1. |
Wet Cement
03:29
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This is not what you had planned for
So help me understand more
About your broken hands
Bending backwards in a painful
Collapsing yellow train
Full of empty plastic bags
Pulling people off the train tracks
Begging them to stay back
Praying for a change
Giving up or giving often?
I refuse to close my coffin
If a coward lies inside
When I pressed my feet into the wet cement
It didn't hurt
I didn't stick
I never bled
I learned to see and hear and say the things
That I had never said
I learned to laugh at all those little things instead
I learned to laugh at all the people
In my head
God, I hardly have the patience
For awkward conversations
About my bloody arms
Laying paper on the table
Expecting to be able
To follow it along
Well I've been here ever since this
Familiar consequences
Are all I comprehend
Crawling out of the escape door
Believe me that I'd stay for
Anyone but them
When I pressed my feet into the wet cement
It didn't hurt
I didn't stick
I never bled
I learned to see and hear and say the things
That I had never said
I learned to laugh at all those little things instead
I learned to laugh at all the people
In my head
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2. |
Tiger's Grin
03:17
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Sting rays swim underwater
But that is not the place you belong
Sun dripping down from a carousel
Seeping into my pockets
And burning my palms
Lead-bellied man with a tiger's grin
Creeps and claws his way into town
Hoping for a fast meal to satisfy
All the cravings he's felt
For the last several months
Do you remember the songs
We would sing in my car
You would sing, I would scream at the top of my lungs
I would whistle guitars
You'd turn the interior into the drums
I remember the way that the polish would chip on the nails
Of her thumbs
I remember the ones
Flat-footed actual bastard
He claws his way to the back of the bar
Knowing well the things he is searching for
Aren’t the things
He wanted to find at the start
Dim-witted past tense philosopher
Fully equipped with smile and a nod
Bearing gifts he stole from an officer
Looking to profit
Off of the lights on my car
Do you remember the songs
We would sing in my car
You would sing, I would scream at the top of my lungs
I would whistle guitars
You'd turn the interior into the drums
I remember the way that the polish would chip on the nails
Of her thumbs
I remember the ones
This is not exactly how you thought it would go
I know
But it's gonna have to do
Well if you find yourself
In someone else's shoes
Then I suggest you go and get your own
Do you remember the songs
We would sing in my car
You would sing, I would scream at the top of my lungs
I would whistle guitars
You'd turn the interior into the drums
I remember the way that the polish would chip on the nails
Of her thumbs
I remember the love
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3. |
Queen of Hearts
02:26
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I started a lemonade stand
At the end of my driveway
Because I know you ride your bike around here
Every Sunday
Please, oh please, oh please, oh God
I hope today you’re thirsty
Please, oh please, oh please, oh God
I hope today you’re thirsty
Because I can paint
The colors of your helmet
Without looking
And I will wait
For hours at this
Lemon-laced diversion
For your love
The queen of hearts
Was stuck in the spokes
Of your back tire
And I would listen for it daily
To break up the silence
In my at this point still working heartbeat
Hoping you’d notice the stand
And reach out your hand
And ask for a cup
I painted a masterpiece
With my mother’s paintbrush
I wrecked like half of it
But it’s fine I can save us
Please, oh please, oh please, oh God
I hope that you can see me
Please, oh please, oh please, oh God
I wish that you could see me
Because I can see
The colors of your high-tops
While I’m sleeping
And I will trace
The circles of the
Motion of your pedals
In the dark
The queen of hearts
Was stuck in the spokes
Of your back tire
And I would listen for it daily
To break up the silence
In my at the point still working heartbeat
Hoping you’d notice the stand
And reach out your hand
And ask for a cup
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4. |
Start the Car
03:11
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Start the car
Let’s take a ride before it gets too dark
I’ll turn the heat up
Because you like when it’s hotter
It can’t be more awkward than this
Fix your hair
Adjust the mirror until it’s perfectly paired
With every single piece of English perfection
Oh god your complexion is clear
Stop for gas
I really wish that we could all get past
The regular unleaded things I’ve been screaming
I hope you’ve been hearing them all
I don’t want to
I don’t want to start a fight
I will start one tonight
I don’t want to
I don’t want to but I might
I always wanted to
You’re right
Paint your nails
You picked a color that is neutral and pale
You’re wishing now that you had chose something brighter
To showcase the fighter in you
Seventeen
I’m in Boston you’re in Aberdeen
I’m exhausted from the internal bleeding
I can’t just keep sleeping it off
Call the cops
Yeah let’s encourage them to take their shots
At all the animals who can’t get a better grip
I’ll let this sweater rip off
I don’t want to
I don’t want to start a fight
I will start one tonight
I don’t want to
I don’t want to but I might
I always wanted to
Alright
Are these clouds or are these mountains?
