1. |
Hymn #101
04:40
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And I’ve come to know the wishlist of my father
I’ve come to know the shipwrecks where he wished
I’ve come to wish aloud, among the overdressed crowd
Come to witness now the sinking of the ship
Throwing pennies from the seatop next to it
And I’ve come to roam the forest past the village
With a dozen lazy horses in my cart
I’ve come here to get high, to do more than just get by
I’ve come to test the t_____ of my heart
I ‘ve come to test the t_____ of my heart
And I have come to be untroubled in my seeking
And I have come to see that nothing is for naught
I’ve come to reach out blind, to reach forward and behind
For the more I seek, the more I’m sought
The more I seek the more I’m sought
And I’ve come to meet the sheriff and his posse
To offer him the broadside of my jaw
I have come here to get broke and then maybe bum a smoke
We’ll go drinking two towns over after all
We’ll go drinking two towns over after all
I’ve come to meet the legendary takers
I’ve only come to ask them for a lot
They say I’ve come with less than I should rightfully possess
I say the more I buy the more I’m bought
And the more I’m bought the less I cost
And I have come to take their servants and their surplus
And I have come to take their raincoats and their speed
I’ve come to get my fill, to ransack and spill
I’ve come to trade the harvest for the seed
I’ve come to trade the harvest for the seed
And I’ve come to know the manger that you sleep in
I have come to be the stranger that you keep
I’ve come from down the road and my footsteps never slowed
Before we met I knew we’d meet
Before we met I knew we’d meet
And I’ve come here to ignore your cries and heartaches
I’ve come to closely listen to you sing
I’ve come here to insist, that I leave here with a kiss
I’ve come to say exactly what I mean
And I mean so many things
And you’ve come to know me stubborn as a butcher
And you’ve come to know me thankless as a guest
But will you recognize my face when god’s awful grace
Strips me of my jacket and my vest
And reveals all the treasure in my chest
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2. |
Call It What You Will
02:56
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Silver cans and bronze colored dirt
Silver cans and bronze colored dirt
Things end so soon, beneath a parking lot moon
Silver cans and bronze colored dirt
She said let’s call it quits
Let’s not call it the end of the world
Call it what you will
I’m heartbroken still
Words are just words
Road salt on I-95
Road salt on I-95
Forget what you’re told, it’s bound to get cold
There’s road salt on I-95
I call today a disaster
She calls it December the third
Call it what you will
I’m heartbroken still
Words are just words
On a brief and starstricken night
On a brief and starstricken night
I called her name on the road from Spokane
On a brief and starstricken night
I hear a blue heron crying
Some folks just call it a bird
Call it what you will
I’m heartbroken still
Words are just words
Some call an end a beginning
For right now they’ll go unheard
Call it what you will
I’m heartbroken still
Words are just words
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3. |
Nobody's Man
03:36
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Beneath the trees of the casbah
Beneath the roots of those trees
On the casket floor, on the casket floor
The bottom of me feels so complete
And around my childhood museums
There stand Chinese guards
One of them has a bell, one of them has a bell
That he rings when I come to close or leave too far
You might say that it’s reckless
You might say that it’s wild
But I’d rather be nobody’s man than somebody’s child
Now there’s splinters in my fingers
And there’s Portland cement in my lungs
I got a hammer and a cough, I got a hammer and a cough
And all of my friends speak in foreign tongues
There’s an ugliness grown up inside me
From where it has come I don’t know
I left my sweetness beside, my sweetness beside
That girl I goodbye’d long ago
They might find my body at the bottom of the pile
But I’d rather be nobody’s man than somebody’s child
Such plans they have, such gods they have
Deep in this nation of heat
We’ve been outdone again, we’ve been outdone again
And all of my friends they walk on their feet
And a congress of jackals will put a tax on my smile
But I’d rather be nobody’s man than somebody’s child
I might move to Las Vegas live there for a while
But I’d rather be nobody’s man than somebody’s child
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4. |
Hymn #35
03:11
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I am the day
I am the dawn
I am the darkness coming on
And I am once I am twice
I am the whole
I’m just a slice
Some call me gone
Some call me here
None are wrong
None are near
I am right now
I am back then
I will return
Don’t ask me when
I am the disappointed kiss
I am the unexpected harvest
I am the old Kentucky home
I am the son who runs the farthest
I have done wrong
I will do wrong
There’s nothing wrong
With doing wrong
And I am faith
I am belief
Except for when I’m not
I am the teeth of champions
I am rust and water rot
I am sleep
I am breathing
I’m the missing of
The passing seasons
I am the brush
I am the strokes
I’m sickness come
To the best of folks
I am renewed
I am just made
I am unchanging
I’m a pasture fenced about the edge
I am Dakota thunder raging
And by my shoes
And by my feet
And by my soul and wonder
I am the tracks we’ve laid above
I am the tunnel running under
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5. |
I Do My Father's Drugs
02:48
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When the party starts on Monday
And Christmas starts in June
When no one minds I just arrived
And I’ll be leaving soon
If I return with eyes half open
Don’t ask me where I was
I do my father’s drugs
When every revolution
Is sponsored by the state
There’s no bravery in bayonets
In tearing down the gates
If you see me with a rifle
Don’t ask me what it’s for
I fight my father’s wars
When hunger strikes are fashion
And freedom is routine
When all the streets in Cleveland
Are named for Martin Luther King
You may see me at the protest
But you’ll notice that I drag
I burn my father’s flag
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6. |
Speak Plainly Diana
02:49
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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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7. |
Nation of Heat
04:19
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Across from the prison and beside the great lake
Below the rooftops and above the highway
The spirits pay rent on the basements they haunt
And the painters just draw pictures
Of the things that they want
I cook my dinner on the blacktop street
I come from the Nation of Heat
Outside the train station there’s a bold painted sign
It says try to be patient don’t forget to choose sides
We got the loudest explosions that you ever heard
We got two dollar soldiers and ten dollar words
If I didn’t own boots I wouldn’t need feet
I come from the Nation of Heat
So swift and so vicious are the carnival rides
And the carnival barker will yell your name for a bribe
We got billboards for love and Japanese cars
It ain’t rare to hear the streetlights call themselves stars
The more that I learn the more that I cheat
I come from the Nation of Heat
I’ve seen skeleton mothers and hungry folks
Across the street from the kitchens that cook dinner the most
Sometimes you hear whispers by the dark of the moon
That we promised too much and gave it too soon
Even our coughs and our fevers compete
I come from the Nation of Heat
Blocking borders with smiles are immigrant sons
We measure loneliness in miles and misery in tons
There’s a straw-hatted man rowing away from the shore
He says it’s a shame they don’t let you have slaves here anymore
I’m the ugliest man that you’ll ever meet
I come from the Nation of Heat
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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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