Eggshell Heart has moved!

If you are looking for Jessi Robertson's lyric blog, Eggshell Heart, it can now be found here http://drawingprettythings.com/blog/.

This blog will stay up indefinitely but to view lyrics by album and more visit the new blog site http://drawingprettythings.com/blog/.

It's Always Raining

It was raining, it was raining
I forgot to wear my coat
Then I was swimming, I was swimming
in the water without a boat

What am I to say? What am I to do?
I'm drowning on dry land, hung up on you
What am I to say? What am I to do?
You're the only thing I want to hold on to

I can't fight it, I can't fight it
It's either sink or float
So I embrace it, I embrace it
Though the water's at my throat

What am I to say? What am I to do?
I'm drowning on dry land, hung up on you
What am I to say? What am I to do?
You're the only thing I want to hold on to

Without a cloud in the sky I feel the flood begin to rise
No use asking why it's always raining when the sun's in my eyes

What am I to say? What am I to do?
I'm drowning on dry land, hung up on you
What am I to say? What am I to do?
You're the only thing I want to hold on to

Whiskey and Cigarettes

A real woman drinks whiskey and smokes cigarettes
Until the room's spinning she feels no regrets
And come closing time, she'll meet the night alone
A real woman don't need a man to walk her home

You ask if she's lonely, she says, "Not for one minute.
I strangled trouble before you could begin it."
You don't understand her and how distant she gets
When she drinks her whiskey and smokes those cigarettes

She gets under your skin and stays there somehow
You cannot possess her, but you can hold her for now
She'll leave you with questions, she'll leave you with regret
One day she'll just leave you even though you can't see it yet

Cuz a real woman don't need anyone's help getting home
A real woman don't feel lonely even when she's alone
A real woman conquers you and then quickly forgets
A real woman drinks whiskey and smokes cigarettes

Spring Thaw / Volcano

All things are boiling up
in a red, messy inverted cup
The heat melts all of my stone
I don't know how to live in this skin and bone

I don't want to thaw out, I like the desert and the drought
I want to be cliff's edge hard, I want to be glacier scarred

But I don't want to thaw out
because I don't remember
how to live
in this
skin and bone

When ciphers come spilling down
in molten waves from my crown
I feel the first shiver in stone
I don't know how to live in this skin and bone

I don't want to thaw out, I like the darkness and doubt
I want to be ice storm gray, I want to be a winter's day

But I don't want to thaw out
because I don't remember
how to live
in this
skin and bone

Broken Soldiers

When I was bright and new
I volunteered to keep watch over you
and when you sent me far from all I know
I thought of you waiting for me when I get home
if I get home

When it was over you didn't want to play
with the toy soldiers you refuse to put away
I risked my body, I spilled my blood
All I'm asking you is just come pick me up
come pick me up

Now I'm broken and used
I feel forgotten, abandoned and bruised
After all I gave for you, what I endured
You said, I'm sorry, I can't see you anymore
I can't see you

When it was over you didn't want to play
with the toy soldiers you refuse to put away
I risked my body, I spilled my blood
All I'm asking you is just come pick me up
come pick me up

Never Let Them See You Cry

Bullets and stones may break your bones
And names may be tattooed on your skin
They say that all wounds will heal in time
Whether the cause lies without or within

Your body is a road map of all the places you have seen
You should be proud of the fault lines and the ravines
You’ve been battered and scarred, you’re not afraid to die
But you never let them see you cry
You never let them see you cry


You’re flesh and blood, you’re skin and bone
But your spine is iron, your will is steel
They say that idle hands are the devil’s tools
So you use them to distract yourself from what you feel

Your body is a road map of all the places you have seen
You should be proud of the fault lines and the ravines
You’ve been battered and scarred, you’re not afraid to die
But you never let them see you cry
You never let them see you cry

Please Stand Down

I don't see no savior here
So I tried to grow an olive tree
Your soil may be hard and mean
If you are tainted just come clean
Together we could change the Fates decree

I don't see no savior here
Maybe it's too late to change anything
I said, please stand down
Give up your weapons and your crowns
But they said somebody has got to be the king

I don't see no savior here
Just survivors, directionless and scared
And we're all clinging to these creeds
To justify our words and deeds
I hope someday our ravages can be repaired

All we've got are these small hands and these big thoughts
The people we have loved and lost and fought
The hopes we laid to rest, the dreams we sought
Give up your weapons and your crowns
Please stand down

You and Me

We walk in shadow, we walk in light
and what's to become of us?
There may not be another tomorrow or tonight
so why do we spend today on the same old fight?

