1. |
RESET
04:23
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on a bus or a bike or however you like
let’s reset
back to that fixed point in space and on the clock face
where we first met
and i’ll wear my grey flannel shirt
you wear your scarf and that dress
and pretend all that’s happened to us
hasn’t happened yet
you may get startled being dragged
a couple wall calendars back
oh, are you dizzy yet?
don’t worry, girl, we’re just a block
away from our old coffee shop
so let’s visit it, oh they’re not closed yet
and i know that we cannot last
consuming pieces of the past like it’s food
but let’s try to make it through this song
oh you be strong and i’ll be strong for you
escape with me, come with me
achingly, hungrily
i’ve got some plans for us
take my hand and we will dance
into the sweetest second chance
oh we’re the lucky ones
and cosmic dust and star perfume
will trace our steps around the room
oh we’re burning suns we are
bright and young we are
and if the music isn’t in you
i’d rather kiss you behind the venue you must know
i know last time where we burnt out
so i charted a different route – let’s go.
escape with me, come with me
achingly, hungrily
i’ve got some plans for us
i plotted a course, i’m following stars
to where my path and yours melts into ours
would it help to say i’m sorry
that i wrote you into this story
and here’s the part where we
were scribbled in to kiss
you go like that i go like this and we go
but if by night we could decrypt
the light of stars and scratch the script
well maybe we could shine again
and i’d say it’s so nice to to meet you
and now you say, it’s so nice to meet you
oh it’s so nice to meet you for the very first time again
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2. |
DAYS WITH WINGS
03:02
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when days with wings like these are dawned
we put our pilots’ goggles on
we put our pilots’ goggles on
we put them on
when hearts as large as ours are pierced
our blood is hot and thick and fierce
we fill our glasses to the top
don’t spill a drop
spread our wings and we fall
raise our voices and sing
we’ve got nothing at all
we’ve got nothing
when clouds as dark as these roll in
we turn our faces towards the wind
bring on the wind, bring on the rain
we’re not afraid
and when it comes and if it’s bad
and if the wind takes off our hats
we won’t be scared by any storm
we’ll huddle close for warmth
spread our wings and we fall
raise our voices and sing
we’ve got nothing at all
we’ve got nothing
spread our wings and we fall
punctured hearts and we bleed
we’ve got nothing at all
we’ve got all that we need
when afternoons are long and gone
we wave at the departing sun
when evening’s anchor’s weighed then we
will watch the stars over the sea
when nights this thick and sweet sink in
take off our heavy things and swim
and kick until we can no more
and wash up on the morning’s shore
when days…
when days with wings like these are dawned
we put our pilots’ goggles on
we put our pilots’ goggles on
we put them on.
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3. |
RESIGNATION
05:33
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got your resignation
you had problems left to solve
guess you grew impatient
with how slowly we evolve
making calculations
mixing chemicals and things
trying to persuade
your two arms to turn to wings
and i tried explaining
that you really have to wait
and there is no changing,
that’s just how we operate.
heard your days in shambles
you fell down and you got hurt
taking soil samples
wondering what is in the dirt
that makes you feel so heavy
what magnetic forces steer
you so each and every
step just leads you back here
and i ask politely
can i get a drink for you?
and you smile slightly
say i’m only passing through
only passing through.
got your resignation
you had problems left to solve
guess you grew impatient
with how slowly we evolve
making calculations
mixing chemicals and things
trying to persuade
your two arms to turn to wings
heard you’re through with practice
heard you’re done dealing with doubt
got your world atlas
looking for a way out
where’s the greyhound going?
what’s the airline’s cheapest rate?
or does someone know when
that next shuttle leaves for space?
but each time you try to
you can’t find your car keys
so the summer drives you
so the summer drives you
let the summer drive you
crazy
so if you’re feeling stifled
and you’re down on your knees
and life’s too true to life
and it’s too much to beleieve
it only takes a knife
and the intention to bleed
the resolution to leave
the resignation to go
i think it’s time you quit
i think it’s time you quit
quitting.
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4. |
GREAT BIG HEART
02:56
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you’ve got a great big heart
and i think we better cut it out
i’ve got a sharp sharp knife
and a surgeons eye for décor
i’ve got a big world atlas
but i haven’t got it figured out
i thought that we were going nowhere
but it seems we took a detour
so strap yourself in
and turn yourself on
i want to win
before the motivation’s gone
every single morning
make another suicide pact
and every afternoon
we think of how we will enact it
and every little evening
let’s stay focused don’t get sidetracked
until morning comes around
and it seems we got distracted
and covered in dew
and naked and cold
i turn to you
and you turn to gold.
another meteor shower
and i think the stars are on to me
because they keep on falling closer
and i’m just about to lose hope
and maybe it’s because
i flunked out of astronomy
or ‘cause i always put more faith
in the horo- than the tele-scope
you’ve got a great big heart.
