1.Make No Protest

Lori Chaffer

Make no protest as you go
For every soul must pay its dues
This is the kingdom they talk about
They talk about and fight for
And for which they die
You'll not be gone from them for long
But you'll forget their names and maybe mine
We'll stand in the sunrise and the sunsets
and the moon light to remind you
Please don't look at me that way
You know I hate to shatter the Innocence I've made
The innocence I've made
Some are already there who feel like you
I understand, cause I've lived there too
Some ignore, some defy, some are confused
And others decide to return their own way
How lonely
I'll be standing by you still
Though while you're there you might not feel it
Is there any persuasion that I can use
That I can use
To convince you
Please don't look at me that way
You will never be all by yourself
All by yourself
And you will never be the same
You will never be the same

2.Welcome

Lori Chaffer

Welcome to this dusty land
Where you will cry lots but we'll all understand
Things may not turn out sometimes like you plan
That's alright our little man
Welcome outside of your mother's womb
I know that it's frightening
But now there's more room
Just think of all the great things you'll do
Just by you being you
I don't care what the world
Says about all this struggling
All I know is that now you're here it's all lovely lovely
I don't care about
All the things that have troubled me
Now that you're here I remember life can be so lovely

3.Bough Will Break

Lori & Don Chaffer

Ask me bout the way I am
Sometimes I don't give a damn
I don't want to live this way
But I don't think I have a say
So don't tell me who to be
Cause the bough will break
And my heart it aches
And my heart will ache tomorrow
And I fear the night
And the morning light
Cause I think my time is borrowed
Ask me bout the way I feel
Sometimes I know it ain't real
Maybe if you hold me tight
I can pretend that it's alright
Please tell me who to be

Ask me how I am today
   I can't lie to you okay
Maybe you will dry my tears
Maybe my eyes never clear
But this is who I need to be
Cause the bough will break
And my heart it aches
And my heart will ache tomorrow
And I see the night
And the morning light
Cause I think my time is borrowed

4.Animals

Lori Chaffer

We all act like animals
Scouring the dirt just for handfuls
Of decay we think will ease our troubled minds
Every day is like a little war
We try to fight but then we quit before it's time

You go down to the riverbed to wash your feet
You slip in real quietly to be discrete
Oh addiction only tastes sweet 'til it's inside
We all wanna dance like little girls
Utterly weightless in a carefree world
But instead we just stiffly smile and nod
Every day you give a little more
Then look back and see you closed the door
On your life
Some hide and some seek
Some lay down at Lazarus' feet
In the dark when the cold came upon him
We all wanna see our broken dreams
Played out in details on the screen
Of our lives when we make it to the other side
Where every day's another open door
Where we get all we hungered for
Inside

5.Alone Everybody

Lori & Don Chaffer

I am happiest when by myself
Nobody's hurts nobody's helps
Like a gun or bullet on a shelf
Alone everybody's fine
I've been playing little tricks on me
It's fascinating what I'll believe
Then in circled stitches my mind weaves
Alone everybody lies
I tell myself my life is pretty easy
I take a pill if I am ever queasy shut the door when it gets a little breezy
But people really baffle me
So I tiptoe around because it's easier to fake it
Try not to be loud, or emotionally naked
I'll agree to go out with my friends, but never make it
At least I keep my evenings free
If you want to try to shift the blame
Think of how hard you try and all your pain
Oh, there's one amendment to the game
Alone everybody cries
I've been thinking I could get along
I think I'm happy, I think I'm strong
But like my cactus when it's dry too long
Alone even cacti die
Alone everybody's fine
Alone everybody lies
Alone everybody cries

6.Fade Away

Lori Chaffer

Someone told me you would be here tonight
And I walked over from the other side
To see if you were alright
You say, in the wildest sense I am alive
You could tell me that your dreams were always mine
And that you'll fight for all eternity on my side
But I say I know you won't stay
Fade away
Walked down to the coffee shop to do what I do
And you said that it was all my fault
I just looked at you
They say it's the mildest things that pull you through

7.Stella

Lori & Don Chaffer

Stella you never loved him
You were just sleepin' around
You swear to god to tell him before he figures it out
Stella you never heard anybody say he cared
Or that he even liked your hair cause if you had
It wouldn't matter if

All the lovers came down to your heartbreak hotel
And fell down on their knees
You'd just give 'em hell and so would he
Don't do her any favors
Don't you make her mad
Don't make her fall in love again
Don't try to make her not feel sad
Stella you couldn't gamble
On what was being said
So you flew off the handle
Into another bed
Where all the lovers come down to your heartache hotel
And fall down on their knees
And do as you please
'Til all the lovers get a little piece of your heart
And don't come down anymore 'til you say please
'Cause you gave 'em hell
So they'd run away

