This is a fan voted award. I first want to say thank you to the fans because in this video, several points were made. So you voting for this video means that you want a world where we're all treated equally under the law. Regardless of how we identify at the end of this video, there was a petition and there still is a petition. For the Equality Act, which basically just says we all deserve equal rights under the law. And that's why I want to thank everyone who signed the petition, because it now has half a million signatures, which.


00:01:02
Which is five times the amount that it would need to warrant a response from the White House. I love my cast. I'm so grateful to everyone who was in this video, the ones who are here, the ones who are at home. We love you so much. Thank you for doing this with us. I love my co-executive producer, Todd Recall. I love my. I'm so grateful to my co-director, Drew Kearse. Thank you so much.


00:01:34
And thank you to the fans for everything you do for us. My cast lived their lives so authentically. Thank you for being the example that you are. I love you guys so much. Thank you, MTV, for lifting up this point in this video. We love.

Hi. The quality of my speaking voice is it’s the product of two things that I’m not sorry for. One is that I went to—I was lucky enough to go to a Knicks game last night, screamed for 100 percent of it, and then I got home, and I was like, “You gotta stop screaming, you’re screaming too much, you’re screaming instead of talking, you’re too excited,” and I was like, “Okay, I’m not gonna scream tonight,” and then I got to witness the amazing performances that I saw tonight, and then I just kept screaming; I just never stopped screaming, and so this is what you get, and again, I make no apologies for that. I’ve had a blast.

Tonight has been amazing. I want to begin by thanking the person who introduced and inducted me tonight. He thinks that this is the first time he has inducted me into something, but what he may not be taking into consideration is that through his decades of spellbinding storytelling, Steven Spielberg has unknowingly inducted me and countless others into his sacred club of expansive world-building. From the time he was a kid, every time he dreamed something up, he wanted to do anything humanly possible to be able to show it to you. I watched his films pivot between different genres, action to sci-fi, to historical epic to drama, to comedy, romance, fantasy, to musical, and I watched him ace every single genre, and that kind of limitless creativity isn’t just inspiring to burgeoning filmmakers. Because of examples like Steven’s, I trusted my imagination, regardless of if it was taking me somewhere new and uncharted, and then every time I dreamed something up, I wanted to do everything humanly possible to be able to play it for you.

A few months ago, when the Songwriters Hall of Fame asked me about my heroes and the creatives who shaped my storytelling and who I might want to present this award to me, I said Steven’s name. And about an hour later, to my absolute delight, I ended up on the phone with him and his legendarily effervescent wife, Kate Capshaw, who is here tonight. And he was telling me that yes, absolutely, he would be thrilled to be here. I was completely blown away, because I mean, the man has a massive film called Disclosure Day that’s coming out at midnight tonight, and he’s still gonna agree to show up and do this for me a few hours before it comes out. Wouldn’t that be impossibly hard to balance? Wouldn’t that be too difficult scheduling-wise? I’m trying to give him an out, at which point Kate said something I’ll never forget. She said, “Good and true things are easy.”

And if I look back at my entire 23-year career in music—the ups and downs, the industry battles, the trials and tribulations, the tears and the cheers, and the dogpiling of doubt, the criticisms—both fair and unfair—the complete loss of privacy, the world tours, and the ego wars, and the twists of fate, the absolute magical chaos of this path that I chose when I was too young to remember it ever being a choice at all, songwriting was the easiest thing I ever did. Not because it didn’t take effort; it definitely did. Not that it wasn’t frustrating at times, because it could be, and not that my songwriting didn’t haunt me relentlessly until I cracked the perfect internal rhyme scheme for the third line, the second verse, to the point where my teachers called me out in class for not paying attention, because that definitely happened.

But when I say that songwriting was the easiest part for me, I think what I mean is that it was instinctual. No one taught me how to do it. I had to be taught how to entertain a crowd and learn choreography and be less annoying and navigate the industry and fiercely protect my own sanity. I had to learn all of that over time through difficult lessons and massive amounts of trial and error and chaos and calamity. But songwriting for me was pretty much the only thing I ever just naturally did.

My parents tell me stories about driving home from taking me to see Disney movies in the theaters and noticing I was singing the songs on the way home from the film in the car, but I was changing the lyrics and the melodies to be about my own life. As a little kid, I loved to sing; I loved to do children’s theater performances. But everything came together when I learned to play guitar at 12. I wrote my first song after learning my first three chords.

It felt easy to work incredibly hard at this. It felt easy to nurture something I loved so much, to watch calluses form on the tips of my tiny fingers, and to become a constant observer of the human condition, because people’s feelings, passions, and motivations have always fascinated me, and it was easy to choose songwriting over everything else in my life, but it couldn’t have been easy for my parents and my brother—[Swift gets emotional] I’m good—to just pick up and move our entire family from Pennsylvania to relocate to Nashville, so that I could hone my craft in the songwriting capital of the world. But after it became obvious that this was not even remotely a temporary phase their tween daughter was going through, they uprooted their entire lives to move me to Music City, and even though words are supposed to kind of be my thing, I will never be able to express my gratitude to you guys for doing that for me. You’re the reason I’m here tonight.

In Nashville, I took meetings and I played acoustic shows until I was able to secure a publishing deal. I got signed when I was 14. Oh, thanks [for the applause]. And I got the chance to work with incredibly wise and experienced co-writers, people like Liz Rose, Troy Burgess, Hillary Lindsey, Robert Ellis Orrall, Angelo [Petraglia], the Warren brothers, and the late but so very loved Brett James. So I’d written over 100 songs on my own at that point. But this would be my first experience co-writing.

My parents had raised me to be overprepared, show up early, never assume the world owes you anything. And I might have been 14 years old, but I didn’t want anyone in a professional setting to treat me like a baby, or for these songwriters to think that I expected them to write songs for me to slap my name on, so at this point I started to approach songwriting like a full-time vocation.

And that didn’t mean just showing up to my appointments and hoping that the ideas would show up, too. It meant spending nearly all of my free time writing ideas in preparation for my writing sessions, and then stopping myself at a certain point to allow my co-writers to later weigh in, so some of these ideas were 50 percent done, some were 75 percent done, some were just a hook with lyrics and a melody or a chorus.

I stockpiled them, so that when I went into a writing session with a co-writer, I’d play them and sing them a few of these ideas, sort of like it was a pitch session, and whichever idea they liked the best was the one that we would finish together.

I kept long lists of words that I loved, and I added to it every time I thought of a new one. I developed a serious fixation on alliterations and juxtaposition, and I wrote poems when I didn’t have the right melody yet.

When I was inspired by my own life, my curiosities about the world, or my very dramatic but extremely dire crushes on the boys at school who had never even once talked to me, I wrote about that. And if I wasn’t inspired by my own life, I’d use other methods to spark my imagination. I figured if the idea doesn’t come to you, you have to become your own search party and go find it. Oftentimes, I’d put a movie on, I’d pause a scene and try to write a song from each character’s perspective—even the villain, I’d explore what they were going through, and try to say it in a vernacular that that character might use.

And this is how I learned that every person has a self-constructed justification system that they live by, and we each get to decide what choices we’re willing to condone in ourselves. We each decide what we see as good and true, fair and right. And so with my metaphorical Mary Poppins bag of hooks, choruses, and bridges, and my non-metaphorical backpack from sophomore year of high school, I’d walk into my writing sessions on Music Row. And one of my favorite stories from this time in my life was when I got a chance to write with one of my favorite songwriters of all time, Craig Wiseman.

Craig is an absolute savant of a writer, but he’s also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, too, so I know that I can tell this story. I brought in about five different semi-form[ed] songs that I thought were really strong. Because it was Craig Wiseman, I led my pitch with a song I really thought was special. It was pretty much done, except for a few lines in the bridge. So filled with nervous anticipation, I played it on guitar and sang it for him, and when I finished, he very kindly told me that he thought it was good, but he didn’t really get it, and he’d love to hear the other ideas I brought.

A few songs later, we landed on one that resonated better with him, and we had a fantastic writing session. It turns out you really can and should meet some of your heroes. But years back—or years later, we still look back on that session, and we laugh about that first idea that I played for him. I had ended up going home and finishing the song on my own later that night. It was called “Love Story.” Finishing that song that night was me trusting my instincts as a writer regardless of any feedback or information I had about what other people’s take on it might be.

