carboan leaf

Time Is The Playground lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Run through the fields another holiday
Burning in the lungs but your mind escapes
One for the ages straight into the fire
Through the ashes of waiting you're outpacing desire

Buildings rise and shadows fall
Sundial time, clock's on the wall
You can't go back and start again
You just start again from wherever you end

Time is the playground
And the high-rise cityscape fades
As the conversation's winding down
As the engine vibrates
It threads me like a needle, love
It moves right through, and marches on
Make sure I'm worn before I fade
Secondhand, swept away

Run through the fields to get your love in on time
Another shadow is falling, and it might be mine
A bolt from the past as you're breaking away
Fire in the sky like someone's turning a page

Ashes, ashes everywhere
Come along with me
Don't stop to stare
We're rolling side by side with youth
An eternity left if we ignore the truth now

Time is the playground
And the high-rise cityscape fades
As the conversation's winding down
As the engine vibrates
It threads me like a needle, love
It moves right through, and marches on
Make sure I'm worn before I fade
Second hand, swept away

Cuckoo... Cuckoo... Cuckoo... Cuckoo...

Time is the playground
Time is the playground
Time is the playground
Time is the playground

Backmask 1983 lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Beth had a stack of Jimmy's rock and roll records
Deep in the summer of '83
Her older brother Tom got busted for weed
I don't know what that means
Backmask...

The Sun is down around Elizabeth Park now
The kids all gang around Riverwood
We put the record player up on the bed
Bandana flashlights red on the Time Life books

Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, UFOs, ESP
Clairvoyance, haunted houses, ghosts, Halloween
Spin the records back, The Devil's talking to me
Curtains blow in the breeze
Backmask 1983... 1983

I want to believe
In the mystery, mystery
Backmask 1983

Got a Farrah poster up in my bedroom
Hotter than Cheryl Ladd, she's the one
My G&S Fibreflex Bowlrider board
My sister's friends on the trampoline in the sun

Truth or Dare
Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board
Velcro wallet, red Goody comb
Op corduroy shorts
Trans Am Firebird graphic iron-on tees
Crop top. Cut off the sleeves
Backmask 1983... 1983

I want to believe. I want to believe
In the mystery, mystery
Backmask 1983

Got a paper route, wake up before morning
Jump back in bed just before the dawn
Raising some money for my team uniforms
Junior League magazines door-to-door
And mowing some lawns

In Search Of... That's Incredible!... Believe It or Not!
Bermuda Triangle, tidal waves, ghost ships in fog
We moved away. The kids grew apart
Time machines, warp speeds
1983... 1983

Titanic, Haley's Comet, hologram skulls
Russians, NASA rockets, high school
Run through the halls
We saw the Challenger explode on TV
I don't know what that means
Backmask 1983... 1983

How could it be?

I want to believe
In the mystery, mystery
Backmask 1983

I want to believe
I want to believe
I want to believe
In the mystery, mystery
Backmask 1983

You And Me lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Take a walk now, sleepy eyes
There's no need to put your makeup on
Dreaming down stairways
In your spring morning sky
In your own dimension
Somewhere between space and time

Love's all it takes
Till something breaks

If I could buy some time to write this letter
Lost in a swan song, nothing lasts forever
I never thought the sun could rise
Through all the change that grabbed me by surprise
But I always thought it'd end up you and me

Help me with this costume, where's my cape?
Sew me up a mask so I don't have to reveal my face
All of the kid stuff you outgrew that I am trying hard to disguise
All the weakest things about me
I pretend that I don't want you to find

Love's all it takes
Take a walk with sleepy eyes
Till something breaks
Stairways falling in your mind
Nothing to disguise
Worlds away when your heart aches

If I could buy some time to write this letter
Lost in a swan song, nothing lasts forever
I never thought the sun could rise
I never saw the change before my eyes
But I always thought it'd end up you and me

If I could buy some time, I'd lock up the day
Lost in a swan song dreaming down the stairway
I never thought the sun could rise
Through all the change that grabbed me by surprise

I never thought the sun would rise
Wipe the sleep out of your tired eyes

I never thought the sun could shine
On all the change, the world was rushing by
But I always thought it, always thought
A Life & Times, just wait and see
But I always thought it'd end up you and me

You and me

Love For Sale lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Love for sale
All of the love I would've given away
But I didn't wanna break your heart

