1. |
Wabana, Mining Town
04:25
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if you were born a miner’s son, your hands were black as pitch
you disregard your mother’s cry and catch the miner’s itch
dandelions and lupins come blossom in the soil
while deep down in the earth there you will toil
sunlight’s just a dream when you’re stuck down in the hole
diggin’ toward the sea there you will go
when you were a miner’s boy your bread was often stale
hard-tack and baloney in your father’s dinner pail
tea so strong to trot mice on, but rats were all that rose
a company of sorts there, I suppose.
sunlight’s just a beam from the headlight of your lamp
blasting through the shale and through the damp
now you are a mining man, you’re given to the land
a rusty tin upon your head, a pickaxe in your hand
lanterns high above you to guide you through the dark
like the flame that burst inside your mother’s heart
sunlight’s rarely seen when the ore cars are in tow
chuggin’ through the rocks there brave and slow
you became a miner’s ghost in 1942
when u-boats struck Bell Island, 59 brave men and you
Hayward George, your name it is impressed upon the stone
The earth has claimed one more now for it’s own
A knock upon the front door when they only use the back
The door’s been jammed for years and the frame’s began to crack
Another knock once more and the hinges they do sway
With just one black handprint to mark your dying day
Sunlight’s scarce and lean ‘round wabana town these days
When you’re buried beneath the earth inside the maze
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2. |
Fall Back Again
04:12
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This whole damn world is tailor-made for you
it has purples and deep reds and wild shades of blue
but you’re pinned by complaints and the smiles that you fake
to the people you claimed you once knew
tired and frayed by the years
sun-washed and yellowed and dampened with tears
burned by the fuse, hey but that’s no excuse
to play the wild one on everyone else
what’s it to you if I fall?
You’re where winter collides and drifts up the door
What’s it to you if I stand?
Well I’ll fall and I’ll fall and I’ll fall back again
These stop signs are making you crawl
The cross that ya bear, it makes you feel small
Won’t ya cut off the weight of the steps you didn’t take
And accept that it’s nobody’s fault
This whole road it’s still and it’s clear
From amber to green, but red before too long
the radio’s jammed on the same worn out pop song
That drives you to streets of despair
What’s it to you if I fall?
You’re where winter collides and drifts up the door
What’s it you to if I stand
Well I’ll fall and I’ll fall and I’ll fall back again
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3. |
In the Long Run
03:30
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in the long run, we haven’t said much
and I can feel my limbs start to ache
in the fast course, I’m unraveling backwards
to all the certain places we’ll remain
oh, it’s desperate to cling to future views
to avoid the shovel and the rake
Well, we’re married to the time,
like turpentine
seaming the old evergreens
the trees are a blur and faces scatter
Well, I can’t fit them all in to frames
If I wait till I’m wiser
These gems that they’re hiding
Will be shared amongst the broken and re-arranged
Oh it’s desperate to…
Slowed to an amble at the risk of fading
And now we’re walking amongst rows of brave
Filtered by sunlight, these days splay outright
Freedom reigned before the digital age
Oh it’s desperate to…
In the long run, we haven’t said much
And I can feel my limbs start to ache
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4. |
Come in from the Cold
03:41
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when you come in from the cold
bring the secrets of the world inside
For there’s gold in them hills and I want to survive
past the autocorrect and the sins of the wise
I’ve rolled cigarettes for the day
With strawberries in helpful supply
That’s to fool us of the role of our healthy pursuits
And to trick us to believin’ we’re just born to get by
Wanna believe it’s true
The moon dies at the dawn and is reborn in the night
And if I put my hands on my eyes, I’ll vanish from sight from you
Will not entertain such a falsehood of sayin’
The world’s a better place when you’re not around
Watched you breeze in from the rain
I thought you were are crimson as a tulip bouquet
Soaked to the skin and your petals of red
Were married with the floor and the songs of the dead
I gave you chords, notes and words,
And strings and a heart made of flame
All extinguished by a world of convenient things
Burned out and smoldered by the weight of your pain
Just wanna know the truth
Of what happened to your heart, let me figure it out
Was it battered and bruised in a war you know nothing about?
Or was it overcome by a falsehood of saying
The world’s a better place when you’re not around
take the mountaintops, take the coast,
take the rivers, the streets and the cities
but leave me the flower of the valley that grows
through the thorns, the concrete and the wildness of those
please won’t you share the truth
as if the gospel depended on the words from your mouth
lest it shatters on the wisp of a tyrant so brazen
and scattered with a fistful of doubt
I will not entertain such a falsehood of sayin’
Or pay no heed to a lie
Because the world’s a better place when you are alive
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5. |
Hush Sweet Darling
05:50
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pylon cones and hazard tape,
fur-trim hood, but it’s a fake
these four walls are the colour of slate
and I am safe inside
like a baby in a bassinet
who’s milky breath holds no regret
like a coyote kitted out in his den
with no territory to defend
hush, sweet darlin’ dish and spoon,
calamity jane’s snug in her big cocoon
the whole world’s one big grin
suspended in a sea of tobacco and gin
to ramble so far and fall so fast
into comfortable shoes and familiar paths
I asked the cartographer to draw me my map
And he did it right there on the back of my hand
It had tepid smiles and charming sighs,
Had pools of content and brick-red lines,
Had guard-rails for guidance, sandpaper for pride
And an alcove of rose tint to rest my mind
Hush sweet darlin’…
If you are the blanket, then I am the sheep,
Who’s shorn and shivering and lacking heat
You rise high above and spread yourself thin
As comfort is a treacherous thing
So write some directions to suit my spine
My route 66, highway 99,
I’ll crisscross the rivers and lakes full of damage
Take root in the ash and make love in the carnage
Hush…
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6. |
7 Men
03:42
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I killed seven men
Best not go ahead and fuck with me again
Lilies are expensive this time of year
And I made seven widows all unhappy with the circumstances I did impose
and I couldn’t blame them if I tried
Oo-ee, you may find me near the beaches
Sitting silent on the benches
Waiting for someone to take me in
And I guess you don’t know,
And I guess you don’t see how I feel right now
Have I made the greatest mistake,
And ignored every chance that has come by my way?
