Great big storm behind the mountain
See a flash, start counting
Feel the fire, crackling breeze
Thunder rumbles right up to your knees
Lightning
Flash so bright you lose the sky
Feels like Armageddon’s nigh
Push down, move faster
Driving down the throat of disaster
Lightning
High voltage electrical whine
Into my ears through the telephone line
I hear the words, feel the frisson
You talked, I didn’t listen
Lightning
Tires rip the dark wet road
Under-thinking overload
A hundred miles in nothing flat
Never let you go like that
Lightning
Great big storm behind the mountain
Thunder rumbles right to your knees
Great big storm behind the mountain
Thunder rumbles right to your knees
Great big storm behind the mountain
Thunder rumbles right to your knees
Great big storm behind the mountain
Thunder rumbles right to your knees
Lightning
someone else I know died and this one sort of forced itself out
I don’t believe in any angel of death
Don’t believe in any great Grim Reaping
I know it comes to us all
But I believe what some folks call
Eternity ain’t forever, they’re only sleeping
I don’t believe in Fates snipping threads
I don’t believe your time has gotta come
If it was set at birth
What’s living worth?
That’d be unfair to the smart, too kind to the dumb
I made a choice to write and sing this song
And you can choose to listen
Or even sing along
We’re making our own way
Every day
Doing what’s right
And knowing what’s wrong
Songs like this sorta make you squirm
No one likes to talk about the end
Hey, I’m with you
I’m uncomfortable too
And we’ll both get through it talking friend to friend
I made a choice to write and sing this song
And you can choose to listen
Or even sing along
We’re making our own way
Every day
Doing what’s right
And knowing what’s wrong
We’ve all lost someone we love, and we miss ’em
The hole some people leave is surreal
While I’m done singing this rhyme
You ought to take the time
To tell the folks you love the way you feel
I made a choice to write and sing this song
And you can choose to listen
Or even sing along
We’re making our own way
Every day
Doing what’s right
And knowing what’s wrong
Leaving Maricopa in a cloud of dust
Ain’t nobody back there gonna follow us
They can stay right there ’cause we ain’t done nothin’ wrong
And we’ll be in Albuquerque by the time they know we’re gone
Leaving Maricopa in a borrowed car
I know we said we wouldn’t have to go that far
But she’ll be busy hanging out with her friends down at the salon
And we’ll be in Albuquerque by the time they know we’re gone
Leaving Maricopa at the speed of night
Had to take the car, couldn’t catch a flight
Heading east on 40 face-first into the dawn
And we’ll be in Albuquerque by the time they know we’re gone
We’ll go to Babylon
Maybe the Amazon
We’ll run this marathon
Up to Saskatchewan
Maybe we’ll go to St. Louis and see that big mastodon
Right now we’ll be in Albuquerque by the time they know we’re gone
Leaving Maricopa in a cloud of dust
Smelling like grease and looking like rust
Tomorrow I’ll be dressed up in silk and you’ll be in chiffon
And we’ll be in Albuquerque by the time they know we’re gone
He drove the harpoon into its great white head
Over and over and it still wasn’t dead
Tangled in the lines as the beast went down
If he didn’t kill it now he was gonna drown
Maniacal hatred for he great white whale
The end of its life was the end of his tale
What if the whale had loved Ahab?
It’d never submerge
If the whale had loved Ahab
It’d give up the deep
So Ahab could keep—
If the whale had loved Ahab
Been able to purge
The notions that surge and flood
In the blood
If the whale had loved Ahab
We’d be on the verge
Might take the leap
Maybe we’d all keep
Breathing
Life and death for the captain and crew
It was life and death for the great whale, too
It wasn’t a hunt to fill any need
It was vengeance, it was anger, it was lust, it was greed
He vowed to hunt it to the end of the sea
And now it’s life and death for you and me
What if the whale had loved Ahab?
It’d never submerge
If the whale had loved Ahab
It’d give up the deep
So Ahab could keep—
If the whale had loved Ahab
Been able to purge
The notions that surge and flood
In the blood
If the whale had loved Ahab
We’d be on the verge
Might take the leap
Maybe we’d all keep
Breathing
this heat is killing me
there’s too many people here
that look is chilling me
intentions are unclear
well dressed man in a corner booth
I think he’s been watching us
maybe we’ll slip out the back
leave him in the dust
late night intrigue
playing games with a roomful of strangers
we’re out of our league
but we’re having a ball despite all the dangers
and we’re scoping it out like a couple Lone Rangers
yeah playing our games with a roomful of strangers
tonight
we love the risk, we like the chase
nobody knows our names
slip outside of the human race
before it goes down in flames
I’m tracking you and you’re tracking me
leaving the herd behind
Your code is hacking me
Messing with my mind
late night intrigue
playing games with a roomful of strangers
we’re out of our league
but we’re having a ball despite all the dangers
and we’re scoping it out like a couple Lone Rangers
yeah playing our games with a roomful of strangers
tonight
this heat is killing me
there’s too many people here
this heat is killing me
there’s too many people here
there’s too many people here
there’s too many people here
there’s too many people here
there’s too many people here
tonight
out on the horizon a tiny light’s starting to glow
and even though I’m here in the dark as I watch it I know
something good’s heading our way
something brighter than the brightest day
as if someone out there wants to say
not much longer to go
it’s dark down here but you don’t have to go it alone
sometimes it can be hard to make it to the light on your own
take my hand and together we’ll see
what the brightness turns out to be
when it’s shining on you and me
and all the seeds that we’ve sown
together we’ll watch as the light
brings an end to this night
listen, and you can’t help but hear the sound
it’s right there, take my hand
open your eyes, and we’ll stand
in the light as it grows all around
out on the horizon a tiny light’s starting to glow
see that cloud, out on the horizon?
