Jake Schlegel

Jack keeps the ferris wheel spinning like the loose wheels in his mind Always seems a little nervous, a little bit behind
And he can’t afford the good weed no more
It used to help him pass the time

Long days long lines but the Carney will get by

Jack just found out yesterday that the rona might take his job away
The poor bastard he aint’ got nothin saved
He spent it all on alcohol and three dollar pull tabs
Bad luck, bad vibes

Long days long lines but the Carney will get by

It’s so hard to make a livin’
When you barely can survive
Hustlin rubes out on the midway
Under the flashing neon lights

Long days long lines but the Carney will get by

Well he’s off the grid and off his meds
Tryna’ choose between blue or red
He took a heavy dose
And now he’s all alone
Eating gas station hot dogs and watching Alex Jones
Too weird to live too rare to die

Long days long lines but the Carney will get by

What will become of all the Carneys
When we’ve shuttered up the world
Utter darkness on the midway and a rusty old tilt-a-whirl
Long days, long lines, a mirage of neon signs

Long days long lines but the Carney will get by

Take my hands love
Let's go on a journey
This ain't our home
This ain't our country

Take my hand love
Let's go on a journey
We'll lose our lives
Wandering in the beauty

And we'll follow the light
Down the longest roads in the darkest nights
We'll make it home
Though our hands are tired and feet are worn
We'll follow the light
We'll follow the light back home

Take my hand, love
Let's go on a journey
Don't pack your bags
Leave your belongings
Take my hand, love
Let's go on a journey
And we'll move mountains
And dance in the valleys

And when we make it home
We'll rest our weary bones by the fire
And hear 'well done'
My faithful son my precious daughter
Well done

I'm loiterin' on her doorstep again
I thought I might try to win her back
But I'm all out of confidence
I'm a little nervous about coming down
And every new heartbreak hurts a little more

The first one felt like more than I could take
So I hit the ground runnin' so hard
I whittled my soul away
Try to keep my hopes up
But they keep fallin' down

And every new heartbreak hurts a little more
Than the last time around

I made a lot of half-hearted mistakes
But I worked so hard on this one
Gave her my everything
Was a losin' battle so I'm layin' down

Now I let her go
Oh Lord, just let it be
The last time around, please
Now I let her go
Oh Lord, just let it be
The last time around for me

I'm loitering on her doorstep again
And it's just so damn cold out here
I can see my failing breath
I'm a little nervous about coming down

Every new heartbreak hurts a little more
Every new heartbreak hurts so much more
Than the last time around

I ain’t slept right since I last got high and I just earned my 30 day chip Catches my eyes everytime i pass by the old house I used to get my fix
It turned me into a maniac and it turned me inside out
But I can't stay away from the wrong side of town

Third shift job in the factory I stay mostly to myself
Lately it seems I ain’t got ambition for much else
But when the week is done and payday comes you can try to slow me down
But I’ll keep going back to the wrong side of town

Good luck picking me up
Save your prayers I’ll let you down
I can’t stay away from the wrong side of town

On the overpass is a lady in rags sittin down by the railroad tracks
She’s warning me of the judgement day to come
A still small voice tried to turn me back but I quickly snuffed it out
It don’t belong here on the wrong side of town

Good luck picking me up
Save your prayers I’ll let you down
I can’t stay away from the wrong side of town

I can hear the full moon calling out
You can run but not forever

Good luck picking me up
Save your prayers I’ll let you down
I can’t stay away from the wrong side of town

The night is racin'
I'm tired of runnin' after
Without knowing what I'm chasing

Don't wanna be a lonely man
Gotta get out of this dangerous land
If my hands stop shakin'
I'll try a little more givin' now
And a lot less takin'
Oh I'm just a broken man
Tryin' to live with an open hand
Find a better way
Than being beatin' down and stranded
On the darkest sides of love
A long way from the sun

My heart was fractured like the sidewalks where I run
But I have seen the sun

Tomorrow I'm makin'
A list of all the ways to trick my heart to stop breakin'
'Cause it's been changin' hands
Ever since I was a younger man
And I need a better way

And these east city lights are shinin'
And these east city lights are blindin'
and they're remindin' me that they're findin' me
A quiet steady place to call my home

Tonight I'm prayin'
with a little bit more listenin'
And a lot less sayin'
I used to be a wanderin' man
It made me a lonely man
So I'm here to stay

