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Open Hand

by David Wilcox

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1.
Dream Again 05:39
We had time to dream Our huckleberry glide downstream That's the way it seemed Time was cheap as gasoline Old route 66 through the sticks Was our magic carpet How we used to fly and not look down Far across the seas The history of the ancient empires (we were) Earning our degrees We'd study hard to stoke our own fires So summer we could fly you and I With our headphones blairing Whistling through the fallen ruins of Rome I know we're not at peace Coming back across our border Security police Change the homeland threat to orange Remember back when we were the free And the hopeful nation Home from our vacation toe that line I got no time to rest Search for work in Carolina We used to make the best Now they ship that stuff from China Factories closing down left this town With our homeless shelters, and Blankets in the dirt when gates get closed Ashes in the dust Must have been their campfire burning It's boom until it's bust That's the lesson we've been learning Through our glory days all ablaze With our pride and promise We never saw the ways it all burns down We're leaving here tonight Walk the rails across that river On the other side All the future can deliver Across this great divide, river's wide Where the future's waiting If I can just decide to leave the past (come on) It's who we've always been The land of dreams and visionaries The frontier starts again Make our way with what we carry The journey is from here, hope or fear For our children's children We ARE the pioneers We have a dream again
2.
Red Eye 03:33
I can run, I can fly, jump at the sky, I'm getting good exercise I can fail, I can fall, learn from it all, use it to make me wise If there's a lesson inside even losing my pride, Finding out that I was wrong It all turns for the good if it's understood, I shouldn't have to wait too long to learn, and get burned If I only see what I dreamed you could be Photoshop the you I knew (you were so beautiful) I retouch so much cruel, the red eye turns to blue I could trust like a fool, be sombody's tool, Finding out that I was used Make a move too soon, then howl at the moon For all the good that would do If there's something I learn, I keep what I earn, Trade it for the price I pay And it's usually fine, wasting my time, As long as I can find a way to grow. I know If I only see what I dreamed you could be Photoshop the you I knew (you were so beautiful) I retouch so much cruel, the red eye turns to blue Every time I forgive the way you live It's like I do tricks for you I could try for the prize, but the ring's the wrong size Never gonna make it through Wanna win something big, but the contest is rigged And every piece of bling is trash You could rattle your keys and make me say please As if I need a hallway pass, to leave But I'm free If I only see what I dreamed you could be Photoshop the you I knew (you were so beautiful) I retouch so much cruel, the red eye turns to blue
3.
Open Hand 03:07
Here's a picture of a bright blue bird Standing on the open hand Of a woman with long red hair On the edge of a windswept land A long fall to the rocks below Dark threat of a storm behind Light shines on her smiling face Looking up at these hills to climb She can feel the wind right now Wash away her tracks and plans If you want to live this life Gotta hold it with an open hand The sky flier's got to face that wind Feathers have to feel the air He's been where she's never seen He's seen what she could not bear But the two of them hold it all The high view and the muddy miles The free wing and the earthly trail The deep heart and the endless sky She can feel the wind right now Wash away her tracks and plans If you really want to live this life Gotta hold it with an open hand
4.
How Long 02:53
I get carried along after midnight In the sound of the train on the tracks Where the rails run alongside the river And the water can never come back And the headlight is scanning the valley As the valley runs South from town And it wakes me where I have been sleeping With my window shade pulled down If my window's a mile from the river And if the engine sounds deep and low Then how long 'till I feel any closer To what's rumbling in my soul? How Long? Feeling it every day How Long? It's always a ways away How deep is the river that's flowing? How strong is the pull downstream? How far is the train engine going? How long have I had the same dream? Is there something that moves like a river Is there something that pulls like a train Is there something that rumbles in darkness And I don't even know it by name Is there some way to measure the distance Was it close to my heart all along And what is the voice that keeps asking How strong, how far, how long
5.
