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In the dark, delirious morning
colors gaining confidence
in the quiet of the morning moving towards the light
listen to the pavement go on about the night
and it's still to early to see the sun
that old piece of fruit's still hanging on
some tangerine tree somewhere in some orchard
on the other side of this little earth
(chorus)
I need to make this silence stop
I need to be sure
I need you to understand
that I don't know where to go
who to read or who to reference
to figure out how to say this:
such a short and simple sentence
There's a funny little thing called eloquence
it has a way of filling empty rooms
but no matter how hard you try
you know the truth will still come through
You wait, you wait hour after hour
as all your favorite thoughts start turning sour
and one by one your friends are wondering
who you've become and when the old you is coming back
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2. |
With or Without
03:59
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sometimes you may rely on old familiar things
you may find yourself wandering through the streets
to wrap a version of the past around
the city like a cast so the walls don't crash down
all the boys and girls still filling up the bars
drink until they close and stumble home through the dark
anticipating their next move, where to?
sleep is for the dead; the night is for you
we will go on
we will get by
with or without
we will survive
we will go on
we will get by
we will survive
industry is turning over
modern love is cold and sober
try don't try
cry don't cry
sometimes you may rely on institutions
or paint the town with careless resolutions
you already have all the solutions
when the moment comes where you realize
you've turned into something you don't recognize
all the walls come crashing down
it's all right
cry don't cry
try don't try
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3. |
The Avalon
02:51
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going down to the avalon
arcade under the neon
speakers' blown out in the car
the radio doesn't know
it just gets louder with every song
'cause it likes rock n' roll
don't make it hard, just make it go
and the good things
will surround you
but it won't matter anyway
I'd do it all over again
all over again
won't go down in history
never did much of anything
that's worth much to anyone
I found some trouble I fell in love
you're gonna get the girl
cause she likes rock n roll
don't make it hard, just play guitar
and the bad things
will come easy
but it won't matter anyway
I'd do it all over again
and the morning will bring us home
in the car with the speakers blown
and the diner on your coat; never shake it, never shake
the good things will surround your
but it won't matter anyway
I'd do it all over again
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4. |
Shallow Seas
04:38
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schools of people linger on the edge
move as one entity in the shallow seas
fashionistas shimmer through the reefs
mannequins come to life from behind the glass
don't believe your eyes
variation caught in the debris you have filled bottles with a whispering
soak your hands in lye
un-perfect a disguise
don't believe your eyes
you can look however you want
can sun til you're broze
you can dress like a boy
you can dance like a freak
you can stay up for days
you can sleep until three
wear your shoes on the bed
you can answer the phone
in a curious voice
burn all of your clothes
forget who I am
you can cheat you can lie
steal all that I have
you can be exactly
who you had in mind
I would be a fisherman
I would find you in the open world
it would be so ordinary
shallow seas
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5. |
Adjust
03:48
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baby your cool eyes
calming me down
it's a wonder I can move at all
it's a wonder I can even talk
I want you to fix everything
I want you to be everything
sometimes I feel
so unattached
it's a wonder you believe in me
it's a testament to your privacy
I want you to be close at hand
I want you to understand
But I feel like I'm still learning how to trust you
no matter how long no matter how much
I change in your arms I melt in your touch
I feel like I'm still trying to adjust
baby your warm lips
silence the years
and the fables of hypocrisy
dissolve into you naturally
I want you compensate you and
I want to give you all I can
so take your time
what's the rush
it's all right it's not your fault
you don't mind
so you say
you don't need to compensate
don't need to go out of your way
don't need to leave,
just need to stay
baby your calm ways
cooling my blood
it's a wonder you believe in me
all alone in your secrecy
I want you to be everything
I want you to be there when I sing
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6. |
Pilot Light
04:56
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there's an airplane flying low
over star-sick rivers and a sleepless city glow
the familiar sights from the circling heights
are hazy and nearly invisible
you want to choose
you want to be new
the wheels emerge, hit the ground like a scourge
but up close it's the same thing; you're still fighting the urge
go on
stay
fade away
there's a violence in a storm
in the awful green and hurling swirling skies
the weathervane spins loose, the sandbags refust
the pleading sirens find no compromise
you want to move on
you want to be safe
in the wreckage you learn, when there's nowhere to turn
sometimes you just wait for the blue sky to return
there are visions stoked in coals
in a soot-lain iron stove
they're voices that speak when the moonlight is weak
and ashes settle on your clothes
you want to forget
you want to be free
embers will wane, eyesight will strain
without light not even shadows remain
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7. |
If You Carry Me
02:37
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darling if you carry me when I am down
I'll make it up to you, some day I'll carry you
I won't be a fancy pillar, I won't be a silver plate
I won't be something that I ain't
but I'll be true
I will carry you
of all the things I could reveal to you I'll show the worst.
