Last Train Home

EB says: I wrote this a few years back, and we even recorded it during the "Time and Water" sessions, but it just didn't feel right so we left it off that record. That earlier version appeared on the benefit compilation, "Parkinsong Volume One: 38 Songs of Hope," but this new recording is absolutely spot on. As a songwriter, it's one of the songs I'm most proud of. Nothing I know can help me here today
Nothing I could say or do could change things anyway
Time, time, time, see what's become of me
Standing by the river on the rise

Why didn't the weatherman warn me
I didn't have a clue
Love comes down like a big storm
And I don't see a break in the clouds

Pull me into the river
And over the falls
Whatever you do
Don't let go
Let the water carry us away

Sometimes when I'm floating
Underneath the night sky
I barely remember the night sky
I'll never go back, I get what I need from the water
I get what I need from you

Pull me into the river
And over the falls
Whatever you do
Don't let go
Let the water carry us away

Credits:

Written by Eric Brace

EB's thoughts: At first, all I had to this song were the first two lines. The lyrics told me it should be in 3/4 time, so I was messing around with some rowdy, Pogues-like waltzes, but it wasn't working out. I finished the lyrics the night before our last rehearsal before hitting the recording studio, and I still didn't have anything concrete about the arrangement, and barely had a melody and a chord change. At that final rehearsal, I played it for the band, winging some chord changes and the melody. We kept slowing it down and slowing it down and reworking the instrumentation until we got it to where it is here. Jen's solo at the end makes me cry. Lyrics: At the break of the day it's good luck and godspeed
I've got some advice but it's less that you'll need
You'll find the road long so wear the good shoes
And find a good song to chase off the blues

You think you don't know, but you really do
Which direction to go
I see your eyes with questions and hope
A flame starting to grow


I see your hands on your old guitar
You'll grow a thick skin and you'll break a few hearts
Singing to drunks at the end of the bar
............

Whatever you find there, wherever you are
Will fill up your heart til it aches
Be brave enough to let it all in
And always give more that you take

At the end of the day, you'll be miles away
I hope that you get a good start
I'll be where you left me, but I'll be inside you
Way down deep in your heart


I see your hands on your old guitar
You'll grow a thick skin but they'll still break your heart
don't get too drunk at the end of the bar
Pick up your bags and go now
Just pick up your bags and go now

It's a love song, and I didn't even realise I was echoing the Beatles until I heard it on the radio: "It's getting better all the time..." This pop song seemed to cry out for horns and harmonies and such, and after we recorded them, we started listening hard, and during the mix-down, we just kept stripping it all away. We even took out my acoustic guitar. What we're left with is a recording as intimate as the sentiment of the lyrics. So hard keeping it together
It's easier to let it fall apart
How does the center ever hold?

Up the mountain I'm pushing boulders
Trying to keep my head on my shoulders
Oldest story ever told

Some days are easier than others
And some days I stay under covers
It seems to be getting better
The only reason I can think of is you, you, you

Cup of coffee then one more
Maybe then I'll learn what it's all for
From where I stand it's hard to tell

Fill the bucket one drop at a time
Then fill the next one in line
Hope there's water in the well

Some days are easier than others
And some days I stay under covers
It seems to be getting better
The only reason I can think of is you, you, you

I'm not asking you to save me
I'm just hoping you'll stay awhile
Hoping you'll stay forever

Some days are easier than others
And some days I stay under covers
It seems to be getting better
The only reason I can think of is you, you, you

This one started fast, a shuffle similar to "Last Good Kiss," but we messed around with it at rehearsals, and Martin and Jim found this lilting groove and it fit the sentiment. A more abstract lyric than most of mine, I could connect the dots a little more clearly I suppose, but that wouldn't be any fun. Tied my dreams in a sailor's knot
Tried to remember all I forgot
Sent myself letters to tell the tale
But I'm still waiting on the morning mail

The few that knew are slipping away
A little more dust on a windy day

Sidewalk cracked below my feet
Looking for a friend on a busy street
He looks familiar and she does too
Looks like a woman that I once knew

Throwing our coins in the wishing well
Everybody pays for the kiss and tell
Floating up high in a blue, blue sky
We always come back down to the ground

Where did the summer go
I'm still waiting on the afterglow
But time is a train on an endless track
A bagge coach painted black

Memory leans on a window sill
Looking for a little more time to kill

Who's on the phone, who wants to know
Got a bad connection, might as well let go
Who took the money, we'll never tell
Who's that ringing the mission bell

Standing in line at the kissing booth
Waiting for a kiss to tell the truth
Floating up high on a ferris wheel
We always come back down to the ground

Standing in line at the kissing booth
Waiting for a kiss that tells the truth
Throwing our coins in the wishing well
Everybody pays for the kiss and tell
Floating up high in a blue, blue sky
We always come back down
We always come back down to the ground