I Take My Chances - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Playing with my reflection Working hard on achieving perfection Head is hurting Anger 's ever lurking I've gone too far, but I'll take my chances Too much to lose so I won't surrender Take a last deep breath before everything changes I won't be riding this life's ride forever Seeing through your discretion Working hard on avoiding depression Hell's awaiting Oh, well let it wait! I've gone too far, but I'll take my chances Too much to lose so I won't surrender Take a last deep breath before everything changes I won't be riding this life's ride forever I've gone too far, but I'll take my chances Too much to lose so I won't surrender Take a last deep breath before everything changes I won't be riding this life's ride forever

I? m calling out but there? s no one to hear me I? m so afraid 'cos there? s nobody near me All that I? ve got are the memories of Tuesday I can? t remember anything she said Then in a moment my head starts spinnin' Around in a circle, no end or beginnin' An' just when I think that the whole world? s turnin' I open my eyes an' discover that life is just burnin' down But this man stands his ground For when there? s nothin' left I? ll fight for every breath Don? t turn your back on me, baby I? m takin' all my chances Why can? t you hear what I? m sayin'? I? m takin' all my chances When you? re alone with nobody to turn to You look in the mirror an' think that it? s untrue In your reflection are you sure that you see The person that you? ve always wanted to be But you never were because you feared yourself An' in your deepest thoughts you looked for someone else Don? t turn your back on me, baby I? m takin' all my chances Why can? t you hear what I? m sayin'? I? m takin' all my chances I? m calling out but there? s no one to hear me I? m so afraid 'cos there? s nobody near me All that I? ve got are the memories of Tuesday I can? t remember anythin' she said Don? t turn your back on me, baby I? m takin' all my chances Why can? t you hear what I? m sayin'? I? m takin' all my chances Don? t turn your back on me, baby I? m takin' all my chances Why can? t you hear what I? m sayin'? I? m takin' all my chances Don? t turn your back on me, baby I? m takin' all my chances I? m takin' all my chances

Grateful for each hand we hold Gathered 'round this table From far and near we travel home Blessed that we are able Grateful for this sheltered place With light in every window Saying, "Welcome, welcome, share this feast Come in away from sorrow" Father, mother, daughter, son Neighbor, friend and friendless All together everyone In the gift of loving kindness Grateful for what's understood And all that is forgiven We try so hard to be good To lead a life worth living Father, mother, daughter, son Neighbor, friend and friendless All together everyone Let grateful days be endless Grateful for each hand we hold Gathered 'round this table

(Feat. James Taylor) All of our dreams are laid out and measured Arrows and pins and a rainbow of threads Like hope on a string, sewn into the linings For the courage to face the unknown ahead My soul companion Out in the world somewhere My soul companion I'll meet you there I'm packing my compass, trusted and tested My dog-eared maps to study and fold Into a pocket, I'm traveling light now All that we have is all that we hold My soul companion In my heart you are My soul companion Just like a star There are no borders, there are no boundaries There are no fences up around me But I get quiet and I get lonely Just like everyone These are the old roads, these are the stations I look for my ride, you wait for your train These are the chances, a life's incantations These are the places that don't know our names My soul companion Love finds its own way in My soul companion Now let us begin My soul companion Out in the world somewhere My soul companion I'll meet you there

This shirt is old and faded All the colors washed away I've had it now for more damn years Than I can count anyway I wear it beneath my jacket With the collar turned up high So old I should replace it But I'm not about to try This shirt's got silver buttons And a place upon the sleeve Where I used to set my heart up Right there where anyone could see This shirt is the one I wore to every boring high school dance Where the boys ignored the girls and we all pretended to like the band This shirt was a pillow for my head on a train through Italy This shirt was a blanket beneath the love we made in Argeles This shirt was lost for three whole days in a town near Buffalo 'Til I found the locker key in a downtown Trailways bus depot This shirt is the one I lent you And when you gave it back It had a rip inside the sleeve Where you rolled your cigarettes It was the place I put my heart now Look at where you put a tear I forgave your thoughtlessness But not the boy who put it there This shirt was the place your cat decided to give birth to five And we stayed up all night watchin' And we wept when the last one died This shirt is just an old, faded piece of cotton Shinin' like memories inside those silver buttons This shirt is a grand, old relic With a grand old history I wear it now for Sunday chores Cleanin' house and raking leaves I wear it beneath my jacket with the collar turned up high So old I should replace it But I'm not about to try

I can recall the sound of the wind As it blew throught the trees and the trees would bend I can recall the smell of the rain On a hot summer night Coming through the screen I'd crawl in your bed when the lightning flashed And I'd still be there when the storm had passed Dead to the world, till the morning cast Its light all around your room We lived on a street where the tall elm shade Was as green as the grass and as cool as a blade That you held in your teeth as we lay on our backs Staring up at the blue and the blue stared back I used to believe we were just like those trees We'd grow just as tall and as proud as we pleased With our feet on the ground and our arms in the breeze Under a sheltering sky Twirl me about, and twirl me around Let me grow dizzy and fall to the ground And when I look up at you looking down Say it was only a dream A big truck was parked in the drive one day They wrapped us in paper and moved us away Your room was no longer next door to mine This kid sister thing was old by that time But oh how our dreams went bump in the night And the voices downstairs getting into a fight And the next day a silence you could cut with a knife And feel like a blade at your throat Twirl me about and twirl me around Let me grow dizzy and fall to the ground And when I look up at you looking down Say it was only a dream The day you left home you got an early start I watched your car back out in the dark I opened the door to your room down the hall I turned on the light And all that I saw Was a bed and a desk and couple of tacks No sign of someone who expects to be back It must have been one hell of a suitcase you packed Twirl me about, twirl me around Let me grow dizzy and fall to the ground And when I look up at you looking down Say it was only a dream

No presents, no candy, no tree No stockings hung by the fire No parties, no family to greet No angel's heavenly chiors Bells are ringing all over the world Bells are ringing, calling the light Bells are ringing all over the world All over the world tonight No doorways, no windows, no walls No shelter here on the ground No standing and no safe place to fall Just the promise of this distant sound Bells are ringing all over the world Bells are ringing, calling the light Bells are ringing all over the world All over the world tonight Wherever you're walking tonight Whoever you're waiting for Somehow, by the stable's faint light Peace in your heart is restored Bells are ringing all over the world Bells are ringing, calling the light Bells are ringing all over the world All over the world Bells are ringing all over the world Bells are ringing, calling the light Bells are ringing all over the world All over the world tonight