1. |
Bricks for the Levee
03:08
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The suicide king he gets his own way
He lays there artful, enlightened
The queen of the spades has frightened her dreams
Except when she's screaming and moaning
It's hard to remember we're floating
The good-luck professor blinks three times fast
As you try to transcribe past the lines in her eyes
Turning she points to a door in the back
If you're through here, you better be going
It's hard to forget without knowing
Hands and fans and cigarette tans
The road up ahead is still foggy
The load on my back isn't heavy:
A couple of bricks for the levee
Mr. Incredulous says he's no spark
He traces the arc of his favorite dart
Laughing through tears isn't hard he goes on
As long as you know where it's going
It's easy to lie when you're choking
I wish I had guts to deal it all straight
The deck is so stacked it's uncanny
I've broken one streak too many
It's hard to remember the joker
It's hard to forget it's a joke
Bright light fights and foggy nights
The future uncertain is certain
The load on my back isn't heavy:
A couple of bricks for the levee
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2. |
A Space in My Head
02:46
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It's good to know you're alive
Because I dreamed you had died
And your body was hopelessly mangled
Suddenly you were back
But you lacked so much vigor
And your psyche was hopelessly mangled
Death, being dead, just a space in my head
Somewhere between thought and expression
Alive, alive, are you hip to my jive?
Are you dreaming of dreaming of dreaming?
Are you somewhere beyond my control
Have I lost all the senses, the sense I used to know
Where is the turnstile I used to call home?
Where is the comfort consciousness holds?
It's good to know you're alive
Because I dreamed you had died
All I thought that I knew was unknown
Death, being dead, just a space in my head
Somewhere between thought and expression
Alive, alive, are you hip to my jive?
Are you dreaming of dreaming of dreaming?
...or are you just stoned?
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3. |
Redemption
03:45
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Only in a sleepy haze
The mem'ry of cleaner days
Holds my head against the floor
If I can't walk, break my knees
If I can't eat, take my teeth
If I can't breathe, please open up the door
Hold me fast my ugly home
Salvation never could achieve release
From such a dying breed
Margaret walks you past your house
She never lets the good things out
She never gave a wink to a dying man
"This old world is on its way,"
She used to say (without a smile)
"We all need redemption once in awhile"
Making love to my favorite chair
I stare for miles beyond this wall
Still hoping for a change in this same state
If I'm lost turn out the lights
If I am wrong, I might be right
If I forget, it might be too late
St. George is wholly unaware
Your evil serpent isn't there
Striking out at you across the room
Even as he wields his spear
Playing with your basic fears
He's hoping for deliverance too soon
Margaret walks you to your house
She never lets the bad things out
She never crushed a bug under her thumb
"This old world is on its way,"
She used to say (without a smile)
"We all need redemption after awhile"
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4. |
Home (Instrumental)
01:15
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5. |
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I wear my brain on my sleeve, it's true, I gave my shirt to you, you're still wearing it like a banner
God only made me with one or two gifts, rough fingertips, you purse your lips at my sorrow
Jesus was bled from the stomach for you, like he was told to, my father's much kinder than that
I might identify with your disgrace, but I know my place, you hide your face in my pillow
You're gonna lose me
It's not your fault
I lost myself long ago
Don't ask for answers
You don't wanna know
I sold my soul to the road
I'll give up my mooring if you untie yours, the suns yellow door has opened and your mother is calling
Don't give me candy, the taste is too sweet, God gave me feet, believe it or not I'm still walking
Jesus tried so hard to hold up the sky, we all have to die, that's not the reason we're falling
You who might try to set the world right and give up the fight, I can't see why you're still talking
You're gonna lose me
It's not your fault
I lost myself long ago
Don't ask for answers
You don't wanna know
I sold my soul to the road
Maybe you'll find me some twenty years on in a grocery store lawn party deep rooted past conversation
God will look down on the love we have made, the slaves we became, the game that we took as our mantra
We spent our short lives
Mining for gold
You'll say when we're old
I'll try not to gloat
Honey, I sold my soul to the road
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6. |
Circles
02:36
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Circles keep bearing down
Hard not to notice the spin
Circles keep circling round
Wind up all over again
Wound round all over again
People keep bringing me down
Hard not to feel it's a sin
Circles keep circling round
Eye of the storm lies within
Wound round all over again
Girl, I miss you so
Circle nowhere in sight
Circles keep circling round
Cranking my mind from inside
Wound round all over again
Skyline, time for a turn
Can't help but hope for a spin
Burning all over again
Circles bringing me down
Wound round all over again
Wound round all over again
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7. |
Something To Need
06:56
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She said, "If I could erase all reason,
I'd leave a thin red line"
Her head was filled with nothing
So horribly trite
She said, "If I could define sin
It'd begin with lies
And end in golden ribbons
Of something bright."
And I'm down on my knees
Looking for something to need
Hoping for someone to free me from my disguise
Free me from my disguise
She was never one to judge
But she held her head so high
The only lighthouse in the harbor
Or a dark cloud in the sky
And when it rained, it all just ran together
Flowing down her sides
She was down on her knees
Looking for something to need
Digging for answers in what she'd left behind
All she'd left behind
I said, to define sin
Only ends in lies
The human mind is only part
Of the human design
And I'm down on my knees
Looking for something to need
Hoping for someone to free me from my mind
Free me from my mind
Free me from my mind
Free me from my mind
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8. |
Home
01:34
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I'd leave the force-fed sunny sappy shores of western California
The northern lights all beaming down to ground us without reason
The bells of busted corsets howling in the southern region
Just to stay with you my dear
Just to show you I'm all here
Just to make it very clear
Where you are I feel home
I'd leave the million tongue-tied yearnings of midwestern furnished living
Purple bloated bodies boasting happy holes in Brooklyn
The gimmick of the grandeur of another Rocky Mountain
Just to stay with you my dove
Just to show you all my love
Just to shout it loud enough
Where you are I feel home
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9. |
Pyrite
03:25
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I've seen high
I've seen low
I know, I know, it shows
Sliding by
I'm fool's gold
Finding a clean way to hide
Finding a dream to withhold
Captain, O Captain
I can't hold this mast long
The main sail is open
But the wind is too strong
If sinking is winning
Then I'm going all in
If I gave up lying
Guess I'm tied to this song
I've seen east
I've seen west
The best in me battles the beast
Sliding by
I'm fool's gold
Finding a clean rail to ride
Buying the right to let go
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10. |
Faithless
03:03
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I will remember you
Though you may call me faithless
I have forgiven you
For giving me a name
I am a lonesome child
Alone without another
Another one to hold
And sound my only name
Another one will come
And give me back my name
A sound to call my own
A breath in perfect time
I only hope to hold
The sound of my salvation
I only hope to hear
The meaning of my faith
I will remember you
Though you may call me faithless
I have forgiven you
For giving me a name
I only hope to hold
The sound of my salvation
I only hope to hear
The meaning of my faith
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