SONG LIST 1 — THE LAST MAN SINGING
13 tracks · read them or hear them
WHY THIS PAGE TALKS. These lyrics are free to use with name credit. What you hear is a plain spoken reading — no melody, no tune, no imitation of any singer. It is here so a musician can hear the natural cadence and phrasing of the words as written, then build their own music on top. Nothing borrows a melody from anybody, and nothing tells you what yours should sound like. The words are the material. The music is yours.
1. LAST CUP OF COFFEE
by Justin Justice & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
It's just another morning as the sun comes up again
Take your first sip of coffee, say hello to your friend
Take a peek at the paper—any good news today?
But it seems like nothing's going on, so face down it will stay
Eight o'clock in the morning and your job cries out your name
Sitting down at your computer, but something is gonna change
Another sip of coffee, but your papers stay in your drawer
So many places you'd rather be...
And then you see a sight among sights; you arise from your seat
As you feel the ground beneath your feet crumbling
And you're still sitting here up on the sixty-sixth floor
Should've watched the Sunrise; could've been living for more
But today it is marked as your day to die
As two tears... They form in your eyes
It was just another morning; yeah, the sun came up again
Took one last sip of coffee, said hello to your friend
How could today have really been any better?
But then you saw the sight among sights that blinds your eyes
And you felt the ground beneath your feet crumbling
And you were just sitting there on the sixty-sixth floor
Hoping a miracle came, hoping you'd live just one day more
But today it was marked as the start of the end
We can't go backwards ever again.
2. LOOKING FOR LOVE
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
I've been looking for love in all the wrong places
Disregarding hearts of gold for pretty faces
By the wicked I get scorned, left broken and torn
I get served, kicked to the curb, still my fate may be deserved
I need to teach my eyes to look deep down inside
And not be hypnotized by a wolf in sheep's disguise
I've been stabbed by a smile and I blabbed like a child
Grabbed and thrown into the pile, then labeled and filed
Too many evils that makeup can conceal
Got to dig down a little deeper if you want to see what's real
The body only is transportation for the soul
While the heart is like fine wine; it is only faces that grow old
3. PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
Perfect imperfections... Perfect imperfections
I always tried to show you the best of me
Sure, I may have lied about the rest of me
I should have given me whole for scars make love real
What we can't control is what seals the deal
The sharing of fears and weaknesses helps manifest
Lovers from friends; can lead to holding each other at night
When you don't want the day to end...
And I don't want this day to end...
I long to see your face in the rising sun
I long to hold you dear because you're the one
I find I found I failed this great test of me
I should have told you all about my history
With this new day comes a new way for you and for me
In this new light will come tonight as we have much to discuss.
4. AS I PLAY
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
Face yourself before you face the sea
Might be the best piece of advice anyone has given to me
For that's when you can rest in peace with a satisfied soul
That can then fly away free... fly away free
So I pass the baton on stage with the wave of my wand
Watch my arm when you see my guitar; I'm a singer and here's my song
And as I play... I want you to sing along:
Face yourself before you face the sea
I know who's next and I'm pretty sure I won't get fooled again
I'm the pinball wizard, the true happy jack, and I play the same old game.
5. CLEAN WIPE TO THE SLATE
by Justin Justice & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
As you're getting sleepy in your bed
Busy staring at the walls
My head is still spinning
As I'm pacing up and down the halls
I just need one more line, only one more verse
And when I finally fall asleep it only gets worse
Yea lately I've been losing faith
Been having trouble thinking straight
What I thought I'd found has been misplaced
What I've been giving out... Well, I finally got a taste
When I woke up I couldn't see my face
Time to take a clean wipe to the slate
The past has now been erased
No right path to follow, no lines left to trace
I see no yellow lines on the highway
I've done it your way now I'll try it my way
There's a road not yet paved in stone
No one left to follow when you're alone
No shepherd to guide you, no shadows to hide you
No need to ask directions when you're heading home
Every sign you've seen has led you astray
When you stuck out your thumb no one was going your way
The highway you stand upon winds so violently
And looks so long; you've just gotta be strong
Keep writing and singing your song
Time to take a clean wipe to the slate.
6. LOW DOWN
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
He was feeling low, a little down on his luck
For he didn't know which way was up
Low down... Low down... Low down
They built him up so they could knock him down
Since chastising him is what they rallied around
He got pushed down, white washed and covered in snow
By the neighborhood bully right inside of his home
Seems like there was no escape since he didn't feel safe
That's just the price he pays for walking home all alone.
