A "Play" on Some of the Greatest Songs of Jackson Browne 2

LAUGHTER
For Chris
(Written in 1996)




I know you've laughed at me and thought me a fool

Yet your shining smile is what I remember instead

And we both have the undeniable rights

To be so clear and so bright.



Just when we think the words have all been spoken

More appear, showing us that the feeling still isn't right

And we continue along through our separate nights

Tracing our steps or avoiding understanding.



We both have pictures in our minds

Of the people we hoped the other would be

And now we're awake and can't pretend anymore

That we're alone and without the feelings we've known.



For so long I've been wishing that if I tried with all of my might

We could make it all right between us, straighten the crooked paths

And contemplate together what little mystery remains for our lives

If there is any left, as we've been late for the sky for too long now.



Our hopes and dreams began in some very specific sort of weather

But they sail out of sight as we tear at the world with all' our might

And we fight for whatever semblance of that feeling of True Peace

We might hope to find even though we keep running on empty.