Charlie

Charlie come up to the house

There’s no use in you hiding out

I can see what you’ve been doing

And that towel that you threw in

Needs to air out

Charlie there’s no use in crying,

Man up, there are little children dying

From hunger,

Yes I saw you hand your dinner little by little

To the dog

But Charlie never listens,

He’s not like our other children

And if I had to tell you the truth,

I don’t love him at all

Charlie found love in a gun

Mama was happy he was busy,

Daddy thought nothing of his son.

So Charlie shook the hand of the recruiter

At the entrance of the school and then he was gone.

Nine years later he’s telling me this story

And I’m trying hard to focus but we’re tangled in his sheets

And though last night was more than alright, something ‘bout him feels wrong

There’s no photos on his bedside table, just a handgun

And I’m trying not to notice but my hands are going numb

And

But Charlie never listened,

He wasn’t like those other children

And if I had to tell you the truth,

I don’t love him at all.

Addison

I’m clocking in at 7 again it won’t

Be till past dark

when I get out

I’m living way up in the clouds but I

Will never be as high

As my own damn rent

Dear Addison

You take me in

In a week or so

When I’m out of it

And wanting back again

The sun cut through my sleeve to skin as I

Shifted through the gears

Made smooth by the years

In Dutchess County pulled over for gas

And cheap caffeine

Oh what a couple hundred miles drains from me

Dear Addison

You take me in

In a week or so

When I’m out of it

And wanting back again

And just like that I’m back and turning on my fridge

Ain’t no way to live but it’s the only way I know how

The matter of the fact is that these legs still itch

Despite the tiredness creeping back in their bones

Alone again, alone again, can I count these county lines as my old friends?

Alone again, alone again, save for these near-sacred, strung-out lands

Dear Addison

You take me in

In a week or so

When I’m out of it

And wanting back again

Sugarcane

You taste like sugar-cane

On my lips

And I know I can’t explain

Why I love you quite like this

A happy coincidence

That I saw you there that day

But it was by no accident

That you came to know my taste

And I know it’s time to go

But I don’t want to

And I know I’ve lost control

But, hey, it feels nice to

And this feels so right, too

It will not be easy

Learning to forget you

Cause I will have to change the reasons for these feelings

And demonize you.

And so I’ll spread my love around

In hopes there’s less for you

But oh the seeds take to the ground

And as if you were their sun,

They grow towards you.

Fill up on blood

And break through.

And I know it’s time to go

But I don’t want to

And I know I’ve lost control

But, hey, it feels nice to

And this feels so right, too

I Don’t Mind

You lying there like you’d been smoking

Completely bare, the blinds wide open

Cold air coming through the cracks

I apologized, I tried to seal them

You traced my eyes, you always meet them

Said I don’t mind, long as the roof’s intact

Said I don’t mind, long as you’re coming back.

Baby, I don’t mind

Coming back to you

I could do it a thousand times

And each one is like new

And I’ll always come back to you

I don’t know what we’re even doing

But you know what, as long as you’re in my space

My time, then I’m so fine.

You treat me right, that much is certain

Like tea or wine, you quench my thirst and

Bring a little life back into my eyes

Baby, I don’t mind

Coming back to you

I could do it a thousand times

And each one is like new

And I’ll always come back to you

Not Ready to Return

One by one, all my bones break

Ashes start rising up like hell’s snowflakes

Somehow I’m not reborn

Just standing in the wreckage of this unnatural storm

Oh wind, blow me away

Give me sails, give me an ocean

And a safe harbor at the end of the day

Oh fire, burn deep in my lungs,

I have come from this here earth,

But I’m not ready to return

One by one, my hands shake

Like the demons in my body are itching to escape

I beckon them out, pray to throw them to the ground

But they tire easy and settle down

Oh up comes my fear and out comes this song

Oh wind, blow me away

Give me sails, give me an ocean

And a safe harbor at the end of the day

Oh fire, burn deep in my lungs,

I have come from this here earth,

But I’m not ready to return

Go to the mountain

Go to the stream

The air burns my lungs

And it brings me back to me

Go to the valley

Go to the sea

The water cools my skin

And it brings me back to me

All lyrics © 2018 Reid Parsons, BMI