Dave Howard Lyrics

Lyrics

Life Begins At Zero
There’s an uncomfortable silence, and I don’t know what to say. Don’t know if I’m slippin’ or if you’re pushing me away. I don’t want to lose you, but I don’t know where I stand. Feel like I’m falling fast and there’s no place to land. Life begins at zero. When you’re down to nothing you’ve got nothing to lose. Life begins at zero, zero . There’s a fork in the road, and you have to choose. You’re distracted by something. I’ve been watching your eyes. And you flash me a smile, but it’s just a disguise. Well my head keeps talking and it isn’t my friend. It says for every new beginning something has to end. I know my days are numbered. and you’re dragging it on. What you must do, do quickly. I’ll get along.

Into The Wind
Standing at the river’s edge looking down. White noise, white water crashing. Run me over these falls, I’ll ride the cyclone.. Let the whirlpool take me.. . It’s like trying to jump onto a moving train. Not knowing if you’ll find your way back again. Trying to hold onto the weathervane. Like facing right into the wind. Clean me, clean my insides. Outside in, I’m opening myself. Clean me, clean my insides. Old secrets inside my cell. Come out swinging at the sound of the bell. Fight to the finish has only begun. Referee kneeling over me, counting to ten. Bookmaker screaming, “Stay down, stay down.”

Almost Angeline
You remind me of someone that I used to know, who reminds me of places that I used to go. Which reminds me there’s something that I wanna say. Oh never mind, it doesn’t matter anyway. Underneath that girlish smile. Underneath that Paris style. Even though it’s been awhile. You know she’s almost Angeline. On the other hand she wasn’t like the other girls. On the other hand she didn’t wear her hair in curls. On the other hand she didn’t have a wedding ring. But on the other hand I guess that don’t mean anything Then she said, “You don’t remember me, beause, I’m not the girl I used to be.” But when I look at her that’s who I see. She’s almost Angeline. You remind me of someone that I used to know. Who reminds me of places that we used to go. Which reminds me there’s someplace that I’ve got to be. I remember now just how she slipped away from me

The Yellow Line
Sunrise blinds you driving east. Sunset blinds you driving west. Headlights cut right through the night. Two hundred miles before I rest. It would be easy just to close my eyes. I’ve been down this road so many times. But I will keep both my hands on the wheel. And try to stay on my side of the yellow line. Try to stay on my side of the yellow line I spent my summers drivin’ north. I spent my winters drivin’ south. That day I left you on the porch the words just wouldn’t leave my mouth. It would be easy just to close my eyes and try to leave that crazy scene behind. But I will keep both my hands on the wheel and try to stay on my side of the yellow line. Try to stay on my side of the yellow line. Just like the morning sun is rising. I’m slipping further from your grasp. My future lies on the horizon. Rear-view mirror tells my past.

Fifty Foot Woman
I need a fifty foot woman. I’ve had nothing but trouble. since I saw the light. and I need some attention. to set myself right. Some big loving arms. to wrap myself in. To make it in this world. you’ve got to have a friend And I need a fifty foot woman. I know a guy. just got into town. He’s got a lady that takes him all around. Give him everything he need. and you know she keeps him warm. and you know she’s big enough. he won’t come to any harm Now I need a fifty foot woman. Someone who knows instinctively what to do. Someone that I can grow to tell my troubles to. When things are up in the air I would like to see. an unconditional love towering over me I need a fifty foot woman. to help me stand tall. ‘cause frankly, sometimes. I have no patience at all. I need a fifty foot woman. to answer my door. and if you wanna talk to me. she’s gonna ask you what for. And I need a fifty foot woman.

Pieces Of Me
I keep my eyes on the lights that stretch on down this road, like all the contradictions in the things I’ve been told. And I feel like my head is about to explode, leaving pieces of me. I so want to call you but I don’t pick up the phone. I’ve taken my comfort in being alone. And I count all the blessings that I have been shown like they’re pieces of me. I sit in the dark. and I shiver in the cold. It’s just in the last year that I’ve begun to feel old. And I’m looking for a heart that’s big enough to hold all these pieces of me. I’m ready to begin. but it’s all about to end. I’m ready to listen to what you recommend. And I want to be your lover, but I really need a friend to hold these pieces of me. Well this one wants my love and this one wants my dough. And this one here wants something but I sure as hell don’t know. So they’ll tear me apart and then they’ll try to sew up all these pieces of me, pieces of me, pieces of me.

