Jewel - Picking Up The Pieces Album Lyrics


Jewel Lyrics

Picking Up The Pieces Lyrics
(Lyrics to the Full Album on one page)

Love Used To Be

Love used to be the ruler
From which you measured all
Love used to be the dizzying height
From which you wished to fall
Love used to be the white and gauzy apparition
Towering in your dreams
Love used to be
Love used to be

Love used to be the horseshoe made of iron
And always smiling up
And in your arms it gathered
All manner of silky satin golden luck
Love used to be the pyramid and on top
It's eye that always sees
Love used to be
Love used to be

Dig a six-foot hole
Inside my chest
Heart like a gravestone
Lay it down to rest
Goodbye love
Amen

Love used to be a sigh like petals
Gently falling down
From the flower of my lover's
Half open rosebud mouth
Love used to be the thirst, oh, and the quenching
The question in no need of answering
Love used to be
Love used to be

Love used to be hope unflinching
The dare that believed it must
Love used to be the heady drunken feeling of
Flesh heavy with lust
Love used to be the photograph of the future
Taken by one mind four eyes could see
Love used to be
Love used to be

Dig a six-foot hole
Inside my chest
Heart like a gravestone
Lay it down to rest
Goodbye love
Amen

Love used to be a miracle
The proof that God exists
As it doubled our image, immortality delivered
By the double helix
Love used to be the bedrock you built a life upon
Into the future reaching
It used to be what woke you each day
And eased me into sleeping
Love used to be my compass
But now I'm alone and I'm adrift and I'm lost at sea
Cause love used to be
Love used to be
Love used to be
Love used to be



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A Boy Needs A Bike

Pop works in the shop till late
Mom's on the phone and she's kind of irate
Sally's doing somersaults on the lawn

Pop slams open the front screen door
Just to scare mom she says
"What the hell'd you do that for?"
he washes his dirty hands in the sink

Things around the table are kinda rough
Ma says it's pa, pa says times are just tough
But me and Sally don't say much of nothing at all

And the garage door light brightens up the night
Pa always works on cars when he gets in a fight
As if he could figure out that woman by working on that old car
He said a car can cure any problem at all
Cause seeing all those parts makes a fight look so small
But I wish he'd put me and Sally in the backseat
and drive us away

That's when he sits me down said he's gonna teach me about life
He said a man needs a car and a boy needs a bike
I got my first taste of freedom beneath the light of the moon

But if it were me, I'd have the guts,
I'd put to test those bolts and nuts
And ride away so fast, so far

We put away our tools and go back inside
Mom feels left out and now she's starting to cry
I wonder if all girls are crazy this way

I wish that pops would just get a spine
I said "I know it's kinda little but you can borrow mine"
He just smiles and says "Your mom means well, son"

You see, most times are good; it's just some that are lean
But love makes up for those times in between
He got a tear in his eye as he took mama's hand
Said one day I'd understand

If it were me, I'd have the guts,
I'd put to test those bolts and nuts
And ride away so fast, so far
Ride away so fast, so far
Ride



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Everything Breaks

Under the shadows, forbidden and hot
Desire grows more often than not
I'm sorry is a stupid word
It's a stupid thing to say
Especially considering it's not like I planned it this way
But I'm sorry is all that there is left of me
I'm so sorry this love made me whole
And left you empty

Maybe I should've loved you better
Maybe you should've loved me more
Maybe our hearts were just next in line
Maybe everything breaks sometime
Everything breaks sometime

It's hard to believe it's boiled down to this
It can't all be just healed by a kiss
It's hard to stare at you, knowing you like I have
We used to feel so close; now we feel so bad
And your arms were once just like the safest harbor
But now they offer no shelter from the storm

Maybe I could've loved you better
Maybe you should've loved me more
Maybe our hearts were just next in line
Maybe everything breaks sometime
Everything breaks sometime
I am so sorry
I guess everything breaks sometime



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Family Tree

Mama, I see your face now in the mirror
It's getting clearer
Daddy, all those things I said I wouldn't do
I've been drawn to 'cause I looked up to you
And I've loved you through this tangled legacy
Tracing the twisted roots of our family tree

I stayed strong like you did
I moved on like you did
And I wound up tough as stone like you did
If I don't learn to bend I know I'm going to break
Like you did

Lover, I must forgive you
I confused you with what I couldn't see inside of me
Dark things pulling, not evolving
It made a puppet out of me
And you came with your own history
Both caught in the branches of our family tree

