Draw Near
Listen to the silence
Like you listen to the music
Turn your speakers on
And sing along
Admit you always knew
That you could find another melody
A song that won’t be broken
Give your power to the masses
Give your voice to silenced kingdoms
Swing wide those doors of iron cast
Real life was never real, but if
You knew my friend that round the bend
Our friends would come to hear ya
Would you use your voice to make a noise
To let them feel your fever
Climb the highest tree and find the light
Dream on you fearless dreamer
Dream
Take up your art
Collect your vision
Stand worlds apart from those you love
Then take a step toward misdirection
A moment spent, a moment lost
Now do you trust your intuition
The light ahead
The road less walked
Those simple steps, fateful decisions
Together, we continue on
Chasing shadows of the hope and glory
Clouded by a sea of oceans past
Fighting through a storm with raging crowd behind
Chasing shadows of the hope and glory
Clouded by a sea of oceans past
Fighting still
Could we just be the ones that find
A way to run while chasing fire
Instead of facing it alone?
When everything was right and each turn was expected
A safer place to call my home
You lead them on to fame and glory
Shelving pride and simple words
You rose a champion of men at arms
A call you never heard
You dreamed a dream those years ago
That you would stand on stage and weep
For glory lost of moments near
And cost of champions’ defeat
So when you find yourself alone
With broken art and rattled bone
You cry and fall apart
To reconstruct a new emboldened heart
So dream a dream and follow till
You reach the end of roads fulfilled
Then dream again and rise from fallen skies
When vision dies, rebuild
And rise
Into the night
Alight, into your dreams
A mourning turned to flight
Power to the People
Do you hear the voice of the people
Rising up, crying out, fighting for representation?
Not the voice of a statesman,
Just somebody to take the stage and
Speak a language we all know.
Well, we’re just part of the multitude, here to
Use our voice, make a choice, raise a noise that’s not for the critics.
We can be catalytic.
Come together, and you’ll admit it’s
Something more than political.
So, let the people speak, let them make it clear.
Let them cast their votes for the voice they want to hear.
Power, power, power to the people.
If you like what you hear, my friends, then we will
Represent the masses doing what we love.
Louder, louder, let them know
The people’s voice will never go
Away, we won’t back down when push comes to shove.
So keep the fame and recognition
It was never in our mission
To be the ones that stand and toe the people’s line.
But if someone’s gotta do it,
Might as well be someone who can do it
Right, worst case scenario, we have a good time.
Nobody else can have your voice
Without you saying so, letting go. Don’t you know
Consent of the governed’s free
To challenge incumbency.
Your voice just might set you free
If you believe that it’s powerful.
Let the people speak, let the people hear,
Because in this campaign, every year’s election year.
Power, power, power to the people.
If you like what you hear, my friends, then we will
Represent the masses doing what we love.
Louder, louder, let them know
The people’s voice will never go
Away, we won’t back down when push comes to shove.
So keep the fame and recognition
It was never in our mission
To be the ones that stand and toe the people’s line.
But if someone’s gotta do it,
Might as well be someone who can do it
Right, worst case scenario, we have a good time.
Take it or leave it,
You better believe that
We got plenty more left
Where this came from.
Forget the convention
‘Cause we’ll represent you
With hands pressed hard to the keys
And a foot to the bass drum
Power, power, power to the people.
If you like what you hear, my friends, then we will
Represent the masses doing what we love.
Louder, louder, let them know
The people’s voice will never go
Away, we won’t back down when push comes to shove.
So keep the fame and recognition
It was never our ambition
To be the ones that stand and toe the people’s line.
But if someone’s gotta do it,
Might as well be someone who can do it
Right, worst case scenario, we have a good time.
Take it or leave it,
You better believe that
We got plenty more left
Where this came from.