I think now more than ever in an industry that seems to be consumed by metrics, data analytics, and we’re all trying to predict whether something will trend or not, writers need to trust their human intuition. And I think the thousands of hours I’ve spent loving the working of this craft have taught me to really be able to identify the ideas that jump out at me and sparkle and linger—the ones that matter to me the most.

I have to say thank you to Sombr for that perfect performance [during the ceremony of my music]. And his writing is so exceptional that it makes me actually envious, and I love that feeling. He’s going to be the top of my Spotify Wrapped this year, guaranteed; it’s locked, it’s in the bag.

And a lot of my late-night debates with my friends about the state of the music industry involve me saying very loudly, “Sombr is the future, and he does it all on his own, and he doesn’t need AI. The kids are fine.” And so obviously Shane [Sombr’s real name] is a very well-adjusted person, an artist, and doesn’t need any of my advice at all.

There are so many incredible writers who I love who have come into their own recently, and if I had advice for young artists, though, who should perhaps be interested in it, I would say that you really have to prioritize what you love down to your very core, because you’ll need that if your song ever gets heard by the public or the critics or the haters posing as critics, or the people chronically online, or the robots posing as people who are chronically online.

Songwriters have a real balancing act that they have to conduct every day, because inherently we’re supposed to let it all in, feel deeply and be sensitive to the point of your delusion, and then reflect those feelings and delusions back to the world in the form of a three-and-a-half-minute sonic landscape or a bop or a folktale, or a battle cry, or a 10-minute coming-of-age song about a star. So it’s hard to harden yourself to certain brutal elements of this world.

But allow me to now make a hard pivot and pull out a quote I love from the show Yellowstone when a father says to his son, “It’s the one constant in life, son: You build something worth having, somebody’s gonna try to take it.”

So, John Dutton was talking about a ranch, but I’m using this quote to refer to your self-worth, your peace of mind, and your singular vision as a creator. Positive feedback and people loving what you wrote feels incredible, and I hope you get lots of it, but you need to be ready to receive negative feedback, whether you seek it out or not.

It’s no longer a shock that this is how things work, but somehow it feels like I have this conversation with a young writer every other week. If you make anything awesome, someone out there is bound to say horrible things about it or twist what you meant into something completely unrecognizable to you. What I hope you discover is this: You can be sensitive but also durable, and you can accept that feedback and skepticism and criticism are inevitable. You can take what’s useful or constructive from that information and leave out what’s simply damaging to your creativity.

No one does or should make art that appeals to everyone, everywhere, all the time. My favorite art is detailed and singular in its voice, therefore it can’t be digested and metabolized by everyone who experiences it in the same way. I’m very frequently told by people how they feel about my music, that they never really got my music until they got their heart broken or started driving their daughter to school every day, or until I made an alternative album in the pandemic called Folklore, or that they only like the hits, or that they only like the ones that weren’t hits, or that they don’t like any of it at all, but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable for me to get feedback of all sorts because I know where I stand regarding the work I’ve made.

As writers, we can only hope to meet people where they are in their lives, but you can’t ever orchestrate or force the encounter. You just have to hope that in some exquisite happenstance you bump into them on the same path at the same time, that somehow amidst the noise of life, a line we wrote or a melody that we crafted cuts through and they hear and feel something—that they get chills or feel lighter or think of someone they love. Our goal is to elicit that glint of recognition in another human being, because something that felt good and true to us feels good and true to them at the same time, and in that moment when someone blurts out, “I love this song,” it was easy.

Before I go, there’s so many people who helped me get to this podium, who vouched for my writing and cared about my perspective before anyone cared about my name, and then the fans came along and they wanted to hear my stories, my prose, my hooks, my heartache. And nothing, nothing delights and surprises me more than the fact that 20 years after my first song came out, they still want to read the next chapter.

Nothing makes me happier than when someone tells me that they used to listen to my music with their parent, and now decades later, they listen to it with their own child—[Swift gets emotional again] I’m good—or that they listen to it with their best friend, or when a couple tells me that “Love Story” is their song, or somebody does like a cute little dance to “Fate of Ophelia,” or I hear people in different countries singing “Opalite” in their own accents, or someone tells me that the song “Enchanted” gets their baby to stop crying. I’m humbled by the ways that fans have immortalized my songs in their own individual ways, allowing them to be the underscore of some of their real-life expeditions on this earth—the magnificent moments as important to me as the seemingly mundane.

Lastly, I know that when it comes to legacy, there are so many songwriters who have had such remarkable careers before me, and I know that the Songwriters Hall of Fame could have chosen any of these deserving and brilliant writers to receive this honor this year, but you chose to include me in this group of exemplary songwriters to be inducted into the Hall of Fame class of 2026 tonight. So I want to thank the voters for celebrating and honoring the best and truest parts of my life. I will be forever grateful. Have a good night, guys. Thank you.

Last time I was in a stadium this size, I was dancing in heels and wearing a glittery leotard. This outfit is much more comfortable.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to NYU‘s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bill Berkeley and all the trustees and members of the board, NYU’s President Andrew Hamilton, Provost Katherine Fleming, and the faculty and alumni here today who have made this day possible. I feel so proud to share this day with my fellow honorees Susan Hockfield and Felix Matos Rodriguez, who humble me with the ways they improve our world with their work. As for me, I’m…90% sure the main reason I’m here is because I have a song called ‘22’. And let me just say, I am elated to be here with you today as we celebrate and graduate New York University’s Class of 2022.

Not a single one of us here today has done it alone. We are each a patchwork quilt of those who have loved us, those who have believed in our futures, those who showed us empathy and kindness or told us the truth even when it wasn’t easy to hear. Those who told us we could do it when there was absolutely no proof of that. Someone read stories to you and taught you to dream and offered up some moral code of right and wrong for you to try and live by. Someone tried their best to explain every concept in this insanely complex world to the child that was you, as you asked a bazillion questions like ‘how does the moon work’ and ‘why can we eat salad but not grass.’ And maybe they didn’t do it perfectly. No one ever can. Maybe they aren’t with us anymore, and in that case I hope you’ll remember them today. If they are here in this stadium, I hope you’ll find your own way to express your gratitude for all the steps and missteps that have led us to this common destination.

I know that words are supposed to be my ‘thing’, but I will never be able to find the words to thank my mom and my dad, and my brother, Austin, for the sacrifices they made every day so that I could go from singing in coffee houses to standing up here with you all today because no words would ever be enough. To all the incredible parents, family members, mentors, teachers, allies, friends and loved ones here today who have supported these students in their pursuit of educational enrichment, let me say to you now: Welcome to New York. It’s been waiting for you.

I’d like to thank NYU for making me technically, on paper at least, a doctor. Not the type of doctor you would want around in the case of an emergency, unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely cathartic bridge section. Or if your emergency was that you needed a person who can name over 50 breeds of cats in one minute.

I never got to have the normal college experience, per se. I went to public high school until tenth grade and finished my education doing homeschool work on the floors of airport terminals. Then I went out on the road on a radio tour, which sounds incredibly glamorous but in reality it consisted of a rental car, motels, and my mom and I pretending to have loud mother daughter fights with each other during boarding so no one would want the empty seat between us on Southwest.

As a kid, I always thought I would go away to college, imagining the posters I’d hang on the wall of my freshmen dorm. I even set the ending of my music video for my song “Love Story” at my fantasy imaginary college, where I meet a male model reading a book on the grass and with one single glance, we realize we had been in love in our past lives. Which is exactly what you guys all experienced at some point in the last 4 years, right?

But I really can’t complain about not having a normal college experience to you because you went to NYU during a global pandemic, being essentially locked into your dorms or having to do classes over Zoom. Everyone in college during normal times stresses about test scores, but on top of that you also had to pass like a thousand COVID tests. I imagine the idea of a normal college experience was all you wanted too. But in this case you and I both learned that you don’t always get all the things in the bag that you selected from the menu in the delivery service that is life. You get what you get. And as I would like to say to you, you should be very proud of what you’ve done with it. Today you leave New York University and then you go out into the world searching for what’s next. And so will I.

So as a rule, I try not to give anyone unsolicited advice unless they ask for it. I’ll go into this more later. I guess I have been officially solicited in this situation, to impart whatever wisdom I might have and tell you the things that helped me in my life so far. Please bear in mind that I, in no way, feel qualified to tell you what to do. You’ve worked and struggled and sacrificed and studied and dreamed your way here today and so, you know what you’re doing. You’ll do things differently than I did them and for different reasons.