Oh yeah, oh yeah, I'm on my way

Damn this wretched body
it's broken down and achin' fierce
and I can't seem for the life of me
To hold back the tears and
Now they're flowin' like a river longside the remnants of my soul
I'm strung out in the heartland alone

And damn this wrestless labor
It's a blessing and a curse
I work all day and turn all night
Just to hide you from my hurt
At the end of my road I got
Nothing left to show
Oh no I'm strung out in the heartland alone

Strung out in the heartland losin' my mind
Strung out in the heartland bidin' my time

No one remembers your name
Why would they
When you're strung out in the heartland alone

And damn this long cold winter
It's finally beaten me down
Though we were once familiar
I'm just a stranger to you now
At the end of my days
Wish I could take back the ways that got me
Strung out in the heartland alone

Wandering through Wichita doubting my salvation
On account of all the ways that I’ve gone wrong
And I’m lonesome
Lonesome and longing

I’ve been searching for the banks of peace like a river
With a worn out liver and a hole in my soul
Winter time is comin these days are shorter than my temper
I can’t wrestle with my angels when they gotta bootheel around my throat

And I am wandering through Wichita doubting my salvation
On account of all the ways that I’ve gone wrong
And I’m lonesome
Lonesome and longing

I Wanna drink my fill of joy like a fountain
But my stomach can’t take it, and my head is pounding
I’m a ruined man as far as I can tell
Aging poorly, losing years and scared as hell

And I am wandering through Wichita doubting my salvation
On account of all the ways that I’ve gone wrong
And I’m lonesome
Lonesome and longing

Sometimes it feels like these old ways
Are hangin' on like wax drippin' off a candle
Burnin' slow
And these days been draggin' on
They're draggin' on
Oh Lord, sometimes these days I don't know

Yesterday's over
And tomorrow ain't here
Although I'm seven years sober
I can't stop looking
Can't stop looking out my rearview mirror

I could slide back to those wild days
Make my way back to those simple times
But I'll keep standing by the highways
On these lonely roads
Beggin' like a poor man
Beggin' like a poor man

There's villans fillin' up my headspace
And worries and doubts runnin' circles around my soul
It's funny livin' in this time and place
Something 'bout livin' in these days is all I know
All I know

Lord, help me stop looking in my rearview mirror

Take me as I am
Will you take me as I am?
Take me as I am
'Cause I'm listening as a child
Beggin' as a poor man

Please forgive me if I'm a little slow goin'
Years of fast livin' has stunted my growin'
I took two steps forward and another one back
Started over so many times I'm losing track

Well you showed up unexpectedly
And I guess that's just your nature
Subtle and sweet as a kind word from a quiet stranger

And baby, you made it easy
Baby, you made it easy

I heard that true love was the hardest thing to find
Since the day I first saw you that's been heavy on my mind
For me to settle down was the hardest thing to do
But baby, you made it easy
With a heart so true

These days the simple things can be so easy to forget
'Cause They're here today and gone tomorrow
But they leave their regrets
But with a smile as pretty as that flower in your hair
Honey, my troubled mind ain't wanderin' when you're sittin' there

'Cause you comfort me like a singin' bird in the dead of winter
Or like an old gospel song to the ear of a sinner

So I fought the good fight and I made my way to you
I Found myself a woman with a heart so true

Tiger flowers bloomin’ long the crest of the hillside
A few more weeks of beauty for they fade
I’ll stare at the blossoms and daze out ‘till noontime
‘Till the visions of Yesenia roll back my way

Won’t you roll back my way
Vision of Yesenia roll back my way

Heavy dreamless nights have got me goin' heavy on the moonshine Drinkin way the memories I’d rather not remain
River of laughter, daughter of the moonlight
Won’t you pull back those shadows from your face

Won’t you roll back my way
Vision of Yesenia roll back my way

I’ll keep drifting further from the heart of my maker
Until the visions of yesenia roll back my way

Won’t you roll back my way
Vision of Yesenia roll back my way

Tiger flowers blooming long the crest of the hillside
A few more weeks of beauty for they fade
Oh spring of comfort, Childlike wonder
Without you I will never be the same

Won’t you roll back my way
Vision of Yesenia roll back my way

You're havin' doubts again
That's the way you've always been
I ain't much for listenin'
And I lost my innocence
Searching for significance
In your wavering opinions and selfish whims

