1. |
ghost/god
03:39
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i've been a ghost,
i've been a god
i've been prisoner to my own mind, to my flesh and my blood.
i have been floating
in an ocean of tales
that i tell to myself to define what is right and what's real.
there are spaces so blank that i filled em with crank and with booze.
there are times that i'm too paralyzed to escape from the fugue
and sometimes the ones who have wounded us most
echo inside us long after they go
and i'm learning how to reclaim my own head.
i got the pieces,
not all of them match
i got things that i just can't let go and those i can't get back.
i have been running,
when it's safe to stay.
i've been driving my own loved ones mad with this broken record i play.
oh, quit chasing your tail
repeating yourself
picking at wounds that should be left to heal
and you may stand still,
but the past is gonna run you through.
and everyone i know says,
run, oh, run, oh, run
listen to your gut, you're a wild one,
what the hell you doin'
you should run, oh, run, oh, run
you're living in the past, love
fast, love
what the hell you thinkin?
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2. |
up all night
02:38
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i don't wake with the sunrise,
i meet it halfway with these sleepless eyes.
i stay up all night,
just staring at the wall and curled up by your side.
i can remember a time when i wasn't scared of nothin and the fire was high
but gettin it together only feels like falling apart.
by now i'd be long-gone,
in some old canyon or a tangled thorn
i never worried much where i was goin
'cause in my body i was always home.
but when i catch a whiff of the spring,
the sap begins to rise within my bones.
why is it when i'm with you,
i always feel alone?
i don't wake with the sunrise
i meet it halfway with these sleepless eyes
i stay up all night, i stay up all night, i stay up all night.
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3. |
tommyknocker
02:13
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are you sittin by the ocean?
are you causing a commotion?
are you singin out your sorrows to the trees?
are you honest with your lover,
do you ever call your mother,
and do you ever stop and think of me?
i woke up this morning with a tommyknocker bangin on my skull
ate my breakfast right where you were born
and kissed your childhood friend
and it fucks me up to think about it.
i try not to think about it,
go down to the riverbank and chainsmoke cigarettes.
and your sister pours me out another shot of whiskey
sometimes she looks at me
with a tinge of pity in her eye
and your daddy pulls me up to the microphone
he tells me that i'm always welcome to come home
of course i won't! that ain't my home no more.
i hear that old train howlin
and it's bringing hungry eyes from distant lands
a young child said to me,
"it's nice to meet someone you'll never see again!"
you were my lover,
now i'm not sure if you even call me friend
i hope we meet again,
seeing through a different lense.
but i tend to make it sound much worse than it is now.
still, it's strange to be a stranger in your hometown.
i walk by the pastor's house and i wish you were around
oh i wish, i wish i knew you now.
are you sittin by the ocean?
are you causing a commotion?
are you singin out your sorrows to the trees?
are you honest with your lover,
do you ever call your mother,
and do you ever stop and think of me?
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4. |
blood spilling
02:54
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there are babies crying in cages tonight.
there are walls cleaving rifts in between us.
prayers on the breeze for protection and peace,
but there's blood spilling over the desert.
they've got infrared sensors
unmanned drones
"detention centers" and then there are the bones
of innocents come seeking home, seeking home
there is blood spilling over the desert.
oh, this is war
they are kicking in doors
checking the cupboards and knockin the floors
haven't we all seen this same thing before?
there is blood spilling over the desert.
blood on the hands of the violent?
oh, that's blood on the hands of the rich
blood on the hands of the silent
blood on the hands of the snitch
and just because you see it now don't mean it's just begun
them snakes are finally slithering out to warm themselves in sun
when you hear that rattle, do you fight or do you run?
they got one hand on that money
and the other on their guns
there are babies crying in cages tonight
there are walls cleaving rifts in between us
prayers on the breeze for protection and peace
but there's blood spilling over the desert.
oh, there's blood spilling over the desert.
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5. |
anathema!
03:05
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6. |
again
04:45
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7. |
lead in the water
03:20
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it all comes back to you, y'know it really do
you think you're gonna get away with murder so smooth?
you scumbag politicians,
killer police,
goddamn robber barons,
all you fascists, all you creeps
may your dreams be haunted by the screams of the land
the ones that you have killed, and all of those that you can't
you know we're coming for you
we're coming for you
y'all got names and addresses, too.
we'll dance on your graves,
we'll dance on your graves
til the pillars crumble and the foundations quake
knock back that oil and see how it tastes
the lead in the water belongs in your face.
