1. |
Island of Hope
03:42
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While my feet
Take one step
After the next
Could be standing still
While cars and taxi horns
Pollute the background
Can't see my face
In this crowd
Won't show a single emotion
As a passing truck
Comes close to knocking me down
On this disappointing island
With just a patch of concrete
For me to stand on
Wondering where to look
To find some hope
A pretty girl
Passes by
We both feel something
And smile for a second
Then back
To the dirty streets
Thick with darkness
World rushes by
With just a patch of concrete
For me to stand on
Wondering where to look
To find some hope
I think about the girl
How it would feel
To have someone
To hold me
Always seems
Just so close
Even when I’m alone
On this barren planet
With just a patch of concrete
For me to stand on
Wondering where to look
To find some hope
Chords: A9sus, A13, Am7, Cmaj7
Copyright 2016, Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
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2. |
Can't Run Far Enough
03:48
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Can’t run far enough
Because it’s alway the same old things
When you get there
Same old haunting problems
That you bring along
Every time
Hard to blame the people
You don't even know
Because they couldn't care less
About you
Or what you've lived through
When you're not one to them
But honey, I've run so many miles
Worn out all my welcomes
And goodbyes
Used up all those 9 lives
Between the trucks
And thugs
And lonely nights
When I just needed someone
Who could hold me still
Calm my heart
Because, when it came to
Fight or flight
I would always fly away
Into that lonely night
Hands on the cold wheel
Of my old Chevy
With its 327
Getting me from to there
One town to the next
When it didn't work out
Always hoping for something
Like in the movies
A distant blonde
To make that detour
Seem worthwhile
With nothing to lose
Except myself
Along the way
On this road, with
Shooting stars
Streaming across the sky
And me wondering when
I just stopped wishing
But honey, I've run so many miles
Worn out all my welcomes
And goodbyes
Used up all those 9 lives
Just couldn't run fast enough
To get away from myself
Chords: C, Fmaj7, Dm, Am (Em coupled with Am for bridge)
Copyright 2016 Mark Hahn, all rights reserved.
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3. |
Never Fit In
03:57
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Curled up in the dark
Eyes closed tight
To keep out
The reality of the world
Sleeping like drugs
To escape from everything
Where the restless dreams
Are better than the nightmares
Of the waking place
Prisoners that we are
Turning on each other
To push it all away
So close the curtains tight, baby
Cuz’ it still reeks
Of dirty ashtrays
Bad booze and broken dreams
Sometimes you’ve lived things
That change
How you see everything now
Differently than anyone else
With the bad and the good
And the freedom
To know you’ll never fit in
And no one will really understand
But on this rainy afternoon
With that feeling
In your heart
Right down to your boots
And those other
Rainy days
In your life
Lined up in your memory
Just pull the curtains tight, baby
Cuz’ it still reeks
Of dirty ashtrays
Bad booze and broken dreams
Sometimes you’ve lived things
That change
How you see everything now
Differently than anyone else
With the good and the bad
And the freedom
To know you’ll never fit in
And that it doesn’t matter
Chord Shapes (capo on 2nd fret): C, Em, Fmaj7 Key: F (riff along 3rd string with added blue notes)
Copyright 2017, Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
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4. |
Twenty Four Hours
03:47
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Driving down the road
Past the air force base
Surrounded by miles of dead grass
And blue skies
24 hours from nowhere
Wondering where I’m going
And who I’ll be with
In the end
When it comes to
Finding my way
Down some dark alley
And holding on
In a lost corner
Of the world
Where I don’t exist
Like Budapest or Beijing
Take me away
From the crowds
The lights
And the dreams
Don’t want to be anyone
Or anything
Anymore
Just want me and you
Lying in the dark
On a little bed
With the light
From a single street lamp
Streaming in
Through a small window
Onto your cheek
Resting next to mine
While I lie awake
Looking at the ceiling
When there’s is nothing more
Than us together
24 hours from nowhere
Wondering where you’re going
And who you’ll be with
In the end
Just need you
To take me away
From everything and
Into that dark room
24 hours from nowhere
Holding tight
Until the end
Chords: C, Em, Am, Dm
Copyright 2016 Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
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5. |
Like a Narcotic
03:50
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When it knocks you out
Like the best drugs
And the pains of the world
All seem small
Can’t intrude, into
This one perfect moment
Nodding off, against
Each other's bodies
In each other’s arms
Hits like a shot
Right to your heart
The chemical surge
Love, like a narcotic
Knocks you out
While you fall, into that place
Where you’re meant to be
That true primitive state of being
For this one perfect moment
A hundred percent alive
Forgetting all your regrets
Pouring down on you
When you're pursued
By fear and darkness
And need to escape, to
Love, like a narcotic
Knocks you out
While you fall, into that place
Where you’re meant to be
Forgetting who is who
And what is what
Because it doesn't matter
When you get this far
High off love
When the rush comes on
Stronger than any narcotic
Knocking you down
With the real thing
What we're born
To seek out
In the dark
So here we are
Risking it all
Giving in to trust
For that last taste
Of freedom
Letting go of everything
For this moment
When love intoxicates
Love like a narcotic
Knocks you out
As you fall, into that place
Where you’re meant to be
Chords: (D,G,D,Em)x2,(A,Em) – mixed up a bit
Copyright 2016 Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
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6. |
Hangover Train
03:41
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I’ll be stepping off
That hangover train
Someday
Sick of working
So damned hard
Just to get by
Riding Down those tracks
The sun hurts my eyes
Hands are always so damned cold
Riding that old familiar train
I know where it takes me
I know where it's going
Rode that hangover train
So damned long
Feel I need to keep going
For good, but
Ain't goin’ down
On that hangover train
No more
I took my last ride
Down those tracks
Taking me nowhere
I haven't been
Or want to go again
Yeah, I’m stepping off
That hangover train
Somehow
Can’t keep riding
That old familiar train
Down those same damned tracks
When I know where they take me
Know where it's going
I have to step off
Chords: (First Fret Capo) A, D, Em, Lead: riff on first string: G, Gb, G#, A, Ab, Harmonica: Lazy Pentatonic in A.
