1. |
Honey Locust
05:47
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Tiptoeing 'round familiar scenes:
abject Americana, clowns, and homecoming queens
The fires put out have been lit again
by ribbons of gasoline seeping out of Confederate dead
Oh, my lover, I can't say that I still recognize you
Oh, those lies do have a way of changing the lines on your face
But still, I hold fast to the notion that I might surprise you
Maybe rise to the occasion you've made in this place
But I look up to see an empty cup at my feet
You told me to drink it up and wait
Said it would feel like it was enough someday
But still, my cup is bone dry
Gold in the veins has all been sucked out
Had the streets paved - it's private property now
In an effort to stay the ones most ahead,
they blew holes in the mountains
and lined the cul-de-sacs red
Oh, my lover, I can't say that I still recognize you
Oh, those lies do have a way of changing the lines on your face
But still, I hold fast to the notion that I might surprise you
Maybe rise to the occasion you've made in this place
But I look up to see an empty cup at my feet
You told me to drink it up and wait
Said it would feel like it was enough someday
But still, my cup is bone dry
They shot one more down on the 8:00 news,
killed it by 11 once the fear was fully perfused
Wisteria vines are wrapping round tight,
but the blooms were so pretty,
we thought it'd be rude to mind
Oh, my lover, I can't say that I still recognize you
Oh, those lies do have a way of changing the lines on your face
But still, I hold fast to the notion that I might surprise you
Maybe rise to the occasion you've made in this place
But I look up to see an empty cup at my feet
You told me to drink it up and wait
Said it would feel like it was enough someday
But still, my cup is bone dry
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2. |
Lightbulb Stars
02:27
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Paradise doesn't feel as nice
since they upped the price
and locked us out of the store
Just the way it is,
all part of the business
Now, how you twist it
depends on who you twist it for
Don't worry, baby -
the press'll be worth all the pity
Where you been lately?
Move your broke ass to the city,
spend your nights in sticky bars,
old cigars, beat up cars
Don't forget what's behind the lightbulb stars
Center stage, bottom right front page,
heard you're all the rage,
and the suits can feel it, too
But honey, you're the tops,
so give it all you got
No, no one called the cops,
they just turned the stage lights red and blue
Don't worry, baby -
the press'll be worth all the pity
Where you been lately?
Move your broke ass to the city,
spend your nights in sticky bars,
old cigars, beat up cars
Don't forget what's behind the lightbulb stars
Maybe you'll die young and leave behind someone
to martyr and pin to the wall
Or maybe you'll grow old, you'll paint because you're told
the money stays from there by far
Don't worry, baby,
cause the press wasn't worth all the pity
Been 'round here lately?
The hipsters moved out of the city,
dropped the act and ditched their cars,
gave up all the culture wars
after seeing what was behind
(the vermin, tobacco, and grime)
of the lightbulb stars
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3. |
Mrs. America
04:13
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There she is: Mrs. America,
pinning her hopes to you without a thread of shame
Back to the sidewalk, back to the door
Gave it her best, but he wanted more, yes,
isn't that the way that these sad things always go?
Signing your name under fluorescent light,
they'll take the house away next,
well within their rights to find somebody
who can foot the bill for your home
There she is: Mrs. America,
pinning her hopes to you without a thread of shame
There she is, meeting your bottom line
in a sad pantomime that you sent out to be made
'Cause you liked her better that way
Yeah, you liked her better that way
Part-time work that she does full-time
before medicating at home with some weed and wine
just to drown out the sound of the wolves stalking the door
Say your piece, baby,
but make it a small one -
a lace-covered sword for your man to fall on
The plague of the '60s, the pride of the war
There she is: Mrs. America,
pinning her hopes to you without a thread of shame
There she is, meeting your bottom line
in a sad pantomime that you sent out to be made
'Cause you liked her better that way
Yeah, you liked her better that way
Back on the streets with eyes like knives,
thumbing mace in her pocket in case "somebody's wife"
ain't a good enough case to leave her without any harm
Show us your body, show us your soul,
but make it pretty baby, I got someplace to go
and the bees in my bonnet are itching like they're ready to swarm
There she is: Mrs. America,
pinning her hopes to you without a thread of shame
There she is, meeting your bottom line
in a sad pantomime that you sent out to be made
'Cause you liked her better that way
Yeah, you liked her better that way
Guess she'll retire that way
Guess she'll just die here that way
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4. |
Robin
03:58
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Robin was scouting a daffodil sprouting
for love he believed he should find
Known by a feeling laid dormant and teeming
in the deepest folds of his mind
Elsewhere, enshrouded by dewy grass, clouded
by networks of cobwebs and stems,
