A Collection Of My Words

(This page contains a collection of words I have written over time. Scroll through and read on.)

Through-

Through darkness we find light,
Through time we find life,
Through both we find sight,
Never give up until you try.

Though my heart sank with no way,
I let my mind see the next day.
Where we're stuck between 2 worlds.
Whether you're a boy or girl.

Smile and search for a way.
There is always one with this day.

Even though your light may dim.
The end is where it begins.
You will see more than you did before.
Trust this again and again my friend.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman) 

We're Designed As So-

The sailor was lost out in the middle of the ocean's stormy night,
Where to the waves and winds of war he yelled,
"GOD DAMN IT I'M GOING DOWN,
WITH THIS SHIPWRECK TO THE OCEAN FLOOR!"
But nothing can forever remain bad as well as good,
Cycles of life stay constant as they should,
For soon enough,
The weather of time passed the dark clouds of rain on by,
Leaving the sailor cleaned and dried,
In the middle of a bright clear ocean night,
And as he gazed up to its sky,
He began to see patterns of stars forming like the skin on God's hand,
He then smiled realizing that there is something to everything,
For there's both water and land,
A fish then jumped out of the sea and spread its wings,
And as it flew past his boat,
He realized that everything was designed to adapt as so.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)


What I Saw-

I saw a Chicago prostitute selling herself,
I saw seven oceans overfilling themselves,
I saw five pill bottles on my shelf,
And I saw you sleeping by no one else,
Under a diamond filled sky in your mind's dreams,
Where you were finally free from everything else.

I saw twenty-three miles of broken roads,
On which I saw time quickly letting my life go.

I saw plastic faces on television screens,
Broadcasting our nightmares and our dreams,
And I saw many talk the talk,
But few walk its walk.

I saw a child born of love,
And then raised of hate,
And I saw you look up and above,
To listen to your chance debate its fate.

I saw an old man laughing at youth,
And I saw many come,
But then to stay only a few.

I saw a black man cursing at a white one,
And a white one forgetting to realize,
How the black man's history in this country had begun.

I saw our leader talking in tongues,
Rambling on about a lie that can never be won,
As he uses our troops as pawns under a smoke filled sun,
Only to steal their land and oil,
While burying too many innocent lives into its soil.

I saw a man so poor that he was truly rich,
And a man so rich that he was truly poor,
And I saw you turn your head to ignore,
What you saw when you opened the truth's two-sided door.

And I heard the words of a bi-polar poet,
Who wrote many,
But wasn't really read by any.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Life?

Life is what you dream,
You can't always control its scheme,
But you can do your best when you wake up to its means.

We're born into a pattern of symmetry,
Shining a lantern of memory,
On the darkest slope to a valley of hope,
Where seasons like friendships come and go,
For the morning to clean the stage's empty row.

Summer camp nights to the fall's moonlight,
Beauty is an imagination with flight,
To the stars eyes blinking light for sight,
Across a universe's might,
Where the simplest moments we rush,
Are a golden brush combing life's timeless touch,
On water clear as a perfect cloud,
Where the loud and silent can be proud.

Bury the darkness in the night,
So a dream can shine sunlight,
On a sum of what's been done,
By a broken bottle of rum,
Dripping hopeless miles of graves,
Forming an impossible wave,
On which the arctic brave make a possible pave.

With a fresh breathe
​and a sense of death,
Life asked time for its meaning in depth,
And the clock said,
"It's what you find to accept."

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Glenn Seals-

Life is a stone,
When you throw it into the ocean alone,
It will either skip along,
Or sink and go wrong,
So it's always important to remain strong,
Like Glenn's throwing arm.

Glenn rode his bike through the darkest nights,
To shine their morning's sunlight,
So that his friends could be alright,
He was a tree with branches of joy,
That would suffer through the winter's blindness,
To grow the spring's kindness,
Wind and rain could never blow him away,
For he would use them in the words his business would say,
He was a Livin' Proof Kustom,
That time is forever and life can go wherever.

He was the best father his daughters could have had,
For he never felt sad,
Because his smile made him so glad,
With an East Coast trip of Glenn's kindness,
Our miles were never mindless,
But now that you're gone,
I'll cry tears over your grave,
With my heart trying to remain brave,
Like you told me it should stay.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)

(R.I.P. Glenn, We're All Going To Miss You.)




Nicholas Paradise-

On the morning of August 6th, 2007,
The sky above the small town of Rochester split open,
God's hand reached down,
To grab another life off of the ground,
His name was Nicholas Paradise,
He was a red headed skateboarding child prodigy,
Who had a restless mind full of ideas,
Until his end he did the best he could,
With his brain's two opposing sides.

Through the love of his girl Liz,
He left behind a child named Carter,
To carry on his legacy that is,
He tagged his vision onto anything he could see,
While shrugging off his skills modestly,
Through pills and struggles,
He often found himself trouble,
Through his life and love,
He found the water in blood,
Through his art and skateboarding,
He had talent beyond anything one could afford,
Through hip-hop and smiles,
He inspired others for endless miles,
Through his humor and joy,
He lived life like a boy,
But with his dark side came the clouds,
With their rain that always cleaned him,
For the brighter skies to dry him until his last day.

Now that he's gone,
All of the tears that his friends and family will cry,
Will form into a sea,
And all of the joy that he left us,
Will build itself into a ship,
And it will forever sail on into the future that be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)

(RIP Nic,  You will never be forgotten.)




The Fire Rises-

Beyond the darkest day you will find the brightest night,
Showing you that time and life will always have light.

And when it ends,
Another will begin and a NEW one will start,
For with matters of the heart,
We must always trust the best of our efforts,
Though we may fall short,
And without words,
We should never lose sight of how tall our actions can stand,
And the distance we can travel on this land.

Tackle your struggles with faith,
And know that there is no limit to what you can accomplish,
Keep Moving,
Keep Dreaming,
Keep Learning,
Keep Searching my friend,
For there is no end.

Because with this time,
Our lives are brilliant with what they can find,
And when this we finally understand,
With hope a fire will rise from this land.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



For All-

For all the time I spent,
It was a life well meant.
For all the people I love,
I hope they keep swimming with their heads above.
For all the hearts I broke,
I hope they find laughter in life's joke.

For all our days of Hell,
I hope we find Heaven well.
And for all you've given me my friend,
I hope your love finds no end.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Joy-

In this life,
When you spend your time,
It again you'll never find.

And when you rise,
You may fall.
And when you cry,
You may heal it all.

And when you do good,
Others to you may do bad,
And when you're happy,
They'll try and make you sad.
And when you're alive,
They'll tell you that you'll soon die,
But don't mind their negative opinions you'll find,
They haven't got the guts to try like you.
Go for it. You'll love it.
Because pain will only make you strong,
When you remember that if everyone likes you,
You're doing something wrong.

When you're ahead and they're behind,
Don't slow down for those who aren't so kind,
They haven't found the joy in life,
That heals everything time cuts with its knife.

Keep moving forth,
And always trust the best of your efforts for all they're worth.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



10-9-2012-

Time's knife may cut deep,
But in this life,
Its scars are always worth the keep,
Only to remind you how strong you can be!

With my life and the path it has led,
My dreams and nightmares will always escape my head,
But only to remind me of the better things my time has said.

Everything happens for a reason,
You may lose friends,
But only to gain better ones in the end.

And with shifts and drifts,
Time will fade memories away,
And tomorrow will soon be yesterday,
So always live your life how you want to today,
For never again will this moment stay,
And with it right now,
Live to make the best of your time,
And worry not if others mind,
And GO FORTH with your infinite way.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




A Rochester Spring-

As the shadows of Winter pass,
May your warmth replace your cold days at last,
And as it does,
Always believe what the Spring can bring,
With Infinite Dreams for all,
No matter how life seems.

And as these days get better as they pass,
For all that it has,
Find the joy in your life,
And live with it right.

And always Dream forever,
For you never know what it can bring,
Especially with this Wonderful Rochester Spring.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman) 




A Summer's End-

As time lets the Summer's wonderful dream go,
Always remember your friends and memories with it you know,
And in your life,
Keep them in your heart and mind,
And in the light away from the darkness you will find.

Because soon enough,
You'll find these days again in time,
And you'll fear nothing of them being left behind,
Because again and again you'll realize,
There is no end to the Summer my friend.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




A Michigan Fall-

As the Summer passes by,
With the rising joy of it all,
Time will eventually let itself go and fall,
Hopefully into something better for us all.

And as the colors fade,
Through the darkness of your day,
And the brightness of your night,
Dream forever for what you know is right.

For you see my friend,
In our infinite lives,
Where they begin is where they will end,
So again and again,
Enjoy your last breathes,
For they will always show you the true beauty of death.

And in time,
When you can finally adapt to its infinite change,
And truly appreciate it all,
Find the joy in your life,
And never let go of its beauty through this Michigan Fall.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)


​
She's Today-

Make up or not,
She's today.

Well we bought megaphones,
And ran around State Street,
Shouting things as we pleased.

We drove across twenty states,
To go bowling on the whiskey lanes,
Her beauty could have any guy,
But she chooses the ones who don't live a lie,
She's today.

She wore a dress and goggles,
While playing a guitar outside of a Chicago Speed Way,
Dancing in the summer rain,
She's today.

The moon shines a spotlight on her every night,
When things get too serious
​she laughs,
And when nothing gets done
​she works until it has,
She's my favorite girl in the whole wide world,
She's today.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




No One's Better At Being You Than Yourself-

A pair of shoes hangs from their laces on a telephone pole wire,
As the wind turns them to face every direction,
Just like our years do with or without our attention.

At night I look up at them,
And see their perfect fit inside of the moon,
For our perspectives only begin where we let them,
Just like that Modest Mouse concert,
I saw in the year 2005 during the month of June,
Where when the band left the stage,
Their instruments couldn't play themselves,
For they're only tools musicians use to create a song's wealth.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8 told 9 you're as blind as 11,
What is this?
What is luck?
I just don't know,
But don't give up,
For no one's better at being you than yourself.

Days come and days go,
But there's really no such thing as a day you know,
Our lives are born to die on an endless timeline,
Where it all began?
Well that's for anyone to decide.

It's nice to have a bottle as a friend,
But don't let it swallow you to your end,
And it's nice to have a girlfriend,
But don't let her stop you from saying, "I Am Who I Am."
And it's nice to be by yourself sometimes,
It helps you rest your mind,
And it's nice to play a piece of wood with six strings,
It lets you feel like a fucking king.

Ugliness is when you dim your light,
For beauty is your imagination with flight,
Because no one's better at being you than yourself.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




May The Good Winds Find You-

If those city buildings grow arms and legs,
And walk away,
Those diamonds won't make you pretty inside today,
May the good winds find you.

If your airplane soars with terradactyl bone wings,
Let the bowlegged cop with five eyes,
YELL while you sing,
For the good winds will find you.

If New York City cooks use bloody hands,
And the food you eat tastes like the dirt on the land,
May the good winds find you.

Our lives are like dust amongst the winds high and low,
Never blowing the same as they go,
May the good winds find you.

On 7-18-2000 with my 15th year,
I spent two weeks in Woodward, Pennsylvania,
With summer's end nowhere near,
That night I rode a ramp with my friends,
And fell on my bike eight feet straight to my head,
And my brain internally bled,
While my eyes rolled back into a seizure,
You couldn't even imagine it,
Because I can't even remember it,
I was supposed to GODDAMN DIE,
As my brother Ted cried near my side,
Helicopter angels soon lifted me from Cloud Nine,
And I never thought I would see this world again,
But six months later,
I was back on my bike riding it to the end.

Love what you love,
And care not for the eyes of blood,
May the good winds find you.
 
-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Those Windy Nights-

Floorman's on mescaline in those windy nights,
Hobos are brushing their teeth with their fingers,
Dreamers are riding rusted bikes in the cloudy rain,
Drunken police officers are hanging outside of the hospital,
Playing a game of wheelchair basketball,
While the real cripplers watch them from the windows above,
Shaking their heads in anger,
But then soon smiling,
When they realize the beauty of those windy nights.