I stayed strong like you did
I moved on like you did
And I wound up all alone like you did
If I don't learn to bend, I know I'm gonna break just like you did

I love you but I need to look at who we've been
Take the fruit but choose the seeds I scatter in the wind
That's the job of the kid: to do better than our parents did

So I'll stay strong like you did
And I'll move on like you did
But I won't hide from the truth like you did
I'm learning to bend so I won't break
And you can bet I'll teach my child
that love will always find a way just like you did



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It Doesn't Hurt Right Now

[Rodney Crowell:]
It doesn't hurt right now
I can breathe again
There's change in the air I can see and hear
It doesn't hurt right now
And I can talk about it
The worst of the shape is the least of my fears

[Jewel:]
Could you ever see
Just you and me
Alone in this room
Or does he make it three?
I'm sorry sounds so small
Compared to what's true
I lied to myself
When I lied to you

[Rodney Crowell:]
It doesn't hurt right now
I can hear what you had to say
I can forgive but forget not yet
It doesn't hurt right now
But we both know it will again
Ghosts of the past based on regret

[Jewel:]
Needs are like rivers
You can't stop their will
A heart that goes hungry
Demands to be filled
I see that now
I was lonely and I took the bait
But I long to be filled by you, it's never too late

[Rodney Crowell:]
It doesn't hurt right now
So what does that say about me
I learned to be known a long time ago
To soften the blow
It doesn't hurt right now

[Jewel:]
I hurt right now

[Rodney Crowell:]
And I know what you want from me

[Jewel:]
Oh, won't you give it to me

[Rodney Crowell:]
I moved out of my heart

[Jewel & Rodney Crowell:]
A long time ago

[Jewel:]
Long time ago



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His Pleasure Is My Pain

A man stands in the doorway like a small child
Angry fists
She lies in her bed her head buried in her pillow
She stares at the moon
He speaks to her all the words she's heard too many times before
And pretty soon she just lets his voice fade away
She thinks
This was a gradual steel frost that started with cold feet
And ended with numb hearts
It was once satisfying sex, but now no longer is
It was once filled with all the possibilities of new china or old stone
But now it's exaggerated and water-logged
No longer what these hands had intended and still I cry in my sleep

He always said I was too sensitive
But I say, least I never meant to make him cry
Least I never meant to make him hurt that way
No, I never meant to make him cry
I never meant to make hurt that way

Yes it's true, I'm too sensitive but
He takes pleasure in my pain
Yes it's true, I'm too sensitive but
He takes pleasure in my pain

And the unheard hours they fly by, she goes to the window
Puts on a nightgown and brushes her hair
He's already asleep by the time she goes to lay back down
She thinks, my god, what I am doing here

My bones have grown tired of his hunger, of his grey eyes
And I feel that if I were to stay one more night here I'd die,
or explode, or worse yet, just fade away
And there've been days so dark when I felt like August
and that I soon too would turn to Fall
He always said I was too sensitive
If I dared to care so much, the world could kill me that way
I wonder if he's only half alive or if he simply has always lacked such subtlety

But I say, at least I never meant to make him cry
At least I never meant to make him hurt this way
No, I never meant to make him cry
I never meant to make him hurt this way

Yes it's true, I'm too sensitive but
He takes pleasure in my pain
Yes it's true, I'm too sensitive but
He takes pleasure in my pain

She gets out of bed and looks at her feet
as though they were the wings for her freedom
She gets up and goes to the drawer
It's a moment in which anything can happen
As she gets out some clothing, puts them in a bag
And leaves him sleeping while she heads for the door

Gone
Gone



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Here When Gone

I am a woman haunted by hands even though I'm alone
Traces of Palm across my skin
An invisible map of where you've been
It's dry road to Idaho a thirsty tongue across the land
And soil so dry it could swallow an entire man
Took the first road out of town hoping you were just skin deep
But I feel you like some sort of phantom limb
Beside me when I sleep

Cause you are here when gone
You are here when gone
You are here when gone
You are here when gone

I watch another grey day unfold its dusty wings
Sometimes I wish I were more like rocks and stones and things
Sometimes I wish my heart were not like flowers at all
That way I would not get butterflies when you call

Your absence undermines the landscape
Incomplete without your body like a pillar holding up the sky
My body thirsty for your touch
There's no use wondering hwy

Cause you are here when gone
You're here when gone
You are here when gone
Here when gone

