Mary Chapin Carpenter

[fox69]

"I Can See It Now"

"I Can See It Now"



I can see it now, walking by myself
And suddenly you're there walking with somebody else
I can see it now, what's right up ahead
A scene I've played a thousand times over in my head

I can see it now, it isn't just a dream
Can't shake myself awake, can't fall right back to sleep
Face to face I come right up to the truth
I can see it now, I'm still not over you

I can hear it now, your voice saying my name
It's too late for me to walk the other way
I can hear it now, asking how I've been
Oh and by the way have you met my friend

I can hear it now, a breaking all apart
A strange familiar sound that's coming from my heart
Feeling just as bad as the day that it was new
I can see it now, I'm still not over you

When you're out of sight, baby you're still on my mind
you're much too hard to lose, you're too easy to find
Like a bottle to a drunk, like trouble to a fool
I've only ever seen, just what I've wanted to

I can feel it now, as you walk away
Something left unsaid and the nothing left to say
I can feel it now like weather in my bones
Before it even comes, before I even know

I can feel it now, the empty and the ache
That bitter little pill that I don't want to take
Instead I'd swallow all the pride I ever knew
To crawl back if you asked, all that I would do
I can see it now

 

[fox69]

"I Feel Lucky"

"I Feel Lucky"



Well I woke up this morning stumbled out of my rack
I opened up the paper to the page in the back
It only took a minute for my finger to find
My daily dose of destiny, under my sign
My eyes just about popped out of my head
It said "the stars are stacked against you girl, get back in bed"

I feel lucky, I feel lucky, yeah
No Professor Doom gonna stand in my way
Mmmmm, I feel lucky today

Well I strolled down to the corner, gave my numbers to the clerk
The pot's eleven million so I called in sick to work
I bought a pack of Camels, a burrito and a Barq's
Crossed against the light, made a beeline for the park
The sky began to thunder, wind began to moan
I heard a voice above me saying, "girl, you better get back home"

But I feel lucky, oh oh oh, I feel lucky, yeah
No tropical depression gonna steal my sun away
Mmmmm, I feel lucky today

Now eleven million later, I was sitting at the bar
I'd bought the house a double, and the waitress a new car
Dwight Yoakam's in the corner, trying to catch my eye
Lyle Lovett's right beside me with his hand upon my thigh
The moral of this story, it's simple but it's true
Hey the stars might lie, but the numbers never do

I feel lucky, oh oh oh, I feel lucky, yeah
Hey Dwight, hey Lyle, boys, you don't have to fight
Hot dog, I'm feeling lucky tonight

I feel lucky, brrrrr, I feel lucky, yeah
Think I'll flip a coin, I'm a winner either way
Mmmmmm, I feel lucky today

 

[fox69]

"I Have A Need For Solitude"

"I Have A Need For Solitude"



I have a need
For solitude
I'll never be
Safe in crowded rooms
I like the sound
Of silence coming on
I come around
When everyone has gone

I have a need
For cool, verdant spaces
Beneath the trees
Secret empty places
Nobody knows
So no one will intrude
I have a need
For solitude

But you can find me, when the light is changing
At that time of day when there's
Little day remaining
You can find me where I've been waiting
Waiting here for you

I never was
The pretty girl in school
I never was
Fast, tough and cool
All I was
All my life it seems
Was hard to love
Harder now to keep

But you can find me, when the light is changing
At that time of day when there's
Little day remaining

I have a need
For solitude
I'll never be
Safe in crowded rooms
I like the sound
Of silence coming on
I come around when all the rest have gone...

 

[fox69]

"I Put My Ring Back On"
(feat. Vince Gill)

"I Put My Ring Back On"
(feat. Vince Gill)



Who knows where faith comes from
But last night I put my ring back on
'Cause here with you is where I belong
Last night I put my ring back on

No life's without uncertainty
We both know how hard this love can be
It's just this hurting inside of me that threw it down,
Down down down

Who knows where hope comes from
But last night I put my ring back on
'Cause here with you is where I belong
Last night I put my ring back on

We can't speak like lovers we used to be
We can't change ancient history
And love wounds with such simplicity
And I threw it down, down down down, down

Your heart is all I want to see
Your hand reaching out to me
And your kiss remembers the mystery

Time was, I'd be as good as gone
But last night I didn't want to run
'Cause here with you is where I belong
Last night I put my ring back on
Last night I put my ring back on
Last night I put my ring back on

 

[fox69]

"I Take My Chances"

"I Take My Chances"



I took a walk in the rain one day on the wrong side of the tracks
I stood on the rails till I saw that train
Just to see how my heart would react
Now some people say that you shouldn't tempt fate
And for them I would not disagree
But I never learned nothing from playing it safe
I say fate should not tempt me

I take my chances, I don't mind working without a net
I take my chances, I take my chances every chance I get

I sat alone in the dark one night, tuning in by remote
I found a preacher who spoke of the light but there was brimstone in his throat
He'd show me the way according to him in return for my personal check
I flipped my channel back to CNN and I lit another cigarette

I take my chances, forgiveness doesn't come with a debt
I take my chances, I take my chances every chance I get

I've crossed lines of words and wire and both have cut me deep
I've been frozen out and I've been on fire and the tears are mine to weep
Now I can cry until I laugh and laugh until I cry
So cut the deck right in half, I'll play from either side

I take my chances, I pay my dollar and I place my bet
I take my chances, I take my chances every chance I get
I take my chances, I don't cling to remorse or regret
I take my chances, I take my chances every chance I get
I take my chances

