Mandolin Orange

Quiet Little Room lyrics

All songs written by Andrew Marlin, (c) 2010 Mandolin Orange LLC

THESE OLD WHEELS

Silence is golden some may say, some may say
I say silence is an aimless time to kill
It’s a restless feeling pounding on my brain both night and day
and these old wheels of mine spin louder as it builds

Yes the sky would surely fall if my dear eardrum did fail
to beat a single time, in time or out
Some may make it out alright and some may have never known
but these old wheels spin far too loud, far too loud

For I love to hear a chorus from the morning bird choir
and the sounds of coffee boiling on the pot
How I love to hear I love you in a dry morning tone
And just assume that if I can’t these wheels would stop

Yes happy is the day I lay my poor head down
with neither trial nor trouble to compete
with the chirp of summer crickets nor a tree frog’s croak
And these old wheels slow down enough so that I may sleep

Silence is golden some may say, some may say
I say silence is an aimless time to kill
It’s a restless feeling pounding on my brain both night and day
and these old wheels of mine spin louder as it builds


YOUR CRYIN’ EYES

You say you’d kill ten thousand men
beneath the rising sun
but why taken on ten thousand when your quarrel lies with one

Dry your cryin’ eyes enough so they may see
heartbreak has broken you down
But in its wake, babe, true love is found

You say you’d sail the seven seas
and circle the world wide
and just to meet your bitter needs you’d turn and slap the face of god

Dry your cryin’ eyes enough so they may see
heartbreak has broken you down
But in its wake, babe, true love is found

Well Suns come up and suns go down and so many have have passed
Oh my, my I guess now you’ll stop time
and believe that you’re the first to try

Dry your cryin’ eyes enough so they may see
heartbreak has broken you down
But in its wake, babe, true love is found


WEE BIRD

A wee bird chirped and swore my life was a lie
and I thought that the fox was sly but oh boys, that fox just passed me by
while that wee bird squawked and damn near wrecked my mind

now a bird’s eye view is truly keen
and I was just a pawn to her highness the feathered queen
still I wore that crown and tried my best to keep it clean

‘Cause that bird could sing and that bird could fly
that bird could steal and she sure could lie
and I reached into her wee bird mouth and pulled the worm out
and it poisoned me
yes it poisoned me

well bye, bye birdie I think we both knew
that that nest we built for two was best suited for you
still I must admit that my love was true, yes it’s true

I said a bird’s eye view is truly keen
and i was just a pawn to her highness the feathered queen
still I wore that crown and tried my best to keep it clean

‘Cause that bird could sing and that bird could fly
that bird could steal and she sure could lie
and I reached into her wee bird mouth and pulled the worm out
and it poisoned me
yes it poisoned me

A wee bird chirped and swore my life was a lie
and I thought that the fox was sly but oh boys, that fox just passed me by
while that wee bird squawked and damn near wrecked my mind


EASY

Lay me down easy
as you make my dying bed
I’ll keep your memory with me
for as long as I rest

As an old tree falls it’s our loss, and they all fall
Lay me down

Lay me down easy
deep in the clay
as you touch another shoulder
as you say what you’ll say

And if in bad mind I’ve lived my life
Lay me down easy

Lay me down easy
as we meet at the gate
with a devil on my shoulder
and a poor man’s fate

Will I win my wings, will I sing or sleep
Lay me down


MODERN MAN

A modern man is he who pulls himself away from the screen
free from mainstream
he’s seen it all before when forced to face a modern door
he reaches for his tylenol and water, water, clean water
that’s all he needs, yeah, free from mainstream
he’s drank his fill before
when forced to stomach one ounce more
he turns around and searches for his pillow and his mattress in his quiet little room
and tries to sleep, yeah, deep in his dreams
modern man doesn’t need reality he’d rather

Shoot at the moon
though he knows that it won’t fall no matter how many holes
that he may try to claim
such an honest man who fires away

At nothing in particular
simply because testicular motives seek, yeah, to roam free in the scene
his lust controls it all when forced to face another wall
he turns and lights his last menthol
 
and drags it on, till the whole damn thing is gone
no matter how many holes
in his lungs may come to be
such an honest man, and honest way

to kill off all the little things, smoke them out and fire away at life,
yeah, don’t be shy, be obscene
go turn your head and smile
you’ll soon be gone in quite awhile
and make more room for one more pile of skin and bones


ONE MORE DOWN

I went out on the town
for just one round
and it seemed one down just won’t enough
I have no broken heart, but I know enough the play the part
here’s one more down and that’s just the start

