All lyrics by Sam Misner unless otherwise noted.

Seven Hour Storm (2013)

Seven Hour Storm

I was made this way,
In a seven hour storm
It blew and then was gone and I was born.

On a gust of wind,
My first steps all were stumbles
And they haven’t really changed at all since then.

Nothing new today.
I slip back to a time
Of easy memories but they aren’t mine.

I’m surrounded now,
Reminded of a letter
That I’d written to myself when I was ten.

Whose hand held the pen that scratched the lines
With these words that lie and stare at me tonight?

Seems I’m lost again,
I’ve curved my share of corners
And I’m back to where this winding trail began.

So I’ll push ahead
And chase that flickering lantern
That circles ‘round my island now and then.

Whose hand held the pen that scratched the lines
With these words that lie and stare at me tonight?

Whose hand held the pen that scratched the lines
With these words that lie and stare at me tonight?

I was made this way,
In a seven hour storm
It blew and then was gone and I was born.

On a gust of wind,
My first steps all were stumbles
And they haven’t really changed at all since then.

Calling

You’ve cut all your ties
Foolish or wise
Are you falling?
Something out there
Pulls you to dare
And it’s calling
      You don’t know how to go
      Even though…
      It’s calling

Pleased with your plans
Wringing your hands
Soon you’re crawling
Play safe in a cave
And call yourself brave
But you’re stalling
      Is it all a show?
      Don’t you know…
      You’re stalling

You may be pinned
Trapped by the wind
Down some quarry
(You) may be surprised
(There are) more than two sides
To a story
      And you never know
      How it may go…
      The story

All that’s been claimed
The weight of the blame
You can bury
Leave what’s been said
What you don’t shed
You will carry
So you’ve cut all your ties
Foolish and wise
Now you’re falling
Something out there
Pulls you to dare
Yeah, it’s calling
      You don’t know how to go
      Even though…
      It’s calling

The Upside

Someday you’ll feel better
Strange as it sounds.
You’ll pull your soul from the tether,
And lift off the ground

Don’t tread the trail of a failure
Others believe.
Steer clear just like a sailor
Judging the seas.

      Maybe you’re falling
      Maybe you’re falling down
      Baby you’re falling
      But maybe you’ll crawl to higher ground.

Bogged down, stuck in the middle,
Shackled and tied.
Sometimes life’s just a riddle,
Answers arise.

I know it feels like drowning
Questions and fear
Trust now the pressure pounding
Will soon disappear.

      Maybe we’re falling
      Maybe we’re falling down
      Baby we’re falling
      But maybe we’ll crawl to higher ground.

Stand in the sun…

See now the darkness fading
Shrug off the gloom.
Deep down hope is waiting,
You’d better make room.

Lovers Like Us

I asked for your shoulder
Not for your soul
You’re either confused
Or don’t listen at all
The lines are crooked
The colors are wrong
Lovers like us don’t fit in a song.
Can’t catch the beat
Can’t harmonize
I see you agree by the look in your eyes.

Called into question
All that we knew
Swimming in circles
What else can we do?
Sink or swim
It’s hard to decide
Drift in the current or drown in the tide
Can’t catch the beat
Can’t harmonize
I see you agree by the look in your eyes.

      Half-lit the morning skies brush past our door,
      Yesterday’s arguments tossed on the floor.
      Heads in the sand: our favorite disguise….

Laid up in limbo
What’s there to say?
We can’t seem to leave
And we can’t bear to stay
A kiss for now
Don’t linger long
Lovers like us don’t fit in a song.
Can’t catch the beat
Can’t harmonize
I see you agree by the look in your eyes.

I asked for your shoulder
Not for your soul
You’re either confused
Or don’t listen at all
A kiss for now
Don’t linger long
Lovers like us don’t fit in a song.
Lovers like us don’t fit in a song.

Bird Street

He’s painting by the moonlight
Silver shadows bloom.
Peering out a window
At the world outside his room.

      Midnight she was dreaming
      She was falling through the stars,
      Sweeping up her secrets
      Then she seals them in a jar.

Crossing to the canvas,
Turning on a dime.
Often while he’s painting
Every brushstroke seems to rhyme.

      Tales spill on the pages,
      Pouring from her pen.
      Quiet inspiration
      That will visit now and then.

Sunrise in the city,
Eighteen floors above,
Wondering why this yearning
Fits him like a glove.

      Sewing in the garden,
      Roots are growing ‘round her toes.
      Naming all the seedlings,
      Giving back more than she owes.

