American Trash 2012

Fishnet Stockings and a Pile of Blow
Will Saulsbery

Fishnet stockings and a pile of blow
She’s sitting at a piano playing so soft and slow
She said, “When the morning breaks boy I got to go”
I asked her where and she said
“I don’t know”

“But I’ve traded my reputation for lipstick and make-up”
Now she’s naked to the waist coming at me from below
Wearing nothing but fishnet stockings and a pile of blow

She said, “I got a couple of kids and they got a couple of dads
Yeah they’d hold me till the morning but I knew it’d never last
You see they all had the money and they all had the looks
But they never took their time
And still they got their hooks into me
Can’t you see?
What I’ve become is what I swore I’d never be”

Now she’s traded her reputation for lipstick and make-up
And she’s naked to the waist coming at me from below
Wearing nothing, but fishnet stockings and a pile of blow

American Trash
Will Saulsbery

I’m another American kid grown old
And the summer’s coming on so slow
I took it all and never knew when to quit
I knew all the rules but I never gave a shit

She used to like to shake her ass
In the downtown clubs for the rich white class
She had the looks, but not enough to last
Just another plain white piece
Of American trash

She’s skinny as the wind but it’s all ok
Cos she’s all strung out in the U.S.A.

She swears “they’ll never get their hands on me”
As she thumbs her way through another magazine
A perfect little face all wrapped up in plastic
Just another porcelain white skin classic
She says, “I’m so fucking tired of life
Yea but I’m too fucking scared to die”
Yea she had it all and it passed
Just another plain white piece
Of American trash

She’s skinny as the wind but it’s all ok
Cos she’s all strung out in the U.S.A.

Teach me to Die
Will Saulsbery

Did she know what it meant?
Fourteen years with of summer’s spent
Trudging through the thick brew
She swore all she wanted was what she knew

She said that she was waiting on a man
To come on down and take her hand
And lead her through the rest of her years
She spoke with shaky hands full of salty tears

And she said, “Teach me to die”
Blown out from the wind with a desert dry
Yea she bought a calendar just to watch it turn
And she lit up the year just to watch it burn
To the ground

Her mother told her it would be this way
But she grew up in the dark with her daddy away
So she fucked her way through her single days
She had a couple good ones
But they never stayed

And she said, “Teach me to die”
Blown out from the wind with a desert dry
Yea she bought a calendar just to watch it turn
And she lit up the year just to watch it burn
To the ground

She said there’s never nothing new
No there’s never nothing new

Osceola
Will Saulsbery

You stood screaming on the hardwood
And yea, I wish I could
Take it all back
But we both know that I can’t
Cos I meant it then and I feel it now
But god, I still miss you somehow

I sold you on the night
And you said “Boy I think I just might
Be falling here for you”
And I acted like I never knew
But I knew it then and I feel it now
But god, I still miss you somehow

I guess we all get what’s coming
And we know just where it’s from
So here’s to the sunrise burning in pale blue eyes
And god your hands were so small
I remember it then and I remember it all
I remember it then and I feel it now
But god, I still miss you somehow

Cold War Country
Will Saulsbery

I was made in the dead winter
In the dead middle
Of a Cold War Country
Of a Cold War Country

With a framed picture of
Your Jesus
Hung above my mother’s head
In a sweat and blood stained bed

And the way we were grown
To never know home
Built to
Run through
The scrap yards of youth
With maiden names
And out of state plates
Then they wonder why we never call
Then they wonder why we never call

Cold War Country and nineteen hundred and eighty-one
Cold War Country and one more wasted run around the sun

I was made in the dead winter
In the dead middle
Of a Cold War Country
Of a Cold War Country

Blinded by Darkness
Will Saulsbery

Break neck speed from the Midwest to the sea
You started out on heat and ended up on me
A poison kiss and a cigarette were hanging from your lips
Blinded by the dark

I slept in the western weather and it was closing in on January
Breathing rain and you were worried
Cat like eyes and a chemical smile
We had a few years and some miles
To go before we rest

And we were blinded by darkness
The highway and your hair was a mess
Blinded by darkness
Don’t look back cos there ain’t nothing left

The cold it’s like a cemetery tonight
I can feel you breathing and it feels all right
I still remember when you said we had to go
You were crying in the old house and I said, “I know”

You were sorry for lying in your prayers
On an empty stomach with nothing to wear
We were rebels before the winter
You were reckless and I was gentle
No we’re hungry down in our heads

And we were blinded by darkness
The highway and your hair was a mess
Blinded by darkness
Don’t look back cos there ain’t nothing left

