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1. |
Canary
03:05
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a canary in a birdcage made a voyage from Taiwan
on a ship across the ocean to the California sun
where it dazzled in the window hanging in the baby’s room
years of sunlight from the one side scorched its lego-yellow plume of Chinese thread
Chinese fabric and thread
boy was clearing out his closet leaving home for university
threw the bird into the wash it lost an eye in that machine
bathing in the company of checkered cleaning rags
the tiny foreign characters printed on the tag had all transformed
into a tattered surrender flag
down in South Carolina he found a one-eyed girl
skipping rocks across the water asking “where is your bird?”
“where is your bird, boy? i ain’t your bird”
he was exiting the harbor knuckles dragging on the ground
when a three leg alligator crept ashore without a sound
baring teeth like deadly weapons
staring down the one-eyed girl
screaming “kill this misfit animal, i’ll save you from your world of endless doubt!”
so he lifted his knuckles from the ground
sweeping down from the heavens there was a yellow bird
softly landing on his shoulder asking “where is your girl?”
“where is your girl, boy? i’m someone’s bird”
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2. |
Letters
04:40
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stepped on a rusted nail with my shoe
it slipped between two big toes
i took it out to see my entire life inside the hole it made
i saw you underneath a fiery sky
the ground beneath you thirsting for rain
i was trapped inside a construction site
fortified by giant palm trees
and you passed me letters on the inside
full of treasures and insight
i'd like to have you close
i'm not about to lie
but i want the best for you
its not at my side
its not at my side
lifting myself on a barb wired fence
with cuts and blood of a reckless child
bring a cool damp cloth
for when i reach the other side
we'll hold it to the sun
and tiny beams of light will warm our skin
through the stains and love
we'll have found the perfect place to begin
and we'll pen our letters
on the outside
in the Himalayas and Bay of Bengal
and I'll be my best with you
when I'm scarred and new
maybe somewhere down the road
"someday" suits me fine
my dear distant love
i wanna pull down your hair
and fill these empty hands
with every ounce of you
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3. |
You Are More
05:28
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in 1994 you crashed on my bedroom floor
talkin' about girls, sports, and fishin'
people didn't know you 'cause they heard all the facts
the James Dean of my middle school always had my back
and you were more than a list of bad luck
you had more tenderness than any of those fools
and some people say you should always keep the wind out of your face
but you never listened you gave all your gift while they continued to take
and train you for a life you could never break
in 2004 you kicked-in your bathroom door
flushed that devil's dust and washed your hands of it
most people, they still don't know you
they'll never have a clue
how wedding rings and a fish pond
made my old friend new
and you are more than a list of bad luck
you have more tenderness than any of those fools
and some people say you should always keep the wind out of your face
but you never listen, you keep breakin' your back up there braving the rain
and i miss you when umbrellas hit the streets of LA
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4. |
Wednesday
02:50
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mountain air cold with light from the dawn
shine of the car refracting bright on the lawn
i read the news and sip a cup of black coffee
the neighbors took off, left a sign in the yard
papers stacked up like a sad house of cards
i’m wrapping your gifts in unwanted comics
leafing through the chalky pages
so many things going wrong
i've got no business with these trades
murders and executions
and no solutions...