A ghost of you is dancing through Memories of this town I can see you and me before the ride shut down Lights on the boardwalk shine for miles Places to go explore A taste of forever lasts a while Who could ask for more Your cotton dress, your tenderness Candy on your tongue Your kiss was warm before the storm Of what we'd just begun Up in the air right next to you I dare you to rock the chair We had the fireworks ocean view I left my heart up there Broken glass, along the path Behind the ice cream store You'll be gone. I'll stay on. Winter at the shore I knew that I should take it slow Why did I try to speak After the words, my eyes were closed You kissed me on the cheek Now it's dark along the park The ocean grinds the stones The waves will drown the castles down I feel it in my bones Walking the empty parking lot Sand carried on the wind Someone should sweep the spaces clean Where would I begin The ghost of you slips back through The boards across the door I can't go in. That's how it's been Winter at the shore Winter at the shore
6.
Modern World 03:06
In the future that we used to imagine The one they pictured in those old magazines Their tomorrow-land is so old fashioned A delusion of the modern dream But they had a skyway to the city towers And we're still rocking over stones and tar I've been crawling down the freeway for hours I want my fusion-powered flying car This ain't the modern world that I remember The one they promised all us boys and girls This ain't the vision that the artist rendered What happened to my modern world? They said my leisure time was gonna be bitchin I'd have my holographic TV phone And we'd be cooking in our One Button kitchen In our aluminum dymaxion home With the enlightened ones leading the nations Bringing peace around the world at last A utopia of cooperation Where injustice is a thing of the past It's just a bunch of big baby boomers Trying to snatch the last cookie and run It's such a comfort to the guilty consumer If Armageddon had already begun 'Cause if the world's a box of chocolate cherries Then they can use it up and toss it away They make it post-apocalyptic and scary To even dream about the future today
7.
Outside Door 05:00
My movie house - it holds me prisoner All boarded up - on a dead end street In my darkest doubts - I'm the only visitor Sunk down inside - those dusty seats This world of mine - in two dimensions It shocks my brain - with all I feel That flickering lie - will build the tension And I brace for pain - like it was real I can't stop the scene from playing Trying ain't worth dying for It won't change, but I'm not staying I just found the outside door The old film that rolls - I know the story For all my years - it's been the same I'll see my old - moment of glory Fall to my fear - and find my shame It leaves my heart - empty and shallow No happy end - and no relief In that endless dark - my cave of shadows I still suspend - my disbelief Standing in the morning wonder Never seen the sun before Broke the spell that I was under I just found the outside door There's No silver screen - no satin curtain My state of mind - plays this whole show The illusion seems - to be so certain That I'm trapped inside - with nowhere to go Inside my war - with dark projection I try to scream - but have no voice There is a door - an outside exit We can be free - we have a choice
8.
I'll keep my vow of silence now forever It's the only way If you can't hear my heart when we're together There's nothing I could say The trees explain the wind out in the distance The message is so clear I have to send my words through your resistance So silent you can hear I walked upon this earth and spoke in beauty To people all around I waved away the words that poured right through me And never made a sound For if I spoke as loud as rolling thunder Another war could start So I speak in silent sacred wonder Straight into the heart I'm moving in the waves that roll the ocean Meet me at the shore The flowers on my grave can't stop the motion I'm closer than before If the light has chased off all your deamons There's nothing you must do There's no need to explain what you believe in They'll feel my love in you I'm giving you the right: let love adore you Across the years and miles I'm living this new life that's waiting for you See it in my smile
9.
Captain Wanker hits the gas he's driving like his head's on fire Captain Wanker swerves to pass shouting over squealing tires Captain Wanker always gets annoyed That the drones on the freeway have to be destroyed Blasting 'em into the void makes him feel overjoyed Captain Wanker scans the crowd and calculates a quick way through Captain Wanker thinks out loud like all super heroes do Captain Wanker is so debonaire Cutting through a crowd of people like he just don't care He ducks into a nearby phone booth and he just stays in there A skin - tight suit Try to hide it A skin - tight suit Stuck inside it A skin - tight suit - under his clothes His pride will hide the side that no one knows Captain Wanker grunts and groans as if he wanted someone to help Captain Wanker makes it known: He has to save the world himself Captain Wanker always feels afraid That if he trusted anybody he could be betrayed Workers all get overpaid, and help never makes the grade A skin - tight suit Try to hide it A skin - tight suit Stuck inside it A skin - tight suit - under his clothes His pride will hide the side that no one knows Captain Wanker V.I.P. A better man than all of the rest Captain Wanker stands for me The W is on my chest Captain Wanker is my shadow side And he'll fight for justice and a sense of pride Shoving everybody else aside, he will not be denied A skin - tight suit A jelly belly A skin - tight suit It's gettin smelly A skin - tight suit - under his clothes His pride will hide the side that no one knows
