Pretending lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Dawn breaks the day

I crossed a frozen lake

I saw an eagle fly away

But I could feel my heart descending

I went off by myself

Cause there was no one else

It didn't go real well

And the lonely nights were never-ending

Fool's gold

My love

Marching like a high school band down Main Street

I'm going back in time, my paper valentine

When I saw your face

And made your heart all aglow

Before I took it too slow

Well just a slight-of-hand

I'm crying wolf again

I should've known right then

That you were only pretending

I heard the shushing pines, they called

I heard them whisper your name, I thought

I know I sound insane

It's all the alone time I've been spending

Fool's gold, just a slight-of-hand

My love, I'm crying wolf again

Parading like a high school marching band, down Main Street

I'm going back in time, my paper valentine

When I saw your face and made your heart all aglow

Did I take it to...

Another day is done

Another setting sun

Shadows dance to flame

Across the fortress I'm defending

Another train of thought

Another world apart

Ride the iron horse I caught

Into a story never-ending

Fool's gold, just a slight-of-hand

My love, I'm crying wolf again

Parading like a high school marching band down Main Street

I'm going back in time, my paper valentine

When I saw your face and made your heart all aglow

Nobody needs to know

I'm going back in time, my secret valentine

When I saw your face and made your heart all aglow

Nobody needs to know, nobody needs to know

When I saw your face and made your heart all aglow

Nobody needs to know

Neon Signs lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Passing by all the places I have known

Where I could not find the way out

For the way home

Am I surprised of all the ways a life could go?

I'm passing all these places

On the way home

On the way home

On the way home

Passing by all these neon signs

They were times in life

And then they slipped away

Passing by all these broken dreams

At least, so it seems

All my what-ifs, one-days

Might've-beens and could've-shoulds...

Just muscle cars rusting in the woods

Long for days when something caught my eye

But I'd end up chasing memories down

Like fireflies... oh, let it go

Half a life, and no one wants to be alone

So I count up all the faces

On the way home

On the way home

On the way home

Passing by all these neon signs

They were times in life

And then they slipped away

Passing by all these broken dreams

At least, so it seems

All my what-ifs, one-days

Might've-beens and could've-shoulds...

Just muscle cars rusting in the woods

Woods

Times in life you know they slip away

Times in life you know they slip away

Sometimes life you know it slips away

In the twilight of a neon sign

Somewhere between home

And somewhere down the road

Burning wheels, broken things

Shiny chrome, faded dreams

We're running through the trees

Sliding across the hoods

Just muscle cars resting in the woods

The Hunting Ground (2021)

• Everything's Alright Mama
• Her Father's Pride
• Smokey Joe Of The Poconos
• The Hunting Ground
• Pale Blue Dot

Everything's Alright Mama - Carbon Leaf

Time will take these bones from me

Everything's alright mama

And weave them to Earth's tapestry

Everything's alright

The child is father to the man

Everything's alright mama

That gum you like won't come back again

Everything's alright

The sigh

The sigh

I've hit the wall on all the old things

Everything's alright mama

The ways don't feel the same - it's hard to describe

Everything's alright

The dark drips down as if it was coffee

Everything's alright mama

Caterpillars came and ate the house away

Everything's alright

The sky!

The sky!

The sky!

I won't be caught the gaffe in plaid

Everything's alright mama

The hunting ground surrounds you lad

Everything's alright

The sun comes up, hold me close

Everything's alright mama

Lower me with ropes I'm facing the sky

Everything's alright

The sky!

The sky!

The sky!

A squirrel was trapped inside the gutter

Everything's alright mama

I heard it scratch and I pried it open

Everything's alright

(Everything's alright)

Everything's alright

(Everything's alright)

Everything's alright

(Everything's alright)

The sky! (The sky!)

The sky! (The sky!)

The sky! (The sky!)

The sky! (The sky!)

Oh!