it's a promise well-rehearsed I'm trying to unlearn
I just want to be good, just want to be good and keep a realistic sense
if you find your on the fence
jump on my back
we won't look back
one day you'll make all the right friends, all the right decisions.
to be old, to be young, to be shunned, to be loved
it's never up to you there's always some kind of excuse
getting in the way
honey if you're listening I hope you'll understand
planed or unplanned, it all turns into sand
considering the age we live it's quite easy to doubt
because most things don't work out
but somethings do, and you're proof
darling if you carry me - i'll carry you.
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8. |
Straight To Video
03:03
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poor pariah marlborough child
you've been caught in the cold
with your chemicals
long stares lonely sad sob story
your pockets all have holes
they lose all your notes
the one that got away
hasn't come any closer to not getting away
the words you wished you'd used
are someone else's servants
someone else's cure
mad marauders calico kid
you've stripped the skeleton
for the highest bid
train's on schedule porcelain's clean
and this must be a dream
or an extreme improbability
the moment things were good
is when you knew it was done, it would go no further
a strong wind pushed you back
down the escalators over sunday shoppers
people seem to believe
in illogical outcomes and impracticalities
the words you wished you'd used
they are not your asylum they were not for you
going straight down
going straight down
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9. |
Belmont Stakes
03:05
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It's the day of the race all the best are in place
the announcer urges take your seats the pistol's set to fire
a long winter has passed horses gather on the grass
stand patient while the jockeys shrink and straighten their attire
the gunman gets the word
nods and pulls the trigger
the little things all go right you get lucky tonight
and the crowd on their feet knows the smell of defeat
and the taste of victory is a coincident affair
they curse at their luck a collapsing aqueduct
there's a darker horse in every heat, a more deserving prayer
the last place makes a move
takes the curve and runs the backstretch through
the little things all go right
you get lucky tonight
cigar smoke, bourbon broke; the anecdote is real
flashbulbs pop, the moment stops, everyone is still
then furious, a sure thing doesn't get lucky
in the parking lot at the track all the grandstand lights go black
you can't control the animals, the animals control you
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10. |
Scorpion Honey
04:00
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climb over the rockies dusted in snow
look down on the desert melting through the road
the coyotes shriek the vultures appear
bartenders at the palisades stay open
scorpion honey pour one more for me
until this fever bends I'm trying to make sense
from madness - its going to take some time
now all I got is time and scorpion honey
these mountain town saloons have ghosts in their rooms
the hallway dark and wreaking moonlight and old perfume
a shattered chandalier breaks the night
illuminating blood as clear as ink still spilling
scorpion honey goes down easy
an honest medium trying to make sense
from madness - its going to take some time
now all I got is time and scorpion honey
some things are meant to be kept under the dirt
be careful when digging around in the earth
there is no escape
there is only distraction
where death goes death follows
like a tumbling weed spreading it's seed
scorpion honey got the better of me
pull that bottle down I'm trying to make sense
from madness - it's going to take some time
now all I got is time and scorpion honey
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11. |
Salt
04:26
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she will treat you like a new invention
a fascinating kind of status symbol
but while you're missing every second
in the silent motion sickness
wondering when it stops
sitting in the bathtub watching the water drain
she's the new girl moved in next door
her family came out from atlanta
but while you're busy avoiding her
and the cautious freedom of it
sleeping around the block
walking in the streetlights watching the sprinklers turn on
sitting in the bathtub watching the water drain
she's an alchemist but no one knows this
turning sacks of rags into fortune
mmmm you're listening to the house settling
when her creeping fingers find you
holding all your breath
hanging in the basement lost in the spiders web
walking in the streetlights watching the sprinklers turn on
sitting in the bathtub watching the water drain
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12. |
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On the southeast side of town
a diner filled with tweakers and sleepers
prom queens and cheap feelers
slide down into the booth
dominoes laid out in half-hearted plays
nobody cares, nobody wins
while the jukebox changes tunes
that moment's breach when small conversation
becomes revelation
when words become musical overtures
thoughts composed from negative space
no one's surprised, no one refrains
the door is always open
the service is reliably unconcerned
off duty policemen looking the other way
at the waitress with the rose city lips
earning criminal tips
dirty dishes get piled high
the griddle's full with hotcakes and hashbrowns
busboys making the rounds
things empty and fill up again
the door is always open
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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:
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