Follow the Lights
Will Saulsbery

Jess, she said, to follow the lights
Cos we’re gonna drive and drive until the sky breaks to light
She’s got a place waitin’ somewhere in south Texas
And there ain’t a soul left breathin’
To miss us

She said tomorrow it’s all gonna burn
As sure as the evening comes and the winter turns
And it falls down all over your Midwestern town
And don’t forget that everything burns

Cos boys the night will rain on you
Boys the night will rain on you
Boys the night will rain

She said, “I got a couple hundred dollars
Hidden in the back of my dresser
And the only thing between me and tomorrow
Is one last disaster
Cos the ones like you and me boy, we never seem to matter
So let’s take back the night and they’ll see
That we matter”

Cos boys the night will rain on you
Boys the night will rain on you
Boys the night will rain

So take the rest of your life and go it alone
Just make sure you’re ridin’ shotgun to get me home
Back to that little place buried deep in south Texas
Where there’s still a heart left beating
To miss us

Cos boys the night will rain on you
Boys the night will rain on you
Boys the night will rain

The Midwest Harmonium
Will Saulsbery

Charlie’s sellin’ cocaine down on the corner
He says, “I got what ya need and ya know ya really want it”
Five more dollars and the first bump is free
I give ya five more dollars you’d be taking every dime from me

Rachel’s got the Midwest buried deep in her chest
She said “I’m goin’ out east where the candy’s the best”
But he’s got fifty dollars and a Colt .45
Yea he’s got fifty dollars and she ain’t comin’ home alive

She said, “I can’t move to the sound or the shiver or the shake
I can’t dance to the noise or the rhythm or the break
Yer coming downtown raisin all that sound
Ya give me five more dollars and I won’t leave you all alone”
I give her five more dollars and she won’t leave me all alone

Tommy’s just waitin’ for the pills to kick in
He’s got a brain full of whiskey and a gut full of Jen
He said “I got fifty dollars and a Colt .45
Oh yea I got fifty dollars and she ain’t coming home alive”
Oh yea he’s got fifty dollars and she ain’t comin home alive

23
Will Saulsbery

You left in the cold gray dawn
With nothing but the taillights on
I held my hands till they turned black
I looked up and you weren’t looking back

Coal burning in green eyes
And you were never one for saying goodbye
The stronger the rain the harder the flood
The deeper the cut, I guess the darker the blood

Now you’re kicking up the Midwest time
With your foot on the floor and nothing in store
You’re shutting down the left side
Never blinking, or batting an eye

You left behind some pictures and a rosary
But I don’t think either ever did a damn bit of good for me
So I put your things back into the ground
And I held my ears so I could hear your sound

Now you’re kicking up the Midwest time
With your foot on the floor and nothing in store
You’re shutting down the left side
Never blinking or batting an eye

Baby can’t you see
Don’t you know
I’m the reason everything goes wrong
No I don’t mind if you come home
I got a new girl
But I’m still alone

14 American Days
Will Saulsbery

Billy met Annie back in ’92
They were both coming up it was so brand new
He said “Are you gonna wait for me?”

“Cos I got a long flight out in front of me
To the blood and the bullets and the oil overseas
Are you gonna wait for me?”

He said “Annie don’t miss me when I’m gone
Cos I know your feet will move your heart along
Past the green green grass that covers this place
Where your hands once moved across my face”

And it’s been fourteen American days gone by
And there’s only so many ways
To say “I love you, please stay”

But Annie headed west to find a brand new way
And to take it in from the bay
Cos the only thing that ever came into this town
Is the train from St. Louis
And it don’t ever stick around

Billy got home back in ’95
He was still standin’ but barely alive
He said, “She was supposed to wait for me”
So he had a few drinks at the street side liquor
And he had a few more as he kept on missin’ her

He said, “Boy I don’t think I’ll ever be free
Form the blood and the bullets and the oil overseas
But she was supposed to wait”

And it’s been fourteen American days gone by
And there’s only so many ways
To say “I love you, please stay”

But Annie left a letter by his boyhood bed
He picked it up and it read
It said, “Billy don’t miss me when I’m gone
Cos I know your feet will move your heart along
Past the green green grass that covers this place
Where your hands once moved across my face”

Cigarette Years
Will Saulsbery

Em’s gone leavin’ a trail of vodka tears
From here all the way through her cigarette years
Cos every evenin’ round here turns blue
And she says “I ain’t nothin’ without these tattoos”

Her old man he said goodbye
Headed back to Columbia with blood in his eyes
Cos he ain’t got nothin’ left to hide but $17
And a pistol on his side

