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1. |
Thorns (Beauty)
04:45
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So, what became of all of that beauty?
Slowly decayed into a simple sense of duty . . .
What do I need? What am I missing?
Only the truth that you’re so readily dismissing.
We had it all, until we lost it on the way.
That’s another story . . .
Where are you now? I’m only guessing:
Meeting somebody who thinks you should be confessing...
What do I know? Nothing you told me.
Now all I need are someone else’s arms to hold me
We learned the hard way: in the end, we owe ourselves.
And now I’ll crawl back on the shelf . . .
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2. |
A Telegenic Cast
02:15
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They shouldn't have to tempt us with a meaning or a telegenic cast;
The time between our meeting and our parting will all soon enough be past.
Necessities and sympathies that surface in the middle of our path
Have poisoned us and shut us off from all the things we knew were meant to last
And when it first occurs to you,
The distance and the attitude
Will shift enough to let the changes through
The meaning you've expected and projected onto everything you knew
Has started to escape and rearrange itself around a simple truth
And when it first occurs to you,
the timing and the attitude
Will shift enough to let the changes through
Beneath the soil and sympathy and symmetry we've strained to
scramble through
The mysteries of history are buried like a seed inside of you
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3. |
Doubt
02:57
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The most insistent pain, the most exacting costs
The feeling of deception here, beneath this crumbling cross
No way to make it right, nothing to be undone
I never thought to doubt you, but that time has finally come
What I have never had, could never count as lost
but all these things dissolve into the noise and the exhaust
I found the strength to lose you
I lost the words to pray
My faith has been confounded by the ignorance and shame
What I have never had, could never count as lost
The feeling of deception there, beneath that crumbling cross
The dream has faded fast, our time has finally come
I don’t believe in anything I can’t touch with my tongue
I taste the air around me
But I can’t speak your name
Some things might seem uncertain, but it’s easier this way
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4. |
Carved In Stone
02:28
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All those words, carved in stone
all those voices and those bones
all that time all alone
as we drove along those roads
in the end, i was wrong,
I was weak, you were strong
All those songs in the air
all that patience and that care,
by a thread, by a hair
with your history laid bare
in the end, you were right
plain as day, plain as night
Let it come;
let it go
Oh, no
all those words in the air
all that power and despair
time has come, you're not there
I've got nothing to declare
in the end, you were wrong,
i was there, you were gone
Let it come;
let it go
Oh, no
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5. |
Empty Avenues
02:52
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When in the night I saw you falling
I heard you calling "Come back to me".
You were the one who I could come to
Who I could run to, dream after dream.
"I'll be waiting", you kept saying.
If only that were true -
hesitations, cool evasions, too . . .
"Day follows night", you told me softly:
It bounced right off me, so many times.
Down from the dark, a million questions
in all directions, and still no light.
"I'll be waiting", you keep saying
While I just wait for you -
Cold white sheets and empty avenues.
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6. |
A Perfect Plan
03:12
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I had the perfect plan,
To follow when you ran.
I practiced all my moves,
Said things I knew weren't true.
I should have taken
a bigger bite;
The future's looking bright.
We were supposed to lose,
We never heard the news.
You had the perfect view,
But my calls were all refused.
We should have started
a different fight;
The future's looking bright.
I was unnerved by the noise,
and the curves
of the road and the girl,
and the spin of the world.
The blank, averted eyes;
The orders we defied;
We tried to stand a chance
Against the last advance
It wasn't easy,
it wasn't right;
The future's looking bright.
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7. |
Toothpaste
02:21
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Toothpaste hides the taste of tooth decay,
but nothing seems to change from day to day.
There’s hors d’ouevres decomposing on a Chinese crystal tray,
but when I look outside,
the streets are open wide
with both directions looking just the same.
The window’s cracked, and rain keeps pouring in.
There’s nothing more than crumbs left in the tin.
The neighbor’s girl is staring, like I’m crawling with sin,
and on a magazine,
the teenage movie queen
is drooling carelessly onto her chin.
