| Disc 1 | ||||||
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| 1. |
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He’s always giving you free advice
On ways you can avoid telling him no The game of survival Some play it far too well So much hate to make So much room in hell And when he tells you you’re lucky You can’t tell its a lie You’re a figment of his vanity You’re a glint in his eye Even when he hurts you Well it all seems okay His beauty is always beyond you And somehow always gets in the way You only have his rules to find justice with But babe they don’t include you They never did Evil wears a big smile Evil loves your mind Evil gets what it wants Evil leaves you behind Are you the trash It left behind Are you the trash It left behind Are you the trash It left behind Are you the trash It left behind |
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| 2. |
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Well, haven't you seen that big sign
Over on First and Seventh that says With words ten feet high and made of teeth "Oh reason not the need" and underneath Is a man doing an imitation of Satan But there is nothing evil in him He was just another saint that was made broken Next to an old doorway With a dark history of being left open Saint Nicholas Left your toys again behind at the bar A silver gun Aome dollar bills A lump of coal And wolves howling at your door A ceiling full of inflatable worlds And Xmas lights that spin all year round The question is always bigger than the answer It takes a nurse to ease you into your surrender As she smiles 'cause she knows you won't remember Things you should only be telling your mother As she counts you down, your drowned soul Tired and hard, defeated and getting mean And what's worse, the humiliations of a good time Or slipping into the routine Or for you is it All the same thing Saint Nicholas Left your toys again at the bar A silver gun Some dollar bills A lump of coal Wolves howling at your door Most people want to inhabit their lives Like ghosts and drift from room to room And brag about what imprisons them And wait for the sweep of a broom And written in the dust beneath your drink It says, “Deadness needs nothing to justify it” Like the ache that's crawling though your chest Needs nothing to amplify it For years you wore the crown Now the wolves are hunting you down And you're dead serious in your face You're dead serious now Want someone to see you Saint Nicholas The wolves all believe you Saint Nicholas The wolves all believe you |
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
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It's hot and it's humid but the rain won't fall
Thunder cracks but the rain is stuck And the wind blows cool And wet And smells like the flu And rests a cool hand on your forehead A comfort instead of a cure And the I-280 on-ramp lights turn on And I can feel the speed building Denial is what you bought So you'll never be caught The storm just hangs like it's dumb Unable or unwilling A little girl with a white rosary Calling to heaven to take her away From the trap that life turned out to be And from the trap she only wanted Jesus to see 'Cause you're damned by the things you don't see A touch that vanity undermines A strength lost in the flicker of disbelief A poem that can't contain its awful rhymes In shadow like a thief And now I walk careful And quiet Wherever I go The secret business of a spy So no one will ever see or know A little girl with a white rosary Calling to heaven to take her away From the trap that life turned out to be From the trap she only wanted Jesus to see She was damned by the things she couldn't see |
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| 5. |
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Playground by a cliff long drop to the sea
A little space ride spins you around and around I told you to stop but you wouldn't stop for me Eyes never leave the ground Never leave the ground Hate and pain turn us into familiar shadows Where you could be anyone and I could be anyone Do you stand with God's finest laughing in the gallows Abandoned in the wind and the sun If I had a gun I know what I would do I would seal my fate Seal my fate with you Little space ride begins to crap out and fall Through an atmosphere that's weak and unreal I told you to stop but you wouldn't stop for me Now I don't even try I don't even feel If I had a gun I know what I would do I would seal my fate Seal my fate with you Blind, deaf and mostly dumb Can't chase away and I can't outrun It doesn't matter how I seek my peace Nothing separates me from the beast If I had a gun If I had a gun If I had a gun I would give you Your freedom |
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| 6. |
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Seeing eye dog on the end of its leash
Says, "How can you live without trust" It said, "Love fades like all things do Into dust into dust" It's all been said and done The whos and the whats and the whys And I'm tired to the bone Of telling you goodbye A dowsing rod trembles over the underground stream Frozen water pouring through the dark Empties through the well that was my dream Loss of faith loss of heart It's all been said and done The whos and the whats and the whys And I'm tired to the bone Of always telling you goodbye So goodbye Goodbye The funny shoes The banana peel The bag of tricks Face down on a road off the map History like a smoke that blinds and sticks A fly caught in a fly trap It's all been said and done The whos and the whats and the whys And I'm tired to the bone Of always telling you goodbye So goodbye Goodbye Goodbye goodbye goodbye goodbye Goodbye Goodbye |