In those windy nights,
In those windy nights,
A pack of grits and my dreams in the rain,
Were all I needed when I sang.

Nicky works her night hours in the strip club,
Where she dances naked for dollars,
And not for love,
Near the old who wonder about the young,
While the young live against what they've been told,
For when we're young,
We are never old enough,
And when we're old,
We are never young enough.

In those windy nights,
In those windy nights,
A pack of grits and my dreams in the rain,
Were all I needed when I sang.

Through the night and day,
A top hat performer plays a broken piano on Jackson Street,
Where suits and ties give him a quick listen,
Before they go underground to ride the subway worms,
Where the most important thing we'll ever learn,
Is that there is still gold in the gutter,
For near it Oscar The Grouch lives in a trashcan on State Street,
Where he speaks in tongues,
And yells gibberish to the old folks passing by,
But when children are near,
He speaks to them from his heart,
And says, "Look at me I live in the garbage,
But I'm happier than the world at large,
Children it doesn't matter if you're a king or a hobo,
Fame and fortune aren't that important,
Happiness isn't what you win,
Because you'll never win enough of it,
It is only love,
There's always water in blood,
And if you never give up,
You'll be happy enough."

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Rochester-

In those Rochester summer nights,
I drown my lows in the swimming hole until the moon gets tired,
And before the sun wakes up the new day,
I sit on top of my car and wish upon stars,
I know that not every dream will come true,
Not everyone will like me,
And not everyone will see how I see,
But with so much beauty in Hell,
Heaven isn't looking much better as far as I can tell.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Sheep In The Herd-

With fancy fur,
The sheep in the herd,
Try so hard to impress each other to be deserved,
While the happier ones eat their own grass,
And worry nothing of the others in the herd.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Everything-

Everyone that you ever met,
You met for a reason,
Every stage you ever acted on had the same reason,
When your day comes,
Everyone that you ever knew will gather around you,
Dancing in a large circle,
Showing you that everything is an endless cycle,
Just like the seasons, years, trees, plants,
And our universe at hand,
You'll soon realize,
That everything was designed to help itself understand.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Your Crutches Are Your Wings-

We'll play in the old junkyard forest,
Where there are broken cars and tire swing ropes,
For we're never too old to be young.

We'll bang spoons on the alleyway dumpsters,
Hoping to form ourselves a street band,
But if it never happens we'll keep playing on.

We'll go to church on Sunday,
And walk out halfway through the service,
I'll steal the priest's car keys from his coat pocket,
And drive you to the Grand Canyon,
I'll then take both of your crutches,
And tie them to your back with my belt,
And with a hammer and nails,
I'll pound your bed blanket into them giving you wings,
And within seconds,
You'll run off of the edge of your highest fear,
Because every night you dream of flying free,
And now you finally are,
Because your crutches are your wings.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




When You're Stuck-

When you're stuck,
Down on your luck,
Without a friend,
Don't you worry that feeling will come again and again.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Life Is Still Sweet-

On his twentieth year,
He drank away all his fear,
Far beyond a prick's envious sneer,
With too much to tell,
He's got inner hell stretching beyond his outward yell,
His world's so big and his world's so small,
He just can't figure it out at all,
Chicago sunrise on microdots,
Floats him in a new mind spot,
Rain or shine,
He watches time spend his precious dimes,
But with this time comes his worried mind,
Which leaves him in a troubled bind,
In this bind he is blind,
Until he frees his mind.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Down The Road-

Down the road of your show,
The simple truth you will know.

Forget today,
And hit the tracks anyway,
So a train will take you traveling away.

Rich or poor,
You're made of dirt's door,
As you wash away from its shore.

Flip a coin in the wind's tail luck,
Opposite of its head's sailing buck,
And if no one believes in you,
Just remember the sky is still blue.

Down the road of your show,
The simple truth you will know.

All the people in the highest steeples,
Map mazes of land like ants in the sand,
Our world is so big until we see where it lives,
Amongst infinity's marbles in the deepest sea of marvels,
Where with your last breathe,
You will find to accept,
That life is simple in depth,
For down the road of your show,
The simple truth you will know.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Who I Am-

When I'm in Heaven I miss Hell,
When I'm in Hell I miss Heaven,
When I'm lonesome I miss my friends,
When I'm with my friends I miss being lonesome again,
My days of bones, pills, and tears will never disappear,
FOR I AM WHO I AM 'TIL MY GODDAMN END!

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Big Eyed Thoughts-

Try not to curse because it could always be worse,
For Little Foot walked around In The Land Before Time,
Where he saw other dinosaurs and much more,
But in Chicago today,
My big-eyed pupils only saw a seashell sidewalk,
Where those barnacles clanged onto my thoughts.

With the two sides of my story,
I often find only one of them to be hard enough,
So for it I'll build myself a sailboat out of dead trees,
And sail it until I'm living my dream,
Because when those big eyed thoughts begin,
I only hope that they'll never end.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Walking On Telephone Pole Wires-

In your summer dreams,
Brush those yellow barnacles off of your teeth,
And drink a bottle of rum,
And climb up to the top of a wooden telephone pole,
And walk your bare feet across its connecting wires,
Until you arrive at the next one,
There a three-foot tall man will shake your hand,
And say, "Hey I've seen your talent,
If you join me I'll make you a star,
And when you are your Hollywood years will grow,
So enjoy the sex,
Lay off the drugs,
And continue to rock and roll,
But always remember that you'll never find perfection,
Because it will always be lost amongst infinity."

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




ABC-

A told B to be more like C,
D gave E some ecstasy,
F tried to sleep with G,
H danced with I on an ocean ship,
J sang a song to K about it,
L longed for its lover M,
N shot O with an empty gun in its hand,
P smoked cigarettes with Q,
R tried loving S like it used to,
T tried to please U,
V never felt victory for itself after W,
X hung out with Y near the alphabet's end,
Where Z was at the very top, 
But often felt like it was at the very bottom.

Now you know your ABC's,
Oh won't you sing with me,
But we're no longer children,
We now know how fucked up this world is,
But we'll never truly know the truth,
Because you could live forever,
And you still wouldn't find it anytime soon.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Don't Marry A Lie-

Drive your car on a dirt road,
Below there's so much beauty it looks like gold,
When the band jams on that Chicago rooftop,
We'll walk to our drunken make out spot,
Though I'm not sure what you told yourself,
But you're worth more to me than anyone else,
But please don't marry a lie,
Because you'll only end up divorcing its truth.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Love-

Through our days and through our nights,
Love always makes life right,
While those clouds swim like fish through the ocean of the sky,
And as they do,
It is true that I love you,
And hope that you feel the same way too.

So why must we hate,
When love is our only fate,
For believe me my friend,
Religion or not,
Love is all we got until the end,
And that is why I love you,
And hope that you feel the same way too,
So why must we settle for less,
When life is a never ending dream,
Cursed and blessed by time again and again,
But worry not my friend,
For we'll soon find all is right,
From our love that comes inside.

And my dear if trouble comes your way,
Just hold my hand today,
And we'll soon find our problems are none,
As we talk with some words,
Through these many moons and suns,
Shining us their light to bring us the love of our life.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Your Dreams-

In your dreams,
The forest floor can be a city,
Where the ants are the cars,
And the trees are the buildings.

In your dreams,
The summer can stretch on forever,
Finding the winter never.

In your dreams,
Time can drift through your days and nights,
Along their winds and tides,
Through which beauty is an imagination with flight.

And with your dreams,
Never wake yourself up,
Until your time comes to give you up.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




May Time Heal You-

With your past eyes,
May your present see your future in disguise,
And on your bloody fingers,
May you soon see your cuts healing,
For those scars you are always needing.

And may time heal you,
And your friends and family too,
And may those bi-polar boys,
Take their pills to fix their heads,
And may those broken hearts dwell in their regret,
Only for their love to cash it into a paycheck.

And may your rusted teeth speak quietly,
To be heard loudly,
And may those summer days,
Soon fall into the autumn along time's way.

And may your broken wings soon heal you,
To fly you far and away,
From everything blinding you in your days.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Without An End-

In this life,
Separate your thoughts from your mind,
And abandon your body and leave it behind,
For the unknown is always beyond the known,
Where in time,
Each universe is inside of a marble,
On the hand of a child living in the next one ahead,
For infinity holds an endless truth,
That every end is a beginning throughout an infinite route.

And without an end,
Reach beyond in this life,
And think for yourself with your time,
For you see my friend,
Infinity has no end.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Our Bridge-

With water over our bridge,
Only chance will tell our fate for what it is.

On my side,
I will stand strong for you,
And on yours,
I hope you will for me too.

And with water over our bridge,
Only chance will tell our fate for what it is.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




9/11-

The men behind the curtains chose a date,
Two eagles and towers met in the sky,
Death and misery came,
Our leader wasn't one bit surprised,
For it had gone as he planned,
Whether you agree or disagree,
It won't change the truth at hand.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




We Are Free-

We are free,
We are free,
To dance our fixed feet on this broken street,
And dream forever where the ocean and sky meet.

We are free,
We are free,
To speak whatever words we please.

We are free,
We are free,
To give our love to whomever we see.

We are free,
We are free,
To ride our bikes through these abandoned hotels,
And drift through our days of Heaven and Hell.

We are free,
We are free,
To believe whatever we think.

We are free,
We are free,
To fly with our broken wings.

We are free,
We are free,
To let our diamond and stone voices sing.

We are free,
We are free,
To simply be.

For forever in this life,
We are free,
To sail our ships however we please,
On these clear and stormy seas.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




To Be-

With your heart to the Earth,
May your days find what they are worth,
And through your mind's brighter sky,
Long may your better thoughts fly,
And on your feet's better miles,
Long may your face find its smile,
And through the Cold Winter winds,
May your days soon find the Spring to begin.

And though your end may soon come,
Let yourself worry not of life's short run,
For if it blinds you of your sight,
Simply remember from darkness only comes light,
And in this life,
Forever let yourself find it,
For your chances are always infinite,
Because your fate is only to be great,
And to simply be who you are throughout your days.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Drifters of Time-

Through the darkness of our nights,
And the brightness of our days,
We are the drifters of time,
That come but never to stay.

And with our hearts and our feet,
We'll walk these abandoned city streets,
Where the ghosts of time come to meet.

And through the cold Winter winds,
We'll drift until the Spring begins,
And through the Summer's heat,
You'll find us simply to be,
Until the Fall lets go of its dream.

And on the roads of time,
Our minds are always lost,
And never to be found,
As we drift on through these many towns.

And on this sea of time,
Those bi-polar barnacles will always cling onto the ship of my mind,
Sinking me down no matter how hard I try,
Because through the darkness of my nights,
And the brightness of my days,
I am only a drifter of time,
That comes but never to stay.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman) 




Love's Tide-

The day asked the way for a loving say,
But was ignored for it had yet to pay,
Love had little time for a broken dove,
Sunken by a burden's wavy shove.

The lost wings cried an ocean,
For a ship's heartful motion,
And its sails then rose high,
As the bird opened its wings on infinity's tide,
Flying hope to the moon with love's universal side.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Moon's Tide-

The Moon was sad it couldn't visit the sunny day so glad,
It cried an ocean wide for the Earth's tide,
To float on its chances,
While it dreamed of its romances.

When the Moon was a boy,
It learned with the school's packaged joy,
Though as it grew on its own it felt alone,
With time it joined the Earth's dark side,
While hoping to see its brighter tide.

The sun was too busy shining down,
To notice the sadness around,
While universal neighbors fought their own fight,
As the moon began to dim its light.

But with clouds and rain,
The Earth's days went on their ways,
While their time's extra change gave its pay,
To the heart of a door on their night tide's shore,
And when it was opened into the brightest of days,
The Moon was amongst the blue sky of May,
Showing the hope of a wishful way.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Love and Hate-

Through love comes the daylight,
And through hate comes the darkness of its night,
Through love the truth can fly,
And through hate the truth can lie,
Through hate we find blood,
And in its water we find love.

