song in progress: lyrics

chorus:

bright eyed bettie
what's happened to you?
bloodshot baby,
what are you gonna do?

little girl, those patent leather shoes
are much too big for you
oh, child, if only your mother knew

(end chorus)

dreams can have hands and mouths, that's true
but with a mouth comes a few, sharp teeth
and with hands come nails that can split your heart right in two
oh, honey, sometimes your dreams aren't what's best for you.

and darling, when you give away your
special parts made of pearls and lace
to a skinny figure you've drawn in your head,
that's one of those lines you just can't erase
and that morning when you woke up alone in bed,
why were you so surprised, silly girl,
that you were wrapped only in your own, limp embrace?

chorus

alone at night, you watch the moon and cry
it's so soft and white and pure and strong
holding its own against the deep black sky
and then you taste the salty tears on your crimson lips,
sobbing "why, why, why?"
and as you look to the moon
determined yet demure
you wonder what it really means to be sure

oh, child, i promise it will all be alright
because even the moon succumbs to the sky
and soon enough, even that bright pale moon will be no more.

chorus

little girl, you've disappeared into the night
you're a pretty little dove who's made her one-way flight
bloodshot baby, please don't cry
you're just a small white bird lost in a big black sky

but, bright eyed bettie, you've still got your wings
so save yourself and say goodbye
find those scattered pieces of pearls and lace
and then, bloodshot baby,
fly, fly, fly.

I let you go
with all too much ease
like a little bird flitting from tree to tree

Do you remember the day when your fingers met mine?
And that I didn't want to feel the rough, imperfect grooves of their tips?
I thought they were too much like bark, and so
I let you go
breathing deeply as I watched my hand fly free
Because I knew then that you would always be there
rooted firmly in the ground
Even though your hand fell softly, sadly, quietly
a lonesome and inevitable decay masked in happy hues of gold and orange
Like a leaf in autumn,
it was a beautiful lie

You were dying
Dehydrated, faded and growing cold
and I had left, feathers falling from the sky
Winter came
and you must have fallen further and further because
Your rosy flush was soon lost in the snow
and I never saw you again

Now, I can't help but wonder
where you landed and who is touching you now
and maybe tasting the small pools of sweat
that collect delicately in your temples as you play
And sometimes at night, I'd like to think that
I was the ground upon which you fell
But then I see the wind whipping through the trees
and I am reminded that I am
free, so very free.

However, now as I lay silent in this quilted cell
All I can hear is the leaves as they fall violently from the trees
And I realize that this little, feathered heart is the only one I have
and the only one that belongs to me