So I won’t tell you what to do because no one likes that. I will, however, give you some life hacks I wish I knew when I was starting out my dreams of a career, and navigating life, love, pressure, choices, shame, hope and friendship.

The first of which is…life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once. Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release. What I mean by that is, knowing what things to keep, and what things to release. You can’t carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go. Oftentimes the good things in your life are lighter anyway, so there’s more room for them. One toxic relationship can outweigh so many wonderful, simple joys. You get to pick what your life has time and room for. Be discerning.

Secondly, learn to live alongside cringe. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. Cringe is unavoidable over a lifetime. Even the term ‘cringe’ might someday be deemed ‘cringe.’

I promise you, you’re probably doing or wearing something right now that you will look back on later and find revolting and hilarious. You can’t avoid it, so don’t try to. For example, I had a phase where, for the entirety of 2012, I dressed like a 1950s housewife. But you know what? I was having fun. Trends and phases are fun. Looking back and laughing is fun.

And while we’re talking about things that make us squirm but really shouldn’t, I’d like to say that I’m a big advocate for not hiding your enthusiasm for things. It seems to me that there is a false stigma around eagerness in our culture of ‘unbothered ambivalence.’ This outlook perpetuates the idea that it’s not cool to ‘want it.’ That people who don’t try hard are fundamentally more chic than people who do. And I wouldn’t know because I have been a lot of things but I’ve never been an expert on ‘chic.’ But I’m the one who’s up here so you have to listen to me when I say this: Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth. The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends with in high school. The people who want it most are the people I now hire to work for my company.

I started writing songs when I was twelve and since then, it’s been the compass guiding my life, and in turn, my life guided my writing. Everything I do is just an extension of my writing, whether it’s directing videos or a short film, creating the visuals for a tour, or standing on stage performing. Everything is connected by my love of the craft, the thrill of working through ideas and narrowing them down and polishing it all up in the end. Editing. Waking up in the middle of the night and throwing out the old idea because you just thought of a newer, better one. A plot device that ties the whole thing together. There’s a reason they call it a hook. Sometimes a string of words just ensnares me and I can’t focus on anything until it’s been recorded or written down.

As a songwriter I’ve never been able to sit still, or stay in one creative place for too long. I’ve made and released 11 albums and in the process, I’ve switched genres from country to pop to alternative to folk. This might sound like a very songwriter-centric line of discussion but in a way, I really do think we are all writers. And most of us write in a different voice for different situations. You write differently in your Instagram stories than you do your senior thesis. You send a different type of email to your boss than you do your best friend from home. We are all literary chameleons and I think it’s fascinating. It’s just a continuation of the idea that we are so many things, all the time. And I know it can be really overwhelming figuring out who to be, and when. Who you are now and how to act in order to get where you want to go. I have some good news: It’s totally up to you. I also have some terrifying news: It’s totally up to you.

I said to you earlier that I don’t ever offer advice unless someone asks me for it, and now I’ll tell you why. As a person who started my very public career at the age of 15, it came with a price. And that price was years of unsolicited advice. Being the youngest person in every room for over a decade meant that I was constantly being issued warnings from older members of the music industry, the media, interviewers, executives. This advice often presented itself as thinly veiled warnings. See, I was a teenager in the public eye at a time when our society was absolutely obsessed with the idea of having perfect young female role models. It felt like every interview I did included slight barbs by the interviewer about me one day ‘running off the rails.’ That meant a different thing to everyone person said it me. So I became a young adult while being fed the message that if I didn’t make any mistakes, all the children of America would grow up to be perfect angels. However, if I did slip up, the entire earth would fall off its axis and it would be entirely my fault and I would go to pop star jail forever and ever. It was all centered around the idea that mistakes equal failure and ultimately, the loss of any chance at a happy or rewarding life.

This has not been my experience. My experience has been that my mistakes led to the best things in my life.

And being embarrassed when you mess up is part of the human experience. Getting back up, dusting yourself off and seeing who still wants to hang out with you afterward and laugh about it? That’s a gift.

The times I was told no or wasn’t included, wasn’t chosen, didn’t win, didn’t make the cut…looking back, it really feels like those moments were as important, if not more crucial, than the moments I was told ‘yes.’

Not being invited to the parties and sleepovers in my hometown made me feel hopelessly lonely, but because I felt alone, I would sit in my room and write the songs that would get me a ticket somewhere else. Having label executives in Nashville tell me that only 35-year-old housewives listen to country music and there was no place for a 13-year-old on their roster made me cry in the car on the way home. But then I’d post my songs on my MySpace and yes, MySpace, and would message with other teenagers like me who loved country music, but just didn’t have anyone singing from their perspective. Having journalists write in-depth, oftentimes critical, pieces about who they perceive me to be made me feel like I was living in some weird simulation, but it also made me look inward to learn about who I actually am. Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely. Being publicly humiliated over and over again at a young age was excruciatingly painful but it forced me to devalue the ridiculous notion of minute by minute, ever fluctuating social relevance and likability. Getting canceled on the internet and nearly losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all the types of wine.

I know I sound like a consummate optimist, but I’m really not. I lose perspective all the time. Sometimes everything just feels completely pointless. I know the pressure of living your life through the lens of perfectionism. And I know that I’m talking to a group of perfectionists because you are here today graduating from NYU. And so this may be hard for you to hear: In your life, you will inevitably misspeak, trust the wrong people, under-react, overreact, hurt the people who didn’t deserve it, overthink, not think at all, self sabotage, create a reality where only your experience exists, ruin perfectly good moments for yourself and others, deny any wrongdoing, not take the steps to make it right, feel very guilty, let the guilt eat at you, hit rock bottom, finally address the pain you caused, try to do better next time, rinse, repeat. And I’m not gonna lie, these mistakes will cause you to lose things.

I’m trying to tell you that losing things doesn’t just mean losing. A lot of the time, when we lose things, we gain things too.

Now you leave the structure and framework of school and chart your own path. Every choice you make leads to the next choice which leads to the next, and I know it’s hard to know sometimes which path to take. There will be times in life when you need to stand up for yourself. Times when the right thing is to back down and apologize. Times when the right thing is to fight, times when the right thing is to turn and run. Times to hold on with all you have and times to let go with grace. Sometimes the right thing to do is to throw out the old schools of thought in the name of progress and reform. Sometimes the right thing to do is to listen to the wisdom of those who have come before us. How will you know what the right choice is in these crucial moments? You won’t.


How do I give advice to this many people about their life choices? I won’t.

Scary news is: You’re on your own now.

Cool news is: You’re on your own now.

I leave you with this: We are led by our gut instincts, our intuition, our desires and fears, our scars and our dreams. And you will screw it up sometimes. So will I. And when I do, you will most likely read about on the internet. Anyway…hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it.

As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. And I’m a doctor now, so I know how breathing works.

I hope you know how proud I am to share this day with you. We’re doing this together. So let’s just keep dancing like we’re…

… the class of ’22.

"The Life Of A Showgirl"
(feat. Sabrina Carpenter)

Her name was Kitty
Made her money being pretty and witty
They gave her the keys to this city
Then they said she didn't do it legitly, oh
I bought a ticket
She's dancing in her garters and fishnets
50 in the cast, zero missteps
Looking back, I guess it was kismet

I waited by the stage door
Packed in with the autograph hounds
Barking her name
Then glowing like the end of a cigarette
Wow, she came out
I said, "You're living my dream"
Then she said to me

"Hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet
You're sweeter than a peach
But you don't know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you're never, ever gonna
Wait, the more you play, the more that you pay
You're softer than a kitten so
You don't know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you're never gonna wanna"

She was a menace
The baby of the family in Lenox
Her father whored around like all men did
Her mother took pills and played tennis

So she waited by the stage door
As the club promoter arrived
She said, "I'd sell my soul to have a taste of a magnificent life that's all mine"
But that's not what showgirls get
They leave us for dead

Hey, thank you for the lovely bouquet
You're sweeter than a peach
But you don't know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you're never, ever gonna
Wait, the more you play, the more that you pay
You're softer than a kitten so
You don't know the life of a showgirl, babe
And you're never gonna wanna