And both through love and hate we'll find,
That they are what design us throughout the symmetry of time,
Because no matter where our love lives outside,
Our hate will still kill us inside.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Hate and Love- 

Hate and love had a child whose name was Have,
He was born with two funny arms,
One was made of a violin and the other a hammer,
So he wasn't able to play the music he was born to,
Without smashing it to bits,
But that all changed the day he asked someone for their help,
He realized that you can't always do everything yourself,
And from there on out,
A helping hand guided his bow,
So that his beautiful music could finally be played,
And from that day on,
It always reminded people that no matter how sick life got,
It could always become well as time went on.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




My Life's A Blur-

My life's a blur,
My life's a blur,
Chicago's subway tracks are a guitar,
And its trains are its strings,
As they ride them they give it the tune it needs.

My life's a blur,
My life's a blur,
A month is now a day,
And the years gone by are no more.

My life's a blur,
My life's a blur,
Bradley Butterworth has seen eyeballs grow from that head of yours.

My life's a blur,
My life's a blur,
We're living inside of a TV screen,
Whoever's watching us must be the lord.

My life's a blur,
My life's a blur,
But I'll never believe that I can't believe anymore.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




A Paycheck Of Regret-

I'm drunk in my bathroom,
With a toilet full of cigarettes and ash,
Trying to rewrite my past,
But perfection is a myth,
As hard as we try to achieve it,
We never will,
For there's always something to improve upon until the end,
Where we must learn to let go like our lives will,
And as lonesome as we'll all be,
It's too bad that we don't let others see.

Cash your regret into a paycheck,
It's always richer than what you thought it meant.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Barnacle Wheelchair-

We often live our lives like barnacles stuck onto a ship's hull,
Following our same routines as it sails on,
Though we should learn to break free into our ocean,
Before our time is gone,
But we'll still need a ship to sail its water strong.

There will come a day when your back is broken away,
And walking is as painful as what your fear might weigh,
Out of the wind a wheelchair will roll in,
And an old man behind it will point to your seat to sit in,
You'll then sit down,
And he'll push you along up a vertical pathway of thin air,
Taking you high above the world there,
Looking down,
You'll see toy sets with ants crawling around,
For it's true how small our lives are,
And yet how big we make them seem on the ground.

When you look behind,
You'll notice that the old man is growing younger than you last recall,
Further up the pathway,
Your life's years and seasons are shown in a timeless motion,
Like the rolling pair of dice,
That will soon gamble you free into the ocean.

And as you move further along,
You'll begin to notice that all of your family, friends, and enemies,
Are smiling and waving at you from the side,
As you're pushed up the sky,
By the wind turning your wheels of time.

Even the people you hated in life are showing you their love,
That's when you finally realize that there's water in blood,
You begin to thank your enemies for hating you,
And they then thank you for hating them too,
And for finally understanding the truth,
That even the moon's light bulb makes wishes to the stars,
In hopes of always shining fully at large,
Though as it dims it learns to accept,
That they're not all taken into regard,
But instead of disappearing from the night,
Its better half shines us the truth about darkness forming light.

When you look behind again,
The middle aged man is now a young adult with a youthful heart,
Further up the pathway,
You'll see the Devil and God shaking hands and smoking cigars,
While near them,
Your Grandparents are playing like children in their old schoolyard,
And as you're pushed further along,
All of your hate, envy, and fear is gone,
And with your last look behind,
You'll notice that the young adult is now a child.

Your journey is then stopped at the edge of a cloud on thin air,
Above an ocean wider than our universe can compare,
The child then steps to your side and smiles,
And as you smile back,
And look out at the endless stretch of water in front of you,
What seemed like your lifetime,
Was only a blink of your eye,
And when you opened it up,
Everything that you knew of throughout it,
Was now stuck to your wheelchair like barnacles.

The child then puts his longest fingertip on your nose,
And laughs a smile of a feeling you used to know,
And without a fear he dives off the cloud,
Into the ocean wind below,
Which then blows your wheelchair forward into the unknown.

Where you'll land?
No one knows,
You might float on again,
Or sink to your end,
But your barnacles will be stuck to your ship,
No matter where or when.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)
 



The Field of Symmetry-

When I was eighteen years old,
I crawled on a shattered knee in a Pennsylvania field of dirt,
Watching bees fuck on the flowers of Earth,
While realizing there that symmetry was two-sided from birth.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Through What We Do Not Know-

In the forest there's an old broken down shack,
Where a man lives alone with both of his arms cut in half,
He plays a game of chess,
By blowing both sides pawns with his mouth,
For we always have more wind in us than we let out.

And as the seasons give the trees their haircuts,
Our government covers up what they will not say,
While we worry for tomorrow,
Which will soon be yesterday.

At the bottom of the ocean,
There are fish bigger than submarines,
They have a 1,000 eyeballs and 500 fins each,
Every mile they swim,
They see that it is twice as easy to win,
But they'll never rise up to show themselves to our world,
For they'd rather keep us safe from the unknown,
Which we assume we know.

Our minds are highways,
Traveling past the wrecks of our days onto a better place,
Though with more than one road,
We're often lost on which one to pick,
But our eyes are oceans of water,
With our pupils being an island of land,
Don't leave your mind shipwrecked at its shore,
Sail it out and you'll soon find there is much more.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Traveling Way-

I woke up today with a traveling way,
I hopped into my car and swallowed its speed,
I drove through the night,
So the sun would shine down on me,
The half moon's lonesome power rested on the windy towers,
While I daydreamed behind the wheel,
And crashed into a wire tower,
Where three-eyed dogs barked at my broken car,
As its stereo played my broken guitar,
Though with three pills later on the Red Line Train,
I finally felt clean from the cold, cold rain.

So if you've also once lost all your hope,
And you're crazier than an armless vagabond snorting dope,
Then welcome to my world,
Where the end still holds gold.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)
 



A Point Of View-

Reach your hands up into the sky,
And pull down the blanket you'll find,
For there's always been more to life than what meets your eye.

In the city,
A lonely old janitor cleans around a millionaire's un-driven car,
Which one of these men is better off?
Well money will never tell,
Because it's never bought anyone a heart.

Below the city streets,
An army of orphan dwarfs paddles through the sewer,
With their boats that are made out of garbage,
While without a care for anyone's opinion,
They all shout together, "We Will Win!"

Far away from the cities dream,
Twenty-foot tall orphans walk the forest floor,
With their pockets full of pennies,
Searching for the next well that is near and empty,
To find it and fill it up,
Until one of their wishes has made them happy.

Today open up your hands with a new point of view,
And look closely at your skin,
And you'll see tiny bugs and bacteria crawling around it,
No shower or make up will ever rid them from you,
For it's often harder to believe,
What is than what isn't.

Drunk or not,
I'll put on my Russian coat,
And dance in a meadow with my imaginary friends, 
An orchestra of kangaroos will guide glories tune,
While a little bird waltzes with a big whale, 
And with or without reality I'll dream in my head,
Because I've always found it to be the best point of view,
In where my life has led.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Everything Is-

I was on an island,
Far away from anything I've ever seen,
I was asleep on the past,
When the future woke me up to ask,
"Wouldn't you love a better life?"
I then smiled diamond teeth,
And trees started dancing together as they were meant to be,
While animals played saxophones made from the sand on the beach,
Near the ocean that began to smile,
While the sun watched me like a mother would her child,
But I knew this wouldn't last forever in time,
So I saved it in my imagination for the future to find,
Because everything is,
What it is in your mind.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




That California Girl-

She spent today's paycheck on yesterday's regret,
But that's just how it goes,
It will all be fine in time.

She had diamond rings,
And a nose that would bleed,
It would stain her trays of white powder,
But that's just how it goes,
It will all be fine in time. 

She drove alongside the California coast,
Smiling her wishes into the ocean,
While dreaming of fame and fortune,
But when the chances came,
Nothing ever went her way,
But that's just how it goes,
It will all be fine in time.

She had a wonderful mind full of dreams,
Beyond her beautiful body that men would see,
But with her troubles came the clouds to make things better,
For the rain always cleans us,
For the brighter skies to dry us,
Just like every night that has its day,
For that's just how it goes,
It will all be fine in time.
 
-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Nothing Can Be Something-

Well if you feel like you don't have a friend,
And no one understands you that well,
Just remember that without hate,
Love would have no meaning today,
And without darkness,
Light would burn us away,
And that nothing can always be something throughout your days.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Think-

Throughout time,
Learn to think outside of what mankind has made up to be its existence,
For everything that is came from somewhere around,
We are only one part of infinity's light and sound.

When I was a child,
I remember looking at my Grandmother's hand,
Her skins lines of imperfection showed me that we're all human,
With our lives only being frequencies of sound,
And molecules of light,
But somehow we often forget that,
As well as the fact,
That every friend and enemy we made was only there to better our show,
For that's why there's water in blood,
Because without hate,
There would be no love,
To divide us just like symmetry did when it gave us our gifts at birth.

With our two eyes,
One to watch the outside,
And one to watch ourselves inside,
Two ears,
One to listen to others,
And one to listen to ourselves,
Two legs,
One to walk back to the past,
And one to walk forward when we realize what we have,
And two arms,
One to shake the hand of our birth,
And one to wave goodbye from this Earth.

On it there is something watching over us,
Every show has its director,
Whether it is a God or not,
No one knows,
For it's an energy force beyond anything we'll ever know,
Our planet is one of an infinite amount of chessboards that it plays on throughout time,
But with so many different games going on at once,
It cannot play them all to their best,
And that is why our world is often left as a mess.

With its quick turn on our board,
It does its best before it moves onto the next,
And while it does,
It only hopes that we'll learn to move ourselves throughout our own game,
Before it's too late.

Near and far away from our world,
Every star is a lantern shining light to its planets and their moons,
But throughout time,
The energy running the show cannot always relight them once they've burned out,
For perfection cannot exist in infinity,
Simply because it will always be lost throughout its waves of light and sound,
Where in and out of them,
There are more dimensions of time and space,
Than grains of sand inside of them,
For we are only invisible specs of dust amongst an endless atmosphere,
But without the smaller things,
The bigger ones wouldn't be the same,
For within and far from them,
Each universe is inside of a marble on the hand of a child living in the next one ahead,
Where infinity always holds an endless truth,
That every end is a beginning throughout an infinite route.

Throughout time,
Learn to think outside of what mankind has made up to be its existence,
For everything that is came from somewhere around,
We are only one part of infinity's light and sound,
But don't be afraid,
Everything is where it is meant to be today.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




At The End Of Your Life-

The universe is an endless ocean of space,
Its stars, planets, and moons,
Are the fishes swimming their way through it.

At the end of your life,
At the end of your life,
It doesn't matter how popular you were,
At the end of your life,
At the end of your life,
All that matters is that you lived one that made you happier.

When your day comes,
You'll sit down in a white room,
Watching a screen showing you everything you lived through,
If you don't want to look,
You don't have to,
You can close your eyes,
But you'll still realize,
That at the end of your life,
At the end of your life,
It doesn't matter how popular you were,
At the end of your life,
At the end of your life,
All that matters is that you lived one that made you happier.

On the moon there's a control room,
Monitoring our little lives on our circuit board Earth,
The creatures operating it are twenty feet tall,
They have octopus arms and elephants noses,
Just like the ones that create us at the bottom of the ocean floor factory,
Where we're made with carbon,
And then monitored up on Earth until we've reached our day,
Our only purpose is simply what we accept it to be,
At the end of your life,
At the end of your life,
You will see.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




In-between Everything-

Blood for oil,
We're soldiers buried into the soil,
And with nothing going right,
We choose the wrong,
And if the ocean then floods over our land,
We'll adapt with gills on our neck,
Breathing the future's sleight of hand,
Where right now in-between us and everything,
There are molecules floating around,
And what is in-between those,
Is beyond anything we'll ever know.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Flight Of Light-

If you want to do something then do it yourself,
Because no one else is going to build your shelf,
For your eyes are marbles of time,
Blinking in destiny's random design.

All sight is the flight of light,
Night or day the good life may.

From the ocean floor to your brain's door,
Never believe that you can't believe anymore.

