1. |
Rosemary, Etc.
04:11
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ROSEMARY, ETC.
Rosemary, get out of my garden please
I gave you everything you wanted, it wasn’t what you dreamed
And we’re on my way now, so I guess you’re on your own
And anyways you know that Halloween was never quite my scene
I always wished that we were taking off with everybody putting on
But can’t you see it clearer now Rose, those masks was on all along
A burnt-out case is a lonely old way to leave
There ain’t no sad sea gonna be my authority
Yes but can’t you see those clouds?
The half-stitched crowns of that mystery?
Or can’t you smell the flowers for the rosemary?
And Melody, she comes to my window free
Always untroubled by the weather balloon in my front yard
Poor kid sits hypnotized by the glow of the TV light til dawn
And you know sometimes I have to worry she’s deceived
By the modesty of my things
Or just mesmerized by the death rattle
Of that cock he crows when he please
When she rings me up and says sit down there
Boy, it’s time to sing
A burnt-out case ain’t the only old way to leave
Just another baby who wasn’t ready to be free
Yes but can’t you see those clouds?
The half-stitched crowns of that mystery?
Or can’t you hear the song now for the melody?
A burnt-out case is a lonely old way to leave
There ain’t no sad sea gonna be my authority
Yes but can’t you see those clouds?
The half-stitched crowns of that mystery?
Or can’t you smell the flowers for the rosemary?
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2. |
Death Pause
04:02
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DEATH PAUSE
I was not there
Could not have been persuaded
I hope I see the light someday
The sky is dark
Storm clouds hang black out over
The shifting shoreline sands where I understand
The death pause fills the air
Outside my window sill
Silly me, a still life inside
The death pause fills the air
Outside my window sill
Silly me, a still life inside
A still life inside
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3. |
Becoming All Things
06:27
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BECOMING ALL THINGS
Alright my love, our time is up
I need you to be ready
The war is coming, the army up and running
And you know I’ll go too
The night is young, yes I’m watching you shift
Those stones inside your belly
And hiding my eyes, sure you’d recognize
The mutiny in them swelling
See I gave my heart to some mad God
Never cared for the incision
And the prison’s dark as I slip between these bars
And greet these visions
Just the stockbrokers and the monsignors
Chasing prostitutes through the Bowery
Past the Dow and Jones
Mondays junkie models bones feed the furnaces on Fridays
And the climbers wake in the streets having fallen
Back down into town from the mountains surrounding
And a two dollar Staple Singers tape plays from somewhere
I think that it’s Freedom Highway but I ain’t sure
And the vendors sell pride but what transfers is hate
Some lie that you’re better or normal or safe
And terror’s a sea that just swells inside each of us
Just within reach of us, keeping our peace from us
And the city’s lit up like a fireworks display
Where tonight it’s the head of this state on a plate
And St. Francis Zookeeper minding the grave
Poor Jesus he just wanders round in that cage
Becoming all things…
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4. |
Royalties
06:00
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ROYALTIES
Shored up against the darkness like a house of lights parading
My heart is in the evening of its discontented days
O it’s only lonely ways I’m going down
As I wave goodbye to Madison Way
Wave goodbye to Monroe
There are teachers everywhere now
There are paths that you can follow
O I wish you never had to put one down
But these canvases are empty when we wake up every morning
Cause we’d have to think about what kind of world we’d want them sold in
They are stretched too tight across these frames right now
So it’s off to feed the daughters that we had too young to father
The dreams we left in roadside detours, spending every dollar
There is space and time and you can buy them now
But God help you if you’re poor son, God help you if you’re shattered
If you’re far too low to think anything you could do might matter
It’s a shame the way some folks have got to go
But the truth it is a sad and haunting tale that strikes believers
And calls them to the fringes where all changes can be seen first
And I know that’s where I need to go right now
And I know it grows on trees love, I know it ain’t made of plastic
I know it’s just as empty in abundance or in absence
That it’s meant to always keep you wanting for
But there’s something in the air tonight and I can feel it honey
There is something in the air tonight says I’m gonna get my money
But my ship it isn’t coming in, I am
To that masterpiece the harbor where all love lays down its armor
And my baby she is waiting there beside the stillest waters
And I say hello to her and realize
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5. |
Empty Graves
04:35
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EMPTY GRAVES
I’m a sowing machine
Everything but what she needs
And God she knows just what I mean
I’m a sewing machine
Always stitching things back up
But I’m always looking for that stream
That takes me out under the sun somewhere
Where all love just stretches out for me
And those Army boys drink hate
In the bars their bodies shake
Cause they know they ain’t coming home tonight
Poor mothers know that it’s too late
They just hang out all of the time now
Cause they got all the time it takes
And all the time in the whole universe
Couldn’t fill these empty graves
So just hang out all of that time now
On the clothesline of our fate
Cause we know we ain’t coming home tonight
Poor mothers know that it’s too late
Cause the suburbs they are frozen
And the ghettos they’re in flames
And all the time in the whole universe
Couldn’t fill these empty graves
Or these tables up with laughter
Or these sleepy heads with dreams
Or this tin man's heart with confidence
Or these ghettos with relief
Or these suburbs with release
Or these ghettos with relief
Or these suburbs with release
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6. |
Lady Of The Radiator
04:49
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LADY OF THE RADIATOR
Lady of the radiator breaks down and dies
No one ever saw the way she’d spin round and cry
Stranded in that elevator way up in that sorry starry sky
Lady of the radiator sits all alight
Says I can feel you now
I can feel you now
I can really feel you now
But no one hears a sound
Lady of the radiator melts all the ice
The world a solid block now starts to crumble twist and slide
The animals all drowning as she stares into their endless empty eyes
From an ark stacked high with loneliness and precious wasted time
Says I can feel you now
I can feel you now
I can really feel you now
Says I can feel you now
I can feel you now
I can really feel you now
But no one hears a sound
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7. |
Foretold In G
04:20
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FORETOLD IN G
Hang it all up on the wall
And join the caterwaul of life and love and pain
It has to die today
It has to be tonight on a bed unmade
Has to be laid low and raised back up again
Laid low and raised back up
Laid low and raised
Bet you’ll see you tonight on the way
To the moon and be surprised as day
Bet it all boils down and burns black in a spoon
And the canopy sways
It has to leave tonight to be saved
Has to burn so bright to be made out in the haze
It has to die today
For there is another world
O and another world
And another world…
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8. |
Modern Living
08:05
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MODERN LIVING
I do not want to be saved
I want to be thrown out into the alleyways and the city lanes
Where sex and love and death and pain engage
Don’t want to be ashamed to say what I mean
Or some burnt out case for the cautioning
I wanna be a phone that rings
And wakes you up when you have slept too long
So you can take me off of that mailing list
Won’t read those manuals for paralysis
Filled with such distrust
And fear of what exists beyond the bubble of your bliss
Keeps you buying what they feed you
Leaves you hungry and broke as shit
And honey that’s no way to live
Can’t we just let go?
A simple yes and it will be so…
We will raise the blinds
Will go outside
Will see the world
Will open up when we are terrified
Sing it…
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Mountain Time Austin, Texas
Mountain Time (formerly known as Zookeeper) is the home of Chris Simpson (of Mineral, & The Gloria Record) and his songs. New album "Music For Looking Animals" out now on Spartan Records.
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