Maybe we were doomed right from the start
You had a nasty bout of jealousy
And I had an eager heart
Any sad fool can see we were meant to be apart
Maybe we were doomed right from the start

Well, it's gettin' bad again
Your love's grown cold and thin
This time is so much worse than it's ever been
I never felt adequate
You were always so hesitant
A lack of social etiquette has plagued me all my life

Any sad fool can learn to hate what he cannot have
Put it on the table and cut it in half
C'mon it's not so bad
Any sad fool can learn to hate what he cannot find
Let these broken dreams die
Let them tumble down
Over the mountainside

From my dusty lips hangs a half-smoked cigarette that I picked up off the cold ground
Been tryna break these patterns but it looks like they’ll stick around Least I won’t lose my rhythms or my edges

Out along the highways, out along the highways, out along the highways and the hedges

Half alive on the county line
Tryna’ keep up with the sunset
But it gets dark so early now
If I wouldn’t of held her so close maybe she’d of stuck around
But she’s gotta keep her independence and her edges
And so it goes out along the highways and the hedges

Out along the highways, out along the highways, out along the highways and the hedges

Eased up, leveled out
The spirits are upon me now
I can feel them closing in
I've never been a leader of men
But you can follow me out to the edges

Out along the highways, out along the highways, out along the highways and the hedges

When life gets heavy
I get light as a feather
Changing my mind
Like the Indiana weather
Say a prayer for me tonight
Maybe I'm doin' better
But it's gonna take a little time
It takes a little time

And I can hear the lonely night sing
I can hear the lonely sing
My cold heart's turnin' as these headlights are burnin' down this highway
And I can hear the lonely night sing

Well, 25 arrived in the blink of an eye
And I'm still just tryin' to figure out how
To walk that fine line
But life's just too short
Not to try the best you can
So I'm gonna let go of who I was
And find out who I am

Saw a pale reflection
Could've sworn it wasn't me
But I don't trust my recollections
With eyes too tired to see
And a cold heart that's dyin'
To be set free
And down this empty highway
I can hear the lonely night sing

Well the devil's in the details, son
So listen close and listen well
I've run out of lovers to leave
Got no more guitars to sell
You see this road-worn life and freedom
It's a lonely prison cell
And it ain't hard to tell
That I've fallen on hard times

I keep fallin' on hard times

I left your mamma strung out with you in her belly on a summer night in 03'
I chased down every passion of a twelve year younger me
I took all this world could offer
But my mind can't find no peace
And now you see
That I've fallen on hard times

I've fallen on hard times
Lord, have mercy
I got five days clean time
But my conscience is dirty
Now I ain't entitled
No, I ain't worthy
I've just fallen on hard times

Well, the devil's in the details, son
So listen close and listen well
your old man ain't got no more friends to rob
Hardly a soul left to sell
but your mamma didn't raise no fool
And the glare in your eyes says you can tell
I only come around
When I've fallen on hard times
Guess I'll be leaving now
I keep fallin' on hard times

I met Grace in a bar in old St. Lou
She was fiddlin' with a cocktail napkin
And starin' at her shoe
I asked her what's the trouble dear
She said everything but you
And we fell in love in a bar in old St. Lou

But she was gone before the mornin' sky turned blue
She took too many and I had a few
I guess before the night we met
She'd been clean a week or two
Well she met the lord before the mornin' sky turned blue

But I'm still here and I'm hurtin'
And these chemicals ain't workin'
Not the way they used to
And the years are lookin' scarier
And I just wanna carry her to bed once more

I guess all her old colors bled through
I seen remnants of 'em on her forearm like
A strange tattoo
They don't tell the whole story but
What can you do
With all your old colors bleedin' through

And I wish this sad story wasn't true
But friend if you ain't careful
it can happen to you
The ending's engraved on an angel headstone statue
All the sad stories came true

These days she visits me out of the blue
In cold pale visions only I can view
She knows I'm just a lonely boy with nothing much to do
So in the darkest nights she visits me out of the blue

Been too afraid to share my fears with you
Although I know there ain't no safer place
Than here with you my love
I've kept them locked up and stowed away
Can't we try this another day?
Honey, I'm just so afraid

So break the lock on the door
If I won't let you in
Shatter your glass on the floor
Just to show me you ain't playin' around

Don't let me stay in my head alone
Cuz I've been hidden away unwilling and unknown
for so long now
Promise me you won't turn away
Don't put it off for another day
Honey, don't let me stay in my head alone