Music

Lyrics from Echolocator

Echolocator (Mills)
I’ve been looking for love ever since I lost my way
Been listening for sounds I know, familiar phrases
Is there a message alive in time to save the day
Let it resound over the land and loud

Echolocator oh-oh-oh-oh, Echolocator oh-oh-oh
Follow me through my life

I’m a new person now, a new version somehow
But it’s the child in me who holds the master key
What is this world after all and who can I say is calling
All the way across the plane
No other love, I’m waiting for you
No other love, both night and day
No other love, my heart is sound proof
You ride along the wave, you drip inside the cave
You steal upon the wind, I’m waiting til the end

Get Out of Town (Mills)

We walked for days at first through death and through birth
The years were counting toward but none from just before
Our senses tight and keen, the years of sharpening
We used to be so soft to morph into machines

Get out of town as soon as now, get out while there’s still time to cut loose
Careful round the lake and everywhere you go
You’re in the movie now, did you already know?

Hold me now, I’m freezing, help me now, I’m reeling
Who has ever felt so alive

Is nature so unkind to linger so discreet
Then open up so wide flooding every street
So granular the dream, each ray of light a song
Each mote of dust upon, I sing to carry on
Get out of town as soon as now, get out while there’s still time to cut loose
All the world’s a stage, the patterns never change
We seek with wild desire through water and through fire
They say there is a town further miles down
Through the scope you’ll see the light of future dreams
Each road a ridden path, the trees on either side
The stars are still our guide in this lonely aftermath

Get out of town as soon as now, get out while there’s still time to cut loose
I dream of olden times, I dwell inside today
Is it fortunate to die, sufficient to survive
Oxygen (Mills)
Deep as the water, slow motion and silent
Suspended in blue light, this whale is a pilot
Fish darting round, such small memories
Here and then gone, each one on its own

I gotta know how to start again, a little love and oxygen

Deep as the water, no sign of another
Cautious and floating, my mind in the gloaming
Remember the days, the voice of my mother
Echolocate me, I’m here in the water

Memories decorate and haunt me
Separation of time unknown
Leaves me searching in vain for miracles
The kind so sweet and mundane

Deep as the water, slow motion and silent
Suspended in blue light, this whale is a pilot
Fish darting round, such small memories
Here and then gone, each one on its own
Without Even Asking (Mills)
I've been thinkin it wasn't the drinkin
That put me in the state I was in but where was the leavin
Runnin the rat race even with guitar cases
All that living out and in, what kept me down

Anne stopped calling, I stopped trying
Pushing notes under the door like something's dying
It’s just a restless evening, I've got a bottle with me
It complements that easy feeling, got a long way to go
I've been falling, without warning
My mouth was full of the words of a fool, but there's no recalling
Wondering my way out, working my way through
Yeah I'm telling these far out stories but only to you
I can't relate, it's just blue and gold
Just blue and gold in a lifted body with a drifting soul
And my every day is like an avalanche
Almost every day has been catching me up, without even asking
Favorite Stone (Mills)
You can count on me, you can count on my rock and roll
Sure as sun will shine to beat the band
So delicate and new, it was the early side of June
Big mama roll the ball across the sky

My favorite stone, my favorite stone

You can follow down to the bay
Every river knows the way
Polish your mind to silver from the gray
When you reach the ocean shore
I will intimate some more
Big mama roll the ball across the sky
Still is life in a wooden frame
Still is life a horizon game
Baling water from my throat
The salty sting of everything
You can count on me, I’m here naturally
Like a forest in your heart I grow the trees
Pine needles soft in spring, to you my subtlety will sing
Big mama roll the ball across the sky
Stuck in a Rut (Mills)
I’m stuck in a rut, I can’t run away
Called around but nobody could say
I medicate, it’s the fire I know
Unlock the door and I light out alone

When the lighting is right, cellophane
Stepping through the medicine
You don’t walk alone with cleavers
Flowers steam in a delicate tea
And didn’t we know back in the day
Didn’t we know the root to take the pain away
Waiting now, in the ground
Life you know, life from the sun
Are we stuck in amber
Are we unable to remember
At the heart of it, are we getting by, only getting by
At the heart of it, are living in a, living in a
Meadowsweet, nettle sting, hawthorne at the edge of spring
Like a lover’s game, lover’s game, lover’s game, lover’s game
Homebound, half light, first star in the evening sky
Another day nearly done, another day of life in the sun
Lonely & the Lean (Mills)
Linger on the path while holding younger years and fallen fears
Jump like crickets in the grass
No pattern or control it seems and longer than the older dream
Stretch my arms like trees
It’s no wonder I came clean
Linger on the path along the edge inside the orchard
Free as birds upon the breeze
Cast a shadow over me and memories they shake the trees
They make a tremble
Wind that falls the apple, no happy ever after
It’s no wonder I came clean, call me the lonely and the lean
Voices call like waters rise, an ache that’s deep and tenderized
Drifting back to language lost, losing sleep like sleep has cost me
Moments closely savored, doing me a favor
It’s no wonder I came clean, call me the lonely and the lean
Call me the lonely and the lean