Her Father's Pride lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Hang the phone

Collect your thoughts now

They burn inside

You embrace the waterfall of anger

She runs away

In her shaken mind

She sees her home

Through the snowstorm of a daughter's eye

On through the valley

To the mountain side

She carries every bone of her father's pride

Wandering whispers

(Stand your ground)

You've crossed this way before

(The lights are fallen)

There's too much to uncover

(There's too much to bother now)

She doesn't know just when

Or where this started

She runs away

In her shaken mind

She sees her home

Through the snowstorm of a daughter's eye

On through the valley

To the mountain side

She carries every bone of her father's pride

She runs away

In her shaken mind

There's a pull towards home

Through the snowstorm there's a window light

She did what she could

At least she tried

She carries every bone of her father's pride

So far away

With an aching heart

Her life is full

And starting is the hardest part

She celebrates

Most of the time

The bittersweet reunion with her father's pride

From the back side of the valley

To the sunny mountain side

She carries every bone of her father's pride

The echoes from back home of her father's pride

She's on parade with her father's pride

Smokey Joe Of The Poconos lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Smokey Joe of the Poconos

Gonna get your bow

Gonna hunt for doe

Gotta dress'r out in the dark of night

Gotta feed my family by the morning light

I got the bones, bones

They're boiling down out back

I gotta a pot a' coffee

Steamin' on the stove

I'm takin' the hides to the railway lines

For the tannery in eastern Monroe

Smokey Joe of the Poconos

In the wintertime

You gotta hang the bow

Gotta travel now in the dark of night

Gotta get to cutting trees by the morning light

They got the groves, groves

Of chestnut oaks

And the hemlocks are fallin' like a breeze

Strip the bark from the pine

To boil tannin for hides

For the tannery on Pocono Creek

Smokey Joe, they know my name

From the Catskill Mountains

Up to Lake Champlain

My invitation must be lost in the mail

From the Bowmen of Philadelphia

Smokey Joe, another railroad line

Up to Buffalo

They're haulin' anthracite

They've got the steel work on Ontario

Or the icehouse near Mount Pocono

They got the roads, roads

They're widening through

On the Sullivan and Lackawanna Trails

And the passenger cars

Are coming up from Hoboken

On the DL&W rails

Smokey Joe, they know my name

From the Catskill Mountains

Up to Lake Champlain

My invitation must be lost in the mail

From the Bowmen of Philadelphia

Smokey Joe, they know my name

From the Catskill Mountains

Up to Lake Champlain

Smokey Joe, they know my name

From Allegheny County to The Finger Lakes

Smokey Joe, they know my name

I can hunt with a bow

And I'm a jack of trades

My invitation must be lost in the mail

From the United Bowmen of Philadelphia

The Hunting Ground lyrics - Carbon Leaf

I see the light

I see the road

I see the forest floor behind me

I see the ghost

In a rage

In a dream

Lost and resigned

One last time

To find your thing

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

Hear the sound!

Hear the roar!

Hear the chiming of indifference

From the forest floor

In the shade

Of the pines

We strap these remains to our backs

And move through time

Another round

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting...

Hear the sound!

I am afraid

I see the dark

I see the road I’m on

Only from the faintest spark

Fueling fires

From pages torn

Read it aloud pass it down

Everything is worn

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting...

Feel the blood!

Feel the spire!

Breathing in the womb of embers

Night Mother’s fire

Seize me up

Burn me down

Is this all we have?

The natural world?

Is anyone around?

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

Feel the flood!

Feel the flood!

Hear the call!

Unified inside the silence

The darkness grips us all

Shed my coil

Earthly skin

Caught between the door

And the Wild within

Feel the blood!

Fear the fall!

Glowing eyes unified

Can you see them all?

Crying out

Voices ring

From the universe

You never cared about

The black hole swallows me

Without a sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the sound!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the call!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the call!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the sound!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the call!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(In the shade)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Of the pines)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the call!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the call!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the sound!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the call!)

You hear the sound

Another hunting ground

(Hear the sound!)

Pale Blue Dot lyrics - Carbon Leaf

In the wake of love's great passing

From the eagle eyes of youth

Feathers blown from sweaty palms

Arms outstretched for proof

Madmen wait to return

Upon some distant shore

Something borrowed

Something new

Something ocean blue

They've never seen before

Rage on, rage on

My arms are all for you

Rage in your crazy

Blazin' brazen youth

Jumping flames

The fever light

The calling of the wild

Now is not the time or place

To untangle a knotted child

How fast can I run away from this?

How fast will you hold me true?

