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B i o g r a p h y Calexico, a Tucson collective of musicians focused around Joey Burns and John Convertino, forged an eclectic identity through their exploration of Southwestern culture. Composer Ennio Morricone's spaghetti Westerns as well as Portuguese fado; Afro-Peruvian music; and '50s and '60s jazz, country, and surf music all factored into Calexico's music. Burns studied classical music at the University of California-Irvine before starting his rock career. Calexico formed after Burns met John Convertino in Los Angeles in 1990. At the time, Convertino was playing with Howe Gelb's experimental rock group Giant Sand. Burns joined the group as their upright bassist for a European tour. Burns and Convertino found their voice as a duo during a break from work with Giant Sand. They moved to Tucson in 1994 and began collecting instruments from the Chicago Store in Tucson. First, they worked with Tucson's neo-lounge combo Friends of Dean Martinez. They started to play marimba, cello, accordion, and vibraphone in addition to their usual work on bass, guitar, and drums. After a split with Friends of Dean Martinez founder Bill Elm in 1996, the duo began to get session work with Barbara Manning, Richard Buckner, Victoria Williams, Michael Hurley, Bill Janovitz, Vic Chesnutt, and with Lisa Germano (as the trio OP8). Burns & Convertino experimented on their own with their new instruments in a home recording studio in 1996, releasing their debut CD, Spoke, on Germany's Haus Musik Records. After signing with Quarterstick/Touch and Go Records in Chicago, they released The Black Light in 1998 and The Hot Rail in 2000. For their 2001 EP, Even My Sure Things Fall Through, Calexico enlisted the support of longtime members Martin Wenk, Volker Zander, and Jacob Valenzuela, as well as members of Mariachi Luz de Luna. The song "The Crystal Frontier" was inspired by Carlos Fuentes' novel and the Cumbia rhythms of Mexico. "Sonic Wind" was a remixed instrumental version of a song originally on The Hot Rail, featuring Valenzuela's trumpet solo. "Untitled III" was a remake of a song by the electronica group Twoloneswordsmen. "Chanel No. 5" was a cover of an American Music Club song. "Banderilla" was a reworking of an outtake from The Hot Rail. Session work with Richard Buckner and the Louvin Brothers' song "Knoxville Girl" inspired "Crooked Road and the Briar." And "Hard Hat" was an ambient version of the song from The Hot Rail. Even My Sure Things Fall Through (Quarterstick), in effect, was a collection of outtakes from the group's 2000 CD release, The Hot Rail, as well as B-sides, remixes, and previously unreleased material from their European label, City Slang. In 2003, the band issued their most cohesive material to date with Feast of Wire. An EP of covers, Convict Pool, followed a year later. |
Spoke - 1997 -
Low Expectations |
The Black Light - 1998 - Gypsy's
Curse ( Instrumental ) |
Hot Rail - 2000 - El Picador (
Instrumental ) |
Aerocalexico - 2001 -
All The Pretty Horses |
|
Feast of wire - 2003 - Sunken Waltz |
The book and the canal - 2005 -
Half a smidge |
Garden Ruin - 2006 - Cruel Yours and mine Bisbee blue Panic open string Letter to Bowie knife Roka Lucky dime Smash Deep down Nom de plume (Name of feather) All systems red |
Non Albums Tracks - Misc -
Alone again or |
*** Thanx a lot to Casadecalexico for most of these lyrics ***
When it's getting way too late
There's nothing on the slate
You've got to take another break
Step out of the room
Into the street lit by the moon
Walk down to the tombs
Open the windows
No one said that that time would come
To finish what's begun
Things get done when they get done
There's no use in worry
For a heart that's in a hurry
Hang the jury inside out to dry
Going on their lands for sale to stake my claim
Burn my name in the soil
Out past the borders beyond the hill
Through seasons of nothing
Safe for the self-destructive world
Memories get altered
No point of reference to hold
And it feels like someone is watching
Asi tear into the skin of innoncence
And decadence for awhile
So we settled in and half the veins where blood runs pure
Troubled the cure for a short while
Out in the dust they suffocate the sprawl and greed
Bent on breed and stare
And children stare
Stare through shiny little boxes
Over landscape that is quickly foiled
Started talking
To a couple of wedded strangers
Sitting down on motorcycles
Who passed on the highway
Stepped into
The service station
Took a piss, got water
Bought fuel to ride
Blood is flowing
And mountains are blurring
There is something stirring
Way down inside
Barely know
My homebase home
Seems i'm rarely there
For any share of time
The neighborhood's the same
They all remember my name
Holding no reservations
The newness is wearing in
Checked my eyes to see if they had spokes
See if they are moving
See if they had spokes
See if there is somewhere else to ride
Barely know
My airbase home
Seems i'm rarely there
For any share of time
Before I ride
She swings on the front porch
And sweeps her days into an empty sky
Of a dream drowned in the rain
Out where the land is as flat as the sea
There's a train pulling out west
And a box of money stashed under the bed
Up through the pines
And down into the city of light
Where the world spins on a string
The weave of lovers weave meet their fate
Down by the sea falls in love with the sailor who keeps the light house
Storm comes in, smashes the shore
The sailor's duty comes calling
Begging and pleading as she falls to the floor
She's left waiting
She waits at the front
Her husband come wrapped around her
Where she fell the stoop in the night
(...) all alone for months at a time
Light shines through darker days
Eyes close and lose their way
Slip away the night
While the whole town's asleep
Caught between the space
Where you wanted to be
Death acts and life reacts
Spent time turning looking back
Clues along the track
Leave the following kind
The ground that seems to be new
Winding up the same every time
The windjammer's pickin' up, with the old man's Virginia Blend
Cuttin' to the quick, with his navy cut
Hoping that no one will take notice of the ragged dirt on his shirt sleeve
He wants a song, to practice his drinking
The girl with the jukebox voice
Lost in the memory but caught in the riptide
Undertow... overload
Bale on my job, slip on my ship
Drown beneath the surface
Fall to the wreckage, get snapped on a line
With crayfish and bottom dwellers
Dreams of the thinkers, the expert drinkers
And the wave of new regulars rollin' in
Come close, stand near, let me hear what you hear
Put one down
Put one down
Put one down
Put one down
Removed
Follow the current through the city that lies in ruins
Bottle is washed up but the message is missing
Heroes and ghosts, graveyards and buildings
Pay the price of admission
Haunted for years in a hallway of mirrors
Till i step through the window
Over the river, coat of feathers sweeping out of view
Weigh the difference, the scales are turned
Let conscience be so judged
Arrows with strings flung from below
Striking and reeling you in
Tied to mistakes, left there for days
Seeing which side you're in
Lately i feel so removed
Fell back into the ditch i dug
And doing the things i normally do
Heroes and ghosts, graveyards and buildings
Pay the price of admission
Haunted for years in a hallway of mirrors
Till i step through the window
Lately i feel so removed
Doing the things that I do
Beneath the neon hub of downtown
The local hotel ghosts blow back around
Descend on those drugstore cowboy nights
Cling to the bar, then disappear from sight
Back to the daily regime
Where the late night graveyard shift dampens your dreams
Bitten by the desire and the spell
That leaves you stranded out
On the other side of town
The black light
Leave the heart of the city
For the heart of the world
Leave the heart of this city
Love the way her trust unfurls
Follow her hand to the dark end of the street
Cross in the night, invisible to the electric eye
Sippin' on a little night train
Slippin' in to the car to stay warm
Keep moving, keep moving
Sleep by day, move at night
Keep moving
Follow her hand to the dark end of the street
Cross in the night
Become invisible in a blink of an eye
Out past the border patrol
Whose thunderbird's no match
A helicopter shadow follows you
Way out past the downtown city glow
Cross the santa cruz and i-10
Past the cancerous sprawl into fields of thorn
Through the rincon mountains and cochise
Stronghold south of the chiricahuas
Drifting and drifting..
