All lyrics by Glenn Raucher

TETHERED

FEELS LIKE WINTER

YOU LEFT YOUR LIPSTICK BEHIND

RUINED MAN

TINA

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PUZZLE

BEFORE SHE FALLS

BACK TO YOU

I COULD JUST KISS YOU

3AM FEELING

TETHERED
From 2006 release "Another Life"

I’m tethered to you
long as I remember
But now I sense
the rope is frayed

Apart from you
I’m not the man I want to be
Like glass all fractured
along the street

Chorus:
I’m tied to you,
Tied to you
Nothing that I can undo,
Tied to you,
Tied to you,
I’m tethered to you

Now it’s quiet
in the house alone
every sound
tears right through me

Chorus

Bridge:
With no warning
you could cut me down
without word
without sound

Chorus

How I regret
Sliding off my wedding ring
For some pretty picture
I’ll never see.

Chorus

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I left home with a dream and mom’s bible
I fairly walked on air at first
But dreams never mention survival
When things go from bad to worst

Chorus

And it feels like winter
And it looks like snow
And I’m sleeping in Central Park
I’ve got nowhere to go….

So I tried to keep my convictions
not settle and not to bend
Tried to steer along the straight and narrow
Careened right into a real dead end

Chorus

Bridge:
I hear my voice shake
While I’m on the phone to you
I know a friend would reach me
…if they could only reach me
and it feels like winter…

They say the city gets kinder
I remember I believed that then
But now I don’t want a reminder
Of just how naïve I have been

Chorus

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YOU LEFT YOUR LIPSTICK BEHIND
From 2006 release "Another Life"

I dress in the dark
sit on the porch and smoke
a cigarette

Blow the smoke toward the fields
I know--it’s time to quit

I can’t clear the smoke from my mind…

Chorus:
How can I have peace?
when I turn around & find--
you’ve left your lipstick behind

Ghostly light from the moon
frost on the grass
reflects the shine

the path that you walked
footprints fading fast

I re-trace every step in my mind

Chorus

Bridge:
I see how little I own
you took your things and ran
footsteps echo in the empty house
shards off the ceiling fan

an endless loop plays in my mind

Chorus

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RUINED MAN
From 2006 release "Another Life"

Ruined man in a high-rise room
tallied up a score too soon
Now he shreds for all he’s worth
he knows
he isn’t worth much

Avoids his friends, denies his debt
thinks he can still make his mind up yet
But the rental car burns over the bridge
and out into the counties…

Chorus
Ruined man, pulled off a throne
All is lost!  Everyone says so
Disappear for a while
then we’ll see
how long in exile
How long in exile

Ruined man in a hidden town
six long weeks he’s been underground
Told his family he was alive
but not much more than that

Packed some books and hair dye
a change of pace, or a brand new lie
But the old ones are still all over the floor
knows he don’t need no more

Chorus

Bridge
The stranger who sits in the village square
Books by his side
dye-black in his hair
He isn’t really there…

Chorus

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TINA
From 2006 release "Another Life"

Tina says her marriage is not a match made in heaven
so she holds two jobs--security--and to be out of the house ‘till eleven
but she doesn’t cry or regret the life in the rear view mirror
It fades as the billboards read backwards
where she’s been seems less clear

Chorus:
Tina holds her hands out
a palm full of rain
Glad that after all this time
the water still feels the same
She doesn’t wear her wedding band
on her broken ring finger
But she stays…

Tina holds back a thought to allow her desires to wander
to feel a true lover’s hands that might break the spell she’s under
A hundred times in her head she’s packed her bags, prepared to leave
a barefoot run through a torn-earth field
or a love in which to believe

Chorus

Bridge:
Coffee smells the kitchen table
A marriage a dream a prayer a fable
But now she drinks alone in the morning
He’s gone again with no warning
And the coffee cannot warm her….

Chorus

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF PUZZLE
From 2006 release "Another Life"

She likes the way
the curtains blow and sway
Can’t turn away
seems for days
All the voices
singing in her ears
an orchestra
playing her worst fears

Chorus:
It’s not a dream
A different kind of puzzle
Nothing seems to fit…
You not there to hold her.

She checks herself
on the forty minute drive
White-knuckle wheel
tries on different smiles
a perfect portrait
the best she’s got
color fading
she hits the parking lot

Chorus

Bridge:
Lies in bed
tries to remember
names and faces
she knew well

all the while
distraction
from brand new pills
bad new smells

Never dreamed she’d forget your name…

Chorus

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BEFORE SHE FALLS
From 2006 release "Another Life"

She kept her eyes on the floor
stilled her shaky hands
as he babbled on, avoiding
what she needed to know

He stammers, she waits

She swears she’ll wait another life
before she falls again
she’ll ask up front what he intends
another life before she falls

It was the summer house
when she felt it first
a friend of a friend by the railing
overlooking the lake

her cigarette, he laughed with a match

She swears she’ll wait another life
before she falls again
she’ll ask up front what he intends
another life before she falls

So now I’m the third wheel
sleeping alone
at least there are no strangers
in my home…

She wakes alone in their bed
blankets up to her throat
Pours the coffee with silence around her
loud enough to disturb.

