Ambulance

Once just by chance
I made a friend in an ambulance
I was half man half broken glass
She had a needle but I wasn’t afraid

I’d slap the cuffs right on my wrists
I’d get so high I’d arrest myself
For honeysuckle on a buckle
Broken teeth biting on my belt

High in a trance
My life smeared right past
In a blue light
I thought she was dancing
But she was just holding my cold hand

Cause everything can shine
Even the devil sometimes
And while I was busy dying
My lord she made some other plan

Traveling salesmen carrying trunks
You can smell them coming like skunks
In the distance, if your eyes can focus
That’s how God once spoke to us

Trying not to laugh
They pronounced me dead at half past
And that priest he pissed his pants
When he heard me start to say hello

Everything can shine
Even the devil sometimes
While I was busy dying
My lord she made some other plan

written by Jeff Tweedy

Remember the Mountain Bed

Do you still sing of the mountain bed we made of
limbs and leaves: Do you still sigh there near the
sky where the holly berry bleeds: You laughed as I
covered you over with leaves, face, breast, hips
and thighs, You smiled when I said the leaves
were just the color of your eyes.

Rosin smells and turpentine smells from
eucalyptus and pine Bitter tastes of twigs we
chewed where tangled woodvines twine Trees held
us in on all four sides so thick we could not see I
could not see any wrong in you, and you saw none
in me.

Your arm was brown against the ground, your
cheeks part of the sky, As your fingers played with
grassy moss, and limber you did lie: Your stomach
moved beneath your shirt and your knees were in
the air Your feet played games with mountain
roots as you lay thinking there.

Below us the trees grew clumps of trees, raised
families of trees, and they As proud as we tossed
their heads in the wind and flung good seeds
away: The sun was hot and the sun was bright
down in the valley below Where people starved
and hungry for life so empty come and go.

There in the shade and hid from the sun we freed
our minds and learned Our greatest reason for
being here, our bodies moved and burned There
on our mountain bed of leaves we learned life's
reason why The People laugh and love and dream,
they fight, they hate to die.

The smell of your hair I know is still there, if most
of our leaves are blown, Our words still ring in the
brush and the trees where singing seeds are sown
Your shape and form is dim, but plain, there on
our mountain bed I see my life was brightest
where you laughed and laid you head...

I learned the reason why man must work and how
to dream big dreams, To conquer time and space
and fight the rivers and the seas I stand here filled
with my emptiness now and look at city and land
And I know why farms and cities are built by hot,
warm, nervous hands.

I crossed many states just to stand here now, my
face all hot with tears, I crossed city, and valley,
desert, and stream, to bring my body here: My
history and future blaze bright in me and all my joy
and pain Go through my head on our mountain
bed where I smell your hair again.

All this day long I linger here and on in through
the night My greeds, desires, my cravings, hopes,
my dreams inside me fight: My loneliness healed,
my emptiness filled, I walk above all pain Back to
the breast of my woman and child to scatter my
seeds again.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)/You Want A Piece Of This Music (ASCAP),
administered by Bug Music

Words: Woody Guthrie 1944
Music: Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett 1999
Leroy Bach: piano
Jay Bennett: organ, nylon-string guitar, backing vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, 12-string acoustic guitar

Alone (Shakin' Sugar)

Shakin' sugar from a sugar spoon
Peppermint tea, afternoon
Alone, alone, alone

Takin' a shower
Take another nap
Watching television
Takin' a bath
Alone, alone, alone

I feel like a book but I just can't start it
I feel like a lover, brokenhearted
I look in the mirror at the face in the glass
I look like a question no one everasked

Alone
Like I'm supposed to be
Alone, lonely, alone
Like I'm supposed to be

I could go for a walk
I could go for a drive
Listen to the stereo
Staying inside
Alone, alone, alone

I feel like a book but I just can't start it
I feel like a lover, broken-hearted
I look in the mirror at the face in the glass
I look like a question no one everasked

Alone
Like I'm supposed to be
Alone, lonely, alone
Like I'm supposed to be

Shakin' sugar from a table spoon
Bitter black coffee, beneath the moon
Alone, alone, alone

I feel like a book with a big ghost part
I didn't finish, I didn't start it
I look in the mirror at the face in the glass
I look like a question no one everasked

Alone
Like I'm supposed to be
Alone, lonely, alone
Like I'm supposed to be

YHF demo

Say I Love You Again

new song - lyrics not available at this time

Cars Can't Escape

When red is bled
And petals blue
And in my sleepless head
Our love's been dead a week or two

Sometimes, good times
Are stuck inside of you
And then they're gone
But I don't know why

A lot of things have changed
Since we said goodbye
There were reasons for you to love me
But I gave you none

So I tap my glass and nod my chin
And wonder who you've been in rhythm with

So time's just time
Cars can't escape
When clouds are gray and close
Not often, too far away

And blue has no value, power, or hue
Or open skies, relationless
Carelessness is what I miss
And that's how I think of you

Sometimes, good times
Were all we had to do
So I tap my glass and nod my chin
And wonder who you've been in rhythm with

