SHAME ON YOU
My friends they wash the windows
And they shine in the sun
They tell me wake up early in the morning sometime
See what a beautiful job we've done
I say let's put on some tunes
Sing a long and dolittle all day
Go down to the riverside take off our shoes
And wash these sins away
And the river said
La la la it said shame on you
And the river said
La la la it said shame on you
I go down to Chicano city park
'Cause it makes me feel so fine
And when the weeds go down you can see up close
in the dead of the winter time
But when the summer comes everything's in bloom
And you wouldn't know it's there
And the white folks like to pretend it's not
But their music's in the air
And you can hear em singing
La la la they said shame on you
You can feel em dancing
La la la they said shame on you
My friend tanner she says you know
Me and Jesus we're of the same heart
The only thing that keeps us distant
Is that I keep fuckin' up
I said come on down to Chicano city park
And wash your blues away
The beautiful ladies walk right by
You know I never know what to say
And they'll be singing
Oo la la la la la la la la shame on you
And they'll be dancing
Ooo la la la they said shame on you
Shame on you
Let's go road block trippin' in the middle of the night
Up in Gainesville town
There'll be blue lights flashin' down the long dirt road
When they ask me to step out
They say we've been looking for illegal immigrants
Can we check your car
I say you know it's funny
I think we were on the same boat back in 1694
And I said
Oo la la la la la la la la shame on you
They'll be dancing
La la la I said shame on you
I said
Oo la la la la la la la la la la shame on you
Shame on you la la
La la la la la shame on you
I said
I said
La la la shame on you
I'll be dancing
And they'll be singing
La la la I said shame on you
Shame on you
Road block trippin' in the middle of the night
Gainesville town
Blue lights flashin' down the long dirt road
GET OUT THE MAP
I'm gonna clear my head
I'm gonna drink that sun
The saddest sight my eyes can see
Is that big ball of orange sinking slyly down the trees
Sittin' in a broken circle while you rest upon my knee
This perfect moment will soon be leaving me
Suzanne calls from Boston the coffee's hot the corn is high
And that same sun that warms your heart will suck the good earth dry
With everything its opposite enough to keep you crying
Or keep this old world spinning with a twinkle in its eye
Get out the map
Get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down
We'll leave the figuring to those we pass on our way out of town
Don't drink the water there seems to be something ailing everyone
I'm gonna clear my head
I'm gonna drink that sun
I'm gonna love you good and strong while our love is good and young
Joni left for South Africa a few years ago
And then Beth took a job all the way over on the west coast
And me I'm still trying to live half a life on the road
Seems I'm heavier by the year
(Heavier by the year)
And heavier by the load
(Heavier by the load)
Why do we hurtle ourselves through every inch of time and space?
