John Craigie - Folk Music

Lyrics to Soft Hail

Soft Hail
Dragon’s Breath
Down the Tracks
Come to CA
Tacoma
Madison Bound
Somewhere She Can’t Find Me
Portland Basement
Grand Junction
End of the Path
Dark Cerise
Spit at the Stars
Snow in your Eyes

Soft Hail

Soft hail in the wind
I blame my foolishness on the altitude again
Life is short I say to you,
You just smile and say, life’s the longest thing you’ll ever do

Soft hail in my eyes
With salvia in my lungs and eternity on my mind
I don’t know where to begin
Life’s a dirty, dirty rag soaked in the finest gin

And I have been here once before
But every match I light just goes out before
I could torch this dream with all the hell that I’ve seen
With all the passion in my scream and in my soul, in my soul

Soft hail on the ground
Children ball it up throw it all around
It’ll freeze or it will melt
Form is temporary but impact is eternal

© John Craigie 2007

Dragon’s Breath

Dragon’s breath, powder comes pouring down
Snow after sunset, reminds us why its there
Every wise word I’ve ever heard turns into one big sound
And vanishes in the air

I hope them coyotes keep on howling
I hope this whiskey don’t run out
I hope them pretty girls keep on dancing
Till long after I’ve left town

don’t waste your time worrying about heaven
keep your eyes and your heart down here
cause heaven’s full of folks looking down at us
wondering why they wanted to be there

If I had the chance I’d strap this town on my back
You could dance on my spine, keep me warm at night
But if I can’t I’ll just leave you with everything I have

Sing these songs when you’re broken
paint these pictures when you’re in doubt
tell your momma, life tore you open / and cast you out

© John Craigie 2007

Down the Tracks

Here I sit in a garage where no song has ever been written
In a town where you’ve never been
In the morning I’ll be gone, just as fast as I came
Back to the elements that blow and carve out my dreams

But the wind still feels too restless
Like it wasn’t made for the sky
You say you’ve never seen my dreams
Well I don’t believe you tried
I don’t believe you tried

Folk singers are like wine they get better with age
But lovers it seems are the opposite these days
Two souls trying to masquerade as one it can only last so long
And sadly I’m glad the two of us won’t know such harm

But I wanna feel your fingers running down my back
Like a train slides down the track
As you fly by I will blow you a kiss
They don’t make stops for a love like this
Like this…

This garage it will see some more songs, you’ll come to town soon enough
When you do I hope my song still plays and you can still taste my dust
I seem to taste you everywhere I travel from the Rockies to the Saguaro
From the promises I keep to the promises I blow

So no more love songs saying I can’t live without you
No more saying things’ll never be the same
No more songs with selfish intentions
I just wish you peace on your way
On your way, down the tracks

© John Craigie 2007

Come to California

I told the suits down in Denver
There’s an angel living across the state line
They just smiled at me with wonder,
I wish you could have been there so they coulda seen your eyes
And I wish I could make you smile again
As I sit on stage and tell my stories to the audience
But I can’t stay and you can’t move
Your town is so goddam lucky to have you

Somewhere down on Main Street
The birds they circle and they gather around your feet
To maybe hear your song
Or watch you smile as you turn the whole town on
And when darkness hits the sky
All the warmth they need is right there in your eyes

Come to California someday
Come to California someday
Come to California someday
Blow us all away

Last night I went to sleep / Falling in love with your crooked teeth
On my fifth glass of wine
I’ve forgotten everything cept the way I brushed your hair aside
This sky it seems to laugh at me
As I drive away from all my possible destinies
But the western sun is peeking through
Your town is so goddam lucky to have you
Tacoma

I bet the sun is shining down in San Francisco
The place you tell everybody that you’re from,
But you hardly ever get to go
I gave you shelter from the rain, and in exchange,
You sang me to sleep with your songs,
But boy don’t try and kiss me
Cause in the morning you’ll be gone

And it ain’t that I can’t love you, just cause I can’t own ya
It’s just that you belong to the highway, and I belong to Tacoma

Your beard looks rough, your life seems tough
About as tough as your skin
If I reached up and I brushed back your hair
Would you surrender and melt in?
Oh my child, I bet you would,
You look like you ain’t been touched in weeks
And it’s so sad that I know how that feels,
That I know exactly what that means

But the last thing I need is to put my heart
Into the hands of a roamer
Cause you belong to the highway, and I belong to Tacoma

See the rose tattooed on my hip,
See your innocent and inkless skin
The only reason that you’re here at all
Is that I fell in love with one of your songs

So make your way, back to the couch and stay
There for the rest of the night
Even if I get weak and I call out your name
Please don’t come to my side

Remember me soft and sweet
With all the kindness that I’ve shown ya
Cause you belong to the highway, and I belong to Tacoma

© John Craigie 2007

Tacoma

And it ain’t that I can’t love you, just cause I can’t own ya
It’s just that you belong to the highway, and I belong to Tacoma

But the last thing I need is to put my heart
Into the hands of a roamer
Cause you belong to the highway, and I belong to Tacoma

See the rose tattooed on my hip,
See your innocent and inkless skin
The only reason that you’re here at all
Is that I fell in love with one of your songs

So make your way, back to the couch and stay
There for the rest of the night
Even if I get weak and I call out your name
Please don’t come to my side

Remember me soft and sweet
With all the kindness that I’ve shown ya
Cause you belong to the highway, and I belong to Tacoma

© John Craigie 2007

Madison Bound

Empty all of your pockets, howl at the moon
Take the bandages of all of your wounds
There ain’t nothing colder than the heart of the woman that you leave behind
There ain’t nothing stronger than the Wisconsin sunshine