Cross-eyed from creation,
Sharpened like a blade.
Running down the alleys,
Free and unafraid.

There’s a sunny spot on Bird St.
In a corner tucked away.
They danced there on the sidewalk,
Hidden from the fray.

15 Months

Fifteen months, first deployment
I figured he’d be back by June
Just a little late to meet his baby
Thinking of it now makes me swoon.

Sweep the house and run my errands
Fill my day with lists of things to do
Seems like every moment’s filled with thinking
Of a different way to tell him “I love you”.

Midnight and the candle in the kitchen
Flickers once and rises clear and bright
Hugs and tears, white lies and bedtime stories
Questions without answers, wrong or right.

The first will be around again on Monday
Another month that we’ll be overdue
He fights a lonely war out in a desert
He fights a war to pay a mortgage too.

The envelope is worn where it’s been handled
I read the letter nearly every night
Sometimes I just hold it in my fingers
Or pressed between my palms with all my might.

I declare
I declare
Lord, I am scared
I declare

Sometimes when the distance dances heavy
And the danger looms above me where I lay
I know it’s only his for that I’m worried
While I am safe and he is far away.
While I am safe and you’re so far away.

Tamalpais

Climbing from the ocean
She rises from the tide
Beckons to the sailors
Looking for a guide.
Her eyes shine like a lighthouse
Her hair is like the wind
That sends all of our ships away
And pulls them back again.

From the seaports of Alaska,
The damp of Puget Sound
Down the coast of California
San Francisco bound
Seven years hiding,
A dozen on the run
Tell the truth, it breaks my heart
To see what I’ve become.

Tamalpais, Tamalpais
Crouched among the clouds
Waves break on our backs
I call her name out loud.
The mountain she’s sitting
Listening to the sea,
Patient as my lover’s eyes
Waiting there for me.

From the cabin on her shoulder
The ocean opens wide
Golden Gate down below
Arching ‘cross the tide
There’s no time like a sunrise
To make me long for home,
Skipping ‘cross that lonesome ocean
Wonderin’ why I roam.

Sails are full of wind now
The captain’s mind’s at ease,
Boys are throwing Liar’s Dice
And caution to the breeze.
There’s gold in other mountains,
Oil in other sands,
But my mind won’t be rested, Lord,
Until my boots touch land.

Next Time Around

I don’t know if I’m ready yet
I’ve only just begun
Even though it’s been so long
Since my eyes first saw sun.
I’ve slept like a log
Always bet the underdog
Now I’m praying that my pony comes around.

      So please don’t weep when I’ve gone, when I’ve gone
      Come downstairs, clear the chairs
      And sing all my favorite songs
      The love I have known
      Is twice what I have shown,
      But I’ll pay it back in kind next time around.

Never thought I’d stay here
I was only passing through
Done my crimes and wasted time
Been unkind and true
The slide down was slow
But I climbed from the hole
Now I find myself dancing in the sun.

      So please don’t weep when I’ve gone, when I’ve gone
      Come downstairs, clear the chairs
      And sing all my favorite songs
      The love I have known
      Is twice what I have shown,
      But I’ll pay it back in kind next time around.

            They tell you ‘you won’t make it,
            Your crops are bound to fail’
            It may be you don’t disagree at all
            The odds will rub you raw
            Win, lose, or draw,
            But anyway, the trick is staying in till you’re called.

Songs rang out as I came in
Music filled my ears.
When I go I do propose
Singing through our tears.
You get what you give,
You learn as you live,
And leave nothing but love behind.

Miles Away

There’s a simple satisfaction
In the skipping of a stone
Tossed across the water
Sinking all alone
Where we’ll finally end our day
The river hints but never tells
And always calls my heart back
Like the tolling of a bell

      I sit beneath a willow
      As the sun begins to fade
      Sketching out revisions
      To decisions that I made

You may not hear the first time
You have to listen twice
The last gasp of winter
The cracking of the ice
If you look close you’re bound to see
A hint of leaf beneath the snow
There are only two directions
To whither or to grow

      I sit beneath a willow
      As the sun begins to fade
      Sketching out revisions
      To decisions that were made

There is no destination
In the skipping of a stone
Tossed across the water
Sinking all alone
Spun off of your fingertips
Count the skips, not the tries
For whatever else we’re after
There’s no finish line or prize

      I sit beneath a willow
      As the sun begins to play
      These visions though so vivid
      Seem a thousand miles away