Songs | theMaxOnline

These are some songs that I have written over the years. I’ve chosen the ones that mean the most to me or that I think are the most well written.

The Company of Power Lines

written in 2010
I came up with the idea of this song before I wrote it but couldn’t think of how to approach it. I eventually was able to do it, while on a road trip.

I’ve got 800 miles to where I’m going
It’s about halfway that from where I’m coming from
I’m behind the wheel of my beat up old car
And I’m driving by myself to get myself home

It’s just me and the road
me and the road
me and the road
and these old power lines

The radio has long bit the dust
At least the breaks work when they must
I’ve got to follow the road I drive on
Deviate too much and I’ll lose these comforting power lines

It’s just me and the road
me and the road
me and the road
and these old power lines

I haven’t seen another soul for hours
Only got the company of these telephone towers
I don’t need to rely on my brain power
with the conversations that flow through these wires

It’s just me and the road
me and the road
me and the road
and these old power lines

Maybe when I arrive at home
I’ll thank them for their companionship
They stretched out for my long journey
These power lines that lay out before me

It’s just me and the road
me and the road
me and the road
and these old power lines

Memories

written in 2009
The first verse of this one came to me while at work so I memorized it and finished it after about how we remember things in certain ways, even if they aren’t how they actually happened. Sometimes the memories are more pleasant.

So I looked back on these memories
on some things that may have not happened to me
or altered to suit my fantasies
or to elude my enemies
I see the things that did change me
and though I wouldn’t fix anything
there are some times I would have wished
for a slightly much more pleasant end -to this

But these are all just scenes
They play back in my head as dreams
and I only saw then how things did seem
I understand and learned since then
I remember

I will always make room for new events
When the players are rehearsed and the stage is set
There may not be an audience
except for me and everything -I see

But these are all just scenes
They play back in my head as dreams
and I only saw then how things did seem
I understand and learned since then
I remember

Professional Years

written in 2009
First thing I’d written in over two years. You reach a point where you feel the pressures of society that you need to become a career-centred adult and move on from the years of being a youth.

One step forward
Two steps back
I’m at the age where I face that fact
Success hasn’t been too kind to me
And here I wonder if it will ever be
Change will live on the horizon
The professional era bestowed upon me
I accept my skin for what it is
Be prepared for I’ve settled in

I know I’m missing here can you come and find me
I live in fear
I know I’m lost out here will you please come find me
The professional years

I’ve longed to not rely on anyone
But I know I don’t want to die alone
With interconnections now existing
two degrees of knowing seperation
It feels harder to be genuine and new
when knowing what I know before I’m meant to know you
And remembering that it is mutual
Now that I’ve started once I cannot start all over

I know I’m missing here can you come and find me
I live in fear
I know I’m lost out here will you please come find me
The professional years

Waiting to be found can take its toll
Maybe I’ll be lost until I grow old
You can take my money
You can take my gold
Only If I can trade it for someone to hold
But should I prioritize;
career-up and exercise;
meet-up and socialize;
then I can look this life right in the eyes

One True Thing

written in 2007
I don’t do love songs but I wanted to as a gift so I tried and came up with words about how hard it is to come up with something that isn’t so cliché.

All I can give to you
are flowers that will die
And all I can tell you
are things that will make you cry
I may not have the right words
But please know that I will try
And even if all else fails
I hope I make you smile

There are so many things that I can think of to say
But I want to make sure that it will make your day
I won’t mention anything until I know the one true thing to say

I can dance with you for hours
I can dance with you for days
and if my legs get tired
your eyes will make it okay
I hope you know I love you
and I hope you always will
for when tomorrow comes and i’m still here
I hope that you’re here still

There are so many things that I can think of to say
but I want to make sure that it’s going to make your day
I won’t mention anything until I know the one true thing to say

There are so many things that I can think of to say
but I want to make sure that it will make your day
I won’t mention anything until I know that what I say is right
I won’t say anything until I know that it will make your night

Stand Under This

written in 2007
I was sitting in the Killam library once after class and for some reason, I started to write this. 15 minutes later, it was done. I’ve no idea what the point is though. Different lines came to me after seeing different things and people.

My scientific mind says resistance is futile
Working ’round the block tells me that you’re mobile
Even when I sit I can see you from a mile away
You’re anatomically correct sometimes
I love it when you acknowledge that you’re mine
You level your head so that our eyes align some way
You reach for your goals but always seem to come up short
When it’s written on the paper it is like a report
You run in your house and lock the door as if it’s a fort in a way

People are not people til they peep on the people
Answers are not answered til they answer the answer
Understand me to understand the way that I stand under this
People are not people til they peep on the people
Answers are not answered til they answer the answer
Understand me to understand the way that I stand under this

Open up the bag and let the cat out now
Colours lead you down the way and give you the right route
The words won’t come out right if they come out of your mouth
There’s a limp in your step that tells me where you’ve been
I’ve seen from the wall of the same room that you’re in
You think that I have lost but to me I really did win
Do your crosswords until you figured it done
Don’t tell your parents all the places that you’ve gone
When you turn off the light, just make sure that you’re turned on

Books give information when the words are just not there
People like to laugh over your so crazy hair
Tell me all your problems if I act like I care
But if I’m sitting in a chair with you I might stare
Books give information when the words are just not there
People like to laugh over your so crazy hair
Tell me all your problems if I act like I care
But if I’m sitting in a chair with you I might stare

Evolve

written in 2005
This is as political as I’ve ever gotten in writing anything. When gay marriage was the big topic in Canada after Prime Minister Harper was elected into office, I wrote this one out of frustration over how trivial the situation is and how pointless it is for people to go through so much trouble to stop it from happening.

