1. |
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Someone is dying on the highway
Not miles from me
And I’m here under a tree
Sitting with the cactus
Watching the air turn into the breeze
And I’m thinking I’m glad it’s not
happening to me
But at least that mans free
Or at least he’s in a helicopter
riding to place where he just might be
Somewhere other than Sitting on the highway in traffic
looking for another way to get out of this doggone
desert of a mountain landscape
sprawling in front of me monotonous and roaming
But that’s all it is. It’s just one big world
It’s just one big wheel
that’s spinning and breaking and burning on the highway
With the rubber and the gasoline and the stones
Thinking about how I would just like to go on.
But I’m suffering nothing compared to the man whose probably lost his arm
[Chorus]
And the cars on the highway they think It never could be
they Think It Never Could Be them
But we are all driving as fast as we could be
as fast as we could be and then and then and then
All it takes is one false movement
A slip of the tongue [C]
One angry person on a highway full of guns
And the people on the bridge looking down at the nature
They’re trying to get to
But haven’t because they don’t know that they’re in it
And have been for a while
But are driving further to where
they thought would be
More nature More nature probably
And the cars on the highway they think It never could be
they Think It Never Could Be them
But we are all driving as fast as we could be
as fast as we could be and then and then and then
All it takes is one way of doing undoing itself
One side pushing the other end giving out
And I know you're gonna live the way you gotta live
And I know that the deal is that it's gonna feel like
You’re running over cat eyes and scraping the rails
But tonight there'll be singing and music and wails
Because tonight, TONIGHT! Is a night so ripe for life
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2. |
Cow Power
06:47
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Well, no ones gonna tell you how to die in the dirt
No one's gonna tell you how much it can hurt
No one's gonna teach you how to take your first breath
No one's gonna give you an honorable death
You’ll have to do it alone
The burden of dreams!
The burden of dreams!
I challenge you to the burden of dreams!
No self culture, a sorrowful thing
But who knows
Who knows what it could bring?
A mind that’s empty, the souls a spring
Spilling, spilling unconscious dreams
Not a single original thought in the world
But a feeling that must be caught and unfurled
The rocks are weeping ancient water
Pure as the day it fell from the sky
Go on tell your sons and daughters
You can’t help them when they die
They’ll have to do it alone
Discord in an open tuning
Music like a storm looming
Funnels off on the horizon
Monsoons and the waters rising
You know that nothing you own
Will be a comfort for you
That what you seek is a home
That door is open for you
The laboring class, the laboring class
I wanna be in the laboring class
Brothers, brothers, brothers of dirt
I believe in the labor of man
A bell, a belly, a belly of lead!
The soft spot in a baby’s head
The river dives beneath the land
Nothing goes quite as planned
The best of us will not survive it
Crossing to the other side
Breaking through the caliche
Death will take us, not our bribes
You know the song that I sing
Oh, I’m singing for you
Yes, this hammer that rings
Oh, it's ringing for you
Work one day
Just a day, just a day
No I don’t belong to you
I belong, I belong
To the cow power crew!
Everything is all consuming
Happening in every thought
It's a question of digestion
There's a hunger in the rot
This old world is but a stomach
Cattle rattling in your head
Ruminating on the thought
That they are wanting to be fed
Hear them moan at dusk and dawn
Baby’s crying for the boob
I don’t know what's goin' on
I’m just hungry for some food
Let it pass right through my body
Discard what I cannot use
Cow power runs the farm
This manure is our muse
Buried mirror, show yourself!
We are digging for you now
We are blind without reflection
We are lost and won't be found
Show us now the headless serpent
Crawling creases in mothers face
Show us mountains dreams of lava
Show us now the human race
Lost wax cast of ancient forest
We dream the dream of land escape
Land escape but we are bound
Pressed into the living ground
Our dreams become one dream now
Dreams become one dream now
Our dreams become one dream now
Dreams become one dream now
And I can’t do that alone
I can’t do that alone
Can’t do it alone
Yeah I can't it alone,
No I can't do it alone
I can’t do it alone
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3. |
Mt. Monsoon
04:12
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When the rain falls down on the town below
The rusted streets run wet yellow
Wash away the piss
Wash away the stains
Nothing but this metal heart remains
When Love has done all that Love can do
Well then nothing stands between me and you
I will stand
And you will see nothing
That I see
Yes I’ll stand
And you will see nothing
That I see
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4. |
Ampersand
03:53
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Ain’t no use for the ampersand
When you & i could just be holding hands
Walking down old chestnut street
Elizabeth cotton underneath our feet
the borders in between us growing paper thin
Soft and tenderly I let you into me
The Spirit in the body of a baby is maybe all there is to see
Freight train rolling by pick me up and open my eyes
Hopping up on old number nine
If they ask you tell em i’s flying
Bringing you through the great divide
Watershed into my eyes
The answer is a question and the question is is and answer
now sing that song for me
The question is an answer and the answer is a question now sing that song for me
Waiting / aaaa
For the / eeee
Patience / tooo
To be / meee
Waiting / aaa
For you / oooh
Spirit in the body of the dog on the couch whos nods himself to sleep
Ain’t no use for the ampersand
When you & i could just be holding hands
Walking down old chestnut street
Elizabeth cotton underneath our feet
the borders in between us growing paper thin
Soft and tenderly I let you into me
hand that guitar to the maid and see how
she can play