they say the body is a bandage
used to stop the spirit bleeding
and i think i’m being candid
that it’s time we take the cast off
so take off all your clothes
‘cause where we’re going
you won’t need them
swallow the instructions
and prepare yourself for blast off
so strap yourself in
and turn yourself off
you can learn how to win
or you can learn how to love
i want to learn how to love
i want to learn how to love
i want to learn how to love
so let me learn how to
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5. |
UNSET
02:37
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i’ve got a rope going to unset the sunset and bring it back
i’ve got a rope
going to lasso the sunset
and pull till she’s undressed
and everything’s sunlit
but wait – i’m not done yet
tie one end to a tree
so we can have an afternoon
however long that we
feel
like it.
i’ve got a rope going to unset the sunset and bring it back
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6. |
DECEMBER
07:09
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is it cold where you are
is the night full of stars like these
do you feel the same breeze
is it please to believe
that all of the tree leaves
have fallen, have settled
have given up freely
conceded, resigned to their failure
and would it remind you
if twice repeated
or find you familiar
that it is the same thing that we did
or at least similar.
but if the leaves fall,
well it’s nothing symbolic
so spare the invective, remember
it’s december. it’s expected.
is it cold where you are
is the heat in your car just as useless
i don’t know if you knew this
or if you even care
but i swear that to have it repaired
was on my to-do list
it was scribbled in sideways
between buying you something so pretty to wear
and cooking you dinner on friday.
but oh tell me where was the courtesy
and oh behind two eyes so clueless
won’t you tell me what smile lay
that you’d consider leaving on a thursday
and what’s more, that you’d actually choose this
to carve your space in the driveway.
and we all know the roadway
to making things okay
is circuitous
and the road leading out is a highway.
i think your story proves this
but if the heat falters
or if the car stalls
well, it’s nothing symbolic
it’s nothing at all
it’s no sign of nothing so hopeless
and so if it deserves it
you give it a jump start
and if not’s worth it
you haul it to the junkyard
but i think you already know this
is it cold where you are
is the door cracked ajar to your room
is the light of the moon
undermining the gloom
and filtering down through the blinds
and casting white lines on the floorboards
your two tired eyes drawn towards them
how like dust or like leaves they will settle
like the flickering heat you can’t depend on
when the clouds gather breath and balloon
transfixed like lips kissed to cold metal
can you find some envelope to send on
can you do it soon
can you draw up some ink from the well of the night
take those feathery clouds and pick out a plume
can you gather your thoughts like the stars in the sky
and sit down and write me a letter
and i give you my word
if you’d send some of yours
i would be such an attentive reader
and tell me, my darling
is it cold where you are
and please know
it’s not all that warm here, either
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7. |
YOU'LL BE FINE
00:35
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when i say that i'm not worried about you anymore
please don't take it out of line
i just mean to say i know that you'll be fine
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8. |
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if the world was really flat
if it really had an edge
we could pile in the car
we could drive out to the ledge
we could get out and we’d walk
till we’re standing at the rim
we’d crack some beers and crack some jokes
about if somebody fell in
we could sit down where we stood
with the cities at our backs
staking out the choicest real estate
of a view into the black
we are lost and losing track
of ourselves, the beers, the hours
legs dangling into nothingness
toes dipping into stars
if we chanced to skip some stones
just how many would it take
to redraw the constellations
with the ripples that we make
to create a different shape
one whose outline would suggest
a girl holding hands with a boy
at the edge of the world
if the night was made of water
if the moon was angled right
if we had the proper length of string
to lasso that thing tight
we could hoist ourselves up on the rope
and swing out off the rim
and splash into the darkness there
but what would we do then?
we’d swim
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9. |
GOOD SONG
04:28
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if you’re letting me down
lower me slowly
when no one’s around
you and i glow in the dark
like a couple of sparklers
but if you’re letting me go
make sure to use both hands
don’t be lingering so
at the end of the slow dance
move on, it’s the end of our song
it was a good song
let it be a good song gone
if you’re calling it quits
call it out loudly
and when the earth splits
would you stand by it proudly
the ground cleaves
creating new boundaries
that rivers will fill
and then canyons divide
and you stay on your side
i’ll stay on our side
and we can both wave
and call it a day
and i don’t no long love letters
or standing offers
to make things better
by making them softer
let this be the peace toast
where my feet are i’ll stay
and i’ll take the east coast
and you take the highway
and don’t go listening to our song
let it be a good song gone
no don’t go whistling our song
let it be a good song gone
oh it was a good song
let it be a good song gone
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10. |
EAST
05:32
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write me a letter
give me something to read through
tell me you’re better
but lie if you need to
i haven’t heard good news for three or four weeks
send me a postcard
of somewhere you visit
tell me it’s lovely
well, how lovely is it?