The moon turns red, the sun grows weak
and it breaks our hearts
Can't look at what's looming above or what's beneath
So where do we turn when the earth shudders under our feet?

don't stop now, we've only just begun
don't stop now, we thought we were so young
but you and me, while we can sing and we can breathe
there's still time to believe in something
and I believe in you and me

We walk in shadow, we walk in light
and we risk it all
Within our fragile bodies beat the fiercest hearts
we fit the pieces together when the world falls apart

don't stop now, we've only just begun
don't stop now, we thought we were so young
but you and me, while we can sing and we can breathe
there's still time to believe in something
and I believe in you and me
I believe in you and me

Coal

Some people take their sorrow and wear it like a necklace
Of black coal, it gets all over their skin and clothes
Some people chew it up for breakfast
and it clings to their teeth, it stings and it shows

But I swallow it whole and when I get full
I press down, I press down
I make diamonds out of my coal, they're beautiful
I press down, I press down

Some people take their hurt and use it like ammunition
A pocket full of stones, throw one without looking
Where it lands, let it loose and someone else is down
Feel better with another body lying on the ground

But I swallow it whole and when I get full
I press down, I press down
I make diamonds out of my coal, they're beautiful
I press down, I press down

My hands are covered in old scars, cut all to ribbons
I find new ways to smile and hide them
When I'm tired, I take a deep breath and stand a bit straighter
I pretend, but I don't break and I don't bend, nothing can make me change

I swallow it whole and when I get full
I press down, I press down
I make diamonds out of my coal, they're beautiful
I press down, I press down

Don't Come in Here

I know the lock won't hold
I could pry it open with a butter knife
and the door's only a cheap piece of plywood
but I still get the urge to check it twice

I sit on the floor with my back against the door
trying to disappear, just don't come in here
please just don't come in here

I drew on the wall in black ink
A caricature saying, "happy holiday"
Then I drew all over my arms and legs
It's permanent but it washes away

I sit on the floor with my back against the door
trying to disappear, just don't come in here
please just don't come in here

I never wore a cap and a gown
They said I'd never get out of this town
But I defied everyone
I always knew how to hide, then I learned how to run

So I don't have to sit on the floor with my back against the door
Trying to disappear, please just don't come in here
please just don't come in here
just don't come in here

Half Moon

Half-circle moons glow in my palms
The mark will fade if that’s what I want
But I need it to conjure your trembling ghost
You’re still the drug I crave the most

You meant well, yeah you meant for good
But it all turned to shit like we knew it would
Now I can’t see your eyes or taste your lips
Your moon killed my sun in a noiseless eclipse

Will it wax, will it wane, the way I feel?
Will it reveal that we are strangers?
Some of us lie together, some of us lie alone
but we all lie to hide what we cannot show

I feel my body break away from me
Fragments spinning out without gravity
In the stereo static I can’t be read
I tried to laugh but I screamed instead

You put me together, you pulled me apart
You cradled my head, you buried my heart
The day was too long but it ended too soon
My sun wastes away in the glow of your moon

Will it wax, will it wane, the way I feel?
Will it reveal that we are strangers?
Some of us lie together, some of us lie alone
But we all lie to hide what we cannot show

So I straighten my shoulders and hold up my head
Pour out my wine and break my bread
I wanted to walk but I danced instead
Under the half-moon

Will it wax, will it wane, the way I feel?
Will it reveal that we are strangers?
Some of us lie together, some of us lie alone
But we all lie to hide what we cannot show

Airplanes

the airplanes fly overhead all night
I wish I was on one, on any flight
this is not the way that I imagined my life
so take me far away from it tonight

I can't afford a ticket anyway
and I'm afraid of crashing so I end up praying
even though I don't believe in anything
except this dream of getting far away

get up, shower, brush your teeth
find some clothes, walk to the subway
ride to manhattan, go to work,
do your job, then catch the subway home
try to relax and sleep, try to relax and sleep
and listen enviously to the airplanes that you'll never ride on
flying over Brooklyn all night, endlessly
goodnight

Rein Me In

I'm all passion and no sense
leave the gate open while mending the fence
won't take the bit at my own expense
who's gonna rein me in

I think too much so I hold my tongue
You already caught me, that's when I start to run
Broke the bridle when I was young
who's gonna rein me in

I hold myself so still
While I detonate inside
In the aftershock I'm surprised you don't see
The flames flowering in my eyes

But I smile brightly while I'm bleeding
My mind is stern, but my eyes are pleading
without a bridle, without a bit
who's gonna rein me in

Panic

something's wrong with me, i don't want, i don't want to think
but i can't stop, i can't stop circling these well-worn thoughts
i should be asleep right now, right now but i can't, i can't rest
i dread tonight, i dread tomorrow, and all the rest

what's happening to me?
i can't find any peace
and the noise, the noise, the noise is deafening
what's happening to me?
there is no relief
and the noise, the noise, the noise is cycling
on repeat

something's wrong with me, i go white, i go white sometimes
without warning, i have to leave, i have to leave the room
i can't breathe, i can't, and i'm shaking and shaking
oh you stole my joy, my song, my dream, my everything

what's happening to me?
i can't find any peace
and the noise, the noise, the noise is deafening
what's happening to me?
there is no relief
and the noise, the noise, the noise is cycling
on repeat

they say don't talk about it
don't talk about it
don't talk about it
just keep quiet

what's happening to me?
i can't find any peace
and the noise, the noise, the noise is deafening
what's happening to me?
there is no relief
and the noise, the noise, the noise is cycling

