Keith Hampton

from Tyranena

long nights in tyranena
long time since here was home
there are legends in the water
there are stories in the stone

sometimes i wished for
better than getting by
now i guess
i shouldn't wish so hard
i shouldn't wish so hard

a restless soul in tyranena
is just as restless anywhere
it always wonders as it wanders
there are fragile mystic memories everywhere

what if i wish forever?
what's left to find?
if i knew better
i wouldn't run so far
i wouldn't wish so hard

they can light their fires to harm you
and they can shout their angry words
they might freeze you like a polaroid
and you can choose to stay
but there are many ways of leaving

time never flies in tyranena
until you leave, and while you're gone
nothing changes; only everything
your dreams of dreamlessness still linger on

could i have wished for better
than getting by?
now i know
what i was wishing for
i don't have to run no more

from Tyranena

i try not to get bummed out
in this mess of maybes
i don't listen to the hissing of
my own negativity
oh, i'm trying to
live these questions gracefully
but i can't stop this worry train
for what's behind me
i drive the worry train

i never notice my spirit
until it's been gone
and i don't reckon any devil
any angel ever looked my way
but oh i'm loving the motion of
moving on in any direction
please slow down this worry train
for peace to find me
'cause i drive the worry train

well i could pick up the pace
take myself out of the race
train these worries to settle still
i'm breathing steaming and
i will
you will
find me

'cause i drive the worry train
only i steer the worry train
so i'm gonna train these worries

from Tyranena

some days the road up ahead fills with fog enough to scare you still
you can't see the clouds or the curves before they come
you never know the nature of a moment 'til it's history
your future memory is past; it lingers on

meanwhile
find your joy maker
make your love greater
here and now
here and now

some nights you can't sleep; there's no rest in fabled fantasies
but baby forgive yourself immediately
everybody feels false, we believe we're broken, incomplete
whether we're right or we're wrong, we all need to breathe

meanwhile
you're my joy maker
you make my love greater
here and now
here and now

meanwhile
let's be joy makers
let's make love greater
here and now
here and now

from Tyranena

Voice, guitar: KH

every time you say my name
baby you bless my heart
ever so easily ease my pain
baby you bless my heart

i never worry about our love
cuz baby you bless my heart
pour me a bowl of what your sweet sweet soul is made of
baby you bless my heart

cuz darlin' when you came to me
you brought your light and shined right through me
whether we're together or
miles and miles apart
baby you bless my heart

every time you laugh out loud
baby you bless my heart
i love you farther than you can see, higher than you can count
oh bless my heart

i never worry about the past
since baby you blessed my heart
show me a home and i'll imagine any future we could have
bless my heart

darlin' when you came to me
you brought your light and shined right through me
whether we're together or
miles and miles apart
baby you bless my heart

oh bless my heart
you easily ease my pain
i love you higher than you can count
bless my heart

from Tyranena

some will come to you unexpectedly
some may rise from your circle of friends
some may run from you, sometimes smother you
some you let go, some will leave, still you dream that just one
will stay 'til the end

some will look for you, some you must pursue
a few you follow, and sometimes you'll lead
some write songs for you, others bring the blues
some you see darkly, but the best of them bring you the light
that you need

go on cry brother
i understand what you feel
all these lies and goodbyes
start to seem so unreal
so i'll try to remind you
as time tends to heal
that any evidence of love
should be reason enough
to believe

some remember you fine and fondly
a few you cherish and none you regret
some deliver you, some distract and some
carry you into the next natural someone
and yet

any evidence of love
is still reason enough
to believe

some will come to you unexpectedly

from Tyranena

Voice, guitar: KH

for the one who is worth the wait
for the soul that you celebrate
for the solace of safety's sake
you take second chances

in the name of possibility
in the manner of fools who dream
in the spirit of the in-between
you need second chances

o my dear one
you didn't ask me to wait
but if i choose to
what would that prove to you?
what can i do?

