1. |
Letters
04:15
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he kept a good luck charm pinned to the inside of his jacket
it was her picture - white shorts & a tank top, standing in the driveway
she hated that photograph - begged him to take any other
he said, 'there'll be more pictures, babe when i'm no longer away.'
she wrote him letters each week, he read them over and over
about the kids at school, the weather, the goings on around town
how it snowed every day, the worst winter on record
she'd had to call up the neighbors to come break the drive with their plow
she wonders why he doesn't write home
an email here, the occasional call, a distant voice on the line
she asked him, 'babe, tell me how are things there?'
he said 'you don't want to know, but i promise you love i'm all right.'
billy lost his first tooth. he tucked it under his pillow
and his sister got the leading role starring in the school play
she recorded the whole thing, so they could watch it together
but halfway through the first act she ran out of tape
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2. |
A Freeway View
04:16
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I’m pulling full-time duty for a part-time job
My apartment’s a mess
My ma’ raised a slob
I got an empty fish tank
And couple guitars, but no food
And I know the remote’s around here somewhere
But there’s nothing on the tube
So I don’t effin’ care
I crank the amp
Until the lady upstairs calls the super
Honey, can we take it slow?
Cause I’m a long, long way from home
And there’s so much I don’t know
Be my family tonight
There’s some Chinese take-out at the back of the fridge
I got a view of the freeway and the railroad bridge
If I could make her come back
Just by flicking a switch then I would
I got a couple good friends, we drink a couple of pints
Our motto’s ‘Fake it ‘til we make it’
That’s the secret to life
There’s no rhyme or no reason
No way to ask why
Cause it’s useless
Honey, can we take it slow?
Cause I’m a long, long way from home
And there’s so much I don’t know
Be my family tonight
We can talk in circles
We all got something to prove
We’re all terrible liars
They can see our lips move
It’s a sign, we can run, but not hide
From our youth
Yeah, what do they say about pride, before the fall?
It doesn’t matter to me
Cause I got none at all
I’m go stay out late maybe
Find me a tall brunette
It’s a Cinderella story, sad but true
You can take it or exchange it
For an IOU
But in the end it don’t matter
Cause you never pay for what you get
Honey, let’s just take it slow
Cause I’m a long, long way from home
And there’s so much I don’t know
Be my family tonight
That’s right
Be my family tonight …
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3. |
Rainbows
03:24
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The beach is empty. Come on down – you’ll love it.
We can’t swim baby, but we can make the most of it.
We’ll watch them cleanup from the hotel window
There’s no reason to call on ahead …
And I hope you like your summers hot
‘cause down here, love, it’s all we got
I hope you like it humid, too
‘cause it rains every afternoon
The rainbows float and ripple on the surface
Did you think none of us would ever notice?
The wind will tell you who to write checks to
Go ahead and cancel your plans
I hope you like your summers hot
‘cause down here, love, that’s all we got
I hope you like it humid, too
‘cause it rains every afternoon
You said out of sight would be out of mind. That's what you led us to believe
But we've come to find that what comes in with the tide it doesn't wash back out to sea
Will you clean this up or go back to making profit?
Put on a show now before you walk away from it
Dig someplace else – I’m sure we’re gonna let you
After all, we gotta fill up
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4. |
Meghan's Song
04:00
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a half a world away and everything to lose
she tunes in every morning hoping he won't be on the news
and all these months of waiting, pretending to be fine
while a continual scenario forever loops in her mind ...
he arrives, and that makes everything all right
her friends don't talk about it - or is it everyone?