Are these dashed or solid lines?
The angel sitting next to me
Is the devil in disguise
I’d rather drink a pint of gasoline
Than look into her eyes
And tell her lies
I’m telling lies
I’m telling lies
I’m telling lies
I’m telling lies
I never wanted to
I never wanted to start a fight
I always started them
Alright
I don’t want to
I don’t want to start a fight
I always started them
Alright
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5. |
Four Dogs
03:14
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Four dogs walking side by side
All of them with the sun in their eyes
But it’s fine
We have nine times their life and we whine
Gunner smiles he’s happy to be here
He drinks from puddles and jumps to his feet when hears
The sounds of her tires and gears
A louder bark she can hear him from inside
He can’t see colors
But Gunner has colorful eyes
Kinda makes her feel guilty
For not taking him on the ride
And he barks and begs and pleads with her just
To hurl that yellow Penn
So she finds the thing and she lets it fly
And he brings it back and barks, “again?”
So she hails one Mary of a tennis ball
And challenges him to the task
Well he’s back in two seconds
With the ball in his teeth
And a face like, “You thought that was fast?”
We got four dogs walking by my side
All of them with the sun in their eyes
But it’s fine
We have nine times their life and we whine
Hunger building
They wait for their dishes
She makes them quickly
She makes them so carefully too
She’s their waitress every afternoon
Benny spills some
He’s known for his messes
She cleans it patiently, scolding him in a friendly tone
It only bothers her when he’s not home
His brother Franklin is cleaner than Benjamin
She can’t believe in him not to make fights in the yard
Kinda makes him feel happy for not letting her get too far
And he barks and begs and pleads with her just
To hurl that yellow Penn
So she finds the thing and she lets it fly
And he brings it back and barks, “again?”
So she hails one Mary of a tennis ball
And challenges him to the task
Well he’s back in two seconds
With the ball in his teeth
And a face like, “You thought that was fast?”
We got four dogs walking by my side
All of them with the sun in their eyes
But it’s fine
We have much longer lives
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6. |
Three Friends
00:30
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7. |
Ryan Gosling
02:06
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Make of this what you will
Because I’ll make it
If you will
Make believe that I’d kill for something
I wouldn’t even bruise my shin for
Because I know that things don’t happen
Like we see them on the screen
But I’d like to think
That if I keep my shoes and clothes real clean
That there’d be a way
For me to say
I want to find the girl
in Gosling’s movies
Thankfully I can build
A better castle
To take the place where hers fell
It’s always taking me til
Those credits roll
And I remember
That nothing ever happens
Like we see it on the screen
But that doesn’t mean
That if I keep my shoes and clothes real clean
I won’t have a chance
To steal a dance
With every single girl
From Gosling’s movies
Wasting pages again
On some pessimistic plan
I’ll wrap in plastic
Oh I never leave my house
Without a hope of finding her
And also my chapstick
Because I’m pretty sure
That things don’t happen
Like up on the screen
But I’m also pretty sure
That I really don’t know anything
So if there comes a day
When I see her face
I’ll know it’s her
Make no mistake
And we’ll both live out the script
Of a Gosling movie
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8. |
Sadie
03:20
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Another summer cutting wood into race cars
And then passing on to her for the paint jobs
At the lake house in Westfield
Both his hands are filled with pieces of toy cars
And they used to be filled with the real parts
Of the Chevy he’s carving
Well his passion had been punched by an accident
That had left his head in tact
But not exactly as it had been
Couldn’t refuse when presented with Sadie
A no at first but eventually gave in
To the life in her smile
Sadie crouched and lept
Right off the side of the handmade wooden boat
And they know
That Daniel would’ve brought them safely home
But his own
Body let him down
And so she chose
To follow where he goes
Patricia didn’t know what had hit her
Her final thoughts of her brothers and sisters
Just what they were up to
Spent her days at the bank with the numbers
Kept a sketch book with drawings hid under
Her files and faxes
Had an eye for the colors and patterns
In her clothes
In her paints
In her fashion
She had the eyes of an artist
Fell in love with her the minute he met her
A saving grace that they parted together
At the lake house in Westfield
Sadie crouched and lept
Right off the side of the handmade wooden boat
And they know