8.If I Said I Don't Mind

Lori Chaffer

Way down low, way up high
Don't seem to matter which side you used to fight
All you gotta do is get by
Another day another night
The sea's a little deep, the sea's a little wild
I don't care what you answer most of the time
But right now it would be a lie
If I said I don't mind
If I said I don't mind
You drink a little gin to lift the load
You cut your skin so you won't explode
All you really want is to be left alone
Or so we're told
You seem a little weak just like a little child
I don't care what you answer most of the time
But right now it would be a lie
If I said I don't mind
If I said I don't mind
Well I mind, well I mind

9.You Will Always Hurt

Lori Chaffer

First there was the dawn
And I couldn't sing a song to you
Then there came the rain
But I couldn't seem to blame you
Sometimes it rains
Sometimes it snows on you
Sometimes it sleets
Sometimes it defeats you
It's quiet on dark nights
And you must give up the fight before long
Trust is not a game
That naive stupid people play in youth
Sometimes it rains
Sometimes it floods you
Sometimes you bleed
Sometimes you just need to make it through
Make it through
You will always hurt
You will always sting
You're my badlands
My grand canyon
My empty stream
You're my reservation
My second place consolation
My devastation
A thorn
A pang
A deep dark heartache
My greatest fear
A lonely tear
Hopelessness
An empty caress
An earthquake
A broken plate
Lost innocence
A cheap defense
My delusion
My confusion
A cancer
A wrong answer
A lost game
Fickle as fame
A bad critique
A glass that leaks
A fallen leaf
Talk too shallow
Ground that's fallow
Fatal attraction
Nuclear reaction
False resurrection
Thrown election
You're my silence
My violence
You're a sad song
You're a long, you're a long, you're a long way from home
You're a long, long, long, long way from home
You
You will always hurt
You will always sting
'Cause you won't let go of everything
Until you're quiet one dark night
And you give up the fight you've fought so long
And find that trust is not a game
That naive stupid people play in youth
And you let it rain
You let it flood
You let it drive out all the pain of love

10.Please Don't Let Go

Lori Chaffer

It's the warmest of falls
I've hardly noticed at all
The birds are still around
Singing peace my little child
There's a crowd in the bar
There's a crowd in the church yard
There's a silence in my heart
While I sing you this prayer
Please don't let go of me
Went down to the tracks
Can't seem to relax
Feel a traveling coming on
What else could go wrong
There's a hole in the earth
Quicksand to mirth
I've played round it since birth
Dodged it some but still it hurt
Please don't let go of me
There's a big storm comin' round
It might flood or worse better climb to the high ground
If lightning chases me down
I will throw myself into your fate

11.It's Not Safe (Everything's Gonna Be Alright)

Lori & Don Chaffer

Everything's going to be all right If we dance until the morning light
Everything's going to be okay
Someday

I don't care if it takes all night long
I'm so tired of feeling like everything's all wrong
If it takes a little wine and a lot of song
Doesn't mean it's not safe

Bingo on the starboard side
The show tonight is really great
Slot machines are hot tonight
Tomorrow's Acapulco bay

Everything's going

I just wanna feel good sometimes
What's so wrong about throwin' our cares away
If it takes a little letting go to really unwind
Doesn't have to be unsafe

A round of drinks in memory
Of you and me before the wars
Summertime and over there
Has anybody seen my gal

Everything's going

Life can be so hard even if you think you're strong
You can get knocked down in so many different ways
Yeah I know the path is narrow
But it's mighty long
And it's not safe
Not safe
Everything's going to be alright

12.You Can Sing

Lori & Don Chaffer

Fat tires and cigarettes
Romeos and Juliets
Another night of crazy bets
That everyone survives
With no scars and no regrets
You wait it out like a seasoned vet
Letting go can look like that
Before you realize

You can sing
You can believe
You can be anything you want
All the time
Day or night
You can be anything you want

Tank full of gasoline
Long gone the look serene
Strapped in like a tired marine
With many miles to go
You used to be a summer rain
Not too old and not too vain
Long before you learned the game
That now you're stuck inside

But you can sing

Over the line over the line
Far far too driven
And losing our minds
It's a beautiful night

A beautiful sunrise
Did we ever notice
Are we too blind

Fat tires and cigarettes
Romeos and Juliets
Stinging losses deep regrets
That everybody hides

In coffee shops and magazines
Choir lofts and college flings
Did everybody lose their dreams
Out on the playground