1. |
The Comforter is Coming
02:05
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I am the hunter
and I am the quarry
I am the storyteller
and the story he is telling
if I am nimble
It's because I've learned to dodge the blade I weird
If I grow simple
It will be because I want my story to be nothing
But hold on, the comforter is coming
Hold on, the comforter is coming.
Words are but what words are they are words
crazy birds, murderers
the poor little things I want to say are the birds prey
they eat them and they fly away
So if I am nimble
it's because I've learned to dodge the blade I weild
and if I grow simple
it will be because I want my story to be nothing
But hold on, the comforter is coming
Hold on the comforter is coming
Hold on the comforter is coming
Hold on, the comforter is coming.
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2. |
Jane
02:11
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I will braid your hair
and I'll see you staring
into darkest yonder
and I will not wonder if you care for me.
I will fix you your tea
and I'll see you floating
far out in the ocean
and I will not worry: I'm a swimmer that way too
Oh Jane
Oh Jane
Oh Jane.
Some women are born for rain.
We are two like that, oh Jane.
I'll lend you my nightgown,
and I'll turn the lights down.
I will lie here reading
till I'm sure your sleeping
dream of Alexandra
we'll all be together again someday.
Some women are born for rain.
We are two like that, oh Jan.
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3. |
Follow the Lamb
04:35
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If there is a spark in my dark heart
I cannot see it but maybe you can.
And if there is a sweetness in my bitter mind
I cannot taste it but maybe you can.
I'll follow the lamb, follow the lamb, follow the lamb.
I'll follow the lamb, follow the lamb, follow the lamb.
If there is a song wants to be born there is no man can hold it down.
Yes if there is a song wants to be born, there is not man, can hold it down.
I'll follow the lamb, follow the lamb, follow the lamb.
I'll follow the lamb, follow the lamb, follow the lamb.
The hard part is simply where the beauty lies, in pairs
"Would you like to go to Texas?" he asked me
as we made ready to drive north to Powell,
"Would you like to go to Texas?" he asked me,
and with flowers in my eyes, "yes," I said, "yes"
I said "yes" I said "yes I would like to go to Texas,
with you by my side."
The hard part is simply where the beauty lies in pairs,
"Would you like to go to Paris?" he asked me
as we drove down from Meteetsi to Thermopiles, "Would you like
to go to Paris?" he asked me, with no Paris on his mind.
In the night, there was a fire,
In the night, there was a fire,
In the night, there was a fire,
In the night, there was a fire.
So I'll keep reaching out for the word and the note
because these are the only saviors I know.
Yes I'll keep reaching out for the word and the note
because these are the only saviors I know.
I'll follow the lamb, follow the lamb, follow the lamb.
I'll follow the lamb, follow the lamb, follow the lamb.
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4. |
Your Hair
03:30
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You were the lover of my youth
We were never eye to eye, but tooth to tooth
I see you today, after a long time gone
I look at your legs, I look at your arms
I feel very calm, I feel no alarm.
And then I see your hair, and my armor fails
the retaining walls topple to the sea
and I am a baby wailing in the dark, reaching out its arms
to the fire it sees,
each curl holds a flame, each flame holds a heat,
outside them is a coldness, and i am in that coldness.
I see a painting of a woman
in the background is a battle, in her arms there lays a baby
in her wrist she holds the wrist of a dead redcoat soldier
I look at the soldiers legs, I look at his arms
I feel very calm, I feel no alarm.
And then I see his hair, and my armor fails
the retaining walls topple to the sea
And then, like the jaw of a snake my heart unhinges
like a snake my heart unhinges its jaw
as a snake unhinges its jaw my heart unhinges its jaw
and it swallows the world
and it swallows the world
and it swallows the world
and it swallows the world.
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5. |
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On the second shortest day of the year, as the light died
and a half moon rose in the sky
you took me by the arm my dear,
and calmly said goodbye.
On the shortest day of the year
I came to you dressed all in black
I hoped that you would take it back.
You showed me the place where you work
you showed me the porch where you smoke
you showed me the iron machines
I admired them guilelessly
Then we walked to the train,
maybe I'll see you again,
maybe I'll see you know more.
Maybe one morning in 2019 you'll rise with a start and you'll
suddenly know what a lover's for.
