1. |
Funfair
02:47
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Well I think I’m done suppressing this with cigarettes and french kisses
If I could get a lift, baby I would try to get off of this ride
I waited in a long line for a thrill, for a waste, for a lie
And I think I’m done suppressing this
From an inner-monster-time-consumer I’ll run
to a platform where I’ll get a sad song sung
We’re gonna weed out the doubt then take a long lunch
Well I think I’ll write the record now
The resentments gonna build anyhow
If I could take you with maybe we could fly to the funfair for a limited time
But you’ll be waiting in a long line for a thrill, for a waste, for a lie
So I think I’ll write the record now
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2. |
Party Hat
03:36
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I’d like to get to know you better so I’m doling out the pleasure,
it’s a trick to keep myself from getting better known
The heart gets so heavy it drops below the belly where I’m lullabied by familiar tones
Here is a letter, a feather, a song, a stone
Take them to your home
Where security stole freedoms throne, or did freedom leave on her own?
I’d like to tell you where I’m going but that would mean knowing which train is moving slow enough to take me on
The options are many yet none of them have any benefits for being riotous and married to the song
I was wrong when I said I was ready to hold something steady
I was selling him a vision I created in my head
He took a look at my hands, they were tossing up confetti
Here in my room I blow balloons I pace for hours in my party hat
I dangle these memories, I spin around and swing the bat
Swing the bat, I swing the bat
I gotta put another crease in the fantasy sheets, fill the pit with approval
it’s a daily task
The mind is a tiger you lay the meat beside her, if the bait won’t take try the joint or the flask
or just bask in this beautiful moment
All the delicate components
Surrender sounds easy, don’t it?
Till something comes along makes you say
Oh shit, I’ve gotta own it
Here in my room I blow balloons I pace for hours in my party hat
I dangle these memories, I spin around and swing the bat
Swing the bat, I swing the bat
till they're too scared to come back
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3. |
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I know who you are
Dime at the bottom of my purse
I can’t afford to dream that you’re more
I dropped you in and I dug you out before
It’s no safer here, dime at the bottom of my purse
Than any beggars bowl, or junkies hand
Wearing the cloak of supply over the flesh of demand
I reach down inside my bag of phantom riches
I cut my fingers pawing at your ridges
Removing you is heavy work
Dime at the bottom of my purse
Seems I made it worse
Dime at the bottom of my purse
I’m overdrawn and halfway home
Still holding onto a coin I don’t own
I’m pulling out at any price
I scald my hands as a preventative sacrifice
possessing you isn’t worth
feigning my days away on earth
I spent my last dollar
on these words
Dime at the bottom of my purse
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4. |
Missouri River Bridge
03:27
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Between the skyscraper on the prairie
And where the west begins
Ironworkers worked on the Missouri river bridge
He said the profits of the trade
Were well worth the risk
We raised five babes
you were our sixth
And each morning I’d watch him go
My nose against our foggy North Dakota ranch home window
Your daddy was a builder of many things
I only wish he would have built himself some wings
I took a seamstress job in Bismarck after Papa took the fall
Ann looked after you, Joe became the bearing wall
Had no means for a burial, we were barely keeping fed
But we can lay these flowers on the Missouri riverbed
And each morning wake up brave
If your back’s against a wall that will not budge then leave your love engraved
Your daddy was a builder of many things
I only wish he would have built himself some wings
When you’re forty years old, you’ll receive a telephone call
This is when you’ll find out the story isn’t true at all
they’ll say we regret to inform you that your father has just died
You’ll tell them you already got that news as a little child
But I could not bare to say
The only bridge your daddy built was the one he used to walk away
Your daddy was a builder of many things
I only wish he would have built himself some wings
I only wish he could have built himself some wings
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5. |
My Redemption Song
02:43
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I got caught skipping stones when I was nine years old
I mistook a river for a highway full of cars
that same year I called some kid a fucker to his face
And the whole fifth grade heard it
In middle school I met kids who were cooler than me