Since Tony headed out from the Hill
With a flask full of bourbon and a pocket full of pills
Cos Em’s done gone to heaven goodbye
And he’s gonna raise a good bit of hell tonight

And tell me did you know
It was gonna come and hurt so slow
Tell me tell me did you know
It was cos she was tired of being skinny and alone

So he crossed his heart and hoped to die
Then he closed his eyes and said goodnight
Buried the throttle well past midnight
And disappeared into the black August night

She said “I’ve done things that I’d never change
And I’ve done some other things that I still can’t face
Yea I kissed another man one time
Just cos I couldn’t seem to get it off of my mind
But I ain’t never loved no one without no scars
No I ain’t never loved no one without no scars”

And tell me did you know
It was gonna come and hurt so slow
Tell me tell me did you know
It was cos she was tired of being skinny and alone

And Em’s gone leavin’ a trail of vodka tears
From here all the way through my cigarette years
Cos every evenin’ round here turns blue
And she said “I ain’t nothin’ without these tattoos”

2am Breakdown
Will Saulsbery and Megan Kelley

Had a 2am breakdown somewhere south of South Town
Broke and busted right before the comedown
There’s a yellow haired waitress shutting down a diner
She’s smells like Kamels and I’ve never seen her smile
But she’s got an efficiency down one of these side streets
And a record collection but no place for me
She told her ex Charlie that she was late
He asked her how and she said
“Valentine’s Day”

So you covered your arms with tattoos
Till the old town wouldn’t recognize you
There’s a symphony of cars
Humming up and down the boulevard
Said you’re leaving forever but ya ain’t headed far
Your long light hair, well it went black
The second that I said I wasn’t coming back
You asked me why it had to end this way I said
“I never said that I was gonna stay”

So they put you deep inside of the hearse
With brand new lipstick and a second hand purse
Forever never lasts and that’s what you said
And your eyes fell down while your words bled
I remember you swaying side to side
With the pale white skin and those
Dead dark eyes

In the beginning we were so lush and green
Now we’re just awake
With a pile of empties
You gave me a few bent promises and you made me believe
Before you hit the street
With those lips
And the need

 

21st Century Life 2015

Dead Drunk and Pretty
Will Saulsbery

In my darkest dreams
I’m stranded in New Orleans
Flooded out on St. Charles Ave.
With the weather and me and you

A second hand wedding dress
And your make-up was such a mess
You had your suitcase unpacked
You said “we’re never going back”

Sunday morning and a set of tired eyes
With cigarette burns on both your thighs
You said “inside my fragile mind”
“We’ve already lived a lifetime”

So you want to bleach your hands clean
Of some distant memory
But there’s nothing left but the time and me

And the levee’s gonna break
The levee’s gonna break

And the fault line is gonna tremble
come this time next November
Spill out all over this city
Leave us all dead drunk and pretty

Now all you gutter punks and the homeless ones
Who will find them in the end
Who will ship them home again
Who will find them in the end

I said in my darkest dreams
It’s just you and me
And my hands they start and shake
When your voice begins to quiver and quake
You said “In my fragile mind”
“We’ve already lived a lifetime”
You said “In my fragile mind”
“We’ve already lived a lifetime”

Red High Heels
Will Saulsbery

Tommy’s got a head full of skinny girl dreams
And a heart made out of straight gasoline
The worry in his stomach from the day he was born
So he’s leaving out of Kansas and never coming home

Jenny left her mother in the flat lands weather
Drop dead her father’s dreams and a life that held her
Packed a bag full of pills and thrift store clothes
Now she’s leaving out of Kansas and never coming home

The interstate lives in the night
Bleeding through the midnight sky

Now Jenny’s got her skirt hiked up real nice and high
With the red high heels and midwestern thighs
Cadillac yellow hair that burns to the touch
He’s got a hand on her thigh and a foot on the clutch

Tommy said “Like us the time is still young”
“So let’s torch the past and lose where we’re from”
“Wreck ships and make out like the rain”
“Call ourselves sailors and trace the rail way”

The interstate lives in the night
Bleeding through the midnight sky

Hawks
Will Saulsbery

Hawks dance over a beautiful funeral
Stone red hair in the July heat
I’m staring out over a field of bones
With the rest of this town beneath my feet
Where they stacked ya two by two and one by one
So you could see kingdom come and head straight back
Where you’re from

Now we’re hell bound with frozen hands
Busted hearts and one night stands
There were hawks behind your eyes
And I was a hawk on so many nights

