Lyrics & Chords
Martin England – Razed and Reconstructed Lyrics & Chords
Do What the Man with the Gun Says
Do what the man with the gun says:
Put the money in the bag,
put your hands behind your head
Do what the man with the gun says
down at the station house
behind the counter at Quick Mart
If you ever want to see her again
Behind the prison bars
or the comfort of your bed
Some day he’ll burn down in flames
In the chamber there’s a bullet with your name, son
Do what the man says
Do what the man with the gun says
Walk the line at night, dance to music in your head
If you ever want to see her again
Beneath the starry skies
Or in the backseat of your head
Some day he’ll burn down in flames
In the chamber there’s a bullet with your name, son
Do what the man says
The lines are blurry with the law
between the death row inmates and the life term prison guards
who spread your feet when they frisk you
you can scream, (they) can’t hear you
grab a badge and a pistol
before the nightstick cracks you hard
Weather’s Changing Fast
Looks like the weather’s changing fast
Looks like the weather’s changing, fast
I’m looking at a bluebird sky
Out of the corner of my eye
I’ve been frozen by a cold wind,
whipping through an open field
I’ve got a love won’t crumble, alloy,
tungsten steel
It’s forged from fires and branded
by a lifetime, of trouble
But never breaks from the
Pressure of a freight train’s, roll
Looks like a storm is moving in
Looks like a storm is moving, out
I’ll swim the islands to the shore
Just for the love you give me, more
I’m waist deep in a lifetime measured in song
I’ve been abandoned by the ghosts that haunted me, long
They broke and entered into my soul, once too many times
I suckered them into the jaws of a snare they can’t maneuver from
Looks like the weather’s changing fast,
looking like the weather’s changing
Green Pine Grove
She came away soft as ink on paper’s face
The rain begins and never ends,
The swollen creek is overfilled
The flowers pushed their way into the beaten soil
I never shook the rust away, the steel’s decay of tractor wheels and torn up fields
I’ve never felt this thick before, my mind is filled with sorry nights and sober wakes
Crying, won’t keep you here by my side
Keep staring out of my window
The swallows return to the mission
Lay in bed with papers spread across the knees
the honey bees make honeycombs
I sang a song that you began, of rolling fields and murders of the distant crows
I never read a single word, the hummingbirds scraped across the pedal steel
I’ve never known this place before, I’m souring on metaphors and Clementines
Prisoner In My Own Town
[E]Summer never seemed so far away,
leafless trees and skies turned grey
[A]Shadows long against the cold, hard ground
I’m a [E]prisoner, I’m a prisoner
[B]Shadows long against the cold, hard ground
I’m a [E]prisoner [F#m]in [G#m]my [F#m]own [E]town
Telephone poles without a wire, disconnected, undesired
Falling through this hollow patch of ground
I’m a prisoner, I’m a prisoner
Falling through this hollow patch of ground
I’m a prisoner in my own town
[A]Train’s a rolling, passengers aboard
[E]Unforgiven, somewhat self-destroyed
[B]Train’s a rolling, engine’s slowing down
I’m a [E]prisoner [F#M]in [g#M]my [F#M]own [E]town
Summer never seemed so far away,
goodbye madness, work all day
Corporation line has got me down
I’m a prisoner, I’m a prisoner
Corporation line has got me down
I’m a prisoner in my own town
I’m a prisoner in my own town
I’m a prisoner in my own town
Silver Tongued
(capo on 2)
Intro C-F-Dm-E-F (4x)
C
Employer of a leisured hand
F
The devil finds a job for every man
C
Stealer of the worn out soul
F
He bends but never breaks down, never folds
Dm C
And he’ll victim any crime
G F
Just to keep you in his sights
Dm C
Sink the needle in the hay
F
And while you look for it he’ll steal your soul away
C
I’ve never known a worst hard time
F
Assembling the cocaine into lines
C
I’d never felt the hook before
F
When 3 A.M. comes knocking at your door
Dm C
And the hunger that you feel
G F
Can’t be filled by any meal
Dm C
And the silver on your tongue
F
Never meant that much when all was said and done
Intro C-F-Dm-E-F (2x)
Em F
Up before the inn keeper
Em F C
You’ll never find the devil sleeping in
Em F
And when you lie awake at dawn
G
He’ll populate your feelings with his own
C
I’ve never known him by his name
F
But recognize his face when he appears
C
He never seems to want that much
F
Until your willing power’s in his clutch
Dm C
And the hunger that you feel
G F
Can’t be filled by any meal
Dm C
And the silver on your tongue
F
Never meant that much when all was said and done
C-F (4x)
Look out he’s a’comin’
Park Bench (capo 9)
D-G-Bm-A
Park bench, all of these thoughts keep racing around
D-G-Bm-A
Sky light over me, leaves crash into the ground
G-G/F#-Em-A D-G-Bm-A
Poor sense of timing keeps my wheels from touching the ground
D-G-Bm-A D-G, D-G
