Wooden Heart Lyrics

YOU HAVE NEVER LIVED BECAUSE YOU HAVE NEVER DIED (star cloister home of wisdom)

I saw 13 black crows as black as 3AM

and as big as vultures eyes

with wings hanging to their sides like laundry on the line

they were standing in a circle letting their tongues dry

they’re coming for me like thieves or ghosts

stealing songs, and whispering poems to themselves

about nonsense and existence

I don’t want to die

I saw 4 black eagles, with horns growing towards the ground

like columns or anchors reaching for the bottom

their feathers folded like hands on a man resting in his coffin

bending over each other rattling my bones

drumming out the answers in ways I will need one day

their hooves are giving me growing pains

I sleep like a tornado

I saw 18 black hawks, with beaks full of teeth

roaring like a pack of wolves in perfect V

with hoods over their eyes to cover up what they’ve seen

secrets bouncing off the insides of their lips meant for me

they landed on my life like spears, ears tucked back like arrow feathers

wings spread wide like storm clouds over kansas

hailing on me teaching me their dances, they gave me armor

we will never die, we will never die, I don’t want to die, we will never die

we will never die, but we don’t want to try, I don’t want to die, I won’t let you die

we will never die, we won’t even try, but if we never die, then we never really live

I saw 9 black owls, they were quiet as death

they had talons like antlers growing from their hearts

and they were tearing me apart

each bird was tagged like cattle with one word

and they burned them in to my mind...they read

you have never lived because you have never died

I DON’T WANT TO LIVE FOREVER (the city of old emperors)

You've got beet blood in your mouth and lies in your artichoked heart

you’re black eyes stalking through me

with a birdcage for ribs, that vultures trying to get out

it’s scratching your kidney wings

we’re no longer feeding ourselves, the raccoons are eating our dreams

pushing past our feeblery to keep them out, this morning I heard one sing:

there's a whole big world out there my son, be careful don't believe them.

there's a crazy old lady in the sun, she's angry can't you feel it?

if you don’t work hard you’re no son of mine, well I’ve earned these riverbeds

& I’ll drown you out until you’ve made me proud if you won’t learn you’re better off dead.

so, I’m digging in this farm yard trying to find the seeds

forgetting all I have left in this world of course that includes me

so I’m building and I’m learning and leaving nothing unsaid

all I am is all I have, I’ll take this garden for my bed

and these are not just words built like a city of dreams, we have no use for this kingdom

I’m proud of you my friends, may your lives be a symphony of freedom

I don't want to live forever. I just want to live for now

but the angel on my doorstep keeps pointing me towards that plow

so I’m digging in with both my hands, keeping one eye on the door

If I go looking I’ll probably find it, ...and get all I’ve been asking for

I don't want to live forever. I just want to live for me

but your faces just keep haunting ...sometimes it’s all I see

so I’m working hard at learning all I can I’m gonna give it all to you

I’ll keep making payments, until we’re all so straight and true

I want to paint seeds together, and follow you right up to the edge

filled up and spilling like carried cups, and watch the sun go red

but there’s poison right here in our water, and a shark somewhere in the well

I wanna show you my life, show me your life and tell me it’s not the devil

I guess I I feel the way I feel, you make me feel like I‘m alive...

and I’m alive, am I alive, i am alive so you can live...

please come and live, why don’t you live, you can live inside of me...

there’s a home for you inside me, inside of me there is a fire

inside my fire, there is more fire, and in that fire there is truth

but we take our furnace-chests, and run em neck deep into that lake

and let the coals stare us down, one last glare of doubt & hate

but we were wrong, no I was wrong, we’ll just be wrong about some things

and it will never be, it can never be, it should never be this easy

to wash away the fire that burns, we wash away our flame

my eyes saw fire, my heart said escape

i said my eyes saw fire, my heart did escape

it’s the beauty in the struggle has me going keeps me shook

sometimes I can see it in your face God but not in the pages of a book

and there's something in your eye that's asking

I got no answers, just clues for a path to truth

I thought it was you. but yeah, I thought it was me too.