I took her pearls of wisdom
Hung them from my neck
I paid my dues with every bruise
I knew what to expect
Do you wanna take a skate on the ice inside my veins?
They ripped me off like false lashes
And then threw me away
And all the headshots on the walls
Of the dance hall are of the bitches
Who wish I'd hurry up and die
But I'm immortal now, baby dolls
I couldn't if I tried
So I say

"Thank you for the lovely bouquet
I'm married to the hustle
And now I know the life of a showgirl, babe
And I'll never know another
Pain hidden by the lipstick and lace (Lipstick and lace)
Sequins are forever and now I know the life of a showgirl, babe
Wouldn't have it any other way"

Thank you for the lovely bouquet
Wouldn't have it any other way
Thank you for the lovely bouquet

Hey Kitty
Thank you for the lovely bouquet
Now I make my money being pretty and witty
Thank you for the lovely bouquet

Thank you for an unforgettable night
We will see you next time
Give it up for the band
And the dancers
And of course, Sabrina
I love you, Taylor
That's our show
We love you so much
Goodnight

"Honey"

You can call me "Honey" if you want
Because I'm the one you want
Mmm-mmm

When anyone called me "Sweetheart'
It was passive aggressive
At the bar
And the bitch was telling me to back off
'Cause her man had looked at me wrong
If anyone called me "Honey"
It was standing in the bathroom
White teeth
They were saying that skirt don't fit me
And I cried the whole way home

But you touch my face
Redefine all of those blues
When you say
"Honey"

Summertime spritz, pink skies
You can call me "Honey" if you want
Because I'm the one you want
Wintergreen kiss, all mine
You give it different meaning 'cause you mean it when you talk
Honey, I'm home, we can play house
We can bed down, pick me up, who's the baddest in the land? What's the plan? (What's the plan?)
You could be my forever-night stand
Honey

When anyone called me "Sweetheart"
It was passive aggressive
At the bar
And the bitch was telling me to back off
'Cause her man had looked at me wrong
If anyone called me "Honey"
It was standing in the bathroom
White teeth
They were saying that skirt don't fit me
And I cried the whole way home

But you touch my face
Redefine all of those blues
When you say

You can call me "Honey" if you want
Because I'm the one you want
I'm the one you want
You give it different meaning
'Cause you mean it when you talk
Sweetie, it's yours, kicking in doors, take it to the floor, gimme more
Buy the paint in the color of your eyes (Of your eyes)
And graffiti my whole damn life
Honey

When anyone called me late night
He was screwing around with my mind
Asking, "What are you wearing?" Too high
To remember in the morning
And when anyone called me "Lovely"
They were finding ways not to praise me
But you say it like you're in awe of me
And you stay until the morning
Honey

When anyone called me "Sweetheart"
It was passive aggressive
At the bar
And the bitch was telling me to back off
'Cause her man had looked at me wrong (He looked at me wrong)
If anyone called me "Honey"
It was standing in the bathroom (Yeah)
White teeth
They were saying that skirt don't fit me
And I cried the whole way home (Cried the whole way home)

But you can call me "Honey" if you want

"CANCELLED!"

You thought that it would be okay, at first
The situation could be saved, of course
But they'd already picked out your grave and hearse
Beware the wrath of masked crusaders

Did you girlboss too close to the sun?
Did they catch you having far too much fun?
Come with me, when they see us, they'll run
Something wicked this way comes

Good thing I like my friends cancelled
I like 'em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal
Like my whiskey sour, and poison thorny flowers
Welcome to my underworld where it gets quite dark
At least you know exactly who your friends are
They're the ones with matching scars

It's easy to love you when you're popular
The optics click, everyone prospers
But one single drop, you're off the roster
"Tone-deaf and hot, let's fucking off her"

Did you make a joke only a man could?
Were you just too smug for your own good?
Or bring a tiny violin to a knife fight?
Baby, that all ends tonight

Good thing I like my friends cancelled (Cancelled)
I like 'em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal (Yeah)
Like my whiskey sour, and poison thorny flowers
(Honey) Welcome to my underworld, it'll break your heart
At least you know exactly who your friends are
They're the ones with matching scars

They stood by me before my exoneration
They believed I was innocent
So I'm not here for judgment, no

But if you can't be good, then just be better at it
Everyone's got bodies in the attic
Or took somebody's man, we'll take you by the hand
And soon, you'll learn the art of never getting caught

It's a good thing I like my friends cancelled
(You know that) I like 'em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal
I like my whiskey sour, and poison thorny flowers (Ooh)
Yeah, it's a good thing I like my friends cancelled (Cancelled)
I salute you if you're much too much to handle
Like my whiskey sour (I like it), and poison thorny flowers (I love it)
Can't you see my infamy loves company?
Now they've broken you like they've broken me
But a shattered glass is a lot more sharp
And now you know exactly who your friends are (You know who we are)
We're the ones with matching scars

"Wood"

Daisy's bare naked
I was distraught
He loves me not
He loves me not
Penny's unlucky
I took him back and then
Stepped on a crack
And the black cat laughed

And baby, I'll admit I've been a little superstitious (Superstitious)
Fingers crossed until you put your hand on mine
Seems to be that you and me, we make our own luck
A bad sign is all good
I ain't gotta knock on wood

All of that bitchin', wishing on a falling star
Never did me any good
I ain't got to knock on wood
It's you and me forever dancing in the dark
All over me, it's understood
I ain't got to knock on wood
Forgive me, it sounds cocky
He (Ah!)matized me
And opened my eyes
Redwood tree
It ain't hard to see
His love was the key
That opened my thighs

Girls, I don't need to catch the bouquet
To know a hard rock is on the way

And baby, I'll admit I've been a little superstitious (Superstitious)
The curse on me was broken by your magic wand
Seems to me that you and me, we make our own luck
New Heights of manhood (New Heights, manhood)
I ain't gotta knock on wood

All of that bitchin', wishing on a falling star
Never did me any good
I ain't got to knock on wood
It's you and me forever dancing in the dark
All over me, it's understood
I ain't got to knock on wood
Forgive me, it sounds cocky
He (Ah!)matized me
And opened my eyes
Redwood tree
It ain't hard to see
His love was the key
That opened my thighs

Forgive me, it sounds cocky
He (Ah!)matized me
And opened my eyes
Redwood tree
It ain't hard to see
His love was the key
That opened my thighs

"Wi$h Li$t"

They want that yacht life under chopper blades
They want those bright lights and Balenci shades
And a fat ass with a baby face
They want it all

They want that complex female character
They want that critical smash Palme d'Or
And an Oscar on their bathroom floor
They want it all

And they should have what they want
They deserve what they want
Hope they get what they want

I just want you
Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you
We tell the world to leave us the fuck alone, and they do
Wow, got me dreaming 'bout a driveway with a basketball hoop
Boss up, settle down, got a wish list (Wish list)
I just want you

They want that freedom, living off the grid
They want those three dogs that they call their kids
And that good surf, no hypocrites
They want it all

They want a contract with Real Madrid
They want that spring break that was fuckin' lit
And then that video taken off the internet
They want it all

And they should have what they want
They deserve what they want
I hope they get what they want

I just want you (You, you, yeah)
Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you
We tell the world to leave us the fuck alone, and they do
Wow, got me dreaming 'bout a driveway with a basketball hoop
Boss up, settle down, got a wish list (Wish list)

I made wishes on all of the stars
Please, God, bring me a best friend who I think is hot
I thought I had it right once, twice, but I did not (I did not)
You caught me off my guard
I hope I get what I want (Get what I want)
'Cause I know what I want

I just want you, baby
Have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you (Got 'em looking like you)
We tell the world to leave us the fuck alone, and they do
Wow, got me dreaming 'bout a driveway with a basketball hoop
Boss up, settle down, got a wish list (Wish list)

I just want you
And we could have a couple kids, got the whole block looking like you (You)
We tell the world to leave us the fuck alone, and they do (Yeah)
Wow, and now you got me dreaming 'bout a driveway with a basketball hoop
Boss up, settle down, got a wish list (Wish list)
I just want you

"Actually Romantic"

I heard you call me "Boring Barbie" when the coke's got you brave
High-fived my ex and then you said you're glad he ghosted me
Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face
Some people might be offended

But it's actually sweet
All the time you've spent on me
It's honestly wild
All the effort you've put in
It's actually romantic
I really got to hand it to you
No man has ever loved me like you do

Hadn't thought of you in a long time
But you keep sending me funny valentines
And I know you think it comes off vicious
But it's precious, adorable
Like a toy Chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse
That's how much it hurts
How many times has your boyfriend said
"Why are we always talking 'bout her?"