7. IT IS YOUR TURN
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
If you don't know yet who I am
Don't worry, that will change
I am a very simple man
Both on and off this stage
My life's work and my fun are one
That's why I am so happy
We all regret something we've done
Won't let that entrap me
I just look ahead and never behind
Helps keep me from wasting all my time
Best for your body, soul and your mind
Can't press fast forward... I can't hit rewind
Leave something they will remember you by
Like those who were the first to fly
Or the first man on the moon
Now it's your turn, what will you do?
You won't find me living in the past
Too much to do, time runs by so fast
We never know how long it'll last
So little sand in this hour glass.
8. TRENDING
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
But for all the wrong reasons
Everybody's googling me
Looks like it's now open season
It's hunting time
Must be a slow day for the media
I found five more lies on Wikipedia
I've been good in all my wheelings and dealings
I've done the best I could
Yet when I bet red the little ball landed on black
Just like I kinda knew it would
So if karma cares about my feelings
I paid it forward, now I ask for some of it back
I'm due for some good luck, sincerely I believe
I am that diamond in the rough and the needle in a haystack.
9. CARRY ME
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
Plugging and prodding, reeling and seething
Feeling I'm rotting, this air's not for breathing
These words aren't for speaking, not worth writing
Nor worth reading; so I shall burn this paper
Watch me light it, turn it into kindling
At least then I'll have fire as daylight is dwindling
I crawl through the mire; the willows are weeping
Entrapped within this still air, my fears are creeping
As self-doubt has joined us, compressed into one
When words of hurt define us, water and dirt turn to mud
Surviving until daybreak, the fresh sunlight of dawn
Here lies my only escape, giving strength to carry on.
10. OASIS
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
Can you feel a dark entity clutching hold of your sanity
Creating such calamity for you and all of your family?
Chasing the mirage of an oasis, a paradise you think is real
Yet all of us who wear our real faces acknowledge wounds won't heal
Yet dying is not healing with so much left to live
Hiding all the pain you're feeling, holding on to what you should give
Chasing the mirage of an oasis... Chasing the mirage of an oasis
Chasing the mirage of an oasis... Chasing the mirage of an oasis.
11. END OF THE ROAD
by Klaus Bluetner & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
I saw the light burning in your eyes; that alone is no surprise
I followed you... when you said "Yes," a bitter part of me died
Lead me to the end of the road where the sun sets down
To the end of the road where true happiness is found
To the end of the road on the other side of town
To the end of the road to where they finally lay me down
So many roads that I've walked down, lying in the street
In the unswept corners is where the dirt hides
Where many people and things give you a ride
My shoes are wearing out, almost time for another pair
But I'll wear the ones I've got until I get there...
Until I get there...
Now I see the light burning in your eyes; following you
I no longer live a lie; on the dark path I have found my guide.
12. RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES
by Justin Justice & Tom Jensen
▶ HEAR THIS ONE
I don't read the paper, hell I don't even watch the news
Everyone's used to horror and everyone's got the blues
Always another plane crash or gunman on a rage
I never pick up the paper unless it's lining for a cage
I used one for my birdcage and my bird spoke of death and hate
I wish I'd used the comics... But I realized this too late
The worst is on the cover, seen by children of every age
If I was editor, I'd put the good things on the front page!
Then maybe it'd rub off and people would treat each other kind
Have you heard the expression, 'out of sight and out of mind'?
When violence is on TV, then children will play with guns
Yet when they're watching Sesame Street, that's when they have fun
I'm moving to the mountains so I can watch the trees
Where you don't have any doors and you don't have any keys
House of wood, bed of straw; when I see a pig
It won't remind me of the LAW!
I won't use no roads—I'll set off on my own course
Trading my ford for a six pack, a carton, and a horse
I took that walk through the wilderness to escape a world of lies
I proposed to Mother Nature but I only heard her sigh...
Felt the swaying of the trees as I walked on fallen leaves
She reminded me of the death of everything that breathes
There are those who try to play God, shoot everything that moves
The fact that men can make rifles is the only thing it proves
I traded my gun for a camera—that should come as no surprise
A deer I watched drinking from a stream...
I shot him right between the... eyes
Now it lives on forever, captured in a picture that won't fade.