Owl Waltz

I wanted to come visit you
Waiting in the spring time
When the leaves change

The ground outside is begging for the
Newness that surrounds us
As we dance back through the screen door
In the sunlight of mid-April.
But the glow won’t stop the smiles
That are spreading on our faces
As we fall down on the kitchen floor

And she’s laughing about something
That she had heard earlier and I
Can’t help noticing that she
Is sitting closer to me
Than she ever has before…

Conor Oberst

“Realizing that he didn’t need her as much as he needed fixing again wasn’t half as hard as he thought it was going to be. Well at least you’re being honest.”

Exactly how I feel today. This week. All month.

So I said, 
“let’s forget these days and just try to build some solid ground. 
maybe someday we could stand straight up with our faces in the wind 
and scream to the world.”
we were at some boating dock oh somewhere 
at the waterfront staring out across the channel- 
a steamer blared its horn 
and I wished I could say everything right like do you want to go for a ride? 
I looked to your face and saw the sun reflecting off your skin
 and I breathed in water smells- 
the skyline filled with shipping yards and factories had me dreaming 
of waking up- 
am I dreaming? is this really me? 
because I’ve never felt so not lonely 
and if this could be real right now 
then everyday for the rest of my life I will search for moments full of you. 
but let’s hope tomorrow won’t cave in ‘cause I’m looking 
for someone to change me.

CMO

I was wrong to make a country club of my affection
Subjective love for those of my selection
But now she’s found someone to love her more than I ever could
You look much better when you smiled
You’ve been down for quite awhile
Amazed by the change in you
Much that I still won’t admit to
What brought about the words in me
Now sees the best in everything

I was wrong to make a country club of my affection
Subjective love for those of my selection
But now she’s found someone to love her more than I ever could
You look much better when you smiled
You’ve been down for quite awhile
Amazed by the change in you
Much that I still won’t admit to
What brought about the words in me
Now sees the best in everything

You look much better when you smiled
You’ve been down for quite awhile
Amazed by the change in you
Much that I still won’t admit to

Copeland “A Beautiful Theme” (2000)

sitting around, no work today
try pacing to keep awake
laying around, no school today
just drink until the clock has circled all the way
it is late afternoon
as you walk through the rooms
of a house that is quiet
except for unanswered telephones
you stand near the sink
while you’re mixing a drink
you think you don’t want to pass out
where your roommates will find you again
stumble around the neighborhood with nothing to do
you’re always looking for something
to sniff, smoke, or swallow
calling over next door to see what they got
but you would settle for anything
that would make your brain slow down or stop
break this circle of thoughts you chase
before they catch back up with you
and your parents noticed your thinning face,
all the weight you lost
all the weight you are losing
you said, “i’m done feeling like a skeleton
no more sleep walking dead”
you’re going to wake from this coma
you’re going to crawl from this bed you have made
and stop counting on that camera
that hangs round your neck
because it won’t ever remember
what you choose to forget
as you try to find some source of light
try to name one thing you like
you used to have such a longer list
and light you never had to look for it
but now it’s so easy to second guess everything you do
until all you want is to finish this half empty glass
before the ice melts away
this feeling used to pass
but seems like it’s every day and every night now

Conor Oberst “Every Day and Every Night” (1999)

Lately I’ve been wishing I had one desire
Something that would make me never want another
Something that would make it so that nothing mattered
All would be clear then
But I guess I’ll have to settle for a few brief moments
And watch it all dissolve into a single second
And try to write it down into a perfect sonnet
or one foolish line
‘Cause that’s all that you’ll get so you’ll have to accept
You are here then you’re gone
But I believe that lovers should be tied together and
Thrown into the ocean in the worst of weather
and left there to drown
Left there to drown in their innocence
But as for me I’m coming to the final chapter
I read all of the pages and there is still no answer
Only all that was before I know must soon come after
That is the only way it can be
So I stand in the sun
And I breathe with my lungs
Trying to spare me the weight of the truth
Saying everything you’ve ever seen was just a mirror
And you’ve spent your whole life sweating in an endless fever
And now you are laying in a bathtub full of freezing water
Wishing you were a ghost
But once you knew a girl and you named her Lover
And danced with her in kitchens through the greenest summer
But autumn came, She disappeared
You can’t remember where she said she was going to
But you know that she’s gone ‘cause she left you a song
That you don’t want to sing
We’re singing I believe that lovers should be chained together
And thrown into a fire with their songs and letters
And left there to burn
Left there to burn in their arrogance
But as for me I’m coming to my final failure
I’ve killed myself with changes trying to make things better
But I ended up becoming something other than what I had planned to be
Now I believe that lovers should be draped in flowers
And layed entwined together on a bed of clover
And left there to sleep
Left there to dream of their happiness

Conor Oberst

Exactly the way I feel right now.