This animal this human one pulsing from the nearest sun
Pushing days through summer haze each story cuts a different maze
Before we crash upon the ground and make a different sound

My One and Only (Mills)
Set loose on the wild ground, orphan boy since i was born
Those days just hazy and long, there’s only dreaming when you’re poor
Now my mind is running, my heart is racing, my heart’s in danger now
I used to carry bags of down for everyone I’d meet
This world I’m living in so full of suffering and sin
Oh yeah, my one and only, oh yeah, my one and only
Blackbirds on a live wire, sentries on these city streets
These days just waves on the shore never ending at my door
And if you catch me looking, like a stranger lurking, for a sign I might recognize
Every woman passing by like a mother in disguise
This world I’m livin in take me back where I begin

Oh yeah, my one and only, oh yeah, my one and only
Oh yeah, my one and only, oh yeah, my one and only
The Peace of Things (Mills)
We’re running out of ways to carry, running out of ways to care
Dragging on the line, we drag the breeze
Comes from living in a world, I call it drowning in a dream, I care
Come into the light you radiant being
When you hold me, I feel it in you
The pain of hope, yeah, the peace of things, yeah
Oh babe, I feel it too
The rage that flows, yeah, the peace of things, yeah

It’s the ribbon of the road to follow, nowhere else to go, I care
Raven in the snow, the light compares
If you’re strong inside the hip I call it strong inside the knee, I’m free
The rhythm is the why, the way, they wanna be
I will always wait for you
Even with the lengths I go
Even if the fates are thrown
Do you know the way back home, I’m out of running ways
Do you know the way back home, I’m out of running ways
Do you know the way
Message of My Love (Mills)
Get around, I got a long way to go
But I’ve come a long way, see how the tree’s grown
I might be late for the show
Time bends like a twist in the sequence
It’s hard to lose what you learn, It’s hot when the forest burns
On every acre, in every field alone
Feel it all around, feel it in your blood
Walk upon the ground, keep your eyes toward the sun
Wonder what that feeling is
It’s a message of my love, ooo
Message of my love, how the light gave away
A message of who we are and what conveys
Hold on, hold on we’ve only just begun
In every field alone

We’re all love crazed, pushed into the cities of haze
The social mores anymore just keep us further away
We hold grief in our lungs, I’m calling every good wish home
On every acre, in every field alone
Feel it in your arms, feel it in your legs
Vessels of your heart, enigmatic spark
Wonder what that feeling is
It’s a message of my love ooo
It’s the center of your heart

Lyrics from Trick of the Eye

All songs written by Joy Mills (2012)

History Repeats
so rehearsed, it could not be worse
than the script that was thrown in the flame
breakin backs on your bitter lakes
and the sun has been setting all day
how can somebody know these kind of days
when the math isn’t made with clay
I wrecked all the webs that the spiders made
but I rarely go insane

so rehearsed, it was never worse
than the deafening sound in the air
plenitude with pale attitude
no doorway to old prayers
how can somebody know these kind of days
with a heart that’s just made with clay
I cracked all the codes in my little book
but it’s just a little book I made

where’s the promise, where’s the focus
I know this writer just like hypnosis
a different way to see, a different way to see
where’s the promise, where’s the focus
the night has fallen, you hear the locusts
the timbals in their ribs, the timbals in their ribs

so rehearsed, each and every verse
it’s the ending of an age
imagine now if you still know how
what a changed mind can replace
how can somebody know these kind of days
when the math isn’t made with clay
and I wrecked all the webs that the spiders made
but I rarely go insane
more than once each day

Boomerang
there’s only one way to cast a stone
or draft a line or boomerang
and by the way turn around
it’s coming from the other way
I’ll sit beside this tree
and wait for the softest breeze
there’s never right and never wrong
and afterlife and nevermore
and by the way who can agree
with anything we’ve said before
I’ll sit beside this tree
just you wait and see

how the moon has arranged us
like stars repeating in the sky
where tides and animals collide
and the wind will take us in its time

the money made, the stones engraved
the kitchen sinks and tagalongs
and by the way we sing along
to every little radio they say
I’ll sit beside this tree
the thoughts rise above me
the mess I made, the love created
never born never dated
fly away to distant dreams
with lands that seem so fabricated
I’ll sit beside this tree
who will deliver me
the happenstance, the mating dance
the hypocrites that caterwaul
and by the way, I’ve seen it all
and you do too, the tale is tall
I’ll sit beside this tree
picture it silently

I called you back, I drew a heart
I left you with your favorite part
and by the way, I can’t explain
what happens to us anyway
I’ll sit beside this tree
what will remain of me

Think of You & I
I am the ocean and the sky
A marble full of clouds and I had never noticed
How it swings a melody
And kindness swells, make me smile
think of you and I

I am the river, lean and strong
I hold the belly boats, carry motion faster
I am devoted to the night
When shadows merge, sing a dirge
think of you and I

And I will go
As lightning strikes, send a crooked saber
And I will go
Because the bell was shot, and 6 o’clock tomorrow
Maybe we’ll be here tomorrow

I am the forest and the breeze
A rooted spine, a twisted vine
A thought moving through you
I am a wave inside a wave
So sing again my feathered friend
think of you and I