I must say around some corner I can sense a resting place
With every lesson learned a line upon your beautiful face
We'll amuse ourselves one day with these memories we'll trace
Get out the map
Get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down
We'll leave the figuring to those we pass on our way out of town
Don't drink the water there seems to be something ailing everyone
I'm gonna clear my head
(I'm gonna clear my head)
I'm gonna drink that sun
(I'm gonna drink that sun)
I'm gonna love you good and strong while our love is good and young
I'm gonna clear my head
I'm gonna drink that sun
I'm gonna love you good and strong while our love is good and young
SHED YOUR SKIN
115
You are seventeen
Itchy trigger
And venomous
You're growing longer
You're growing stronger
So, shed your skin
Baby, now shed this
Come on over now
Come on over, baby
You tell me it's holy holy
I don't know what it is
Come on over now
Let's call it the fullness of time
And I don't know what it is
Come on over now
Hey holy
Console me
Some power
Controls me
Remorse it
I force it
Can't free it
So be it
I'm speaking in tongues
Handling you
And I got religion now look at it
The days grow longer
As we grow stronger
So, shed your skin, baby
Let it rip
Come on over now
Come on over, baby
Tell me it's holy holy
I don't know what that is
Come on over child
I want to call it the fullness of time
I don't know if it is
Come on over now
Hey holy me
Console me
Some power
Controls me
Remorse it
I force it
Don't free it
Just be it
Just be it
Just be it
I'm looking to find you
But it's a little to late to
Well, I look and doubt
If I
In you
In you
I got the hangman
I got Milagro
I got the celebration too
The flesh is strong
My spirit's stronger
So, shed your skin
Baby, let through
Come on over now
Come on over, baby
Tell me it's holy holy
Like I don't know what it is
Come on over child
I want to call it the fullness of time
I don't know what it is
Come on over now
Hey holy
Console me
Some power
Controls me
Remorse it
I force it
Can't free it
So be it
Hey holy
Console me
Some power
Controls me
Come on over, baby
IT'S ALRIGHT
It's alright forty days of rain
My skin stretched out from the growing pain
It'd be nice to have an explanation
But it's alright
And it's alright if you hate that way
Hate me 'cause I'm different
You hate me 'cause I'm gay
Truth of the matter come around one day
It's alright
I look at this lifeline stretched way all across my hand
I look at the burned out empty like a plague across the land
And for everything I learn there are two I don't understand
That's while I'm still on a search
Through the weather strewn church
I'm doing the best that I can
And it's alright
And it's alright though we worry and fuss
(Alright)
We can't get over the hump or get over us
(We can't get over us)
It seems easier to push than to let go and trust
(Alright)
But it's alright
When we get a little distant some things get clearer
Yeah, give em the space some hearts grow nearer
I ran as hard as I could I still ended up here
And it's alright
As I look at this lifeline stretched way all across my hand
(Lifeline all across my hand)
I look at the fires of hatred
(Fire)
Burning up the bounty of this beautiful land
(Burning up the land)
I know that I'm small in a way but I know I'm strong
And it's my thirst that brought me to the water
Well, I give it all up then she carries me on
It's alright
Yeah
And it's alright if I feel afraid
My plans in pieces
My plans mislaid
It's the will of the way
(The will of the way)
The will of the way
(It's the will of the way)
The will of the only way that could have brought me here today
And it's alright
And it's alright
CARAMIA
Caramia
Blank notebook and a back pocket fade
You used to mock me
Sometimes I would cry
When I was home later
'Cause you hurt my feelings
Why? Why? Why?
(Why? Why? Why?)
You said write it down in your notebook
My wanna be Harriet the spy
And some say your genius
(Genius)
Is in your madness
(Madness)
Will you get better
(Will you get better)
And then will you leave us
(Will you leave us)
How you mixed with the darkness
At such a young age
(Until in your chemistry)
Until in your chemistry
(Silence and violence)
Silence and violence
(Silence and violence)
Turned silence to rage
(Turned silence to rage)
Ah
Why are dreaming this?
One shoe off
And a bridge to cross over
And where is your taxi fare
Are you left by yourself
Or left by your lover
(Are you left by your lover)
For three nights straight now
I dream I kept both of my shoes
But I've forgotten my lines
And I've misplaced my cues
And there's a sea full of faces
And a show to go on
But I'm struck mute at entrance
With nothing to draw from
There were the secrets
The big bang and the bigger joke
You seem to know all of them
That's why injustice makes you red with choke
Yeah, but you love like you're desperate
You don't know what love is
(If there was one thing)
And I thought if there was one thing I could give you
One thing I could give you
(If there was one thing)
Well, maybe it was this
The head on the bed board
(Sadness)
The anguished repeat
(Sadness)
The sweat of our sadness
(Sweat of our sadness)
And the twist of the sheets
(Twist of the sheets)
I don't want what's best for you
Where will I be when you've found it?
(Where will I where will I?)
You know I pray a lot about these bad feelings inside
(Where will I where will I be?)
