1. |
Crooked Heart
03:17
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Crooked heart
Arrest my bones
May the dying embers follow
Am I a wicked letter
Or just a bleeding hand
Trapped inside the station
A devil or a lamb
And the comfort that you offered
But never gave away
Slipped into the courtyard
And ran off with the rain
Well I know I heard you whisper
But I never heard you sing
Is it memory that am lacking
Or did they both just sound the same
Crooked heart
Arrest my bones
May the dying embers follow
There's a street down by the harbor
The signs been gone for years
I've slept there for some time now
On a bed of souvenirs
You can never see the stars there
But I know just where they are
Trapped behind the buildings
And the smoke of aging cars
Have you ever seen a footprint
Muddy in the snow
And wondered what was coming
Knowing it was yours
Crooked heart
Arrest my bones
May the dying embers follow
Where was it I was heading
Somewhere beyond the pond
But the tracks were all paved over
By the time I heard you call
So I dreamed you like a willow
Sung for you my song
And when it all was over
I'd hoped you'd sang along
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2. |
When the Bees Went Mad
03:01
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Red red the doctor said
There's a hole in the world
Fill it in with all your sin
And pin a heart on the girl
Oh, the water turned black
She started dancing and the bees went mad
Oh, will they ever come back
She started dancing and the bees went mad
Green green the plow-boy screamed
Ain't no sun in the sky
It's been replaced by Fortune's face
Then the dog up and died
Oh, the water turned black
She started dancing and the bees went mad
Oh, will they ever come back
She started dancing and the bees went mad
We hold these lives
With little more than telephone wire
And keep our eyes wide
We hold these lives
Like a flame in a tinder-box fire
And keep our eyes wide
Blue blue the fearful few
Huddle close to the sound
The faint hum of the funeral drum
That keeps the world spinning round
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3. |
Weep Caroline
03:26
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Please don't weep for Caroline
Send a letter home
Just as soon as you can find the time
Be it gold, be it gold
Or a hammer that you hold
May the story stay untold
Her body's grown to eager to be known
Weep Caroline
Sign your name with no regret
Not every letter home
Needs to hold the truth, but all get read
Be in ink or be in blood
Of harvest or of flood
When a tree outgrows the wood
It's branches shed their leaves to kiss the mud
Weep Caroline
She traced a crack in the mirror
And no comb could touch her hair
Just studies dust in the air
And this father's head hangs down
Please don't weep for Caroline
Send a letter home
Just as soon as you can find the time
When it's done, when it's done
And a ribbon wraps the sun
Will she curse what she has won
Or let your memory burn until it's gone
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4. |
Jericho
03:17
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All the kitchen lights are on
Spilling yellow on the wall
Broke the clock with a bottle and a rock
In a town they called Jericho
I might leave here for a while
Seems the pleased ones always plead
With skinny legs and scabby knees
To hold it all when the final curtain falls
And blame it on Jericho
I might leave here for a while
Blow your horn home
And the loudest prayers play
For recognition of their names
Etched in glass as the chosen ones file past
To make their way through Jericho
I might leave here for a while
Who would trade a sheltered home
For miles of earth to walk alone
The castaway who never saw the light of day
Until he came upon Jericho
I might leave here for a while
Blow your horn home
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5. |
Wandering Apparition
02:34
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I am a wandering apparition
In a city fortified
And in the morning when you rise up
I'll be sleeping on a passing train
In the morning when you rise and find
That you thought you could recall my name
But like a shadow on a window pane
I move in the night so quiet
No more a falling burned out building
I've traded ashes in for fire
And in the morning when you rise up
I'll be sleeping on a passing train
In the morning when you rise and find
That you thought you could recall my name
But like a shadow on a window pane
I move in the night so quiet
I'm alright because I keep my treasures cradled to my name
When it all goes white I will keep my burdens chained up to my name
But I'm alright because I keep my treasures cradled to my name
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6. |
Fortune and Fate
03:46
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Reading a vow scratched on a page
I had on my wedding vest
Fortune would fade and Fate would arrive
Draping a black veil over my bride
Later on I must confess
As her fingers brushed my chest
Her skin felt colder than ice
And her eyes though they were closed
Seemed to sparkle neath the glow
Of a light I cannot describe
The wolves saw the moon, but none of them howled
And she held her breath like a child
Though I remained still for fear of the night
And the breath she held stole mine
Oh as Fortune married Fate
In a carnival of grey
A red dress fell from the sky
And it hung there like a bird
Bloodied by the words
That a husband read to wife
She sleeps like she knows, knows better than I
Of the catacombs we hide
And she still wears the veil thought it's thinned over time
But the ring on her hand never shines
Oh I wake with every dawn
To find Fate has carried on
With all of Fortunes pride
Leaving drapes drawn in the day
To keep private masquerades
And we raise our voices high
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7. |
Before the War
03:14
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We were young before the war
These Pentecostal troubadours
Scratching lines into the dirt
Hidden hand and fallen skirt
Time releases us from those days
Of holy rollers battle crazed
Once we scaled the prison walls
For the heed our captors calls
One wing from a morning bird
We retreat like seasons gone
Leaving no room for the pawn
To hold fast these fallen leaves
The mended patches of our sleeves
In the end we all come round
To stand upon these fertile grounds
And with our feet wet in the grass
Stand like specters of the past
One wing from a morning bird
For all our lives
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8. |
Leave Me in the Middle
02:40
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You laid me down easy
With no time left to cry
You called me the one
Child who'd grown old
To brighten her eyes
You said life's more than pay dirt
It covers the rose
It's more than a wish
Or a Saturday kiss
And I want some more
Leave me in the middle I think I've
Got another way to lose the load
I'll wait another night just to find you
I spent all my money
On a mockingbirds song
I cashed my last check
I borrowed I begged
To see you again
And the lines on my face dear
Have grown crooked and cracked
So I shrank in my skin
Let the morning begin
To fool me again
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9. |
The Weaver's Broom
03:51
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Falling in the Rhine
With a pocket full of seeds
One hand to fold
And one hand to lead
The river held the barge
Like a diamond holds a ring
The drowning apostle
Started to sing
There was no need for thoughtful reply
If I were the one
Lungs filled with air
I'd trap the last day's dawn in your stare
Underneath the wave
The seeds began to bloom
Flowers grew yellow
On the weaver's broom
Was it wind the shook the barge
The pedals and the seeds
Or the hand that I clung to
And followed to sea
There was no need for thoughtful reply
If I were the one
Lungs filled with air
I'd trap the last day's dawn in your stare
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10. |
Mission Bell
02:40
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Darling I kissed your lips and tasted elder wine
Oh I waste too many mornings
I put pennies on your eyes
I play the ghost to be the one you'll find
Oh I
Neath a veil the only daughter of a mission bell rang quiet
Rang when I first met you
Chasing pigeons from the sky
I watched them scatter from the porch outside
Oh I
We lived for a while in the candle light
Moving like a noose on a power line
In the days of rain we kept our bodies dry
Under sheets of crimson, gold, and white.
Darling I kissed your lips and tasted elder wine
Oh I waste too many mornings
I put pennies on your eyes
I play the ghost to be the one you'll find
Oh I
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