All sight is the flight of light,
Night or day the good life may.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Broken Jaw Joe-

"TODAY IS THE FUTURE!" Screamed Broken Jaw Joe,
As he drove his truck through ten dark nights of Montana's cold snow,
With his shotgun that laid on the passenger seat side,
Loaded with twenty-one bullets that wouldn't lie,
For with it he robbed a bank,
And stole a semi-truck,
Only to play a broken piano on the back of it,
Near a gas can of luck,
And when it got cold,
He burned his musical wood to ash,
And fired off his shotgun yelling,
"GOD DAMN IT I SAIL UNDER MY OWN MAST!"

Broken Jaw Joe rolled his own,
He built his house out of dinosaur bones,
He sniffed so much coke when he drove,
That his friends were the first ones he would choke on the road.

Broken Jaw Joe had an anchor tied to his goals,
That sank him to the bottom where the ocean wouldn't even go,
Down where he drank his own blood from Lucifer's fountain,
But then soon climbed back up,
To shine his yellow teeth on top of an Arizona mountain,
Where with one shot left,
He fired his mouth off to its best,
And screamed, "WE'RE DECOMPOSING FROM OUR BIRTH TO REST!"

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Ocean Floor Factory-

America nuked Japan twice in 1945,
Innocent lives were evaporated from the face of this Earth,
It was written down in the history books as being justified,
But America still can't answer the simple question,
Is it the only country that is supposed to win? 

Human beings are made of water and shit,
At the bottom of the ocean floor,
There's a factory creating us using carbon,
Believe it or not,
This is why we are,
The creatures that make us are twenty feet tall,
They have octopus arms and elephant noses,
After being made,
We are shot up in a tube to the top of the ocean,
With each new life that meets the fresh air,
One is taken away on Earth to balance it to be fair,
The dead are sent down in tubes,
To be re-made using new carbon,
In an endless cycle that is our circle,
But our choices have begun to throw this process off in its balance,
The factory at the bottom of the ocean will soon become silent.

The men behind the curtains chose a date,
Two eagles and towers met in the sky,
Death and misery came,
Our leader wasn't one bit surprised,
For it had gone as he planned,
Whether you agree or disagree, 
It won't change the truth at hand.

Human beings are made of water and shit,
At the bottom of the ocean floor,
There's a factory creating us using carbon,
Believe it or not,
This is why we are.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Chicago-

The city of Chicago moves like an ant maze,
When you look down from Heaven's clouds,
You'll finally understand what I mean.

During its nights,
Rows of homeless men sleep outside,
On the sidewalks, benches, and garbage around,
And when no one's looking,
Power tripped police officers beat the shit out of them for fun,
And if you don't believe me that's too bad,
Because there's always something that you'll never know about,
Going on behind your back.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




An Autobot Or A Deceptacon-

An Autobot or a Deceptacon,
I'm not sure which one of these cars I'm driving around,
Though I'm not as cool as A.C. Slater,
I'll still make you remember me later,
For there are things in my mind,
That not even Mr. Belding can understand,
But to each his own for every man.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




A Dumpster Can Talk-

One summer night I was cooking in a restaurant kitchen,
And my hand slipped into the deep fryer,
And was burned,
I screamed and yelled,
But it was all meant to happen for me to learn.

After I thought I did,
I walked outside and lit up a cigarette,
And looked at a nearby dumpster,
And started talking to it,
I told it about all of the troubles that were inside of my head,
But it had nothing to say back to me,
That's when I realized that I wasn't talking to anyone,
But sometimes nothing is something,
And can make you realize a lot of things.

The clouds and rain then came,
And took over the sky,
So I walked back into the kitchen and went back to work,
Because that's about the best thing you can really do in this world.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Shadows Of My Heart-

Two monkeys dance inside and outside of a metal cage,
Summing up our world's stage,
Where if I ever fall in love with her,
It will be,
But if not it wasn't meant for me,
So may the stagehands drift my invisible strings to a better stage act,
For hate loves itself,
But so does love,
In-between them I'm stuck enough,
For the shadows of my heart will always darken my light.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




That's Just How It Goes-

Chicago's buildings are its teeth,
And the cities land is its mouth.

One night on the tip of its tongue,
Little Timothy hired a Wilson Street hooker,
When he was getting sucked,
He yelled, "Oh You're Such A Good Looker!"
She then slit his throat and grabbed his wallet,
To go to the nearby convenient store to spend his debit,
But while she was there,
A ski mask man came in with a gun and robbed the place,
And right before he ran out,
He shot her directly in the face,
For that's just how it goes,
Karma might exist,
You never know.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Fame and Fortune-

She had diamond rings and moon eyes,
But they didn't shine right for me,
For I'd rather not marry a lie,
Because I'd only end up divorcing its truth,
So instead I'll pedal my BMX Bike to Lake Michigan's night,
And stick my head in the water,
And catch a fish with my bare teeth.

Because in the end,
Fame and fortune aren't that important,
Happiness isn't what you win,
Because you'll never win enough of it,
It is only love,
There's always water in the blood,
And if you never give up,
You'll be happy enough.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



In Your Mouth-

Inside of your mouth,
There's a little city ran by tiny people,
Everyday they open small doors on your teeth to view the world,
They then close them and look up to your mind,
And whether or not,
Your thoughts dwell on darkness or light,
They'll admire them and express whatever you think,
By moving your tongue to spit it out.

So try not to fuck yourself in the mirror,
Or leave your luck in that ship you sunk,
And most of all don't hold your venom in,
Because no one's that tough,
Just like Isaac Brock sang,
"Cheer up baby it wasn't always quite so bad,
For every bit of venom that came out the antidote was had."

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Ocean's Jar-

I walk these city streets alone,
And dream the blood out of my bones,
But I'd rather be lonesome than your friend,
Because you wouldn't understand why,
Even if I told you again.

So continue to follow the fancy fur sheep in the herd,
Or think for yourself about what you truly deserve,
To be free and to be who you are,
So that monochord wizards can pluck the white noise in the ocean's jar,
For the mainstream is shallow and thin,
While the ocean is as deep as it begins.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)

 


Normal Is Weird-

One Chicago night,
I saw a homeless man dive into an alleyway dumpster,
He must have thought it was the ocean,
For he fished it for some food,
And when he finally caught something,
He ate it and filled himself up until the morning good.

Two Japanese kids played a game of Russian Roulette,
While I tried to understand what these words I wrote meant.

So if you often feel strong,
Or if you often feel weak,
Don't you worry,
Because it's all what you let your head believe.

Well my name is Elliot,
And I've been told I'm weird,
But that won't change my coming years,
For you see I haven't lost my mind,
I've only used it to make sense of the truth throughout time.

Who gives a good goddamn if you fit in,
Being in is no better than being out,
So be what you want to be today,
If you want to be a bird,
Spread your wings and fly away,
And if you want to be a fish,
Make a wish for some gills,
When you get them,
You'll be able to breathe the ocean even after it spills.

What we think is normal is not,
What we think is weird is not,
What we think is only what we think.

There's an underwater city at the bottom of Lake Michigan,
That always reminds me,
If I never open up my mind,
Not much will get in.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



 
MY TV-

Every night I wish I could live in my TV,
I'd report the news,
Making up things that aren't even true,
Oh what I'd do.

Every night I wish I could live in my TV,
I'd be the characters on those shows,
While the fake crowd laughs,
As I dance my dance,
Never being embarrassed of who I am.

Every night in my bed,
As I whack off under my sheets,
I wish that I could live in my TV,
But then I don't,
Because I realize,
I already live in a better show called reality.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Four Grandmas With Flutes-

When the nukes are launched,
And the chemicals escape their containers,
The four grandmas with flutes will take us away from danger.

When an asteroid strikes our Earth,
And the ice caps water floods over our land,
The four grandmas with flutes will play us a tune,
Of our future's sleight of hand.

When we've overpopulated our world,
And we're all drifting around on ocean rafts,
The four grandmas with flutes will play us a tune,
Through any wave's path.

When Mt. Rushmore's heads start talking in tongues,
And God gives up his hope with a bottle of rum,
The four grandmas with flutes will show us that life is still fun.

When they're yelled at,
Spit at,
And laughed at,
They'll let the bad weather pour,
For the four grandmas with flutes will play on,
Even if they're ignored.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)


 

Her Words-

These crazy things I speak,
They all make sense to me,
And if they do to you,
Then I'm glad you understand the truth.

As I stumble outside of my Chicago studio,
I've had 48 hours without sleep,
And these hallucinations are all I see,
I start talking to trees because they just seem friendly.

I then hop on the train,
And meet her at the old morning cafe',
With her it's always a brand new day,
For she wore a dress and goggles while dancing in the summer's rain,
Where she's beautiful,
She's today,
And she's everything,
And the words she spits will always hit me like raindrops,
Cleaning me from the bottom to top.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Dogs-

Dogs are roaming beauties without a care,
Laying any other canine with hair,
Knowing there's no need to compare,
While barking more sense than humanity can share.

They sniff,
Eat,
Sleep,
And think,
In a simple blink,
Like love pouring rain down a sink,
For there's nothing to hide while they piss outside,
Without clothes,
Just a collar choose,
By a human leashing a dominant show.

A dog's nose can smell your deepest low,
As it whines to you its friendship glow,
With its teeth biting sticks and stones,
Which taste the dirt's beauty alone,
As a sweat from their tongue,
Drips them a summer of fun,
Over their worriless days without the sun.

I wish I were a dog,
Because life wouldn't be a fog.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



 
Above and Below US-

Our atmosphere is an ocean of air,
And below the deepest part of our ocean's floor,
There's another world going on underground,
Where they're always dancing around and around,
Because they already know that everything is,
A symmetrical mirrored reflection of our dimensions.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




You-

Who are you?
Well if your brain bleeds with mushroom tea,
Let your imagination sail its sea.

Who are you?
With your days you gave away,
Those ones in which you swallowed your say,
Because if you love someone let it be true,
For less is more,
But more is often less,
Who are you?
It really doesn't matter,
Just be true.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Beauty-

In a world of beauty,
The rivers and lakes on its lands,
Are the arms and legs of its oceans,
Connecting with each other over and under its forests,
Where everyday trees come alive and play golden saxophones,
While below them dancing flowers bloom diamonds,
As time melts itself away like a liquid clock,
So that we'll all forget about it,
To truly enjoy with it what we got,
Throughout our days and throughout our nights,
Where the skies clouds drift down,
To give us beds to rest on,
Before we wake up the next morning,
To sail away into an ocean as blue as God's eyes,
Where everyday whales rise up to the top of its water,
To let us climb aboard them,
And dance away from our drowning ways.

And where is this world you ask?
Well it floats around in your mind's sea,
Because in your heart and imagination it can be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Just Be True-

Our brain thinks about what gold gives,
While our heart pumps on what the truth lives,
Both are rich and bold,
Except the truth is deeper when told.

Eggs and bacon in a pan of time,
Cooking on what you will find,
You are all you have,
So worry nothing about your neighbor's path,
Choose a life for you,
And not for what the others drew.

The shiniest stars we wish upon,
Aren't as bright as the ones we fish on,
Near them the truth is hate,
And the truth is love,
On the ocean's half moon above,
Below which a real fish can swim amongst miles of doubt,
And still find there's gold buried about.