Missing
Wake up now little sleepyhead
From your nightmarish day with the dead trip
You'd be better off not to know
Of the wild seeds you let go
From your thorny fingertips
Try to clean bloodstained hands
That ran away and left the scene
Of a crime last night
Always thought you stood on the other side
Never thought the roof would cave in
Where you were hiding
There's a wave of fear that creeps right in
A vacant stare that can't say where it's been
Or what's been laced
The trail leads all over the place
There's an angel at your side
Who rescued you in a nick of time
Explains how you almost fell
And vanished into a fatal spell
She looks into your eyes and sees
There's something still missing
She notices a chunk bleeding from your chest
Tries to stop the bloodflow with her best compress
But the wreckage is in a mess
There's an emotional tax, figured in after the fact
And stories unfold
The world grows dark and bones get cold
You look into your heart and you know
There's something still missing
Trigger
Walking south along the river
Never had he found that twist of pleasure
Remembering times when they were younger
Setting the town on fire
And watching as his fellow friends
Fell apart in the wake
Claiming it was all just a mistake
When his finger pulled the trigger
And he shot everyone
It was all just a mistake
When he shot everyone
Nothing will stand in the way
When hunger hasn't eaten for days
Scrounges around where ends meet
And disappears into the fray
He hopes for awhile he'll reconcile
The pain that never dies
The ghosts of his family constantly
Gnawing at his insides
He pulls out a worn photo
And an old handmade gun
Wishes it was he who was frying
When he set the whole town on fire
He walks off crying
He shot everyone
Stray
It rained the whole day he spent at his lover's grave
Said his goodbyes to her family and friends
Packed his things in a rusted car
And rode off in the rain
Came upon a church in ruin
With an old man dwelling within
Who said, "watch where you stray my friend"
Old man spoke of meanings lost and without name
Never shifting from their worn and weathered place
What was found in the endless serach
For truth behind the tale
Beneath the ash and ember lies only one story to tell
Watch where you stray my friend
There's a flower that grows in a cave
So lovely to see but need to be saved
Its' beautiful blossom will wither and die
If ever this flower leave the darkness for daylight
Bloodflow
Her eyes are closed now that final breath is near
She lets go of my hand and i fall into a see of tears
Search for the trail that we were both riding
Lost sometime ago
Now i'm stranded on the mountain's edge
And there's only one way back down...
And down i go
Into the ground where the bad seeds are sown
Take root and pull me further in
Long and long and longer it takes
Good luck's gone and there's no more breaks
Just the ground beneath that shakes and gives way
Swallowed up whole, there ain't much now i can pull
No stunt man surprises
Or houdini-like disguises
For death defying escape
Avoid the tap on the shoulder
From that one in the long black cape
Just to see those eyes of hers shine
Is worth any sum or length of time
That would fill up that space
Where her love once flowed
But the more i resist
The further and further out i drift
Get swept out in the rip tide
Where part of me wants to lie
'Neath the waves of sorrow and tears
Sink to the bottom and linger there
The rest of my tears
Walk amongst the mossy bones
Of my fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers
Feel their blood flow away
Send the soul on its way
( With Marianne Dissard )
I live out yonder where the snakes and scorpions run
Got myself a little goldmine to bank on
But one day my heart sank when i saw madame in town
I knew her love would be the death of mine
L'amour passé, l'amour obsolète
(Past love and obsolete love)
Pourquoi perdre sa vie à chercher l'or d'un coeur ?
(Why spending their whole lives searching for the
gold of a heart ?)
Je ne me noierai pas dans ce désert mystique
(I will not drown myself
in this mystic desert)
Je ferme mes comptes et je repars
(I'm cashing in my chips and I ride again)
Do me a favor while I'm hanging here
Take this gold and go and hide
Ne gigote pas, chéri, sur ta corde pendu
( Don't twist, honey, on your hangin' rope )
Don't worry I'll be free in no time
She promised me she would be there when i'd return
She didn't say she'd have a whole army there as well
She whispered "Je t'aime baby"
As she fired that gun at me
Mais je n'ai plus le temps
(But I have no time now)
It's getting late and i'm running out of time
I should've stayed way out yonder
Better off with the scorpions and snakes
Every act which has no heart
Will be found out in the end
Guess I'm a little late this time
'Cause her love would be the death of mine
Mine, all mine
Fade
No one knows where the night can go
Except for the few lovers
Entangled and torn from the hour
The stars now are starting to leave
A silent moon begins to weep
And the lovers fall further and further
Into the dark and deep
Come morning, without warning
The absence of love's embrace
Like winter's light, it creeps on in
And the moon's tears fade
He starts the car and is driving away
Hearing her voice and tasting their last kiss
That sent them spinning and racing
The moon's glow lights the way
Otherwordly underwater dreamscape
Till a semi's headlights invade
Come morning, without warning
The absence of love's embrace
Like winter's light, it creeps on in
And the moon's sullen glow is fading
The glow is fading
The glow is fading
Soul escaping
Stars are leaving, the moon is weeping
Soul escaping
Soul escaping
Racing through the night...