I don't want to live forever. I just want to live for us

but the head on my shoulders keeps driving me to be careless

our brains don’t want to listen, ears squinting for some honesty

it’s gets slippery here, hold on....we are not ourselves probably

I don't want to live forever. I just want to live for you

but the devil round my doorway keeps singing me something new

so I’m listening with idle hands cupped tight around both ears

my minds open like a burned down house, I haven’t died at all this year

WOODEN HEART (sea of mist called skaidan)

We’re all born to broken people on their most honest day of living

and since that first breath... We’ll need grace that we’ve never given

I've been haunted by standard red devils and white ghosts

and it's not only when these eyes are closed

these lies are ropes that I tie down in my stomach,

but they hold this ship together tossed like leaves in this weather

and my dreams are sails that I point towards my true north,

stretched thin over my rib bones, and pray that it gets better

but it won’t won’t, at least I don’t believe it will...

so I've built a wooden heart inside this iron ship,

to sail these blood red seas and find your coasts.

don’t let these waves wash away your hopes

this war-ship is sinking, and I still believe in anchors

pulling fist fulls of rotten wood from my heart, I still believe in saviors

but I know that we are all made out of shipwrecks, every single board

washed and bound like crooked teeth on these rocky shores

so come on and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief

and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach

come on and sew us together, tattered rags stained forever

we only have what we remember

I am the barely living son of a woman and man who barely made it

but we’re making it taped together on borrowed crutches and new starts

we all have the same holes in our hearts...

everything falls apart at the exact same time

that it all comes together perfectly for the next step

but my fear is this prison... that I keep locked below the main deck

I keep a key under my pillow, it’s quiet and it’s hidden

and my hopes are weapons that I’m still learning how to use right

but they’re heavy and I’m awkward...always running out of fight

so I’ve carved a wooden heart, put it in this sinking ship

hoping it would help me float for just a few more weeks

because I am made out of shipwrecks, every twisted beam

lost and found like you and me scattered out on the sea

so come on let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief

and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach

come on and sew us together, just some tattered rags stained forever

we only have what we remember

My throat it still tastes like house fire and salt water

I wear this tide like loose skin, rock me to sea

if we hold on tight we’ll hold each other together

and not just be some fools rushing to die in our sleep

all these machines will rust I promise, but we'll still be electric

shocking each other back to life

Your hand in mine, my fingers in your veins connected

our bones grown together inside

our hands entwined, your fingers in my veins braided

our spines grown stronger in time

because are church is made out of shipwrecks

from every hull these rocks have claimed

but we pick ourselves up, and try and grow better through the change

so come on yall and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief

and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach

come on and sew us together, were just tattered rags stained forever

we only have what we remember

MOST ROADS LEAD TO HOME (the dream miner)

I can’t remember.......making all these visions in my head

but they’re moving in this room........fighting together above my bed

shadows swirling hand in hand........making new faces in the wind

keep trying to help me forget my name, and I keep trying to leave them

our ghosts fill up these hollow walls, empty hands filled with silence

we are still alive from what I’ve seen, heads hanging in the balance

I’ll keep on in this sleep......I’m never gonna find that perfect cure

I’ll hold on to my name, because it’s the only thing I still know for sure

look at the sound of all these people on fire.

I want to be on fire, do you want to be on fire?

but we don’t love ourselves enough, we pack our hearts with medicine

choke our lungs with broke down tries of lesser men

I’d rather give you my name instead of just forget it

because I carry it, but I don’t want to carry it

and so I’ll follow you vision

and listen with my eyes every maze and twist and bend

try to go where you point, step where you recommend

oh lead what I should see great specter

you say: give up, give up, don’t give up

then I won’t give up, because I know I’m not alone

I know that all roads lead to home in some way

and I’m on my way, are you on your way?

show me your life, living, speaking in the night above us

we all survived, in this one place forever with our eyes closed

you are alive, you said it would never be this way, you promised

I am alive, and I said I would never go away, to believe me

but I’m awake now, and I still see you...do you see me.

