Diamonds In The Coal

(alexander)

Hypocrisy as it oughta be, that's called good business
Sometimes it really bothers me how i got in this
Took this job a-thinkin' i'd be movin' up some day
Been too busy drinkin' to be carin' either way

The wife she ain't been workin' 'cause her time is growing near
But the irs ain't takin' no sabbaticals this year
Working on commission against weekly guarantees
This soldier's on a mission but it ain't for charity

Chorus

Give me just one moment with the wheel between my hands
Just one moment, i'll make you understand
Don't confuse all the games you lose with failing as a man
Just one moment, i'll show you who i am

Went in to see the boss man to ask him for a raise
Never did quite understand all the reasons that he gave
His 8" x 10" of jesus had turned it's back to me
I guess mortal man can't comprehend that dense morality

So i bought my wife some roses and i tied them with a bow
Called the boss up at 3 am and i told him where to go
Now we're driving down the highway back to where we first began
With me back in the driver's seat and her holding my hand

Chorus

She probably still keeps herself inside herself
Her head it ruled her heart with a tune i'll never hear
Summer, like self-portraits we were hit or miss

Never the same hues twice
The second layer's applied before the first one's were even rendered

I guess her wall's still high and wide
With the writing on the inside
Its meaning's reapplied to who's in fashion

Chorus

Time's a perfect crime for a mystery girl
The veil distorts the rhyme for a mystery girl

Somewhere tonight a lonely shadow's painting in the rain
And most of what is captured will be in vain

You try to keep away the dogs of memory
The hungry and the restless ones just come at different angles

A cigarette at midnight in a slow, dark room
And they're scratchin' at your door

The corner of your mind you pared to eloquence now rambles
And the rain sounds like a freight train
Don't it always come the same

When your hunger meets the pain of her resilience

Chorus

I guess her wall's still high and wide
With the writing on the inside
Its meaning's reapplied to who's in fashion

Chorus

(alexander/naydock)

I thought i felt her ghost again last night
And i kept a fire burning through the morning light
You, early morning diner on the neon range
You, you drove away as it began to rain

Twenty months of feedin' off original sin
Ain't shut the door blown open by what should have been

Chorus

And time's been like a dog that begs
And i find it's needin' to be fed
Guardian angel rise, pull me out of my disguise
And shut the door behind on the dirty neon times

I became an island on a social sea
And i let someone take my shores occasionally
Wine, good weed and cigarettes assured they'd leave
Fine, fine women all but i could not receive

Twenty months of feedin' off original sin
Ain't shut the door blown open by what should've been

Chorus

'cause to condemn her now don't make no sense at all
Like taxis in the backwoods, like striptease at the mall
You hit a wall

Chorus

(alexander/naydock)

They met up in rockport
Where the moon rose early and the days were short
And the miles between were still too many to mention


The blue ridge rides at starfall
Oh, the epic scope of it all
Those days before the double-edged blade of contention

Chorus

Sometimes passion's like a cigarette
Burning clean out 'fore it really takes wing
But you always fly high for a little while
When you think you've got the real thing

He moved in for the long haul
The '81 hog, the guitar and all
They got an apartment, a conversation piece

But the big spark dimmed substantial
You know it's always financials
That give the portrait of happiness its nasty crease

Chorus

Sometimes they'd find common ground
Some days he'd run to where he couldn't be found
A ride in the pines can truly inspire
The need for a soul to come clean from a waning desire

He laid there deciding
What side of a man should come out of hiding
While she laid there, the key to his conventions

She had brought some changes
But how could he pretend with all these empty pages
And the miles to go, still too many to mention

Chorus

Do you think you got the real thing

My name is jackson jameson, a coal miner by trade
From a part of pennsylvania even jesus couldn't save
With towns named after indian chiefs and union army generals
It's nowhere in particular but everywhere in general

History says americans, we have the right to choose
But they never mention those of us whose opinions aren't used

Well, the big flood came in '72 and tore the railroad bridges down
Washed away our only means of getting shipments out of town
And the government won't subsidize rebuilding the central line
So there's barroom fights and anthracite and loads of extra time

History says americans, we have the right to choose
But they never mention those of us whose opinions aren't used

Chorus

There's diamonds in the coal everybody ignores
A man never finds what he ain't looking for
A tree only grows if you nurture the seed
There's too many gems this world doesn't need

The people left like rainwater flowing through an open drain
But here i sit too proud to admit and too damn old to change
Now, the monuments at gettysburg keep the tourists going there
But we died too slow and quietly for anyone to care

History says americans, we have the right to choose
But they never mention those of us whose opinions aren't used

Chorus

(alexander)

A lot of folks do well enough leavin' well enough alone
But that was never true for me and you
Livin' like the characters in "like a rolling stone"
Confirming things that we already knew

You were young and pretty - me, well, i was young
Leastways young enough not to need a reason
I was for the memories and you were for the fun
And we were both just fillin' up the season

With no dreams and no plans and no schemes
Somehow here we are again

Chorus

Na na na na na na
We're ending up back where we came from
Na na na na na na na

Na na na na na na
We're ending up back where we came from
Na na na na na na na

We had beer and "jack" and kerouak and weekends on the fringe
And lots of time to think about tomorrow
But it seems our little bivouac was more than just a binge
Sometimes you end up keeping what you borrow

With no dreams and no plans and no schemes
Somehow here we are again

Chorus