B i o g r a p h y (by Official press)
ThNeko Case has always been brave, but with her latest album on Anti- Records, The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You, she proves herself fearless. Neko is known as much for her restless musical curiosity as her clarion voice. This incredible album charts a powerfully personal course across the rocky landscape of childhood, love, and loss. Case’s 2009 album, “Middle Cyclone,” was her most ambitious to date, vaulting her to new heights of critical and commercial success and netting two Grammy nominations. But if Middle Cyclone—laced with frogs, tornados, and killer whales—was Case’s exploration of the potency of the natural world, the new album sees Case turning inward. “The Worse Things Get …” plunges into the wilderness of human experience, revealing Case at her most emotionally raw and yet, paradoxically, in steely control. Executive produced by Case, “The Worse Things Get …” was recorded by Tucker Martine in Portland, Oregon, as well as with Chris Schultz and Craig Schumacher in Tucson and with Phil Palazzolo in Brooklyn. Martine, Case, and Darryl Neudorf mixed the album, on which Case is supported by a battalion of musicians including guitarist Paul Rigby, bassist Tom V. Ray, longtime backing vocalist Kelly Hogan, multi-instrumentalist Jon Rauhouse, Kurt Dahle, and John Convertino. Other guests include M. Ward, Carl Newman, Steve Turner, Howe Gelb, and members of My Morning Jacket, Los Lobos, and Visqueen. This far-flung set of collaborators mirrors Case’s own peripatetic path to creative maturity. Born in Virginia in 1970 and raised, for the most part, in working-class Tacoma, Washington, she’s lived and worked in Seattle, Vancouver B.C., Chicago, and Tucson, before moving five years ago to a 100-acre farm in rural Vermont.
Now 42, Case is reluctant to talk about her family. ‘I am related to some stellar, beloved people,” she says, “but very few.” What she will say is that her parents were young and unprepared and divorced when she was five years old. She bounced around between mother and father until she left home for good at age 15. Marked by alcoholism, drug addiction, and neglect, her childhood was traumatic. “I should have been an abortion,” she said once, her characteristic bravado masking a harder truth. From art school in Vancouver to early years making music in Seattle and beyond, Case has been on a lifelong quest for self-definition. During the making of this “The Worse Things Get …” she granted herself a long-held desire, committing fully to the life she’s created: tattoos on her forearms reading “Scorned as Timber” and “Beloved of the Sky,” from an Emily Carr painting. “I wanted them for 20 years!” she crows. “No bank job for me!” With her new roots finally taking hold in Vermont—the place she says she plans to die—she says she’s now grounded enough to grab the past by the throat and let it take her for a ride. “I wanted to be in control, as much as I could be anyway,” she says. “My 40s are a lonelier place than I imagined, but I can look myself in the face and know that it was my choice. So anything that happens to me from here on out is mine. I’m at square one again.” “The Worse Things Get …”, her sixth studio album, emerges from a three-year period the artist describes as full of “grief and mourning,” in the wake of the deaths of not just both her parents, but several intimates as well. “I fought hard against the feeling of grief all my life,” she says, “but about three years ago I finally had to give in and mourn the dead. I had to look inward more than I wanted. It was sobering, and I often felt like I was blurring the lines of mental illness. “When I stopped fighting it,” she adds, “it took me where I needed to go.” “The Worse Things Get …” traces an emotional arc that reveals Case in all her thorny contradictions, each track in the 40-minute song cycle its own short story. “I like to have a linear flow,” she says of the album’s structure. “I wanted to have faith in the songs as a group rather than stacking the deck with all the upbeat songs at the top.” From the prickly power-pop aggression of “Man” to the dreamlike “Where Did I Leave That Fire?” and the hopeful uplift of the album’s closing track, “Ragtime,” she displays uncommon dynamic range and lyrical clarity, taking a leap of faith that listeners will hold on for the full journey. “I just want people to feel like I was straight with them, and messy, because I just let go and trusted them completely.” Early songs on the album show Case at her most lyrically playful, slip-sliding along the edges of gender, family, and identity. The first track, “Wild Creatures,” throws her themes into bold relief: “When you catch light, you look like your mother,” her voice soars, before asking, “Would you rather be the king’s pet? Or the king?” “I grew up in the United States in the 70s,” says Case, with feeling. “The new mantra on children’s television then was ‘you can be whatever you want.’ I take that to heart so hard it’s my religion; it’s my personal American flag and Constitution. It makes petty societal obstacles crumble and I want every person in the world to feel it. “ Or, as she proudly proclaims on the single, “Man”: “I’m a man’s man, I’ve always been. But make no mistake what I’ve invested in. A woman’s heart is the watermark by which I measure everything.” “Is a lioness not a lion?” she says rhetorically, when asked to decode the lyrics. “We are all ‘men’ – ‘man’ or ‘woman’ doesn’t cut it for me unless I’m at the gynecologist.”
Case’s rich, associative lyrics can at times be so elliptical as to be misunderstood by casual listeners. Not so with the a cappella “Nearly Midnight, Honolulu,” which marks the tonal shift of the album at midpoint with chilling clarity. Spare and direct, the lyrics repeat verbatim the words of a mother’s verbal attack on her daughter, which Case overheard one night in, yes, Honolulu. “Get the fuck away from me,” she sings in affectless, bell-like tones. “Why don’t you ever shut up?” “I died inside for that kid,” says Case-who framed the rest of the song as a message to the child to stay strong and to honor the truth of her experience. “But she just kept singing her own little song. She was my hero.” The direct address of “Honolulu” is mirrored three tracks later with Case’s take on the Nico song, “Afraid,” the sole cover on the 12-song album. That song’s incantatory quality carries the album through to the otherworldly “Where Did I Leave That Fire?” Underscored by the haunting pings of submarine sonar, what starts as a dreamscape of loss -- “I wanted so badly not to be me,” sings Case – concludes on a note of wry humor. “I do believe we have your fire lady. You can pick it up if you come down with ID.” But for all the pain and confusion that winds through the album, “The Worse Things Get …” ends on an unequivocal note of hope and power. At her darkest moments over the last few years, Case says, “I was uneasy and distractible. I couldn’t listen to music except ragtime. It was so hopeful and busy, like something working like a little factory to fix me.” Thus, “Ragtime,” the album’s final song. “I'll reveal myself when I'm ready. I'll reveal myself invincible soon,” sings Case, as she builds to its ecstatic conclusion, the richly layered chorus of vocals and horns climbing and climbing into one glorious shout from the mountaintop. “I am one and the same, I am useful and strange,” she soars, before closing with a line cribbed from Moby Dick., which she read for the first time while working on the album, and which proved a valuable yardstick “There’s a wisdom that’s woe, and a woe that is madness.” It’s Neko Case in a nut -- and could well give listeners goosebumps.
Timber Bowling Green Jettison High on Cruel Karoline Lonely Old Lies Honky Tonk Hiccups The Virginian Duchess Thanks A Lot Somebody Led Me Away Misfire
Blacklisted - 2002-08-20 -
Things That Scare Me Deep Red Bells With Bees (Outro) Lady Pilot Tightly Look For Me (I'll Be Around) Stinging Velvet Pretty Girls I Missed The Point Blacklisted I Wish I Was The Moon Runnin' Out Of Fools Ghost Wiring Outro With Bees (Reprise)
Margaret vs. Pauline Star Witness Hold On, Hold On A Widow’s Toast That Teenage Feeling Fox Confessor Brings the Flood John Saw That Number Dirty Knife Lion’s Jaws Maybe Sparrow At Last The Needle Has Landed
Alone & Forsaken Andy Be And Bring Me Home Behind The House Brown-Eyed Handsome Man Buckets of Rain Dedication Hour Dreaming Man In California Knock Loud Madonna of the Wasps Make Your Bed Nothing To Remember Poor Ellen Smith
The Virginian Timber My love was like a seed that you had planted The root was not as strong as it could be And as the years went on, you weren't enchanted So you fell it like a great big tree Now i'm falling timber Timber the falling tree.... My heart was not a thing to take for granted So loosen up your home and let me be And if I had my way you would be planted Drowning in the shade of me Now i'm calling timber... Timber the falling tree-heeee.
*** Thanx a lot to Kaitlyn who helped me with this one *** Bowling Green Way down in Bowlin' Green Prettiest girls i've ever seen A man in Kentucky sure is lucky To love down in Bowlin' Green Bowlin' Green folks treat you kind They let you think your own mind A man in Kentucky sure is lucky In Bowlin' Green you walk your own line Oh Kentucky sunshine makes the heart unfold It warms the body and I know it touches the soul Blue Grass is find, Kentucky owns my mind The fields down in Bowlin' Green Have the softest grass i've ever seen A man in Kentucky sure is lucky To lie down in Bowlin' Green, yeah Bowlin' Green girls treat you right They wear dresses cut country right A man in Kentucky sure is lucky If he's seen the Bowlin' Green light Oh Kentucky sunshine makes the heart unfold It warms the body and I know it touches the soul Blue Grass is find, Kentucky owns my mind Bowlin' Green, Bowlin' Green, Bowlin' Green... Way down in Bowlin' Green Yeah !
Jettison
I didn't let go 'cause you hurt me I didn't let go so you'd stay I did let you go 'cause I love you so much And it kills me to see us this way Love saved my life when you found me A debt I can only repay By closing the doors, now I'm savin' yours And I know that you want it this way Sandman take me much further than sleep We'll ride down that river of tears Where only the stars and the angels will weep As I jettison all of my years Long are the nights I lay cryin' Wasn't because you weren't true I hope you can finally be happy my love, 'Cause I'd give up my own life for you Sandman take me much further than sleep We'll ride down that river of tears Where only the stars and the angels will weep As I jettison all of my years Oh, I jettsion all of my years Oh, I jettison all of my years
*** Thanx a lot to Kaitlyn for this one ***
High On Cruel I shine like the sun I'm on fire right now Your tears have come too late You come back for more There's already nothing I've only one heart to break I've got all of what you're crying for now Your tears have come too late You break down the door There's already nothing I'd only one heart to take You're crawling on the floor like a fool And I'm so high on cruel You'll drown in the light And I'll burn like a star Your tears are gonna give me fuel Pray that your happy And the years they fall away Well, I've learned a lesson So don't ask me to stay...
