1. |
Midnight Rose
04:16
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In the high winds
on the plains of your milky skin
in the ice your grandmother sleeps
through the herds of my hands and your naked feet
all my life turn me on midnight rose
red violent eyes cut me up good
stains that wash away
in the cool wind
sketches of the past
in the name of your mother's kin
faces you can't trace
in the ice your memory creaks
colors that outlast
through the herds of my heart and your naked feet
all my life turn me on midnight rose
red violent eyes cut me up good
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2. |
A View from a Pier
03:45
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wait i'm awake i'm awake i'm awake
I can hear the bombs dropping; I thought I was dreaming
amnesty poses, shifts in her clothing
and she wants to get shopping but nobody's stopping
guess i'll get on with my life
no one knows nothing it's not worth discussing
stop fussing and thinking
and watch the ships as they go by
people can change they can change they can change
no its not an illusion it just needs some practice
empathy doesn't exist in a vacuum
without a solution, without injustice
guess i'll stare into the sun
no one knows nothing that's not deconstructing
somebody's purpose
watch the ships as they go by
I don't hurry around pondering
money and stature, next fall's fashion
or that west coast feeling
no, I don't hurry round pondering
the limits of knowledge or blind reaction
or other human beings
no, I'll buy a ticket to Alcatraz
and see it for the sixth or seventh time
I'll buy a bag of M&M's
and watch the ships as they go by
wait i'm awake i'm awake i'm awake
I can feel my heart beating I can hear the phone ringing
ecstasy waits in a room of endorsements
of tight pants and short skirts of full plates and one church
and a choir sings along
but harmony's a problem when the key is an opinion
there's just so many questions
watch the ships as they go by
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3. |
Candle in the Dark
03:35
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If we combine our efforts we might find
how small this struggle is, how easy we could rise
rise above my little dove
rise above my little spark
your love is a candle in the dark
by some design we're two of a kind
who else would wonder why?
who else could read my mind?
the mind is no place to decide
the mind is made up of routine
your love is a way I've never seen
if we consider all the things making us bitter
how many other times will we choose to hide?
rise above my little dove
rise above my little spark
your love is a candle in the dark
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4. |
Goldmine
04:43
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Sitting on a goldmine in a box of pictures
here's the friends I know
tell yourself for what you wish
is what you have, is what you give
calling all kids to come and stay out
odes to dying young
smoking in abandoned lots
with crowded minds and hungry thoughts
slowly caving in
time has made it happen
getting in touch with my sorry side
you can't have it now
sitting in the red dawn west of salt lake
morning like a dredge
all all the prospects piling up
the morning star confirms your luck
what the night can say
time has made it that way
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5. |
A Twist of Frayed Ends
03:41
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we're all living in debt
but its all right you know
honey i've been breaking the band
keeping you close, sticking you up
i'm going to pay you back
go right on with what you do
as pale as your hands are they hold some kind of light
some kind of darkness, some kind of fight
you're just the kind of medicine to keep my spirit up
cause sometimes when i'm dying you say
fuck that other stuff
we're cut from the same cloth
we're cut by the same blade
in the same scars you and I bear
we can follow
i'm going to cut you down
i'm going to use you up
and give you away for next to nothing
because i can't give you enough
darling, darling, darling
you're just the kind of medicine to keep my spirit up
cause sometimes when i'm dying you say
fuck that other stuff
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6. |
Look Left, Look Right
03:49
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look left, look right
lying on the edge between day and night
that small little space
it yawns and it stretches; interstate nexus
conceives, construes
winds around in a scribble by the time it gets through
bathing in ink
its nothing for sure but a Rorschach tour
I don't know what to call it
I'd better ask Jackson Pollock
I must be dumb
I don't understand where money comes from
and why its so hard
to spend it on lessons instead of transgressions
instead, instill
a trust in tomorrow the Good Uncle's will
he's taking care
that if you need crutches they're handing out toothbrushes
and milk and cheese
good energy food, the mutual keys
stocks in soup cans
connected by strings and six degree flings
and then at three
in alphabet town what comes after 'z' ?
a brand new start
that's better than clever tornado weather
I don't know what I took
I'd better go back to Seabrook
look left, look right
lying on the edge between day and night
that small little space
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7. |
Fear of Mimes
02:37
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where did you get that brand new step?