Answer The Door
You say it’s hard to know when love is real. I say I know exactly how you feel. What works for me is simple as a song. It’ll all make sense to you before too long. If your feet don’t hardly touch the ground. If you feel your heart start to pound. If you hear a strange knocking sound. Answer the door - it’s love. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. Or if you know just what you’re looking for. I believe that old cliché is true. When you stop searching, love will come to you. Love, when it finds you, you will know. You will feel it start to grow. Until the signs begin to show. Oh...

Annie
Annie I’ve been thinking about you growing older with me. And if I should lose everything, I’ll still have these sweet memories. If the love that you’ve given me had to last from this day on, I know it would last forever, and I believe that I could live that long. There’s a note that I want you to hit, there’s a song I want to sing. And if I was the marrying kind you would wear my wedding ring. Annie I’m a fool to love you, but I’d be a fool to say goodbye and if I told you I could live without you, that would be the truth and also a lie. Like a desert wind blowing out to sea, when my brain’s on fire you cool me. Like a lullaby when I close my eyes, honey you know how to soothe me. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Any time you want to leave me give me a chance make things right. I hate the sound of the word goodbye, I’d prefer to say goodnight.. If I give you any reason to believe I’ve been untrue, understand, the only one I’ve ever cheated was myself, up until I found you.

Make My Dreams Come True Tonight
I would like to get to know you. Tell me how to make you mine. There’s so much I would like to show you, just give me some time. Now my past is right behind me. I’m afraid to let you in. If you search then you will find me, my virtues and my sins. If my dreams came true tonight, all the fantasies and the nightmares. If my darkness comes to light I hope that you will not be scared. Be my darling, be my honey, be my sweet thing, take my money. Take my will and take my life, but make my dreams come true tonight. I’m a man without a country. I’m a sailing ship without a shore. I’m a gambler who just got lucky and I want more. Now there’s a love that I could give you that is endless as all time. But there’s a price for that kind of loving. You will be mine. My sleep is my sentence in the prison of my mind. And I offer my repentance as I’ve done a thousand times. And I pray when the morning sun has risen in the sky. You’ll be here by my side. When the wind blows through this valley it kicks up memories like so much dust. More than anything that I want from you I need your trust. Now your beauty is like a river flowing into an endless sea. And your love is like a blanket I pull over me.

Someday Love
Although she was never much concerned with appearance, almost every attempt at romance suffered no interference. She was hungry for someone who’d pay attention to all the things that she would never mention. But now it doesn’t matter anymore. She was waiting for a someday love, hoping it would come real soon. Looking for the equivalent of forever and the moon. She was dreaming of a someday love, a fantasy come true. If you believe in a someday love, someday love will come to you. He almost never tried to play the so-called field. Where desperation eats away at false ideals. He was unfortunately resigned to hold out for the love that’s hard to find; The kind of love worth waiting for. He was waiting for a someday love, hoping it would come real soon. Looking for the equivalent of forever and the moon. He was dreaming of a someday love, a fantasy come true. If you believe in a someday love, someday love will come to you. And then one day by the side of the road, a woman and her car were in need of a tow. When a conversation on the way to a service station, was the start of the mending of two hearts. They were waiting for a someday love, hoping it would come real soon. Looking for the equivalent of forever and the moon. They were dreaming of a someday love, a fantasy come true. If you believe in a someday love, someday love….

Something To Fall Back On
You’ve been good to me, better than I deserve. And the road is long, but you hung on around every curve. Like an easy chair, like a trampoline. Like a feather bed, you know what I mean. When my strength (faith, patience) is gone. You give me something to fall back on. After all these years, it still seems like yesterday. I was on my knees giving thanks that you came my way. You taught me well, although the lessons hurt sometimes. When I threw up my hands, you made me try just one more time. You show me what I’m made of. Everything is so brand new. There’s nothing to be afraid of with you….oh. Well I look around, sometimes I think it’s too late for me.. And you take my hand and promise that you’ll wait for me.

The Nothing Song

Got no car. Got no house. Got a lot of things I do without. Got no stocks. Got no bonds. Got no trust fund that I'm livin' on. I got nothin'. I got nothin'. I got nothin' to give you but my heart. Got no knife. Got no gun. Got no dreams of livin' on the run. Got no death wish. I wanna live. All my tests came back negative. Got no deadlines. Got no plans. Got no hostages and no demands. Got no mistress and I got no wife. But I've got it all since you came into my life...

Another Dead Weekend

I’m sittin’ at the table with a pen in my hand and a blank piece of paper. I’ll just end up crossing it out and tossing it later. Days go by of just waiting for signs in that lack of direction. Everything changes upon closer inspection. Empty mailbox again. Waiting for a call from a friend. Another dead weekend. All my friends have got the "blahs" I guess it must be the season. People are cruel to each other without any reason. Then come the days of nothing to say except for the lyin’. And you wake to the sound of somebody cryin.’ For all the commitments I’ve made, I look at my life and it hasn’t changed. I never took back a word that I’ve said There’s so many things I would never, never do again.