And some birds abandon the nest
Cause the instinct is too strong to fly
Sometimes I feel like abandoning
My guitar and my books and I'm afraid that I know why
I'm afraid that I know why

Cause you are here when gone
You're here when gone
You are here when gone
You're here when gone
You are here
You are here
You are here
You are here when gone

Oh, your kiss lingers on my lips
It lingers



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The Shape Of You

September settles softly
Leaves are starting to fall
I recall the last time you were here
your laughter a melody that lingers still

There's a hole in my heart
and I carry it wherever I go
Like a treasure that travels
with me down every road
There's this longing lonesome and deep
Kind of bitter, kind of sweet
There's a hole in my heart
in the shape of you

Time stealing swiftly
There's children having children of their own
And around life's merry-go-round goes
And there you are wanting what you cannot hold

There's a hole in my heart
and I carry it wherever I go
like a treasure that travels
with me down every road
There's this longing, lonesome and deep
kind of bitter, kind of sweet
There's a hole in my heart
in the shape of you

Even though my heart aches
there's a smile on my face
cause just like a window to heaven
there's a light shining through
This hole in my heart
so I will carry it wherever I go
like a treasure that travels
with me down every road

There's this longing and it's lonesome and it's deep
Kind of bitter, and it's kind of sweet
There's a hole in my heart
There's a hole in my heart
There's a hole in my heart
But it's in the shape of you



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Plain Jane

You wear couture clothing like a hunter wears camouflage
Hiding insecurity hoping no one ever catches on
You like to read scientific magazines like Vanity Fair
There was a well-written article about serotonin in there

You keep the same company you think Coco kept too
You wear a bracelet on your wrist that says What Would Elvis Do?
You make snide comments in private but in public you're fashionably green
You're ironic, but not too proud to brag, you know what it really means

Oh, cynicism has begun to numb the pain
Fashion still works until you realize you're the same
Plain Jane

You have a rock hard body but you only make love in the dark
Beneath painted legs you're afraid they'll see what's really in your heart
You say cool things like at least murder is interesting
Cause the worst crime a person can commit in life is to be boring

Oh, cynicism has begun to numb the pain
Fashion still works until you realize you're the same
Plain Jane

Such a sweet face, just embrace the real you
You will see it's just lovely and more than enough to be loved
Yes, loved
Loved

Oh, cynicism has begun to numb the pain
And fashion still works until you realize you're the same
Plain
What's wrong with plain old Jane?
Kinda like plain Jane
I like plain Jane



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Pretty Faced Fool

A rose will start to fade
Without rain and and some warm sunshine
It will die every time.

Fence... You're always on the fence
You're one foot in
Then you're back out again

I think it's time I let you know
Babe I'm letting go
You don't have the right to choose
About me and you

What good's a heart that's too damn tough to break
That's too damn cool to take a chance on love
Yeah I took a chance on us
Now that I look like I'm just a fool
I think you oughta know
You're just a pretty faced fool who let one get away

Go, dance in those city lights
Until you're blind then maybe you'll see
It was me, it was me

I'm gonna learn to rise again
Like a thunderbolt, I'll strike again
I ain't gonna let you burn me out
So come on tell me now

What good's a heart that's too damn tough to break
That's too damn cool to take a chance on love
Yeah I took a chance on us
Now that I look like I'm just a fool
I think you oughta know
You're just a pretty faced fool who let one get away

What good's a heart that's too damn tough to break
That's too damn cool to take a chance on love
Yeah I took a chance on us
Now that I feel like I'm just a fool
I think you oughta know
You're just a pretty faced fool who let one get away

You let me get away



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Nicotine Love

Go ahead touch me like that
The way you pull my head back
Go ahead, breathe me in
Bite me till I bleed
This love is like barbed wire running through my veins
Nicotine Love

Go ahead hurt me like that
I've been hurt before
I won't be fixed again
I'm not afraid to sweat
Cause I like the pain and it's familiar to me
And more gentle than most men will ever be
Nicotine Love

But don't get me wrong
I don't want a friend
Just need you here to help me satisfy this childish sin
This insatiable desire
Hunger so deep
You will melt on my tongue
And I will put you to sleep
And I'll press you like petals
Till you're fragile and thin
Then I'll breathe you in
Nicotine Love

It hurts just right
Not to know your name
But feel that body beneath me
Struggling as if in some strange way it were the same
As when I was with him
Gonna make you promise
That you'll peek
Then I will crush your little heart
Cause I can
Because it happened to me
Nicotine Love

