1. |
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when hope meets reality, I hope they get along
it's getting awful hard to make up reasons why you're gone
the boy needs a mother
the girls need new shoes
they can't get grown on phone calls
and I can't make love all alone
so tragedy meets distance, and that's a book that sells
cause everybody loves to burn, but no one wants to go to hell
go to hell with all your petty words
go away until you're well
I cry my eyes out blue and black, but I can't make you love me back
cold feet meet ambition, and something's gotta move
your head and heart, the life we started
have no say in what you choose
so there we were at breakfast, the business end of 6 a.m.
kids think momma went to church
in a way I think she did
but I'm the one stuck here at home, praying to god you don't stay gone
dignity meets vanity, we all know whose word goes
everything seems dignified when you sit on a throne
I made this one myself
carved it up for someone else
she's as gone as you're gone now
you took her place and then walked out
I blame you for my burning house
I can't make you love me back
I pray to god you don't stay gone
they can't get grown on phone calls
and I can't make love all alone
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2. |
Holy Rollers
04:21
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the distance between who I am and what I've become is much further right now than it ever was
it's sad when you don't know the forest for the trees, but for the summer fires that burn across the headlines you read
well, you only do what can be done
can't take the truth til the truth has been spun
holy rollers come
count backwards to one
nicotine angels with tears on your sleeves, won't you let me be
the space between who you and what you mean to me is much further by far than it ought to be
it's easy to regret the face that you leave on an enemy once you know the things that they've seen
you only do what can be done
squint at the scars til they spell the word love
holy rollers come
count backwards to one
nicotine angels with tears on your sleeves, won't you let me be
the time that it takes to get to a breakthrough is longer when you've got some lies to hold onto
the life that you save may be your own, just as soon as you leave everything that you've known
you only do what can be done
waste time with wars you've already won
holy rollers come
count backwards to one
nicotine angels with tears on your sleeves, won't you let me be
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3. |
Headstone
04:00
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the headstone said "I love you and I'm sorry"
a guessing game on how he met his end
mother didn't seem to be as bothered as I was
she's always had a healthy set of friends
moonlight over twilight sends me back a thousand nights
consoling sullen souls, sometimes my own
if everyone is beautiful, but everything's a mess
that's what god and glory come to look like, I guess
pick yourself up, young man
it's time for us to go
we've still got the shopping
your sister's on the road
pick yourself up, young man
some pain's not yours to hold
the tears you drop in public fall just as far when you cry at home
he said "your money's got an eyeball like a question mark, and anyone denies it's full of lies
I only play along so I can save kids like you, son
don't let the trolls who mold us know I'm wise."
his shoes don't match, his smelly hat's got patches over holes
his checks they pay for cigarettes - at least the ones he rolls
if everyone is equal, but no one's in control
fear and phony certainty are bound to find a home
sort yourself out, old man
I think we'd better go
they're rolling up the silverware
they'd like to lock the doors
sort yourself out, old man
you've been too long alone
you've got a right to make-believe, but most of us don't have the hours to blow
the t-shirt says "I like pets more than people"
most people seem to think that makes sense
got more sympathy for innocents than equals
though innocents can't feel the compliment
your furry friends don't care about the penny in your shoes
don't care about your entourage, the gossip or the news
if all the world's a stage, where everybody stays
it's hard to blame the players who need some time away
put yourself out there, man
you know it could be worse
ain't got a lot to cry about,
without a wound to nurse
put yourself out there, man
and if you don't survive
the broken heart that kills you is the muscle that'll bring you back to life
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4. |
Last Year's Fire
03:37
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my youngest, she rides on a pink plastic train
on some fake plastic wrought-iron rails that she laid
she's wise as she's wily, just like her mom and dad
one day she might grow up, wind up just as mad
hey, I still think about it
when I'm hungry, feeling crowded
rubbing elbows with your kin
hey, I said I didn't mean it
and you said that you believed it
I wish that were enough for me
it's not
I've still got all the things I should've lost in last year's fire
these heartaches and headaches, they're one in the same
just circular reasons and endless complaints
your booze in the kitchen, your note on the door
this time to myself's time I don't need no more
hey, I'm still feeling like a heel
spitting off the ferris wheel at the carnival below
hey, I punched the walls and I'm still bleeding
you weren't there to see it
doesn't mean you didn't know
you know
how I do
when I'm still choking on the fumes from last week's fire
so who really cares now which one of us wins
that hopeful refrain for when hope's at its end
leaves me unsatisfied and wondering why I even try
I know it's cause I's raised by an eye for an eye
hey, I still got something to give
loaves and fish for all our friends
at the party that you planned
hey, I realize what that implies
go on and cut me down to size
the air up here's a little thin
I think I'd like to see what it feels like to breath
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5. |
Supply and Demand
04:27
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doing garbage work in a garbage place for a garbage and ungrateful customer base leaves you wondering why you went to college at all
because you learned to drive and you learned to count
you had both hands, both feet and a brain and a mouth
now you're tied up and bored
and wish you could move a bit more
your grandpa could've told you
your mother never tried
when you're paying for the answers
you're asking for a lie
get your friends high
lift yourself from here
whisper every affirmation into every ear
you only get one life
half a life to recover
throw your hands up
when you feel the need
for joy or whatever
to throw off grief
we do what we can
supply and demand
walk a mile or two in someone else's shoes
someone who lost skin from the hell they've been through
and you'll ask yourself why you didn't join the marines
cause you tell yourself it'll be okay when strangers stop throwing their smiles in your face
and you know that it's wrong to be complaining at all
your uncle tried to tell you
your brother told a lie
when the problem is attention
the problem's right outside
get your friends high
lift yourself from here
whisper every affirmation into every ear
you only get one life
half a life to recover
throw your hands up
when you feel the need
for joy or whatever
to throw off grief
we do what we can
supply and demand
maybe you could join a fraternity
maybe you could join the jaycees
maybe you could organize a game night, a quiz night, a show you might actually go out to see
we'll see
reading market news about ambitious tools
who'll tell you that if you don't win then you lose
makes you ask yourself who signed off on these monstrous rules
cause you want to be decent, you'd like to be good
you'd do right by the poor and the weak if you could
but just trying to get through does damage you'd rather not do
the preacher's kind of said it
but mostly kept it in
when you want to die with riches
you'd best invest in sin
get your friends high
lift yourself from here
whisper every affirmation into every ear
you only get one life
half a life to recover
throw your hands up
when you feel the need
for joy or whatever
to throw off grief
we do what we can
supply and demand
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