1. |
Listening for Lightning
02:36
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you can swelter in the shadow in the center of the summer, walkin to the window for a drink of faucet water. lyin with your lover but you're thinkin of another, braggin to your brother how you'll bring the two together. parishioners are prayin for protection from the predators. verses of the visions are victims of the editors. obedience to the priest can still get you molested. politeness to police can still get you arrested.
virgins drink venom, hoping vampires will marry while the cradle becomes a coffin carried to the cemetery. father dares death with denial, mothers making meth and ridin on motorcycles. the saviors of success are obsessed with their future. the altars of advice are afraid of their own failures. the boys on the bikes are buried in the backyard. the teacher in the turtlenecks tiptoes cross the trainyard.
you unravel as you travel, grateful for the grave, far away from your master who is sleepin with his slaves.
you're listening for lightning but you're lookin for thunder. the storm comes around and tears your town asunder. you're listenin for lightning but you're lookin for thunder. the storm touches down, you just stand around and wonder.
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2. |
Put on a Proper Face
04:04
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Well, I wouldn't mind dying, but I don't like to see you crying. I can't stand to see you sad when it really ain't that bad, because, there's a world beyond where our enemies are gone. We're going to a better place, so put on a proper face. I was following the path and I got lost in the woods. I missed my chance to go, wondering if I should. Next time I'll catch that train, far away from pain, to the paradise town, where I'll find my way around.
Well, the light at the end of the tunnel looks so bright, you lose your way. You end up in hell by accident, then decide to stay. I don't mind getting older because it means its almost over. I'm marching off to my death like a good American soldier. I'll visit you in your dreams, I'll visit you in your mind. I'll whisper to your heart, to let you know I'm doing fine, because I love living in your head. Can I stay there all the time? I've decided to be dead is a great way to pass the time.
As a body down below, or ashes in the air. A soul up in the sky, or just a ghost upstairs. No matter where I go - that is where I'll be. No matter where I go - that is where you'll find me.
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3. |
City Cops & State Patrol
04:24
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You left your boyfriend on the bed, thinking about what you said, then you rustled through the possessions stored inside the shed. You cut open the clouds to color the sky red. You're safe sleeping with the killers if you pretend you're already dead. Father in falsetto asks when you're coming back? When the sun is done, and the sky's forever black. Mother makes your portrait in crumbs upon the plate, sleepy as she sits, oblivious to fate.
A daughter of the darkened sky returns to make her father cry. She took the truth and left a lie, as an answer to her mother's why.
Your brother went to Junction because he heard about the oil, fulfilling his function, getting paid for his toil. Felt no need to plant a seed in the rocky soil - run your con, then move on, from rags to royal. Went out west to Utah, mountain bikes and mormons. Got pulled over in Provo really early in the morning, so he shot the cop and crossed the line deep into the desert. When they finally found him he was hiding in the dirt.
A son will scare his parents trying to be brave, acting like a hero with nobody to save. Crime will kill the time until you kill somebody else. You're grinning with that gun until that gun's turned on yourself.
City cops and state patrol, private security, and federal, all create the disaster they pretend to discover. They flex their tiny badges to separate the lovers. Sirens like coyotes coming from the silence to interrupt your peace and introduce the violence. All we really want is an early retirement: three hots and a cot in a warm environment.
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4. |
A Cause I Cannot See
03:55
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The skin around your skull is kept clear and clean but your eyes are full of everything you've seen. You can empty out your eyes and a teardrop holds a dream, the cause of the cry in a miniature picture scene. If you'd like to live, just lean towards the light, but if you'd rather die, you can run outside. A cause I cannot see has brought you close to me. A cause I cannot see is very real to me.
A reason i can't explain makes me feel this pain as clouds overcome the hills and water the weeds with rain. Flowers float into the sky , they float on a pitch black sea, where they shine so bright they become astronomy. We reach into the gospel and pull out what we need until our words become laws on whom we can and cannot feed. A cause I cannot see has brought you close to me. A cause I cannot see is very real to me.
The pathway to the pond through the center of the woods where your witnesses are gone, well, they never understood. There you find a hidden home where you write your poems and you leave your door wide open to avoid being alone. The skyline of the city's like a dead centipede. Sure, the ads are pretty, but they're too bright to read. You are what what I want and you are what I need. Love gives us permission but pain demands we plead. A cause I cannot see has brought you close to me. It's not where where you're supposed to be but still you've chosen me.
