We can tell what matters to us by what we let get to us And what we decide to let go by The effects of our choices linger longer than our voices This is something that we can't deny If we cannot find it in us to raise up a little fuss Then how can we claim that we care? What causes us distress and what we acquiesce These are the things that lay our hearts bare It doesn't matter if we win or lose, but the sides that we choose When our brother's back is up against the wall So let me be transparent, most precise and apparent: I'm on the side of liberation for us all Black Lives Matter: it's a movement for all of our improvement That aims to make what we claim be true And some folks say all lives signify, but only in reply What they say doesn't match up with what they do And some cry about their rights, even getting into fights Just to avoid a simple show of care and grace Yet they let the law run down woman, gay black, or brown What matters most to them is keeping folks in their place What matters in the end is what we choose to defend And what we simply cannot abide We help set this world in motion, every wave upon the ocean Though things sometimes can seem beyond all control We're still agents of our fate, and the choice between love and hate Will have the final word on our souls It doesn't matter if we win or lose, but the sides that we choose When our brother's back is up against the wall So let me be transparent, most precise and apparent: I'm on the side of liberation for us all

Staring at the sun, trying to sneeze Trying just as hard as I can to squeeze This feeling through my nose My head is heavy, can't feel my toes I reckon it's just my brain again Just doing that same old thing again I'm staring at the sun, trying to sneeze I'm staring at the bottom of a glass Another indication of the time that's passed And wondering where it all went My money's all gone and my time is spent Now, I don't mind charity Especially when it's being spent on me I'm staring at the bottom of a glass I'm staring at the sun coming up Staring out over my coffee cup And knowing how badly that I fucked up And I'm never doing that again I'm staring at the sun, trying to sneeze Just trying to get myself a little peace I'm staring at the sun Staring at the sun I'm staring at the sun, trying to sneeze

Left to your devices, you'd pull out your own teeth Not to purge pain, just to keep up your mean streak With needle-nose pliers, you'll take after that incisor And extract that fucker for fuck's sake, just to spite her Taken for your tokens, spoken like a true crank Non compos mentis, take it too the blood bank Shatter expectations and brush back the batter Dog slobber's bound to be a fifth state of matter We're sliding down the sink hole, but it's no skin off my nose Mitigating factors, unsavory actors Tickled by your own hands, legs pulled by tractors Settled side bets and unreliable narration I'm confused by your use of such subtle gyrations I've never wavered in support for your slipping Prolonged ascension brings attention to the tripping Off-ramps and long vamps and tangential asides Jumped sharks, landmarks along the ride We're sliding down the sink hole, but it's no skin off my nose

In times like these, when it's best to lay low Any sane person's gonna get to thinking It's all dreams and doubts and what's-it-all-abouts But don't ask me 'cause I've been drinking I know things are looking bad and I know you're scared But just remember what your daddy told you Keep your feet in the box, keep an extra pair of socks It's not hard, it's only baseball And hindsight will tell us what we should've been doing While we were just doing what we're doing And if we never figure out just who to blame We'll run out in the snow and write our own names, hey hey Then we'll call the game I can see you've got this whole thing under control By the shade of crimson on your face And if worrying got anyone anywhere Well, I don't reckon it's my kind of place I just figure we're fodder for the history Documentaries of the future So just smile real loud and act way too proud That way, they can't tell the winners from losers When I was a little bitty boy of there or four I had a really bad fever And my mom told me that I described Having seen a figure looked kinda like Jesus And then many years later As I was coming out of dental surgery Well, it seems I saw some kind of Unicorn, at least that's what my wife told me And hindsight will tell us what we should've been doing While we were just doing what we're doing And if we never figure out just who to blame We'll run out in the snow and write our own names, hey hey Then we'll call the game

She wears her reading glasses almost all the time Got twenty pairs, like her mama, in all different kinds I make the same kinds of sounds when I wake up as my old man Looks like everything's going according to plan I'm always bitchin' 'bout the goddamn news She plays on ukuleles and kazoos We still like to sing harmony and have fun in the sack Looks like everything is right on track Though we might not have the stamina, and We might face new paramerters, But that is neither here nor there 'Cause truth be told, we're too tired to care She likes her coffee sweet, she loves her paperbacks I like a baseball game, cold beer, and dumb wisecracks She wears her reading glasses almost all the time And I am just so proud, yeah I'm just so proud to call her mine

Driving along a two-lane one night I picked this hitchhiker, he seemed mostly all right So, we got to talking, and he spun me his tale I had nothing to do, so I figured, what the hell? He came out of Beaumont, where the oil gets refined Not so much for the people, but still mostly they were kind Found himself in some trouble trying to scare up some green Had to high-tail it out of there 'fore he turned eighteen He said, 'I've got me a job driving a solid waste truck 'And I've had shitty jobs before, so I figured what the fuck? 'It's better than busting up rocks or bailing hay 'I can listen to the radio, and no one gets in my way 'But I worked in an office once, just like you 'Yeah, those bastards sure bit off more than they could chew 'Most days I would just rant and rave, bitch and moan 'If they think you're nothing but trouble, at least they leave you alone' Better days are the ones that find you above ground And better times will come when you stop and look around Yeah, nothing really goes and nothing really stays When you finally see that then you'll find better days 'So,' he said, 'I figured I just wasn't cut out for that life 'But by that time, I had me three kids and a wife 'And something just snapped, and one day I ran 'But someday I'm going back home again' Then he got really quiet and we just drove on So, I searched the dial for a good country song Just something to which we both could relate Just something to help fill up the space Then he said, 'There's this church I've been trying to find 'It's just a crucifix atop a double-wide 'This preacher in Huntsville, he gave me the address 'He said I just had to get there and let God do the rest' Well, I knew the place, so I drove on ahead And I can still remember the last thing that he said: 'If you're not right with Jesus, then you're just not right' Then he disappeared like a thief in the night Better days are the ones that find you above ground And better times will come when you stop and look around 'Cause nothing really goes and nothing really stays When you finally see that then you'll find better days

