1. |
Waltz
02:46
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It’s hunger that wakes him, he crawls from the cave
Out into splintering light
To salmon in streams, the sweet berries of dreams
His appetite makes all things bright
(chorus)
Away the earth tips, it pauses and slips
And tips back this way again
Through light and through dark, long minutes of arc
We chase the year in its spin
A buzz in the air, gold dust on each hair
Of six legs in tremulous flight
From stamen to stigma she bears the enigma
To pooled amber that’s shot through with light
A flag the winds twiddle, its ribs going brittle
It twists in the guise of a kite
From green, yellow, orange to crimson and brown
It twists till it falls into flight
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2. |
Three Raisins
04:51
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It was strange when you were born
Now you’re stranger yet
Accidents always fall to you
You’re dancing with no net
[chorus]
Three raisins, once plump with juice
Baked into a yellow loaf
All of us hungry, angry too
No strangers to a joke
Cast tin, the Roman word for barn
And I was Stinky Clown
I hypnotized every beast in sight
Flew twelve feet ’bove the ground
Overgrown grass, a substantial stone
Saplings everywhere
Promise you’ll leave petals, and not thorns
When I’m floating through the air
It was strange when you were born
Now you’re stranger yet
Accidents always fall to you
We’re all dancing with no net
Dancing with no net
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3. |
Turn, Turn the Soil
05:22
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Yellow tree-leaves laugh like water
Tall grasses bow in waves
You’re the son of the preacher’s daughter
He is rolling in his grave
You say he never saw the ocean
Or sent letters on a screen
Autumn breezes cause commotion
This is the worst you’ve ever seen
[chorus]
Turn, turn the soil
Black-red mud
Drips like oil
Tastes like blood
His days peeling off like paper
Nights spent feeling phantom pain
But all your promises turned vapor
All your pleasures, they are vain
[chorus]
He tried so hard to prepare you
For a life you’ll never lead
Short-term jobs and lovers snare you
You raise no stone, you plant no seed
[chorus]
[chorus]
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4. |
So Alive, Emily
03:29
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It's really good to see you again.
That dress looks real pretty – thought there'd be more here.
And she looks good, considering what brings us here.
—Childhood so far away, playing kiss & chase, you me whatshisface & Emily
If I close these damp eyes, she stands right here.
That girl's smile, that wild laugh – they ring so clear.
—Childhood so far away, playing kiss & chase, you me whatshisface & Emily
—Childhood so far away, playing kiss & chase, you me whatshisface, Emily
Didn't she have a family? No, none that I can see.
Guess it's just you & me. Say goodbye to Emily
—So alive, Emily
—So alive, Emily
—So alive, Emilly
—So alive, Emily
—So alive
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5. |
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A jeep stopped outside Poughkeepsie
An hour’s shelter from the rain
The driver, he cursed like a gypsy
Next time we’ll take the train
We split that apple from your backpack
I stuck out my thumb
Too late to backtrack
Our troubles just begun
__A thousand roadsides, a thousand miles
__A thousand signs along the way
__Broken bottles, broken glass
__Broken nights, broken days
We smoked that gift from the deadhead
You fell asleep in your clothes
Old cigarette holes in the bedspread
I count the freckles on your nose
[chorus]
____But when you sing Goodnight Irene
____The skies begin to clear
____“Goodnight Irene, I’ll see you in my dreams”
____Before they disappear
They kicked us out by some river
You threw out a hook
While we waited for it to deliver
Something we somehow could cook
And the banks, they were swarming
With unrecorded life
The words I tried forming
“You’ll never be a wife”
[chorus]
[last chorus]
__A thousand roadsides, a thousand miles
__A thousand signs along the way
__Broken bottles, broken glass
__Broken dreams, broken days
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6. |
Tears of Hay
03:44
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In the deeps of February
You run out of month
Goes so fast it isn’t even scary
And so you choose to punt
You slide down a tunnel to the day
You smile like a monk
Bump into a hundred things to say
Read the writing on the trunk
Tears of hay, tears of soil
Crumple your face’s square of tinfoil
You climb up the scarred tree to the sky
You throw down the fruit
Peer into all the nests so high
But there’s nothing left to loot
Tears of hay, tears of soil
Crumple your face’s square of tinfoil
Tears of hay, tears of soil
Crumple your face’s square of tinfoil
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7. |
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Staring at the sun
And waiting for the night to come again
Another year begun
Another year is coming to an end
Howling at the moon
And waiting for the stars to disappear
Daylight comes too soon
A winter chill hangs in the frozen air
Waiting
Watching
Thinking
Maybe
Of searching
Somewhere
For you—
Looking
Hoping
Wanting
Some way
A new day
Be dawning
With you—
No one speaks your name
