This World Oft Can Be

Empire

C. Woodsmith

Empire sits on the edge of a hill

Born out of a gypsum mine

Held at once 300 souls

And none of them were mine

Now they’re just ghosts in the streets

Wandering a land that sleeps

Once it was a lively place

Now just tumbleweeds

The houses they are silent

Quiet as thieves

Now they’re just ghosts in the streets

Wandering a land that sleeps

The miners callused hands

The women who planted seed on the land

Empire met its end

Once you’re gone you can’t go back

the locks they have all froze

The lid upon the coffin

Now it has been closed

Now they’re just ghosts in the streets

Wandering a land that sleeps

The men who built the Empire (hits)

Up from the ground

missed the cracks in the foundation

One blow and it all falls down

Now they’re just ghosts in the streets

Wandering a land that sleeps

The miners callused hands

The women who planted seed on the land

Empire met its end

Paper Prince

C. Woodsmith

Why must you wait?

Why must you wait for the sky to fall?

Your brittle fingers, your eyes I recall

your shy heart and your stone walls,

why must I wait when you have not called?

You've never been kissed,

never been kissed

never been kissed by the paper prince

you light your fires of words on pyres

you'll never be what your mind desires

you only imagine what it is that you have missed

And its gone long gone

in the fearless hum,

of a lonely song

I am a child,

I am a child

I am a child of waiting

the tears will fall upon my strings,

I'll bow my head and my voice will sing

I never knew how tightly I could cling

we never can change

never can change

never can change or wash the stains

but who am I to hold the reigns?

The stead I ride she has no name

And its gone long gone

in the fearless hum

of a lonely song

No one will know

no one will know

no one will know how the end of it goes

the story that has already been told

our eyes were closed through the rhythm and prose

we will wake as the last line closes

And its gone long gone

in the fearless hum

of a lonely song

Hounds

C. Woodsmith

Where do you go when the light is low

When your ship is sinking

When the storm explodes

When your heart it lingers

On one sad kiss

When the sun is red

Through the mist

I've sailed with "The Anne"

for twenty years

from the blue of the Indies

to the waters of Whales

Now she is swolen

her sails are torn

the water is rising,

together we mourn

And the hounds of heaven rise

From their place by the fire

They’re chasing me down

But it ain’t my time

Strange how you see

Your life complete

In the few moments,

before you greet

The force that made

the ribbon of sky

that holds us up,

in the darkest night

And the hounds of heaven rise

From their place by the fire

They’re chasing me down

But it ain’t my time

I am a seeker of fortune

I am an honest man

I’m tied to my morals

By a steady hand

I’ll bow my head

Into the sea

Let the waves

Wash over me

And the hounds of heaven rise

From their place by the fire

They’re chasing me down

But it ain’t my time

They’re chasing me down

But it ain’t my time

Heaven's Gate
C. Woodsmith

The shackles I wear not made from a chain
They make but a whisper in the dead of night
Without a sound I find myself bound
To wander the place where I was alive

And you, my friend, have come on an errand
I know that you have a story like I did
But no one can know, if you don’t show
The pain in your heart and the cry at your lips

I’m not from this place, I traveled from far
I came here after they ended the war
Tried to forget but when I closed my eyes
I saw blood on my hands and a gun on the floor

So it was here I put a knife to my breast
And here I will remain evermore
But you can go on, fix what is wrong
If you keep from the demons who knock at your door

Wont you come back and see me again?
Won’t you come back someday?
I’ve tried, and I’ve tried to make my way from here
But I’m stuck at heaven’s gate
Stuck at Heaven’s gate

I know that you are not meant for my fate
You haven’t a heart that is made of stone
You’re warm and free, listen to me
I am a specter, and you are my son

Wont you come back and see me again?
Won’t you come back someday?
I’ve tried, and I’ve tried to make my way from here
But I’m stuck at heaven’s gate

Turtle Dove
C. Woodsmith, C. Hartman

Turtle dove you wake me with a melancholy cry
as the sun streaks the sky and the dawn defeats the night
do you try to wake me from my sleep
to open the windows and hear you weep?

Do you sit there, watching, as I lay my head to rest?
at night when my sadness tries to confess
is it hung above me as I dream?
oh turtle dove, I am not what I seem
ooooo
oh turtle dove, I am not what I seem

Why don't you preen your feathers and fly into the light?
Oh, I would fall like Icharus, despairing of my plight
The soles of my feet are heavy on the ground
But when I close my eyes I am heaven bound
oooooo
when I close my eyes I am heaven bound

Turtle dove, tell me, what more do you see?
Is anyone else at all like me?
Do others fail do they fall, do they fly
To find fields of plenty, And peace of mind
ooooooo
To find fields of plenty, And peace of mind

This World Oft Can Be
C. Hartman, C. Woodsmith

This world oft can be a down and lonesome place to be
A knock at my door I'm glad to have your company
Hang up your coat up on a peg in the wall
Set up your feet and stay for a while

The lines on your face tell me something’s troubling
Has the day and its weight made you feel old again?
light up a pile of kindling
watch the flames a flickering

Remember the years when we were young and free?
Now we’ve swayed and we’ve bent like a pair of poplar trees
Look at the pictures up on the wall
Pieces of a time when we stood tall

These are the days when I see my reckoning
The years fly past and I don’t know what the end will bring
sit with me now by the fireside
sing me a song I'll sing you mine

The night draws close
the fire dies steadily
the room is warm
your eyes grow heavy
Nevermind the clock on the mantle high
I'll make up the bed you can stay for the night
Nevermind the clock on the mantle high
I'll make up the bed you can stay for the night

Like Bones
C. Woodsmith

Early in the morning
Before you leave
Just before dawn
Just after a dream
Our eyes barely open
Legs tangled in sheets
I’ve never felt love so tenderly

We lay like lovers
Lay like stones
Lay in the darkness and let the time pass
Like a stream
Till it turns us back to bone

Your heart it is beating
a rhythm so slow
I'd stay here forever
if you didn't go
Let you rock me to sleep
on your chest where I lay
Let the light of the morning
come in through the shades

We lay like lovers
Lay like stones
Lay in the darkness and let the time pass
Like a stream
Till it turns us back to bone

As we lie between
asleep and awake
I'll wait 'till the moment
when the dream has to break.
I'll love you the same as when the sun dies
but the truest moment
is when she does rise!

We lay like lovers
Lay like stones
Lay in the darkness and let the time pass
Like a stream
Till it turns us back to bone