Lyrics

Mike Vial – Lyrics Book

1. Awestruck
2. Change Your Tune
3. Driftwood
4. Faster Than Slow
5. Intelligent Fool
6. Julie’s Monsters
7. Kalamazoo
8. Mahogany
9. Made a Mess
10. My Lovely Enemy
11. One Way Road
12. Only the Rain Knows Why
13. Pieces of This World
14. Run Beside Me
15. Stay Like the Sun
16. White Wine

“Awestruck”

I’m never giving myself away
Like a chance hand for a good card
I’m not broken hearted, I’m just
Tougher skinned and smarter now.

But I lost a little more than time
With that girl with the good smile
’cause nothing’s really felt all that good
Like she did in a long while

Chorus:
I’m looking to change these colors I feel
I’m looking to learn how to make true love
Out of something real
I’m looking to find a brighter days
Even if the love that surround me,
Love that surrounds me goes away

I’ve been skimming through pages
Of the good book for a good line
Something that could help me find
Some comfort in these lonely crimes

And I never really lost my faith
In being awestruck
It’s just that I learned a really good risk
Ain’t better than bad luck

Chorus

I’m never letting myself get awestruck

Written: January 2009
Guitar notes: whole step down tuning

“Change Your Tune”

I never make promises that I can’t keep now
That I’ve grown up
I try not to tell a girl that I might meet her
And not show up

If you’ve been left behind before
If you’ve been played for the fool
Depended on the undependable
It’s time to change your tune

It’s always said the good girls go for the bad guys but
I don’t believe that’s true
I think the good girls hide mistakes in their pockets and
A guy’s got a lot to prove

If you’ve heard it all before
Felt like a brokenhearted fool
Depended on the undependable
It’s time to change your tune

It’s time to see
The light at the end of the tunnel
Is a guy like me
I’ve been waiting a while
Had bad experiences too
And I think that’s it’s time
To fall for someone like you

If you’ve given up before
Even yourself you couldn’t fool
Depended on the undependable
It’s time to change your
It’s time to change your
It’s time to change your tune

Written: August 2008
Guitar notes: whole step down tuning

“Driftwood”

There’s a start to every river like an eye to every storm
A road that leads out of every town
with the patterns that are worn straight through my soles.
We’re shaped by the landscapes that we roam.

This tired town isn’t dead but these streets, too small a stage
My door’s fully open but it’s too hard to rearrange
All these boxes in my car. I can’t fit them in my four door escape.
I’m leaving half of these boxes on the road by the river bend
For someone else to take.

Chorus
I don’t know why I’m floating all alone
Mistaken driftwood for solid ground or a home
The river runs through this town, I have found
There’s nothing really here
The storm has past, the winds have calmed, alas
Now the skies are clear
The skies are clear

It’s like I’ve had one foot on the break and another foot on the gas
It’s gonna take more than a stop sign
To halt me in my task of breaking out of here
Even if I have to break a few hearts
I’m breaking out of here
You have to break first before you start to heal.

Chorus

Bridge
It’s time for me go
Take that long and winding road west, dear
And move past reflection of myself found in the rearview mirror.
The cracked rearview mirror
The cracked rearview mirror
The cracked rearview mirror
Where objects are always closer than they appear

The horizon has a golden tint, the window has a glare
There’s nonsense on the radio reminding me there’s no need to care
About how far it is, objects are closer than they appear.
And about how far it is odometer counts it so clear for me.

Chorus

Written: October 2008, finished February 2010
Guitar note: whole step down tuning

“Faster Than Slow”

I used to carry you home
I used to push your hair back
You used to pretend to like it alone
As your friends shed some light on the subject
We were like a Friends episode
A pair of college brats
We lived in the same apartment complex
Lovesick, two room flats

I made you smile so I should feel half good
I only wanted you to feel worth it.
I hope you know, I always understood
I’d have to let you go
Faster than slow…
So you could change this world.

And I never asked you to commit
I always thought it would scare you away
We used to jump around the subject
And dance in the shades of gray but

We’ve only got about a month left
With you left living in this state
So please avoid your state of mind
Where you push me away.

I made you cry so I could feel half good
I only wanted to feel worth it, too you
I hope you don’t misunderstand those tears
’Cause crying was my way of coping

With you moving out West
Please, don’t distress.
If I feel the need to confess
That I loved you so I let you go faster than slow.

The water’s cold in your hometown
My tears are salty and hot
I’m still cheering you on
Even if I’m hurting a lot

I made you cry so I could feel half good
I only wanted to feel worth it, to you
I hope you and me suddenly agree
Sooner than later we will both see
It was all worth it.

