1. |
Squid
03:25
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Squid, giant squid
Hanging like a hanged man
In this building right downtown
An impressive specimen
Did you come from Japan
California or Iceland?
Guess I’ll never know
You can’t tell me, anyway
You escaped the mighty wrath
Of the sperm whale all your days
Now you’re behind a plate of glass
In a 5,000 gallon tank
Here we are face to face
You are dead, and I’m getting there
You’re unlike anything I’ve seen
So how’d you end up here?
Squid, giant squid
Hanging like a hanged man
In this building right downtown
An impressive specimen
An impressive specimen
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2. |
Bachelor's Hall
02:35
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Oh, hard is my fortune and hard is my fate
Controlled by my mother from early to late
And when I get married to end all my strife
Controlled by a man for the rest of my life
Young men go a’ courtin’ they dress up so fine
They cheat the girls up, that is all their design
They’ll titter, they’ll tatter, they’ll laugh and they’ll lie
They’ll cheat the girls up ‘til they’re ready to die
Young men go a’ courtin’ they stay out all night
Get up in the morning and look like a sight
They’ll saddle their horses, they’ll rock and they’ll reel
“Goddamn them old girls, how sleepy I do feel”
Oh, bachelor’s hall, it is bound to be best
Get drunk or stay sober, lay down, take your rest
No woman to scold you, no baby to bawl
Happy is the man that keeps bachelor’s hall
Oh, happy is the man that keeps bachelor’s hall
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3. |
Waiting For The Sunrise
04:57
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Bare feet on the hardwood floor
Feel around for the chest of drawers
T-shirt and a pair of socks
Sneak out into the parking spot
Climb up on the hood of the car
Lay back and stretch out your arms so far
Black has turned to the darkest blue
Tap out a beat with your tennis shoe
Waiting for the sunrise
Headlights flash by every now and then
Early morning air bitin’ at your skin
Thoughts float in and float away
Darkest blue turns to lighter gray
Your eyes adjust so that you can see
Couple of clouds and the tops of the trees
A painting that nobody hung
Taste the dew on the tip of your tongue
Waiting for the sunrise
Oh it’s coming now, a yellowy glow
Sky is blue, there’s a ribbon of rose
Haze hangs low, it’s burning away
Night’s all gone, you’re left with day
Two little birds dart back and forth
There’s a nest in the eaves above the porch
Twigs and straw tucked in their beaks
‘Neath golden clouds with orange streaks
Waiting for the sunrise
Sit on up and hop on down
Back in the house without making a sound
Get yourself back into bed
Run your cold fingertips on the warm bedspread
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4. |
Front Porch Time
03:51
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The tank’s dry
The wheel’s flat
And an old black cat’s crossing through your path
You’re burned out
Beat up
Fit to self-destruct, well, just hold tight
It’s just about that time…
Front porch time
In the sunset glow
You’re looking so
Very fine
The heat of the day’s
Burned away
Right on time
So pour the wine
Front porch time
You’re all smiles
No stress
And your flower print dress smells fresh from the clothesline
The clouds
In my brain
Break up and float away now that I’m here with you
Here comes the moon…
Front porch time
In the sunset glow
You’re looking so
Very fine
The heat of the day’s
Burned away
Right on time
So pour the wine
Front porch time
The songs, they flow from an old radio
Won’t you dance with me?
The sun sinks down as we twirl around
Oh you dance with me
The bottle
Is empty
And I know, you don’t have to tell me it’s time to go inside
But can I have one
More song
To carry me along ‘til tomorrow night?
