1. |
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[some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs...]
Bright-eyed sunbeam
Tripped over Gulf Stream
Nervous he would pale and whither when he met up with you
So away he flew
But he took a tale of you up to the moon
Timid moonlight
Waits for the nighttime
Peeps her little head through the clouds, just a-thinkin’ she might
Catch a little sight
Of what the sunbeam told her of that night
But it was so much more than words could say
So all the earth stood still that day
With your sun-bright hips and your moonlight lips
And your wind-swept words and your sap-sweet kiss
They just wanted for you to know
Then soft-lipped north winds
Whisper on by, then
Stop right there in their tracks to make a southward bend
Just to see you again
Cuz you were so much more than the moonlight described to them
Trembling trees
Get caught in the breeze
And scratch upon my window, relentless, till I beg them to cease
And just tell me, please
But it’s only words of you that they release
But it was so much more than words could say
So all the earth stood still that day
With your sun-bright hips and your moonlight lips
And your wind-swept words and your sap-sweet kiss
They just wanted for you to know
And then you come and sit down with me
Right beneath your window pane
And tell me ‘bout your vacuum heart
Those six whole years you spent
Living alone, oh
Living alone
Now night is calling
Stars are falling
Earth is stalling, stalling
Yes, it’s stalling for you
Stalling for you
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2. |
Ace Williams (demo)
03:44
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Well, I had to close my eyes
Before his boot heel hit my head
Placed an ace upon my face
And he left me there for dead
One that that was certain
In that one-horse town called Braede
Everyone and their son knew
That Ace Williams, he was bad
He drank his gin all by the bin
But not once did he pay
Everyone despised his ass
But you knew you couldn’t say
Your daughters and your sons
You’d better hide them all away
You best look out, you better run
Cuz Ace Williams, he’s about today
Ace Williams, where did you come from?
Didn’t your mama tell you back when you was young:
Ace Williams, don’t you act that way
Or else your devil will come down and take you away
Once day old Cal Wilson, sheriff of the next-door town
Walked in the bar and yelled out hard,
"Oh Ace, I’m gonna shoot you down!"
Ace, he didn’t flinch
He just glanced over toward the door
And said, "Old man, let’s step outside and
I’ll give you what you’re lookin’ for."
Out there on the street side
With their eyes a-burning red
Ace and Cal, they danced around
As we all looked on in dread
Ace took out his pistol
At the same time so did Cal
Two shots rang out, I heard a shout
And Ace Williams, he hit the ground
Ace Williams, where did you come from?
Didn’t your mama tell you back when you was young:
Ace Williams, don’t you act that way
Or else your devil will come down and take you away
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3. |
The Descent (demo)
04:57
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Though we’ve traipsed these three-thousand
And five-hundred miles
We still don’t know our way
The sign on the door
Says it leads up to heaven
But would it for sure, no one can say
Now we’ve grown so old and set our feet up for the night
The dark’ning sky
Casts a sinister shadow and everything in it is draped
Our thoughts extracted from our minds in the pale moonlight
To let them dry
Letting all we desire run free as a convict escaped
Feel the madness rush in
And get lost in the din
As control fades fast away
And the wind-beaten walls
Of your conscience will fall
To the storm clouds thick and gray
“You know dreams reflect an external reality,”
Your lover said
As he slipped deep down into new Quaalude-induced euphorias,
Causing castles to crash, raising choirs from the depths of his malady
Just to paint them red
Like a drunken new Ares creating a world he thought glorious
Something’s creeping slowly up inside
The straights, they skew, the yellows blue
A cry
We try
To hide
We're fine
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4. |
Old Jack (demo)
04:25
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[fun with alliteration :) ]
A ring around a mouth
Ripe-red as roses writ in gardens in the springtime
Set so softly in the soil
A breath beats barely b’neath a breast
Bends a breeze into the bedroom air, the dust drawn up
Drops gently ‘pon her pillow, poor sweet soul
A light, it leaks, a lurking figure,
Fingers frozen firm in fist upon a saber
Feet a-flutter on the floor
As the tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock
Of time turns ever more
Hear the click, clack, click, clack, click, clack
Of boots against the floor
And just sit back, relax, know that
There’s nothing you can do
With a hunched back, coat black, Old Jack
He’s coming for you, too.
