1. |
The Way In
02:41
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Working hard
Against the underwriter
Got a dog in the fight
But I’m a lover, not a fighter
And we can’t begin
Until we find a way in
Trying to reconcile
The past with the present
Which one fits
And which one doesn’t
And we shed our skin
Just to find a way in.
What a tangled web
What a piece of the puzzle
Hot licks and rhetoric
A syntactical muzzle
And we can’t begin
Until we find a way in
Keep time—it feels like nothing
Second time—don’t get me humming
Third time—it’s in the oven
Last time—and it might be/come true
You know that I’m the man
Who’s on a mission
Keep it simmering
In the kitchen
And we can’t begin
Until we find a way in
THAT’S RIGHT
SLIDE RIGHT
STAY STRONG
HOW LONG
BY NOW
THAT’S HOW
PAIN WASH
TRAINS LOST
FINE NIGHT
BLACK LIGHT
TEXTBOOKS
DULL HOOKS
DOG FIGHT
ALL RIGHT
CROSS ROAD
CHANGE MODE
WORK HARD
SCHOOL YARD
WHITE NOISE
BAD CHOICE
HOT LICKS
WHAT STICKS
CAN’T USE
CAN’T LOSE
HOW LONG
PLAY STRONG
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2. |
Put Some Miles On
04:00
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Said the saint to the sinner
Give me some bread before my dinner
A pad of butter in the oven
Before the push comes to the shovin’
I can see that something changed
A little older but still the same
What did you do
I put some miles on
Put some miles on
A zig zag marathon
I put some miles on
Had a long way to go
From the last gig to the next show
I was beat and I was tired
But the AM radio was so inspired
Had to drive overnight
Kansas City by the harsh daylight
I stuck my head out to feel the breeze
And then I took a few of these
I put some miles on
Still a long long way to go
Long past the break of dawn
You put some miles on
I was losing sight
Of what I needed
I mean, my compass
Was seriously impeded
The needle wouldn’t land
On anything that I could understand
I needed myself a soul midwife
To birth the cool and make it all feel right
I felt my inspiration heading south
Until I took the horn out of my mouth
I put some Miles on.
And heard the space between the notes
A power-sonic Babylon
I put some Miles on
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3. |
Black Light
04:40
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Crawled out from beneath the rock
Crustacean rough and steely strong
A weathered eye with a ticking heart
I know where and why but not how long
Exposed against the night
Colors flip and reunite
Under the black light
Sucker punched the misery truck
Suis Generis. Random luck.
Trick the body but the mind won’t follow
The mission is mighty but the foundation is hollow
Revealed by the night
Switching the polarity of sight
Against the black light
I work far below the surface
Waiting for semaphore of light in the dark
And they play for me with synergy, lethargy, fantasies
Broken needles and dead batteries
Suspended by the night
It’s funny the things you see
When you flip on the black light
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4. |
Bullet Holes
04:02
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Barely surviving. Shell shocked.
Struck by lightning and alone
Death defying
Acceptance without trying
Walking on gilded air
Down the boulevard without a care
Something reminds me
Nothing left to bind me
I see the bullet holes
The history that no one knows
Just the way the story goes
It’s all right.
Eventually you were brought down to your knees
Feels like relief
Peace of mind
And easier on your spine
Pull into the station
Space and supplication
The tension and fight
Just faded over night
I see the bullet holes
The history that no one knows
Just the way the story goes
It’s all right.
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5. |
Still Here Now
04:08
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Collected in the summer light
And the night was shaking down
Picked up all the pieces that fit
Sometimes it ain’t just what it seems
Long, stall of time
Is all that’s left
Still here now
If we change our mind
Will anyone forget
Still here now
I sing the song in vain
And I know there are those
Who might feel the same
Stunted by light
I just guess I wasn’t thinking right
Long, stall of time
Is all that’s left
Still here now
If we change our mind
Will anyone forget
Still here now
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6. |
Speedway
03:16
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I sense there might be some shaking
Just before the wheels come loose
It’s never too late
But it still ain’t any use
Banging on the shuttered doorway
The owner is fast asleep
Gonna work it out this time
Maybe just for keeps
Don’t stick around
If you can’t put the handle down
The stakes are high if you run around with the crowd
On the speedway
Fancy meeting you here
Call the authorities please
I’m unequivocally
Ready to sneeze
The garden is sticky sweet
Captured and complete
I’m a pollen attack
With an unrelenting breeze
Sun is down
And we’re canvassing along the ground
Hit the chains, all the things that remain
Paralytic shock absorber
Two lanes of nothing
I think you know my name
Right here on the speedway
Love to sit down with a saint
Some things I can never get straight
I will say that sometimes I revel in the code
I believe I will have to get hip
Before I can straighten out this ship
I fail to understand if you’re talking to me
Later in town we put the money down
Rambling around
I hope you’re sitting down
Everything here feels complete
But it wilts down in the heat
On the speedway
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7. |
Recovery Mode
03:52
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Tell me what would you be doing
If you weren’t doing what you’re doing
Are you afraid of the mess
That would be left behind
Are you a shark or a rabbit
In the dark afraid to grab it
Thrashing at the scenery
With random sensibility
Give me distraction
Get me in on the action
I’m here and I’m embracing the code
Sliding into recovery mode
Take a deep breath. Stop
And now show me what you got
Just as I thought
You want a second shot.
You came to the right place
You got a kind face
What if your saving grace
Was lost in the chase
I’m losing grip on the mother lode
Sliding into recovery mode
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8. |
||||
Somebody stop all that noise
Making it hard to think
I got it coming from every direction
In waves of white and pink
It’s hard to pull a diamond
From a hurricane
Feather from the rising tide
Everything is wrong
Differentiate the sides
Same wrong, different time
Life is overrated,
Try to prove that
You gonna lose that bet
You gonna lose your hat
Got a fear
Things are gonna get mean
So I’m standing on the sidelines
Observing the scene
So long
Got to give it some time
The whole world’s watching
While we’re standing in line
Here we are—in the tenderest of grips
Here we are--afraid to let it slip
Here we are-- paralyzed by time
Rocking on somebody else’s dime
The whole world’s watching
Got to give it some time
The whole world’s watching
While we’re standing in line
Whole world's twitching
And you can't turn away
Whole world's shaking
And there’s nothing to say
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9. |
Space Age
03:08
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Let’s line ‘em up sister
Let’s throw ‘em back and lay ‘em down
Put some salve on the blister
The concierge is coming to town
Don’t let it put you in a rage
We’re living in a space age
The time is right, honey
There’s no one looking anyway
We’re the invisible white bunny
Along the Boulevard Loraine
Just another barren white stage
Set the lights for the space age
You’re a loose and lovely freak
And I’m a solid stoic flickering flash
You’re not good enough to be meek
Make sure we’ve got plenty of cash
Set the controls for disengage
It’s time for living in the space age
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10. |
||||
You may not believe me but
The villagers are finding better ways
To bring the water from the reservoir
And when the markers start to drop
They plan to replace all the fluids
With a substance that they purchased from the company store
I say this in the strictest confidence, of course
Should your sister ask you anything
Tell her what you want except the truth
I have her notebook and the figures are confusing
Just a few small tweaks and twists,
We’ll blow the shingles off the roof
Treading water underneath the stars.
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