Front porch time
In the sunset glow
You’re looking so
Very fine
The heat of the day’s
Burned away
Right on time
So pour the wine
Front porch time
Front porch time
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5. |
Traveling So Far
04:31
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My nose is freezing, red as a beet
Twiddling my thumbs in the passenger seat, man
I wish we had the money to fix the heat
In this car
This’ll be the longest trip I’ll ever have to make
To get to your funeral, burial and wake
And we’re traveling
We are traveling
So far
My world’s shook up, like I been through an earthquake
My outsides buzz and my insides ache
You can say you’re ready for when it comes
But you never really are
I always knew there’d be a time when you’d be gone
I never liked you much but I loved you all along
And we’re traveling
We are traveling
So far
First and last you were a drunk and a mean one at that
You used to call me good for nothing, used to tell me I was fat
I used to like you best when you were away
Down at the bar
You never got me, I never understood you
You were the salt in my wounds, I was the gum on your shoe
And we’re traveling
We are traveling
So far
My husband’s driving and the baby’s in the back
When you finally went I thought it’d be heart attack
But no, they went and shot you, the whole thing’s
Bizarre
And the cops don’t care enough to figure out why
I guess one way or another all old men die
And we’re traveling
We are traveling
So far
Mama died when I was just nineteen
They said it was a stroke but I always believed
She left this world on account of that
Broken heart
Nobody asked you to be the perfect spouse
But you were screwing around and then the bank come took the house
And now we’re traveling
We are traveling
So far
Well we drove through Pennsylvania and Ohio
Final destination is Chicago
I know seeing you again’s gonna rip open
This old scar
But I found a man who loves me and loves me true
And it’s the last time I’ll ever lay eyes on you
And we’re traveling
We are traveling
So far
I know things can get bad and then things can get worse
And sometimes it feels like you’re stuck in reverse
But when your world is dark sometimes peace shines through
Like a burning star
And daddy when I leave, I’m gonna leave you here
And I’m never gonna cry you one more tear
And now we’re traveling
We are traveling
So far
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6. |
The Unquiet Grave
04:27
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The wind does blow today my love
With a few small drops of rain
I never had but one true love
And she in the cold grave has lain
I will do the best for my true love
That any young man may
I will sit and mourn all on her grave
For twelvemonth and a day
The twelvemonth and a day being done
The dead began to speak
Saying who is this sits on my grave
And will not let me sleep?
Tis I my love sits on your grave
And will not let you sleep
I crave one kiss from your clay cold lips
And that is all I seek
You crave one kiss from my clay cold lips
My breath smells earthly strong
If you had one kiss from my clay cold lips
Your time would not be long
Go down into the garden green
Love, where we used to walk
The fairest flower that ever grew
Has withered to a stalk
The stalk has withered dry, my love
So must our hearts decay
So make yourself content my love
‘Til God calls you away
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7. |
Rise and Play (The Fox)
04:20
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Bounding through the twisted underbrush
Evening and the forest’s waking up
Zigs and zags, his muzzle to the ground
Looking for a chipmunk or a mouse
The fox is having breakfast
As the stars are coming out
He’s finished off his field mouse
And he’s licking clean his snout
Bushiest of tails, eyes beady black
Every inch of these woods he has tracked
Drinking from his favorite little stream
Howling for a vixen to make queen
The fox is feeling peckish
In the middle of the night
He comes upon a berry bush
And eats some, bite bite bite
Sky is gray the night is nearly done
Settles on a supper of some grubs
Bounds back to his hollow for to bed
Curls into a ball, tucks in his head
The fox is fast asleep now
While we’re just waking up
He’s dreaming lots of foxy dreams
As we fill our coffee cups
So go on off to work now
And go about your day
So the sun can get to setting
And fox can rise and play
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8. |
Rubies
03:32
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Coffee and chicken gumbo
At the kitchen table watching the snow blow
Lumpy is how I’m feeling
But I got rubies falling from the ceiling
My brain is stuck on last night
Which culminated in breaking up a bar fight
Getting moving is unappealing
But I got rubies falling from the ceiling
I got emeralds in my plumbing
They’re filling up the sink and I got
Diamonds on the soles of my shoes
I got topaz in my toothpaste
Turquoise in my shampoo
But I can’t wash away these sapphire blues
My to-do list is never ending
Gotta scoop the wood stove, screen door needs mending
That old bedroom paint is peeling
But i got rubies falling from the ceiling
This cold is brutal and oh, I’m wishing
For summer sun, I’d go out fishing
No shiv’reng shov’ling, just rod and reeling
I got rubies falling from the ceiling
I got emeralds in my plumbing
They’re filling up the sink and I got
Diamonds on the soles of my shoes
I got garnet lined pajama’s and
A moonstone for a pillow
But I can’t sleep away these sapphire blues
Coffee sun’s hanging low
Back at the kitchen table where did my day go
It ain’t paradise but I’m dealing
I got rubies falling from the ceiling
I got rubies falling from the ceiling
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9. |
Polly's Ghost
05:24
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The queen, she wants sailors to sail on the sea,
Which made pretty Polly to stand up and plead:
“Willy, dear Willy, don't go off to sea,
Remember the vows that you made unto me.”
