Christine Kane - Live

Live - Lyrics

Breeze

(Christine Kane)
ASCAP/Lee Baby Sims Music/1997

We were in between lovers
At the peak of a sigh
Hit the beach in December
'Cause we barely survived in the month of July

And what I want to know is
The very thing that you choose to ignore
Why we go back again to a place when we know
That we've already been there before

Now the breeze all over me
Breeze, let everything be
Set it free
And me, I will leave all the rest behind

We had scars on our spirits
And bruises that swelled like the sea
We were gun-metal grey, but you say that's the shade
That a heartache is just meant to be

But what I want to know is
Why at night when I climb into bed
Instead of resting my mind, I'm rehearsing the lines
That I tell myself I should've said

And the breeze all over me
Breeze, let everything be
Set it free
And me, I will leave all the rest behind

It's night, I'm afraid, and the dark unfolds
It's a fog and a rain that surrounds my soul
What's the size and the weight of the kind of love
It would take to repair what I'm so scared of

Let them fall by the wayside
You say, just leave them behind
All those tough words are wrong, baby, I'm not that strong
And the tenderness suits me just fine

But what I want to know is
Why I'm so quick to climb into their heads
And pointedly stare, and then judge me from there
When I could just dance by the sea in the breeze instead

And the breeze all over me
Breeze, let everything be
Set it free
And me, I will leave all the rest behind

Off the Ground

(Christine Kane)

This is the way I see it
This is the life I live
This is the how-to book for the heart I give
And this is the way I wake up
This is the tale I write
This is the prayer I pray in the dead of night
And here's all my fearful moments
Here's all the sounds I've heard
Tangled in the nothingness of the spoken word

Chorus: Hey, don't you know I'm laying way too low
I'm on my knees I'll pick myself up if you let me go
Hey, I've been down too long in the lost and found
Now I'm just getting off the ground

I have my share of secrets
And dozens of things I hide
And maybe I'll let you in but it might take time
'Cause you say that you want me near you
And you smile when I run right by
When I throw you a sideways glance if you catch my eye
But you've got the patience, I don't
You give the way I can't
So you tell me you love me and I'm likely not to understand

Chorus

Part of me just can't stop talking
Part of me is tongue-tied
Half of me is laughing and the other half is
Keeping track of every last tear I've cried

But it's never without emotion
It's never an easy ride
And I've got to admit that it's so nice to have you by my side

The Problem with Jazz

(Christine Kane)

It's just an apartment, she must be a fool
It's the size of a jewel box, the price of a jewel
The landlord is lazy, the winters are cold
She thinks often of old love, and often feels old

She's got too many t-shirts and not enough time
She takes out the trash every Monday at nine
She says, No sir, I don't wanna work,
I don't wanna waitress, I don't wanna do this
I told you I just want to play.
Tell me to go back to school, man, you've got to be pulling my leg

Chorus:
She says it seems I could turn around take back what time has sold me
Absolutely everything they ever told me
Resolutely I'm inclined to fight the blows
Incompletely I resign myself to the highs and lows

He grew up in Nashville, how 'bout that
He says he moved out of Nashville so he could play jazz
And he learned all the rules and the well-tempered tunes that he could
Now, ten years of schooling that accent is gone for good

Now, he's in New York City, plays jazz all the time
He says the problem with jazz is you don't make a dime
He's got a big sax and a bad back and a black cat named Miles
He may be somewhat abrasive, but that's just his style

He says, it seems I could turn around take back what time has sold me
Absolutely everything they ever told me
Resolutely I'm inclined to fight the blows
Incompletely I resign myself to the highs and lows

Said the cook to the waitress, I can't stand to be here right now
Life's a mess and the wife just walked out
The laundry is sky high, and I'm close to tears
The waitress she shrugged she said, Man, I never wanna be here

Chorus

Loving Hands

(Christine Kane)

Everyday you wake up
And everyday a day goes by
You're never gonna catch up
'Cause there's never enough time
And there's no one in your love life
There's nothing on the news that's nice
But something keeps you going
Something's keeping you alive
It's a penny on the sidewalk
It's a feather on the subway train
It's sleeping to the rhythm
Of the Sunday morning rain

Chorus: It's those magic little moments
You're trying hard to understand
Wondering if it's luck or loving hands

It's blowing off your homework
And putting all the books away
To sit beside the window
And watch the snow accumulate
It's mailing off a letter
When you love to lick the postage stamp
It's your favorite purple sweater
It's the moths under the midnight lamps

