1. |
Burned East
03:23
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Darling, you know a sheriff’s only as strong as his font
So in your next patrol car you’ll know what you want
How did we let this happen?
No, I will not “just get behind the wheel”
I’m glad I counted my bullets
Half an hour before the big reveal
This hell on wheels
When you think of justice, you think of Levolor Blinds
You can dole out the freedom a single twist at a time
What if I just opened fire?
Pepper the letters there with my molten lead
If I could I’d have thrown it higher
And my gun would have landed on the roof instead
How did you let this happen?
No, I will not “just get behind the wheel”
I’m glad I counted all my bullets
Half an hour before the big reveal
This hell on wheels
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2. |
Miles of Aisles
03:03
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If a good day is
when no one stayed away
And no one came
They’re in equals part today
It’s all delay
Every day has become the same
Don’t let your comfort here fool you
I hope I never do again
This house was built by horrible people
Far from the eyes of the Lord
I can see them when I’ve been drinking
They’re haunting the porch
I have been afraid
In bold and brave new ways
Kept myself at bay
Through the lean and horrid days
It’s all a maze
You’ve made out of hallways
Don’t let your presence here fool you
You won’t ever be home again
This house was built by horrible people
Far from the eyes of the Lord
I can see them when I’ve been drinking
Sometimes out on the porch
I need a new town
Where no one knows me
And I can still go to the bars
Where the streets don’t end so abruptly
Under a new set of stars
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3. |
By Proxy, Teeth
02:37
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In any other story I would be much more than
“The Guy Who Finds Her Keys”
Even the goddamn gardener got more love
He got to have that distinctive sneeze
And he gardens with allergies
You know I should have left the back door open again
And leave him the possibility of sending Stephanie and her friends
To try and break in again
He could have at least given me an addiction
Something to pass the time
Like the one that he had given to Jeanine
At the start of chapter 9
She at least gets to die
In an early draft I had a hook nose and a beard
And I got to get lost in the woods and disappear
But he had a change of heart and most of us had to go
He couldn’t risk spilling all the secrets that by proxy we’d known
But never ever could have ever shown
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4. |
Coupon Groupies
03:08
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Now I care, they’re coming in pairs
They’re stalling and calling and falling down stairs
At 9AM it happens again
They give out those drinks that just ruined your friend
The pier is wrong, it’s gotten too long
You only need enough to never get on
Try to calm down, take a look around
They’re trying to show you something profound
That only happens here
After one too many “beers”
Soon you’ll be falling down into a sewer
But for now you’re standing right here
You got to walk alone in the park
With the ghost of your father lit up in the dark
Who likes to think you’re still at the sink
Deciding what temperature water to drink
The lights fade down as you hit the ground
It’s only a moment before it’s rewound
It’s nights like this that cause you such fits
When the number of options makes you so transfixed
It only happens there when you’re fearful and impaired
They’re running some cables now under your bed
But in your state I doubt that you’d care
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5. |
Giving Up
02:44
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I apologized and left, they let me keep my hands
I’m molecularly different than when the day began
Nothing in the rules against “Giving In”
Have to relearn all their words and just what they do
And keep myself together better, this time through
Their design won’t even allow me to sigh
Nothing from the top again, I’m afraid
Maybe just this once you forgot to pray (forgot to pray)
This time I’ll find a job that doesn’t cause me such shame
And maybe stare at strangers sometimes on the train
Doesn’t seem to hurt, but would I know?
And if I see her in the window, somehow modeling shoes
This time I’ll stay away, much better than to confuse
She wouldn’t know me, after all
Nothing from the top again, I’m afraid
Maybe just this once you forgot to pray
Some things don’t seem to count before the grave
Who knew you could get you so far away? (so far away)
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6. |
Or Winter's Tomb
02:41
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And you just got away
From God’s hand again today
But you won’t ever know close he gets
Before his will makes him forget
Oh boy, you’ve got a bounty on your head
It couldn’t hurt to start to believe that soon
You keep pretending that you’re dead
From the comfort of your stormy hillside room
Or your winter’s tomb
And he leaves a clue that only you would know
Right outside the back patio
But you weren’t designed a guy
Who needlessly just goes outside
Oh boy, you’ve got a bounty on your head
It couldn’t hurt to start believing in that soon
You keep pretending you’re dead
From the comfort of your stormy hillside room
He didn’t hear a word that you just said
Lucky you, he got distracted by the moon
He ties a womb around his head
Maybe you could save him a little room
In your winter’s tomb?