The glow is fading
The glow is fading
Crystal frontier
Marco's shadow falls on the door
To the seven lost cities of gold
Finds a raven's head and rattler's tail
Dead in his tracks, this godforsaken soul's
Unwanted here and his ghost lingers for years
Amalia's face hides behind the mask
Sweating on the tv factory line
That smile on her face is starting to crack
While welding back the pieces of shattered heart
That's scattered out here, with the ghosts of her peers
Searched for her lost love along the river of tears
At the end of the working week
When drunken worlds meet
Both sides keeping a close eye
For a break in the line here
On the crystal frontier
Ramón tightens up his leather belt
And slips through a hole in the fence
He can get you anything you want
Might cost you a life, might cost you
The whole price of freedom here
On the crystal frontier
Searched for her lost love along the river of tears
Blood spills out on the streets
And bodies are missing for weeks
Both sides keeping a close eye
Watching the bullets fly here
On the crystal frontier
Crystal frontier
Sonic wind
Sonic wind, honing in, on a tune that no one can hear
Perfect pitch, simple glitch, promises it would never appear
In the skies, disguised
Change in direction where birds never fly nor roam
Lie 'neath green valleys and wait for the call to come
Firetail bats, poised to attack
To set ablaze the rafters and the roofs
Until the plan leaves the hand
Burns the site down to the ground
Through the ground
Craters are carving and wounds are left to weep
Sink to the table filtering through the years
Closing behind the nightmarish fears that run deep
Down in green valleys wait for the call to come
When it's all over and the empty quarter
Returns to the emptiness again
5000 miles over airplane graveyards
Landmass oceans wide. Over continents
A sonic wind honing in on a tune no one can hear
Perfect pitch, simple glitch, promises
Over the skies - in disguise
Change in direction
A sonic wind is blowing
And the fire it is burning
Down in green valleys where birds never fly nor roam
Over airplane graveyards, wait for the call to come
And the sonic wind is whistling
Service & repair
On the outskirts of expansion
Looking out from blueprint peak
The flow is flooding of urban setters
Panning through rivers running dry
Numbers roll on in
Smiling a lottery grin
A sadness blurs the eye
It's just a matter of time before they're moving on
It's just a matter of time before they're moving on
Doesn't take much time for plans to go wrong
And chase another ghost of a chance
In the shadows of chain-store ghost towns
Where no one walks the streets at night
A silent nation hooked on medication
Stares into a blue flickering light
The young drift off alone
And the old are whisked away
And prospects keep looking up
But the line's getting longer on the lost highway
The line's getting longer on the superstition highway
Doesn't take much time for plans to go astray
And chase another ghost of a chance
They say deep down inside, lie properties of a healing kind
If so it'd better come around soon
And do a little bit of service and repair
Do a little bit of service and repair
Do a little more service and repair
Doesn't take much time for plans to change
And offer up another chance
For a little bit more service and repair
Do a little bit of service and repair
Doesn't take much time for plans to change
And offer up another chance
At sewing the dream better suited for both soul and soil
Drenched
Riding through nostalgia, shaking memories by the mile
The city lights are closing in on him
The distance grows shorter for a while
He wonders what dreams fill her heart
And wonders if what they had could ever be sparked
"the roads never lead where they're supposed to go"
That's what he tells himself before he lets it go
Out on the cold grey plain, sunken on the side of the road
The words bleed off the page, the letter becomes well-soaked
"no more turning backwards," he says, as he drives off in the rain
Ventures on up through the colorades and settles under the rock
And pines, and stakes claim
Still he wonders what what dreams fill her heart
And wonders if what they had could ever be sparked
The roads never lead where they're supposed to go
They just twist 'round and 'round the flame
The eyes closing, the heart retains
A bit of a spark before it fades away
That's where he gets lost and drifts off alone
And what he tells himself... "better let it go"
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep you little baby
When you wake, you shall have cake
And all the pretty little horses
Blacks and bays, dapple and greys
All the pretty little horses
Hmm, and mama loves, daddy loves
Oh they love their little baby
When you wake, you shall have cake
And all the pretty little horses
Blacks and bays, dapple and greys
All the pretty little horses
Blacks and bays, dapple and greys
Coach and six white horses
Way down yonder, down in the meadow
Lies a poor little child
The bees and the flies are pickin' out its eyes
The poor little child crying for its mother
Oh, crying for its mother
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry
Go to sleep you little baby
When you wake, you shall have cake
And all the pretty little horses
Blacks and bays, dapple and greys
Coach and six white horses
Blacks and bays, dapple and greys
All the pretty little horses
Blacks and bays, dapple and greys
All the pretty little horses
Lawrence Clark Powell :
[something] attracts immigrants in hard times
The southwest is suffering rapid change
Coal-burning plants multiply and the Four Corners grow dingy
The Grand Canyon is overrun by motorized rafters and transistorites
Our lust for energy dams the rivers
Missile sites, bombing ranges nuclear testing, and mock desert warfare all
disturb Lummis' classic southwest.
When blowing dust annoys the urbanites, their reaction is to blacktop the
desert.
*** Thanx a lot to Greg (a.k.a. spacebrother) from Calexico forum
for this one ***
( Nick Drake )
Who has dressed you in strange clothes of sand
Who has taken you far from my land
Who has said that my sayings were wrong
And who will say that i stayed much too long?