Dig deep down you're bound to strike

The grave of something new

Rage on, rage on

My arms are all for you

Rage in your crazy

Blazin' brazen youth

And the silent thoughts

Spin round and round

Where they land nobody knows

But somewhere stands this grizzly bear

Being swarmed by a gang of crows

Caring is the sharpest stone

You could ever choose

When the day is done

It's who we've become

That's truly ours to lose

We rage on, rage on

My arms are all for you

Rage with your crazy

Blazing brazen youth

Rage on, rage on

Once upon a time…

Fairy tales from a pale blue dot

Everything will turn out fine

Gathering (2018)

• Gathering
• Wind In The Leaves
• Come Sunday Morn
• Bow & Arrow (Shore Up A Love)
• Gifts From The Crows 

Gathering lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Blinding bright, we see

Through renaissance dreaming

We believe the daily muse

Buried but listening

And all we need is gathering

Fighting night, we leave

All our befallen gifts surround us

We retreat to the darkened lodge

That's cold with no songs to sing

And all we need is gathering

So chase the bear

Or run away

Put on your mittens to curse the flame

Spirits from

The gallows sang

"Stand in the fire but pray for rain"

Hollow out yourself

Just to take it in again

And find the distant sound

An empty vessel

But it's always haunted, thrashing out

Soon we find

All we need is gathering

So chase the bear

Or run away

Put on your mittens to curse the flame

Spirits from

The gallows sang

"Stand in the fire but pray for rain"

Blinding bright, we sing

Through renaissance dreaming

We believe the daily muse

Buried but forever free

And all we need is the gathering

So chase the bear

Or run away

Put on your mittens to curse the flame

Spirits from

The gallows sang

"Stand in the fire but pray for rain"

So chase the bear

Or run away

Put on your mittens to curse the flame

The songs of old

Remain the same

Stand in the fire but pray for rain

Stand in the fire but pray for rain

Stand in the fire but pray for rain

Wind In The Leaves lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Wind in the leaves

Crawl from my bed

The forest floor opens itself

To clear my dusty head

Wind in the leaves along a sylvan path

Your memory's grown inside me

Like a knotted branch

Rushing by like a spirit

Like a banshee through the trees

Moving everything in sight

But still sight unseen

Rushing by like a spirit

Like an angel through the trees

Was that for me? Was that for me?

Wind in the leaves along a sylvan path

Your memory's grown inside me

Like a knotted branch

From somewhere on the forest floor

A muted roar, a muted roar

Wind in the leaves congregations in the grain

Tripping over answered prayers

But washing out the bloody stain

Wind in the leaves

Another season I begin

To ring around the lake of fire

To touch the stones that bring me back again

And sometimes I rage

As if to punch a hole through the sky

Shouting into some heaven where everything you love

Is just passing by

Rushing by like a spirit

Like an angel through the trees

Was that for me? Was that for me?

Wind in the leaves along a sylvan path

Your memory's grown inside me

Like a knotted branch

From somewhere on the forest floor

A muted roar, a muted roar

Wind in the leaves along a sylvan path

Another memory born

Another look back

From somewhere on the forest floor

A muted roar, a muted roar

Come Sunday Morn lyrics - Carbon Leaf

My eyes are hazy. My spirit's weak

I can run with the best of 'em

But my legs have gone to sleep

Switch on the bright lights. Turn on this town

Tell the Ledger-Star the prodigal son-of-a-bitch is comin' round

Leave my blue suede shoes by the door

Break 'em in and then ask forgiveness

Come Sunday morn

All these floorboards are barely worn

Break 'em in and then ask forgiveness

Come Sunday morn

I woke this mornin' a ball full of rage

A heart full of burnin' fire was beatin' on its cage

Mom has gone to heaven. Dad is fairly well

Sister's got her hands too full

And I've gone all to hell

Leave my blue suede shoes by the door

Break 'em in and then ask forgiveness

Come Sunday morn

All these floorboards are barely worn

Break 'em in and then ask forgiveness

Come Sunday morn

Dance with me until the boiling fever's sweated out

Until the pales of grief run bottomless

On the flames that brought the drought

Switch on the bright lights. Turn on this town

Run me through 'til I turn to powder

And dash me on the ground

Leave my blue suede shoes by the door

Break 'em in and then ask forgiveness

Come Sunday morn

All these floorboards are barely worn

Break 'em in and then ask forgiveness

Come Sunday morn

Bow & Arrow (Shore Up A Love) lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Call the doctor!

