1. |
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Far across the plains, a line I'm gonna draw
A thousand miles on a train bound for Omaha
I see my life unfolding on a path far ahead
I'll form a comfort station, and there I'll make my bed
Amidst the gritty town and the filth of low-life streets
A pioneer in debauchery, a den of iniquity
I'll build a crib that firmly stands where lusting men tread
I'll welcome them with open hands, and there I'll make my bed
Search the entire world around, I have got no kin
In all my roaming I've found no man without sin
As “The queen of the world below” I will earn my bread
I'll knead desire's dough, and there I'll make my bed
I retain a flock of whores and provide for all their cares
Safe within my doors and three flights of stairs
They share my roof, I give them clothes and keep them all fed
They've all become my daughters and I have made their beds
In the loss of lifelong lover, I begin to buy and sell
Houses of the city, the money treats me well
The rooms of my brothel will now contain beds
In the care of sick and wounded, a place to lay their heads
Near the graves of lofty peoples, lay my body down
All my worldly wealth will be given to the town
Lay a slab over my body, a nine-foot granite bed
Let me rest beside my lover, and there I'll lay my head
Let me rest beside my lover, and ne'er remove me from my bed
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2. |
Palettes
03:56
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Teardrops on a sheet of white
Yellow windows in golden light
Painted lips beneath the indigo skies
Raindrops on a paperwhite
Blue shadows in fading light
Heart poured open right before your eyes
Far away my wheels are turning away from the sea
Still today these waves keep washing over me
Stars ablaze amidst the evening sky
Will conceal the reasons why
To eternity
Pale features and cactus eyes
Lavender calico blowing in the wind
a ghost who's tethered to the air
Hair unfurled in sienna strands
Prophet curls alluding
To the winding road that leads away from there
Far away my wheels are turning away from the sea
Still today these waves keep washing over me
Stars ablaze amidst the evening sky
Will conceal the reasons why
To eternity
Then the ocean swells cast a soft and soothing sound
Now that I am gone these waves keep crashing all around
Far away my heart keeps yearning for reprieve
Still today these waves keep washing over me
Stars ablaze amidst the evening sky
Will conceal the reasons why
To eternity
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3. |
Another Mile
02:52
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Well, I've told you my story
Truth to you I've spoke
Cover me with your garment
Lend to me your cloak
All my ships are sinking
Tossed upon the sea
All my walls are broken
So won't you walk another mile with me
Shine your light on the highway
Lead me down the road
Break apart my burden
Help me bear the load
I left all my fortune
Hanging from a tree
Now there's nothing that I wouldn't give
To have you walk another mile with me
Look inside my spirit
Poverty you'll find
Leave your gift at the altar
Come behold the divine
Farther down the line
I'll be glorious and free
But I won't reach my resting place
Unless you walk another mile with me
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4. |
George and the Dragon
04:10
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George set out looking for the Dragon's lair
Knowing that he'd find a certain challenge there
For fame he did desire
And his heart it burned with fire
For a robe of admiration and the hand of maidens fair
George said “Mr. Dragon, I have come to take your life
The value of your head it will earn me a wife
With the riches in your den
I will be a wealthy man
And my village shall be rescued from sorrow and strife”
Dragon said “What have I done for you to want my life?
I've never caused your village any sorrow or strife
Though my breath is filled with fire
No war do I desire
And I tremble at the thought of submitting to your knife”
“If you bring back my head you'll earn yourself a name
Wealth and riches, loving women, glory and fame
But the riches shall decay
And the glory it will fade
And your anxious heart won't cease to yearn and sorrow shall remain”
“But if you will come into my cave and lay down your blade
Deep contentment, honest heart, and wisdom I will trade
For I'll rid you of all fear
And your eyes they shall see clear
And this truer form of wealth it will never fade”
George drew his weapon and he rushed into the cave
“I know that, deep within my heart, to kill, I must be brave
They'll regard me as a saint
And grand pictures they will paint”
And with a mighty thrust of his sword sent the Dragon to his grave
So if you, my friends, find yourselves yearning for fame
Wealth and admiration you are longing to claim
The heart is full of guile
True virtue it can defile
But your purity of spirit is of more value than a name
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5. |
The Other Side
03:52
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I've come upon a shore
Gaze across the tide
With my burdens and my pride
That I can't take to the other side
The river is raging
Current deep and wide
Within it worlds collide
Will I reach the other side?