how does the sunset color the beach?
tell me you miss me
wish you were with me
or closer, at least
and say it’s okay that we’re fuckups and freaks.
i can be strong whenever i choose to
i’ve got two hands and i might just use them
to get in the car and point the car east
six cups of coffee, and darling i’m trying
i let the stereo do most of the driving
i’m somewhere else, i’m with you i think
when you’re in the kitchen
listen for my engine
my hands at your door
tired and shaking, put them in yours.
if ever my voice sounds like there’s something it’s masking
it is a question that i’ll never ask you:
would you leave the east coast
and come back with me?
and leave all your bones at the beach to get buried
i’ll get a real job, and we can get married
and try to be happy on a teacher’s salary
the dog knocks over the trashcan
you dream of waves crashing
over bones buried deep
i pick it back up and you go back to sleep.
i’ll pick it back up and you go back to sleep
you know it’s okay that we’re fuckups and freaks
i’ll pick it back up and you go back to sleep
i’ll get in the car and i’ll point the car east
we’ll pick it back up and you go back to sleep
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11. |
HOLY QUIET
00:37
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if you’ve got nothing to say to me now
then say it like you mean it
like you believe it
like it’s the holiest silence you ever let fall from your lips
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12. |
MOUNTAIN
03:59
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with what’s left of me
i will build a mountain
my fingers are trees
they point to the skies
my feet are long roots
sending down shoots
and drinking you water
my hair is wild grass
it falls down my sides
my flesh is the soil
earthen slopes of stones piled steeply
and my bones are just bones
buried deep
take a walk to the top
you can take in the view
take a good look around
for an hour or two
and if there’s something you’ve found
that you want
then you
can take it back down then
and with what’s left of me
i will build a mountain
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13. |
WATER
04:26
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i took a little spill
i fell pretty far i fear
i fell a few thousand feet
through some planet’s atmosphere
but i landed on my feet, somehow
now i’m assessing the damage done
my body’s banged up, my dear
but each and all of my thoughts are clear as water
i walked an hour or so
without a sign of where i was
and so i walked some more
i found a river there
one thousand feet below
a mountain i was standing tall on
i felt my body go
next thing that i recall was water.
now i’m feeling fine again
and i can do anything
i got your letter, babe
from a passing flock of birds
i liked what you had to say
and i loved the spaces between your words
it’s a delicate editing act
the surgical use of a fine red pen
to say all that you want to with tact
but leave enough out to let the light in
and it’s really a remarkable gift
one i wasn’t blessed in being born with
and sometimes i wonder if
i left too much of the good stuff out.
i left too much of it out.
but that doesn’t matter now
i’m here to love you now
yes, i’m here to love you now
i’m here to love you
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14. |
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let this be a place you stay
in between your other destinations
i know that you’re on your way
to somewhere else still i think it’d be fine
to see again your pretty face
to hear your laugh, those blue eyes i dive into
so sit down please and allow me
to catch up before you race ahead again
if we chance to spill some wine
into ourselves and then we get to talking
if it drips down to our feet
we leave our seats and you and i go walking
simple streets we won’t get lost in
sunny skies painted pastel
i smell of sweat and smoke from austin
but you’re as cool as sweet as asheville
and we don’t have to meet our lips
and we don’t have to mold our hips
together if you tell me this
it’s nice to see you
it’s been a little while
it’s nice to see you
it’s been a little while
it’s nice to
when the wind is high and right
we take our kites to fields outside the city
i’ll let go when the string is tight
see if we can get this thing up off the ground
when night pulls down a curtain on the daytime
we head back to town, i hope you’ll stay i’m
missing you a lot these days
i don’t know what i’m doing in this town
and when september rolls around here
if your heart has had some bad luck
if a cure cannot be found here
maybe we can pack the car up
if i remember where your porch is
and if these wheels withstand the rattle
of a highway headed northwest
we’ll spend some time up in seattle
and bum around the small cafes
spend all we saved for rainy days
and try to find ourselves a place
where we’ll be happy
for just a little while
or maybe longer
than just a little while
it’s nice to
see you later see you there
i’ll see you later see you there
let this be a place you stay
between where you are and where it is you’re going
i promise you that it’s okay
to settle here if only like a feather
falling off an autumn breeze
before again that winter wind starts blowing
just let me be a friend in need
and need me now and then, forever
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15. |
WAIT NOW
01:45
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say you like the way that we unfolded
like a flower stretching petals in the morning
wait now
hold it
wait now
slowly
wait now
wait now
say you like the way that we unraveled
spinning distances between us we can’t travel
with an ink pen
with a spaceship
with a bike
so just be patient
wait now
wait now
all we can say is
wait now
wait now
wait now
wait now
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Black Balsam Austin, Texas
it's gonna take a long time
but i'll wander back
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