Park bench, all of these thoughts race around
A G D G D G
I came up slow but I picked up speed as I neared the end
A G D G D G
Never wanted to know, never wanted to see, what’s around the next bend
A G D-G-Bm-A
Park bench
Turning in my tracks again, wish I could go backwards in time
Things that I settled for, moments mean and unkind
I’d hammer these walls that kept me inside
D-G-Bm-A D-G, D-G
Turning in my tracks again, wish I could go backwards in time
A G D G D G
I came up slow but I picked up speed as I neared the end
A G D G D G
Never wanted to know, never wanted to see, what’s around the next bend
A G D-G-Bm-A
Park bench
Wish I could give into her, never really let myself go
The perfect reflection of a life spent living alone
Pressed against the past again, never really learn to let go
Wish I could give into her, never really let myself go
Open Me (DGDGBD)
I saw you there across the crowded room
Green eyes staring back at me
Beckoned me to step outside with you
I wished I knew
I’ve been raised inside a shroud of doom
And I’ve been told what I don’t know
I probably should’ve quit before I started
Thank God I didn’t
I’ll pick you up and lay you down
I’ll be yours forever if you dare
Push me hard and stretch me out
Open me and take me from this place
Everything I thought I’d ever knew
Is yours to lose
I’ve believe in reciprocity
And if you treat me with regard
I’ll never leave your side
My loyalty has no limits
Every day I wake and you’re still there
It never fails to stop my heart
I never guessed that you’d be here with me
I count my blessings
I’ll pick you up and lay you down
I’ll be yours forever if you dare
Push me hard and stretch me out
Open me and take me from this place
Everything I thought I’d ever knew
Is yours to lose
Circle Your Head Like Stars (capo 3)
E A
If I counted the times I’d let you down
F#m A
It’d circle your head like stars,
E A
Pulled from heaven, pulled from hell inside
F#m A
Set your soul on fire
D A
God knows I’m falling in
D A
Can’t trust the touch of a woman
F#m E
Not to circle your head like stars
If I’d volunteered my innocence
In an odd display of independence
Would you stand beside your lesser half?
Would you testify on my behalf?
God knows it’s cold outside
Can’t stop a bird in flight
Circle your head like stars
G#m F#m
Noise from the street below,
G#m F#m
rushes through my window
D E
Calls your name out loud
If I asked you to give it up
Yield control to my kingdom
If I fade into the evermore
We’d never settle this score
God knows I’m falling in
Can’t trust the touch of a woman
Not to circle your head like stars
The Blue in Snow
A
Can you see the blue of the moon, when it’s rising?
A
Can you see the stars up above when
D
they’re shining through?
A
Does it matter to you?
Can you see the blue in the snow when it’s falling?
Do you treat your family as cold as a shirtless stranger?
Someone you don’t know
E D
I drive all night just to reach you
E D-D/C#
I live for those times that are brand new
Bm
Before the spark turns to flame
Can you find your way in the dark, when you’re stumbling?
Would you put your trust in a friend with your eyes wide-open?
Something you don’t know
Can you leave a mark on the world while it’s turning?
Do you get too tangled in all that is way too deep?
Are you losing sleep?
I drive all night just to reach you
I live for those times that are brand new
Before the spark turns to flame
F#m D
You’re gonna make me sad
Bm A E
You’re gonna break me in half
F#m D
You’re gonna make me blue
Bm A E
But I’ll get over you, before I’m through
D
Did you get too tangled in your own history?
Did you find yourself in the shadows of days gone by?
Does it make you cry?
Can you see the trees within your own forest?
Do you take for granted the ones who love you most?
Is your heart a ghost?
Still
(capo on 4)
Intro: Em-C-G-G/F 2x
In the still, near silence
I fumble for my car keys like a child
Just my cooling engine
And a distant dog’s bark filled the dark
A dim light overhead
Led me through the yard
I probably should have turned around
But I’d come way too far
I was lost the moment that I found you
I was lost the moment that I found you
Through the cold glass I saw you
An old book in your lap
Your hair dull and yellowed
Your skin lined and cragged
But those green eyes that pulled me in
Deep into your fold
Sparkled like the night sky
Above me, clear and cold
I was lost the moment that I found you
I was lost the moment that I found you
I’ve reckoned all my frightful sins
A long time ago
And all the things that pulled me there
Pushed you to the road
1200 miles and there ain’t a single thing
I could ever think or do or say
To somehow get me in
(Em-C-G-G/F)
So I turned inside my own tracks
And stepped into my Ford
Just the sound of fleeting engines
And a knock left at the door
Sometimes I think the things that we don’t like about ourselves
Are the things we see in others
Leaves us on the shelf