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Lights flash in the half-filled night club
He stands alone with big soft eyes He’s brittle as Goodwill dishes Drained of blood drained of wishes He’s a solitary ghost under a clock He’s good only for leaving quarters behind He’s a gold mine in reverse Dripping water and an ancient curse Some of them are queens of prejudice and pride that dine on heroism Some of them are queens of the chaos inside and celebrate their indecision Raise a toast to being empty inside To the new queen of no one A shot and a beer for a buck Surreal visions when you run out of luck He’s the crocodile who swallowed the clock Waiting to make his soul come unstuck Some of them are queens of the ant farms and the ants In plain brown paper wrapping Well some of them are queens of beauty and truth Waiting for someone to help them Well raise a toast, long live the queen The new queen of no one New queen of no one All the unhappy drunks with their broken backs Sooner or later they hang up their hats But his life is like a cut that won’t bleed Leaving him high and dry and stupid with need Well some of them are queens of cowardice and luck And of soft sky blue distraction And some of them are queens of hopelessness and beauty And some are at least the queens of someone Well raise a toast, salute the queen The new queen of no one The new queen of no one The new queen of no one |
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It’s 2 in the afternoon
I’ve been here since 7 a.m. I’ve been hiding out on someone’s private property I know sooner or later the owner with his gun Is gonna discover me and say "Hey, what are you doing here alone In the cold light of day In the cold light of day What are you doing here alone In the cold light of day In the cold light of day In the cold light of day What are you doing here alone In the cold light of day" I tried to find the darkest part of the trees So I could be in an ocean five fathoms down This pine forest is abandoned and overgrown I’m not hurting nothing I’m just waiting around In the cold light of day In the cold light of day I’m just waiting around In the cold light of day In the cold light of day In the cold light of day I’m just waiting around In the cold light of day The sun is like poison it kills all my dreams Just like you kill me with your laughter I know fear is the one thing you understand Your kisses taste bitter You say you’re my future In the cold light of day in the cold light of day You say you’re my future In the cold light of day In the cold light of day In the cold light of day You say you’re my future In the cold light of day You say you’re my future You say you’re my future You say you’re my future You say you’re my future You say you’re my future You say you’re my future You say you’re my future |
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The butcher shop in the air
Is heavy with all the choice cuts The Columbus God of Hope Twists a knife in your guts And all we talk about Is how disappointed you are every day A blank face on a child Who can't reply to anything you say Go away Go away Go away The prison guards just try and sell me These little yellow pills They say they'll cover up the pain For a wound that never heals And all I got All I got was the last look You wore on your face And if I live to be a thousand That's one thing I'll never replace Go away Go away go away Go away go away I know you've got a plank to walk I know you've got a kite to fly And I'll do everything I can To help you say goodbye just wanted to fill your soul with light And free us both from the Ohio day My touch just makes you draw Farther and farther And farther away Go away Go away Go away go away Go away Go away Go away go away go away Go away go away |
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Let the snake crawl around on your floor
You're not afraid of its tongue Or its tiny heart It lays curled up on the corner Watching Craig and Jose Hisses quietly to itself Doesn't have a thing good to say Like the fire's final spark Like predictable behavior The last drop in the battery Food that lost its flavor Blood inside like ground below Just growing colder No freedom in cowardice Poison fangs give no power The only love you'll ever grow Is to look beyond the things you know The things you know To crawl out of its hole A hired car and a 747 Wants to swallow the world whole Including hell including heaven Tiny eyes that strain to see The point behind all this gift giving Well, snakes may come and snakes may go Jose and Craig--well, they're still living The only love you'll ever grow Is to look beyond the things you know The only love you'll ever grow Is to look beyond the things you know The things you know The things you know |
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| 11. |
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Hands in pockets
Eyes screwed shut Let it all go Hands in pockets Eyes screwed shut Let it all go No address book You're lost in the sky You're lost in the sky Blue upon blue Green-eyed past The length of an arm Shiver and shake Blue upon blue Green-eyed past The length of an arm Swallow the speck You're lost in the sky You're lost in the sky Long endless tone Rope ties it up Delivers it home Long endless tone Rope ties it up Delivers it home Everywhere at once You're lost in the sky You're lost in the sky Seahorse little eye Seahorse little eye |
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