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I Knew A Girl Once

by Ray Zimmerman

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1.
If i was a writer I would send you all my mail But i'd deliberately underpay the postage 'Cos then I do believe You'd have to return it to me And then girl I would tell you of my motive I'd say that I have had a dream It was pure and it was sweet We were sat upon the seat of a swing That was hung beneath the pine Suspended somehow like the time But in your beauty I was blinded to the ending And I would like to think What I had written in that ink Would make you run here all this way into my arms 'Cos I tried to live without you but I can't And if you're here To say we could be more I would open, I would open up the door If I was a sailor I would sabotage my mast And I'd be going nowhere fast but that would suit me Because I would have planned For my boat to float to land And it would land upon the sand lined with palm trees There would only be one villager And that villager would be you And then there would be 2 of us for the moment And I would light a fire to keep us warm As we made love through the raging storm Then maybe there'd be more at least here's to hoping I'd like to believe that you've been thinking of me It's what keeps me bailing out the water from this leak Cos I tried be strong without you but I'm weak And if you're here To point me to your shore Then I would open I would open up the door If i were a detective I'd hope that you would be a thief And I would catch you with your finger on the trigger But the only thing you'd aim for Would be all your hopes and dreams You'd say come with me boy it seems there's something bigger And if you're here Your crimes won't matter anymore I would open, I would open up the door If I were an old man And I were writing my last rites Be writing all this life has written on my wall To say I'm sorry I never found the right profession Though I had many in succession you will recall Though I never gained the skills To say I will I do I still Love you more than any love that has been found As I begin my last vocation Take post at my final station Before my last vacation comes around Know I will spend my final hours , thinking of all the Autumn showers Where I slowly ran my fingers through your hair Hoping you'll be fine when I'm not there If you're here Scared of what might be in store Know I would open I would open up the door
2.
Going Alone 02:44
Feels like yesterday Tomorrow's never last Only games that I'd play Now the pieces are falling fast And I don't know if you'll meet me there But don't try, to make me stay I know this like often isn't fair but I'll be going anyway So don't wait for me No I'll be fine I see it's brighter I'm not a sinking stone I'm just going alone But I know in time, Your song will start again And at the end of the line There's a road sign spelling out your name And I don't know if you'll meet me there But don't try, to make me stay I know this like often isn't fair but I'll be going anyway So don't wait for me No I'll be fine I see it's brighter I'm not far from home I'm just going alone It seems to me there's always been A million reasons that I should give it in I've waited for so long for them all to be gone But now I find, they're only where I've been And I don't know if you'll meet me there But don't try, to make me stay I know this like often isn't fair but I'll be going anyway So don't wait for me No I'll be fine I see it's brighter I'm more than skin and bone I'm just going alone See how far I've flown Now I'm flying alone
3.
4.
Sat in the car out in the dark in the cold in September Talking ‘bout how we gonna live out here remember Many days have passed now since that night Waited patiently to find out how much we could borrow If it don’t work out this time babe there’ll always be tomorrow If everything goes wrong I’ll make it right Days and weeks went by Not much longer after I Was sleeping fast beside you once we made Plans for what we’d do All the blueprints that we drew Though many times since then those lines have changed It’s only bricks and mortar patch of grass out in the back In a thousand years be nothing but debris You could tear down my house tomorrow but you can’t take my home from me Mostly all the doors have closed most softly in their frames But any times that they were harder they were fleeting just the same As all those lazy Sunday mornings way back when Take me to the ocean or the highest hill we’ve climbed Wait until the sun sets then take me back in time For I’ve been here before I’m going back again Changed everything we didn’t like Talking late into the night Speculating all that might come next loo Of all the things I promised you I hope at least that some came true But there’s plenty time to finish all that’s left These walls and all they housed be gone when I leave town In a thousand years be lost into the sea You could wash away my house tomorrow but you can’t take my home from me A thousand nights and more I have spent behind it’s door Many times I’ve held you in its walls Many more I’ve kissed you in its halls In time when all has burned to ash and only ghosts are left If a hurricane takes this stone and sets it free You could blow away my house tomorrow but you can’t take my home from me If all I do is move with you to another part of town Time for another to arrive and for us to flee I could take leave of my house tomorrow but my home won’t take leave of me