*** Thanx a lot to Kaitlyn & Krista who helped me with this one *** Karoline Oh, the path you walk is on fire, So wild and unashamed With a passion you inspire I'm gonna keep those men at bay Cowgirl you've got that something Of what all my dreams are made So come on baby, just say the word, I wanna be your slave Yooooooo-ooooo-ooooo-oooo-ooooo..... Oh the web you weave is so tender I'm tangled by your gaze And you know I need surrender I never locked you in a cage Cowgirl i've got that loving that puts all those men to shame So come on baby, just say you will Don't lay me in my grave Yooooooo-ooooo-ooooo-oooo-ooooo..... Oh, the path you walk is on fire, So wild and unashamed With a passion you inspire I'm gonna keep those men at bay Cowgirl you've got that something Of what all my dreams are made So come on baby, just say the word, I wanna be your slave Yooooooooooooooooooooooo Oh, miss Karoline
*** Thanx a lot to Kaitlyn & Joshua who helped me with this one *** Lonely Old Lies Sittin' here lost in my senses Drownin' in old memories Brought down from on high When you said goodbye Seems all that I lived for were lies Lonely old lies Your rhetoric cries I'll never learn nothin' from you Jukebox is on It's playin' our song And the words are like lonely old lies Mind's all tied up with wild senses It's not how I thought love would be My heart from inside Has burst open wide Seems all that that have lived there were lies Lonely old lies Your rhetoric cries I'll never learn nothin' from you Jukebox is on It's playin' our song And the words are like lonely old lies Oh moon river, i'll follow you down How many sorrows have drowned In you Oh moon river, i'll follow you down How many sorrows have drowned Oh moon river, i'll follow you down How many sorrows have drowned Lonely old lies Your rhetoric cries I'll never learn nothin' from you Jukebox is on It's playin' our song And the words are like lonely old lies Lonely old lies Your rhetoric cries I'll never learn nothin' from you Jukebox is on It's playin' our song And the words are like lonely old lies Lies, lies, lies... Honky Tonk Hiccups I got the honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I got the honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go Honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I found the cure on the hardwood floor When I got home from work I was feeling pretty fine 'Til I started getting hiccups 'round suppertime Held my breath 'til I hit the floor But the hiccups kept coming Even more more more I asked my baby to stand up on a chair And when I wasn't looking She would give me a scare I drank a glass of water And I blew into a bag But the hiccups kept a-comin A nag nag nag I got the honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I got the honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go Honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I found the cure on the hardwood floor Well I was feeling low But my baby made me go Down to the honky tonk and hillbilly show An hour in the line-up And I finally made the door But the hiccups kept a-coming Even more more more First I heard the music And then I felt a beat And that's when I knew That the hiccups would retreat I headed for the dance floor I really did my best I did The Rump Jump I guess the whiskey did the rest I got the honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I got the honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go Honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I found the cure on the hardwood floor Honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I got the honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go Honky tonk hiccups Ready steady go I found the cure on the hardwood floor I found the cure on the hardwood floor The only cure is the hardwood floor (Hic!) The Virginian When I was young, I knew a girl Who wouldn't love god as a test Or gamble with her happiness And so led astray So she did turn Her father would say, 'You're only a guest of the master' But passion was her sunday best And she fell away She fell away She fell away She fell away from the side of the lord And she was free to do what she wanted With clouds of her own Na na na na When she grew up, she fell in love She thought it was all that she wanted She knew how it felt to be haunted And he ran away Picked herself up And said through her tears Don't waste anymore of your time You'll spend it all standing in line They'll turn you away She fell away She fell away She fell away from the side of the lord And she was free to do what she wanted With clouds of her own Na na na na Oh but superstition And your heart's permission 'Cause you're good enough, good enough, good enough To make it alone Then when she died She didn't ask god To take her back into his graces She'd taken on to many shapes And too many were strange And as they lay her in to the ground Her spirits, they all flew all away The sun shone so bright on that day You thought it was spring She fell away She fell away She fell away from the side of the lord And she was free to do what she wanted With clouds of her own Na na na na Duchess It’s your bicycle bells And your Rembrandt swells You’re children like And still breathing It’s your look of loss When you’re coming across Makes me feel like a thief When you’re bleeding Duchess, Duchess Light up your candles for me Duchess, Duchess Put all the love back in me It’s the Persian sea Running through your veins You shed your names With the seasons Still they all return With there last remains As they lay them before you Like breezes It’s your shimmering dress It says no It says yes It says i’ve nothing left for concealing It’s your shapeless flesh And your old girl’s grace It’s your young girl’s face That I’m breathing Duchess, Duchess Light up your candles for me Duchess, Duchess Put all the love back in me I’m lying She’s crying Thanks A Lot Thanks Thanks a lot I got a broken heart That's all i've got You made me cry Now I cried a lot I lost your love baby Thanks a lot You told our friend As I was passin' by That you're not sorry That you made me cry You said I deserve Just what I got Well if that's how you feel babe Thanks a lot Thanks Thanks a lot I got a broken heart That's all i've got You made me cry Now I cried a lot I lost your love baby Honey, thanks a lot You wanted a fool & I played the part Now all i've got is a broken heart We loved a little & laughed a lot Then you were gone Honey thanks a lot Thanks Thanks a lot... Somebody Led Me Away
You'll come in with the sun in the mornin' Like you've done so often before But you won't find me asleep on the sofa Exhausted from walkin' the floor 'Cause while you were leadin' somebody on, My heart was slippin' away 'Cause while you were leadin' somebody on, Somebody led me away And this time the note on your pillow Will go a lot more than "I'm through" For the guilt I'm feeling this time over leaving Is that it's so easy to do 'Cause while you were leadin' somebody on, My heart was slippin' away 'Cause while you were leadin' somebody on, Somebody led me away
Misfire Don't you misfire to fill me up With the desire to carry on. Don't you know honey that love's a game. It's always hit or miss, so take your aim. Gotta hold on tight, Shoot me out of sight. Don't you misfire to fill me up With the desire to carry on Your gun is loaded and pointed my way There's only one bullet so don't delay Gotta time it right Fire me through the night Come on, take your shot Fire me higher Dont you miss this time Please don't misfire.
Furnace Room Lullaby Set Out Running Want to get it all behind me You know everything reminds me I can't be myself without you Want to crawl down deep inside The springs inside the mattress Where l cry my dirty secrets 'Cause I just can't shake this feeling That I'm nothing in your eyes And if I knew heartbreak was coming I would've set out running Past the city houses And the ditches on the highway Read between the seasons Under bridges and the valley Til the winds out on the prairie Whip the tears from my eyes Want to get it all behind me You know that everything reminds me I can't be myself without you Want to crawl down deep inside The springs inside the mattress Where I cry my dirty secrets 'Cause I just can't shake this feeling That I'm nothing in your eyes And if I knew heartbreak was coming I would've set out running Across the muddy river And the smokestacks on the bank Swallow their horizon Hunger beyond hunger Til the cloudy blue Pacific Took the air in my lungs And if I knew heartbreak was coming I would've set out running 'Cause I just can't shake this feeling That I'm nothing in your eyes
*** Thanx a lot to Krista for this one *** Guided By Wire The voices that did comfort me Are furthest from my sanity And come from places I have never seen Even in my darkest recollection There was someone singin' my life back to me In life you learn from someone else That you can only trust yourself Sometimes that is still too much to want Morality won't get you through the mazes You can never travel by the way you've come I could never choose the ones to love And the one who took the credit left me reelin' But I owe much to the nameless and all those surrogates Fot those who were singin' my life back to me Life is not a constant thing It's only made of short stories I couldn't even tell you where I'm from Guided by the voices I've perfected Guided by electric wires' hum I could never choose the ones to love And the ones who took the credit left me reelin' But I owe much to the nameless and all those surrogates Those who were singin' my life back to me Well I see you in the future, skippin' time While the eyes of all the faithful rest in peace And tonight I see the highway like a cheetah underfoot And someone singin' my life back to me Someone singin' my life back to me Porchlight So far away Curse is wild upon you Hungry and gaining Porchlight burns so far away Miles away Days have gone by and i've barely gone Safe on the road that speeds from your front door I can't turn around 'cause I long to be forgiven It hangs in my hair and the hems of my clothes I've poured into madness my arms could not hold I can't tell you why 'cause I long to be forgiven So far away Curse is wild upon you Hungry and gaining Porchlight burns so far away Miles away Sorry to tread on your patience, my dear My heart might be willing by this time next year I can't make you wait 'cause I long to be forgiven So far away Curse is wild upon you Hungry and gaining Porchlight burns so far away Miles away Mood To Burn Bridges So many people who live in my town They mind to my business, they've none of their own They are so happy now that I've done wrong I'm surprised they don't come up and thank me So if you have moral advice I suggest you just tuck it all away 'Cause my mood to burn bridges Is not unlike my mood to dig ditches Don't cross me on either a day, baby Don't make mistakes or be human They'll savor your every false mood And the fear that they have, dams that will break If ever confronted with truth So if you have moral advice I suggest you just tuck it all away 'Cause my mood to burn bridges Is not unlike my mood to dig ditches Don't cross me on either a day, baby From the well of their hearts springs a poison That mixed with suspicion and reckless derision And something they read on a church toilet stall Makes them think that their lives are much better than mine On a soapbox that ladders them tall So if you have moral advice I suggest you just tuck it all away I said my mood to burn bridges My mood to dig ditches Don't cross me on either a day I say those arrows may find me I hear you right behind me Don't cross me on either a day No Need To Cry Lie in bed and ignore the TV Watch the clouds sift through the ariel And you’ll be in my arms again There’s no need to cry Of all the things so bittersweet You’re the first thing I see in morning and in sleep And you’ll be in my arms again There’s no need to cry Years have been lost but can never be replaces But my thoughts are with you Tight to that interstate And you’ll be in my arms tonight There’s no need to cry There’s no need to cry There’s no need to cry Twist The Knife Tenderly, tenderly Please take my breath from me Into the fountains And up from the graves Tearfully, joyfully Burn what is left of me I don’t want these burdens That handsomely weigh You be my guest And I’ll let you stay Leave me the check I’ll pay with the rest of my life Twist the knife Carefully, quietly You took what's young from me I didn't deserve it I gave it away Cowardly, thoughtlessly You walk away from me And I'll tear my heart out to save you the day You be my guest And I’ll let you stay Leave me the check I’ll pay with the rest of my life Twist the knife Tenderly, tenderly Please take my breath from me Into the fountains And up from the graves Thrice All American I want to tell you about my hometown It's a dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound Well the factories churn and the timber's all cut down And life goes by slow in Tacoma People they laugh when they hear you're from my town They say it's a sour and used up old place I've defended its honor, shrugged off the putdowns You know that you're poor from Tacoma The Buildings are empty like ghettos of ghost towns It gives me a chill to think what was inside I can't seem to fathom the dark of my history I invented my own in Tacoma There was nothing to put me in love with the good life I'm in league with the the gangs and the guns and the crime There was no hollow promise that life would reward you There was nowhere to hide in Tacoma The people who built it they loved it like I do There was hope in the train yard and something inspired It once was ionic, but it's been painted shut I found passion for life in Tacoma Well I don't make it home much, I sadly neglect you But that's how you like it away from the world God bless California, make way for the Wal-Mart I hope they don't find you Tacoma We've Never Met Oh my darling, oh my darling How can you forget All the love we had between us Now it's like we'd never met Oh it kills me, how it kills me When I think how I held you up You were golden, I was blind With your poison in my blood Bittersweet are the memories That make young lovers pine But I'd trade all the memories Just to have your heart in mine Everybody's talking to me But they just can't explain You disappeared from all the pages Now nothing seems the same There was a time I thought I knew you When I looked you in the eye Now the same eyes look right through me You're too cool to see me cry Bittersweet are the memories That make young lovers pine But I'd trade all the memories Just to have your heart in mine Oh my darling, oh my darling How can you forget All the love we had between us Now it's like we'd never met You were golden and I was blind Now it's like we'd never met
*** Thanx a lot to Krista for this one *** Whip The Blankets Well it's hot in the yard And it's cool in the bed And I whip the blankets into cotton thread And i'll tear all the carpet up over my head 'Til my feet can go right through the basement Well you play so surprised at what you have found But I heard you coming from way across town So let's get to getting, I'm burning it down I've a fire and it's spreading like madness 'Cause I'm steeped in this pleasure And I've snapped from my tether The foundation may vibrate apart And you lead me again to the back of the line And we'll work our way slow to the start Well the dishes are broken and the kitchen's a mess I'm trapped in the door Why don't you make me confess 'Cause it's base and delicious To just keep you guessing What ether it is that ignites me 'Cause I'm steeped in this pleasure And I've snapped from my tether The foundation may vibrate apart And you lead me again to the back of the line And we'll work our way slow to the start Yes we'll work our way slow to the start 'Cause I'm steeped in this pleasure And I've snapped from my tether The foundation may vibrate apart And you lead me again to the back of the line And we'll work our way slow to the start Well instinct is dirty and morality's clean And we're bound for damnation say those magazines Well to hell with the sorrow and watered-down scenes We'll burn us a bridge straight to heaven 'Cause I'm steeped in this pleasure And I've snapped from my tether The foundation may vibrate apart And you lead me again to the back of the line And we'll work our way slow to the start Yes we'll work our way slow to the start Yes we'll work our way slow to the start South Tacoma Way I put on that sweater you gave me I woke up in the kitchen a few minutes later I didn't know how I had gotten there Did you guide me I didn't make it to your funeral I didn't want ritual nor resign I just wanted to hold hands with J.P and Mary-Jo But I couldn't conjure tears We're too good for stupid angels Blackness held its breath beside me And burned the air till it was gone Till it was gone Till it was gone Couldn't pay my respects to a dead man Your life was much more to me And I chased away with sticks and stones But that rage kept following me Following me Following me So lost I would sleep in the palms of your hand In dreams we were happy and safe I can't comprehend the ways that I miss you They come to light in my mistakes In my mistakes In my mistakes Now I'm driving down Tacoma way And the world turns in slow motion It's the twilight of our old home And I'm still in love with you Oh here on South Tacoma way We've memories for matinees And the tears come warm and heavy And the cross streets bear your name Oh the cross streets bear your name
*** Thanx a lot to Henry who corrected this one ***
Bought And Sold Lost love You're the one that lies in my arms You're the one that stole all my charms I let you in Misery You took everything young from me Burn it down right in front of me My blood runs cold Nobody said that love was gonna be kind But they did say that it was immeasurable as it was divine Lost love You're the one that lies in my arms You're the one that stole all of my charms I'm bought and sold Nobody said that love was gonna be kind But they did say it was immeasurable as it was divine Wish I could leave it behind Lost love Furnace Room Lullaby All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart How come, how come I twisted you over and under to take you The coals went so wild as they swallowed the rest I twisted you under and under to break you I just couldn't breathe with your throne on my chest All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart How come, how come So far under the bed Into the beams you've gone I've gone, you've gone I'm wrapped in the depths of these deeds that have made me I can't bring this sound from my head though I try I can't seem to find my way up from the basement A demon holds my place on earth 'till I die All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart How come, how come So far under the bed Into the beams you've gone I've gone, you've gone All night, all I hear, all I hear's your heart
Blacklisted Things That Scare Me Fluorescent lights engage Blackbirds frying on a wire Same birds that followed me to school when I was young Were they trying to tell me something Were they telling me to run The hammer clicks in place The world's gonna pay Right down in the face of God and his saints Who claim your soul's not for sale I'm a dying breed who still believes Hunted by American dreams Hunted by American dreams Deep Red Bells Who led you to this hiding place Whose lightning threads spun silver tongues The red bells beckon you to ride A handprint on the driver’s side It looks a lot like engine oil and tastes like being poor and small And Popsicles in summer Deep red bells Deep as I have been done Deep red bells Deep as I have been done It always has to come to this The red bells ring this tragic hour You've lost sight of the overpass But daylight won’t remember that No speckled fawns graze 'round your bones Who took the time to fold your clothes Who shook the Valley of the Shadow Deep red bells Deep as I have been done Deep red bells Deep as I have been done Where does this mean world cast its cold eye Who’s left to suffer long without you Does your soul cast about like an old paper bag Past empty lots and early graves Of those like you who've lost their way Murdered on the interstate While the red bells rang like thunder Deep red bells Deep as I have been done Deep red bells Deep as I have been done Deep red bells Deep as I have been done Outro With Bees How's hope feeling today Tired and sick of this place Red wine is fast At the lip of your glass Saying I'm going to ruin Everything Everything So it's better my sweet That we hover like bees 'Cause there's no sure footing No love, I believe Lady pilot What? Stars can't fight city lights They've turned their backs on us It's true today I saw it from the plane Aeroplanes were never built to fly Down down down down... Don't look down Don't look now Crosshairs of our shadow trace the dam I'm told that there were people trapped alive Boulder City looks like coals in the fire The cabin's purged by satellites Now we're flying blind We've got a lady pilot She's not afraid to die It's true today I saw it from the plane We've almost finished reeling in the sky Power lines once laced the heavens Pima County looks like coals in the fire...