Though when you are true,
Not everyone will like you,
But who cares when you love what you do.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




We're Only Monkeys-

When monkeys get drunk,
They do the couch dance,
Nothing is easy in Hell,
Nothing is easy in Heaven,
Be free,
Let go,
We're only monkeys with clothes.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Dancing Wire Towers-

In the middle of the desert,
There's a long row of wire towers that come alive everyday,
To dance to their music they play,
With instruments as large as houses,
While their wires connect them all together,
And stretch them on forever,
As they sway to their tunes,
Throughout the day as well as the night,
Where you'll see them reflected in the moon,
As the greatest band on Earth,
Playing music beyond anything we've ever heard,
And if you still don't believe me,
Then just come to the desert to see them play,
For they'll wake you up in every way.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




My Car Boat-

I drove to the end of the West Coast,
And ran out of gas,
So I cut down a tree,
And mounted it on top of my car as a mast,
And hoisted up some sails,
And tied rubber tires under it to float,
And pushed it out into the ocean as my car boat,
Sailing it to I don't know where or when,
But I'll find it then,
For there's no right or wrong,
It's just whatever works.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Truth Can Lie-

To progress we must regress,
Like army ants we build our empires of dirt,
To crumble into what the future will learn,
While hate and love remain the best of friends,
As they trade us back and forth again and again,
Through the Devil and God,
Who gamble our lives everyday to balance our world's end,
Using it as a pool ball,
Along with all of the other planets and stars,
In their endless game of hitting and mixing them,
Like grains of sand amongst our universe's land,
Where only a fool would think,
We have the truth at hand.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





Whiskey River-

I'm gonna ride my bike past the whiskey river,
That floats on those siskey sivers,
As the months of summer come and do their dance,
Throughout our lands,
Moving time forward ever and backwards never,
Though with mine I'm just not that clever,
As I ride my bike past my old high school,
Where my imaginary girlfriend broke up with me,
Because I didn't try to be that cool.

But it really doesn't matter,
Because I'm gonna ride my bike past the whiskey river,
That floats on those siskey sivers,
As its water blotter fish breathe every wish I have,
While the past, present, and future,
Sail over them together under only one mast,
Throughout an ocean where I sunk to Hell,
And swam back up to yell, "ONLY TIME WILL TELL!"

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




We're Only Human-

A vagabond pushes his shopping cart home down Wabash Street,
Near the back of a fancy restaurant,
As its employees throw out its left over food into an alleyway dumpster,
Next to a child, mother, and father,
Who are walking on their bare feet,
While cold, homeless, and looking for their way home,
And soon enough the father begins to cry,
And the child asks him why?
And he says, "Son you'll soon see that I'm only human in your eyes."

For we're only human as we lose hope in ourselves,
And let others control our mind's wealth,
While we miss what we have,
And have what we miss,
Growing envy towards others,
And loving hate more than love,
But we're only made of dirt, water, bones, and blood,
Our perfection is impossible,
And whether we're fancy or not,
It really doesn't matter,
Because we shouldn't judge each other,
When it's ourselves we bother,
Though regardless we'll still continue to for every single matter,
As we fight our wars and promise ourselves we're right,
With our own battles that we choose for ourselves everyday,
While our planet keeps spinning on its way,
Changing us back and forth,
Between our glory and our worry,
That turns each year's page faster in our story,
As we mate and populate our unknown fate,
Throughout our mazes of land,
Where we look for each others approval to remain brave,
While we search for fame and fortune,
And lose our meaning along the way,
Following each other like a herd of sheep,
No matter how fake it be,
Only because it's hard to stand out,
But then again it's even harder to stand in,
But you are who you are,
So don't let anyone tell you who you should be,
For we're only human.

Though in the end,
Love is meaningless until it's been left alone,
So be free and let go,
We're only monkeys with clothes,
It's alright though,
King Kong was bowlegged the day he climbed the Sears Tower,
For even the king lost perfection at his highest hour.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





'Til The End That Be-

Lost Soldier Dreams let you think beyond realities blink,
As they blur shuttered cartoon colors,
While your pupils expand on the moon's land,
Where with little gravity,
Your imagination dreams of an infinite plan to see.

Walking out onto the summer's porch,
I saw time like seasons I could no longer afford,
But I'll do my best to float past those who try to shut my door,
For the dirt is beautiful and the fake are ugly,
Because life is bloody,
But still goddamn lovely.

The Devil and God play pool with the planets and stars,
Hitting and mixing them like grains of sand,
Amongst our universe's land,
Where only a fool would think,
We have the truth at hand.

And life loves time,
But life is short and time is deep,
Both of them cannot agree,
But time can live in life's heart,
'Til its end that be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Below My Feet-

Below my feet,
Blades of grass stand tall like trees.

Below my feet,
Ants crawl on the dirt,
Like tiny cars across this Earth.

For below my feet,
There's always more to what we think we see.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




A Sand Glass Of Time-

Life is a plus sign with two corner side lines,
When tilted it is a sand glass of time,
Pouring our universe forward into infinity's find.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Seven Days-

On the day of the first,
The ocean gave the land its thirst,
On the day of the second,
Those drifters will float on with or without attention,
On the day of the third,
A three inch tall man will speak of languages we've never heard,
On the day of the fourth,
Our empire of dirt will continue to crumble like it always has before,
On the day of the fifth,
Our tales will be lost like a myth,
On the day of the sixth,
We'll find ourselves so healthy it makes us sick,
And on the day of the seventh,
Those acid angels will finally spread their wings of Heaven.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Cigar Box Guitar-

George bought himself a box of cigars,
And smoked every single one of them,
And then built himself a cigar box guitar,
And played it all night and day,
And it was out of tune like the snow in June,
And he knew that it wouldn't take him that far,
But he didn't care,
Because God Damn It did George love that cigar box guitar.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Through The Night-

Through the night,
The white hole in the sky blinks its one eye,
To give us our better sight.

Through the night,
The ghosts of the kitchen cook their food,
While the bi-polar boys swallow their pills,
To make their heads feel alright.

Through the night,
Chicago's subway tracks are a guitar,
And its trains are its strings,
As they ride them they give it the tune it needs.

And through the night,
May your love forever dream,
Of your better days soon to be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Dreams Are Made Of Bones-

Time's soldiers dreams are made of bones,
They bleed when they're alone,
But blood spills love,
For we all dream on our own.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




All Around-

When you look down at an ant hill on the ground,
Turn your head up to the sky around,
Infinite lights years away,
Our entire universe is inside of a marble on the hand of a child,
For the end is a beginning throughout an infinite route.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Ocean Never Floats The Same-

People come,
People go,
Friends are there until their curtain will close,
But your stage always has more than one road,
Don't let one love ruin you,
Don't let one hate choose you,
Words are easier than an action's truth,
But our tongues talk tears,
For even the beautiful fear being ugly in the mirror.

We try so hard to fit in,
But when we're in,
It's no better than being out,
Popularity won't bring you happiness,
Only another reason to worry about nothingness.

The ocean never floats the same,
From the day we arose out of the sea,
To the darkest hour of it flooding our land's dreams,
The ocean will never float the same,
No matter what be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Summer's Light Bulb-

With a megaphone in my mouth,
And a beer can in my hand,
Summer is wherever I stand,
On top of any roof,
I'll watch the moon flicker like a light bulb,
While moths gather around its glow in the sky.

In the summer's graveyard,
A Spanish gardening crew weed whacks the grass,
While the day remains hot and humid,
As flies gather around their faces,
But they don't mind,
Instead they just simply smile,
Because they realize,
That they'll only get to live that moment once.

As we walk and talk through our mazes of land,
A 90-year-old man plays a violin with a speakerphone attached,
While his top hat protects his dreams in his head,
For he'd rather have them safe than dead.

In the summer time,
I'll watch my fingers melt like liquid clocks into spoons,
So that I can taste everything once,
While the summer nights are lit up by that light bulb called the moon.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




On That Rainy Day-

We grow up too fast,
When we look back our lives have already passed.

On that rainy day,
He was 32 years old and living in a van,
Going through his days mumbling, "Nothing is easy at hand."
He worked low-end jobs,
And fought for his happiness in each passing town,
While selling drugs on those rainy days,
Left him feeling like a shipwreck going down,
Though we're all drifting around,
Regardless of where we are.

On that rainy day,
The fisherman sailed back to the shore,
His years out on the sea,
Still left his nets empty of his dreams,
His stomach sunk as low as that feeling can go,
So he thought it over in his head,
That with clocks in his eyes,
He was choking on his spit,
The next dawn is when he then finally realized,
What those rainy days had meant.

On that rainy day,
On that rainy day,
There's no need not to say, 
"I feel so damn good today,
I'm gonna pour the ocean into my cup,
Grab the moon and use it as an ice cube,
And drink my imagination until I've given up."

On that rainy day,
On that rainy day,
Everything is for the better days.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Change-

The spring gave birth to infinity,
With endless ways to go in life,
We often find it hard to live it right.

The summer rained moons throughout June,
Cleaning the darkness of its nights with a hopeful light.

The fall let go of the idea of perfection,
To color the world with the end's beauty.

And then the winter came and froze our hearts,
Only to teach us to never give up on them,
Because warmer changes are always closer than they are far.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Summer's Tune-

Summer's tune,
Take me to June,
Where the girl has the sun in her eyes,
While she smiles her teeth's pretty lies.

Summer's tune,
Take me to June,
Where Chicago's streets melt into a beach,
With Lake Michigan never far from its reach.

Summer's tune,
Take me to June,
So I can clean this mess in my head soon.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Dance of Time-

On that November day,
I voted for the lesser of two evils to stay,
While I drank my sorrow on a windy downtown train,
Traveling to a Belmont cafe',
Where beautiful waitresses spun their trays,
And smiled to say, "Oh how we love you Gray."

In the dance of time,
In the dance of time,
I'll waltz on the moon with any beautiful girl I find.

Pretentious emo kids cry about flowers,
And make films about how intellectual they are with their hours,
Hippies get stoned out of their minds,
And eat acid all of the time,
While I only hope that beautiful girls will love my rhyme.

In the dance of time,
In the dance of time,
I'll waltz on the moon with any beautiful girl I find.

The days dance the years into centuries,
But time is just an illusion like the thin air you can't see,
Drink more whiskey and lie to me,
My sense of humor laughs half seriously,
For I've always lived in Heaven's misery.

In the dance of time,
In the dance of time,
I'll waltz on the moon with any beautiful girl I find.

When I was ten years old,
I sailed on a Wisconsin lake,
I wanted to jump in and be a fish swimming away,
So that when the ocean spills and floods our land,
I'll swim on with gills breathing the future's sleight of hand,
Because if I have to stand in a winter graveyard of fog,
I'LL ALWAYS BE A RAIN DOG!

In the dance of time,
In the dance of time,
I'll waltz on the moon with any beautiful girl I find.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Tomorrow Will Soon Be Yesterday-

On a March morning,
I talked to a meth head in a Seattle park,
I looked closely at his mouth,
Each one of his teeth had a face with eyeballs and a smile,
For our perspectives have endless miles.

Tomorrow will soon be yesterday,
So do your best today.

Every night I imagine my bathroom sink as the ocean,
When I brush my teeth,
My toothpaste bottle becomes a sinking ship,
For there's always two sides to a coin's flip.

Tomorrow will soon be yesterday,
So do your best today.

When my mouth runs past me,
I punch myself in the face,
To wake up and find my place,
But then when I do,
I realize that our lives are born without meaning,
Until we find ourselves on a half moon's dream.

Tomorrow will soon be yesterday,
So do your best today.

After each day I dry myself off from its rain,
And if I'm still down on myself,
I sleep in my refrigerator,
For the cold dreams will always help me later.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Clock Eyes-

With clocks in my eyes,
I saw each year passing faster by,
While I choked on my spit,
And strangled myself in the mirror,
Screaming, "GOD DAMN IT GRAY,
YOU'RE AS FUCKED AS THE WORLD TODAY!"

But nowadays I pick up my top hat and rusted cane,
And march on down State Street,
Thousands who know join by my side,
An orchestra of truth powers us a tune,
Its conductor drinks a bottle of rum,
Blind hobos play garbage can drums,
Whales sound off trumpets with their blowholes,
We all stomp our feet and clap our hands,
For this is how we escape our lows.

All together as one,
We march with love,
Shouting, "THE OCEAN WILL SWALLOW OUR BLOOD!"
We then stop and look up at the Sears Tower above,
For one day,
Time's skeleton pirate crew will sail over this underwater city,
And hoist whales out of the ocean above it,
And mount them on top of the Sears Tower's antennas sticking out of its water,
To then cook them on their innocent dreams of power,
And one day someone's clock eyes will witness that hour.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Fear Of The Future-

One day everything in our ant empire will come alive,
Buildings, boats, cars, airplanes,
And everything else will grow arms and legs,
And get up from where they stood,
And wipe themselves clean,
While smiling their new faces finally feeling free,
Seven speakers as large as each sea,
Will then rise up from beneath,
And all together as one ocean they'll pump out a sound,
And everything on Earth except for man,
Will dance around and around,
While we stand still before them and wonder,
Did man build the machine?
Or did the machine build man?
The answer is only where it is found.