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7. |
Steadyman
02:23
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By the time that you returned, they half-completed the season
And didn’t even bother to put any rhyme or reason to you
They wrote you off over The Heritage Week
When the numbers have always been so historically weak
They even tried to change your theme song
To imply that you had a problem with France
They stretched the very letter of the law
To somehow keep you from keeping your advance
We can sometimes catch his signal when he’s on the mend
But it never lasts for long as he is always making up new friends
On these city streets where nothing seems to be open
In a new and unhelpful way he seems to be coping with the news
But we still always play your theme song
As it makes all the young people dance
But they still always say your name wrong
Without vowels they had never had a chance
Yeah, we always play your theme song
Some kids write the words down on their pants
Who cares if it helps get their youth wrong
At least they’ll be more careful with their hands
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8. |
Rooms As Tombs
02:35
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Like any good elixir you don’t do much
You lie in your impossible room, wasting luck
Sure you get up early, but what’s the rush?
What is it with you and hallways?
I know you’re both connected to your room
We keep on losing you in small ways
Are your thoughts so bad that your legs hurt too?
Oh what could we do?
Like any half a prophet would do, you just stay drunk
And sit and crank out a theory here or two that we’ll debunk
And some misspelled whiskey’s still in the trunk
What is it with you and hallways?
I know you’re both connected to your room
We keep on losing you in small ways
Are your thoughts so bad that your legs hurt too?
Oh what could we do?
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9. |
The Round Room
03:17
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I took the conversation about as far as it could go
With only intermittent access to my frontal lobe
I heard someone said these pills wake you from Death
And leave a burning hole where you keep your dread
For a while nothing happens
Then the whole room starts collapsing
In a way it’s like it was before
Then I hear the sound of clapping
Even fainter sounds of tapping
And feel made up just like before
Oh this weird room goes
On and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
Exit the apartment then against their good advice
And head in the direction that is least devoid of light
Don’t know who’s up ahead and if they’re living or they’re dead
And if it even matters with what’s in my head
For a while nothing happens
Then the whole world starts collapsing
In a way it’s like it was before
Then I hear the sound of clapping
Even fainter sounds of tapping
And feel made up just like before
Just this side of nausea
I give in to the euphoria
But don’t make it to the river shore
Pretend I’m a better man
Than one who chose to lie in sand
And one who’s not allowed inside their store
Oh, this dumb world goes on and on
On and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
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10. |
Regular Old Names
02:32
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I feel contained and great
Like a well-designed house
On a state-maintained lake
What a way to stay awake!
With the lighting just so perfect
We’re debating if it’s fake
Any more beauty would be too much to take
Goddamn it, I was trying to agree with you again
That tone you use must just be murder on your friends
A better man would have stayed away
But we both know there’s a grace
That only comes with certain age
At least you didn’t wake in a cage
Or realize halfway through that
They’re just words upon a page
And you’re a character filled with generic rage
Goddamn it, I was trying to explain to you, my friend
How hard it is to make you relatable again
Even your name predicts a most unpleasant end
Maybe I should just leave you here and change my pencil to a pen
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11. |
Zeus the Sequel
02:41
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“I’m dead” you said and fell down the stairs
Even the medics know to stay away from there
Because you were made in the image of a hurricane
Before we could even cough you went completely insane
“Where’s hell?” you yell when you thought you saw your twin
Got home in record time so we could lose you to gin
Is there somewhere that you’ve already made your peace?
Because it’s not here to say the very least
And then you will escape through a pinhole in the ceiling
So we will look forever to delay the healing
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12. |
Skin For Bones
03:21
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I mishear your direction then I’m back out on the street
Assume these people’s motives are the same as you and me
Hear some things among them that I’d rather not repeat
The world’s becoming wider more that I need it to be
Or realistically should need it to be
“You’re all idiots” she yelled
And threw the mayonnaise at the shelf
It was going to be a long evening
Just judging by her shallow, labored breathing
Then an onion rolls into the street
Without a soul around to see it
Maybe it’s that I’m still dreaming
From where I stand the whole world is steaming
Follow her scent westward until I almost reach the sea
They only sell that fragrance out of magic magazines
I can’t remember stopping somehow long enough to eat
It’s safe to say her final curse is closing in on me.
Out of everything heavy they want me to see
I find a quarter and confirm that it’s a trick
My tongue feels foreign, ancient, and thick
I don’t know just what I’m seeing
But pretty sure I still don’t believe in it
When I come to, I’m standing in your yard
Which may now be the most interesting part
Turns out I don’t have any idea
What picked me up and carried me here
Thought I’d go another day then finally reach the mall
My earlier projections had me there before the fall
No one thought to remind me there’s a bar along the wall
And all I don’t remember is an argument at all
At least not with Inherent Errand Paul
Find another quarter and I know
They’re just following me now for show
Always seem to notice these things
Right before they send me to another ring
The judge will surely hold me in contempt
I could have sworn that he already did
And I’m not about to give them an ending
Not when time itself keeps unbending
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Matt McClure Henderson, Nevada
Songwriter and singer for The Figurants and Red Kitchen
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