1. |
Prelude
02:33
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Oh, maybe you’d like to meet us
For coffee or a smile,
But darling there are fangs beneath our lips.
Maybe you’d like to get to know us
Better for a while,
But once you know you never will forget.
Oh, oh!
Just remember: we can’t hurt you.
Just remember: we can’t hurt you.
Just remember: we can’t hurt you
Unless you let us in.
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2. |
Junco
03:51
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The Spirit’s in the trees now,
I can hear him in the eaves.
Let the Spirit come to me.
And I’ll sing to dark Cadejo
On the path ‘longside the stream,
Sing, damned as I may be.
For I walk that shady road
Where the lonesome strangers roam,
And I’ll dissolve on summer nights;
The stars engulf the city lights for a change.
And when my blood becomes the breeze,
I’ll throw my hands up; start to sing, “Let’s go.”
Oh, oh, let’s go.
Now I’ve become the wilderness—
I cannot rest indoors.
I am naked as a leaf.
And I have left a letter
In the top drawer of my throat,
Signed, “Darlin’, come find me.”
I’ll be on that shady road
Where the lonesome strangers roam,
And we’ll combine on summer nights;
The stars engulf the city lights for a change.
And when our blood becomes the breeze,
I’ll take your hand; you’ll say to me, “Let’s go.”
Oh, oh, let’s go.
And we’ll find the winding ridges,
Where the mountain meets the air,
And let the angels brush our hair.
And when we reach the summit,
And the blood comes rushin’ in,
Will the Spirit meet us there?
Or will he on that shady road
Where the lonesome strangers roam,
Oh, we’ll combine on summer nights;
The stars engulf the city lights for a change.
And when our blood becomes the breeze,
I’ll take your hand; you’ll say to me “Let’s go.”
Oh, oh, let’s go.
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3. |
Baker's Dozen
04:37
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Well, meet me in the tangled cove,
Where the fish swim through the trees;
I can’t hear your footsteps in the silt,
But I’ll smell you on the breeze,
If you want a taste of Heaven,
We can walk around the lake,
‘Cause I’ve seen the comets streaming past—
I know that’s all it takes
To break the bonds that chain us here,
And watch it all come down.
Oh, I have packed a loaf of bread
And thirteen envelopes.
We can mark them all with what we loved
And fill them up with ghosts,
And when the Sun is setting,
We can tie them to the light;
Once the Moon has had its due,
We’ll feed them to the night,
And when released, won’t they find peace?
And finally let us be.
But if they come for us,
We’ll hide beneath the lake;
But I won’t come back up
Until they’ve gone away.
Yeah, when the thinning corpses
Of our past come through the cove—
I just hope you’re in this for a swim,
‘Cause there’s just one way to go.
And once we’re in the open
And surrounded by the sky,
And we both consider drownin’
‘Fore we reach the other side;
Well, can we find the drive in their fiery eyes?
In their shining hoots and howls?
But if they swim across,
We’ll run into the woods;
But I won’t stop for rest
Unless they’re gone for good.
Oh, meet me in the tangled cove,
Where the roots broke through the shore.
I have heard you cryin’ in the night,
But I don’t get your scent no more,
No more.
‘Cause we broke those bonds
That chained us here,
And watch it all come down.
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4. |
Good Spirits I
03:23
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You and me,
We were the cool kids.
We heard the wind howlin’,
Knew what it was saying.
And how I miss
How we looked with the leaves coming down,
Like the death in our throats
Had gotten loose somehow.
And you and me,
We were like lovers.
There’s no point in hiding though—
The ghosts are under your covers.
And how I miss
How we looked with the stars coming out
And our lamps casting phantoms
From every scrap of our doubt.
And you and me,
We were like brothers.
We were the cool kids,
There just weren’t any others.
They just weren’t that much like us.
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5. |
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Once I was a fisherman; I handed in my oar,
Said, “I’ll not be slave to the waves no more.”
I traveled up to Brandyshire, and there I met a girl.
Said, “Come with me for to roam the Earth.”
She said, “My life; my leaf, I cannot leave.
My home is all grown up around me.
As much as I speak of the distant peaks,
Distant they’ll always be-oh.”
I turned into the forest for to flee the Marshal’s sword—
He’d marked my head on the theft of a horse.
I came upon a harbor town, but ‘ere I settled in,
The Marshal’s hooves clod along the wind.
I stole a skiff, and I drifted away
In the black of night, on the brink of rain.
The clouds all roared and stormed about,
The wind ripped my thin cloak around.