Clothes of sand have covered yor face
Given you meaning but taken my place
So make your way on down to the sea
Something has taken you so far from me
Does it now seem worth all the colour of skies
To see the earth through painted eyes
To look through panes of shaded glass
See the stains of winter's grass
Can you now return to from where you came
Try to burn your changing name
Or with silver spoons and coloured light
Will you worship moons in winter's night
Clothes of sand have covered your face
Given you meaning but taken my place
So make your way on down to the sea
Something has taken you so far from me
You say you're leaving
Going back home
Where's your family
Where do you come from
Something's missing in your life
You've felt it all along
Retrace your steps
Balance and check
Where it all went wrong
The spirit is broken
The path is overrun
You can't move forward
And now nothing gets done
I hope you find some
In a peace along the way
Whatever it takes I pray you'll make it
Home on christmas day
In case you don't find what you need
When you finally arrive
And your heart is snowed in
There's no warmth or light
Take this candle with you
And this book of matches as well
As you're climbing the walls
There's no answer at all
Except the gift you give yourself
I trust that you'll find some
In a peace through times that are rough
What would it take to hear you say
The gift you give is love
The gift you live in enough
Down the crooked road a ways
A child's shadow hiding in the briar
Tending to a twisted heart that's bent and broken
Wounded and abandoned left amongst the rotted root to rot
Moon, crimson moon
Rose marie's walking down the crooked road a ways
All aglow, her fair white skin
Portrait of beauty, angel to many
Hears the hush crying from the briar
Reaches in her hand to see what's the matter
And is dragged through the darkness
Beneath the lonely cypress
The town's beloved daughter
Carried to her death in the turbid waters
And set afloat downstream
Whole town erupts, bursts into flame
Parties go a-searching down the crooked road a ways
Find old rufus there drunk and asleep
Fishing by the water must have killed our beloved daughter
Can't hold back these waves of anger
Tie a rope around his neck
See if he still hollers
Another innocent soul hangs over the briar
Marco's shadow falls on the door
To the seven lost cities of gold
Finds a raven's head and rattler's tail
Dead in his tracks, this godforsaken soul's
Unwanted here and his ghost lingers for years
Amalia's face hides behind the mask
Sweating on the tv factory line
That smile on her face is starting to crack
While welding back the pieces of shattered heart
That's scattered out here, with the ghosts of her peers
Searched for her lost love along the river of tears
The river of tears
The end of the working week
When drunken worlds meet
Both sides keeping a close eye
For a break in the line here
On the crystal frontier
The crystal frontier
The ground is shaking it's starting to crack
Can't find the pieces of shattered heart
That's scattered out here
With the ghosts that never disappear
Searched for the lost child along the river of tears
The river of tears
Blood spills out on the streets
And bodies are missing for weeks
Both sides keeping a close eye
Watching the bullets fly here
On the crystal frontier
The crystal frontier
Ramón tightens up his leather belt
And slips through a hole in the fence
He can get you anything you want
Might cost you a life, might cost you
The whole price of freedom here
On the crystal frontier
*** Thanx a lot to Randy who corrected this one ***
Washed my face in the rivers of empire
Made my bed from a cardboard crate
Down in the city of quartz
No news, no new regrets
Tossed a Susan B. over my shoulder
And prayed it would rain and rain
Submerge the whole western states
Call it a last fair deal
With an american seal
And corporate hand shake
Take the story of carpenter mike
Dropped his tools and his keys and left
And headed out as far as he could
Past the cities and gated neighborhoods
He slept ‘neath the stars
Wrote down what he dreamt
And he built a machine
For no one to see
Then took flight, first light
Of new morning
Quattro (world
drifts in)
Love the run but not the race
All alone in a silent way
World drifts in and the world’s a stranger
In a light, eclipsed and alienated
In a time, occupied and invaded
Can’t tell what’s right, better hit the ground running
In the hills where the tall weed grows
Hands are tied and won’t let go
Can’t escape this place without leaving the world behind
In a light, ashamed and humiliated
In a time, sacrificed for the sake of trade
The soul is bent, feels the weight of truth
Falling through
Left behind, no choice but to run to the mountains
Where no poppies grow, you have to hit the ground running
In a light, paralyzed and spirits fading
Out of time, must decide to fall or run
Into the eye, of the storm no sign or omen
Make it right, or fall to the other side
Where fields are burning
From the day you’re born
You’ll always hit the ground running
Black heart
Spring is frozen now i’m stuck in low
Wrapped with wire, tapped to the heart
Can’t find no poison, now i’ve got no cure
(the) fangs are stuck inside my skin
Payne county line
Watching unjust claims
One man’s righteousness is another man’s
Long haul, sentence carried out
Long haul, counting the miles
To the four corners of the world
Spring is rusted shut, (faith’s) coiled and cracked
Apparitions worth their weight in gold
Scratched in metal, name erodes away
Hands are scarred, heart is charred
Burnt though, and ashen
Trip on fence post line
Sifting through the remains
One man’s close pursuit is another man’s
Last chance, make it through the divide
Last chance, suffer the weight or get buried by this
Black heart, sweeping over the land
Black heart, crawling its way
To the four corners of the world
Not even stevie
nicks
With a head like a vulture
And heart full of hornets
He drives off the cliff
And into the blue
Not even the priestess
With her wrenches and
Secret powers
Could save (steer) him
From danger for a little while
Not even she could save him
Woven birds
The plaza in the village
Where mission bells used to ring
Is now crumbled to a pile of stench and ruin
Even the swallows have spring
All the blossoms are burried
‘neath the waste
Out of the shadows grow hatred
Along the corrider crawls fear
Crushed by the promise of hope
That never returned
Watched with a hawk’s trained eye
Trees grow silent fruit
‘Neath a suffering sky
Those who have stayed, keep a flame
In memory of the fallen
And pass on the old rites despite the risk
But many more have left here
On mended broken wings
Turning to see your reaction
A tear drop fills your eye
But you protest not to give up as give in
Heading straight for the wreckage
Picking up a shovel and a hoe
Start putting back the bricks one by one
Numbers come out of the woodwork
Corious to see the rebirth
Above the swollen clouds
A strange sound fills the air
A silence never heard
Falling like blessed rain
And the swallows return
As the mission bells ring
Across the wire
Alberto hits his brother on the
Back of the head, looks to the north
As he starts to get up
His brothers still sleepy
Grumbles “it’s not light yet,”
“if you want a new life, what’s
A few minutes wait?”