Tightly When I'm walkin' under stars I covet all the waning hours All the lonely houses stand like monuments To thieves When I'm walkin' in the dark I'm free to covet all I want You've made it all so very dangerous I can't stay away When I'm walkin' under trees I'm free to covet all I please New moon's in the alley And its madness, calls to me Tonight, tonight, tonight... If I meet you in the night You're free to covet all you like Don't you try and stop me I cling tightly...to this life Look for me (i'll Be Around) When you tire of all the bright lights Haste that’s killing and you’re willing to stay home nights When your feet are back on the solid ground Look for me, i’ll be around When the new crowd starts to bore you Just remember there is someone to adore you When you're weary of nights out on the town Look for me, i’ll be around May not seem exciting the way those others do I’m emotion, my devotion You will need some day as I need you When the kicks go that it brings you You will hanker for an anchor just to cling to When you’ve lived it up till it’s got you down Look for me, look for me Look for me, i’ll be around Stinging Velvet Rain falls, I fix my eyes Let go the focus and I blur out all the lines Just to remember, remember Crying 'cause it's not my fault Water through my lashes looked just like Christmas lights And I still remember, remember Cold and shivering Cold and shivering Cold and shivering warm Sing please, rock me to sleep Quiet as a canyon up under heaven's eaves I surrender, surrender Downstairs the furnace swells I'm safe from all the horrors in your stinging velvet arms And I surrender, surrender Cold and shivering Cold and shivering Cold and shivering warm
Pretty Girls Pretty girls, you're too good for this How you break my heart in this cold waiting room Oh my pretty girls, you're too good for this Don't let them tell you you're nothing Don't let them break your hearts too The TV is blaring and angry As if you don't know why you're here Those who walk without sin are so hungry Don't let the wolves in, pretty girls Your hearts are so tried and so innocent Wind your flimsy blue gowns tight around you Around curves so comely and sinister They blame it on you pretty girls Oh pretty girls, you're too good for this How you break my heart in this cold waiting room Oh pretty girls, you're too good for this Don't let them tell you you're nothing Don't let them break your hearts too My girls, you're just like the heavens Not a soul to take your hand in theirs Your tears in wild constellations Proud limbs and hard folding chairs But there's millions to count you and keep you And lovers who don't understand Don't let them tell you you're nothing 'Cause you'll change the world pretty girls Come chain yourself 'round my ankle You'll see the world like a bird Diving down low, flying up high Through all of these saccharine gutters we'll ride and I Won't say that I told you so Won't say that I told you so Won't say that I told you so Won't say that I told you so I Missed The Point I have lightning If the stars dry up to guide me I have soft clay To knit my bones astride What a miracle they say Dark clouds gather Velvet holes Gaping wide oh And they pour it down And they sing to me Of wonders Unseen Like clouds that rise From the sea, oh And I'm sorry I'm so sorry That I missed the point Of this pageantry But I'm grateful That you love me
Blacklisted Fast train Where do your passengers wait What's at the heart of your engine's rage To what smooth place at the end of the line With crackling fires and quiet plains Do the trees bend down Fold their limbs round you Welcome home faithful one We forgive you Slow down fast train Slow down fast train Take me with you
I Wish I Was The Moon Chimney falls and lovers blaze I thought that I was young Now I've freezing hands and bloodless veins As numb as I've become I'm so tired I wish I was the moon tonight Last night I dreamt I'd forgotten my name 'Cause I sold my soul But I woke just the same I'm so lonely I wish I was the moon tonight God blessed me, I'm a free man With no place free to go Paralyzed and collar-tight No pills for what I feel This is crazy I wish I was the moon tonight Chimney falls and lovers blaze I thought that I was young Now I've freezing hands and bloodless veins As numb as I've become I'm so tired I wish I was the moon tonight How will you know if you found me at last 'Cause I'll be the one, be the one, be the one With my heart in my lap I'm so tired, I'm so tired And I wish I was the moon tonight
Running Out Of Fools Are you sure you got the right number Is it me you wanna talk to tonight Everyone in town's got your number Everybody's got you pegged right Is that why you got in touch with me Oh, guess you must be runnin' out of fools You left me all alone right here Your goodbye was even colder than ice Didn't bother you I was cryin' Now you wanna break my heart twice Is that why you got in touch with me Oh, guess you must be runnin' out of fools You got back to my name in your little black book Tell you what I guess you forgot how I even look Yes you did So go ahead with all your sweet talkin' Go ahead for all the good it can do Have yourself a dime's worth of talkin' Then I'm gonna hang right up on you 'Cause this time you're not getting through to me Oh, gues you must be runnin' out of fools Even fools like me (fools like me) Even fools like me Runnin' out of fools (fools like me) Even fools like me (fools like me) Ghost Wiring What happens at home since I've gone away Needles drop soft and sharp And the leaves gently sway Low ceiling moves in and circles the bay Rain rakes the trees A sound that's counted so many days So many days Wet shoes drag you off to school Shoes that never dry Crows curse and beat their wings Why can't you be smarter girl? Lift up your face Don't feel sorry for yourself Highways wait for you Your ghost is a lightshow at night On the Grand Coulee Dam The river is watching you At the drive-in tonight Who do they comfort now Since I've gone away
*** Thanx a lot to JK for this one ***
Outro With Bees (Reprise) How's hope feeling today Tired and sick of this place Red wine is fast at the lip of your glass Sayin' I'm gonna ruin everything...everything So it's better my sweet That we hover like bees 'Cause there's no sure footing No love I believe
Tigers Have Spoken If You Knew And if you knew what I know You wouldn't go to see her And least of all believe her when she says that she wants you Well you're just another puppet, she's not even keeping score And the lazy way she cheats you leaves me cold She'll laugh about you, my best friend, but you don't know 'Cause if you knew what I know You wouldn't go to see her And least of all believe her when she says that she wants you She spends her daddy's money And she drives her daddy's car And what's crazy is the way you think that's style And all the while my heart is breaking You're not even on her mind 'Cause if you knew what I know Babe you wouldn't leave me You wouldn't turn away from my love it's what you said that you believed in I say this as your friend You'll be the poor boy in the end Soulful Shade of Blue Dressmaker, dressmaker, I'm singing at the hall next saturday night and he'll be there. He's been gone for so long, I want him back again, Make me the sweetest dress you can. Make it a soulful shade of blue with a ribbon at the hem, A ribbon white for loyalty to show that I remember when A soulful shade of blue looked into my eyes And tell him I want him back again Dressmaker, dressmaker, don't make it loud or bright, just make it a sweet and gentle style Then maybe he'll remember me it was not so long ago i'll miss his sweet and gentle smile Make it a soulful shade of blue with a ribbon at the hem, A ribbon white for loyalty to show that I remember when A soulful shade of blue looked into my eyes And tell him I want him back again Make it a soulful shade of blue Hex When you hear me calling your name in the night Do you run to your window thinking a coyote might Be howling When you hear me knocking at your door again Do you tell yourself it’s only the wind That’s blowing When you watch the sun sink down in the west Do you tell yourself that the heart in your chest Is still beating Will you know or must I tell you This is my lover’s spell you have fallen into My dear My voice is all you’ll hear Only the sound of my heart pounding, darling You took my heart Cast it aside Laughed when I cried Like it was just no big deal And here all alone in the dark I know just how you feel When you feel my fingers touch your skin again Do you tell yourself there’s just no use In crying When the stars in the sky begin to fade Do you tell yourself, don’t be afraid It’s just the night That’s dying Will you know or must I tell you This is my lover’s spell you have fallen into, my dear My voice is all you’ll hear Train from Kansas City Baby, baby, please believe me I would never never do anything to hurt you Baby, baby, please believe me I would never never do anything to you to make you blue But yesterday I got this letter From the boy I loved before I ever knew you Before I even knew you And the train from Kansas city is coming into town. The train from Kansas city is a-coming And there's nothing I can do can make it turn around. Baby, baby, please believe me Nothing in this world would tear us apart We'll never, never part So wait right here and I will hurry I'll be back in the time it takes to break a heart I gotta break his heart 'Cause the train from Kansas city is coming into town The train from Kansas city is a-coming And there's nothing I can do can make it turn around No, I never answered his letter I just couldn't tell him that way No, I never answered his letter I just didn't know what to say Now I'm going down to the station I'll be there at ten after two I'll show him the ring on my finger I don't what else I can do The train from Kansas city is coming into town The train from Kansas city is a-coming And there's nothing I can do can make it turn around Here comes the train Tigers Have Spoken They shot the tiger on his chain In a field behind the cages He walked in circles 'til he was crazy And he lived that way forever And he lived that way beside them, Separate from the other tigers He did not know another tiger They shot the tiger on his chain In a field behind the cages He walked in circles 'til he was crazy And he lived that way forever And he lived that way forever Just as long as he could remember If he'd wanted to remember It was the last time he had felt alive When he saw that brown-haired lady She fed him with a bottle as a baby And he recalled her face and smile They shot that tiger on his chain They shot the tiger on his chain They shot the tiger on his chain They shot the tiger on his chain They shot the tiger on his chain Loretta
When I talk to Loretta Oh, boots, socks and sweater Well she hugs me sweet and low And it's never let me go When I talk to Loretta, she makes me feel like number one When I talk to Loretta, she makes me feel like number one Well I heard her on the wire Oh Sweet Loretta, child She hugs me sweet and low And it's never let me go When I talk to Loretta, she makes me feel like number one When I talk to Loretta, she makes me feel like number one When I talk to Loretta When I talk about the feeling She hugs me sweet and low And it's never let me go When I talk to Loretta, she makes me feel like number one When I talk to Loretta, she makes me feel like number one Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight When I talk to Loretta When I talk to Loretta She make me, she make me, she make me Make me, make me, make me feel like number one
*** Thanx a lot to Krista for this one ***
Favorite Oh lie I thought you were golden I thought you were wise Caught you returning To the house you caught fire But I know that I was your favorite And I said Amen Wise, found favor in heaven And I at your side But I never felt sorry For those shimmering lies When I laid down and cried I was faking And I said Amen Last night I dreamt That I hit a deer with my car Blood from his heart Spilled out onto my dress and was warm He begged me to follow But legions of sorrow defied me Oh lie I thought you were golden I thought you were wise When I caught you returning To the house you caught fire But I know that I'm your favorite And I said "Amen" Oh favorite And I said Amen Rated X Well if you've been a married woman and things didn't seem to work out Well Divorce is the key to bein' loose and free but you're gonna be talked about Everybody knows that you've loved once, and they think you'll love again You can't have a male friend if you're a has been, or a woman, rated X And if you're rated X you're some kind of gold even men turning silver try to make But I think it's wrong to judge every picture if a cheap camera makes a mistake And when your best friend's husband says to you you've sure started lookin' good You should've known he would and he would if he could and he will if you're rated X Well nobody knows where you're goin' but they sure know where you've been, All their thinking of is your experience of love, all their minds eat up with sin The women all look at you like you're bad and the men all hope you are But if you go too far you're gonna wear the scar of a woman rated X Well if you're rated X you're some kind of gold even men turning silver try to make But I think it's wrong to judge every picture if a cheap camera makes a mistake And when your best friend's husband says to you, you've sure started looking good You should've known he would and he would if he could and he will if you're rated X You should've known he would and he would if he could and he will if you're rated X
*** Thanx a lot to Krista for this one *** This little light
This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine Every day, every day Every day, every day Gonna let my little light shine Jesus gave me light I'm going to let it shine Jesus gave me light I'm going to let it shine Jesus gave me light I'm going to let it shine Every day, every day Every day, every day Gonna let my little light shine...
