New Way to be Human (1999)
This album gained notoriety as the song “Only Hope” was featured on the soundtrack of the movie “A Walk to Remember” starring Mandy Moore and Shane West. Basing the lyrics off of the ideas from several philosophers, you can hear the tension of wrestling with identity and belonging.
My Favorite Songs: Under the Floor, Something More (Augustine’s Confession), Let that be Enough
Every day it’s the same thing
Another trend has begun
Hey kids, this might be the one
It’s a race to be noticed
And it’s leaving us numb
Hey kids we can’t be the ones
With all of our fashion
We’re still incomplete
The God of redemption
Could break our routine
There’s a new way to be human
It’s nothing we’ve ever been
There’s a new way to be human
New way to be human
And where is our inspiration?
When all the heroes are gone
Hey kids, could we be the ones?
‘Cause nobody’s famous
And nobody’s fine
We all need forgiveness
We’re longing inside
There’s a new way to be human
It’s nothing we’ve ever been
There’s a new way to be human
It’s spreading under my skin
There’s a new way to be human
Where divinity blends
With a new way to be human
New way to be human
You’re throwing your love across
My impossible space
You’ve created me
Take me out of me into
A new way to be human
To a new way to be human
You’re a new way to be human
Where my humanity bends
To a new way to be human
Redemption begins
You’re a new way to be human
You’re the only way to be human
He’s washing face to start the day
He’s lonely, lonely, lonely
Nothing in the mirror ever shows him what’s within
Now he’s checking out the faces
On the back of the milk
He’s the sour under all this pressure
He thinks the missing person looks an awful lot like him
And he starts his engine
But he knows he’s missing gears
Incomplete
Where will you find yourself?
Incomplete
Where will you find yourself?
(3rd time – Where will you lose yourself)
‘Cause you’re the missing person now
Step outside your doubt
And let yourself be found
He’s sick of the race just to save face
He’s tied and tried, he’s sick and tired
He’s tired of the holes that are keeping him
Incomplete
He’ll push the pedal to the floor
Like the day before
He’s trying to be always trying
Try to find an end to justify the means
Come back and haunt me
Follow me home
Give me a motive
Swallow me whoe
They say I’ve lost it
What could I know
When I’m but a mockery?
I’m so alone
Sooner or later you’ll find out
There’s a hole in the wall
Today is ours
Condemned to be free
Free to keep breathing
Free to believe
I look to find you
Down on my knees
Oh God, I believe
Please help me believe
Sooner or later they’ll find out
There’s a hole in the wall
Sooner or later you’ll find out
That you’ll dream to be that small
I’m a believer, help me believe
I gave it all away and lost who I am
I threw it all away
With everything to gain
And I’m taking the leap
With dreams of shrinking
Yeah dreams of shrinking
Mike was right when he said I’d put up
A fight to be someone, a fight to be me
But see now, I’m down
Under the pavement
Of capitol hills and lowercase people
AS time rolls by my dreams have become
That which is attainable
Now what I’m looking for
I’ve got the company car
I’m the one swinging at two below par
Yeah I’ve become one with the ones
That I never believed in
But I’ve got the company car
I’m the king of things I’ve always despised
I’m the gingerbread man
Who got eaten alive
I’m half-baked, I’m fake
But see I’ve got hotels on
Park Place and Boardwalk
And two hundred bucks
I pass go but oh, life’s taken it’s toll
Have I won Monopoly to forfeit my soul?
All the king’s horses
At the foot of the wall
They’re taking pictures of
The man who’s lost all of his
Masks of pretension
He’s got two faces left
His is the one that he hides
On the left behind that smile
Hiding tears and fear
That burns like an engine
It drives him away
From the ones that he loves
Mike was right:
Hey Mike! We’re one and the same
We’re the faceless combatants
In the loneliest game
A but say, I’ll wave as I’m driving by
With that smirk in my eye yelling
Hey I’m something man, check me out!
I wish I had what I needed
To be on my own
Cause I’m feeling defeated
And I’m feeling alone
And it all seems so helpless
And I have no plans
I’m a plane in the sunset
With nowhere to land
And all I see
It could never make me happy
And all my sand castles
Spend their time collapsing
Let me know that You hear me
Let me know Your touch
Let me know that You love me
Let that be enough
It’s my birthday tomorrow
No one here could know
I was born this Thursday
Twenty-two years ago
And I feel stuck
Watching history repeating
Who am I?
Just a kid who knows he’s needy
Let me know that You hear me
Let me know Your touch
Let me know that You love me
Let that be enough
Augustine just woke up with a broken heart
All this time he’s never been awake before
At thirty-one his whole world is a question mark
All this time he’s never been awake before
Watching dreams that he once had
Feed the flame inside his head
In a quiet desperation of the emptiness he says:
There’s gotta be something more
Than what I’m living for
I’m crying out to You
Augustine all his fears keep falling out
All this time he’s never been awake before
But he’s mad to be alive and he’s dying to be met
In a quiet desperation of the emptiness he says
There’s gotta be something more
Than what I’m living for
I’m crying out to you
Hey I give it all away
Nothing I was holding back remains
Hey I give it all away
Looking for the grace of God today
There’s a song that’s inside of my soul
It’s the one that I’ve tried
To write over and over again
I’m awake in the infinite cold
But You sing to me over and over and over again
So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only Yours I pray
To be only Yours
I know now You’re my only hope
Sing to me the song of the stars
Of Your galaxy dancing and laughing
And laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again
And I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only Yours I pray
To be only Yours
I know now You’re my only hope
I give You my apathy
I’m giving You all of me
I want Your symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs
Amy’s song
And time rolls on
How far? How fast? How long?
The last time we saw Amy
She was headed for the shore
Fighting off the volatile gray skies
She said now begins forever
And that no one knows their time
We bid farewell not knowing
That might be our last goodbye
Amy was a fighter
She cut like Casius Clay
She burned like a fire
Despite these rains
Where time was a quesion
She only knew one song
She’s singing
How far? How fast? How long?
Salvation is a fire
In the midnight of the soul
It lights up like a can of gasoline
Yeah she’s a freedom fighter
She’s a stand up kind of girl
She’s out to start a fire
In a bar code plastic world
When everything stops moving
And I stop to catch my breath
And ride my train of thought
All the way round
My thoughts return to Amy
And the fire she’s begun
She came when we were freezing
And left us burning up
Monday found me on my knees again
Breathing You in
To blur the lines that mark where I begin
And where You end
No use in trying to pretend
Come take me again
Cause rumor has it I’m not who I’ve been
Come define me
What can we do
If the rumors are true?
I turn everything over
I turn myself in
I turn everything over
I turn myself in
There’s nothing left of me to defend
I turn everything over
I turn myself in
The evidence convicts the hollow man
After looking inside
To my dismay I find I’m just one of them
Cause I’m an already but not yet resurrected fallen man
Come break this limbo
And I know You know just who I’ve been
Come define me
Rumor has it You love me
Rumor has it the world spins upside down
Rumor has it my only hope is You
And the rumors are true
I turn everything over
Under the floor
Between me and the door
There’s a presence I cannot deny
It’s under the car
Between me and the stars
I see glory filling up the sky
And I’m certain that He hears me
He listens even as I sing my song
I’m emphatic that He’s near me
And I can see His touch in everything here
Deep is the soul
Is the space I control
Is the one thing I can call as mine
Deeper the cold
When He’s far from my soul
I surrender all of me inside