The Day I Come Back
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
I've been out living rough
Got both hands
shaking like a newborn pup
and I don't know what to do
There's a perfect explanation for my state
I've been talking fast and thinking late
Now I don't know
how to make it up to you
So take me
or the man that you remember
Take me
fate is fate and this place put some scars on me
Now I know that I've changed
Weightless in my spaceship
I just want to come home
I'll splash down or maybe crash down
I don't want to do that
The day I come back
I don't want a hero's welcome or a parade
The day I come back
I just want the things I love to be unchanged
The day I come back
Just take me as I am, no questions asked
Let me see your smiling face
and hear your laugh
The day I come back
I've been thinking hard
Got both feet
planted at the end of your street
But I can't make myself move
It's the scarcest that I've ever been
'cause I'm not sure you'll let me in
And if you don't
I don't know what else to do
So take me
or the man that you remember
Take me
fate is fate and this place put some scars on me
Now I know that I've changed
Weightless in my spaceship
I just want to come home
I'll splash down or maybe crash down
I don't want to do that
The day I come back
I don't want a hero's welcome or a parade
The day I come back
I just want the things I love to be unchanged
The day I come back
Just take me as I am, no questions asked
Let me see your smiling face
and hear your laugh
The day I come back
Beautiful Girl
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
She's a beautiful girl
with a beautiful way
she's in love with the world
on this September day
Though I've never tried to tell her
I just smiled and turned away
I never worked the courage up to say
"you're a beautiful girl"
She's a beautiful girl
in his passenger seat
I should fight him for her
but he's stronger than me
Though I've heard that girls are different
not as shallow as I am
All her guys are six foot five
and tan
While I may not be all muscle bound
With bright whites and hazel eyes
I'm more an old shoe brown
But there's more to me than looking
Those movie stars will fade
But I'm here to stay
She's a beautiful girl
by a red moving van
There's a box full of hope
and a living room lamp
Though I never got to tell her
how I loved the way she smiled
and waved at me
I'm just your basic coward
generally
Mezzio
She's a beautiful girl
you're a beautiful girl
A beautiful girl
Teach Me to Fly
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
Dedicated to every girl and every mother
Sometimes it seemed that her sunshine
Was a shiny Roman candle
That could carry her away
Racing; her heart got so crazy
That she had to call her mother
and this is what she'd say:
Weren't you - weren't you the one who said:
"I love you - now it's time for bed"
And weren't you - weren't you the one who said
you'd teach me to fly?
you'd teach me to fly?
Teach me to fly
Older; the Summer got colder
She was living in the city
She was looking for a friend
Choosing; her life got confusing
So she had to call her mother
And say to her again:
Weren't you - weren't you the one who said:
"I love you - now it's time for bed"
And weren't you - weren't you the one who said
you'd teach me to fly?
you'd teach me to fly?
Teach me to fly
She was looking for something
But she didn't know what
Every door that opened
made another one shut
She found herself crying
but she didn't know why
She didn't know that searching
is how we learn to fly
You'd teach me to fly?
Teach me to fly!
Teach me to fly...
As We Go
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
How do we care for one another
when you want to go it alone?
We've got to look out for each other
We can always find our way back home
You don't believe there's any danger
in never admitting you care
How can we go on being strangers?
When your dreams run cold
and your fortune fades
You'll need a place to go
out of the desperate cold
you'll lift the phone and I'll be there...
I know every day is the first day
I know you're in love with this time
God knows if we'll make it to Thursday
but we'll figure it out as we go
As we go
Why do we search for recognition
when all that we need is right here?
Why do we drown in our ambition?
When your dreams run cold
and your fortune fades
You'll need a place to go
out of the desperate cold
you'll lift the phone and I'll be there...
