All songs written by Brian McGinty
Lyrics used by permission
All rights reserved


Wasn’t That You
© 2009 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

The other day I found a picture of myself from years ago
I stood there staring at the face like it was someone I don’t know
When did I get to be so far away from who I was then
When did it get to be so hard to tell the where and the when
As bits and pieces of old memories came drifting into view
I pieced together several stories that I’m not even sure are true
There was a time, there was a place, there was a friend there with me
Details are fuzzy, but I’m certain there’s a friendly face I see
In all the best parts of my ancient history

And wasn’t that you
Wasn’t that something that we did when there was
Little else that either of us knew
Wasn’t that something we used to do
And hey, wasn’t that me
Wasn’t I standing right beside you
When beside you was my favorite place to be
Wasn’t that something we held as true
Wasn’t that you

I spent an hour getting wrapped up in my favorite memories
Dug up old photographs and relics of the kid I used to be
I’ve always had a sentimental way of looking at my youth
I like to think the nicest version of the story is the truth
The evidence of passing time is hanging on me everywhere
Another pound, another line on my face, another gray hair
It isn’t hard to understand this fascination with the past
Sometimes it feels like everything is rushing by me way to fast
Is it so wrong that I want certain things to last

And wasn’t that you
Wasn’t that something that we did when there was
Little else that either of us knew
Wasn’t that something we used to do
And hey, wasn’t that me
Wasn’t I standing right beside you
When beside you was my favorite place to be
Wasn’t that something we held as true
Wasn’t that you

And if you could go back again
Is there anything you’d change
Is there anything that might have been
And if it were all the same
Would you still be who you are
Would you still become what you became
Sometimes we’d all like to play
To be young again as they say
But I’m not thinking that way
At least not today

There’s only so much time that anyone can spend on looking back
The here and now needs my attention and it won’t cut me any slack
Not much to gain from living in the past or looking far ahead
I’d rather try to live inside the current moment instead
I put away all those mementos, tossed those photos in a drawer
Lord knows I don’t need them to tell me everything that came before
Some things will always define me and they don’t need to be named
Some images are still with me and that don’t need to be framed
And some people always make me happy just the same

And wasn’t that you
Wasn’t that something that we did when there was
Little else that either of us knew
Wasn’t that something we used to do
And hey, wasn’t that me
Wasn’t I standing right beside you
When beside you was my favorite place to be
Wasn’t that something we held as true
Wasn’t that you


Daredevil
© 2009 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

The little boy stood atop the tower
Every second felt like an hour
At the edge of the high dive in the wind
He thought the jump would be so exciting
He thought the water looked so inviting
He just couldn’t find the courage to dive in

When the weight of your fears
Becomes more than you know
It can somehow be the hardest thing to simply let it go
When the volume of tears
Is only making you blind
Then the hardest thing to see it that the pain is in your mind

Sometimes I cling to the ground when I’m too scared to fly
Just dig my heels in and watch as the world races by
My jealous eyes follow braver souls up through the sky
But never dare to go so high

I saw my brother while he was in motion
Pausing briefly to see the ocean
He carried on like a true explorer does
With a smile that he couldn’t stifle
He rode off on his motorcycle
He never even knew how brave he was

And if I could just learn
A little lesson from him
Would I stand here in the sand or would I brave the waves and swim
I’ve been waiting my turn
I’ve been standing in line
But it’s time for me to stand up for myself and take what’s mine

So if I saw him again could he teach me to fly
I used to stand there amazed as he went racing by
My jealous eyes vainly followed him up through the sky
But never dared to go so high

Read every book I can find, but it’s no use
Confusion in my mind, but it’s no excuse
I don’t have to take the abuse
That I keep on bringing from deep inside
Cause I have these hands, this heart, these eyes
I’m a whole lot stronger than I realize
There are no more reasons to compromise
The best part of the journey is the ride

The daredevil was atop the tower
Shining brightly in his finest hour
Looking out at the skyline in the wind
The desert air felt so exciting
The Vegas Strip looked so inviting
I swear to god he could’ve jumped it end to end

And I guess I know now
What was true all along
Just because you can’t stand, that doesn’t mean that you’re not strong
Is it clear to me how
I can live for the day
Cause there’s never gonna be a net to catch me anyway

No need to cling to the ground when you know you can fly
Just hear that thunderous applause as you go racing by
A million jealous eyes follow you up through the sky
No such thing as too high

And if I chose to let go, I believe I can fly
Just feel the wind in my hair as I go racing by
A million jealous eyes follow me up through the sky
Watch me dare to go so high


Los Angeles Tears
© 1997 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

Stumbling bravely down the boulevard
Voices carry me to where you are
So little patience left
To allow me to hold back the tears
It seems that fate has brought us here tonight
Like two travelers without a light
Feeling our way through the dark
In the hope that a new light appears
Vagabonds and fallen angels
Scattered ‘round on the streets in shambles
The crowd so thick
That inside it I cease to be
Just me
No city crowd can hide
What Los Angeles tears can see

