“Language is the mother, not the handmaiden, of thought; words will tell you things you never thought or felt before.” ― W.H. Auden
Remedy
Wrapped inside you like a diamond
waiting for my dark to burn away
counting on your heartbeat’s constant rhythm
to carry me back to myself
All of my thoughts,
like junkyard dogs
guarding scraps of nothing,
filling my head with senseless things
that keep me from you
but I found the remedy
I found the cure for everything
take me into your hands
help me love a world that I don’t understand
Lying in the grass, I listened
underneath a black sky soaked in stars
til I heard the sound of my heart spinning
all my anger into love
Out of the fire of false desire
beat up but I’m breathing
fighting to stay wide awake
while all the world’s asleep
'cause I found the Remedy
I found the cure for everything
Take me into your hands
help me love a world that I don’t understand
And you’re taught to want
all of life’s shiny trinkets
and you’re hoping that they will save you
but when it’s all over
none of these things will matter
and you’ll ask yourself “did I love?”
I found the remedy
I found the cure for everything
take me into your hands
help me love a world that I don’t understand
words : bird york / hum and howl ascap
music : bird york / ascap and Larry Klein / bmi
©Bird in the Hand Music
Had A Dream
He comes undone
says he lost the map his life was on
says everything is unraveling
I take his hand
then I kiss him like the world is ending and say,
where logic ends faith begins
'cause I had a dream
that our hearts
were like flowers opening up
every time that we love
And I’m wondering
if we just try and risk everything for love
how
can we ever go wrong
----
Embrace this life
every punch and kiss on this wild ride
the end could be a moment away
We’re strong enough,
yeah we get knocked around but we get up
'cause it's hope
that's flowing through these veins
'cause I had a dream
that our hearts
were like flowers opening up
every time that we love
And I’m wondering
if we just try and risk everything for love
how can we ever go wrong
Nobody said it would be easy
Nobody said it would be fair
All we can do is try to keep our fears from running us.
Just let your innocence be your cure-
words: bird york / hum and howl ascap
music: bird york / ascap and rick mussalam : bmi
©Bird in the Hand Music
Freedom
Hurry up don’t let sunlight go to waste
grab your coat and we’ll make a clean getaway
We’re just going to leave behind
these worry machines we call our minds
run off to the sea
watch the sunlight kick off the diamond waves Freedom, it’s calling, it’s calling
Freedom
Freedom
our hearts light, we’re golden
Freedom
from everything
Chasing waves as the seagulls cry and dive
Kicking sand as the crazy man walks by
talking ’bout the end of the world
wish he’d take a break and live for right now ’cause we understand
that this moment is all that we have
Freedom, it’s calling, it’s calling
Freedom
Freedom
our hearts light, we’re golden
Freedom
from everything
When the tightrope won’t stop shaking
and opinion starts to wear you down
time to pull our secret weapon on out
and laugh these bullets right from our hearts Freedom
words and music : bird york / hum and howl ascap
© Bird in the Hand Music
Lovely Thing
Drunk on a morning sky
it’s the kind of day
you wanna wrap your arms around
Watching the white birds fly as they
circle up and float in space
preaching their religion without a sound
And I’m bursting with everything
and I’m light as a cloud
'cause love is filling me up
it’s taking the edges off
my heart
love just won’t let me be
I’m floating just like a leaf
in it’s stream
what a lovely thing
And I know the world’s gone mad
crazy with greed
but I can’t fix it all today
’cause my rollercoaster heart is
gliding up it’s track, oh yeah
and there ain’t a damn thing in it’s way
and I’m stupid with aimless glee
and I’m talking to the trees
'cause love
is filing me up
it’s taking the edges off
my heart
love just won’t let me be
I’m floating just like a leaf
in it’s stream
what a lovely thing
words: bird york / hum and howl ascap
music: bird york/ascap and peter fox
©Bird in the Hand Music
Near You
There's a war out there raging
and I've got thorns in my heart again
and I feel loneliness creeping
in every room of this house
all I want is to be near you
all I want is to be near you
all I want is
to be near you
There's a home I've been building
out of hope and the brick of prayer
and when all the world's trembling
come and lay with me there
'cause all I want is to be near you
all I want is to be near you
all I want is
to be near
you
(come on now my darlin'
hear me when I tell you
you are not alone
feel my love inside you)
words and music : bird york
©Bird in the Hand Music
Save Me
In the afternoon she sits and waits for him to come
two swollen ankles count the time
Nervous fingers trace across the cold linoleum
Yellowed walls receive her sigh
“Oh can you hear me, Joe?”