Chorus

It's praying to the stained glass
When you don't know what an angel is
It's the memory of a mustache
Of a weathered kind of kiss
And it's going to confession
And telling all the sins you've tried
And the priest is getting angry
At the smile you cannot hide

Chorus

There's so much anger in these streets
So much hanging on your feet
So much sadness in the faces that you meet
And there's all this politics and hate
All these prices that you pay
But all this hope to guide your way

It's the parking lot attendant
Lettin' you go in for free
It's bitin' all your nails off
Instead of losing gracefully
And it's laying on a rowboat
When you're lazy like the summer breeze
And your arm is hanging over
So you autograph the sea

Chorus

Let's Roll

(Christine Kane)

I've had a number of nights
Just staring at the windows and walls
Long sighs and lonely replies
And imaginary telephone calls
Seems to be to everyone but me
I'm wishing on a star
Lost in a world of fantasy
It only takes you so far
Let's roll

I'm asking you my friend
If you're willing to take me home
Got lots of time to spend
But I'm killing it all alone
Everyone I know they run from the dark
But I've never been afraid of fire
You don't need a match to start this spark
With a hold of my desire
Let's roll

I've seen some things in my day
And repented a time or two
But I blew my chance at judgment day
When I laid eyes on you
Heavens above 'cause I know it ain't love
But I don't really know what it means
When I look down the answers are found
Right in the holes of your jeans

So, tell me right now am I going insane
Will I ever get enough
Twenty-four hours of aches and pains
Is making my day kind of tough
I'll say it right now that three's a crowd
So tell her to hit the road
When the cat's away we're gonna be at play
And nobody has to know

A Thousand Girls

(Christine Kane/Lee Baby Sims Music/ASCAP/1997)

Late nights in strange rooms
Cheap wine and cartoons
And city lights below me
I got all this time
I got you on the line
But somehow I'm still lonely

Well, I made my mess
Lost my courage, my kindness
'Cause everything just ended
And I pray to God
'Cause I'm wiped out and I'm tired
And I'm old enough to be mended
And all in all, this is just a Friday night in one lifetime
And even though I try, I'm on the wrong side tonight
All alone, thinking there's a thousand girls who are just like me

When it's half-past midnight
Strangers in streetlights
Will put you off with their glances
And it's smart to ask
Just when we get too cool to laugh
And when we start building fences

And all in all, this is just a Friday night in one lifetime
And even though I love, I'm on the wrong side of the light
All alone, thinking there's a thousand girls who are just like me

Well, I'm allright I guess
I could use a little rest
And a gentle voice to console me
Someone might want to be my friend tonight
And then again, someone else might want to just hold me

Chorus

Made of Steel

(Christine Kane)

Someone pull the sun down
Somebody raise the moon
I can feel the night reach out
Like some nights just seem to do
Never mind the laws and rules, yea
Never mind the past, that's right
I've been a grieving fool
But I'm made of steel tonight

Southern nights soft and lazy
Southern boys who talk just right
Leave it up to me and I'll take you
Somewhere just you and I
Or you can round up all your reasons
Tell me that my plan's all wrong
Say you're on the path to Jesus
But I'll bet he'd come along

As for me I've had my demons
Beatin' down my own back door
Breakin' bad and talking mean
They'll wait for me for sure
But I propose we let them in
Sit 'em down and raise a toast
Get 'em drunk and leave those demons
Refuse to be the host

Some dreams sometimes move on
But no dream is lost for long

Some angels fall from stars
But those angels are not ours

Moon's up, time is fleeting
Be that the way it is
I believe a girl like me
Can still learn how to live
And I'll be brave, I'll be here
So come on and hold me tight
There will be no sighs or tears
Cuz I'm made of steel tonight

Crack of Blue

(Christine Kane)

There's a crack of blue in an all grey sky
There's a flock of birds and I wave good-bye
And all the leaves around have changed their colors
I kind of like the fall, but I really hate the winter

And after work the boys all meet at Joe's garage
Talkin' bout the rebuilt engine in some old Dodge
Joe's a northern boy, but folks still respect him
He lets every single car get by the state inspection

Driving on, this road is long, it's like loneliness
There's a big white house, it's my favorite
It makes me think that there's such thing as perfect
Makes me think of all the dreams still to come yet

There's a crack of white in the sky so soon
And I recall a song about a harvest moon
That I learned back when I was a second grader
When we'd sit and cut out pumpkins from construction paper

