Here's a selection of lyrics I wrote in 2011 and 2012 for solo songs, Block and Tackle, and a couple of bands I work with. At some point I'll get motivated enough to post a selection of other lyrics I've written in the past 30 or so years.

If you want to read stuff that doesn't rhyme, here's some of my poetry.

        Throwing Diamonds Down

Woke up past midnight from a restless sleep
Streetlights and the wind echo through my heart
I showed my hand and remembered where we almost went
But like a rock that skips the other way, it all fell apart

In the last year every joke is awkward
Those radiant eyes keeps driving me backward
Remembering what should have come after
But it went too complex once we got back to town
Throwing diamonds down

Steam rises off the street, birds come out one by one
No amount of talking was going to end this night
I just couldn't face knowing the words we said
Sometimes you've got to barrel through the storms you dread

I headed downtown, half asleep, half awake
Waiting for any sign of what it was going to take
I thought someone behind me had made a mistake
But it was just the wind in the rushes, no one was around
Throwing diamonds down

Once I could wait for the train to pass the crossing
A panorama of questions that never needed any answers
Spent our time together like shipwrecked strangers
Sometimes we tried to forget or just fed off the danger

I took off in the car to the last exit I could find
Checked into the first motel with a vacancy sign
I met her at the market where she worked for a time
We were kindred spirits just trying not to drown
Throwing diamonds down

I got a room around the corner from that store
We never could get rid of the squeaky floors
We met every day and shared some cheap vodka
Dreamed a way we could escape the part we played in this drama

She was still married but had lost her kids
Everything she told me was to keep her sanity
I guess I should be happy she shook off her destiny
But being a savior is no comfort when you've lost your crown
Throwing diamonds down

Now I wait for a quick glance or conversation
The voice of reason is never too far behind
Experiences that seemed forever are compressed
Stop myself mid-thought and wait for the stars to shine

Everything I've given you is stuffed in a drawer
Songs, trinkets, history and myths
A vision of certainty beginning to slip
A love we know we won't share here and now
Throwing diamonds down

        Like It Never Happened

I guess it was always inevitable
In this world many things are invisible,
And there's no way to stop the yearning
Out of reach with both ends burning

    A shot in the dark
    You've missed the mark
    Like it never happened

    Fool enough to believe
    Or fool enough to leave
    Like it never happened

The scribbles from all the years
We've gone back and read,
Now I've cleared the decks
It's all in check, everything's been said

If you told me then this is where I'd be now
I wouldn't believe the sights or sounds,
How many years and none the wiser
It just keeps going round and around

    A shot in the dark
    You've missed the mark
    Like it never happened

    Fool enough to believe
    Or fool enough to leave
    Like it never happened

        Another Time, Another Place

I'll look as far forward as it takes
Divine the future, read the leaves
Resolve to notice the smallest need
And stop looking for something else to believe

Like the sun lights the rusty dome
Another chance to go way beyond
Can't help but wonder how many lines
Our paths cross in this lifetime

    Sometimes it's simply either or
    For to next and never to be
    Make the best of the situation
    There's more to this than we see

    Another time, another place
    How many moments must we wait
    Find heaven here on earth
    Another time, another place

It will pass soon enough
And I'll just have to laugh
At the time that's lost
At the energy that's halved

There's a light on the horizon
A beacon far from shore
Some dreams you face alone
A glimmer of hope or something more

    Sometimes it's simply either or
    For to next and never to be
    Make the best of the situation
    There's more to this than we see

    Another time, another place
    How many moments must we wait
    Find heaven here on earth
    Another time, another place

Just keep walking the wire
So much is still unwritten
I'll keep a grin on my face
No matter how much I'm questioned

Like the sun lights the rusty dome
Another chance to go way beyond
Can't help but wonder how many lines
Our paths cross in another time

    Sometimes it's simply either or
    For to next and never to be
    Make the best of the situation
    There's more to this than we see

    Another time, another place
    How many moments must we wait
    Find heaven here on earth
    Another time, another place

        Across The Borderline

Dancing on the precipice
Way past hit or miss
Can't tell what is real
And what's wishful thinking

But that perception is short-lived
Some moments never come to pass
Watching as the birds fly past
Just a signpost fading fast

    Illusions, delusions, confusion
    Keep those thoughts in seclusion
    It's getting harder all the time
    Not to cross the line
    Across the borderline

Pay the calm no mind
The water is getting rough
The other shoe falls
This life just isn't enough

Still waiting for the breakthrough
With time on our hands
Running closer to empty
Look for a clearing to land

    Illusions, delusions, confusion
    Keep those thoughts in seclusion
    It's getting harder all the time
    Not to cross the line
    Across the borderline

The jewels of kings and queens
Don't mean that much to me
It's going to take more than riches
To make me turn my back and leave

You're as essential as air
And it's getting hard to breathe
You've got your hooks in me
I don't want to break free

    Illusions, delusions, confusion
    Keep those thoughts in seclusion
    It's getting harder all the time
    Not to cross the line
    Across the borderline

        Surface Tension

Thought patterns hit a wall
Dissolve eventually
Too far from any semblance
That could be called reality

Just another breakdown
The tearing of the cloth
A hand to touch
I've said too little, I've said too much

    Surface tension
    Fills every passing minute
    With no added dimension

    We'll never get deeper
    A one-sided vision
    Surface tension

No chance is acted upon
It sounds off every alarm
The willows bend as if to say
Catch your breath and find some calm

Every gate is closed
Each feeling merely a trace
The only comfort your gaze
Another time, another place

    Surface tension
    Fills every passing minute
    With no added dimension

    We'll never get deeper
    A one-sided vision
    Surface tension

The willows bend as if to say
Catch your breath and find some calm
A hand to touch
I've said too little, I've said too much

    Surface tension
    Fills every passing minute
    With no added dimension

    We'll never get deeper
    A one-sided vision
    Surface tension



        King Of Corners

I drink my water from a rusty can
Nobody even knows who I am
You better mind the weather
Or you'll be stuck here forever

I've got a theory that the world's still flat
Tight as a drum still on the run
Is the answer there's no answer
When the answer is no answer

    King of corners
    Every move a sound
    King of corners
    Even up is down
    King of corners
    Coming back around

Her eyes as brilliant as the sun
Close enough to clear the rain
A thought and thinking a thought
Are never quite the same

But there's always carrying water
There's always chopping wood
But there's always carrying water
There's always chopping wood

    King of corners
    No one to relate
    King of corners
    History's what you make
    King of corners
    In the shadows all it takes

I drink my water from a rusty can
Nobody even knows who I am
I drink my water from a rusty can
Nobody even knows who I am
I drink my water from a rusty can


© 2010-2012, Jonathan Block