Tuanaki

Lyrics

1 / BETTER INSTINCTS

oh I know it's getting closer
it's a feeling I used to know
now my body's getting older
but I don't think that I've grown
the past is talking
you know I gotta run now
calling me
you know I gotta run
against my better instincts, I go against my better instincts

started on the wrong track, wouldn't change that
no I wasn't made for the plow
(where you gonna run boy, now? where you gonna run boy?)
stare at my reflection, he's a dark twin
and he's calling me to the ground
(where you gonna run boy, now? where you gonna run boy?)
now I'm lying on the carpet in a cold sweat and you're telling me
run gotta run gotta run gotta run
swimming in the toxins, and the hook's in and you're begging me
run gotta run gotta run gotta run
run gotta run gotta run gotta run gotta run

against my better instincts
I throw my heart behind the lie
ran so far I think I woke up on the other side
against my better instincts
let's go and march into the night
we all have to do what we have to
gotta run gotta run gotta run gotta run
gotta run gotta run gotta run gotta run
against my better instincts, I go against my better instincts

against my better instincts, I go against my better instincts
so go ahead you do what you have to
 

2 / LEAD ME TO THE WATER

oh, turn around
chased you past where the highway ends, now only love gonna save my skin
hey, help me out
your heart can shine like a diamond lake, but get too close and it fades away
half my life, spent for a ghost
half my life, like blood from a stone
your love's a mirage, honey
takes me high, leaves me dry
half my life, just for a taste
half my life I thought you would change
oh no, won't ask no more
one more time 'fore I let you go

don't burn my heart out
miles in the desert sun
dying for a drink of love
oh, lead me to the water
so won't you show me how
I'm ever gonna fill my cup
honey I ain't asking much
lead me to the water

half my life gone by that's time enough
I don't wanna waste what I've got left
guess our love just ends up dust to dust
how many years I tried?
but don't know why, don't know why...
half my life, spent for a ghost
half my life, like blood from a stone
your love's a mirage, honey
takes me high, leaves me dry
half my life, just for a taste
half my life I thought you would change
oh no, won't ask no more
so one more time 'fore I let you go

but I can't make up the time that's gone
half my life just barely hanging on
so you can keep on shining
I'll just go and try and make it on my own
I can see you shining
filling up with diamonds
still I think I'll try and
make it on my own...
 

3 / PAPER MOON

I'm dark inside
I dream that I'm awake
you're glowing white
and fog is crawling up your face
as we share a kiss of smoke and gum
oh Selene, look how thin you have become

we're up 'till dawn
make that sun go away
let's tie one on
and keep on running 'till the day is lost
slipping back into the night
still my heart know we're running out of time

your spotlight, pulling off my skin
holding my curtains open
untied, I'm floating again
weightless beneath your paper moon

outside you're gone
you look so far away
I fell in love but haven't seen you
since the day we lost our heads out in the park
all those stars dead but shining on

just go and keep your paper moon
 

4 / RUNNING WITH THE WOLVES

sand through the hourglass slipping past, we ain't got a prayer now
hanging up, had enough, gonna go and let my hair down
so take me where the road begins
I've been living in the ashes
keep forgetting what I can't forgive
now I'm running out of chances

well pride's such a pretty lie, didn't I go write it on a tombstone?
cause a cage is a cage is a cage, got me looking for a new home
so take me where the road begins
there's nothing in the ashes
I'm forgetting what I can't forgive
I gotta take my chances

running with the wolves again
holding up my wild heart
I don't wanna meet my end
watching from a window

trapped in the hourglass, slipping fast slipping fast
trapped in the hourglass, no one gonna turn it back
so now I'm going where the road begins
risen from the ashes
returning to the wilderness
swinging from the branches
 