10.
Jesus - called me hypocrite. When I said that I believe He said, how can you follow me Without a willingness to leave Leave the gates and the passwords, Known by just your kind Walk beyond the divisions that religions always finds And BE the mercy, my people need the peace This fight over faith won't bring them relief I love them beyond belief Jesus - called me a hypocrite, When I said I'd spread the word He said, how can you teach of love Unless you live what you have heard Hear the hearts of the people, crying out in pain Pain caused by dominion, and fighting in my name - my So, BE the mercy, my people need the peace This fight over faith won't bring them relief I love them beyond belief Jesus - called me a hypocrite, When I said that I was saved He said, how will your soul be judged With all the judgments you have made Faith can't be your fortress, arrogant with pride Come walk here beside me with the humble ones outside And BE the mercy, all my people need the peace This fight over faith won't bring them relief I love them beyond belief Jesus called me to be the mercy
11.
You get celestial in our home And reveal the ways of where you came from Foreign fragrances spill from tubes and jars These things no man has known From the healing oils of woman's wisdom Our bathroom sink is a bizarre And your Jacuzzi bath is blessed By candle light a quick unveiling You're merely mortal by some thin disguise Your hand is at your breast But your smile betrays the trick you're playing You still have star light in your eyes I don't know WHERE you parked your ship But I hope they never find it An expose on CNN To send you back to space again I hope you like this earth I know you've had your choice of planets There's a star you've seen that never dissappears Your eyes are clear, you're not from here You see beauty that I miss And you never lost your sense of wonder You smell the rain and raise your arms up high I get connection when we kiss And we count the seconds 'till the thunder We'll live the time until we die You're aware of what it's worth In this labyrinth of life and laughter You see these turns as if from high above But you're barefoot on this earth And you lose yourself in what you're after As if you came here just to love
12.
There's a river down from Ghost Ranch New Mexico Left by torrents that tore through here long ago It carved out sculpture and left this show When the canyon floor is dry And there's a river close to home that never seems to flow Some part of me that couldn't break the dam below Just slow turning circles that won't let go Waiting just to fly I can't wait any longer. With these stones around my heart that keep me shy So I pray, the river stronger So I may, before I die Say goodbye, and RUN LIKE THE RIVER RUN DRY I want to sweat through every pore running faster when it's hot And catch up to who I can be, and drop the things I'm not And be sure by the end I gave it all I've got And pray to just hold on So by the finish line I wouldn't mind falling like rain 'Stead of saving it for someday, when someday never came I want to open up early, push against the pain And feel my heart beat strong I can't wait, any longer. There are dreams within my heart I have to try So I pray the river stronger So I may, before I die Say goodbye, and RUN LIKE THE RIVER RUN DRY Let me fall I can't wait any longer. With these stones around my heart that keep me shy So I pray, the river stronger So I may, before I die Say goodbye, and RUN LIKE THE RIVER RUN DRY

about

You know, if you've ever fallen through the ice, what it's like to be so focused that you feel suddenly enlightened. All the superfluous thoughts are instantly gone because you know that if you are to survive, all of your attention is required. Well, this was sort of like that. My passion for getting these songs recorded with all of my heart and all of my voice influenced thousands of small decisions, so that everything mattered and all of me was required. Even little decisions like what to have for lunch became infused with a deeper question: what would be best for the music?

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released April 7, 2009

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David Wilcox Asheville, North Carolina

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