In my line of work I’m often on stage But I doubt my name rings a bell If they hear my work, and they don’t hear me I know I’ve done my job well. In my line of work I’m often alone Crowds take my nerve away But before they arrive or after they go I get my chance to play By the glare of the ghostlight I’m free To knock ‘em dead By the glare of the ghostlight I’m free To say what needs to be said In my line of work I’m often afraid Any little thing can go wrong When the fires are out, and they’ve all gone away I can finally just play a song. By the glare of the ghostlight, I’m free To play a thing or two By the glare of the ghostlight, I’m free To think of you. But it’s not like I’d fall apart If you saw me from a crack in the door And you walked out on stage with that light in your eyes And said, could you play one more? By the glare of the ghostlight you’d see The me that’s real By the glare of the ghostlight you’d see Just how I feel. In my line of work I’m often on edge I see my life passing by The curtain goes up, I watch from the wings Will I still be here when I die? By the glare of the ghostlight who’ll see What no one knew By the glare of the ghostlight who’ll see What I could do With a little more light Just a little more light A little more light And you. But it’s not like I’d fall apart If you saw me from the second row And I walked out on stage with that light in my eyes, and said Could we start the show? Roll off the ghostlight, it’s me The way is clear Roll off the ghostlight, it’s me It’s me and I’m here.

I’ll love you when the South Pole’s a spring break town. I’ll love you when this high tide’s too high to go down. I’ll love you when there’s typhoons off the coast of Cape May I’ll love you when the world is more effed up than it even is today. I’ll love you when there’s nothing left but cows and rats. I’ll love you when our worst nightmares are just stats. I’ll love you when the Jesus Christ Lizard hasn’t a prayer. I’ll love you when everything we ever drew in kindergarten isn’t there. Cue the Horsemen, just don’t forget the marshmallows Looks like this time’s it’s no joke Quetzelcoatl, or whoever’s coming Can’t tell if we’re going down the drain or up in smoke. But if I could play this banjo here And you would be my bride Together we could save the world and if we failed we tried For though a species vanishes One each and every day We’ll make something beautiful to make up for what’s gone away. I’ll love you when the Amazon’s all slashed and burned. I’ll love you when the poacher’s income’s all been earned. I’ll love you when the ones that can’t win all win I’ll love you when those jack-booted saints they all come marching in. I’ll love you when Baby’s first words are “let’s frack!” I’ll love you when the aliens take one look and turn back. I’ll love you when springtime doesn’t make a sound. I’ll love you when we’re fighting over real estate a mile underground. Bring on the apocalypse, just don’t forget to tie your shoes Looks like his time we’ve had our fun. The Singularity, or Whatever’s, coming The water’s boiling and the frog is almost done If I could play this banjo here And you would be my bride Together we could save the world and if we failed we tried For though a glacier vanishes One each and every day We’ll try and make something beautiful to make up for what’s gone away. I’ll love you when the sky is filled with doomsday meteors. I’ll love you when they’ve run out of names for their wars. I’ll love you so much the robots will just roll their eyes. I’ll love you when the end doesn’t come and that just takes us by surprise But here come the wolves - is that Brunhilde flying by? Looks like this time it’s all for real Ragnarok, or Something awful’s coming Strap in for the Big Reveal. But I can play this banjo here And you’re my lovely bride Together we won’t save the world and we barely even tried For though the hope, it vanishes Some each and every day We went and made something beautiful Before we all went away.

Theatre is a woman who dumped me But first, she fucked my good friend She’s a liar and a whore Who always left me wanting more And I wish I could say that’s the end. But she gave me this soul sucking virus That disguised all these nightmares as dreams When I was pretty and young She locked me tight in an iron lung Where nothing is quite what it seems She’s the Minotaur and Labyrinth The Pequod and the Maine She’s Nixon and John Wilkes Booth She’s the one percent of the one percent All I’ve got left is the truth. Theatre is a gold laméd villain Who crossed her fingers when we all took the oath I forgive Ponzi’s crime He stole the cash but left the time That old Theatre hag she swallowed them both. She’s the French Foreign Legion, Kobayashi Maru She’s Rubik’s Cube and WMD. She’s the most worthless junk bond In the whole goddamned world Cause no one is buying but me. If I stunk then we all can breathe easy And agree that defeat has its charms But if I had what it took Before I kissed that sweet crook Then who can feel safe in her arms? She’s a clinical depression She’s cocaine and booze She ought to be in the DSM-5 She’s Medea, Macbeth, Godot and Sweeney Todd I guess I’m just glad I’m alive. So Theatre is a woman who dumped me. I know now that she’s not who I’d choose. I’d give my last fifteen bucks To tell the world just how much she sucks And I just might start I just might start I say I just might start writing reviews