Darkness on the road and over the land
Into the laws and out of the hands
From those with so much
And no show of heart
You’d think it’d be crazy
To ask for a small part
Spotted an eagle in the middle of a lake
Resting on cactus, feasting on snakes
But the waters recede as the
Dump closes in, revealing a whole lake
Of sleeping children
Poison in the stream that flows to the sea
Out on the waves that crash within reach
Of those with so much
And so little to fear
You’d think it’d be crazy
To be so far away yet so near
Some say a new day will shine here
Over these catastrophes and horrors
Of misfortune, all across the wire
Alberto y hermano on the coyote’s trail
And dodging the shadows of the border patrol
Out in the wastelands wandering for days
The future looks bleak with
No sign of change
Darkness in the eye and down
In the soul
All across the wire to those in control
Holding so much
With no show of heart
You think it’d be crazy
To watch it all fall apart
Watch it all fall apart
Güero canelo
Jump, scrape, break the switches
Coast low wit da bitches
Funky pop, drop 'n hop
Here come the cops
Güero canelo
Gangs, guns, knives, thugs
Chumps, chops, chill, chug
Drink malt, smoke mota
I like you mucho
Dame un beso
Soma, valium, oxycontin
Reds, whites, speed, vicodin
T's, b's, thorazine
Screamers, pleasers
Güero canelo
Freak, tweek, week 2 week
Kneel, feel, seek the geek
Pump da bass in yo' face
Contrabasso
How low can you go?
Belladonna, mescaline
Psylocibin, peyote
Mda and dnt spells ecstasy
Güero canelo
Coil spring, bounce, crank
Pumps, shocks, struts, tanks
Psychoactive electroplade
It's necesito
Dame un beso
Impala, caddy
El dorado, comet
Galaxy, el camino
Chevelle, caprice
Monte carlo
So low six fo'
How low can you go?
Tweezer, teaser, tiger weezer
Rusty, crusty, skuzzy skeezer
Chuy, chata, cholo, chico
Flaco, chucho
Only at pueblo
Molé y güero canelo
Güero canelo
Güero canelo
No doze
Ball of flame, it's all i saw
It pulled us in
Spirit search, no angels dear
Will find us here
Corona
( The minutemen Covers / European limited edition )
The people will survive
In their environment
The dirt, scarcity, and emptiness
Of our south
The injustices of our greed
The practices we merit
The dirt, scarcity and emptiness
Of our south
There on the beach
I could see it in her eyes
I only had a corona
Five cents deposit
Si tu disais
( Françoiz Breut Cover / European limited edition )
Si tu disais
One, two
Si tu disais
Si tu disais
Si tu disais...
If you said let's go
If you said i'm sick of this place
I would listen to you
I wouldn't hesitate
And whether it's for a town
A godforsaken place
It wouldn't bother me
I'd be ready as if
I was waiting
If you said up to now
We've gotten by with the blues
I would agree
I would answer that it's true
Every wall, every crack
I am sick and tired of this place
If you said only this
I'd be ready as if
I was waiting
If you said let's go
If you said it was time
I would listen to you
I've been ready for a while
But you never say
You never decide
Never think of what we could do
I don't know why you're still here
Falling rain
( Link wray Cover / European limited edition )
I hear a sound
It’s going through my brain
I hear talk of people
I feel the fallin’ rain
I see a man crying
‘Cause the whole world has left him
Kids are laughing at the funny faces
Of a clown
My mind is like a spring in a clock
It won’t unwind
I can’t see, can’t think, can’t feel
I’m out of time
I’m up, then i’m down now
Tell me where is it going to end
You say start at the beginning
Of the end, my friend
I hear thunder
And i can feel the wind
I can see angry faces
In the eyes of men
And don’t forget kid’s stake
Where kids lay bleeding on the ground
And there’s no place on this planet
Where peace can be found
So there’ll be stabbings and shootings
And young men dying all around
And it keeps going through my brain
And i can still hear the sound
I hear talking of people
The whole world has gone insane
And all there is left is the fallin’ rain
And all there is left is the fallin’ rain
Recalling regatta
Late night streets all alone
No one's here, no one's here
Watch the faces come and go
Always spinning around
Drifting further away
She is young, dressed in white
Like a cloud, spins in the sky
Not sure if it'll sun or rain
Always spinning around
Drifting further away
Not sure if she will run or stay
Or follow the holes leading underground
Watching from across the road, she's older now
Than her picture (poster) shows
Some stay lost, some get found
Others drift from town to town
Always spinning around
Drifting further away
Always hear the lonesome cry frail away
Far off in the cold and distant night
The book and the canal
Half a smidge
When the evening sun is setting low
Blinding you on your drive home
And the lanes of traffic all converge
Causing you to curse every other word
For to wish it all away
Daily grind's got your screw stripped
No can of wd40 can fix your situation
Seems to be losing steam
Dream's been dropped on credit cards
And false hope pumping out of your soul
Like oil in the gulf it's a dead end
Drive it further deep into the ground
Till the point's dull as your skull
And the same sun that you curse
Powers your hybrid heart home
If only this car would move half a smidge
Grip-tape
Wait to rise long after dark
Been asleep at least three solid days
Wandering round this house just like a ghost
Searching for something in this life
That would fill the holes and satisfy
Your need to please everybody else
While your nerves shatter and fall apart
Wear out the grip-tape wrapped round your heart
Now you're dressed and ready for the kill
Check if your friends are asleep in bed
Same ones who left you to yourself
Make some noise and take a walk outside
All those years you kept the pain inside
Strangled any chance to love your own
And veer from your collision course
But you'd rather go out in a ball of flame
Grip-tape your name
Near the woodpile
Before the rain
Where he last saw the snake
With teeth clenched
Soured heart
Lover's changed hands
An axe within reach
And a distant stare that weaves
Through the grass and waits
For a stranger's one mistake
Painted over
(live at solar culture)
It's a simple mistake
