1. ASPEN / THESE DAYS


ASPEN

(Instrumental)


THESE DAYS

I used to think of myself as a soldier
Holding his own against impossible odds
Badly outnumbered and caught in a crossfire of devils and gods
All I ever wanted to be was free
All I ever looked for was what was within my eyes to see
Oh, but these days are just like you and me
Oh, but these days are just like you and me

You used to be something I could believe in
How could you let me forsake myself so
You used to think of your life as a riddle with no answer known
All you ever wanted to be was free
All you ever looked for was what was within your sights to see
Oh, but these days are just like you and me
Oh, but these days are just like you and me

We used to live like there was no tomorrow
Tasting our trials a day at a time
Crying for justice and laughing at sorrow
Such innocent crimes
All we ever wanted to be was free
All we ever looked for was what was within our sights to see
Oh, but these days are just like you and me
Oh, but these days are just like you and me
Just like you and me
You know they're just like you and me


2. COMES AND GOES

The woman's like the night
She comes and goes
She breaks my heart each day
And never knows
And the time I spend in sorrow
Will match the time I live
And the time that's left is
All I have to give

The woman's like an ivy on a pole
She wraps her twisted love around my soul
There will come a sudden winter
When she'll seek the warmth of day
And there'll come a time when she will come to stay

The woman's like the tide
She comes and goes
She knows the things that I can just suppose
And the time I spend in sorrow
Will match the time that she laughs
And the songs I sing cannot explain but half


3. CAPTURED ANGEL

Found your heart and lost your lover
Lick your wounds and run for cover
Take your time,there'll be another
And don't make the same mistake twice
Unless you can pay the price

All the years that you spent in growing
End up one more line you're towing
Don't look now but your age is showing
And it's much too late to turn back
You better pull in the slack

[Chorus]
Captured Angel
Aching to make your break
Your freedom's at stake
You better fly now...
Fly now, fly now
While your wings are still young
Your cage door's been flung wide open...
And I'm hoping you see
That there's a place beside me
If you ever need it

Sold your dreams
For sweet salvation
Left with righteous indignation
Now it seems that you face starvation
And nourishment doesn't come cheap
You better go back to sleep

[Chorus]


4. OLD TENNESSEE

End of October
The sleepy brown woods seem to
Nod down their heads to the Winter
Yellows and grays paint the sad skies today
And I wonder when you're coming home

Woke up one morning
The wind through the window
Reminded me winter was just 'round the bend
Somehow I just did not see it was coming
It took me by surprise again

[Chorus]
And I hear you're in San Francisco
Living with your sister who's a mother to be
And her husband's way down in Georgia
And I'm still in old Tennessee...
Wishing you'd come home to me

Life here is easy I'm sure you recall
How it's so warm and breezy
In the summer and the fall
But winter's upon me
And I've got no heat here
And I miss your fire so sweet
Dear I miss your fire so sweet

[Chorus]

End of October
The sleepy brown woods seem to
Nod down their heads to the winter
Yellows and gray paint the sad skies today
And I wonder when you're coming home
I wonder when you're coming home
I wonder when you're coming home


5. NEXT TIME

One too many days I've felt forgotten
And one too many nights I've slept alone
And every time I watch the fruit turn rotten
I tell myself I'll try a little harder next time
Oh, next time

Sacred are the ties that love entrusts us
Even if they fray before they bind
And I'm afraid I never did you justice
So I'm going to feel my love a little stronger
Make it last a little longer next time
Oh, next time

Well next time I ain't gonna fall on my knees
And come out of love empty-handed
But next time I'll be even harder to please
Oh when will the next time be
When will the next time be
Well next time I ain't gonna fall on my knees for nobody
And come out of love empty-handed
But next time I'll be even harder to please
Oh when will the next time be
When will the next time be

One too many days I've felt forgotten by you
And one too many nights I've slept alone
And every time I watch the fruit turn rotten
I tell myself I'll try a little harder
Play my cards a little smarter next time
Oh next time


6. MAN IN THE MIRROR

[Chorus]
The man in the mirror
He keeps getting nearer but I am not moving
The man in the back street is holding a track meet
But I will not run

Someplace inside you a seed has been born
You've got to watch it grow
Someplace inside you a river is waiting to flow
Will you let it go
Those voices you're hearing are never worth fearing
They're only inside you
They'll tempt you and taunt you
They'll help you and haunt you but don't try to hide

Sometimes the sun will be right at your shoulder
Helping you keep your stride
Sometimes you might have to give up a piece of your pride
Have you even tried

[Chorus]


7. BELOW THE SURFACE

Some people tell you they're trapped by the distance
And can't get what they want most
They throw up a wall and then call for assistance
And make no attempt to get close

[Chorus]
Oh, I think you should know
You've got to go slow below the surface
And easy through the waves
You better go slow below the surface
And easy through the waves

You're running so fast that you can't find the past
And your future is wearing thin
Come from behind it's a matter of time
'Til you see where you've always been

[Chorus]

Some people tell you they're in trapped by the distance
And can't get what they want most
They throw up a wall and then call for assistance
And make no attempt to get close

Oh, I think you should know
You've better go slow below the surface
And easy through the waves
You better go slow below the surface
And easy through the waves
You know that your life must have a purpose
You better make a stand while you still can


8. CROW

Somewhere on a lonely muddy country road
I heard your song, crow, for the first time
Somewhere in the distance wicked, black and low
Made me feel as I was running from a crime
Made me feel as I was running from a crime

Some say she died of drowning in the river deep
Some say she died of a sudden start
Some say they found her swinging from my old man's tree
And some folks say she died of a broken heart
And some folks say she died of a broken heart

I can't believe they would pay men just to hunt me down
But silver coins to each one do they give
And by now there's a gallows standing in the town
And I wonder how much more I have to live
And I wonder how much more I have to live

Somewhere on a lonely muddy country road
I heard your song, crow, for the last time
Somewhere in the distance wicked, black and low
Made me feel as I was running from a crime
Made me feel as I was running from a crime
Made me feel as I was running...from a crime


9. THE LAST NAIL

I saw you running ahead of the crowd
I chased but never thought I'd catch you
You said you loved me but you had to be free and I let you
Why did I let you

We walked together through the gardens and graves
I watched you grow to be a woman
Living on promises that nobody gave to no one
They were given to no one

I started listening to the wind and the rain
You strained your ears but could hear nothing
One night I thought I heard them whisper my name
And I went running

I left a trail of footprints deep in the snow
I swore one day I would retrace them
But when I turned around I found that the wind had erased them
Now I'll never replace them

[Chorus]
Fly away, my sweet bird, over the land
Take life for all the freedom you can
But if you ever should need a man
Well, the offer still stands

I hear you've taken on a husband and child
And live somewhere in Pennsylvania
I never thought you'd ever sever the string but I can't blame you none

So let the ashes fall and lay where they will
Just say that once you used to know me
One last time sing that old song we used to know
But this time sing
But this time sing a little more slowly

[Chorus]