No, no one looks into your amber eyes
No one sings your song
No, no one comes along and even tries
A long, long time ago
I dreamed there would be someone here like you
But now I’ve come to know
Illusion and delusion must see me through
The bleakest blue
[Chorus]
Staring at the sun
And waiting for the night to come again
Another year begun
Another year is coming to an end
Howling at the moon
And waiting for the stars to disappear
Daylight comes too soon
A winter chill hangs in the air so clear
You are not here
[Chorus]
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8. |
Upside-Down Hollywood
03:56
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Upside-down Hollywood
Where the stars come to rest
Her skidmarks are salted away
Doubtless for the best
Upside-down Hollywood
Where the stars break their fall
She drains another thermos cup
Feeling four feet tall
Love for her is poison oak
Gets worse every time
She tells herself another joke
Leaves out the final line
Upside-down Hollywood
A baking soda town
She dreams of being Robin Hood
Feels more like Charlie Brown
She runs into a mirror
Bangs her nose real bad
Undecorates her interior
Uncorks a memory of her dad
Upside-down Hollywood
Where the stars all burn out
She flares up for a moment …
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9. |
Ring in the Day
05:04
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We listen for someone to crack a word
The glisten of rain on two tongueless birds
This prison: despairing of ever being heard
While here, high and chill
We wait for a bell
To ring in the day
We’re touching, afraid of ever letting go
Claws clutching this dead branch of the old sycamore
I am searching the skies and your face for a trace of code
While here, high and chill
We wait for a bell
To ring in the day
Our breathing is falling strangely in synch
Wings beating, hearts quailing at the lip of the brink
Oh to be seeing the links of this chain slip and sink
But here, high and chill
We wait for one cracked bell
To ring in the day
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10. |
The New Tomorrow
02:29
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Welcome to the new tomorrow
Goodbye to the old
More thrill without a net
So we ask you /Be bold/
Pleasure is the measure
In this brash new world of thine
Send your brain on vacation
Visit our free bar for your mind
But not in the daytime
Unless you say you’re on break
Or shopping in some cloudbank
We know it can’t always wait
Welcome to the new tomorrow
Goodbye to the drag
We hawk fun on every corner
Always something to make your tail wag
Lift your leg on any tree
We give you perfect choice
Up the street the hounds are howling
Baying for your voice
We rent you your bedrooms
Go on – have a /good time/
We don’t even ask you
To sign any dotted line….
Welcome to the new tomorrow
Goodbye to the reins
We hold them so you don’t have to
We bid you welcome again
You are a holy beast
Whom we program to receive
We curse your name tenderly
We don’t worship – just believe
But never on Sunday
A donkey needs his rest
A jenny mule, her blanket
We ask you /Keep to the nest/
Welcome to the new tomorrow
Say hello to your day
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11. |
Two Little Pigs
02:48
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The knockdown man
The berry blonde
Clutch at each other
Grow terribly fond
This house of bales
The strike of this match
Each throat claiming
The other’s the catch
Her knotty future
His splintered past
Running against the grain
They’ll never last
Indecision tree
Rip and cut cross flight
Wood thy maid
Wood thy wight
Wolf at the window
Wind at our walls
We brace ourselves
For the coming fall
The tunneling winter
The springing squall
It’s straw, sticks and bricks
And then sweet nothing at all
Sweet nothing—
He’s lining the oven
She’s pulling up stakes
Still built like
The proverbial jakes
The storybook soldier
The storybook doll
Between them they’re building
A fairytale wall
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12. |
Lightning Strike
04:03
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Forking bolts
Map out the canyon
Pin down rocks, brace the sky
And chalk the trees
A Douglas fir
Bursts into flame
It leaping licks
From trunk to crown
And silhouettes
A 6-point stag
Frozen on
A rocky knoll
The ozone stink
When rain is near
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13. |
The First Boy
05:40
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The first boy on the bus
Was the first one to rise
He watches the others board
With sleep caught in their eyes
But first he walked out in the dark
To pull down hay and set out grain
And break the ice in the galvanized trough
And bury his face in her mane
The first boy sits up front
And tastes his fresh-brushed teeth
He jokes with the driver
Though the first boy is shy of speech
He watches the others wait
By farmhouse – mailbox – ravine
He knows how their lives look
While he remains unseen
Schooldays sure seem long
When you’re used to being alone
But he knows that later on
He’ll be riding that long bus home
The first boy on the bus
Is the last one to descend
He scuffs the packed gravel path back
Thinking about having a friend
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14. |
This Beast
02:16
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