1. |
Down The Mississippi
04:58
|
|||
|
I'm tired of insomnia
It bores me through my tears
Anxiety and nausea just tore right through the years
Chorus: I'm going down the Mississippi
Just to find my sense of sludge
I'm gonna leave you ëtil you miss me
I crawled in like an acrobat
From underneath a muffled yell
I never thought a laundromat could clean me up so well
Shrouded up in urgency with one foot in the ground
You doubted the emergency but you never let me down
Chorus
I thought I knew your history of dynamite and stains
Through all your reputations
Your bombing stayed the same
Chorus
I'm tired of eternity that makes me count my days
Building and attorneyís fees make Romeo a slave
I'm as righteous as a doctor
And honest as a clown
But medicineís the best laughter
I won't ever let you down
Chorus
Hound dog howling by the side of the road
You lifted me up so I could carry that load
You know I stacked them pallets ëtil the sky was touched
I'm going solar, baby
You're my obvious crutch
You're my right hand sand
Where the sea comes in/ Where the opposites land
Like a polar magnet/ You can draw me in
To the deeper sea/ Where all the big fish live.
It's an obsolete message/ I tried to move it cross town
But the signals got crossed and now itís buried in sound
I canít hear it no more 'cuz there's nothing to hear
I got nowhere to go/ I got nothing to wear
I got nothing to seek/ I got nothing to say
Except I just said ìseekî and now I'm floating away
From the crosshair shooter
Better get a bottle down
I had an obsolete day in my obsolete town.
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
When I’m dead and gone
When I fly off with the geese
They’ll find what I was working on where they expected least
A photo tinted sepia/ Liner notes in black
A page or two reflective quotes that were said behind my back
'I think he was a friend of mine'/ 'His spirit seldom ceased'
I charted in a month with my first posthumous release
Release Release
I’m dead and gone
And I’m on the charts where I belong/ Release
I heard they had a party and several people showed
They gave my wife a metal plaque and served shrimp on a boat
I finally got a record deal/ My manager was pleased
I heard he was the genius of my posthumous release
I’m almost sorry
What’s the question?
Got your message
Death’s expected
The label might be dropping me cuz I can’t really tour
They question my commitment to career
But I’m hotter than a lightening rod cuz I don’t return my calls
They may want me for a comeback in a year.
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
I’m gonna miss me when I’m gone
I’m gonna try to look away
But I keep on dragging on
Like a debt that stays and grays
It’s not hard to sing the blues when you’re in a deadly song
I’m gonna miss me when I’m gone
I just can’t read the words
Got no focus on the page
They’re like hieroglyphic blurs
Filled with hieroglyphic rage
It’s so hard to keep this pace when life just trickles on
I’m gonna miss me when I’m gone
The flower pot exaggerates this dirty little mess
I’m an ego-coated doughnut hole
With the jawbone of an ass
I’m gonna miss me when I’m gone
But I just won’t go away
You’d think I’d see the signs
But I just stay and stay and stay
And stay and stay and stay
Til the last train blows its horn
I’m gonna miss me when I’m gone
|
||||
4. |
All The Trains Are Gone
04:22
|
|||
|
Train number one left too soon
Train number two is gone
Train number three is not an option
Train number four is just wrong
Train number five is just poison
Train number six is too long
Train number seven is perfect but I don't know where it is going
All the trains are gone
I missed them or they’re wrong
The tracks are clear / I’m frozen here
All the trains are gone
Train number 8 is full of rage
Train number 9 shows hope
Train number 10 has left again
Train 11’s too slow
Train number 12 has too much baggage and it’s pulling too much weight
Train 13 is hopeless, boys / Try back another day
All the trains are gone
I missed them or they’re wrong
The tracks are clear / I’m frozen here
All the trains are gone
Train 14’s out of steam
Train 15’s too hot
Train 16’s got extra seats but I couldn’t find a spot
Train 17 is in my head but I just can’t find the gate
Train 18 is full of life but I found it much too late
All the trains are gone
I missed them or they’re wrong
The tracks are clear / I’m frozen here
All the trains are gone
|
||||
5. |
The Miracle Of Pain
04:55
|
|||
|
The x-rays were embarrassing
I’ve got nothing left to hide
There’s a dirt road running down my leg
Keeping everything inside
I am guilty to the bone like a skeleton in the rain
I cannot feel anything
That’s the miracle of pain
The x-rays were embarrassing
I’m just like a broken home
It’s a wonder that my food goes down
