Vandaveer
 

A Minor Spell (2010)

All lyrics by Mark Charles Heidinger

01 the waking hour.

last night we died a fiery death… you took a stray arrow dead-center in the chest… the blood ran thick, we fled quickly for the antidote… I beat my wings ‘till they melted from my shoulder bones… well don’t curse the sun, he’s made for burning…

we fell from space, out of good graces, in a tailspin dive… we flew full circle in the blink of that hurricane’s eye… the waves came fast, they came in spades with no warning sign… we made quite a splash with both the damned and the sanctified… we weren’t cursed or blessed, rain’s made for falling hard…

lay me down… fare me well… please let me rest for a minor spell… time won’t heal, but it may well tell which wounded dreams the waking hour felled…

we stood stone-still at the base of mighty case of stairs… stared straight up, searched for signs… such a steep affair… from that lonely perch the earth looked stunned, just spinning scared… and the higher we climbed the more we doubted what we were doing there… well don’t curse your heart, it’s made for turning… on…

lay me down… fare me well… please let me rest for a minor spell… time won’t heal, but it may well tell which wounded dreams the waking hour felled… lay me down… safe and sound… please stay the bell ‘till the final round… time won’t heal, but it will tick down… the waking hour crashes to the ground.

02 everything is spinning.

i lost my baby, i lost her good… she went down in a flash flood, bitter waves of wormwood…

she had to get going, was the order of things… I had to keep touring, these songs i must sing…

i miss my baby, I miss her good… head down, I hit the highway heavy-hearted and bruised…

I meant to be faithful, i meant to be cool… I meant to be available, yes I meant to be astute…

what I really meant was to be there for you… I should’ve been there for you… I can’t imagine what you were going through… I can’t even describe what it was I was going through… though I was so removed… I was so very moved… everything was moving… everything was spinning… but you were so very still…

I love my baby, yes I love her good… but the gears that grind in my chest are cracked and off groove…

but I find peace, I find comfort and truth every time I come stumbling home through the doorway and you say, “honey, how was everything?” And I say everything was spinning… yes, everything was spinning… everything is spinning… but you, you are so very still.

03 good morning.

good morning… how did you sleep? good morning… how did you sleep after the night we had? thank god it passed… good gracious, my head hurts so… good gracious, my head hurts so… after the mess we made and the fire we stoked…

good riddance to the tears you shed… good riddance to the tears you shed… I hope they eased your mind and buoyed your head so you can rest… better to rise above the crest with unabated breath…

there’s a full circle around that bend… a full circle coming ‘round the bend… I’ve seen this scene before… I’ve been lapped again… feet forward, I must soldier on… feet forward, I must soldier on… no sense retracing steps walked way back when… way back when… way back when…

god help me, I hope I can… god help me, I hope I can be but half the man who held my hand… dear child, I hope you know how much I love you so… gonna watch you grow and grow and grow… and when it’s time to let you go, I will let you go.

04 all together for the taking.

we were deep into summer, I’d been on my own for months through heat waves and tidal waves of solitude… but now by my side I had my bride, many years past the altar… I was lost, she returned, we grew stronger… stairways we climbed, around carousels we circled… weathered tempests and storms with iron will… not long ago I’d grown listless, I’d grown weary, I felt needed elsewhere… I could not rest upon that hill…

I pulled up to the terminal, I pulled out my guitar… there was a woman on the curb, she was crying for her lover who hadn’t shown for her grand coronation… no red carpet laid out for her arrival… I kissed my love goodbye, we embraced, I departed… tried be mindful of that woman’s broken heart… I stumbled through the automatic doors and down the escalator… I had tunnel vision, I was on a mission…

I was looking for a place with a little peace and quiet where I could catch my breath and a bit of composure…
a little spot to clear to my mind of all the refuse and the grime stockpiled over and over, over time… so many nights, so many miles, so many silly observations… like a broken record skipping and skipping ad nauseam…
I figured I could use a drink, I had no business being sober, I was just waiting for my ship to come in…

the talking heads on television spoke of terror and of floods, they spoke with stoic cynicism and derision… I turned and ask the barkeep at the federal tavern for a double… I was in a bad way and I hadn’t slept for days… for god’s sake, I’d just left my lady, I was down, she was out, I needed sedating… I stepped into the cabin, took my seat, took my pills, took my time, said my prayers, then we were sailing…

well, we kept a healthy clip with a little tailwind in our favor… miles above and miles below the mayhem… we touched down around midnight, disembarked disenchanted… this fond illusion of absence is outrageous…

I hit the road, hit the accelerator, I hit the ground running… giving chase to the voices in my head… I soon lost my way, lost my trail, lost my senses… had no idea how I’d grown so defensive… I pulled over, I tuned out, turned the radio to static… over rolling hills I cast my eyes and waited for the rising sun to come and remind me that the sum of things is greater than the weight when you divide them… I rewrote my part, learned it by heart, turned the corner, burned the pages… hit the stage with my guitar, I started making it… I took simple chords, simpler words, and melodies I’d always heard and threw them all together for the taking…

05 ways & means.

you curator of antiquities, of ancient ways and means, and means to ends with endings all divorced from your malaise… you pack of wolves, you pack of thieves, go feed upon your underlings… I’m far away, but I can hear you falling…

so many unfamiliar things, familiar songs you cannot sing, you cannot read the words when all the lights above have faded… you cast your nets… your bayonets drive deep into our armored chests… now, we may bleed, but do not think our hearts have emptied… for we all stand strong…

your temporary sanctuaries shield you from the cold and weary… dreary are your prospects… yes, you are fading… you stand behind your pillars, locked inside your marbled cells… you’re selling marbled halls, but no one’s buying… no one calls, we aren’t biting… for we all stand strong… and we sing our song…

our backs are turned, we all have learned… too many times, we’ve each been burned… we’ve turned our eyes up toward the sky… we are watching a single sunbeam soaring high moments before the daylight dies… you pause, you cannot conceive what darkness awaits you… for we all stand strong… and we sing our song… one chorus, one chorus we are strong… and we sing our song…