LYRICS

“Heart of Silver”

In track order:

1 ~ Heart of Silver 

Will you take this heart 

This heart of silver

It doesn't shine

It’s been tarnished by time 

No golden glow from deep within,

It only shows a blackish tinge,

And it ain’t warm unless it's 

pressed against your skin

How I wish that I could give you gold to buy back all you've lost 

All I have is this old thing, but it came at a cost 

This heart of silver, heart of tin 

It rings with all the space within 

It's a good luck, cold, hard, precious thing

This heart of silver

Will you take this hand 

It holds my memories 

It's written my story,

It has been my shield.

It's all I have that'll keep me safe

This is how much I trust you, I won't pull away, 

It's skin and bone, and it’s cold and shaking, 

but it's yours to hold if you think you can take it, 

Chorus

Just keep it safe,

And warm it slow,

and you can have my hand,

and this heart to hold

I promise you, silver, 

it never gets old, oh

It just needs a little care 

x2

How I wish that I could give you gold,

I can only offer you this little thing to hold, 

This heart of silver

It's a good luck, cold, hard, precious thing, oh

Chorus

~

2 ~ All This Noise 

My body is rocked by all this noise 

Side to side like a crying baby 

It ain't no good cause there ain't no choice 

There's rest for the mad on the stage or the grave

Scream and yell like you're gonna get left 

Laugh and tell em you'll never be found 

There’s nothing like disaster to take your breath 

Had to make yourself a miracle to slow you down 

Chorus

My mind is jittery with all of this choice

Up and down like a bouncy ball 

Can’t speak, can’t move can’t use no voice 

Don't know what it means to be here at all

Chorus

~

3 ~ The Bed You Made 

You gotta sleep in the bed you made,

And I made it tight as it could be 

With, hospital corners and

show pillows and 

a lovely cover that I keep quite clean 

Now I gotta, sleep with my feet locked down 

Arms by my sides, just to 

fit in between the sheets 

But it stops me falling out at night 

It's just as I've been taught and it's all that I see 

It's all anybody ever asked of me 

To fold with symmetry, and tidy right well 

And keep a, a clean mind and a clean table 

And sleep in the bed you made 

Just swaddle up your sickly babe 

Wrap her up tight, 

Say the will to stretch is just tiredness 

and the dark just ain’t the time to exercise

Chorus

Oh, once I had a mulish kick, 

But it left me in the dirt 

So now I stop and kick myself 

And grit my teeth,

 and move on through the hurt,

Just as I’ve been taught

Chorus

- as you've been taught, and it's all that you see 

Honey you were born and raised to please.

To fold with symmetry, and tidy right well 

And keep a, a clean mind and a clean table, 

And sleep in the bed you made.

~

4 ~ Carefree 

Leave me there 

Never have another care

Leave me here 

I'll never know another fear

I can be carefree

'Cause no-one cared for me.

Carefree

A motherless child,

It's a tragedy 

Love ain't always free 

It's on parole for some 

We're not the only ones

Love ain't free for all, 

But we learned to fall 

You can't brace too hard

Gotta let yourself go,

Gotta let yourself go

Oh 

You who were cast adrift

Your broken bones can knit 

Your shattered soul can heal,

Your frozen heart can feel,

Your dying dreams come true, 

If you pull them through

All the pain you've known

You're not alone,

No, you're not alone

Oh

So, leave us there 

We'll never have another care

Leave us here 

We'll never know another fear

We can be carefree

’Cause noone cares, y'see

Y’know how to be carefree 

It's joyous apathy,

So be carefree

‘Cause noone cares. 

Carefree 

Oh motherless child

Oh

~

5 ~ Paper Darts 

I'll not become bitter,

I know where it leads 

I've heard it on cruel tongues  

I've seen it in cruel deeds

We've felt it in cold city hearts 

That beat just to beat 

That race just to win  

That bleed just to be, seen, to bleed,

People playing paper darts,

Rip em apart

Spark it all up 

Nurture the embers 

Fill up your cup 

I'll not become angry 

We've all toed the line, 

But some people live into anguish

As if it makes time-

As if it made money, 

As if it poured their wine, 

As if it replaced all the sweat behind

 tending and picking the vine.

