1. |
Something's Got to Break
02:40
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you got your lemon and posie icing
spread immaculately thin
you got a love thats so enticing
you have to squirm to hold it in
and when the crowd starts getting raucous
you may try to save your cake
but oh somethings got to break oh oh oh
well i saw you out on the highway
you had a glass upon your roof
it was a glass of lemon iced tea
forgotten and aloof
and you were driving like a maniac
with a need to overtake
you know somethings got to break oh oh oh
well its a fragile world with a beefedup hairdo
sippin refreshment pretending not to care
you can throw your selfcontrol off the roof of a building
but it dont guarantee that you wont get filled in
theres nothing sure so just stay turned on
and listen to the choir while you sing your song
sing your song yeah sing your song
but listen to the choir while you sing your song
oh oh oh somethings got to break oh oh oh
well you wander back to the party
with a couple fewer teeth
your left eyeball is smarting
and youre shaking like a leaf
well you fumble into exile on a haunted fire escape
cos you know somethings got to break oh oh oh
theres nothing sure so just stay turned on
and listen to the choir while you sing your song
oh somethings got to break oh oh oh
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2. |
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teacher showed up to learn
he said my lessons have all burned
the fire started in my head
and left my pockets full of lead
he kicked a widget with his shoes
it also left me with the blues
i meant to set this classroom free
illuminate what none could see
lalalalala
release myself to someone else
lalalalala
now im free so you teach me
teacher showed up to learn
beneath his arm a potted fern
i introduce you all to fred
whos from an old dry river bed
we thought the teacher was a freak
its then that fred began to speak
he said the words we could not say
and made us ancient in a day
la la la la la
the naked eyes a little shy
lalalalala
your senses fight to put you right
a la la la la
la la la la la
he kicked a walnut with his shoes
it also left me with the blues
i meant to set this classroom free
illuminate what none could see
la la la la la
the moral heres a bit unclear
la la la la la
stay awake stay awake
la la la la la
la la la la la
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3. |
Raisins
02:39
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walking to the bus stop
i tripped on a thing
i dusted all the rust off
and bit through the string
i dont exactly know how
i got to be king
but everywhere i go now
they say hey whats that thing
i wish i knew because i
long for some direction
and i want some clear connections
mystery is charming
as long as youre pretty
but it can be alarming
for this little kitty
power over peoples
a carnival ride
with comforting and lethally
narcotic lullabies
the dreams are pretty but i long
for some direction
and i want a real connection
raisins in my coffee
toothpaste in my hand
everythings exotic
if you know where to stand
but weve been bored
for two hundred years or more
shipwrecked on this
cold atlantic shore
and i long for some direction
and i want some clear connection with you
and i want for some direction
and i want to find some connection
with you
and i want for some direction
and i long to find some connection
and im thrown in six directions
and i want to find this connection with you
and im going to find this connection
o yes i will
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4. |
Light in My Mind
02:03
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well the days pass slowly
in my dark little house
where i try to keep my heart
safe from harm
but i remember a time
like a light in my mind
when you held me close in your arms
and with everyone i meet
im so timid and shy
though i try to compensate
with my charms
but i remember a time
like a light in my mind
when you held me close in your arms
sometimes i feel
like a walking disaster
and in my heart
theres a screaming alarm
but i remember a time
like a light in my mind
when you held me close in your arms
de de de de de dedede...
well id better hang the phone
ive got a long way to walk
and the dark sky is
threatening to storm
but i remember a time
like a light in my mind
when you held me close in your arms
sometimes i feel
like a walking disaster
and in my heart
theres a pounding alarm
but i remember a time
like a light in my mind
when you held me close in your arms
yes i remember a time
like a light in my mind
when you held me close in your arms
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5. |
EOW
04:49
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and i came asking you to play
on the forty five hundred thousandth day
and i kept wondering what youd say
at the end at the end
release the clasp on your lunchbox
to trade your bounty for the rocks
that make your eyes flicker like a fox
at the end at the end of the world
hooooo allah
you smile and don your finest lace
let the starlight gently caress your face
there is no memory to erase
at the end at the end
i sing my sweetest lullaby
and rock you gently when you cry
but nothing can sustain a lie
at the end at the end of the world
hoooo allah
hoooo allah
and lunar landings come unmanned
and lightbulb culture will expand
but autopilots must come to land
at the end
and asia was the first to drown
her feet were plucked from off the ground
and from our grief emerged the sound
of the end of the end
and pulling rhythms from the ground
with the terror of impassioned clowns
who know theyre soon to come unbound
we again to the end
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6. |
Catalpas
02:27
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catalpas blossom wonderwhite
holding their china to the light
youve got your head screwed on right
with plum and coconut delight
walking home every day
on a sunshine ray
you are high on the light
and you walk upright
come far come near
through the atmosphere
colorscolorscolorscolorscolors
blue yellow green grey
orange like a tangerine
lemon brown
sparkle on a windshield
arc of a rainbow
galvanized fencepost
brick shadow grass
flower porch puddle asphalt brass but
catalpas blossom wonderwhite
holding their china to the light
youve got your head screwed on right
with plum and coconut delight
and the music of feet
on a butteryellow seat
of a blonde cadillac
by a barnred shack
and the voice of a girl
as she dips and twirls
chantingchantingchantingchantingchanting
nonsense ditties full of infinity
and her hands full of dimes accompany her rhymes
and the screen door slams mother keys in her hand
put your seatbelt she said while overhead the
catalpas blossom wonderwhite
holding their china to the light
youve got your head screwed on right
with plum and coconut delight