I am brittle to the bone
My veins are like the highway
Broken shoulders, twisted wrist
My fingers have a dozen joints
That roll into a fist
Every night I breathe a sigh and take the tonic cold
Your love is like the speed of light
You’ve broken hearts and broken molds
You always could see through me
Like some super human girl
You’re as solid as a sheet
You got me covered in this world
The x-rays were embarrassing
They can see right through my skin
It’s golden when the light shines through
Like parchment paper-thin
I tried to put the wall back up alone without a sound
But the x-rays were embarrassing
And the wall came tumbling down
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
I got up this evening/ My head’s in a fog
I saw you were leaving like nothing was wrong
This light is deceiving/ It groans like a dog
My love is in danger/ She lives in a cage
With unforeseen silence/ And unforeseen rage
You got a face like a magnet/ It keeps pulling me in
It’s a fatal attraction/ I’m on needles and pins
I mistook you for ransom/ I followed your voice
You’re vague and specific/ Like silence and noise
I got hook and ladder/ Goes eight stories high
Your ninth story window is one story shy
Chorus: Luck and circumstance has seen me through
I’ve had some shakey moments
I got all your letters/ I read ‘em and weep
It’s a primitive world when heartbreak’s this sweet
Your timing was perfect/ As perfect as greed
I’ve been drilling for oil and it’s just out of reach
I ain’t got no compass/ I ain’t got no wheel
I got me a feather that’s made out of steel
I’ll sing you to sleep, baby/ When night comes around
I sawed off a shotgun and polished it down
Death does not move me/ I’m stubborn as pain
I’m stubborn as ashes and loyal as rain
|
||||
7. |
Infectious Smile
03:54
|
|||
|
Elbow grease release my dreams
Let them go/ Let me breathe
Set me free with elbow grease
Infectious smile
The Antidote and Poison dance
Stepping lively locking horns
Dressed to cut and stressed to kill
Infectious smile
Slipping on the forest floor
The light comes down like honey shards
I shake the mud/ The mud cakes me
Infectious smile
Chorus: Exhaust fan smoke blows hot and cold
Stubborn spots resisting
Scratch resistant surface noise
I only heard insisting
I’ve got a suitcase/ Got a suit
I’ve got a case of the lucky blues
So why’d you make fun of my shoes
Infectious smile
Hit me once/ Stupid me
Hit me twice and set me free
Hit my face a quarter mile
Infectious smile
Hopeless coins and crumpled bills
Razor cuts and safety pins
Nothing bends like rubber grins
Infectious smile
Take my hand and sit awhile
Don’t say nothin’/ Shut your mouth
Shut your eyes and look around
Infectious smile
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
It's a high alibi
It's a high alibi
I'm all right For tonight
There's a light by my side
There's a light by my side
But it's hard not to die
I look up Only sky
I look up Only sky
I look down
Only sky
There's a knife in my side
There's a knife in my side
I believe I'm alive
I believe I'm alive
I believe I'm alive
But it's hard not to die
|
||||
9. |
Guilty Pleasure
04:33
|
|||
|
Stained just like a jelly roll and stolen like a kiss
The panorama doctor says to cut it with a knife
The sky’s alive with time to kill
The lamps are lying low
And I’m finding guilty pleasure in my life
Chain the lock and taste the cheese and burrow down tonight
The miner 49’er says to light it with a light
Common sense and decency say lift it with your knees
But I’m finding guilty pleasure in my life
Chorus: Oh the sweet magnolia
I don’t know how to get you but I know just where you are
Bought my soul a Motorola
And I sank into my rocking chair until I rolled away
I complicated everything by turning up the heat
The elemental angel says to treat it like a feast
I barely had a chance to put the fork into the road
And I’m finding guilty pleasure in my life
I’m stuck inside my mobile home with the fenced in blues again
I’m dreaming of a river that can bring me to my knees
I used to think that everything was stronger than the wind
Now I’m finding guilty pleasure in my life
Chorus
Midnight in the desert with a vodka over ice
The central casting camel tells me everyone’s in style
You’ll know me when you see me
I’m the one that’s dressed in white
And I’m finding guilty pleasure in my life
The sacrificial animals are lounging in the yard
They savor every moment ‘til the sacrifice arrives
I take another bite of grass and roll it round my tongue
I’m finding guilty pleasure in my life
|
||||
10. |
Mud On Mud
04:21
|
|||
|
There was nothing on the line until the sun refused to shine
It's been with us all this time
Now it decided not to shine
'I'm so tired of your lies. Try this darkness on for size.'