*** Thanx a lot to John for this one ***
Wayfaring Stranger I am a poor wayfaring stranger A-traveling thru this world below But there's no sickness, toil, or danger In that bright land to which I go I'm going there to see my Father I'm going there no more to roam I'm just a-going over Jordan I'm just a-going over home I am a poor wayfaring stranger A-traveling thru this world below But there's no sickness, toil, or danger In that bright land to which I go I'm going there to see my mother She said she'd meet me when I come I'm just a-going over Jordan I'm just a-going over home I'm just a-going over home I'm just a-going over home
Tigers are noble
Neko : This is a sad song, about tigers. Carolyn : Let's champion the tigers. Neko : Let's champion the tiger 'cause. You know, I think that maybe I wrote this song for many reasons But I was telling them earlier, I was in a cab in Toronto the other day And the CBC was on and they were talking to a lady Who specializes in animal husbandry And she takes care of the tigers at The Toronto Zoo. And they said "Well do you ever reintroduce the tigers?" And she goes "Well, no, because their habitat can't sustain them." And immediately I thought to myself 'There's so many extra children, we could just feed the children, to these tigers.' We don't need them. We're not doing anything with them. Tigers are, tigers are... Carolyn : Noble! Male voice : Hungry! Neko : Noble, and sleek Children are loud and messy I was one of those children If I were to become tiger food It would've been more noble than Carolyn : Heavy! Neko : Anyway Probably ruined the song for you now But we'll still play it for you anyway
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Margaret vs. Pauline Everything's so easy for Pauline Everything's so easy for Pauline Ancient strings set feet a light to speed to her such mild grace No monument of tacky gold They smoothed her hair with cinnamon waves And they placed an ingot in her breast to burn cool and collected Fate holds her firm in its cradle and then rolls her for a tender pause to savor Everything's so easy for Pauline Girl with the parking lot eyes Margaret is the fragments of a name Her bravery is mistaken for the thrashing in the lake Of the make-believe monster who's picture was faked Margaret is the fragments of a name Her love pours like a fountain Her love steams like rage Her jaw aches from wanting and she's sick from chlorine But she'll never be as clean As the cool side of satin, Pauline Pauline Two girls ride the blue line Two girls walk down the same street One left her sweater sittin' on the train The other lost three fingers at the cannery Everything's so easy for Pauline
Star Witness My true love drowned in a dirty old pan Of oil that did run from the block Of a falcon sedan 1969 The paper said '75 There were no survivors None found alive Trees break the sidewalk And the sidewalk skins my knees There's glass in my thermos And blood on my jeans Nickels and dimes of the fourth of july Roll off in a crooked line To the chain-link lots where the red tails dive Oh how I forgot what it's like Hey when she sings, when she sings when she sings like she runs Moves like she runs Hey when she moves, when she moves when she moves like she runs Moves like she runs Hey there there’s such tender wolves ‘round town tonight Round the town tonight Hey there there’s such tender wolves ‘round town tonight Round the town tonight Hey pretty baby get high with me, We can go to my sisters if we say we'll watch the baby" The look on your face yanks my neck on the chain And I would do anything To see you again So I fall in behind… Hey when she sings, when she sings when she sings like she runs Moves like she runs Hey when she moves, when she moves when she moves like she runs Moves like she runs Hey there there’s such tender wolves ‘round town tonight Round the town tonight Hey there there’s such tender wolves ‘round town tonight Round the town tonight Go on, go on scream and cry You're miles from where anyone will find you This is nothing new, no television crew They don't even put on the sirens My nightgown sweeps the pavement Please don't let him die Oh how I forgot...
*** Thanx a lot to Doug for this one ***
Hold On, Hold On The most tender place in my heart is for strangers I know it's unkind but my own blood is much too dangerous Hangin' round the ceiling half the time Hangin' round the ceiling half the time Compared to some I've been around But I really tried so hard That echo chorus lied to me with its "Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on" In the end I was the mean girl Or somebody's in-between girl Now it's the devil I love And that's as funny as real love I leave the party at three a.m. Alone, thank God With a valium from the bride It's the devil I love And that's as funny as real love And that's as real as true love That echo chorus lied to me with its "Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on" That echo chorus lied to me with its "Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on"
A Widow's Toast Specters move like pilot flames Their widows toast at St. Angel Better times collide with now The tears were warm, I feel them still Their heat to vapor and disperse And cloud our eyes with weary glaze You raise your glass and may exclaim "I'll put my hands on the truth by God" But it's faster, love, than you and me Faster than the speed of gravity That's how it catches you from falling And how it always slips away Specters move like pilot flames Their widows toast at St. Angel Better times collide with now And better times And better times are coming still
That Teenage Feeling Now that we've met We can only laugh at these regrets Common as a winter cold They're telephone poles They follow each other One, after another, after another But now my heart is green as weeds Grown to outlive their season And nothing comforts me the same As my brave friend who says, "I don't care if forever never comes 'Cause I'm holding out for that teenage feeling I'm holding out for that teenage feeling" All the loves we had All we ever knew Did they fill me with so many secrets That keep me from loving you 'Cause it's hard, hard
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood Driving home I see those flooded fields How can people not know what beauty this is I've taken it for granted my whole life Since the day I was born Clouds hang on these curves like me And I kneel to the wheel Of the fox confessor on splendid heels And he shames me from my seat And on my guilty feet I follow him in retreat What purpose in these deeds Oh fox confessor please Who married me to these orphaned blues "It's not for you to know, but for you to weep and wonder When the death of your civilization precedes you." Will I ever see you again Will there be no one above me to put my faith in I flooded my sleeves as I drove home again John Saw That Number Old John the baptist, old John divine Leather harness round his line His meat was locust and honey Wild honey lord, wild honey John saw that number Way in the middle of the air Cryin' holy, holy to the Lord Old John the baptist, old John divine Frogs and snakes are gonna get John this time God told the angel "go see about John" So he flew from the pit with the moon round his waist Gathered wind in his fists so the stars round his wrists Cryin' holy, holy to the lord Read the revelations, you'll find him there Third chapter, fourth verse where he said unto me "There's a beast that rose out of the sea" Ten crowns, ten crowns On his horns write "blasphemy" John couldn't read it (John couldn't read it) Get on repeat it John couldn't read it Holy, holy to the Lord There was a man, a pharisee Who came by night to meet him Said "I know thy teacher came from God cause no man can do such miracles Without the lord to entreat him" God told the angel "go see about John" So he flew from the pit with the moon round his waist Gathered wind in his fists and the stars round his wrists Cryin' holy, holy to the Lord Holy, holy to the Lord Holy, holy to the Lord...
Dirty Knife So suddenly the madness came With it's whiskered, wolven, ether pangs He locked the door And he shut the blinds He laid down on the floor and he slept like iron While the dirty knife worked deep Into his spine The blood runs crazy The blood runs crazy Cascading letters pool on the stairs The grass is high, the cats are wild You can't even touch the tip of their tails And the blood runs crazy with giant strides He sang nursery rhymes to paralyze The wolves that Eddy out the corner of his eyes But they squared him frozen where he stood In the glow of the furniture piled high for firewood And the blood runs crazy with giant strides And the woodsman failed to breech those fangs in time So they dragged him through the underbrush Wearing three winter coats and a dirty knife Ukrainian Part : Кричить шалено, стрекоче зубами (krichit shaleno, strekoche zubami) -> He shouts very loudly, grinding his teeth La la la la, la la la la Кричить шалено, стрекоче зубами (krichit shaleno, strekoche zubami) La la la la, la la la la
Lion's Jaws You're gone, the trees are so quiet When your hand was in my pocket How they swayed from side to side Now the meddling sky and my snowy eye Sees a different night The night I fell into the lion's jaws To my regret and your delight Those teeth themselves could not divine Nor their pressure estimate The haze I wish to never break And to never contemplate Momentum for the sake of momentum Momentum for the sake of momentum Of momentum
Maybe Sparrow Maybe sparrow you should wait The hawks alight till morning You'll never pass beyond the gate If you don't hear my warning Notes are hung so effortless With the rise and fall of sparrow's breast It's a drowning dive and back to the chorus La di da di da di da La di da di da di da Oh my sparrow it's too late Your body limp beneath my feet Your dusty eyes cold as clay You didn't hear my warning Maybe sparrow it's too late Moonlight glanced off metal wings In a thunderstorm above the clouds The engine hums a sparrow's phrase For those who cannot hear the words For those who will not hear the words For those who will not hear the words La di da di da di da La di da di da di da Maybe sparrow Maybe sparrow Maybe sparrow At Last I can say that i've lived here in honor and danger But i'm just an animal and cannot explain a life Down this chain of days I wished to stay among my people Relation now means nothing, having chosen so defined And if death should smell my breathing As it pass beneath my window Let it lead me trembling, trembling I owe every bell that tolls me
The Needle Has Landed Here I am in traffic's slow flow Where the needle touched down Carbon planes draw a cage round the air force base Where the needle touched down My foot on the brake it's ok to fly low Over poor Spanaway An eagle swooped down from a semi-trailer Took the name of your town from a sharp-toothed freighter The needle's the same that recorded and played When you left me at the greyhound the year I moved away And if I knew then what's so obvious now You'd still be here baby My baby, baby So that's why I never come back here That's why they spit out my name Your ex's have clawed up the bible Trying to keep me away With the sledge of tectonic fever The needle has landed again Let it play And the needle touched down The needle is landing And the needle touched down The needle is landing An eagle swooped down from a semi-trailer Took the name of your town From a sharp-toothed freighter And if I knew then what's so obvious now You'd still be here
Credit: Jason Creps
Middle Cyclone
This tornado loves you My love, I am the speed of sound I left them motherless, fatherless Their souls dangling inside-out from their mouths But it's never enough I want you I carved your name across three counties And ground it in with bloody hides Their broken necks will line the ditch Till you stop Stop it, stop it Stop it, stop it Stop this madness I want you I have waited with a glacier's patience Smashed every transformer with every trailer Till nothing was standing Sixty-five miles wide Still, you are nowhere Still, you are nowhere Nowhere in sight Come out to meet me Run out to meet me Come into the light Climb the boxcars, to the engine Through the smoke and to the sky Your rails have always outrun mine So I Picked them up and crashed them down In a moment close to now Cause I miss I miss, I miss, I miss I miss, I miss, I miss, I miss How you'd sigh yourself to sleep When I'd rake the springtime Across your sheets My love, I am the speed of sound I left them motherless, fatherless Their souls dangling inside-out from their mouths But it's never enough My love I'm an owl on the sill in the evening But morning finds you Still warm and breathing This tornado loves you This tornado loves you This tornado loves you This tornado loves you This tornado loves you What will make you believe me This tornado loves you This tornado loves you This tornado loves you This tornado loves you This tornado loves you What will make you believe me
The Next Time You Say Forever I hear the tiniest sparks and the tenderest sounds Diving music, drowning the sound Waltzing with the hairs upon my arms Then your fight-or-flight alarm And you tremble and you stumble And you scrape up your palms I can't stay here to hold your hand I've been away for so long I've lost my taste for home And that's a dirty fallow feeling To be the dangling ceiling From when the roof came crashing down Peeling in the heat Vanish in the rain The next time you say forever I will punch you in your face Just because you don't believe it Doesn't mean I didn't mean it You never know when I'll show you the never You never know when I'll show you the never
People Got A Lotta Nerve So the saying says "An elephant never forgets" Standing in the concrete cave Swaying sad and insane They walked over the ocean In their dreams they dream awake Until the lights grew dim Until the cop cars came Everybody tells me this is crazy Yes, I know it I'm a man, man, man Man, man, man eater But still you're surprised-prised-prised When I eat you You know They call them killer whales But you seem surprised When it pinned you down to the bottom of the tank Where you can't turn around It took half your leg, and both your lungs When I craved, I ate hearts of sharks I know you know it I'm a man, man, man Man, man, man eater But still you're surprised-prised-prised When I eat you Yes, I'm a man, man, man Man, man, man eater But still you're surprised-prised-prised When I eat you It will end again in bullets, friend It will end again in bullets, friend
*** Thanx a lot to Michael for this one ***
Polar Nettles He takes his dinner in the bed Love-sickened and infirmed The orderly found him there Filleted on the marble stairs Hat still in hand His smoking remains Blown out by a kiss from nurse someday soon Someday soon Someday soon Someday soon His eyes are closed he mouths her name The rosary her lips and tongue She is the centrifuge that throws The spires from the sun The Sistine Chapel Painted with a Gatling gun Someday soon Someday soon Someday soon Someday soon Someday soon Polar nettles set on end Move like starlings up a cliff Antennae of her foggy touch The force field round her frosty hips Whose shape recalls the wicked spade That buried him but on his lips The last rites of nurse Someday soon
