1. |
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Such an eerie quality
you wonder if you're waking up or falling into a dream
you walk the empty streets of some weird impressionism scene
and you don't know where you are and you most certainly don't know where you've been
and body ache and body ring you're so afflicted.
But ropes of red and blue and gold
how violently they cut a path
through the darkness and the cold and through the cracks in the firmament to find you.
All that living just for this... There must be some kind of mistake!
Well you've got no place to go but you want to go there anyway
and you've got a questionable grasp on reality but you've got grace.
Well, you know... it looks that way but maybe you're just terrified.
But ropes of red and blue and gold
how violently they cut a path
through the darkness and the cold and through the cracks in the firmament to find...
You are where they join.
They find a voice inside you
and you carve a path through space and time
and I would run beside you, I would run beside you.
Like a ghost bereft and beggared you meet the light of day
you push flesh and blood from marrow until it's time to fade again
and you walk along the threshold in your head
and you think maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow.
But ropes of red and blue and gold
how violently they cut a path
through the darkness and the cold and through the cracks in the firmament to find you, to find you.
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2. |
Fishes
03:51
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My father was a fisherman.
He'd step off of the edge of the land
to move upon the water
and sink his eyes and cast his net and gaze into the churning depths
and with the cunning art of mortals draw from raging deep
the roaming tribes of the sea
And ever would he labour there but wayward are the ranging bands
and ailing is the light
and though swift and sure the fisher's hand fading is the sight of men
and endless are the lives that move there in the raging deep
the roaming tribes of the sea
Ruling
down where the rivers meet
and who could name them certainty?
Creatures vicious and fleeting fishes;
baffling visions in the sea
My father was a fisherman
He stepped off of the edge of the land
to move upon the water
and sink his eyes and cast his net and gaze into the churning depths
and with the fisher's art of mortals said:
"Rise my child and follow me! A fisherman I'll make of thee!"
But wayward are the lives that move there in the deep
and ailing is the light
and no lesser tribes than blessed land feeds briny sea.
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3. |
I Break My Heart
06:06
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I once thought the world such a dark place
of inky rivers under distant start
until I sailed a vein that ran right through me
to a black and bitter heart.
And I wondered who'd deprived me of the strength and the light
and come reaching like a shadow in the night
until I found that very thief inside me
feeding like a parasite
and I commit a crime.
And I'm the one who breaks my heart
and I plunge the world into the dark
and I rob myself of wind and spark
until I see by a different light.
I don't remember that I took that poison
forgot that I had ever had the choice
but I see now that I took that cup and drank it down
a beggar for the sorrow
holding out my hand.
And sorrow has it's own peculiar beauty
a memory like a hand around a sword
hold it gently and it remains a sweet reminder
but too tight and it makes a heart grow cold
too tight and it makes a heart grow cold.
And I'm the one who breaks my heart
and I plunge the world into the dark
and I rob myself of wind and spark
until I see by a different light.
What now? Who am I that I would do this to myself?
And what's life in the light to one raised in the night?
I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!
To wear the marks and that look in the eye of strange destinations!
And what's life in the light to one raised in the night?
I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!
I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!
I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!
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4. |
Shhh
05:04
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When the world was young and hearts were free of all the souls it came to me.
A peculiar charge, mine to keep, of the queerest flavour, the strangest...
I forced it down and held my peace and in my heart I harbored it
but in their vessels they live and breath, and on their keepers secrets feed.
I put it under lock and key and keep it down in cellar deep,
but God gave it claws and the teeth to rend the world asunder.
And it rises up, and kicks and screams, a vengeful brute to havoc reek.
But I choke it down and I fill the breech until again with bloody mind it creeps towards the light.
Mender, maker, lover, thief; all of them their secrets keep.
But what good could come of this? What art? What prize? What bliss?
Well, there's solace in the shade it gives and in knowing always where it is,
cause though within its cage it seethes and storms, outside there's peace.
And it haunts the silence in between the words it wishes it had been
but it's violence without or violence within and there's no way around it.
Was it given me to wield? Just to guard? Or a sword? Or a shield?
Or in the hope that I'd lose my grip and that through my teeth it might slip?
Well it's heavy now and it's hard to see which is it and which is me,
cause within the walls, behind the scenes it rules with ever greater reach.
And it nips and gnaws and flesh explores and that is how it grows,
and heaven knows hearts and souls, but this secret's mine alone.
And the missing pieces crowd my throat. Oh! I know something you don't!
And you must see it, but put your trust in me that let it out I won't!
But if some day it should escape, know that I was not me,
and that it split my breast and stole my breath and my tongue possessed it broke free!
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5. |
Confess
03:35
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Confess! Confess! Confess! Confess to your sisters and brothers!
Oh, don't you know that this is all too much for one heart to take?
Oh, soldier! Soldier! Soldier! Soldier! You've seen blood, you've seen battle!
But we're all fighting through, and you've got nothing to prove and nothing to lose.
Oh, shallow! Shallow! Shallow! Shallow! You're dreams are so shallow!
But make a space! Oh, make a space where a garden may grow!
And the chitter chatter chitter chatter of a young one so callow
may turn to story telling.
And you may learn just what you're dreaming of...
But you're on the road to self-destruct.
You're slowly crumbling and for what?