Like the siren says you'd better fight the fire
Caught my breath and lost my step
I came face to face with Mud
Says I to Mud, 'I had you pegged. I thought you'd be more black than red'
Mud just smiled and turned around.
'Well, I ain't Mud I'm Blood'
Bridge: There used to be some bridges, boys
Now I smell something burning
Iíd like to cross on back again
Rocks on rocks/ Dust on dust
Days on days/ Mud on mud
You rest here in my arms
Penciled in for three fifteen
I came face to face with Days
Says I to Days, 'You seem well worn. You remind me of a thousand tears.'
Days licked his thumb and turned the page.
'Well, I ain't Days I'm Years.'
As easy as the county line
I met my match with Rocks
Says I to Rocks, 'You cut me down.'
You're sharper than an ax,' I said
Rocks shot back,
'Well just relax. 'Cuz I ain't Rocks I'm Glass.
You rest here in my arms'
Chorus: There was nothing on the line until the sun refused to shine..
Doorbell woke me up at dawn.
A delivery from Death
Says I to Death, 'Well, have a seat. I thought you'd be more salt than sweet'
Death just crossed his leg and yawned.
'I ain't here, I'm gone.
You rest here in my arms'
Bridge: There used to be some bridges, boys
Chorus: There was nothing on the line until the sun refused to shine..
Like the siren says you'd better fight the fire
You rest here in my arms
|
||||
11. |
Ruby Shade
04:41
|
|||
|
I was born in Colorado but Wyoming is my home
All the granite that passed through me made me heavier than stone
From Cody to Durango I never had a friend
But my horse named Ruby Shade, she tolerates
I'm a contradicting hacking cough with a mouth a mile wide
My heartís a pumping station and my conscience has no guide
My love songs (if you call them that) are dark and full of gloom
And the odor from within me will just never leave the room
I was sitting at the bar with both shoulders full of chips
The stranger to my left was raising whiskey to his lips
Our paths might never cross but just in case they do some day
Just in case he might deceive me / One less stranger anyway
The punishment was swift / I am the jury and the judge
I am the nail and the hammer and the bearer of the grudge
I could've used my gun on him so obvious and plain
I gave my steel blade the call / More agony and pain
The knife tip broke the skin, cut a vein and hit a nerve
The muscle of his forearm, well, it got what it deserved
I didn't see the pearl handle hidden in his boot
He staggered back and smiled / He was the judge and jury, too
The bullet grazed my blood pump, but I'm luckier than most
An angel meant for someone else; she saved me from the ghost
If she'd only known the evil that she cradled from the pain
Then I'd surely seen my life and blood flow clockwise like a drain
Iíve never been a praying man and Iíve never been afraid
And Iíve never been as low since I was five feet in the grave
Now Iím just counting on some supper and a place to rest my head
Things are looking up since I was shot and left for dead
Now I'm different like a canyon / I'm not evil Iím just bad
I won't kill you just for nothing; now you gotta ask for that
Now I'm just holding it together with a duller killing blade
Kicking dust and kissing ladies on a horse named Ruby Shade
|
||||
12. |
Hope
05:38
|
|||
|
I am standing at the corner by the threshold of the precipice
Overlooking all the crossroads with their forks and knives and guns
Broken sticks in sunlight pointing me across the mud
One hundred miles of sunburn until I came upon a ridge
The mountain rose before me/ First the foothills
Then I came upon a bridge
I'm just another pint of blood/ Iím just another nerve