you take a common knowledge and conceal it like a gun
a secret we take with us, but a burden most don't bear
yeah she knows it's hard, but some things are impossible to share
she wishes he could come home tonight
and then they'd go out
just to look at the stars tonight
she don't care for stripes right now
and she only want to see him standing there
standing there with her own two eyes
they're sending others over, about 30 thousand more
their families go with them, even though they're stuck back home
and he'll get his replacement so the cycle starts again
it's easy finding losers but it's hard to tell who wins
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5. |
The Wave
03:50
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I got two damn cars
Both need baths
One don’t start
I like to wait until dark, drop the top down and look up at the stars
The highway wind
The highway sounds
I could keep on driving, get the hell out of town
But I know there’s no escape from this place
It’s optimistic, it’s down in flames
You know love it’s hard to say
We search the city for a complicated truth:
the water mark from the receding wave
that left the wreckage that we all sift through
The years fly by, it’s true
You climb in a cannon
You light up the fuse
And right before the big boom
We realize just how much we stand lose
The highway winds
The highway sounds
We could keep on driving, get the hell out of town
But we know it’s just another mirage
‘Cause you’re still you in camouflage
Strange memories on this nervous evening
Seems like an era since we left San Francisco
And as we watch the great wave receding
We realize history is hard to know
We realize history is hard to know …
So less than five years on
We climb up the hillside and look beyond
To see the high-water line
Where the wave rolled back and left us behind
The highway calls
The pull of the road
You could redline the needle
Set a course for home
But you know that could never go back
Just comb the desert for artifacts
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6. |
People In Picture Frames
04:20
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Sometimes he’s jealous of people they sell us in picture frames
With their picture-perfect lives
And their picture-perfect smiles
On their picture-perfect days
He knows they’re not real but he hates them just the same
Sometime he’s jealous of people they sell us in picture frames
Sometimes she’d like to just go and set fire to her magazines
With the Photoshop faces and digital waists on the fashion queens
She knows better than to believe it
‘Cause it ain’t reality
Sometimes she’d like to just go and set fire to her magazines
You and I – we’re real tonight
What you see is what you get
And this big old world seems ruthless sometimes
But it won’t change us
We’ll change it
You turn on the TV, there’s nothing to see but fake tits and ass
Put ‘em on prime time and give ‘em some wine
Watch ‘em fight for cash
It’s a high price for fame
For ten minutes that don’t last
Put ‘em on prime time and give ‘em some win watch ‘em fight for cash
You and I – we’re real tonight
What you see is what you get
And this big old world seems ruthless sometimes
But it won’t change us
We’ll change it
All our lives are for sale you can order by mail and be satisfied
Any slogan will work if it fits on a shirt
Even if it’s a lie …
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7. |
Small Cuts
04:42
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You’re too far gone
You gave up too many chances, to the point of fault
All that’s left is to blame – Who’s right? Who’s wrong?
We circle endlessly
We make small cuts
We find bitter pleasure in our lack of trust
But sooner or later there’s one of us
That’s gonna go too far and cut too deep
You know when you’re gone
I’ll be here holdin’ on
Through the night
At the dawn
To watch you stray
You kneel on the floor
You make the sign of the cross before going to war
But the only thing of which I’m really sure of
Is that He ain’t gonna take your side
There’ll be no surrender
No white flag to raise, just stupid pride to defend
We fill in the trenches just to dig ‘em up again
We’re running out of places to hide
I may miss you now
But I got the common sense it takes to keep my head down
Maybe climb in a foxhole deep underground
And wait ‘til the coast is clear
And I might get lost
But this time I won’t follow you girl, whatever the cost
Who was it called it over? – Yeah, you always were the boss
So go find yourself a new volunteer
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8. |
76 Miles (fife)
03:52
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131, 4 long hours
i got my ego riding shotgun
got my habits stuffed in the back
and i'm homeward bound
for the first time in a long time
and there's a deadline that's approaching
and i know there's no going back
i got cruise control
sleeting rain it glistens in the high beams
like i am driving through a tunnel
up ahead just this side of the river
there's a green sign that tells what i know
there's no going back
i got 76 miles to the rest of it
76 miles to go
76 miles to the rest of it
76 miles, i'm gonna drive real slow
'cause the end of the highway is not the end of the road
76 miles
there's a yellow blinker that signals my left
in a town that's so small that
even the locals can't find their way out of it
you've got a rifle hanging over the bar
and an NRA sticker on the back of your car
it's the middle of nowhere
there's no pace to change
but i'm optimistic anyway ...
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9. |
Friend, Fling ...
04:26
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it was a little past midnight when we pulled up to the drive to your house
i said, 'it's too early to turn in, but it's way too late to go back out'
there was a long pause before you asked me to come on inside
said 'if we're going to break the rules hell we might as well and break them all night'
listen, here we go again and again
you've always been my fallback plan
it ain't fair but what in life ever is
it was a little past six when i pulled out of the drive to your house
you said that this time is the last time i said 'i know i can show myself out'
guilt and consequence don't mean a thing
and you know what they say about hindsight
i got three words start with 'F'
two are friend and fling and the third is why you called me up tonight
it was the very next friday when my phone lit up: a text from you
it said 'plans tonight?' i said 'no what do you wanna do?'
hey maybe dinner or a movie or maybe we could hang out at home
and on the way to your place i think, damn it's good to be all alone
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10. |
Route 66
02:58
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left while the sun was low
didn't cry 'til lockshore road
but i feel better as i go
and i'm doing fine by chicago
the prairie crumbles to hardpan
as desert overtakes the land
so lover take me as i am
cause i'm a long damn way from michigan
illinois and i'm southbound
follow the big river down
dreams so wide that i drown
while i'm living in the here and now
and underneath the arch i go
a prairie storm begins to blow
the raindrops streak the side windows
got the wipers high the fog lamps low
oklahoma, it was good to know ya
but i've got vegas on my mind
drove across the continental divide
up and down the other side
put gallup, new mexico behind me
got arizona lit up in my headlights
the prairie crumbles to hardpan
as desert overtakes the land
so lover take me as i am
'cause i'm a long damn way from michigan
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Fearless Freep Ann Arbor, Michigan
Fearless Freep lives in Ann Arbor and records original music in his spare time (and bedroom). His daily high-dive act involves writing about global health at the University of Michigan.
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