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Lyrics to Bob’s 2022 album Something Worse Than Loneliness


1.  SOMETHING WORSE THAN LONELINESS  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

 

Yes, I’m lost without you  

But I’m used to being lost  

I’m not afraid of stepping over  

This hard line you’ve made me cross  

I know the value and the cost  

Of what lies broken here inside  

But I goddamn well can stand it  

Cause my truth still hasn’t died  

And my heart feels like a tombstone in my chest  

But there’s something worse than loneliness  

 

Walking through the mall I  

Saw a man and wife go by  

He had regret strapped to his shoulders  

There was ice behind his eyes  

She used her voice to brutalize  

Her words like vicious birds of prey  

Were diving deep into his soul  

And tearing bits of flesh away  

His bones were buried in the creases of her dress  

And there’s something worse than loneliness  

 

The hunters place the decoys on the lake  

And hide away  

The birds fly down to find  

The cold charade of painted clay  

They leave the sanctum of the sky  

So trustingly  

They die for company  

They die for company  

They die for company  

 

Yes, these nights are long and  

Yes, these silences run deep  

I feel the sweet deceit of memory  

Crush my faith and steal my sleep  

As I am struggling to keep  

This thing that makes me what I am  

As this longing for you gathers like  

A flood behind a dam  

And I’m lonely here without you, I confess  

But there’s something worse than loneliness  

 

2. ROLL THE WINDOWS DOWN

Words and Music by Bob Lind

Roll the windows down. I see no sign of rain.  

The sun is just like gold dust on my skin.  

Every ray of hope I lost is mine again.  

I can feel it beginning. Can’t you feel it beginning?  

It’s the sweet taste of winning.  

And I’m drinking it in.  

 

Roll the windows down. We’re driving straight away  

From every bump and bend we ever knew.  

The road lies out ahead like one long Saturday  

And we’re not gonna miss it.  

There’s no way that we’ll miss it.  

It’s so real I could kiss it.  

And it’s kissing me too.  

 

Jenny put on some jazz.  

Let’s get in motion.  

There’s a breeze off the ocean  

And a seaside café  

On this beautiful day.  

 

Roll the windows down. The sky is clear and blue.  

Close your eyes and let your red hair blow.  

All the dreams you thought you’d lost are here for you.  

And we’re not gonna miss it.  

There’s no way that we’ll miss it.  

It’s so real I could kiss it.  

Roll ’em down and let’s go.  

 

3.  THIS DAY WITHOUT YOU  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

This day without you is only a shell.  

An empty market with nothing to sell.  

A sinking silence that yesterday fell into  

And a 90-pound weight in my shoes.  

 

This day without you is gunmetal gray.  

It’s ice on the windshield; fog in the bay.  

An old set of strings too brittle to stay in tune.  

Just as cold and remote as the moon.  

 

Some days are rivers that ripple and flow.  

Some days are jungles where mysteries grow.  

This day without you is dust in my open hands.  

Just as dry as Egyptian sands.  

 

This day without you is edging on by.  

Tomorrow’s shadow is tingeing the sky.  

But something remains like the strains of a strange perfume.  

Seeping into the walls of this room.  

 

4. TERRY’S SONG (JUST RIGHT)  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

There’s a right – there’s a just-right – someone for you.  

Something good, but not too good to be true.  

And I’m not talking about “kinda nice,” “almost it.”  

I don’t mean something that will  

Do      for      now.  

 

There’s a just-right space in somebody’s home  

And a voice that’s whispering, “Don’t be alone.”  

And you can hear it if you let yourself. I know you can.  

Someone trying to get  

Through      some      how.  

 

I know they tell you it’s not easy  

Finding love in these angry days.  

But I know something they don’t tell you:  

It’s only hard if you’re afraid.  

 

There’s a just-right guy who cares about you.  

And I guess by now I don’t have to say who.  

I feel your kindness like a welcome mat. You show me that.  

I feel the loneliness be-  

Hind      your      fear.  

Your just-right love is waiting here.  

 

5.  LEAVE ME ALONE  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

 

He was a loner in the schoolyard  

He didn’t like the other kids  

He told them all to keep their distance  

So they did  

(Leave me alone) It’s what he said with words and looks  

(Leave me alone) No you can’t borrow my books  

(Leave me alone) Don’t include me in your plans  

(Leave me alone) Find another place to stand  

Leave me alone  

 

Later on, there was a woman  

She saw the best of what he was  

She couldn’t find a way to reach him  

No one does  

(Leave me alone) Let’s just keep it loose and free  

(Leave me alone) I don’t need this weight on me  

(Leave me alone) She tried and struggled to get through  

(Leave me alone) Till there was nothing left to do  

But walk away alone  

 

Time destroys our bodies and our pride  

But time doesn’t change us much inside  

 

It felt like any other morning  

The smell of coffee in the air  

He just dropped dead there in the kitchen  

No one was there  

(Leave me alone) Another night; another dawn  

(Leave me alone) Nobody noticed he was gone  

(Leave me alone) And at the funeral yesterday  

(Leave me alone) Nobody had a word to say  

They left him there alone  

 

6.  HOW CAN YOU GO  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

 

I can’t believe you wanna leave  

When I do all a man can do  

To make your life a breeze.  

I took your Visa to the store  

And bought you that new power mower  

So you don’t have to hurt your back  

Or have an ugly heart attack and  

Oh! How can you go?  

 

I hate to see you packing up. Hold on!  

