Not Alone  

Find a tree and let's carve our names | Stuck forever on the bark of age | We'll come back when we've both grown old 'Cause I will never leave you alone

Come on down to the lake we'll go | Ask me there whatcha came here for | I'll say yes to the ring you hold | Promise never leave me alone | Not alone, no, no..

Work is scarce while the family grows | The piggy bank and the pantry's low | Faith is strong but the money's slow | We'll make it through 'cause we're not alone | Not alone, no, no...

Come on love, don't let go of my hand | When the valley's longer than we had planned | Hurt and bruised and a little confused | But I'm still here, and so are you | I'm still here and so are you | We're not alone, no, no...

Find a tree and let's carve our names | Stuck forever on the bark of age | We'll come back when we've both grown old | I will never leave you alone | Promise never leave me alone | Oh, no we never will be alone

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

DEad Man WAlkin'

Why do you say that you’re fine when you’re the furthest thing from it | When it works just as well for you to say leave me alone, whoa | Why do you say you’re okay, you’re just a little bit tired today | When you’re on the edge, on the edge of six feet below?

See the color of your eyes is turnin’ bright red | The state of your soul is obviously, well you know, you know | You’re a dead man walkin’ | Don’t you lie to me

Why do you put on a show hopin’ that no one is watchin’ you | You think you’re pullin’ the wool on the world, well you’re foolin’ yourself | How much are you gonna take, see you might bend, but soon you’ll break | Soul full of dust, don’t you know your secret’s been told

See the color of your eyes...

Leave you alone, six feet below, you’re walkin’, whoa...
Dead man walkin’, dead man talkin’, dead man don’t you lie to me

See the color of your eyes...

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

Made for open water

You were born with a rudder and a sail | A captain and a crew | You were made for open water | But your varnish stays shiny and new | It’s beggin’ to be used | And you’re anchored in the harbor

I was built with a tower and a rail | A keeper and a flame | At the water’s edge | And my light is a hope in the storm | But you will never know | If you never leave my harbor | Don’t be afraid of what you’re made for            

Set your sites on the horizon | Face the storm and the waters risin’ | I will be the lighthouse to guide you home | But you’ll never know if you never go | You’re made for open water

Oh the voyage is harder than you know | With salt in your eyes you | Might just lose your way | While the harbor is safe and secure | But you were made for more | To be free and weathered, not just safe and tethered | Don’t be afraid of why you were made

Set your sites on the horizon...

Set your sights on the open sea | Weigh anchor and let the current carry | You will find just what you’re made of  

Set your sites on the horizon...| But you’ll never know, if you never go | And you’ll never see if you never leave | You will never be whole if you never leave home | And take to the sea | You're made for open water

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

STORM CLOUD

Why do we tell each other lies | Why do we feel the need to romanticize | Every pain and wound in our lives | Why to we medicate, duck and cover | Why are we always in search of | Sunshine and silver linings | But what if the lesson’s better learned | By letting the green sky come rollin’ in

Storm cloud come and chase us down | Lighting come wake us up | Thunder come shake us | Rain come, come and wash us now | I know that we shudder at your arrival | But oh how we come alive when faced with survival

Why do we tend to complain | When nothing is easy or going our way | Just tell me one thing that finds its strength | From bearing no weight at all you can’t stand tall

Storm cloud come and chase us down... | Survival, survival, survival | Storm Cloud come and chase us down

Why is it so hard to see | Your hands are all over what feels like misery | But maybe you’re up to something good | So maybe I’ll let you lead into another green sky

Oh, Storm cloud come and chase us down...| Survival, survival, survival

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

FOOLISH TONGUE

The taste of this foolish tongue | Is an all too familiar one | It might sound funny, it might sound smart | But you don’t know it like I do | It’s probably about to break your heart | Mama said keep it behind your teeth | When nothin’ you’re sayin’ is worth repeatin’ | And oh you know, I think I proved her right | Judging by the words I’m eating now

Oh foolish tongue on the run, whoa | I thought I had you locked up for good | You distracted me with your clever quips and | Slipped straight through my pad-locked lips | It’s the perfect ruse to use on a fool like me

Funny how it’s not so very funny | Hindsight’s much clearer than twenty-twenty | Thought I was better | Thought I would never | Betray you with my, betray you with my | Foolish tongue, it’s on the run...

If you can’t say somethin’ nice don’t say it all | If you can’t say somethin’ nice don’t say it all | If you sacrifice the good advice that mama gave | All for somethin’ smart to say | Oh please don’t say it at all

You foolish tongue on the run...

If you can’t say somethin’ nice | When you can’t say somethin’ nice
No you can’t say somethin’ nice, so don’t say it

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

Don't wanna miss that sky

She redefines dignity with her bare feet | And dirt underneath her fingernails | She lifts the fears of nighttime fears with the blankets | To climb beneath and tell her fairy tale | And late and night she looks outside, says baby | You don’t wanna miss that sky | She can mend most anything, she’s even good with shattered dreams | She’ll lend you her wings

He redefines security with his calloused hands | And engine oil in every laugh line | He sets aside the world’s demands with the tools in his hands | To bend and give a piggyback ride | He comes alive with the sunrise, says princess | You don’t wanna miss that sky, no | See he can fix the broken parts, he’s even good with broken hearts | He’s got it down to an art

Oh, without them where would I be now | Broken and afraid to leave the ground | But they’ve always been there, they’ve always been | Fixin’ dreams from broken parts, and givin’ wings to broken hearts | They’ve got down to an art

So late at night I’ll decide to come alive | And I’ll wait outside for the sunrise
I don’t wanna miss that sky | I don’t wanna miss that sky | I don’t wanna miss that sky

