WE GET BY
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
Have you noticed lately
I’ve had so much less to say
I’ve been wilting like the roses
In the garden by the bay
But we get by _ like we always do
We get by _ me and you
We’re running like we’re twelve
With all the other kids in tow
Peddling on our bicycles
When uphill was an easy go
And we got by _ like we always knew
We got by _ our little crew
Next time we’re all together
We may be many decades old
Caught inside a free-fall
Like ice melting in the snow
Some nights we catch a comet
Falling from the sky
Knowing that we’re slowing down
But we’re still getting by
We left eaves full of cobwebs
Where our secrets once were shared
Stored in whispered promises
Long escaped in the air
And we got by _ as we always knew
We get by _ me and you
Next time we’re all together
We may be many decades old
Caught inside a free-fall
Like ice melting in the snow
Some nights we catch a comet
Falling from the sky
Knowing that we’re slowing down
But we’re still getting by
We get by / me and you
We get by / me and you
We get by
HOLES IN YOUR HEART
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
You got a mind, got a mind like a rollin’ top
Spinnin’ all around like a rollin’ rock
You gotta slow down, make it right
Like a diamond gets smoothed all through the night
There are holes, there are holes in your heart
No matter what you do, they never fill up
There are holes, there are holes in your heart
No matter what you do, they never fill up
You gotta land, gotta land where the roots are bare
Dig your heels into whatever’s there
Raise your hands to catch a broken limb
Fallin’ overhead with every howlin’ wind
There are holes, there are holes in your heart
No matter what you do, they never fill up
There are holes, there are holes in your heart
No matter what you do, they never fill up
Defeat can weigh you down
it can hollow your dreams
But what hangs ‘round the edges, baby
Is all you need to mend your grief
Every time, every time you try to right them wrongs
You wind up getting lost in a mangled storm
The words you say are not the words you mean
In the end, it’s a really bad scene
There are holes, there are holes in your heart
No matter what you do, they never fill up
There are holes, there are holes in your heart
No matter what you do, they never fill up
I FELL INTO THE MOON
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
I fell into the moon
When I was reaching for the sky
I went to find the stars
They were hanging close by
I just wanted to know
What I could see from way up high
But I never thought I’d fall into the moon that night
How to fix a broken heart
When two lives come apart
It just creeps up over time
A little bit bitter
A bit empty inside
I fell into the arms
of a comfort I once knew
Strong to hold my heart
Yet tender as the dew
But with wisdom on my side
To carry me along
I remembered in that moment
The many places I belong
How to fix a broken heart
When two lives come apart
It just creeps up over time
A little bit bitter
A bit empty inside
Sometimes you need a friend
Sometimes you need a lover
At times the pull of one
Is simply greater than the other
Everywhere you look
Someone’s heart might be getting broke
Or maybe they’re simply reaching for the stars alone
How to fix a broken heart
When two lives come apart
It just creeps up over time
A little bit bitter
A bit empty inside
CHALK AND STONE
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
Let me see / Let me feel
Let me hold onto all that is real
Let me know / I am safe
When the wind comes to pull my heart away
Let me walk / As I often do
On the trails, past the pines, to a water view
Where the sun / Lights the leaves
Cuts a path right on down through the evergreens
Through the fire / And through ice and storms
A long time hidden from prying eyes and scorn
Mark our time / Etched with chalk and stone
Is a love that falls as softly as a powder snow
Let me dance / Into your heart
Worn and stained from all life's battle scars
Let me trust / Like the day we met
When our hands held a time they would not forget
Let us see / Let us feel
Let us always remember what is real
Let us know / We are safe
When the wind tries to pull our hearts away
When the wind tries to pull our hearts away
DON'T DRINK THE POISON
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
Don't drink the poison
That's what Mama said
Don't drink the poison
It'll go right to your head
Keep your head on straight
Let it be used for good instead
Why is it always the simplest refrains
That are the hardest to follow?
Always a bit of poison at the end of the day
Comes around again, again and again
Don't follow no one
That's what Mama said
Don't follow no one
Walk in your own tracks instead
And if the road runs out
Look to the stars above your head
Don't hide your spark
That's what Mama said
Don't hide your spark
Shadow the sun from East to West
May every turn of the wheel
Always find you mighty and blessed
Why is it always the simplest refrains
That are the hardest to follow?
Always a bit of poison at the end of the day
Comes around again, again and again
Oh, wake me softly
That's what softly
Oh, wake me softly
Let the tears fall from my bed
I'm doing what I can
To remember all that Mama said
ALL THE SONGS OF PEACE
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
If we could study _ all the songs of peace
What would we learn _ if anything?
Hearts of hope _ and hands full of courage
We are standing on _ moral ground
If we could rest _ whenever times are troubled
Throw all our cares _ into the morning mist
Changing tides _ would soon be at our feet
Drawing a line _ in the sand
How much pain _ does it take to wake the spirit
From eyes that have cried _ and cry once more?
How many sisters _ and how many brothers
Would we carry _ to safer shores?
Let us move _ across the icy rivers
Break through the glass _ at every edge
With all the eyes _ of the world upon us
Let righteous arms _ turn us around again
If we could study _ all the songs of peace
What would we learn _ if anything?
REMEMBER DOROTHY
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
I'm gonna raise some hell tonight
I'm gonna raise it good
Take all the pieces of my life
Lay the tracks where I know I should
There've been so many stormy nights
Always chokin' out the light
So thick with haze, the eye can't see
What's on the other side
Remember Dorothy
It wasn't poppies set you free
Oh, Dorothy
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
Every closet shields a pain
Protects our deepest fear
But darkness simply harbors rust
Where salt runs into tears
Heaven knows time don't last
Not for you and not for me
Let's shave the thorns right off the rose
Walk away from withered grief
Remember Dorothy
It wasn't poppies set you free
Oh, Dorothy
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
RUN FROM THE LIGHTNING
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
There's a train on the loose
Running wild and fierce
What it's bringing, you don't wanna be near
Don't stand in the way
If you don't wanna get rolled
When the brakeman yells, “Clear the coast
You gotta run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
You gotta run, run, run, run, run!
When the wheels are greased
The switch is thrown
What rolls and rumbles in the night alone
Is the weight of steel
With its heavy load
What it's hiding lies way below
You gotta run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
You gotta run, run, run, run, run!
How many times
We've heard that whistle blow
Same bloody sound, heaven help their soul
When they round the bend
Like they own the whole damn track
That's our cue we won't be riding back
You gotta run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
You gotta run, run, run, run, run!
A POWER YOU'LL NEVER KNOW
Lyrics & Music by Linda Sussman
Keep your laws off my body
I’m not your church, I’m not yours to own
What stirs inside me
Is a power you’ll never know
There’s a storm movin’ sideways
‘Bout to unravel your throne
Things might not have been perfect
But they were workin’ pretty fine
At least there were options
You had yours, I had mine
Till the gavel came down
Dropped like a sinker and broke the line
We’ll find the answers we need
Won’t let the wind slow us down
We all know there’s an off-ramp
For the girls on the other side of town
We’ll find our way ‘round the mine fields
As we shout, “Foul, Foul, Foul”
In every story you hear
Told straight up with no gin
Not drunk with illusion
When it’s just her against him
Who’s left to hold the weight
Kept down with no way to win
Now, what I find sinful
Is how you pound your chest
A thin veneer of pretense
As if you gave a rat’s ass
And you use your religion
To strong-arm all the rest
Keep your laws off my body
I’m not your church, I’m not yours to own
What stirs inside me
Is a power you’ll never know
There’s a storm movin’ sideways
‘Bout to unravel your throne