I’ll spit this used tobacco juice into this coffee cup  

And get on up and  

Baby we can dance.  

I’ll kick this pile of underpants and socks aside.  

We’ll glide across the floor and I’ll be light on your toes.  

How can you go?  

 

I tell you that you’re looking good so much  

I know I spoil you.  

But it gets me hot to watch you fix the sink  

And change the oil.  

You need me and you know it’s true  

To tell you how to think and what to do.  

To pick your clothes and TV shows  

And handle the remote control and  

Oh! How can you go?  

 

7.  MY SATELLITE  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

 

O my satellite, did you think I wouldn’t miss you  

Deep in this empty night, here in this home we tried to make.  

Both of us were fragile.  

But I never dreamed that one of us would break.  

 

O my satellite, the world we circled was a hard one.  

We kept that world in sight, but held our distance as we flew.  

You were my protection.  

And I always thought that I was shielding you.  

 

From our refuge here  

We could see, so clear  

All the madness raging below.  

But I never knew  

How it pulled on you  

Till you let go.  

 

Standing on the earth, I search wilderness above me.  

There are no answers here  

About the path you chose to take.  

Now it’s only me here.  

And feel this sacred ground begin to shake.  

 

8.  BACK TO ME IN MEMPHIS  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

 

There was a fat white moon over Beale Street.  

There was barbecue and hope in the air.  

And the blues poured through the window  

As I combed my straggly hair.  

And a few miles south at Graceland  

Maybe Elvis heard my prayer.  

She came back to me in Memphis.  

I came back to life right there.  

 

I walked into Silky’s courtyard.  

And I sat down all alone  

In my finest shorts and flip flops  

And my grocery store cologne.  

And I made my loser’s wish  

And when I opened up my eyes,  

She came back to me in Memphis  

And there’ll be no more goodbyes  

 

I gave her every reason on earth for breaking free.  

So many lies and wasted chances.  

More than all the stars in the skies of Tennessee  

But now the whole wide city dances.  

 

They were rocking over at Alfred’s.  

There was gospel at Reverend Green’s.  

They were bending strings at B.B. King’s.  

There was jazz from Ruby the Queen.  

From Front Street down to Old Church Park  

There was music every day.  

She came back to me in Memphis.  

And I finally heard it play.  

 

9.  YOU LOOK JUST LIKE A GIRL AGAIN  

Words and Music by Danny O’Keefe  

 

I know you must get weary  

Of the years you cannot hide.  

But sometimes when you’re smiling,  

Still, I can see the girl inside.  

In the dark, I can be so many men.  

In the dark, you are every woman then.  

But in the light, I can see your face again.  

And in the light you look just like a girl again.  

 

And oh, these tender moments  

That we hang our dreams upon  

Were we ever really young?  

And are we now so far beyond?  

 

Candlelight  

Gets me drifting way back when.  

Tonight in the light,  

Baby, you look just like a girl again.  

You look just like a girl again.  

 

10.  WRONG AGAIN  

Words and Music by Bob Lind   

How much do I know?  

I thought the Wright Brothers were crazy.  

The boys could fly though.  

And now they look down on the birds.  

 

Don’t listen to a word I say.  

I’da toldja there’s just no way  

Somebody as fine as you  

Could look at me the way you do.  

I never thought that love so strong  

Would come along.  

But I was wrong again.  

 

I don’t play long shots  

I had my money on Goliath.  

One little slingshot  

And now I have to eat my words.  

 

Never thought I had a chance in hell.  

Goes to show that you just can’t tell.  

This warm and delicious kiss,  

I never woulda bet on this  

(That you’d pick me to be your man).  

But in the end,  

I’m glad I’m wrong again.  

 

11.  THE FADING MAN  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  
   

He sat across from me, the light receding from his eyes.  

He said, “I’m useless, son. The world I know has passed me by.  

It’s all so complicated. Nothing I ever learned applies.”  

 

He was close to 80 then, about two years since mom had passed.  

He said, “The precious things are not the things that tend to last.  

I’m moving slower now. The days and traffic move too fast.”  

 

I don’t get this music now. Can’t work the gadgets in this car.  

My life is doctor visits, daytime TV and salad bars.  

 

I used to care,” he said. “I had my dreams. I had my friends.  

I go to funerals now, of friends whose dreams have reached an end.  

And I’m just waiting now. Hard as I try, I can’t pretend.”  

 

I still recall that day, though time has long since turned the page.  

I hear him asking me, in his confusion and his rage,  

Where is this wisdom, that’s supposed to come with age?”  

 

12.  BORN FOR THIS  

Words and Music by Bob Lind  

 

Zebras, they were built to run; lions built to kill.  

Doctors born to save you while the lawyers write your will.  

Everyone and everything has got a space to fill.  

Me, I was born for this. Me, I was born for this.  

 

I was born for 60-minute sets.  

Fingers pressing steel against the frets.  

Music on my lips like kisses, singing you my life  

And this is just why I exist.  

I was born for this.  

I was born for this.  

 

Angels walk on streets of gold; The Devil walks in fire.  

Ladies in the circus like to walk up on the wire.  

I was born to walk the bass and crank the treble higher.  

Me, I was born for this.  

Me, I was born for this.  

 

Songs on silver platters come to me in dreams.  

This is all that matters. And I take it to extremes.  

 

I was born for standing on a stage.  

Writing words and notes upon a page.  

I was born to learn the art of moving minds and touching hearts.  

And even when I miss,  

I was born for this.  

I was born for this.

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