Track list:

1. Splitting Hairs
2. The World We're Making
3. Endless Delight
4. Get Off the Tracks
5. I Will Care For You
6. Stay Alive
7. Warm Words
8. This Moment
9. Our Sunday
10. A Mystery to Me
11. Christi's Lullaby
12. She's Trapped
13. Walden Pond

1. Splitting Hairs

You know I like to get things right
I like to make it with a real assurance
But you won't find me up all hours of the night
Trying debate on every single difference

A fact's a fact, and I won't deny it
But you bring it down to every detail
Give me a moment to reconcile it
Don't you see you're off on a solo trail?

You're splitting hairs
You're splitting hairs with me
You're splitting hairs
You're splitting hairs with me

You know I'll have to plead the fifth
Won't say a word with any tribulation
It's not that I would let the issue go amiss
All I want is just to have a conversation

A fact's a fact, and I won't debate it
But you cut the truth of every remark
You so intend to be vindicated
That you're missing the gist of the heart-to-heart

You're splitting hairs
You're splitting hairs with me
You're splitting hairs
You're splitting hairs with me

All the sudden you're another runner-up
and it's so easy to forget a face you've never seen
I might be looking for different kind of reason
'cause you're giving me more than I asked you to be

All the sudden you're resisting my conclusion
and my memory is telling me you've got it wrong
You might be looking for another kind of answer
But you know I just want us to get along

Oh, a fact's a fact, and I won't deny it
But you bring it down to every detail
It wouldn't hurt if we both decided
All our thoughts, all our issues,
Wouldn't ever come to avail

So what's the point of splitting hairs?
You're splitting hairs with me
You're splitting hairs
You're splitting hairs with me
About this song: The opener to The World We're Making deals with relationships, which are central to what we focus on as we create our world.  As an intellectual, I sometimes take knowledge and reason seriously and want to follow a train of logic to the end, even if it gets complicated.  But I have my limits.  At a certain point, I would rather shift my focus back to the joy of the human connection rather than stay alienated, caught up in logic and attached to truth value.  This is a value I have had to learn, but it makes all the difference.

2. The World We're Making

Music is such a lonely fantasy
Harmony's so hard to find
I know you feel a certain rhapsody
when in the play of the mind

It must have been doubt that eclipsed your heart
and made you see only the wrong
You've seen it all fail many times before
You forgot that your vision's a song

Maybe you're searching for a sanctity
Some kind of peace to be met
I know you're aching for the world to see
the righteous example you set

But something inside turned your praise to tears
'Cause only through tears could you fail to see
that the true answer comes from inside

Just close your eyes
and hold me near you
And we'll create our own paradise
The world we're making
has no restrictions
So with our love let's fill our world with something nice

Music can charm you with a thousand tones
The magic is so hard to miss
When we aspire for our dreams alone
It's easy to force with a fist

So silence your eyes, give your hands a rest
and let your creation unfold
There's more to what's real than the eyes will say
And it may be your lenses are old

So close your eyes
and hold me near you
And we'll create our own paradise
The world we're making
has no restrictions
So with our love let's fill our world with something nice

So silence your eyes
Put your thoughts to rest
And let your creation unwind
There's more to what's real than the eyes will say
And there may be an ending we'll find

Just close your eyes
and hold me near you
And we'll create our own paradise
The world we're making
has no restrictions
So with our love let's fill our world with something nice

So with our love let's fill our world
with something nice

So with our love let's fill our world
with something nice
About this song: I wrote this song after my first term in college at the University of Oregon, during which I had met many people who inspired me, who had visions of a better world.  The U of O is full of activists, seeking to make the world a better place.  But despite their ideals, I always sensed a certain agony in their discontent with the way things are.  We all have times in which we sing the music of our vision without really opening up to it and letting it unveil right in front of us.  Even if our intentions are good, when we let our actions be fueled by discontent rather than gratitude, we shut out the world, and our music becomes a "lonely fantasy."  All we need to do is close our eyes and realize that we are making the world we live in right now, and that because of this we can find contentment with it just the way it is.

3. Endless Delight

Is it true, or do I imagine
all I see in this world to be right?
The joy, the virtue—is it not an endless delight?