Start to pray!

You've got to shore up

Your love today

Life will end

In peculiar ways

And the time you spend

Is un-exchanged

Whoa, bow and arrow's poised

To the sea of sky up above

One thing's for sure

You've gotta shore up a love

You've gotta shore

Shore up a love

From outside the garden

On a summer's eve

I see you crouched down

Pulling weeds

And I hide my face

From the memories

Like I hide my prayers

When I'm on my knees

Whoa, bow and arrow's drawn

To the sea of sky up above

One thing's for sure

You've gotta shore up a love

You've gotta shore

Shore up a love

Sing hallelujah!

Say amen!

Just shout it out

To begin again

In the wading pool

Of original sin

You know my heart

Was the first one in

Whoa, bow and arrow shoot

Into the sea of sky up above

One thing's for sure

You've gotta shore up a love

You've gotta shore

Shore up a love

You've gotta shore

Shore up a love

Gifts From The Crows lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Morning hits me up early

I follow my thoughts down the road

I take what I find

I keep my pockets lined

Looking for gifts from the crows

They follow me all through the branches

They call out the signs of warning

They gather and off they go

They follow me all through the branches

They call out the signs of warning

They gather and off they go

But I don't want to be

All alone, all alone

All alone, all alone

All alone, all alone

All alone, all alone

Shining on the way home

I found a gift from the crows

There's a candle set on the table

There's a orange burning low in the sky

There's a fragile peace washing over me

But it never outpaces the night

And we're telling the tales of our longings

And we're piercing the veil

With our stars that we scored from memory

And we're telling the tales of our longings

And we're piercing the veil

With our stars as we scored the memory

But I don't want to be

All alone, all alone

All alone, all alone

All alone, all alone

All alone, all alone

Shining on the way home

I found these gifts from the crows

Keep my pockets lined

They're shining for me on the way home

All of these gifts from the crows

Constellation Prize (2013)

• Circus
• Love Rain Down
• Alcatraz
• All Of My Love
• Two Aging Truckers
• Ragtime Carnival
• Sparklers
• Pierce My Heart
• Wolfin Down Your Heart
• Tombstone Vs. Ashes 

Circus lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Caught in a crowd, it's like a garden

And you're turning a phrase

How do you unmask from the performance

When all the world's a stage?

Is this where, where I belong?

Is this where, where I belong?

In the long shadows, in the darkness

Of confusion and purpose, it's time

We all have our window and vision

Yet sometimes I feel so blind

Can you explain to me what I see?

Can you help me decipher and decide?

Is this where, where I belong?

Is this where, where I belong?

The sun blinks its brilliant eyes

On confusion and purpose, it's time

To find the place you're broken in

And stare into the never-ending sunlight

I'm so done with this circus

Yet I love this escape

How do you free yourself and leave the rest

To the beasts in the gilded cage?

If every end is a new beginning

Is there cause to celebrate?

If any pause for reflection's been lost

In your need to fill all that empty space

Is this where I belong?

Is this where, where I belong?

The sun blinks its brilliant eyes

On confusion and purpose, it's time

Is this where, where I belong?

Is this where, where I belong?

The sun blink your eyes on the dark, broiling skies

On confusion and purpose, it's time

To find the place you're broken in

And stare into the never-ending sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight

Love Rain Down lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Effortless, she's walking through

Walking through every open door

Like a breeze, love kind of blows

When you know what you don't know

Everything I need to know

I learned as a child

And I won't say that I was ready

But I will say it was time

That I let love rain down

That I let love rain down

I've run dry of lofty words

Am I a saint? Am I a fool?

I'll let the judgment rest on your shoulders

What's in the heart is solely up to you

Everything I need to know

I learned as a child

And at the end of this sordid history

I don't wanna come up dry

So, I let love rain down

Yeah, I let love rain down

Effortless, she showers down

Down from every single cloud

Like the rain, she likes to soak

When you don't have it, nothing grows

When the last word on love falls upon the ground

If the last ray of sun don't ever shine

Well, I can't say that I was ever ready

But I can sure say it was time

That I let love rain down

Yeah, I let love rain down

That I let love rain down

That I let love rain down

Alcatraz lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Hello its been awhile

You know I wished you well

I wrote a song for you

So break the chains and damn the cell

You wrote love, love is everywhere

In the notebook you gave me

You made a list of joys for me and you put your name first

How?