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7. |
Rainsong
06:35
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when it rains for days on end
and you find youve taken
to screaming at the wind
it floods your ears
and soaks your mind
and releases fears
that promptly turn you blind
you had the answers rendered plain
but now theyre soggy
and blurred with rain
you feel an awkward uncertainty
you fumble vaguely
through your pockets for your keys
but keys are useless against this pain
against this boredom against this rain
something eludes you in recent events
something refuses to make sense
if this is tender if this is sweet
why does it feel so lonely out here
in the street in the rain
when it rains when it burns
when it takes the truth shoved
into your face to learn
stories fail experience lies
and life is just one big wet
collection of tries
the weatherman steps up
to the bluescreen
and with a smile
to the camera proclaims
that the barometric
pressure is static
and that would provide
for more rain
but the anchors
with hatred and bloodlust
they screamed at him calling him names
they threatened
to murder his family
if his forecast
he would not reframe
and he pulled down his pants
and he showed them the moon
and it rose like a huge
opalescent balloon
throwing silvery beams
through the studio gloom
pulling the water tank out
from the edge of the room
and its clean and it washes us clear
and it wets us down behind the ears
and it ponders us pondering why
through its puddles
like windows of sky
when it rains when it pours
when you find its coming up
through your floors
when it punches up
your steep steep bills
and the only ones with insurance
also have gills
well youd like to feel cheated
and you might like to weep
but youre just too exhausted
and its time to sleep
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8. |
Big Ideas
02:38
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big ideas get smaller
the closer you get
toys and ants grow taller
but big ideas retreat
they come sometimes in the dark of night
or in the heat of sharp debate
midnight black or jewel bright
horizon gold of heavens gate
standing in a parking lot
excalibur to the sky
birth of words and rhythmic thoughts
questions starting with why
and then the complications come
redescribing bar by bar
the cage wrought for protection from
gravity and the stars
big ideas get smaller
but theyre dangerous pets
trust me
seize them by the collar
and theyll kill you to get free so
dont you take those wild things home
lest thou art prepared to know thyself
cos yo its a jungle in your heart
and armageddon in your soul
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9. |
Blessed Be the Name
04:28
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blessed be the name of the man who stole my car
he will not travel far with out me
ive got no time for blame or to reassert my claim
this spell im under wont last till next thursday
i see him driving by and he knows im scandalized
he looks me in the eye and rounds the corner
this vision i endure through the window as i stir
my buttered oatmeal every morning on the burner
blessed be the heretofore unmentionable doubt
that turns me inside out when im alone
blessed be the voices weaving through the summer breeze
pealing laughter and celebratory tones
in my time of doubt i throw my eyes upon the sky
and i search in vain for my familiar wantings
but emptiness it seems has cast its hook into my dreams
and depopulated me of my sweet dauntings
blessed be defeat and surrender in the street
as i throw myself amidst the morning traffic
last week i threw my faith into the backseat of my car
where it melted to a star of glowing plastic
without it i have been reduced to ugliness and sin
not to mention all those grumpy little chocolates
now the man whose name ive come to prey upon
comes rolling through the dawn
a lump of phosphorescence in his pocket
blessed be the name of the man who stole my car
we shook hands in a bar but was i dreaming
this spell ive cast upon myself
has eased my consciousness upon a shelf
occupied by the likes of giants
in the open spaces ive begun to effervesce
as a playground gives its guests to joyful screaming
now suffice to say that ive got no more time today
to give to cars thieves faith oatmeal and other lusty tyrants
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10. |
Hymn for Sal
04:08
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you and sal wander down
to the steelyards and bottom grounds
where the docks of downtown
press the river
and its an uncertain space
where girders and iron braces
like cobwebs and lace
bind the twilight
and sal says to you
i think youve a clearer view
will you answer me true
this conundrum
and he uncurls his palm
you can feel his unfolding calm
as he sings you a psalm
he said i feel so low
and i gave to a strong undertow
memory leaks and you lose what you know
and i feel so wrong
with the righteous and the strong
canvas stretches for centuries on
and the sky is so wide
like the distance i have inside
i wake up at night and i cry and i cry
cos i feel
so lost
so crossed
and the worlds turning blue
the sun has gone out of view
theres an old pair of shoes
and a corpse of sparrow
and youre a child of the sky
so you take to your wings and fly
over towers that rise
in steep crescendo
and sal follows on
like a gold ball of crumpled yarn
over chasms that yawn
knocking every tower door
but the gods have gone home
to polish up all their chrome
and so onward we roam
and i feel so wrong
the distances are so strong
nothing comes to break my song
my reveal is so deep
violetblack over slumbering sheep
with a diamond eye looking over my keep
and i feel so old
midnight comes so cold
the arms of the universe circle and holding my soul
o my soul
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11. |
Gone
02:37
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dogs barking at the dawn
clouds of brass silver flame
brothers asleep on the lawn
wet with yesterdays rain
you were born in a skyscraper tray
ten thousand feet from the sea
four hundred stories away
from the dead and your first memory
paste some buckles to your shoes
ease on down to the store
neighbors staring at you
when you drop all your change on the floor
a neanderthal from aisle six
leaving frozen boxes of peas
crosses a sterile matrix
with the sparkle of stars in her eyes
da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da
da da da da da
now angels are playing on your lawn
rolling your brother around
like a slumbering water balloon
or a bag full of dreams on the ground
you can see it from lightyears away
as he cripples himself to succeed
in the tumble of dreams as they play
with his habits of distance and speed
la da da da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da da da da da da da da
da da deum da da da da
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