in the eye of this perfect storm
on the eve of your personal war
for the love of what may be
more than just second chances

o my dear one
you didn't ask me to wait
but if i choose to
what would that prove to you?
what can i do?

for the one who is worth the wait
for the soul that you celebrate
for the solace of safety's sake
create second chances

from Tyranena

i ain't no good kisser
this might not be worth your while
but you could take me home tonight
forget my name before the sheets are dry
dry

so this round's on me babe
let's toast the taste of anonymity
with this dirty neon glow, who needs mistletoe?
we'll laugh at fear; flirt with mockery

'cause you remind me
of someone i left behind
see, i'm just passing through here
and right now i guess you'll do
my dear

i got no good stories
but i seem to magnetize bad news
tonight i want to touch you deep and shallow
i'll leave no trace; you don't deserve these blues

'cause you remind me
of someone i left behind
see, i'm just passing through here
and right now i guess you'll do, my dear
something still haunts me
but somebody seems to want me
now and again
i try to leave all that behind
but now you remind me
you remind me

i ain't no good kisser
i seem to magnetize bad news

from Tyranena

Voice, guitar: KH

make a move 'cause you drive me crazy
don't just hover you look so lazy
come on!
where did all the love go?

what's your message and what's the meaning?
you think you're clever-i think you're dreaming
come on!
where did all the love go?

if you're gonna linger
won't you do it with a little style?
make your momma proud
say what you have to say
out loud

well i've been down and i've been defiant
even so, it's no rocket science
come on!
where did all the love go?

if you're gonna linger
won't you do it with a little style?
make your momma proud
say what you have to say
out loud

and maybe i walked away
faster than you expected
but i felt so rejected
now you are not my friend
not my lover
baby why hover?
    
so make your move cuz it's getting old now
i might be gone when you figure me out so
come on!
where did all the love go?
come on!
where did all the love go?
come on come on...

from Tyranena

i saw it again today
same color, different plates
a ghost in a car today
same color, different plates

i passed the parking lot and i turned away
still second-guessing
was there something more to say?

same color, different plates
ghost in a car today
same color, different plates

i thought you might be waiting for me
but i think a lot of things
that are never meant to be

same color, different plates
ghost in a car
same
different

and each time i vow immunity
oh i polish up my armor
shining absurdity!

same color, different plates
your ghost in a car today
oh i saw it, i saw it
i saw it again

from Tyranena

Voice, guitar: KH

setting aside all the ways we didn't try
misunderstandings and the silence that divides
a decade now gone by
and we could not have lived it
any other way

he was a good man
and i'm glad he loved me
"here's to us," i say

setting aside my old ways of flee and hide
my body's freeze and fall, all refusals to the fight
a decade now gone by
and we did not deserve what we got
or what we gave

he was a good man
and i'm glad i loved him
"here's to us," i say

it's a decade that's gone by
so now it's high time for
a fine glass to be raised

he was a good man
and i'm glad we loved so long
seems more sad than right or wrong
i guess i'm glad for that
i'll tip my hat
"here's to us
here's to us
here's to us"

a decade now gone by
a decade now
gone by

from Tyranena

here's one about nothing in particular
i never did write a ballad for the road
but i know about fleeing the familiar
when it's my time i always go
i will go

maybe the leaving is part of the living
maybe it's all just a trick of time
baby i swear i'll get to know you better
before i move on
into the known unknown
the known unknown

here's one about yesterday's tomorrows
i still battle my blind spot for now
i want to give more than i have borrowed
let it be, let it go, but i don't know how
i don't know how

maybe the mystery is part of the meaning
maybe we shouldn't trust these borderlines
baby i swear i'll get to know you better
before i move on
into the known unknown
the known unknown

here's one about giving up the masterpiece
now that's a good idea, until it's not
here's one about beautiful catastrophes
write it down, write it up, take a snapshot
it's just a snapshot

baby i swear i'll get to know you better
before i move on
into the known unknown
the known unknown