Lyrics

Album: Behind Every Mask

1. If Sorrow should find you
2. The Look In Her Eyes
3. You Don't Look At Me
4. You Will Be A Witness
5. Take Me Back To The Mountains Again
6. The Annie I Know
7. Simple Man
8. Runaway Road
9. Letter To America
10. The Shit That Comes Around
11. He'll Be Okay
12. 1 and 1 is 2
13. If I Should Get Lost

1. If Sorrow should find you

When the world that you knew
Falls in on you
And all sense of reason retreats
You’ll search through your past
And find every mask
Hides questions you’ll ask and repeat

If Sorrow should find you
Love will remind you
The heart always yearns for the light
If sorrow should blind you
Love will still find you
No matter how far out of sight

There’s no one to blame
For time will explain
That in all you have lost there’s a choice
So dance in the rain
It will cleanse you again
And listen, for love has a voice

If Sorrow should find you
Love will remind you
The heart always yearns for the light
If sorrow should blind you
Love will still find you
No matter how far out of sight

In a guarded night
Nothing shines
In a guarded heart nothing sings
But in a wounded soul
Love can still console
What sorrow brings

If Sorrow should find you
Love will remind you
The heart always yearns for the light
If sorrow should blind you
Love will still find you
No matter how far out of sight

2. The look in her eyes

The look in her eyes said nothing but sadness
Tearin' me down til I looked away
She said, "Am I dying or dead in the water?"
"It can't be that bad," was all I could say

They're shuffling lies
and dealing in fiction Assassins on contract
who kill with a word Platitudes dripping
in false indignation Cutting down those
who need to be heard

It's a web of delusion where fact's an intrusion
nothing's a given and little is real
It's a net of deception where truth's an exception
what you can't borrow you just simply steal

They're shuffling lies
and dealing in fiction Assassins on contract
who kill with a word Platitudes dripping
in false indignation Cutting down those
who need to be heard

She's now a victim
And we're all complicit
if all that we do
is just look away

the fortunes of war are just an illusion
profit's a fallacy you can't control
no matter how righteous the cause you believe in
there's never a reason for selling your soul

They're shuffling lies
and dealing in fiction Assassins on contract
who kill with a word Platitudes dripping
in false indignation Cutting down those
who need to be heard

3. You Don't Look at Me

You don't see a sunset and wonder at the sight
All you see are shadows and the dying of the light
You don't see the moon and welcome its embrace
You don't hear the music even thunder can't erase

You don't look at me
Like I matter anymore
You don't look at me
Like you did before
Now I'm not really sure
If you ever saw me at all

You don't see the grey in the fade from white to black
All you want are certainties when nothing's that exact
You don't feel the sun though its hit you in the face
You're searching in the distance for something you've misplaced

You don't look at me
Like I matter anymore
You don't look at me
Like you did before
Now I'm not really sure
If you ever saw me at all

I’m trying to fight off defeat
But the closer I get
The closer I get
The closer I get
You retreat

You don't look at me when you're calling out my name
You don't talk to me unless you need someone to blame
You don't seem to know when you've cut me to the core
You're somewhere in the distance with your back against the wall

You don't look at me
Like I matter anymore
You don't look at me
Like you did before
Now I'm not really sure
If you ever saw me at all

4. You will be a witness

We live in a blanket
dirty and warm
angry and black
pregnant with storms
There's a fire on the skyline
Burning with rage
you can't kill the beast
when it's out of the cage
all your excuses
now carry no weight
all your solutions
are decades too late
You dismiss the truth
But despite what you say
The truth will destroy you
Cause you looked away

You will be a witness to the passion and pain
You will be a witness to the fire and the flames
You will be a witness to all that will change
You will be a witness to the anger and blame

You're putting up walls
and dealing in lies
you're laughing at reason
and cheer when it dies
You're killing the conscience
of those who should know
integrity dies
when no one says no
You bury your guilt
in collective rebuke
and all your false anger
is just an excuse
to hide your conceit
in a pious disguise
while damning the truth
as nothing but lies

You will be a witness to the passion and pain
You will be a witness to the fire and the flames
You will be a witness to all that will change
You will be a witness to the anger and blame

You will be a witness to the sorrow and shame
You will be a witness to the helpless and lame
You will be a witness to a world up in flames
You will be a witness and you'll die with the blame