Small Town Girls

When things got bad I'd sneak away with a book
Or scribble poems laced with blood and tears
No one thought to ask if something was wrong
While I withdrew to the prison of my fears

Small town girls learn how to tell big lies
When the neighbors know all the details of your lives
And gloss over the heartache in your eyes
Yeah, small town girls have to learn to tell big lies

I'd read all night until the sun scorched my face
And stumble dazed into the hallway
Playing out the colored Classics in my head
While sleepwalking through another shabby day

Small town girls learn how to tell big lies
When the neighbors know all the details of your lives
And gloss over the heartache in your eyes
Yeah, small town girls have to learn to tell big lies

I thought someone was coming to rescue me
A savior or a hero or destiny
I waited patiently, expectantly
And I learned to save myself eventually

Small town girls learn how to tell big lies
When the neighbors know all the details of your lives
And gloss over the heartache in your eyes
Yeah, small town girls have to learn to tell big lies

Broken Rosary

where were you when she was drinking too much
in the middle of town, we were afraid that she'd pass out
they poured water on her head until the ambulance came
and i watched through the car window as they rushed her away

we believed, we believed

where were you when he was suffering
he could barely speak but he knew he had to feed her
they hung him out the window by two little feet
and when he played make believe everyone was falling

we believed, we believed

we will be ok, ok, ok
at least, that's what we'd always say

where were you when she tore up her skin
and crippled the hand she used to paint with
when she crashed her car into a wall on purpose
she always walked away with new scratches

but we believed, we believed, we believed

SunStorm

This morning's rain is clinging to my blue coat
it still lays in glistening lines on the highway outside my window
the sound of turning wheels whispers a siren call
the warning bell sounds again and I don't mind it at all

I know how this story goes
You'll never leave me
You'll never leave me alone
and that's why I want to go

You rise like the sun scattering the clouds
I wanna lay in your warmth and hear you say my name out loud
but when the clouds roll in I want electricity crackling on my skin
the thunder and the lightning to strike me again and again

I know how this story goes
You'll never leave me
You'll never leave me alone
and that's why I want to go

Will I see you again?
Will I see you again?
This is all my fault but I can't change who I am
and that's how the story ends
that's how the story ends

Everything is as It Should Be

The summer sky fades into a warm haze
The water’s dark but the city’s ablaze
When I think of all I’ve got, I am blessed and I'm amazed
Finally everything is as it should be

I sing out loud when I walk down the street
I talk with my hands and I waltz with my feet
Maybe I’m the craziest girl you’ll ever meet
But finally everything is as it should be

The darkness crouches like a hungry beast
And sometimes it pounces, sometimes it feasts
Despite our struggles we sometimes taste defeat
But when we win it makes our victories taste so much more sweet

I love to sit at this copper-lined bar
And watch my friend strum a beat-up guitar
We forget what we’ve done, we forgive who we are
Cuz finally everything is as it should be

Trash and Blossoms

I stood on the sidewalk and watched the wind turn
trash and blossoms into a living collage
the Brooklyn streets are dressed up like a fairy tale movie set
graffitied by some kid cuz it looked too perfect to stay untouched

everything is so messed up, everything is full of love

I take all the strength inside me and pour it out
without thinking how I'll survive
iron leaches from my skin, I'm left standing in porcelain
waiting for someone to break me so I'll know that I'm alive

everything is so messed up, everything is full of love

my jaw ached this morning, clenched up while I was dreaming
and the sun whispered me awake to the sound of traffic singing
I have nothing beyond today, no past or future bar my way
the chaos of these contradictions is all that brings me faith

everything is so messed up, everything is full of love

The Dream has Changed

They say this house isn’t yours anymore
Where you measured your kids and played games of Risk on the floor
There’s a sign on your lawn and your life’s been boxed away
So people can buy all your hopes, now the dream has changed

It all comes crashing down
The plastic and paper we shaped into a counterfeit crown
Fate stepped in and rearranged everything
Now the dream has changed

You lie awake at night running a recount in your head
The money just isn’t there no matter how late you toss in your bed
The morning’s coming, a mixed blessing of relief and dread
What will you tell the ones you love? Now the dream has changed

It all comes crashing down
The plastic and paper we shaped into a counterfeit crown
Fate stepped in and rearranged everything
Now the dream has changed

In the morning you watch the market edge a little lower
Finish “The Grapes of Wrath” and wonder if we’re going under
You bet the last of your faith on this year's election
Are we too late to be saved? Now the dream has changed

It all comes crashing down
The plastic and paper we shaped into a counterfeit crown
Fate stepped in and rearranged everything
Now the dream has changed