So we’ll do our little dance again
But never dare to let each other in
Steping away to protect
Two hearts that have been trampled on
But if by chance your eyes should meet with mine
Please don’t turn your face away this time
Maybe we both can find
Something in them we thought was long gone
And if you promise just to speak true
Then I promise I will not judge you
For opening your eyes
And for showing me what we feel
Is real
These city lights can’t hide
What Los Angeles tears can reveal

It’s like a sickness when I’m in these moods
I can’t control a thing I say or do
All of my darker thoughts
Do whatever they can to be freed
I don’t expect that you would understand, but
If you could walk with me and hold my hand
Just that simple touch
May be all of the healing I need
Not a word needs to be spoken
Any sound and the spell would be broken
Our words would collide
And the moment would just decay
Away
No city noise can hide what Los Angeles tears can say
No city noise can hide what Los Angeles tears can say
No city noise can hide what Los Angeles tears can say


Rejects
© 2001 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

Cyrano sits at his favorite cafe drinking tea
Romeo staggers in looking just as helpless as can be
He orders up a good stiff drink
Lays his head down on the table and thinks
Another rough night on the dating scene

And Romeo wonders, “What the hell am I even trying for?
All the bars and the nightclubs really don’t thrill me like before
Once there was a girl who opened my heart
Death came along and did us part, well
Nobody really wants me anymore”

And here we are, one and all
Uninvited to the ball
But still we stand, tall and proud
Waiting for our turn to dance
And here we are, come and see
Scattered all through history
Those who’ve loved, those who’ve lost
We’re the rejects of romance

Don Juan struts through the door like he owns the God damn place
Romeo would love to take out his sword, wipe the smile right off his face
He muscles in on a girl at the bar
He’s got the money, got the clothes, got the car
He leads her from the room and a hurried pace

And Cyrano says, “Hey Romeo, I know how this will end
He’ll take her home and he’ll love her and he’ll leave her with a broken heart to mend
In the morning she’ll be crying on my shoulder
Complaining all about the lies that he told her
And telling me she’s happy that I’m such a good...   friend”

And here we are, one and all
Uninvited to the ball
But still we stand, tall and proud
Waiting for our turn to dance
And here we are, come and see
Scattered all through history
Those who’ve loved, those who’ve lost
We’re the rejects of romance

And Cyrano says, “I’m set in my ways
A sonnet doesn’t really seem to cu tit these days
And it don’t matter what you say if you don’t have a perfect smile
My poetry’s been rejected for prose
By some pretty-boy punk with a perfect little nose”
Sorry buddy, that’s how it goes
It ain’t substance over style

Cyrano slumps in his chair and regards his cup of tea
Says, “Romeo I know you’re feeling blue and you’ve got a right to be
But the time that you had with Juliet
Was a lot more than the rest of us get
I never had a girl who would die for me”

And in between all the drinkin’ and the dancin’ and the morning’s early light
All the souls who are living with their misery or dying with delight
Two heroes who have had it so rough
Tell each other that they’ve had enough
But they keep coming back night after night

And here we are, one and all
Uninvited to the ball
But still we stand, tall and proud
Wondering when we’ll get our chance
And here we are, come and see
Scattered all through history
We’ve all loved, we’ve all lost
We’re the rejects of romance

Cyrano sits in his favorite cafe drinking his tea


Falling Out of Love
© 1991 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

You tell me you’re leaving
You tell me we’re through
You say there’s nothing more that we can do
Well tell me then baby
If it’s so cut and dry
Why are those tear drops falling from your eyes
I’ve been up and down these streeets
Chasing ‘round and ‘round
I’m searching for some answers but they’re nowhere to be found
So I’ll just suffer through the nights
Wander through the days
Somewhere between love and hate we lost our way
Don’t feel no earth beneath me
Don’t see no stars above
I really don’t feel anything at all since we’ve been falling out of love
Falling out of love

Now the first time I saw you
I knew you’d be mine
We’d be together till the end of time
But so many years later
And we’re not even friends
What’s there left to do when your eternity ends
When the passion starts to leave you
And the memories cease to haunt
You realize the one you’re with in not the one you want
So we’ll just go our separate ways
Go where fortune leads
Hope that somewhere down the road we find what we need
Don’t see no stars above
I really don’t feel anything at all since we’ve been falling out of love
Falling out of love

I’ve been up and down these streeets
Chasing ‘round and ‘round
I’m searching for some answers but they’re nowhere to be found
So I’ll just suffer through the nights
Wander through the days
Somewhere between love and hate we lost our way
Don’t feel no earth beneath me
Don’t see no stars above
I really don’t feel anything at all since we’ve been falling out of love
Falling out of love


Distance
© 1998 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

Once upon a time my love
Wasn’t there a promise that we made
Between two hearts that played the parts in a new love serenade
Youth will disappear in time
Banners tear and ribbons slowly fade
The passing days that drift away take people in their trade

To the farthest of reaches
Over mountains and beaches
To create a resistance
To continuing through
People say that a distance
Can divide you in two

