Strange Fire lyrics

I'm in search of greener pastures don't like my garden's what I said
I'm working harder than last year but I'm still deep in the red
I'm rowing as hard as I can, and they're selling me up the stream
I'm always one more step away from the American dream

I got a chip on my shoulder bout the size of a mental block
I got someone on the telephone trying to sell me a future in stock

We used to walk in each others' arms
"It was one on one", that's what you said
And now the moon is a sliver in our eye
We stand bleeding on this broken glass
But there was too much repetition (over and over and over again)
You know we're past the point of sane (over and over and over again)
And all this broken glass you left behind
Won't let you make a clean, clean
I said walk away

Crazy game I never should have started to play
But now you couldn't tear me away
Cause love is sweet, sweet darling
It's so good to you and so bad
And I fear the situation's clear before my eyes
Confusion wants to break me and it tries
I've been a little bit stronger from the start
Listen to my heart

Cause if you're ever believin I'm thinkin of leavin

I Shall Be Released is a 1967 Bob Dylan song that the Girls have
been doing on occasion for several years now. It usually functions
as an encore, and features numerous guests. The version that I'm
transcribing is from the lyric sheet the girls used at the Fox
theater, on October 30th, 1989. There are subtle variations from
Dylan's lyrics - gender references, such as They say every man

When I let you go I cursed myself with empty hands
Strong enough to watch you walk but not enough to understand
With spiteful eyes you burn for my grace
I was trying to stand outside you were trying to save face

You say that I don't care I don't care
You can hope that we still have something left to share
But just between you baby and me
Just between me baby and you

Hey Jesus it's me
I don't usually talk to you
But my baby's gonna leave me and there's something you must do
And I am not your faithful servant
I hang around sometimes with a bunch of your black sheep
But if you make my baby stay I'll make it up to you
And that's a promise I will keep

Hey Jesus it's me
I'm the one that talked to you yesterday
I asked you please please for a favor

I come to you with strange fire, I make an offering of love
The incense of my soul is burned by the fire in my blood
I come with a softer answer to the questions that lie in your path
I want to harbor you from the anger find a refuge from the wrath

This is a message, a message of love
Love that moves from the inside out
Love that never grows tired
I come to you with strange fire

High Horse is an Emily Saliers song, presumably written in 1987, as
it appears on the original release of Strange Fire. Though they
used to perform the song live, Emily now hates this song. Don't
expect to hear it live anytime soon.
High Horse
You had your chance to show affection
You had your chance to give me more
And now that she's found new direction
You make your way to my back door

Everybody loves you and they want to know your story
You go riding out a mystery concealed in all your glory
But when it comes to flesh and bones you remind me of Shalot
Only made of shadows even though you're not

I remember how I spent all my energy and time
With affected conversation trying to pry inside your mind
You are as brilliant as truth and empty as a shell

You can go to the East to find your inner hemisphere
You say we're under the same sky baby don't you realize honey it's not that clear
I'm not your promised land, honey, you know that I'm not!
I'm not your promised one
I'm not the land of Canaan, sweetheart, waiting for you under the sun

I'm lonely tonight, I'm missing you now
I'm wanting your love and you're givin it out

I have spent nights with matches and knives
Leaning over ledges only two flights up
Cutting my heart, burning my soul
Nothing left to hold
Nothing left but blood and fire

You have spent nights thinking of me
Missing my arms but you needed to leave
Leaving my cuts, leaving my burns
Hoping I'd learn

Blood and fire are too much for these restless arms to hold

Love is but a song we sing
And fears the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
You may not know why

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

Some may come and some may go
We will surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moments sunlight

you can go to the east to find your
your inner hemisphere
you say we're under the same sky babe
your bound to realize honey it's not that clear
i'm not your promised land oh no
i'm not your promised one
i'm not the land of canaan sweetheart
waiting for you under the sun

i'm lonely tonight
i'm missing you now
i'm wanting your love
and you're giving it out
i'm lonely tonight

I'm trying to tell you something bout my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
And the best thing you've ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It's only life after all

Now darkness has a hunger that's insatiable
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it

Secure yourself to heaven hold on tight the night has come
Fasten up your earthly burdens, you have just begun

In the ink of the night I saw you bleed, through the thunder I could hear you scream
Solid to the air I breathe, open-eyed and fast asleep
Falling softly as the rain, no footsteps ringing in your ear
Ragged down worn to the skin, warrior raging have no fear

Pain from pearls, hey little girl
How much have you grown?
Pain from pearls, hey little girl
Flowers for the ones you've known

Are you on fire from the years
What would you give for your kid fears?

Secret staircase, running high
You had a hiding place
Secret staircase, running low
They all know now you're inside

Are you on fire from the years

My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance, I do not catch the spark
My place is of the sun and this place is of the dark
I do not feel the romance, I do not catch the spark

I don't know when I noticed life was life at my expense
The words of my heart lined up like prisoners on a fence
The dreams came in like needy children, tugging at my sleeve

From baby to best, there's no second test
Little storms destroy you
Here is the fame they promised to give you
Taking the place of my hand now

Did you try to be true?
What separates me from you now?
What separates me from you?

Did you borrow the soul, the soul that you sell now
What does your conscience tell you?
Where are the demons of your desire
Why does my love destroy you?

During the time of which I speak it was hard to turn the other cheek
To the blows of insecurity
Feeding the cancer of my intellect the blood of the love soon neglected
Lay dying in the strength of its impurity

And all the friends I thought were so together
They've all gone and left each other in search of fairer weather
I sit here in this storm and drink a toast

Laughing in a crowd of jewels
Numbness from a sceptors wound
Toss and turn, I spin and learn
"Catch yourself before you burn"
A joker's dance before the king
Jangling beads, a silver ring
Close your eyes and bare the sound
Jumping up--falling down

Falling, falling, falling, falling down
Look yourself in the eye before you drown

Royal rebels discover you

I went all the way to Paris to forget your face
Captured in stain glass, young lives long since passed
Statues of lovers every place
I went all across the continent to relieve this restless love
I walked through the ruins, icons of glory
Smashed by the bombs from above

So we must love while these moments are still called today
Take part in the pain of this passion play