1. |
American Idolater
02:31
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There are reservoirs of backwoods bars
In the shadow of a mountain with no snow,
Where everyone who knows will go
To shake out their unease.
Heed the rhyme, dear friend of mine,
The tap is dry and all the waiters have gone home:
A laurel for the effort shown.
I think it’s time to leave.
‘Ifs’ and ‘buts’ to kill and gut
The emboweled avowal of the final cut.
So rue the day the rooster plays
A siren’s gag and the rudder reaps the tune.
Yes, I think it’s time to leave.
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2. |
Holgate
02:35
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Sometimes I feel like I could use a cigarette,
And I don’t even smoke
But in a way it would be just a joke
To make to punctuate the way I cannot motivate
Myself to ante-up and back up all the shit I talk.
So as I drag my feet and my cigarette
I’ll think about a time
When this hazy, lazy phase of mine
Will finally start to rhyme
And I’ll trap it in a song
With a melody that floats
And a backing beat that’s nice and strong.
Sometimes I feel like I would rather take the bus
To get to where I’m going
And not because I trust
That I will get there any quicker than I would by car or train.
When you’re counting miles then it’s really all the same.
But when I close my eyes and I listen to the hum
Of all the babble in the rabble and the curses as they
Fall out of the mouths
Of all the people in their seats,
It feels like maybe Stipe was right,
And that the bitterness is followed by the sweet.
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3. |
Another
03:21
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In another life
We were all dressed up like our mothers and fathers.
In another life.
In another time
We all could’ve been just a little more prepared.
In another time; maybe some other time.
Spoken interlude:
And again I find myself trapped in the cycle of second guessing my thoughts; my feelings and actions. And after each turn, doomed to ask myself, “did I miss out on something good or something great?”
In another place
There’s a person waiting who we’ll never get to know.
In another place
There’s someone waiting who we could’ve learned to love.
In another way,
I know these last five years have been something of a waste.
But in a better way,
I feel the entry unwound and awaking on the wind.
The words we did not think to say
And the one that somehow got away
Were never really right.
Games we thought we should’ve played
And the ones that left when they could’ve stayed
Were never really right.
Every other step and every other mile,
Every other world.
Every second, every day,
And every other life.
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4. |
Thank You
05:54
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Brittle are the branches
That bend beneath the wind outside my house:
A sign of how the season
Has moved along in search of something else.
A better place to sow its seeds;
To plough the earth and watch the turning leaves.
A kinder heart to play its part;
To pull the pulse and ring the rhythm as they sing:
‘No place I will ever go
Could I ever hope to meet a friend like you
Or ever grow
The tallest tree; the strongest pine
In a forest built on salt and sand
‘neath an ever-rainless sky.’
Hollow is the harbor,
Bereft the hull once moored along the shore.
Anchors raised and cargo staged,
The wharf once full is bustling no more.
But tides will turn, docks will dry,
And the sea is sometimes taken for the sky.
As the image breaks beneath the wake,
The surf will birth the earth and wave goodbye:
‘No place I will ever go
Could I ever hope to meet a friend like you
Or ever grow
The tallest tree; the strongest pine
In a forest built on salt and sand
‘neath an ever-rainless sky.
And this trust that I place in you,
Sometimes it burns right through me and
I’ve seen it burn you too.
And this flame, with the slightest hand,
Will never die completely.
The embers still will stand.’
“I thank you for being clear.
The truth meant more than any lie ever could.
Strengthened by this break,
I ache… I ache with...”
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5. |
Ventriloquist
04:29
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6. |
You Now
04:34
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Song so sweet
You would sing to me
In the loft above the garage.
Stories told
In a voice so frail and thin.
You’re the errand; I’m a clown.
And it’s even in your name,
Where the vowel plants a sound to tame
The answer that remains
For you now.
I would rather be
Together with my friends to see
All the world before we’re gone.
But would you go alone
If the offer ever clearly shone;
Cut your hair and change your tongue?
It was even on your face
When the rabbit ran to set the pace
And failed to bestow its grace
On you now.
So leave your lovers by the bay,
Overseas, and in an early grave.
More are sure to find their way
To you now.
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Dan Klee Portland, Oregon
Arena rock from the garage.
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