She locks up, she leaves

She swears she’ll wait another life
before she falls again
she’ll ask up front what he intends
another life before she falls before she falls
before she falls...
before she falls...

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BACK TO YOU
From 2006 release "Another Life"

How all things connect
I’m not sure what call I’m answering
days begin to blur
all except for this longing

Chorus:
I’d look in your eyes and feel all right
strong enough to drive home all night
wanting nothing more than to hurry
back to you

How food’s lost its taste
patience is found wanting
too worn to even snap
lost except for this longing

Chorus

the street lines they swerve
bad time is what I’m making
no company on this trip
nothing but this longing

Chorus

Bridge:
Pull out a faded picture
perfect poison for the mixture…

You said I was like home
where you said there was belonging
now left with a homeless heart
nothing but this longing

Chorus

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I COULD JUST KISS YOU
From 2006 release "Another Life"

I left the dust to settle
after I cleared out the room.
and the paint is still peeling
and the place filled with you

Chorus:
Gone are the days
Where I would think
When I didn’t know what to do:
I could just kiss you.
I could just kiss you.

Things drain into silence
the cold fills the room
and the cats are still crying
and the place is filled with you

Your plants still on the window
a white dress hangs in the hall
and I wish that you would tell me
“it’s just a ghost, that’s all.”

Chorus
Bridge:
I look to my left and you’re not there
My hand doesn’t rest on your shoulders
Fingers don’t stroke your hair

I look to my right and everything’s wrong
No one to laugh at just the right moment
No one to sing along…

Chorus

Back and forth like a timepiece
suspended on a chain
there’s no clock to count the moments
‘till I can have you again.

So when the dust is settled
And I’ve cleared out the room
The paint will still be peeling
And the place still filled with you

Chorus

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3AM FEELING
From 2006 release "Another Life"

Pray she’s not a dream
you’re actually with her
Held open the door
and she walked in

Crashed down on your couch
beckoned you over
held open her arms
as you fell in

She moves and you seem to feel
the air growing heavy
she calms you and holds you
till the fear fades away

Comes back to the room
after getting some water
She’s perfect and you
can’t look away

Chorus:
Looking for a 3 AM feeling
You can’t stop talking
your head’s still reeling
a 3 AM feeling
You could rise right through the ceiling

Walk her to the train
Don’t want to let her
go down the dirty stairs
and ride away

Back home through strange silent streets
and loose swarms of paper
up the stairs
coffee waits

Chorus

Bridge:
While she lies asleep
you watch but barely believe
The light plays upon her face
nothing else you could need.

You wait until afternoon
To finally call her
Hoping not to wake her
From some pleasant dream

When you hear her voice…
you’re pacing the floor
from room to room

Chorus
Chorus
Chorus

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THE ALMOST PRETTY WOMEN

PAYPHONE

COUNTRY LIPSTICK (You Left Your Lipstick Behind

LOVE AND AFFECTION

FOUR KIDS

UPSTAIRS

THE DAY I LOST YOU

SKIN TO SKIN

THE ALMOST PRETTY WOMEN
From 2011 release "Lost and Found"

Turn your mirror to the wall, girl
place your feet upon the floor
put on your walking boots
and head out the door.

Put the box of tissues in the closet
with the dresses and dolls
your feet upon the floor
turn your mirrors to the wall

CHORUS:
All the almost pretty women
talk to themselves at night
convinced at the moment
that they're not quite right
But somewhere in a bedroom
there's a boy alone

Staring like Einstein
at the atom
at the telephone

Boy, stop scribbling in your notebook
there's nothing left to say
you can rest in misery and sadness
it's you who decides which way

Put on your walking boots
'n head on down the hall
your feet upon the floor
turn your mirrors to the wall

Chorus

Bridge:
There could be a corner
where you won't be seen
Except by someone
who knows how you've been…

Solo/Chorus

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A pair of boots
by the door
stained with dirt
from the factory floor

Chorus:
Thirty years, toeing the line
woke up this morn' said "not this time."
Went outside,
put a quarter in the pay phone
knew just who to call…

His brother said
"Why don't you leave?
You've seen things
no one would believe."

"It's not so simple
I've stayed too long
looking back and wondering
how it went so wrong…"

Chorus 2x

Bridge:
Look a friend in the eye
Look a friend in the eye
can't say a word
Surely they know
how could they not?
Unless they lied…

Chorus 2X
Bridge
Chorus 2X

Thirty years towing the line,
thirty years towing the line,
thirty years towing the line...