I have two eyes that are crying
I have a heart that is breaking
what will you have when I leave here
by the place where you work, and the porch where you smoke
and everyone's admiration.
I remember the longest day of the year, oh.
I'd been awake all night long in your arms
when the birds came on strong, just before dawn,
and I said, "Somebody shut off those birds!"
just like I was a broad in a thirties movie,
and even then I thought of those long winter nights
when our delight would not be broken into by such cacophony.
Maybe one morning in 2019 you'll rise with a start and you'll suddenly know what a winter night, what a winter night is for.
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6. |
The Blessed
03:16
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When I was a younger woman I drifted in a sea of long dresses.
Flat-chested innocence's caress was on us,
long tresses tangled together.
There was one mess of bodies in one tender nest,
we were the blessed.
La-da-da-da-dum, la-da-da-da-dum,
can you hear the gentle drumming,
its the men coming.
Oh, one wants one, one wants the other one
two by two they go off together, slave and master
three's disaster it always breaks down into two and one,
four becomes two and two, you choose the square root.
But roots in the ground way down, way down,
tangle together forever.
Yeah roots in the ground way down, way down,
tangle together forever,
tangled tresses.
There was one mess of bodies in one tender nest,
we were the blessed.
Now my room is an empty box, the flock has flown,
I am alone.
Even the beast that frightened the birds and emptied the nest
has up and left,
and I, and I,
I wish everyone I've ever loved could stand around me now
and all my former lovers would take each other's hands as brothers,
and we would sing together la-la-la-la-la-la.
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7. |
You Said
03:06
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You said you could kiss me all night
I could kiss you all my life
my eyes have been cold for so long
what will happen when they warm?
If it was just you and me and Celan and Pessoa
and both of our fathers and the Atlantic Ocean
and both of our mothers on shore braiding flowers
and both of our sisters, and my little brother,
it could end right now.
They could bring the curtain down.
I never thought I would find someone like you,
and now that I have, I want nothing more.
I never thought I would find someone like you,
and now that I have, I want nothing more.
I never thought I would find someone like you,
and now that I have, I want nothing more
than to adore you. Than to adore you. Than to adore
You said you could kiss me all night
I could kiss you all my life
my eyes have been cold for so long
what will happen when they warm?
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8. |
Lost and Weird
02:39
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I am lost without you, lost and weird
I belong in a back-woods cabin with a family of rabbits
living in my beard, drawing circles on the floor,
muttering "life is a wolf, ah she's a mean old whore"
I am lost without you, lost and weird.
Doo-doo-doo,
doo-doo-doo.
There's mud on my glasses, and the world looks dirty,
there's a crack in my cup, and I'm always thirsty,
I keep dropping it down in the well, it keeps coming up empty.
I am lost without you, lost and weird.
Doo-doo-doo,
doo-doo-doo.
My head is a hell full of devils and doubts,
my head is filled with the blaring of alarum bells
the school is on fire, and the children are crying
as they try to get out.
I am lost without you, lost and weird.
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9. |
The Holy Fire
02:25
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I'm trying to understand how a man can be so steady.
He builds a house, he builds a city,
line by line, cold and clean,
meanwhile I'm crouching in a cavern full of wild winds
oooooooh, crouching in a cavern, thinking wild things,
like, "If I burned it down tomorrow, would he build it up again?"
and I'm trying to understand how a man can be so steady.
Break me down, I want to be found out
crack me open and let all three birds fly out:
discontent, and hunger, and the holy one.
I am these things, why should I hide them?
Christians slay dragons, magicians ride them.
I can't stop dreaming about the holy fire.
I don't know why but my god put me hear to howl,
like the lone wolf, like the night owl,
to howl, howl.
I'm crouching in a cavern full of wild winds
oooooooh, crouching in a cavern, thinking wild things,
like, "If I burned it down tomorrow, would he build it up again?"
and I'm trying to understand how a man can be so steady.
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10. |
Cold Eyes
03:56
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You can light up every corner of my kingdom,
scatter flowers on the road from hear to Athens,
you can bathe me in Cleopatra's saffron,
you can touch me in the center of my prayer.
I've still got cold eyes, I've still got cold eyes.
I don't know why I was brought here in time for the funeral
I don't know why I was brought here in time for the funeral of the world,
but you know I feel it coming,
and you know it won't be long.