So I tap my glass and nod my chin
And wonder who you've been in rhythm with

Songwriters: Jay Bennett / Jeffrey Scot Tweedy

Cars Can't Escape lyrics © Words Ampersand Music

Hummingbird

his goal in life was to be an echo
riding alone, town after town, toll after toll
a fixed bayonet through the great southwest
to forget her

she appears
in his dreams
but in his car, and in his arms
a dream could mean anything
a cheap sunset on a television set could upset her
but he never could

remember to remember me
standing still in your past
floating fast like a hummingbird

his goal in life was to be an echo
the type of sound that floats around
and then back down like a feather
but in the deep chrome canyons of the loudest Manhattans
no one could hear him
or anything

so he slept, on a mountain
in a sleeping bag underneath the stars,
he would lie awake and count them
but the great fountain spray of the great Milky Way
would never let him
die alone

remember to remember me
standing still in your past
floating fast like a hummingbird
remember to remember me
standing still in your past
floating fast like a hummingbird
a hummingbird
a hummingbird

Instrumental Credits

Jeff Tweedy Vocals
John Stirratt Electric Rhythm Guitar & Background Vocals
Glenn Kotche Drums
Mikael Jorgensen Piano
Jim O'Rourke Bass & Electric Lead Guitar
Frankie Montouro Hammer Dulcimer
Karen Waltuch Viola

Pieholden suite

There's a whisper
I would like to breathe
Into your ear
But I'm too scared
To get that close
To you right now

There are dreams
We might have shared
And I still care
And I still love you
But you know how
I've been untrue

In the beginning
We closed our eyes
Whenever we kissed
We were surprised
To find so much inside

I apologize again
and again
and again
and again
again
and again
and again

Instrumental credits: Jeff Tweedy – vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, tambourine Jay Bennett – banjo, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, tambourine, backing vocals John Stirratt – bass, backing vocals Ken Coomer – drums Dave Crawford – trumpet

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

I am an American aquarium drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I'm hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

Let's forget about the tongue-tied lightning
Let's undress just like cross-eyed strangers
This is not a joke so please stop smiling
What was I thinking when I said it didn't hurt

I want to glide through those brown eyes dreaming
Take you from the inside (baby) hold on tight
You were so right when you said I've been drinking
What was I thinking when we said good night

I want to hold you in the bible black predawn
You're quite a quiet domino bury me now
Take off your band aid cuz I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello

I always thought that if I held you tightly
You would always love me like you did back then
Then I fell asleep in the city kept blinking
What was I thinking when I let you back in

I am trying to break your heart
I am trying to break your heart
But still I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easy
I am trying to break your heart

Disposable Dixie cup drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I've been hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

(I'm the man who loves you)
   

Please Be Wrong

Please
Be wrong
About everything
Getting you down
Let it be
Misunderstood
One word
One word misheard
Can change
The whole wide world

Please
Be strong
When I am weak
Weighing you down
Let me be
Someone good
You deserve
Someone good
We were on the verge
Of something beautiful

Throwing my heart in the ring
Watching it beat
For no one
No one but you
No one but you
No one but you

Please be wrong
About me
Being the one
Causing all of your pain
I can change
We were on the verge
Of something so beautiful

Please
Be wrong

written by Jeff Tweedy

Please Tell My Brother (Golden Smog)

Please tell my brothers I love them still Over the mountains On their phone bill I should call more often But they know I never will Please tell my brothers I love them still Please tell my sister I miss her too My nieces and nepfews And their swimming pools When I think about her Her skies are blue Please tell my sister I miss her too Please tell my father I love him still Forget the railroad And all those bills Head for the cooler And drink your fill Please tell my father I love him still Listen dear mother I miss you the most And as I travel From coast to coast I feel your love And I feel your ghost Listen dear mother I miss you the most Listen dear mother I miss you the most written by Jeff Tweedy

Having Been Is No Way To Be

Oh I was naive

My shoes were untied

In heaven everything is just fine

But the phones are dead

And so is the light

And so are you

And honey so am I

But the earth still turns

For the unconcerned

Days pass below like train windows

I was a sapling tree

The birds looked like me

So I begged my nerves to kick me something new

From time to time

I’d watch you sleep

I wonder how much freedom we can dream

And I’m sorry when you wake up to me

I just got tired

Shining steady like a spider web

Is an empty stage

Now people say

“What drugs did you take?”

And “Why don’t you start taking them again?”