I take my chances

 

[fox69]

"I Tried Going West"

"I Tried Going West"



I tried going west where the sky meets the sun
Where the edge of the world’s always been
As far from this place as a girl gets to run
When her reasons to stay have worn thin

Out there the days were so bright and so blue
Yet I missed all my thunder and rain
The way a storm punctures a hot afternoon
Washing away every stain

When my maps pointed north they were calling for snow
To cover all sound and all sight
Tell me where on this earth does all that noise go
Underneath all of that white

With thaws scarcely mentioned I dug out my truck
By the time the storm cleared I was gone
Back on the road with the radio up
Singing at the top of my lungs

Driving and crying and driving some more
Oh the south is a good place to hide
Hot nights, cold beer and creaky screen doors
And a motel’s vacancy sign

A letter a day I wrote back home to you
But not one you ever received
Because I can’t stand a man who lies like you do
And I can’t bear a woman who pleads

One day it dawned I had run out of road
And out of reasons to run
Like a horse to the barn I was hell bent to go
As fast going back as I’d come

Home, home was the song that I sang
As I pulled in just before dark
There was only a hook where your coat used to hang
That’s where I hung up my heart

I tried going west, where the sky meets the sun

 

[fox69]

"I Want To Be Your Girlfriend"

"I Want To Be Your Girlfriend"



I want to be your girlfriend, I want to be your new love
I want to be the one that you can't get enough of
I want to be your girlfriend, nobody else's but yours
I want to be the one who you'll do anything for

Never thought I'd ever wind up in a daze like this
Never thought I'd ever find myself wondering how you kiss
I see you nearly everyday, and everyday I lose my nerve
That I built up the night before, rehearsing every single word

I want to be your girlfriend, I want to be your new love
I want to be the one that you can't get enough of

You used to be just this guy I knew from that same old scene
For all the time that I've known you, just now I'm noticing
That everything there is to feel, feels worse than any teenage crush
And all the times that I've been near you, now I can't get near enough

Oh, I want to be your girlfriend, nobody else's but yours
I want to be the one who you'll do anything for

I just keep on hoping that you're gonna see
If I could notice you then you could notice me
Then I'd be more to you, oh, I just wanna be

I want to be your girlfriend, I want to be your new love
I want to be the one that you can't get enough of
I'm gonna be your girlfriend, nobody else's but yours
I want to be the one who you'll do anything for

 

[fox69]

"I Was A Bird"

"I Was A Bird"




I was a bird that loved to fly
Catching the wind as it went south
And I could touch every inch of sky
And the sweetest songs trilled from my mouth

But I'm no bird anyone can see
And there's no wind waiting for me
It's just a dream, it's just a dream
To be a bird flying free

I was a cloud that loved to drift
Offering shade to lay upon
And the greenest grass was my gift
And a summer day was my song

But I'm no cloud anyone can see
And there's just dust instead of green
It's just a dream, it's just a dream
To be a cloud drifting free

I was a light that loved to dance
Without a care of who might see
I tempted fate and welcomed chance
And I held the world inside of me

The clouds have fled, and the birds have flown
And the light that was is all but gone
It's just a dream, it's just a dream
To be a light
To be a cloud
To be a bird
Flying free

 

[fox69]

"Iceland"

"Iceland"



Last night I dreamed of icy cliffs
Standing on the precipice
I leaned to see just where the edge would take me
The wind came up, I closed my eyes
I heard a shout and to my surprise
A hand reached out and pulled me back to safety

What's a hand, what's a dream
Who can say what it means
When everything that you know
Can disappear
Don't look back, the spirits cry
Just be glad to be alive
Everything that you love is right here
Everything that you love:

Life feels smaller than this stone
Worn smooth inside my palm
I keep it like a charm inside my pocket
I keep thinking I'll flame out
Leave no one with a doubt
That I was meant to fire like a rocket

What's a stone, what's a flame
There's always someone else to blame
When everything that you know disappears
Don't look back the spirits cry
Just be glad to be alive
Everything that you need is right here
Everything that you need:.

When I'm left here on the shore
The ancient basalt moor
Will beckon me to sleep among its heather
Who's not tempted to fold in
So that sleep may come again
Where the fire and the ice hide their treasure

Everything that you love
Everything that you need

 

[fox69]

"Ideas Are Like Stars"

"Ideas Are Like Stars"



Today Joseph is sitting alone, with occasional nods to the waitress
She tops off his cup while she's snapping her gum, making her rounds on the lunch shift
Counting out coins, he leaves them arranged, in neat lines and circles and arcs
She just stares at the tip that spells out her name and ideas are like stars

And yesterday pedaling down 4th Avenue, between the stalls and the bookshops
The sepia tones of a lost afternoon cradled a curio storefront
And inside the air was thick with the past, as the dust settled onto his heart
And here for a moment is every place in the world and ideas are like stars

They fall from the sky, they run round your head
They litter your sleep as they beckon
They'd teach you to fly without wires or thread
They promise if only you'd let them

For the language of longing never had words, so how did you speak from your heart
Yet here is a box that swears it has heard that ideas are like stars

Tonight Joseph stood out in the yard, as Debussy played from the kitchen
Celestial companions `til mornings first lark, shone overhead and he listened
And who was that shadow there by the gate, who was that there standing guard
It was only loneliness, and loneliness waits, and ideas are like stars
Ideas are like stars