Being fully human isn’t half as good enough
to meet your standards of what one should be
I can try harder to do what you want me to
but I can’t go against what I believe
You can’t force me to do what you have chosen
just because you don’t want to understand my ways
I’ve accepted my fate in this life I’m living
why can’t you just stop and do the same

For eighteen years I’ve lived alone
I’ve stood aside and watched life go
Until I realized that I belonged
in a world that finally gave me hope
The journey ain’t over right just yet
I’ve still a few more hills to cross
But there are people still worse off than I am
before you act on what you see just pause

Why can’t I just live like your friends do
Why can’t you just see the way I really am
Who are you to say that I am what you think I am
Who are you to say that you’re right

Pictures To Remember

written in 2005
My obsession for taking photos crosses over to my writing. Unfortunately, this song has since come true about the people that I’ve written it about, written in a time that I am the most nostalgic for.

Who’s to say how long we will stay in touch
Who’s to say if we won’t miss much
What’s to come doesn’t keep the fear away
How do we know that we won’t fall apart
How do we know that time won’t play its part
and we will lose what we have today

Only time will tell

They say change is good but not in this case I don’t think
Can we tattoo together instead of us using this pen ink
How do we know that you’ll still remember my name
How do we know that I won’t be left standing in the rain

Only time will tell

Is it ok for me to fear that we won’t have what we have right now
Is it ok for me to express what i think could happen to us right now
I don’t want to lose you
I don’t want to have to miss you
I don’t want to have to look at pictures to remember

Third Wheel

written in 2004
A self-depreciating writing about feeling someone you know doesn’t feel the same way back but you constantly feel like you’re a third wheel to them.

Here I am alone sitting on the steps
I am looking over the fields of hands crossed over
Two pairs of legs walking aligned as one
Conversations never to be done between lovers

Never before has my experience in this
And I can’t seem to see myself in the shoes of his
Night after night I come back home alone
Unable to stop the flow that always forms

My thoughts are stuck on constant you
My heart and mind always fighting, who will lose
Even if I was the second choice
Beggers can’t be choosers, can you hear my voice

I really think that now I need you mine
I’m not sure if I can’t wait any more time
If you were to leave right now maybe I’d move on
And if I don’t it wouldn’t make a difference to you now

Would you mind if I followed you now
Can I hold your hand for just a little while
Please memorize my phone number and call
I promise I won’t forget you at all

I truly believe that you are perfect for me
If I had the chance I’d prove it to you indefinitely
But I can’t for now because there’s somebody else
So I wrote this song to simply help myself

I can’t believe that all this time I was fooled
Into thinking that I could have had you now
So stupid was I to think that I could
Have something so perfect to me that you are you

So please forgive me when I tell you that I
thought you could have loved someone as low as me
And I promise I won’t be mad for long
When your lineup of lovers is full and mine is empty

Inside;Outside

written in 2004
Everybody has two sides to them. The way they actually are and the way they protray themselves to how they want people to see them. An inside, and an outside.

I am so blunt; I might cut you
I am so sad; I might start laughing
I am so scared; I might jump off the cliff
I am so weak; I might lift a mountain

Inside you whisper but I hear a shout
Inside you hollar but nothing comes out
Outside you cry but you feel such joy
Outside you’re you; Inside you’re the real you

I am so thick; I might brittle off
I am so cold; I might catch you on fire
I am so heavy; I might just blow you away
I am so slow; I might pass you today

Inside you think but I hear no thoughts
Inside you answer but I hear only questions
Outside you hate but you feel such love
Outside you’re you; Inside you’re the real you

Inside you work it out but I still feel the tension
Inside you have the cure but I still feel sick
Outside you watch us fall into our ends
Outside you die; Inside you live
Inside your spirit shows but your eyes are closed
Inside your heart is still but I still feel a pulse
Outside I am still here waiting by you
Until I can be joined with you

Lukewarm

written in 2004
I’d like to think this one is self-explanatory but I’m not sure. One of the more personal things I’ve ever written. Doing something you always were to believe wasn’t right but at the same time you can’t help but wonder what it’s like and how much you would change if you did it.

Can I cross the line from right to left
Can I try one way undone before
If I did it then could I go right back
If I never, how could I know that it’s wrong

Can I push the line ahead just a little bit
Would you promise not to tell anyone just yet
Is it right to be afraid if I like
I’m stepping over the boundary from day into pitch night

What if all of this is wrong
Can I go back to what I used to be
Once you make the plunge into the lake
Can you dry yourself off unnoticedly

Can I draw just a temporary new line
I’m not sure if my freedom is enough
My options seem to be one-way-onlies
Or dead-ends on roads that are rough

I want to be happy with the space that I have
I want to live my life the way it is now
But maybe just crossing the line maybe once
Can open me up a little bit more

Words

The Company of Power Lines

Memories

Professional Years

One True Thing

Stand Under This

Evolve

Pictures To Remember

Third Wheel

Inside;Outside

Lukewarm

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