Coyote from Replacement Things by David Newberry

Never was much for regrets. Where is all this coming from?
Drove the tent pegs in as deep as they could go, and got a sliver from the hammer’s swing.
Took out the map, took out the map, took out the compas,
And said 20k that way is the town that we are looking for.
There isn’t much left, they say, just an old caretaker.
And a couple kids who were born there, couldn’t bring themselves to leave.

I gotta know if you’ll be waiting for me.

Never was much for settling down.
The sound passes from one side of the teeth to the other side of the teeth.
Walk silently left in front of right while daylight gets chased off.
Can’t turn back, can’t turn back, took out the compas,
And said “if we keep going we could make it there by nightfall”
Halfway up the ridge we came upon a skeleton,
Of what looked like a fox, but it could have been a coyote.

I gotta know if you’ll be waiting for me.

It could drive a person mad, all this guessing work.
Are you drawing maps in there? Or hey, what are you doing?
The light’s on. The lights’s on. Someone must be home.
The light’s on. Someone else is in there I know.

Never was much for shutting up.
Dreams of a good night’s rest get shuttered out till morning.
Okay, let’s dig for the history here. We’ll find out everything.
We’ll make bad guesses, make bad guesses for the future.
We’ll put it back. We’ll put it back, take out the compas,
Just to find that North is still North, no matter what we do to it.
Try to change the answers, by running from the rules.
It has never worked before, I don’t know why we try again.

I gotta know if you’ll be waiting for me.

• Reggae
• alternative
• indie rock
• songwriter
• Toronto