this is my renaissance
this is my one response
this is the way i say i love you

this is my second chance
this is my one romance
this is the cutting line
on which i stand to show you

it happened fast in a flash just this evening
i hit the gas, horn blast, brakes screaming
car crash, broken glass, broke my dreaming
i hit the dash so fast my ears are ringing
my sister’s on the right side just slightly leaning
i grabbed her hand hard until she started breathing
my brothers in the back jaw cracked from the beating
the breath in my chest has slipped and i’m sinking
blinking through diamond spider webs of cracked glass
i’m trying to remember all the words you said in the past
through the ash, siren screams and red beams
i hear you sing softly to me

i can be the wall when you fall down
find me on the rocks when you break down
i heard it in the song when you call out
but i got to say now it’s got to change

this is my broken heart
this is my bleeding start
this is the way i’ve come to know you

this is my winding road
this is my way back home
this is the narrow door you know that i will walk through

i got a letter today of why she went away
she said, ‘it’s better this way, you knew i never could stay’
half empty closets and frames, all that’s left to my name
as she left in the rain and left my heart on a chain
three years i’ve built this two-face tower for hours on a lease
you gave me one yellow flower that said rest in peace
in pieces i’ve broken open to think too much or just enough
alone to trust midst the rubble and the dust
humbled, it took this much to break down and understand
spent my life this far on castles made of sand
tossed in the breakers in the palm of your hand
now i can finally stand

m. kearney / ©2004 façade aside music / bmi

vocals, acoustic guitar: mat kearney
electric guitars: lynn nichols, david may
bass: judson spence
drums: lindsay jamieson
all other instruments: robert marvin