1. |
Lincoln
05:20
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Lincoln was a friend of mine
Stove top and a thrill
Another presidential ego boy who got lucky
With that five dollar bill
Just an accidental law school cheat
Burned bridges in every town
Picking fights with every one armed slave
His long legs hardly ever touched the ground
CHORUS:
His focus was on the free
Riding shotgun on the rail
Dividing up his time between the theater and the war
Until the bullet cut him down
The writing was on the wall
Like the dust on yonder spade
Finger gliding through the coal
Between the devil and the saint
Like the hand that held the blade
I talked him into lightening up
Taught him how to dumb it all down
Never thought I'd see the shy man shine
Pressing the flesh down to Springfield town
"You and me partner, all the way to the top
I'll find a way to repay what you done give me"
Whistle-stop magic and the great debate
Side by side on the big trip east
CHORUS
The first door shut in '63
When a brand new man started making noise
Gave Abe good word for Gettysburg
Now I'm licking my wounds back in Illinois
Abe's a ladder climbing self made man
Just a union loving sentimental guy
He loved me like a man-o-war
And with the saddle strapped on
Abe was one good ride
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2. |
Patience
04:48
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I met the monster in the alley
I had a thing or two to say
An angel kindly held my tongue
Until a calmer breeze was swayed
Sometimes a punch will go no further
Than the knuckle on the wall
Sometimes a bitter taste will linger
Sometimes a mouth can't make the call
CHORUS:
Patience Patience
Take the knife out of my hand
Don't let me pierce the surface of regret
Long live time's best friend
Just like the etching in a block of soap
And the writing on the wall
Sometimes they come from minds that volume guides
But their sound is much too small
A blade will always cut the crap
And the shade will let you hide
A bumpy road will get you there
But time will let you glide
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
Don't let the signs of warning drive on past
Don't let the blazing sun beat down
You can fall the wall with one trembling blast
But there'll be less of a mess one brick at a time
When the pressure has you choking
And you're fighting for your breath
Remember; death don't show no mercy
But know that mercy knows no death
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3. |
Fish Tale Blues
05:37
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I know a Spanish born painter with charcoal hair
Has me humming flamenco with a Russian flair crop shortstop flippin' for
the double play out standing foul pole vaulting for the girls to come out
I'm standing at the window no pane no view no matter what you tell me that
I still see you stopping traffic at the corner with your muscle tone walk "don't
walk" light look and your stop sign dance
I'm casting a pole with a wormy hook to the deep blue sea with a fishy look up
standing on deck knee deep in wish with a bucket of coal and lumber
All the skid mark romance gonna take a little toll
You're a change box taker and you got me on a roll top desk with my legs up
looking in your eyes but you can't see me 'cuz you're out there
CHORUS:
The rain comes a falling in the morning
And if you can't stand the mountain,
Then you won't like the view
The pain comes a calling in the morning
But it might pass over if you step right through
We're going flower pot smoking down at 911 having snail shell sex in a hot dog bun
You know you gotta have relish if you're driftwood free and you gotta believe in
the mustard seed
Speaking in code by rote by bones by stepping in a hole with a wall of stone
By step by stick by slippin' in a mess with a rope for balance and a loophole
I'm just a cog in motion with a knack for clicks slow turning the corner avoiding all
sticks all stops all ways all skate all shapes alternating by the numbers alternating by
the face alternating by the rivers alternating by the stairs, from eye to eye from hair to
hare by turtle by bus by rocket by stream by step by step 'til you stop to scream
CHORUS
I'm just staying the course with my hang dog sail stepping island to island spotting
whale to whale / There's an obtuse angle on my shit eatin' grin pointing
southwest hoping for a northwest wind
Crushed tin in the Bronze Age cabin in the woods sawing favors for the log man
delivering goods to the big mouth fucks making front page news
jumping traffic to the sports page fish tale blues
Half brained ghost super natural juice got him speaking good English with his tongue
all noosed knot slipping me five cuz he owes me ten
He's gonna shave a little ass but he doesn't know when
Take a little off the top mister quick wrist cut jaw dropping down the sidewalk with the
sucked in gut wrench tool box knowledge in a hammer head mood swing monkeys in
a screw drive fish tale
CHORUS:
The rain comes a falling in the morning
And if you can't stand the kitchen, then you won't like the view
The pain comes a calling in the morning
And it might pass over, if you step right through
The Spanish born dancer with the concrete shoes slapping faces and hands brushing
teeth while chewing on the lipsmack servant giving reason to splash in the puddle of truth
Another tuna fish summer on the volley ball beach combing church bell ringing for the
Concrete heat stroke ball busting rhythm smoke coughing up blood
Like a left brained brain in a right brained club
CHORUS:
The rain comes a falling in the morning
And if you can't stand the kitchen
Get out of the kitchen
The pain comes a calling in the morning
And it might pass over, if you step right through
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4. |
Roots And Vines
04:00
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Your magnet bones and sinner phones are ringing for to march me home
Trail of fingers tapping time to loosen joints inside