The waves rose up in the blackened sea,
And somewhere a voice came up over me,
Singing, “Terra-la-high, and terra-la-roo,
We’ve laid out these waves for you.
You’ll never more live in the world of men,
So our world will have to do.”
I swore myself I’d reach the shore; I’d break this wretched squall,
And I fought all night to escape its thrall.
By first of morn I’d hit the shore of an island, fair and free.
Said, “Let these stones build a home for me,
Oh, oh.”
I was three whole years within its care, ‘fore the Marshal tracked me down.
I’d been meeting my lady in the heart of town.
He stormed in with the thunder, and he boldly called me out—
Said, “There’ll be no escape for you now!”
I broke through a window, and I stole for the shore,
But the Marshal’s hounds were surrounding the port.
They cornered me up to the westward cliffs,
As the lightning cracked and the sky went dim.
The waves rose up in the blackened sea,
And somewhere a voice came up over me,
Singing, “Terra-la-high, and terra-la-roo,
We’ve laid out these waves for you.
You’ll never more live in the world of men,
So our world will have to do.
Oh, our world will have to do.”
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6. |
On the Brightest Night
04:48
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Well, something’s coming over me—
I’m about to shed my skin!
She says, “I don’t wanna’ know.”
She says, “I don’t wanna’ know!”
Well, once my wings are fully grown,
No god can keep them in.
She says, “I don’t wanna’ know.”
“I don’t wanna’ know where it comes from.”
Oh, staying here might save us,
But what’s there to protect?
She says, “I don’t even care.”
She says, “I don’t even care!”
But just as I’m about to leave
Her hands are on my back,
She says, “I don’t even care.”
“I don’t even care where we’re goin’.”
And it’s true my hue is wearing down,
My grin does tend to fade.
But darling on the brightest night,
You’ll see them either way.
But now my pace is changin’;
I’m dragging every step.
I say, “Just leave me behind.”
“Just leave me behind.”
And the forest is a-roarin’
With the maulin’ calls of Death;
I say, “Just leave me behind.”
“Just leave me behind in the creek bed.”
But before I’ve scored another word
Her fist has hit my cheek.
I say, “Darlin’, what the hell?”
“Darlin’ what the hell?”
And the clouds are all a-glowin’
With the show that they’ve just seen.
I say, “Darlin’, what the hell?”
“Darlin’, what the hell was I thinkin’?”
And it’s true my hue is wearing down,
My grin does tend to fade.
But darling on the brightest night…
Maybe when they’re hanging up the paintings
They’ll leave them in the sun, so they can fade.
‘Cause darlin’, when the wind is coming over us
They’re much too hard to carry either way.
And it’s true my hue is wearing down,
My grin does tend to fade.
But darling on the brightest night,
You’ll see them either way.
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7. |
We Fried an Egg
03:19
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We fried an egg.
It was a verdant burst of teamwork
I’m not accustomed to when it comes to you,
But we fried an egg,
And it wasn’t all bad.
I got the salt,
You put Mountain Goats on the stereo—
And I got the salt,
And put oil in the pan.
And maybe this is signal
To a new clearing in our lives,
And the darkness in our thoughts and words
Is something we’ll survive.
It’s impossible to tell.
It’s impossible to tell.
I broke a plate.
But I didn’t scream profanities,
I just said, “Honey, won’t you please
Come watch over this pan for me?
Don’t want to let this burn while I am sweeping.”
I broke a plate, but we threw the shards away.
And maybe this is signal
To a new clearing in our lives,
And the darkness in our thoughts and words
Is something we’ll survive.
It’s impossible to tell.
It’s impossible to tell.
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8. |
Plaid River
03:50
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There are tangles in your curls,
And we are fledgling little humans.
There are tangles in your curls,
And I am only just a man.
Now the river has gone quiet,
And the silent sea beside it;
I am perfectly content
To lie here with you,
Hand in hand.
There’s a button from your shirt
In the dirt beside the tree trunk,
And I have made a mental note
To pick it up when we both rise.
I am hoping on a day
That I might chance upon another,
And I will sew a little doll,
With tiny button eyes.
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9. |
To Lose a Pooka
04:40
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I caught a candle’s flame,
You swallowed it; it’s all the same, I know
I know, but sometimes I forget.
“I hoped you’d put it in a jewel,
But now it’s gone, and I’m the fool,” I yelled,
I yelled, but how I heard myself.
And how I lost you in the trees!
Or did you run away from me?
I deserved it anyhow.
I tried to build anew,
And shake the hope of finding you again,
Again, or nevermore again.
