Please Everyone - todd austin john elsliger

You can’t please everyone
You give the moon they want the sun
to shine for them

You can’t fix everything
A broken heart can only sing
itself to sleep

But you can love me
without ever holding back
when you’re in need
Of a place where a heart
that beats as fast as yours
can just run free

You can’t trust what you hear
The merchants of chaos and fear
are getting louder

You can’t depend on getting back
What you put in is hard to track
when no one noticed it

But you can love me
without ever holding back
when you’re in need
Of a place where a heart
that beats as fast as yours
can just run free

The ice is melting
The sky is turning black
Baby hold my hand
Take dead aim and attack

You can’t please everyone
The moon is full the day is done
and I need you home

You can’t always blame yourself
A circumstance beyond your help
is out there now

But you can love me
without ever holding back
when you’re in need
Of a place where a heart
that beats as fast as yours
can just run free

But you can love me
without ever holding back
when you’re in need
Of a place where a heart
that beats as fast as yours
can just run free



Search Engine - todd austin john elsliger

Old flame, first kiss
Last name on my list
The past is, two clicks away

Do you still look the same
I think of us, now and then
Are you on facebook or myspace
I can’t remember what went wrong
search engine our breakup song

Reviews, ring tones
Today’s news, on smart phones
The weather and, a hundred ways to save

On stuff that I wanna buy
government classified
a satellite view of my street
teach us everything you know
search engine blue videos

Connect with an old friend
Attach it and resend
I woke up this morning
but I never made it out my own front door

My inbox is empty
I refresh it plenty
The jacket you lent me
isn’t any worse but it don’t fit no more

Regrets, mistakes
Time won’t erase
These days, no place to hide

That credit score isn’t mine
Poked and tagged many times
Who put those pictures on their page
How did I end up here again
Search engining my own name



Children - todd austin john elsliger

Your children are so beautiful
must be the tree from which they fell
I once knew someone with eyes that blue
but they haven’t slept for a year or two

Your kids are growing just like weeds
soon they will be as tall as me
And break all the rules like we did then
your parents are getting the best revenge

The easy part is done
you came up with the name
The rest of your whole life
will never be the same

Don’t ask us if we’re having children
of our own
we’ll keep a loving eye on yours when
you need a hand

Your teenagers are on the loose
all hormones nothing to lose
There’s so much to teach them from your mistakes
but they wouldn’t give you the time of day

(chorus)

Your children’s children will be sweet
but this last name will die with me


Winter Blue -todd austin john elsliger

New Year’s Eve is over
The days are so much shorter
Blink your eyes
that’s when the sun shines

We wake up in darkness
Come home in the evening
Underground
subways through downtown

January’s just half through
and I’m already black and 
Winter Blue

It snows once in a while
but not the kind you play in
Filthy cars
frozen where they are

Wind nips at my cheek
no matter what I’m wearing
Salty streets
burn through my dog’s feet

February’s just half through
and I’m already black and 
Winter Blue

Winter blue
Can I feed you to death with
all of this comfort food
Or will springtime just
melt you away

If you can afford a vacation
I hear that Costa Rica’s
very nice
this time of year

Meanwhile back in Toronto
Austin John is playing
for the brave souls that stay here

January’s just half through
and I’m already
Winter Blue

February’s just half through
and I’m already
Winter Blue

January’s just half through
and I’m already black and blue


February’s just half through
and I’m already black and blue




Roommates - todd austin john elsliger

The overflowing garbage bag
The bottles from last week
Dishes that won’t clean themselves
rise up from the sink

A bathroom towel on the floor
the cat hair tumbleweeds
More shoes piled up on the stairs
than anyone needs

The party’s over, now we’re just waiting
for the lease to end
Hard to believe that there are some roommates
that started out as friends

The cries of passion through thin walls
a late nite TV fix
The snooze button twenty one times
starting at six

Somebody won’t turn out the lights
the ice is never made
Half the utility bill
that still isn’t paid

(chorus)

The next time I see you will be too soon
so just walk on by
My new best friend is just the empty room
I keep next to mine

Is this till death do us part
or is it sickness and in health
Do unto others as you
would do to yourself

The laundry room is never free
two cars one parking space
Rainforest dew scented candles
will burn down the place

(chorus)


