Mary Chapin Carpenter Album

What would you say to me
What would you say to me
What would you say to me if we met one day

On the street of broken dreams
On the street of broken dreams
On the street of broken dreams not so far away

Would you offer me a smile
Would you offer me a smile
Would you stop and talk a while or would you walk away

Why would you want to see
Why would you want to see
Another tear from me, it's just a game you play

You're not the only one
You're not the only one
When all was said and done ,who had to hurt this way

Take a walk around the town
Take a walk around this town
Collar up and head down against the cold and grey

We're only strangers here.
We're just like strangers here.
Hearts full of ache and fear whispering come what may

Time only goes one way
Time only goes one way
Time only knows one way and it ain't come back
So when you remember me
So when you remember me
Some night tenderly, just remember that

What would you say to me
What would you say to me
What would you say to me, if we met one day

Was it a light only she could see
A gypsy's spell, a mystery
Something to cause our girl to roam
Was it a song only she could hear
Whispering charms in her ears
Causing her to leave our happy home
Guess the light of the moon is all we've got to go on
Guess we're never gonna know and she's telling no one

Chorus:
Luna's gone, she's gone away
All day long I call her name
Luna's gone

There wasn't a sign of wanderlust
A quarrel, a breach of faith or trust
Nothing to give us one thin clue
Her eyes like the moon in a heart-shaped face
Astonishing speed, amazing grace
Little wild child we loved so true
Guess the wind in the trees is all she left behind her
Guess it's part of the plan to know we'll never find her

Repeat Chorus

Woo-ooo, the end has come, verse and chapter
Woo-ooo, I'll miss that girl forever after
Woo-ooo, she left us now the way she came
No amount of love could tame her, free as the wind that blows...

Instrumental Chorus
Guess she could resist the lure of the open spaces
You won't find her in Miami Beach or Vegas

Repeat Chorus 3x

Nothing shatters nothing breaks
Nothing hurts and nothing aches
We got ourselves one hellva place in my heaven
Looking down at thbe world below
A bunch of whining, fighting schmo's
Up here we got none of those, in my heaven

There's pools and lakes and hills and mountains
Music, art, and lighted fountains
Who needs bucks here, no one's counting, in my heaven
No one works, we all just play
We pick the weather everyday
If you change your mind, that's ok, in my heaven
Grandma's up here, grandpa too
In a condo with to-die-for views
There's presidents and movie stars
You just come as you are
No one's lost and no one's missing
No more partings just hugs and kissing
And all these stars are just for wishing, in my heaven

There's little white lights everywhere
Your childhood do in Dad's old chair
And more memories than my heart can hold
When Eva's singing "Fields of Gold"

There's neighbors, thieves and long lost lovers
villains, poets, kings and mothers
Up here we forgive each other, in my heaven
For every soul that's down there waiting,
holding on, still hesitating
We say a prayer of levitating, in my heaven
You can look back on your life and lot
But it can't matter what you're not
By the time you're here, we're all we've got
In my heaven
In my heaven
In my heaven

I'm standing at a traffic light somewhere in west L.A.
Waiting for the sign to change then I'll be on my way
The noise, the heat, the crush of cars just robs me of my nerve
Then someone yells and blasts their horn and pins me to the curb
I'm a stranger here, no one you would know
My ship has not come in, but I keep hoping though
And I keep looking past the sun that sets above
Saying to myself goodnight America

And I am driving into Houston on a rain-slicked Texas road
Land so flat and sky so dark I say a prayer to float
Should all at once the San Jacinto surge beyond its banks
Like Noah reaching higher ground I'd offer up my thanks
'Cause I'm a stranger here, no one you would know
I'm just passing through, I am therefore I go
The moon rose in the east, but now it's right above
As I say aloud goodnight America

Midnight, it's hard to see the stars
Out on a highway near Atlanta full of strip malls & used cars
First light, just roll your window down and smell
The salty air perfume of Charleston town

Well I'm looking with a pilgrim's eyes upon some promised land
I'm dreaming with my heart outstretched as if it were my hand
And I'll hit the Cross Bronx just in time to beat the rush hour lock
But I got no clue what time it is from this world's busted clock
Yeah I'm a stranger here, no one you would know
I'm from somewhere else, isn't everybody though
I don't know where I'll be when the sun comes up
But till then sweet dreams, goodnight America

Tonight, the moon came up, it was nearly full.
Way down here on earth, I could feel its pull.
The weight of gravity or just the lure of light,
Made me want to leave my only home tonight.
Yeah I'm just wondering how we know where we belong.
Is it in a photograph, or a dashboard poet's song?
Will I have missed my chance to right some ancient wrong,
Should I find myself between here and gone?