Instrumental

For whatever reason
little gets done
political profit
is just hit and run
conviction's illusion

is shallow at best
at worst it's deception
dressed up to impress

You will be a witness to the passion and pain
You will be a witness to the fire and the flames
You will be a witness to all that will change
You will be a witness to the anger and blame

You will be a witness to the sorrow and shame
You will be a witness to the helpless and lame
You will be a witness to a world up in flames
You will be a witness and you'll die with the blame

5. Take Me Back To The Mountains Again

There’s a river that runs through my sleep
I can hear it now if I try
and the air is as clear
as the water I hear
Take me back to the mountains again

There's an eagle on liberty's wings
climbing through the infinite sky
there's a spirit asleep
where the valley is deep
take me back to the mountains again

In all that has burned
there is life
that never succumbs to the flames
it flourishes still
and it always will

for the cycle repeats
when the summer retreats
and surrenders what nature reclaims

There’s a song that survives on the wind
And sings in the valley below
We must nurture this place
and live in its grace
Take me back to the mountains again

6. The Annie I Know

The Annie I know I met here on this land
Living out here among the vines
She came with her man and together
they planned to make wine
The Annie I know has warm inner glow
That tumbles right out of her eyes
She’s a lopsided grin that’ll get you right in
Every time

The Annie I know has a big pot of soup
over a slow burning fire
and a table that’s laid with old wine and new bread
and a seat for a singer for hire
The one thing I know is the Annie I know
You know too

The Annie I know knows the highs and the lows
The seasons they’ve come and they’ve gone
She can pick a Pichon
But she’d rather have one made by John
The Annie I know shares her man with the land
But I doubt there’s a day that goes by
She don’t offer a prayer for the things that they share
In their life

The Annie I know has a big pot of soup
over a slow burning fire
and a table that’s laid with old wine and new bread
and a seat for a singer for hire
The one thing I know is the Annie I know
You know too

I didn’t know the Annie I know
before she and John planted here
I rarely see the Annie I know
More than a few times a year

The Annie I know has a big pot of soup
over a slow burning fire
and a table that’s laid with old wine and new bread
and a seat for a singer for hire
I’m glad I know the Annie I know
You know too

7. Simple Man

I don't like where this going, I don't believe in what you say
I don't like the distant drumming that grows louder every day
I don't like the spin you doctor, the lies you can't defend
I don't like your simple answers that answer nothing in the end

I don't know what you believe in, I don't believe you care
I don't understand your passion when it's passion no-one shares
I don't know just who you speak for, it's no-one that I know
I don't like your condescension, I don't know what debts you owe

I am a simple man just tell me if it's true
If nothing's changed and the game's the same
why no-one knows the rules
I am a simple man just tell me if it's true
You kept the name but changed the game
now no-one knows the rules

I don't like your glib assumption that I won't understand
All the implications of what it is you've planned
I don't recall you asking if most of us agreed
When everything you've planted has all just turned to seed

I am a simple man just tell me if it's true
If nothing's changed and the game's the same
why no-one knows the rules
I am a simple man just tell me if it's true
You kept the name but changed the game
now no-one knows the rules

Slick veneers just feed the fear there's nothing underneath
Shallow water rides the tide exposing every reef
You're going to have to show me, you're going to have to prove
I've no cause for disbelief

I am a simple man just tell me if it's true
If nothing's changed and the game's the same
why no-one knows the rules
I am a simple man just tell me if it's true
You kept the name but changed the game
now no-one knows the rule

8. Runaway Road

there's a road leads out of town
worn and ill at ease
it's always been that way
for as far as he could see

he never knew its destination
he never knew how far it went
He feared the road was endless
and every dream was spent

But a runaway road only goes so far
before you learn the truth
you never leave the past behind
it catches up with you

he never tamed the darkness
he knew it sucked him dry
it never ever left him
no matter how he tried

whenever a sense of safety
might have lightened up the load
he always disbelieved it
and headed for the road

But a runaway road only goes so far
before you learn the truth
you never leave the past behind
it catches up with you

He left no explanation
just a note she needed milk
drove to the edge of town
took one last look around
and turned the gun
upon himself

But a runaway road only goes so far
before the truth collides
with all you've never really faced
buried deep inside
and can no longer hide

9. Letter To America

I don't know how to begin this
I'm not sure of what to say
you see I'm really saddened
by what I see today

I grew up with The Drifters
B.B. and the blues
The Everlys and Elvis
And Perkins Blue Suede Shoes

Dylan stirred my conscience
Frost defined the road
And Joni held me captive
still with miles to go

