Paul Heinz

Original Fiction, Music and Essays

Better Than This: Lyrics

Panning For Gold

© 1999 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

Get your things together
And head it out of town
There's a big world turning round
You know life is just a search for the soul
Moving in time
You're PANNING FOR GOLD

Look back to the answers
They gave you as a child
And left your heart unreconciled
And now you feel the need to fill in the hole
You searching for signs
You're PANNING FOR GOLD

Never comes the day
When the mysteries of life's road lead the way
It's yours to find
Waiting on the vine
So grab the truth that's written in between the lines

And get your things together
Let your spirit be your guide
And you may cross the great divide
Now's the perfect time to get up and go
Searching for signs
You're PANNING FOR GOLD

Never comes the day
When the mysteries of life's road lead the way
You've got the goods
Do with them what you should
And in time the riddles might be understood

So get your things together
Tell me what you find
You start your quest, I'll start mine
You know life is just a search for the soul
Moving in time
You're PANNING FOR GOLD
 

So Long, Ohio

© 1998 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

Saddle up to this town
Where the days all look the same
Settle down for a while
Where no one knows your name

The evening's passing slow
There's nowhere for you to go
There's just time to ease your mind
So long, Ohio

She was all that you wished for
All you hoped would be
She was deep down inside you
But she was just out of reach

The evening's passing slow
There's nowhere for you to go
Time to leave it all behind
So long, Ohio

Say goodbye to your instincts
They just lead you astray
Say goodbye to your princess
Blow her kisses away
Blow them away

Saddle up for another town
And redefine your plans
See, you're searching for something
That even you don't understand

The evening's passing slow
You don't know which way to go
But if you have half a mind
It's so long, Ohio
 

File It Away

© 1998 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

So you've got the very best intentions
Yet you still keep getting burned
On the way to all your ambitions
You find you've got a lot to learn

When you've got ungrateful bastards writing your checks
Misguided passion gone astray
You've had enough
But don't beat yourself up, no, no
File it away
File it away under experience

Looking back to all you thought you once knew
As you began your uphill climb
What you've been through you think no one else has gone through
But we all do in our own minds

When you've got unwanted guidance from family and friends
Piles of debt you can't repay
You've had enough
But don't beat yourself up, no, no
File it away
File it away under experience

Only a fool would say
Mistakes you made along the way
Have largely been within your own control
Until you've lived awhile
And had your share of tears and smiles
How will your heart and mind know just where to go
 

We Are Two

© 1997 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

Now she may get around a little slower
She may like the house a wee bit colder
But things are looking quite bright these days
Cuz we are two with two more on the way

Wish I could tell you I had this all planned
I was minding my own I felt no need to expand
Then all at once I hear my wife say
"We are two with two more on the way"

What are we gonna do with these two
When they're up through the night will they harmonize a playful tune
Maybe they can learn to cry in major thirds
What are we gonna say of these days
Will we wish them all back when our hair has turned a silver gray

So here we are a few months to go
I hear the good Lord laughing, "Look out below"
All eyes are fixed on one fateful day
We are two with two more on the way
Yes we are two with two more on the way
 

Feeling Single Again

© 2000 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

I've been up for half an hour
On another restless night
Seems your job has left me lonely
As you take another flight
To another destination
With another distant name
It's just a job you do
But I miss you all the same

I'm like bachelor past his prime
Busy biding time
I don't know what to do
Without you by my side

Put my heart back on the mend

It's like I've lost my dearest friend
I'm feeling single again
When you leave me you say
You're just a call away
But that don't keep me
From wishing that you'd stay
Put my heart back on the mend
I'm feeling single again

So I make my mac and cheese
Like I do for every meal
Then I turn on MTV
But it don't change the way I feel
It's just another useless ending
To another useless day
When the only thing worth having
Is half a world away

I'm like man without a home
Stranded all alone
I'm left to wrestle here
With demons on my own
 