Ain’t one soul gonna turn me around
Darling I’m Madison bound

God he plays the piano, but in heaven no words come out
If everything’s perfect there ain’t nothing to write about
The devil he plays the fiddle, it echoes all through hell
And from what I hear he don’t even play it that well

There’s frost in all of the shadows, everyone is numb
Take ‘em by the wrist, honey, show ‘em how its done
I don’t know what we’re running from, I guess we’ll wait and see
Cause the past is now the rest is history

© John Craigie 2007

Somewhere She Can’t Find Me

Under the moon in the cascade range
Running through the Marrakech rain
Tanzania asleep up in a tree
Somewhere she can’t find me

Salubrena in a flamenco bar
Half Moon Bay lying underneath the stars
Riding a white horse in the Yukon Territory
Somewhere she can’t find me

All you did was hold me down
You never even let me make a sound
Never cared what was going on inside
Never believing I had my own life

East Calcutta with a banjo in my hand
Isla Mujeres in the Mexican sand
Swimming naked in the Bellinghausen sea
Somewhere she can’t find me

© John Craigie 2007

Portland Basement

Well the sky bleeds rain on everyone
I picked you up out of the gutter and I walked you home
I can tell by your scars that you know pain
I can tell by your eyes that you need this rain

I laid you down in your basement and kissed your head
You came to as I walked away, and this is what you said,
“why do we cheer at births, and cry at funerals?
Is it because we aren’t the ones involved?”

In this haze I can see the halos around everyone
You always said you didn’t have the patience for that kind of love
But patience ain’t something you either have or do not have
Patience is something you either use or do not use my friend

© John Craigie 2007

Grand Junction

I remember you so vividly
Feeding me an apple like you were my eve
In our own garden of Eden we
Both knew by morning we’d be kicked out

That bruise on your chin from the night before
You told me you drank too much and you fell to the floor
Tonight wasn’t too much different girl
I was just there to break your fall

I leave with nothing but my songs
Letting go is just as noble as holding on

Had we not been so well behaved
We could have made that sweet mistake
Made love like it ain’t never been made
Like we were giving birth to the sun

But it ended up as it did / Just one interrupted kiss
And then you with your adorable lisp
Telling me that I was strong
I leave with nothing but my songs…

This winter too shall fade / The green always rises up again
I hope the snow angels that we made
Melt down naked into the grass

I hope you don’t forget about me / And how I sang you to sleep
For I was just a tumbleweed / That rolled through your Saturday
And left with nothing but my songs…

© John Craigie 2007

The End of the Path

I lose myself everyday
Just like all them random twisting snowflakes

Oh how it must feel to melt slowly back in
Feel the individuality dissipating
All the innocences and all the sin
Of everyone that’s been and gone, that’s been and gone

I found my own happy ending at the end of the road
The best way to go is under your own control

I wanted to tell you everything but I don’t think you can here
There ain’t nothing like facing every single one of your fears
Everything blurs out except for you and your soul
It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful, it’s beautiful

Dark Cerise

I reach out for what’s wrong,
Love is the sun, I’ve stared too long
I see it all but I don’t see a thing
Love is the book but I just can’t read

But I flip through its pages every now and then
To see if the sages have changed their opinions
About love and time

Night takes what it needs
Love is the dream but I can’t fall asleep

I’m counting the sheep that run through my head
The ones that you put there when you walked off and said
That loves takes time

Time ain’t got nothing to do with love
Beware of those that tell you so

I sail ‘cross this frozen sea
Love is the myth that I just don’t believe

I see you standing on that distant shore
Your patience is waning you say you ain’t got no more
You tell me that I just ain’t worth waiting for
Cause you ain’t got time

Time ain’t got nothing to do with love
Beware of those that tell you so

Spit at the Stars

Yes I agree, people are inherently good
But you can’t be naïve, not for a second in this world
Maybe they forget, or else they never learned
But either way

2:05 in the morning, train station in France
I missed my train they said the next one left at 6 am
I decided to wait, sat down next to a gentle looking man
And rested my legs

He spoke bonjour with nothing but kindness in his eyes
I practiced my France he practiced his English by my side
One by one the train station got empty and more silent
Till it just he and I were left

Showed my pictures told him stories of my trip
He told me he loved me proposed and everything
He kissed my hands offered to show me all of France
I told him I was flattered, but I had to get back to Madrid

The hours passed by and we became the best of friends
That’s why I knew he was just joking when his hands went to my neck
He threw my head down and it hit the cement so hard
That spit flew out my mouth, past his face, and into the stars

He climbed on top me, and his hands went somewhere new
I could barely breath, but I did what I had to do
I pulled out my switchblade waved it in front of his face
He didn’t even flinch, so I penetrated his waist

Holy ghost, holy man
Holy night, holy stand
Holy object, in my hand

He fell off of me, put his hand to his bleeding waist
He looked down at me with eyes of intense hate
I looked back at him with surprise and disgrace
And stumbled away

So yes John I agree, people are inherently good
But you can’t be naïve, not for a second in this world
Maybe they forget, or else they never learned
But either way

Snow In Your Eyes

I still dream of you falling down the mountain
Feeling your body break under you
I still make love to your laughter
As it echoes through my mind leaving snow in my eyes

I still miss the way you talk to me
I still shiver when I hear your name
I still believe we shared the same womb
And you called me out to the light with snow in your eyes

When I wish I wish for you to fly
Down that mountain with the flurries in your eyes
I hope that you live so bright
That when it comes your time even the grim reaper cries

I hope you’re still smoking these days
I hope you’re still in love with that which you crave
I hope that I can see you again someday
Under Colorado skies, with snow in our eyes