lie there in waiting, a worm incubating
a delicate wing to extend
Oh, beasts of the street prowl in pre-summer heat
assuming their good fortune to last
But the scythe, she swings heavy,
and those prone to betting will find that those moments,
they pass
Someone suggested that my mind was congested,
baby, I'm feeling alright
It's getting hard to relax on the concrete
but they know that they got you when you cry defeat
So, I'll rest my bones here on the ground
Despite their attempts to wrap rope 'round our necks,
a notion of paradise was found
Cold sunk its teeth into the end of the week
as ribbons were tied around graves
Judae stood shiverin', aging leaves quivering
'round signs that read, "Jesus Saves"
Still no news heard from the edge of the world
regarding the souls that were lost
Bodies lay burning on earth, ever-turning
Claim it on taxes as loss
With pathways forged and advice ignored,
the citadel continues to stand
Constantly rolling on notions of holiness
One to the head, feet, and hands
Someone suggested that my mind was congested,
baby, I'm feeling alright
It's getting hard to relax on the concrete
but they know that they got you when you cry defeat
So, I'll rest my bones here on the ground
Despite their attempts to wrap rope 'round our necks,
a notion of paradise was found
For only this band is invisible-handed
Sights set securely on "I"
Unsure of the source, we prodded and forced
the idea from folds in our mind
Of greatness and grandeur, lacking in candor,
detached from that whence we came
Somewhere in hiding,
a robin was crying,
as the last inch of wild was tamed
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5. |
Eclipse
04:12
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Wind starts to whip through an old field of corn,
razed at the root, looking used and forlorn
In the moon's silver light, the shadows arise
and they're shaped like me
November air, she is cold on my skin
Blissfully unaware of the state that I'm in
You stay for a while before dropping a smile
that was meant to be pointed at me
Strip down the scenery,
clear out the stage
Dream has been dampened by a cynic's plague
Box up the greenery,
pour out the wine
The dream itself was neither yours nor mine
Now and again in twilight, she'll play it back for me
A pockmarked projector lighting the dust in its beam
Backlit, the reality tends to feel much less rewarding
than when I loved blindly, a hopeless romantic in green
Light on the river, it curves and it bends
You spoke the words that would bring us our end
There in the silence, I sat all alone,
feeling your fingers on my collarbones
Where in the depths of your mind do I hide?
Am I out in the day or cloaked in the night?
You knocked on the door, but nobody was home
There's cracks in the floor and the yard's overgrown
Strip down the scenery,
clear out the stage
Dream has been dampened by a cynic's plague
Box up the greenery,
pour out the wine
The dream itself was neither yours nor mine
Now and again in twilight, she'll play it back for me
A pockmarked projector lighting the dust in its beam
Backlit, the reality tends to feel much less rewarding
than when I loved blindly, a hopeless romantic in green
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6. |
Honey
06:04
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Where are you runnin' from, honey?
Or should I say from who?
Did you run out of money
when you were dropping out of acting school?
Did you take some time to look at yourself?
Clean up the lies that were molding on the shelf?
Was it the girl or the weed
or the promise to be something better than you'd ever seen?
So, why did you run away?
Saving yourself for sunnier days?
Yeah, you were just a stray
eating every small scrap that was thrown your way
Whatchyu pretendin' for, honey?
You know I've seen this before
Did you think it was funny
when you threw the deadbolt on the door?
You moved to the coast,
yeah, you changed your name
No more room for growth, you were staying the same
But you could be in Tulsa or Rome
and you'd never find a home keeping one foot out of the door
So, what are you waiting for?
Always dead set on something more
Yeah, I've been there before
but there's nothing waiting for you on the other side of that door
So, you can blame the country,
maybe you blame the news,
for why you're always hunting for commercialized blues
Maybe you could blame me
or even blame the times -
anything to pass off ownership of your mind
And maybe I'd deny it if I were in your shoes
Or hell, I'd even try it with nothing more to lose
The virtue that you signal conveniently onscreen
does little for the fickle sentiments you try to be mean to be seen,
uh-huh
So whatchyu cryin' for, honey?
We've seen this coming for years
With nowhere to run, we tried to outpace our darker fears
Like, if love was enough, then what was all this?
Orders from above or a stranger's fist?
Trying not to say it out loud
cause the noise somehow
makes it that much harder to miss
So, what are you trying to say?
Screaming you're the one that got away
Another fight, another day,
but what happens to your game when there's no one to play
And the rub of it honey
is that I trusted you too
I got the idea to please you,
and made it the one thing that I wanted to do
But love to oblige is hardly the same
"A will to survive" by another name
Was I the cause or the cure?
Tried 'em all to be sure
and you tossed 'em out the way that they came
So, what would you have me do?
Take up a cause targeting only you?
