TYLER STENSON © 2013 — ASCAP

Ain’t it like the wind to never want to stay;
Something finally touches down
And all at once a gust comes and takes it away.
That old wind is here- then it’s gone.
That old wind is hell-bent on moving on.

So, let’s just say She knows how to go away;
How to keep from standing still
Just like a river, fast cars, birds and trains.
Let’s just say She’s sailing as we speak.
Let’s just say She’s fading by degrees.

Showing tell-tale signs that She’s alive,
Everybody is leaving something sometime.
Always leaving or being left behind,
We’re infamously all the Ramblin Kind.

Some would say I roam and that I’m made of stone
But they don’t know what I know–
I know once you’re in my heart, there is no getting out.
Some would say I’m planted in the ground.
Some would say I’m impossible to pin down.

Showing tell-tale signs that I’m alive,
Everybody is leaving something sometime.
Always leaving or being left behind,
We’re infamously all the Ramblin Kind.

It’s a lonely road I’m speaking of and
These are lonely lyrics rolling off of my tongue.
But there’s a tell-tale truth in between the lines:
Everybody is leaving something sometime.

Always leaving or being left behind,
We’re infamously all the Ramblin Kind.

TYLER STENSON © 2008 — ASCAP

An interesting man I know
Has the Music in his bones.
He writes the songs
But he can’t stand rock n’ roll.
His name is On His Right Hand
As he hides behind a wall
-Somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

Older brother,
He’s the dreamer of some dreams-
He stretched out the gray and made it green.
I can see myself in him
(I’m just a little bit too small).
Somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

Little brother,
You are not the only one-
Just don’t get burned in the Oklahoma sun.
You’re trying to get to heaven and
I’m just trying not to fall.
Somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

I’m a music maker
Trying to make a dream
But getting there is as endless as it seems.
So, I’m gone to California
(Even if I have to crawl)
Because somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

So, when I get to California,
I’ll be giving you a call
Because somebody’s gonna make it,
But you know it better be us all.

TYLER STENSON © 2010 — ASCAP

As long as there has been a song, I’ve felt it in my bones.
It was a gift from my dear mother and her father who passed on-
A long line of Music Makers and of soldiers for the Muse.
Oh, that boy in my war fell out of tune as he fell upon a couple grenades.
That boy in my war is still alive and he’ll fight til Dying Day.

I crossed into California with a smile upon my face
But then I soon left San Francisco with my tail between my legs.
I swear, I was good as I could be on any given time of day
Still, that boy in my war saw the beach burn and the earth quake like a grenade.
That boy in my war is still alive and he’ll fight til Dying Day.

He’ll blow like leaves in the wind
But be proud just to know that at least he can be his own man-
Not that boy.

I burned a bridge in the desert and left Arizona northbound
And thought: If it’s not in Salt Lake, is it Oregon where it’ll be found?
On certain nights all the notes were bright and on others they would fade
And that boy in my war called out to god: To Hell with all the grenades!
That boy in my war is still alive and he’ll fight til Dying Day.

He’ll blow like leaves in the wind
But be proud just to know that at least he can be his own man-
Not that boy.

Now, every time I sing, it’s just my confidences wearing thin
So I have to believe this lonely road would bring ’em back again.
I’m as good as I can be on every given time of day
And that boy in my war will no doubt rise in spite of a couple grenades.
That boy in my war is still alive and he’ll fight til Dying Day.

TYLER STENSON © 2012 — ASCAP

Oh, give me a dime
For each year of my life
That lasted uncomfortably long
And I’ll be as poor as an orphan
That spent his life knowing
That there’s nowhere he really belongs.

Cause the world as it spins
Creates such a wind
That nothing is safe from the ride
You can stare at the face
Of the wind as it races
And causes the decades to die
But my, how they fly…

Leaves blow by.
Leaves blow by.
Oh, much like the years and the people inside,
The leaves blow by.

Now, stronger is Heart
Than a gun on the run—
That’s something I’ve learned like a Song
Because a bullet can kill
In an instant at will
But heartbreak is forever long.
So, hold on to love

Because leaves blow by.
Leaves blow by.
Just like the years and the lovers inside,
The leaves blow by.

And Heaven is a Moon
That is selfish as glue—-
It pulls on us just like the tide.
All you can do is hope
That it pulls on you slow
So you can make much of your time—-
Cause my how it flies.
Leaves blow by.
Leaves blow by.
Oh, much like the years and the people inside,
The leaves blow by.

TYLER STENSON © 2012 — ASCAP

The Devil came knocking at my door today
And tried to sell me something kind
But I had heard it all before
(And didn’t want to hurt no more)
So, I didn’t pay him no mind.

But he’s persistent as the beating of the heart in your chest
And he don’t stop until you’ve signed that dotted line.
So, when I looked him in the eye and said, “I’m not your guy,”
I saw the rage build in his eyes and his horns rise.

He snarled like a beast engulfed in misery
And I remained stone cold in the face
Because in a world as dark as this, I am unimpressed
With a lone devil and briefcase.

So, he came back with an army of his Broken Hearted
To try and strong arm me into the deal
But when you show up uninvited and bring with you the fight,
Oh, Devil, your problems just got real.

So, when the Devil came knocking at my door today
I think he thought he’d worn me thin
‘Til I invited him inside and delighted in his cries
As I showed him I’m darker man than him
And now he won’t come knocking again.