Now I could grab my keys and peel out in my truck,
With every saint on board bringing me their luck.
I could drive too fast, like a midnight thief,
As if there was a way to outrun the grief.
Yeah I'm just wondering how we know where we belong.
In a song that's left behind in a dream I couldn't wake from.
Could I have felt the brush of a soul that's passing on,
Somewhere in between here and gone?

Up above me, wayward angels, a blur of wings and grace.
One for courage, one for safety, one for just in case.

I thought a light went out, but now the candle shines.
I thought my tears wouldn't stop, then I dried my eyes.
And after all of this, the truth that holds me here,
Is that this emptiness is something not to fear.
Yeah, I'll keep wondering how we know where we belong,
After all the journeys made, and the journeys yet to come.
When I feel like giving up instead of going on,
Somewhere in between.

Yeah, I'm just wondering how we know where we belong.
Is it in the arc of the moon, leaving shadows on the lawn?
In the path of fireflies and a single bird at dawn,
Singing in between here and gone.

Call the folks, leave a note, lock the
Doors and windows
Pack the truck, here's to luck
Here's to how the wind blows
Now lose the map and compass
Now read the signs obey the lines
Follow all your hunches
'Cause now it's just the open road
One small heart and a great big soul that's driving

Radio singing low just like a true companion
L.A.'s lights wavy bright, they follow like a lantern
Then morning comes and desert sun
Rises like redemption
Another day to make your way from answer
Back to question
Out here on the open road
One small heart and a great big soul that's driving

No set of directions, no shortcuts
Just some empty soda cans,
Some cigarette butts
The key to traveling light is to
Not need very much

Late tonight you'll see the lights of a
Thousand stars above you
And at a roadside stop you'll
Call to talk to a voice
Back home that swears to love you
But at the sound of the tone you'll
Hang up the phone
And peel out of that joint
You might try again God knows when;
At least they got the point
They lost you to the open road, one small heart
And a great big soul
That's driving, driving
Out here on the open road
One small heart and a great big soul that's driving

So your day begins like this
Wondering what might have been
Old regrets and chances missed
Borne away on some lambent wind
The job's ok, so it doesn't inspire
Thoughts of leaving it all behind
You used to have dreams of setting the world on fire
All you want now is peace of mind

Chorus:
And a beautiful racket, it whispers and roars
The bitter and sweet, between the truces and the wars
The noise and the quiet, the courage and the fear
And all of the wisdom between a smile and a tear

You do your dreaming in traffic jams
You do your running in shopping malls
You do your breathing the best you can
Between car pools and cell phone calls
Who cares, you'll never live in Paris
So what, you'll never travel by Lear
How do some of us learn what matters
While others never get to hear

Repeat chorus

Hold on, hold on

So your day will end like this
Turning slowly down your street
Silent worlds of kitchens lit
Front yards full of fallen leaves
Trees are bare, the garden's done
Another season gone to earth
Before you blink a new one comes
To remind you what the old one's worth

Repeat chorus

Such a beautiful racket...such a beautiful racket...
hold on...such a beautiful racket...hold on...

Girls like me aren't hard to find
We grow like roses on the vine
And wear our hearts on our sleeves
You probably know a girl like me.

We live alone and in our heads
We eat standing up or in our beds
Guilt and fear merge easily
In the quiet souls of girls like me

Chorus:
And loneliness is like a cold,
Common and no cure we're told
We take to bed perchance to dream
In the blue light of the TV screen.

