He didn't want to admit it, but he could see right through the trees Where he had once spent time with many was now a vacancy He wanted one ore chance to fill his cup with childhood memories Where life had once brought him ease It was easy to foresee it, all rivers dry in the breeze But he could see the footprints of young necessity He wanted one more chance to fill his cup with what had made him leave Life bursting from angry seeds Angry seeds And, if the Escanaba was now more than a drop He would still have to face his dying breath He would still have to face his dying breath If life were more than the regret that waters fruitful crops He would still be fighting it in his head He would still be fighting it in his head He would still be fighting it in his head He would still be fighting it in his head "It's just a diagnosis, not the first nor the last It may destroy my future, still better than my past" With this hopelessness, it seems, he could forget familial wounds But his father made him who he is, passed down the family ruins When given the news, he didn't even cry He just thought of his brothers, and the mighty Escanaba The mighty Escanaba He didn't want to admit it, but he could see his car through the trees Where he had come for comfort, he had to again leave The mighty Escanaba

Alone on the front porch, pushing an empty swing The cars slipping by don't mean a thing Some are dark, some are blue, and all are shades of you In this yard, where loneliness is king I can remember the beauty in my yard Now its knee high grass and broken down old cars If you were here, I'd cut the grass, then we'd walk the railroad tracks Guess we all learn that all things must pass The empty swing comes swinging up towards my face But I can't forget the day you left this place When the rain washed up my face I was still crying at your grave With yearly winds your name blows away Alone, alone, alone I will not die alone Your bones in the earth are your thoughts in my mind Going nowhere while traveling in time When we scattered his remains in the lake A violent wind rose up, blowing ash in your face Your father may have passed, but it felt great to hear you laugh I swore I'd marry you on that day I was told you could hear them all through the town I couldn't take my eyes off your wedding gown I was distracted, they could tell, but at least they heard the bells Couldn't question the sincerity of our vows The flooring mill may have bought us our home But I worked my aging fingers to the bone Work only effected me, you looked 16 at 33 When I found you lying on the floor Alone, alone, alone I will not die alone Your bones in the earth are your thoughts in my mind Going nowhere while traveling in time

No next of kin No next of kin Count the angels on the head of a pin That doesn't take the pain away An old woman died on the fifth of may Stabbed for her purse by a junkie Who couldn't speak Spanish in the face of easy prey "Ayudame", she cried on her holiday No blood line No blood line While the old man lived his family died But that didn't change his routine Played cribbage with friends, breakfast every week Held up outside the holiday by a junkie Because he'd stopped for change Nickel a hole was the weekly game "Help me", he cried on his holiday "Help me", she cried on her holiday

I watch my son through a window so old It is held together only by dirt He's pulling crabgrass out of the sunlit ground And putting it into his favorite shirt My baby boy He's got her laugh, her smile Now only my hand to hold My baby boy He's got her eyes, her heart Her strength to withstand My baby boy He's got her laugh, her smile Now only my hand to hold My baby boy He's got her eyes, her heart Her strength to withstand And the loss to a young boy becomes the glare of a young man I can't make him know to grieve, only hold his trembling hand I've never been sure just how to warn him Of the dirtiness in a proper man As I look upon his mother's urn I'm not sure he understands My baby boy He's got her laugh, her smile Now only my hand to hold My baby boy He's got her eyes, her heart Her strength to withstand My baby boy He's got her laugh, her smile Now only my hand to hold My baby boy He's got her eyes, her heart Her strength to withstand And the loss to a young boy becomes the glare of a young man I can't make him know to grieve, only hold his trembling hand My baby boy He's got her laugh, her smile Now only my hand to hold My baby boy He's got her eyes, her heart Her strength to withstand My baby boy He's got her laugh, her smile Now only my hand to hold My baby boy He's got her eyes, her heart Her strength to withstand And the loss to a young boy becomes the glare of a young man I can't make him know to grieve, only hold his trembling hand Only hold his trembling hand Only hold his trembling hand

We said we'd go up on Friday to see how he's doing Thursday night, he passed away. The surprise may have killed him, so it may be for the better But I still feel guilt and shame Years, years, unbearable years Since we had last seen our father If he had the whiskey bottle It didn't seem worth the bother And what makes it so hard is I knew he'd gotten sober I just couldn't tell my brother Now we drink to his memory We talked about giving his ashes to Lake Michigan On the day that it dried up It didn't surprise us as we stepped past the shoreline Indicative of our luck Years, years, unbearable years Since we had last seen the water After moving away It didn't seem worth the bother And what makes it so hard is I can still hear the laughter Of us swimming with our father Now we drink to his memory And what makes it so hard is I knew he'd gotten sober I just couldn't tell my brother Now we drink to his memory And what makes it so hard is I can still hear the laughter Of us swimming with our father Now we drink to his memory

Walking underneath a bridge, one he should've recognized He saw bridges crumbling in the darkening skies And although a thousand memories had passed in the streams Tears streamed as he remembered Caroline He worked on cars, she left in one He'd internalized what his lust had done He left his job when he found out she had died But they weren't done He loved the craft, what he worked for Then every tire screech only made him miss her more He left his job, he left his house Build a fire along the riverside A fire along the riverside Walking back to his sleeping bag, one not so warm anymore The night sky stars feel down into his freezing hand What little warmth they could provide could not erase the time he'd died inside He put out his fire in tribute to Caroline He worked on cars, she left in one He'd internalized what his lust had done He left his job when he found out she had died But they weren't done He loved the craft, what he worked for Then every tire screech only made him miss her more He left his job, he left his house Build a fire along the riverside A fire along the riverside He dreams of her, if he dreams at all But dreaming in blackness is hardest of all Nothing worse than being awake when the stars have gone to bed And she infests his head She infests his head She infests his head A version of the ages, for the ages Holding on to the bars of past cages Looking out, as death looks in A version of the ages, for the ages Holding on to the bars of past cages Looking out, as death looks in A version of the ages, for the ages Holding on to the bars of past cages Looking out, as death looks in A version of the ages, for the ages Holding on to the bars of past cages Looking out, as death looks in