I am alive............though I might be dead or sleeping

I have survived.........trying to find my way out of leaving

and I’m having trouble leaving........I keep breaking all these oars

I can’t mold what’s not mine.......that ship won’t sail anymore

the journey is the thing................and I’m barely following

like this mirage from inside the back of my head, from just outside my reach

you are survived, you are not alone, don’t give up

‘cause one day I’m gonna write my dad into my dreams

and tell him how his friends still remember him here

show him I became a man, because they all cared in his absence

and I know you held us, your wife held on tight enough for both of you

she still holds your hand every day........

and try to live out your last words............

you are survived, even though we’re still here sorting it all out

we all survived, and are amongst the living and the dead

this name is no longer mine, I can see who I am without it

but I can’t just go around dreaming about luck like that

but we all still bleed, we still need help to breathe

and that’s all mine to carry, help me remember when I wake up

I know that all roads lead to home in some way

and I’m on my way, are you on your way?

show me your life, walking, drifting in the air around us

we all survived, forever and always as we sleep

you are alive, you said it would never be this way, you promised

I am alive, and I said I would never go away, to believe me

but I’m awake now and I still see you...do you see me

FALLING IN LOVE WITH GLACIERS (morla tortoise shell mountain)

I met a shell of a mountain who knew she was finished

claimed she grew up from a grain of sand

with every year wider she bloomed a little bit longer

to the roof of the sky with outstretched hands

she made friends with the sun, shared enemies with no one

counted weeks like she should of counted days

and swallowed handfuls of night so she could sleep tight

and turn her thoughts from its stone cold ways

and this was the beginning, the start of the ending

you can't die from a broken heart

but from the time the sun rose

to the space where it fell away

she would love, and it wouldn't take part

and every every day she would echo echo

in every single way she should let go let go

but it had her in its sights cupids icy arrows

so she caught every one with her heart like it was her duty

it walked the wrong wrong way down her one way plan

she was surrounded by forests, rivers and beauty

until that glacier froze over the land

and so she blamed herself hated her wealth

she was born at too young of an age

and every night her dreams were touched by witches fingers

until her heart was caged.

with every morning spent not caring if she cares or not

sleeping in the melt and mud, waiting for the earth to rot

burying herself alive she scrapes the hole that it left open

empty as her very heart, that mountain was all broken

all broken, that mountain was all broken

now I can see that her bloods red and she’s got feelings and they always get spilled both without thinking

FAILING IS NOT JUST FOR FAILURES (atreyu & artax)

I lost my best friend to sadness

speaking these words at arms length

he said: to shake things up as hard as you can

and if you figure it out by god tell everyone

he said: failing is not just for failures

it's for everyone, failures just have more experience

but you can't quit now, you have to climb all night

climb everyone of their towers, and show them your life

but if I'm a quitter now, I promise I'll quit her in the end

I don’t need these weapons, I’ll set my heart to win

with the weight of the world trying to stop me

breathe out, then inhale my little heartbeat

and I'll do this for you, because the world might need it

if I don't I'll lose hope, and we'll end up losing it (oh well)

I lost my best friend to sadness

Even though we tried and tried, I guess we really didn't

I haven’t seen my chin since last may

I’m gonna hold my breath. Let's all hold our breath together

and turn this graveyard into a garden and grow from here

we give words to colors and swear we're not blind

we must be the last of our kind, claiming all the world as if we'll never die

we are the ones living right now clamoring around on top of everyone

but it has to hurt of it's to heal, well my god it must be healing

it's like a knife in the heart, and I'm starting to lose feeling

it's gonna hurt before it heals, but the pain is getting bigger

this dams about to go, and I'm running out of fingers

it'll hurt but it will heal, I'm starting to believe it

eyes wide open in the darkness, but I really can't see it

it’s burning right now and I want you to feel it somehow,

but without the pain of knowing it

when all is lost I won’t think of you

there's nothing in this world that ghost can do

no matter what's ahead I'll push on through

for your life or through your death, I’ll keep on

Until I've reached the sea where I can go no further

when all these possibilities keep forcing me towards their goals

confronted with their true self most men run away screaming

with nothing as their enemy it's hollow and it's whole.