Trick of the Eye
what is this trick, what is this photograph
that comes to mind every time?
hey, didn’t know it was taking mine
blazing all those trails, taking all those photographs
taken long from the roof
hey, didn’t know it was coming soon

what is this dark room?
what is this light that’s pouring in?
to break itself upon itself
and leave no time for crying shame
the pencil breaks, broken
the ticking of the time is when
the sight of the edge is thin

tell me now, design…tell me now photograph
the gear is low, rolling down
blacking out across the town
taken for a fool, but I’m skipping school
fold it up, had enough
do you know what I’ve been thinking of?

this tripping old dream
for all it is and all it seems
and I wrap myself inside the light
of sleepless nights and tossing beds
these running trains inside my head
I skip the stones along the stream
no wiser for this walking dream
yeah, I skip the stones along the stream
no wiser for this walking dream

Tourist Town
I never set out for glory
that was always the story
and the players come back late
to a neighborhood so sweet and tired
I was taken by the gallon
sweatin and then frozen
weighted down by mileage
chosen for the scorning
and now, can you feel the fever’s reverie

I never set out for glory
that was always the story
I’ve been holding back the plow
always sleeping by day
in this tourist town, this tourist town
always caring for the lowly, trodden down by takers
rollin’ in the shipyard, burning down the papers
and I get restless, even when the fever’s going down

always caring for the lonely, trodden down by takers
rollin’ in the shipyard, burning down the papers
and now, can you feel the fever’s reverie

I never set out for glory
I keep telling that story
I keep hearing my voice talking
I keep seeing my feet running
I keep hearing my voice talking
I keep seeing my feet running
and I never set out for glory

Hey Valentine
hey hey hey valentine
Time to ease your worried mind
hey hey hey valentine
who has given all away, all away to me

time is just 1, 2 and 3
every wave falls back to sea
and every road that don’t taper and end
and every echo across the span
and like an echo I hear it again

tell me what is fortune, something to realize
at the end of our lives just to find
all the trials and the setbacks were designed
like a folded piece of paper, sitting on a sill
sail it out through the window, to be still

hey hey hey valentine
Time to ease your worried mind
hey hey hey valentine
who has given all away, all away to be free

Best Show in Town
Well, I've been certain sometimes
as the grass grows underneath
Confounded by the night sky
and all there is between
People always say, how long must I wait
Til my glass is full and brimming
with a love that I can taste

I’ve taken all the measures
I’ve stood in all the lines
Held out my worn-out ticket
tall enough for the ride
Little stroke of luck, well I’ve had that too
But the closest that it brought me
was to a dream-vision of you

Is this the best show in town
am I high on its praise
could my heart bear the weight
as the sun beats to the ground
and the evening stars beg
they beg to be seen, shining down
shining down on the place
this restless love has made

there’s an island in the meadow
there's a meadow without sides
like an ocean bearing rowboats
tending to the greater tide
it’s hot under the sun, it’s cold under the moon
it’s tricky how I got here
to a blue world without you

Lake
How is that lake still in my mind’s eye?
I read my horoscope it said to capture thunder
And I love you, and you’re my type
But all this love is taking over and much under
And in my make-up, and on that high line
I walk across like I could worry sober
And my lover, out of my hands
I hope that all this talk of love is moving boulders

All those nights, we slept like sardines
For each one of us a wheel to spin our dream
And how they must have risen like steam
And intermingled with the drifting clouds of evening
And not for lack of distant sorrow
Or all the rules I like to make and never follow
We crossed it out, we swept the floor
Isn’t what’s always here the always waited for
And out of nowhere I sing like this
And from my lips, sinking ships

Bound to Find You
Everyone knows on the roadside
that every night on the road side
is a trial to be close to the fire
And I have opened eyes in the morning
but every night on the road side
you gotta hide and find

se don’t move fast as an arrow
we don’t move on a straight line
let’s go down to the races
anybody been racing out on the roadside
where I’m bound to find you

Everyone knows in the changes
like every night on an airline, across the divide
where pressure’s thin as a feather
and you can slip through the shadows
or grow green on the vine

When the Arrow Leaves the Bow
When the arrow leaves the bow
when the arrow leaves the bow
I’ll slip a note, under the door
to shine your light on the distant shore

If the candle wick won’t light
if it’s drowned in a waxen lake
we’ll turn away from the spark
to let our eyes adjust to the dark

how the wind it howls at the door
now the wind it howls once more
we’ll put ourselves and friends alee
and pass the time with the old stories

I am a traveler, I am a homemaker
Don’t hurry now for the undertaker
who heeds the word, who heeds the call
to climb the mountain, to sleep inside its walls

With smoking guns we’ll shoot the breeze
with what is left to contemplate
O garden give what you can
and autumn rest in a fallow hand

I am a lover, I’m for believing
don’t worry now about the rules of forgiveness
there comes a time in every life
to put your weight behind the push of the knife

When the arrow leaves the bow
when the arrow leaves the bow
I’ll slip a note, under the door
to shine your light on the distant shore
Yeah shine your light on the distant shore