Bobby Joe Jefferson buried your things
Back behind your mother’s house
Deep in the high reeds
Blood shot eyes under a love sick moon
With some old blue jeans and a new tattoo
He said he never forgave or stopped loving you
No he never forgave or stopped loving you

Pale rain hit on a frozen ghost
With the weather coming up from the Orleans coast
So you slice it open just to see the blood
Just to see a little piece of what your made of
In the snow white sky under the pale blue lights
You lit your breath behind a cigarette
You said you were tired of loving the lost
You said you were tired of chasing a hawk

Now we’re hell bound with frozen hands
Busted hearts and one night stands
There were hawks behind your eyes
And I was a hawk on so many nights

I Will Bury You Breathing
Will Saulsbery

Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, don’t shoot, please
He screamed he screamed he screamed at me
Once second, one second, one second, please

We’re all gonna go to hell
As sure as the sun fell
I’ll make you sweet decoration
For the rest of damnation

Chorus:
There is a revolver that won’t be needed
There is no worry of any bleeding
This is the time, and there is a reason
This is the moment I will bury you breathing

I watched the sky turn to light
On the death of another Saturday night
I just wanted to feel what it was like

Oh oh, I want this to go slow
And oh oh can you feel it sinking low
You move yourself from a tremble to a shake
Rest your eyes now, you’re not going to wake

Chorus:
There is a revolver that won’t be needed
There is no worry of any bleeding
This is the time, and there is a reason
This is the moment I will bury you breathing

Outta My Way
Todd Jones-Farrand

Been working all these years
Still ain’t got a dime
Shedding blood sweat & tears
Behind this line

My friends have come & gone
No one here I trust
Soon all my hopes and dreams
‘ll be ground to dust

Chorus
This ain’t my destiny
My time is now
This ship is settin’ sail
And if you’re not getting’ on board then ya
Best be getting’ your ass outta my
Way Outta my
Way Outta my
Way Outta my
Way

I am so sick & tired
Of this losing hand
Toss it down to draw another
Will I bust again?

I may lose everything
But I’ll take the risk
Anything I find out there
‘ll be better than this

Railway St.
E. Kyle Kelley

Holly came running down a railway street
Racing on whiskey and methedrine
Drifting in and out of some restless sleep
Holly came running down a railway street

She was a girl that I used to know
Pine trees and primrose
Amphetamines and a cotton glow
She was a girl that I used to know

Too many voices in my head
Laughing and singing so she said
Sing her to sleep and put her to bed
Too many voices in my head

A thousand poems on her wall
Winter spring summer fall
Broken mirrors and porcelain dolls
A thousand poems on her wall

Train Ticket
Will Saulsbery

I had your picture but I left it behind
I can see your eyes behind my eyelids
And of all the things I’ve done, I know you know what I did

I can’t wait to see St. Louis again
Without the TV or the gunmen
I lost my way on my way back to you
And I tried, but I spent every dollar I made

I wore my heart out
Living this way
Only in the night
In the shadow of brake lights
Always lit up every Friday night
But babe, I don’t ever want to die

Now every kinda woman wants a certain kinda man
But if there’s one thing for certain
There ain’t nothing certain bout a man
And I would give you the green from my eyes
If it would keep us from seeing goodbye

Now there’s nothing left in the night
Nothing but the shadows in the lights
So I’ll try and I’ll try and I’ll run straight through
Cos I’ve got a train ticket and I’m still in love with you

I wore my heart out
Living this way
Only in the night
In the shadow of brake lights
Always lit up every Friday night
But babe, I don’t ever want to die

21st Century Life
Will Saulsbery

Straight distraction for a generation
Drowned by billboard lights
So we shoot ourselves full of television dreams
Near about every Friday night

The decade slides by on grease
While the carburetor brings us to our knees
And these days even the highway won’t set you free
It won’t set you free

And it’s a 21st century life
Lived in wires and screen lights
It’s a 21st century life
With a wasteland buried in our minds

No way to ever mend
When they take away where we begin
There’s no way to ever stop
When you leave us in the hands of strangers and city cops

Now I got a celebrity fantasy
I’ll be famous just give me a TV screen
A bottle of cheap wine and 500 friends
I’m never never never alone again

And it’s a 21st century life
Lived in wires and screen lights
It’s a 21st century life
With a wasteland buried in our minds

I’m Your Mark
Will Saulsbery

Busted battery and shut down streets
Nervous hands till I find my feet
Chouteau’s never looked this beautiful it’s true
I’ve tracked the time and I’m on my way to you