That Daniel would’ve brought them safely home
But his own
Body let him down
And so she chose
To follow where he goes
The paint was almost dry
On the wooden cars inside
She squeezed his arm
And closed her eyes
And died
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9. |
Lion's Paw
03:59
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A lion’s paw
Well I winced a bit at the dried blood in my claws
Never thought
Your awful thorns would leave my awful palms
And my arms feel hollow
With the weight that’s finally gone
You’re gone
Oh my god
I’m moving on
A level head
Knowing not to stick my hand in there again
When you slept
I felt I’d rather something tender, something red
Something better
Than the taste of candy cigarettes and lead
Again and again
Oh my God
Not again
Nine times out of ten I’m lying
And the other one I’m hiding something
Underneath my skin
You’d be better off without me honey
I can’t sleep without my money
Tucked under my head
There’s a voice I can hear
But I forcefully avoid
And employ
The kind of mindset that I had
That it’s not a choice
It’s a choice
To slither through her legs
Without a noise
Like a snake in her veins
I’ll stay here because it’s warm
Speak to me
When you’ve slept between a liar and a thief
And you need
Just a little bit more room to keep your knees
Oh please
Give me just enough to shake the love
And breathe
I can’t breathe
I can’t sleep
I can hardly speak
Nine times out of ten I’m lying
And the other one I’m hiding something
Underneath my skin
You’d be better off without me honey
I can’t sleep without my money
Tucked under my head
You’d be better off without me honey
You’d be better off without me honey
You’d be better off without me honey
You’d be better off without me
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10. |
Memphis
02:39
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Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
And teach me how to dance
I want to learn
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Let’s go
Tennessee is in my arms
I can bleed in different towns
If a feeling isn’t lost
If it is felt on different grounds
Well I can deal out different cards
Anyone can scream their thoughts
A little help is hard to come by
If it fixes you it’s art
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
And teach me how to dance
I want to learn
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Let’s go
Throwing darts at foreign maps
Aiming for that little patch
In the corner with the hope
Of landing somewhere in her past
Is any plastic ever glass?
If every magnet had it’s match
Would all the laughter that we managed
Convince you to move back
It doesn’t get any harder than this
It doesn’t get any harder
Oh God, does it get any harder than this?
It doesn’t get any harder than this
It doesn’t get any harder
Oh God, does it get any harder than this?
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
And teach me how to dance
I want to learn
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Take me to Memphis
Let’s go
City bus seats interfere
With the romantics inner fear
That every mile is a mile
That’ll gradually tear us
Let her catch me in a stare
As she packs up any tears
I could’ve held back
With a laugh or something
Splash into the air
Take me to Memphis
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11. |
Gate 23
03:29
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While waiting to fly
I started to cry at Gate 23
At the airport in San Diego
She’s waiting for me
“Stop following me!” she calls from the wing
I could hear it from my window
Well if you could get that
Then you would get why I’m leaving
Well if you could get that
Then you would get where I’ve been
Well if you could get that
Then you would get why I’m leaving
Well if you could get that
Then you would get where I’ve been
It was wrong
It was wrong when I started it all
Looking back it was actually her in my car
I guess I don’t believe in the devil
I bled it out in the clouds in airplane
Looking out at the person I shattered into (in two)
I guess that’s why they call it a “red eye”
I can’t imagine
What it’s like on your side
I can’t imagine what it’s like
Not to lie
I can’t imagine
What it’s like on your side
I can’t imagine what it’s like
Not to lie
If you’re up
And you’re wondering where I am
that’s enough
Can’t you understand
I don’t work like a person
Give it up
Give it up if you know what is good
For your self
And your bones
And your sensitive eyes
Someday I won’t be a monster
I feel guilt more than I feel love
I feel guilt more than I feel love
I feel guilt more than I feel love
I feel guilt more than I feel love
I feel guilt more than I feel love
I feel guilt more than I feel love
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Mark Gilday Jr. New Hampshire
I do the acoustic guitar thing. Thanks for listening.
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