1. |
Can't Stay Awake
04:42
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Nothing comes as easy as the pain
You can see it in my eyes that I've exhausted
Even my skin
Everything I move begins to ache
The gristle and the muscle in my jaw strains my body
Tense and alive
So get in my car to take my leave
Driving over Afton mountain
Looking down upon the city lights below
I can't stay awake but I can't stop
Don't even know how far I have to go
If I were a rocket
Then my gaze would turn to tar the miles ahead
I could burn with one glance the miles
Between our beds
And all my clothes would turn to smoke and ash
I would stand before you naked as the day
Not hidden by the dark of my past
Now I let you see me at last
Now you see the other me
The one that sleeps, the one that dreams
Now you know me as I am and want to be
There is no show, there is no scheme
I am free
Living by the edge of dotted lines
Moving till they blur along the walls of my sight
So late at night
White noise blends all the sound I hear
The breeze of passing cars, the hum of motors
Are all I hear in my ears
But these few thoughts will ease my fear:
Alone, your body comes to me in waves
In the smell of sweat, in burning oak, in tobacco
Baby, in my dreams
Until the next time I should see your face
I will keep inside what you've taught me
The precious value of release
Until you're lying close, I will be
Driving over Afton mountain
Looking down upon the city lights below
I can't stay awake but I can't stop
Don't even know how far I have to go
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2. |
The Unexamined Life
04:14
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This life is like watching a movie you know the ending to
The protagonist always gets his way in the end
This life is like watching a movie you know the ending to
But you sit transfixed nonetheless
Some say the unexamined life is not worth living
I say I could use some microscopic inspection in mine
And what will we do if all the buildings cave in?
Begin again
And what will I do if today falls through in the end?
Begin again
This life is an idiot box your parents let babysit you
You're always too young to understand what's happening
This life is an idiot box your parents let babysit you
It sucks your soul away minute by minute
Some say the unexamined life is not worth living
I say I could use some new perspective in mine
And what would you do if I left and never came back
Begin again
And what will I do after I talk to you for the last time?
Begin again
Some say the unexamined life is not worth living
I'm through with wearing blinders all the time
Some say the unexamined life is not worth living
So examine your own before you start in on mine
This life...
This life is like watching a movie you know the ending to
But you sit transfixed nonetheless
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3. |
Drowned in Whiskey
02:20
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Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine
Crying tears of 80 proof bottled by my eyes
I'll drink until I've sobered up
Or drained this whole town dry
Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine
Got a roaming man with a roaming heart
on a steady diet of girls and gin
He roams the world with roaming hands
But only darling booker ever seems to understand
Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine
Crying tears of 80 proof bottled by my eyes
I'll drink until I've sobered up
Or drained this whole town dry
Drowned in whiskey, bathed in wine
Bottled boxed or barreled up
Stolen, paid, free, or on credit
White and red or brown and gold
It's all the same from where I sit
Traveled to Chicago to escape my troubles
Wearing Black Velvet like it was my skin
I met my Maker in sweet Loretto
But my Christian Brothers set me on the right again
Maybe one day, the lord himself will save me
He'll reach right down and clear my sight
But here on earth, this bar's my chapel
And Heaven Hill is plenty heavenly enough for tonight
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4. |
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I reckon I'll have a good life and that I'll make my way
But before I get too old, there will come a day
I'll fall asleep one night, I will dream at your side
I reckon; no, I know, one day too young I'll die
Maybe it was the liquor or perhaps it was them pills
Perhaps it be a baby; that, my body cannot feel
A mother I won't ever be but I refuse to cry
I reckon; no, I know, one day too young I'll die
Will heaven be as pretty as preacher made it sound
Will I be delivered there, or only to the ground
By Peter and by Gabriel, a flaming sword so bright
Will alight that sodden hollow down where my body lie
I'll ready my soul for it, a prayer I shall say
'Cause before I get too old there will come a day
I'll fall asleep one night not far off, by and by
I'll sleep but never shall waken, one day too young I'll die
Will you be there by my side?