TYLER STENSON © 2010 — ASCAP

I get no sleep,
Try as I might,
Because I don’t see no day
And there is sure as hell no night.

No, it’s somewhere in between
The Dawn’s haze and dream
And Nothing’s ever seem more real
Than this ceiling that I see.

I get no sleep with these trains inside my head.
As far as I can see, I’ve got tracks running down both sides.
What started as a steady hum
Became a war-time drum
And eventually north and southbound collide.
I get no sleep with these trains inside my head.

Then, history repeats
And the city never sleeps
And I can hear those trains
No matter how soft they creep.

Can you hear them world?
The wolves are at my door;
I’ve got nothing to my name
And still they ask for more.

I get no sleep with these trains inside my head.
As far as I can see, I’ve got tracks running down both sides.
What started as a steady hum
Became a war-time drum
And eventually north and southbound collide.
I get no sleep with these trains inside my head.

I get no sleep with these trains inside my head.

TYLER STENSON © 2010 — ASCAP

Best laid plans fail
And wrong winds catch sails
But that don’t mean you lay down
And lose your boat to the treacherous sea.
No, you must believe:
That which might have been, can yet still be.

I’ve seen a beautiful sky turn gray
As I stood by watching weather change
But that don’t mean the Sun is long-gone
And all of our Hope should leave.
No, you must believe:
That which might have been, can yet still be.

Those best laid plans fail
And those wrong winds catch sails
But that don’t mean you lay down
And lose your boat to the treacherous sea.
No, you must believe:
That which might have been, can yet still be.

TYLER STENSON © 2012 — ASCAP

I think back to the Garden’s first days,
And the reason that a woman was made,
And believe it was an “up above” gesture to say:
So long Emptiness, hello Sweet Grace.

But it seems the words have changed
And all their meanings have faded away—
But, when I say, I love you,
I mean it the same way as it was made.

Cause you and I want nothing to do
With the constant bending that sorrow brings.
No, you and I want nothing to do
But lover things.

So, let’s forget about the failed love we see
And how the world is a brand new machine
That drags the lovers through the mud
And all other things that are so far from you and me.

Cause you and I want nothing to do
With the constant bending that sorrow brings.
No, you and I want nothing to do
But lover things.

Oh, it seems the words have changed
And all their meanings have faded away—
But, when I say, I love you,
I mean it the same way as it was made.

Cause you and I want nothing to do
With the constant bending that sorrow brings.
No, you and I want nothing to do
But lover things.

TYLER STENSON © 2012 — ASCAP

I was there when this place
Dimmed darker than space
For the fear that no love could be found.
Then, I was there when this room
Lit up like the moon
The moment that you came around.

How bright the light you beam.

Then I watched as the clock
Never sped its tick-tock—
No, it told me the time was still night—
But I found that hard to believe,
For all I could see
Were some silhouettes up against the white.

How bright the light you beam.
Oh, it’s all I seem to see.

So let me circle around you slow
And let me bloom inside that life-giving light you glow.

Now, gone are the days
Of the dark shades of gray—
I watched them burn off
In the warm of your rays.
Now, I’m a man in a world—
I’m the closest planet to a girl
And mamma how you radiate.

How bright the light you beam.
Oh, it’s all I seem to see.
How bright the light you beam.
Give me more, please.

Let me circle around you slow
And should you burn out,
May I be the last alive to know.

TYLER STENSON © 2012 — ASCAP

My Love, My Love,
You’ve got me up against a wall
But, like a rodeo clown,
The blood and bruise are part of the call.
Some days I’m a Lion
And some days my spirits crawl
Across the floor, to you, who started it all…
My Love.

It’s a head game Honey.
It’s easy to believe that I’m a foolish fish
Inside a starving sea
That just might swallow me whole
(Or give me just what I need).
So, be kind to me My Heart—
My Muse—
My Queen—
My Love.

My Love,
Don’t count me out just yet
Cause my day will come.

God damn you siren!
You crawled into my bed
And if I walked away,
You would just do the same to my head—
And your pedal steel would haunt me
Like the Ghost of a Melody
That a deaf man misses most.

My Love, my love
Don’t count me out just yet
Cause my day will come—
This I know,
Because there’s a flower
Buried in my chest
That continues to grow.
My Love, my love
Don’t count me out just yet
Cause my day will come.

TYLER STENSON © 2012 — ASCAP

Look at me walking this tightrope wire
And hovering above a red-hot coal fire,
Split down the middle with a definite seam—
Looking for a place where the Head and Heart agree.

Because lately, it seems I find no rest—
My Head is on my shoulders, but a mile from my chest
And my Heart pumps blood, but it just won’t bleed—
Always pining for a place where the Head and Heart agree.

Head and Heart oh please,
Could you finally make your peace?
Do me right oh please,
And take me to the place where the Head and Heart agree.

Oh, nothing hurts more than a one-man war;
Both sides would die, but who knows what for?
Killing in the name of a nameless greed—
Man, there’s gotta be a place where the Head and Heart agree.

Head and Heart oh please,
Could you finally make your peace?
Do me right oh please,
And take me to the place where the Head and Heart agree.

Gonna stick out my neck and let it be
A bridge to the place where the Head and Heart agree.