1. |
Thorn & Shout
02:52
|
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I wear ... you out
but hold ... your faith
as sure ... as day:
a thorn ... and shout.
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2. |
Satisfied Stand Still
03:38
|
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My toes touch the October sea --
a wave fall back to welcome me.
Foul overpass I lie beneath --
my train might come so I can't sleep.
| And you've been lurking round this hole
| to pray for rain and save your soul:
| A dance that happens more and more,
| as hopeful as an apple core.
The sage that blossoms fragrantly --
it shelters things that I can't see.
Now take me to that eastern shore --
for in the snow our tracks are clear.
| I lay my love down like a lamb
| and spill the blood from both our hands:
| To softly mingle in the mud,
| O foolish great eternal blood.
Will Armageddon come to call --
for I desire the slightest thrill.
The unrequited multiply --
the satisfied stand still.
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3. |
Song for Bear
02:31
|
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Times have been lean, but things are coming up green
that's the way that it is, way it's always been
the Ache and the Stir of the feathers & fur
put things back where they were
so they stay unseen
| and the magic remains
| and the earth is reclaimed
| and the moon and the rain
| sing the sweetest refrain
| I've ever heard
And the rhythm persists
despite greed and ignorance
Death will unclench our fists
and make marbles of our eyes!
And he slept like a log, he was such a good dog
and now he is gone,
I hope he hears my goodbye.
| and I cried and cried
| till my eyes ran dry
| and my words went wild
| till I just howled
| to the night...
|
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4. |
Name & Noise
05:33
|
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Dead eyes fixed upon the east,
so keen to catch another glimpse
the creases in your robes collecting snow
But the sun will never dawn for you
encased in bronze with all you know
condensed into a monumental stone
A statue in a square the birds nest upon your hair
and use your hollow volume as a hiding place for seed
But will you ever rest again, with all the world speaking your name?
Do you tire to live on eternally?
| and small we are, so blame we must
| invent the gods to punish us
| we fear the Flame, we fear the Void
| we fear to lose our Name & Noise
And who am I to proclaim
anything? I'm but name
pinned to the collar of a shirt
A momentary bloom,
a single thread upon a loom
a flag atop a mound of dirt
but matter cannot be destroyed
only transformed
exchanged like coins
So go acquaint yourself with the dust
you'll one day find yourself
amongst
|
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5. |
I Am Yours
04:24
|
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I am yours -- to the end of the world,
or such time -- as you see fit to let me go
from this bond -- that is neither chain nor stone
but a home -- burrowed deep beneath the snow.
| And we shall be shielded
| by the selfsame spell that guards the holy door:
| and the power wielded
| in our hands so small, and so
| unknowable.
From now on -- I'll admit when I'm wrong,
feed the cat -- and arise before dawn.
There are some -- who would call me a fool
They say sooth -- I sought the fountain of you.
If you ask -- I will tell what I know:
all must pass -- but we stay when they go.
Cups shall fall -- limbs will wear into wands:
death is rest -- before travelling on.
|
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6. |
Little Demon
03:33
|
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A little demon followed me
until I found it comforting --
Soft as a tiger in a field
I too have vanished in the real.
From time as old as I can tell
I plumbed the depths of every hell --
I craved a glimpse of that reward
to know no death and fear no sword.
But every turn took me away
from where my heart's desire lay --
I grew so crazed within those walls
I did not want the thing at all.
At that the walls did crumble down
a ghastly light shone all around --
I felt the life course through my veins
just where no love for it remained.
But such is life and such is death
I know the value of each breath --
to love a shade and see it pass
(there is a price for everything)
it is a sweet and bitter draught
(the wind among the meadow grass).
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7. |
All Things Magical
03:43
|
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Fulfilled I will find my way out of the night
that chasm, dark kingdom, a waste of my time
once over yon ledge, the weather is fine
but that gravity makes for a difficult climb
and I recall your gift of the infinite kind --
encouraging words, wearing wings well designed...
a bond that won't bend 'till the stars cease their shine
unfaltering faith,
even though, and despite
But I'm just blood, and bones,
and attempts at atonement
and there's nothing i know
but that nothing is permanent
and our love is strong,
an oak old and towering
or a bird on the wing, casting cries towards the heavens
A beautiful thing, what luck!
this deliverance
Now I will become what in needed of me--
a beacon to mirror the glistening sea
and I will lose myself so completely
that no compass nor map could find me
Whether fated thus, or a fool's leap
neither story seems too troubling...