Written: fall 2003
Guitar notes: standard tuning, capo first fret

“Intelligent Fool”

I sit and I wait
I wait and I try
To pick through excuses and all of the lies
I fell in the road as it grew cold outside

She sits and she waits, and paints her long nails
And comes up with long tales, and I eat them slow
I’m so naïve I eat them slow

I sit and I wait
I wait and I cry
Play the images [in the] back of my mind
I promise myself to avoid all of her kind

[But] she sits and she waits before she comes back again
And I’m such a fool because I let her in
My friends just shake their heads and ask themselves why

I’m such a fool
Such an intelligent fool
As I ignore the obvious clues

She sits and she waits and paints all her nails, red
And comes up with painted tales, I’ve been fed
Oh I wanted to believe them,

So I sit and I wait
I wait while she flies
Pretend she had good intentions inside
I crave attention in my life…

Written: fall of 2003
Guitar notes: standard tuning

“Julie’s Monsters”

Julie runs from monsters that are
Hiding in her reoccurring dreams
Something isn’t quite right so it seems
The curses she screams out loud when she sleeps

And if I’m the one who is there
When she wakes up she refuses to speak
Secrets she keeps hiding in her sheets
Behind dark eyes wax tears that seem to bleed

And I sing hush little baby
Don’t you cry
Even if you can’t tell me why
Secrets are always for you to keep
Only skin deep
Only skin deep

But Julie’s running out of ways
to hide those strange bruises over scars
Mapping out her secrets on her arms
She wears a bracelet with symbolic broken charms

And if I’m the one whose asking what they mean
She only shakes her head
Changes the subject instead
Whispers don’t worry go back to bed

And I sing hush little baby
Don’t you cry
Even if you won’t tell me why
And if your secrets are only for you see
Keep them a mystery

Dare I ask that if when they come around
Do they have teeth do they bite
(Keep them a mystery)
And when they come around do their claws shine in the night
(keep them a mystery)
Or do they tell her something
She’s not ready to hear
‘causes they’re right
Julie hides her answers so skintight

Julie runs from monsters that are hiding in her reoccurring dreams
Better kept a secret so it seems
Her monsters remain mysteries only
Only to me.

Written: winter of 2006
Guitar notes: standard tuning

“Kalamazoo”

I never believed there was something to a slow walk down memory lane
I thought it’d all look the same, but in my eye
I noticed a change in the way I remembered you before
You said goodbye under a quiet, starry night

And even now, as I pass through this town
My Kalamazoo, I still miss you

I don’t believe I should follow my future through my past
Maybe first loves were never really meant to last in this town
I hope I can follow all of my dreams and don’t look back
Cause if I dare and you do
I might get lost here looking for you

Even now, as I pass through this town
My Kalamazoo, I still miss you like the first time I finally
Convinced my heart to leave your scenery without saying why

And even now, as I pass through this town
My Kalamazoo, I still miss you

It’s been a few years since I’ve stumble over these stones and bricks
This town tricks lost time, memories of you fall out of line
I don’t believe I should follow my own heart’s advice and look for you
A turn down memory lane must suffice

I argue now with myself and this town
Oh my Kalamazoo, I still miss you like the first time it was clear to me
You’ll always bringing me back to these streets, streets of Kalamazoo

Oh my Kalamazoo
Oh My Kalamazoo

Written: summer 2007, finished February 2010
Guitar notes: whole step down tuning

“Made a Mess”
When the smallest things turn over
Into the biggest fight
We’re always saying that we’re sorry
Losing track of who was right
It’s like cleaning up the kitchen
That gets dirty every night
I know I’ve made a mess this time

If I was standing in your shoes
I’d be walking out the door
I don’t know how you have the courage
To keep coming back for more of this
It’s like sleeping on our sofa
Uncomfortable but sorely missed
I know I’ve made a mess this time

It’s like digging through old photographs
To recreate those captured laughs
To find a smile through all of those tears
It’s like counting backwards ten to one
It’s hard to hear, hard to listen
Without falling down on two deaf ears
I know I’ve made a mess this time

Oh I made a mess I see it
Oh I made a mess I’ll clean it
Oh I made a mess I’ll fix it
Oh I made a mess I see it
I know I made a mess tonight

”Mahogany”

If we could be synchronized
And find friendship in the void of disguise
You could wade through my dozens
Of alibis

As the sands of time fall through
The hourglass in my mind
It creates a hill of memories
Too steep for me to climb

If we were daring in red
And could climb
Inside her head
Pick through her thoughts
We’d find forget…me knots
in the brain’s tiny slots

and you could pretend to see
traces of mahogany
we let bleed so deep
trying to move on
so subtly

As the sands of time turn to stone
I finally realized I’m on my own
So desperately alone

As the world spins around me
With past chances of romance and etymology
It so plain to see

Written: December 2002
Guitar notes: standard tuning

“My Lovely Enemy”

I can’t trust myself today
To stay away from her she can’t come out to play
She hides herself…from me why can’t I see
She’ll always stay my lovely enemy

Amy, my lovely enemy, Amy

And she’s away, away she always runs
Since she has learned to distrust anyone’s
Words, absurd I’m so ashamed to think
That I could change her views with promises I’d keep

Amy, my lovely enemy, Amy
Who hates to love, who hates to love me
Amy, my lovely enemy, Amy
Who hates to love so openly

My lovely enemy, Amy
Who is always in a hurry
To hide herself in subtleties
She’ll never say
She’ll never say
She’s sorry

I watch out for her in the corner of my eye
Peripheral vision. Keep it inside
It’s my turn to hide

Cause she’s a riddle I’ll never figure out
Even though my love will always be devout
Recede my trust no matter what she pleads
When she figures out I’m the one she could believe

Amy, my lovely enemy, Amy

Amy, my lovely enemy, Amy
Who hates to love, who hates to love me
Amy, my lovely enemy, Any,
Who hates to love, she hates to love me
Amy, my lovely enemy, Amy
Does she regret the day she ran from me?

