Demons and Doubters EP

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Ian introducing the songs on this new EP:

Winding river flowing freely across the land
Taking with it the heart of every man
Who laid his cards out in the shallows near the shore
Only to find she never gave him space to moor
Deeper waters are where he's heading now
Following the heart he lost and moving on somehow
The hope invested bore no fruit this time it seems
The falls are still a long way off and the cool breeze sets him free

You asked for nothing
Still you gave all

Suffering may come our way, the river is long
I never did have much to say, and so I sing my song
Time will make all things well, the river is long
I won't forget to ask myself, have I done you wrong?

Children play on a riverbank on a warm midsummer day
Just a taste of the rustic dream, which never goes away
Hoarding all the perfect moments beneath a bail of corn
Hoping that each new day won't bring forth a faded dawn
To live in fear of ourselves, and all the love we've made
Is to forget the fact that feelings grow and feelings fade
Though sorrow overwhelms and melts us to the core
Better that we face this now than to set sail forever more

You ask for nothing
Still you give all

Suffering may come our way, the river is long
I never did have much to say, and so I sing my song
Time will make all things well, the river is long
I won't forget to ask myself, have I done you wrong?

Did you hurt yourself my love
Don't hurt yourself my love
Can I be trusted?
Can you be sure?
Still you give all

Suffering may come our way, the river is long
I never did have much to say, and so I sing my song
Time will make all things well, the river is long
I won't forget to ask myself, have I done you wrong?

Suffering may come our way, the river is long
I never did have much to say, and so I sing my song
Time will make all things well, the river is long
I won't forget to ask myself, have I done you wrong?

[back to lyrics list]

Where am I gonna run to
Now the old guard are en route?
How am I gonna come to terms?
With all this open corrosion
Distracted minds and explosions
of discontent

It's only here with you that I have a place to hide
From the demons and doubters alive in my mind
My words may not reach you
But I need you to know
I'm rooted here and I will grow
Grow

How am I gonna face the
Walking wounded who judge me?
With gentle verdict they don't see my helplessness
More than cheap justification
Without anticipation of my decline

And yet you see beyond all attempts to belie
The demons and doubters alive in my mind
My words may not reach you
But I need you to know
I'm rooted here and I will grow
Grow

Disillusioned I might appear
Defeat draws darkness all too near
Reason won't bring me to confess
'cos I'm holding on more or less

Where am I gonna run to
When every word seems to undo
Determination to come to terms

Cherry tree darling
More than ever before
I'm rooted here and I will grow
I'm rooted here and I will grow
I'm rooted here and I will grow
Grow

[back to lyrics list]

I wonder where you are tonight?
How could I let you slip so far out of sight?
With all the blinding lights we've viewed
How could this flickering candle come to burn
you?

And though it seems now that our time has passed
I won't deny my growing sorrow should you ask
Lovers and friends once brought us the sun
Now they're hoping for redemption before they're
gone

You run to those with less to lose from this
Empty pardons spurn inconsequential bliss
It's not to say that I don't understand
But you tied the binds you're breaking with those same two hands

Words exchanged placed poison pills upon your lips
Easier to swallow with those liquor sips
Lovers and friends once brought us the sun
Now hoping for redemption before they're gone

Oh lord I'm growing weak
Maybe now you will have mercy on me

Are you laying those hot coals for me to tread?
I'd better walk a different path instead
Though there may be times to hold your tongue
Won't you tell me someday if I've done you wrong?

All those stormy nights we've weathered you forget
Don't believe the landsmen we're not sinking yet
Lovers and friends once brought us the sun
Now hoping for redemption
Hoping for redemption
They're hoping for redemption
Before they're gone

[back to lyrics list]

It's like they're picking at a carcass on the side of the road
Every self-serving move feeds a hunger for control
In the midday sun you see them circling above
Waiting to be certain before earning my distrust
To say they've done me wrong
Leaves them tainted deep within
Where to begin?

Because I'm Lost, but the cost
To all the things that I long thought sacred
Is no greater than the lies I would have told
Cos' she stands by and she cries
And through her tears she sees more than I could
Ever have imagined to be there

Momentary passing of the doubt I've come to serve
Brings rare opportunity and a settling of my nerves
Lord knows and it shows that I've given of myself without restraint
I've searched for acceptance and then given in to fate
To say I let myself down
Brings penance needlessly
Lord help me

Because I'm Lost, but the cost
To all the things that I long thought sacred
Is no greater than the lies I would have told
Cos' she stands by and she cries
And through her tears she sees more than I could
Ever have imagined to be there

Gonna let salt water wash over me
My open wounds laid bare to weep and bleed
With that in mind I guess I ought to pull these curtains to
I found out the hard way, I must keep these things from you

To say I let myself down
Brings penance needlessly
Lord help me

Because I'm Lost, but the cost
To all the things that I long thought sacred
Is no greater than the lies I would have told
Cos' she stands by and she cries
And through her tears she sees more than I could
Ever have imagined to be there
She sees more than I could
She sees more than I could
Ever have imagined to be there
She sees more than I could
She sees more than I could
She means more than I…

[back to lyrics list]

It's true I'm coming home to you
To show you where I've been
Ask you nervously to send the jury out
To make judgements on my sins
Maybe you will pick me up on the roadside
Like you might do an old friend
Take me out beyond my comfort
To the very end of the world
And then drop me back again

'cos that girl got a way to keep me walking
Along the rocky road that I'm upon
You might say within her heart
She holds the means to keep me sharp
She saved me from myself and that's a start

I know that to face this life alone
Ain't worth anything that's real
But you see, there's part of me
That wants to chip away
At every little thing that I've achieved
Simple minded fellows that I know
Dropping empty words into my ears
Hoping to manipulate a change in me,
An altered state
That might just bring them all the things they need

But that girl got a way to keep me walking
Along the rocky road that I'm upon
You might say within her heart
She holds the means to keep me sharp
She saved me from myself and that's a start

We don't have long
Heaven's reservations not withstanding
I'll right my wrongs
'cos I hear St. Peter can be kind of demanding
Yet you see it everywhere
Loose-moralled folks without a care
The envy of the pure and good
Renouncing life just like they should

But that girl got a way to keep me walking
Along the rocky road that I'm upon
You might say within her heart
She holds the means to keep me sharp
She saved me from myself and that's a start
She saved me from myself and that's a start
She saved me from myself and that's a start

[back to lyrics list]