How can I stand by my first conviction?
Never have I known hunger or war
But still I care for the souls who endure evermore

The cry for tomorrow must make itself known
There are crimes worth repairing
It is my only wish that the world can be one
But while it is eager, the words come undone

Days I look for a simple answer
Sighs and sorrows are all that return
And none, oh, none of my heartstrings will ever sojourn

Gazing out from the rising pasture
They might offer their endless surmise
Until the nocturne is over and darkness replies

The cry for tomorrow must make itself known
There are crimes worth repairing
It is my only wish that the world can be one
But while it is eager, the words come undone

I fear that someday, serenity will fall
and repeal our resolve to control
But the laws of the land and the letters at hand
give a sense that we're filling the hole

The cry for tomorrow must make itself known
There are crimes worth repairing
It is my only wish that the world can be one
But while it is eager, the words come undone

Is it true, or do I imagine
all I see in this world that is right?
The pains, the promise—let's make it our endless delight
About this song: This is a song I wrote and performed in fall 2005 for a talent show that one of my friends had put together to raise money to aid children in North Korea.  It is a paradox, isn't it?  That the world can contain so much suffering, and yet have the potential to be perfect right now?

4. Get Off the Tracks

Cruising, top-speed on the 105
you've got the highway fever
Cruising, faster than the engine can drive
you're the high-speed seeker
But every time you take your green and go
it's like you're traveling south on a run-down road
You go so fast, but you're leaving the good sights behind
Your eyes keep steering with the same old stare
Your wheels keep taking on the same old wear
Get off the tracks
You've got a place to go
and a motor to ride

Cruising, round and round the outskirts of town
you're the beltway rider
Cruising, that's the road you know and the road
to which you're no outsider
But as you circle 'round, you might go flat
from having nowhere to run, so quit turning back
You've got your hopes, but that's not how the old west was won
Your tires keep treading on the same old trail
You're spokes keep ripping to the same old rail
Get off the tracks
You're ready for the shot
and you're jumping the gun

You long for the spirit, you know we can hear it
It's the itching that we feel everyday
To take on a new road, a faced-by-the-few road
That's the American way

You reach for renewal as you're using your fuel
towards a life that you wish to fulfill
They call you a dreamer, but you're such a believer
that you never give up, there's no shortage of will

But from the airway comes a fine exhaust
and you don't know what it is to have lived and lost
You've met your match
but there's more to the match than its might

Your hands keep gripping with the same old grasp
Your wheels keep clipping with the same old clasp
Get off the tracks
you've got to roll it down
and pick up for the flight

Your ride keeps cranking out the same old roll
Oh, you keep driving with the same old goal
Get off the tracks
you've got your go-ahead
and you're wheelin' tonight
About this song: I think it might be ingrained into American culture that we have to go as fast as we can and stick to our course.  We don't like to doubt our original thinking or take risks with respect to how we invent ourselves.  But if there is a better way that gets us where we want to go and allows us to enjoy it as well, why not try it?

5. I Will Care for You

What if a candle were forced to burn,
left out unnoticed with no one to make warm?
I've seen it happen a couple of times before
The flame of sadness
Don't go melting now, I will care for you

What if a lion were forced to roar,
docile and gentle but pressured to perform
It's only nature, but it's still a deceiving score
The tale of madness
Don't go raging now, I will care for you

And it's only loneliness that you fear
So take shelter, candle, I'll keep you near
The storm will pass and it will be kind to you

What if the bells were forced to chime?
Never the freedom to break out from the rhyme
A little jingle has often been too defined
A ring for laughter
Don't go crying now, I will care for you

What if the flowers were forced to grow,
flooded and weeded, in a tiny little row
It doesn't seem like such a tragedy, but you know
It blooms for sadness
But don't go wilting now, I will care for you

And it's only loneliness that you fear
So take shelter, candle, I'll keep you near
The storm will pass and it will be kind to you

Don't go melting now, I will care for you
Don't go melting now, I will care for you
About this song: I am a romantic at heart, and a part of me always longs to have someone to care for.  But have you noticed that even the most unsuspecting things could be in need of that care?

