the Gathering Field
debut disc
lyrics

Better Off Without Me

We had our day in the sun
And it was a good day
You thought maybe I was the one
And I felt the same way
But now the walls are crumbling down around us
And there ain't nothing to say
The incomprehensible is happening
You're running away

One mistake and you lose all faith in me
One bad slip and you end the whole damn trip

Chorus:
I'm sensing your frustration
And I'm gathering you doubt me
If it's any consolation
It ain't easy to say, but hey
Maybe you're better off without me.

You write in indelible ink
Words filled with hatred
Without ever stopping to think
You lose something sacred
But you were just reacting to my ignorance
I guess I put it there on purpose
All you ever asked of me was to be honest
Instead I just got nervous

One mistake and you lose your faith in me
One bad slip and you end the whole damn trip

Chorus

Bordertown

Stood a building by the river in a place called Bordertown
Me and my friend Little Steven used to take our money down
We were only seventeen then, starving for experience
If you had 'bout twenty dollars, you could find a true romance

Friday came around
We were going down to Bordertown

Was a man named Dollar Bill there, take your money at the door
I'd drink an hour, build my courage, go get what I came there for
Was a girl named Rosalita, heart as big as Tennessee
Save my money every week just to get her close to me

Friday came around
I was going down to Bordertown
I was going down to Bordertown

Rosalita, Spanish Rose
Laughed at me when I proposed
I was drunk and feeling blue
Said, "I'll make an honest girl of you."

Oh no, she shot me down
Down to the ground in Bordertown
I was going down to Bordertown

Many years have come and gone, I gotta wife and family now
Drive a truck for Carolina, sometimes takes me through that town
Park my rig upon the land where the building used to stand
Sit remembering Rosalita, turned a young boy to a man.

Friday came ar4ound
I was going down, I was going down
Friday came around
I was going down to Bordertown
I was going down to Bordertown
I was going down to Bordertown

Slightly Aimless

I went down to Leo's Lounge
To look at the faces, listen to the sounds
Bartender Bernie, look my way he say,
"Tell me son, how do you feel today?"
And I say:

Chorus:
"Aimless, aimless, I am feeling slightly aimless.
Aimless, aimless, I am feeling slightly aimless."

Sad Susan sips her wine
The boys all say she's easy but she say she's just kind
She sits beside me, rests her hand upon my thigh
She notice that I'm quiet and so she asks me why
And I say:

Chorus

The future is a word don't hold much meaning for me.
Don't ask me where I'm going, I don't know
I got something inside me, I gotta find a way to set it free
Where I'm going now, that depends mostly on
Which way the wind blows
Which way the wind blows
The wind blows

Walking home along Frankstown Road
Thinking 'bout a woman, she's a girl I used to know
Car pulls beside me, old man driving
He asks me if I might be needing a ride
I say "No thank you."

Chorus

Lost It In The Sun

Guess I was not thinking about anything
I guess I was just coasting along
Don't know how I ever let her get away
I guess that I just lost it in the sun

Sorrowful, my heart is like a desert plain
I'm a nomad drifting alone
Broken hearted's looking like my middle name
I guess that I just lost it in the sun

I took a plane from Worcester back to Pittsburgh
Memories in my head like bullets in a gun
On the sea of love we ran into an iceberg
Through our anchor down then lost it in the sun
Lord have mercy

Spectral visions danced upon the cabin wall
And showed me all the things I'd done
Got sidetracked by an honest woman thin and tall
Saw Jesus hand then lost it in the sun

We made love to guarantee our emptiness
And after she said, "Least that's done."
I could have sworn she had a knack for tenderness
I guess that she just lost it in the sun

I took a plane from Worcester back to Pittsburgh
Memories in my head like bullets in a gun
One the sea of love we ran into an iceberg
Threw our anchor down and then lost it in the sun

We lost it in the sun
And only ones are only temporary
You can place the blame on me
Lasting love is over rated
Guess I circumnavigated all that once meant anything to me
Neath the blue sky we did run
Least until we lost it in the sun
Lord have mercy

I guess I was not thinking about anything
I guess I was just coasting along
I don't know how I ever let her get away from me
I guess that I just lost her in the sun . . .

