Ben Wagner

I am worn
I am weary
Traveled far, now retreating
I’ve longed for this place
longed for this place for so long
I lay me down
I lay me down and belong

I breathe in
The air fresh
From the blessed Midwest
I am held
By the forest
Where I go for rest
I am washed
By the waters
Of Lake Michigan
And wherever I go
I will return again
To my home
The blessed Midwest

I am torn
I am bleeding
Seen many soles, many holey
Remember their faces, remember their face and hold on
'Till we meet again, 'till we meet again go on

I breathe in
The air fresh
From the blessed Midwest
I am held
By the forest
Where I go for rest
I am washed
By the waters
Of Lake Michigan
And wherever I go
I will return again
To my home
The blessed Midwest

I breathe in
The air fresh
From the blessed Midwest
I am held
By the forest
Where I go for rest
I am washed
By the waters
Of Lake Michigan
And wherever I go
I will return again
To my home
The Blessed Midwest

I saw you
Setting the mood like a light
In this smoky room
Dancing to the blues
Like a disco groove
Catching every eye

But I saw you
Looking at me with a smile
Like you wanted me
Saying, boy 'cmon
Well, heartbreak be gone
I just had to try

You just move baby
Move anyway you need
How d’ya do it darling
You got me on my knees on my feet
And you can take me to the left
You can take me to the right
Baby take me for the rest of my life
Just move baby
The way you move is moving me

What could I do
But follow along with your hips feet
Heartbeat song
Flowing dress and your hair
Girl it ain't fair
Whatever you do
Just don’t stop

You just move baby
Move anyway you need
How do ya do it darling
You got me on my knees on my feet
You can take me to the left
You can take me to the right
Baby take me for the rest of my life
Just move baby
The way you move is moving me

You just move baby
Move anyway you need
How d’ya do it darling
You got me on my knees on my feet
And you can take me to the left
You can take me to the right
Baby take me for the rest of my life
Just move baby
The way you move is moving me

Chocolate chips and memories
Coffee and homemade cookies
They make me feel at home
Father, brother, mother dear
You’re so far, but feel right here
No matter how far I go

Mmm there’s love inside

Big screen and a La-Z-Boy
Green and gold uniforms
And a breezy colored Autumn Day
Phone a friend, talking trash
How’s the team, how’s your dad
And how some things just never change

Mmm there’s love inside

Letter and a picture frame
The day she said she felt the same
With the words painting around the sides
Been too long, since I’ve gone
Three days and two months
I’ll hold her closer every night

Mmm there’s love inside

And this jar that I keep reaching in
Will only give what I put in
So put love inside

Oh, put love inside
There’s love inside

We were bike dirt tires
On paved concrete
On the right roads
Just had the wrong wheels
But I see you back in town
Same short cut jeans
My head still spins
My heart still feels

Like riding a bike
Just you and I
Down long back roads
Your brown hair blowing
In the wind
Like it did back then
All those teenage summer nights
When I loved you
You loved me too
You were so easy
Still get that feeling
When our eyes meet
I can hop back on our love like
Like riding a bike

‘Cause baby
Our hands still fit
You still get that smile
Your winding curves
Still drive me wild
And bring me right back
To wishing I didn’t have to go
Thinking maybe we should give it one more try tonight
Just take it slow

Like riding a bike
Just you and I
Down long back roads
Your brown hair blowing
In the wind
Like it did back then
All those teenage summer nights
When I loved you
You loved me too
You were so easy
Still get that feeling
When our eyes meet
I can hop back on our love like
Like riding a bike

You got that red Honda Pilot
That you always wanted and
I’m on the road still playing
But sometimes I wonder
If it would’ve been better
If we just ended up staying

And kept riding our bikes
Just you and I
Down long back roads
Your brown hair blowing
In the wind
Like it did back then
All those teenage summer nights
Cuz I love you
You love me too
It’s so easy
Still get that feeling
When our eyes meet
I can hop back on our love like
Like riding a bike

I’m walking
But oh these thoughts
Are running
Yelling catch me if you can
And I’m wondering
If I should chase behind
Or stop wandering
And try to take a stand

And they keep asking where the hell I’m going
Who I'll be for the rest of my life
I don’t know where time is gonna take me
I’m just trying to take my time