He sleeps in the bow like a babe
Vessel thrown upon the tide
Calls the tempest to subside
On the way to the other side
So long, so long, so long
Show me to the door
Across the threshold floor
And into the light
Till I reach the other side
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6. |
Grey Matter
03:51
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Melo's in a stale penitentiary
Crouched in a whitewashed cell
Beneath the weight of horizontal stripes
It's as close as he can get to hell
A man in a Roman Collar
Turns away his eyes
From the soiled white garments
Of a beggar he passes by
We all want to see the light
But the truth is infrared
You may see in black and white
But the color of blood is red
Can I understand this language
So heavy and precise?
Focus on the positive forms
Or the spirit in between the lines?
The world and its reciprocals
Set the black against the white
The binary and the digital
Is it closer to the light?
We all want to see the light
But the truth is infrared
You may see in black and white
But the color of blood is red
Bianca's all alone in the darkroom
Shaking up the negatives
She's always been in touch with the chemicals
She don't care how long she lives
I'm outside in the moonlight
Listening to the trees
Searching for an image
That will change my chemistry
We all want to see the light
But the truth is infrared
You may see in black and white
But the color of blood is red
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7. |
The Messenger
01:55
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Your slimy words and winged feet
Assist the offspring, a biased deed
And in his triumph his enemies you lead
Down to Hades
In witches spell, where men are beast
Your magic herb protects the thief
And with the captor you deal in peace
On the island and across the sea
So here you stand, a pile of stone
Or guard the threshold of someone's home
Observe their passage, ensure return
A myth is born
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8. |
Salt of the Sea
04:57
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Time is a breeze, dawn of the day
Stirring the trees to whisper and sway
Dissipating the fog
Initiating a dialogue
Tell me how my heart's corroded hinges revolve
Tell me now, have all equations are solved?
Tell me now, was I wrong in getting involved?
Tell me now, have all your earthly cares been dissolved?
Like the salt in the sea
Time is a bluebird winging away
Who am I to ask the bird to stay?
It's driven by instinct and will
And relies on the season to be compelled
Tell me now, to which pillar I should cling
Tell me how you'll receive these gifts that I bring
Tell me now, if there's truth in any words I sing
Tell me how a word can both season and sting
Like the salt of the sea
Time is a leaf falling away
The brilliance of autumn receding to grey
The atmosphere grows dense
Amalgams of sound return to silence
Tell me now, why time's teeth continue to bite
Tell me now, why dawn is delayed by the night
Tell me how long a watchman must wait for that light
Tell me now, if my intentions were crystal white
Like the salt of the sea
“Follow me till your heart's corroded hinges revolve
Follow me till all equations are solved
Follow me till all tension becomes resolved
Follow me till all your earthly cares are dissolved
Like the salt in the sea”
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9. |
The Shore
04:32
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Standing on the shore
I've been here before
Where the sea meets the land
Striving to understand
Once more
Waning crescent moon
Or the sun at high noon
Where the day meets the night
Which is greater display of light
Bride or groom?
Blood within my veins
Carries life unto the brain
Where the head meets the heart
We'll drive the two apart
All is vain
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10. |
Blessed Unrest
06:37
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There was a Spirit on the water
Breathing life, speaking borders
Between what is sacred and what is profane
And the whisper of that motion
Summoned light, created order
What is holy? And what is mundane?
And the force of that Spirit awakening yet
Stirs the beat of the heart in my breast
And I rise and fall
In this blessed unrest
As the breeze through afternoon windows
Passing swiftly across the sills
Quickens the curtains that once were still
You and I
Just like those dancing curtains
By the same breath in changing light
Are drawn together and torn apart
And the wind that expands the lungs in my chest
Transformed, now an exhale, the sigh in my breath
And I rise and fall
In this blessed unrest
Like a vessel across the raging ocean
Transcends the void from shore to shore
By spreading its sails to harness the wind
And the function of the threshold
To keep the berries from the chaff
Relies upon the movement of air
In imposing darkness that threatens me
And dawn's first light when shadows flee
I rise and fall
In this blessed unrest
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Avery Johnson Virginia
Childhood spent listening to dad's Rock & Roll records, humming Blues riffs while constructing Lego creations, and singing harmony in church. Early adulthood absorbed in the atmosphere of the Southern United States.
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