Beth Nielsen Chapman Album

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

I was swinging on the swings when I was a little girl
Trying to get a handle on the big, wide world
When I noticed all the grass in the cracks in the concrete
I said, "Where there's a will, there's a way around anything"

CHORUS:
Life holds on
Given the slightest chance
For the week and the strong
Life holds on

There was a third grade boy that we knew in school
He was found face down in a swimming pool
And as they worked on that kid every minute was an hour
And when his eyes fluttered open we could feel that power

CHORUS

Sirens screaming down my street
Fading as they go
Whining somewhere far away
To someone I don't know
Still, I say a little prayer
There's always hope
Life holds on

Through the window in the kitchen I can see outside
My kids taking turns coming down the slide
I try not to worry as they grow a little every day
I've just got believe they're gonna find their way

CHORUS

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

Fingers press the keys for interface
The printer taps the words across the page
We have gotten men upon the moon
And babies from a spoon
In this high tech finely tuned computer age

CHORUS:
But we've got no system
No system for love
We've got no system
No system for love

There's this vast land of resources
That won't apply to rules
We've got these prehistoric tools...
These hearts inside of us
But we've got no system for love

Satellites twist pictures home to Earth
And high-rise office files store paperwork
We've got the airwaves in control
And wires strung pole-to-pole
We've got a record of each soul from date of birth

CHORUS

There are temples and steeples
And billions of people
And so much potential
We haven't even touched
'Cause we've got no system
No system for love

(Beth Nielsen Chapman and Bill Lloyd)

Seems like after all we've been through
We would have learned by now
Never to fight for gets the last word
It doesn't matter anyhow
But 'round and 'round we go in circles
Trying to work things through
And sometimes it feels like miles between us
But I keep coming back to you

CHORUS:
And it's rough
And it's tough
And it's harder than anything I've ever tried to do
But I love you so much that in spite of the struggle
I keep coming back to you

Hold me now, just think about this room
That we have shared so long
We've studied that map of cracks on the ceiling
Talking till the break of dawn
There is something strong as history
Telling me this love is true
They say "Follow your heart and you'll be happy"
So I keep coming back to you

CHORUS

(Beth Nielsen Chapman and David Austin)

What a fool
Thought I'd wrapped up the case
I went and promised my heart
But you just laughed in my face
What a fall
Never thought I'd forget you
I gave it all
But I've got no regret
I loved you
I cared

CHORUS:
So if by chance you walk my way
And feel the joy and pain of yesterday
You'll never need a reason to pretend
A simple smile is all I ask
The smile you hide behind your painted mask
Somewhere between a stranger and a friend

What a crime
When you want someone so
I put my heart on the line
But I had to let go
It's over

CHORUS

Now, my love, it's over

CHORUS

(You'll never know you've hurt me baby)
Walk my way

(Beth Nielsen Chapman and Eric Kaz)

You can say you love me
And I'll believe that's true
Trusting you is easy
'Cause I believe in you
There is nothing I would miss
As long as we're in love like this

CHORUS:
All I have is all I need
And it all comes down to you and me
How far away this world becomes
In the harbor of each others arms

I feel like I've known you forever and ever
Baby that's how close we are
Right here with you is where my life has come together
And where love has filled my heart
You know I'd go anywhere
As long as I have you to care

CHORUS

Ooh-and with the love you bring
I never want for anything
I found what I've been searching for in you

CHORUS

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

She's wheeled into the hallway
Till the sun moves down the floor
Little squares of daylight
Like a hundred times before
She's taken to the garden
For the later afternoon
Just before her dinner
They return her to her room

CHORUS:
And inside her mind
She is running
She is running in the summer wind
Inside her mind
She is running in the summer wind
Like a child again

The family comes on Sunday
And they hover for awhile
They fill her room with chatter
And they form a line of smiles
Children of her children
Bringing babies of their own
Sometimes she remembers
Then her mama calls her home

CHORUS

Playmate, come out and play with me
(It's raining, it's poring, the old man is snoring)
And bring your dollies three
(Bumped his head on the edge of the bed)
Climb up my apple tree
(Never got up in the morning)
Slide down my rain barrel
(Rain, rain, go away)
Into my cellar door
(Come again another day)
And we'll be jolly friends
(Little Johnny wants to play)
Forevermore
(Some more)

And inside her mind
She is running
She is running in the summer wind
Like a child again

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

Rita's out on the street tonight
Driving through the rain
She's got lots of new reasons not to trust any man again
And even though she'll be alright
She'll never be the same again
She'll move closer to her mama, let her daughter keep her daddy's name
Sometimes you've only got one road and it's a rocky ride
Sometimes there isn't time to think about the tears you've cried