It's actually sweet
All the time you've spent on me
It's honestly wild
All the effort you've put in
It's actually romantic
I really got to hand it to you
No man has ever loved me like you do

You think I'm tacky, baby
Stop talking dirty to me
It sounded nasty, but it
Feels like you're flirting with me
I mind my business, God's my witness that I don't provoke it
It's kind of making me wet (Oh)

'Cause it's actually sweet
All the time you've spent on me
It's honestly lovely
All the effort you've put in
It's actually romantic
Really got to hand it to you, to you
No man has ever loved me like you do

It's actually romantic
You've just given me so much… attention!
It's actually romantic
It's so romantic

"Ruin The Friendship"

Glistening grass from September rain
Gray overpass full of neon names
You drive 85
Gallatin Road and the lakeside beach
Watching the game from your brother's Jeep
Your smile, miles wide

And it was not an invitation
Should've kissed you anyway
Should've kissed you anyway
And it was not convenient, no
But your girlfriend was away
Should've kissed you anyway, hey

Shiny wood floors underneath my feet
Disco ball makes everything look cheap
Have fun, it's prom
Wilted corsage dangles from my wrist
Over his shoulder, I catch a glimpse
And see you looking at me

And it was not an invitation
But as the 50 Cent song played (Song played)
Should've kissed you anyway (Anyway)
And it was not convenient, no (It was not convenient)
Would've been the best mistake
Should've kissed you anyway, hey

Don't make it awkward in second period
Might piss your ex off, lately we've been good
Staying friends is safe, doesn't mean you should
Don't make it awkward in second period
Might piss your ex off, lately we've been good
Staying friends is safe, doesn't mean you should

When I left school, I lost track of you
Abigail called me with the bad news
Goodbye, and we'll never know why

It was not an invitation
But I flew home anyway
With so much left to say
It was not convenient, no
But I whispered at the grave
"Should've kissed you anyway"

Oh, and it was not an invitation (It was not an invitation)
Should've kissed you anyway (Anyway)
Should've kissed you anyway, anyway (Anyway)
And it was not—

My advice is always ruin the friendship
Better that than regret it for all time
Should've kissed you anyway
And my advice is always answer the question
Better that than to ask it all your life
Should've kissed you anyway
Should've kissed you anyway

"Eldest Daughter"

Everybody's so punk on the internet
Everyone's unbothered till they're not
Every joke's just trolling and memes
Sad as it seems, apathy is hot
Everybody's cutthroat in the comments
Every single hot take is cold as ice
When you found me, I said I was busy
That was a lie

I have been afflicted by a terminal uniqueness
I've been dying just from trying to seem cool

But I'm not a bad bitch
And this isn't savage
But I'm never gonna let you down
I'm never gonna leave you out
So many traitors
Smooth operators
But I'm never gonna break that vow
I'm never gonna leave you now, now, now

You know, the last time I laughed this hard was
On the trampoline in somebody's backyard
I must've been about eight or nine
That was the night
I fell off and broke my arm
Pretty soon, I learned cautious discretion
When your first crush crushes something kind
When I said I don't believe in marriage
That was a lie

Every eldest daughter
Was the first lamb to the slaughter
So we all dressed up as wolves and we looked fire

But I'm not a bad bitch
And this isn't savage
But I'm never gonna let you down
I'm never gonna leave you out
So many traitors
Smooth operators
But I'm never gonna break that vow
I'm never gonna leave you now, now, now

We lie back
A beautiful, beautiful time lapse
Ferris wheels, kisses, and lilacs
And things I said were dumb
'Cause I thought that I'd never find that beautiful, beautiful life that
Shimmers that innocent light back
Like when we were young

Every youngest child felt
They were raised up in the wild
But now you're home

'Cause I'm not a bad bitch
And this isn't savage
And I'm never gonna let you down
I'm never gonna leave you out
So many traitors
Smooth operators
But I'm never gonna break that vow (Never gonna break that vow)
I'm never gonna leave you now, now, now

Never gonna break that vow
Never gonna leave you now, now
I'm never gonna leave you now

"Father Figure"

When I found you, you were young, wayward, lost in the cold
Pulled up to you in the Jag, turned your rags into gold
The winding road leads to the chateau
"You remind me of a younger me"
I saw potential

I'll be your father figure
I drink that brown liquor
I can make deals with the devil because my dick's bigger
This love is pure profit
Just step into my office
I dry your tears with my sleeve

Leave it with me
I protect the family
Leave it with me
I protect the family

I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain
Said, "They want to see you rise, they don't want you to reign"
I showed you all the tricks of the trade
All I ask for is your loyalty
My dear protégé

I'll be your father figure
I drink that brown liquor
I can make deals with the devil because my dick's bigger
This love is pure profit
Just step into my office
They’ll know your name in the streets

Leave it with me
I protect the family

I saw a change in you (Saw a change, saw a change in you)
My dear boy, they don't make loyalty like they used to (Ooh-ooh, oh, like they used to)
Your thoughtless ambition sparked the ignition
On foolish decisions which led to misguided visions
That to fulfill your dreams
You had to get rid of me
I protect the family

I was your father figure
We drank that brown liquor
You made a deal with this devil, turns out my dick's bigger
You want a fight, you found it
I got the place surrounded
You'll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you're drowning

Whose portrait's on the mantle?
Who covered up your scandals?
Mistake my kindness for weakness and find your card cancelled
I was your father figure
You pulled the wrong trigger
This empire belongs to me

Leave it with me
I protect the family
Leave it with me
I protect the family
Leave it with me

“You know, you remind me of a younger me”
I saw potential

"Opalite"

I had a bad habit
Of missing lovers past
My brother used to call it
"Eating out of the trash," it's never gonna last
I thought my house was haunted
I used to live with ghosts
And all the perfect couples
Said, "When you know you know and when you don't you don't"

And all of the foes and all of the friends
Have seen it before, they'll see it again
Life is a song, it ends when it ends
I was wrong

But my Mama told me, "It's alright
You were dancing through the lightning strikes
Sleepless in the onyx night
But now the sky is opalite
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh my Lord
Never made no one like you before
You had to make your own sunshine
But now the sky is opalite"
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh

You couldn't understand it
Why you felt alone
You were in it for real
She was in her phone, and you were just a pose
And don't we try to love love? (Love love)
We give it all we got (Give it all we got)
You finally left the table
And what a simple thought, you're starving till you're not

And all of the foes and all of the friends
Have messed up before, they'll mess up again
Life is a song, it ends when it ends
You move on

And that's when I told you, "It's alright
You were dancing through the lightning strikes
Sleepless in the onyx night
But now the sky is opalite
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh my Lord
Never met no one like you before
You had to make your own sunshine
But now the sky is opalite"
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh

This is just a storm inside a teacup
But shelter here with me, my love
Thunder like a drum
This life will beat you up, up, up, up
This is just a temporary speed bump
But failure brings you freedom
And I can bring you love (Love, love, love, love)
Don't you sweat it, baby

"It's alright
You were dancing through the lightning strikes
Oh, so sleepless in the onyx night
But now the sky is opalite
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh my Lord
Never met no one like you before
You had to make your own sunshine
But now the sky is opalite"
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh

"Elizabeth Taylor"

Elizabeth Taylor
Do you think it's forever?