Written: October 2005
Guitar notes: standard tuning, capo third fret

“One Way Road”

Maybe there’s only one way to go
If life is just a one way road
I’d rather take it fast than too slow tonight
Maybe I’m better off being alone
But it’s scary being away from home
There’s no way to know which way is right

There’s no guarantees I’ll arrive
In the mean time it doesn’t help me
That I don’t believe in love at first sight

There’s only one way to go
There’s only one way to go
There’s only one way to go
If life’s a one way road

I never, I never even say goodbye
My friends and family don’t know why
I impulsively drive, drive, drive away
And maybe it helps me get a grasp on life
For awhile my memories
Since minutes add up faster than miles

I’d better slow down
It’s only fifty-five through this town
I think I’ve been here before
Because I recognize all the faces
Coming out of the store
It’s like they’re looking for more

There’s only one way to go
There’s only one way to go
There’s only one way to go
If life’s a one way road

And maybe this long drive will help me
Maybe this long drive will
Help me find some way to settle down

There’s only one way to know
If I’m heading down the wrong way
On a one way road
And that’s to try to turn round…

Written: September 2007
Guitar notes: whole step down tuning

“Only the Rain Knows Why”

I think it’s time to close our tab tonight
To find a cab and ride
Through green and red lights
Should we turn left or was I right or wrong
To say I don’t belong
In this room that’s like a picture frame
I should be locked outside
In the rain in the night
That could wash all our tears away
I only wanted to be liked
Only wanted to be liked by you
Only planned on saying goodnight
There’s beauty in a lie
And only the rain knows why I lied.

Written: summer 2007
Guitar notes: standard tuning

“Pieces of this World”

Pieces of this world
Came down yesterday
The old men sang out loud
To the boys it was a mystery

And young boys became men
There was nothing to defend them from harsh sounds
Preceding poor judgment made them
A generation lost and jaded

While pieces of this world
Killed more than those boys
Leaders should shake hands
Instead they play with army toys

And young men should question
What they’re really fighting for
When pieces of violence
March up to their door

Pieces of this world
Hide the answers
Treasures will be found
If we dig ourselves deeper

Will we fall into these holes
And won’t be able to climb out
Unless we question who we are
Blend the colors into one

We are all pieces of this world
We are all pieces of this world
We are all pieces of this world
We are all pieces of this world.

Written: October 17, 2004
Guitar notes: alternate tuning EADGAD

“Run Beside Me”

One day it feels like yesterday
Next it feels like an eternity
But things never seemed the same
Since you’ve been gone
Since you’ve been gone

Chorus:
Will you run beside me
When the morning comes?
When you look down on me
Are you proud of the man I’ve become?

One, two, three, four, five
Memories held inside
Each one completes the puzzle
Piece by piece.
Countless times I’ve cried
With you not by my side
And still I wonder

Will you run beside me
When the morning comes?
When you look down on me
Are you proud?

’Cos you’ve fought the good fight.
You’ve won the war
Every speech motivated me
To run on…

Will you run beside me
When the morning comes?
When you look down on me
Are you proud of the man I’ve become?

Written: December 2001
Guitar notes: standard tuning

“Stay Like the Sun”

I’m counting boxes on my calendar
I’m asking why these winter blues won’t go away
Why won’t the sun, why won’t the sun
Let her stay?

I’m staying longer in my bed
I’m hitting snooze nine times, I’m late for work again
Why do weekends end before they begin?
Life is not hard, but winter always wins

I’m clearing frost off the window
I can see my breath, I can see it slowly
Disappearing, disappearing in the air
Life is not hard, but love is not fair
Love is not fair

So why won’t you stay like the sun?
Being lonely is never fun
It only gets colder
Why won’t you stay like the sun
And survive this together
I will hold you forever
I’ll keep you warm

Written: February 7, 2010
Guitar notes: whole step down tuning

“White Wine”

I sat all alone
Drinking a glass of white wine
And tried to ignore
My memories and longings for her
I waited by the phone
Blaming myself for feeling so damn alone

I sat by the phone
Playing her games in my mind
And I thought I’d lose this time
Instead I just swallowed my pride
And fought through love that became war
Inside of myself I had lost so much more

Trying to make it work
Only got myself broken hearted hurt
Now I’m lost in-between
Respecting yourself is
Harder than it seems

I sat like a stone
The phone rang so innocently
My hand held its own
[I said] she’s only a bad memory
Because if I had took a chance, and danced with her voice
I’d a lost all control in the strength of my choice

So I sat all alone
Playing those games in my mind
I guess I won this time
Drinking a glass of white wine

Written: spring 2006
Guitar notes: standard tuning, capo 5th fret