5 / BONFIRE CABARET

I am the king of endings
better that I let you know
'fore I go and start the show
let's head for the wild empty
where nothing ever has to grow
running down a rabbit hole

you look so delicate
picking me up like a bad habit
feeling this love, filling our blood
and wondering what's gonna happen
you're not so innocent
only want something if you can't have it
honey let's go, get out of our clothes
and throw them into the bonfire

let's make a little lie
come get inside of me
cover your eyes and the morning never comes
they're singing our song
so would it be wrong if we
get a bit gone and just make a little love

staring through a fire white as snow
bodies intertwine through the light and the smoke
but everybody ends up on their own, darling
wait enough time, you'll be dancing all alone

we're not so delicate
both just creatures of bad habits
playing your part, hitting my mark
and we both know what's gonna happen
I'm never innocent
try to be good but I'm bad at it
honey let's go, give them a show
and jump right into the bonfire

so make a little love with me
wanna hear, wanna hear you say
oh would you mind giving me a ride
think it's time to go away
I can't wait to make your mistake
let's get out of here while there's still time
hear my heart, pounding in the dark
honey it's getting late

hey hey hey hey
gonna be gone love, gonna be gone

6 / THE BARLEY BIRD

woke up alone on the forest floor
over my cold skin, my shadow frozen
oh brother, my head's so full of holes again
oh brother, my head is not my own

then I hear the barley bird, singing soft
laughing at the blackened night
saying, 'sun gonna come, gonna chase your worries
out from your rosy eyes'
calls me from the darkness

and I feel like springtime
there's flowers falling in my hair
sing me some blue skies
say you'll light my way, my barley bird

but I'm alone as the moment fades
my eyes are open, my vision stolen
oh mother, I know I'm dreaming wide awake
oh mother, I've found no sleep for days

I'm on my way
I'm on my way now

7 / TUANAKI

so when does it start feeling far away?
I never stopped living in yesterday
the island we lost to the southern sea
thought I could find the way that it used to be

oh, the moment we're tied to
oceans away
oh, lying beside you
oceans away

followed your ghost into the undertow
foreign and cold, says 'you're on your own now'
and I see the storm making mountain peaks
watching it come
watching it come for me

tuanaki
oh, tuanaki
 

8 / ANCHORS AWEIGH

little flame in the cabin is flickering
I've been sailing through the night for days
I have played both the saint and the charlatan
cast off my soul, I couldn't hold that weight

I can't see the water's edge
I don't know when I'll be found
I know that I might have been
a little bit too far out
don't leave me alone again
I'm turning this ship around

sideways in a storm is always when they cut you open
regret was an honest friend, but sooner or later
sooner or later it's enough
anchor is aweigh, my love
and my ship a drifting orphan
waiting for a wave to take me back home

so tie me to the mast I'm coming home
tie me to the mast I'm coming home
 

9 / SWAN SONG

love
was it not enough?
are we giving up?
wait my love, wait my love

volcanic ash
thick on the sins of our past
faults frozen black
but what's done has been done
and there's no changing that

so carry me to Calvary
if it's blood that you want then it's yours
and forgive us both our history
cause if it's all we got then we've got to do more

take my hand
aren't we running out of stones to throw?
you know we're living in the same glass home
when it falls its taking us both
no last dance
I'll be swaying with you all night long
doesn't matter if the music's gone
so take it again from the top
I ain't singing no swan song

we might fall but we climb on
we might crawl but we climb on
this ain't the hill that we die on
our love's gonna climb on
 

10 / CARRY ME HOME

I will not wade into the river
I will not follow you to sea
I cannot wait to be delivered, darling
no ship would carry one like me

I will not wade into the river
cascades pulling on my feet
I'm running faster than my fever, darling
no man of god could wash me clean

but you can carry me home
you can carry me home
with the devil I know, darling
would you carry me home?

I will not wade into the river
I will not fall to my knees
I cannot wait to be forgiven, darling
don't put that heavy love on me

I will not wade into the river
let go the man I used to be
I'm not that kind of believer, darling
only one holy hand I need