ARMS

For all interested parties, here are all of the lyrics to the songs on Summer Skills…

EMILY SUE, CONT’D

White pine, the moon is so high

You see where you’re going with your eyes closed

Wild-eyed, growl and smoke

Return every question in the same tone

There’s a state line, out in those pines, buried in frozen ground, we’ve chosen our sides, 

Now we can’t turn it around

Chain Emily to the stake

Her family’s worried, she’s terribly late 

A haze rolling across the lake

If we go, who’s to know, dead by morning if we stay

A burnt tongue, the paper unfolds

slipping it through another keyhole

Slim hope of fireproof rope

Kerosene off of your sweet nose

It’s a steak knife into my thigh, watching you flicker in real time, call your own kind

now we can’t turn it around

Fates, give a warm soul a break 

Just give me a life where you’re nothing but mine, and that’s how it will stay

But hey, I’ve never been so afraid

With this cold in my bones, and a child engulfed in flame

FLEECED

the way that you run

and the way that you glide

over the powder blue

of the mountain side

we were suddenly alarmed

by the ravenous and charging

and we dug down deep

when the wind blew sweet and cold

hey ahh ahh ahh ooooh

hey ahhh ahh ahh ooooh

(hah hah, ooh)

the killing moon

it will burn your little eyes out

while you wait in the car

with the windows closed and your clothing soaked

and we’re thinking up a plan

to steal another vehicle

haven’t you had enough

of acting so tough and old

hey ahh ahh ahh ooooh

hey ahh ahh ahh ooooh

fill our hearts

with bad ideas

with distant lights

and frozen feet

now we can’t go home when the whistle blows 

and you’re talking in hysterical tones

you’re a golden goose

full of terrible truths

and i never would leave you alone

now they’re calling to you from across the abyss

and they moan and they hiss and they scream

and they’ve broken their chains (uh oh, uh oh)

like the hounds in a horrible dream

hey ahh ahh ahh ooooh

hey ahh ahh ahh ooooh

breaking our vows

with arms locked together

and we can’t afford the things we bought

and we’re smelling a change in the weather

filled our hearts

with bad ideas

with distant lights

and frozen feet

DOG DAYS

wait till the heat sets in

and the days grow long and thin

they set the traffic lights to swaying

in the wind

run till your legs are sore

turn all the lights on, lock the doors

they’ll wait the whole night long to shake you

to your core

see how it burns and how it bends

the way it descends

through the trees

outside your room

how the dog days trouble you

and the cool sigh

of the low tide

how it only leaves you blue

out in the pines and firs

there were spies and saboteurs

you spent a night this side of breaking

taking turns

you’ve got time to kill

you’ve got moves and summer skills

and even so, they sought to bend you

to their will

still can’t relax and place your words

just pray that this curse

too will pass

dead afternoons

how the dog days trouble you

and the cruel bite

of the sunlight

how it bends and how it burns

and the nightmares reassure

in a clean bed

in a cold sweat

you’re forgetting all you learned here

with your worst fears all confirmed here

HIGH HEELS

tell me how, tell me how you make decisions

when every doubt creeps like roaches in your kitchen

and every sound, it keens within an inch of what’s allowed

safe in something comforting and deep

till an ancient terror grips you in your sleep

hold me closer

pull me deep into your lungs

words of comfort ring in your ear

I’m always feeling off this time of year

You’re at the table crying like you’ve got something to prove

And so I left the building — what was I supposed to do?

i covet your attention and you cower in my presence, 

and I turn you on when the guests are gone

I love you to the letter of the law

hold me closer

won’t you sever every tie

and sing a lullabye

sing a lullabye

tones of comfort ring in your ears

and in my dreams you turn on me, with flashing eyes and razor teeth

I’m always feeling off this time of year, my dear

HEAT & HOT WATER

dark never came

and we spoke in the sand

till we ran out of things to say

oh no

when they served you on a plate

they were frowning and bowing their heads

like birds of prey

oh no

i was taking my time when the stars aligned

you were holding my hand like a bottle

till it tingled right down to the tips

and then it shattered our bones

are you at peace, when you’re feeding the beast?

wherever we go

in the darkness

solemn and content to die alone

but other people

in the darkness

cower in their beds and dine alone

nightly attacks

rip the meat from your back

when we’re sleeping warm and close

oh no

and you’re feeding it your ideas

even though it doesn’t like the taste

cuz they burn

and it grows

while you’re waiting outside on your sister’s roof

for the light to stream out of the garden

i’ll be lying face down in an empty pool

as the rain falls hot on the bottom

and we’re wasting our time

if you can’t be kind

and i’ll take a flashlight down to the basement

it’ll swallow me whole

blood on your face

you were born for the chase

wherever we go

in the darkness

counting sins and taking things as signs

wherever we go

in the darkness

growing fins and breaking limbs in time

wherever we go

in the darkness

nothing’s gonna ease your worried mind

SORE

on the way here

through the brightest of years

with an orange tint

to the atmosphere

there were spinning skies

and the waters did rise

and all the good advice

couldn’t keep us in line

is it weird

when it’s breathing so near?