Back at home with my book half-read
My cat and me are sprawled out on my bed
The sun goes down, it's time to feed her
I wish I had a fireplace instead of a heater

Something here will find me
Some voice right behind me
Somehow will remind me of this time last year

There's a smack of cold on a night like this
There's a big white breath in October's kiss
Used to be, it all made me sad somehow
But I'll tell you what, it ain't so bad now

Southern Girl

(Christine Kane)

I've never been to Texas
Never been to Ohio
Never really thought about it
Never cared to go
I thought I'd end up in the North
In some apartment downtown
But I'm living here in Carolina
Guess I'm a Southern Girl now

Now the lady down the street
She got a hundred thousand dogs
They're just about the ugliest of things
You ever saw
They crap right in the road
And then they chase me in my car
And when there's nothing else to do
I watch them humping in the yard

Cuz I'm a Southern Girl now
Yes I'm a Southern Girl now

I go to the diner
where the waitress calls me "Hon"
And the vegetable is macaroni
And it's overdone
Just load me full of sweet tea
Til my body starts to shake
And I won't even ask
What is a Chicken Fried Steak

Cuz I'm a Southern Girl now
Yes I'm a Southern Girl now

Well, yes I'll play you "Freebird"
It's a sacred holy hymn
Your rebel flag is lovely
And the south will rise again
That woman on your mudflaps
In her silver silhouette
My friends and I agree
Our breasts look just like that

Now, feminism isn't gonna
Make it big out here
So all you little ladies
Get this message loud and clear
It says right in the bible
It's your husband you obey
And you'll call it "family values"
When he joins the kkk

Cuz you're a Southern Girl now
Yes you're a Southern Girl now

Well, yes I'll play you "Freebird"
And I'll let you sing a part
And I love Jesse Helms
With all my Ache-y Break-y Heart
Those ten foot tires on your truck
Well mister they are huge
The car you drive is so endowed
I guess you must be too

(Asheville version:
Those ten foot tires on your truck
Will give us quite a view
When we go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth...
On Patton Avenue)

I guess you sense my sarcasm
I guess I'll tell you true
I think your truck is ugly
I think Jesse Helms is too
And I have eaten grits
Although they taste like styrofoam
And it has been suggested
That I "might-could go on home"

But I'm a Southern Girl now
Yes I'm a Southern Girl now

Tucson

(Christine Kane/Lee Baby Sims Music/ASCAP/1997)

Way out west a girl could lose her given sense
In all the truth that old desert sky can tell
That horizon's just too much for me
But if I could count infinity, I'd know the desert well

These days I chalk it up to restlessness
You loved my loneliness I loved your smile
We put the wild in the wilderness
Made turquoise into timelessness in every dusty mile

Maybe we played with fire
Maybe it made me wiser, but
I should've left you in Tucson

There's no replacement for your innocence
When you leave it up to circumstance
To toss you where it will

And so you led me on
And so I went along
Now open space ain't nothing I can fill

Maybe we played with fire
Maybe it made me wiser, but
I shouldve left you in Tucson

After you disappeared in Phoenix
Not even blazing summer days
Could keep my body warm

I have no doubt you found serenity
Or turned some woman's fantasy
Into a rising storm

Maybe it's all behind me
Maybe it still reminds me that
I should've left you in Tucson

And now I've been so long away
Two months, a day, and seven years
But I won't go back to Arizona

I still have battles with this emptiness
You'd call it uselessness
I call it noise

I found a city where the rainy season's overdone
There ain't no dust
There ain't no damn turquoise

Maybe the pain's subsided
Maybe the rain can hide it, but
I should've left you in Tucson

(You Don't Have to) Say Goodnight

(Christine Kane)

As long as there are high hopes
Every vow will make you say
Together you will be
Til eternity
But sometimes there are low notes
And all those heavy expectations
Offer no reprieve
Now it's your turn to grieve 'cause

Someone stole your kingdom
No one left the light on
You don't want to say goodnight

No one wants to grow old
Years go flying by you
While you barely catch your breath
Scares you half to death 'cause
All the things you should know
Like making love and staying home
Remain a mystery
Threw you off your feet, now

You have lost your kingdom
No one left the light on
You don't want to say goodnight

There's demons and there's dancers
Haunting all your dreams at night
You're worn out when you wake
Darlin' it's okay
Well I'm not one for answers
I don't know the first thing about
Finding lost belief
But I'm right here at your sleeve, come

We'll rebuild your kingdom
I have left my light on
You don't have to say goodnight
You don't have to say goodnight
You don't have to say goodnight