Cry not for me, my sweetheart, for you'll see me by and by
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5. |
The Good Son's Lament
04:14
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I was so young at 14 years
So young, with all the time in the world
These hands work till they hurt
With callouses that added ages to their worth
One dollar for the pile and no less
To my father goes the toil and the gain from it
To keep my family fed, I'll cut the lumber down to dust
Yes, every inch of it
A preacher in the make
God's hands will surely take
Oh, bring me home, bring me home
With sweat upon my brow, a hand will bring me down
Oh, bring me down, bring me down
Go forward, John, to the light
Of a summers' end for me that fades into a night
For this blade I hover on will be my last
From rib to groin, it split me in two halves
A preacher in the make
God's hands will surely take
Oh, bring me home, bring me home
But I will be rejoined, by his hands I'm made whole
Oh, bring me home, bring me home
Young John, take my hand at long hard last
Brother, be a good son, do just what your daddy asks
Oh, mother, please don't let go, not yet
I shall see you later on, at his feet we'll be met
A preacher in the make
God's hands will surely take
Oh, bring me home, bring me home
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6. |
Chutes and Ladders
05:18
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I've been a liar but not a cheater
Though I've come close a time or two
I've been run over by a motor vehicle
And crashed one or two, it's true
I'm a good egg on a broken plate
When looks seem to be everything
I'm a trainwreck without incident
A quiet old car passing through you
See, I'm always hopping down chutes
When I should be climbing high
Pardon me, dear, this is the first ladder I've seen
In quite a while
Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that
Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that
I put on my boots and the closest shirt
Each morning and yes, in that order
I'm as curious and reversed as can be
Like a bad movie while high
I still run half my life backwards
I write my cursive "I"s the wrong way
But when someone told me, "You look happy"
I answered, "Yes, perpetually"
Do you wonder where it will take me next
'Cause I do wonder what will become of this
Yes, I'm wondering about wandering
And what it really amounts to
And I'm facing south
When north was always my home
And I'm wondering about gambling
With money and time and what's mine
And I'm facing south
Though it's not always with you in mind
Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that
Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that
Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that
Do you wonder if I'm wrong about that
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7. |
Train Song
03:30
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There is a house 'cross railway tracks
Stands high and broad against the rest
The floorboards part enough to see
The people all moving beneath
And the cold comes through each closed door
The railcars rattle panes and bones
The steeple shades the windows bare
And smokestacks waft and part again
From factories and passing freight
A lonesome whistle permeates
And the cold passes underneath
Creeps between the blankets deep
Where the Plymouth stands to guard the gate
And the churchyard waits so patiently beneath
Where the welcome mat is a broken road
Where you lay your head, where I wish I called home
And the cold don't mean so much harm
Only looking like us to find some warmth
Where the Plymouth stands to guard the gate
And the churchyard waits so patiently beneath
Where the welcome mat is a broken road
Where you lay your head, where I wish I called home
There is a house 'cross railway tracks
Stands high and broad against the rest
Could we be there waving goodbye
To passing trains if only in my mind
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8. |
Heavens to Me
02:22
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Don't know no Betsy, don't know no Pete
Don't know what importance to you they keep
If you wanna beg to somebody, my baby, honey
Make it heavens to me
Go on swearin' and cursin' a storm
Ain't no one wanna listen to your carryin' on
With a mouth like that, you'd better check your heat
Slap the lips right off you in a hot heartbeat
Oh, heavens to me
Keep your hands off my sides and feet off of mine
Steer clear of me, dear, I'm in no mood tonight
After what you've done be glad you've a bed
And be glad on that neck still sits your big head
Oh, heavens to me
Don't know no Betsy, don't know no Pete
Don't know what importance to you they keep
If you wanna beg to somebody, my baby, honey
Make it heavens to me
Don't know whose sake you're going on about
It's your own tanned hide you've gotta worry for now
So watch that tone when you come on home
You're a dog in this house, ain't got no bone
Oh, heavens to me
Done told you once, done told you twice
Next time I ask, it won't be so nice
If you do right, won't be nothin' wrong
But it seems for this world you won't be long
If you're gonna beg to somebody, my baby, honey
Make it heavens to me
Don't know no Betsy, don't know no Pete
Don't know what importance to you they keep
If you wanna beg to somebody, my baby, honey
Make it heavens to me
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9. |
Split Wide Open
02:47
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I walked in with you sitting there
Spouting lines without a care
My mouth was split wide open
I knew from the very start
Your tales would tear us apart
My mind was split wide open
Everyone says I should've seen it coming
But I waited for you when I should've been running
Now it's all gone south, and so have you, honey
But I haven't a tear to spare
Everyone says I should've seen it coming
But I waited for you when I should've been running
Now it's all gone south, and so have you, honey
But I haven't a tear to spare
Oh, this house seems so empty now
I haven't one picture to hang
No shoes to rest beneath my bed
No one to come home to
But I'm glad for one thing I guess
That's having you off my chest
Though it's split wide open
No, I don't want my dresses back
God knows who's been wearing them
Split 'em all wide open
Everyone says I played the part of the fool
Turning my back on what I knew wasn't true
There's nothing left of this heart in my chest
It's split wide open
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10. |
Who You Love
04:22
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Grains of truth inside your humor
Grains of salt stuck in your eye
I heard the stories and the rumors
But no, I did not realize
Your life is odder than a novel
Yet more open than the great wide west
Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause
You're the one you'll always love the best
Grain alcohol flows to your stomach
As grainy pictures flash before your eyes
I heard the tales and could not match them
Turns out they were all fake anyway
Your life is odder than a novel
Yet more open than the great wide west
Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause
You're the one you'll always love the best
Come closer, closer still, and tell me
The stories of your fabled youth
Tell me not tales from when you conquered worlds
Tell me nothing but the truth
Your life is odder than a novel
Yet more open than the great wide west
Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause
You're the one you'll always love the best
Your life is odder than a novel
Yet more open than the great wide west
Beauty and grace could never persuade you 'cause
You're the one you'll always love the best
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11. |
Tennessee Tango
04:25
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Your arms across my back, a pistol on a string
Dangling from your wrist and spun my like an upright
Sweetly, I'm reduced to your weapon of choice
The ghosts are bursting out and burning down the house
But you've got no reason, no nothing, no cause
To let them loose, oh, them parlor tricks you know can kill you
Oh, yell, rebel, yell
Oh, yell, rebel, yell
Oh well
I've got a red handkerchief roped up around my leg
I stole it when you turned me and spun me like an upright
Sweetly, you return me to the floor, away again
Oh, yell, rebel, yell
Oh, yell, rebel, yell
Oh well
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