Purple hair and a perfect smile
Shining your way down I-55
We can start this now or just hold on
And if you change your mind just drag me along

Ready set I’m your mark
This isn’t the best time, but it’s gonna start
Ready set 1-2-3
You’ve got it all girl and you’ve got me

When Pierre started this city
He set the streets just for you and me
But he never could have had all this in mind
And if you’ve got the time, I’ve got the time

Ready set I’m your mark
This isn’t the best time, but it’s gonna start
Ready set 1-2-3
You’ve got it all girl and you’ve got me

The Catholic kids are drowning this town
Can you feel the ground it’s sinking down
We can hit the water and leave it all behind
And if you’ve got the time, you’ve been on my mind

Ready set I’m your mark
This isn’t the best time, but it’s gonna start
Ready set 1-2-3
You’ve got it all girl and you’ve got me

Speed Train
E. Kyle Kelley

Caught on a speed train
Said you don’t know why
Breath of a new day
Cold peace and wide eyes

Weight of the remains
Weight of a lifetime
Nothing left to gain
Nothing left behind

When the battle ends,
will we walk alone into the sun?
The light will shine in our eyes
and send us back there
Send us back home

Walking through weekdays
Riding the mainline
Caught in a freeze frame
Held by the blindside

Caught on a speed train

Beauty in the Wreckage
Will Saulsbery

I will love you until the Atlantic hits these city shores
And I’ve got a couple of hundred dollars, for what it is worth
But the Cadillac kids always want just a little more

You said there wasn’t a god left to trust
After a lifetime of breathing out this city dust
In a city covered in city smoke and city rust

So you said “Wide eyes and beauty in the wreckage”
Broken hands, and that’s how we left it

You shed those river city girl teenage tears
You tried feeling the bright lights through the darkest of skinny girl years
And you smiled when it all sparked and disappeared

Now a list of numbers became our names
After a decade spent on nothing but blame
Eyes scattered and wide while they robbed us blind 

So you said “Wide eyes and beauty in the wreckage”
Broken hands, and that’s how we left it

Now a list of numbers became our names
After a decade spent on nothing but blame
Eyes scattered and wide while they robbed us blind and we were done for 

Now I still wake and shutter with the thought
That what we had was all I’ve got
But I will love you until the Atlantic hits these city shores

 

El Dorado
Will Saulsbery

Jenny said “I’m dope sick
and I just need one more fix
to get clean, cos I’m tired of this scene
and the boys and the things
that they tell me”

I can feel the gateway radiate
and I got your dog rose bouquet
the winter’s coming through
And I find myself missin’ you
and that cell block tattoo

So let’s go to El Dorado
I hear they got streets paved in gold
We can just cut, and go

We can go in our time
and please tell me you don’t mind
the damage in my voice
and believe me when I say I had no choice
But she reminded me of you
Smoking the way we use to

So let’s go to El Dorado
I hear they got streets paved in gold
We can just cut, and go

The devil had her way with me
And she swore that this was the real thing
How I wish that this was the real thing
But I can just split in the morning

So let’s go to El Dorado
I hear they got streets paved in gold
We can just cut, and go

 

On the Edge of Light 2016

A World Without End
E. Kyle Kelley
These whispers down the side street echo back through me
Breaking me down, breaking me down
A sudden resignation fit for the occasion
Bringing you down, always bringing you down

We hold on, the chains of what we’ve become
What did we become, what did we become?
A collection of broken methods, secondhand second guessing
Did we ever let go? Did we ever let go?

And if the lights are always shining, if the new day keeps unwinding
And carries away, just carries away
Whose rules do we follow? Who guarantees tomorrow?
Is it fiction or fate? Is it fiction or fate?

A dead-end road vision backed by crippling ambition
The American dream, the American dream
Claw your way to the top, if every hope could be bought
Oh, the praises we’d sing, oh the praises we sing

We hold on the chains of what we’ve become
A stalemate, no direction, nothing framed, nothing written
Who said we had to try? Who said we had to try
A sad and strange reaction, marching without direction
but everything’s alright, everything’s alright

Words fray and lose their meaning, sky cracks, bells ringing
World without end, world without end
Blame it on the end of truth, television, the devil’s moon
Calling again and again, calling again and again

In Comes the Night
Will Saulsbery/Robert Ashton

I drank in the dark of night
In search of the northern lights
I shook my hands just to shake the cold
I can taste your city and it’s tasting old

A set of lips so soft and mean
The smell of money and gasoline
You’ve forgotten how to hold tight
So out goes the evening and in comes the night

