Del Barber - Hen House Manifesto Lyrics

My life is a rummage sale with a good disguise
I've got a blue collar heart and a white collar mind
I've got new jeans and old leather boots
I've got to look pretty sharp while I search for the proof
For all the songs that I sing to the flowers
The radio waves and cell phone towers
I'm a mess of bungee chords, rope and wire
I ain't afraid to say that I'm for hire
There's no escape from the market's grip
I'm a co-opted man that can make you slip
And fall into a great big smile
You can laugh and talk and sit awhile
I'll rejoice at the sight of your teeth
They brings me all sorts of relief
So don't be fooled I'll try to sing you
The lines that might help get you through
The days that feel too damn long
When you're singing that nine to fiver song
We long for faith but settle for the hope that comes
When we're drinking beer after the day is done

All the love that I've found
Won't keep that tree from hitting the ground
But you and I we can't be trumped
We'll just chip some more light off that stump
'Cause what we got is all there is
I don't want to wait around for something to give
I want to chuckle with those chickens and howl with the dogs
I want to be happy with what comes along

I got desires as wide as the sky
They contradict themselves from time to time
I want the fire and the smoke
So I can be warm when I choke
There's no easy answers there's no free lunch
Maybe I just want too much all at once
I'm a dog barkin' up the wrong damn tree
But where I bark makes sense to me
Most folks don't seem to understand
It's difference not sameness that makes life grand
But way up north underneath the old jack pine
My wild ways start to feel just fine
See I'm interested in what's in front of us
I want to love the hows and throw away the whats
Maybe I'm sucker for a good lie
But I found a promise in the ground
Under my feet and the stars up in the sky

All the love that I've found
Won't keep that tree from hitting the ground
But you and I we can't be trumped
We'll just chip some more light off that stump
'Cause what we got is all there is
I don't want to wait around for something to give
I want to chuckle with those chickens and howl with the dogs
I want to be happy with what comes along