On That Day

These lyrics come with a bonus: a video of me playing the song! Email me (pknettel@gmail.com) for a copy of the MP3.



I want to wake up with my eyes wide open
I want to see everything, in awe of it all
I want to break, break open all the windows
And let the rain pour in

I'm gonna leave here, on the next train coming
I want to be there, when the sun goes down
I'm gonna wake up in a different hour
It's enough to make me smile

Oh, I'm off to see the world
I'll travel so fast, so far
Oh you know, I'd stop
Or at least I'd slow it down
To be where you are

I want to wake up with a mouthful of laughter
I want to sing with the birds and the wind
I want to throw off all of these covers
And let the sun stream in

I'm gonna buy you two dozen roses
I want to see them fall to the ground
I'm gonna watch you with your eyes wide open
Screaming I love, I love, I love, I love you

Oh, I'm off to see the world
I'll travel so fast, so far
Oh you know, I'd stop
Or at least I'd slow it down
To be where you are

I'm gonna walk out into the ocean
I want to feel my fears float away
I'm gonna swim with you in the sunlight
On that glorious day
On that glorious day
On that day

Cavalry

We lost, we lost this one
To the bright and shining sun
We stared, it was so beautiful
But it only left us burned

We tried, to stop it
We tried, to slow it down
We watched, we watched it fall
So quickly towards the ground

I have no words
To share with you my friend
I lost my nerve
I think it's time you just forget
I was here

You stole, you stole the very thing
I could not afford to lose
I called, I called the cavalry in
They were of no use

You ran, to stop it
You ran, to slow it down
(It was the only thing you could do)
I watched, I watched and tried to chase
But could not follow through


I have no words
To share with you my friend
I lost my nerve
I think it's time you just forget
I was here

Rush in on your white horse and try to rescue me
I swear you're six months late and I've fallen helplessly
Don't cry or make a scene, I'll plunge into the ground
I swear if you lose any sleep over me now...
There's no use trying to stop me
There's no use trying to help me
There's no use trying to save me

(Bunker Hill)

We all see the same things
Why don't we see all things the same?

In that cavern behind our eyes
Light is trapped,
wrapped around corners, stopped

dead

in its tracks
on bones
piles and piles of bones
thousands upon thousands of bones!

Oh, these grievances
these hindrances
these wincing witnesses,
skeletons:

muskets in hand
lurking invisibly
or, at least, inconspicuously
until they see the whites of my eyes...

Good Gets Better

Wake up every morning
on the wrong side of the bed
Seems to make no difference
which way you lay your head

Arise to the pain
you let it sink in
Arise to your name
they're calling again

They say good gets better
Well does bad get worse?
Cause I've had my share of failure
All worn out from this curse

Sitting down at your table
in your mug swirls the steam
And your throat isn't able
to stop the burning

You're sore from the breathing
your lungs can attest
You're sore from the screaming
in agony protest

They say good gets better
Well does bad get worse?
Cause I've had my share of failure
All worn out from this curse
All worn out from this curse

Don't go and say I know what I do
cause I don't believe that this is the truth
Everyday something old's gonna break
and everyday something new's being made
It's the way everything's gonna end,
everything will begin

They say good gets better
Well does bad get worse?
Cause I've had my share of rejections and failure
All worn out from this curse
All worn out from this curse
I'm worn out from this curse

It's Getting Better

Look back over your shoulder
Standing there at the counter
Stealing glances, oh it's so easy
Taking chances: please believe me

I don't know the answers
I don't have a clue

Keep a straight face when it hurts to smile
Sitting down now just for awhile
Take a breather now and again
We'll take refuge, then what will happen?

I don't know the answers
I don't have a clue
I just know it's better
I just know it's you
Like all my friends do

I just know that I love your shoulders
I just know that I love your smile
I just know that it's getting better
Like all my friends do

Goodbye Paradigm

I used to think everything was possible
but this is like trying to hold the melting snow
or stop the waves from crashing,
the kids from catching
each others' colds.

I used to know how everything ought to be
but this is like the changing winter trees
or the graying skies,
the loss of light
above our heads.

I guess that this was the wrong time
When I awoke with a pain in my side
I recall I was dreaming (something sweet)
I should have kept closed my eyes

I used to talk like everything was going fine,
so this is my confession, it's been sealed and signed:
it's all those words I never spoke,
all those tears that I just choked
back again;
it's everything I could have broke
if I had the chance to fall
in love again.

The Constancy of Marble

*The ---- don't mean anything, they are just the only way I could get blogger to let me do indents*

I resolve, from this moment on
To wake up at seven each morning
--(and not hit the snooze several times)
To waste fewer moments on the worthless things
--like television and online quizzes;
--worrying and self-deprecating what-ifs
To be full and then stop
To be satisfied and then balk
--at the “I want, I need, I must!”
--shrieking in my ears
To listen to you
--and remember your words
--and not be thinking about
----the strangeness of the word marmalade
----and the even stranger-ness of the way it's made
----or why in God's great assembly line
----there aren't options like automobiles on which we decide:
----“Temperature-controlled”
----“Adamantium-plated”
----“Wings-equipped”
----“Four-hands, extended leg”
----...and yes, it's got a Hemi!
To laugh more
To get frustrated less
To love more
To take pride in your success
--even when it implies my failure
To grasp onto, every day, something
--So that when I look back in 48 hours
--in 48 days
--in 48 years
--I will not see a few illuminated peaks in an otherwise
--Dull, dark and grey landscape
--but instead a forest basking in the colors of a late fall afternoon
--a mountain range revealed as the morning mist subsides
--an ocean at sunset in the warm and pleasant summer
--and a satisfaction
--a deep and lasting comfort
--when at long last confronting
--this dreaded listless panic
To sing joyfully
--and mournfully
To sit peacefully
--and restlessly
To see everything
--and just one thing more
To give you, all you who listen
--Just a little bit of hope
--In an impossible world