no bigger than the palm of your hand
sort of thing you got to keep your eyes on
the storm that’s coming might be more than you can stand
so leave the shore, head on out to sea
if you think you’ve got the stuff to ride it out
maybe you think it’ll pass you by
might could happen, but I’ve got my doubts
and then like me
you’ll have to ask
why should I forgive you?
chorus
if I did you wouldn’t know
and if you knew you wouldn’t care
’cause if you cared we wouldn’t be here in the first place
so it’s time for me to go
this is more than I can bear
I hope someday that we’ll both find that state of grace
I loved the sea, wanted adventure
it was time for the boy to be a man
like a fool I ignored that little storm cloud
till I was out so far I couldn’t see the land
I didn’t know
I’d need to ask
why should I forgive you?
chorus
if I did you wouldn’t know
and if you knew you wouldn’t care
’cause if you cared we wouldn’t be here in the first place
so it’s time for me to go
this is more than I can bear
I hope someday that we’ll both find that state of grace
bridge
angry waves towered overhead
in my anguish I cried out to the Lord
the waves kept pounding till I wished that I was dead
till finally, they washed me overboard
as I sank beneath the surface
I was thinking
why should I forgive you?
chorus
if I did you wouldn’t know
and if you knew you wouldn’t care
’cause if you cared we wouldn’t be here in the first place
so it’s time for me to go
this is more than I can bear
I hope someday that we’ll both find that state of grace
as I rose up above the foaming water
there was no hand to lift me from the sea
so like a lamb led away from the slaughter
I went off to see what else a man could be
and still
I wonder
why should I forgive you?
chorus
if I did you wouldn’t know
and if you knew you wouldn’t care
’cause if you cared we wouldn’t be here in the first place
so it’s time for me to go
this is more than I can bear
I hope someday
you’ll find a way
it’s what I pray
that someday
you’ll find that state of grace
young folks seem to have a mind
to fall in love and find the kind
of love that young folks think is heaven sent
but after they’re no longer blind
they wake up to a frame of mind
wondering where on earth their heaven went
he looks at her and wonders if maybe this thing is busted
she looks at him and wonders if he couldn’t be adjusted
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
I thought we had a good thing going
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
Better leave well enough alone
we’ve seen it one too many times
in cowboy songs and poet’s rhymes
how men and women don’t see things the same
he suspects she’s keeping score
and she suspects he’s keeping more
in the locker room than he’s bringing to the game
she calls it encouragement for him to do his best
he calls it something else and wishes she’d give it a rest
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
I thought we had a good thing going
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
Better leave well enough alone
the moral of the story is
(you knew there’d be one; always is)
young love isn’t always on its toes
she thinks he’ll change; he hopes she don’t
she always does; you know he won’t
and how they’re gonna make it, heaven knows
a boy and girl in love will surely do all that they can
but it seems to work out better with a woman and a man
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
I thought we had a good thing going
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
Better leave well enough alone
Why don’t you leave well enough alone?
I suggest you just leave well enough alone
performance notes
tenor guitar
capo 2
play in G
prechorus goes to A
not Am
I might look kind of funny compared to you
And I don’t do the kinds of things you do
But just ’cause we’re diff’rent doesn’t make it right
To tell me I’m wrong and try to start a fight
chorus
I don’t have to live down to your expectations
Not gonna be what you want me to be
Go ahead and say what you have to say
‘Cause I don’t really care what you think of me
What “everyone” does isn’t always best
You don’t have to go along with the rest
To go it alone might be a bitter pill
But I think for myself and I always will
chorus
I don’t have to live down to your expectations
Not gonna be what you want me to be
Go ahead and say what you have to say
‘Cause I don’t really care what you think of me
bridge
I’m not alone
Lots of other people feel the way I do
I’m not a clone
I won’t live a lie to make peace with you
chorus
I don’t have to live down to your expectations
Not gonna be what you want me to be
Go ahead and say what you have to say
‘Cause I don’t really care what you think of me