The cable went down, and your phone keeps ringing. And the neighbors scream over the siren's singing. I'm trapped up here. They busted my connection. And it's one more year spent without a direction. Tears in your eyes, uncontrollable laughter. The city shuts down in another disaster. When the shots ring out and the walls come tumbling down, it's good to have you around. They shake their tambourines, in the storefront iglesia. Where the sinners come clean and the grace will amaze ya. Ya no puedo cantar. I can't sing you the praises. Of this make-believe town and the hell that it raises.

Serendipity

I sometimes wish for yesterday before my feet were both back on the ground. Everything was quiet then and no one tried to change my life around. I’m looking for simplicity you see. It’s all serendipity to me. Ahh, ahh. The more you look the more you walk away from things you cannot see. The more you try the more you wonder why it isn’t meant to be. And people come and go so fast, it’s so hard to tell just where I’ve been. Accidental fortune comes and picks you up and takes you for a spin. Answered prayers, musical chairs, try to list the answers that you find. Write it down and then decide how much of it is really in your mind. The things you want will come to you if you will only set them free.
The more you try to relax and close your eyes, the more you see.

Thrift Shop Shoes

All she remembers from the age of five are the things they taught her 'bout how to survive. "Just do as you're told and don't ever ask why." "You're due for a beating and you better not cry." They hurt you… But those thrift shop shoes won't hurt your feet. When you walk to the corner of Chestnut Street where the cars have faces that pass and stare, but they just don't know and they just don't care. From the age of twelve her life was a mess. Daddy came to her room and he made her undress. And no one was there to answer her cry. And she washed off the blood, but the tears didn't dry. They hurt you… She looks much older than twenty-four, but she's no longer welcome at the liquor store. They show no mercy on a working girl. And a cold-hearted city is her world. Home is a bed in a cheap motel. She's grown accustomed to her living hell. Hunting the streets where her body's the bait. Fishing for love in these rivers of hate. They hurt you…

Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven
(Nobody Wants To Die)

You say you’re waiting for his love. Will he do what it takes, to make you really happy and learn from your mistakes. We talk about perfection we’re not willing to try. Everybody wants to go to heaven. Nobody wants to die. You can search your mountains. Search your deepest sea. And never find another soul just exactly like me. You can pass me over, oh you can pass the wine. Everybody wants to go to heaven. Nobody wants to die. Say you can’t put your finger on the thing that makes you run. When you cried on my shoulder, was that your idea of fun? Nobody likes to be a fool, nobody like to be denied. Everybody wants to go to heaven. Nobody wants to die.

Let Me Down Easy

I want you to hold me. Nobody told me I would need you so badly. You know I would gladly stay in your arms. Ignore the alarms going off in my head. Take the phone off the hook and let’s stay in bed. Don’t let me down or let me down easy. Let me down sweetly. Let me down slow. Don’t let me go. Wait ‘til tomorrow. Don’t leave me in sorrow, alone with my pain. Our love is crumbling, your apathy rumbling like a train in the distance. My token resistance does nothing at all. You put up a wall, and it’s keeping me out. Well you’ve got your space if that’s what it’s about.

Helluva Highway

It’s a Helluva Highway, where I’ve been. Ain’t no rules of the road. Just keep on movin’. It’s a Helluva Highway, the road I’m on. And in a blink of the twinkle in your eye I’ll be gone. My momma named me Atchison Topeka, but my friends call me Santa Fe And I been runnin’ like a cat on fire ever since I saw the light of day. Never stop anyplace long enough to let my motor cool down. When the sun comes up I’ll be packing my bags and movin’ to another town.
Broke more hearts than Elvis. Burned more bridges than the Viet Cong. But I ain’t tryin’ to hurt nobody. I’m just tryin’ to move along. Got gypsy blood runnin’ through my veins. I’ve tried but I can’t keep still. I’ve lived my life like a runaway train, and I guess I always will.

Words and Music by Dave Howard & Calman Hart ©1999 Hidden Agenda Music(ascap)/Dead Horse Music (bmi)

Spend The Night

Open the door. You don't have to be cruel. I'm gonna pick the lock if you don't answer my call, I've waited far too long, played the game too hard to lose. I apologize for things I should've said. I knew if I kept my big mouth open, the truth would wind up dead.. Now I'm imprisoned in silence and dissent. Careful to look out for yourself. Put him down, you might hurt yourself. You can't run away from yourself. Come home. It's alright. You don't have to say goodbye. Come home. It's alright. You don't have to Spend The Night.. I saw a falling star along the Milky Way. Summer nights are the best, but I can't stand the heat of the day, I get a headache, and my stomach starts to turn. But I'd like to go to a mountain top, by the light of the August moon, ' til I'm too wound up to stop. I'm on a mission, and I'm ready to feel the burn.