Love for sale
I couldn't deny, I thought of running away
But I never wanna break your heart
Break your heart again

All my days
Lost in the shadows and feeling my way
You know I never really know where to start

Call my name
Lightning across the sky sideways
You know I never wanna be a part
Be a part again

There's nothing to leave behind
There's nothing to leave behind
There's nothing to leave behind
When you fall
When there's no one to call
When there's no one to call
When there's no one at all

Love for sale
Clamoring down another fire escape
But I'm sure you know it all by heart
All my time
All of your patience, all the warning signs
And you know I have a bleeding heart

There's nothing to leave behind
There's nothing to leave behind
There's nothing to leave behind
When you fall
When there's no one to call
When there's no one to call
When there's no one at all

There's nothing to leave behind
There's nothing to leave behind
There's nothing to leave behind
When you fall
When there's no one to call
When there's no one
When there's no one at all

Me And Mick lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Down in the engine room of her heart
Young love, new love
It always feels like a start
It keeps beating. Beats being alone.
All alone. All alone. All alone. All alone.

Carry all of these voices in the back of your head
Steady as she goes when the morning comes
Nothing can wreck us but love

Out of the shadows and into the sun
Can we make-believe this day's the only one?
Out of the shadows straight into the dream
Living a sequel we will never see

Steady as she goes when the morning comes
Nothing can wreck us but love

Counting up all the moments in still life
She's puts them together 1000 times in her mind's eye
Strung together in still frames they glow in the dark
Moving out of the picture and into the part
Straight into the part

Out of the shadows and into the sun
Can we make-believe this day's the only one?
Out of the shadows straight into the dream
Living a sequel we will never see

Carry all of these voices in the back of your head
Steady as she goes when the morning comes
Nothing can wreck us but love

Out of the shadows and into the sun
Can we make-believe this day's the only one?
Out of the shadows straight into the dream
Living some sequel we will never see
Out of the shadow and into the sun
Out of the shadow and into the sun
Out of the shadow and into the sun

Nothing can wreck us but love

Monday Night In Germantown lyrics - Carbon Leaf

There's a dull hum from the telephone lines
It's a dead calm all around
In a half-moon sky
Cobblestones and the old gas lights
It's Monday night in Germantown

The pulsing of a traffic light
Tick-tocking through the night
The window shops have all gone home
Silhouettes bleed into sky
Like an ink pen drawing horizon lines
I'm a ghost
Walking 'round Germantown

Every day goes by
Every night sneaks up behind
Like a London fog
Without a shroud of mystery

But we're Live tonight
And one night only at The Foxhound
If you're bored and lonely
If you're not too far away

And we play all our new songs
Calling out, is there anyone around?
Can you hear the sound?
Of Monday night in Germantown

Mug Night, Ladies Free
No door with a college I.D.
Prime rib, fish-in-chips
Packers, Vikings...tv screens

A shop light in the storage room
With a couch, a mop, a bucket, and broom
A window seat, cold pizza
Rock-and-roll with a vista

Old stone tavern, blood-red door
Cigarettes S.O.S.'d
In a bottle on the stage floor old
By an old rolled up Rolling Stone

There's a payphone you can call
There's a dartboard down the hall
There's a deer head on the wall
No door on the stall

And we played all our new songs
Calling out is there anyone around?
Can you hear the sound?
It's Monday night in Germantown

Yeah, we sang all our new songs
Calling out is there anyone around?
Can you hear the sound?
That's Monday night in Germantown

Yeah we played all our new songs
Calling out is there anyone around?
Can you hear the sound?
It's Monday night in Germantown

I'm with my brothers in arms
And we're rockin' the bars
It's 1 a.m. is there anyone around?
Can you hear the sound?
Monday night in Germantown
Can you hear the sound?
Monday night in Germantown
Can you hear the sound?
It's Monday night and Germantown's asleep

City By The Sea lyrics - Carbon Leaf

My life and your life, we're just like
Two ghost ships in the night
Just like two ghost ships
Floating worlds apart
These strange lights
They drown the dark, they make me numb
Tell me, am I the only one?
Tell me, am I the only one to drift apart?