coughing and spitting in my disbelief
and the danger of drowning with my head in the sink
face down in a dog bowl passed out on the floor
these miracles happen at times with a curse
i know that you’ve gotten away with much worse
when you drove home drunk with a live one in your trunk
leafing through the chalky pages
so many things going wrong
sick to my stomach waiting it out
and so ashamed that i take it lying down
when dinner is cold and no lights are on
shine of the fridge reflecting light from the dawn
TV on mute a car chase helicopter
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5. |
Santa Barbara
03:34
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caught the 9:30 train to Santa Barbara
on the 739 pacific surfliner
ocean rolling in behind
the blur my eyes were filming
painted walls of carbon copied buildings
i could smell the fumes of 3AM and hooded sweatshirts
mobbing up the tracks to paint our names
atop the concrete separating those who fall asleep to waves
and those who hear the engines through the night
caught the 4:30 train to LA with 12 little blonde girls
noses running all complaining of their hungry bellies
J was in his headphones
i put mine through the wash sometime ago
i couldn't help from hearing screams and cheering
up and down the narrow isles
i opened up my eyes to metal braces
i asked her name, she turned to run
the shyness made it all worthwhile
shut my eyes again and drifted slowly back into the night
the water and stones
pull their symapthetic strings through my bones
the water and stones
pour their sympathetic streams through my bones
but the canyons are dark
the canyons are dark
i was lost through the bight and the arcs
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6. |
Max
03:27
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there in the center of a cosmic sphere
floating in my dream
i was scratching under the chin
of my favorite childhood cat
wearing the grin that i have sorely missed
rowing in a raft
we passed Einstein and Gene Wilder
enjoying a friendly game of chess
do you believe in magic? well i think you do
you'll always have a friend shining big green eyes
down on you from the bedroom waiting in the sky
alive in the center of a coffee house
writing in a book
you got up to use the washroom
so i thought i'd have a look
images bursted from the printed page
and quickly came to life
before i knew it we were walking
through a carnival at night
there was a lion and his ringmaster
with a handlebar mustache
the cat was dying, the man was crying
so we sang to him and asked:
do you believe in magic? well i think you do
you'll always have a friend shining big green eyes
down on you from the circus waiting in the sky
and i think of all the time spent
wishing down a well when
i could touch the sky
we'll listen over AM radio for those hymns
we just have to close our eyes
do you believe in madness? well i think you do...
and i think of all the time spent
wishing down a well when
i could touch the sky
we'll listen over AM radio for those hymns
we just have to close our eyes
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7. |
Pomegranate
06:14
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pomegranate leaves, glass-like
and grinding up in our skin, dirt, and gravel
out on this vacant trail it smells like recess
California skies dim between our eyes
for the final time
pomegranate seeds, smooth like a baby
children of the earth
you spit 'em back at the dirt
a cool wind's pickin' up
squinting in the dust
said "give me back my car keys, i'm really not that drunk"
so come on already, i'm ready to go
you pull me close where i can't say no
but i'm not capable of loving you
i'm not capable of loving you
i'll never be capable of loving you
any different than i already do
a cool wind's pickin' up
adrenalin has long worn thin
regret is building up
just give me back my car keys
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8. |
Night Blindness
05:08
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all planets out drifting tonight
away from their stars, away from the light
and what i find underneath
wrapped-up and trembling
tight like a bandage
is wounded and shimmering in white
paper airplanes that i throw
sending them off
without knowin’ where they’re goin’
most take a nose dive
but ours passed the high-rises
at times coming in awfully close
now i share your dreams
and sometimes the images
that wake you will wake me
i fear the depth of your being
sorry i turn you away when i lose my sight
our planets in harmony tonight
orbiting stars and bathing in light
what i feel above me
is tender and striving
breathing new love
and easy on the eyes
now i share your dreams
and sometimes the images
that wake you will wake me
i fear the depth of your being
sorry i turn you away when i lose my sight
sorry i turn you away when i lose my sight
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9. |
Waiting
04:14
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floating under ice
watching the bruised-up sky hover like a monster
slipping out of time
wasting my weathered breath on a cry for help
snow crushing under foot nearby
static turning on an old dial
i've been waiting my whole life
so what difference could this make?
i think of mom and dad
i sink like a stone to the river floor
isn't it mad that everything slips away
on freezing rain in an instant
no more setting sun
no new love to inspire
or mistakes from which to run
snow crushing under foot nearby
static turning on an old dial
i've been waiting my whole life
so what difference could this make?
i've been waiting my whole life
so what difference could this make?
i'll meet you up there
above the canyons and the coast
i'll meet you up there
between the body and the ghost
between the body and the ghost...
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10. |
Waking
05:42
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i like waking up slow
to old songs on the radio
and cool air lifting up my throat
bathing in warm water cleansing
poisons from my troubled mind
let them wash away
let them wash away
let them wash away
i like waking up slow
to old songs on the radio
singing the words that i already know
will you fill my heart once again?
leave me with the softness of your voice
before we fade away
before we fade away
before we fade away
will you fill my heart once again?
leave me with the softness of your voice
before we fade away
before we fade away
before we fade away
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