The Way I Should Lyrics - Iris Dement

A cold wind against my shoulder woke me up in the middle of the night 

An Autumn leaf was scraping against my window 

like it was trying hard to get inside 

and then a ghost that I had met before he kept me up 'til dawn 

and everything I thought was right was suddenly all wrong 

He said, "Your score is looking pretty bad" 

and then he asked me what it was that I had to show 

So I went running down a list of things 

some were real, but on some of them I lied 

'cause I felt I had to justify each breath that I'd been breathing in this life 

Then I realized I was playing into someone else's rules, 

trying to keep my score up in a game I did not choose 

Then I looked that ghost straight in the eye 

and said "You'd better not be coming back by again" 

And it's true that I don't work near as hard 

as you tell me that I'm supposed to 

I don't run as fast as I could 

but I live just the way I want to 

and that's the way I should 

October's leaves were dancing 'round 

like angels dressed in robes of Red and Gold 

but November's come and gone now 

and they're lying in the gutter out along the road 

They're gonna make their way out to the ditch or someday to the sea, 

they'll get to where they're going without the help of you or me 

and if each life is just a grain of sand 

I'm telling you man, this grain of sand is mine