Oh….
A hunch, a hand held high
Heading hurriedly towards the tender tresses, dagger turning
Glint of steel that splits the night
A scream strips silence of its sound
Coming to a crisp crescendo, cresting climax
As her corneas crack open in a fright
As the tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock
Of time turns ever more
Hear the click, clack, click, clack, click, clack
Of boots against the floor
And just sit back, relax, know that
There’s nothing you can do
With a hunched back, coat black, Old Jack
He’s coming for you, too.
Oh….
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5. |
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After the progress of a score and one centuries
We distrust the right friends and we fear the right enemies
They say that we’re fighting for noble ideals and for hope, but
Listen in close and together we’ll see
That we simply cannot go on like this
But this is not the worst that it could ever be
An emptied-out cartridge, a grenade that’s missing its pin
Can quell any dissent and all forms of argument win
But out there it’s cold and it’s dark, and there’s thunder and lightning
So we’ll all seek asylum in this beautiful state we are in
Him – is it him that we’ve been searching for?
Or is it everyone that we can see?
See the broken old desks all marked up with the last legs of patience
As the eager young learners all snored through the wisdom of ages
The empty dark schoolhouse is buried in layers of dust now
And the stale yellowed chalkboard’s all stained with the musings of ancients
Sense – is it sense that we’ve forgotten now?
How didn’t we notice this before?
Here the roads are all faded with plastecine shadings of dye
And the things that we hear are all jaded and riddled with lies
Could the words that we say even hope to have slightest of impact
On their crooked old ways, or their twisted-up phrasings untie?
I just wanted to make us see
That we have the power to make us free
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6. |
My Right Arm (demo)
03:52
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[wrote these lyrics while in a Decemberists phase (thus the tragedy/darkness)]
What’s there left now to say?
I was always my best with you near
As if my right arm – perfect fit,
Quite the match for its mate
It was clear
Dream not back on the days
We traded sweet nothings 'twixt our ears
Oh, but it’s all for the best,
Passing out of that phase
After years
Now come, I’ll throw you away
I’ll destroy everything you hold dear
With my right arm, as the left
Makes a loop ‘round your waist
To keep you here
Then let me hear you call my name
You’ll meet your fate, you shan’t escape
It’s clear
Those tears draw me near, oh…
Ya da da….
Drift deep down, Desiree
First you thought there was no cause for tears
Then my right arm right arrested
Your shock-stricken face
Full of fear
That look of shock fades away
As your body, snow-white through the clear
Water so warm, touches ground
As the waves seal your fate
With a leer
Singing la da da…
One last debt left to pay
I shall come down to meet you, my dear
See my right arm reaching out
In the depths of the lake
Do you hear
As I dare to call your name?
We’ve meet your fate, we shan’t escape
It’s clear
Those tears draw me near, oh…
Ya da da….
Now I’ve license to say
Without hint of humor or cheer
Despite my right arm, always thought you
A lady first-rate
Without peer
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7. |
Same Old Song (demo)
04:06
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You say that you’re sorry, but you’re not
You say not to worry and it will be okay
Well, is that so?
