Things Change
(2007)
Scroll Down For All Lyrics
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1. Brown Boots, Red Coat
You put on your brown boots
You put on your red coat
You put on your mittens that I knitted
you for Christmas
You stand in the doorway
You take out your car key
You reach out your hand to touch
my head to say goodbye
Goodbye, Goodbye
And good luck with all the things you do
Call me if you’re passing through
Hope that things keep treating you okay
I take out our picture
From when we were happy
Why can’t we be happy now
if we were happy then
And while I am crying
The snow it is falling
I feel like I’m falling everytime
I say goodbye
CHORUS
I take out my blue book blue book
I pull out my six string six string
I try to imagine how you’d sound
if you could sing
I thought of your brown boots
I thought of your red coat
I thought of the melody of
telling you goodbye
CHORUS
2. Piano Hands
LISTEN
Illinois, the windy city
Red brick building, shiny shoes
A little girl, my mama’s mama
April 1922
You were young, on the doorstep smiling
All the world was something new, in 1922
In the sun with your sister Violet
I can see myself in you, and you did too-
Halloween, with a silk umbrella
You’re out posing on the lawn
A crooked smile and a braided halo
With your arm around your mom
Seventeen, in the front yard smiling
All the world was something new
In the sun with your sister Violet
I can see myself in you, and you did too
Old paper black and white is how I feel tonight
But you are color in the lens
I have your photographs,
all spread out on my desk
‘Cuz I wish that I could be with you again
You were young, you were much like I am
All the world is something new
You were strong, with those piano hands
I can see myself in you, and you did too
3. No Way Around It
Into the storm, you want to stay dry
You put on your coat
The bottom is deep, the water is high
But you trusted the boat
You followed the sound,
he picked up the oars
With no way around the water poured
It poured from the sky,
you headed right in
You knew it would dry and then begin
There’s no way around it,
when it’s clear you’ve found it
It would never leave your sight
There’s no rhyme or reason,
constant as the seasons
Quiet as a northern light
After the storm, you want to get dry
You take off your coat
Shake out your hair, it’s still worth a try
But everything’s soaked
You put on some tea, you cover your eyes
Take a minute to breathe and realize
CHORUS
If you’ve ever wondered
when the nighttime thundered
It was clear by break of day
There’s no better answer,
let the torrent pass her
She will never go away
CHORUS
4. Angeline
Angeline, flowers in your hair
Pretty spring day, everyone was there
Dressed in white, holding tight to your father’s shaking hand
Now there’s a new man for Angeline
Angeline, looking at the sky
23, your husband by your side
you both glowed, pulled in close
you stitched flowers up his sleeve in navy blue and green
Angeline
That was 1971, you were young
Chasing all your dreams
Wondering what you’d be
The future was a mystery Angeline
Angeline, in pictures turning grey
You look like me, your living in my face
I’m no bride, but one day I will wear flowers in my hair
And somehow you’ll be there, Angeline
5. If I Am American
The dollar is king in the world where I’m living
The heart is a pawn
The whole world is fighting an unnamed war
On my front lawn
But if I am American born
If this is what my relatives fought for
Shouldn’t I be proud of what I am
If I am American
Out on the street in Cambodia and Vietnam
Locals leaned forward to ask me,
“Where are you from?
I told them “Canada, Land of the Maple Leaf,
Keepers of Snow.”
“Oh!” They said, “You’re from Canada,
Must be very cold.”
CHORUS
You won’t find a flag on my car,
On my house, in my T-shirt drawer
I support local businesses,
Try not to shop at the superstores
When I paint my new house
I’ll avoid red and blue as a color scheme
As nice as they look,
I might have to skip blue
And go with green
CHORUS
6. We Built a Mountain
They tore down this hill
to build a highway
Took out the trees to build a town
Yellow monster tractors by the fireweed
I watched them tear the spruce trees down
They were closing in
where you and I lay sleeping
Breathing softly in each other’s arms
And early on I heard the tractor’s beeping
Like the thunder warning of a coming storm
You can tear it down
But you can’t build it again
And the world’s going round
As we begin
I felt it shaking in my body
I felt it rattling my bones
They built a hell they called a valley
As we built a mountain of our own
CHORUS
7. The Schmuck
This guy I didn’t know
asked me on a date
He didn’t have job,
he didn’t have a place to live
He called me on the phone,
saw my number at the store
Asked about my duplex
that I need tenants for
I think he liked the fact that I was Jewish
But I have no idea how he knew it,
I guess he heard it in my voice
He talked and talked and talked
while I read the morning news
I said, “mmhmm” and “yeah”
and was very nice
Like I was taught to do
But this schmuck went on and on
About Jews and Prospect Park
And how he needs a month
to month agreement
Because he has commitment problems
The kicker of it all,
the thing that makes me mad
Is this lonely man on the telephone
left me feeling sad
I’d like to tell him “I feel just like you”
I’m home alone and I need someone too
But sorry it’s not you.