We fear for our future,
And long for our past,
We remember the worst for its better,
And the better as if we'll never again sail its course.

I spent a lifetime trying to figure out a year,
A year trying to figure out a month,
A month trying to figure out a week,
A week trying to figure out a day,
A day trying to figure out an hour,
An hour trying to figure out a minute,
A minute trying to figure out a second,
And a second trying to figure out what's in it.

Our family and friends will always gather on a large hill,
To watch us graduate from each stage of our life,
We're placed on sailboats in the ocean,
Where some sink,
Some drift along,
And some find the good winds and sail strong.

Every sailor's bones are worked to pay for their life's rent,
Money turns on their house lights,
Which then grow the bowlegged disco-dancing midgets from the ground,
As thousands of them get up,
And bang marching band shingles together,
And dance from each side around,
To help us realize,
That we only make money,
So that we can make more money,
But we should learn to laugh until we're sore,
For then tragedy would ignore us more.

I've been told I have talent,
But I've never created anything I've been truly happy with,
I've never made a film or wrote a word,
And left it as it were,
I am my own worst critic,
My personal hell comes from inside myself,
Wherever my days go,
Perfection will never show,
But I'm learning to accept that I must let go.

I dream of beautiful girls and Hollywood,
But I know my heart despises what my brain can't,
So to escape myself I drive my car,
And sing on the road until I run out of gas,
I then sit on top of it,
Watching a Zebra play an electrical guitar,
A Giraffe drinking a bottle growing on a tree branch of rum,
And a Monkey playing his drums,
For this is existence added up to its sum,
Afterwards I then put my sunglasses on,
Because the future seems too bright from dusk 'til dawn,
And on and on.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Our Years-

We treat our years like a ladder,
Climbing up them until we've reached what we think matters,
When in truth,
There's no one direction for them,
There's only what we make of them.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Marbles Of Time-

Broken Jaw Joe drank a gallon of gasoline,
And lit his mouth on fire,
And screamed out flames,
He then stole a semi truck,
And drove it down an Arizona highway,
But it soon ran out of gas near an old abandon town,
Where a 120-year-old man sat in a porch rocking chair,
In his hand,
He had a leather sack with three marbles,
One was a sun,
One was a planet,
And one was a moon,
These were the eyes of destiny's random design,
He then dropped them and suddenly died,
But before he did,
He never told Joe what to do with them,
Because no one can really tell you how to live your life,
That's only for you to decide.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





Summer's Porch-

Sergio ate mushrooms,
And watched his friend grow praying mantis arms,
But please don't be alarmed,
Just be free and get drunk,
Bark like a dog,
Do that insect crawl,
It doesn't matter,
Just be who you are,
While July's mornings melt into their days,
Before their nights blend them away,
As we stand on summer's porch,
With its time that is worth more than anything we can afford,
And while it melts away like a liquid clock,
We'll just hold onto our hearts,
Because for each other they're all we really got.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Lunt Street Never Sleeps-

Beautiful girls with diamonds and pearls,
Fill my world,
And as crazy as I be,
I still love being me,
Sleep is my enemy,
I have too much to say and see,
Before my end be.

One-eyed pilots fly our airplanes,
While drunken farmers grow our crops from the cold rain,
There are thoughts I have that I cannot describe,
My imagination is all I have,
Without it I'm dead,
For it's what speeds me up along with my pill bottles and pens,
As I word scribble until my end,
Through the darkest clouds filling Lake Michigan up with rain,
As I travel its underwater downtown train,
To the pool tables corner pocketing the music dance halls,
Where I wish my time there would stay still,
But instead it falls like each year of our lives,
Sinking faster as we dive.

I'm up for days hallucinating on things I can't explain,
Only Lunt Street knows why I walk to the Red Line Train.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Ocean Grave-

"And in the end,
It's not the years in your life that count,
It's the life in your years," 
Said Abraham Lincoln as he flicked his nickel into our future,
But unfortunately,
We always chew our wisdom homeless in this tobacco kingdom.

Soon enough,
Mankind will watch the ocean flood over its land,
And after it does,
Time's skeleton pirate crew,
Will then sail over the underwater cities that were once ran by man,
They'll hoist whales out of the ocean,
And mount them on top of the Sears Tower's antennas sticking out of its water,
To then cook them on their innocent dreams of power,
While with gas masks and oxygen tanks,
The human flesh remaining true,
Will dive deep into the ocean,
And ask our past about its wars,
And why back then we had to open misery's door?
But when the answers to their questions are never told,
They'll soon realize,
That without hate love has no meaning anymore,
For the ocean grave was silent enough to say, 
"Without darkness,
Light would burn us away."

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




On The Beach's Night-

On the beach's night,
I'll flick my nickels into dimes,
And rhyme every other word I write,
While I reach up into the sky,
And grab the moon in my hand,
To skip it like a stone across Lake Michigan,
With my only wish being,
That my past years of rain,
Will grow my better future days.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





Time's Soldiers-

When there's no sun to shine the moonlight,
We are the skeleton pirate crew sailing the ocean's night,
When our eyes spill blood out,
We still fight without a doubt.

We are time's soldiers in the winds of destiny,
We will fight until we can no longer dream,
Only time will tell of what will be.

When our two-faced king rules a tragedy,
We laugh back with a comedy,
While dancing free from our darkest memories,
In a forest of dirt and bones growing the cycles of life's trees,
Through which we walk legless in the rain,
And chose our own path,
That can never be followed the same.

We are time's soldiers in the winds of destiny,
We will fight until we can no longer dream,
Only time will tell of what will be.

From the biggest cities to the highest mountains,
We'll clean our blood and scars with the future's fountain,
And load our guns for war,
And empty ourselves of love before the battle shore,
While we hoist up our rags,
And shoot our enemies to the cold floor.

We are not right or wrong, 
But only strong,
For all is fair in love and war,
As you open the truth's two-sided door.

We are time's soldiers in the winds of destiny,
We will fight until we can no longer dream,
Only time will tell of what will be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Today-

With or without us,
The world turns on a mystery,
Like a calendar marking predictions on uncertainty,
And with it fate is often lost on what to do,
While it lets the wind help it choose,
As the full moon shines its hopeful lie,
In front of the half one showing the truth of darkness dream by its side.

One night under it,
Gray looked forward to the day,
That would take away his lonesome way,
So he began to rush through his present time,
In the hopes of his future's find,
But when he got to that wonderful day,
It had already passed away,
And hopelessly he learned that the future he wanted,
Wasn't any more beautiful than what his present hunted.

He then awoke from this dream,
With fresh water in his hands,
And with one splash,
He washed the dirt and blood off his face,
And floated himself on without a plan to chase.

Gray then picked up his top hat full of rain,
And poured it down the drain,
And with a truthful hope now on his head,
He then moved on to the next train that led,
To a windy day where dreams can change your life ahead.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





Today Is The Future-

Out in the middle of the forest,
I saw my fingers melt into liquid roots,
And plant themselves into the soil,
To help me realize,
That we're all decomposed to grow everything as so,
In an endless cycle that fits all of the sense we've made of it,
For the ants building their dirt mounds,
Are no less important than mankind's cities around,
And if you understand what I mean,
Then never wake up from your dreams,
Because today is always the future that be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





Elliot's Dream-

The moon is an eye watching the darkest side of our planet,
It blinks us just enough light,
To get us through our nights,
During them I'm asleep on the floor of my room,
As I climb up my spine into my mind full of dreams,
Though in them things are never as they seem,
Just like in this world,
Where it is often hard enough just to be.

For in it every night I have the same re-occurring dream,
Where I'm on a sinking ship,
In the middle of a sea filled with the tears of angels,
With a gun in my hand that's pointed directly at my head,
But at this point I always realize,
That it's not the gun that will kill me,
It's my fear,
Which attaches onto me like a barnacle on a ship,
And with the waves and winds of war,
My ship is often lost at sea,
And it's hard enough to scrape off those barnacles that be.

I only hope to sail myself to water so clear,
That it'll reflect Heaven in its mirror.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Memories-

From your childhood's timeless touch,
To your older years with a crutch,
Your memories can never dream too much,
Even while their details drown themselves in time's infinite sea,
All that really matters is how they make your world seem,
Like a picture on a wall,
That has every word you can say,
Though if only its image had never gone away,
But as we know,
No day will ever pass by the same,
And throughout yours,
When you've sunken your ship in the darkest sea,
Always remember your better memories,
For those good thoughts will float you on miles of ecstasy,
Far away from misery.

Though with them,
If you still fear for your future as it comes too fast,
While you miss what's in your past,
Try to worry not,
Because with your memories your time will forever last.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





An Open Mind-

A single cell arose from the sea,
Spreading life from the ocean depths to the sky,
And below it with time, shit, and water,
It formed us humans,
Which we now assume we're not,
While we look for attention and love,
And use hate when we don't get enough.

Though the day will soon come,
When the invisible stagehands moving us around as pawns,
Will grow tired of our chessboard game,
They'll then stick their spoons into the ocean's dish,
Stirring up its water and flooding it over our board's land,
And as the years pass themselves by,
Sharks will begin to swim through the subway tunnels,
Of the underwater cities that were once ran by man,
And I know this thought might seem far,
But when your mind is open,
There's always more to where you are.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Nothing More, Nothing Less-

Nothing more,
Nothing less,
Sums up my mind and its mess,
While life borrows time,
As time borrows life,
Until they both give up on each other when they find,
That nothing more is nothing less,
Just like my mind and its mess.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




I Try So Hard-

Well I hope to find her someday,
But I doubt that luck will ever come my way,
Because I try so hard sometimes,
To clean this mess in my mind,
But then when I do,
I realize that I always lied when I told the fucking truth.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Michigan Avenue-

Born in the dirt by a broken car,
With a stereo playing a broken guitar,
With a top hat full of rain,
And a crooked waltzing cane,
Gray marched down Michigan Avenue with a glory to gain,
One-armed hoboes and their legless friends,
Joined by his side with a victory stride,
They waltzed through wind, rain, and years of dice rolling by,
For time's soldiers will always march beyond the end of the line.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





I Hope Not-

Love rests in a psych ward's mess,
As the ghosts of time blend a memories address,
On the fall's trees to the winter's freeze,
As a clean spring makes a summer dream,
That all is well and all is not,
In our short life we got.

I hope not and I wish not,
But I know I still dream a lot.

With my two shoes and two eyes,
I'll walk 'til I see the truth lie,
And with my one heart and one brain,
I'll live with love's rain,
Which flooded and sank my ship in the ocean's pit,
Down far away from this world's shit,
Where soon enough I swam back up,
Because I couldn't quit.

I hope not and I wish not,
But I know I still dream a lot.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Only Love Knows Why-

As the ocean floods over our land,
The old man in the wheelchair will grip his cane,
And watch me put on my youthful top hat full of rain.

I'll then sit down,
And play a broken piano in a Michigan graveyard,
And while the ocean floods over the graves,
I'll just stay there to play,
And even whales will begin to swim by and wonder why,
But I guess only love knows why,
Hate can never take away its better side.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Warmth-

Time is in the frames blending our universe never the same,
Knowing this he sat on a road of gravel along his travel,
Wondering why 21 years had gone by in the blink of an eye,
Throughout a highway of love that drove his days,
While hate often wrecked him along their ways.

Though as he pawned his tears for their golden fear,
He realized the truth was buried near,
As he sat in a cafe' drinking a hot chocolate,
With his watch and chain lost in his pocket,
While the stages of time turned its pages,
Into their new seasons find,
With the snow that fell like the bliss inside,
Of a one legged man marching with pride.

