A Sucker's Dream

The Alternate Routes A Sucker's Dream Lyrics
1.On And On We Whisper

On and on
Write a song that saves the world and don't be wrong
Sing it up to god until she sings along
Tell me how to walk the line
Tell me how to lead the blind
with my shoes untied

On and on we whisper
Tell me how to scream
I've been screaming like a dreamer
Who cannot fall back to sleep
Tell me bout the road you're on
and maybe we could meet
Tell me bout the road your
On and on and on we whisper

And all this time
And nothing stays together when you're making noise
Nothing lasts forever when you're flipping coins
Cause Sonny gotta lotta cheese
Never gotta piece for me
But I'm still hungry

On and on we whisper
Tell me how to scream
I been screaming like a dreamer
who cannot fall back to sleep
Tell me bout the road you're on
and maybe we could meet
Tell me bout the road your
on and on and on we whisper

Everybody looks real fine
Everybody's on my chain
Why you wanna dress me up
Everybody aches the same way

On and on we whisper
Tell me how to scream
You know I nearly had a heart attack
and I can't fall back to sleep
Tell me bout the road you're on
And maybe we could meet
Tell me bout the road your on
And on and on and on and on
And on and on and on
You know I nearly had a heart attack
You know I nearly had a heart attack


2.Ain't No Secret

I'd stick around if you tell me I'm yours
But don't leave your keys for me, open the door
Nobody's getting hurt here if nobody cares
Nobody's getting lost if nobody's going anywhere

And darling I know that you can't be sure of anything anymore

I wanna love you like it ain't no secret
Like I'm not ashamed to show
Nor would I ever, oh never never
Oh never let you go
I'll never let you go

I'm on a tight rope maybe I'm scared
Maybe I love you but you never play fair
So shed a little light where nobody sees
I built a bible for the saints with my disbelief

And darling I know that you can't be sure of anything anymore

I wanna love you like it ain't no secret
Like I'm not ashamed to show
Nor would I ever, oh never never
Oh never let you go

My love is easy
Tell me bout yours and then
Tell me you need me
Carry me home again
It's been a mystery
Most of the time
Stranded on the big top
Throw me a line

I wanna love you like it ain't no secret
Like I'm not ashamed to show
Nor would I ever, oh never never
Oh never let you go
I'll never let you go


3.All That I See

Is there somewhere to be
When you're watching TV?
Should it feel like more then a Monday?
When you live in some town
Hanging around
Are we all just waiting on some day?

See I miss you most days
In kaleidoscope ways
And calling you up keeps me normal
But long distance is long
And there's a long distance call
And a highway of miles in between us

Sometimes I say it too much
But I can't say it enough

If all we can find
Is a life we can't hide from
Then all that I need is you
Everyone needs
Something to believe in
And all I can see is you
All I can see is you

There's a six-hour drive
And I know it by heart
But it's never too far if you love me
I'm a travelin' man
And I'm home when I can be
I hope that you know that I love you

And I can't say it enough
It's too much

If all we can find
Is a life we can't hide from
Then all that I need is you
Everyone needs
Something to believe in
And all I can see is you

I don't know how it is
I still feel like a kid
And these working clothes feel like a costume
And you can't break the rules
Like we did back in school
And we live and we wish in the well
And everybody needs someone to tell

Well we all need a place
Where we're allowed to slow down
And we're allowed to hide out on the weekend
Four hundred miles
I'll be home in a while
But I'm never on time if you know me

If all we can find
Is a life we can't hide from
Then all that I need is you
And everyone needs
Something to believe in
And all I can see is you
All I can see is you, is you


4.The Future's Nothing New

Well she don't have her momma's hips yet
So she stole her momma's lipstick
And she knew that I was coming
And I think that I know why

She goes by Fiona
She seeks bad luck in omens
When she's free and when she's lonely
She comes beatin' at my door, singing:

I've seen the future and the future's nothing new
Just another day to miss the things we used to do
So just lay me down somewhere like you do
I've seen the future and the future's nothing new

Steer the bitch back, paint the crane
Winter's coming back again
Hide the bourbon, clean the stove
Stack the wood in rows below

Sunday's coming, heat the plates
The farmer's daughter lays in wait
Jeans cut off above her knees
Lying there she waits for me

