1. |
Postcard From Des Moines
03:07
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Well I passed an old man walking in the street
He asked me if I'd picked up ten dollars off the ground
I was confused for a second then I told him that I hadn't
But his face said he didn't believe me and it brought me down
Everything costs too much in this city
There's a thousand people headed for where I want to be
And my guess is they'll get there before I do
I give up so easily
Every night my old friends come to haunt me
They say "we don't recognize you anymore"
and each time I try to beg for their forgiveness
I can't find the words so I turn and I walk on out the door
And then I wake up singing
I've been drunk and I've been sad and I've been insecure and mean and you've been far too kind to me
I went and built my new life in the desert
It just seemed like the only thing that I could do
I got to feeling so cooped up and so I packed up all my stuff
And I never even said goodbye to you
I spent that whole summer in my bathrobe
Just smoking cigarettes and sweating in my room
So when I heard your tiny voice inside my telephone my love
It was practically all that I could do
Just to keep from laughing
And I've been drunk and I've been sad and I've been insecure and mean and you've been far too kind to me
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2. |
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Samuel I think that I am in love with your girlfriend
I saw her once at the house I think it was before you were dating
And I was so high I thought that she looked like an angel
So I introduced myself and then left town for several months
When I came back you were in a band and in love with each other
So I got drunk alone and stared at her all through your show
She plays an old Gibson mandolin she has amazing tone
And her voice is so pretty and honestly Samuel I'm sorry
I know this isn't the kind of song that you want to hear
but I felt I should sing it oh
Samuel I am selfish and lonesome out in strange California
We were like brothers once now you are more of a stranger
It's hard not to think about how things could have been different
Maybe there's a Universe unfolding somewhere where you're in love with my girlfriend
And she plays an old Gibson mandolin and we sing our sweet songs together
I'd like to think that in that Universe I wouldn't hate you
But my long lost brother we both know that it's not true
Samuel my brother we both know that it's not true
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3. |
Hummingbirds
02:26
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Well this woman's making plans, she's seen her whole life in her hands
She's putting up shelves creating systems of organization
She's planting flowers in the living room and building her work station
She knows she will never go hungry again
And when the wind blows in through the cracks under the door
She don't mind she says I have felt this way before
In my mind there is a place where I can go and stay warm
The neighbors watch the sculpture garden growing in the yard
They fish their pockets for their outrage all they find are shooting stars
and themselves laughing like skeletons riding around in rusty cars
When the rain pours in through the holes in the roof
She don't mind just cups your hands and drinks up loudly to the truth
that drips and spills she used to try now she goes swimming in her shoes
And when the wind blows in through the cracks under the door
She don't mind she says I have felt this way before
In my mind there is a place where I can go and stay warm
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4. |
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5. |
28 Miles To Belton
03:13
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Well it's 28 Miles to Belton where they threw my ass in jail
And you came up with 15 hundred bucks to make my bail
I still have not repaid you I don't know what to say
I'm not sure if it matters we don't talk that much these days
The last time that I saw you, you had your sunglasses on
And I couldn't get my words out through all the things I had done wrong
You said you didn't want to see me and darlin' I could understand
I was drinking to the death of love and you were reaching for my hand
But you're a beautiful woman, you'll always live inside my mind
When I'm out of luck and lost in thought and falling far behind
Well it's 28 miles to Belton, a thousand more until I'm home
And I wonder just how many mornings I'll wake up alone
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6. |
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You built a shelter of conviction to keep away the howling confusion
But I sensed your desperation when you asked me to come in, share a cup with you, tell you that you know where it's at but you don't know
It's that lake that you can't see from your Lakeview apartment
Or some kid in a three-piece suit trying to talk to you about modernism
Or a train I barely missed, the door it stood wide open
Now I'm standing on the platform wishing I'd never quit smoking
There's a dangerous woman she's bugging me for answers
Asks impossible questions like why do I own so many pairs of sunglasses
And I said, "Darling, these are difficult times and it makes me feel better to accessorize."
Come on let's decorate the wreckage
I don't know
It's that lake that you can't see from your Lakeview apartment
Or some kid in a three-piece suit trying to talk to you about modernism
Or a train I barely missed, the door it stood wide open
Now I'm standing on the platform wishing I'd never quit smoking
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7. |
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Everything's in motion, myself I have been traveling every single one of my days
And I climbed a mountain in search of complete stillness but the world just kept on spinning anyway
So I went to the library, there was a book there waiting for me and it opened itself up upon a page
It was the true story of a great flood of molasses that came and covered everything in a giant wave
I could feel my feet sticking as I stumbled through my memory to the house that I grew up in far away
And I would like a vacation somewhere near the ocean where no-one ever calls me by my name
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8. |
Indiana
03:42
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Lay down Indiana honey it's no use
The furnace is still burning and the cabinet's full of booze
And don't you try to make me stay I could leave if I wanted to
Wipe those tears off of your face we both knew we were bound to lose
Bound to lose
Bound to lose
We knew from the beginning that we were both bound to lose
So I gave up my heart left it for dead on the front step outside your barricaded door
It wasn't meant to trip you up I did not mean you any harm just couldn't use it anymore
And I was confused
About the things that I knew
But I could tell by your expression babe that I was bound to lose
Every single river the Seine, the Charles and the Zambezi they all ran me right into your heart
And everything that happened seemed so senseless and indifferent
Every place I put my feet down fell apart
And I wanted you
To tell me what to do
But you just stared down at your feet and I knew I was bound to lose
Bound to lose
Bound to lose
Well we knew from the beginning that we were both bound to lose
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9. |
Mountain Steep
02:41
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10. |
Happy Birthday #2
04:41
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Mr. Clean said to the poor prom queen darling don't be so proud they will forget you
These people change their minds so fast
and look at you kid you're just a monument to trash
Just then the old police commissioner broke down in tears
Said, "I am not what I once dreamt I might be I hardly recognize myself anymore"
And the Satellite Choir sings, "Is this what you've been waiting for?"
If I was a hillside and you were the Yellow Moon my Love I would still try to make it up to you
If I was a hillside and you were the Yellow Moon...
Joan of Arc rides the train wearing thrift-store glasses
Got her headphones on she's getting all the facts
She's in motion she can taste it you know she's gonna make it last
A little Justice in the Promised Land
The insomniac midwife opens her eyes she says everything's changing but I'm not surprised
You see every last one of you was born outside of time so Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday go start anew
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Greg Mullen Austin, Texas
the simulation is unknowable but it probably has something to do with bob dylan
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