How?

How is no man is an island?

Well with California sliding off the chart

Pack your suitcase up and make a brand new start

California sliding off the map

Hurry now, can you make it home, can you make it back?

If nothing's built to last, why don't you, just put me out on Alcatraz?

I've been accused a time or two

Of having sentimental attributes of hanging on too long

When nostalgia is a vice that captures a warm place in time

And like a cool fog rolling in, clouding up the heart and minds

Whoa!

Whoa!

Oh well no man's an island.

Well with California sliding off the chart

Pack your suitcase up and make a brand new start

California sliding off the map

Hurry now, can you make it home, can you make it back?

If nothing's built to last, why don't you, just put me out on Alcatraz?

And every tear in your past, the reservoir you blink away

Washing down all the hilly streets, out into the bay

No man is an island, but each one does his time

To see if he can tough it out, in a prison of the mind

And like a note to a lover

Through the blue lines you can see

A chance to stay a prisoner, or an easy way to break yourself free!

Break yourself free!

Whoa California sliding off the chart

Pack your suitcase up baby open up your heart

California sliding off the map

Hurry now, can you make it home, can you make it back?

If nothing's built to last, and why don't you, just put me out on Alcatraz?

All Of My Love lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Where do lovers start?

In a starry eye

In a starry sea of gazes

We lay ourselves to rest

Where do lovers start?

In the wild calling of our heart

To an unknown place we call home

We lay ourselves to rest

To rest in this silent lullaby

When there's not a whole lot left

You're cradling the pieces

Of everything I am

All of my love

Where does the love connect?

In the starry sky

In the spirit, in the roiling firmament

Recovery is gain

To rest in your silent lullaby

When there's not a whole lot left

You're cradling the pieces

Of everything I am

All of my love

These wooden nickels age

Time to settle up when there's nothing left

Just be the life inside

Just be my place of rest

Where do lovers start?

In a starry eye

Bestowed upon the youth

To carry me away

To carry me away

To carry me away

To rest in this silent lullaby

When there's not a whole lot left

Keep cradling the pieces

Of everything I am

All of my love

All of my love

All of my love

All of my love

(You're carrying all the weight)

All of my love

(Carry it all away)

All of my love

(Carry it all away)

All of my love

(Carry it all away)

All of my love

(Carry it all away)

All of my love

(Carry it all away)

All of my love

(You're carrying all the weight)

All of my love

(You're carrying all the weight)

All of my love

(Carry it all)

Two Aging Truckers lyrics - Carbon Leaf

A horse needs to run

A heart needs to bleed

An engine can't gain the miles

If it's kept pristine

If the view of change is constant

Just like I've been told

Is any backyard the boundless start

To all directions unknown?

Will I be there?

Will I be there

When all the stories fade?

When I am out of breath?

My yoke is your yoke

Is resting on our shoulders

And we share the weary load

My yoke is your yoke

We're just like two aging truckers

Down the road

Children of our parents

A storybook held close

A mom and dad's heartfelt work

Is worked down to the bone

And the leveraging meant everything

And so a palace for a home

The remains of the day

Were never shown, never known

Will I be there?

Will I be there

When all the stories fade?

When I am out of breath?

My yoke is your yoke

Is resting on our shoulders

And we share the weary load

My yoke is your yoke

We're just like two aging truckers

Down the road

Two aging truckers down the road

We now work in reverse

We salvage and we save

We fight the rust

One if by land, two if by grace

Sure as the spring will hail

The greenest in all things

Let the freshest of our love set sail

And float the open breeze

Will I be there?

Will I be there

When all the stories fade?

When I am out of breath?

Will I be there?

Will I be there

When all the stories, oh

My yoke is your yoke

Is resting on our shoulders

And we share the weary load

My yoke is your yoke

We're just like two aging truckers

Down the road

Two aging truckers down the road

Two aging truckers down the road

Two aging truckers down the road