Remember the times we yelled and fought
I’ve heard it before and all that I have to say
Is you gotta go
We can’t get out of this now, cuz it’s far too late
I really don’t understand how you sealed my fate
But you don’t know
It takes its toll
But it’s all so strange
Cuz if we don’t
Then I would never be the same
I’m walkin along the empty street
I light up a smoke and I think I hear your name
You just won’t erase
I can’t look at anyone I see
A million strong, oh, but they all look the same
All I can see is your face
We can’t get out of this now, cuz it’s far too late
I really don’t understand how you sealed my fate
But you don’t know
It takes its toll
But it’s all so strange
Cuz if we don’t
Then I would never be the same
So what do I do now but go back
To the only thing that I know, oh it ain’t perfect
But well you know
It’s all I got, though it’s out of whack
You’ve stolen my heart but you haven’t earned it yet
But here I go
We can’t get out of this now, cuz it’s far too late
I really don’t understand how you sealed my fate
But you don’t know
It takes its toll
But it’s all so strange
Cuz if we don’t
Then I would never be the same
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8. |
Mockingbird (demo)
05:21
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Know yourself and nothing in excess
That’s what the oracle said
But all you want’s to drink into a stupor state
From now till we’re dead
Until we’re dead
What a funny pair we are
On two diverging pathways we tread
I agonize o’er every word
You say things off the top of your head
The top of your head
And when you say it doesn’t bother you
I know that that means nothing at all
And when you tell me that you’re doing fine
I know you’re really riding for a fall
Cuz with everything you say
You’re like a mockingbird who sings
Your lips, they move, the words, they sound
But it all means nothing
Cuz you don’t care, you don’t care
You don’t even care to tell me
You know that I’m the silent type
And you’re as chatty as can be
And nothing we could say or do could alter that
Just take it from me
Take it from me
Would that we could change our ways
As eas’ly as the morning breeze
But no matter how much they’d want to
The rocks can never turn into trees
Turn into trees
Cuz when you say it doesn’t bother you
I know that that means nothing at all
And when you tell me that you’re doing fine
I know you’re really riding for a fall
Cuz with everything you say
You’re like a mockingbird who sings
Your lips, they move, the words, they sound
But it all means nothing
Cuz you don’t care, you don’t care
You don’t even care to tell me
One thing you might tell me
Is there even any chance
That we could ever be
Or is it all about the dance?
Spinning circles ‘round the room
We go sashaying down the line
You have to let me know
If this is just a waste of time
Cuz when you say it doesn’t bother you
I know that that means nothing at all
And when you tell me that you’re doing fine
I know you’re really riding for a fall
Cuz with everything you say
You’re like a mockingbird who sings
Your lips, they move, the words, they sound
But it all means nothing
Cuz you don’t care, you don’t care
You don’t even care to tell me
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9. |
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Would you like it if I sang you a song?
It won’t take long
But when I stop, would I just fade away
To a shadow on your wall?
And you’d say nothing to me at all
Until the next time I’d sing you a song
Would you like it if I wrote you a speech
About how much you mean to me?
Would your cheeks blush
As you’d sit close and hug your knees?
But then you’d up and leave
Until the next time I’d write you a speech
Would you like it if I made you a gift myself
With paint and glue and sticks?
Would your eyes glow
And a smile touch your lips?
Or would you forget about it
Until the next time I’d make you a gift?
Would you like it if I bought you
Some cookie-cut consumeristic fare
Out of a gross misconception of what it means to care?
Would you hug it?
Would you kiss it?
When you’re gone, would you miss it?
Or would you recognize it’s all bullshit?
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10. |
Sea of Dreams (demo)
02:33
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[a lullaby for my nephew]
Miracle, so new to life
Raise your head and see our eyes
They’re watching over you at night
Then lay your head on the pillow soft
And let it steal the thoughts
That bothered you when you were not
Feeling at home
Tired eyes
Tired hands and tired feet
Shove off, my friend, to meet
The sandman in the sea of dreams
If you feel afraid, all that’s to do
Is to think of us with you
And know that nighttime’s nothing new
So close your eyes and breathe the sweet
Air upon the sea of dreams
You’ll see the world so fresh and clean
When the sun breaks
Tired eyes
Tired hands and tired feet
Shove off, my friend, to meet
The sandman in the sea of dreams
(humming)
Tired eyes
Tired hands and tired feet
Shove off, my friend, to meet
The sandman in the sea of dreams
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