Come on! Come on! Only a fool would keep this up.
You're wasting... you're wasting... you're wasting away!
And the sky would come down and you alone can't keep it up so confess!
Confess! And dream a little, and we'll build it up again.
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6. |
Pull Devil, Pull Baker
04:47
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My love he's a wild one
He's a shaman in the age of science
A scream that breaks the silence and sets my winter's heart ablaze.
But the devil he's a sly one
And how my wretched heart it aches
For the wicked tempt my baby and they lead his heart astray.
And one thing never changes
It's pull devil, pull baker.
It's either misery or elation
as he plays his gambling games
and love's intoxication and the bottle's are the same
And I barely recognize him as he rolls his eyes and walks away
and stumbles and he rises up again and again and again.
And I don't know if I can take it.
It's pull devil, pull baker.
Well he is strong and he is able and my heart he surely keeps
But the wicked they tempt my baby and then my heart he is weak.
And I beg him and I hold him tight but he swears that he must go.
And then my baby he goes a rambling and he leaves me all along.
And he leaves me all alone.
And he leaves me all alone.
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7. |
A Man Go Wandering
04:06
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Well I'd been good man
didn't need no government
and I took my troubles in my stride
But then she cut me down
left me a broken man
to sleep without her by my side.
And when you break a man
he may go wandering
and he may take what he can trust.
And if you back a man into a corner
you'll see that he will do what he must.
I trusted the alcohol
knew it would get me there
and it made much more sense than when I was dry.
And with a little more
I did feel sane again
though with a splinter in my eye.
And men of ill repute
did call me brother
and bawdy Jezebel called in the night.
And somewhere on that road
I lost my sacred load
and still it haunts me
oh hear me cry.
That when you break a man
he may go wandering
and he may take what he can find.
But if you hunt a man
like he's an animal
Well it's an animal you may find.
Don't tell me what I've done
I do not wish to know
That was a broken man
Those were his crimes.
He felt no anger
He felt no bitterness
Just a misery that drowned the light.
And when he'd close his eyes
he'd feel his weeping heart and miss the one who'd sunk the knife.
That when you break a man
he may go wandering
and he may take what he can find.
And if you go looking
for the devil in me
Surely the devil you will find.
But just know one thing
I was a broken man
and I went stumbling in the night.
And if you hunt a man
like he's an animal
Well it's an animal you may find.
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8. |
Monster
04:12
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I feel a pushing and a pulling in the air
and I look around and grab a hold of what I can
and what I hold on to I try to understand
before it steals away into the void again
And I feel a pushing pulling working on me man
takes my heart and tries to rip it from my chest
Knocks me down and knocks me here and there
and I fall apart and I fall back again
And I'm a monster now I'm a monster now
I'm a monster now I'm a monster now
And I fall apart but I come back around
Don't know what I was but I'm a monster now
A superstitious man though I chase the light
I fear the devil and the coming of the night
Dark shadows follow me around
Don't know what I was but I'm a monster now
Sailed for paradise but that's not what I found
Took flight for the heavens but I barely left the ground
thought I knew the way but came crashing down
thought the earth was flat but that rock is round.
And I'm a monster now I'm a monster now
I'm a monster now I'm a monster now
And I fall apart but I come back around
Don't know what I was but I'm a monster now
My truth is but a thousand little lies
and I try to catch myself but when I close my eyes
I break free from the mold that I have made
and I fall apart but I fall back again
And every death of me is a harvest gained
from the day is born the night is born the day
My every tragedy is but a grain of sand
and I'm proud to be a monster on the land
And I'm a monster now I'm a monster now
I'm a monster now I'm a monster now
And I fall apart but I come back around
Don't know what I was but I'm a monster now
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9. |
Procrastination Blues
03:43
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I think I'll cook a stew
before this work is done
and probably eat it too
before this work is done
and all before this work is done.
And then I'll take snooze
before this work is done
might even clean my shoes
before this work is done
and all before this work is done.
And I think I'll drink some booze
before this work is done
just want to sing the blues
before this work is done
and all before this work is done.
And I will pluck a string
before this work is done
just want to make it sing
before this work is done
and all before this work is done.
I think I'll make a run
before this work is done
just want to have some fun
before this work is done
and all before this work done.
And I think I'll sail away
before this work is done
just want to go to Spain
before this work is done
and all before this work is done
and all before this work is done
and all before this work is done.
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10. |
Old Tree Blues
05:11
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This just can't be the way it is!
If only I could see beyond my view!
We breath the same air beneath the same stars and moon
and I would follow you but...
I'm an old tree
deep my roots
and you're a bird just passing through.
Won't you tell me?
What's the news?
You're a bird just passing through.
Light heart, fleet step, sweet breath dancer on a breeze
you could shelter here if you pleased.
It's the season of song and it's been so long since I've felt happy and free.
Won't you sing for me ?
I'm an old tree
deep my roots
and you're a bird just passing through.
Won't you tell me?
What's the news?
You're a bird just passing through.
This just can't be the way it is!
If only I could see beyond my view!
We breath the same air beneath the same stars and moon
and I would, I'd follow you but...
I'm an old tree
Deep my roots
and you're a bird just passing through
Won't you tell me?
What's the news?
You're a bird just passing through
and you fly on.
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