By the Time That I Awoke

I like the powder blue dresses
The stewardesses wear on Korean Air.
The skin's divine and their bodies so fine.
They're all the same height and they have the same waistline.
But there is one who stood apart
Her name-tag read "J.H. Park."
She had a white watch a muted spark,
And I thought about her when the night grew dark

And my hotel room in Tokyo,
And by the time that I awoke,
My guitar was broken and in need of repair.
Thanks for the hassle, Korean Air.
But I hurled myself through one last show
And I made a few friends, Shoko and Koko.
Walked them down to the train station below,
Hugged them goodbye and as I walked back I...

Remembered a girl who I had lost.
She grew up in a cardboard box
In a town called Dharma.
She shook my spirit and she rattled my thoughts.
But I had some love back home,
So I never pursued it or called her telephone number.
I wonder if she knew that I had reason,
I wonder if she thought that I had used her.

And by the time that I awoke,
Around my neck I felt fingers choke.
I felt a jolt of an electrical sting,
I felt the pull of an invisible string.
Is it my future falling?
Or is it the past still calling?
I can't remember and you can't make me remember
Anything that hurts or makes me shiver.

I can't remember and you can't make me remember
My dirty reflection shimmering in the rain.
I can't remember and you can't make me remember
Old forgotten blues that we opened my house.
I can't remember and you can't make me remember.
I can't remember and you can't make me remember.

Was five years old the last time I slept
A quiet night before the loudness crept.
I wrote poetry throughout my teens,
And I far exceeded my childhood dreams.
Teachers told me I couldn't write,
That I'd never make a living or touch anyone's life.
People told me I couldn't sing,
That I wouldn't amount to much of anything.

And by the time that I awoke,
I was 25 years old and crossing oceans,
Working hard to develop my sound
Going city to city, covering ground.
And by the time that I had awoke
I was one of a handful of the chosen
To take the punches to take the arrows
To bleed the blood, the blood of sweat.

I can't remember and you can't make me remember
Any hurtful words that I endured.
I can't remember and you can't make me remember
When I was a lost flockless bird.
I can't remember and you can't make me remember
When I couldn't trap bumblebees.
I can't remember and you can't make me remember
Why in a crowd I am so lonely.

I met the most beautiful lover,
Walking along the San Francisco Bay.
She guides me through the perils,
Through the long, unlit hallways.
Below the surface, beneath the distractions
Beneath the dumb, knee-jerk reactions.
It's to her I owe everything,
It is for her that my heart sings.

And by the time that I awoke
the fingers loosened on their choke
And by the time that I awoke.