1. |
Messenger
04:25
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O she’s a messenger
With body bold and bare
You’ve always been a gentleman
But tonight you can’t help but stare
Your senses have been soaked
It must be more than smoke
Floating on the air
O she’s a messenger
If she knows, she doesn’t care
O she’s a messenger
And slowly from within
Her message has been amplified
And written on your skin
Despite what you maintain
She drives you like a train
Here she comes again
O she’s a messenger
Where you going, where you been
And all the amber lantern lights
Preside upon her path tonight
The stars have long decided where she’ll go
There is no chance to grasp or guide
The absent reigns the terrible tide
The stars have long decided where she’ll go
O she’s a / O she’s a
Catch you in the morning she’s a long season
O she’s a messenger tonight
You drove your truck to Michigan
But you couldn’t beat the rain
You registered a motel
But you didn’t use your name
And the audience applauds
On the TV down the hall
You wonder what they’re saying
O she’s a messenger
Who sings a sad refrain.
O she’s a / O she’s a
Catch you in the morning she’s a long season
O she’s a messenger tonight
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2. |
How Good You Are
04:21
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I was born into a circus
But I ran off to join a home
The said that I was worthless
That my family died unknown
So it gets and so it goes
That’s what you get, I suppose
For wanting something more
Than a life of walking ropes
All the christians left behind
At the crossroads of your town
They’re playing truth or dare
Beneath the sanctuary now
Some wish they had the truth
Some wish they had to go
But there ain’t no sense in leaving from
The only game you know
O I know how good you are
How hard it is
How good you are
There’s a butler in your hallway
He is troublesome and old
He repeats the word ‘alive’
To describe your family gold
You ask him please to go
But there’s one thing you don’t know
He carved April seventh sixty-five
Into the side of your piano
O I know how good you are
How hard it is
How good you are
Everything that you were meant for
Everything you were born to do
Does not need you to do it
Someone else was born to do it too
Now like a half-grown man
You barely learned to stand
If you shut up with what you’ve chosen
You’ll hear something choosing you
O I know how good you are
How hard it is
How good you are
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3. |
Not So Sure
04:37
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There was a time when I heard you
Calling out my name
But these days I’m not so sure
When the room went dark and your voice was gone
I heard you all the same
But these days I’m not so sure
I knew I could remember
Your bedroom and your touch
But these days I’m not so sure
Definitely, was a word
I used far too much
These days I’m not so sure
I bummed expensive cigarettes
I wrote John Steinbeck’s books
I undressed someone’s daughter
Then complained about her looks
Stealing was so easy then
I wish that it still were
Now as I pick my own pocket
I know that these days I’m not so sure
The church was my kitchen
The world was my church
But these days I’m not so sure
To choirs I would listen
Through briars I would search
But these days I’m not so sure
I sacrificed my sister
I prayed my own soul to keep
I told my dying father
That a man should never weep
Breathing was so easy then
I wish that it still were
Now as the breeze just makes me colder
I know that these days I’m not so sure
So if you see me tripping
I’ve forgotten how to walk
And I spend my days wishing after her
My steps are without rhythm
And her name is drawn in chalk
Because these days I’m not so sure
I drank my wine for breakfast
Every morning I was born
In the black, electric winter
My back was always warm
Sleeping was so easy then
I wish that it still were
Now in my sleepless bedroom
I know that these days I’m not so sure
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4. |
The Sharpest Crown
03:58
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here was a girl in my hometown
They say she wore the sharpest crown
Beautiful as diamond tile
But they never took her picture
‘Cause she never learned to smile
And it’s not surprising
There’s nothing exciting
Late at night you’ll hear the sound
They say she wore the sharpest crown
She felt a darkness deep inside
She went and asked her momma why
She got no answer just because
Her momma was sleeping or pretending that she was
And it’s not surprising
There’s nothing exciting
I hope that she’ll turn around
They say she wore the sharpest crown
O I loved her don’t ask how
Must have had some reasons that I can’t remember now
Some folks say I let her down
But the same folks say she wore the sharpest
Dangerous, it tore the darkness
Held her like a ten ton harness
As I ran off for the farthest town
They say she wore the sharpest crown
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5. |
The Door Was Always Open
02:51
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After all the windows on the ground floor had been broken
After all the undemanding officers had spoken
After all the trouble, after all of the commotion
I walked right through
The door was always open
When I was seventeen I set out on the ocean
Searching for Columbus or wherever he was going
Then twenty thousand miles came down to just a moment
I sailed right through
The door was always open
I climbed the western wall without anybody knowing
I held the guardsman captive with a pistol I had stolen
But he just poured a cup of coffee and said Son, now here’s a notion
The next time you drop by
The door was always open
I waited for the sun
But it was already dawn, it was already dawn
Breaking fast all along
And I waited for her song
But she was already gone, she was already gone
Breaking fast all along
So it seems I’ve spent a lifetime arrested and beholden
Standing on the threshold, absolutely frozen
