Trace

Son Volt Trace Lyrics
1.Windfall

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

Now and then it keeps you running
It never seems to die
The trail's spent with fear
Not enough living on the outside

Never seem to get far enough
Staying in between the lines
Hold on to what you can
Waiting for the end
Not knowing when

May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel,
May the wind take your troubles away

Trying to make it far enough, to the next time zone
Few and far between past the midnight hour
Never feel alone, you're really not alone...

Switching it over to AM
Searching for a truer sound
Can't recall the call letters
Steel guitar and settle down
Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven

May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel,
May the wind take your troubles away.


2.Live Free

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

Looking for the right kind of live free or die...

I want to see your smile through a pay phone
The season has changed
I want to see you in it
The lights that shine are caustic without you.

When we're all passed over
The rhythm of the river will remain
And it will remain

Nicotine and waiting
Just wanted to keep it alive
You turn and before you know it
We're just threading this needle for life

A brighter way is what you prove
Anesthetize is what you do.

When we're all passed over
The rhythm of the river will remain
And it will remain

Someday we'll be together
Farther south than the train line
The Delta mud will be there
We're just living this way
Because we know no other

When we're all passed over
The rhythm of the river will remain
And it will remain

Looking for the right kind of live free or die...


3.Tear Stained Eye

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

Walking down Main Street
Getting to know the concrete
Looking for a purpose from a neon sign
I would meet you anywhere the western sun meets the air
We'll hit the road, never looking behind

Can you deny, there's nothing greater
Nothing more than the traveling hands of time?
Sainte Genevieve can hold back the water
But saints don't bother with a tear stained eye

Seeing traces of the scars that came before
Hitting the pavement still asking for more
When the hours don't move along,
Worn-out wood and familiar songs
To hear your voice is not enough
It's more than a shame

Can you deny, there's nothing greater
Nothing more than the traveling hands of time?
Sainte Genevieve can hold back the water
But saints don't bother with a tear stained eye

Like the man said, rode hard and put away wet
Throw away the bad news, and put it to rest
If learning is living, and the truth is a state of mind
You'll find it's better at the end of the line.

Can you deny, there's nothing greater
Nothing more than the traveling hands of time?
Sainte Genevieve can hold back the water
But saints don't bother with a tear stained eye.


4.Route

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

Reality, it burns
The way we're living is worse
The pillars of inspiration are all falling down
The clean-up won't work while the fallout goes on.

And it's now or never, too close to the latter
We're all living proof that nothing lasts.

Standing in the neutral zone
Living on sleep deprivation
The rural route sleeps while the city bleeds all over itself
Over the falls in a barrel is where the answers have gone

And it's now or never, too close to the latter
We're all living proof that nothing lasts
And it's here for now, transient tomorrow
We're all living proof that nothing lasts.

Another road remains, but it provides no more
It can only take us away
Southbound, you can taste the weather
It feels like home

And it's now or never
Too close to the latter
We're all living proof that nothing lasts
And it's here for now, transient tomorrow
We're all living proof that nothing lasts.


5.Ten Second News

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

When you find what matters is what you feel
It arrives, and it disappears
Driving down sunny 44 highway
There's a beach there known for cancer waiting to happen
When you're out across the county line
The news travels slower than a ten-second buzz

And only you'll ever know
'Cause day by day it disappears
Only you'll ever know

And it's hard enough soaking up billboard signs
You scorch and drown alive
Never knowing why

The levee gates are open wide
There's a cough in the water, and it's running into town.
Bright eyes, don't change, stay the same
There must be an answer for what keeps it going on

But only you'll ever know
'Cause day by day it disappears
Only you'll ever know


6.Drown

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

Sky cracks open, walls falling to the floor
Just as well to keep it, a guessing game in store

You're with me now, will be again
All other points in between

And the cruel, cruel mornings
Have turned to days of swim or sink

If living right is easy, what goes wrong
You're causing it to drown
Didn't want to turn that way
You're causing it to drown
Doesn't make a difference now
You're causing it to drown
Silence knows, can't drown a heart

Happenstance is falling through the cracks each day
Too close now to change it
Fool's gold is lighter anyway

When in doubt, move on, no need to sort it out
You're with me now, will be again
All other points in between

And I want to find the right side of you
If living right is easy, what goes wrong
You're causing it to drown
Didn't want to turn that way
You're causing it to drown
Doesn't make a difference now
You're causing it to drown
Silence knows, can't drown a heart

When in doubt, move on, no need to sort it out
You're with me now, will be again
All other points in between

And I want to find the right side of you
If living right is easy, what goes wrong
You're causing it to drown
Didn't want to turn that way
You're causing it to drown
Doesn't make a difference now
You're causing it to drown
Silence knows, can't drown a heart.