A teardrop holds a dream - the cause of the cry. If nothings what it seems, it does not mean that its a lie. A teardrop holds a dream - the cause of the cry. A miniature picture scene shows the reason why.
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5. |
Neither Heaven nor Hell
05:04
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First they try and trip you, and its your fault if you fall. Then they build a room around you and bill you for it all. It aint got no doors nor windows because the ceilings three foot tall. Some call it a coffin but they sell it as a mansion. Your bones begin to soften just before your souls expansion. You're walking down that tunnel and you gotta choose between two doors. If the cold one goes to heaven, well I suggest the one thats warm.
We gave up on the government. We gave up on our jobs. Only way we meet our needs is just go out and rob. I got cash down in my sock and a knife up in my sleeve. You are where you are from, so don't pretend to leave. People judge an author on how he writes the checks. People judge a singer on how much money she collects. People judge an artist on what he's wearing next. People judge a poet by how often hes correct.
I ain't taking you home tonight, honey, because I ain't goin home. I'll just give you directions, you can find it on your own. We'll meet in the middle once this life is through. Neither heaven nor hell wanna deal with me or you.
If I really love you, then I will leave you. When your lips are lying is the only time that I believe you.
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6. |
As Long As You're Here
04:40
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Pray to God for what you want, but He might not obey. But its alright if you stay with me tonight - just leave before the light of day. No eye contact along the way.
Peace and love are not enough, so throw that stuff away. And its alright if you stay with me tonight - just leave before the light of day. No arguments along the way.
I don't care where you've been, where you've been. I can't see what you've seen, what you've seen. As long as you're here, you're alright, you're alright. As long as you're here, this is home for tonight.
I'm much much larger than life, but I'm way way smaller than death. I ran out of words, so listen to my breath.
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7. |
I Love Livin' Lost
05:09
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You ask for my two cents, well, two cents is all I've got. I'll split it with you instead and give you a penny for your thoughts. All the skin I've shed is dust upon the glass. All of my friendsare dead, looks like I came in last.
I walk the empty roads with the moon hung in the sky. I'll point you to my past if you ask the reason why. I 've got all these reflections in my eye. I'll point you to my past if you ask the reason why.
They say put your money where your mouth is, well, I'm chewing on some change. I'd rather eat a dollar bill since silver tastes a little strange. You say put your money where your mouth is, I've bit off more than I can chew. Who the hell needs a silver spoon, when a plastic one will do?
I love living lost, living lost, living lost.
I've got a set of clothes and I've got a piece of skin - the perfect place for my soul to hide in.
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8. |
No One Has Won
05:15
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Mother and father woke up together. Boiled some water, and checked on the weather. Mom felt sick and sad but now shes feeling better. She buried her firstborn in her grandmas sweater becuase father had a shotgun aimed at the stork, carrying a child which equals extra work. Mom ran away but no one would put her up. She came back the same day, I guess she had enough.
She was baptized in the bathtub because the river disappeared. She hit her head on the faucet and was out for twenty years. When she finally came too she discovered she was a wife, sitting lonely in her home, in the silence of the night. He said "I can't afford another. I'll be workin til my death. You're breakin my bones and you're trying to take my breath. If you assume whats gonna be, you make an ass out of you and me. You opened your can of worms, now sit down to eat."
If you're looking for someone to blame, point your fingers at the sky: the cause of our creation knows the answer why. Once he tells you the reason, theres no way you can turn around. Then you experience every season in the safety of the ground.
No one has won. No one has ever won.
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9. |
Peaceful Molecules
04:24
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In the woods I linger, alone in my adventure. Look into the clearing - I'm sleeping in the center.
The sun was like a mirror. I studied my appearance. I memorized my name. My face was framed in flames. I looked into my shadow. In there, I found a staircase. I took it several levels, into my own darkness. Look into the backyard, kids are playing playing cards. Someone here was working hard, saving money in a jar. I sought shelter in the shadows, hoping for blindness. Unfortunately my eyes became accustomed to the darkness.
My clothes are hung from branches. Umbrella as my ceiling. In my hooded sweatshirt, I forget my feelings. I found a tape of music. I thought i could not use it. I threw it in the pond, the water sang its song. When the show is over, then critics begin til the performers dead and the stage is empty again. I'm just singin a song I found leftover in your skull. You forgot your whispers, though I took them as gospel.
