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1. |
cartography
04:28
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cartography
alright, let's go.
her last words were silence.
you and I and our last days on Roosevelt Island,
the Creamsicle twilight set the 59th Street Bridge on fire
and seated beside me was my last sorry that I ever got.
She slept safe and soundly then sobered in the morning
in sister cities, New York is haunted with old bones and running mouths,
tall tales and taverns
and I'm awake in the Bowery and lucid dreaming
subway sequences and sends, like diodes in happy hearts,
off to Coney Island.
The little ghost-moon watermarked the pale blue sky on high over the park,
like I bled to death in Rockefeller Center or froze to death in Times Square.
Here's to a waste of our best sex,
geography we won't forget,
a sad song remixed to sonic boomin window flex,
to breaking points where we can't take much more disrespect.
So here's to good health and swiftly mending heart.
She slept safe and soundly then sobered in the morning
in sister cities, New York is haunted with old bones and running mouths,
tall tales and taverns
and I'm awake in the Bowery and lucid dreaming.
and lucid dreaming.
Her last words were silence
You and I and our last days on Roosevelt Island
Her heart beat for asylum
While the creamsicle twilight set the 59th Street Bridge on fire
And seated beside me was my last sorry
So I let her burn
She slept safe and soundly then sobered in the morning
in sister cities, New York is haunted with old bones and running mouths,
tall tales and taverns,
there's no more to it's skyline than her iris unraveled,
and I'm awake in the Bowery and lucid dreaming.
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2. |
new one
05:14
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My hands have had a rough month
Not cause they've been beaten to the punch
Almost every time
More like they're sore from breaking up my streaks of boredom
That wander off like wisps of smoke
Reminiscent of blood drops dripped
In the waters where I used to swim
When my biggest worries were cut knees as kids
And the colors of our bandages
But I'm just not the same
I'm not livin the best
But I guess that I can't complain
And if it's all the same to you then I'd rather stay in my room
All da-da-da-da-da-da-damn day
I don't give a da-da-da-da-da-da-damn anyway
About what you say
Cause I'm just not the same
Well, I tried to date a good girl
But it was really just dumb love young
So I grew up
And with any luck
Cause I never had that much before
The next one will be just as beautiful
And I'll hold the same hope in our gripped palms
Cause I'm not livin the best
But I guess that I can't complain
And if it's all the same to you then I'd rather stay in my room
All da-da-da-da-da-da-damn day
I don't give a da-da-da-da-da-da-damn anyway
About what you say
I just hope when I'm dead
That there's someone who can
Explain me to my family and friends
I just hope when I'm dead
That there's someone who can
Explain me to my family and friends
Cause I'm just not the same
Well I'm just not the same
I'm just not the same
Not the same
Not the same
Well I'm not livin the best
But I guess that I can't complain
And if it's all the same to you then I'd rather stay in my room
All da-da-da-da-da-da-damn day
I don't give a da-da-da-da-da-da-damn anyway
About what you say
Cause I'm just not the same
Not the same
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3. |
Formal Season
03:36
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Oh god this part of me won't ever go to sleep
Cause god this part of me won't ever go extinct
And god? I just thought this kinda thinkin must mean something
If you're even listening
Is anybody out there?
Well? is anybody there?
Well, I don't even care
I just thought you should know
I just thought you should know that
When you lied to me, to my face
This place took on a whole different light
When I saw I'd become what I swore I'd never be
Darling, I nearly took myself to a mountain
Where I'd live in seclusion
Regretting never a ring around you and
All the trees on the mountain would like your illusion
When I turn my head too fast cause I thought I heard you singing
"it's a lovelife for all of time"
And it keeps me awake when I'm alone at night
This is my last goodbye so I let it rhyme
This time I think I'll tell you what my car-crash-heart woulda said
About 'burning bridges and driving off of them'
About loaded guns and loaded friends
And our hearts held hostage
But I'm headstrong and I always thought that we were better than that
Like we were legends from a Roman Coliseum
But now history's passed and it's Formal Season
All goodbyes and tears in eyes
We're just college sweethearts severing ties
To go make a 'real world life'
But I hope that you never forget that we were better than that
Like we were legends from a Roman Coliseum
But now history's passed and it's Formal Season
All goodbyes and tears in eyes
We're just college sweethearts severing ties
To go make a 'real world life'
But I hope that you never forget that
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4. |
it's about you.