That view of Portofino was on my mind when you called me at the Plaza Athénée
Ooh, oftentimes it doesn't feel so glamorous to be me
All the right guys
Promised they'd stay
Under bright lights
They withered away
But you bloom
Portofino was on my mind
And I think you know why

And if your letters ever said, "Goodbye"

I'd cry my eyes violet
Elizabeth Taylor
Tell me for real
Do you think it's forever?
Been number one, but I never had two
And I can't have fun if I can't have-
Be my NY when Hollywood hates me
You're only as hot as your last hit, baby
Been number one, but I never had two
And I can't have fun if I can't have you

Hey, what could you possibly get for the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?
Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust (Just kidding)
We hit the best booth at Musso and Frank's
They say I'm bad news, I just say, "Thanks"
And you look at me like you're hypnotized
And I think you know why

And if you ever leave me high and dry

I'd cry my eyes violet
Elizabeth Taylor
Tell me for real
Do you think it's forever?
Been number one, but I never had two
And I can't have fun if I can't have-
Be my NY when Hollywood hates me
You're only as hot as your last hit, baby
Been number one, but I never had two
And I can't have fun if I can't have you
Elizabeth Taylor
Do you think it's forever?
If I can't have you

All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
In the papers, on the screen, and in their minds
All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
Don't you ever end up anything but mine

I'd cry my eyes violet
Elizabeth Taylor
Tell me for real
Do you think it's forever?
Been number one, but I never had two
And I can't have fun if I can't have- (If I can't have you)
Be my NY when Hollywood hates me
You're only as hot as your last hit, baby
Been number one, but I never had two
And I can't have fun if I can't have- (If I can't have you)

All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
Elizabeth Taylor, do you think it's forever?
In the papers, on the screen, and in their minds
All my white diamonds and lovers are forever
Don't you ever end up anything but mine
Oh-oh-oh

"The Fate Of Ophelia"

I heard you calling on the megaphone
You wanna see me all alone
As legend has it, you
Are quite the pyro
You light the match to watch it blow
And if you'd never come for me
I might've drowned in the melancholy
I swore my loyalty to me, myself, and I (Me, myself, I)
Right before you lit my sky up

All that time, I sat alone in my tower
You were just honing your powers
Now I can see it all (See it all)
Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia (Ophelia)
Keep it one hundred
On the land, the sea, the sky (Land, sea)
Pledge allegiance to your hands
Your team, your vibes
Don't care where the hell you been (Been)
'Cause now, you're mine (Now)
It's 'bout to be the sleepless night
You've been dreaming of
The fate of Ophelia

The eldest daughter of a nobleman
Ophelia lived in fantasy
But love was a cold bed full of scorpions
The venom stole her sanity
And if you'd never come for me (Come for me)
I might've lingered in purgatory
You wrap around me like a chain, a crown, a vine (Chain, crown, vine)
Pulling me into the fire

All that time, I sat alone in my tower
You were just honing your powers
Now I can see it all (See it all)
Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia (Ophelia)
Keep it one hundred
On the land, the sea, the sky (Land, sea)
Pledge allegiance to your hands
Your team, your vibes
Don't care where the hell you been (Been)
'Cause now, you're mine (Now)
It's 'bout to be the sleepless night
You've been dreaming of
The fate of Ophelia

'Tis locked inside my memory
And only you possess the key
No longer drowning and deceived
All because you came for me
Locked inside my memory
And only you possess the key
No longer drowning and deceived
All because you came for me

All that time, I sat alone in my tower
You were just honing your powers
Now I can see it all (I can see it all)
Late one night, you dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia
Keep it one hundred
On the land, the sea, the sky (Land, the sea)
Pledge allegiance to your hands (Your hands)
Your team, your vibes
Don't care where the hell you been (Been)
'Cause now, you're mine ('Cause now)
It's 'bout to be the sleepless night
You've been dreaming of
The fate of Ophelia

You saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia

"Your Heart's Somewhere Else"

I used to know everything you were thinking
But now I just know you're thinking 'bout someone else but me
I count the days, I count the words you say
I need to know you're alive and hoping I'll be by your side
Can't help but think that I'm driving you away
Don't let me think it's real, don't make me think you'll stay

I don't know if you're with me
I know you're standing here
I always turn around just to know you're there
And I deny it
Here, I'm crying
It's hard to tell myself
Your heart's somewhere else

I see you now, I don't see happiness
Don't want to hold you back but I still want you for myself
You look around, do you like the things you see?
You're in a cage but I can't stand to let you free
I can't help but know that I'm driving you away
Don't let me think your love won't someday go away

I don't know if you're with me
I know you're standing here
Sometimes I turn around to see if you're still there
And I deny it
Here inside, I'm crying
It's hard to tell myself
Your heart's somewhere else

I never thought your eyes would lose their happiness
I know the longer you stay, the more you love me less

I don't know if you're with me
I know you're standing here
I always turn around just to know you're there
And I deny it
I am crying
It's hard to tell myself
Your heart's somewhere else
Your heart's somewhere else
Your heart's somewhere else

"Beautiful Days"

A moment just passed
And I know it's hard to believe, but it could have been something
And I could have smiled your way
Maybe you'd see there's something in me that loves you

I've been waiting for that sweet second that never was
That period of time, that vision in my mind
That feeling of melting into you
The time I could've lived it, but I didn't take a chance
Keep it on your mind, you'll always like to dance
Living like you love it, you love it just the same

'Cause life is made up of those moments
That you let slip away
Life is just beautiful, beautiful days

What if I hadn't turned around?
And I'd kept walking, and looked through your starry eyes
Well, I would have known it then
Instead of just waiting to find out if I love you

I've been waiting for that sweet second that never was
That period of time, that vision in my mind
That feeling of melting into you
The time I could've lived it, but I didn't take the chance
Keep it on your mind, you'll always like to dance
Living like you love it, you love it just the same

Well, life is made up of those moments
That you let slip away
Life is just beautiful, beautiful days

Will you love me when tomorrow comes?
It's just another Monday, baby won't you come with me?
And see me in a different light?
I could be your angel if you want to take a chance
Baby, if you knew me, you'd know I'll always dance
Love me like you need me, and I'll be yours, true

All that matters to me is you, babe
You're never gonna slip away
Life is just beautiful, life is just beautiful
Life is just beautiful, beautiful days
Beautiful days
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful days

"Halfway To Texas"

When I got mad at you, I always said I'd move to Texas
As a crazy little girl, what was I supposed to do?
And I'm still crazy and I guess I haven't gotten much better
You're getting complicated, so I'll hit the road for someplace new

Well, I'm halfway to Texas, enjoying this roadside view
Just clearing my head, trying not to think back on you
And I'm trying to be strong
Maybe this whole thing is wrong
So I'll focus on the winding road leading to Texas

The wind in my hair is reminding me of the way you held me
Back home is far, I won't give up just yet
Right now you'll probably call wondering what I'm doing
And a voice in the wind will tell you I'm a long time gone

Well, I'm halfway to Texas, kinda thinking back on you
There's a thought in my head saying my best option is you
And I hope I can stay strong
I'm starting to think this is wrong
I'll just focus on the winding road leading to Texas

I've stopped the car, all I can think of is you
Maybe you were right, now I know how much I love you

I'm halfway to Texas, I'm turned around 'cause I love you
I'm coming back to you darling, wanna spend my life with you
And I know I have this wrong
I've stayed away from you this long
I'm taking you with me next time I go to Texas
I'm taking you with me next time I go to Texas

"Smokey Black Nights"

Let's watch
The tide chase
The waves
Onto the sand
I wonder
If a broken heart
Can feel the warmth
On my hand
And I wonder
What a piece
Of driftwood
Has seen all through
His lifetime
Let's walk away
The past through
The smokey black nights

I've seen
A million things
Spoke a million words
Now I only want
To speak to you

Waiting for the words
Counting every bird
There's nothing
I'd rather do
On the
Smokey black nights

Still through
The haze
I can make out
Constellations
I'll make one
Of you and me
As we sit
In the sand
And I saw
That sunset gleaming
As my eyes went wild
Let's walk away
The past through
The smokey black nights

I've played
A thousand songs
Sang a thousand words
Now I only want
To sing to you

Waited on a wire
Starin' at the fire
There's nothing
I'd rather do
On the
Smokey black nights

I've walked
A thousand miles
Smiled
A thousand smiles
Now I only smile
When I'm with you

Waiting for the words
Counting every bird
There's nothing
I'd rather do
On the
Smokey black nights

So walk with me
As the sweet
Wind dances
I'll write a song
For you and me
On the
Smokey black nights

"Ride On"

Think of an angel tonight
Think of something, my baby
'Cause everyone needs something to believe in
Somebody's watching you tonight
You'll never know it now
But you're that one that they can't live, live without

As far as we know, we only live once
And this could be your masterpiece
And you never know what lies ahead
Life is made of falling down and getting back up again
The sun falls down every night and gets back up at dawn
Ride on

And think of beginnings tonight
Believe in so much more than you can ever try to imagine
And look at the sunset tonight
Believe in something that's greater than your tiny world
Or broken heart

As far as we know, we only live once
And this could be your masterpiece
And you never know what lies ahead
Life is made of falling down and getting back up again
The sun falls down every night and gets back up at dawn
Ride on