I’m hearing muffled voices bleeding through the walls,
and footsteps keep on thundering through the halls.
The telephone’s not ringing, but it seems like you should call,
and sometimes late at night
I pull my bandage tight
and wonder what will happen when I fall . . .
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8. |
Silence and The Knife
02:13
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The darkness at the edges of the day
reminded me of what I meant to say.
A little late: the story of my life
In shadows of the silence and the knife.
The daytime yielded gently to the night;
you always put up some kind of a fight.
The dollars and the days that pass us by
while waiting on the silence and the knife.
In solitude the father sells his soul;
the darkness at the limits of control;
the fear that eats the edges of this life,
at rest beneath the silence and the knife.
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9. |
Cain
02:58
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God told Cain, "I'll eat your grain, and the ripe, sweet fruit of the vine. But sweeter still is a good clean kill, and the fresh, sweet fat from the base of the spine."
Cain sat on a stone, down by the river alone, and tried to think of a way to get free from the sight of the Lord, whom his brother adored, but who made Cain get down on his knees.
Then, down at his feet, what looked like fresh meat: he saw a rock that was the color of blood. Cain picked up the stone, and he wandered on home to the field where his brother stood.
“If God likes meat, I’ll give him something to eat”, he said, as his brother fell to the ground.
Cain tasted the blood and said, “I don’t know about God, but I can dance to that bone-breaking sound!”
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10. |
√-1
02:28
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How does the time go? I don't know.
And where did the girl go? She went back home.
So where do I go? To the √-1.
The children are lying, asleep in their beds.
Their parents are frightened, right out of their heads.
But all they're frightened of is the √-1
And all they're lying for is the √-1
All the things you were promised,
way back in your youth:
A moment to shine and some positive proof.
While you were fighting for the √-1
and you were dying for the √-1
What do we need, and what do we get?
Nothing right now, and nothing quite yet.
But what we're waiting for is the √-1
And all we've really got is the √-1
How does the time go? I don't know
And where did the girl go? She went back home.
So where do I go? To the √-1
How do I go? To the √-
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11. |
Miss America
02:09
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Where shall we go, my insatiable lady?
What shall we do with the time on our hands?
What can we say to the fools who mislead us and
leave us to lie in the sand?
Desperate measures are cold consolation, and
nothing can burn like the sun in our eyes.
All of the horses are beaten to battle by men they
pretend to defy.
What can i give you, invincible baby, that you couldn't have with the wink of an eye?
The weather is calm, but you're losing your patience, while waiting for storms to arise.
Desperate men often seek to persuade you:
I'm sorry to see that you've finally succumbed.
Maybe one day we can settle the difference, and live with the lies that we love.
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12. |
All I've Got
03:14
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The last time that I saw you,
you waited at the door,
and told me that you didn't have the patience anymore.
You gave me what I asked for:
you told me what was true,
but all I want, and all i need, and all I've got is you.
The bills were paid, but memories fade:
the easy days were through.
The sun dipped in the gutter
and the storm was fighting through.
We hedged our bets and moved along that downtown avenue,
and all I want, and all i need, and all I've got is you.
I'll keep the motor running and I'll try to leave the city with a guarantee.
This meeting's called to order and I'll let you know when it's okay for you to leave.
You didn't want to be let down easy,
you didn't want to be free.
You should have left all the dirty work to me.
The first time that I saw you,
you waited at the door
and told me that you weren't afraid of dying anymore.
It's not a hope, it's not a bet, it's not so hard to see
that all I want,
and all I need,
and all I've got is me.
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13. |
Emptiness
02:17
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I’m lazy, I suppose, and nothing worries me.
(The limits of this lie are nowhere to be seen.)
‘Cause I need something, but I want you.
The people on the street are saying I’m to blame
for what you did to me. They’re whispering my name.
‘Cause I had something when I had you:
Emptiness.
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Isaiah Singer Brooklyn, New York
Isaiah Singer is a lawless songwriter in the Anarchist Jurisdiction of Brooklyn, NY.
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