So we traveled our own roads
Doing what careers and lives demand
Chasing dreams, creating schemes, drawing wishes in the sand
For our paths to cross again
Was something that we never could have planned
The time and space were hard to face when I tried to hold your hand

Across the farthest of reaches
Over mountains and beaches
What allows the persistence
Of this feeling so blue
A simple matter of distance
Between me and you

Take this pride off of my shoulders
I don’t need it anymore
Take these selfish thoughts I’ve gathered
I’ve forgotten what they’re for
All these doubts here in my pockets
You can throw them on the floor
Trample down my insecurities
And sweep them out the door

Once upon a time my love
Wasn’t there a vow we still believe
Through all these years it’s lead us here to conclude this tale we weave
Were we always joined by fate
Some overwhelming force we don’t perceive
How could we stay so far away when it bid us both to leave

From the farthest of reaches
Over mountains and beaches
Because there isn’t a distance
That can keep me from you
Everyday our existence
Is a song that’s new
And I can weather the distance
If I face it with you


Big Talk
© 1998 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

Peter tried to start himself a rock and roll band
He wrote a bunch of songs on the back of his hand
He practiced every night up in his bedroom
Singing in the mirror, looking so cool
He thought he had a talent that would be in demand

Shooting really high, hitting really low
Feeling overwhelmed with all there is to know
And talking awful big for such a little noise

Johnny was a kid who played a mean guitar
Peter said, “Boy, I’m gonna make you a star”
Johnny’s friends were heavy metal potheads
Peter hung with drama queers and smart kids
Between them the would have the fans to get really far

Shooting really high, hitting really low
Feeling overwhelmed with all there is to know
Living in a dream, waiting in a daze
For the sun to burn off all the morning haze
And talking awful big for such a little noise

They found a drummer and a girl who played the keys
Prepared to bring the music business to its knees
And talked about the stuff they’d do when they got rich
They got together for a three-chord Friday night
But every number seemed to end up with a fight
The fantasizing can be easy baby, but performing can be a bitch
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah

Johnny quit the band after a couple of days
The others never did get back together to play
Peter called the girl who played the keyboards
She wound up becoming his new girlfriend
That’s all he ever really wanted anyway

Shooting really high, hitting really low
Feeling overwhelmed with all there is to know
Living in a dream, waiting in a daze
For the sun to burn off all the morning haze
Knowing what you want, chasing it again
The the thing you’re after changes every now and then
And talking awful big for such a little noise


Beggars and Buskers
© 1998 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

It won’t be the first time that I
Sit on the street and sing this song
It may be the first time that you hear me
It won’t get me one dime if I
Don’t have the will to stay here long
And wait for the crowd to gather near me

Oh and there are some days when the inspiration hits me
Fate pays me a compliment that fits me
Hope stays for the time I sat and played
My sidewalk serenade

It won’t be the first time that I
Struggled to write these words of mine
Sitting alone out here for hours
I’ll look for a good rhyme but I
Can’t find a way to end each line
It seems to be well beyond my powers

Oh but there are some days when the inspiration hits me
Fate pays me a compliment that fits me
Hope stays for the time I sat and played
My sidewalk serenade

There is a clarity that comes
When you’re living on the road
And you’re just getting by with the pennies in your guitar case
If your gonna get from place to place
You’ve gotta lighten up your load

It won’t be the last time that I
Stand here and watch the sun go down
I have a feeling that I’ll return here
I think there are good times coming
For beggars and buskers in this town
There’s more than just money that I can earn here

Oh and there are some days when the inspiration hits me
Fate pays me a compliment that fits me
Hope stays for the time I sat and played
My sidewalk serenade


The Way Things Are
© 2009 Larpin Lane Publishing (BMI)

A thought that rolls across my mind once in a while
I try to picture you and I see this little child
I haven’t seen for so long
I think of all those dreams we carried in our hands
And just because things didn’t work out like we planned
It doesn’t mean the dreams were wrong

This is how things are
It’s nothing I can change
But I don’t know where I stand
When familiar things look strange
I can only take so much
I can only push so far
And I wish that there was more
But that’s not the way things are

With thoughts so restless and emotions running wild
I guess I still see myself as this frightened child
Who’s never pleased with what he’s got
So when I find myself in the face of tragedy
How do I come to terms with what I’m supposed to be
Or make peace with what I’m not

Cause this is how things are
And I’m not so naive
To belief that I can change
Or to change what I believe
I can only cry so much
I can only grieve so far
And there has to come a time
To accept the way things are

I have always tried to see myself
As a well-enlightened man
But I still don’t know if Hell is real
Of if Heaven gives a damn
And at the heart of it
There’s just so much I’ll never understand

It seems the simplest things can always make me smile
I see myself these days and I know I’m not a child
As much as I might like to be
When I can focus in on what my life’s about
When I can calm my mind and let go of my doubts
That’s when I find the real me

And this is how things are
It’s awful and sublime
It’s a frenzied rate of change
Through the slow parade of time
I can only do so much
I can only go so far
This is not a perfect world
But I like the way things are