I can't pray my way through or around it
Hey
Why are dreaming this?
One shoe off
And a bridge to cross over
(And a bridge to cross over)
And where is your taxi fare?
Are you left by yourself ?
(Are you left)
Or left by your lover
(By yourself)
For three nights straight now
(Left by your lover)
You know I keep both of my shoes
(I've got bad feelings inside)
But I've forgotten my lines
(I can't pray through)
I've misplaced my cues
(I can't pray my way around it)
And there's a sea full of faces
And a show to go on
I'm struck mute at entrance
With nothing to draw from
Nothing to draw from
DON'T GIVE THAT GIRL A GUN
She's got a case against me
A jury of my peers
And the rage of the righteous
Screaming in her ears
I'm not dignified anymore
I can't say I didn't call
I say I love you
She don't hear me anymore
And don't give that girl a gun
I said now don't give that girl a gun
I made a bad connection
She says I went astray
I jumped ship abandoned my post
I didn't think I lost my way
But, oh, how the mighty fall
I saw her crack a smile
I don't got a chance for redemption
She don't believe in the miracle mile
So, take the first shot, baby, it'll be real clean
I'm your girl strong and mean
Second shot, baby, it'll be real cool
I'm your fool
Don't give that girl a gun
I said hold me closer
'Cause something's happening
Why can't we come together?
She said "I doubt we ever will
Ever will again"
Don't give that girl a gun
LEEDS
It's dark at four PM in Leeds
The steeples pierce the skylight 'til the last of it bleeds
The absent sound of another day as it recedes
Into the shadows
Until it's nothing
Fax papers slipped under the hotel room door
Like food for the prisoner or the prospect to the whore
Well-fed and halfway drunk I ache myself for more
Until I'm shadows of myself
Until I'm nothing
Sixteen black churches burning on the TV
All the way from Texas to Tennessee
And a politician locks my eye and says to me
There is no crisis here
There's no conspiracy
I crave inertia every move made so I can stop
whatever this madness is in me spinning like a top
On a bed of anxiety over a deep dark drop
Down into nothingness
Into withoutyouness
Was it ever so the evil creep like ivy
A toe hold on the stronger half of nature's dichotomy
I'm beating back a path through nothing more than pure insistence
Until here becomes
The distance
Hold my head love I'm sick tonight
Find the open hole and press your fingers there with all your might
Before the last ounce of my spirit bleeds
Onto the pristine sheets
Of the hotel bed in Leeds
SCOOTER BOYS
Scooter boys and Argentineans
Europe shed the blood of the Indians
Here I sit in the land of plenty
Crying about my own virginity
Hey blue blood you're nothing new
See I come from privilege too
A chapter in the book on the Americas
And your just another colonial terrorist
Scooter boys and Argentineans
Europe shed the blood of the Indians
Here I sit in the land of plenty
cCying about my own virginity
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Way down south where the Maya reign
Zapata reading poetry in his grave
They say we're stealing from the best
To feed the poor
Well, they need more
Scooter boys and Argentineans
Europe shed the blood of the Indians
Here I sit in the land of plenty
Crying about my own virginity
Yeah
Yeah
Oh
Yeah
Yeah
EVERYTHING IN IT'S OWN TIME
Remember everything I told you
Keep it in your heart like a stone
And when the winds have blown things round and back again
What was once your pain will be your home
All around the table the white haired men have gathered
Spilling their sons' blood like table wine
(Spilling their sons' blood)
Remember everything I told you
Everything in its own time
The music whispers you in urgency
Hold fast to that languageless connection
A thread of known that was unknown and unseen seen
Dangling from inside the fifth direction
(Dangling from inside the fifth direction)
Boys around the table are mapping out there strategies
Kings all of mountains one day dust
A lesson learned a loving God and things in their own time
In nothing more do I trust
We own nothing
Nothing is ours
Not even love so fierce it burns like baby stars
But this poverty is our greatest gift
(Nothing is ours)
The weightlessness of us as things around begin to shift
(The weightlessness as things begin to shift)
Remember everything I told you
(Remember everything I told you)
Keep it in your heart like a stone
(Keep it in your heart like a stone)
And when the winds have blown things round and back again
(When the winds have blown things round)
What was once your pain will be your home
Everything in its own time
Everything in its own time
Oh
Oh
Oh
Oh
CUT IT OUT
I'm sitting in Darwin's theory
You're down in the forty-eight
I'm practicing politics
You're practicing guitar and staying out late
How'd we get so turned around?
