A Better Me

© 2016 Mark Cote

strangers always ask me
how I feel
do they realize
the words aren't me
people high on disillusion
can never tell right from wrong
people lost in their confusion
dreams that won't last for long

people coldly passing
on the street
only reaching out
on a screen
in all this infatuation
just so they are blind
I found the realization
only few will find

they will never see
so just let
them be

(chorus) molding
                  holding
                  so many colors like the sea
                  molding
                  holding
                  letting it take over me
                  molding
                  holding
                  a better me....

bloody mud is melting
off my feet
as the world grows bigger
 than I see
it was just a mis-perception
looking through others eyes
now just a recollection
years like that can make you blind

if they will never see
then just let
them be

(chorus)

Everybody Gets A Turn

© 2016 Mark Cote

We.....
danced on a Valentine
ones eyes were open
ones eyes were blind
naive love and the fox is sly

I...
never asked when you went out
with your friends you would shout
at home I would stay
while you went around and do to this day

(chorus) everybody gets a
                  turn turn turn
                  everybody gets a turn
                  in time you're gonna get
                  burned burned burned
                  but everybody gets a turn
                  like a doorknob
                  everybody gets a turn

                  she used to be mine
                  used to be fine
                  but the words I heard
                  but in time I learned
                  like a doorknob
                  everybody gets a turn

(instrumental)

so...
here I am sitting in this bar
wondering where on Earth you are
maybe with Bob and Mary
maybe with Sue and Carl

(chorus)

Delusions Of Grandeur

© 2016 Mark Cote

big box compassion
the browning of a nose
if a heart beats within
it really never shows

blinded by greed
and the lust of it all
couldn't care if you trip
or care if you fall

(chorus) delusions of grandeur
                  is all that he sees
                  to put you down
                  makes him feel free
                  delusions of grandeur
                  will leave you alone
                  when no ones around
                  and your heart's made of stone

make up for something
he's lacking within
fighting a battle
he will never win

his mirror is cracked
we see through it all
we pity the fool
who didn't see the fall

(chorus)

Paint In The Shadows

© 2016 Mark Cote

colored suit
walks darkened halls
the irony of it all
dance and sing in his silence
always seeking out the kindness
is it lost
like a treasure map he can't find
lost in time
spilled like paint
in the shadows

poetic slumbers
an empty mind
of tomorrows I left behind
with a jagged pen and Joker's grin
scratch the coffin I'm buried in
and the words
like rainbows to the blind
never mind
spilled like paint
in the shadows

deeper roots
a shallow grave
withered flowers where they lay
did I really make a difference
hoots the owl in the distance
in the end
we all lie there alone
cold as stone
just like paint in the shadows

future's child
looks back in time
like some old forgotten rhyme
worship hymns of a Beatle
threading love with a needle
but the point
that remains to this day
won't go away
light the paint in the shadows

Flying Under The Radar

© 2016 Mark Cote

the arms that work
the hands that feel
meet shallow goals
with no appeal

a lonely heart
longs to be free
flows out in words
creatively

(chorus) soaring the skies
                  as high as a dream
                  knowing the depths
                  and all that it means
                  all the while
                  finding who you are
                  still he's flying
                  under the radar

what he writes
is of himself
people connect
to how he felt

but what he strives
goes unseen
does he write for you
does he bleed for me

(chorus)
(instrumental)

all he is
ink from a pen
paints just where
past future's blend

if nothing's left
but an empty quill
forever remains
the words he spilled

(chorus)

Diamonds On The Inside

© 2016 Mark Cote

New York attitude
from what she's been through
once a girl with starry eyes
fell to a life she could not cry

shadowed alleys
and empty roads
can bleed a heart
and drain a soul

(chorus) she's not cold as a stone
                  she doesn't want to be all alone
                  and in the shyness that she hides
                  she wears diamonds on the inside
                  she may be lost but can be found
                  if you listen for the sound
                  if you can see the distant shine
                  of her diamonds on the inside

dark glasses that she wears
hides tears looking out
hides tomorrow looking in
if the world says you'll lose
tell yourself you can win

shadowed alleys
and empty roads
can bleed a heart
and drain a soul

(chorus)
(instrumental)

lost in the grey of here and now
shines her glow that just wants out
but now sees the world with so much doubt
whispered screams cry so loud

(chorus)

Random Thoughts

© 2016 Mark Cote

molasses words don't pierce the night
and the turn you take is not the right
but is a spark of gold as bright
as a pure glow of heart-felt white

mystic writes with future's pen
how far ahead I know not when
whisper softly songs to you
is it green or is it blue

(chorus) just random thoughts
                  a scattered mind
                  random things I left behind
                  random thoughts
                  roads up ahead
                  just random thoughts inside my head

the walrus asks Poe to dance
if the clouds will go he'll take a chance
the shadows hide under the bed
dreams so far above his head

(chorus)