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The Flood in Color

by Joe Pug

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1.
Exit 02:57
I will find you at the exit of my highway I will find you at the bottom of my glass No drink is strong enough No drink is strong enough No drink is strong enough To still my shaking hand On a highway west of Davenport and Kansas In the moonlight of a broken Red Roof Inn No night is dark enough To tell you where I been I will find you in the arms of yet another I will find you in her medicated eyes No god is cruel enough No god is cruel enough No god is cruel enough To pay me back in kind I will find you painting crosses in the courtyard I will find you walking backwards with a child No fall is high enough No fall is high enough No fall is high enough
2.
Clap of lightning I awaken To a foot of water standing in my basement It started rising It took me under The flood is coming This is not history In black and white now In a perfect storm there isn’t any high ground The end of childhood The end of summer The flood in color They tried to warn me I wouldn’t listen And now all at once I’m drowning in my kitchen My legs are broken From treading water The flood is coming The flood is coming I tried to bargain I tried to reason But the sky was deaf, the rain was never ceasing It’s not some cheap bet I can cover The flood in color The flood in color So listen close now I was dead wrong To think that things would work themselves out in the long run Pay attention Heed the thunder The flood is coming The flood in color
3.
The Letdown 02:34
The night’s so long you can almost hear it groan The night’s so long you can almost hear it groan And we walked so far that our shadows turned to stone It was a wretched room but we hung up Christmas lights It was a wretched room but we hung up Christmas lights And the girls played house while the neighbors froze outside Brace yourself for the letdown The holy ghost with his hands out No peace on earth is cheaply found Do you see my colors now? She had long black hair and you bought everything she sold She had long black hair and you bought everything she sold And she taught you the fine points of doing just as you were told Brace yourself for the letdown The holy ghost with his hands out No peace on earth is cheaply found Do you see my colors now? Do you see my colors now?
4.
Like a morning star Like a first born son Well my blistered heart Has been lifted up And through narrow eyes I have seen so long Now my road is wide And my grievance gone And my own, my own My own, my own My own long midnight is done Like a steady job Like a heavy rain I’ll be close at hand When they call my name I couldn’t say as much Even yesterday But I have seen the flood And my heart is changed And my own, my own My own, my own My own long midnight is done
5.
I woke up after breakfast I left her bedroom late The streets were filled with strangers Half expecting a parade I never saw it coming As the first applause began Then the blues came down on the heels of a marching band Silver on my fingers Sugar on my tongue My father stood behind me And he asked what I’d become I said I speak a language That you’ll never understand Then the blues came down on the heels of a marching band Blues came down, Blues came down They say that truth and justice Must be their own reward I grew rich pretending While the honest all went poor Don’t you play dumb about it When you’re on that witness stand Why the blues came down on the heels of a marching band
6.
You don’t have to love me to prove yourself right People can change, it don’t mean that you lied I’m broken in half but I’ll sleep the night through Instead of standing guard in the moonlight of your room I followed your footsteps they led to St. Paul I taught you to smoke and you taught me to cough And I bought you a ring but you thought it too soon Then I turned to stone in the moonlight of your room The streetlights are golden on my empty hands What make a good boy don’t quite make him a man These chains look so weak in the late afternoon But they hold me fast in the moonlight of your room
7.
Here Again 01:59
Here again Here again What I wouldn’t give To completely disappear and then Float back down to earth With a heart that didn’t want To end up here again Back and forth Back and forth It’s all fun and games Until you find out what you’re fighting for Is the very piece of chain That’s held you here in place Wandering back and forth I keep on waking in the middle of the night To make a promise, maybe one day I can keep it if I try Here again Here again There are voices speaking truth Far away, you know I’m hearing them Can I follow where they lead Or will I fall asleep And wake up here again
8.
After Curfew 03:02
We found you in the street with a list of all our names There were stars beside the strongest and the weakest They cut you quite a deal almost too good to refuse But some of us don’t just worship what’s convenient Fall to your knees if you need The truth is hard to handle You are not fragile You are not fragile You are not fragile Your father rest his soul, the finest man I ever knew Spoke a truth that was clean as an island They gave him every chance to repeat the party line But he shattered their windows with his silence So they took him out back in the rain And they made him an example You are not fragile You are not fragile You are not fragile Now they’re rounding up the boys in the nation off to war And they left behind the two-faced and the useless On the first of every month the neighbors gathered on our lawn And we dance for they’re mercy like we’re minstrels They dug up the headstones last night And broke them into gravel You are not fragile You are not fragile You are not fragile
9.
Have you noticed a young man about just my height Coming and going at all hours of night? Did he knock on your front door? Did you let him in? Are you familiar with the stranger I’ve been? Are you familiar with the stranger I’ve been? Well I started out honest and true to my word But somewhere I lost it I took a wrong turn Now it’s over and oh how The disguise has worn thin Are you familiar with the stranger I’ve been? Are you familiar with the stranger I’ve been? You can fit all he stands for on the head of a pin Are you familiar with the stranger I’ve been? Are you familiar with the stranger I’ve been?
10.

credits

released July 19, 2019

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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.
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