Rain And The Thunder

While you were out, had a bad dream. When I woke up, it really happened to me. I had some trouble putting it down on a page. All the words getting thrown around as the storms inside me rage.. I braved the Rain and the Thunder. Stopped on the bridge long enough to watch the water going under. And once I reached the other side, I never thought of going back again. I was given a scarlet letter, made the victim of fear and superstition. I was sent outside, and as I left I could hear the din of machines being destroyed by wind and sea.. How much time has passed us by, while we were trying to write those epic stanzas? When all the metaphors bled for me there on the page, what was there left to imagine?

We All Need Love

You want my love. I want to give it to you. You say my name like it means something to you. I risk it all for you. I get a mixed reaction. You can have it all or steal some fraction. We all need love. What are you afraid of? You want love. What do you think I’m made of? It takes time to tell someone how you feel. When our eyes meet, then you know that it’s real. Deep inside you know the magnet is strong. Let it take you and to me you will be drawn.

When I Let Go

Let down your guard. Let down your hair. I could fall for you so hard. I know you don’t care. Sweeter than honey, and colder than steel. I’m so used to running. I’m learning to feel. Who do you care for? What do you know? And who are you there for when I let go?
When I let go… I can’t pay the cost of you. There’s too much at stake. Who could make love to you? You look like you’d break. Runes full of secrets, those lines on your face.
And the best way to keep it…you just stare into space. Real. Real love takes time. Steal. Steal it, rob me blind. Feel. Feel it in my bones. Deal. Deal with it alone.

How do you know you’re in love? How do you know it’s enough? Can you be sure? Is there really a cure or an answer? Now I guess you gotta really take the sweet with the sour
And you’re gonna have to let it unfold like a flower in the springtime, in the sunshine.
Now that I’m letting you know Now that I can’t let you go... Time and again I will tell you my friend how I love you. I only wanna hold you here in my arms for a lifetime. And I never wanna hear you complain that there’s no time, ‘cause you’re all mine, and that’s fine. Even if you’re in the back of my mind I remember Every now and then the fire cools down to an ember, but the wind blows, and the flame grows. And that’s how I know I’m in love That’s how I know it’s enough. Yes I’m sure that you fill me with joy and with laughter. That’s how I know. That’s how I know.

Buzzers And Sirens

From the very beginning you've been on my mind suffering silence I lay bleeding from
helpless semantics came out wrong buzzers and sirens going off. Buzzers and sirens Overreacting was all my fault hoping for lost things to still be there. Parts of me show wear and tear from rubbing off on friends like you. Like you. Flower scent and blue sky all but disappear. White shade fills black space like an apparition so clear. Loss of color, sound begins to pale. Carousel of light returns and flashes. Buzzers and sirens wail. Buzzers and sirens.

Unbelievable Unknown

Let me take you to the unbelievable unknown. Let me show you mysteries beyond the twilight zone. Leave your mortal worries to the fate of what will be. Let your mind start to unwind, embrace your fantasies. Fall into the solitude if you gain admittance. The warm caress of nothingness really makes a difference. Now that you have found the unbelievable unknown, you must trace your footsteps to ideas you have disowned. Find the strength inside yourself to face the thing you fear. It is not coincidence or luck that brings you here. Calculate and strategize. Prove your own existence. Soon, in time you’ll realize, you came here by resistance. Let me introduce the unbelievable unknown. Often found right where the restless winds have left him blown. Even as the lotus blooms so sweetly from the mire
We disguise enlightenment and dress it as desire. All the lost and lonely years were like a strange adventure. When the haze disappears it leads us to our future.

All songs written by Dave Howard ©2003 Hidden Agenda Music (ASCAP) except “Almost Angeline” words and music by A.J. Croce and Dave Howard ©2003 Croce Publishing (ASCAP)/Hidden Agenda Music (ASCAP) “The Yellow Line” words and music by Dave Howard and Dani Carroll ©2003 Hidden Agenda Music (ASCAP)/Famous Music Corp. (ASCAP) “Something To Fall Back On” words and music by Dave Howard and Calman Hart ©2003 Hidden Agenda Music (ASCAP)/Dead Horse Music (BMI) All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication, broadcast or transfer by any means is a violation of applicable laws.