8. Mississippi Moon
LISTEN
I’m a poor girl from Plaquemine, Louisiana
And my Daddy grew the biggest crops around
Okra sweet as honey,
Daddy didn’t have no money
We got our goods out of the ground
It was morning when we saw
the trucks a-coming
Lined up on the river road due south
There must have been about fifty
Headed down the Mississippi
To the gated yard where they tore
the old church down
It was our playground where the egrets flew
Above the Mississippi moon
Now it’s gone gone gone away too soon
From the window over Mama’s piano
You can see steam rise
and metal wheels spin
I was my Daddy’s only daughter
I was baptized in the water
That we’re not allowed
to dip our bodies in
CHORUS
Now my family’s garden bed is barren
Because the white men say
there’s poison in the ground
We lost Joseph and Aunt Sally
We still live on Cancer Alley
And my Daddy swears one day
we’re moving out
CHORUS
9. You Were Drunk
(Rose Polenzani)
Well I thought I’d be okay
walking on my lonesome way
‘Till you came to the neighborhood bar
and while Timmy played guitar
won me with a smile so bright
That I thought I’d be alright
And you kissed me one sweet night
and you pulled me close and tight
Then you told me one sweet lie
And I knew right then that I
was a poor man’s answered prayer-
You were durnk and I was there
Oh my god, oh my heart
I’m no maiden fair
You were drunk and I was there
And a better girl than I
would have hung you out to dry
But I took you to my bed,
and I crumbled when you said
“Baby, please don’t make me wait,
Please...”
CHORUS
And a beter man than you
would have seen the ugly truth,
would have known that I really liked you
would have known,
would have never come home
would have never tried
would have never lied
to my heart
Well I thought I’d be okay
maybe good love would come my way
Then you told me one sweet lie
And I knew right then that I’m
just a poor man’s answered prayer-
Please
CHORUS
10. Wait for the Roses
Where do you go to fill up your cup,
When it runs as dry as your bones
I will try to fill it up with rocks from the river and the moss from the stones
What is the light that leads you back home
When you’re lost on a night with no moon
I’ll clear the path where the yarrow has grown
And we’ll dance while the dish runs away with the spoon
I’m the wind at your back, I’m the writing on the wall
The morning dove, the man in the moon
I’ll sit and stoke the fire, and let the winter fall outside
The quiet and the comfort of this room,
And wait for the roses to bloom
Who shoes your foot and who hats your head
And who gloves your hands when they’re cold
I’ll clear the weeds to make you a bed
In the shade of the birch tree where the shadows are gold
CHORUS
11. Not My Key
I can’t get you off my mind
It’s like a freight train running wild around my head
Every turn it makes my heart feel sad
And I don’t want to say your name
It comes out like a song I used to sing
But had to give to someone else ‘cuz it was not my key
And I’m behind this door and I want nothing more
But I can’t turn away from you
There’s this hole beside me when I rise
A loneliness to everything I do
And every night I go to sleep with you
I’m the one who used to say this is getting harder every day
But now you’re gone, it breaks my heart to know we’re moving on
I know that you agree it feels good when you’re close to me
It’s hard to say out loud you’re not the one
It made me shake and cry , and just to say goodbye
Felt like the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and my heart still weighs a ton
I guess I just want to hear that you’re not going anywhere
I like the sound of knowing that you’re still around
12. Things Change
You were once the daughter
of a woman with black hair
Who cooked in the kitchen
and trusted in you
You took walks in the evening
The streetlights were yellow
Her jacket was purple
The sky was dark blue
Things change.
Like people who were lonely
are lonely no more
And people with money
are turning up poor
Like hearts that were broken
are picking up pieces
And feet that were floating
are hitting the floor
Things change. Things change.
I couldn’t even put into words
Measure it’s weight like a bucket of rain
It’s like switching on a light
Everything’s different but somehow the same
Things change. Oh how things change.
Things change.
My cats are both dead now,
don’t know where they’re buried
They lived out their lives with a family friend
When I look in the mirror
I somehow look older
My mom’s in my face
and she’s living again
Things Change. Things Change