I know every day is the first day
I know you're in love with this time
God knows if we'll make it to Thursday
but we'll figure it out as we go
As we go
True Love
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
I had to find something
To make me whole
A sense of purpose
A guide for my soul
I didn't want fortune
or a fancy car
those things mean nothing
to an honest heart
Well, I thought I was a loser
but you knew better
You talked me off the ledge
when you said:
"True love is reaching out today
We gotta make the most of it
Tag second base
True love can't lead
if you won't go
You gotta lose your gravity
let your cards show"
So I changed my direction
the way you said
I put one foot forward
I cleared out my head
I didn't want no sweat
or a magic spell
But I found nothing
The farther I fell
Well, I thought I was a loser
but you knew better
You talked me off the ledge
when you said:
"True love is reaching out today
We gotta make the most of it
Tag second base
True love can't lead
if you won't go
You gotta lose your gravity
let your heart show"
You had faith in me
You could have walked away
You could left me on the platform
one ticket going nowhere
But you've been constant
right there, baby
"True love can't lead
if you won't go
You gotta lose your gravity
'True love is reaching out today
We gotta make the most of it
Tag second base
True love can't lead
if you won't go
You gotta lose your gravity
let your cards show"
Every Night Was Friday Night
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
We were living in the sunshine
on the edge of growing up
We were always out of money
but money didn't seem to mean that much
You were already a woman
But I was still a kid
I thought I was immortal
Until I drove my car into a tree
and broke my lip
All through that Summer
We were in love
When days were forever
like stars up above
Kissing and hugging
Staying out late
Every night was Friday night
I fell down in your driveway
And you laughed until it hurt
Your father never liked me
He thought I was a plain vanilla
shaggy-headed jerk
By the time we got to August
and our friends began to go
when the final days were on us
We knew that we'd remember what we had
when we got old
All through that Summer
We were in love
When days were forever
like stars up above
Kissing and hugging
Staying out late
Every night was Friday night
You were already a woman
But I was still a kid
I thought I was immortal
Until I drove my car into a tree
and broke my lip
All through that Summer
We were in love
When days were forever
like stars up above
Kissing and hugging
Staying out late
Every night was Friday night
Time
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
I can play the music
with my remote control
Go back or forwards
faster or slow
Pause in the middle
to answer a knock at my door
That's what it's for
But we can't go backwards
in our own lives
Can't repeat the good times
skip all our fights
Can't mute the sound
when the words that we said
cut like knives
But that's all right
Time heals us
like the sunrise heals the dark
if you let it work its magic on your heart
Time - ticking always
Time - counting the moments of your life
And time waits for no man
There's no second chance
This is our time to dance
I used to be a young man
with shiny blonde hair
I used to be the first one
to take up a dare
Got myself covered in bruises and blood
more than once
But it was fun
I used to be an artist
with a moody young heart
Thought I was special
right from the start
Good thing I met you
'Cause I might've got lost in the part
Time heals us
like the sunrise heals the dark
if you let it work its magic on your heart
Time - ticking always
Time - counting the moments of your life
And time waits for no man
There's no second chance
You can't play your life again
That's time
Time writes another page
It wins all the laps we race
All living things get their time to rise and shine
you better not waste it
Time - ticking always
Time - counting the moments of your life
And time waits for no man
There's no second chance
This is our time to dance
Time heals us
like the sunrise heals the dark
if you let it work its magic on your heart
Time - ticking always
Time - counting the moments of your life
And time waits for no man
There's no second chance
This is our time to dance
All He Does is Talk
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
As a little boy
he never left his room
he never played with toys
he never said "goo goo"
he was a serious child
"he's a genius," they all said
His teachers tried
but he refused to learn
he said he knew already
how the world could turn
he was an arrogant child
just living in his head
Now he's got no ideas
but he swears he knows the truth
he's got verbal diarrhea
he's a monkey in a suit
All he does is talk
he runs his mouth
If sense is north
he's facing south
he makes mental leaps
But he just can stick the landing
He don't know about art
or peace or war
he thinks the world began
when he was born
he's a perfect fool
but he thinks it's you
who lack understanding
And the more he says
the less you want to hear
All he does is talk
(All he does is talk)
to practice his attacks
And to drown out
the doubters with their reason
and their facts
He's got a crazy manifesto
that he wrote when he was eight
and every night he steals another page
As a grown up man
he never leaves his desk
he trolls the blogs
and repeats the best
as if he wrote them
Yeah, he knows how you should live
He bought a Myna bird
that he taught to speak
now there's two dumb asses
with a single beak
but you can't blame him
(the Myna bird, that is)
Now he's got no ideas
but he swears he knows the truth
he's got verbal diarrhea
he's a monkey in a suit
All he does is talk
he runs his mouth
If sense is north
he's facing south
he makes mental leaps
But he just can stick the landing
He don't know about art
or peace or war
he thinks the world began