Copyright 2016, Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
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7. |
Lost Cat
03:38
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A tattered paper
Blows in the wind
Tries to fly away
From that corner
Stuck to a ragged pole
Where it’s been taped
Has anyone seen
My lost cat
But when is a cat
Truly lost
Might just be out
Exploring the world
Finding a new friend
To follow
To keep them warm
And give them food
I read once
That cats
Were never
Domesticated at all
But simply wandered in
And liked the life
They found with us
On their own terms
But whenever I see
One of those signs
I like to think
That if I had the choice
If I were to come back
It would be as cat
Be that lost cat
Down that dark alley
On a warm summer’s night
Looking around
And listening
To world around me
Chords: Bm, A, E (Key: A)
Copyright 2016, Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
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8. |
Man Needs a Gun
04:21
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Born into this world
Alone in myself
And too small to fight
Knocked off guard
Filled with surprise
That it was so damned harsh
For the ones who don’t know how to fight back
So a man needs a gun
Or maybe a knife
Hard to accept
That it's always been
This way
Tom H. had gotten it right
Even if it took years
To see it
Learn to live in this world
Where the violence
Is condoned
As long as it’s hidden
Under the surface
Of what seems like social order
When the people being hurt
Are the ones no one cares about
The outsiders, the weak
The ones who don’t know how to fight back
So a man needs a gun
Or maybe a knife
Until it comes to that time
When you're not going to take it
Any more
And you’ll go down fighting
Even if it kills you
Because you’ve just had too much
And the last one that pushes
Becomes everyone that came before him
And you need to stand up
To the whole damned lot of them
Who messed you up
When you were young
For being different
For being you
For not knowing how to fight back
But it’s already too late
Once you’ve found that gun
Or that knife
Or whatever it takes
To stand up to the
Sadists in this world
Who express
Their own fear
And anger
By inflicting it
On everyone else
Who don’t know how to fight back
But it’s already too late
Once you’ve found that gun
Or that knife
Or whatever it takes
To stand up to the
Whole messed up world
Copyright 2016, Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
Chords: (Capo 3rd fret) C, Fmaj7, Em, Am. Lead: ~B blues scale
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9. |
Detroit Factory
05:21
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I drove the forklift
When I was twenty
Smoked and drank
And did my job
Detroit factories
Were churning out
Mountains of US goods
It all seemed unstoppable
Pumping out
The plastic frontends
Of Camaros
And Firebirds
Three minutes per part
Almost as big as a man
When you pulled them out
From the injection machine
A blonde in designer jeans
Fed the chipper
To chop up all the bad ones
She worked alongside me
Always caught me looking
At her butt
She was so hard
And I was so young
I tried to pull it off
Like I was cool
You like what you see
She’d mock
And make me blush
Yeah, she was so hard
And I was so young
Couldn’t take my eyes off her
She asked me once
You want to come by
To my house next weekend
Have some beers
I never made it there
Came in from the truck
Looking to play
Coffee cup poker
With the other guys
They all looked away
When they saw me
Looking around
Finally, someone had to say it
She had worked a double shift
And slipped and fell
Into the chipper
Lost both her hands
In a split second
Her life had changed
They tied her off and off she went
They asked me to run the chipper
I said no
Didn’t work there
Very much longer
NAFTA passed in ‘94
The factory closed in ‘96
Wonder where she is now
How’s she’s getting by
How anyone is getting by
After another thousand factories
Shut their doors
Making way for Amazon and Walmart
Now our cars and guitars
Come from China, Korea and Mexico
Where labor’s cheap
And no one cares about safety
NAFTA passed in ‘94
The factories closed in ‘96
Wonder where they all went now
How they’re getting by
Chord Shapes: Fmaj7, C, Dm, Am & Em (Capo 1st fret)
Copyright 2016, Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved.
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10. |
Dad
04:05
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Hey dad
You show up
From time to time
As if you’ve always been here
Like you never left
But why don’t you ever talk
In my dreams
I’d already gotten over
That last big fight
Before you were killed
In that tangled car
The drunken crash
That took you out
But I can’t escape
Those final words
After all these years
That were left hanging
If I could just see you
While passing through town
In some real way
A natural thing
Something normal
Like everyone else gets
Hey, I’m going to be in town
Let’s get together
Maybe we’d talk about our struggles
About my kids
My sister
All the things you missed
The things I’ll always miss
The hard times
I had
Stumbling into adulthood
Without you here
But I can’t escape
Those final words
After all these years
That were left hanging
Chords: Cmaj7, Fmaj7, Em9
Copyright 2016 Mark Hahn, All Rights Reserved
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Mark Hahn Tucson, Arizona
Tucson artist and writer, Mark Hahn, grew up in Detroit MI, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and has traveled, lived and worked in many major cities across Europe and the United States. He has now settled in Tucson and spends his time focusing on varied creative projects while exploring the Sonoran Desert and the broken down mining towns that are scattered around the Southern AZ landscape. ... more
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