Vengeance is Sleeping I didn't know what a brute I was I dipped my cigarette and rode the bus Vengeance built me hastily And I dragged the clanging notion I was nobody, nobody Nobody All I had was my invention And my love invented all of you Oh look what thoughts can do What thoughts can do If you're not by now dead and buried You're most certifiably married Oh, married I'm sure you're sleeping sound With a mistress of the hours The hours that grind your life to dust Your easy loves you keep like pets Denied them, you are powerless Whatever keeps you sleeping through the night I'm not the man you thought I was My love has never lived indoors I had to drag it home by force Hired hounds at both my wrists Damp and bruised by strangers' kisses on my lips But you're the one that I still miss You're the one that I still miss And it's ruthless that it comes as no surprise I'm not the man you think I am I'm not the man you think I am
Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth ( Ron Mael ) When she's on her best behaviour Don't be tempted by her favours Never turn your back on mother earth Towns are hurled from A to B By hands that looked so smooth to me Never turn your back on mother earth Grasp at straws that don’t want grasping Gaze at clouds that come down crashing Never turn your back on mother earth Three days and two nights away from my friends Amen to anything that brings a quick return to my friends To my friends I'll admit I was unfaithful From now I'll be more faithful Never turn your back on mother Never turn your back on mother Never turn your back on mother earth
Middle Cyclone Okay we're rolling One two three, two two three Baby why'm I worried now Did someone make a fool of me 'Fore I could show 'em how it's done I can't give up acting tough It's all that I'm made of Can't scrape together quite enough To ride the bus to the outskirts of the fact that I need love There were times that I tried One for every glass of water that I spilled next to the bed Retching pennies in a boiling well In a dream that at once becomes a foundry Of mute and heavy bells They shake me deaf and dumb Say "someone made a fool of me 'Fore I could show 'em how it's done" It was so clear to me That it was almost invisible I lie 'cross the path waiting Just for a chance to be A spider web trapped in your lashes For that I would trade you my empire for ashes But I choke it back How much I need love
Fever In an open field at dusk To footfalls I awoke Marching ants across my temples Their feet had no intention They followed some magnetic drum Prisoners of their destination From the slats of the factory come Where once they did make rails Old death's peculiar songs He didn't know I was listening So he crowed out nice and long To the spiders and the lumber And the dust of his conquest And his hunger and his lust I heard his feet rejoice I heard him tap his cane As if he had his own review On stage at the athenaeum I caught his words in my open mouth I gagged and choked and spit them out I heard him turn as he did hear My tiny heartbeat in his ear I was already running Oh, I heard him coming Shrapnel spitting from his wheels His scything arms rake for my heels I dove and rolled and hid my face And I said these magic words: My dove is home Her breast is warm My dove is home And I said these magic words And fell down, down the anthill for days My dove is home Her breast is warm My dove is home My dove is home Her breast is warm My dove is home Magpie to the morning The magpie comes a calling Drops a marble from the sky Tin roof sounds alarming Wake up child Let this be a warning says the magpie to the morning Don't let this fading summer pass you by Don't let this fading summer pass you by Black hands held so high The vulture wheels and dives Something on the thermals yanked his chain He smelled your boring apex Rotting on the train tracks He laughed under his breath Because you thought you could outrun sorrow Take your own advice This thundering and lightning gets you rain You run an airtight mission, a Cousteau expedition To find a diamond at the bottom of the drain A diamond at the bottom of the drain Here I go Mockingbirds sing in the middle of the night All his songs are stolen so he hides He stole them out from whippoorwills, screaming car alarms He sings them for you special He knows you're afraid of the dark Come on sorrow, take your own advice Hide under the bed, turn out the light The stars this night in the sky are ringing out You can almost hear them saying Close your eyes now kid Close your eyes now kid Morning's teeth are lit They are waiting They are waiting
I'm an Animal You could say it's my instinct Yes, I still have one There's no time to second-guess it Yes, there are things that I’m still so afraid of But my courage is roaring like the sound of the sun 'Cause it's vain about its mane And will reveal them to no one Now I’m an animal You're an animal, too Pick up that rock, drink from that lake I do my best but I'm made of mistakes Yes, there are things I’m still quite sure of I love you this hour, this hour today And heaven will smell like the airport, airport But I may never get there to prove it So let's not waste our time thinking how that ain't fair I'm an animal You're an animal, too You're an animal, too
Prison Girls
Where am I tonight My hotel room won't remember me And this dream will die, die by morning And this dream will not remember me Awakened by a droning voice "I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes" Is it a lady or is it a man Humming helicopters through the blades of a fan I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes On my feet to chase it down The light switch spooks and runs away I stumble back and hit the floor Long shadows crawl beneath the door To a passage so poorly lit, there's moths flying away from it Who am I tonight My hotel room won't remember me From darkness, enter prison girls Pushing mops and kicking pails Now's my chance I clasp my chest and declare unto my audience "I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes" Prison girls are not impressed They're the ones who have to clean this mess They've traded more for cigarettes than I've managed to express Filing past, miles long My cheek is frozen to the floor The prison girls have filled their beds Their thoughts to dry above their heads I'll wear them in the morning I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes
Don't Forget Me ( Harry Nilsson cover ) In the wintertime Keep your feet warm But keep your clothes on And don't forget me Keep your memories But keep your powder dry, too In the summer By the poolside While the fireflies are all around you I'll miss you when I’m lonely I'll miss the alimony, too Don't forget me Don't forget me Make it easier on me Just for a little while You know, I think about you Let me know you think about me, too And when we're older And full of cancer It doesn't matter now Come on, get happy Cause nothing lasts forever But I will always love you Don't forget me Please don't forget me Make it easier on me Just for a little while You know, I think about you Let me know you think about me, too
The Pharoahs You were married in the mirrored hall when I was sixteen You spoke the words “I love girls in white leather jackets” That was good enough for love It was good enough for me I listened in when you thought you were alone Calling the sphinx on a tornado’s phone Who knows what you meant I only heard what I wanted You said I was your blue, blue baby And you were right You said I was your blue, blue baby And you were right You wandered the halls all the night time My body burned, my legs ached But you never came to bed, you just left me there awake You kept me wanting wanting wanting Like the wanting in the movies and the hymns I want the Pharoahs but there is only men I want the Pharoahs but there is only men You said I was your blue, blue baby And you were right You said I was your blue, blue baby And you were right
*** Thanx a lot to Rebgro for this one ***
Red Tide There’s a smell here that stands my hairs on end Dog hair in the heater, gas pumps and cedar and jack knifes on the nine And sea birds choked in fishing line The clouds say hush but the chainsaws mush on Through Cluster and Columbia The salty tentacles shrink in the sun But the red tide is over The mollusks they have won There’s a smell here of gravel and cigarettes lit When the match made them sweet When the engine turned over and beat up our street Oh, that was a day to remember I remember because of the fires that left From the caves of the things that have not happened yet When I think of them now they smell to me quite sinister I want to go back and die at the drive-in Die before strangers can say “I hate the rain” “I hate the rain”
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You The Worse Things Get Wild Creatures When you catch the light You look like your mother It crushes me some Just right from the side When you catch the light There's a flash of wild creatures Before the stone age of the preachers And the husbands and the wives When you catch the light The flood changes direction And darkens the lenz That projects my disguise As you fight along-side You'll discover my weakness I'm not fighting for your freedom I am fighting to be wild I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake "Hey little girl, would you like to be The king's pet or the king? "I'd choose odorless and invisible But otherwise I would choose the king Even though it sounds the loneliest And my brother's hands would poison me" "Hey little girl, would you like to be The king's pet or the king? "I'd choose odorless and invisible But otherwise I would choose the king Even though it sounds melodious There's no mother's hands to quiet me" Night Still Comes My brain makes drugs to keep me slow A hilarious joke for some dead Pharaoh But now, not even the Masons know What drug will keep night from coming There are so many tools that are made for my hands But the tide smashes all my best-laid plans to sand And there's always someone to say it's easy for me But I revenged myself all over myself There's nothing you can say to me I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake You never held it at the right angle You never held it at the right angle Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star But wash your hands of it Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star Because you can't hold it Did it poison my food Is it cause I'm a girl If I puked up some sonnets Would you call me "a miracle" I'm gonna go where my urge leads no more Swallowed, waist-deep in the gore of the forest A boreal feast, let it finish me, please 'Cause I revenged myself all over myself There's nothing you can do to me You never held it at the right angle You never held it at the right angle Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star But wash your hands of it Catch a, catch a, catch a, catch a falling star Because you can't own it You never held it at the right angle You never held it at the right angle You never held it You never held it... Man I'm a man That's what you raised me to be I'm not an identity crisis This was planned I'm a man As in a citizen of mankind It's what kind of animal I am It's that simple, oh I'm a man And not just casually I pull the sparks full time Your treehouse will not support me I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake I'm not the runt of the litter Fat-fingered bullies were no match for me I still taste them in my teeth I'm a man I'm a man's man I've always been But make no mistake What I've invested in A woman's heart Is the watermark By which I measure Everything I'm a man That's what you raised me to be I'm not your identity crisis This was planned I'm a man You'll have to deal with me My proxy is mine You'll deal with me directly And if I'm dipshit-drunk on the pink perfume Then I am the man in the fucking moon 'Cause you didn't know what a man was Until I showed you I'm From Nowhere Goodnight sunshine The ghetto-bird chimes 4am Welcome to the west A mosquito to kiss your hands and feet Welcome to this dirty business I was surprised When you called me a lady 'Cause I'm still not so sure that that's what I wanna be 'Cause I remember the eighties And I remember its puffy sleeves You say I'm lucky to be here Then maybe you can take this over And I'll gladly wear the pants into the next century Past the scanners with ease I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Past armies of them who once played in a band And wasted it complaining like a trust fund kid Paying you to play here while they hate you because of it You say I'm lucky to be here But I've been driving for twenty one days What's that nasty sound The E-brake drags the ground God if you only knew What my candied fist could do The curtain's closing in from all directions Just answer my question Perhaps it's best if I continue Starring me as you Me as you Starring me as you Me as you And there you are At the edge of the world Dangling with my heart a'pounding Above a gulf of hamstrung promises You sang like "Auld Lang Syne" You wanted it so badly that you believed them at the time Every fashion's flame, every jet plane lie Every second helping of that off-ramp fame we die a little You're right, I'm from nowhere You're right, I'm from nowhere You're right, I'm from nowhere You're right Bracing For Sunday I dropped my gloves into the stove Hymns echoed out the grave I fell in love with those electric lights That drug me into town so late To nimble, cunning, clever nights I railed behind them, deputized To scrape the lens of Christian eyes I'm a Friday night girl Bracing for Sunday to come I only ever held one love Her name was Mary Anne She died having a child by her brother He died because I murdered him I shot him though his jelly eye And I won myself his wicked life Now I thread-the-needle waltz through mine I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake I'm a Friday night girl Bracing for Sunday to come I emptied onto shifting sheets Staring rosary holes in my ceiling Waiting for my purpose to deliver And reveal itself to me But all I hear are subway trains Bang against their bedrock lanes So I bang a little too I'm a Friday night girl Bracing for Sunday to come Bracing for Sunday to come Nearly Midnight, Honolulu Hey, little kid That I saw at the bus stop one day It was nearly midnight in Honolulu We were waiting for the shuttle To take us to the aeroplane When your mother said, your mother said Like I couldn't hear her, she said "Get the fuck away from me! Why don't you ever shut up? Get the fuck away from me!" Oh, oh Well, I just want to say that it happened 'Cause one day when you ask yourself "Did it really happen?" You won't believe it, but yes it did And I'm sorry And I'm sorry 'Cause it happens every day I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake They won't believe you When you tell them They won't believe you When you say "My mother, she did not love me My mother, she did not love me" No, no, no, no... Some days you'll feel like a cartoon And people will rush to make excuses for you You'll hear yourself complain But don't you ever shut up please Kid, have your say 'Cause I'll still love you Even if I don't see you again City Swans Baby, come out I'll meet you in the street At the place by the old fire station We'll get something to eat Like we talked about Baby, come down It's been a while now I've got so many things I could tell you If my stubborn mouth doesn't let me down And I can't look at you straight on You're made from something different than I know I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Try to slip the marching clock But centipedes invade my thoughts Without free will I heel and I go I step onto that metal plate Where it meets the dazzling sound of trains And I beg those trains to run 'Cause I can't look at you straight on You're made from something different than I know My eyes are on the sidewalk, it's gum holding your feet I swear under my breath because I'm starving in your gravity You're made from something different than I know Your linger just a little long I see your gun is drawn with the safety on You can walk me back to my hotel like it was home And I smell those fools you made cordwood of In petty dreams that leave me sleeping here In your arms, city swan Our crook'd necks long, city swan And I can't look at you straight on You're made from something different than I know And it breaks my heart just like the day That I looked down and I realized I'd been sailing so long I'd become the shore City swan Our crook'd necks long, city swan Calling Cards I used a calling card at the pay phone From the other coast Just to tell you how good it was to hear you In those songs you wrote They made me think there was something coming Really something worth waiting for "Blah blah blah blah blah blah" They talk about, oh I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Every dial tone, every truck stop, every heartbreak I love you more Looking like you just woke up from making songs Shooting satellites that blew up the pay phones Singing we'll all be together Even when we're not together With our arms around each other With our faith still in each other I've got calling cards From twenty years ago Afraid ( Nico Cover ) Cease to know or to tell Or to see or to be your own Cease to know or to tell Or to see or to be your own Have someone else's will as your own Have someone else's will as your own You are beautiful and you are alone You are beautiful and you are alone I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Often the adolescent plague Reward your grace Often the adolescent plague Reward your grace Confuse your hunger, capture the fake Confuse your hunger, capture the fake Banish the faceless, reward your grace Banish the faceless, reward your grace Local Girl I pass the light that the young people make How joyfully it's wasted I feel the weight of the needles repeat and sigh I sang my weight in metric trash Tripped the light in Saturn's embrace And you'll give up some local girl While our lights, our lights blot out her face I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake All of you lie about someday (You know you do, all of you, shame on you, all of you lie) Like you're on a first-name basis All of you lie about someday (You know you do, all of you, shame on you, all of you lie) Like you're on a first-name basis All of you lie about someday (You know you do, all of you, shame on you, all of you lie) Like you're on a first-name basis All of you lie about someday (You know you do, all of you, shame on you, all of you lie) Like you're on a first-name basis Goddamn the time Goddamn the miles That take me away from you And change your face And change the way I love you And change the way I love you And change the way I love you And change the way I love you Where Did I Leave That Fire A chill ran through me And I grabbed on tight That when I left my body for good And I shook off all the strength I'd earned I wanted so badly not to be me I wanted so badly not to be me I saw my shadow looking lost Checking its pockets for some lost receipt Where did I leave that fire Where did I leave that fire Will a stranger find it on a curb idling A cold call from a time zone just short of outer space From six o'clock tomorrow, a strange voice says to me "I do believe we have your fire, lady You can pick it up if you come down with ID" I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake You can pick it up if you come down with ID Ragtime Last night late I was watching it snow It always goes sideways in the city It comes right out of the streetlights, you know Pumped out by an engine deep inside the earth's core It goes sideways in the city Cover the shapes and erase the date This could be any evening in any place The blizzard blows from left to right Which is funny cause the piano's playing "summertime" From nineteen thirty five So sounds the alarm of ragtime I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Brave to the waves of its residue It's laughter from the marbled room The white-crowned sounds of possible The sound that lures me It says "don't you worry Don't you worry kid we'll be seeing you We'll see you when you're ready" Ragtime turning out the sun and moon It's gravity is soothing It winds me in a sleek cocoon I'll reveal myself when I'm ready I'll reveal myself invincible soon ???
Case/Lang/Veirs Atomic Number I'm not the freckled maid I'm not the fair-haired girl I'm not a pail of milk for you to spoil Always copy, always paste, shame on robots Why are the wholesome things The ones we make obscene Latin words across my heart Symbols of infinity Elements so pure Atomic number I am the spark Of this machine Purring like the city bus Why are the wholesome things The ones we make obscene Well, if your mercy's lost I have enough for us Latin words across my heart Symbols of infinity Elements so pure Atomic number Latin words across my heart Symbols of infinity Elements so pure Atomic number My atomic number My atomic number My atomic number Honey And Smoke I watch as they dance with you I watch as they sing to you I watch as they pour Honey in your ear Like moths with their tattered wings Swing back into your flame again But, dear, can't you see There's nothing for you here Always copy, always paste, shame on robots 'Cause I know (I know, I know, I know, I know) It's all honey and smoke They don't really love you Like I do Unaware Of just how beautiful you are From within Uncontainable Exquisite to the detail It hypnotizes people Robs them of their social graces Swarming to your glow Fanning with phrases I know (I know, I know, I know, I know) It's all honey and smoke They don't really love you Like I do And I know (I know, I know, I know, I know) It's all honey and smoke They don't really love you Like I do I watch as they sing to you I watch as they dance with you I watch as they pour Honey in your ear Just honey in your ear Just honey in your ear Song For Judee You wrote 'The Kiss' and it is beautiful I can listen again and again You never really got a break From the car wrecks and the pain Always copy, always paste, shame on robots You loved the sons of the pioneers And the Hollywood cowboy stars You were just trying To put a hand to where we are Where we are Where we are Living in a 55 cadillac Five people sleep in shifts Robbing liquor stores and going back With the cash and rolling in it You loved the sons of the pioneers And the Hollywood cowboy stars You were just trying To put a hand to where we are You never talked about your past About the drugs and walking the streets They found you with a needle in your arm Beloved books strewn 'round at your feet You loved the sons of the pioneers And the Hollywood cowboy stars You were just trying To put a hand to where we are You loved the sons of the pioneers And the Hollywood cowboy stars You were just trying To put a hand to where we are Where we are Where we are Where we are Blue Fires Why does the heart of the flame burn blue Why do January cherries bloom Why do blue fires burn in me Yet not in you How can the prairie flocks keep their courses true And navigate the stars as they do How can blue fires burn in me Yet not in you Yet not in you Always copy, always paste, shame on robots You tell me you're here But your words are like fumes They just disappear Now all of the heat's Rushing out of the room The hottest part of this flame burns blue The January cherries bloom But not in you Yet not in you Delirium I kissed you in the morning But only in my mind's eye The sunlight rolls along your sleeping dunes (sleeping dunes) The smell upon your skin is fireworks (fireworks) Delirium, delirium Kaleidoscoping in Could you love me too In my delirium The lions of the lamps coming filing in Pacing through the still around the bed Halos of their royal breathing Break like waves across the ceiling In your dreams, do you know I'm the only thing between you And this heartbreak feeling Always copy, always paste, shame on robots Delirium, delirium Kaleidoscoping in Could you love me too In my delirium Is it still the morning We left no trail of time You're camouflaged so fate can't Take you from my (take you from my) Delirium, delirium Kaleidoscoping in Could you love me too Could you love me too In my delirium Greens Of June Just in a moment Everything's changed My dark disposition Has been rearranged Oh what was I thinking Out there on the ledge Your steady eyes pull me Straight back from the edge Always copy, always paste, shame on robots And all the greens of June (all the greens of June) And all the greens of June Come blowing through the door They make me wanna live (they make me wanna live) They make me wanna live Like I never have before From the oriental rug You meet my gaze And all my desperation Retreats into the haze The lilacs in the vase Still got their life Quiet witnesses Perfume the light And all the greens of June (all the greens of June) And all the greens of June Come blowing through the door They make me wanna live (they make me wanna live) They make me wanna live Like I never have before Just in a moment Everything's changed My dark disposition Has been rearranged Behind The Armory Flies in amber sand in soap Air trapped in the glass Tongue tied I cut and run Fleeing ever faster Always copy, always paste, shame on robots Behind the armory I will never let you see Behind the armory Still I want you to love me Sleeping giant Joan of Arc Fold me in your grace From the garbage to the stars Make new constellations Behind the armory Still I want you to love me Still I want you to love me Through the vines and the street Slants the light and the heat As narrow as the archer's window grows But it's a rare stone In a century’s thrown to me Through the vines from the street Slants the light and the heat Narrow as the archer's window grows Behind the armory I will never let you see Behind the armory Still I want you to love me Still I want you to love me Best Kept Secret In December I was lost in Darkness that I couldn't shake I called you in California And you answered right away You answered right away You picked up right away You were working at the table That your father made You were gonna teach guitar To half the kids across L.A. All across L.A. Half the kids across L.A. Always copy, always paste, shame on robots You're the best kept secret in Silverlake I talked about my misery You called it pain of pain How we let it pile on Until we go insane 'Til we go insane Until we go insane You're the best kept secret in Silverlake Oh you can sing and you can really play You're the real thing Your heart's in the right place When we hung up I was lifted Turned my head up to the rain Shortest day of winter But the light found me again Found me again The light came rolling in Yeah, you're the best kept secret in Silverlake Oh you can sing and you can really play You're the real thing Your heart's in the right place You're the best kept secret in Silverlake You're the best kept secret in Silverlake You're the best kept secret in Silverlake You're the best kept secret in Silverlake 1,000 Miles Away I'm out in the cold I gaze through your window The music's on I'm watching you sway Just yesterday In February's dark We watched the stars Explode until day break Always copy, always paste, shame on robots How can you stand right there And be a thousand miles away A thousand miles away I saw a light in your eyes It was the animal kind All fierce and bright Now every color fades I'm out in the snow In your golden glow I feel no heat From my feet up to my face How can you stand right there And be a thousand miles away A thousand miles away Supermoon Supermoon Where all the diamond deals are made We never used to live this long We're pioneers, my dear, press on, move along And if my smile seems painted on once in a while I can count on you to notice and to take me out Always copy, always paste, shame on robots Would you like to start a river And ride it like a painted carousel Our life savings aren't enough We'll have to lobby hard and make it up Make it up Supermoon We never used to live this long We're pioneers, my dear Pioneers, we're pressing on, move along And if my smile Seems straight as the Tropic of Cancer, it's because Nature isn't magic, it's just a mystery to us Would you like to start a river And ride it like a painted carousel Our life savings aren't enough We'll have to lobby hard and make it up And make it up Tell me if you feel it and we'll mine it to reveal it From the dams up to the turbines Tell me if you feel it and we'll mine it to reveal it From the dams up to the turbines We're running much too hard to meter Would you like to start a river And ride it like a painted carousel Would you like to start a river And ride it like a painted carousel Would you like to start a river And ride it like a painted carousel I Want To Be Here I just want I wanna be here with you Not bracing for what comes next I've got some new words I can see sideways If there's a limit It hasn't found me yet My friend is an artist Doesn't fit in Lost a front tooth Can't keep a job But the things you make Are so beautiful They bring me joy Don't you ever stop The hungry fools Who rule the world can't catch us Surely they can't ruin everything Always copy, always paste, shame on robots I just want I wanna be here with you Not bracing for what comes next The hungry fools Who rule the world can't catch us Surely they can't ruin everything I just want I wanna be here with you Not bracing for what comes next I've got some new words I can see sideways If there's a limit It hasn't found me yet Down I-5 Driving down I-5 I don't ever want to die 'Cause I'd no more get to see All this beauty passing by me Laundry on the line Truckers passing on the right Every color on the wind You know you're living if you've sinned Down I-5 Down I-5 Shoulder's burning in the window I should roll it up, I know I