Lay It Down

Cowboy Junkies Lay It Down Lyrics
1.Angel Mine

He searched for those wings that he knew
that this angel should have at her back
And although he can't find them
he really don't mind
because he knows they'll grow back
And he reached for that halo that he knows
that she had when she first caught his eye
Although his hand came back empty
he's really not worried
'cause he knows it still shines

I can't promise that I'll grow those wings
or keep this tarnished halo shined
but I'll never betray your trust
angel mine

I search all the time on the ground
for our shadows cast side by side
Just to remind me that I haven't gone crazy
that you exist and are mine
And I know that your skin is as warm and as real
as that smile in your eyes
But I have to keep touching and smelling
and tasting for fear it's all lies

I can't promise that I'll grow those wings
or keep this tarnished halo shined
but I'll never betray your trust
angel mine

Last night I awoke from the deepest of sleeps
with your voice in my head
And I could tell by your breathing
that you were still sleeping
I repeated those words that you had said

I can't promise that I'll grow those wings
or keep this tarnished halo shined
but I'll never betray your trust
angel mine


2.Bea's Song(River Song Trilogy:Part Ii)

Speed River at my feet running low and flat
I'm sitting here burning daylight,
thinking about the past
and that distance out there
where the earth meets the sky
The slightest move and this river mud
pulls me further down
John's at my side, but he's sitting on firmer ground

John says I look at the moon and the stars
these days more often than I look into his eyes
and I can't disagree so I don't say nothing
I just stare on past his face at Venus rising,
like a shining speck of hope hanging over the horizon

With each passing year that I sit here
that horizon seems to inch just that much nearer
and all that appears on it seems as clear as spit
But if there's on thing in my life
that these years have taught
it's that you can always see it coming
but you can never stop it

Speed River at my feet running low and flat
I'm sitting here burning daylight,
thinking about the past
and that distance out there
where the earth meets the sky
The slightest move and this river mud
pulls me further down
John's at my side,
but he's not noticing that I'm drowning
The slightest move and this river mud
pulls me further down
John's at my side,
but he's not noticing that I'm drowning


3.Just Want to See

I don't want to be no patch on no quilt
(I just want to see...)
Tear-stained stitching linking memories to guilt
(I just want to see...)
I don't want to be no hair on no wall
(I just want to see...)
Blood-stained note saying fuck you all
(I just want to see what kills me)

Tommy, are you ready we better head to town
J.D.'s box is waiting to be lowered down
and you know how he hates to be kept waiting 'round

I don't want to be no chalk line drawing
(I just want to see...)
Toe-tagged question mark, until identifying
(I just want to see...)
I don't want to fuse with no economy seat
(I just want to see...)
fuel some fireball at 30,000 feet
(I just want to see what kills me)

Tommy, did you catch his face
before they closed the lid?
I swear I saw him wink once and flash me that old grin
Oh, you know, that would be just like him

I don't want to face no hollow-eyed ending
(I just want to see...)
Loved ones buried, empty days of waiting
(I just want to see what kills me)

Tommy, darling, come to bed
we'll try and sleep away this sadness
These memories, too, are bound to die
so our dreams will have to serve us
Tomorrow may be the day that our love betrays us


4.Lonely Sinking Feeling

She says, 'I'm getting that lonely sinking feeling,
you know what I mean?'
With his hand on her back he's thinking,
'Where does that leave me?'
Just when I think I've uncovered the secret
to peace and tranquility
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me

He says, 'I'm seeing those doubt filled
questioning eyes
and I can't believe it's true'
With her head in her hands she sighs,
'It's me, not you'

Just when I thought that I'd discovered the joy
of loving one so completely
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me

Here in this silent room we wait on ancient ritual
Staring at our hearts
as if they were two caged animals
If I am the first to unlock those rusty doors
will I be the first found bleeding on the floor?

She says, 'I'm getting that lonely sinking feeling,
you know what I mean?'
With his hand on her back he's thinking,
'Where does that leave me?'

