1. |
Albion
03:58
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Albion
“You climb from the east side, I’ll climb from the west.
We’ll cover much more ground that way, I think it would be best.
The storm is coming quickly now, there’s no time left to lose,
So shoulder up your packs, my friends, and lace your climbin’ shoes.”
So said Charles to Angel, and to Rockefeller too
With three lost on the mountain, and them the rescue crew
Up in the Sangre de Christos, the aspen trees were bare
As the light was falling faster in the cold November air
Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
To find the lives they seek
They should make it back to Albion
With grace, by the end of the week
“No man should take that path alone,” Angel said right back.
“There’s too much ash, there’s too much stone – a fragile soul could crack.
We all should search as one,” he said, “Or is it just your pride
That makes you want to walk alone on the other side?”
“It’s neither pride nor wisdom,” said Charles with a grin,
“It’s just what we’re obliged to do when the night comes closing in.
You go your way and I’ll go mine. I’ll see you in a while.”
And Rockefeller said nothing, but his eyes betrayed a smile.
Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
The sky was wild and grey
They should make it back to Albion
With grace, by the end of the day
The storm hit hard and Charles was lost, buried in the mud
And Rockefeller cut his hands, and died from losing blood
When Angel reached the three lost souls, he found them too far gone
So he kept on climbing through the night until the day did dawn
Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
I cannot tell you how
They should make it back to Albion
With grace, right about now
Three friends, two trails, one mountainside
I cannot tell you how
But they made it back to Albion
Should be getting there right about now
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2. |
In Her Name
03:33
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In Her Name
She delivers the desperate from danger, she’s the one who reverses the spell
The crier announcing the stranger, the spring that refreshes the well
She will rise to release you from capture, she’s a tern flying far from the shore
The days between birth and the Rapture, a poppy in bloom on the moor
But none of these words that proclaim her mean much when you ask her to sing
By the sound of her voice you will name her with all that good fortune can bring
She is sixty-four subjects of study, she’s the collar adorning a blouse
Roots in the earth wet and muddy, the gables enhancing your house
Her dark hair falls softly around her, the raspberry blush of the bride
The scent of the ocean surrounds her, the kelp washed ashore by the tide
Chorus
If you look straight ahead you won’t see her
She is always and never the same
But you’ll find everything
That good fortune can bring
In her name, in her name, in her name
She is always absolved and unburdened, you will watch as she swims to the south
She’s a fish, she’s an engine, a surgeon; the opposite sides of your mouth
Her sea eyes reflect what she’s feeling, she‘s been known as the goddess of death
But if you should find yourself kneeling, you’ll be raised by a wisp of her breath
But none of these words that proclaim her mean much when you ask her to sing
By the sound of her voice you will name her, with all that good fortune can bring
And as much as you might wish to claim her, she’ll be gone with the coming of spring
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3. |
The Devil Every Day
04:20
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The Devil Every Day
On the one side you got the water
On the other side you got the road
The wrong choice leads the lamb to the slaughter
The right choice gonna lighten your load
There are kids gettin’ high on the lakefront
Me, I’m just gettin’ by on the street
But you’ll know when the wave’s gonna break
When you listen to the heart of its beat
No I did not leave you gladly
In that season of the wind
You may say I acted badly
But you may not say I sinned
And the hangman’s in his black hood
With the devil every day
While you’re down south in the backwoods
And I’m out west by the bay
Now we’re both left to wonder what happened
We’re both left to wonder who won
But I’ll never again be caught nappin’
And you’ll always be ready to run
Now the summer sun is sinking
Though it isn’t raining yet
If you tell me what you’re thinking
I’ll tell you what I’m trying to forget
Now the garden’s gone to desert
And all I want to do is get wet
But the summer sun is sinking
And it isn’t raining yet
Now we’re both left to wonder what happened
We’re both left to wonder who won
But I’ll never again be caught nappin’
And you’ll always be ready to run
In this new life that I’m living
You’re almost never there
But I’m feeling quite forgiving
‘Cuz I’m coming up for air
And I’m used to flying solo
I’m a stone cold one-man band
And no one finds his Yoko
When he’s a real nowhere man
On the one hand you got the water
On the other hand you’ve had your say
Every hour gets a little bit shorter
With the devil every day
With the devil every day
With the devil every day
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4. |
Tomorrow is a Long Time
04:12
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Tomorrow is a Long Time
If today was not a crooked highway
If tonight was not a crooked trail
If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin’
And if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin’
And only if she was lyin’ by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again
I can’t see my reflection in the water
I can’t speak the sounds that show no pain
I can’t hear the echo of my footsteps
Or remember the sound of my own name
Chorus
There’s beauty in that silver, singin’ river