Information

I was getting slightly intoxicated
I was going half way out of my mind
So I walked over to the pay phone and I waited
For some helpful voice to come on the line
And as I stood there I could see her face
Bloodshot memory for a welcome mat
And then a voice came from beyond time and space
Said, "How can I help you? How can I help you?"

Chorus:
Information, please my baby
Information, please my baby

Last I heard it she was out your way
Grooming horses for the rodeo
Here's her last name, but it might have changed
I hope that it hasn't but you never know
Last time I saw her didn't think to ask
Truth to tell you is I did not know
That just behind that faithful lover's mask
She was waiting, she was waiting

Chorus

All I want for Christmas is a storybook ending
Or at least an explanation why?
And I'd say, "Baby, I'm just curious, were you pretending?
Or was it all just a lie?"

If by some miracle I made it through
And heard her pretty voice smile back at me
I know exactly what I'd do
I'd tell her, "Baby please come back to me."
On second thought I would act casual
Act like I did not miss her face at all
I'd say the only thing that makes me call
Could you provide me with a little bit of . . .

Chorus

Everything's Alright

Well the check's in the mail, might get there by Monday
And I got two children, I might see them one day
And I keep on drinking even though I quit
Sobriety'd be fine if I got the hang of it

And I done things I ain't told nobody
A heart once peaceful and dry has turned muddy
And perfection's nowhere in sight

Chorus:
Everything is all right
Everything is all right

So the snow starts to falling somewhere around midnight
But I ain't driving so I guess I'm all right
And I got a letter today from an old friend
And he told me he was a single man again.

And I got people and places to choose
The size of my women, the price of my booze
And who I'll go home with tonight

Chorus

Well I got some sad regrets
Things I won't soon forget
But I'll still sail to the sunset
Tonight

Chorus

That Night

In a small, Pennsylvania town the kind that
Looks like a postcard from a distance
There sprang a true love, a God-forbidden new love
Complete with romance and resistance

Bars and churches and one-pump Texacos
Provide the setting and the frame work
He's been calling her, her mama's stalling him
But now they're on their way to claim her

That night - he sat in the back seat
That night - they drove up and down the street
That night - all he wanted was to see her face again

Summer nights they danced beneath the stars
Upon the Erie shore she would receive him
But oh those days are passed and she ain't been to class
And he don't know what to believe

Now Cupid's army, stand behind their leader
They carry chains and wear black leather
They dragged her mama out,
The neighbor fathers saw her kick and shout
And then they all did band together

That night - soldiers lined the field
That night - trash can lids for shields
That night - in his cries they heard the depths of love revealed

And the funny thing was, she was miles away
Her aunt and uncle's house, and in the family way
And he never knew, cause she never said so
If only she had told him 'bout it
He would a' never let them go

In a small, Pennsylvania town the kind that
Looks like a postcard from a distance
There was a burst of violence in the name of first love
I know cause I was an eye witness

That night - he went to stake his claim
That night - I called my lover's name
That night - I only wanted things to be the same again
To be the same again
That night
Oh that night

Morning Sounds

I was dabbling in the affairs of the heart
Against the backdrop of a broken one
And I was grappling with a promise I'd begun
If only an unspoken one

But in the peaceful pre-dawn, with the outlines getting clearer
I saw a child's reflection in the mirror
I was driving with the windows down
The day had not arrived yet but the morning had
And with the morning came the morning sounds

Chorus:
I could hear the morning sounds
And the mysteries astound me
And the struggle it surrounds me
But it was only peace that found me
When I heard the morning sounds

I was leaving the apartment of some
Ballerina waitress girl I'd met the month before
And I was grieving for the dream she'd started making
And the parts of me I knew I'd never show her

But in the dawn's confusion as the living things awaken
I felt the joyful side of me start shaking
And fatigue gave way to ecstasy
The day had not arrived yet but the morning had
And with the morning came the morning sounds

Chorus

I could hear the morning sounds
Said it was only peace that found me
When I heard the morning sounds

La la la la la la la la la la la la la la

I Believe! I Believe!

Saw the wave hit the shore
Saw it clear, like I never had before
It was spiritual, I nearly lost control
Felt it in my soul
Now I can't remember, try as I may
Exactly what it was that sent my spirit spiraling that day

Chorus:

I believe! I believe! (Anyhow)
I believe! I believe!

