1. |
"The Jaybird Lives!"
04:19
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See you again, if I guess I don’t know
There was water in the well when last I was home
Come wish us all well, even when you’re alone
You can sing, sing
One flew east and one flew west
And the bees made honey in the lion’s breast
The jaybird lives and the jaybird dies
And the bees make honey in the jaybird’s eyes
And I don’t remember the last time we spoke
We planted our blessings in neat little rows
Tomorrow I’m going to the store if you need
Anything, thing
Oranges, door hinges, wishes and hopes
A mantle for the lantern and Ivory soap
We’ll sort it all out when your father comes home
In the spring, spring
One flew north and one flew south
And the bees made honey in the lion’s mouth
The jaybird lives and the jaybird dies
And the bees make honey in the jaybird’s eyes
In imagine he’d say you can take me back home
When the blood has dried and the weeds overgrown
Marry my soul to the soil with the bones
Of the kings, kings
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2. |
Oracle Friend
04:01
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Say, gold in her eye mirroring an open daylight
Show me as I am and as I’m needed
I am right behind, jacket soaking through, you running wild
Clean your plate, your fingernails, and teeth
Cause I am not the little boy who grew
Past the hill to wear his shadow in their view
More like a snakeskin
Than a bleeding
I built two wings, wood and twine, as always spiders spin
And weave them to my arms so I could fly
My oracle friend, here’s a hand to hem your stitches in
Will you watch me as I flicker by?
But I am not the little boy who flew
Past the hill to wear his shadow in their view
More like a snakeskin
Than a bleeding
More like a snakeskin
Than a bleeding
I will not return to bathe my muscle, feathered, shoulder blades
In air back then of jewelweed and cinders
I will standing still, I will quietly keep myself until
My tongue tastes of salt again less often
Cause I am not the little boy you knew
Past the hill to wear his shadow in their view
More like a snakeskin
Than a bleeding
More like a snakeskin
Than a bleeding
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3. |
Thirteen Blackbirds
03:39
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Well bless my soul, look there on the ridge
Just the other side of the Route 5 bridge
You can see the windmills turning slow
Just a couple of no-name towns to go
Well it sure looked different when I was a kid
Nobody knows me now if they ever did
I saw thirteen blackbirds sitting in a row
Counted them all, and away I go
I used to catch brook trout down at the lake
In the woods behind Lester Mahoney’s place
He had boxes and boxes of old tin cans
He had a reputation as a mean old man
Well I hear tell he’s been sick and tired
He used to make scarecrows out of rusty barbed wire
I saw thirteen blackbirds up on the line
This wood’s a little green but it’ll burn just fine
Now everybody says it’s been hard times here
And we might not make it through the year
But it doesn’t really hit me, what can you do?
I don’t live here anymore, I’m just passing through
I had to stop for a school bus and the kids all ran out
Laughing up the drive to a red brick house
I say thirteen blackbirds silent and still
Some things change and some never will
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4. |
Hunter, Faithless
03:12
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I am the faithless hunter
Crawling on two hands to dream of nothing more
I am a selfish healer
Leviathan awash and smooth upon the shore
But it is just beginning
See I have been reborn too many times before
Still fewer than I remember
Had I been a blade, would I have cut your hair?
My son upon my shoulders
Still I could destroy it, but still I wouldn’t dare
See I am water breathing
Desperate and circling around the bottom stair
I’ve played the helpless savior
The lion in your garden, the lion of your skin
I’ve played the red winged blackbird
Who wonders how much longer in the rushes she can spend
Warm light upon your window
The crack under the door that let the serpent in
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5. |
Remembrance
02:59
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No one remembers it better than I do
We used to fly south and pretend to be birds
he clothes on the clothesline know there’s nowhere to fly to
I miss you all so much I don’t have the words
I’ve got my routine, I check all the windows
And re-read my notes on the back of the door
A prayer for the orphan, a song for the widow
She says they don’t sing them like that anymore
I’m scared of the air and I’m tired of the sunrise
The furnace is haunted, the stove is possessed
There’s a speck in my eye, or a stain on the skyline
I broke off the key in the lock when I left
So howl on through winter and hold on ‘til June
Naked and shaping your cinnamon tooth
How we gathered in branches and dried on the roof
You spoke of the present like it’s coming too soon
I can’t find my jacket, I’m coming, I’m coming
Headphones on in the late afternoon
Song of the summer, the soundtrack to nothing
I love you so much I don’t know what to do
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