She goes by Fiona
she seeks bad luck in omens
When she's free and when she's lonely
she comes beating at my door, singing:

I've seen the future and the future's nothing new
Just another day to miss the things we used to do
So just lay me down somewhere like you do
I've seen the future and the future's nothing new

Well everybody's pushing paper
Learning how to loose a buck
And all the crystal balls in Portland
Gonna tell you how it's tough

You need a little bit of loving
Just trying to get the good rush
But if you really saw it coming
would it matter all that much, saying

I've seen the future and the future's nothing new
Just another day to miss the things we used to do
So just lay me down somewhere like you do
I've seen the future and the future's nothing new

Well she don't have her momma's hips yet
So she stole her momma's lipstick
And she knew that I was coming
And I think that I know why


5.Just A Dream

Don't blame it on the weekend
Summer had to end
When one foot's going forward
One knee's about to bend
So take what you can carry
And let's be on our way

It's all a dream
It's all a dream is all
You try to get it back
But it's never quite enough
You know it's all
All a dream
It's all a dream is all
And you know I'll be there waiting
When the sun starts coming up

I make peace with my anger
When fire wants to fight
And there's no greater danger
Then turning out the light
So I surrender baby
I'd rather go back home

It's all a dream
It's all a dream is all
You try to get it back
But it's never quite enough
You know it's all
All a dream
It's all a dream is all
But you know I'll be there waiting
When the sun starts coming up
It's all a dream

The one's that love you
See you all at once
The one's that love you
See you all at once
The one's that love you
See you all at once

It's all a dream
It's all a dream is all
You try to get it back
But it's never quite enough
You know it's all
All a dream
It's all a dream is all
But you know I'll be there waiting
When the sun starts coming up
It's all a dream

It's all a dream
It's all a dream
It's all a dream
It's all a dream is all


6.Desdemona (feat. Patty Griffin)

Desdemona, help yourself
I hear you mourning at the dawn
Desdemona, ask which side
Of all this lying are you on

Did you build yourself a runway?
Did you tell yourself tomorrow?
Did you cry?
And are you dressed in hesitation
when you tell yourself that everything's alright?

Cause I see a distance in your smile
And what your Mondays have become
could be the rest of your life
Desdemona, you're not dead yet
No it's not wrong
If you want everything in life under the sun
Under the sun

Desdemona, you're in love
Do not forget about yourself
Desdemona, bring the people
That you love inside your hell

Cause you are younger in the eyes of those who see you
Please forget about the time
Throw yourself out on these brave and empty branches
In the winter waiting high.

Everybody's out there killing time
But I will be damned to lets you stand here killing mine.
Don't you know we're gonna change a whole world the day
We stop waiting on the world to change

Desdemona, we are not so very different
Do you see?
At the moment braver still
Than what our minds let us believe

Even the walls the will surround you
Somehow steady by your very own hands
I don't know just how to change you
All I know is how to tell you that you can

Cause I'll never tell you how to live
But you keep on telling me
That's just the way it is
Desdemona more then anything I know
Never tell yourself that's just the way it goes
I know it goes
But what do I know


7.Toe The Line

When are you leaving?
Where will you go?
Who will be waiting for you there
when you get home?

What is the distance between your heart?
And where you wish that you were headed, is it far?
Maybe our madness is the only thing we have
Where you go with your machete in your hand?

I'm counting slowly
Barely breaking even
And I'm inclined to be your friend
I'm inclined to meet ya

We all need something
What do you need?
What are you building with your possibilities?

Put up your passion man
Put down your fist
Nobody warns you that your life can twist like this

We tow the line
we break the backs of our hands
And I'll build you a castle if you bring me some sand

I'm counting slowly
Barely breaking even
And I'm inclined to be your friend
I'm inclined to meet you

Nobody ever gets to know from keeping secrets
If you go the road alone
I bet it's gonna beat you

Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line

I'm counting slowly
Barely breaking even
And I'm inclined to be your friend
I'm inclined to meet you

Nobody ever gets to know from keeping secrets
If you go the road alone
I bet it's gonna beat you

Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line
Toe the line


8.A Sucker's Dream

Step outside and raise your hand
Set your mind to see where I stand
And show me my broken home

I'll sell my heart, I see no use
I can't explain the things I do
It's all I've ever known
So show me my broken home