There's a gun in the yard,
in the children, there's a bomb.
I always heed the fool for he is wise,
and if you need some place cool to go when steam is in the air
and the fire flies, remember:
I've still got cold eyes, I've still got cold eyes. I've still got, I've still got,
I've still got cold eyes.
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11. |
The Poor Patriots
04:22
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Everyone was sitting round the television
there were five of us to start with but the neighbor left at halftime
and we're rooting for our hero, It'll be a perfect season
if we win tonight, if we win tonight,
oh the poor patriots.
Well they cam on the field like a strong gust of wind,
so everybody reckoned they must be the strongest men,
because they hadn't lost a game in a while,
but the supermodel girlfriend of the quarterback kept drinking
chardonnay up in the quarterdeck till she super bowled over,
on the field her man is bowing too,
brought low by hordes of cage-faced men,
they were merciless and then some,
merciless and them, it was all over for the poor,
oh the poor patriots.
Hey Tom Brady now you've got champagne-y and a drunk Giselle,
but what the hell do we have to live for?
You won all of the battles but you lost the war,
oh the poor patriots.
So we turned off the TV and we got to talking about Super Tuesday
and who we were gonna vote for now that Brady was no more,
now that Brady was no more the superhero we adore
fighting for us, the poor, oh the poor patriots.
And the candidates come on tv and they play survivor who will make it
on the island long enough to play the driver
of this massive SUV, excuse me, I meant horse and buggy, or,
whatever muddled metaphor
they've got in store
for us the poor, oh the poor patriots.
There's that old man Republican who you would like to tuck you in
to bed and tell you not to think too much:
this nightmare of a war,
which will go on a hundred years,
is just a little dream you had, a silly little dream you had
so eat some corn and go to work,
and pay your taxes, it's important:
I will do the thinking for you, I will do the thinking for
the poor, oh the poor, oh the poor, oh the poor,
oh the poor patriots.
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12. |
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Well have you heard of the Belle Dame Sans Merci,
she says, "Wait for me by the edge of the field with the scattered stones,
I'll meet you there when the sun goes down."
Well he was a soldier that came from the north
on his way to fight in the holy wars,
he had angel eyes and a longing mouth
and he'd never been this far south.
Well he heard a sound and he turned around,
and he saw her standing there.
And she leaned in a-whispering with the wind in her hair,
she said, "I am the Belle Dame Sans Merci:
come, wait for me by the edge of the field with the scattered stones,
I'll meet you there when the sun goes down."
Well she rode away and at the end of the day
he went to wait for her.
All day through and the next day too our soldier he did not stir.
He waited there till his last breath of air,
and his very last thought was of the wind in her hair.
Well they can have the blues if they choose,
and maybe I done wrong,
but I'd never wait for anybody that long, that long.
Well all that's left at the edge of the field
are some clickety sticks and a sword and shield
and there's no telling his from the rest of the bones
that are waiting for her when the sun goes down.
Well have you heard of the Belle Dame Sans Merci,
she says, "Wait for me by the edge of the field with the scattered stones,
I'll meet you there when the sun goes down."
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13. |
These Six Strings
03:19
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These six strings are a loom on them I weave my song.
We are mixed in a womb and when we leave we long.
This hole inside cannot be filled.
It is an invitation to the world:
to go outside at night and lean beside the naked moon
and learn just what it means to mourn,
she is a lover from her brilliant torn
and the little stars around her are her crown of thorns,
she is a lover from her brilliant torn.
I would burn the world to find a tiny patch of quiet
where these thousand words that hammer on the tin roof of my mind
would sleep,
I would bleed the last one out of me, and go there to retire.
With fallen leaves to cushion me and fallen snow to blanket me
a mound of earth for pillow, and for company a willow
and the smell of ancient empty air
a bone abandoned by a bear
one hundred thousand years ago, at the dawn of orbs.
Out in outer space they spun
a purposeless collection of them
spun and spun, spun and spun, spun and spun
like widows while long winters run
cling to cloth and lace, embrace the thread of time
and beat back dread.
Because of love. Because of being only half sublime, and half of blood,
born to breed, made to change
seed to flower, flower to fruit, fruit to seed,
These six strings are a loom on them I weave my song.
We are mixed in a womb and when we leave we long.
This hole inside cannot be filled.
It is an invitation to the world.
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