Just when I think I've uncovered the secret
to peace and tranquility
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me

Just when I thought that I'd discovered the joy
of loving one so completely
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me
that lonely sinking feeling creeps up on me


5.Come Calling(Her Song)

The stillness here,
like what he sometimes finds inside her,
hits so hard it can steal your breath forever
He sometimes wonders
is the sum of their lives together
him on the floor and her lost to a mind in tatters

These days he's drinking for the pleasure of falling
and he's falling for the pleasure of pretending
that she's sitting by the window waiting
for him to come calling

If I could fix me up a week of twilight hours
we'd sit on the point
and watch the sun continually flounder
Bathed in gold we'd plug into some kind of power
and connect with those days
back before all of this went sour

'Cause I'm drinking for the pleasure of falling
and I'm falling for the pleasure of pretending
that you're sitting by the window waiting
for me to come calling

Odd how the darkness always makes us whisper
and with the last of the sun
you can feel the approach of the winter
Now is the time of each day
that I Desperately miss her
I suppose I will learn how to live my life without her

So you're drinking for the pleasure of falling
and you're falling for the pleasure of pretending
that I'm sitting by the window waiting
for you to come calling


6.Musical Key

My mother sang the sweetest melody
although she never sang in a musical key
I'd hear her through the house
My name called out loud
My mother sang the sweetest melody

My mother's hands were always cool and soft
And like her eyes they would caress with every touch
She would listen to my chatter
as if every word I spoke mattered
She'd hold me close and whisper in my ear

She'd say, 'girl you are a part of me
I have made you strong
when you grow up and are on your own
remember to win them with your song'

My father sang in perfect harmony
And though he never sang in a musical key
You could hear him when he'd enter the house
the kiss he'd give my Ma
My father sang in perfect harmony

My father's words were always sure and clear
and like his presence they would rid me of my fears
When I crawled up on his knees
I was safe as I could be
He'd hold me tight and whisper in my ear

He'd say, 'girl you are a part of me
I have made you strong
when you grow up and are on your own
remember to win them with your song'

My mother sang in perfect harmony
although she never sang in a musical key


7.A Common Disaster

A candle burning for everything I've ever wanted
A tattoo burned for everything I've ever wanted and lost
I had a long list of names that I kept in my back pocket,
but I've cut it down to one and your name's at the top

Won't you share a common disaster?
Share with me a common disaster
A common disaster

I found myself a friend,
but he's crooked as a stick in water
So now I'm writing fairy tales
to catch the spirit of revenge
He's got a plan to steal my little sister,
but I'm not too concerned
'cause I will get him in the end

Won't you share a common disaster?
Share with me a common disaster
A common disaster

Going to find me someone to share
A common disaster
Run away with me from a life so cramped and dull
Not worry too much about the happily-ever-after
Just keep the Caddy moving
'til we're well beyond that hill

Won't you share a common disaster?
Share with me a common disaster
A common disaster


8.Something More Besides You

One foot strands before the crib
the other by the casket
A question formed upon stilled lips
is passed on but never asked

I guess I believe that there's a point
to what we do
But I ask myself is there
something more besides you?

Two are born to cross
their paths, their lives, their hearts
If by chance one turns away
are they forever lost?

I guess I believe that there's a point
to what we do
But I ask myself is there
something more besides you?

This morning I awoke,
the bed warm where it once was cold
Small blessings laid upon us
Small mysteries slowly unfold

Yet I still wonder is there a point
to what we do?
'Cause I kind of doubt
that there is something more besides you

Although it's hard to find the point
to what we do,
do I dare believe that there is
something more besides you?