Girls like me like summer light
A cold beer on a summer night
And boys who aren't afraid of what they see
Inside the eyes of girls like me

Chorus 2:
And hopefulness is like a drug
It makes a girl believe in love
And if somehow you love us back
You think there's something wrong with that

Girls like me aren't hard to trust
Your deepest secret's safe with us
And when it's time to set you free
You can always count on girls like me
It's good to know a girl like me
You used to love a girl like me

River full of stones when there's no rain
River full and rushing when the clouds let loose again
River every season like a prayer
We're standing in the shallows making crosses in the air

Chorus:
Want to build the strongest bridge
Want to love you the best I can
Feel no fear upon the edge
Here's my heart, baby take my hand

River like a poem to the trees
River telling stories to the rushes and the leaves
River every season like a vow
We're standing in the shallows wondering who will save us

Want to build the strongest bridge
Want to love you the best I can
Feel no fear upon the edge
Here's my heart, baby take my hand

Instrumental Chorus

River from the currents to the pools
River turning kinder turning suddenly too cruel
River every season like a dream
We're standing in the shallows wading in to wash us clean

Want to build the strongest bridge
Want to love you the best I can
Feel no fear upon the edge
Here's my heart, baby take my hand

Want to build the strongest bridge
Want to love you the best I can
Feel no fear upon the edge
Here's my heart, baby take my hand

Want to hold you close to me, never fail you, never falter
Seeing all that love can see,
reflecting on the water...

Got my work clothes on full of sweat and dirt.
All this holy dust upon my face and' shirt.
Heading uptown now, just as the shifts are changing,
To Grand Central Station.
Got my lunch box, got my hard hat in my hand.
I ain't no hero, mister, just a working man.
And all these voices keep on asking me to take them,
To Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.

I want to stand beneath the clock just one more time.
Want to wait upon the platform for the Hudson Line.
I guess you're never really all alone, or too far from the pull of home,
And the stars upon that painted dome still shine.

I paid my way out on 42nd Street.
I lit a cigarette and stared down at my feet.
And imagined all the ones that ever stood here waiting,
At Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.

Now Hercules is staring down at me.
Next to him's Minerva and Mercury.
I nod to them and start my crawl, flyers covering every wall:
Faces of the missing are all I see.

Tomorrow, I'll be back there, working on the pile.
Going in, coming out, single file.
Before my job is done, there's one more trip I'm making,
To Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Station.
Grand Central Station.

You always had the gift of speed;
You'd disappear without a trace.
It all depended on the need and the pain you could not face.
So you would leave the home you'd found,
Pack it up without delay.
Cut your losses, blow that town,
And tomorrow was another day.
All the years and all the miles,
Maybe you lost track of time.
I look back now only once and awhile;
My memory just wants to blur the lines.
'Cause you know me, I just can't change.
I greet the sun, and find it strange
To watch you run for the shelter of storms
For the shelter of storms.

Now where are you out in the world
Searching for a little grace
Searching for a precious pearl
Wisdom from some future place.
You let me go without a wave
I noticed that and nothing more
I guess I'm going to my grave
Wondering what it all was for.

All the years and all the miles
It's so hard keeping track of time
Do you think of me every once and awhile
When the rain lets up and the sun can shine
Just a little peace and quiet for a change
I still greet the sun and find it strange
To watch you run for the shelter of storms
For the shelter of storms.

Roll back the years, subtract the miles,
And see what's left for you to find
All the battles, all the trials,
You can't be free till you leave behind
Your bitter heart, but you can't change;
You curse the sun, and pray for rain,
And always run for the shelter of storms,
For the shelter of storms.

I don't really know how I got here this time
I was only just following orders
Listening to the voice in my mind
Saying steer clear of margins and borders
So I wasn't thinking of where we would go
On a could afternoon through the mountains we drove
Up a few hairpin turns and then spread out below
The valley appeared with the sun
Like Elysium

I looked out the window and stared at the fields
Where the blue sky and green were colliding
I looked back at you and I knew we were sealed
By a fate that has ways of providing
Yes sometimes you get there in spite of the route Losing track of your life and
what it's about
The road seems to know when to straighten right out
The closer you come
To Elysium

They say there's a place for those who are good
With it's pearly gates swinging wide open
The rest of us here are just knocking on wood
Quietly, piously hoping
I could wonder if all of it led me to you
I could show you the arrows and circles I drew
I didn't have a map, it's the best I could do
On the fly and on the run
To dreams that were tethered like kites to the ground
To the bridges I burned, to then turning around
It was here in your heart I was finally found
And the last battle won for Elysium