A steam whistle blows across the Great Plains
Like a memory whispering my name
October will bring this city to fall
And a tattooed girl was the causing of it all

I was born with the snare ringing in my head
And as sure as the bullet I’m dead
And if all men are born to die
Then out goes the evening and in comes the night

Let America Crumble
Will Saulsbery
Everything is dying the moment it is born
Everything is dying, dying on its own
Like American youth and gasoline dreams
Like the winter in the spring and you and me

I’ve got a hold of everything
While I’ve got a hold on nothing
Everything all at once
Everything that’s all I want

Let America crumble
When that Atlantic ridge rumbles
All the dead sailors will make it full
So, let America crumble

You said that the future lies bleeding
With a bottle full of medicine on the bottom of this city
Still you’re sweeter than the sweetness in the pouring rain
But this is where I leave you as I leave you again

Let America crumble
When that Atlantic ridge rumbles
All the dead sailors will make it full’
So, let America crumble

Time it will murder me
So I’ll keep your face in the fold of some memories
I would burn this city back to ash
If I could just taste fresh air at last

Let America crumble
When that Atlantic ridge rumbles
All the dead sailors will make it full
So, let America crumble

All I do is Want You
Will Saulsbery

All I do is want you
Yeah all I do is want you
No there ain’t nothing ever better to do
Cos all I do is want you

Now I ain’t nothing much to see
But I bet there might be something to see in me
I’m just a standard issue American mutt
But I can play this guitar
And girl you know what?

All I do is want you
Yeah all I do is want you
No there ain’t nothing ever better to do
Cos all I do is want you

I spent my youth in a chemical madness
Dying of the thirst and the sadness
Now I don’t drink like I used to
But you can mark my words that tonight I’m going to

All I do is want you
Yeah all I do is want you
No there ain’t nothing ever better to do
Cos all I do is want you

So flash those lashes and stare so mean
Now I know I ain’t got nothing you ain’t seen
I lie awake and my dreams just bleed
Cos there’s only one thing that I really need

All I do is want you
Yeah all I do is want you
No there ain’t nothing ever better to do
Cos all I do is want you

A Tattoo Of Mercury
Will Saulsbery
She told her ma “I know I’m only 22
But I’m old enough to know when enough’s enough
And to feel the way I do
And no word from him or you is gonna bring me back home

She had a tattoo of mercury wrapped around her left wrist
She said that all the greatest stories come from heading west
And she’s got a summer’s worth of tips
Buried deep down in her purse
And she’s headed out west

I passed her up half way through Missouri
Asked her for a little time and her story
She stood up quick, said, “You’re headed nowhere, and I’m in a hurry”
And, “I only got about seven states left”
And she’s headed out west

Said she’s gonna marry a California man with tall tan skin and a green left hand
Said she’s gonna settle down all soft and slow
Said she don’t know when, but she knows she’s got to go
Cos she’s got a few years, and a little fire left
And she’s headed out west

I’ve Got St. Louis
Will Saulsbery

I’ve got St. Louis baby so don’t worry about a thing
I’ve got your heart and the world on a string
I remember you crying on the park boulevard and Grand
They shot us down while your head was in my hands

I’ve got St. Louis baby so grab your coat and your boots
Put on your new dress and do your nails up in blue
Smoke was rolling off the brewery like the champagne on New Year’s Eve
Our friends were lit up like the night sky
And my heart was on your sleeve

I’ve got St. Louis baby so let’s not move to fast
We’ve nothing but time and time it never lasts
We were born into the fury of the gas light and the square
We lived through hell, but we didn’t like it down there
Now there’s nothing left but the night and all it brings
But I’ve got St. Louis baby
So don’t worry about a thing

Tonight the Highway
Will Saulsbery

The muscles that held my lungs
All the others worked they were the only ones
Your eyes they look just like mine
Like a sky on the edge of light

Now I tried to hold it together
No matter the time or the weather
And if you ask me to come meet you tonight
I promise that I’ll lie

Because tonight the highway
It will take you away
Far away from me
To a town where you can feel so clean
Because tonight the highway

There’s more than miles in between you and me
With the feeling of what it was and what it could be
We could have been the lucky ones
Not smart enough to cut and run

But I guess we all have to pay the price
For the excess and abuse of paradise
But I’ll never forget the way you felt sitting there
With those big green eyes in the autumn air

Because tonight the highway
It will take you away
Far away from me
To a town where you can feel so clean
Because tonight the highway

Yeah the muscles that held my lungs
All the others worked
They were the only ones