There’s beauty in the sunrise in the sky
But none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty
That I remember in my true love’s eyes
Chorus
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5. |
Where You Are
06:15
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Where You Are
The hillside’s shinin’ all the way to the trees
If you listen closely you can hear it
And restless heroes test their love by the trees
Only one time left to share it
But here I am in the flatlands again
Heroes move, but I just listen
Solo motion with the paper and pen
Always you and I keep missin’
And you can keep your hill-shining moon
And you can keep your star
And you can keep your west and your east
Just keep me where you are
Days of darkness ‘til I first saw your face
Night by night we set the rhythm
‘Til motion sickness took us to a different place
But the walls were strong while we lived in them
And if I cry out for the distance to break
For waves of silence to find an island
We’ll come up quickly and we’ll give and we’ll take
And we’ll walk that trail up to the highland
Chorus
The hill’s still shinin’ just as far as I can see
It sounds so sweet, so still and lonely
And heroes gone home where they’ll dream so desperately
Of nights with time to share, if only
And in the flatlands it’s all quiet tonight
The pen and paper just scratch the stillness
And you’re above it all, you fill all sense and sight
I’m close behind, but if I still miss
Chorus
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6. |
Visitors
02:51
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Visitors
In the cool of the evening, watching you grieve
Wiping your face with the side of your sleeve
When the vigil was over all that remained
Was a white linen shroud that you could not unweave
When something is lost, they say something is gained
When one soul departs, another’s unchained
But these aren’t the chords of comfort you crave
Or words that make clear what cannot be explained
The lives that we lose, the lives we can’t save
The voices that whisper and sing from the grave
They visit us often in daylight and dreams
With memory and love, the gifts that they gave
The river that flows through the crags and the seams
Gathers its strength from a thousand small streams
And we are no more than the sum of our past
Each life is a life that renews and redeems
And we will be more than the sum of our past
Each life is a life that will not be the last
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7. |
Let it Rise
05:35
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Let it Rise
Thinking about the good times while I’m talking about the bad
Feeling what it feels to lose the best friend I ever had
But life always gives you something when something else gets lost
So you’re never really empty-handed once you learn to ignore the cost
Looking out at times ahead while my heart beats at time gone by
Longing to touch your fingers, since I can no longer touch the sky
But day always leads to evening, and the night’s never far away
And love leads to someone leaving even when another someone wants to stay
And it all comes down to you
Every step, every inch, every mile
It all comes down, my friend, when you smile
So free, when you smile at me, when you smile
Well you spend your days in confidence in the light of the sun
But you spend your nights in darkness wondering what it is you’ve done
When you gonna find out you’re the only one who knows
Just what you’ve been doing and just what you let go?
Well, you let the wind blow back your hair, thinking how good it feels
Then you turn and blow through someone’s life with a love you just reveal
When you gonna find out that the tiny taste you give
Just makes us all so thirsty to try and drink in the life you live?
Let it rise, let it rise, like the morning sun
Let it rise, let it rise, through the things you’ve done
Let it rise, let it rise, won’t you pick up everyone
And let it rise?
Well, you ask the open questions like you breathe the open air
While you’re searching for the phrases to show yourself you care
When you gonna find out that the answer’s in your eyes
If you’d listen to the sunlight as you look up toward the skies?
And you ask me to forgive you for the love you took away
And you feel a small injustice that it took so long to say
When you gonna find out that forgiveness isn’t much
‘Til you feel yourself forgiving and you find someone to touch?
Chorus
Let it rise, let it rise, like the morning sun
(And it all comes down to you, every step, every inch, every mile)
Let it rise, let it rise, through the things you’ve done
(It all comes down to you, every step, every inch, every mile)
Let it rise, let it rise, won’t you pick up everyone
(It all comes down to you, every step, every inch, every mile)
And let it rise
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8. |
Christmas Day
03:39
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Christmas Day
With her friends there to stay for Christmas day, she couldn’t talk too long
But that was okay, he had nothing to say, they both knew what went wrong
She lost her faith when he lost his nerve and couldn’t pull the switch
The road was straight but he took a curve and wound up in a ditch
And it all went away on Christmas day
The snow from the north wouldn’t lift
What can you say on Christmas day
When you give back the very best gift?
He saw her through the days that grew too long, too sad, too grim
And they both knew when his time came too, she’d do the same for him
The sea was clear and the autumn air smelled sweet from their hillside bed
In a hundred ways in the nights and days there was nothing left unsaid
But it all went away on Christmas day
He stood in the snowfall, adrift
What can you say on Christmas day
When you give back the very best gift?