Free to dream of freedom while Iím dreaming of her
And Iíll take another noisy plunge into the icy crystal clear
My life seems so reality based
It's just like Iím really here
I carry you within me like a candle so that everything seems lighter
But now everything has brought me to my knees
The pressure of desire like a relic on my shoulder
I'm rolling with the punches while I melt down all the keys
I stepped on many stepping stones as I moved from room to room
I watched you watching someone watching me watching you
I'll meet you at the crossroad where the blessing meets the curse
You go my way and Iíll go yours
You saved my life/ You threw me rope/ Hard core dreams/ Soft core hope
I emptied out my suitcase and my pockets/ I only kept a stone
I put it where my heart was after burning it in clove
You told me you were hungry for a secret and you finally took a bite
You told me I was radiating ghosts and hollow light
I take another bite of glass and roll it round my tongue
I've got something to deliver and something to return
I'll carry what is pointless and turn over what is curved
I'll give you all the rain and only drink what I deserve
I'm talking in italics/ Iím a fragment
I'm pulsing like a verb
I'm shaking like a lantern in the middle of a lake
The footprints in the ice are letting down their guard
I'm waving like a flag in the middle of the race
I'm counting on your fortress/ Iím counting on your love
I'm counting on your wings to fly me above
I'm counting on your medicine/ Iím counting on your cure
Iím counting on your love to be shameless and pure
You saved my life/ You threw me rope/ Hard core dreams/ Soft core hope
|
||||
13. |
Half A Waltz
04:18
|
|||
|
Never look a racehorse in the mouth
Always take the time to round the bend
Try and place a bet
Spark and hope it catches
Kiss me like the world’s gonna end
I’m counting every moment since I saw you
I’m counting every person that’s not you
Counting every season
Every rhyme and reason
I’m counting on your pull to get me through
Chorus:
Blue as a whisper
Green as a meadow
Red as a pepper
Black as the night
Touch like a whisper
Breath like a meadow
Sweet like a pepper
I love you, Goodnight
Hold me when we’re swimming in the chocolate
Wipe my eyes when summer makes me drunk
Drive me to the border
Smuggle me ‘til tender
Find a way to get me out of town
One fine day I’ll take you cross the ocean
One fine day we’ll stay just where we are
Dancing on a match head
Waltzing in our sleep
Just a couple of fireflies in the stars
|
||||
If you like Al Rose, you may also like:
A female voice that feels out of another century quivers over a folk harp on the 11 tracks that make up this exclusive video album.
go to album
Keeley Forsyth, on The Leaf Label, writes spectral, pulsing songs that swaddle her mournful alto in mist-like synths.
go to album
Nick Leng - Drivers (EP)
by Nick Leng
The deep, dreamy music from this L.A. artist puts the emphasis on his soft, soulful vocals, resulting in low-lit love songs for late nights.
go to album
Julien Baker - Audiotree Live
by Julien Baker
Baker follows up her recent debut album with an Audiotree Live performance during which her powerhouse voice simply shines.
go to album
The latest from Julian Temple Band is full of shadowy, trembling art rock, wtih melodies that summon a sense of mystery.
go to album
A Stranger That You Met Before
by A Day Without Love
A love letter to the DIY music scene.
go to album
Small Comforts
by The Chairman Dances
Winsome and winning indie pop songs on the latest from The Chairman Dances, where erudite lyrics are cradled by gorgeous arrangements.
go to album