howling all in your ears

could bring a stone to tears

and what will you do

when it crawls up on you

prowling all in your room

and  we all are born anew

hoo hoo

are my legs sore

won’t you pack it up

won’t you pack it up

hoo hoo

are my legs sore

won’t you pack it up

won’t you pack it up

there’s a low moan

in the eaves and shadows

in the death throes

of your calicos

as the snowflakes rise 

through the streetlights outside

i hold you too tight

kiss the coins from your eyes

emily

you’re the violence i need

steam and metal and speed

and thoughts to sew the seeds

you bathe in the fear

till the coal has gone clear

diamond hardened and cleaved

make a promise you can keep

hoo hoo

are my legs sore

won’t you pack it up

won’t you pack it up

hoo hoo

are my legs sore

wanna pack it up

won’t you pack it up

THREE MILE ISLAND

haven’t found the time to feed us

curled and weeping audibly — ooh, what a scene

folds its spine and lie between us

sprawled upon the lawn for all to see

do the warnings give you shivers

are your mornings grim and grey — ooh, we’re the same

we’ll sit in air-conditioned theaters

wile away the hours until we change

maybe in time

something will soothe your trouble in mind

riot in your pores

till you don’t mind

the itch in your feet

the sounds at night

the devil at your door

swinging cats in pillowcases

smacking hats off people’s heads — ooh things were said

that singed the eyebrows from their faces

planted seeds of worry in their beds

maybe in time

something will soothe your trouble in mind

fire in your bones

baby, you’re big with the news when i get home

you’re marking where it starts, and where it ends

and watching how the look of love, it burns, and bends

and how the sidewalk doesn’t end, 

it just turns into road

FACE-GRAVITY

the sound of fingers

scratching slow behind the wall

you tried to hold me closer so

i wouldn’t heed the call

they’re on our doorstep

peaking grinning through the blinds

we’ll never wear our skeletons right

we kept our closets locked and tight

any day now

with the flame of the sun in the south

we’ll take our paces, have it out

the lives of others

with their short hairs entwined

they keep our eyes a-cornered with crows

they make the sirens sing and sigh

any day now

we’ll comb our grey hairs aside

we’re nervous kids who twitch in time

we’re phantom limbs that itch at night

any day now

when the weight comes a tumbling down

we’ll skin our knees and beat the ground

sing it so soft

clutching hope like a corner of cloth

and now i know your peaks and troughs

and the stains that’ll never come off

just leave it alone

you’ll never save a sailing soul

such a long face

with a pull like a body in space

the pieces falling into place

then it came down

with a low, undeniable sound

we’ll go down easy, paint the town

we deserve everything that we found

GLASS HARMONICA

in the cold light of dawn

awoke in an empty room

when everything found was lost

like a loose tooth, like a teaspoon

someone stole all the clocks

now we can’t tell the time

i noticed you staring up 

at the night sky, at the night

but all i see is strange

as night dissolves into day

and the curtain falls

on the primal scene

and all you feel is breath

playing scales on your neck 

for a crooked song

in a minor key

wait at the winter’s edge

where we’ll meet again

and we’ll see our old lies come true

fingers on fragile tines

till we lose our minds

and you break the bonds that keep you in line

someone excites your nerves

defuses your every mines

someone’s been throwing rocks 

at the beehive, at the beehive

someone tampered with our brakes

someone glued up the locks

we were weaving in and out of lanes

coming full stop

on the blacktop

when the pressure dropped

someone broke all the beds

now we don’t need to rest

our glowing bodies never sleep

and we can’t leave this mess

and all we do is stand

with buried heads in the sand

cuz the day is long, and the light recedes

and all i ask is please

be strong and right, emily

and i’ll play along, long as you need

wait at the winter’s edge

and you’ll understand 

there’s a freezing soul who needs you

sing me a slow sad song 

till my hearing’s gone

and you break the ties that lead you

screaming i had no choice 

till i lose my voice

and the sound of thunder bleeds through the noise

CURTAINS

oh what a season we had

of wading in over our heads

we baked in our skins till the sun was a sliver

and half-dead

when will these shadows retire

from haunting the hems of our days

you were the liar and i was on fire

in my way

i couldn’t love you enough

the light’s on the porch and the key’s in the lock

and now all that matters is if we were happy or not

this was the least i could do

with room in the back and designs on you

to skip to the ending through scenes half-remembered

and half-true

a house full of dust and decay

a room full of orderlies wracking their brains

and i stay up wondering if we were in love or insane

SUMMER SKILLS

let the days lose their aim and lift

let the signal and the seasons drift

there’s a feeling, you forgot you missed

but kept as a gift

we’ve been clinging to our common sense

refrigerators full of condiments

the ‘have you ever’s, the ‘never agains’

the forming of plans

there’ll be time, too

believing in lies until they’re true

there’ll be time, too

to cover your eyes

you’re a bull in a china shop

i’m a chicken with its head cut off

spinning bottles and spoiling the pot,

changing the plot

tell a story full of fights and flights

bout the weather and the things that go bump in the night

you said it keeps you feeling safe inside

i hope that you’re right

there’ll be time, too

to keep it alive, till day is through

there’ll be time, too

for summers inside

there’ll be time, too

for missing our trains and catching colds

this will pass, too

and you’re better alone

this will always be so