5.
This rocking chair's gonna be a boat And I will take you with me Anywhere I float And when the tide Is too high We'll just flap our arms And we will touch the sky And we'll fly up fast but we'll come down slow This little table's gonna be a cave And we'll make great lists of the hieroglyphs Inside the walls that we have made From old sheets That we will take We will fall asleep And then we'll wake And then we'll think of somewhere else to go Cos these days won't stay forever we best make them last Time is given slow, but baby it's taken fast so for tonight Just dream of all the stories we will write And we'll be alright This little patch of grass is gonna be a forest And we'll never admit it but we're scared if we're honest Of the big old tiger we imagined Or the giant and the yeti and the fire breathing dragon But we got sticks so we got swords We'll be soldiers in the war Where victory will be followed close by peacetime This little box is gonna ba a plane And i'll be your co-pilot Anywhere you aim And when there's storms I'll hold your hand Then I will help you to land And there'll be rainbows and the sun will shine Cos these days won't stay forever we best make them last Time is given slow, but baby it's taken fast so for tonight Just dream of all the stories we will write And we'll be alright A million years would be too few So i'll spend every day I can In this rocking chair with you Cos these days won't stay forever we best make them last Time is given slow, but baby it's taken fast so for tonight Just dream of all the stories we will write And we'll be alright
6.
Natalia 02:47
Oh Natalia Did you find it The note I left under the rock outside your door Oh Natalia, Were you blinded Were the holes stitched close on the mask that you have worn Oh Natalia did you come to see That all that came so effortlessly Was in fact a torture you’d learned to take Were the winter nights just too cold In linen sheets stitched with gold Did the guards outside your door keep you awake Oh Natalia oh Natalia did you make it Past the border posts Did you make the train did it take you far from here Did you leave a note so that they’d know That you decided long ago Natalia when did you disappear Were you worried, About the distance Did you think that it would be too much to bear Did they wear down Your resistance Did they change more than the colour of your hair Oh Natalia did you realise As you danced naked neath the lights That only warmed your skin when they were on you Did you understand eventually That all they gave has not been free Natalia I only hope you didn’t tell them that you knew Oh Natalia oh Natalia did you make it past your masters guards Did you cut the strings held by some puppeteer With all the eyes upon your back Did you fall somehow between the cracks Natalia when did you disappear Try forget all you have heard That defection is a dirty word Well I hope you got down on your knees and crawled deep into the dirt Oh Natalia oh Natalia did you make it past the passport gates Did they look in to your eyes and let you through Do you ever stop to think of me I hope you don’t I hope you’re free Oh my love Natalia where are you
7.
One day they’ll write a story about us Probably be some middle page of the paper They’ll say ain't it sweet, how they’re still holding hands after all this time But they won’t understand this love is greater They could take a million pictures Write chapter after verse They could interview the world But they won’t know how it works I want to kiss you, say I miss you, that I’ll always be there I want to lay you down on the ground and kiss your hair I want you to know And baby I hope you agree I want to hold you like I told you back when we first met I want to never let you go you know I haven’t yet I want you to know That baby you’re all that I need Some day they’ll wonder where we went They’ll be running round thinking we disappeared They’ll tell us we should come back home they’ll say that we’re too old for this but I don’t know i’d kinda like to see their faces when we’re free and running clear We’ll be on a plane to Bali Gonna hitchhike to Peru Well I'm too old for nothing babe As long as I’m with you I want to kiss you, say I miss you, that I’ll always be there I want to lay you down on the ground and kiss your hair I want you to know And baby I hope you agree I want to hold you like I told you back when we first met I want to never let you go you know I haven’t yet I want you to know That baby you’re all that I need
8.