Why did we make it so hard?
Can't we cut it out while it's tender
Give us something good to remember
Hey my my my my rock star
I saw your feet leave the ground
You said all I wanted to be is loud
I was ushering your friends in
I was trying to clear the aisles
How'd you get so turned around?
Why did you make it so hard?
Why can't you cut it out I'm tender?
Give me something good to remember
Cut it out
Cut it all out
So it's Alaska in the summertime
In the wintertime I'm free
But the days get short cold and wasted
Nowhere is warm enough for me
Baby, you tell me what happened
How did I make it so hard?
Can't we cut it out while it's tender?
Give me something good to remember
Cut it out
Cut it all out
BURN ALL THE LETTERS
I am sorry that I set my sights
On the things I read
Something meant for your husband
Maybe you left it under the bed
Once upon a love those words blew free and secret
The pages lay around
Drifted to the hands of the publisher
And the greedy generations on down
Burn all the letters
(Someone is always watching)
The government's on the phone
(Whether openly or secretly)
Burn all the letters
(Now breathe life)
Send them on
(Into your story)
To a safer home
(I said burn it to secrecy)
Burn all the letters
Brand them in you before you go
Soldiers are coming to plunder
But there are some things they will never know
We made our love out of dignity
Dug our nails in the dirt
(Hung our towel soaked souls out on the line)
Hung our towel soaked souls out on the line
We loved so hard that it hurt
To ease my pain I took a pen and paper
Incarnate came the bleeding
Send it back before the public eye
Perverts it in the reading
And burn all the letters
(Someone is always watching)
Ah the government's on the phone
(whether openly or secretly)
Burn all the letters
(Now breathe life)
Send them on back
(Into your story)
To a safer home
(I said burn it to secrecy)
Burn all the letters
Brand them in you before you go
The soldiers coming to plunder
But there are some things they will never know
Burn all the letters
Ah the government's on the phone
On the phone
Burn all the letters
(All the letters)
Send them on to a safer home
(Send them on to a safer home)
Burn all the letters
To you
And you to
To me
Coming to take what they can
They cannot read
What they cannot see
Mmm
HEY KIND FRIEND
Hey kind friend
I don't know when I'll see you again
On a ferry boat bound to Victoria
Laying down to hide from the wind
Big Dipper hangin' over the city
You know everything now is different for me
And it ain't no use in
Explainin' the scenery
I said
Kind friend
Help me forget where I been
Kind friend
Remember who I am
I was too late in Spokane
So, I caught a ride through the Cascade Range
I saw the sun die in Olympia
Running down on capital lake
Now, I ask you for some relief
It's one true root that you bring to me
It's three AM
And it's good company
I said
Hey kind friend
Help me forget where I been
Hey kind friend
Help me remember who I am
Hey kind friend
Don't know if I'm gonna see you again
It's OK friend
It's OK friend
(It's so hard when they all have to face going away)
So, I'll meet you in New Orleans or I'll see you around
'Cause I don't know if it's worth coming down
Hey I'm calling you
From a goldrush town
And I say
Hey kind friend
Help me forget where I've been
Hey kind friend
Help me remember who I am
Hey kind friend
I don't know if I'm gonna see you again
It's OK friend
I'm OK friend
I said I'm OK friend
I'm OK friend
(See ya later)
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