7.Loose String

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

One-way streets and square one
The answers don't come from any one direction
Not a care in the world, no better way to go
It's fine here, watching it go down

Half the trouble's in the asking
And I know you're not the kind to wait around
Taking chances with no intent to make a killing
Too much living is no way to die

Loose string
Find the pieces don't fit in
Loose string
Coming up for air again and again
Loose string
Too much living is no way to die

See the ground sinking 'round
Tomorrow's a card to play
Same old words heard in storms
Repeated doom
Too many rules, it will bleed you dry

Half the trouble's in the asking
And I know you're not the kind to wait around
Taking chances with no intent to make a killing
Too much living is no way to die

Loose string
Find the pieces don't fit in
Loose string
Coming up for air again and again
Loose string
Too much living is no way to die

Said you haven't seen it all
Just keep on searching for just one single reason

Half the trouble's in the asking
And I know you're not the kind to wait around
Taking chances with no intent to make a killing
Too much living is no way to die
Loose string
Find the pieces don't fit in
Loose string
Coming up for air again and again
Loose string
Loose string


8.Out of the Picture

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

You may be quite sure you know where you're going
But sooner or later you're out of the picture
Too many lost names, too many rules to the game
Better find a focus or you're out of the picture

Somewhere along the way the clock runs out
Somewhere along the way it all stands still

Firemen save a millionaire's mansion
But when it's done, they sleep on the side of the road
You may be lost, you'll find
Just another paradigm
Just a stop frame in time
And then you're out of the picture

Somewhere along the way the clock runs out
Somewhere along the way it all stands still

Take away this Columbus Day
No more bones on display
Blackhawk never had a say
Just taken out of the picture

Somewhere along the way the clock runs out
Somewhere along the way it all stands still


9.Catching On

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

Can't find a reason
Can't find a way
Guess it's not you and me
Only dogs have their day

Another case of words that melt
It's not a question of right
Nightmares in broad daylight

Season crash, season burn
You survive another turn
And now I'm reaching out, it's true

When you don't see me, I'm catching on to you
You don't see me
I'm catching on to you

Took a break to get that far
Like the sound from a hundred-dollar guitar
Bought from an old catalogue
Yesterday's dust and heartache
As the pieces fall like candy when you're young
Medicine when you're old

There's no reason or rhyme
Sidestepping around
On an elevator climb

When you don't see me, I'm catching on to you
You don't see me, I'm catching on to you

Another jail, another burned-out inside
Skeleton love left to die
Take whatever lies ahead
The good with the bad, and leave the rest

When you don't see me, I'm catching on to you
You don't see me
I'm catching on to you


10.Too Early

Lyrics:Jay Farrar
Music:Jay Farrar

Mileage has taken its toll
Paid it with lines to show
You've had your fill of asphalt
Cough tremors, and smoke-filled doors

Look like the habit controls you
You look like you need a rest
You've made it to the timber-line
Don't know what to expect

God knows, you don't need it
Too early, you might be the one
**YOU To find yourself somewhere else
Too early in the sun

Song strains, distant, over
A barroom drink-filled roar
The old folksinger lays it down
Not for long, no longer ignored

Spinning tales of temptation
Gambling days lost and won
No crimes committed here
Too much habit could be the one

God knows, you don't need it
Too early, you might be the one
To find yourself somewhere else
Too early in the sun

Never seen half of what you've seen
Real life never quite adds up
The road goes on when the faces don't
Word of mouth never tells the truth

Like to hear your story told
With a two-step beat and rhyme
Could be Tennessee or Texas
On and on, that road winds

God knows, you don't need it
Too early, you might be the one
To find yourself somewhere else
Too early in the sun


11.Mystifies Me

Lyrics:Ron Wood
Music:Ron Wood

Stay a while and work it out of me
We've got time and we can cause it to
Just give me a sign I'll take your word
I'll learn anything you want me to
That is all I'm looking to you for
All I'm asking that you simply do
Take it, Leave it, make things matter
Let in all my breath away
Take it all apart and put it back
I am always left here looking at you

You look so fine, true
You look so fine, true
And I would not lie to you

Let me see you, let me know your dreams
Won't you please give out a sign?
Things you say make me look through you
No one mystifies me like you do
This is why I'll always look at you
And I'll hold you to it every day

You look so fine, true
No one mystifies me like you do
You look so fine, true
No one mystifies me like you do