03:18
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It's about you, yeah, it's all about you
She had a wrought iron soul
Moves like Motown
But a heart made of coal
Said she hates the night
She wants to skin a star alive
To wear when she is cold
To make her shine in an electric storm when she's alone
This is my five year black eye
Blood iris in marrow white
And left me with a laundry list
Of people that I wish that I had never met
And I hate to admit that I just want to be able to hold her
But tonight it's just me and my panic disorder
So I don't care if you're hurt
Cause I'm alone and Baltimore burns
And still no one seems to care either way
They just whistle past the graveyard singin
'please enjoy your stay'
I never will, I never will, no
I never will take another lover
Sorry mother, but I never will, I never will, I never will, no
I never will, so
I don't care if you're hurt
Cause I'm alone and Baltimore burns
And still no one seems to care either way
They just whistle past the graveyard singin
'please enjoy your stay'
I never will, I never will, no
I never will take another lover
Sorry mother, but I never will, I never will, I never will, no
Said she hates the night
She wants to skin a star alive to wear when she is cold
To make her shine in an electric storm
Oh, it's about you
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5. |
Ode
03:19
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You're wings over water
For the next couple hours
And I'm not even sure for how long
Cause you're gone tomorrow
And I'm gone tomorrow
And I won't be ok til we're home
(Susanne Gerry)
You're wings over water
I'm living bottle to bottle
It's sometime until we return
Cause you're gone tomorrow
And I'm leaving tomorrow
So stay with me and watch this town burn
(Jeff Mishley)
You're wings over water
For the next couple hours
And I'm not even sure it's that long
So let's drink like our hearts might stop tomorrow
Til we get caught borrowing time we don't own, we don't own
(AJ Perdomo)
She's wings over water
The mechanic's daughter
Is moving herself towards the sun
Cause, after all, all I'm after, is something that's better
We're finding that out on our own
She's gone, she's gone
Cause I'm wings over water
Living bottle to bottle
And only god knows for how long, if at all
Cause if you're gone, I'll follow
I won't wait for tomorrow, love
I'll be driving and singing this song all along
All along, all along
All alone, all alone
All alone, all alone
All alone, all alone
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6. |
News is Breaking
04:15
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The sun cried light as I watch the day break
Said that it was all that he could take
To see split in two, time, space, and University Drive
As I turned away from Mark Light's
Said my body was running out of time
Tired of hearing satellites insist I'm home
Cause when I am home
I'll stick my hand in that sand
And pray that I grow roots on the shores of the Long Island Sound
Surround the city from around the city
I am down so let's go out
We are never down-and-out
We are here now and now is forever
And now is forever
The way we live life
Like we're hurricanes
Come through with names never to be heard again
Miles of dissonance in the burden in the bond of distance
And the trust that what goes up
Always make it's way back home
Cause when I am home
I'll stick my hand in that sand
And pray that I grow roots through the cracks in the Grove's pavement
Surround the city from around the city
I am down so let's go out
We are never down-and-out
We are here now and now is forever
And now is forever
In my bed back home I was in an elevator in my dreams
In love with the girl next to me
I prayed she would say anything
And I'd wake sweating to the pulse around another light fixture
Do you think when she dreams that she dreams that I miss her?