Some people say that Christmas day is the day of the world’s rebirth
If I had my way on Christmas day love would reign on heaven and earth
He looks at the sky, wondering why it’s so hard to take that leap
And he hates his ways and the length of days and the nights that bring no sleep
She gets up each day a little further away, moving on, moving on
She gave him the chance to dance that dance, but when it’s gone, it’s gone
And it all went away on Christmas day
The snow from the north wouldn’t lift
What can you say on Christmas day
When you give back the very best gift?
Some people say that Christmas day is the day when love comes true
If I had my way on Christmas day I would spend a little time with you
But it all went away on Christmas day
With the snow from the north in his heart
What can you say on Christmas day
When you tear your own world apart?
When you tear your own world apart?
When you tear your own world apart?
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9. |
Normal Life
03:36
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Normal Life
Do you hear George Winston through the ceiling tiles?
Do you think of all the lovers with their secret silly smiles?
Do you wonder at the changes sharp as steel like a knife?
Do you worry that you’ll never really have a normal life?
He can sit and dream ‘til midnight, he can sit and dream ‘til dawn
He can think about the woman who responded with a yawn
He can wonder at his friend who’s got a husband, got a wife
He can worry that he’ll never really have a normal life
A normal life with easy days
A normal job that really pays
A normal love who’s always there
A normal life without a care
She might think about the baby that she’d one day like to bear
She might think about the man she’d like to hold if he were there
She might wonder at the years and how she’s managed to survive
She might worry that she’ll never really have a normal life
I should tell you that it really doesn’t matter much to me
I should think about that passion – is it all it’s meant to be?
I should wonder how the peace of men collapses into strife
While I worry that I’ll never really have a normal life
A normal life with endless days
A normal job that weighs and weighs and weighs
A normal love, complacent pair
A normal life, I just don’t care
A normal life, who’d ever dare?
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10. |
Sweet Words and History
06:30
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Sweet Words and History
“Play it again, that song that you wrote
For your friend getting married, like a personal note
That song made me love you,” she said, shy, and smiled
So he played it and it made him feel safe as a child
While orange hills of Judah sat softly below
They built on their histories, words measured and slow
And the walls fell to sand on the brown sacred earth
As they stood there together to celebrate a birth
Sweet words and history, another sad song
A specter of loneliness, you might sing along
While another day’s failings are falling away
With sweet words and history to give you today
The demon within him ran fast and ran strong
And it sat down beside him to help his day along
With words that burned like acid – give a nickel, take a dime
While quietly he poisoned her, crime after crime
How do you sing a compassionate tune?
For the way that she suffered, for the loss of the moon
That set before dawn on nativity down
As they watched, falling desperately down (doobie-do-down-down)
Chorus
But hadn’t he cautioned her right from the start
That to love half a woman would tear him apart?
But to find that he’d scar her while opening her heart
Makes me think he’s the one who got it wrong from the start
Makes me think he’s the one who ought to bow and depart
Chorus
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11. |
Antonia
06:16
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Antonia
Antonia slid ‘cross the floor and she sat down by my side
I didn’t have a path to the door and there wasn’t anywhere to hide
We talked about last summer and that guy she’d tried to kill
I said, “You haven’t changed at all.” She said, “You know I never will.”
Antonia put her makeup on and pulled on a little black dress
Stiletto heels six inches long, but she left her hair a mess
I said, “Antonia, won’t you please tell me why?”
She said, “When I put it all together, you little boys just break down and cry.”
Oh, Antonia, you scare the living hell outta me
Oh, Antonia, why can’t you let me be?
Oh, Antonia, you scare the living hell outta me
Oh, Antonia, let me be
Antonia said, “Let’s go for a walk,” and she took me by the hand
I could see my body outlined in chalk on the dock out on Bristol Strand
I said, “Antonia – how about I take you on out for a drink?”
Thinking if I kept her in my sights, I might get a minute to think . . .
Oh Antonia, you scare me half to death
Oh Antonia, a lot of coke, a little crystal meth
Oh Antonia, I know you shoot to maim
Oh Antonia, I like to see you just the same
Oh Antonia, she’s nobody’s fool
Oh Antonia, she won’t play by your rules
Oh, Antonia, she’s got two guns and a knife
Here she comes – you better run for your life
Antonia took me up to her flat and laid me on the bed
Sat herself down in a high-backed chair and I knew I was as good as dead
Just then the cops broke in with a warrant to take her away
I jumped from the window and broke two toes, but I lived to see another day
Oh, Antonia, you scare the living hell outta me
Oh, Antonia, why can’t you let me be?