when he was born
he's a perfect fool
but he thinks it's you
who lack understanding
And the more he says
the less you want to hear
All he does is talk
Spotlight
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
I went out for a walk in the dead of night
I'm alone in a room with a thousand eyes
There are thoughts in my head that won't let me be
Yeah, I'm a mess right now
and it’s all on me
Everybody's laughing
at the boy with one left shoe
I've tried sex and drugs and cigarettes
But it still comes back to you
Baby, you're a spotlight
and maybe I'm a porch light
Baby, you're a hurricane
and I'm the first few drops of rain
Baby, you're a home run
and I'm a blue romantic moon
without a sun
and I don't think that I can sleep
Until your spotlight shines on me
There's an old grey cat with a fast food bag
There's a picket fence where the kids play tag
There's a sprinkler on in a rich man’s yard
There's a mood on the street and it hit me hard
Everyone's asleep inside
Perfect houses all in line
I've been down but not so far
Winked at by a yellow star
Baby, you're a spotlight
and maybe I'm a porch light
Baby, you're a hurricane
and I'm the first few drops of rain
Baby, you're a home run
and I'm a blue romantic moon
without a sun
and I don't think that I can sleep
Until your spotlight shines on me
I'm on a holy quest
but I don't know where to start
if I only had a credit card
I'd buy myself a clue
I left my sweater in the house
and that wasn't very smart
Because I might be turning blue
Baby, you're a spotlight
and maybe I'm a porch light
Baby, you're a hurricane
and I'm the first few drops of rain
Baby, you're a home run
and I'm a blue romantic moon
without a sun
and I don't think that I can sleep
Until your spotlight shines on me
It Happens Once in a While
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
He was born with band aids
on the back of his hands
There were angels watching
they were all in a trance
But when he cried they got the message
It happens once in a while
You were sound asleep that morning
You were face down in bed
You heard the hallelujah chorus
ringing in your head
And from a stone cold sleep
you dialed up 9-1-1
It happens once in a while
So we fight fire with fire
and give praise to the dead
Beat swords into plowshares
and grain into bread
We howl at the moonlight
Until we've been fed
And take bitter pills with a smile
It happens once in a while
You were drunk on peaches
You were rife with thieves
You were an all-star running-back
for the Kansas City Chiefs
But they broke your heart in training
It happens once in a while
You bought alms for healing
But you lost the receipt
You played Ten Little Indians
in the backyard with me
But we were way too young
to know that it was wrong
It happens once in a while
So we fight fire with fire
and give praise to the dead
Beat swords into plowshares
and grain into bread
We howl at the moonlight
Until we've been fed
And take bitter pills with a smile
It happens once in a while
You were the best barista
I've ever seen
You gave me French vanilla
and Portuguese cream
But they caught you
dancing in the aisle
It happens once in a while
There are days you wonder
Why you're trying so hard
When your pretty head goes under
And you're feeling kind of scarred
And all the money in the world
can't buy a smile
It happens once in a while
So we fight fire with fire
and give praise to the dead
Beat swords into plowshares
and grain into bread
We howl at the moonlight
Until we've been fed
And take bitter pills with a smile
It happens once in a while
Light Up and Go Boom
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
I believe
I believe in the power of love
If we'd only let it fly
high above
I've been told
that a man can do most everything
So why is the world so cold?
With your spark
Every day is brighter
and heavy hearts grow lighter
it's not hard to understand
So light up and go boom
Light your fire
Light it soon
If you wait
It'll be too late
So light up
and go boom today
I was dark
I was darker than a moonless night
I was way to scared to cry
cry aloud
I've been told
true love will find most every one
So fly like the highest cloud
With your spark
Every day is brighter
and heavy hearts grow lighter
it's not hard to understand
So light up and go boom
Light your fire
Light it soon
If you wait
It'll be too late
So light up
and go boom today
Some days I'm breathing out fire
I've got two left feet
and four flat tyres
and a bank account to match
yeah
One day I'm blowing this town
Gonna pick up the pieces
and settle right down
with a girl who sees
that a jerk can be a catch
With your spark
Every day is brighter
and heavy hearts grow lighter
it's not hard to understand
So light up and go boom
Light your fire
Light it soon
If you wait
It'll be too late
So light up
and go boom today
She Would Not Bow Her Head
© 2012 Grant Maloy Smith
Dedicated to all the women in the world who are being treated badly right now, and for all time.
And to the men who oppress them; shame on you.
She was always a good girl
An easy child to love
A gentle way with everyone
She seemed blessed from above
Her world was hard; far worst than worst
But she knew no other way
She would not play the victim
She smiled right back instead
Life beat her down
But she would not bow her head
Soldiers came - her brothers ran
But they could not get away
She heard the gunfire
And the plaintive cries that day
"Dear mother - where's father?
What will we do now?"
Sold to slavers at sixteen
Kicked around like a useless dog
Beaten down but not beaten
Her light shined through the deepest fog
She would not play the victim
She smiled right back instead
Life beat her down
But she would not bow her head
Be the boat on the river
Be the heat in the light
Let your true self deliver
the stars to the night
Be the gift of forgiveness
Be the faith standing near
Let your heart be the witness
Be the hope, not the fear