1. |
They Could Pave a Road
00:59
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They could pave a road
To my past in gold
Make me ten years old
But I’m never going back
They could pave the way
To my better days
Make it all OK
But I’m never going back
They could change the world
But I’m never going back
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2. |
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She told me schools are closing once again and she is back upon the dole
And every time she pays another debt it’s like they’re deeper down a hole
She said, “I blame myself,” I said, “I do believe that is an unfair goal”
I said, “you got enough external forces commandeered to play that role”
And there’s some days she wants to cut and run
It’s been a hard, hard time on everyone
The company had paid him just enough to buy some bread down at their store
And when he showed up home with just a loaf, he found his children needing more
He looked down at the crumbs of better days, a rim of dust upon the floor
At every turn in life, he and his better half just knew they’d end up poor
He said, “I’m not exactly havin’ fun”
It’s been a hard, hard time on everyone
We all lift our heavy eyes up at the sun
And when my every rhyme is said and done
It’s been a hard, hard time on everyone
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3. |
Dreams of a Better Man
03:51
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I sang a tune of misery
Though it was happy too
When I thought I had all the answers
I didn’t have a clue
I am a weak and selfish man
Though I’m a good man too
Boy o boy, it’s so complicated
Trying to make it through
And I ask myself again
“Do I have the stuff?
Am I strong enough to finally do
What I need to do?”
The sky is grey, and full of clouds
But there’s a rainbow too
Boy o boy, it’s so overrated
Living in a shoe
And I ask myself again
“Do I have the stuff?
Am I strong enough to finally do
What I’m meant to do?”
I tell myself to close my eyes
And I try to count to ten
I get to four or five
And I ask myself again
“Do I have the stuff?
Am I strong enough to finally do
Everything for you?”
I was gonna be a better man than this
Dreams of a better man
Does anybody understand
Dreams of a better man?
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4. |
A Detail in Mayhem
03:51
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At dawn I got used to the darkness
At dusk I got trained to the light
A patron I savoured the substance
An addict I suffered its blight
The duck in a river of whiskey
The crow in a dungeon of corn
A rounder I followed the bottle
A wastrel I tasted the thorn
I found the invisible village
And read all the books on its shelves
It tore off my mask of belonging
And threw me in jail with themselves
Don’t get in the way of a bullet
Don’t make a request to be maimed
Don’t try to bring justice to Mayhem
A town that will never be claimed
His hymn shed its scales like a lizard
The pastor his skin like a snake
Both wailin’ on Judgement Day comin’
Each calling the other a fake
I’d jump but they’d notice my feathers
I’d drown but they’d notice my gills
Ejector seat tested for safety
I’m palmin’ my cyanide pills
“They’s gatherin’ down at the graveyard”
The old woman crowed to the stray
“This service ain’t fer the departed”
Was all he could summon to say
I learnt in my first life a lesson
In fact, you can only have one
The truth lies a detail in Mayhem
Upon a pale face in the sun
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5. |
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She’s married to a trickster who was once a whiskey jay
They fell in love, two minstrels on the road to Barrel Bay
She tries to make excuses for a love that fell away
But all they ever do is find another vow to say
She says a solemn promise gets within ya
Until her love becomes a sea anemone
In Mayhem, West Virginia
He looks up to the sun behind a slate of pewter grey
A slowly drowning fisherman who cannot catch a ray
He tries to make excuses for a life he pissed away
But all he cannot do is find a bed of shells to lay
He thinks out loud, “there’s no one there to mourn ya”
When you are just a pirate of misfortune
In Mayhem, California
I offer affirmation for one third the going rate
I’m sellin’ compensation for a dollar 38
I’m full of bad excuses for the trust I piss away
But all I ever do is find a way to never pay
I’m a policy who hits his sales quota
By sellin’ reassurance to the residents
Of Mayhem, South Dakota
No barn to house a livery, no horses for the dray
I gave up all that misery for the glasses on this tray
I try to make excuses for the days I piss away
But all I ever do is have a drink and it’s OK
It’s no calling but it’s mine, this dipsomania
My best friend and my downfall, in these tumblin’ hills
Of Mayhem, Pennsylvania
I hang beneath the Spanish moss, where cattails swing and sway
My board and duct tape palace in a state of disarray
I try to make excuses for the homes I pissed away
But all I ever do is find another place to stay
Like some 2020 cartoon scoundrel hippie
I’ll see you on a dirt road somewhere, lost
Outside Mayhem, Mississippi
Who knew I’d be a catatonic statue on display
Who knew that I’d find paradise inside a bale of hay
I try to find excuses in the time that slips away
But all I ever do is furnish models of decay
Well, maybe I could wake up from this coma
If God would open heaven and shine light down
On Mayhem, Oklahoma
The wind and I agreed, we both adore the month of May
But I led it to the open fields and now it’s gone astray
I try to make excuses for a true love pissed away
But all I ever do is find a lover to betray
A lonely and pathetic Casanova
Who sees his chance for happiness dissolving
In Mayhem, Nova Scotia
I’m a knight in shining armour with no dragons left to slay
Or maybe just a guy who lives to fight another day
I try to make excuses for a story pissed away
But all I ever do is find a phony to portray
I’m still runnin’ from the birthplace of my shadow
My name is Jerry Morse, I’m a citizen
Of Mayhem, Colorado
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6. |
Mustard or Mayo
02:44
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London or Shanghai
Where can I hang my coat up tonight?