The wife's watching Shakespeare on cable while stroking the cat Tell me, how in the hell is a guy supposed to compete with that? Perhaps if I venture a kiss on her cheek it might take I try awfully hard, but I ain't no bard, just a regular guy on the make And what would it take to get some of her attention? Should I mention that her eyes are actually quite like the sun Or should I just sit here twiddlin' my thumbs? So I sit down beside her and watch along with her just to show her I have me some class And that Rosalin surely was right on the ball when she said love was merely madness But it wasn't too long that my might got to wander and then I reckon I asked her one too many questions, so she just ignored me again How can I win, when his words hold the keys to her herat? If I start singing sonnets they seldom will ever compare-- It's not fair, so I just stare as she sits there watching Shakespeare The wife's watching Shakespeare on cable, but the cat took a hike I figured this must be my chance, so I move in to strike I lean in real close, whisper low in her ear a few lines And this time I get to her, I learn I can woo her by making my heart start to rhyme And I don't mind coming in off the bench That Willie the Shake's a real mensch for setting me up and Showing me how I should speak my love

When the time comes for growing old It's a time of loss, or so we're told Still, there's an advantage that you might have missed You can say what's on your mind and get away with it No more polite, little lies just to keep the peace The elders are exempt from that social grease And no one expects for you to hold it in Such a shame that liberation has to wait 'til then Sometimes it hurts to hear it And most never go near it But there's no need to fear it, for The truth will set you free No, I don't want to see your show I'd rather get mosquito bites from head to toe And if you pull out another picture of your kids I can't be held responsible for the position of my eyelids Yes, I want another slice of pie And yes, I spend too much time wondering how I'll die But you never once laid out your cards so plain So, if you need some advice, remember this refrain Sometimes it hurts to hear it And most never go near it But there's no need to fear it, for The truth will set you free I've been losing patience with these little, white lies Deception is the same, no matter color or size We just end up lying to ourselves in the end Compromise ourselves just so we don't offend Sometimes it hurts to hear it And most never go near it But there's no need to fear it, for The truth will set you free

A nickel's worth of sense beats a dollar's worth of doubt And a little bit of hope can help get you through the drought A satchel full of faith in hard times can get you by But a surplus of certainty will leave you high and dry This life is complicated, it seems like most of us are fated To miss most of all these lessons we are taught And the older that we grow, the less we'll surely know So, just do the best you can, you'll still be wrong more often than not A copious collection of memories is swell But remembering too much sometimes can lead a man to dwell A drawer full of dreams and a fist-full of regrets Are just the leavings of a life that hasn't left quite yet These things we carry with us, these things we leave behind Are how we make ourselves, how we change our state of mind We were never meant to live and to die as just one thing So, just hang onto what helps you face the change that time will bring This life is complicated, it seems like most of us are fated To miss most of all these lessons we are taught And the older that we grow, the less we'll surely know So, just do the best you can, you'll still be wrong more often than not

I can see clearly now the rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day I think I can make it now, the pain is gone All of the bad feelings have disappeared Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day Look all around, there's nothing but blue skies Look straight ahead, nothing but blue skies I can see clearly now the rain is gone I can see all obstacles in my way Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day

Sometimes I can't sum it up in a rhyme Least, not these days, gets harder all the time That don't mean that I don't try, but hell, you know I'm no John Prine And sometimes I can't sum it up in a rhyme Sometimes songs just don't have the space To hold the things that I need to say I can try to make it fit, try to shoehorn it in just a little bit But sometimes songs just don't have enough space Sometimes I just don't know what to say Like anything would just get in the way Sometimes I need to take a seat, sit one out, spit out my feet 'Cause, sometimes I just don't know what to say And other days, you just can't shut me up Like someone put something in my coffee cup Those days I can't bite my tongue, I've said some things I know have stung On those days you just can't shut me up So let's go to the Buddha Jamboree Fred Rogers, John Prine, Maya Angelou, you, and me We'll laugh until we split our sides, and cry that real cleansing cry Let's go to the Buddha Jamboree Some days singing doesn't help at all On those days, I fear I'm heading for a fall Those days I can't stand a single, solitary thing that I sing On those days when singing doesn't help at all Lately I'd just like to find a breeze And catch it so I can float on by with ease I'd hardly have to think at all, just smile big and walk real tall If I could only find a breeze So let's go to the Buddha Jamboree Fred Rogers, John Prine, Maya Angelou, you, and me We'll laugh until we split our sides, and cry that real cleansing cry Let's go to the Buddha Jamboree We'll sneak in wearing our disguise Might get kicked out, but still we'll rise Let's go to the Buddha Jamboree