6. Stay Alive

Lord, I'm a warrior of sense
And my conscience says something's not right
While the arrows that fly
make me fend for my life,
I'd rather show love
than continue to fight

I have always believed
that such violence cannot be the way
I'm a beggar for crumbs
I'm a merciful man
So I'd like to resist
and allow them to stay--
Stay alive

What happened to all that I used to believe?
I thought that a life was a sacred thing
But the wisdom above
says there's no need to grieve
The soul is recycled here
And karma is crystal clear

I'm in charge of the duty
So prepare my hand-me-downs
right away
Stick with me for the beauty
as the world begins to make
right and pray
Stay alive
Stay alive
Stay alive

Lord, I'm a warrior in need
Teach me how to accept what I've done
Why perform such an action
if wisdom is all?
Why cause unneeded harm
when we're really all one?

Look into your life's path
See your blade as the gateway of souls
Rid yourself of desire
and passion and grief
It's inherent to act
as your duty unfolds
So, stay alive

What happened to all of the things that I've made?
I thought that they might not have gone to waste
But the Lord says these things
are meant only to fade
Relinquish the fruits of acts
Perfection will come to pass

I'm in charge of the duty
So prepare my hand-me-downs
right away
Stick with me for the beauty
as the world begins to make
right and pray
Stay alive
Stay alive
Stay alive

What is it that God would have asked me to be?
Sustained by the wisdom of mastery,
Fixed in a state of perpetual calm,
Unfettered by what I do,
Devoted and steadfast to
Stay alive...
About this song: This is a religious song inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, a principal text of Hinduism.  The Gita opens with Arjuna, a great warrior prince, expressing his deep distress to the god Krishna that he must kill his cousins as a duty of war.  Arjuna asks Krishna if killing will not bring dishonor to the sacredness of life and to the spiritual principles he holds dear.  Krishna's response may be counterintuitive to us of a western culture background, but it rings true to me: the soul is so indestructible and sacred that it cannot possibly be harmed by a blade of this world.  So, once you have rid yourself of the passion and grief that makes you act only out of self-interest, what is there to do but become completely willing to act upon one's duty in the eyes of God?  And for this warrior in ancient times, that duty was to fight to the death so that he could "stay alive" and live out his destiny, a legacy that would span thousands of years.

7. Warm Words

Warm words of encouragement embrace me
They take me where no one else has ever gone
Warm, soft sounds of nourishment sustain me
Throughout all the journeys I travel on

Did she tell me once that I was her someone--
An honest son and one deserving of praise?
Did she know I'd treasure all that she told me
And keep it for the gray and rainy days?

Warm words of encouragement uplift me
They raise me to elevations and beyond
Warm, soft sounds of nourishment uphold me
And give me the strength that I travel on

Did she give me all that I could have asked for?--
A smile to trade on days we played by the grin
Did she know I'd share my dreams with the world?--
For when have I refused to let her in?

Warm words of encouragement embrace me
they take me where no one else has ever gone

I would do anything for warm words
I would go anywhere for warm words
I would do anything for warm words
About this song: I wrote the "Warm Words" verses when I was 13, inspired by my mother and the way she would lift my spirits with her love and encouragement.  In preparing The World We're Making, I added the "Did she..." verses and decided to dedicate this song to my wonderful mother.

8. This Moment

I wonder,
Should I take the chance?
Dare I seek to find another romance?
No answer could move my eyes
to a picture I could fantasize
I'd rather be watching you
for your movements are definitely true
I want to be
caught in the moment
with you next to me

But no matter how much we try
this moment's gonna pass us by
No sooner the flicker's past
I've lighted what was never going to last

I wonder,
Should I climb the wall,
Or should I refuse to risk the fall?
No answer could move my eyes
to a picture I could fantasize
I'd rather be watching you
for your movements are definitely true
I want to be
caught in the moment
with you next to me

But no matter how much we try
this moment's gonna pass us by
No sooner the flicker's past
I've lighted what was never going to last

I will revive
my sleepless heart tonight
I will survive
It's only a matter of sight
I will return
to the innocent eyes of my home
I will relearn
to face the next moment alone

I wonder
Should I fight the time?
Dare I challenge forces beyond mine?
No answer could move my eyes
to a picture I could fantasize
I'd rather be watching you
for your movements are definitely true
I want to be
caught in the moment
with you next to me

But no matter how much we try
this moment's gonna pass us by
No sooner the flicker's past
I've lighted what was never going to last

No matter how much we try
this moment's gonna pass us by
No sooner the flicker's past
I've lighted what was never
ever, ever going to last
About this song: "This Moment" expresses the uncertainties and inner conflicts that came with deciding to enter into a romantic relationship.  How we act on these decisions may change the course of our lives!