Let’s have a pill and I’ll feel alright
Feeling quite sleepy
I’m dancing away
And I’ll never say
That it’s you who is guilty
Nor it’s me who is free
Mustard or mayo, please
Mustard or mayo
Where can ya stay overnight these days?
Trying to crawl our way through this haze
Blinded by glitter
And buried in shit
I’ll never admit
That it’s me who is guilty
And it’s you who is free
Mustard or mayo, please
Mustard or mayo, please
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7. |
Grinning Thomas
02:06
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It wasn’t a wedding vow
Sworn allegiance to a queen
No oath to the here and now
Assurance unforeseen
It was just a promise
To a doubting Thomas
He beat me at solitaire
Like a jack pine in the wind
And leaning to water there
His branch line ever grinned
It was just a promise
From a drowning Thomas
I couldn’t just give my word
Some commitment to the drowned
A broken pledge never heard
Though it meant we were bound
It was just a promise
To a grinning Thomas
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8. |
Dusty as You Want
07:09
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You stole away from Memphis in the night
And in the shed you saw a tender light
But when you run away for your next fix
Don’t forget your silver candlesticks
You may need them later when you got no dime to spend
It’s a wicked, dusty road that lay ahead
You can be as dusty as you want, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
You travelled on the rails from town to town
From mountaintops to coalmines underground
Puritans and pioneers abound
Murderers and mystics all around
Speaking tongues from dusty lungs no soul could comprehend
Poisoned with a belly full of lead
You can be as poisoned as you want, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
You said that you were trying to get clean
And this was your attempt number thirteen
You’re covered with the dust of hopeless dreams
I can see you’ve been to all extremes
Your talent for survival, now, I really must commend
As I stare into your doll’s eyes of the dead
But you can be as dirty as you want, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
You said you could not stand it in LA
You missed the garbage in the alleyway
Your brother, he’s still living in a barn
But you say there’s no reason for alarm
He’s crazy but you say, upon his eggs you do depend
After all the chickens have been fed
Your brother can be as crazy as he wants, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
You thought that you could save them with our Lord
You thought that you could save them with a sword
Your faith was as solid as a rock
When you heard the military preacher talk
But now you see their victory has brought us war again
After you have fought and you have bled
You can store your stone dust if you want, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
You’re stuck inside the promises of youth
You’re angry that nobody told the truth
Well you don’t have to fight against the rust
You don’t have to brush off all the dust
Your body’s a disaster but your mind is on the mend
After all the truth has been said
You can be as dusty as you want, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
This shed, it ain’t big, in fact it’s small
But in it there is room for us all
There’s rust upon its circular saw
There’s dust inside the paint upon the wall
It ain’t much, but it will get you through the nights you spend
There will be a blanket on your bed
You can be as dusty as you want, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
You used to think the past was done and gone
But now you know your thinking was all wrong
The dust upon the graves upon this land
Can tell us more than any living man
Now you know this timeless yarn will never find its end
Even when our blood’s no longer red
This world can be as dusty as you want, my friend
In Bobby’s shed
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9. |
Casamiento
02:30
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A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
Take it slow, we’ve been through a lot
Now we know, we’re all we’ve got
I am finally feeling good
I am finally feeling free
Just the way that you said we would
When we got to the key lime sea
We are finally feeling good
We are right where we want to be
Worshippers of the blue and green
Newly wed by the key lime sea
A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
A bowl of beans and a bowl of rice
Take it slow, we’ve been through a lot
Now we know, we’re all we’ve got
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10. |
I Like It Where I Live
01:54
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Falling, knowing
I have nothing more to give
Crawling, groping
At the bottom of a sieve
I’m a castaway
But I like it where I live
Falling, knowing
I may land upon a gift
Calling, hoping
Someone I love will forgive
I’m a castaway
But I like it where I live
Like a hermit by the highway
Like a troll beneath a bridge
I’m a castaway
But I like it where I live
I’m a castaway
But I like it where I live
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