End Of The Summer

the summer ends and we wonder where we are
And there you go, my friends, with your boxes in your car
And you both look so young
And last night was hard, you said
You packed up every room
And then you cried and went to bed
But today you closed the door and said
"we have to get a move on.
It's just that time of year when we push ourselves ahead,
We push ourselves ahead."

And it was cloudy in the morning
And it rained as you drove away
And the same things looked different
It's the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer,
When you move to another place

And i feel like the neighbor's girl who will never be the same
She walked alone all spring,
She had a boyfriend when the summer came
And he gave her flowers in a lightning storm
They disappeared at night in green fields of silver corn
And sometime in july she just forgot that he was leaving
So when the fields were dying, she held on to his sleeves
She held on to his sleeves

And she doesn't want to let go
'cause she won't know what she's up against
The classrooms and the smart girls
It's the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer
When you hang your flowers up to dry

And i had a dream it blows the autumn through my head
It felt like the first day of school
But i was going to the moon instead
And i walked down the hall
With the notebooks they got for me
My dad led me through the house
My mom drank instant coffee
And i knew that i would crash
But i didn't want to tell them
There are just some moments when your family makes sense
They just make sense

So i raised up my arms and my mother put the sweater on
We walked out on the dark and frozen grass
The end of the summer
It's the end of the summer
When you send your children to the moon

The summer ends and we wonder who we are
And there you go, my friends, with your boxes in your car
And today i passed the high school, the river, the maple tree
I passed the farms that made it
Through the last days of the century
And i knew that i was going to learn again
Again, in this less hazy light
I saw the fields beyond the fields
The fields beyond the fields

And the colors are much brighter now
It's like they really want to tell the truth
We give our testimony to the end of the summer
It's the end of the summer,
You can spin the light to gold.

Words and music by dar williams

I never thought you were the letter writing type
So now i see the words you chose the way you write
So i started to write back about the trees in the snow
And i saw a bird, couldn't see what it was but i thought you'd know
You always surprised me

Chorus:
And if i wrote you
If i wrote you
You wouldknow me
And you would not write me again

Verse:
And when the spring came and flooded all the streams
It's like how you got the night you told me all you dreams
And when the barn roof sagged after an icy bout
It's like how you got when you knew the truth was the only way out
But not the only way

Chorus:
And if i wrote you
If i wrote you
You wouldknow me
And you would not write me again

Verse:
We drew our arms around the bastard sons
We never would drink to the chosen ones
Well you know the way i left was not the way i planned
But i thought the world needed love and a steady hand
So i'm steady now

Chorus:
And i'm so happy
I had to tell you
And i love you
And you will not write me again
You will not write me again
You will not write me again

when i grew up, well it felt great
I watched how others took their fate
Some felt afraid and undefended, so they got mean
And they pretended what they knew made them belong more than you.
I'm sure you know there's lots to learn
But that's not your fault, that's just your turn, yeah, yeah

Teenagers, kick our butts, tell us what the future will bring
Teenagers look at us, we have not solved everything

We drink and smoke to numb our pain
We read junk novels on the plane
We use authority for show so we can be a little smarter
We still can grow, and many do
It's when we stop we can't reach you
We feel the loss, you feel the blame
We're scared to lose, don't be the same, hey hey

Teenagers, kick our butts, tell us what the future will bring
Teenagers, look at us, we have not solved everything

The hometown brought its hero in
To speak at the high school gym
He took a breath, he took a chance
He strode up in his leather pants
And said, "gee, thanks... but
I'm here today because i fought for what i felt and what i thought
They put me down they, were just wrong
And now it's they who don't belong, oh, oh

Teenagers, kick our butts, tell us what the future will bring
Teenagers look at us, we have not solved everything

And when the media tries to act your age
Don't be seduced, they're full of rage
Find your voice, do what it takes
Make sure you make lots of mistakes
And find the future that redeems
Give us hell, give us dreams
And grow and grow and grow

And someday when some teenagers come to kick your butts
Well then like i do try to
Love
Kick our butts
Love
Kick our butts
Oh i love
Kick our butts

Words and music by dar williams

I don't go to therapy to find out if i'm a freak
I go and i find the one and only answer every week
And it's just me and all the memories to follow
Down any course that fits within a fifty minute hour
And we fathom all the mysteries, explicit and inherent
When i hit a rut, she says to try the other parent
And she's so kind, i think she wants to tell me something,
But she knows that its much better if i get it for myself...
And she says

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, what do you hear in these sounds?
And... oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds?????

I say i hear a doubt, with the voice of true believing
And the promises to stay, and the footsteps that are leaving
And she says "oh", i say "what?"...she says "exactly",
I say"what, you think i'm angry
Does that mean you think i'm angry?"
She says "look, you come here every week
With jigsaw pieces of your past
Its all on little soundbytes and voices out of photographs
And that's all yours, that's the guide, that's the map
So tell me, where does the arrow point to?
Who invented roses?"
And.......

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds?
And...oooooooh,aaaaaaah
What do you hear in these sounds?????

And when i talk about therapy, i know what people think
That it only makes you selfish and in love with your shrink
But oh how i loved everybody else
When i finally got to talk so much about myself............

And i wake up and i ask myself what state i'm in
And i say well i'm lucky, cause i am like east berlin
I had this wall and what i knew of the free world
Was that i could see their fireworks
And i could hear their radio
And i thought that if we met, i would only start confessing
And they'd know that i was scared
They'd would know that i was guessing
But the wall came down and there they stood before me
With their stumbling and their mumbling
And their calling out just like me...and...

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, the stories that nobody hears...and...

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, and i collect these sounds in my ears...and

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, that's what i hear in these sounds...and...

Oooooooh,aaaaaaah, that's what i hear in these......
That's what i hear in these souu ouuun nnnds!