Andy Wagner

AMERICAN DREAMS

I’ve been searching through the headlines for you
No one tells you what to do
Just sitting around waiting for the world to fill an empty heart

I’ve been running with the dreamers not the thieves
The kind of men who will never be
Running out the back door or dying with this blood on their hands
_____________________________
CHORUS:

I’ve been talking about American dreams
I wonder just what any of it means
Think I had a second there
When I thought it all might come true
_____________________________

I remember when the two of us were kids
It never mattered what we did
Just kicking up the gravel like we were flying at a hundred and ten

But something happened in the time there in between
And I’ve seen things that you’ve never seen
As I’m looking at you now I know we’ll never be the same

CHORUS

Can you tell me how we let these good men die
Like they never had a name?
No they never had a chance
Should have never gone that way
I don’t want to live this life
I don’t want to take this blame

If you listen to the people who seem
Like they’ve got answers for everything
Better ask them where they’ll be when you’re lining up to borrow a dime

There are places we were never meant to see
They’ll always be a mystery
Just imaginary ties we’ll be chasing for the rest of our lives

CHORUS

SILOS AND SMOKESTACKS

I said goodbye to those Waterloo skies
Where it all begins for me
Where my daddy’s daddy tells me bout his life
Back in 1943

He said, “Son you know it was a different time then,
And you’re lucky to be free
I served my time and I made it back alive
But they left my brother there to bleed

But from death comes life and I married my wife
Cause your father would soon be born
You just never know kid what’ll be waiting for you
On the other side of those doors”

And we talked about my dad and the life he’s had
And everything he’s done for me
And how I come from blood that’s been burning this hard
Since the middle of the century

_____________________________
CHORUS:

Somewhere between
The silos and the smokestacks
Is where I hope to rest my soul someday

_____________________________

I grew up out west where the great plains run
Forever, so it seems…
I’ve been back once and there’s nothing left now
But I still go there in my dreams

I’d ride gun in our pickup truck
Down those dusty gravel roads
And my dad would blast his rock and roll songs
Off the FM radio

I can see my mom with her apron on
Through the kitchen window pane
She’s waving at me with a smile in her eyes
Saying those were the good old days

These are pieces of me that you’ll never get to see
But I’ll tell you what I know
And sometimes even I can’t believe
There’s a country boy inside these bones

CHORUS

We pass through this world like freight train cars
Moving faster every day
Some carry coal and others carry gold
And the rest just roll along their way

Maybe someday I can tell my son
About the place where I’ve been
So he’ll never be lost when the time for me has come
And I have to let go of him

CHORUS x 2

TEN THOUSAND SUNS

Out here I wait
And watch how you walk past the promises
I must have pretended you once made

Behind your eyes
There is a world that you’re trying to hide
Under the lights of your disguise

There go my friends
Marrying off again and going that way
But I can see too far down that road

How’d we get here?
It feels like a short life but yesterday
Seems like so far away

_____________________________
CHORUS:

Well I’ve been there
Ya I’ve been there before
And I don’t think I’ll ever be going back
But if you could see me,
If you could see me now,
Maybe I’d give it one more chance
_____________________________

Ten thousand suns
Have risen for me but I’ve only seen some
But ten thousand more are sure to come

We don’t understand
And it’s best not to go where we don’t belong
I really wish we’d all stay forever young

CHORUS

EVERYWHERE I GO

I’ve been walking down that lonely road
With a suitcase in my hand
Don’t know where I think I’m supposed to go
Don’t know how to understand

But I’ve been thinking about you
In the middle of the night
I’ve been thinking about you
How you never leave my mind

Seems like just the other day
We were dancing in the rain
I said, “I still don’t know your name”
You said, “It’s better off that way”

But then I found you in the dark
We let the music take us down
I was lost right from the start
And you were nowhere to be found

_____________________________
CHORUS:

I just wanted you to know
I’ll never leave you all alone
We’ll make it right and take it slow
I’ll take you everywhere I go
I’ll take you everywhere I go
_____________________________

If you step away from time
And imagine your whole life
Did you ever think you’d find
All these moments pass you bye?

It’s like staring at the stars
And wondering who we really are
How’d we ever find this love?
How’d we ever get this far?

