1. |
Alchemy
03:35
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I’ve been looking for an airplane in the water
I’ve been looking for a color I’ve not seen
I’ve been looking for the chemtrails of a martyr
And the mystic’s ghost in a flash of green
With a bone between my teeth
But now, dressed up in white
She smiles at me, I wonder why
This alchemy took so much time
And none at all, no none at all
I’ve been looking for the question in the answer
I’ve been looking for the pitcher in the rye
I’ve been looking for the cure inside the cancer
In the debt paid for eternal life
With a forest in my eye
But now, parting the sky
You smile on me, I wonder why
This alchemy took so much time
And none at all, no none at all
And now, face full of light
I sink my teeth into each bite
This alchemy took so much time
And none at all, no none at all
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2. |
Without Even Trying
04:53
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The birds come back every year
They’re playing Chinese checkers in the sky
Each move chalked out so clear
No, they’re playing hopscotch without the lines
Circling now a statue of some poet who has never been here
Every pass a “bless you” to the poet’s broken mirror
Show my body what it already knows
Don’t let it cross my mind
Let me be led by my ancestor’s ghost
‘Til I’m dancing without even trying
I have heard them digging
Down in the mountain for some time
Now they’ve turned to drinking
Thinking there’s nothing there to find
But there’s gold in that mountain, yeah, the river will carry it out
Soft and slow accountant mining mountains without sound
Show my body what it already knows
Don’t let it cross my mind
Let me be led by my ancestor’s ghost
‘Til I’m dancing without even trying
Lead me with a vision
Pillar of fire in the night
Out beyond my reason
That old emotion in disguise
Past the pride of progress and the paintings that stain these cave walls
Every step a promise, every instinct true and strong
Show my body what it already knows
Don’t let it cross my mind
Let me be led by my ancestor’s ghost
‘Til I’m dancing without even trying
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3. |
Driftwood
03:27
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Love, you are my sweetest friend
Lead me by the neck
Love, you are my safety net
Unemployment check
If you get too scared, know that I am scared, too
I can be your anchor, barnacled and blue
Love, you are my liturgy
Whispered like a prayer
Love, you are my symphony
Music in the air
If you think you’re drowning, water got in your nose
I can be your driftwood, your rusted lifeboat
Your rusted lifeboat
Love, you are my tidal wave
Crash upon my shore
Love, you are my hurricane
Eye of the storm
Eye of the storm
Eye of the storm
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4. |
Tidepools
03:16
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Coffee on her nightstand
Mom whispers my name
She says we should go right now
No one else awake
Reaching for my swim trunks
Feel them cool and damp
Sliding on my new flip flops
Crusted salt and sand
Palm trees on the freeway
Silhouettes at dawn
Blue-gray backdrop, ocean dark
Headlights in the fog
Wind caught in our t-shirts
Thousand steps to go
Sea salt on my nose and cheeks
She says she is home
Barefoot over bedrock
Tidepools on the strand
Mom is right beside me now
Holding out her hand
Seashells in my pocket
Center of my life
I will come to know the world
One piece at a time
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5. |
Oceanside
03:41
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Oceanside is slower in the winter
You told me on the drive that you could not remember
The last time that she asked you anything about yourself
Cannabis, tattoos of mascara
Said the accident changed her life forever
And she told me about her cancer and I called her a survivor
And I thought back to that paper about a fawn trapped in a fire
Overcast, she calls you just to tell you
That he’s drunk again, slander masked as virtue
And I watch the ember burn your mouth with nothing to atone
Prophesy, stare daggers at the ceiling
Wake me in the night to ask me how I’m feeling
About just going back to Phoenix, about the cost of only giving
About the boxer and his weakness, the epitaphs of those still living
About the strings tied to the puppet, about the web and its great weaver
About the price of staying above it, about the price of trying to leave her
Don’t pretend to be a stranger when you’re not
I know you have to keep the piece of that girl that she forgot
Don’t pretend to be a stranger when you’re not
Don’t pretend to be a stranger when you’re not
Don’t pretend to be a stranger when you’re not
I know you have to keep the piece of that girl that she forgot
I know you have to keep the piece of that girl from giving up
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6. |
Oxford Sweater
02:53
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You know I saw it in the crosswalk keeper
He was wearing neon holding up a sign
He was passing out the peace with two fingers
Something we agree on when it’s hard to find
And that one woman had an Oxford sweater
Started seeing Latin somewhere in my mind
It said something like the truth knows better
Than whatchya hang your hat on, watchya try to hide
And I, I turn the lights out
And then I heard it in the subway station
Someone playing trumpet, I was walking by