And with all things magical indeed,
the world nearly brings me to my knees.
|
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8. |
Line & Lure
04:14
|
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Behind the scene did echo sounds
of brimming day and coffee grounds
my breath misplaced and can't be found
when I see you bleeding
Between the words I failed to say
uncertainty just falls away
like curtains parted for the day
and I'm left believing
| A line and lure
| my will is nothing
| your hook has sunk in a bit too far
Your boot is red
the pain is keen
that blade did sink in
inches deep
my heart is bared, secrets I keep forgotten
And with stitches gone, my word is bond,
and my love, and my song
are yours till death dissolves them
| and from the shore
| I hear you calling
| I may have fallen a bit too hard
|
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9. |
Trouble
06:18
|
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From the midst of the winter
I will lead you to spring --
Every home needs an altar;
every year fills a hole with the dead.
(how the once fallow field
may divinely exchange sweat for bread -- )
| Out among the rocks and snakes
| I'm laying down:
| "It's more fun to live with trouble
| than without ..."
On a long narrow road
we will play hide and seek with the moon --
Perfect seeds buried deep
though the surface be still as the tomb.
(all await being born
an ordeal that can come none too soon -- )
From the mouth of our cave
I will show you a bird blocks the sun --
If they spoke we would tremble
but they teach not in language alone.
(how the uncharted world
is a word once inscribed on a stone -- )
| Out among the rocks and snakes
| I'm laying down:
| While castles fall and kings are toppled
| all around ...
| You can see that awful cloud
| that forms ahead:
| But inside the hearth is dry
| and warm the bed ...
|
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10. |
Sea of Fate
04:35
|
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All of us were drowning in the sea of fate:
I could have sworn it was not there at all
but for the cold, briny waves
that filled my lungs and dragged me down.
So there I was: neat as a picture framed
Where the only devil, Time, does work
on good and ill the same.
Rending bone from bone,
ripping flesh from frame:
Singing, "Everyone's a cannibal, and
Everyone's a saint."
How strange, how strange I have felt
since I walked on this stage:
I am older now, and discovering how
I have trouble with the simplest things.
"You hold gods of the old world within you,
But you're sad when you look out the window."
"The ancients built cities of stone with their hands,
Now you're eating cold soup from a can."
|
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11. |
Farewell
04:01
|
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Lost my faith in this machine
I'll trade my full time job
for a can of beans & a campfire
Ten gallons of gas
A new pair of jeans
and a dog
If we play out our hand, if we ever got to fold
we'll pick a compass heading honey,
and start tearing down the road
it ain't running if there's nothing chasing you
And I know that it's hard
but we are made of this world
and to us it called
and I know you heard
| I ain't scared when the day goes down
| I want to wear that darkness like a crown
| My kingdom for the silence of the sea--
| pursued the sun, somehow it got behind me
Farewell North Atlantic coast,
Maine & Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York,
I forgive you.
And when I'm out there, on the side of the road,
sitting in the sand with a tire blown
I will miss you...
| I ain't scared when the sun comes up
| I will bear every dawn like a cup
| to catch the dew dripping off the grass
| I will drink it up, I'll drink it up. At last.
|
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12. |
Caput Lupinum
05:23
|
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I know I can't be rid of you --
just the same, I'm not your dog.
Your father's folly brought you here;
you knew not the prize you sought.
| The moon is clear as bells today
| as the shadow of the pine grows long:
| The abbey walls are reaching out
| to cover the tracks of the gone.
For I was born a man like you --
but the forest reclaims her own.
Just as the night has touched me, so
shall moss enwreath your bones.
| And could I not have flown from here
| when first you pierced the shroud --
| when first I saw the torchlight and
| heard hoof-beats through the ground?
But I'd rather stay and see your face
and face a death that's known --
Than catch an arrow in the back
a hundred miles on.
| You can keep your belladonna, boys
| step up and bleed me dry --
| don't waste your gold on silver
| you can kill with the tool of your choice.
Now I know I'll miss the morning dew
but I know I could never abide --
In a world where they call the wild wicked
so the wicked forge chains for the wild.
The world of men shall be erased ...
Thank Heaven for that day.
|
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13. |
Gull Song
03:05
|
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As the light comes through,
I follow you like the tide follows the moon
I swell when you're near and I harbor no fear
That you won't be coming 'round soon
If you fell, I would carry you
Wither thou wilt, I'd bear you
as lightly as a loon
To some future time, where the ocean shines
in perpetual afternoon
and the Gulls sing
as they ride the wind home
and I envy their hymn,
though it's the only song they know--
It's the only song they have to know
I AM HERE
I AM HERE
I AM LISTENING
|
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