Jesse Rivest Music

Thought He'd Ask Me for a Dollar

© Jesse Rivest, 2010

Are you going to India? he asked
I thought he'd ask me for a dollar

Standing at the airport in a mismatched suit and tie
He's not asking for our money; he's not begging for a ride
He says please can I come with you; would you help me board a plane?
Would you show me to a hotel room in a country far away?

Are you going to Syria? he asked
I thought he'd ask for their spare dimes

He said he's never really travelled—a poor blind man his long life
Now he's fallen into some money and he has a world of time
He wants to smell a different ocean; feel the bark of unknown trees
Get dizzy in foreign tongues and use his own to taste new beers

Are you going to Monaco?

<instrumental>

Are you going to... anywhere's fine with me
I won't see it but I just wanna be... just wanna be there!

I thought he'd ask me for a dollar
I thought he'd ask for their spare dimes

I thought he'd ask me for a dollar
I said I can't afford my time

I thought he'd ask me for a dollar
I might go back and change my mind

Same as You

© Jesse Rivest, 2010

I thought of you on your birthday
You might have turned fifty-six
On a barstool next to Tom Farmer
With your eye on Lucy Glide

Well you were lonely and abandoned
A dreamer through and through
But a homesteader needs a family
You don't like to sleep alone

I was in another long talk
With the girl I loved to love
About priorities and commitments
Oh man, I was letting her down

As she got up and left the room
I saw my stepmom leaving you
I sat and wondered what it was you did
Or what it was you couldn't give
I was scared I'd be the same as you

I thought of you on your birthday
I'm sure my half-brothers did, too
And after twenty-five years together
I hear my stepmom resents you

I was in another long good-bye
With the girl I loved to love
She wanted answers I thought I had
I wanted freedom most of all

As I closed the door behind her
I saw your family leaving you
I stood and wondered what it was you did
Or what it was you couldn't give
I was scared I'd be the same as you

<instrumental>

As she got up and left the room
I saw my stepmom leaving you
I sat and wondered what it was you did
Or what it was you couldn't give
As I closed the door behind her
I saw your family leaving you
I stood and wondered what it was you did
Or what it was you couldn't give
I was scared I'd be the same as you

I was scared I'd be the same as you

The Igloo Song

© Jesse Rivest, 2015

You're a mason in this autumn light
And I've chopped wood to stoke your fire bright
Putting covers on the bed with hibernation in your head
And Orion's jewels at your bedside

Now come pass these winter days and see
How a snowman lives eccentrically
Here's hot whiskey for your toes and your maraschino nose
We'll hang icicles on our fir trees

We'll keep warm here as these blizzards blast
Though you're used to brick and double glass
It's a miracle of ice—the muffled crunch of sacrifice
We'll forget about the world so fast

I built this house of ice and snow
When the birdsong comes I'll have to go
See these sculptures of our glistening dreams
Melt away with tears of yesterday

I built this house of ice and now
It's the only way I've ever known
Now our thawing hopes and crystal dreams
Are just fleeting streams of yesterday

Now you're dusting all the drawers and shelves
Here's some space if you'll just help yourself
Pulling covers from the bed with spring cleaning in the head
And the winds are drifting something else

I build this house of ice and snow
It's the only way I've ever known
See these sculptures of our glistening dreams
Melt away with tears of yesterday
Now our thawing hopes and crystal dreams
Are just fleeting streams of yesterday

New Trail Old Times

© Jesse Rivest, 2010

Stay on the left of the line
This driving is falling through time
I've never felt so alone as I do right now

A map couldn't say where I'm headed
But Sexsmith is singing through the stereo
And something good will come of this sun-flecked West Coast stray

I don't wanna ruin your good time
You don't wanna follow my line
But we'll go and blaze a new trail like old times

<instrumental>

I got your text in Franz Josef
I left my thoughts littered on the roadside
And every mile ahead's somewhere I've never been

Maybe Wanaka's gonna save me
Maybe you just wanted to float free
We'll pass each other as we're both going the same way

I don't wanna ruin your good time
You don't wanna follow my line
But we'll go and blaze a new trail like old times
I've gotta feeling this will be the last time and
You and I will see the views from each other's sides
And we'll go and blaze a new trail like old times

<instrumental>

I don't wanna ruin your good time
You don't wanna follow my line
But we'll go and blaze a new trail like old times
I've gotta feeling this will be the last time and
You and I will see the views from each other's sides
And we'll go and blaze a new trail like old times