When you've painted over your painting
And it needs no more speaking
Dying of thirst
Could i still be alive or worse
Where was i last
Parked on the street when a shadow was cast
Taking me out, when a struggle ensued
What was that hole in my shirt
And the blood that spilled to the floor
Like a dead man's
The focus is blurred
And the voice off camera is heard
And the lighting's to blame
Tell the assistant director the same
Pulling away to a final dissolve
Soundtrack provides a lush bed of strings
Before the screen fades to black
And the credits rise above
Like the soul of a dead man
Wandering on
Like a dead man
Wandering on
Right outta port angeles like a bullet with no pain
Driving north on the harbor freeway
Up and over st thomas vincent bridge
Making stops as you go, everyone you used to know
Flashing your fury, gonna lay your enemies to waste
Never hear them when they come
Hear them when they come
Drop 'em to the floor, settle every score as you roll on
Out of the southbay, into the san bernadinos
Down into the valley drivin' to meet your connection
Driving with the bass
Never heard you when you come
When you come
Heavy with the bass
Never heard you
Drop 'em to the floor blood pumping thru your vein
Riding off with the score
Driving 'neath the stars, you pull over to the side
A voice trickles from your heart
Now the bleeding won't stop
Now the bleeding won't stop
Drivin' you insane
Heavy with the bass
Only a bullet could stop your pain
Never heard you when you come
Never heard you when you come
(live at kxci)
Come on back here into the kitchen
You gotta see this one
You gotta see it close
They told you be careful
Don't trust no one but yourself
Be careful
In the kitchen with one bare light bulb
The floor manager is your best of friends
And out late when the drinking crowd weighs in
Way up late reading your book "kiss and tell"
Kiss and tell, don't trust no one but yourself
Kiss and tell, trust no one
You're under your spell
You can't trust yourself
You're under your spell
Under your spell
Through plumes of smoke
A few houses a blaze
Your eyes scan over the water
Where the city's outline is faded and erased
Cries in the night
After the storm
Arms entangled in wave and wire
Frozen below in the darkness
Days float
Buildings sway
Tensions rise with the waters
As the sense of your fears worsen
What's at stake
Once the levee breaks
No one could imagine not returning
Nor the shots that echo and ringing
No second line
Will lay you down
The delta moon weeps and weeps
As the tide folds it little babies to sleep
'Neath the darkness
Sleep now sleep
Sleep now sleep
Cruel, cruel grounds
Leak truths never found
Torturous ways
Whisper from the grave
A slow spun song of distortion
Bitter, bitter mouth
Spitin' out seeds of doubt
Rituals seek root
Razed before they're told
Stories break like branches in the cold
Seasons trial finds man's mistakes fair game
Careless hand
Lay and law of the land
Falls by the side
Silenced sentient cries
All within the lines of divine right
Better bury the tracks in an unclosed case
Weeds of discontent choke a broken ghost landscape
Cruel, heartless reign
Chasing short term gains
Right down to the warning signs
Birds refuse to fly
No longer trust the sky
Drifting out beyond the signals
Even the horizon is gone
Weather flees underground
Future's left to wallow in fortune's waste
Yours and mine
Getting late for decision
What's that waiting about
Horses are chomping at the bit
The gate is nearly busted down
Moment before the calm of the storm
And everyone's blood goes wild
Except yours and mine
How many years has it taken
Your restless heart growing old
Horses running off on their own
And the stable's burnt to the ground
The longer you wait
Your decision will fade
And wind up wasting this time
Yours and mine
Bisbee blue
When you can't find the hours
Days keep on slipping thru
Avenues under construction
Blocking out your sky blues
Burried beneath the letters
Bills and the junk in the mail
Finding the strain to your heart
From the troubles down the trail
No sign of your old haunts here
Gone with the copper crews
Veins mined in vein remind you
Choices we choose to lose
New cities keep on sprawling
Old towns falling too
Raining a river of color
And it's flowing bisbee blue
Straight to you bisbee blue
Some say this way's the only one that's true
Bring me back bisbee blue
Bring me back
Oh these days, seem dark
Darkest i've seen
Darling you send me thru the hours
Days keep on sifting thru
Chipping away to remember
Days with you bisbee blue
Shining like bisbee blue
Bring me back bisbee blue
Panic open string
Panic open string, power grids blackout
Birds all fly in numbers down to the ground
Reassure the blades of green, green grass
Season's still asleep more or less
Wind is gearing up for a reckless ride
Leaning accidental on nature's side
Propeller power fields, solar panel sides
Lightning bolts connect, it's with you i will go
I close my eyes and the seasons pass
Above the cityscape, the city out of reach
Way beyond our lives, up into the sky, far below the green
My dreams are all blue, so is my heart
Light up screens of you, if you could only see
Time's dreams escape, late into the night
When the stars align reminds me of you
Words will lose their fear
And i will find their truth
Church bells in the hills they will ring and ring
Ocean's to the coast will cling to their host
The sun will split in two , sink thru an empty sky
It's where we'll go when we
Leave this place and die
Letter to Bowie
knife
Everyday on my way home
The clouds would break and the angels
Would sing their refrain
This world's an ungodly place
Strangled by vines unchaste
So with my shining blade of steel
I would cut a path wide
Dipped in the ink of the fight
Written clean through the night
Mark my words upon the front page
To set my world straight
It's too late, it's too late
It's too late, it's too late
Just like i found it, my world is split
Right down the spine
Years bled dry now ripe for a reckoning
My blade's back slash beckoning
Slice my wounds and i make the sign one more time
Come on. Come on. Come home. Come home
Yeah it's too late, it's too late
It's too late, to refrain...refrain...refrain...
Did those angels ever sing?