9. Our Sunday

I had a dream that you'd enter my life
That I'd meet you and know who you were
And we'd come smile-to-smile
with our faces no longer a blur

That was a dream that I'd relive again
if it didn't come true for me
But you pierced through the daze, and you showed me the ways
as you drifted ashore from the dream

That was our Sunday, just one day
an out-of-the-blue reverie
That was our Sunday,
the day that you sang to me

Four weary nights and a fifth passed me by
'till I promised myself to awake
In my dream there was light
But no road that was ready to take

Those were the nights that I'd cower before
if they ever came back again
But the day that arose and the smile that exposed
brought the joy I'd awaited in vain

That was our Sunday, just one day
an out-of-the-blue reverie
That was our Sunday,
the day that you sang to me

Tomorrow, a lighthouse so far on the road
holds the pleasure and leisure of night
The sunrise returns to our shining abode
telling darkness to give way to sight

Tomorrow, a lighthouse will shelter our love
as we share in our passionate dreams
The sunset responds as it hovers above
bringing closure to all its extremes

That was our Sunday, just one day
an out-of-the-blue reverie
That was our Sunday,
the day that you sang to me
That was our Sunday...
About this song: This song resolves the struggle of "This Moment" by introducing a tender and out-of-the-blue emergence of romance.

10. A Mystery to Me

(Before my eyes you vanish)

I know it's impossible to be
with you during every waking hour
You've got to have your private moments
I only wish I could be there
to make those moments special

I know it's a childish fantasy
to think that I can follow you everywhere
You've got to have your own vocation
I only wish I could be there
to make your job worthwhile

Watching you stroll out of sight
you're really not a sight to miss
As we say a short goodbye
You disappear into the mist
A mystery to me
(Before my eyes you vanish)

I know it's ridiculous to wish
that you and I could always be together
We've got to have our separate places
But for the time when we're apart
I'll still be thinking of you

I know it's unheard of to expect
that you think of me as I think of you
But everybody has their weakness
If missing you is mine then I
must face this separation

Watching you stroll out of sight
you're really not a sight to miss
As we say a short goodbye
You disappear into the mist
A mystery to me
(Before my eyes you vanish)

Mysteries are all about discovery,
so pardon me,
but what can I discover when you're gone?
I can't seem to find a good recovery,
oh woe is me,
I guess I'm only half of what I'm living on

I know it's a heavy price to pay
Letting myself run about in heartache
But I've got to have my own devotion
I only hope you have the same
and we can be together

Watching you stroll out of sight
you're really not a sight to miss
As we say a short goodbye
You disappear into the mist
A mystery to me
Before my eyes you vanish
Before my eyes you vanish
You're such a mystery to me
About this song: And the progression of the romantic relationship continues.  For me, the beginning of a relationship is highly exciting!--the longing to be with that person during ever waking moment, the yearning to know everything about them and to explore the grand "mystery" that is who they are.  And that mystery appears most elusively every time she leaves my sight--where is she going?  What is she doing in this world that exists independently of me?  It's a beautiful intrigue!

11. Christi's Lullaby

Restless in the night
Christi dawns her eyes and awakens
Tending to her muse
as she paints her dues
inspiration—couldn't sleep it through
inspiration—more than she ever knew

Through the window
I see Christi having a pleasant time
Making music in her pictures
painting a lullaby as I stop by
I see Christi come alive

Fast away she flies
love was in her eyes and her easel
Christi lifts her brush
and begets the touch of her angel
painting everyone as her angel
more than she's ever done

Through the window
I see Christi having a pleasant time
Nature's wonders in her pictures
painting a lullaby as I stop by
I see Christi come alive

She labors in rejoice,
carefully envisions a voice,
and calls me into a dream
The masterpiece reveals
everything I wanted to feel
as I enter the scene of Christi's lullaby
Oh, Christi's lullaby

As the muse conspires
I begin to tire in her wonder
Tending to my sleep
eyes I fail to keep
Christi's thunder has me sung to sleep
(lullaby)
The best she could ever be

Through the window
I see Christi having a pleasant time
Making music in her pictures
painting a lullaby; I start to sigh
I see Christi's lullaby
About this song: Have you ever been unable to sleep because your muse is calling you, inspiring you to create something beautiful right now?