Some people waste it all looking for heaven
Maybe there's heaven, but what if
What if this is that heaven we're waiting for?
Buddy, you don't know
You'll never know

Baby, I'm watching you tonight
You never saw it before
But you're that one that I can't live without
And I could go with you tonight
But love is a one-sided street
Don't know and I'm not brave enough to find out

As far as we know, we only live once
And this could be your masterpiece
And you never know what lies ahead
Life is made of falling down and getting back up again
The sun falls down every night and gets back up at dawn
Ride on

"One-Sided Goodbye"

You said it, then you walked away
But you don't know what goodbye means
Baby, I'm sorry, didn't ever mean to hurt you
Please, save it for a rainy day
'Cause you don't know what crying's like
When the world keeps spinning and I can't take it alone

And you're so different from all those other people
I thought it would be different with you
But I can't see you crying without me
So I guess I'll have to make it through without you

I wasn't ready for your one-sided goodbye
You walked around like you loved me, I
Notice how the world tries to mask that word
"See you later," "gotta go," oh no

I don't care what they would say
If you love someone don't let them go
Do you believe in taking chances?
So tell me why you walked away
'Cause I can't see through your heart
Everything's hazy and you're making me crazy for you

Well, I thought you were different
Maybe I'm crazy
I know I wasn't numb with you
But I can't hear you crying without me
So I guess I'll have to make it through without you

I wasn't ready for your one-sided goodbye
You walked around like you loved me, I
Notice how the world tries to mask that word
"See you later," "gotta go"

Why can't you see, why can't you be
Madly in love with me, too?
Past emotion, but you've already spoken
I guess I'll have to make it through without you

I wasn't ready for your one-sided goodbye
You walked around like you loved me, I
Notice how the world tries to mask that word
"See you later," "gotta go", oh no

"A Little More Like You"

Think of something you can't touch
I see angels start to blush when they look at you
When I went to my guitar to write this song I fell apart
'Cause I'm counting every second like time in a jar
And these words are just words, that's not what you are

Would you rather me say what I really mean?
I love you but it won't get through if I try too hard
Honestly, what I really mean
Is I want to be a little more like you

Drag a pen across a page
Take a look at what you made- you made me, me
Turn around and watch me live
Learn again that to forgive is to believe
And to thank is to bless
I'm drawing the curtain, 'cause now I've been blessed

Would you rather me say what I really mean?
I love you but it won't get through if I try too hard
Honestly, what I really mean
Is I want to be a little more like you
Yeah, I want to be a little more like you

There seems to be something I can't see
That keeps you from falling apart
It's safe to say you're far away
And anybody else, oh anybody else

Would you rather me say what I really mean?
I love you but it won't get through if I try too hard
Honestly, what I really mean
Is I want to be a little more like you
Yeah, I want to be a little more like you, like you
Yeah, I want to be a little more like you

"Houston Rodeo"

Shooting star flew across the sky
A light turned on in the barn
Nine-year-old boy and a stream of joy
Just sitting there trying to keep warm
A soon-to-be-mama quarter horse
Looked up at the sky
Then came a foal and he set a goal
Then tears came to his eyes

Little boys, they dream big dreams
And some just might come true
And if he rides, that young foal's strides
Are bound to take him to...
He's going to the Houston rodeo
Ooh, on that horse you ride
Put on his daddy's cowboy hat
With a little Texas town pride
Houston rodeo

Every night, that boy would ride on that horse in moonlight
Black and white, he was a bumpy ride
But that boy was gonna make him right
Through heat and snow, they rode and rode
Soon they were best friends
By light of dawn, they were always gone
Following trails that never end

Little boys, they dream big dreams
And some, they have to come true
If he rides that yearling's strides
Are bound to take him to...
He's going to the Houston rodeo
Ooh, on that horse he'll ride
Put on his daddy's cowboy hat
With a little Texas town pride
Houston rodeo

And when he was a teen
Made it to the rodeo
And as the gate released
He took on the Houston rodeo

He's going to the Houston rodeo
Ooh, on that horse he'll ride
Put on his daddy's cowboy hat
With a little Texas town pride
Oh, that boy, he's gonna ride
Houston rodeo, oh

"Why Do You Tell Me?"

I tried to impress you
It didn't matter to you, I don't matter to you
But you tried to make me think I was crazy
"Put all these dreams on hold," that's what I was being told

Tugging at my heartstrings
Every little part sings, "Ooh, you're gonna bring me down"
But I don't need to know what you don't need to show
Well, I don't wanna go down

So why do you tell me you believe in heaven?
Then you get me where it hurts just when I turned around
And I try to fight this hole inside, it's tearing me to pieces
Why do you tell me you believe in me?
You believe in me

It hurts so bad to hear you say it
Did I really go so wrong? Tell me now, what's going on?
Hearts fall like a broken angel
Did you mean to break me down every time I turn around?

Tugging at my heartstrings
Every little part sings, "Ooh, you're gonna bring me down"
But I don't need to know what you don't need to show
Well, I don't wanna go down

So why do you tell me you believe in heaven?
Then you get me where it hurts just when I turned around
And I try to fight this hole inside, it's tearing me to pieces
Why do you tell me you believe in me?
You believe in me

Why do you tell me you believe in heaven?
Then you get me where it hurts just when I turned around
And I try to fight this hole inside, it's tearing me to pieces
Why do you tell me you believe in me?
You believe in me

"Point Of View"

Time is passing slowly for the eight-year-old next door
But mama's watch is ticking off the wall
Jillian and Bobby think that they're a perfect pair
The girls could say he's just a bit too tall

You don't have to do to win big
You just have to think it
Some folks say the glass is half full
Others choose to drink it

Some say the grass could be greener
And the other side ain't far away
But I say the old could be newer
And love still counts when it doesn't stay
Some say, "I love you"
Some say love needs proof
It's all in your point of view

He hated pink, so she threw out her favorite clothes
His NFL was turned to TLC
Baby's got an attitude and thinks they just don't know
But they all do and wish that she could see

You don't have to do to win big
You just have to think it
Some folks say the glass is half full
Others choose to drink it

Some say the grass could be greener
And the other side ain't far away
But I say the old could be newer
And love still counts when it doesn't stay
Some say, "I love you"
Some say love needs proof
It's all in your point of view

In the least, a masterpiece
Depends on one's opinion
Worst of all, they never call
But don't think that they weren't wishing

Some say the grass could be greener
And the other side ain't far away
But I say the old could be newer
And love still counts when it doesn't stay
Some say, "I love you"
Some say love needs proof
It's all in your point of view
It's all in your point of view
Point of view
It's all in your point of view

"Lucky You"

There's a little girl in this little town
With a little too much heart to go around.
"Live forever. Never say never.
You can do better," that's what she says.

Her mama named her Lucky on a starlit night.
A rabbit foot in her pocket. She dances in spite
Of the fact that she's different,
And yet she's the same.
And she says, "Do do do..."
Lucky you, lucky you

She sings her little song. She walks along
A little pathway headed for the skies.
Left to travels, lives they unravel.
"Mind over matter," that's what she says.

Her mama named her Lucky on a starlit night.
A rabbit foot in her pocket. She dances in spite
Of the fact that she's different,
And yet she's the same.
And she says, "Do do do..."
Lucky you, lucky you, lucky you.

Maybe she'll sing you "Do do do do."
Maybe she'll bring you up to the skies.
Honey, she'll love you. Funny how some view
Angels above you ain't so far away.

Her mama named her Lucky on a starlit night.
A rabbit foot in her pocket. She dances in spite
Of the fact that she's different,
And yet she's the same.
And she says, "Do do do..."
Lucky you, lucky you.

