The Nerve CDs

Rise Up

Rise up, rise up, time to live another day
Look up, look up, anything to show the way

Waking up to the news: weather, crimes, celeb reviews
Gossip this, guessing that
Crowding into the light

Rise up, rise up, time to live another day
Look up, look up, anything to show the way
Wise up, wise up

People tell you what to think. Image selling you a drink
Earn your keep. Talk is cheap.
Can't remember just last week.

Rise up, rise up, time to live another day
Look up, look up, anything to show the way
Wise up, wise up, find a voice so you can say:
Wake up!

Victim

Keep makin' promises that you're never gonna keep.
A fool am I to believe a word
Keep telling me that your intentions run so deep.
Another lie preserves your fun.

I need a way to get out. Step by step, I take them all.
Can't ya help me find the light. Don't wanna be a victim of coincidence.

Don't steal my life, my wife, my pride. That's all I've got.
Let's make a deal to mend our ways. I can no longer understand your verbal take on what this world once did to you.

Don't want to be another victim; another victim of coincidence.

Don't know where I'm goin'. Burn it all down.
Dont' know where I'm goin'. Burn my home down!

I need a way to get out. Step by step, I take them all.
Can't ya help me find the light. Don't wanna be a victim of coincidence.

Curtain Call

Tear away the piece of fabric. It's curtain call, there's none here.
No eyes transfixed, but haunt upon you. Empty stage crowded by years.

Turn around. Look around. They all around you. Close your eyes, you'll never see them there. They have come. They have left. They have been before you. They may be gone, but they're still here.

Pack their laughter in a suitcase. Let it out to find it disappeared.
Hold their spotlight in your pocket. Shine it in the echo of your cheer.

Shadows dance. Shadows sing. Shadows hold your secrets. They are only spoken in daydreams. Project you in my finest moments. Project you in my time of need.

Read, read, read all you're feeling. Wept, wept, wept; shed a tear... dear.
Hear, hear, hear what I'm saying. Don't, Don't, don't ever fear. I'm here!

Breathe it in, breathe it out till they embrace you. A tangled web unraveled by your mind. The thread that leads you through the fabric. Begins and ends the weave of time.

What is Real?

Running through the ocean.
Flying through the sand.
Dance between the raindrops.
Hold a minute in your hand.

Are you awake? Are you asleep? Are we still strangers when we meet?

Do you know what is real? Complicate the feelings that you feel.

Are you lost or are you found? Does a smile make a sound? Are you searching for the sadness? Do you drive yourself to madness?

Do you know what is real? Complicate the feelings that you feel. I feel an answer coming near. Are you gone or are you here?

Are we in love or just in fight? Do your wrongs turn into rights? Are you the sum or just some part? Is this the end? Is this the start?

Forever Dreamin'

I wish I was the one who could put out the fire.
I wish I was the one who could run down the field and have the crowd inspired.
I wish I was the one who traveled through space and time.
I wish I was the one who could find the cure so no one else will die.
I'll be forever dreamin' in my mind

Senseless crimes. I'll stop all of that.
Serious rhymes; a poet or some kind of actor or something like that.

I'll run for office and end world hunger. Or maybe I'll be what I'll be; start a family, provide for the future. 

-- for mom

Barbie Doll

Her hair will not fall out of place. God forbid it hides her face.
I comb and brush it all the time. It never builds up grease like mine.

I dress her up for Ken's big date. And knowing him, he will be late.
It must be nice to have a match. I work so hard for the dates I catch.

I am ten feet tall. I'm always at the mall. Lovely Barbie Doll.
You are my best friend. It will kill me in the end. To be Barbie Doll.

Her makeup always looks divine. Pimples, scars, don't waste her time.
She taught me everything I know. Female standard, friend or foe?

She never grows a day. She'll never show her age. Lovely Barbie Doll.
Destroy my self-esteem. Her confidence is clean. To be Barbie Doll.

I am ten feet tall. I'm always at the mall. Lovely Barbie Doll.
Destroy my self-esteem. Her confidence is clean. To be Barbie Doll.
She never grows a day. She'll never show her age. Lovely Barbie Doll.
You are my best friend. It will kill me in the end. To be Barbie Doll.

The Way Home

Ten miles of familiar road
The distance 'til I can sleep
I left our place not long ago
Alone on empty streets

The lights are passing by
In the mirror they reflect on me
Darkness is up ahead
The road is all I see

Driving, here to there, thinking the space just distance
Knowing, unaware, the dullness of tired senses
Watching from afar, a victim unsuspecting
Searching in the headlight's glare

I came after fate was there
One soul still left to bleed
Still waiting for him to cross
Chance has let us meet

Responsibility

Please don't hide. I can hear your whispers. Please don't cry, I can feel your warmth. Must I shun my eyes to the possibilities of another day passing me by?

Don't wanna grow up... and leave it all behind... Responsibility
I had good good friends... where did they go?... Responsibility

Let's take a journey through the salts of my soul
Let's take a walk, make me feel better 'bout it all
I refuse to accept the how, when or why... Why won't anyone sympathize?

Don't wanna grow up... and leave it all behind... Responsibility
I had good good friends... where did they go?... Responsibility

Don't wanna grow up... and leave it all behind... Responsibility
The seasons of my youth all had names... Where have they gone?
Don't want responsibility... it's so unkind!

Dancing Trees

(instrumental)

-- for my wife

Electric Muse

Inspired by electric in the night,

That is captured in a moment.
And I found a message in the air.
That I bent in my direction.

Don't spend your time until you're broke.
Don't sweat the things you can't control.
Realize things happen for no reason.

Inspired by the pain that's in my past.
That has made me that much stronger.
And I washed my own heart with my tears.
Baked my bread and left a crumb trail.

Spend some time inside of me,
Hanging independently,
Until one day I realized I was hungry.

Inspired by the chocolate in your eyes.
That has taught me how to love you.
Inspired by the magic in your smile.
That has left me warmly spellbound.

Inspired by the things that often come,
With electric in the night.

-- for my husband

In The End

And so it goes; in the end this too shall pass
And so it goes; focus on the things that last
I said: Communicate your thoughts to me. Express them not so easily.
Why'd ya pick this fight today? All this talking's getting in the way.

I said: Why can't we get in the car and drive? Why must you always criticize?
Here I have myself to blame. But why is I don't feel ashamed?

Mom and Dad, you were oh, so right
We're always having the same damn fight
She says this. He says that.
It ends the same.
It seems we drive ourselves insane.

Worry, worry, as I might
No matter what, he's my Mr. Right
We know we'll look back on this one day
There's bigger things that make me want to stay.

Special thanks to:
our family and friends (an extra sloppy kiss to) Jimmy and Ray for their creativity; Chuck Anderson for all the honest input; Keet and Jennifer for dealing with unreasonable expectations; and to all the listeners who aren't afraid to hear something new.