She put my love through a Marshall stack And cranked that dial clockwise Clean or dirty, lead or rhythm She gave my love some size. She put my love through some kind of supercollider Made those electrons run One by one, two, three forever My love’s as hot as the sun. Love, love, love, I’m the butterfly wings She’s the hurricane Love, love, love, that girl’s a force multiplier Watch those reactions chain. She put my love through such heat and pressure She changed it all around From soft and quiet to hard and shiny She made my love a field of diamonds underground. She put my love through a satellite transmitter And aimed that thing at Mars Wave on wave, ad infinitum My love’s gonna reach the stars. Love, love, love, I’m the butterfly wings She’s the hurricane Love, love, love, that girl’s a force multiplier I tell you that girl’s insane. She’s a megaphone of love An echo chamber of affection She’s a wireless repeater of adorableness

I was born in a bedpan the night Dylan went electric I was born in the teeth of a whale that wanted to swallow me whole I was born with a misconception I could be somebody else But I was born, born, born again in my sweet rock and roll. So I was born, and now I’m here, and then I’m gone. Well, I know what I like and I like what I need And I’ve just about given up hope of ever getting that shiny gold star ‘Cause I don’t care what they like and I don’t know what they need But it’ll be a long, long time before I put down this guitar ‘Cause I was born, and now I’m here, and then I’m gone, gone, gone. And who gives a damn what I like anyway? Who’s got the juice to tell me I’m not doing it right? If there’s a decent god in heaven he should mind his own business. I ain’t done a thing to keep the old man up at night. Well they always said, don’t hide your light, boy, under that bucket And they said, don’t bury your treasure like a dog bone in the backyard And I overheard a bunch of other crazy shit I wish to Zeus I couldn’t remember But now they’re gonna hear from me and they’d best not take it all too hard ‘Cause I was born and now I’m here and then I’m gone gone gone, I’m telling you, who knows where. And who gives a damn what I like anyway? Who’s got the juice to tell me I’m not doing it right? If there’s a decent god in heaven she should mind her own business. I ain’t done a thing to keep the old lady up at night. I was born with this shell of a crab, and this heart of a lion And I will claw my way out of the muck and make it to higher ground. I’ve got a cardboard box of broken things I’ve been lugging around forever It’s time to switch on all these big-ass lights and crank a joyful sound. So I was born and now I’m here and then I’m gone gone gone, you know where.

This is a family Attached and attuned Cutting each other wide open Then dressing the wound You wanted it perfect You wanted it whole You thought you could get what you wanted By remote control This is a family Fractured and failed How come it seems that we kept treading water When we could have sailed? This is a family It adds and divides Sitting on secrets and fences Too young to choose sides. I know you’re broken inside I think I am too I know the things you’ve closed off The dreams that haunt you I lay awake at night and think You did your best and it’s all so tough But it’s the nature of families That’s just not nearly good enough. What does it matter anymore? All past is prelude We’ve all been taken for granted, Ignored, or just misconstrued. I should stop thinking so much I should move on But there are these walls and closed doors When the old house is gone. But this is our family Tragic and true We’ll turn out the better for it What else can we do? I know I’m broken inside I fear you’ll be too I know the things I’ve closed off The dreams that haunt me too I lie awake at night and I think I did my best and it’s all so tough But that’s the nature of families I hope it’s just barely good enough.