Thinking throughout my sleep that I went our separate ways
And I let her slip from my memory
Banking on the daybreak
To save her from her heartache
But at least I feel safe with the good Sound around me
Got a 'Long Island sound' around me
"cause these are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay, hey, hey
These are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay, hey, hey, hey
This is how they stay hey, hey, hey, hey
This is how they stay, hey, hey
This is how they stay, hey, hey, hey, hey
This is how they stay, hey, hey"
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7. |
telemetry
03:34
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If the writing's on the wall
Then this one's on my throat
This proof comes with a sting
The dead flask of Jameson
Split between me and a forward-serving Marine
That bleeds for me
But I'm no good at listening
I'm a wolf asleep in a lion's den
Pocket-dialing dead friends again
Who's numbers still live in my phone
But mean much more to me
These are the lies we lead
But my constellation-life burns brighter than I think
Burns brighter than I think
And every night there's still Orion
And 'Take This To Your Grave' taking us to Maine in the morning
And I'm lost in the first frost of this year
I know I am the consequence of passing time and circumstance
But a thousand days south of the Gold Coast can change people that way
I know we got Virginia in our future
And someone reading this over my shoulder
It still beats to hell sharing Mike's lucky on our fifteen at work
But I'm no good at listening
I'm a wolf asleep in a lion's den
Pocket-dialing dead friends again
Who's numbers still live in my phone
But mean much more to me
These are the lies we lead
But my constellation-life burns brighter than I think
Burns brighter than I think
And I'm no good at listening
I'm a wolf asleep that dreams
I'm no good at listening
I'm a wolf asleep that dreams
I'm no good at listening
I'm a wolf asleep
These are lies we lead
But my constellation-life burns brighter than I think
Burns brighter than I think
And I'm no good at listening
I'm a wolf asleep
These are the lies we lead
But my constellation-life burns brighter than I think
Burns brighter than I think
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8. |
Wednesday Addams
04:02
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Wednesday Addams
Let me look after you cause your Dad isn't around
cause your heart's been let down
hey Wednesday Addams what's that sound?
the moon follows you around
you sing sad songs so loud but your face paints you miserable.
but count your blessings:
jet black hair, jet black lips, jet black everything.
and I know, I know you want to kill me right now
you wanna get stoned and blackout
cause you love a bit like wildfire and I feel you like the stars
but you said, you said that we should just stay friends
so get up on out of my bed
and you said, you said that we should just be friends
so get the hell out of my head.
it's been good mourning, mourning you.
but count your blessings:
jet black hair, jet black lips, jet black everything.
hey Wednesday Addams what's that sound?
the moon follows you around
and you've got fire in your eyes when you stare at me
but you said, you said that we should just stay friends
so get up on out of my bed
and you said, you said that we should just be friends
so get the hell out of my head.
it's been good mourning, mourning you.
but count your blessings:
jet black hair, jet black lips, jet black everything, everything, everything
count your blessings:
jet black hair, jet black lips, jet black everything, everything.
and I know, I know you want to kill me right now,
you wanna get stoned, get high as hell
hey Wednesday Addams what's that sound?
the moon follows you around
Wednesday Addams what's that sound?
the moon follows you around
Wednesday Addams what's that sound?
the moon follows you around
and you've got fire in your eyes when you stare at me.
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9. |
though I hope...
03:25
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though I hope...
who hasn't said that they're a sinking ship?
well, I'm a brick around a sailor's neck while he's trying to swim clear,
being tossed by hurricane-force-fair-weather-friends,
got me writing my epitaph in crayon cause it's waterproof
and I can't read between the lines, so they simply label it
'graffiti on a battleship' and nothing else.
and it takes a lot for me to feel this so I don't take it for granted
cause if you felt a fraction of 'All the Fugue and Canon'
then you'd see a difference in how I didn't act it.
but I can't read between the lines so they simply label it
'graffiti on a battleship' and nothing else, yeah.
who hasn't said that they're a sinking ship?
well, I'm a brick around a sailor's neck while he's trying to swim clear.