Rubber elbow rubber knee / Rub her glory / Freedom ring
Stopping short of double time for double happy me
You're a string of pearls around the block from the front porch to the mailbox
Keep me hidden in your clock but don't go winding me
Kissin' cousins sister's sons / Breakfast bowls and dinner buns
Don't go eatin' all that fun / Save some bites for me
CHORUS:
Wrap me around you from the inside
Tie me a lover's knot of roots and vines
Digging tunnels wearing lace / That miner's hat will show the way
Shining light on muddy mud / Just pray those knuckles keep
Shoulder burdens chipping blocks and crystal walls of jagged rocks
With your china gloves and velvet touch you cleared a road for me
Private gardens private eyes / Hidden ponds of private ice
You skated round me once or twice spinning free
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
Wide-eyed sideswipe
Stamp of magic, drops of rain / Sheets of cotton, quilts of stain
We're bundled up against the pain / We're sawing logs
Sawdust lumber fences built and fences mended, fences torn
And rusted locks and gates reborn and opened
Push me to the braking point / You make me look and give me spins
Saved me from the bitter wind and made me breathe
Target gardens warmer beds / Till me 'til the day I'm dead
I'm planting everything you said and water
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5. |
Crumb In The Rug
06:55
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I'm hungry for a home with sandwiches of sense
Onion patterns on the wall and a salty picket fence
Ropes and butter chain / Toast and angel soup
Tables turning back in time like a boiled ginger root
I'm talking with my spoon / Cutting with my chop
Chewing with my biting eyes / I'm a lazy lemondrop
Candy resting on the shelf / Stocked up for rainy days
Cutter goes a hunting while the serving platter waits
CHORUS:
I'm a crumb in the rug spending time
with the shadows of your mind over matter over time
Hounds are cutting up the rug and the cats are losing weight
The fiddle saws another log while the horn of plenty waits
The baker kneads his cutting knife / He roles it like a snake
His recipe is telling him to cook it like a steak
His recipe has secrets that it keeps from baker's hands
It dishes out its knowledge regardless of demands
CHORUS
I wish you turn it over / I wish you better legs
I wish you better dreams and on your knees you better begs
I wish you hearty liver / I wish you stable moon
I wish your soup a better bowl that's slurped from better spoons
I wish you better could have been on sturdy maple wood
With icy water from a lake, I wish you better food
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6. |
Lighter Than A Feather
05:51
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Born beside the water sign all radiant and green
One hand in the ocean and the other in a stream
One hand on the mountain top the other in a hole
Head and neck are up my ass / they search for heart and soul
Muscle nerve and wind chime become golden lucky fear
I'm slowly getting bolder with the shifting of each gear
Grinding teeth and rising tides / Wet pants and tired jaw
Backed in yonder corner like a wire wearing raw
CHORUS:
Lantern lights the window pure and simple like a gate
Lighter than a feather / I can wait
The rooster crows at midnight and the dog he barks at dawn
Both longing for a stronger lung or at least a stronger song
Balancing the wind chime like a flame just out of tune
I've got a notion there's an ember / Burning ember
Burning like a root
Smoke is eating up the couch / Fire at my feet
Sticks are holding up the house / Horses kissing heat
There's a fat ass in the window wearing furry victim lace
Causing hollow holding patterns like the circles of my face
CHORUS
I'm drinking up the garden because the summer's all alone
Lightning lights the cold front / Then the thunder calls it home
Raindrops on the basil tasting shiver on the leaf
Whispers blow the covers / Kick the covers
The covers kicking free
Staring at the scapegoat and he wears my lucky shirt
His voice of reason sounds like mine / All rotted wood and dirt
And there's time for taking on what other builders have begun
And if the hammer knows the rhythm / Keeps the rhythm
Then half the battle's won
CHORUS
Someone's wasting motor oil and someone's courting trees
Someone's riding batmobiles and someone's breaking knees
Someone's making rules breaking rules making claims
Playing cowboy like an acrobat
Riding shotgun taking aim
Someone's eating peanuts and someone's taking swings
Someone makes a point while someone thinks of other things
Someone hits the relay man and someone's rounding third
Someone phones the bullpen / Take a message / Leave a message
Hit the dirt
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7. |
Ripe Unacceptable Now
05:02
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My time is a coming / It'll only take time
As I polish my zenith and mop up the slime
My ship will come in / I'm happy to say
It's just dozens of minutes away
All ye barnstorming farmers - obeyers of rent
Surveyors of emptiness - fans of the accident
Carry a torch for that satisfied crowd
And the Ripe Unacceptable Now
CHORUS:
Ripe Ripe Ripe Unacceptable
Now Now Now Unacceptable
All my ninety-nine lives have been spent in the eye of the
Ripe Unacceptable Now
Timing is something 'cuz nothing is everything
Strategy, neon, location, location
I once had a thought; I once had a plan
To polish the radiant plow
I'm finding direction in fiction and turns
Moments of coast follow friction that burns
I'm dying to meet you - I hope it works out
For your Ripe Unacceptable Now
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
All of my coals have been raked
All of my sticks have been staked
All of my burdens are caked in a crust that tastes
Stranger and stranger and stranger
So fare thee well dreamers and fare thee well kings
Fare thee well ringers who bare gifts of rings
Those bells don't fix nothing / Don't brake when you bow
To the Ripe Unacceptable Now.