Song for Dad - todd austin john elsliger

Song for Dad, what do you buy
for a man who has everything

All the love, you need in this life
from a wife who’d give anything

In a home, built for two
under starry skies

If we had, different opinions
that came in between us when

There was less, distance between one
visit every now and then

On the phone, will never do
saying long goodbyes

A father’s work, is never through
who’s calling you tonight

Song for Dad, is there a weakness
cause I haven’t seen it yet

When you’re sad, you keep it a secret
pain is something you don’t get

The years don’t look, that bad on you
it wasn’t hard to write, this Song for Dad


Pacific Coast - todd austin john elsliger

Since we unpacked our bags
they’re still on the bedroom floor
you fight to get out the door, to work

I’m back to my old routine
Still haven’t wrote that song
Inspired by pictures on, our camera

Pacific coast
you’re on my mind
If I could leave
All this behind
You know we would be there
in a heartbeat

The sunset in Carmel by the Sea
santa Ana wind in your hair
and flowers grow anywhere, they can

Baby don’t give up on us yet
We found something good out west
Haven’t seen you put on a dress, since then

(chorus)

Let’s leave
our footprints on sandy beaches
our eyes in the red wood trees
Another 10 years could pass before our
differences send us both back east

Since we unpacked our bags
the pictures have all been framed
California dreaming won’t change,
a thing

I’m back to my to my old routine
you’re still on the bedroom floor
waves from a distant shore, are calling

(chorus)



Find You - todd austin john elsliger

Last night
he was a stranger on the dance floor
whose friends just wouldn't wait.
Two drinks
away from asking for your number
when they tore him away.

City streets
he's like a needle in the haystack
that you just haven't found.
Was that you
he sat right next to on a street car
with your eyes to the ground?

Don't be blue
someone out there is trying to find you too.

Online
she’s checking out your favorite pastime
when you failed to connect.
Dial tone
you left a message on her cell phone
that she just didn't get.

(chorus)

What else can you do
when everyone's lining up with advice
I hope what they say is true
there's someone for everyone.

Last night
he was a stranger on the dance floor
while you're curled up at home.
Sleep tight
he is the friend of an acquaintance
that you already knew.

(chorus)



Hide and Seek - todd austin john elsliger

Through a gate past keep out signs
A secret path only we could find

Setting sun on farmer’s fields
Casting shadows at our heels

I prefer to think of this as
a game of Hide and Seek
Visit all our favourite places
I know that’s where you’ll be

Out of breath on a mountain side
I’ll beat you to the top this time

Rolling waves on a sandy beach
the furthest place you could ever reach

(chorus)

Broken ice in a melting stream



Fifteen Minutes -todd austin john elsliger

They’re auditioning musicians
so I showed up with my band
Next think you know I’m wearing makeup
a microphone in hand

I was so close to living out my dreams
of singing along with karaoke machines
That I forgot just how the chorus to the song
they gave me began

So they sent me on vacation
with a camera crew in tow
Left me stranded on an island
with no place to go

I started a fire out of nothing at all
made an alliance with a beautiful girl
Then got vote out by a tribal council on
the first episode

When the fifteen, minutes you were famous for are done
will you recognize me
The competition starts again
let’s make a contest out of everything

They introduced me to a woman
and gave us each a rose
Turns out there’s fifteen other bachelors
waiting to propose

I know that we just met each other on TV
but I’m willing to commit and start a family
How could that bitch pick the guy from one of those
dancing shows

(chorus)

Not everything with a finish line’s worth the fight
the biggest loser still gets their name up in lights

They’re auditioning musicians
I didn’t have what it took
I don’t design my own outfits
or know how to cook

I was so close to living out my dreams
that I sang along with karaoke machines
Turns out I’m not much of a singer
and I don’t have the right look

(chorus)



The End of Faith - todd austin john elsliger

Church bells ring on a Sunday morn
we make love in our bedroom across the street
Going to hell like we were warned
might make the children scared but you can’t fool me

I say a prayer to Natalie Anne,
only she could ever forgive my every sin
That’s where the end of faith begins

Church bells ring on a Sunday morn
in the name of a father I know you raised me fine
The sun that I worship when it keeps we warm
confiding in holy spirit’s a waste of time

I say a prayer in my mother’s ear
all the desperate wishes that somebody’s god won’t hear
I know the end of faith is near

The congregation sings
in four part harmonies
Praise to the king of kings
once a week

But there’s no miracles
just how we treat ourselves
And all those ringing bells
won’t set you free

Church bells ring on a Sunday morn
the body of Christ is served with a cheap red wine
Confetti on the ground from the day before
Who thought that a wedding somehow would keep us in line

I say a prayer to Natalie Anne
all the beautiful things in the world we can believe
This is the end of faith for me