In the city by the sea
In a forest of electric trees we hide

Wade out into the night
Play the distance game till your out of sight
And you're staring down
All the high-rise windows in the dark
And you know me...y foot in the door
You know I will always be
The one that you knew before
The one who holds all your secrets dear

So remain a part of me
Or remain apart from me and disappear

Ain't it funny how we fade?
Echoes in the Milky Way
Ripples of youth
Like ships in the harbor
They go floating through
They go through you and me
City by the sea

We space out
Staring out at sea
All the darkness
Staring back at you and me
The deepest fears will always come to feed
And watch us drown
And hearts of gold
Can still sink just like a stone
In all their brilliant ways on their way down

Like a glowing piece of coal
As the furnace of the soul flickers to life

Ain't it funny how we fade?
Echoes in the Milky Way
Ripples of youth
Like ships in the harbor
They go floating through
They go through you and me
City by the sea

Ain't it funny how we fade?
Echoes in the Milky Way
Ripples of youth
Like ships in the harbor

Ain't it funny how we fade?
Echoes in the Milky Way
Ripples of youth
Like ships in the harbor
They go floating through
They go through you and me
City by the sea

Call Ahead lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Rising up breathing deeply you dream
Emotions hovering like some apparition
Between the familiar and unknown
Places unlock that you couldn't find
Standing at the door
You're either bright eyed or balling
Is something on the other end?
Is there someone to call ahead?

Racing away with only darkness behind
You're catching glimpses with the headlights on
Memory fades another moment to find
A fleeting thought before it's already gone

Visiting places buried in time
You know your heart well
Your spirit has drifted
Floating like some ferry lost in a fog
Your eyes hunting as you're making the turns
Now that something inside you certainly shifted
The voices make your memories burn
But you know love always returns

Racing away with only darkness behind
You're catching glimpses with the headlights on
Memory fades another moment to find
A fleeting thought before it's already gone
And now you're left with The Ghost In You
And you're laughing 'cause you know all the words
And all the tears that you're driving through
Sure as the sun in your eyes
Love always returns

All the fallen memories escape
Let all the fallen memories escape

Racing away from the dark
Thoughts caught in the headlights
All your memories stray
Unfamiliar ranges
You glimpsed but found them gone
And now you're left with The Ghost In You
And you're laughing 'cause you still know the words
And all the tears that you're driving through
Sure as the sun in your eyes
Love always returns
Call ahead... call ahead
Call ahead... call ahead

Catching Windmill lyrics - Carbon Leaf

From the kitchen, peace is falling
I watch a swirling snow
The windows fog, I'm inside a blur
War's on the radio
I'm closer to you than you think
Still far enough away
I must believe tomorrow's new
Cause 'These Are The Good Old Days'
Yeah, these are the good old days...
Just catching a windmill

It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart

I have been dreaming for weeks
I walk through the woods alone
Lost in a sea of galaxies
Tracking paw prints in the snow
And I have been dreaming for weeks
Watching the stars in the sky
Lost in a sea of galaxies
Just pinwheels for a child
Never cry wolf in the wild
Catching a windmill...

It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart

(I ride. High. Up into the sky.
So close to heaven now I'm down
Down. Falling back into the clouds.
Scraping the ground. Up around again.)

Everything spins
Everything that spins begins and ends
Everything that ends begins again
In some new way, place, and time
Everything spins
Everything that spins begins and ends
Everything that ends begins again

Galaxies are nothing more than
Windmills spinning as they soar
From the place that they were born
Race away, explore, absorb

It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my head
It's overwhelming my heart
It's over my-

(All this love. All this life. All this time.
Is under blurring starlight)

Round and round and round she goes
Will she stop? Will we grow old?
Through revolutions, twisting grace
A subtle shift from clinging to embrace

California Gold lyrics - Carbon Leaf

Everything looks the same
But everything else has changed
Everybody knows my name
I'm on my own

There's nothing here I can hold
There's no story I haven't told
I'm heading for the other coast
In search of California gold

Sunbeams for a smile
Cali blue skies for miles
San Diego for a while
I'll call you home

And all we have is time
Lay it all down the line
Find the missing pieces as we go
We're taking the slowest road for now
Let the windows paint the scene
Living the fever dream
California gold
California gold

And all we have is time
Maybe on down the line
Find the missing pieces as we go
We're taking the slowest road for now
Just let the windows paint the scene
We'll fall into anything
California gold
California gold

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 - 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 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

Followers