So come here, baby
My honey, cutie-pie
Let my fingers swim like pale fish through your hair
So I can tell you that I love you
You'll say, "Never let me go"
You wonder why it is I'm here
But patience and soon it will be all too clear
Nicotine Love

But don't get me wrong
I don't want a friend
Just need you here to help me satisfy this childish sin
This insatiable desire
Hunger so deep
You will melt on my tongue
And I will put you to sleep
And I'll press you like petals
Till you're fragile and thin
Then I'll breathe you in
Nicotine Love

So go ahead touch me like that
The end is drawing near
Go ahead hurt me that way
You don't even know enough to fear
You don't know how true it is when you say
My kisses are sweet as death
But soon you'll have no more options
That's all you'll have left

Cause this love is like barbed wire
I'm electric and so alone
So come here, stray cat
I'm gonna take you home
And then I will press you like petals
Till you're fragile and thin
Then I'll breathe you in
Then I'll breathe you in
Nicotine Love



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Carnivore

So much space can fit in a sigh
More than words can say
I'm left here standing with my hands all awkward
Trying to mend space
I used to know you
But not anymore
Your substance has been subtracted
Word by word

Silence in my ears, where once you offered your conviction
Your promises are dry beads that crack with nostalgia
But that's alright, that's okay
Never shoulda given myself to you anyway
Never trust your pink, fleshy heart
Never trust your pink, fleshy heart
To a carnivore
To a carnivore

Your soul is an inkstain
Your perfection is amend
And you're as fragile as your thoughtlessness
But you're as strong as you can bend
You could only believe in embryos
So you held all your high hopes through a telescope
Lavender haunted you so I could
Only laugh in yellow
Yes, you have a genius for subtlety
I slip through the fingers of your ambiguity

But that's alright, that's okay
Never shoulda given myself to you anyway
Never trust your pink, fleshy heart
Never trust your pink, fleshy heart
To a carnivore

And I don't know what I did
But I won't do it again,
this time I'll be my own best friend
And I take back my songs and my poetry
And next time I won't be so easy to read
And I'll never trust my pink, fleshy no
Never trust my pink, fleshy heart, no
Never trust my pink, fleshy heart
To a carnivore
To a carnivore
To a carnivore



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My Father's Daughter

[Jewel:]
She stepped off of the boat to see flowers in his hands
The man she would marry was as hard as the mountains
She had his children in a log cabin
Soon I'd be another star in this family's constellation
In the land of the midnight sun
Searching for gold
I am my father's daughter
He has his mother's eyes
I am the product of her sacrifice
I am the accumulation of the dreams of generations
And their stories live in me like holy water
I am my father's daughter

[Dolly Parton:]
My father raised me in an old log cabin
And he sang for me the songs his mother sang to him
In honky-tonks, and empty bars, just me and him
And that old guitar
He passed on a legacy wrapped up in a melody
And I carry on
Searching for gold

[Jewel & Dolly Parton:]
I am my father's daughter
I have his eyes
I am the product of his sacrifice
I am the accumulation of the dreams of generations
And their stories live in me like holy water
I am my father's daughter

[Jewel:]
And every time I step on stage

[Dolly Parton:]
And the music finds me

[Jewel & Dolly Parton:]
I don't need gold to remind me

[Jewel:]
I am my father's daughter
I have my Grandma's eyes
I am the product of such sacrifice

[Jewel & Dolly Parton:]
I am the accumulation of the dreams of generations
And their stories live in me like holy water
I am my father's daughter
Oh, I am my father's daughter



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Mercy

Simplicity, does not come easy
When you're dreaming of being someone else
And grace you see is fleeting
When you're bleeding your innerself

Have Mercy on me please
Have Mercy, I'm on my knees
I'm being broken again and again
I'll keep being broken until I remain
Open

When you're locked away,
Fighting shadows, constant battles
Trying to feel safe
When your own armor starts killing you,
Cause it's causing you to sink beneath its weight

Call for mercy, won't you please
Call for mercy, get on your knees
You're being broken, again and again
You'll keep being broken, until you remain
Open

So feel the pain, give into it
Cry till you crack, that's how the light gets in
Set your weapons on the ground
Until you're naked and trembling now
And when you think you can't stand any more

Give mercy to someone in need
Give mercy, don't you see
Life will break our hearts, again and again
We'll keep being broken until we remain
Open

Can't you see
I have broken wide open
Let yourself be broken wide open
I have broken open
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