Have Faith in the Machines
Will Saulsbery

Nature’s pharmacy is killing me
As I struggle through these times and the sheen
Of exhaust and smoke filled days
And the nights still soaked in radio waves

She led me through the river front of burned out factories
Collapsed in on themselves like all memories
Just a little bit further down a concrete line
And everything you’ve dreamed of is what you’ll find

They want you to live and have all things free
Is what Amy screamed holding on to me
They can show you some things that you’ve never seen
But you got to have faith in the machines

On a big silver screen it was all laid out
Everything I ever wanted or ever dreamed about
All the power in the world and the money I could find
All you got to do is sign away your mind

They want you to live and have all things free
Is what Amy screamed holding on to me
They can show you some things that you’ve never seen
But you got to have faith in the machines

Give me all you ever had I’ll give you all you ever wish
We’ll erase all those things you know you’re going to miss
We can burn it out, every tear you’ve ever know
We’ll just plug you in for a brand new soul

They want you to live and have all things free
Is what Amy screamed holding on to me
They can show you some things that you’ve never seen
But you got to have faith in the machines

Death is Just the Beginning
Will Saulsbery

Once when I was a younger man
I swore that I could understand
The stars and how they made up her eyes
And I could drop her dead with just a smile

But I was wrong, lord I was wrong
And the nights weren’t hard, but the days were long
And she left me there bleeding where I lie
The stars were empty, but oh, her eyes

And when she kissed me my body felt like amphetamine
And she whispered in my ear that death is just the beginning

There’s weight in my legs, but they’re still able
There’s worry in my mind and it’s a little unstable
I feel her nails, they tear at my skin
Her breath on my neck and it’s about to begin
The future dark, cold, and alone
And I feel myself turning back into bone

And when she kissed me my body felt like amphetamine
And she whispered in my ear that death is just the beginning

Pure Electric Sound
Will Saulsbery
The country lies in wait
Carved out and divided by the interstate
I can feel your body
But it’s going to have to wait

You can wish and cry and cry and cry
But there is no such thing as good bye
The evening brings you to
But the dark don’t know you like I do

November will chain a man to the ground
Brakes lock and you shutter with the sound
From the fresh tracks to the 21 guns
Through the smoke to where you’re from

Drag you out where the signals start to mix
And I can still taste the taste of your lips
One last run out to the end
One last chance to begin

Watch it rain

This country lies in wait
It is carved out and divided by the interstate
I can feel your body
But it’s going to have to wait

I said through a wall of pure electric sound
I can feel your body shaking to the ground
Through a wall of pure electric sound
I can feel your body shaking to the ground

Watch it rain

Too Much Lightning
E. Kyle Kelley

You ride the rail
You sing its tune
Got no worries
You’ve got nothing to lose
A freight car running
at breakneck speed.
You know what you want
but I know what you need.

You been trying
talking forgiveness,
but you been running,
begging and stealing.
You find the reason
then you find the gutter.
You know the rhythm,
the rhyme and the number.

Too much lightning
Not enough thunder.

The day is done
so pay the devil his due.
Forget your saints
and your angels too.
You’d find God,
the pieces of the puzzle
if only the night was just a little longer.

Another Season in Hell: the Gaslight Sessions 2017

A Pistol and Some Dreams
Will Saulsbery

Eddie wasn’t much to see
Just another skinny kid from East Missouri
But he’s got a pistol and he’s got some dreams
And he said, “No sir, you’re gonna listen to me.”

Grace was born silent with an aching in her chest
No daddy’s little girl, her mother’s big mess
Wrapped In the cold cruel arms of the midwest
They let the TV shows teach her to dress

That first drunken stumble across highway 15
In the headlights she looked like a disaster in his dreams
A drugstore ring rapped on the passenger side
He rolled down the window and she said, do you want me to ride?

Cigarette-stained hands traced each other’s scars
Two broken nobodies destined for a squad car
Grace told Eddie “Grab your step-dad’s .38”
I have a black thought taking shape

Let’s get up past the boys on McMurry Boulevard
Where the headlights can’t drown out the stars
I’m done living through the television
And it’s a good time for a bad decision

Paris, MO and the Casey’s convenience store
Eddie gave her everything, but all she ever wanted was more
You kill the lights and I’ll burn the place
He knew he had to from that look on her face
A life time of tired and lonely
Is gonna end and it’s up to me

Eddie wasn’t much to see
Just another skinny kid from east Missouri
But he’s got a pistol and he’s got some dreams
And he said, “No sir, you’re gonna listen to me.