If our house was made of sand And our shoes were carved from stone And eventually the tide rose to our necks Then I would sit beside you still because we never go alone if we drown we drown together I’d suggest If we walked through the woods And lay together on the grass And a fire caught ablaze and blocked the way Then long after our bodies burn this love will rise up from the ash Cos some things shine too brightly to ever fade When the sun doesn’t rise If all the sky stays dark I'll build our home between the breaks in the debris Holding my blistered hands maybe you’d understand that we’re never gonna be apart There’s nowhere else that I would rather be If the weight upon your back becomes a burden you can’t bear If you have to rest here for a while You need only set it down, I’ll run my fingers through your hair For I would carry you a thousand miles When the sun doesn’t rise If all the sky stays dark I’ll build our home between the breaks in the debris Holding my blistered hands maybe you’d understand that we’re never gonna be apart There’s nowhere else that I would rather be We’re a long way from the ocean now But if I hold you close I can hear somehow If the winds would all stop blowing Then I’m sure that I’d die knowing That this fire In my heart burns in the third degree I don’t need the world to grow My homes anywhere you go And there’s nowhere in it that I would rather be
9.
The sun in the sky Don’t shine everyday As brightly as it did the day before But all the sun needs Is to think happy thoughts So maybe he could borrow Some of yours So if you smile and sing then everything Will start I’m sure to work out The suns gonna rise so don’t be surprised there was never any need to doubt Don’t go anywhere what can I do to make you stay Cos It’s a beautiful morning it’s a beautiful day The moon and the stars Don’t shine overnight There’ll be times When all you see is dark But all darkness needs Is to relight it’s fire And all fire needs is a spark So if you smile and sing then everything Will start I’m sure to work out The suns gonna rise so don’t be surprised there was never any need to doubt Don’t go anywhere just tell me what I need to say Cos It’s a beautiful morning it’s a beautiful day The love in your soul Won’t always feel full Your heart will be broken sometimes But when you’re alone And you’re far from your home Just call and I’ll lend you some of mine And if you smile and sing then everything Will start I’m sure to work out The suns gonna rise so don’t be surprised there was never any need to doubt Don’t go anywhere what can I do to make it right Been a beautiful day now it’s a beautiful night Don’t go anywhere watch this life as it unfurls Cos It’s a beautiful night it’s a beautiful world
10.
Don't you know that I'd live a thousand lives To spend my love one more moment with you And I’d forego living every one If my love you but asked me to For though the wind blows harder now It carries me to your arms And though the storm is raging still Behind I see the stars If I drop dead tomorrow dig a shallow grave Dry all the tears from your eyes For though my soul may be been and gone My love for you won’t die If I wore armour old and worn I know my love that you’d patch the holes Yet through those holes know I'd bear thorns To bring to you my sweet love a rose Though the nights grow longer dear If all of the stars cease to shine I’d be beside you constantly If you'd spare the time If I go off to war Won’t you write to me please I'll bear letters in place of a blade If I'm carried away laid to rest on my shield My love for you won’t fade If I’m taken by wolves Dressed in black cotton suits If I never again see the day Look for me no longer dear For my love for you will stay If you find another To place in your heart Another for whom you will long Take from me almost all that I have For to you my love will always belong
11.
Endless Days 03:52
The time for looking back Has now passed beyond the hill The horizon now it calls beyond the sea Yet I can’t go alone By my side I need you still As dawn breaks I would shatter Without you beside me The chorus of the birds Will be an unfamiliar song And ballads I once knew lost to the breeze But your voice will call more sweetly And your stride will grow more long And by before late morning you'd have given my heart ease Take courage Set our worries fast ablaze For in the morning we’ll say goodbye To all our endless days I see you now more clearly Than I once did long ago You now are more beautiful to my eyes Though the waves roll higher now You still are soft aglow A fire burning white love some leagues beneath the tide Soon but by my choosing my gaze will set aloft Cast no longer upon this hallowed ground The trodden dirt now furnished with pieces we have lost Leave them now and head with me horizon bound Be brave For there are not so many ways To say goodbye To all these endless days Many seasons now have passed Many years trail in their wake But shade is drawn too thin to keep me sleeping Those shadows now at last Have vanished with the break Of the new day and the secrets it is keeping I’d be bold And cast off these rusted chains If you only help me say goodbye To all these endless days So lay me down Set those spectres in their graves Rest easy tonight With all our endless days

credits

released October 13, 2020

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