CHORUS
My eyes are like deserts - They're distant and dry
My neck stretches my buttery spine to the sky
My feet are my wings but they march in my mouth
To the Ripe Unacceptable Now
Denial is costly / Reality painful
My posture is slipping / My ego is shameful
Begging your pardon, I'm eternally loud
It's my Ripe Unacceptable Now
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8. |
Yon Horse's Mouth
07:25
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Look not darkly down yon horse's mouth
Lest ye find thy cribbage floating
Baring melting oats in grateful mouth
We are dying to be coasting
Look not lightly on the ticking clock
Or the eroding of the coastline
Sometimes I'm paralyzed by bucketfuls of many moments lost
I am not sleeping / I am hoping
CHORUS:
It's a long long way to carry on
I'm banking on the wind
I'm counting on a break or two from enemies or friends
And the luck's a constant guess
It shields the mighty gusts
And if my feet hold out like I know they will
I just may take a step
I thank the lord my goatly vows
And I praise your understanding
All the hanging ropes were tightly wound
On the day of my unraveling
Look not lightly on the dark blue sea
With its waves of understanding
Tossing hollow hopes and floating leaves
I am not sinking; I am floating
CHORUS
BRIDGE:
Standing at the wall of why
Tears are by my side
Until I open up the wall and step inside
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9. |
Day Of Rest
05:42
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My father died on Saturday
On Shabbos Dad was free
On Friday he was anxious for release
Now he knows the greatest secret
Mom and I can only guess
His whole life was his working week
Now comes his day of rest
Standing on the mountain top
Held up on either side
Supported by a pyramid of love
I saw fear turn to reflection
Then acceptance and release
When he left this world the skies were blue above
CHORUS:
You ride the ride until the moment comes around
Until the moment comes, you never know the sound
Bye and bye another circle's gone around
I'll never see you 'til I see you in the ground
Breaking bread up in the heavens
Kicking tires among the stars
Now he travels without baggage or its scars
Now he rides a different vehicle
And there's nothing left to tell
Now he's dwelling in the house of lights
We're still dwelling in this house of cards
CHORUS
Holy old Jerusalem
Your walls of golden dust are still standing in the floods and in the pain
From the corners of the desert
Every step a final test
Every moment makes the moment of your name
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10. |
Polish My Car
04:52
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I'm gonna polish my car / I'm gonna drive all night
Don't need my brakes / Never use my lights
Don't need no tires for traction traction traction
I got carbon vapors / Yeah
No keys is good keys / Volcano wherever I go
I got gloves in my compartment / My gas tank run on low
I got a front seat by the wheel / By some pedals and a radio
With a back seat right behind it
Just kick kick kick make the driver go
CHORUS
Carpet wall to wall / Carbon navy red
I got a license in my wallet / I got a license in my head
I got a license in my pocket / I got a license in my shirt
I got a sticker in my window
Just pump pump pump make the highway hurt
CHORUS
Shotgun / I'm sittin' by the window
Shotgun / Get a hold of yourself
Shotgun / Tell it to the toll booth
Seatbelt seatbelt seatbelt yeah
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11. |
Metaphor
05:04
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I'm driving in my car alone / November afternoon
I'm coming from behind me and I'll be there real soon
Dramatic sky and perfect light / Every cloud's in place
My tank's half filled with gasoline / The rest filled up with space
I'm driving in this metaphor / Tears roll down my face
"Gas", "Food", "Stuckey", "Toilets"
Signs powerful with grace
The static clears, the song comes on with just the right suspense
Every tune's a soundtrack / Every word makes sense
CHORUS:
I'm driving in a metaphor / Cold wind in my face
The highway's at an upward grade / The roadkill perfectly placed
Narrow bridge and burning bridge / Bridge to bumpy road
This metaphor is nicely done
I make a mental note
That filtered light comes through the trees / Did you hear that church bell ring
My arms are tired just like that time I did that tiring thing
That distant farmhouse so dark and set back; so quiet and all alone
No one's home or they're sleeping or murdered by a cord around the throat
There was a slight struggle; a chair was broke / There may have been some screams
Just like that time that that tree fell in that forest
And no one heard a thing
CHORUS
A metaphor's just a metaphor / A rope is just a rope
Lint is just a bunch of dust / A man is just the pope
And icy roads just mean shitty driving / A car is just a car
A knife is just a blade of death
Sometimes a scar is just a scar
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