1229 SHEFFIELD (Album Version)   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

another day of deflating your face into tears -- i shook your mood with the game and a bottle of beer

the day i fell off of the wagon, you threw up your hands in disgust -- once again, you just get the best of me

remember you loved to be held, how you loved to be touched -- and anxiously laughed at my jokes just a little too much

when i was so careful of cursing while you were still nursing your beer -- now it's a shame but i know

there's really no use for a brand new convertible -- a mile to your parents, a mile to the store

returning our bottles for 10 cent deposits -- i'll drink us two dollars more

i don't recall anyone placing a gun to our heads -- we traded a trip 'round the world for a family instead

our friend's were dispersing while you were still nursing our boy -- and i knew things had changed when

the pet names that you once gave me we soon gave to the pets -- but i still come when you call them - just to be sure

now there's really no use for a neighborhood cheerleader or block party president mowing his lawn

whose cabinet is empty, with a mind full of nicotine fits -- god i can't make you love me

cause i don't have the strength anymore.

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A MILLION THINGS   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

there's a million things i'd like to say, but if you'll stay -- i'll try to hold 'em back a little -- and a million things i'd like to hear before you disappear

and then you raise your voice a little -- it's been a minute and it's no surprise that you roll your eyes -- every time i want to talk about it

another minute  -- you throw up your hands and then you make demands -- like you never want to hear about it -- so let's be clear about it

there's a million things i wish you were -- but what's for sure is one thing i wish you were not -- i wish you weren't the one to leave me stranded

here empty handed with a head full of wishes

there's a million words and i've said none, i've held them on my tongue -- and carry them into the evening

i lie in bed and swallow every word, and though it seems absurd -- it's worth it to keep you from leaving // and in the morning when i lie awake

because my insides ache -- i try to get back to a dream about it -- where every word makes up the air you breathe -- you'd never think to leave

'cause you know you couldn't live without 'em -- you won't survive without 'em

there's a million things i wish you were -- but what's for sure is one thing i wish you were not -- i wish you weren't the one to leave me stranded

here empty handed with a head full of wishes.

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AND THEN YOU WENT AWAY   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

i've been living in here long enough -- reminds of when times were tough -- 'cause i still think about you every day

it's like you never really went away -- there were no signs there were no warnings, saying that it's over

all you left behind was everything

you hung your favorite picture so you could see it everyday -- and then you went away -- and then you went away

its by the window garden you said you'd water everyday -- and then you went away -- and then you went away

it's been a while and i feel alright,  and you can call me day or night -- 'cause i don't think about you anymore

in fact some of your things went out the door -- the only words that make me feel better, are saying that it's over

all you left behind was everything

slept on the velvet curtains the ones that you had custom made -- and then you went away -- and then you went away

and there's my new best friend the one you took in as a stray -- and then you went away -- and then you went away

guess it's not over yet, 'cause when i'm ready to forget -- i remember where i am

'cause there's a photograph that you had put up on display -- and then you went away -- and then you went away

and there's a box of letters that had me thinking you would stay -- and then you went away -- and then you went away

and there's a coffee table you said would not be in the way -- and then you went away -- and then you went away

and in the window garden the leaves are falling in decay -- since you went away -- and then you went away.

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RESURRECTION   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

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WRITTEN AND ERASED   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

as soon as something's popular -- it's written and erased -- still i'm watching, i want more though

i've seen it all before where -- bullies hang with pretty boys who -- pick up girls in corduroys whose

teeny tops are little tanks -- they go hip hip hoppin' to the banks where -- imitation is just limitation in disguise

we'll sell our souls because the rock just rolled over and died

do you wanna be famous - wanna get a taste -- do you wanna be written and erased

do you wanna be faded like the scene -- in a one-hit wonder magazine -- do you wanna be jaded

self medicated -- go to be rehabilitated -- and then be congratulated -- oh yeah you're the one we're looking for

i don't believe the break you had -- the monumental ache you had -- a game of conscience tug of war and

we have all be there before where -- bullies become pretty boys with -- loaded guns and shiny toys they're

bustin' heads and makin' noise -- 'till they're bang bang banging -- hit the floors

where imitation is just limitation in disguise -- we'll sell our souls because the rock just rolled over and died

get your pencils, papers -- big fat red erasers -- we're all tail chasers in disguise

do you wanna be famous -- wanna get a taste -- do you wanna be written and erased

do you wanna be faded like your jeans -- they're gonna be busting at the seams

do you wanna be jaded -- self-medicated -- go to be rehabilititated -- and then be congratulated

oh yeah you're the one we're looking for

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MILEAGE   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

 

right turn -- the neighborhood is pretty quiet for a weekday

left turn -- the same one way to work almost everyday

i passed by the high school -- a memory rerun -- when i was seventeen -- i couldn't wait for twenty-one

i passed by the church -- where i married you -- when you were twenty-one -- and i was twenty-two

a stop sign -- a chance to clear my mind before the workday

and then a right turn -- is where i catch another glimpse of the highway

so i speed past the building - i always wanted to -- since i was twenty-one - almost twenty-two

if i'd had the never -- i'd have quit there before -- you turned twenty-three - and couldn't take me anymore

the well known -- sits in a cloud of dust on this weekday -- a cell phone -- is in about a million pieces on the highway

speed down the highway -- rack up the miles -- one hundred twenty one -- a hundred twenty two

roll down the window -- roll out the miles -- one hundred twenty three -- a hundred twenty four

straight down the highway -- the road offers no guarantees -- drive through the morning

drive into the sun and i'm free

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WHEN I'M GONE   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

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SOMEONE LIKE YOU   [written by Brian Vander Ark]

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SECOND HAND   [written by Craig Nelson & Brian Vander Ark]

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HOLLYWOOD ENDING   [Written by Brian Vander Ark]

 

the freaks are on the boulevard -- they dream and make believe

some will go try to forget -- but most forget to leave

i don't believe in miracles - but i still love this place

and i should go while i still have a smile upon my face

'cause it beats you until you concede -- it's a hollywood ending indeed

for every last call miracle -- a hundred won't connect - and i should go while i still have a little self respect

to a round of drinks on my my friends -- i felt famous in this place

and though you never learned my name -- you recognized my face

and i leave them as they bottom feed -- it's a hollywood ending indeed

the freaks are on the boulevard -- none ar in disgrace

but i should go while i still have a smile upon my face -- and i'll go while there's blood left to bleed

it's a hollywood ending indeed

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FRONT ROW JUNKIES   [Written by Brian Vander Ark]

 

a fifteen minute warning -- brings another belly full of butterflies

i'm just a child of jesus -- a stage for my confessions

and those who come to witness -- have joints they hide among their cigarettes

they've been let out of their cages -- and what they spent for their freedom

left enough to buy a ticket -- to celebrate what's in the air tonight

and trade their wars for encores -- forget the day

and fade away

and to the front row junkies -- there's no such thing as backstage arguments

where vanity outrages -- they've enough to buy a ticket

to celebrate what's in the air tonight -- and trade their wars for encores

and let the day -- fade away

the best shows are all ages -- they left their books in lockers for the night

to be let out of their cages -- they will borrow, beg, steal and save for

enough to buy a ticket -- to celebrate what's in the air tonight

i'll take the highs with butterflies

leave the day -- and fade away

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