"I Used To Fly"

I... I used to fly
Didn't matter where I'd been
'Cause I'd seen the sky
I wanna tell you why
But somehow I know I
Would break down and cry

I know you can't see me here
But I am not alone
I'm lying here in invisible arms
And I won't be alone tonight

You... you know I would die
Before I let them see me
See me cry
Please don't leave tonight
Oh let me down slowly
Show me a light

I know you can't see me here
But I am not alone
I'm lying here in invisible arms
And I won't be alone tonight

Oh let me think I'm strong
Please don't bring me down
I need you tonight

I know you can't see me here
But I am not alone
I'm lying here in invisible arms
And I won't be alone tonight

I... I used to fly
Didn't matter where I'd been
'Cause I'd seen the sky

"Kid In The Crowd"
(unreleased)

Little girl, she looks around
She's standing in the open ground
Looks up at the girl alone
Singing through the microphone
Girl gives girl a little smile
And just one wink that could have run a mile
But life is full of empty days
But the little girl said, "I'm gonna be like that someday"

I remember the eyes
Of the kid in the crowd who cut me down to size
And realizing is crying out loud
For every kid on stage, there is a kid in the crowd

Girl on stage holds her hand
Backed up by a country band
Looking down with eyes of grace
Looked upon that young girl's face
And when she smiled at that 8 year old
Endless thoughts that can never be told
Wiped away those empty days
And the little girl said, "I'm gonna be like that someday"

I remember the eyes
Of the kid in the crowd who cut me down to size
And realizing is crying out loud
For every kid on stage, there is a kid in the crowd

Answered why's are like moonlit skies
And loving eyes are like fireflies
One of these, they really can be
But that little girl, that little girl was me

I remember the time
I was a kid in the crowd
With a dream in my eyes
Realizing is crying out loud
There was a kid on stage, I was a kid in the crowd

I'm still the kid in the crowd

"My Turn To Be Me"

Something about me didn't fit into your perfect world
I bet the bluegrass stained your smile
You should use a darker color when you write on the wall
I haven't read it a thousand times

Maybe if you saw me for a second you would realize
Honey I was trying so hard

To talk, walk, think, stop
Anytime you want me to
Bend all my rules
I used to let you choose
Who you wanted me to be
This time I'm flying free
It's my turn to be me

You liked the face but you had to replace me
Inside I saw the walls of me go down
You can take the girl away from
Cowboy hats and steel guitars
She'll still sing the same old songs

Maybe if you saw me for a second you would realize
Honey I was trying so hard

To talk, walk, think, stop
Anytime you want me to
Bend all my rules
I used to let you choose
Who you wanted me to be
This time I'm flying free
It's my turn to be me

Turned on that radio
Hey that's when I realized
It wasn't our song, it was yours
And in conversation baby I was decoration
Now I deserve a little bit more than

To talk, walk, think, stop
Anytime you want me to
Bend all my rules
I used to let you choose
Who you wanted me to be
This time I'm flying free
It's my turn to be me

It's my turn to be me

"Mary Jo"

There's a little green house off a gravel road
'Bout a mile from Bobby Freeman's farm
Mary Jo runs her own little flower shop
Courtesy of the old red barn
My mama's mama's lifelong friend, Jo
Didn't like the people of town
Four kids and wildflowers and calla lilies
Jo'd rather have them around

Got me a letter, said
"You gotta come home
I'm feeling a little bit low
It's lilac season and I need some help
Keeping my garden grown
Signed, Mary Jo"

So many questions answered
When I spent that summer with Jo
Lavender pillows and weeping willows
Things I would never have known
'Til Mary Jo

We collected bouquets and made lemonade
Mixed rose water perfume
Jo started giving and I started living
Under the pale blue moon
Sang to Jo's records and Sweet Home Kentucky
Watching her garden grow
Says I'm smart and always was lucky
Now I'll never really know
XO, Mary Jo

So many questions answered
When I spent that summer with Jo
Lavender pillows and weeping willows
Things I would never have known
'Til Mary Jo

Summer started packing its bags
And Mary Jo had something on her mind
Cleared her throat and swallowed real hard
And said "My voice seems to be in a bind
But when I wrote that letter I was really sick
The doctor said I was gonna go
Then you came home and it seems to be gone
You made something in that garden grow
But we'll never know"
Said Mary Jo

So many questions answered
When I spent that summer with Jo
Lavender pillows and weeping willows
Things I would never have known
'Til Mary Jo

"Fire"

Asking you questions is like asking for lies
"Won't happen no more," yeah, I've heard that before
Running 'round in circles isn't my game
I tried to make it work but I end up getting burned

By the fire
Leading on life with a tear in my eye
And I know
Oh, I should've learned, but I guess it's my turn
To try to put out your fire

Giving you answers to my trivial heart
It's hard to break the chains
That I can't pull apart
Running 'round in circles ain't nobody's game
I tried to make it work but I keep on getting hurt

By the fire
Leading on life with a tear in my eye
And I know
Oh, I should've learned, but I guess it's my turn
To try to put out your fire

Your flames, oh they're putting me out
The smoke, can't see my way out
The heat, the heartaches
The fog, the blindness
The eyes of cries and shattered lies

Trying to put out your fire
Leading on life with a tear in my eye
And I know
Oh, I should've learned, but I guess it's my turn
To try to put out your fire

Oh, I should've learned, but I guess it's my turn
To try to put out your fire

"Never Fade"

I think you fell off of your cloud today
You didn't see it coming or did you
You tried to please everybody
But the sweet breeze swept you away

The sun goes down on a good day
Tomorrow is still an unknown
You think you're all alone in this place
I think you're crazy 'cause I still love you baby

Oh don't fade away baby
Blowing in the wind is getting harder to do
Don't count the days as they leave you
Count them as you find a day new
Don't fade away
Never fade

Hard to breathe, nobody knows it's you
Somebody blows your candle out
You wore a mask, now that's broken too
Everybody else was everything to you

The sun goes down on a good day
Tomorrow is still an unknown
You think everybody wants a fight
I think you're crazy 'cause I still love you baby

Oh don't fade away baby
Blowing in the wind is getting harder to do
Don't count the days as they leave you
Count them as you find a day new
Don't fade away
Never fade

I think you fell out of the sky today
I think you know it's true
You've seen the world, now all you see is me
Tell me now baby what are you gonna do

Oh don't fade away baby
Blowing in the wind is getting harder to do
Don't count the days as they leave you
Count them as you find a day new
Don't fade away
Don't fade away
Don't fade away
Never fade

"Baby Blue"

Small town, big blue sky
Little blonde baby with starry blue eyes
Growing up fast didn't slow her down
American child in her baby blue gown
Her bedroom was pink 'til she turned three
She liked the feel of her baby blue sheets
Neighbors stared at the one horse lie
Of a little girl with blue on her mind

Thought of green when she was feeling blue
American child in her baby blue boots
She was an archangel, sweet danger
Living and loving and singing her song
Knew what she wanted and knew what she loved
And she loved, she loved baby blue

Eighteen, small scene
Here, our love was a beauty unseen
Living life young, she'd never get bored
When Hank came around in his beat-up Ford
Prom night came with a blue corsage
Had the car waxed at Ben's Garage
Told her he loved her and meant nothing less
To a baby-blonde girl in a baby blue dress
He reached over and kissed her hand
Five years later came a brand-new, baby blue wedding band

She was a romantic, taking chances
Living and loving and singing her song
Knew what she wanted and knew what she loved
And she loved, she loved baby blue

Married two years, Hank was an engineer
She would just stay home, soon-to-be mom
Every night they'd sit on the front porch
Waiting for the brand-new, brand-new baby to come

She was a newcomer, lullaby hummer
Counting her blessings and living for love
Knew what she wanted and knew what she loved
And she loved her new baby, Blue
Her brand-new baby, Blue
Her newborn baby, Blue

Small town, big blue sky
Little blonde baby with starry blue eyes

"Same Girl"

I'm still wearing my blue jeans
No I don't know what you mean
I'm still the same girl
Picking daisies in the field
I believe in what I feel
I've always been the same girl

Some moments change your life
This could be one of them
I'm just living life and thinking
Hey this could be fun

I've always been the same girl
Living in the same world
Singing little songs at the break of dawn girl
Sitting on the front porch
Do do do do do
Watching what you say girl
Never blow away girl
Living in the crazy world
I've always been the same girl

I still live in one small town
But always love to move around
I've always been the same girl
Still keep diaries that say
Where I was and did that day
I've always been the same girl

Some moments change your life
This could be one of them
I'm just living life and thinking
Hey this could be fun

I've always been the same girl
Living in the same world
Singing little songs at the break of dawn girl
Sitting on the front porch
Do do do do do
Watching what you say girl
Never blow away girl
Living in the crazy world
I've always been the same girl

Some days will change your life
Yeah this could be one of them
I'm just living life and thinking...

I've always been the same girl
Living in the same world
Singing little songs at the break of dawn girl
Sitting on the front porch
Do do do do do
Watching what you say girl
Never blow away girl
Living in the crazy world
I've always been the same girl

Living in the crazy world
I've always been the same girl