People playing paper darts,

Rip em apart 

Spark it all up 

Nurture the embers 

Fill up your cup 

Toast to a world

We can make good 

Here's to the life  

Between wire and wood

I will not be treated like dirt 

I'll scrub ‘till my fingers hurt 

Fold up your darts and take aim 

I'll catch ‘em and paint ‘em with pictures,

then, 

Rip em apart 

Spark it all up 

Nurture the embers 

Fill up your cup 

Toast to a world

We can make good, 

Here's to the life 

Between wire and wood

Here’s to the life

Between wire and wood

~

6 ~ Ballad of a Firefly

I am haunted by the place I once lived 

And the people there who I thought I knew 

The time that I lost, the fun I thought I had  

It's really quite sad. It doesn't make good stories.

It was fuelled by mistakes, it was fodder for the crowd 

Just relationships and rape. I only know the difference now 

Now I'm all grown up,  mostly sober, mostly free 

Now I'm too old to change, now it's all up to me

'Cause there was noone around, but there's you listening now 

I appreciate your time. Time heals somehow 

It knows we'll be fine, be it on your watch or mine 

Be it how we survived, or how we live now 

'Cause we all stretch our necks, fall like chicks from the nest 

Like abandoned pups, we can only do our best 

And my best got me here, and I am grateful, though I mourn some things 

Mostly things I never lost. Hardly let the feeling in, 

it's hard to let the feeling in.

But at times like these, when we just stay still 

How our minds they move, how our hearts won't fill 

Without feeling slightly lost, for a moment or so 

But it all makes sense when you watch things grow 

Nothing lives inside yesterday, and tomorrow won't be fair  

We are fireflies now, we are fleeting and rare -

we are fleeting.

~

7 ~ Balm in Gilead 

I think I broke your heart  

I didn't realise 

You seemed to have it all 

But you put up such a fight

I never thought to miss you 

I just waved goodbye 

Now you're gone for nothing  

I could weep my body dry 

It's too big a flood, and there ain't enough bridges

So I'll float down this river to the sea

Just like you said, there may be balm in Gilead 

but I ain't found it yet.

I could put aside the pain 

It's a little slice of time 

But not the lessons or the gain 

Good memories age like wine 

From one bountiful season 

Contentment no one can rewind 

It is my cross to bear now 

This rogue regret, this bitterness of mine,  

Chorus

Aye, there's no fool like an old fool, 

but the foolish things I did do in my youth,

they rise like the tide

And this fool keeps on swimming

But the current keeps me spinning

 And I cannot ford these waters in time,

'Cause it's too big a flood, oh

It’s too big a flood, and I burnt all my bridges 

So I’ll float down this river, desperately 

Just like you said, there may well be balm in Gilead,

but I ain't found it yet.

Just like you said there may be balm in Gilead,

But I ain’t found it, yet.

~

8 ~ Wildfire 

I’m a wildfire,

Fill you with danger 

Run or hide  x2

I'll ruin you

If you don’t prepare

I’ll only raise you

If you stay there

I’ll burn you out 

if you stand in my way

I just go with the flow

And it sets me ablaze

I’m a wildfire 

Fill you with danger 

Run or hide,

Make you do what you need to survive

I'm a force of nature 

I'm a fact of life 

I’m a crisis 

So let me burn out

Whatever it takes

You keep laying me a pathway down

‘Cause I am fueled by your mistakes 

I’ll only grow hotter 

I’ll only get higher, 

‘Cause honey I’m wild now,

I got out, I’m a wild, wildfire, yeah

Chorus  

I got ash on my hands from the bridges I’ve burnt,

Blood on my breath from the hearts that I’ve broken,

Time on my side from the lessons I’ve learnt

and a head so big that’s my mind’s wide open, oh

I’m a wildfire,

Fill you with danger 

Run or hide  x2

Chorus  x2

I’m a wildfire x3

~

9 ~ Hold Me 

Walking on a high wire,

Slipping on a stepping stone

I'm tired

I'm alone

Don't you let me fall

Wrap your arms around me, 

hold me like you did before

Don't you let me go,

Wrap your arms around me

as I'm walking out the door

Hanging on your every word

Swinging in the arguments

It's your turn (it's your turn)

It's your turn

It's your turn

Chorus

It's your turn (it's your turn) x 2

Wrap your arms around me

(Wrap your arms around me)

It's your turn (Hold me like you did before)