pass the signs that promise hell They don't know me at all Some are born to sweet delight and Some are born to endless night Born to endless night But for now all is well I see the horses on the hill I smell the cut grass on the air I feel the wind hot in my hair Always copy, always paste, shame on robots Down I-5 Down I-5 Some are born to sweet delight and Some are born to endless night Born to endless night I've tasted both they are the same Into each other turn again Driving down I-5 I don't ever want to die 'Cause I'd no more get to see All this beauty passing by me Why Do We Fight I can meet you in the ring Where the sweat and punches fly I can meet you in the ring Where one of us is bound to cry Why do we fight Why do we fight Why do we fight How can a love so pure and true Have me falling through the ropes (Falling, falling, falling, falling) Can a love make me so cruel To lose my faith, to lose my hope Always copy, always paste, shame on robots Why do we fight (fight) Why do we fight (fight) Why do we fight (fight) Let's face up to the fact That face down on the mat Won't solve this or anybody else's fight It's not hard to figure out There's no victory in doubt Why do we fight Why do we fight Why do we fight Georgia Stars We took a trip, my Georgia and me Up through the wild strawberries Up past the river running loud We pitched a tent above the clouds Georgia, Georgia Can you hear me calling in the grave Alone in fields all frozen Tiger eyes, you stop and gaze At the stars going blue My Georgia, I still love you At the stars going blue My Georgia, I still love you Great bear, dog, bull, flying fish Scorpion, peacock, make your wish Pleiades Sisters, seven on high Singing in the heaven's silver light Always copy, always paste, shame on robots Ah-ha-ha you showed me the stars Ah-ha-ha wherever you are Georgia, Georgia Can you hear me calling in the grave Alone in fields all frozen Tiger eyes, you stop and gaze At the stars going blue My Georgia, I still love you At the stars going blue My Georgia, I still love you Ah-ha-ha you showed me the stars Ah-ha-ha wherever you are Ah-ha-ha you showed me the stars Ah-ha-ha wherever you are Ah-ha-ha you showed me the stars Ah-ha-ha wherever you are Ah-ha-ha you showed me the stars Ah-ha-ha wherever you are
Hell-on
Hell-on God is not a contract Or a guy God is an unspecified tide You cannot time it's tables It sets no glass or gables God is A lusty tire fire It's bristles scrape and strike the stage Rock, paper, scissors, rage Have mercy on the natural world My voice is not The liquid waves The perfect rings round a heron's legs.. My voice a straight garroting wire A stolen mile of fingerprints Peeled up quiet from their dunes Captured and respooled as ruin To be used At a different time Help and participate instead of copy and paste My voice is a fracture Of a shin bone's lust Pounding barefoot ground It lifts you up and sets you just Just at sorrow's waterline I drape you on tomorrow's plate Ferrous, metal marrow spilling Not yours, but mine. I'm an agent Of the natural word Don't you tell me I didn't warn you That that's some gravity You ought not to play with There's nothing quite so poison As a promise And me I am not a mess I'm a wilderness, yes The undiscovered continent For you to undress But you'll not be my master You're barely my guest You don't have permission To take any pictures Be careful. Of the natural world Nature can't amend it's ways It boils hell-on and then replays Despite heartfelt springtimes of regret The storm she still cries for days Have mercy on the natural world Last lion of albion Early in the morning Where there used to be a slough There's a tiny business lake Don't let the cattails fool you Down in the bottom Where nothin' is born Sleeps a silver dollar With your face thereon I wish I could trace the frowning compass Of your mouth Drop a mercury dime down a roman drain And summon mars Last lion of albion They'll use you for centuries to come They'll steal your patents for the sun And you'll feel extinction When you see your face on their money Help and participate instead of copy and paste Late in the heavens That are already bought Sleeps a red planet In the galaxy of a lion's thoughts On the surface every tendon And intended machine Is gonna buckle, knuckle, kneel On a carpet of lion's tongues I wish I could stand in the spray At the cliff of your sleek revenge Oceans of naked, serrated marble Crushing in Last lion of albion They'll use you for centuries to come Your wound is the main road into london You'll feel extinction When you see your face on their money Last lion of albion The last she-wolf to mother rome The last virgin to wash ashore You'll feel extinction.. Last lion of albion The last of the mohican's gone The last cedars of lebanon You'll feel extinction Last lion of albion Last tiger of tasmania The last she-wolf to suckle rome When you see your face on their money Halls of sarah Childless widow of a nation You cry like guns across the water Yet we expect you to bring springtime It isn't fair Searchlights wither in your hair You are a silent movie, sarah They build their industries around you Diverting rivers of your hair They're looking for their own reflection You're left to die of exposure, sarah Help and participate instead of copy and paste Sarah, with the beaten heart Sarah, with the mouth of stone Sarah, with the You are a silent movie, sarah Let her go the light is fading I cry like guns across the water She didn't ask to be your remake or your muse We're parasites inside her blues Sarah, with the beaten heart Sarah, with the mouth of stone I call but there is no one home Sarah, with the beaten heart Sarah, with the mouth of stone I call but there is only echo From a recording machine Screaming "haunt your own vampire dreams!" You see our poets Do an odious business Loving womankind As lions love christians so Who are you to deny Who are you to deny them, Sarah Bad luck Are you tired of things going right Things going wrong Tired of trying to make everyone happy Too tired to sing your own songs Do you wish you stop everything And take back your love Say you're sorry that you let it go so easy And cry like you're trying to be born I woke a dog from a running dream And that's bad luck Ate a black fly in the cream That's bad luck I chipped my tooth on an engagement ring That's bad luck I could have stopped anyone of these things But that would have been bad luck Help and participate instead of copy and paste So I died and went to work So I died and went to work It's not as bad as I thought it would be But it's still pretty bad luck And love The most contrary assett of them all Oh, love Dragging in on nature's coattails Acting like it wrote the moon Trying to pass riddles for poetry Embargo is love's waiting room And meantime Right here in human time My heart could break for a one-legged seagull And still afford nothing to you That's bad luck Curse of the i-5 corridor I waited too long to write this down The startling sensation is fading The sweet, sweet burn Of the first drink of the night, underage And knowing that you're gonna get away with it You were a good man before you knew it And i'm not vain enough to think That i'd have been good for you if i'd stayed In the current of your life I was an eyelash in the shipping lanes Now i'm so scared about mystery I fear I smell extinction In the folds of this novocaine age coming on I miss the smell of mystery Reverb leaking out of tavern doors And not knowing How the sounds were made So I left home and I faked my i.d. I fucked every man that I wanted to be I was so stupid then Why should mystery give it's life for me Help and participate instead of copy and paste Baby I'm afraid But it's not your fault Maybe I should go Home alone tonight Now I see you in our old home Where i'm always scared to go Those thirty garbage miles Making wet cigarette butts and used tires To be poor as the anchor that makes us so sure Your sandy voice across my brow You haven't aged a day Is it because you took a shortcut That makes people say you're crazy Is it true You're a time traveler you Is it true You've seen crazy too Can it be a comfort between us Because I never want to know for sure Baby i'm afraid But it's not your fault Maybe I should go home alone tonight Now I write this in a pale town Where excitement is a yellow curb My dream awake leaps through my window From the highway You turn my head and set the brake too late Release the tears of metric tons The crash. It comes. And pours down my public face Behind a reservoir of collarbones And forms two private lakes Baby, I'm afraid Your orbit is so easy You haven't gained a day We're two self fulfilling prophecies Who don't even have each other Not that we would ever get away with it Gumball blue So sorry for the trouble The times we've been afraid of each other Because we didn't understand All the spells we cast without trying We pushed through Shipwreck in my lap Sorry stains my mouth Gumball blue Help and participate instead of copy and paste Through damp bodies crammed in times square I logged a furious path one-handed To a hotel with no one waiting But me, and me and my whole life, a fever And the phone How was I to know Sorry stains my mouth Gumball blue When strangers say I love you Your banished to a planet with no sound No sound But you come back for me Sometimes only for your own piece of mind Sometimes where there's smoke It's just a smoke machine, honey I've lived singing your songs Long legged mazes and english geometry Daring not consider we were here Should we break spells without trying We cut our lasers short at crying And kindly banish This soundless planet To stain the edges of the nebula Gumball blue Another happy new year Dirty diamond Found these in a box at the bus stop My name's at the bottom But im nowhere to be found I really get around they say So I take these sightless creatures home And I fear them so to tremble For i'm no mother, I Just some random defender Help and participate instead of copy and paste I remember runnin' chest-high In the steppe grass At the dawn of man When we got along We raced along the ground I chased it out of town The sun's the meanest easy target that I know We played a tender game Of "kissing cobra tag” We slept astride our horses Tied fast in their manes My friend would touch my face And leave a star or two The years left constellations Of our wild language What drove the sun away? I'm far to small to know A gaslight's winter Marches on refinery legs And what can I tell you now? It sped away along the canal And drummed mosquito clouds From their dens of hot tires For miles Oh, petroleum You're the top predator now Soverign, lover, liar But you're uninspired too According to your anthem, you Oh, petroleum You're the top predator now And I am just desire Yes, one dirty diamond Some random defender I sold my flesh that I might die So the world will spin And my cubs won't cry I have to be the sun for them Oh, petroleum You are beautiful But so am I I'm a dirty diamond lying looking at the sky Oracle of the maritimes I planned a dream inside a dream With your uncle A fisherman who died "The oracle of the maritimes" Too cloudy to see fireworks We would ride A chest of drawers into the waves His granite hand held mine I asked him how to tell you How much I could love you Cause i've never been so sure of anything Help and participate instead of copy and paste Sometimes I feel so beautiful It's strange For a tomboy Bruises up her legs Your big hand holds my face Sometimes I feel so ugly I'm afraid Worry nesting in my hair Shedding like a christmas tree Surely there's a real woman Coming to erase me There's no way I could tell you How much I could love you Cause i've never been so scared of anything And i'm not even wearing underwear In no way exotic I just forgot to And i'm too much for people So I gauge And shout my thoughts To you from a distance That's no way to tell you How much I could love you Though i've never been so sure of anything He let go of my hand And passed me an oar The oracle of the maritimes He said "come on sweet girl Let's find you an ocean That goes with your eyes" Winnie I'm here to tell you a story I'm here to tell you a lie My poetry's weak and I know it I was drop dead sad and crazy sometimes So I fucked off Wayward cannon To the sea On land I was just an appetite All that started as a joke now ruled me Sick on chronic mathematics I just wanted to feel music Help and participate instead of copy and paste A fever delivered me from the flu The night hag's hands spread lovingly Pulling the cape from the sunrise Revealing a bank of warships called "she" Less warlike then reckless I realized No weapons were drawn that I could see Save the blazing stare of their captain Who held lightning captive Frim in her teeth I looked off the edge of the world I saw the girl who changed everything That's when I met winnie I wanted to be her sailor's tattoo She sang me a song that was too sad for some Struck up the band and filled up her lungs Her mouth was sharp as the rib of a star As she told no tame truths That would break our own hearts "We were warriors! We clothed ourselves in the guts of our enemies Who'd no respect for the wild!" "warriors! Long before hot wire, safari park husbandry And the joy ran through us like a welders flux We just wanted to be music!" Her gravity pulled up my sad remains Into the curve of cunning bow I've loved you so long, winnie I want to be your sailor's tattoo I've loved you so long, winnie Blurring, softly into you Sleep all summer Weary sun, sleep tonight, go crashing into the ocean Cut the line that ties the tide and moon, ancient and blue We take our empty hearts and fill them up with broken things To hang on humming wire like cheap lamps down a dead end street Close your weary eyes until the wintertime And every time we turn away it hits me like a tidal wave I would change for you but, babe, that doesn't mean I'm gonna be a better man Give the ocean what I took from you so one day you could find it in the sand And hold it in your hands again Cold ways kill cool lovers Strange ways we used each other Why won't you fall back in love with me There ain't no way we're gonna find another The way we sleep all summer So why won't you fall back in love with me Combing over broken cross I held on you Haunted by the ghost of something new Curtains fall, fashions fade, an endless summer over Another tide to launch an autumn moon over the dunes There must be a better way to pull a home apart To keep the walls from caving in Another way to while away from you, frozen and blue Close your weary eyes until the wintertime But every time we turn away it surges like a tidal wave I would change for you but, babe, that doesn't mean I'm gonna be a better man Give the ocean what I took from you so one day you could find it in the sand And hold it in your hands again Cold ways kill cool lovers Strange way we use each other Why won't you fall back in love with me There ain't no way we're gonna find another The way we sleep all summer Why won't you fall back in love with me My uncle's navy There's memories i'd pay to remove I'd cut them out myself If that were possible The kind you cry yourself blind about The kind that choke you out Choke you out I had an uncle who was not by blood He loved to scare all the little girls away And if you're tender-hearted You should stop the tape Stop the tape Help and participate instead of copy and paste He pulled the heads off of garter snakes I cried so helpless for those Silent creatures Twisting away from The horror In the tarpit sea Memories wear thick coats The kind that pull you down But in refusing to drown You're choked into the shape of A sailor Deputized by the cruel god of children No running water in his soul Just a hole That echoed when he'd call your name From down the hall His name was a command That cuts the ears off fighting dogs And wipes the knife On his militia pants Mercurochrome and merthiolate stains, oh Mercurochrome and merthiolate stans, oh And he's braggin' all the while "If I say that black is blue, it's blue Black is blue, if I say it is" I never wondered what made him that way Bullies are not born They are pressed into a form And I hated those who gave him access To our days The ones who did nothin' I still can't love them Mercurochrome and merthiolate stains, oh Mercurochrome and merthiolate stains, oh Pitch or honey I hear overtones That make this another song Out of reach of human hands We don't have control I use major chords To make this a sadder song An effective manipulation Moonlight reflected is many times stronger I wrote this song for me But now I let it go From the island of the texaco I release it into the custody Of my huckleberry friend Help and participate instead of copy and paste Am I making pitch or honey I've no idea why I feel strong Am I making pitch or honey "It's the gift that keeps on getting That's the shrapnel from your wedding," she said Hey, I love you better when you're wild It suit's you better if I say so I hear overtones that make this another song Out of reach of human hands We don't have control When I am dark and I am down As dark and down as I am now The only thing that makes me smile Is to remember That i'm beloved of the wild And may you ever return To the warmth of your species