Imagine you are walking the dark streets in the middle of the night, and in the window of one building, you see a light turned on.  Through the window, there is a woman painting, with an expression on her face of pure inspiration, of pure bliss, so powerful that she doesn't even notice you looking in.  What a beautiful sight!  You watch her for a time, wondering why she is up so late and what moves her to continue to work so many hours on her creation.  And all the while, her painting is a kind of lullaby for your weary soul.  You melt in awe.

"Christi's Lullaby" also features one of my favorite poetic writing techniques: synesthesia, which is the combining of different senses (such as sight and hearing) into a single experience.  What does music look like?  What does a painting sound like?  That is the lullaby.

12. She's Trapped

My friend is always upon the stage
So crowds applaud for her action
They don't imagine behind the scenes
that she's abandoned the show she's living

I don't know what I can do for her
That stage has taken her best face
What gets me back in to see her show
is how so carefully she crafts her art

With the skill of a performer divine
She can wield the power of words
Burying herself in a hole of lies

She's trapped
and never will see light again
She's trapped
will never be herself again
Before I go,
I need her now to know

My friend is not what she used to be
Though she has staged her transition
To keep her audience satisfied
I long for some kind of honest plot

I don't know why she has gone so far
I could not sense this misfortune
Until the voice that was once so dear
Transformed into a pretentious guise

With the talent of a singer divine
She can feign the power of song
Covering herself with a coat of sorrow

She's trapped
and never will see light again
She's trapped
will never be herself again
Before I go,
I need her now to know

Sighs of angst
Flowers of endearing envy
She stays blank
Trying not to lose her cover
But I think her rhythm slightly sank

I see her back on the stage again
As she delivers her encore
I cry for such a dramatic pause
And in the heat of the starting chord

She delivers a spectacular face
She can forge the eyes of the blind
Kindling herself with the fires of spotlight

She's trapped
and never will see light again
She's trapped
will never be herself again
Before I go,
I need her now to know
About this song: This song expresses one of my frustrations with the way people often put up a false face and hide who they really are, just to please others.  Imagine living your whole life developing a persona that is not truly you, but a face that has grown into your identity by nature of the fact that others expect you or want you to be this way.  How we tend to cling to such a persona as if it were our only way of being!

13. Walden Pond

A time agone, a time ago,
a ripple felt its worth
It rang the trees and sang the hills
and softly shared its birth

It takes me back to Walden Pond
where I first heard the song
A trickle down to the roots below
and I was natural again

Walden, I can see the world
in ways that never dawned
Among the trees, your surest home
is here at Walden Pond

It drank from me and fed my thirst,
the less I knew was real
Reflections in the pond, I see
the truth to be revealed

The sighs of old, the cries of young,
the pains of all beyond
The trades of man, the sage's song--
all echo Walden Pond

Walden, I can see the world
in ways that never dawned
The seeds of earth, the streams of life
flow out of Walden Pond

(Samsara)

The rains are come, you've lost yourself,
and yet you're never gone
The toils we trade, and plans we made
are ripples in the pond

It draws me into eternal hope
the source is never far
I'll live in infancy all again
and rest in good nature's arms

Walden, I can see the world
in ways that never dawned
Your waves are slow, and still we breathe--
we're here in Walden Pond
About this song: One of my mentors used to teach me about one of his favorite books, Walden by Henry David Thoreau.  I loved the idea that Thoreau left civilization to live in the woods near Walden Pond in order to reflect on nature and society and to "live deliberately."  To me, it represents the epitome of the philosophical quest.  How can we create a beautiful world if we don't take time every so often to connect with that source within ourselves that can manifest it?

In college, I read a great deal of transcendentalist literature, including works by Emerson, Whitman, and some of Thoreau's other writing.  However, I never did read Walden.  I never needed to!  Every time I would open the book to start it, it always seemed pointless to read about somebody else's experience with nature rather than have my own!  Even if I had read Walden, how could I understand it any more than I already did without having lived by the pond myself?  Thus, you have my poetic attempt to live Thoreau's courageous philosophical quest in my own way.  After all, it is the world WE're making, not the world someone else put in an anthology for us to read about.

Perhaps I will live among the trees myself someday...