Chorus

Don't you let me fall

Wrap your arms around me, 

hold me like you did before

Don't you let me go,

Wrap your arms around me.

~~~

Grief’s a Gardener

In track order:

1 ~ Lonesome Valley

It’s probably safe in this lonesome valley

But the sun comes late and goes down early

And the air is cold, and the road is curly

And I’m getting old living each short day

Why don’t you care? Why do you stay there?

Why don’t you climb that rise? You never know what you’ll find

Why don’t you go? Why do you still say no,

Why don’t you climb that hill,

You might just get your fill,

You might just get,

Chorus

I’m getting cold, can’t keep living down this way

Oh, can’t keep living down this way

Gathering wood to feed the fire

Each trip gets harder, but still the fire dies

Pickings are thin, timber scarce,

Each trip gets further

Someday there’ll be nothing left,

Someday there’ll be nothing left,

In this lonesome valley (Chorus)

I’m getting cold, can’t keep living down this way

Oh, can’t keep living down this way

~

2 ~ Weight and time

Have you ever shuffled a burden round

So you could grab more with your fingers,

Have you held it with your chin

Stacked it up to pack more in

And did the weight give you blisters

'Cause you only know one way to hold it all

A wise woman I know

Called it out, she called it the

And I laughed and understood,

All at once won't do you no good,

So go slow

I am building strength to carry mine

So hand me yours for a while

Pick it up and put it down,

You work out

If you do it right

It's only weight and time

Have you wondered which is stronger,

The willingness to endure

Or the pain of actually doing it,

The pain of being unsure

When you step over the threshold,

When you tried to hold it there

When you strained to drag it with you,

You were training holding the weight of thick air,

And its hard to breathe and hard to bear, but I’m trying, and

Chorus

And I'm holding up a threshold,

Holding up a hole

I tried to block the door,

‘Cause the air was clear but oh so cold,

And you left me standing there,

gasping for air and seeing red,

Holding the roof above my bed,

Holding my, holding my head,

Chorus

~

2 ~ Loose Screw

Seems she only laughs aloud to drown the doubt

Only wears her clothing tight to keep the cold air out

I think she paints her face to hide the hurt,

I know she paints her nails to hide the dirt

A loose screw

Watch you don't lose her

To the rattling of the road

To the stresses of the overload

She's part of the engine

holding it together

And she's working her way undone

like a loose screw

So give her some attention, will you,

Lest you lose her

Light upon her toes around the eggshells

Looks as though she's dancing all alone

I think she pulls you in to test your balance

I know she pushes back to check her own,

Chorus

Oooh if you do

You don’t know what else might come loose,

if you can't find

Chorus

Part of the engine,

holding it together

And she's working her way undone

Like a loose screw

So give her some attention, will you.

~

4 ~ Graveyard

Can I come down from this graveyard yet?

I came up here to clear my weary head

All I did was drink a beer and get sun on my legs

Can I come down from this graveyard yet?

You can come down from the graves my dear

Come on down and help me drink this beer

Lay your weary head here upon my chest,

Come down from the graves and rest

Leave the burdens well behind

They’ll come and go from time to time

My/your head, your/my chest,

will rise and fall

and the graveyard,

we will need no more

I will be your rock and not a gravestone

I won’t ask no stars or throw no bones

I’ll just hold you up above the burdens that we’ve buried love,

I will be your rock and not a gravestone

Chorus.

~

5 ~ Honey

I made a call, I had no choice

I made it here to hear your voice

‘Cause honey, I missed you

Death is certain, that is true

Makes me want to live with you

Oooh, honey, I’ll miss you

So let’s hunker down like honeybees holding out for rain

And let’s make us up some tide-me-over from sugarcane

And the world will turn, the sky will change

And everything may fade

But we have plenty enough time to make honey babe

Yes we do, do, do

Do do do do

I broke my heart, it had to give

I broke it out to let it live

‘Cause honey, I need you

Grief’s a gardener, don’t you know

Breaks you down to help you grow

Ohh honey, I need you

Chorus

I know i love, I know I do

I know I love and I know who,

I do do do

Do do do do…

Chorus x 2

~

6 ~ Hard Work

I am the worker, the muscle is mine

Muscle is where my duties lie

and calves get buried with muscle and dragged by the thighs

So I roped her up, poor little thing

The runt of the season, the bones of the spring

and I dug a deep ditch, laid her down with my duty in mind

I don’t know if anyone can relate to that

It’s probably a metaphor for some sort of hurt

but all I remember is it was bloody, and hard work

and bloody hard work, but we learn

I was a digger, dug me a hole

Dug me a grave before I got too old

to level the grass, cut past the clay and scoop out the stone.

It saves someone else from doing a job

that nobody wants, so nobody’s robbed of their time

like moving your dirt stole mine

Chorus

Well, a man who chops wood, he might warm himself twice

But the carer who gave him that simple advice