I bet you've been holding on to it
come here and show me how you move
how your little secret got so smooth
so, come on come on
don't make me wait
oh no, I couldn't go on
this place is a hopeless satellite
mamma bring home the world tonight
swinging for fences, batting those eyes
moving the right things at the right times
so, come on come on
don't break my heart
oh no I couldn't go on
no no no no, please don't stay out alone
I know what I like
I want you to come back home
where did you get that brand new step
everyone's catching onto it
how does a whisper reach such peaks?
how do you know what never speaks?
so, come on come on
don't make me wait
oh no, I couldn't go on
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8. |
Family Gun
03:51
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as the sun warms my face
it spreads the warmth of farmer's almanacs
cardboard cutouts, numbered footsteps
starched pink sweaters and pressed slacks
perfect posture
you won't be lost anymore
we can dance on and on
family gun a hidden place
fluoride for the pearls and diamond like eyes
the rain is just a part of you
a phenomenon of nature 16 billion years in the making
smell of seasons
sweet meridian, curves to trace
charcoal shadows, steady confident lines
I know every move you've made
a mausoleum of winter sleeping now in summer's shaking
right foot forward
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9. |
Patterns
04:10
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television blizzard burying the storyline
the stolen route, the suicide knife
I carelessly leave sitting out
myths of scattered ash the aftermaths the standing lasts
in painted caves in tidal waves
is the twisting fabric of doubt
well it came and saw and it conquered all
and the greatest plan
was a flash of love, of luck, of lightning
tucked away in molecules in vestibules in schools
are obscure rules, electric tools
and a method to this madness
so we opened our mouths and started asking questions
pointed telescopes at planets, pointed fingers, pointed weapons
and predicted our demise with our own imaginations
tombs we constructed for future generations
I thought it was clear, I thought I was dead
I thought that I was going to hell and I would never see you again
I thought it through and I'd rather change my mind
that behind the starry curtain there's nothing left to find
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10. |
Jellyfish
02:29
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pull apart from you
old magnet drawing closer
old deeds and sayings
clothes are different too
the high winds breed
an ease for merging circles
jellyfish wading
in shallow waters
lingering blue, a ghost of a tune
thought of you on that afternoon
lingering two, asleep on the dunes
waking up to a sliver moon
I wandered off
slow bullet from the cannon
old deeds and senses
dissolve in my transparence
you don't know what it is I saw
you don't know what it's called
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11. |
Divine Andromedary
04:05
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bleeding streaking skies plotting your demise
does it matter
when you say what you say
you're still limited by laws of language and its flaws anyway
nobody else could make me feel this way
counting secret miles take off for awhile
does it matter
when you go when you're gone
and your words are obsolete and strangely incomplete when you say
nobody else could make me feel this way
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12. |
The Departed
02:45
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I've heard you now
are finally getting out
of this town
that you've been living in
of this place you've been staying
and it's just like old friends
to wait until the very end
to drop on by
you know that they'd be here
has it really been all of these years?
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Chris Koza Minneapolis, Minnesota
Both solo and with his band Rogue Valley, Chris Koza has supported and shared the stage with artists such as Brandi Carlile, Ingrid Michaelson, The Jayhawks, Neko Case, Kathleen Edwards, Dan Wilson, Stephen Kellogg, This is the Kit, and Tift Merritt, among others. His song (Rogue Valley) The Wolves and the Ravens was featured in Ben Stiller’s film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. ... more
Chris Koza recommends:
Rogue Valley "Seasons" Vinyl
by Rogue Valley
This is my main band when I'm not making music with other songwriters or squirreling away in the studio writing music.
go to albumIf you like Chris Koza, you may also like:
The Bookseller's House
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supported by 4 fans who also own “Patterns”
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supported by 4 fans who also own “Patterns”
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A Picture for a Frame
by Noble Dust
Boston group excels at making songs driven by taut, multilayered vocal harmonies and supported by Americana arrangements.
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I Don't Like My Chances On The Outside
by lilo
The London-based duo's intimate folk music explores love, friendship, and loss.
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