stuffing sorrow in their souls

until all hope is lost in the infinite

I won't ever say goodbye because there's no good in it

I'll stay the course, you've sailed away

while my path leads to God only knows

I'll finish this race, you've quit so early

I'd invite you to swim but drifting is not swimming

and this is it, you've given me no choice

but to use mere words to stay alive. while you've paid them no mind.

and I'll tell stories about your life, you are no hero but I'll lie...

because, when all is lost I won’t think of you

there's nothing in this world that ghost can do

no matter what's ahead I'll push on through

for your life or through your death, I’ll keep on

SEATBELT HANDS (dame eyola)

She's the kind of lady that calls everybody baby

honey, sugar, sweetie, she's always making friends

and she keeps us all locked outside her thick leather skin

she always starts with a smile, it's small and butter yellow

but easier than a handshake, doesn't like her hands touched

she tans alot, gets burnt alot smoking through the cartons

but then gets put out so much, she's considered a bargain

she was born on the fourth of july with her hand on her heart

loves america, & being patronized, no one ever told her to guard her heart

she was an angel for halloween once, but never again

and for christmas ever year she's haunted by demons

they always tell her they love her.

she used to believe in innocence until she lost it

and spent a long summer, riding the trains

she has cats and collectors plates to keep her sane

watching TV in her favorite chair...both of which are rented

she's alone, and surrounds herself with loners

her life is a loan, lent out to anyone who will own her

waiting for the night to sweep her off her feet, while she mops the bathroom floor

hoping for a winning ticket or a man to treat her right

but they're both a gamble and she's been a loser all her life

and if she had a nickel for every time she's been punched and kicked

she'd put it together with her camel cash, try to buy some happiness

they always tell her they love her, but then they take something from her.

she would always show us her dreams

they were crumpled up like leaves from holding on too tight

scattered in her shoebox coffin on the cardboard walls covered in butterflies

she's got love in her heart for her babies, and hope in her mind for tomorrow

and blood on her hands that only she sees, holding the last bit of time that's borrowed

but you never know where that heart has been, and we'll never know how hard it's been

I wanna cut open my chest and let her in, but that won’t fix what needs to mend

and she stands there unlit cigarette in hand

filling up that empty hole with anything that’ll pour

insides hanging out like a flare, warning.

there’s beauty in that pain, can you see it?

she’s crashing through life with seat belt hands

one accident away from a miracle

and there’s an honesty there, but I can’t take it all in

she hides the worst of it in the wrinkles

that’s the ache you get when there’s no where else to go.

and she’s got no where else to go, she doesn’t want to go there.

so I promise I’ll go with her.

YOU WERE A HOUSE ON FIRE (xayide and the seeing hand)

and you were a house on fire, and I couldn't understand why

burn me all down to the ground, you said, the fire is on the inside

flames dancing like ghosts, behind the windows

pain jumping from the walls

you want to keep this private, I can see that

but you can't ask that of me, we've only just met

I said we need hope now more than ever before, do you believe it?

the answer was silence.....I took it as a no

we all want to be normal anyways

we all want to be somewhere else than where we live

but that's not reality, it's just point of view

let's not talk about the weather

and whether or not there's really rain the clouds

unless you want to know if I feel the same as you

it's more measuring up than just wasting time

but time is not on our side, you're burning

rain would only be a temporary fix

and there's just no place right now for cute ironies

We all write songs about life, we just sing them different.

you sing the words but you don't know the song.

and you expect us all to sing along? how selfish

the lengths that we go to, to put so much distance between us is staggering

you’re burning alive with stress and life

both hands in flames trying to hold the fire inside

drop and roll ...repeat line for emphasis.