Oh, Antonia, you scare the living hell outta me
Oh, Antonia, let me be
Let me be
Let me be
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12. |
Sweet Little Mystery
04:43
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Sweet Little Mystery
My friends all tell me that I look so sad
They don't need to ask me why
They know the reason that I feel so bad
Since the night you said goodbye
It's not the letters that you just don't write
It's not the arms of some new friend
It's not the crying in the dead of night
That keeps me hanging on, just waiting for the end
It’s that sweet little mystery that's in your heart
Just that sweet little mystery makes me try
It’s that sweet little mystery that's in your heart
Just that sweet little mystery makes me cry
I watch the street, I watch the radio
I don't need to turn it on
Another friend comes by and tries to say hello
Another weekend's almost gone
It's not the letters that you just don't write
It's not the arms of some new friend
It's not the crying in the dead of night
That keeps me hanging on, just waiting for the end
Chorus
Time is flying fast and I don't care
To spend another night alone
I want to see you, but I don't know where
'Til then I'm walking on my own
It's not the letters that you just don't write
It's not the arms of some new friend
It's not the crying in the dead of night
That keeps me hanging on, just waiting for the end
Chorus
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13. |
The Librarian's Garden
04:27
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The Librarian’s Garden
In the woods outside Windale there’s a beautiful house
As quiet as a tomb
There’s nobody there except the few weeks each year
Nora sleeps in the cloud-filled room
I’ve heard it said she’ll live there with Ted
Once she signs the papers with Zack
But it’s getting’ pretty late, she hasn’t made that date
‘Cause once she goes, she knows she can’t come back
Nora kneels in the dirt in the wet southern sun
Ted’s out back by the clay
Wisteria waiting to be joined to the earth
The kiln will be fired today
In the west, William stirs; he’s been dreaming of her
Picks up an acoustic guitar
While Eve sorts her beads like she’s sowing seeds
Each one in its proper jar
The librarian’s garden, that’s what I want to see
That’s what I want to see today
Queen-Anne’s lace all over the place
Lilacs in April and May
The librarian’s garden, that’s where I want to be
That’s where I want to be today
She walked there alone on the bridges and stones
But the librarian’s gone away
At the house outside Windale there’s a gardener now
Carefully sculpting the land
The front trees are gone for an elegant lawn
The wildness slips from her hand
But Nora’s content; though she’s folded her tent
She did it for comfort and love
And Ted, feeling blessed, heads off on his quest
Like Icarus soaring above
Out in the west, with a pain in his chest
William thinks of her, languid and soft
Her hair in the light of a beautiful night
On the bed in the clouds in the loft
And Eve, she just stares with no words and no tears
She sees everything and nothing at all
And cares for her man as best she can
Waiting for darkness to fall
The librarian’s garden, that’s what I want to see
That’s what I want to see today
Queen-Anne’s lace all over the place
Lilacs in April and May
The librarian’s garden, that’s where I want to be
That’s where I want to be today
She walked there alone over bridges and stones
But the librarian’s gone away
Nora and Ted might make a go of it yet
So many years down the line
Back and forth from south to north
Magnolia to pine
And William and Eve sitting watching TV
Silently getting on
These strange sad lives of husbands and wives disappear
Look! They’re gone . . .
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14. |
Three Horses
03:12
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Three Horses
On the road to Eastern Caledonia
On the way to God-Only-Knows-Why
Robert Johnson got sick with pneumonia
And he made himself ready to die
He looked at the desert around him
He looked at the westering light
As he felt the last darkness surround him
Three horses appeared in his sight
The first wore a saddle of leather
The second a bridle of gold
The third horse wore nothing but weather
And they all seemed a thousand years old
The first horse to Robert spoke slowly:
“Climb up on this saddle, come nigh
You are made of that which is holy
Return to your father on high”
The second to Robert spoke quickly:
“Take hold of this bridle and ride
For your soul is corrupted and sickly
And your fate is not yours to decide”
The third horse knelt gently beside him
And nudged Robert onto his back
And with Robert a shadow bestride him
They made off like the wind through a crack
Now, someone might call you a sinner
Another might call you a king
But a third one might call you to dinner
Though he knows you’ve got nothing to bring
Yes, a third one might call you to dinner
Though he knows you’ve got nothing to bring
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Howard Simon San Francisco, California
I am a San Francisco-based singer-songwriter. My songs are about love (romantic and otherwise), family, morality and mortality. If there is a common thread to my songs, it is the people we love, the desire to do right, and the hope and fear, the peace and the struggle that constitute life bring wonder in addition to its joy and sadness, and sometimes loss. ... more
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