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10. |
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She's rolling tubes of paper on record covers
And we're all eager
Sleep deprived
And ulterior motives hanging from the words
Of either New Orleans or Brooklyn's great emcees
If only Dave knew what 'Knights' meant to me
And all and every one of us
The only ones who ever was
Acting our age and living up to unprecedented throws of judgment
But I think we're all laureates
And broken, like our promises
Scoundrels trying to deal with the awards bestowed on us
For soliloquies and sonnets
And everything else that was never meant for the general public
But made The Paper in my room
The shutter of the camera lens
Falls on deaf ears and documents
Moments where we won't ever be the same again
And exhaled breaths of dust in after hours
Rusts the night and dulls the sounds
Of my life spinning in the background
And falling on deaf ears
We are now convened here to discuss
The nonsense that we have rolled up
So pardon me if I am being blunt
With my metaphor and prose
But I've never been one for eloquence
Or elegance of tongue
But I've delivered many a librettos
That have fallen deaf to ears
And I think we're all laureates
And broken, like our promises
Scoundrels trying to deal with the awards bestowed on us
For soliloquies and sonnets
And everything else that was never meant for the general public
But made The Paper in my room
The shutter of the camera lens
Falls on deaf ears and documents
Moments where we won't ever be the same again
And exhaled breaths of dust in after hours
Rusts the night and dulls the sounds
Of my life spinning in the background
And falling on deaf ears
Out now that the public's eye is shut
Our laughs can fall deaf upon their ears
Deaf upon their ears
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11. |
Orange is the traitor
03:57
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I wish I could be considered
Frank O'Hara on his lunch break, permanently
Waxing poetic with dramatic sweeps
In my notebook on New York's streets
With Beatniks bumbling around
Fumbling with something aesthetic in their mouths
But really saying nothing
I think I'm invincible
At least on paper
But I'll probably amount to nothing
Cause we're just a bunch of foul-mouthed kids
Penning songs and talking shit
But, microphone check, when it's on, that's it
Cause we're the meanest business this side of New Orleans
Cause we're the meanest business this side of New Orleans
Cause we're the meanest business this side of New Orleans
So come on, Wayne, get at me
My hands are worn and sore
From ruthless wars of infinite attrition
So I labored through the conditions of my surrender
'I will never'
Cause this is mine and I won't let it die
I don't mince my words and you won't take me alive
Cause I shoulda died last summer anyway, so
What's there left to lose?
When we're just a bunch of foul-mouthed kids
Penning songs and talking shit
But, microphone check, when it's on, that's it
Cause we're the meanest business this side of New Orleans
Cause we're the meanest business this side of New Orleans
We're the meanest business this side of New Orleans
Yeah, yeah, come on Wayne, get at me
There's something to be said
About someone singing the words and actually meaning them
But I've got no one to impress
Cause all my heroes are dead
Yeah all my heroes are dead but
This is mine, and I won't let it die
I don't mince my words and you won't take me alive
Cause this is mine, and I won't let it die
I don't mince my words and you won't take me alive but
I got a little pride
Even if I can't be on Cash Money
Come on, Wayne, get at me
Come on, Wayne, get at me
Come on, Wayne, get at me
Come on, Wayne, get at me
Come on, Wayne, get at me
Come on, Wayne, get at me
Come on, Wayne, get at me now
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12. |
I am angry at my God.
05:11
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All you do is run your mouth
All over our little town
Let's have it out
Right here
Patron Saint of all the Non-Believers
That you had once under your thumb
Now am I the one that got away?
I am angry at my god
Whether he knows it or not
He owes me and he won't settle up
It's not enough when I am angry with our god
Whether I believe in him or not
He let me down and couldn't give a fuck
And I've yet to hear his word
So who am I to go speak first?
How about you beat me to the punch for once?
Do you see a little bit of me in yourself when you look down on us?
Do your mountain ranges seem a little dull
With their melted-diamond glaciers cause you're alone?
Well I, for one, I don't believe
And you owe me
And you owe me, yeah
Because seeing is sincere
And I double-dare you to show your face around here
Anytime in the near future
I am angry at my god
Whether he knows it or not
He owes me and he won't settle up
It's not enough when I am angry with our god
Whether I believe in him or not
He let me down and couldn't give a fuck
And I've yet to hear his words
So who am I to go speak first?
Who am I to speak up first?
When all you do is run your mouth
All over our little town
Let's have it out
We are waiting
We are waiting here like deer in front of trains
Your headlights wipe us away
We are waiting
We're still waiting
We are waiting here but I'm not scared
I'm not scared
Am I the one that got away?
Am I the one that got away, oh?
Fuck it.
"you know that ringing in your ears? that 'eee'?
that's the sound of the ear cells dying, like their swan song.
Once it's gone you'll never hear that frequency again, enjoy it while it lasts."
(taken from Alfonso Cuaron's 'Children of Men')
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THE PAPER TRAIL Los Angeles, California
Hi, my name is James and this is The Paper Trail.
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