Well I’m dreaming
And my coffee
Is steaming
Getting colder with time
I’m wondering
If maybe all
This dreaming
Is better left to the night

But lately I’ve been having trouble sleeping
I just toss and turn all night
I don’t know where time is gonna take me
I’m just trying to take my time

I’ll stay steady and I’ll move slow
Just waiting, waiting, waiting

Tell me that it's gonna be alright now
Tell me that it's gonna be just fine
I don’t know where time is gonna take me
So I’m just gonna take my time

Empty bottles messy bed
Clothes are hanging off the shelf
Memories scattered in my head
Been a mess since you left
Watching screens closing shades
Drinking eating by myself
Haven’t left here in days
Been a mess since you left and
I’ve been
Keeping all your boxes
In case you ever wanted
To move back in again
But it’s been awhile and

I think I need to clean my room
The space you left inside me too
I’ll get your clothes off the drawers and floor
Get your love out the door before
I show this place to someone new
I think I need to clean my room

Wash the windows and the pain
Get the dust off my chest
Found letters that I gave you
You didn’t take when you left and
Oh you
Left all of your boxes
I thought you would have wanted
To remember when you stayed
But you just threw it all away

I think I need to clean my room
The space you left inside me too
I’ll get your clothes off the drawers and floor
Get your love out the door before
I show this place to someone new
I think I need to clean my room

See home ain’t wherever I’m with you
It’s just where I let you into
I can make it mine again
And just maybe I’ll go out next weekend
And I’ll let someone new in
And I’ll be glad I said

I think I need to clean my room
The space you left inside me too
Get your clothes off the drawers and floor
Get your love out the door before
I show this place to someone new
I think I need to clean my room

Hey, are you alright
They ask me
Sitting with a glass of whiskey
Eyes glazed over looking at the skyline

Said friend, you know I
Love this city
But sometimes you have to excuse me
I let myself get lost up in my mind

And I go to my countryside
Take some time
Remember nights
Sitting by the fire
Leaning back
Watching the red sky sunset
Let those bare feet sway and swing
Feel that warm breeze in that piece of my mind
My countryside

Sometimes I wonder why
I left home
I fit in here but don’t belong
I miss the grass and soil beneath my feet

Pecan rolls on Sunday morning
I can smell the fresh warm coffee pouring
Though I am far from home
Home is not far from me

I can go to my countryside
Take some time
Remember nights
Sitting by the fire
Leaning back
Watching the red sky sunset
Let those bare feet sway and swing
Feel that warm breeze in that piece of my mind
My countryside

Though I am far from home
Home is not far from me
And one day you know I hope
To bring you there with me

I can go to my countryside
Take some time
Remember nights
Sitting by the fire
Leaning back
Watching the red sky sunset
Let those bare feet sway and swing
Feel that warm breeze in that piece of your mind
The countryside

I wanna lie on the sofa with you
Wearing sweatpants and drinking red wine
Kick our feet, watch TV, eat Chinese, fall asleep
With your fingers laced in with mine
Just take a load off baby

Let's just breathe
Oh just breathe
Got all we need just you and me
So just breathe

You leave your shoes and your coat at the door
Long with every little thing that’s got you down
Not your job, not your boss, not the gossip they talk
Shed 'em all and just leave 'em on the ground
And then come a little closer

Let's just breathe
Oh just breathe
Got all we need just you and me
So just breathe

Keep it simple, keep it sweet
Like a whistle down the street
This is good, this is right
All those stresses, messes, heavy dresses
We won’t need 'em tonight

So Just breathe
Oh just breathe
Got all we need just you and me
So just Breathe

You’ve been worn, you’ve been used
Walked upon and bruised
Stretched out like a sweatshirt and you’re favorite leather shoes
He left and you stayed
He tore and you frayed
And you took some days to sew and mend the new love that you gave
But it looks better that way

So show it off and don’t hide it away
That hearts too good to keep it in
That love, it ain’t broken babe
It ain’t broken it’s just broken in

So you’re first love wasn’t perfect
And neither was your second
But you got stories to tell and lots of lessons not to mention
Old pictures, aged liquor
Vinyl records and ripped jeans
People wanna see the things that have seen some things
So baby take that thing