Though soon enough,
The clock wound the cafe's stage around until its last sound,
But he didn't to want leave,
So instead he just stayed there in his chair,
Knowing that nothing could ever take away his warmth there.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




While I Spit, It Spins-

The planet never stops spinning,
Even while you sleep at night,
And dream of someone else's day on the other side of the world,
Just like that boy from China's night,
Who dreams about Chicago during its daylight,
Where one-armed hobos play their bucket drums,
While Wabash prostitutes fuck innocence's son,
And these are the days that will always drift,
Just like the spit off of my tongue.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





Her Dreams-

With her dreams,
The world is as beautiful as it seems,
In them she sees the forest floor as a city,
Where the ants are the cars,
And the trees are the buildings.

In her dreams,
Her love is as symmetrical as her eyes,
The same ones that watched her rings rust in the summer's rain,
And though the ocean will never float the same,
She still hopes its better tides will remain.

In her dreams,
She realizes her beauty isn't the clothes or makeup she puts on herself,
It is only the love she was born with,
Which will still be here after she is gone,
And when we're all ashes at dusk,
We'll then finally understand her dreams at dawn.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





In Your Mind-

The seasons are the Earth's four different sets of clothes,
The graves sticking out of the ground are the Devil's trees,
God's green grass always grows near them to give us hope,
The blue sky above us is an ocean,
Its clouds are the fishes swimming around in it,
The city sewer lids below us are the pennies that giants wished with,
To try and cover up their troubles,
Along with everything else amongst the land and sea,
That was designed to find its place,
Until it no longer has such a thing.

Just like on July 18th, 2000,
When I fell on my bike eight feet straight to my head,
As my brain internally bled,
While I held three angels hands,
Until I woke up onto this planet once again,
Where five years later with thirteen klonopin pills in my brain,
I laid in a Chicago hospital bed,
While holding onto them once again,
But then they told me that things would start to go my way,
And I still try to believe them to this day,
Because in the end,
Everything is what it is in your mind.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





Summer's Cigarettes-

I'm gonna smoke winter's regret,
With summer's cigarettes,
Where I'm gonna keep her in my hand,
And in my heart,
And in my mind,
Even if it is stuck in rewind,
With my past problems,
That somehow always seem closer than they are far.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




I'm Not Like Them-

In the symmetry of time,
Heaven and Hell will both write you their checks,
And it's up to you,
To spend them on what you thought they meant,
So for me,
Strip club, mescaline night,
So fun it was alright,
I saw Nicky,
She said, "Hey there darling do you want to get a lap dance?
75 bucks, private show, three songs,
It'll go by so quick with that mescaline you're on."
I said, "Fuck yeah honey let me get my money."

So I went to the ATM and swiped my debit card,
I punched my 7, 7, 18, blah, blah,
And said, "Oh well here's my money"
And she said, "Oh well here's your dignity."
And the three songs went by so fast,
And it's now all in the past,
Where just like today and everyday,
Nothing is easy in Hell,
And nothing is easy in Heaven,
So let's just talk, talk, talk,
On those disco Grant Park walks,
I'll then eat mash potatoes on a flying fish,
Soaring over the ocean's dish,
Because I'm not like them and I will never be,
SO QUIT TRYING TO CHANGE ME!

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)





22 Years Old-

He turned 22 years old today,
Remembering his past years to better his ones coming near,
He had scars on his face,
And fingers made of pens,
With a movie camera in his brain filming two different heartbeats,
One for love,
And one for hate,
In-between them laid his fate,
As he did the happy dance walk into the bar,
Where the beautiful waitresses treated him like a star.

Three rounds later he put the tab down,
To go fish the river in town,
Where he caught a hammerhead shark at dusk,
While the skies twenty moons lit everything up,
And if you use your imagination,
You'll always see Elliot's world around.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




After The Storm-

With love and hate and chance and fate,
And what life takes,
Your heart may break,
So after the storm,
May your cold days find themselves warm.

And when time brings you tears,
And endless fears,
Remember that beyond them something good is always near,
And after the storm,
May your cold days find themselves warm.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




5-4-2011-

Open your heart's jail,
And you'll find the only way to succeed is to fail,
And with your dreams on the ground,
To the sky may they be bound,
And with darkness and light,
May you live both day and night,
For as many as you can see in sight,
And set free like an ocean with no memory,
Forever may your days drift to be plenty.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Set Free-

Like an ocean with no memory,
I'll drift my days to be plenty,
And at the end of this crazy trip,
I'll abandon my ship,
Only to set my dream free,
Into the future infinite as it be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



GLORY-

Full of plenty,
But free of memory,
May our days drift to find,
Their infinite oceans of time,
Where forever and never,
Time can be clever,
So with it it's best to remember,
That our GLORY is always forever.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Abandon Your Regret-

For better or worse,
With your heart to the Earth,
May your days find what they are worth.

For better or worse,
Blessed and cursed,
May your life find what its time is worth.

And when it does,
Walk left and right,
Live both day and night,
See both black and white,
And in this life while high and low,
Let your dreams go,
And you'll do alright.

And from nowhere on the road to somewhere,
With your future never set,
Abandon your regret,
And your best is always yet.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



The End Is Where It Begins-

When the end is where it begins,
Some you may lose and some you may win.

When the end is where it begins,
Happy or Sad,
With times good and bad,
This planet will still spin.

When the end is where it begins,
Abandon your ship and swim.

And when the end does begin,
Fly in the ocean and swim in the sky,
Do as you do for the truth can still lie.

And when it ends,
Worry not my friend,
For it is always infinite for it to begin again.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



The Best Is Always Yet-

Through my days and their infinite ways,
I stand with the height of the good life,
As September turns Summer into Fall's page,
On which we'll celebrate again and again,
With a cheers to now and a cheers to then,
Even to where my dreams had all began,
And as time finally lets them go,
I'll find they have no end,
For you see my friend,
If you abandon your regret,
Your best is always yet.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




The Shadows Of Our Days-

In the shadows of our days,
Without darkness light would burn us away,
For the rain always cleans us for the brighter skies to dry us,
Just like every night that has its day,
For that's just how it goes,
It will all be fine in time.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Rose-

Sometimes poison can taste so good,
Making it hard to stay away from it like you know you should,
For once she was my sweetest friend,
Though as beautiful as she was,
She was ugly inside,
As she took me on for a year long ride,
Only to break my heart in the end,
Leaving me with nothing but confusion to find.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




All I've Learned-

All I've learned from pain,
Is that you will always be cleaned after the rain.
All I've learned from life,
Is that it is such a short time.
All I've learned from my mind,
Is that there is no limit to what you can find.
All I've learned from what I've left behind,
Is that there are far better things ahead in time,
And all I've learned from the fear of death, 
Is that it is whatever you find to accept.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



A Light in the Darkness-

As life's knife cuts out the light of your day,
Always stay strong through the pain,
Because in the night,
You will always be cleaned by the rain,
For darkness can only blind you of your sight,
If you forget your strength.

With not much chance,
Always believe in yourself,
Even if you have only one leg to dance,
Give yourself to others to help,
Because when you do,
You'll find that there will always be a Heaven in Hell,
Which in life,
Time will always tell.

For you see my friend,
In the end,
This is your life,
So live it with this short time,
Because there are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
 
-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Walking On Clouds-

In the height of my days,
I fell short in so many ways,
Because when the truth was too silent to be spoken,
My heart was left only broken,
But no matter how this world may seem,
I'm still walking on clouds in my dreams.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



On This Road-

To ease the loss of youth,
Our lies must find truth,
With the bad we leave behind,
We must find the better ahead in time.

And as the years pass by,
Our days will become more wise,
So with them now,
Use what you know,
To make the best path on your life's road.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



2013-

This is your life and not theirs,
So love yourself enough to give this world a share,
Of all the good you can create when you care.

For beyond the years of tears,
Filled with rain, pain, and troubled days,
You will always have more of a chance than a fate,
With a heart full of love, Not hate,
So you use it now to dream this life you make.

And through darkness,
Find your light,
And through love,
Find your wrongs to right,
And with your eyes,
Never blind yourself of your sight,
Because with it you will always see,
All of the friends, family, and love you have in this life.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




12-14-2012

Cut short and blinded by darkness,
This life may seem only senseless.

When you're taken by disgust,
In this world it seems hard to find trust.

But beyond the pain and tears,
You'll never again find fear.
Though beyond this day,
Words may still fall short of what they truly say.

When your chance is taken by a cruel fate,
And you're blinded by hate,
Your love will still always be more than great,
And give more than it can take,
Because in this darkness,
There will always be light,
So use it now with your time,
To see the good in this life.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



You'll Never Know-

You'll never know when it will come,
And when it does,
There's nowhere you can run,
Because only time will tell,
Through the winds of Hell,
And the dreams Heaven will buy and sell,
Why the chosen fell.

Travel, Laugh, and Find Joy,
Marry a Girl or Boy,
And live your life to Enjoy.

Love and Hate,
Chance and Fate,
Heaven and Hell can take what they take,
And there's nothing you can do to stop them today,
Except carry on your good way.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




In this life-

In this life,
When troubles come,
Find hope through the day,
To wish its darkness away,
So that through the night,
You can dream only of its light.

And when less is more,
And your shipwrecked on the shore,
Just have your friends open the door,
To this whole world that you can explore.

And in this life,
When troubles come,
Never too far should you run,
For you must always believe in what can be done,
For there's no limit of light from this sun.

And always trust this life,
And trust this time,
For there's no limit to what can be done with your mind,
Use it today and use it tonight,
And never blind yourself of your sight,
Or your friends you have in this life,
For they will always make what is wrong, right.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Your Light-

When it begins and when it ends,
Your enemies will be your friends.

And when it comes and when it goes,
Time will have your life to show,
So make it something you wish to know.

And with what love gives and takes,
Your heart may break,
But if you believe in the life you make,
Your chance will have no fate,
Because when time brings you tears and endless fears,
Remember that beyond them something good is always near.

But when the darkness has blinded you of all your sight,
Remember that beyond it there is always light.
And with it remember that this is your life,
And not theirs,
So always believe in yourself enough not to care,
About what others will have about you to share,
And even when they've left you behind,
Trust that in time,
You'll make it there.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Someday I'll Be Free-

Fuck luck,
I'm gonna steal myself a truck,
And drive my way to L.A.,
Where I just might stay,
But I doubt I will,
So give me 7 or 11 more pills,
To try and balance my bi-polar head,
As I sit at the edge of my bed,
Strumming these six strings on this wooden dream,
Trying to sing myself this song,
That not even I believe.

And maybe I'll find myself a girlfriend,
Or maybe I'll be lonely until my end,
But it matters not my friend,
Because someday I'll be free,
Free from you and free from me.

Someday I'll be free,
Free from you and FREE FROM ME.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



The Dirt Is Beautiful-

Left and right,
And day and night,
I'm walking my bare feet above those taken from life.

With a mind full of trouble,
And a heart full of love,
I walk from nowhere to somewhere,
To a place that not even God knows of.

With broken clock eyes and rusted teeth,
Time will speak quickly of you,
Even if you let it be.

And to the end,
Down in the ground,
May we finally find rest from this world around.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Beautiful Girls-

As the world turns,
Write your story to exchange your words,
And abandon your worry,
For your regret will only pick you apart,
While those beautiful girls steal your heart.

Their diamond rings and moon eyes,
Will shine through the darkest of nights,
But if they're already taken by one,
Simply remember you must have lost to have won,
For your regret will only pick you apart,
While those beautiful girls steal your heart.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Through the Better Winds of Time-

Through the better winds of time,
Forever may the free fly with their brighter days and nights,
Where beauty is an imagination with flight,
As they spread their ship's wings off of their empire of waves,
Flying themselves free like a bird,
From all that blinds them in their days.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



On the Edge of Noon-

Though it was far,
It still felt soon,
As we sat on the edge of noon,
Waiting for the night to shine the moon.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



The Rain Dog River-

Down by the Rain Dog river,
An old dive tavern lived,
Where Dishwasher Gray smoked his breaks to their filter in back,
While Drunken Jack managed the bar,
Near the Chinese worker who yo-yoed like a star,
Next to the two-faced waitresses that gossiped and laughed,
About the one-armed chef who cut food in half,
And who would often burn his hand on the stove,
Just to wake up from feeling alone.