rusty nails and sigils at your door
we ain't sittin back, ain't playing 'round no more
i know we can't raise our dead,
but this time the spirits gonna take yall instead
done with these scumbag politicians,
killer police,
goddamn robber barons,
all you fascists, all you creeps
we'll dance on your graves
we'll dance on your graves
til the pillars crumble and the foundations quake
knock back that teargas and see how it burns
we all know that actions speak louder than words
it's time to act
we're bashin back
we're shuttin down the pipelines
and we're tearin up the tracks
it's time to act
we're bashin back
eating outta dumpsters, making magic out of
TRAAAASH
done with these scumbag politicians,
killer police,
goddamn robber barons,
all you fascists, all you creeps
we'll dance on your graves
we'll dance on your graves
til the pillars crumble and the foundations quake
knock back that teargas and see how it burns
we all know that actions speak louder than words,
you
scumbag politicians,
killer police,
goddamn robber barons,
all you fascists, all you creeps
we'll dance on your graves
we'll dance on your graves
til the pillars crumble and the foundations quake
knock back that oil and see how it tastes.
the lead in the water belongs in your face.
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8. |
iron oxide dirge
01:14
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if the mountain takes my life,
just leave me where i lie.
lay me down on her rocky sides,
just leave me where i lie.
i love her in her glowin' green cloak
love her when rain is pouring
i love her in her winter coat
and her silky shroud in the morning.
if the mountain takes my life,
just leave me where i lie.
lay me down on her rocky sides,
just leave me where i lie.
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9. |
ammo and pride
05:07
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well they ran to the mountains,
with a hunger in their eyes.
yes, they ran to the mountains,
with their ammo and their pride.
well, they seen it on TV
sposed they knew how to survive
but in their hearts, there was a sickness
same one destroyed what they left behind.
fish a'washin up on beaches
aint too many birds to fly
too dry a year for pickin peaches
ain't no berries in the pines.
so they tore the trees to tinder
in the name of their god of greed
when the wind came howlin winter,
there was nothing for to eat.
you ain't gonna find no propane,
you ain't gonna find no store
and there's none out here to save you
not your brother, or your lord.
old man from the coal mine,
tell me how do your children fare,
when the hard-earned money don't mean nothin
and the land is rendered bare?
said "survival of the fittest"
only applies to those who fit
well the mountain, she'll keep on living
but your avarice will be your death.
well they ran to the mountains
with a hunger in their eyes
yes they ran to the mountains,
with their ammo and their pride.
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10. |
milla
02:58
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milla's on the sidewalk
in a puddle of water,
passed out in the sun.
nobody looks, and nobody stops.
they just keep moving on.
milla's awake now, and she's crying for brooklyn
blood on the beds of her nails.
"no man's got the right to lay a hand on me,"
she says,
she says nobody cares.
disposable people, we're eating our own
she wants to escape from her skin.
and who could blame her?
she's no more than vapor
to people just tryin to win.
we walk into the drop-in,
and the staff starts laughing.
she shows em the scabs on her face.
but milla's too messy to garner their empathy,
and they watch as she walks away.
now milla's on the sidewalk, in a puddle of water
she's passed out in the sun.
nobody looks, and nobody stops.
they just keep movin on.
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11. |
solitude
03:31
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why'd you have to go
so soon?
before i got to talk
to you?
you were playin hard,
hurting everyone you know.
but there ain't no use in yellin at your ghost.
i remember you in the moonlight,
smiling through the dark.
that demon took your veins,
your gold tar-tarnished heart.
when i heard that you
left your body for the last time,
the cities were a'burnin
flames in the pigstye
all i could think to do
was cry
cause i'd never see it flicker in your eye.
i remember you in the moonlight,
smiling through the dark.
that demon took your veins,
your gold tar-tarnished heart.
you should've stayed and grown,
shoulda come back home
our anger was the proof of our love
you shoulda stayed and grown
now you're goin home
and that solitude you sought will sprout seeds now
that silence that you sought floats in the sea now
that solitude you sought lives in the breeze now.
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12. |
squawkin'
00:48
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CAW
CAW CAW CAW CAW
(caw, caw caw caw)
et cetera
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13. |
coffee n gasoline
01:53
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we're countin pennies,
nickels and dimes
in the middle of the desert,
in the dead of the night
we're runnin on coffee and gasoline,
tryna make it to the city
of dirty junk and mesquite.
even if the bottle's broken,
we're gonna drink it dry
even if we're hard up,
we won't lay down and die
no sleep til the shade pools
'neath the cottonwood trees
it's four in the mornin
and it's 70 degrees.
i ain't no fairweather friend,
i'll catch them rainDROPS from your eyes
darlin, we can clown around
or sit on down and cry
when those milk and honey days
turn to wide-awake dead broke nights,
my little red rodeo queen, i'm by your side.
we're countin pennies, nickels and dimes
in the middle of the desert,
in the dead of the night.
we're running on coffee and gasoline,
tryin to make it to the city
of dirty junk n mesquite.
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14. |
SAPPHO LIVES!