CHORUS

Can you see me now?
Can you work it out?
Will you listen to your heart?
All this time between
Don’t mean anything
Cause I won’t let us fall apart

I never thought I’d see
Any reason to believe
I could give it all away
Settle down and be okay

But I’ve been thinking about you
In the middle of the night
Ya I’m thinking about you
How you never leave my mind

THE SHADOWS

It makes me crazy
When all the days bleed
All the life blood
Right out of me

But still I take it
But something’s breaking
And I’m not standing
Where I’m supposed to be

_____________________________
CHORUS:

And it won’t be long
Till all the light is gone
And all I can do
Is move through the shadows
Through the shadows

_____________________________

If you’ve been there
In the middle nowhere
And you’ve seen what
I’m starting to see

Then you should have told me
About the lost and lonely
And how they’re losing
Their will to breath

CHORUS

If you have any doubt
Then it’s time to believe
‘Cause when the last fire burns out
It’ll be impossible to see
And where the light can’t be found
Is where you’ll find me
In the shadows
In the shadows

I’ve said my farewells
And cast my last spells
Against the spirits
That I don’t need

I’m on a new road
Where only faith flows
To lead me back to
Where I once was free

CHORUS

PROMISES

Shotgun kids got love lives too
I know it cause I can see right through
To the traces, in their faces

So don’t lie to me cause I’ll find you out
I won’t rest until I run you down
I’ve been patient, for too long

_____________________________
CHORUS:

Promises are my
Only real lifeline
Take ‘em back and I’ll fade away

What’s been happening to
All the people who’ve
Disappeared since yesterday?

_____________________________

Sunday morning north side streets
Like a set they took from an old movie
It’s a ghost town, it’s been run down

It reminds me of what used to be
How’d we let it go so easily?
We were young then and we were racing

CHORUS

This is how it comes out of me
I’ve been told I must believe
And don’t look back until the breath before I die
I’ve been fighting
And I’ve been losing
But I’ve got faith left on my side

So I’ll walk right through this foreign land
And pretend that I still understand
The meaning of forgiveness

And my memories will carry me
Through the laughter and the misery
Because nothing lives forever

CHORUS

YOU, WHO I NEVER KNEW

In old Kentucky,
There’s a place I’ll never go
I’ll leave it there for you
But someday soon,
I’ll walk alone down Story Road
And think of you,
Who I never knew
You, who I never knew

Can you believe,
That was me down in New Orleans?
Chasin the nights till the skies turned blue
You turned on the red lamp
And pulled down the shades
And we both knew what we were there to do
You, who I never knew

I need Chicago,
Like a need a hole in my head
The winter’s coming and I hope I make it through
If I see you in April
Maybe we can try it again
Or maybe I should just stay away from you
Who I never knew
You, who I never knew

RUNAWAY

I once lived with an empty heart

I fell in love, then it fell apart

and I wandered blindly


Memories would follow me

like shadows cast from a dying tree

as I ran from the silence


With nothing left to say

I was a runaway


So I gave myself a talking to

looked in the mirror and I saw right through

to the reasons for those red eyes



I stood and stared for a long, long time

Until I found my strength, until I found my mind

Until I knew I was ready



With nothing left to say

I was a runaway



I left you in an empty room

on a bed of lies where you’ll be wishing soon

that you took my love and that you told the truth


When we said our goodbyes

You couldn’t look me in the eyes

and I know you were already gone

Love moves fast and it’s not fair
When it disappears and leaves you there
To find it, with nothing

Reaching back from another life
I can see myself in that fading light
And I vanish, into darkness

With nothing left to say
I was a runaway

LIVIN ON THE OUTSIDE

When you asked me how I’m doing
And I said I’m doing fine
Don’t know why I didn’t tell you
That I’m barely getting by

But I don’t want to talk about my troubles
Cause I know you get them too
It’s been too long since I’ve been here
And it feels so good just to be with you

_____________________________
CHORUS:

Ever since I’ve
Been living on the outside
Ever since I’ve
Been living on the outside

_____________________________

Drink a cup of coffee and read the paper
Take a walk to the guitar store
I’m gonna buy me some new strings
Cause I don’t want to write sad songs any more

“Sorry We’re Closed” sign in the window
Come back tomorrow from ten to five
Same thing everywhere I go to
This whole town’s been shutting off their lights

CHORUS

When you told me not move here
I wasn’t ready for advice
I needed peace, I needed quiet
I needed time to justify it
I had to step away from my life

Now I’m sitting at the bus stop
Just like I do every other day
I spend too much time waiting
For something better to come my way

Maybe I’ll move back to the city
Rent a little place in the neighborhood
Cause all this time with my lonesome
Hasn’t been doing me any good

CHORUS