I’ll repeat it and repeat it until you believe it

you're gonna be ok! say it to me...

the answer is still silence ... I’ll take it as a maybe

I can't decide if I should knock down your door or on it

say the word and I’ll take an axe to your heart or a pin prick

cut right through the dark, let it spill out the contents

on our knees sorting through the remnants

pour out your hate in my hands, I’ll let em slip through my fingers

and this is for you, and this is for the times that we only listen long enough to know the other person we’re talking to has the same opinions we do.

for when we’re burning inside, for when we’re trying to hide that fact

this is for the scalps that we went after, to be only the best dressed

to scrape another notch on our belts, add another feather to our headress

I want to be the bigger man for you, but I can’t take this truth

I'm trying to kick the habit here, but these track marks are 100 proof

burn me all down to the ground, you said

I’ll kick through your ashes, hope they sober up my head

THESE HANDS WEREN’T MADE FOR US (the rock biter)

These hands were strong once, they held my head and what’s inside

I tried to train them to stop the shaking, but they wouldn't listen to these lies

there's something out there I promise, it's coming for all of us

and it is evil, and I have seen it, it takes life and devours trust

it's bad when I close them worse with my eyes open. I see it if I sleep

so I keep my mind blank, and think of bravery, change and hope but I'm so weak

please take me in like I'm family, I've been out for far too long

my stone hearts aching, but I am changing. stay by me, leave me alone

I thought these hands were strong with how they used to hold the world

then It slipped away, I couldn't keep it, and now nothing isn't blurred

but ever since the first time that I flew above the stars

like a dragon into heaven trying to tiptoe past the guards

with bricks and bones, blood and stones and skin holding it all loose

I take one last breath and don’t think of death, that halo made a noose

and let's not speak of murder even if the motive is clear

because death is sleep anyways, and I'm fine right here

I couldn’t see what I was looking for, didn’t want to hear it

trying to control everything I see, when all I could do is swim in it.

or drown or tread in these careless waters just to get by

and just getting by? choking down every single ridiculous lie

like an axe in the back, like a coward or a hack.

now regret hates me, it’s fear that saved me putting mountains in my path

These arms were strong once, they moved the ground to keep us safe

but they are crumbling, my fingers numbing. I'm not reaching out I'm pushing you away

please trust it's for your well being, I don't want you here when I come down

so no words are spoken, with my eyes wide open, I’m all ready to be found

and I’m not full, but I’m not done either - just trying to hear what I need to see

and If I see it I promise I’ll let you hear it - and if you’ll listen, then I’m all ears

these hands weren’t made for us - but they grab at every will we conjure up

my hands weren’t built for me - but they still burn the ground enough

acting like they want to be found, just to go and hide again

these hands are all to blame, tearing where it needs to mend

each finger bent in shame, knuckles every shade of white

our hands are all the same, over our face cover our eyes

my passports all worn out, if you need these hands they’re all for you

I don’t know what I want, but I know what I don’t want to do

BUILDING BETTER BRIDGES (the silver city)

Our heart burns broken at the ends, they fail us, keep building

my lungs are wax inside my ribs, you’re burning, well I’m breathing

this back breaks walked on from carrying friends, can’t stop now, still working

your life’s like rain drops on my tongue, I believe you, keep raining

and it’s alright, it’s alright, we are not right now complete

and I’m alright, you’re gonna be alright, we might never be complete

but the water keeps rising, it’s rising, everybody get into the water

and hold each others hands and lives, let’s all push our hearts together....