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5. |
Amelia
02:47
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You got holes in your pockets
Cracks in your coffee mug
Limes for lemons
And a bucket for a sink
But you pay your dues
And let your hair down
Every so often
Elusive like a lynx
Oh the endless heartbreak of letting things go
All that red hot passion coming down with a cold
Got a heart full of air like miss Amelia
And it’s falling up the stairs with my disappearing love
It’s easier to take things apart then to put em back together
There’s a crack down the heart
Of all your plans plans plans
Gods dam is gonna break
And where will you be
Blood on your boots
Lip stick on your face
Oh the hollow sensation of a leap of faith
The Blackeyed Feeling of a fall from grace
Got the heart of a brute but at least it’s brave
I’ll be jumping in headfirst to my earthly grave
It’s easier to take things apart
Then to put em back together
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6. |
Queen of Industry
04:29
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You are my queen of industry
the essence of divinity
my poster child posing
With a sickness long dead
Mothers will tell their children
There's a way to win the war
and they'll cast you in bronze
in the park by the shore
You are the streets of famine
The river runs with salmon
I am touching you when you are furthest away
There is goodness inside you
Better let it find you
Hold that water in your mouth
And put those flowers in your you hair
Rain come a rustin’
Steam trains’ dust has scattered
absolutely
Every thing
Every where
Yes I’ve known you in a familiar way
I've known you in a million ways
Yes I’ve known you in a familiar way
I've known you in a million ways
You are my queen of industry
the essence of divinity
my poster child posing
With a sickness long dead
Mothers will tell their children
There's a way to win the war
and they'll cast you in bronze
in the park by the shore
Way to win the war
Park by the shore
Way to win the war
Everything
Everywhere
Everything
Everywhere
Everything
Everywhere
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7. |
Gila
02:39
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8. |
Travertine
06:13
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In the naked hours of morning
at a time when noone's sleeping
I will breathe again
Hot water, now steaming
God talked her into leaving
She said 'not again'
Are we all alone inside our head?
River runs to me beside my bed
killed the dove of love with my two hands
Do you know why you dream?
Fountains of travertine
In the watchtower
I will bring you flowers
For your Hair
For your hair
For your
Naked body comes upon me
Touch the carpet feel the eddy
the walls of stone a sky so bare
Tell your holiness its sacred there
taste the water floating in the air
Do you know why you dream?
Fountains of travertine
In the watchtower
I will sing dead flowers
For your head
For your head
For your head
Every space is
Evasive
Replaced with
Retraces
Down the canyon
Down the canyon
In the naked
hours of morning
It is image
It is vision
A Prayer to fall
Every space is
Evasive
Replaced with
Retraces
Down the canyon
Down the canyon
In the naked
hours of morning
It is image
It is vision
A Prayer to fall
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9. |
Stained Glass
07:40
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I have a window
Made of stained glass
You can see me through it
As you pass
Different colors in the daylight
Different colors at night
I have
A table of wood
And I know If i wanted
It would burn good
And melt all the sand
In my hands
Into glass
You plant an orchard
Of pecan on fruit
You let those good old boys
Go out there to shoot
The sunlight
Turns to pie
And the land gets used
And the bullets
Lodge into the wood
Into glass
Into sand
In my hands
Into Glass
Stained Glass
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10. |
Humidity
05:13
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Cold on the mountains
This is where the cold stays
Two tall mountains
Its a lonely place
I am rising
Far away from this place
I am rising
With the heat of the day
Due to all the moisture in the air
Stuff is rotting
Everything is rotting
The soil’s soaking in it
Death is life life is
death is life life is
death is life
It doesn't ask permission
We wear and tear condition
And bring only fission
Not united, subdivided, indecision
Speaking on the topic of despair
Stuff is rotting
Everything is rotting
Our souls are soaking in it
Death is life life is
death is life life is
death is life
It doesn't ask permission
We wear and tear condition
And bring only fission
Not united, subdivided, indecision
It takes away your breathe the way it's falling forward
Mind spilling out some change before the light is over
He’s a pretty nice guy if you catch him on the right day
It will eventually turn over
Lava lamp melt it down into nobility
There's pretty much only one way
To fuck it all up with me
Yeah there’s pretty much only one way
To fuck it all up with me
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11. |
Homestead
04:26
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Rock and Roll has killed my dreams
Of living on the farm
All the songs that I sing
Make children run from their mothers arms
The highway call comes piercing ears
A tattoo of a breadcrumb
Rolling river of the years
You lose and let your loss become
The melody of moving through
The desert's open arms
A homestead now is sheltering
The lions in the dark
Now you feel
The sun in your hands
When you steal from God
And lay your own plans
So sign your name
As you board the train
And your friends
Will know you've come and gone
Run towards pain
This is not a game
It's not something
That you trade
For a song
My son
You’re leaving
Dear Ma
Don’t grieve it
I swear I feel your feeling
I sing to still my demons
Now you steal
The sun in your hands
When you feel like God
And lay your own plans
'Cause rock and roll has killed my dreams
Of living on the farm
A homestead now is sheltering
The lions in the dark
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Dead West Tucson, Arizona
booking: deadwestband@gmail.com
Landscape songs from longtime friends, written and recorded in Tucson, AZ and Seattle, WA
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