Daddy's At Home

© 2000 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

Jessie's to my left
Sarah's to my right
Sam is fast asleep in his crib
Jessie isn't eating the food that I've been feeding
Sarah wipes her nose on her bib

This is the life of a father with a bread-winning wife
We've got tradition turned on its side

Daddy's at home
Mom's bringing home the bacon
There are hungry mouths to feed
There are diapers to be changing
I'd love to chat a while
There's no time for conversation
I'm babysitting three of my own
Daddy's at home

I remember the time
When I found this wife of mine
Was earning more than I ever would
And as her due date arrived
We needed to decide
Which one of us would stay home for good

I wasn't tied to the workday that took me from nine to five
But now I'm wishing I could just rest my eyes

Daddy's at home
Mom's bringing home the bacon
There are hungry mouths to feed
There are diapers to be changing
They've got me running wild
I'm needing a vacation
How long before my time is my own?
Daddy's at home

I get to sing 'em lullabies
And tuck 'em in when the day is done
I look up to the skies
And think, "I must be the lucky one."
 

Balance Beam

© 1997 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

Sometimes your life is a daily struggle
When you've been given just about all you can juggle
But there's that something
That helps you coast through your day

So grab that dream
And don't let it slip away
Don't let it slip away

You've fallen victim to the ways of convention
You made some choices that you'd rather not mention darling
But there's still time for you
To reconstruct that resume

So grab that dream
And don't let it slip away
Don't let it slip away

We walk a balance beam
Of living life and dreaming dreams
And end up caught in between
Sometimes the daily grind
Leaves us further behind
Go grab that dream, on this balance beam

Do you get the feeling there's more to life than this
You've played the game, but you've yet to reach a state of bliss
They're taking your best years and they can never repay

So grab that dream
And don't let it slip away
 

You Bug Me

© 1999 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

You bug me
Yes you do
You've got a nasty little temper
And a childish point of view
You bug me
But you're lovely
And my lovely, my heart is set on you

You bug me
Could you guess?
The way you want attention
When your daddy needs to rest
You bug me
But you're lovely
And my lovely, my heart is set on you

So I'm looking at you
And you’re looking at me
Tell me what do your eyes see
Do they understand
More than they lead me to believe
Well it wouldn’t surprise me

You bug me
You know it's true
And if your little tongue could speak
I know it'd say I bug you too
You bug me
But you're lovely
And my lovely, my heart is set on you
You bug me
But you're lovely
And my lovely, my heart is set on you
 

The One That Got Away

© 1999 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

A college shindig
A couple kegs of beer
Jimmy Buffett buzzing in my ears
Oh, I still remember you
Though little else from this night remains
I replay the way you smiled again and again

I got the gumption to finally say hello
Though I was drunk and my confidence was low
You were sweeter than the sun
I was thinking then you might be the one
Yeah, I was thinking you just might be the one

Stars looking down
Don't make a sound
I want the world to stay exactly as it is
Years will go by
But don't think that time
Could ever take away the memory of your kiss
Dreams of the young
There's no getting over the one
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

The morning after
I tried to track you down
I searched the room but no evidence was found
I was such a fool for you
I went walking with my head hung in shame
Cuz I forgot to get your number
And I didn't remember your name
 

Head Start

© 1999 Paul Heinz - All Rights Reserved

So you're blessed with a bundle of joy
Who's growing up and making noise
She rekindles all the hope you once held as a child
Life is long, but she's moving fast
You better sign her up for class
And hope in time she'll pass the test
That the greater good demands

There's no time to lose

You go and visit your neighbors with kids
And brag about what yours just did
And hope her milestones measure up
Life's one big competition
'Cause you know in the country today
We praise the ones who make the grade
And damn the restless souls
Who long to know what life's about

There's no time to lose

We try hard not to fall in the trap
And then eugenics joins the act
The quest to rise above shows just how low we'll go
A little love goes a long, long way
A little time to laugh and play
To know a world that's heaven made
Holds so much more in store

There's no time to lose

Copyright, 2024, Paul Heinz, All Right Reserved