We Don’t Stand a Chance
Will Saulsbery

Smoke is settling and we’re waiting for it to clear
We set the black bird free my dear
There’s a chance I can keep running to the very end of this
But my legs are tired and my head wants to quit

The last green in my eyes can’t focus
I just want to see what’s left of us
You don’t look quite like you used to
And i’m feeling less and less brand new

This isn’t empty, it’s full of black
There’s no road to turn back
Grab hold and hold tight
The day is long and only turns to night

You want to wake up on a day
That feels like yesterday
Now i’m keeping it all in and checking out
The rooms are empty and the lights went out

This isn’t empty, it’s full of black
There’s no road to turn back
Grab hold and hold tight
The day is long and only turns to night

We tried the right way our whole lives
Then we burned it down in just one night
Give this all one last glance
I can see it in you, we don’t stand a chance
Give this all one last glance
I can see it in you, we don’t stand a chance
Give this all one last glance
I can see it in you, we don’t stand a chance

Dogtown Saturday Night
Will Saulsbery

Flooded out by the tail lights
Eyes movin’ down the street side
When I felt the evening blur
Through the smell of smoke and fake fur

The taste of cigarettes
Was still hanging from your lips
You only smoke when you’re drinkin
And baby, you’re always smokin

On a Dogtown Saturday Night
Nevermind the frost come the daylight
No smoke, just the flame
Tongue as sweet as aspartame

Now the pills don’t do what the doctors say
But they got you steady and we’re doing ok
There’s a hole in the middle where it all runs away
Kiss me hard cause I really can’t stay

Now I’m too cold to hold and too tired to show
The heat feels good but I really don’t know
You never said forever, and you can handle the lies
And you swear the last time is the next time

Third Release Paperback Edition
Will Saulsbery

You got it all and it’s all brand new
Then the sun drops down and you’re already through
What’s the next big thing? Yeah you already know
You’re another square peg in another square hole

They’re not clothes they’re a constant exhibition
In your mirror a third release paperback edition
One scratch beneath your skin and the sparkle’s so clear
Dragging across the blackboard is all I hear

You’re a fake, fake, fake, girl
In a fake, fake, fake, world
Yeah you’re all you, and you’re just yourself
Yeah, you’re a one and only, just like everyone else

You’re everything they want and you can’t be missed
Straight up and down every check on the list
I got your catalog of all the things you’ve read
The chronicle of everything inside your head

The romantics don’t write about perfection
All your talk is in the comments section
All the slicked back boys sing about your reflection
They’re searchin’ the low end for a quick connection

You’re a fake, fake, fake, girl
In a fake, fake, fake, world
Yeah you’re all you, and you’re just yourself
Yeah, you’re a one and only, just like everyone else

Every Winter of the War
Will Saulsbery

It won’t let your thoughts be
It’s tethered to you and you’re tethered to me
So you drown in the neon when all is still
You take your legs and you leave as you will

I’m dead set on dying in this city
Because your eyes, they got the best of me
You looked at me and I thought it again
I’m not brave, I just pretend

There are men, men that bleed
Piles of ashes piled at their feet
Hollowed eyes and the magnetic north
Glorious dead, every winter of the war

All of God’s children and all of their names
Each one different, they all bleed the same
Now i’m three days on a sleep deprived high
The buzz of your memory still gets me by

The years were supposed to settle me
But the things you remember never leave you be
Time is some tricky navigation
Year to year and station to station

There are men, men that bleed
Piles of ashes piled at their feet
Hollowed eyes and the magnetic north
Glorious dead, every winter of the war

Such a Beautiful Face
Will Saulsbery

Such a beautiful face
It makes every place a beautiful place
Eyes a color I can’t describe
I’ll take a look inside
To see everything you want me to see
And the sound of your laugh won’t leave me be

I wake and blink the morning clear
You run your fingers through the window frost somewhere
The cold always sneaks past the pane
So let’s hold all the heat in our veins

I’ll write a beautiful song for you
Cos it’s the one thing I never do
Everything I sing comes out dark
Cos my head and my heart live so far apart

The future laid out like a false alarm
In the morning weather I want your arms
Wrapped around me with closed tight eyes
And a heart that aches a lot for its size

So let’s burn our mansions down
And dance till the distant morning comes around
Whisked heads and broken hearts
You do your best to pick up all the parts

I’ll write a beautiful song for you
Cos it’s the one thing I never do
Everything I sing comes out dark
Cos my head and my heart live so far apart

Such a beautiful face
It makes every place a beautiful place
Eyes a color I can’t describe