One day Dishwasher Gray looked over the porch railing,
To see his summer quickly sailing by,
With his lost dreams that floated on down,
The rain dog river that never lied,
Near its ducks that went up and down its water,
Never worrying of the past,
Or the future around,
For they simply enjoyed the present and its surround.

And after Gray drowned his head in the summer's rain,
He then left for the fall's windy downtown trains,
Where forever a rain dog in this world of fog,
He'll remain.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Broken Skin Scars-

Against time,
Our broken skin scars bleed our broken hearts.

And like sense made of nothing,
We try to explain everything,
As our minutes fill our hours,
Blooming our broken skin scars like diamond flowers.

And as we try to love,
Often we forget what of,
As our broken skin scars bleed our broken hearts.

And as our days detach,
We lose what we have,
But never what we had,
For love is a timeless dream,
Stretching beyond our days that be.

And I've seen this all,
Along the paths of chose,
Floating me on like the ocean's undertow,
Through this life I've come to know.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




A Broken Heart-

The road of love,
Is a river of blood,
Filled by the broken hearts left to hang and bleed above.

For the road of my heart,
Was broken apart,
By her truth which was a lie,
Spoken in the darkness of her blinking eyes.

And so my time goes,
Alone and drifting in a windy city,
With a broken heart from a girl I once thought was pretty,
And now what to do?
And where to go?
As the darkness of my night takes away the brightness of my day,
Leaving me hopelessly lost in every way,
Crashing my thoughts on my mind's road,
Where I know I'll find little hope today.

Though when all that was lost is found,
I hope you'll be around,
So we can dance our fixed feet on this broken ground,
And dream forever for the future around,
Because as our days drift on,
Right is wrong while weak is still strong,
And on this long road,
May my broken heart heal with time,
To find me some peace in my mind.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



The Politics Of Mankind-

Liberal and Conservative politicians are all the same,
They're as corrupt as our leader today.

And if you're mean inside,
But beautiful outside,
You're as ugly as the history of mankind.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



My Only Enemy-

Over a bridge,
My life's story drove faster as it went,
While to my left,
I saw troubles and storms soon to be told,
And to my right water as clear as gold,
And after seeing them both,
I realized that my only enemy is IN A ME.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Someday We'll Know Why-

As today raised a gun to his head,
It was his depression and confusion that pulled the trigger,
Though as it did,
Time finally stopped itself to allow him to see,
And realize why ants built their dirt mounds,
Only to crumble into what the future would learn,
As well as mankind and its empire on Earth,
Where chance is the same thing as destiny,
Along with the trees that change with the seasons,
And everything else and its reason,
With which today finally understood,
Why he should have waited for tomorrow to come,
Instead of ending it all for what yesterday had done,
Because when he finally saw,
Why everything was designed and made,
It was right then before the bullet struck his head,
That he realized he had made a big mistake.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Never Give Up-

If you really felt like nothing,
Then get up and make yourself something,
Take off your top hat that protects the dreams in your head,
And fill it up with gasoline,
And light a match,
To start the fire for those dreams you have.

Throughout your life,
Your hopes will be crushed to bits,
But it's the pieces that you pick up,
That make your life what you get,
Materials, clothes, and cars,
DON'T MAKE YOU WHO YOU ARE!
The only thing that does is your love,
And if you never give it up,
You'll always have enough.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



MARCH-

As our ant empire and its seven mounds crumble into the sea,
We dance the days and march the nights,
We are the soldiers of the fight.

Every night our leader spreads his wings over our sides,
Guarding us until the morning sun is in sight,
We never sleep,
We hardly eat,
And we drink our own blood,
Because in war it is our love.

We march through forests, cities, and towns,
And over mountains and everything else around,
And when we arrive at the beginning of the sea,
We take out our knives,
And slit tiny gills on the sides of our neck,
We then march straight down into the ocean,
And across its entire floor,
Until we rise up on land once more.

We dance the days and march the nights,
We are the soldiers of the fight,
WE'LL NEVER STOP!
WE"LL NEVER GIVE UP!
WE'LL NEVER GIVE IN!
WE'LL MARCH UNTIL THE END!

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



When Life Is-

When life is down,
It takes a walk,
When it is up,
It looks for a friend to share a talk,
When it is sad,
It watches two-faced monkeys play their drums with bones,
For this helps it realize,
That the truth can lie when it's left on its own.

Though when life gets you down,
Just flick a nickel up into a dime,
Because you're always worth more than you tell yourself you are throughout time.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Our Greatest Fear-

Our greatest fear is that we shouldn't shine our brightest light to others near,
As we lose hope in ourselves,
Throwing our gifts down a bottomless well,
Standing over it laughing,
Thinking we're a joke,
But truly no one is born a king to all of these folks.

"And even if you did own the world and all its gold,
It would still mean nothing without your friends and family."
Said the truth,
As it spoke for itself so that it would be told.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Happiness-

The boy named happiness,
Was beaten by his father every night,
He didn't have one friend throughout the schools he would attend, 
Where finding him a girl,
Was like finding perfection in our world.

One night he cried himself to sleep,
And woke up the next dawn,
And drifted out to sea,
With one little needle prick,
That sent him high above his ship,
Onto a cloud where meaning was beautiful as it be.

He saw a blind man playing a piano there,
With his fingers too busy moving to care,
Near those angel's faces that seemed to blur,
Like those childhood cartoons he used to observe,
For he soon realized there,
That he was too happy to be sad,
And too glad to be mad,
While his arms felt like rubber bands,
As sense melted into his hands,
With every moment in his life that now made sense,
And every enemy of his that was now his friend,
With every thought he had,
That held its own bliss in its end.

His tears were always the rain on his cloudy days,
But he could no longer cry,
For this cloud wasn't gray,
And if you go there you'll understand why he felt this way.

Though this place was beyond any dream,
I'm afraid it wasn't where he wanted to be,
Because nothing is hard when you escape yourself,
But needles will only bring you fake wealth,
For only you can give you yourself.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



It's Lonely At The Top-

It's lonely at the top,
And it's lonely at the bottom,
In the middle is where you'll find yourself without a problem.

With all of his power God became bored,
And fell asleep on his job,
Leaving his spit drooling into our oceans,
And soon enough they will flood over our lands,
And after we're gone,
God will become free and happy in the middle again.

Because it's lonely at the top,
And it's lonely at the bottom,
In the middle is where you'll find yourself without a problem.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Whiskey Rain-

I'm friends with both the Devil and God,
I can't choose one to be fully in charge,
For they both have their good reasons at large.

Whiskey rain pours the same,
Through January to December's last day.

If you've lost your mind,
It's alright I've lost mine with time,
Eight floors above State Street,
I swallowed thirteen pills which changed me,
In a Chicago hospital bed I laid with klonopin pills in my brain,
Johnny sat in the nearby right chair,
And told me that I almost died back there,
He said, "Elliot the world will rob you blind, 
But that's no reason to give up on your time."

Afterwards my Mother and I looked out the hospital window of rain,
At the dark clouds outside that looked all the same,
But then without words the sun came,
And said it would dry my problems up,
For a new day's cup.

Whiskey rain pours the same,
Through January to December's last day.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Life Is Simple In Depth-

Mirrors reflect the present into the future,
As Beethoven's ghost plays piano keys made of bones,
While dogs walk their human owners on America's city streets,
Where things aren't always what they seem,
In our big world so alone.

In your mind,
No one will ever know what you really think about,
So think for yourself,
And not for what humanity has made itself up to be,
With its spoken words that are only noises,
And its written ones that are only lines,
For with them both,
No one is right or wrong when they're certain,
Because everything and nothing are often the same,
Just like at the end of each day,
When our empire of monkeys switches its sails for tomorrow's winds,
But not every one makes it into their sailboat,
Some drown below the bottom of the sky,
They are often young and old,
Some are only even halfway through writing their story being told,
And where do all of these writers and missing pages go?
No one knows,
Maybe Heaven is empty and Hell is full,
Just like our world's oil being dried as fast as it is sold,
Though maybe we'll swim again,
Or maybe we'll sink to our end.

But wherever it is we'll go,
We'll learn to accept there,
That life is simple in depth.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Pawns On Earth's Chessboard-

We're pawns on this chessboard called Earth,
With invisible hands reaching down to move us around,
And as they do,
It is true for me,
That it's been a pleasure knowing you all,
And exactly why that is,
I hope you all can see,
And feel the same way,
Because someday life may treat us better,
But until then I'm going to hold my umbrella up for my worst weather,
Because when monkeys get drunk,
They do the couch dance,
Nothing is easy in Hell,
Nothing is easy in Heaven,
Be free,
Let go,
We're only Monkeys with clothes.

It's alright though,
King Kong was bowlegged when he climbed the Sears Tower,
For you are who you are,
So don't let anyone tell you who you should be.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Religions-

The man with the bible and gun shot himself dead,
Believing that infinity had only one place it led,
For faith cannot truly live in a man,
Until he accepts that not everyone has the same belief at hand,
And when you think you've thought of everything,
Think again,
For infinity always has more than one route of truth throughout no end.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




No More Trouble-

In this life,
Leave me in this pile of broken rumble,
And bring me no more trouble.

When the best band comes to town,
Watch my troubled feet dance on this broken ground,
While I look around to share a talk,
Only to find with no one on this long walk.

And on my many miles,
It's hard to find a smile,
While my thoughts carry themselves aloud,
Making my mind's polar opposites speak to themselves,
Through my sick days which always bring me my health.

And through the worst of my days,
Leave me with only one beer,
To drink and buzz away my worried fears.

And through the worst of my nights,
Leave me to sleep in these winter woods,
Where from the bad I'll find the good.

But if in this life,
My hope is to die,
Bury me beneath the dirt of the brightest night sky,
So that afterwards I can see that white light,
To find myself no more trouble in this life.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




A Parting Note-

As the days drift into years,
Time will bring you endless tears,
Only to teach you to face your fears,
So that your eyes can again see clear.

When Heaven meets Hell,
May your dreams buy and sell,
All the worry that short fell,
When your voice lost its yell.

Keep moving,
Keep searching,
Keep dreaming,
Keep learning.

And if your friends no longer grow or support you,
Cut the lies between you two,
So that the ends will finally be true.

Though through it all,
There is no end to this life,
Or this time,
For it is truly infinite in what it can find.

So as I leave you on this parting note,
Find through your struggles,
Lessons of Hope,
To carry this life forth,
For all that it is worth.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Beyond Measure-

With what you have,
Find a good laugh,
And for what you can,
No matter when,
Always love more than you hate,
And give more than you take,
And take your chance without the fear of its fate.

And to yourself always stay true,
But don't make time for those who don't make time for you.

And when you're lost in the darkest night,
Always believe that you will find yourself in a brighter days light,
Where you will always fight the good fight,
For what you know is right.

Care not for what they think,
For they don't have your dreams,
And with them always live your life beyond measure,
And spend your time for all of its treasure.

Because with hate you must believe there is love,
For there's always water in blood,
And if you never give up,
You'll be happy enough,
Because when our efforts are beyond measure,
This life is truly a brilliant treasure.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)




Joy-

When you're broken and unspoken,
Your crutches will always be your wings,
For your words only dream to sing.

When you can't go any further,
PUSH just a little bit more,
And when you get to the shore,
Walk across the ocean,
And take your efforts forward with focus and motion,
Live your life with this short time,
And travel all that is infinite with your mind.

Whether you're a girl or boy,
Explore this world,
And find your joy.

What comes easy won't last,
What lasts won't come easy,
Don't let it break you,
No matter how hard life gets, it goes on,
You are today where your thoughts have brought you;
You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)



Your Life Is Your Life-

This life is what you make,
Always travel the distance between love and hate,
And you'll find more than one chance with your fate,
Because with this time there is always light,
No matter how much darkness you find in the night.

In your own way,
Live your life everyday,
No matter how much doubt they will say.

When you're in,
They'll want you out,
And when you're out,
They'll want you in,
And if you lose,
They'll take the win,
And when you win,
They'll take the lose,
Helping you realize soon enough with your life,
It matters not what they choose.

-(Elliot Gray Van Orman)

Copyright © 2024 Elliot Van Orman Productions