What difference would it ever make to them

But they’re not my friends

And if I was dead

What difference would it ever make to them

If I got high

From time to time

I wonder how much freedom you would need

And I’d be sorry when you wake to me

I’m reaching out to you

I’m writing all the time

I don’t see deep but I see far and wide

I see dead trees

But the roots have leaves

Just because I can’t describe it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try

To untwist the knife

To unmake my mind

Having been is no way to be alive

And I’m alive

When I watch you sleep

I wonder how much freedom we need

And I’m here

When you wake up to me

I’m still here

When you wake up to me

 

Dawned On Me

I’ve been young
I’ve been old
I’ve been hurt
And consoled
Heart of coal
Heart of gold
So I’m told

I’ve been lost
I’ve been found
I’ve been taken
By the sound
Of my own voice
The voices in my head

I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on me

Every night is a test
To the east from the west
The sun rises and sets
That’s the sun at it’s best

I forget, then I know
I’d regret letting you go
Sometimes I can’t believe how dark it can be

I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on me
It dawned on me

So on
And so forth
And again
I will stop to begin
At the end

I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on me

Oh I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on me

One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)

This is how I tell it O’ but it’s long One Sunday morning O’ one son is gone Against the weather dawning Over the sea My father said what I had become No one should be Outside I look lived in Like the bones in a shrine How am I forgiven O’ I’ll give it time This I learned without warning Holding my brow In time you thought I would kill him O’ but I didn’t know how I said it’s your God I don’t believe in No your bible can’t be true Knocked down by the long lie He cried I fear what waits for you I can hear those bells Spoken and gone I feel relief I feel well Now he knows he was wrong Ring ‘em cold for my father Frozen underground Jesus I wouldn’t bother He belongs to me now Something sad keeps moving So I wandered around I fell in love with the burden Holding me down Bless my mind I miss Being told how to live What I learned without knowing How much more that I owe than I can give This is how I tell it O’ but it’s long One Sunday morning One son is gone

Bull Black Nova

It’s in my hair
It’s on my clothes
It’s in the river over the road
It’s shining down, my angry star
Hanging on the hood of my car

I’m not going far
I’m not going far

It’s coming down
They’re coming up the shoulders
What have they found?
I wonder if they know
I’m in a bull black Chevy Nova
Silhouetted by the setting sun

This can’t be undone
This can’t be undone

If I’m the one with blood on my sofa
Blood in the sink, blood in the trunk
High at the wheel of a bull black Nova
Then I’m sorry as the setting sun

This can’t be undone
Can’t be outrun

It’s in my head
There’s blood in the sink
I can’t calm down
I can’t think
I keep calling there’s blood in the trunk
I can’t calm down

Pick up
Pick up

Impossible Germany

Impossible Germany
Unlikely Japan

Wherever you go
Wherever you land
I’ll say what this means to me
I’ll do what I can

Impossible Germany
Unlikely Japan

(The) fundamental problem
We all need to face
This is important
But I know you’re not listening
Oh I know you’re not listening

If this was still new to me
I wouldn’t understand

Impossible Germany
Unlikely Japan

But this is what love is for
To be out of place
Gorgeous and alone
Face to face

With no larger problems
That need to be erased
Nothing more important than to know
Someone’s listening
Now I know

You’ll be listening

Written by Jeff Tweedy and Wilco

Lou Reed Was My Babysitter

I want to sweat
Sweat next to you
With a sticky carpet
Sucking on my shoes
Rock n roll
Ain’t never gonna lose
No

I want you
To dance into me
Spill my drink
I want to feel the kick
Kicking in my teeth
My bleeding heart
Bleeding to the beat
Uh huh

I want you
To blow smoke in my eyes
Smoke in my eyes
I want to shake shake
Shake shake shake
Until my shoes untie
Rock n roll ain’t never gonna die
Not as long as you and I are alive

’Cause rock n roll is dead and the dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die

I want to feel everything
I want to feel everything
I want to hear the idiot sing
Until I can’t feel anything

’Cause rock n roll is dead and the dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die

written by Jeff Tweedy

I'm the Man Who Loves You

All I can see
Is black and white
And white and pink
With blades of blue
That lay between
The words I think
On a page
I was meaning
To send to you
I couldn't tell
If it would
Bring my heart
The way I wanted
When I started
Writing this letter to you

But if I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

All I can be
Is a busy sea
Of spinning wheels
And hands that feel
For stones to throw
And feet that run
But come back home
It makes no difference
Ever known
Makes no difference
Ever known to me

But if I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

All I can see
Is black and white
And white and pink
With blades of blue
That lay between
The words I think
On a page
I was meaning
To send to you
I couldn't tell
If it would
Bring my heart
The way I wanted
When I started
Writing this letter to you

If I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

If I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

If I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

I'm the man who loves you

I'm the man who loves you

I'm the man who loves you

 

A Shot in the Arm

The ashtray says You were up all night When you went to bed With your darkest mind Your pillow wept And covered your eyes And you finally slept While the sun caught fire You've changed We fell in love In the key of C We walked along Down by the sea You followed me down The neck to D And fell again Into the sea You changed Oh, you've changed Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm Something in my veins Bloodier than blood something in my veins Bloodier than blood something in my veins Bloodier than blood something in my veins Bloodier than blood The ashtray says You were up all night When you went to bed With your darkest mind You changed Oh you've changed What you once were isn't what You want to be any more What you once were isn't what You want to be any more What you once were isn't what You want to be any more What you once were isn't what You want to be any more What you once were isn't what You want to be any more  Instrumental credits: Jeff Tweedy – vocals, acoustic and 12-string guitars, synthesizers Jay Bennett – lap steel, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, drums John Stirratt – bass Ken Coomer – timpani