Waiting on some god above to tell me I was chosen
Instead I spoke myself
The door was always open
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6. |
The First Time I Saw You
03:36
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The first time I saw you
I saw crimson I saw dark blue
Saw the ocean we would drive to
To say our goodbyes
I saw winter, I saw new moons
Saw a heavy-hearted bridegroom
Saw the color of your bedroom
In the whites of your eyes
Don’t ask me how I knew
It was the first time I saw you
The first time I saw you
I saw somebody that I knew
I recognized you
From our first glance
See I’ve seen my share of counterfeits
Used to have them hang around a bit
But once you seen yourself a genuine
There ain’t no going back
Don’t ask me how I knew
It was the first time I saw you
The last time I saw you
By the ocean like we both knew
Now I guess that I’m supposed to
Tell you that I’m doing fine
But it was the last time that I held a hand
Was the last time that I gave a damn
I don’t think I’ll ever understand
Why I never found the time
I saw crimson I saw dark blue
The last time that I saw you
The last time that I saw those two
Was the first time I saw you
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7. |
Unsophisticated Heart
03:08
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Take a walk on Sunday, it ain’t that hard
Take a walk on Sunday, it ain’t that hard
If my thoughts are hard to gather
If I don’t know where to start
It ain’t my mind that matters
For I have an unsophisticated heart
Tried to trust a stranger, it got hard
You know I tried to trust a stranger, it got hard
Now I see things like a soldier
And I’m jealous of the dark
But if my eyes have only gotten older
I still have an unsophisticated heart
O my eyes will be hardened, My lips will be guarded
My mind so bewildered and buried in the garden
You may still know me by just one part…
I tried to keep your secret, it got hard
I tried to keep your secret, it got hard
And there’s one thing that’s for certain
When they come with their dogs and their guards
I can’t hide behind the thinnest of curtains
For I have an unsophisticated heart
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8. |
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I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else
O I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else
Help you lift your luggage from the platform to the train
Ask you for directions that I don’t need explained
You would never think to ask my name
Let’s not put it lightly, I put us both through hell
So I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else
I wish that I could work for you with someone else’s hands
O I wish that I could work for you with someone else’s hands
To be behind the counter of a bookstore that you’re in
And charge you seven dollars for a crossword and a pen
You would leave and not look back again
Even hardened criminals they get a second chance
I wish that I could work for you with someone else’s hands
I wish that I could come to you
Could run to you
Could sing to you
A stranger in you neighborhood
Who doesn’t mean a thing to you
Singing now a long forgotten song
On and on and on
I don’t have the stomach to face you as myself
So I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else
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9. |
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I was fallen dead in battle
Must have been Tuesday I don’t know the date
I did everything everyone asked for
But I’ll say where I’ll be laid
The many dead of my comrades
All look the same in this place
Won’t you bury me far from my uniform
So god might remember my face
Do not bother with congress
With the rich or with the rest
I fought their battles in this world
But I’ll not fight for them in the next
Do not find me justice
Just find me a grave
And then bury me far from my uniform
So god might remember my face
O my mother, my mother you’ll cry for me
Take me out of your dreams that I’m in
You must promise never to think of
What is not and what could have been
I’ll not return to your table
So don’t save me a place
Just…
Bury me far from my uniform
From the iron cross medal I would have worn
From the statues that sisters and widows mourn
From the newspaper clippings and microform
From Geneva, the Hague, and Nuremberg
From the sex of this world that I’ll no longer taste
Won’t you bury me far from my uniform
So god might remember my face
I know god will remember my face
Merciful god please remember my face
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10. |
Speak Plainly Diana
03:17
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Speak plainly, Diana
There’s nothing to understand
Yes there’s mysteries in the basement
But there’s comic books upstairs
And there’s a wrecking ball in the front yard
But there’s blueprints on the couch
Speak plainly to me, Diana
We’ll build ourselves a house
I don’t mind riding around
I don’t mind riding around
There’s no safety Diana
And there’s nobody to blame
Even daylight will surprise you
Even dreams will end the same
So when there’s too much to remember
And you remember me
Speak plainly to me, Diana
We’ll swim into the sea
I don’t mind riding around
I don’t mind riding around
Come lately, Diana
And quit what’s got you down
Steal from the tallest cabinet
And make your favorite sound
When there’s too much to get rid of
And you get rid of me
Speak plainly to me, Diana
There’s nothing you must be
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Joe Pug Maryland
A singer-songwriter known for his lyrical acumen and plaintive harmonica style. Paste Magazine wrote of his music: “Unless
your surname is Dylan, Waits, Ritter or Prine, you could face-palm yourself to death trying to pen songs half as inspired”.
He has appeared at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and The Newport Folk Festival.
Additionally, he is the creator and host of The Working Songwriter podcast.
... more
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