we’re gonna leave these shores right now, be everything we’ve never been

but you gotta swear to promise that we’ll never go back again, ever again

and we’re not just islands lying beside each others shorelines

we’re all bound with veins and hopes, we are not each others ghosts

our hearts are abridged, let's build bridges to each other

so this river won’t take us under

filled with monsters and goblins, they keep dragging the bottom

our life is a bridge, let’s build bridges to each other

and pray we don’t go under, oh these careless waters

I’m trying not to confuse: being used, with giving all I am

by: being used, and giving everything I have, all I am

so I’ll build a bridge with hollow bones filled with hollow teeth

inside a hollow heart, with the insides carved

and let the blood in these veins freeze

let the water in these veins freeze and break and flood the dam

we are all we have, this is all we need, hold on it may never end

and I might have to drink my teeth again if I wash up on the coast

so I’ll build a bridge with all that’s left, & not make any more new ghosts

show me your life, wide and bright, I hope that patience fills the seams

keep what’s inside, dry and right, you arch the frame I’ll span the beams

our lives are a bridge for us to give, I want to build a better bridge

from every wrong we’ve done to each other, if I forgive will you forgive?

cause one day we’re gonna close our eyes for death or rest

and abandon ourself, this weak mind and breath

and the columns we made, and roots we grew down deep

will be pulled and gathered in to firewood, and burnt for heat

but when the tension shifts, and these braces turn

I’ll try and build a better bridge

and when all our piers burn, and the hinges miss

I’m gonna build a better bridge

our hearts are abridged, let’s build bridges to each other

so we don’t take ourselves under

Our heart burns broken at the ends, they fail us, keep building

my lungs are wax inside my ribs, you’re burning, I’m still breathing

this back breaks walked on carry friends, can’t stop now, still working

your life’s like rain drops on my tongue, I believe you, keep raining

our lives are a bridge for us to give, I want to build a better bridge

from every wrong we’ve done to each other, if I forgive will you forgive?

our hearts are abridged, let’s build bridges to each other

so this river won’t take us under, so we don’t take ourselves under

our lives are a bridge, let’s build bridges to each other

and pray we don’t go under, oh these careless waters

our lives are a bridge for us to give, I want to build a better bridge

from every wrong we’ve done to each other, if I forgive will you forgive?

our lives are a bridge for us to give, I want to build a better bridge

from every wrong we’ve done to each other, if I forgive will you forgive?

our hearts are abridged, let’s build bridges to each other

so this river won’t take us under, so we don’t take ourselves under

SAVE UP YOUR HOPES FRIENDS (the nothing)

people who have no hopes are easy to control

with nothing and uncertainty

rumors of wars with monsoons and tornadoes

will keep fear over their eyes and locks on their feet

if there were something then at least that would be something

but there's not and it buries cracks of drought

tearing apart empires and homes and the dreams of men

sealing the entrance and every way out

there is hope but no heart can touch it

unless it's traded wants, for others needs

it is emptiness that is left and destroying the world

priceless possessions held so tight that it bleeds

the end is near, they won't believe it

until a waking nightmare they can see it

and they'll know it has begun

when zero blocks out the sun

blinded by the fact that they can see nothing

one by one they scream silently as they run

it'll start like hot rain searing through the leaves

and boil the sea turning every grass yellow

it comes with no warning and wants no reprieve

as it begins with dark clouds and silence

the oceans will be covered in water

and the mountains turned in to sand

the trees will be scattered like stars in the night

and beneath it all will be buried the land

the air will turn sour and make mothers hate their daughters

and fathers will take the blade to their sons

earthquakes will level houses

hurricanes will take the cattle

birds of prey will lay claim to the rest

the crops will be devoured by locusts and lightning

and when nothing is left, the thunder will rest

the mountains in the sea will crack at their bases

and send the earth far away from its sun

they'll fall off the planet and leave the world weightless

and everything will freeze together as one

and for years that measure one million times seven

times eleven million by seventy seven

it'll rocket into nothing, rock ice spinning into nothing

until fire smashes it into glass

and sends a rain of boiling vapor

like arrows ripping into paper

on to our heads, lava and poison ash

and it begins. save up your hopes friends

and send them to the corners of your end

there is something coming, and everything matters

guard your heart, and watch the wind