And show it off and don’t hide it away
That hearts too good to keep it in
That love, it ain’t broken babe
It ain’t broken it’s just broken in

You can try to bend it
Try to beat it black and blue
But it’s made out of the tough stuff
It can take a scar or two

So show it off and don’t hide it away
Baby, grab those shoes we’re goin dancin’
That love, it ain’t broken babe
It ain’t broken its just broken in
You ain’t broken you’re just broken in

The smoke has cleared
Sit alone with a beer
And run through the rubble
Months of trouble and the end
The tears on your face
The site of you walking away
And the memories dropping
Ring-like bombs in my head

And I don't know
If I could’ve done more
I don't know
If it was my fault or yours
So I’m still fighting
After the war

And the only light
Is just my phone in the night
Could start the war again
Pull the trigger press send and go
Catch your plane before sunset
Kneel down and say come back
Say baby I was wrong
I need you home

But I don't know
If I love you anymore
And I don't know
If I loved you before
So I’m still fighting
After the war

There should be parties in the streets
We had our victory
But loneliness had been waiting
For you to leave to ambush me

I don’t know
If I can take this on my own
And I don’t know
If I wanna try to love anymore

But I’ll keep fighting
I’m still fighting
This damn war

Do you remember
The fighting, the broken glass
Baby we were
Never supposed to last
And I know that we don’t feel the same way
Pointing our fingers at who we can blame my
Lights off laying in bed
Can’t fall asleep with you in my head

I’ve been thinking ‘bout you
Why I still don’t know
Why the hell I still can’t seem to
Let you go
I’m on the edge of a cliff just a call away
Praying you’ll pick up the phone just to say to me
I’ve been thinking about you, why I
Still don’t know

Cuz babe I remember
Driving past the trespass sign
And your white t-shirt
slipping off in the moonlight
And I know that we both were so insane
Part of me thinks I liked it that way my
Lights off laying in bed
Can’t fall asleep with you in my head

I’ve been thinking bout you
Why I still don’t know
Why the hell I still can’t seem to
Let you go
I’m on the edge of a cliff just a call away
Praying you’ll pick up the phone just to say to me
I’ve been thinking about you, why I
Still don’t know

Do you feel the same way
3 AM still awake

She had traveled far
Armed with seven nations
Harmed in many places
Still had not found her promised land
And tall the walls of Jericho stand
With an angry king in the middle
Instead of drawing her weapons
She played trumpets and fiddles

It’s time for these walls to come down
It’s time for these walls to come down
They will crumble at the sound
Of you calling me baby

So she played for seven days
And not a shot was fired
But this new music being played
Reached the lonely man in the tower
At first he tried to fight it
But he could not turn away
This sudden building new desire
To go reopen the gate

It’s time for these walls to come down
It’s time for these walls to come down, see
They will crumble at the sound
Of you calling me baby

And there was milk in the coffee
Muffins warm with honey
And music with such beauty
On the day that she met me

Could it be
We found the promised land
Could it be
I could be your man
Could it be
We found the promised land
Could it be
I could be your man

It’s time for these walls to come down
It’s time for these walls to come down, see
Let them crumble at the sound
Of you calling me baby

It’s time for these walls to come down
It’s time for these walls to come down, see
Let them crumble at the sound
Of you calling me baby

I’ve sang to you a million times
With hundreds of love songs I’ve memorized
Like I’m Yours, Your Song
No sunshine when you’re gone
But I don’t know you
The you that I’ve been singing to

In old dive bars, big dance halls
Coffeehouse concerts, crowded festivals
I’ve sang to strangers, old friends
All my lovely exes
But none were you
The you that I’ve been singing to

But hey you, hey you
I want you to hear
I guess that I love you
Even when you’re not here
And I can’t wait
For the day
When I will sing you every song and say
You’ve always been the you
That I’ve been singing to

Maybe you live right down the road
Or you climbing some mountain in Colorado
Or you’re listening to this song
On your long drive home
Ya you, maybe it’s you
That I’ve been singing to

Hey you, hey you
I want you to hear
I guess that I love you
Even when you’re not here
And I can’t wait
For the day
When I will sing you every song and say
You’ve always been the you
That I’ve been singing to
You’ve always been the you
That I’ve been singing to