Early next morning before it was day,
He went to his Polly, these words he did say:
“Oh, Polly, pretty Polly, come go along with me,
Before we are married some friends for to see.”
He led her o’er hills and through valleys so deep,
Which made pretty Polly to sigh and to weep,
Sayin' “Willy, dear Willy, you led me astray,
Ahead of my innocent life to betray.”
“Oh Polly, pretty Polly, 'tis true all you say
For all this long night I've been diggin' your grave.”
And the grave, it laying open and spade lying by
It made pretty Polly to weep and to cry.
“Oh spare me, dear Willy, my innocent life
And I never will covet for to be your wife.
I'll travel the country to set you free
If you will but pardon the baby and me.”
“No pardon, no pardon, no pardon I'll give.”
And with that he drew out his long dagger-knife;
He stabbed her to the heart and the blood it did flow,
And into the grave, fast, her body did go.
He's covered her over so safe and secure.
Nobody would find her, of that he was sure.
Then he went on board ship for to sail the world around
Before that the murder would ever be found.
Early one morning, before it was day,
The captain come up and these words he did say:
“There's a murderer on board which has lately been done.
Our ship is in mourning, we cannot sail on.”
Up jumped one sailor: “Indeed, it's not me.”
Then up jumped another, the same he did say.
Then up jumped bold Willy to stomp and to swear,
Sayin' “no, it's not me, sir; I vow and declare!”
As he was turning from the captain with speed
There was pretty Polly and his heart it did bleed.
She ripped him and stripped him and tore him in three,
Because he had murdered the baby and she.
Where is pretty Polly? Over yonder she stands
With rings on her fingers and lily white hands.
She cradles the babe in her clay cold arms
None, even not Willy, can do her more harm.
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10. |
Goodbye Baltimore
03:30
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Goodbye to Baltimore
I’m leaving in the morn
Moving out to Kansas
With its sunflowers and corn
The east coast has worn me down
I gotta get away
Start building something new
On the Midwestern plain
Goodbye to Baltimore
I can’t keep up this pace
can’t catch my breath here
I need to get some space
So I bought myself a farmhouse
Nestled in among the cottonwood trees
Every day the meadowlark
Will sing her song for me
Your summers suffocate me
Your winters chill me to the bone
You may have been the place I lived
But you were not my home
Goodbye to Baltimore
It’s all fallen apart
Three times I fell in love
Three times a broken heart
I’m gonna meet a Wichita woman
We’ll be married in the fall
And a baby by next winter
With any luck at all
Goodbye to Baltimore
I’m leaving in the morn
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11. |
Annie
03:34
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Barman says it’s time to go on home
See you tomorrow at 2
Get your bags, I’ll walk you to your flat
Annie, what’s gonna become of you?
Drinking hard, living low
You’re breaking my heart in two
Sure as hell you’re headed for a fall
Annie, what’s gonna become of you?
Drinking, gambling, hustling for dimes
Throw all your money away
Thinking ‘bout nothing but having good times
Annie, don’t you feel it slipping away?
Pretty girl I knew in Tennessee
Sweet as a morning dew
I remember days when you walked in straighter ways
Annie, what’s gonna become of you?
Quit your bars and out of tune pianos
Quit singing your low down blues
Let’s head home, you know you want to
Annie, what’s gonna become of you?
Lets make tracks, lets get on back
Start all over anew
Southbound train will take us to Memphis
And a greyhound will carry us through
Set your mind on the hills of Tennessee
Shining ‘neath the sky so blue
And your poor old dad who’s picking on a banjo
Annie, what’s gonna become of you?
Barman says its time to go on home
See you tomorrow at 2
Get your bags, I’ll walk you to your flat
Annie, what’s gonna become of you?
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12. |
Turtle Rock
02:26
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Jumping in head first
What’s the worst
That can happen
You get hurt
And then you learn
You turn and twist
So when you jump the next time
It hurts a little less
So take the risk
Find the joy in the free falling
Lean into it
Cannonball
Into the lake
Full of people just like you
They all jumped too
They know the thrill
They’ve got scars and bruises
Like you do
So take the risk
Find the joy in the free falling
Lean into it
When you jump
For the thousandth time and
You don’t have to think about it
Once or twice
Think about it
And see how far you’ve come
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