CHORUS:
You take it as it comes
When you've got no way to hide from the hurting inside
When there's nowhere you can really run
You take it as it comes

Rita's out on the street tonight
Midnight feels so strange
She's got her baby in the car seat
Her sleeping face flashing as the signals change
They roll up to the corner for the seventh time
As they circle around the square
The movie crowd is spilling out across the street
Rita sits at that light and stares
And she wonders if there's any reason in the world to try
And she glances at her little girl and she remembers why

CHORUS

And one foot goes in front of the other
And one day rolls into the next
Sometimes you've got to let your heart be numb
And take it as it comes

CHORUS

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

Sometimes you wonder how much I care
I get so distracted running nowhere
And I take for granted our love is secure
But if I started losing you, one thing is sure

I'd be down on my knees
Ready to pray, darlin'
Down on my knees
Making you stay
I'd be begging you please
Don't take your love from me
I'd be down on my knees

I learned to be strong a long time ago
And I can face any wind no matter how hard it blows
But I'd have to be stronger than I want to be
If I had to live without you loving me

I'd be down on my knees
Ready to pray, darlin'
Down on my knees
Making you stay
I'd be begging you please
Don't take your love from me
I'd be down on my knees

No one matters more in my life
Or makes me feel like you make me feel inside
And I've come far enough to know
Love's worth never letting go of
And love is not a matter of pride

I'd be down on my knees
Ready to pray, darlin'
Down on my knees
Making you stay
I'd be begging you please
Don't take your love from me
I'd be down on my knees

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

I wasn't ready for the avalanche
When we let things slide
I'd always hoped that we would have the chance
At least to say we tried
So I went sifting though my old mistakes
On the day you left
And I decided to forgive myself
The heart can only take so much regret

You're all I'm aching for
And yet
I don't want this pain no more
And Yet
My heart won't lock that door
I wasn't ready for the avalanche

I wasn't ready for the words you chose
When you said goodbye
Or just how suddenly the roads could close
Between your life and mine
So I went looking for the reasons why
And I got so lost
And I decided I would have to try
To live without your love at any cost

You're all I'm aching for
And yet
I don't want this pain no more
I can't get
My heart to lock that door
And I wasn't ready for the avalanche

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

Nights alone
Silent telephone
The curtains on my window dark and drawn
Sleepless dream
It would almost seem
The nights would drive me crazy now you're gone, but

CHORUS:
That's the easy part
When I'm alone, and I can cry
That's the easy part
Don't have to smile, don't have to try
To hide my broken heart
That's the easy part

Daylight's edge
Dances on my window ledge
When it's time to face the world again
Hours loom
In the desert of the afternoon
Till I drive home and watch the sun descend, and

CHORUS

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

My oh my, time sure flies
I like what you've done to your hair
I've been fine, yeah, these boys are mine
That must be your little girl there

Some friendships grow distant with time
And it's no wonder, Emily, so much can change
We're too far to visit, too busy to write
But a closeness between us remains

CHORUS:
Best friends are made through smiles and tears
And sometimes that fades over miles and years
But I knew right away when I saw you again
Emily, we'll always be friends

I still sing now and then
Mostly at weddings for friends
And I just bet you still get
A yearning to paint now and then

They tore down our whole street
Now there's a bank where the house was we shared back in school
Remember we both have each other to thank
For all the boyfriends we're not married to

CHORUS

"Stay as you are and you'll go far"
You signed my yearbook
"Don't forget me when you're a big star"

We can't stay, it's getting late
And they said not to let you get tired
We'll just be up the street
The number's right here by your side

Oh no it's no trouble
I don't want to hear how all this changes my plans
I'll see you tomorrow
Call me tonight, Emmy, please let me do what I can

CHORUS

(Beth Nielsen Chapman)

I went home for Christmas
To the house that I grew up in
Going back was something after all these years
I drove down Monterey Street
And felt a little sadness
When I turned left on Laurel and the house appeared
And I snuck up to that rocking chair
Where the winter sunlight slanted on the screened-in porch
And I stared out past the shade tree
That my laughing daddy planted on the day that I was born

CHORUS
And I let time go by so slow
And I made every moment last
And I thought about years
How they take so long
And they go so fast

Across the street the Randol's oldest daughter must have come home
Her two boys built a snowman by the backyard swings
I thought of old man Randol
And his Christmas decorations
And how he used to leave them up 'til early spring
And I thought of all the summers
That I paced that porch and swore I'd die of boredom there
And I thought of what I'd give to feel another summer linger
Where a day feels like a year

CHORUS

Then the door flew open, and my mother's voice was laughing
As she called back to my daddy, "Come and look who's here!"
And I thought about years