But for all of human strife and pain,
Our biggest fault, to be so plain; so plain!
So plain, but to see the other side.
And you—well, you blessed my wretched eyes
To see magic far and wide,
To know it could be mine
If I could only track it down.
The drought in full, I packed my bags.
“I have to leave this heat-sick land!”—I know,
I know, I could’ve thought it through.
And to everyone I wandered past,
I turned them skyward, smiled, and asked, “Will you?
Will you please tell me what you see?
Oh, will you please tell me what you see?”
They’d see the Sun, the sky, the trees, the clouds;
The Moon when she was out,
But that was all.
I said, “If I could find
Just one more soul with spirit eyes, I know,
I know that we could reach that land.”
And we’d drag the sunset into night
And craft ourselves a fairy light of flame,
Of flame that shines so clear.
And you, should we chance to meet again,
I would lay out my old sins,
If only we can make amends
Then you can eat them if you like.
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10. |
Loose White Scarf
03:47
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The trees are bending in the storm,
And I am easily overcome.
The night has fallen on the lawn,
It’s howling, “God, what have I done?
What have I done!”
The breath of thunder on my neck,
I find I’m praying to the Moon,
“Say, lay some blessed peace on me.
I know my judgement’s coming soon.
It’s coming soon!”
And I—
I don’t believe, I don’t believe
In the things—
The things, the things that follow me.
A scrap of linen on the wind,
Your face is burning through the leaves.
The distant howls begin again,
My ghosts will find their way to me,
Their way to me!
And I—
I don’t believe, I don’t believe
In the things—
The things, the things that follow me.
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11. |
Good Spirits II
04:50
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When they laid you down, I knew
That you would seep into everything.
To the soil, the ferns, and the trees.
To the Autumn, the water, and God Almighty.
That that wood coffin would prove too few
To hold back the likes of you—
When they laid you down, I knew
That we should keep our guard!
Oh, God! Oh, God
I’d like to know where you are.
And I’m afraid to say it, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Afraid you’ll turn me ‘round right now,
And could I handle looking down into the lake
To see the outline of your face in mine?
But I hope it’s so.
I surely hope it’s so.
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12. |
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I am blanketed in feathers now.
You have flown into the mist.
And I am listening for anything
That might convey just where that is, or how to get there.
I hope this morning comes in with a song,
A rhythm born within the ruins.
And won’t the stones please set it in my chest?
And maybe make my heart to move for a little while.
Or else I’ll lie here just like a sparrow,
Flat on its back along the road.
The sky and trees are hanging over me,
And if I could only fly I’d go—
Oh, oh.
*
It takes me ages just to settle down,
And then you stir me up again.
But I’ve got fractures to concern about
Before I try and taste the wind again, again.
The Moon illuminates my feathers;
They float like ghosts upon the air,
Somewhere my frame has formed a crater—oh!
I’m sure it’s busted beyond repair.
But I’ve been thinking it’s too easy
To end up stuck beneath the ground;
Oh, will it be so hard to stay aloft
Without my corpse holding me down?
On down, on down.
*
So darling, I’ll become a feather,
And ride the zephyr up to you.
And I’ll descend one quiet midnight,
Another ghost upon the Moon,
On the Moon.
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13. |
Our Map
03:47
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We wrote those fifteen words,
A poem only known by the sky and the birds,
And I’d like to see that page.
I’d like to see that page—
Do you have it still?
And I’ve been roaming the land
With the drunks and the devils and the dust and the sand,
But I’d rather come on back.
I’d rather come on back—
Are you still around?
And I’d like to rise up skyward
And then tilt back toward our past.
Are the castles overrun with trees?
Are the roads all grown with grass?
Where is our map?
I found a magic lamp,
And I wished for three wishes,
None of which he could grant,
‘Cause they all involved your heart.
They all involved your heart,
And it’s the dizzy wind.
I still hear that somber song,
Weaving through the evening like the fog on a lawn,
But is it coming up from you?
Is it coming up from you
Or is it just my head?
And I’d like to rise up skyward
And then tilt out toward the sea.
If I can see clean over, will you catch a glimpse of me?
Oh, who can that be?
And I’ll float into your soul
Just like a monarch in a tree—
I’ll wrap myself in glances
And I’ll rattle with your leaves
When you think of me.
Oh, do you think of me?
And I’d like to sidle up to you,
And just rest my eyes awhile.
I’ve been so long a-wanderin’,
And it’s left me awful tired.
I get so awful tired.
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Street Nymphs Kansas City, Missouri
Musical sprites.
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