Twenty odd years, give or take A thousand nos, no lucky break Oh, the hands reached out To slap me down Couldn’t fill a seat to watch me drown. Bring on the bright lights The show that never ends The sycophants, the hangers-on and the fair weather friends Bring on the sold out shows and the emptiness I’m ready for my overnight success. Let me join the club, just let me in. I could make it all back, with one big win. But the time grows short And the odds so long I keep doubling down on a rock and roll song. Bring on the money machine Rev that engine of fame The damaged women, the confidence men, let them all take aim Bring on the dollar bills and the gorgeous mess. I’m ready for my overnight success. So meet me at the crossroads by the light of the moon You bring your blade, I’ll bring my tune. I’ll make the drop, you’ll have your soul Then we’ll step back and watch them swallow me whole. Bring on the screaming crush And watch me take a bow Trade you all in, everybody loves me now Bring on the jam packed house and the loneliness I’m ready for my overnight success.

Don’t take everything I say with the weight of the world Don’t take everything I say to heart Sometimes a mood will make me cop an attitude And I leave out the most important part. Don’t make everything I say law of the land Not all my words should be kept Sometimes a spark Will leave me in the dark Then forget everything I said except I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I do I love you I love you I love you I love you Listen to me now, I love you two. Don’t let everything I say get under your skin Where I know you’ll take it to your shrink ‘Cause I’ve fallen short, I’ve got more than one wart When you start feeling bad, stop and think Flesh is flesh And bone is bone And here is what I’ve always known Blood is blood and you are you And I will always love you two. Don’t hold everything I say in the highest regard Sometimes you’ll need a grain of salt When I lose my mind and forget to be kind That has never been your fault 'Cause I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I do I love you I love you I love you I love you Listen to me now, if you listened to me then Listen to me now, I love you two.

Don’t, don’t let that chord die out Don’t, don’t let those lights fade Don’t, don’t let that curtain fall Stay a moment still. Now you’re in my world with me Then I’m out in yours Now you’d see what I would show Stay a moment still. I know all the chords are dying out But I don’t need applause All I need’s a place to go To put the world on pause. So please, just let this chord ring out And slow the spotlight’s fade Hang that curtain in mid-air Stay a moment Stay a moment Stay a moment still.

Bear up, Brooklyn We're here to shoulder this load. Bear up Brooklyn, we've all been down this road. Bear up Brooklyn from the Heights to Gravesend And we will bear this sorrow for our dear old friend. There are towns I know that just close up shop. And there are places that come to a stop. And there are cities who when the clouds take the sun They all fade away together and they're good as done. But no, not Brooklyn we're here to shoulder this load. No, not Brooklyn we've all been down this road. No, not Brooklyn from the Heights to Gravesend. And we will bear this sorrow for our dear old friend. There are people who live in fairer climes. And there are people right now having better times. And there are people out there who think they know what's what But if they think I give a damn they don't know what we've got. We've got Brooklyn we've come to shoulder this load. We've got Brooklyn we're going down that road. We've got Brooklyn from the Heights to Gravesend. And we will bear this sorrow for our dear old friend. Yes, we will bear this sorrow for our dear old friend. Now I've had days where I think I've seen enough. And then these weeks go by where it's nothing but rough. And I've seen years when this life seemed so small So I'd go down to Brooklyn where we started it all. So bear up Brooklyn we're here to shoulder this load. Bear up Brooklyn we're going down this road. Bear up Brooklyn from the Heights to Gravesend And we will bear this sorrow, we will beg and borrow, But we will be there tomorrow for our dear old friend. Yes, we will be there tomorrow with our dear old friend.

Kill the dream Cue the hard work Kiss the fantasies goodbye. Why is it so hard to cut the damn thing out When I know it’s just one big lie? I’ve been waiting, waiting for my life to begin Waiting on that glorious day Waiting, waiting for my life to begin It almost got pissed away. Strip the shelves Of all the false starts Make room for the things I love. The pointless detours Ten thousand roadblocks What in the hell was I thinking of? I must’ve been waiting, Waiting for my life to begin Waiting on that sun-dappled day. Waiting, waiting for my life to begin It almost got pissed away. I let you in I held you close I let you talk to me that way You whispered things, oh so fine I let the whole world slip away. But I know you now I’ve seen enough You need a crowd outside your door. That siren song My ears still ring Well I won’t listen any more. I’ll start a pile You strike the match We’ll send it all up in a cloud A smoke offering The kind the gods love And maybe then I’ll be allowed To stop waiting Close your eyes Sing a song Leave it all out on a stage Your own voice Out in the world Another chance to turn the page And be ready, ready for my life to begin Ready for the brand new day. Ready, ready for my life has begun I’m ready for the come-what-may.