Sliced my world in two
Roka (danza de la
muerte)
Sleeping in the valley, valley of ill fortune
Waking cross the river, river of delusion
Full moon lures the waves, waves of desperation
Empty hearts and mouths wither away
So close your eyes
Slow your breath
Dream of northern lights
Around this dance of death
No abandones, no llores, busca tu rio
No te sientas perdido
Gira, vuelta y vuelta gira
Danza de la muerte
Que viene a verte
Bailala
Cup your hands to her parched heart, parched and
Broken heart
No water here to drink way downstream
One goes where the water flows and water's running dry
So don't give up no don't cry, don't cry
Just close our eyes
Pretend we forget
North country dreams
Twist this dance of death
Danza de la muerte
Si viene a verte
Que bailando te encuentre
Bailando, girando
Danza de la muerte
Spin round, spin round, spin round
Vuelta, vuelta, muerte
Bailala
Lucky dime
Found a dime in the metro line
Funny to see a familiar face
Since you left us long ago
There's never been a trace of luck to guide me
Hoping to see a sign
Or a lucky dime
Searching as i go
Hoping to see a sign
Or a lucky'
Someone told you long ago
All you ever needed to know
No matter how far you drift alone
I'll always be here around'
Hoping to see a sign
Or a lucky dime
Smash
Is there anyway i can fix it
Take out my tools maybe smash with it
Let me destroy the parts that annoy
Swallow the words i'm saving
Fumble the chords i'm playing
Better just break it apart
Then where should they go
But you know i'm just following suit
It's something i aim not to do
Can't mock up a model me and you
Is someone out there
I can trust
With the words that never seem to fit
No sense looking backwards
Shattered every mirror in my eye
Scattering the scrapbook
Blueprints on the floor
Always thought things would snap into place
With a little more ease and grace
Still a ship sealed in a bottle
Never reaches the sea
And i stash all of the reasons
Dash them against the wall
And i smash your heart into tiny little pieces
And every time this happens
It gets harder and harder to build back again
Deep down
When numbers matter more than the heart
Your eyes are hollow and stiffness starts to take control
Capsize the soul, deep down you know it's evil
You've always known
Be a good example show your new tricks
And while you're out there they'll make the pitch
To rally the troops and make a huge contribution
To help push this through
Deep down you know it's evil
You've always known it's evil
The days here are numbered but your record is clean
Outstretched and waiting on banks that seem
To flow and flow, a rich reward to show
Duty carried out in the field
Deep down you know it's evil
You've always known it's evil
You've always known
Nom de plume
|
Le corbeau s'approche |
The raven flies Down to the writer's desk landing on his shoulder Pecking at his neck Veins popping out Spilling on the page Makes a little note Falls to sleep. November's coat With black lapels Dressed in a snow white shirt ready for the grave Prepares to flee, from the city's gates Tear down the walls ripping up the streets Spearheaded horns stick into the hearts Of the ticker tape market trades Watch them all crash While the children flee from the suburb streets The cars veer off the road, swallowed by the sea And the winter's peril, the photographers, The open dusty barrels Gun powder and white lightning Choking on the fumes, buried 'neath the watse Receipts from the factories torn up in haste Used as breadcrumbs to lead them away Out thru the tunnels while the city crumbles and breaks The raven grows weary The raven grows in numbers Sky darkens with each kill Corn fields burn, break on the farmers' heads For the high country For the high country Hide in some hills Deep dark caves Return to the caverns Rebar skeletons Spell twisted, cryptic words In the high country |
Felt a tremor stir beneath my breath
That forecasts storms on the gallup poll
Waking up from the nightmare news
Hoping to read a sign in the morning air
Nothing changes here and nothing improves
All say my friends who just want out
And leave these troubles behind
Scatter like paper in the eye of the storm
Documented with a silenced note
That's only heard from far away
More cards in play, following suit
Everywhere you look, you only see red
Wonder when to call off the race
Watching a horse running down its last legs
When you think it couldn't get much worse
The numbers rise on the death toll
And the chimes of freedom flash and fade
Only heard from far, far away
I hear you can't trust in your own
Now the grey is broken in the early morn
And the words forming barely have a voice
It's just your heart that's breaking without choice
Everything you hear is distorted in your head
Bouncing off the walls, unraveling the thread
Staying up with the blue screen glow
Forgetting everything you ever dreamed years ago
When the dread is flowing down my veins
I want to tear it all down and build it up again
Hear your heart that's breaking without choice
I want to hear those chimes ring again
Ring again
( Bryan maclean / From alone again )
Yeah, said it's all right
I won't forget
All the times i've waited patiently for you
And you'll do just what you choose to do
And i will be alone again tonight my dear
Yeah, i heard a funny thing
Somebody said to me
You know that i could be in love with almost everyone
I think that people are
The greatest fun
And i will be alone again tonight my dear
( Kris Kristofferson Cover / From nothing left to lose - a tribute to kris kristofferson )
Casey joins the hollow sound
Of silent people walking down
The stairway to the subway
In the shadows down below
Following their footsteps
Through the neon-darkened corridor
Silent desperation
Never speaking to a soul
The poison air he is breathing
Has the dirty smell of dye
Cause it's never seen the sunshine
And it's never felt the rain
But casey minds the arrows
And ignores the fatal echoes
Of the clickin' of the turnstiles
And the rattle of his chains
Oh, she said,
Casey, it's been so long
Since i seen you
Here, she said
Just a kiss to make a body smile
See, she said
I put on new stockings just to please you
Lord, she said
Casey can you only stay a while?