9.Lay it Down

He left his dead in the cottonwood trees
the ground grown too hard with the years
Falling down was not what it used to be
the ground grown too hard with the years

He told his children those little white lies
the truth would only paralyze them
He told himself those little white lies
the truth would only paralyze him

Lay it down, lay it down

He sold most of what he cherished,
the rest he let them steal
Shot his dog out in the open field,
the rest he let them steal

He broke all of his promises,
under a sea green sky
They never thought to ask him why,
under a sea green sky

Lay it down, lay it down

Please bury me in the cottonwood trees
the ground grown too cold for me
Going to sleep tonight in a warm feather bed
the ground grown too cold for me

Lay it down, lay it down


10.Hold On to Me

If you offered me a shade of blue
would I return it saying that it was too
dark or light?
Or would I see it for the precious thing
that it might one day be?
Hold on to me

If you offered me a point of view
would I dismiss it saying that it was too
black and white?
Or would I see it as the special thing
That it would no doubt be?
Hold on to me

I'll hold on to this gift we share
it is as slippery as it is rare
I'll hold on to that feeling
of waking and finding you there
I'll hold on to you and you hold on to me

If I asked you for a simple thing

Would you do it without too much thinking or fuss?
Would you see it for the precious thing
that it would surely be?
Hold on to me

Hold on to me
Hold on to me


11.Speaking Confidentially

Speaking confidentially
the fire that burnt inside of me
has turned to ash the tortured tree
that grows beside the anguished sea
Speaking confidentially

Speaking metaphorically
the earth I trust beneath my feet
is moving now ever so slightly
I shift my feet but feel no relief
Speaking metaphorically

Speaking hypothetically
if the air you breathed was so unique
would you use it up to idly speak
or horde it for a rainy week
Speaking hypothetically

Speaking kind of cryptically
the sea that raged beside the tree
burning bright for all to see
it just might mean the most to me
Speaking kind of cryptically


12.Now I Know

Now I know, now I know what it means to be broken
Now I know, now I know what it means to be bared
You in the chair perceptibly sinking
I'm on my knees once again made aware
of the world out there
Grief is a word to describe the absense of feeling
Now I know, now I know what it means to be broken

Now I know, now I know,
now I know what it means to be broken
Now I know, now I know,
now I know what it means to be bared
You in the chair systematically sinking
I'm on my knees once again made aware
of the world out there
Grief is a word to describe the absense of feeling
Now I know, now I know,
Now I know what it means to be broken


13.Come Calling

The stillness here,
Like what he sometimes finds inside her,
Hits so hard it can steal your breath forever
He sometimes wonders
Is the sum of their lives together
Him on the floor and her lost to a mind in tatters

These days he's drinking for the pleasure of falling
And he's falling for the pleasure of pretending
That she's sitting by the window waiting
For him to come calling

If i could fix me up a week of twilight hours
We'd sit on the point
And watch the sun continually flounder
Bathed in gold we'd plug into some kind of power
And connect with those days
Back before all of this went sour

'cause i'm drinking for the pleasure of falling
And i'm falling for the pleasure of pretending
That you're sitting by the window waiting
For me to come calling

Odd how the darkness always makes us whisper
And with the last of the sun
You can feel the approach of the winter
Now is the time of each day
That i desperately miss her
I suppose i will learn how to live my life without her

So you're drinking for the pleasure of falling
And you're falling for the pleasure of pretending
That i'm sitting by the window waiting
For you to come calling


14.Bea's Song

Speed river at my feet running low and flat
I'm sitting here burning daylight,
Thinking about the past
And that distance out there
Where the earth meets the sky
The slightest move and this river mud
Pulls me further down
John's at my side, but he's sitting on firmer ground

John says i look at the moon and the stars
These days more often than i look into his eyes
And i can't disagree so i don't say nothing
I just stare on past his face at venus rising,
Like a shining speck of hope hanging over the horizon

With each passing year that i sit here
That horizon seems to inch just that much nearer
And all that appears on it seems as clear as spit
But if there's on thing in my life
That these years have taught
It's that you can always see it coming
But you can never stop it

Speed river at my feet running low and flat
I'm sitting here burning daylight,
Thinking about the past
And that distance out there
Where the earth meets the sky
The slightest move and this river mud
Pulls me further down
John's at my side,
But he's not noticing that i'm drowning
The slightest move and this river mud
Pulls me further down
John's at my side,
But he's not noticing that i'm drowning