she calls into the empty room
Her lips are trembling now
can’t hear the voice she needs to hear
she says “Save me, save me,
why don’t you save me from the pain of losing you
Save me, save me,
why don’t you save me from this hell I’m going through”
The dinner table looks so strange without him sitting there
the bed is empty on his side
For forty years this house has held the fire of love they shared
but now the garden slowly dies
He said he’d never leave her all alone to face the day
What kind of God is this
that’ll take him back and make her stay
“Save me, save me,
why don’t you save me from the pain of losing you
Save me, save me,
why don’t you save me from this hell I’m going through”
The kids try to come around,
try to make some time to see me,
I know, the busy lives they lead
keep them from these memories
Save me, save me,
why don't you save me from the pain of losing you
take me up now
be by your side
wanna leave this world behind
words and music: bird york
©Bird in the Hand Music
Wicked Little High
You’re a wrong turn
a big fat No
you’re the fifth drink before a long drive home You’re the thing to avoid
the bars to my cage
you’re all I think about everyday
you’ve got that thing that my wildest dreams are made of
you set my world on fire
’cause I die everytime you walk by
I can’t hide that I’m drawn to you
Desire is such a wicked little high
when the one you want is blind to you
you’re the 3rd scoop
the second pack
you’re the reason for therapy
why I should go back
Hey mister Wrong,
you’re the tingle in my jeans
you’re everything I don’t want
but everything I need
I see other guys but their kisses don’t mean nothin’
’cause you’re what I have in mind
’cause I die everytime you walk by
I can’t hide that I’m drawn to you
Desire is such a wicked little high
when the one you want is blind to you
You’re a wrong turn
a big fat No
you’re the fifth drink before a long drive
words and music: Bird York/ hum and howl ascap
©Bird in the Hand Music
Open Wider
Like a mantaray
gliding serene through strange farmland
newly runaway,
I got away clean in your car,
in your hands
sliding the warm, black tongue highway
your hands there, so smooth between my legs
the cornfields sigh with freedom
Feel the world open wider (turning me inside out)
See the trees, wild in the breeze,
dancing insane
Quiet older guy,
driving us deep into nowhere
I’m soldered to your side
while stuttering stars, spit and strewn,
wink and stare
the wind whips so wildly from our speed
stirring such a frenzy deep in me
my heart becomes unbolted
Feel the world open wider (turning me inside out)
See the trees, wild in the breeze,
dancing insane
Fifteen years old,
a love hungry girl,
a flower,
in the fist of the world
flying
in a fat blue car
eyes wide
fresh heart
words: bird york / hum and howl ascap
music: bird york and Jon Flannery
©Bird in the Hand Music
In The Deep
Thought you had all the answers
to rest your heart upon
but something happens
don’t see it coming
and you can’t stop yourself
now you’re out there swimming in the deep
in the deep
Life keeps tumbling your heart in circles
til you let go
til you shed your pride and you climb to heaven
and you throw yourself off
now you’re out there spinning
in the deep
in the deep
now you’re out there spinning
now you’re out there swimming
in the deep
words : bird york/ascap
music : bird york and michael becker ascap
©Bird in the Hand Music
Come Be With Me
Funny how your eyes keep wandering
everytime I speak of deeper things
my love has no walls, it has no strings
so if you want to go, if you want to leave
when you’re ready
when you’re ready
when you’re ready, come be with me
I don’t want to be angry anymore
so speak your truth now even if it hurts
’cause your silence has been whispering
that you’re still looking and it’s not for me
when you’re ready
when you’re ready
when you’re ready
come be with me
words : bird york
music: bird york and michael becker
© Bird in the Hand Music
Up In Flames
Everybody’s got that thing
that kinda makes them insane
everyone has gone half crazy
might as well hang
with you
you’re outta your mind but your hands are smooth
Everybody’s lost the point
quite a long time ago
only thing left that can’t be bought or sold
is what’s burning down below
and I’m burning
so let’s stop thinking, baby
let’s forget our names
let’s go up in flames
I know there are a thousand ways
that we don’t agree, (yeah there are, you know it) but all that seems to matter right now
is where you’re touching me
and I feel it unleash me
and there’s no reason, baby, to explain
when we’re up in flames
feel me hold you like a dream
reeling, right up on the edge of it
so let’s start praying, baby,
in our way
up in flames
’cause it’s our freedom, baby,
it’s our escape
when we’re up in flames
up in flames
words: bird york hum and howl ascap
music: bird york and larry klein
©Bird in the Hand Music
Have No Fear
Have no fear in your heart
though you feel you’ve been broken and lost
there’s a world where we will meet up again
there’s a place that mends your hurt
and takes you in
There are times faced alone
when you find all the holes in yourself
you don’t have to walk the night on your own
I will say a prayer for you to lead you on
I will say a prayer for you
when you have gone
words : bird york
music : bird york and michael becker
©Bird in the Hand Music
Until The Lightning Comes
Lay your hands gently upon me
show me what love is
conquer my shore
this strange romance slowly igniting
all of the longing
we try to ignore
and just like ghosts in the midnight hour
holding close we wait in the dark
ooooo until the lightning
ooooo until the lightning comes
ooooo until the lightning
ooooo until the lightning comes
A slow tango under the bedsheets
don't mean it's lasting
don't mean it's true
and all your reaching for the real damn thing
all your deceptions
are sure to undo
and so you go
and you take the dive
jumping off you feel like you're dying
ooooo until the lightning
ooooo until the lightning comes
ooooo until the lightning
ooooo until the lightning comes
words and music : bird york / hum and howl ascap
©Bird in the Hand Music