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

REASON WHY

I know you said it was over, but I just can’t let it go | Something you said was uncertain and now I’ve just got to know | What made you change your mind

I really want to believe that you’ve got your heart on straight | You’ve got the best of intentions, you’re not just runnin’ away | Why would you change your mind | Something here just doesn’t feel right

‘Cause something in your voice says you still want me | Something in your eyes tells me you still need me | Something in the way you didn’t say goodbye | Says you’re afraid to try | And I gotta know the reason why

I know it hasn’t been easy, but that’s just the way love goes | You always said you believed the best in the harder road
So why would you change your mind | Something here just doesn’t feel right

‘Cause Something in your voice says you still want me | Something in your eyes tells me you still need me | Something in the way you didn’t say goodbye | Says you’re afraid to try | And I gotta know the reason

Oh… no it’s not like you to just not know | Oh… and it’s not like you to just let go, go

There’s something in your voice | There’s something in your eyes | Something in the way you didn’t even say goodbye | Says you’re just afraid to try | And I hope I can change your mind, oh | If you’re afraid to try | Just give me one good reason why

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

MY LITTLE SECRET

She lives down deep, past the marrow of the bone | She’s built quite a fortress and reinforces it with stone | She’s the selfish girl, the fractured woman | The haughty eye that resides deep inside my skin

Happily a stranger, there’s no danger if you’re not known | Loneliness convinced her she was better off alone | She does her best to hide out of view from you | She’s my little secret, done my best to keep her it’s true | but I’ll consider telling you

She hides away to keep me looking good  | Just in case I meet someone who would | Leave me here at the first sign of pain, at the first mark of blame | It’s always been the same

I know it sounds a little strange | But I’m not the only one with my heart in a cage | We’re all so good at livin’ our lives, livin’ our lives | just a show on the outside | We’re just livin’ a lie

So come with me past the marrow of the bone | And meet the frightened stranger, who’s encased her heart in stone | I’m tired of trying to hide, my little secret is blown | Loneliness tricked us, and it’s a cancer all its own | See lonliness tricked us, because it’s nothing | Like being known, like being home
Like being loved by you

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

EXIT CAGE RIGHT

Lacquered Stilettos, ego feeding lights | On this sleepless stage | Ordinary people, they come to stake their rights | To a marquis name | Oh, eyeliner, it’s thicker than tar | And oh how much these pearls do weigh | Bodies on parade, in our costumes while our | Our hearts are stowed backstage

And If I miss the curtain call | Will they notice I was ever there at all now?

See you can try to cater to this masquerade | But as for me, I’m tired of chewing on the scenery | Yeah, you can go ahead and get yourself all dolled up | I gotta escape from the spotlights | Gotta exit cage right

If I miss the curtain call | Will they notice I was gone at all | See when I miss that curtain call yeah | You can bet they won’t notice I was ever there at all

Now see, you can try to cater to this masquerade... | Gotta exit cage right | Gotta call it a night, gotta escape from the spotlights, yeah yeah | Gotta call it a night, gotta exit cage right

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

OUR SONG

Broke-down heart don’t give up now | Just take a little time | We’ll do our best to figure this out | Something’s gotta give | You pushed and pulled your heart along | It’s not like you didn’t try | But it’s no secret somethin’s wrong, somethin’s gone | Between you and I | But we can’t just sit here and mumble | And hope to get through all the rumble stumble jumble in your head, oh

You know our song, sing along | If you forgot the words, Let me remind you how it goes, yeah | Amazing grace and hallelujah | You don’t have to be perfect | Just let me know that you love me as I love you, I do

You can take it nice and slow | Yeah, that’s enough for me | Just don’t you give up, don’t you let go | You can hold on tight to me | But we can’t just sit here and mumble | And hope to get through all the rumble stumble jumble in your head, your head, no

You know our song...

If you start with a hummin’ | Pretty soon it take off runnin’

You know our song...

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

How do i find my way

How do I find my way | The crumb trail is missing | The map’s been rearranged | How do I know which way to turn | The compass is spinning | The north star has burned out | It’s fallen to the earth

How do I know the truth from the lies | When those with the answers | Never take the time | To turn on the light 

How can the glass be half-full | When it’s cracked and broken | It’s leaking and flowin’ down | Flowin’ to the floor empty, just like before

How do I find my way | The crumb trail is missing | The map’s been rearranged

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) | Not Alone (2014)

I'm Comin'

I’m not being stubborn, or being insecure | It’s just that when it comes to love | I’ve got to know for sure, And I don’t know yet | I’m not bein’ heartless, or playin’ hard to get | It’s just that when it comes to you | I’m not sure I can let my guard down | This heart is tired of playing games | Of give and lose and take your bruised heart home

I’m not holding out on you, or leading you on | Its just that when it comes to me | I’m not sure I can turn my soul back on | This heart is tired of playing games of | Give and lose and take your bruised heart home | But when it comes to me and you | It’s almost like I’ve loved you all along

I’m taking my time, but I’m comin’, I’m comin’ | I’m taking it in stride, but I’m comin’, I’m comin’  | Don’t leave my side, no, I’m comin’ | Just wait on me now, and you could see me come runnin’

I’m not giving up on you, don’t give up on me | I know I talk myself in circles | But I can’t help, can’t fool myself | When every twist and turn comes back to you

Oh I’m taking my time...

This heart is tired of playing games of | Give and lose and take your bruised heart home | But when it comes to bein’ loved by you | It’s like you’ve been here all along

So I’m taking my time...

Susan Russell - Yawp Shop Publishing (ASCAP) & Emily Martin - JME Sounds (BMI) | Not Alone (2014)