Maybe love is a rose
Or maybe it's a gun you use to shoot off your toes
Tell me, what's the difference to a working stiff
Looking for a lift?
Could be love of the spirit, might be love of the flesh
We all need some kind of living to find some happiness

Chorus

It's easy to be cynical, it's easy to see through it all
It's easy to be angry and the world and just say, "Screw it all!"
But it don't take a hero to put blinders on his eyes
And just believe
I believe! I believe!

Don't know what happens when you die
Can't seem to figure it no matter how I try
Are you dead and gone, or does your soul live on
In hell or in heaven?
Say a prayer to Buddha baby, say a prayer to Christ
You got to cover all your bases, get some everlasting life

Chorus

I got some weaknesses inside
Or are they demons, I never did decide
You know the truth to tell, I spent some time in hell
I guess it's just as well
It's a baptism by fire and it ain't a pretty sight
I wrestled my desires and I still ain't won the fight but . . .

Chorus

I Want To Be With You

After all this time
You're still feeding me that same old line
You don't know how you feel

You got a love inside
You got a love locked up way down deep inside
My mother taught me not to steal

Chorus:
I want to be with you
I want to be with you
I want to be with you . . .

Such a sorry sight
You holding on to the past with all your might
That ain't no way to live

Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes and take a look in mine
I got a love to give

Chorus

The only way for you to move on
Is just to let go, not to hold on
Baby I know you were hurt once
But that's all over, you found a new love

Chorus

I got a vibe on you
I feel alive on you
Can you feel it too?

Chorus

The Reservoir

My father told me, he told me, "Son,
There was one year in my life, I felt so close to God."
He said, "I lost my way on and off again
Since that time oh but you can be sure.
When my well runs dry I return
To the reservoir."

This life is a river, cruel and then kind
Yes it can cradle or kill you, protect you or leave you to die
I said, the river runs cold and merciless
Headlong past every shore
But in the end it returns by and by to the reservoir

Oh my body's battered
Oh my soul is anything but pure
So I go drawing from the reservoir

Heaven is a perfect blue reflection of the reservoir
It's a perfect blue reflection
More perfect than perfection

We're born into this life our bodies glistening from the reservoir
Our bodies shiny with the water
Each of us heaven's sons and daughters
I said:
Between that moment and the journey's end
We lose the knowledge that we had back then

Innocence like sunlight
Sunlight falling on the field in which we gather
The field that gathers up our hearts
And leads them homeward past the stories of the sycamores
Sense of wonder, over yonder lies the reservoir

My father told me, he told me "Son,
There was one year in my life
I felt so close to God."
He said he felt so close to God

Now he's returning to the reservoir
He's always returning to the reservoir
I guess we're all just returning to the reservoir.

Dylan Thomas Days

Treetops spinning at the outskirts of my vision
In the back yard of a stranger on the edges of my mind
I lay broken with my belly up to heaven, I guess
Drinking hard for seven days can turn your blue eyes blind

Held that tragic destiny
Like a puppet on my knee
Blurred the line 'tween him and me
And nearly lost my soul

'till I realized I could
Get that puppet, get him good
I used that doll for kindling wood
To warm me from the cold

Chorus:
Oh my Dylan Thomas days are finally over
I'm through with all those self-destructive ways
And though I ain't exactly clean at least I'm sober
I made it through my Dylan Thomas days

Lord have mercy, it's a sunny, Sunday morning
And I am not in a coma and there's nothing I regret
I did not wake up thirsty or to the sound of my own snoring
And the not so faint aroma of tequila on my breath

What a concept, can it be?
I feel a little like Dorothy
When she woke up and found that she
Was safe in her own bed

But oh that nightmare sure seemed true
And you were there and you were too
I don't know how I made it through
Thought sure I'd end up dead

Chorus

God rest his soul, and his broken heart
"Time has ticked a heaven 'round the stars."
Watch over me now, wherever you are
Probably drinking whiskey in the Sweet Hereafter Bar

There's angels in the atmosphere
Crying sympathetic tears
To wash away our doubts and fears
And help us on our way

I used to run from their concern
Light the bridge and watch it burn
I took a while, at last I learned
That ain't the only way . . .

Chorus

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