The six was coming just to test my patience
Tied up like a puppet, running out of time
A kid was tryna get his mom to listen
She was caught up in an algorithm state of mind
He was finding what his mom was missing
Hope he tells her all about it on the other side
And I, I turn the lights out
And I, I turn the lights out
I turn the lights out
And where would I go now
Where would I go now
And where would I go now
And I, I turn the lights out
And I, I turn the lights out
I turn the lights out
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7. |
Generous
04:38
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We took the train to get bagels in Brooklyn
They might be the best in New York
A man passed out onto the tracks, when they rescued him
He almost went back for his phone
You cried to me ‘bout the crack in the screen
That this city won’t let us ignore
It’s all in your face ‘til it gets to your brain
And you can’t see the spirits any more
Oh, but I think it’s time we get back to our dog
She’ll be waiting for us
Oh, and I think we might feed her early
I’m feeling more generous
Under the scaffold you noticed a vigil
That I thought were candles for sale
So I made a joke ‘bout the face in the photo
Said that must be why they don’t sell
Oh, and you said, “I don’t think that those are for us”
As I swallowed my tongue
Oh, but I think that that was a kind way
Of filling me in, generous
And oh, as I made my way back to the cancer infirmary
And oh, I hardly noticed the fight breaking out at the pharmacy
And oh, I asked a man ‘bout the course of his terminal disease
He said, “The Lord has always been good to me”
He said, “The Lord has always been good to me”
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8. |
Salt
03:37
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The salt on the sidewalk, it glistens and moans
Under January Christmas lights that stand to condone
Every strong start that tapers off as the vision implodes
And the world is the world again
And plastered on the wall of the greenway by the river
Is an orange astronaut who looks fresh out of prison
He’s not looking for another shore but a more grounded vision
Where the world is the world again
The Roosevelt Lighthouse is under construction
They are fixing the roof of the lantern room or something
But they gotta know it’s just for show until the lantern is running
And the world is the world again
And its foundation was laid during the Reconstruction
By a man so afraid that the British were coming
That he built a fort to save the shore that the city took from him
And the world is the world again
There’s salt in the air but too little to sense it
Over middle-aged men casting lines over fences
Standing huddled up and out of luck, but dryly expectant
‘Til the world is the world again
‘Cause technically the river is a true estuary
And it carries salt water to the Statue of Liberty
Keeps her looking for another shore or a new torch to carry
‘Til the world is the world again
‘Til the world is the world again
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9. |
The Potter and the Clay
04:07
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When I’m a tired puppet, strung out on every string
And hungry for adventure or a note that’s out of key
When I’m called out of comfort to a land that’s not my own
Awoken from the slumber that has plagued my father’s home
I’m tempted to leave early, to abandon every post
To stand above the valley of the lilies and dry bones
But I must seek the balance and not forget my place
The master and the servant, the potter and the clay
When I’m a force of nature, when I am without strings
And sifting through the idols of possibility
When the dizziness of freedom has brought me to my knees
Nauseous from the taste of what I have failed to be
I’m tempted to find comfort in the lethargy of fate
To throw off freedom’s burden, to return to my old ways
But I must seek the balance, though the paradox remains
The sleeper and the dreamer, the potter and the clay
When I’m part of the system that I swore off in my youth
The one that fed and clothed me, the one that gave me proof
When I’m crippled by resentment from my friends and foes alike
And severed by the scissors of someone else’s black and white
I’m tempted to fall silent, to just pack my things and go
To live outside the system or to start one of my own
But I must seek the balance between sacred and profane
The player and the playwright, the potter and the clay
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10. |
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Why, don’t ask why
It’s fine, and it’s not fine
Got to let you know that
It is too rare, the color in your hair, the color in your hair
Want you to know that
It is not fair, and there’s color in your hair
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal the backbeat of the rhythm in your voice
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal your joy
High, get so high
Lose sight in the light
Got to let you know that
They are too rare, the colors that you wear
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal the backbeat of the rhythm in your voice
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal the backbeat of the rhythm in your voice
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal the heavy drum that floats above the noise
Don’t let them steal your joy
Don’t let them steal your joy
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