Casey leaves the underground
And stops inside the golden crown
For something wet to wipe away
The chill that's on his bone
Seeing his reflection
In the lives of all the lonely men
Who reach for anything they can
To keep from going home
Standing in the corner
Casey drinks his pint of bitter
Never glancing in the mirror
At the people passing by
And he stumbles as he's leaving
And he wonders if the reason
Is the beer that's in his belly
Or the tear that's in his eye
Oh, she said
I suppose you seldom think about me
Now, she said
Now that you've a family of your own
Still, she said
It's so blessed good to feel your body
Lord, she said
Casey, it's a shame to be alone
( Mark eitzel / From Come on beautiful - the songs of american music club )
All the sweet mouth really wanted
Just fell from her grip
The worst hell you can drag your soul through
Is trying to make all the lies stick
You might as well not make an effort
Lots of bills lying around unpaid
Still i guess some things seem better than
Lying in a bed an old child made
She's got her walkman on
She's got chanel number five
Look at her walk
She's holding her head upright
Wants to show she's got some pride
To the headlights
All over town people looking for
Their little piece of goodnight
Maybe it's finally time
To turn away from the light
All her sweet mouth really wanted
Was lost in her smile
And her soul just lost the taste that makes
Any good lie worthwhile
I know i never asked you to read their minds
So why did you have to go ahead and do it anyway
You think maybe someday if you're good
They'll let you disappear from the scene
But nothing can hide a beating
She's got her walkman on
She's got chanel number five
Look at her walk
She's holding her head upright
Wants to show she's got some pride
To the headlights
Doesn't she look good
High atop radio towers
Sky darkens in the final hours
Marie, wrings her praying hands
Don’t see why the spirit won’t understand
While lines are crossed
Hope’s broken at the knees
And at a loss
The world’s made of dust
And dust it will return
Sniper surveys the scene
Angel chorus won’t intervene
Takes her child to the river’s edge
And let’s her-go to the depths
Where dark waters flow
A singing tide
Pulls her to the edge and hypnotize
Samn any fool willing to believe
There’s no hand behind any of this
What’s it gonna take, force the cycle to break
And skut it down before it makes another round
Sworn in on an oath the lies
Swat away a halo of flies
Fast track vision deceives
The storm on the horizon
Close behind
Convict pool
In the land of salvation
Is where you find this masterpiece
Of a right-wing kidney punch
Escape convict pool
Escape
Executions are nearly flawless
So riding forever
In the deep
Or taking it into the shallow
Is not a problem
Escape convict pool
Escape
Convict pool
Escape
Check the underwriter killers
For video surveillance
Of the convict pool
In the warden son's
Private collection
Escape convict pool
Escape
Social fool
We evade
I forget to mention
That the coping of this baby's like butter
So stand up and grind far
Escape convict pool
Escape
Parental fools
We evade
Tony and george
Avoid the nipple
Protusion on the wall
With a backside hurricane
Over the death box
We fall
And escape
Convict pool
Escape
Social tool
Evade
Courtroom duel
Escape
( Goldfrapp Remix / Vocal : Calexico )
Se cae desde tu boca
Accionada por tu barriga y lengua
Tiemblo cuando usted se estremece
Y me pliego en jalea
Pienso que te amé más que a mí.
¿Eres humano o no valiste?
¿Eres humano o te lo inventaste?
Mi cereza, pequeño se resbaló
Pásame através de los puntos de tus dedos.
Tírame al suelo como una basura
Estoy parado, no volteas para atrás.
¿Eres humano?, ¿eres perro?
¿Eres humano?, no lo creo
¿Eres humano, o no valiste?
¿Eres humano o te lo inventaste?
Fueron a encontrar tu cuerpo.
Fueron a buscar, pero no había nadie.
¿Quién huele como tú?
¿Quién se mira como tú?
No eres humano, tal vez.
¿Eres humano o no valiste?
¿Eres humano o te lo inventaste?
¿Eres humano o no valiste?
¿Eres humano o te lo inventaste?
*** Thanx a lot to Rosalba for this one ***
To save this sad, lonesome cry
Sorrow fills the oceans wide
Calling you close, promising love
Letting passion navigate you
Into the arms of sirena
Into the eyes of sirena
Into the heart of sirena
Dancing like ghosts, haunting the shore
The old ones warn, stay away
Her love is sweet, but sorrow too great
Dreams of leaving her curse for good
Rise from the sea as flesh and blood
Still the wind carries her voice
Fills all thoughts, sways your choice
Drawn the fear, capsize the heart
Till all passion navigates you
Into the arms of sirena
Into the eyes of sirena
Into the haert of sirena
Dancing like ghosts over the waves
Safe in the harber of her embrace
Bebe mi vino de amor
Besos de kerosina
Volvierdo el mar en infierno!
To save this sad, tragic soul
Sorrow's worse than the tide's pull
Sinking deeper, gasping for love
Till desire navigates you
Into the arms of sirena
Into the eyes of sirena
Into the heart of sirena
Dancing with ghosts under the waves
And into the arms of sirena
Into the eyes of sirena
Into the heart of sirena
Caught in the rip tide, smashed on the reef
Joining the mass of bones underneath
Falling deeper in love's illusion of sirena
Sundown, sundown
( Lee hazlewood - From total lee - the songs of lee hazlewood )
There's no one in this world for me
There's never gonna be
There's no one in this world needs me
There's never gonna be
Yet sometimes in my dreams i hear...
Sundown
I miss you, sundown
I need you, sundown
Come on, come on, come on, come on, back to me
Come on, come on, come on, come on, back to me
I need you, sundown
I need you, sundown
There's no hands ever reached for me
There's never gonna be
There's no one meant for lonely me
There's never gonna be
Yet sometimes in my dreams i hear...
Sundown
I miss you, sundown
I want you, sundown
Come on, come on, come on, come on, back to me
Come on, come on, come on, come on, back to me
I love you, sundown
I love you, sundown
Sometimes in my dreams
I love you, sundown
I love you, sundown
Sometimes in my dreams
I love you, sundown
Tulsa telephone book
( Tom t. Hall - From real - the tom t. Hall project )
Have you read any good telephone books lately?
If you ain't then let me recommend one
I've already read that tulsa telephone book thirteen times
If you don't know any last names it ain't much fun
Readin' that tulsa telephone book, can drive a guy insane
Especially if that girl you're lookin' for has no last name
I gotta find her and tell her, i don't want our love to end
So i'm readin' that tulsa telephone book again
Well, i was in tulsa and didn't have anything goin'
She lived in tulsa and didn't have anything on
She said, "my name is juanita," and i said, "my name is j.b. [t.]"
When i woke up the very next mornin' she was gone
All of the tulsa operators know my voice now
And they gotta know how long i've been alone
If you meet a girl named juanita with some ribbons in her hair
Would you tell her that she's wanted on the phone
Readin' that tulsa telephone book, can drive a guy insane
Especially if that girl you're lookin' for has no last name
I gotta find her and tell her, i don't want our love to end
So i'm readin' that tulsa telephone book again
I'm readin' that tulsa telephone book again
Gilbert
Gilbert works alone, late into the night
Dangling from a free way overpass
He's welding rebar and sculpting concrete
They're paving in the gap way out west
In off in the distance, the sleepy city shines
He raises his mask to take a look
Slip from the perch, still holding onto his torch
I see him falling just like a burning star
Out of control
And went drifting way off course
And went drifting way off course
Waking up confused in a bed of thorn
And a world turns upside down
No questions asked, no party ever searched
Like a blip gilbert slips into a void
A rustle nearby then a vision appears
Made from saguaro boots and rib
Grabs a hold of this prickly hand
And together they stand
Walk on through the ruins of a world
That lost control
And went way off course
Drifting off its course