Honey, I'm not that blue
Try as you might,
you're the one thing I learned to look through
So, you can blame the country,
maybe you blame the news,
for why you're always hunting for commercialized blues
Maybe you could blame me
or even blame the times -
anything to pass off ownership of your mind
And maybe I'd deny it if I were in your shoes
Or hell, I'd even try it with nothing more to lose
The virtue that you signal conveniently onscreen
does little for the fickle sentiments you try to be mean to be seen,
uh-huh
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7. |
The Rind
04:19
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Writing about the stars,
wonderin' which one you're on now
So many miles from where you are,
and I still can't figure out how it is
that I'll call you on the phone
but you never pick up
I know it's crazy, but with each ring,
I think that maybe you'll be there,
out of breath and running down the stairs to say hello
The hole that you left over that October
grows larger in my chest
Sometimes it's just a pinprick, other times,
it threatens to eat the rest
of each waking technicolor thought,
from memories to rot, pink glasses and fuzzy screens,
the slyest smirk you'd ever seen
I feel it now in my own cheeks,
that's you and me, oh, Huckleberry
There in the blackness of velvety night,
there swung a copper moon
Three hours later, I open my eyes
to find you in my room
We sat on the floor singing songs from the '60s
Oh, how much more of this will it take to fix me?
At least if I miss you I get to keep you in mind:
the melancholy means around
the bittersweet flavor of rind
For time is just a circle, out of which,
later on, you're unstuck
An interstate of hurdles intermingled with ribbons of luck
That's all there is to it,
you just gotta do it, or, at the very least, try
Try to find her in little things -
the way the neighborhood cardinals sing
Anything to not fall in to rabbit holes echoing, 'why?'
There in the blackness of velvety night,
there swung a copper moon
Three hours later, I open my eyes
to find you in my room
We sat on the floor singing songs from the '60s
Oh, how much more of this will it take to fix me?
At least if I miss you I get to keep you in mind:
the melancholy means around
the bittersweet flavor of rind
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8. |
The River
05:54
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Oil drills standing like dinosaurs in corn fields
as I drive right by, four miles closer to Hovey, I go
Cypress rising up above the water,
time is the gift for the ungrateful daughter
I thought I could change, but now I know
Oh, river, take this far away
I've worn out my welcome at every place I've yet to stay
And either way, I'll give it a year
till it has flown from my mind
Like a small canary fears
she'll never make it out of this here coal mine
There is only four ways out,
and I've already tried three
Oh, river, please carry this away for me
Open my eyes to look at 3 am,
counting lies - some for me and some for him
It's easier on us both to just pretend
Drive toward a tepid, sleeping sky
punctuated by my two headlights
I thought it'd be longer till I was here again
Oh, river, take this far away
I've worn out my welcome at every place I've yet to stay
And either way, I'll give it a year
till it has flown from my mind
Like a small canary fears
she'll never make it out of this here coal mine
There is only four ways out,
and I've already tried three
Oh, river, please carry this away for me
Oh, river, take this far away
I've worn out my welcome at every place I've yet to stay
And either way, I'll give it a year
till it has flown from my mind
Like a small canary fears
she'll never make it out of this here coal mine
There is only four ways out,
and I've already tried three
Oh, river, please carry this away for me
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9. |
See You Around
03:32
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Passing the blame around, you can keep it all
I was always one small step away from a phone call
Smoke another one outside for something to do
Do you think of me as much as I think of you?
I'll see you around, or maybe I won't
Whatever happens, I'd like you to know
I'll carry the moments like souvenirs,
up on a shelf, catchin' dust for years
They'll grow smaller the bigger I get
They might even fade, though they haven't yet
Somewhere dark, the deepest down,
I'll learn to live with having seen you around
Look at the constants, the ones that kept the course
This love of yours wasn't something
I was looking to force
I'll be alright - yeah, I heard it,
so it must be true
Do you think of me as much as I think of you?
I'll see you around, or maybe I won't
Whatever happens, I'd like you to know
I'll carry the moments like souvenirs,
up on a shelf, catchin' dust for years
They'll grow smaller the bigger I get
They might even fade, though they haven't yet
Somewhere dark, the deepest down,
I'll learn to live with having seen you around
No, your fairweather don't fit me
Yes, I'd rather see you clearly
I need more than just the smoke to fill my lungs,
make it harder to breathe
So, I'll see my own way out,
These sentiments I'd shout to you,
but we're both so very far from where we are,
is there any point now?
So keep passing the blame around,
oh yeah, I'll keep it all
Cause you were always one small step away
from a phone call
So we can smoke another one outside for something to do
Do you think of me as much as I think of you?