Sitting on chairs in dusty rooms
With glasses of old, sour wine
Fermented with friendship and sorrow in kind
Forget what’s gone, just go home
Someday you will find me in the trenches,
rushing head-long through the breeches
past all common sense that I could take in
and I guess you don’t know
and I guess you can’t see how I feel right now
At least I can wash off the rain
though it clings to my hair, still I will remain
Storms will roll into clearer days
and what of the widows before?
They’re caught in the wind, like the leaves ‘round my door
But rest in the sunshine of the day
Oh man, won’t you sing to me again
In that old-time song refrain
Before my flesh gives way to much too silent stones
And I guess you might know
And I guess you might see how I feel right now
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7. |
Raulin's
04:15
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be not so silent when you’re down,
we’re all bleeding on the inside after all.
And when I wake up, when I wake up I can’t bear to see you frown when the day is new
My friends say that the hair upon my head seems cold and gray
Do not run from me, do not run from me if my heart seems the same way too
It’s just not worth, it’s just not worth the getting blue
Holy Moses, it gets cold on mid-November afternoons.
When the winter fades, through the everglades
I’ll cancel all the cold and close the bill.
Guess I’ll see you when the tulips break the soil to find the sun
Towards the light the bend, and when the day is done
They’ll close up shop and wait for morn to come
They just can’t help, just can’t help to soldier on
All ya can do is stand and bake your bread
Grow your greens, brush your teeth and make your bed
Keep rancho clean, don’t get lonesome, just stay glad
Keep hope runnin’, keep your company, but don’t waste time
Help win the war, wake up and fight
Love ‘em all, wake up and fight
Make up your mind, wake up and fight
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8. |
Home in the Spring
02:40
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won’t be comin’ home in the spring,
you will not see my face when the summer birds do sing
when the autumn comes around, no where will I be found
when the frostbite greets the shoals upon your shore
in the afternoon, don’t expect to hear my voice,
don’t make my pot of coffee in the morning, there’s no point,
when the moon grows and shakes, no silence will I break
with my footsteps across your bedroom floor
you’ll wait too long for my letters to arrive
I’m not concerned if you wonder if I’ve failed or if I’ve strived
The inbox of your email will be vacant of my name
Like your gaze will be vacant of my frame
no more will I be seen on the streets where I once walked
on the corner now at 3 a.m. you will not hear me talk
if a shadow were to venture ‘cross your doorway strong and brave,
it will not be the shadow that I made
but ask my friends for just one kindness in my name
nail ‘for sale’ signs on the door, the locks I’ll ask to change
my boots are leather-strong so I will not fear the snow
ask no questions if you see my garden grow
I won’t be coming home in the spring…
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9. |
Ballinteer to Moscow
03:43
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he’ll watch the world
from the corner of a white-washed room
and count the stars, measure the moon
and be sure we’re not lost down here
sure that our roads are clear
oh my love, how I missed your kisses…
from ballinteer to Moscow, like andy dufregne
through the walls of these cities, I’ll be crawling for your name
and once again, when the arrows hit the perfect spot,
he’ll fall away, to a kingdom that is not his own, or by any means
his home, near the beechwood trees
oh my god, how the birds keep singing…
and from cricklewood to st. john’s,
we crossed the ocean wide
like the old man and the sea, there was no place left to hide
till he’s turned home with the tide,
for a home he longs to be
from here on in, there’ll be no more chills from western winds
or hard times that could’ve been
he’s found his hiding place
there’s warmth near the fireplace
and from ballinteer to Moscow, like andy dufregne
through the walls of these cities, I’ll be crawling for your name
and from cricklewood to St. john’s, we crossed the ocean wide
like the old man in the sea, he had no place left to hide…
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10. |
Brother's Home
04:31
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tongue-tied, wide eyed, looking at the mercy seat,
when the sun falls quiet, we’ll be laid down at your feet
white rose, bloody nose, strewn across the ground
when the sun goes down, we’ll be laid without a sound
vultures from the coast, nature comes to wait
when the dogs come to bark, I’ll be waiting for my brother’s fate
when jackals come to call,
and the dogs come to roam
and vultures come along
I’ll be looking for my brother’s home
Softly spoke upon my ears when I came to wake
Linen sheets around me, there’s a needle in my veins
“lucky are you for tonight, but when this war is won
you’ll be cast out to the shadows where the devil calls it home
vultures from the coast…
dear sir or madam, you’ll regret to be informed
of how your brother’s blood was spilt upon his uniform
hearts that rang and bells that tolled, mistakes they often made
confused with the dying but he never seen the grave
flew with vultures to the coast,
swam with fishes in the sea
scavenged with the dogs
for my brother’s home to be
and when I come to call
and when I come to roam
and when I come along
I’ll be looking for my brother’s home
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The Dandelion Few St. John'S, Newfoundland and Labrador
The Dandelion Few is the collaborative work of artists Tiffanie George & Seán Bradley. Poetic, pensive and intimate, their take on modern folk music has been described as both beautiful and dark with touches of the recent past. Often working in conjunction with other musicians and artists of various mediums, they have become well known for their harmony- rich vocals and intimate performances. ... more
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