Miller sold me wisdom
Scorsese shot the truth
Simon sold me silence
And Steinbeck stole my youth

We all believed in JFK
You put a man upon the moon
you gave us hope that somehow
we could fly there soon

And all of your mistakes
were there for all to see
the savage separation
of those you never freed

And yet we still forgave you
and lived our lives in hope
that what you said you stood for
wasn't just a joke

But now somehow
you've torched the dream
you've turned and walked away
it seems that what you once believed
you've blatantly betrayed

Then somehow you chose as king
a feckless, empty fool
devoid of all humanity
who said he's born to rule

If "great again" was noble
it isn't any more
it's shallow self deception
that's hollow to the core

I don't know how to end this
I hope you understand
The damage you have done
And how you've trashed your brand

And somewhere in the shadows
I can hear Bob Dylan swear
It's not dark yet
But it's getting there

10. The Shit That Comes Around

His face was worn and ragged
His eyes were still and deep
And the pain of lost illusions
Still disturbed his sleep
He’d lived by simple rules
To keep his boat afloat
He’d bent a few when needed
and regretted those he broke

But if all you ever do is wait for things to come
All you’ll ever get is stuff you’ve never won.
If all you ever do is hope that things will change
The shit that comes around just comes around again

He’d done his share of hoping
That things would turn around
That deeper water waited
And he wouldn’t run aground
He’d done his share of blaming
Others for his flaws
And done his share of praying
Someone else would open doors

But if all you ever do is wait for things to come
All you’ll ever get is stuff you’ve never won.
If all you ever do is hope that things will change
The shit that comes around just comes around again

He done his share of hoping
The cavalry would come
Riding to the rescue
Beating on the drums
He’d done his share of hoping
that someday he would find
there was at least a reason
why nothing seemed to rhyme

But if all you ever do is wait for things to come
All you’ll ever get is stuff you’ve never won.
If all you ever do is hope that things will change
The shit that comes around just comes around again

11. He’ll Be Okay

I have a friend who called today
and as we talked I heard him say
I'm okay
But slowly as we talked a while
Thought I heard a wounded smile
he's not okay

If you get lost the road back home
is harder if you walk alone
you can lose your way
when you're not okay

He said I'm scared to face the truth
I've buried all the past abuse
and turned away
He said I know this aching heart
Is under siege and torn apart
I'm not okay

With every childhood burden borne
in solitude and never mourned
the pain in all you cling to
cripples you

But I've not lived
what he's been through
there seemed so little I could do
but listen and believe

All he suffered as a child
had left him angry, running wild
afraid to sleep
But he knows after all these years
the truth will come in floods of tears
so bittersweet

Now he hopes the truth will change
the lives of those who've lived in chains
He'll tell it then he'll walk away
He'll be okay

there seemed so little I could do
but listen and believe

12. 1 and 1 is 2

you and I were so alone
thinking love had surely flown
years ago we met as friends
fate would bring us back again

you were grieving I was bleak
a wounded heart in full retreat
But there were moments when we touched
we held our breath and you had blushed

1 and 1 is 2
now that two is one
1 and 1 is 2
now that two is one

I was nervous you were shy
clinging to your alibi
it took time for us to know
that what we felt would surely grow

1 and 1 is 2
now that two is one
1 and 1 is 2
now that two is one

I recall so vividly
those moments when we knew
but were too afraid to say out loud
I love you

Now we say it silently
a look, a smile, wordlessly
that gentle touch that lit the fire
now burns ablaze with love's desire

1 and 1 is 2
now that two is one
1 and 1 is 2
now that two is one

13. If I Should Get Lost

If the road ahead gets darker
and the only light I see
is deeper in the distance
and doesn't welcome me
I won’t fear the journey
or the dying of the light
for I will not go gentle
into that good night

If I should get lost
as the day declines
you'll light me way
when darkness falls
I know I'm not alone
I know you’ll guide me home

if I should ever lose you
I know that I'd go on
but every single sunset
would remind me you were gone
I'd still hear your laughter
Find your light in every room
I'd hold on to the love I knew
And dance around the moon

If I should get lost
as the day declines
you'll light me way
when darkness falls
I’ll know I’m not alone
I’ll know you'll guide me home

I know that I could never be
all that you might need
But all I hope is all you get
Is just the best of me

If I should get lost
as the day declines
you'll light me way
when darkness falls
I’ll know I'm not alone
I’ll know you’ll guide me home

Copyright © Mike McClellan