the mystery
Death is there to keep us honest and constantly remind us we are free
 

Down the ancient corridors, through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of days that we've left behind
Down the ancient corridors, through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of dreams that we left behind
 
Sometimes in the night I feel it
Near as my next breath and yet untouchable
Silently the past comes stealing like the taste of some forbidden sweet
And every ghost that calls upon us brings another measure in the mystery
Death is there to keep us honest and constantly remind us we are free

Down the ancient corridors and through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of days that we've left behind
Down the ancient corridors and through the gates of time
Run the ghosts of dreams that we left behind