Peaceful molecules. So tiny, and shiny.
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10. |
Pray Before You Land
05:16
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Well I know my days are numbered, but too bad I've lost count. I'm so in love with slumber, well I rarely venture out. Anything over a hundred is such a large amount that I spend the money immediately and hope she don't find out. I refuse to die before I learn what lifes about. Once I find the answer for sure I'll screan and shout, but nobody is listening witt he headphones on their heads. The living are in prison on authority of the dead.
So I'm alone at home since the town has left for war. My brain is full of poems and they're spillin out on the floor. Doors are shut like shields with shadows in the windows. I might as well go to hell if I've got nowhere else to go.
It never hurts to ask but the answer stings a lot. The pain can last forever depending on how much pride you got. I had air for breakfast, I eat sleep for dinner. I'm working through the summer just to make it through the winter. Traffic takes so long to lastm when can we cross the street? Living takes so long to last, when can we cross the boundary? I'm so tired of being awake, when can we start to dream? I'm so tried of staying silent, when can we start to scream?
Televisions on, but I'm too tired to see. If it cant get in your head, well it sneaks in through your dreams. Televisions on, but I'm too sad to see. I'll stay with my feelings since they come for free.
Look before you leap , pray before you land. Its easy enough to lie if youre not strong to stand. You're drawing on concrete with the outline of your hand. Well, the signature of your fingers is very hard to understand. Welcome to the pleasure of sensual desires. Welcome to the pain underneath the tires. The child of earth is an orphan of heaven, cursing his birth and all hes been given.
I step out into sleep and close my eyes behind me. Deep into a dream, where nobody will find me. Night is when I close my eyes, but my mind is still awake. Visions got me hypnotised with what this little brain can make.
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11. |
Song Inside Your Skull
03:47
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12. |
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Fairweather friends run away from the rain. They only return to look through your remains. Well, I will never leave you because I've got nowhere to go. I destroyed my destination and forgot my way home. So i wander hidden hills and the nameless valleys, where the saints and their devils are comparing their tallies. If you always look on the bright side of your life, well, the brightness makes you blind. Your heart is full of joy my dear, but you have lost your mind.
I walk fast to stay ahead of the storm. I snuck into hell, so I could get warm. I slept outside of heaven but they would not let me in. The one I love dont love me back - so much for religion. The Lord sold my soul to the Devil for song. The Lord took that song home, but got the lyrics wrong. As far as I'm concerned, when I finally get my turn, horns and haloes are equally hot, so either way I'm getting burned.
If there is a God, then he should try again. If there is a God, well then hes probably your friend. Be careful when confessing all your secret sins, cuz hes got that information and theres no way he can't win.
Breakfast in bed brings bugs into the room. Decorate the dead, invite some thieves into your tomb. Lovers in the park call demons from the dark. The fish demand desert so they overturn the ark. When Jesus was alive, he walked on waves. Now that he is dead, he walks through walls. So how are you so sure I can be saved, when I've never saved up anything at all?
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13. |
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You say I should be thankful that I'm still alive, well now I've got this pain since I've chosen to survive. Everything I say is shown to be a lie. I've retired my name and replaced it with a sigh. I got hatred so hot it keeps me warm. My eyes look so hard, I discourage the storm. I took Christ off his cross and I ripped out his thorns then drank down his blood like a vampire born.
I got sunlight in my head to scare away the darkness. Warmth in my heart keeps out the cold. Peace in my soul discourages the violence. Memories in my mind keep me from feeling old.
Seven pm is an artificial dawn when skyscrapers rise into a sky of neon. You cannot see the clouds, or the stars above. Just stare straight ahead and hold onto your love. I've got dreams of trouble and they're stuck inside my head. They'll check your pockets for change when they think you are dead. Flooded with feeling, you float to the ceiling. When the Lord takes your soul, nobody calls Him out on stealing.
When your body feels like heaven then your soul is going to hell. When your soul feels like heaven then your body is going to hell.
You say I should be thankful that I'm still alive.If you say so, its gotta be true. If you say so, I cant argue with you.
I got nothing left to give so the time has come to take. When your love no longer lives, you know for sure that it was fake. At night I close my eyes but my mind is still awake. Visions got me hyponized, what my little head can make.
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