Revolutionaries
In the quiet of the night
Lonely hours when the day is spent
Head of now an empty table
I find myself alone again
Rising faster than I ever dreamed
Fate and fortune as my only guide
Chasing all that I was able
Leaving my past all but behind
And now as daylight struck my eyes
Crowds of people march to hear my cries
Calling for prize and glory
Victor home from battles won
Ascended throne – cried out to city streets
“My people do you love me”
Now I mourn the squandered years
As dusk obscures what once was lucid
But humbled now I cry to you
Ambition, nothing but delusive
A crown upset, the throne, a waste
I could have given all you wanted
Someday, I swore I would return
But now I wither lost and haunted
Night turned black the rosy skies
Crowds of people stormed the city streets
To see the caesar weakened kneel
He rose a man too bent to straighten right
Pride and anger filled his clouded mind
Crying “ex fidem meam, nil”
And now
My tortured soul can see
I come to face my reckoning
Feel the silence deafening - is there hope for my
Humanity - when all else seems as good as lost
My fortress razed - no stone untossed
I played the game and paid the cost
Now I come to face reality - a fallen man they once revered
Forgotten now I watch from here
As songs from angry men ring clear
And fires burn into the night
Come now, enter and draw near
Hear my voice, my cry for fealty
Don’t mistake the road ahead
Or pride will fill your youthful head
As glory, fame and fortune read
Leave me now, forever dread
Don’t trade ambition for your pride
Don’t run into the darkened night - Please don’t lose yourself tonight
Far Away
I never dreamed That it would come to this
That we could be so close, and still a world apart
How could I foresee given the circumstance
That you would steal your way into my fickle heart?
And I’ve tried so many times to get you out of my mind
But even when I close my eyes, it’s always you I find.
I know there’s not a road for you that leads to me,
Even still, I dream, and wonder how it is that we could be
So close, yet so far away
There’s nothing I could say
To show you how I feel
I know if there was another way
Somehow, I would make
This dream I dream come real
But here we are, two lives apart
So can’t you please just take my heart
And break it into two?
Cause I don’t want it
As long as it wants you.
I can see it wasn’t meant to be
And that you could never love me in return.
Someday, the years will find
A better man by your side
A man who can love you in the way that you deserve.
So I pray that God would help him find his way to you
And maybe then might come change within my heart.
That knowing you were happy, I’d be happy, too.
But for now a prayer is all I have to start.
So close yet so far away
There’s nothing I can say
To show you how I feel
I know if there was another way
Somehow I could make
This dream of mine come real
I would give up on the life I’ve dreamed
To chase the one beyond my reach,
And all you’d have to do is take my hand.
But there are hearts to break
Too great a chance to take,
So all I ask is that you try to understand
That when we are so close
And still so far away,
When my hands are tied, and I don’t see another way,
At night you haunt my dreams,
But still the truth it seems
Is that the pain begins when I find myself awake.
Awake and still so close
Yet so far away.
Nothing you can say will change the way I feel.
I hope. Hope for another way.
Is there a way that we could make this dream come real?
My heart has found where it belongs,
It’s found the one for whom it longs,
So, break it in two.
Cause I don’t want it.
I’ll never need it,
Cause I don’t want it.
I’ll never need it,
As long as it needs you.
It Gets Better
Tell me, kid, do you want the truth,
Or do you want someone to say
The only thing you have to do
Is pull yourself up by the bootstraps
And get on with getting on.
Try to find a silver lining.
Try to sing a different song.
No, tell me, kid, should I just weep with you?
Should I hold your hand
In the darkness, until the sun comes shining through?
Does consolation feel invasive,
When you’d rather just be sad?
Does it feel natural now to face
You might not get back what you had?
Well it gets better, don’t you worry,
Seasons pass, and heartbreak fades,
And someday soon you’ll find a reason
Good enough to smile again.
Yeah, it gets better, give it time,
Believe me, kid, I’ve been there, too
And it gets better when you find
That now, your life begins anew.
Trust me, kid. I’ve heard the scoffers, and I
Know that you just fell a victim to
The modus operandi
Of a serial heartbreaker
Whose goodbyes were icy cold.
It’s not your fault if someone else can’t see
The beauty in your soul.
And it gets better, you can bet
That it will all make sense someday,
But in the meantime, just be glad
That you’re the one who got away.
Yeah, it gets better, soon that fool
Is gonna see the ugly truth.
That, while there may be others out there,
No one’s quite as good as you.
It’s hard to find
The words to say
When words alone don’t make
The pain just go away.
No, it takes time
And it’s okay
To let it hurt for now,
But it won’t stay that way.
Well it gets better, don’t you worry,
Seasons pass, and heartbreak fades,
And someday soon you’ll find a reason
Good enough to smile again.
Yeah, it gets better, give it time,
Believe me, kid, I’ve been there, too
And it gets better when you find
That now your life begins....
And it gets better, you can bet
That it will all make sense someday,
But in the meantime, just be glad
That you’re the one who got away.
Yeah, it gets better, soon that fool
Is gonna see the ugly truth.
That, while there may be others out there,
None are quite as good as you.