I told them my name was Emma cause I didn’t wanna be Emily anymore
Well I’m so sick of beating myself bloody for not being perfect
I think I’ll write my own redemption song
In high school I stole a denim skirt from an upscale boutique
I also stole some earrings once when I was twenty-three
I cheated on a boyfriend with a boyfriend from the past
who later asked me to lie on his behalf, and I did
I owe Verizon wireless a whole lot of money
And I quit smoking cigarettes years ago, that’s what my parents think
Sometimes I eat chocolate first thing in the morning
Then I take my sad self back to bed
Well I’m so sick of beating myself bloody for not being perfect
I think I’ll write my own redemption song
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6. |
Little House
02:55
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I moved out, I got a little house
A nice back yard for roasting marshmallows on a summer night
My neighbors are gonna be like Tim the tool man Taylor’s
they’ll peer over the fence, when I need some good advice
And all the songs I’ll write
So profound, they’re gonna be so proud
I moved out, I got a little house
but I couldn’t start the fire so I went back inside
My neighbors are nothing like Tim the tool man Taylor’s
They peer over the fence with their judgmental eyes
and the songs don’t come
They get a start, but they don’t get done
They lean over the sink with the dirty dishes
They make me rethink all my wishes
I moved out, I got a little house
A gas stove for roasting marshmallows the easy way
My neighbors are still nothing like Tim the tool man Taylor’s but,
that’s ok, it’s not their job to make my day
And the songs will come
Gotta believe I can finish one
Maybe I’ll finish one
Gotta believe
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7. |
Courtesy Call
03:14
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The shuffle of your feet is a funny thing
Looks kinda like you are going somewhere
Well maybe you are, and I don’t want to see
That it won’t be with me
So hand over the severance pay
Two cigarettes and a record to play
A compliment if you can get it in
you know I like the attention
I’m thinking of a number between zero and zero
it’s all the times you made a change of heart curtesy call
Endearing as it was, in the morning hour
You spoke to me in caveman groans
An ancient language I have yet to translate
it’s hard enough using words to communicate
But words like goodbye are a tricky thing
They thread through easier when strung by hope
Now, I am not a speech coach
I just prefer a more direct approach
I’m thinking of a number between zero and zero
it’s all the times you made a change of heart curtesy call
I’m feeling like a line in a book
Written in, and written out, without a second look
And this is my way of saying
Soon I’ll stop looking at my phone for your name
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8. |
Pamela
03:00
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It had been a decade since her husband was alive
We encouraged Pamela to move on
I’ll admit we were concerned that she believed he would return
to love her once more, Pamela watching the door
Finally we broke her down,
she went online made an account
Her photo by the garden
For a while no callers called
until a pleasant man named Paul
Who lived two states away, they started writing everyday
Love came back for Pamela
She bought a brand new camera
Summer, fall, a letter from Paul
It said I love you
I love you too
If it happened to her, it could happen to you
It came time for them to get together
Paul said he might like Michigan weather
So he would come to her after traveling for work
He said Pammy wait for me
before he flew over the sea
His next letter said Darling, I’ve been shot and I’ve been robbed
I’m stranded without identification
I write to you with urgency
the doc won’t do the surgery until the bill’s been paid
My love, I’m so afraid
There was no time to doubt of spare
When love pulls up you pay the fare
She took out all her money
She followed the criteria, and sent it to Nigeria
He’s coming soon she’s sure
Pamela watching the door,
Pamela watching the door
La la la la Pamela
La la la la Camera
La la la la I love you
If it happened to her it could happen to you
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9. |
Serpentine
02:05
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I watched you slur the serenity prayer
as the blue bled out of your eyes
I could have lived inside your well-crafted promises
But then again, I could have died
What doesn’t stand up on its own is leaning
That’s the role I play in your dream
You star in mine as a charmer
A beautifully flawed serpentine
There’s a war going on inside of you
There’s a war going on inside of me too
I get lost chasing your storm
Or am I running from my own?
Either way the windows broken
Poison’s leaking in
Should it matter the thrower of the stone?
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