Had a meal to prepare, a hearth to make bare

and got cut making place for the fire

Chorus

And hard, and bloody hard work,

And hard, and bloody hard work

Bloody hard work, oh

~

7 ~ Our Boat

We’ll be passing ships in daylight, and

moor together when the

weather’s fine, and we have

nowhere else to be, and we can

go fishing, without

going any further out to sea

It’s only slow sailing will get us home

‘cause I live on my boat

so let’s go slow, and wait to see which way the sea will pitch us

or push us close and calm our bones, so let’s go

Driven by the weather like my

heart on my sleeve, & I

bail it out,

otherwise it gets heavy,

it leaks, and it’s

quick to get the better of me

Chorus.

Nobody’s a skipper when the anchor drops

Noone’s a deckhand while you’re drifting

Nobody’s a navigator where the charts stop,

and nobody is safe when you’re quick to hit the rocks,

Chorus.

~

8 ~ Purple

My head’s a hundred colours today

and all of them are shades of grey and blue

My heart is but one

As it blushes red for you

Mix it all up and you get purple

and purple’s the colour of bruises

and I don’t know what hit me so damn hard

but it might well have been the thought of losing love

My hands are crawling all over my skin

and all the sensations they feel like sin and drink

My glass is half full, as usual,

Of something far too strong for thinking with

Mix it all up and it’ll soon floor you,

and these floors have seen far too much booze for that

and I don’t know what floored me so damn fast

but it might well have been the thought of losing love

My feet are hardened from both of our towns

Blue from the cold and red where the sun beat ‘em down

Black from the city dirt and the country grime,

and white where I’ve scraped the time and the miles off

Chorus x2

it might well have been the thought of losing love

it might well have been the thought of losing love.

~

9 ~ Get Busy

You shoulder the timber and I’ll pass the nails

and we can build most anything

You can talk to me about Rome in a day,

But talking never cut a stone, never drove a nail home

You know what they say

If you got a job to do, use the right tool

Work it out, see it through

You know what they say, if you want something done,

give it to a busy person

and the job is yours son,

so get busy.

You write the picture down and I’ll spell it out

and we can paint a thousand words

We could spend a lifetime perfecting all the lines

but, we’d never finish the work

Chorus

~

10 ~ Negative

I loved you once, I loved you when I was a kid

I did when I said I did, but I haven't said it for a while,

‘cause I'm not a liar

And it's not to say you haven't shaped me, you haven't made me better,

But nor does it say, you had no part to play

in making it worse

It’s a picture in negative, developed,

Stuck in a scrapbook,

and it looked good, and it was good,

but its boxed up, and it's lost now

and all we have left is the negative

I went and got hard, I went and I sharpened my tongue

I didn't speak for anyone

For fear that it might lose its edge, but nobody cared quite enough to ask,

How are you quiet? How are you my friend?

How do you feel when I tell you, you can't help

that everything comes to an end?

Chorus.

Good blokes make you cry over kitchen tables,

so cry while you're able to

Smile by the next breath, and don't expect to forget

Chorus.

~

11 ~ Nothing’s For Free

This is for all the single people

sitting alone, trying to find a drive in themselves, hello

You get a song for travelling wrong

and trying to right it,

Capsize and tip it back up

Roll it and beat it back out

You see, nothing’s for free in this world

You need no-one to know your worth, ohh,

Work for your value and value your work

‘cause nothing’s for free in this world

Go ‘round and come ‘round to see what it’s worth,

‘cause nothing’s for free in this world

Whoah, nothing’s for free in this world

Whoah, nothing’s for free in this world

This is for all the lonely lovers

staring and wondering, drifting or distant or sore, or tied up

Limping and lame, but staying sane

but trying to be crazy enough

to just pick up your hooves,

Kick and run out of your shoes

You know, nothing’s for show on the road

You’ll grow if you can shift your own load, oh

Chorus.

You see, nothing’s for free in this world

You need no-one to know your worth

Chorus.

~

12 ~ Young

My god, it would have helped

if I had been born an old man,

world in the palm of my hand,

pride in the lines 'round my eyes,

faith in the knowledge I'd won

by the miles that I’ve done,

     but I am still young and that man is not who I'll become

My god, it would have helped

if I had known where I could walk,

was shown you can hear while you talk,

was told time’s a winnerless game,

and that wisdom and time aren't inseparable, but they are the same,

     and that I'm still a babe, and we all play for fun anyway

So tell me

I am still young and I play for fun,

I am still young and I play for fun,

I am still young and I play for fun,

I am still young and I play,

My god, it would have helped if

someone reminded me then,

that everyone dies in the end

so I will to remind you to live,

and hope that it leaves you empowered or joyful somehow,

   'cause no-one is too old to play or to live in the now

Chorus.

~