For I’m a fool for the finest girl
but she’s no fool for me
I try and try to catch her eye
and pray someday that she may see

But time is my answer
dragging water through the crowd
eyeing a dancer, dancing on my cloud

I hear tell of that mourning dove
she flies from pine to pine
so I’ll take wing, mourn and sing
until that girl for me is mine

So I lay down with circles in my head
and dream and dream I never had
I was climbing down a mountain into a deep, dark hole
and it that dream it didn’t seem all that bad


NIGHT OWL

As sure as the night owl keeps watch
with his keen sense of wisdom and wit
I’ll be deep in my dreams, and you’ll be out on the scene
playing the fool once again

The flip of a coin
the pluck of a petal
the luck of the draw all prove no better
than the night owl’s song
that you won’t be home and I’ll be sleeping alone

As sure as the night owl keeps watch, singing the night owl’s blues
I’ll be slipping away in fear of the day
that our love may end up old news

The flip of a coin
the pluck of a petal
the luck of the draw all prove no better
than the night owl’s song
that you won’t be home and I’ll be sleeping alone


A THOUSAND AMEN

Soon after the fall began
we hit hard weather like we’d never known
we starved and still we panned
hoping that dust could save us now

Jesus feed us with a thousand amen
set me down at god’s right hand when this all ends

What’s gold to those who cannot eat
what’s gold to those who can
bread and water for me
or death by heaven’s hand

Jesus feed us with a thousand amen
set me down at god’s right hand when this all ends

Water froze the bone
and you’d swear it froze our minds
for some it’s all they’d known
not raised the quittin’ kind

Well the river froze on over
with our hands buried deep
and that ice it shined like gold
and soothed us all to sleep

Jesus feed us with a thousand amen
set me down at god’s right hand when this all ends


LIFE ON A STRING

If all this is easy and all that we need
we’ve fallen behind, we’ve fallen behind
you can dig all you like and make a big pile
and sing all the while, and sing all the while

But you’re just a boy who strummed the right chord
and I’m just a boy who gave an ear
write, it’s alright, I’m shedding my skin instead of these tears

Swimming alone and torn in between
life in a dream or life on a string
living atop our own little hills
perched for the kill, we’re perched for the kill

and you’re just a boy who strummed the right chord
and I’m just a boy who gave an ear
write, it’s alright, I’m shedding my skin instead of these tears

If love was the light first seen at our birth
and then all the earth, and then all the earth
how can it fall so far behind
try to remind me, and I’ll try to remind

But you’re just a boy who strummed the right chord
and I’m just a boy who gave an ear
write, it’s alright, write, it’s alright, write


LULLABY

Who heard the tree that fell on me
and who heard my cries there beneath it
with no one around, do we make a sound
will no one else hear of our secret

I have pushed and I’ve pulled until I’ve turned blue
tried countin’ sheep and made it to two
I have have gazed at the stars and the man in the moon
tried thinking of anything but you

Oh me in this world of sorrow
missing your world of love
may I leave this world of sorrow
for a world made just for us
just for us

I count the hours as they pass me by and I count up all that i’ve done
every echoed sound, it haunts me now
as I lie here in wait of the sun

and if daybreak doesn’t make it I’m not sure how I’ll take it
for I’d surely hate to break it off so soon
but there’s no one around to hear all of this sound
myself and these trees have been making

Oh me in this world of sorrow
missing your world of love
may leave this world of sorrow
for a world made just for us
just for us


POOR BOY POOR ME

As sad as it may seem
I call pennies in between
these cushions a good means of saving dimes
I never claimed that I’d be rich
Never said I would try
But I live well enough to eat and I’ll live long enough to die

So don’t sell what you can keep
sell it high or sell it cheap
for you’ll miss it just the same
poor boy poor me

My mother’s a millionaire now
she spends it in the clouds
so I skipped town hoping somehow to drown it out
and I’m sure someday I’ll hit it big as well
sad enough only time will tell as to when
or what it’s all about

So don’t sell what you can keep
sell it high or sell it cheap
for you’ll miss it just the same
poor boy poor me

They say the devil will take your soul
they say this world ain’t no place to call home
I don’t know, I often pay it all no mind
and as sad as it may seem I call pennies in between
these cushions a good means of saving dimes

So don’t sell what you can keep
sell it high or sell it cheap
for you’ll miss it just the same
poor boy poor me

I said don’t sell what you can keep
sell it high or sell it cheap
for you’ll miss it just the same
poor boy poor me