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10. |
Germination
04:08
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I try to outrun you when you're on my mind
The places you take me to, I have only recently come to find
they're not for the best - but you knew the rest
No, I'm not the first
Yeah, you had this done a hundred times worse
My friends call me up to say they saw you around
I stare back at the me in my cup
thinking about how far down, down, down I went
So much to forget, and I've only begun
to see for myself (with no extra help)
that I wasn't the crazy one
I'd say it's the last time,
but we both know that it's not
'Cause as much as we try to swallow it down,
we're all that we've got
And that's just the way life chooses to work:
behave through the heartache and hurt
till it starts again
It's just when I start to forget you
that you make your way back
Holding onto that regret won't do anything
to scrub away that black
The hurt that you cause and the hurt that you feel
are largely the same
Try as you might to fight it,
a rose by any other name
You said forever, but I had my eyes on the clock,
on shimmering solos, and hydrangea tumbleweeds
rollin' their way down the block
You painted the world on my windowpanes,
then poured paint in the seams
As I sit there, sore and uncertain
of what, exactly, you mean
I'd say it's the last time,
but we both know that it's not
'Cause as much as we try to swallow it down,
we're all that we've got
And that's just the way life chooses to work:
behave through the heartache and hurt
till it starts again
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11. |
Stranger
04:20
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I'd bend over backwards twice
just to get your point of view
I know you never thought about mine,
it's what I'm programmed to do
I sit here in my self-made misery
just trying on my shrouds
I knit myself from thoughts withheld to say out loud
I don't see a stranger till I look into your eyes
The absence that I see there cuts deeper than a knife
Yes, your lack of thought hurts even worse
than a notion to be cruel
Whether you or I struck first,
there'd be nothing left to do
Looking in from the outside,
breath fogging up the glass
I'd entertain the impulse to put up a fight
if I didn't think the moment would pass
before I drink enough champagne
to stop mincing my words
So, I sit still, I get my fill, and she gets hers
I don't see a stranger till I look into your eyes
The absence that I see there cuts deeper than a knife
Yes, your lack of thought hurts even worse
than a notion to be cruel
Whether you or I struck first,
there'd be nothing left to do
Heartache dipped in irony hits harder than the rest
I'm trying to convince you that I cannot bleed
with blood pouring out of my chest
I see behind the wrinkles,
the tired tint put on by life
I knew you well - but not this shell - another time
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12. |
What's It For?
03:37
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Comparing myself to pixels on screens
I wanna get help, I'm not sure what that means
Yes, I've been misled by previous versions of me
So, I've gotten used to walking on coals,
shoving plaster in all of the holes
that this one or that one
punched through the drywall at home
But I'm tired of living my perspective through you
like I'm wired to base my actions on what you do
All for the promise of promises lost?
Well, I tried being social, but then I forgot
what you talk about when you're out,
so I'll stay right here by the door
What's it for?
Is it the fame or the release that you seek?
Oh, if I could tell you, I would give you a peek,
but she shut me out of that room a long time ago
Had nothing to say, so I said nothing at all
But when somebody asks me, I say,
"Life's a ball! And I'm dancing just like they
taught me in Strausberg to do"
But I'm tired of living my perspective through you
like I'm wired to base my actions on what you do
All for the promise of promises lost?
Well, I tried being social, but then I forgot
what you talk about when you're out,
so I'll stay right here by the door
What's it for?
Well, the money's not moving,
but I think that I'm free
if all that I'm losing are versions of me
I'd make them again,
maybe chop off my hair,
or stay in the house and not go anywhere
Yes I'd find her
before they could
or should
or dared
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13. |
Magnolia
04:55
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Magnolia blooms peeking their heads out a little too soon
Roll me up tight - yeah, I thought we might find something to do
Foothills of Appalachia racing back to smile back atcha
falling slowly fast
If you died today, where would you go?
And by the way -
have I told you nothing lasts?
Watching the smoke from your cigarette dancing
weightlessly on air
Peripheral dreams, bursting at my seams
but when I look, I don't appear to be there
We watched the fire balance on telephone wires
'til the windows yawned in the heat
Your drink was stronger than that in my cup,
but I smiled as though you were me - hm
Just because it's home doesn't mean it's mine
Feelings made of tone to be perceived:
'No, I'm fine'
I tried hard to love you the way that you like
while I watched you wrestlin' with both hands of time
Oh, the freedom to not wonder
and to be so heartbroken and wise
Hot summer skin and a long day of nothing,
so I turn my eyes toward the clouds
Just passing through, as I'd like to be too,
kicking up dirt as I run out of town
Petals reaching toward the sky in an embrace of kudzu vines -
the blossoms saved from the beasts
Little towns turned into shells
of bricks and bones and dried up wells
But it's what you know at least - hm
Just because it's home doesn't mean it's mine
Feelings made of tone to be perceived:
'No, I'm fine'
I tried hard to love you the way that you like
while I watched you wrestlin' with both hands of time
Oh, the freedom to not wonder
and to be so heartbroken and wise
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Melanie A. Davis Murray, Kentucky
Singer-songwriter from western Kentucky. I sing about me, you, us, and the wild weird world we're currently living in.
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