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I dress in the dark
sit on the porch and smoke
a cigarette

Blow the smoke toward the fields
I know--it's time to quit

I can't clear the smoke from my mind…

Chorus:
How can I have peace?
when I turn around & find
you've left your lipstick behind

Ghostly light from the moon
frost on the grass
reflects the shine

the path that you walked
footprints
fading fast

I re-trace every step in my mind

Chorus

Bridge:
I see how little I own
when you took your things and ran
footsteps echo in the empty house
shards off the ceiling fan

this lovesong still stuck in my mind

Chorus

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Did she just wink at me?
or am I wishing?
seems to happen a lot these days
a sad condition…

Chorus:
Oh, love and affection
coming at me from every direction
but since you taught me how to do it
I'll just head on home…

She's smart, seriously funny
I think you'd like her
I mentioned your name
several times today
just to keep the distance

Chorus

Bridge:
For the first time in my life
I see how it could happen
but since I have you
it's already happened…

Solo
Chorus

Oh, love and affection
coming at me from the north, south,
east and west
but since you taught me how to do it
I'll just head on home
I'll just head on home
I'll just head on home

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Four kids scuttling across
the living room floor
She guards the sharp edges
An eye on the stairwell door

For herself a puff of smoke
An elegant curl it rises
into the air…

CHORUS
At the end of a day
that never ends
Everyone at last in their beds
a pillow,
lights out
and darkness

Her husband waits up late for her
sweetness absolving
says he'll still be there

Whatever may come to be
whatever hope or harm
hold her tightly in his arms…

CHORUS
BRIDGE:
Take your dreams
and place them in a corner
never know
what might be waiting there…

Four kids scuttling across
the living room floor
She guards the sharp edges
her eye for an opening door
She won't walk through any more…

Just a pillow. Lights out.

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She's tired,
just says "maybe"
buttoned up
opens a book

he's still dressed
down the stairway
pours a glass
as the clock ticks

Chorus:
Sitting up late at the kitchen table
long past last drink's gone
knows she is upstairs crying
wonders where they went wrong

Checking his watch,
calling to the west coast
until his eyes half-close
on the edge of the bed he's praying
wonders where they went wrong…

Friends call
ask if she's leaving
her silence
fairly shouts down the line

Friends say
just trust what your feeling
he thinks
he can't feel any more…

Chorus

Bridge:
Ten years ago
never dreamed they'd run
out of things to say
in the dark to each other

but now the quiet crushes in
so far to go back to begin again…

Chorus

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I knew you stayed by the bay
how you loved when the weather changed
but my phone calls went unreturned
and soon I stopped calling

Your dream catcher hung on my wall
till my wife said "take it down;
put it out by the roadside
and try to forget it…"

Chorus:
there was nothing left to save
the day I lost you
the day I lost you
maybe there was nothing left to say
the day I lost you
maybe I really didn't know you

Your boyfriend always creeped me out
wouldn't take a message down
sent a letter, last know address
came back unwanted

So…I look up your name on the internet
hope that you're a point and click away
but all I get from my search is to find
you're still living…

Chorus

Bridge:
I'm sorry
that I tried to kiss you
I could say it was the sunset
over the lake in the park we discovered
but I'd only be lying
once thought you loved me for not lying…

Solo
Chorus
Maybe I really didn't know you…
Maybe I really didn't know you…
Maybe I never really knew you.

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Lately his mother starting to get on his nerves
his father going on about his girlfriend's curves
Later on a bed in his childhood room

Chorus:
She turns to him
Skin to skin
Skin to skin

She turns to him
Skin to skin
Not a moment too soon

Lately the bullies grow more violent each day
he plots and plans how to keep them away
Later on a bed in his childhood room

Chorus

Bridge
She says:
Remember how it felt the first time
Remember how I felt the first time
Remember how you felt the first time?
He swears he'll remember…

Curbside, luggage out, waiting to load
His mother and father flutter 'round not letting him go
He thinks of a bed in his childhood room
Chorus

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NOT THINKING OUT LOUD

LOCKED DOWN

NOT THINKING OUT LOUD
2007 not formally released

She steps up the ladder
ten feet off the ground
not sure what she’s after
so close to getting out…

Chorus:
She
holds
holds it in
Not thinking out loud

He’s feeling much older
her scent on his clothes
he touches her shoulder
she pulls a blanket close

Chorus

Bridge:
In the dark they sit
With not a candle lit
To find the lines they’ve drawn
have gone across more than a floor.

When they visit her mother
a dog & pony show
she lies to her brother
remaining unknown

Chorus

Chorus

I know what I’ve seen
and that you saw it
where we’ve been
no one will understand

that through the night
we heard sounds
getting closer and louder
awake or in dreams
...it’s never over…

CHORUS
as we fall asleep
secrets we keep
you know they all must come out some day
But we keep them locked down
take ‘em with us when we go to town
so much pain to carry around…

All this time
we pretend we’re different
tough and immune…
nothing gets through

Then we wind up
in a world unraveling
heat rises in waves
on this road we’re traveling

Chorus

How many days until we’re homeward?
gazing out at familiar places?
like it was back then
pray every day for the nightmare to end…

Solo

Chorus

Chorus

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Photos by Abby Raucher