There's blood on my sleeve
My knees are weak trying
So preach on you Jesus freaks
I'm inspired
And now that I'm alone
I ain't so tired

When did my life start to mean
Starving on a sucker's dream?
It's all I've ever known
So show me my broken home

There's blood on my sleeve
My knees are weak trying
So preach on you Jesus freaks
I'm inspired
And now that I'm alone
I ain't so tired

Oh tell me can you hear me now?
Tell me are you alright?
Is there anybody out there?
Smokin' mirrors in the moonlight
I'm alone but I'm only growing old

There's blood on my sleeve
My knees are weak trying
So preach on you Jesus freaks
I'm inspired
And now that I'm alone
I ain't so tired


9.Already November

I saw you three times
In a face in the crowd
Called out your name
Just as clear and a loud
As I could without thinking
It wouldn't be you
But a lie in my head
Was a hope that died true

I saw what I thought
Was that look in your eyes
On the face of a stranger man
Standing in line
And all I know now
When it comes to you
Is that I ran outta stars
For one wish to come true

And gone are the days when I still had the time
And please tell my mother I'm doing alright
But it's slow, slow and gone is the life that I've known
The life that I've known

It's already november
we've been driving all night
Never thought that we'd bring it this far
In a working man's town
Thought I'd see you around
On the shotgun side
With my own two eyes

Then I saw you three times
In a rearview mirror
Like the broken white stripes in the dark
Could've sworn it was you
By the light of the moon
Like a Tennessee cross in a fog

And gone are the days when I still had the time
And please tell my mother I'm doing alright
But it's slow, slow and gone is the life that I've known
The life that I've known

And gone are the days when I still had the time
And please tell my mother I'm doing alright
But it's slow, slow and gone is the life that I've known
The life that I've known


10.Never Gonna Be Rich

You push the pedal but the thing won't go
You try and learn it but you just don't know
Who's holding bullets for your twisted gun
You've spun it so that I may be the one

What will your wounded soldier spell
He's playing dead among the things that he will never tell
When will your wounded soul just see
That nothing here grows out of secrecy

You say you're never gonna be rich
Well how you ever gonna know
If you never open your eyelids
Tell me how you're gonna find gold

You're telling me you've never been kissed
Well maybe that's the way it goes
But if you never learn to take nothing
How you gonna learn to let go

You're moving on or are you running scared
It won't be long before the game gets fair
You sit in silence and you plead your case
You call it wisdom but they're just mistakes

They'll never need you back in Oregon
Can't build no story on the same old song
Giving up is such a bitter taste
I see the sour growing on your face

You say you're never gonna be rich
Well how you ever gonna know
If you never open your eyelids
Tell me how you're gonna find gold

You're telling me you've never been kissed
Well maybe that's the way it goes
But if you never learn to take nothing
How you gonna learn to let go

You say you're never gonna be rich
Well how you ever gonna know
If you never open your eyelids
Tell me how you're gonna find gold


11.A Better Way

Well he's waiting at the bus stop, seven years old
Breathing on his collar in the freezing cold
And he doesn't know a thing about minimum wage
But his mother's gone early and she gets in late

And by the time he's 18 he's got nobody else
But god knows college won't pay for itself
So he traded in scraping for a uniform.
And I'm starting to see what he's fighting for
Standing on the front line
Now he's waiting on a land mine

And maybe there's a better way
Maybe there's a better way

Mona Lisa moved up and she moved away
From the people she knew, now she works all day
For a walk-in closet and a master bed
She swore that she'd never be poor again

And she can't stop shopping, she's so damn bored
And I'm starting to see what we're fighting for
Standing on the front line
Living in a gold mine

And maybe there's a better way
Maybe there's a better way
Maybe there's a better way

I did some diving on the street today
I put my head against a window pane
I did some thinking about the way it is
I did some thinking about the way we live and,
I wanna talk about Jesus Christ
I wanna talk about living a lie
I wanna talk about the Pentagon
It doesn't matter what side your on, well
I'm only really trying to figure it out
But you can't hear me cause you talk so loud

And maybe there's a better way
Maybe there's a better way

Maybe there's a better way
Then sending them off to die
Maybe there's a better way
Then drinking alone tonight
Maybe there's a better way

Maybe there's a better way
Then sending them off to die
Maybe there's a better way
Then drinking alone tonight
Maybe there's a better way