02:55
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voice like a raspberry,
sweet, sour and gritty
with a fire in your eyes nuff to burn down the city
little bit scruffy and a lotta bit pretty,
just a baby of 23.
and i know you didn't want it all to end up like that,
said you wanted to see just how weird it could get
but she loves makin waves,
she don't stick around to watch em crash.
oh dear girl,
where have you gone?
well, some people get lost and they don't come back
got a one-way ride outta birmingham
with a purple peacoat, and a rolled rim hat
lookin like the resurrection of the bonnot gang
she painted every town all the way to the coast,
gonna catch her a train just to see where it goes
made many a lap before she gave up the ghost,
like many a bright soul, in new orleans.
oh dear girl,
what have you done?
know you don't wanna see me mopin round like a sad sack of shit
find the nearest whatever and break it,
biggest dude you could fight, you can take him
she said "quantum immortality! bitch, i'm just fakin,
i'm alive. what is time?"
"i'm alive."
and i know you didn't wanna go out like that,
said you wanted to see just how weird it could get
but she loves makin waves
she don't stick around to watch em crash.
oh dear girl,
where have you gone?
oh dear girl,
what have you done?
"i fucked up again," she said.
"i fucked up again,
i fuuuuuucked up."
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15. |
crash and burn!
01:50
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i think i done hit rock bottom,
tripped and broke my whiskey bottle
booze-soaked, blood-soaked sticky fingers
filthy from an old coal train
i say smoke 'em if ya got em
fumigate your goddamn problems
nothin better in stormy weather than to waste your life away.
talk about crash and burn,
better pump them brakes before you learn the hard way
i'm losin' my goddamn mind,
drifting further cross the line
stop this rig before it tries to fly
i hear voices, i see shit
but i don't see no therapist
ask them shadows on the wall,
they'll tell you i'm just fine!
hittin up downtown every night
pour me out another red pinstripe
tryin to see how deep i can dive
before i blow like an old gold mine
talk about crash and burn,
better pump them brakes before you learn the hard way
i'm losin' my goddamn mind,
drifting further cross the line
stop this rig before it tries to fly
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16. |
been a dream
02:54
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she said,
"honey, what do you need to be alright?"
a case of amnesia'd do me fine
i've been bangin my head against this wall,
endlessly a year or four,
but i can still recall it all.
now she's callin me from a freight train
with some sorry piece of shit that broke her pretty face.
and i tell em to be good,
and i tell him to or else
and i tell her that i need her, and to take care of herself
while that westward wind swells,
oh, blow her home.
she said, "honey, what do ya need to be happy?"
oh gimme some amnesia, that'll do me
i couldn't feel no more like a stranger to myself
so if i forgot my name, i'd be just as well.
i'm still sitting by the ocean with you,
darlin, in my mind.
still sitting with the ghosts that we tried to leave behind
i'm still sitting on the staircase with your hand wrapped up in mine.
stay alive,
i gotta see ya one more time.
owl wing,
foxtail sway
been a dream
let me wake
been a dream
hasn't it, babe?
been a dream,
let me wake.
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17. |
dusty old albuquerque
02:12
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everyone told me don't do it!
the city ain't good for your heart
i said "i'll be just fine with some apricot wine
and the chickens and goats in the yard."
but i miss them aspens a'tremblin,
the river so narrow and free.
although reasons i lack,
i just keep comin back
down to dusty old albuquerque
well if i ain't hypervigilant,
thinkin the world wants me dead
then i'm half-cocked and belligerant
or lyin awake in my bed,
just... thinkin...
everyone told me don't do it
the city aint good for your heart
i said i'll be just fine with some apricot wine
and the chickens and goats in the yard
don't ever let me deceive ya
i destroy all that i touch
just so much as a kiss,
you'll wind up in the skids again
short about 6000 bucks
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18. |
darlin'
01:53
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thank ya darlin,
love you dearly.
i'll be driftin your way
someday soon.
when i'm ready,
low and weary,
i'll meet you where the flowers bloom.
i know it's heavy,
but you can't put it down.
you just get strong enough to carry it 'round
just when i think that my eyes have run dry,
i see ya dancin round through the back of my mind.
far too wild and lovely for a world so damn ugly.
if i come to you with wrinkled hands, will you still love me?
another spirit on my shoulder
to watch out for the blue.
i gotta keep it movin for ya,
no more bad news.
thank you darlin,
love you dearly.
i'll be driftin your way
someday soon.
when i'm tired,
low and weary,
i'll meet you where the flowers bloom.
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Hel Sídhe Wyly New Mexico
all itchy feet, calloused fingers, burnt cities and wild forests.
banjo, dulcimer, concertina, mouth trumpet and vocals by Hel Sídhe Wyly.
contact for booking around the southwest <3
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