Did It Right
Sword at my side
There’s a knife in my chest
And I’m dying of a broken heart
Because I did what I thought was best.
I knew the risk
And I knew the reward.
I didn’t stand a chance on earth,
But it was still worth fighting for.
Well, I did it right,
And I lost, anyway.
Fought my fight
But only one gladiator walks away.
And it wasn’t me.
It never should have been.
But with my dying breath,
At least I might find comfort in
Knowing I did it right.
Happy to win
But at peace with a fall
Cause it was better to lose outright
Than to refuse to fight at all.
Yeah, I did it right,
And it cost everything
Just to believe in something
Worth stepping into the ring.
I’m glad I did.
I’m glad I stood and fought.
And I would do it all again
Without a second thought
Because I know that I did it right.
Real Life
They say, “Life’s hard.”
You say, “I know.”
We all say, “That’s what’s expected.”
They say, “You, work!”
You say, “Yes, sir.”
We all say, “The man is respected.”
But there are lessons to be learned
The kind nobody else can teach you.
And there are pages to be turned
Out in a world that’s trying to reach you.
So wake up, come on out
Because it’s time that you see
That there’s much more to life
Than you thought there could be.
There are secrets the world’s waiting for you to find out.
It’s time you learned what real life is about.
Roof over your head,
Three walls and a bed,
You’re clothed and you’re fed,
It’s provided.
You get to stay,
Live someone else’s way
They say, “The rules are obeyed, laws abided.”
But don’t you long for something more?
More than dependency can give you?
Just pack your bags, walk out the door.
You’ll find a life worth living if you
Just wake up, come on out,
Because it’s time that you see
That there’s much more to life
Thank you thought there could be
There are secrets the world’s waiting for you to find out.
It’s time you learned what real life is about.
There’s never going to be a better time than now,
And no one else is going to find you a way out.
The days are long, and the years are short.
They say, “Work and get rich, so you can quit and be bored.”
Well, you can go on believing
That’s all you’ll ever afford,
Or your can open your eyes,
And realize what real life is about.
It’s time you learn what real life is about
Up in the Tree
Brother come down from the tree
I'm sitting here waiting and wishing that it could be me
You climb, you look so free
While I'm on the ground sitting down here below darkened leaves
When you look out there what do you see: is it magic?
Can you count all the stars and wish the moon goodnight?
Up in the tree
Just you and me
I dream of the day we can live in a world we set free
All alone, we could go
To kingdoms and castles on hilltops we see from our thrones
Up in the tree
Up in the tree
Brother, show me how to climb
Reach out your hand and I'll try to give you mine
When you climb, you look so free
Help me to find the same freedom that lives within me
It's you I wanted to be: touching sky day and night
Our games were so simple then, stealing home, tossing dice
Up in the tree
Just you and me
I dream of the day we can live in a world we set free
All alone, we could go
To kingdoms and castles on hilltops we see from our thrones
Up in the tree
Up in the tree
Now if I climb take my hand
Pull me to safety and lift me off dry land
Enthroned in the leaves reaching far above our heads
Far above our heads
Our courts so low stretching far beyond these lands
Far beyond these lands
For we're up in the tree
Together at last
Brother we had our best chance and we took it so fast
We've fought our battles and won
Bested our fears and climbed through the night's far above
Up in the tree
Up in the tree
Another Melody
I can hear the music
All around, and it fills me with dissonance.
Maybe you can hear it too.
Whatever happens next
I can’t say I believe in coincidence,
Because I believe in you.
And it doesn’t matter if we lose or win.
Because of you, I now have something worth
Believing in.
So stand courageous, by my side
And sing in the face of uncertainty.
Need a voice? I’ll give you mine.
No matter how many you write,
There will always be another melody.
You can find it if you try.
And it doesn’t matter if we lose or win.
Because of you, I now have something worth
Believing in.
It’s heartbreak, blindness,
Independence, pride
It’s resignation,
Chaos, aspiration,
Growing up and irony
So can you tell
Me what it means
To you?
So stand courageous, by my side
And sing in the face of uncertainty.
Need a voice? I’ll give you mine.
No matter how many you write,
There will always be another melody.
You can find it if you try.
And it doesn’t matter if we lose or win.
Because of you, I now have something worth
Believing in.
And it doesn’t matter if we lose or win.
Because of you, I now have something worth
Believing in.
Whatever happens next
I can’t say I believe in coincidence.