Non Albums Tracks
Alone and Forsaken
( Canadian amp EP )
We met in the springtime When blossoms unfold The pastures were green and Meadows were gold Our love was in flower as summer grew on A love like the leaves has withered and gone The roses have faded There’s frost at my door The birds in the morning don’t sing anymore The grass in the valley has started to die And out in the darkness the whippoorwills will cry Alone and forsaken Oh lord if you hear me then hold to my hand Oh please understand Where has she gone to, oh where can she be She may have forsaken some other like me She promised to honor, to love and obey Each vow was a plaything that she threw away The darkness is falling The sky has turned gray A hound in the distance is starting to bay I wonder, I wonder what she’s thinking of Forsaken, forgotten without any love Alone and forsaken By Fate and by man Oh lord if you hear me then hold to my hand Oh please understand Oh please understand
*** Thanx a lot to Wen who corrected a mistake ***
Andy
One, two, three, four Andy The summer's over I never noticed Did you really think you'd leave so fast This morning Was feeling colder One year older Did you really think we'd feel so bad Andy It scares me sober Think it's over Did you really think we'd feel so bad Did you really think we'd feel so bad It helped me through the spring Just to dream of what it might become Woke up to find it'd been here and gone Andy Summer's over I never noticed Did you really think you'd leave so fast Did you really think you'd leave so fast Did you really think you'd leave so fast
*** Thanx a lot to Vorty for this one ***
Be And Bring Me Home (Roky Erickson cover / May The Circle Remain Unbroken: A Tribute To Roky Erickson LP) If the way is clear, my friend, quick If the way is clear, my friend, don't kick Suddenly my fireplace is friendly Bringing me home Suddenly I may control Take little things meaning big so I'm not alone Suddenly I'm not sick Won't you be and bring me home Be and bring me home Be and bring me home We can't roam Be and bring me home Her jewelry drops all its grime Fed-up crazy love fanatics lose their crazy rhyme We are ahead of time All I can hear now is your chime You find out that you are what's spoken for And you find out that you have no broken door Nothing is known of where to go back for more Like the waves are sparkling Just like the diamond shore Be and bring me home Be and bring me home We can't roam Be and bring me home You have your side, it's yours Except for us if it's your pleasure You can tap on my mind You can play the cat jive Someone was missing love And now this someone is going home I knew that you were missing, but I couldn't tell how And I'm missing you and me receives that we are not alone Be and bring me home Be and bring me home We can't roam Be and bring me home They told me you were dirty I don't see no dirt on you Told me you were strong Funny, I don't feel hurt They told me you were a criminal But no one sees no crime And they said I might need their dirty prisons But I love the way you won't give me time Be and bring me home Be and bring me home We can't roam Be and bring me home I don't care what they tell me I don't care what they say And I don't care what they think I'll love my family always Special and magical music Those feelings from one to another No foot moves through you trying for to kick I won't jump on you even though we are all rubber Be and bring me home Be and bring me home We can't roam Be and bring me home
Behind The House ( Live at Austin & Bonus track of Fox confessor LP ) Night I woke up crying in the lane behind the house Clothes wet and steaming by the time I figured it out You didn't die in the fire Was the flood that carried you from me And the embers of your house still glowing Make it hard, to sleep It's hard to breathe There's not much room to go more crazy A flaming sword above my head for all of you to see Beware, my girl, beware Beware, my girl beware of these memories And what is real, what is real Walked this world forever in a dream Or is this the land of the living Or is this your way to tell me That I Could have saved you I couldn't save you
*** Thanx a lot to Unwoman for this one ***
Brown-Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry / Hard-Headed Woman: A Celebration of Wanda Jackson LP) Arrested on charges of unemployment He was sitting in the witness stand The judge's wife called up the district attorney Said, "you free that brown-eyed man You want your job, you better free that brown-eyed man" Milo Venus was a beautiful lass She had the world in the palm of her hand She lost both her arms in a wrestling match To get brown-eyed handsome man She fought and won herself a brown-eyed handsome man Two three to count nobody own He had a high fly into the stands Round in thirty coming in for home It was a brown-eyed handsome man That won the game; it was a brown-eyed handsome man Well, I was flying across the desert in a TWA I saw a woman walking across the sand Walked thirty miles en route to Bombay To get a brown-eyed handsome man Her destination was a brown-eyed handsome man That won the game; it was a brown-eyed handsome man She fought and won herself a brown-eyed handsome man
Buckets of Rain ( Bob Dylan's cover - live at NPR ) Buckets of rain Buckets of tears Got all them buckets comin' out of my ears Buckets of moonbeams in my hand You got all the love, honey baby I can stand I been meek And hard like an oak I seen pretty people disappear like smoke Friends will arrive, friends will disappear If you want me, honey baby I'll be here I like your smile And your fingertips I like the way that you move your lips I like the cool way you look at me Everything about you is bringing me Misery Little red wagon Little red bike I ain't no monkey but I know what I like I like the way you love me strong and slow I'm takin' you with me, honey baby When I go Life is sad Life is a bust All you can do is do what you must You do what you must do and you do it well I'll do it for you, honey baby Can't you tell
*** Thanx a lot to Julija for this one ***
Dedication hour (M. Ward feat. Neko Case & Gabriel Kahane) This one goes straight to my head Radio see through, it's true It's dedication hour This one's dedicated to you All you hear is all I am Just a clue as to who, who I'll be It's dedication hour When you dedicated I knew we made it 'Cause you sent out this one to me This groove goes straight to my head So pour me one more red And I'll make the next one blue And I'll dedicate it to you
Dreaming man
I'm a dreaming man Yes that's my problem (Dreaming man) I can't tell when I'm Not being real In the meadow dusk I park my Aerostar (Dreaming man) With a loaded gun And sweet dreams of you I'll always be a dreaming man I don't have to understand I know it's all right See your curves and I Feel your vibrations (Dreaming man) You're dressed in black and white You're lost in the mall I watch you disappear Past Club Med vacations (Dreaming man) Another sleepless night A sun that won't fall I'll always be a dreaming man I don't have to understand I know it's all right Now the night is gone A new day is dawning (Dreaming man) And our homeless dreams Go back to the street Another time or place Another civilization (Dreaming man) That really make this life Feel so complete I'll always be a dreaming man I don't have to understand I know it's all right Dreaming man He's got a plan (Dreaming man) Dreaming man He's got a plan (Dreaming man) Dreaming man He's got a plan Dreaming man
In California
In California I dream of snow And all the places we used to go With the night falling down With the night falling down Now I’m living in Korea Town Waking to the sound of car alarms I remember your face when I showed you the ticket Said you were happy for me, your heart wasn’t in it Just a phone call away Now there’s nothing to say As the days roll by, disconnected In the land where the sun is always shining on Crying alone, palm tress are laughing at me Another fool playing songs that don't matter For people who chatter endlessly Another suicide on the 405 The Black Dahlia she’s smiles and smiles It’s the same old town that bled her dry One more starlet one more time Bound to make it do or die Talk a walk to Bonnie Brae Try to wash these dreams away They try to tell me L.A is beautiful when it rains
*** Thanx a lot to Rhiannon & Wen & Rick who corrected a mistake ***
Knock Loud
( Canadian amp EP ) Knock loud, I’m home Just sleeping to pass the time Wondering if you’ll come by to visit me Ten years have passed Since you walked out of my life But late last night in the pharmacy You were in the line in front of me So I ran away to hide Knock loud I’m home I wrote in black felt pen Took that sign and taped it to the door If you come in To see how I have been Make sure the door is closed behind you Stand above me While I poised do plunge Through my heart attack Kills the worst of me Said I was sorry Drink to forgive I wake up alone Knock loud I’m home
Make Your Bed
( Canadian amp EP ) Make your bed the river young girl Make your bed the river young girl La la la la la la… Make your bed the river young girl Did you come here to meet him my dear You’re surprised to find only me Well I put him to rest at the bend in the river And the same I require of you I’m thick with disease in my madness Only one thought pacifies me That the murky black water grounds your bones to sand When the catfish have stripped off your hide Make your bed the river young girl Make your bed the river young girl I know you can’t swim but I’ll tuck you in Make your bed the river young girl So go down as his trembling bride For too frail are fury inside And if there’s a chance the Lord recognizes you Pray he has more mercy than I Make your bed the river young girl Make your bed the river young girl I know you can’t swim but I’ll tuck you in Make your bed the river young girl Make your bed the river young girl
Madonna of the Wasps ( Robyn Hitchcock Cover / The Worse Things Get LP Deluxe ed. ) Is this love Is this love Is this love Lost Madonna of the Wasps I wonder where we crossed I wonder why she lost me Lost Madonna of the Wasps She's dying in the frost I wonder what she cost me Is this love Lost Madonna of the swans She waves a magic wand And then she settles on me I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake Wise Madonna of the flies I look into her eyes And then she recognize me Is this love Is this love Lost Madonna of the Wasps I wonder where we crossed I wonder where she lost me Lost Madonna of the Wasps She's lying in the frost I wonder what she cost me Is this love Is this love
Nothing To Remember ( The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond (2012) OST ) I spend my life becoming invisible It's hard to maintain, and it's hard to get by I don't recall fight or flight setting in I have no introduction, I just breath it in Like the air, and there's nothing to remember There is nothing to remember I owe you nothing, that's all I've got for you And you'll borrow nothing, that's what you expect of me So you send me a lot out of thin sailors' knots And I fear underneath the weight of your thoughts My footsteps now they will echo too loudly I'm always on the run and I hate copy paste for god's sake All I owe, all I owe, strides I spend to the finish line All I owe, all I owe, strides I spend to the finish line I'll give you those You told me something that scared me to death Don't take me home, I can't face that yet I'm ashamed that I'm barely human And I'm ashamed that I don't have a heart you can break I'm just action and at other times reaction All I owe, all I owe, strides I spend to the finish line All I owe, all I owe, strides I spend to the finish line I'll give you those Just don't make me go home Give me something to remember Give me something to remember Give me something to remember Poor Ellen Smith ( Canadian amp EP ) Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found Shot through the heart lying cold on the ground Her body was mangled, and all cast around A blood marks the spot where poor Ellen was found They picked up her body, and carried it away Now she's a-sleepin' in some lonesome grave Who had the heart, and who had the brain To shoot my little darling on that cold lonesome plain They picked up their rifles, and hunted us down They found us a loafin' all around town The judge my convict me, and God knows he can But I know I died as an innocent man I've been in this prison for seven long years Each night I see Ellen through my bitter tears I got a letter yesterday I read it today The flowers on her grave have all faded away The warden just told me that soon I'll be free To go to her grave 'neath that old willow tree I'm free from the walls of that prison, at last But I'll never be free from my sins of the past Poor Ellen Smith, how was she found Shot through the heart lying cold on the ground