1. |
Catch a Blue Ribbon
03:14
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Catch a Blue Ribbon
chorus
catch that blue blue ribbon
chase it on the breeze
chase it through the tall grass
chase it through the reeds
on the banks of the river
where the mud grows thick and black
chase that blue blue ribbon down
for your young girl (lost love) needs it back
winter runs you down
and summer’s at your back
keep that ribbon hid away
in a journal made of leather black
where you’ve written all the secrets
of the summers at your back
go on and keep it hidden
that lovely blue blue ribbon
find it in a wooden box
a wooden box of black
when your memory begins to fade
and your bones begin to crack
hold that ribbon in your hand
hear the song
of the loon and the lark and the wren
hold that ribbon in your hand
and fall in love again
chorus (lost love)
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2. |
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Dress of Iron, Veil of Smoke
Marry me in your dress of iron
And your veil of smoke
But my dress is harsh and full of steam
The man who loves iron
Pays for it in dreams
You can’t ride forever for free
Leave me know while you can
Find a wife, settle down,
And never think on me again
I will feed you fire
And keep you full
I’ll guide you down the track
And never let you go
These tracks will lead me far away
But another’s hand will guide me
I’ll be back again
But I won’t be coming back to you
Marry me in your dress of iron
And your veil of smoke
There can never be another
I’ve given half my life to you
And I’d gladly give the other
Smoke is for choking
And iron for war
And a man who loves these things
Pays for them in dreams
My lungs are black from breathing your breath
And your voice is so loud
But I’ve never grown deaf
I’ve ridden you back
For all of my life
And I’ll never stop
‘till I make you my wife
It’s true you made me moan
And it’s true you’ve made me scream
But a man who loves iron
Pays for it in dreams
Go far away
Where the rails can never take you
A place where I can never follow
A little life
And a little home
Are things that I can’t swallow
When the fire has died
For the very last time
And I’ve been unmade
And every bit of my body
Is scrap, for sale or for trade
Each wheel and each strut
Will remember your name
And the love that we made
Marry me in your dress of iron
And your veil of smoke
And these things will never come to pass
I’ll build rails across the water
And we’ll watch the sun
Turn the sea into glass
We’ll travel to lands with no names
And we’ll just move forever
And never come back here again
Bury those things
Take a wife and never think on me again
Bury those things
For a man has no future when he’s tied to a train
Go find a wife
Have a daughter
And maybe give her my name
Build a house in the wood
That sits by a stream
A man who loves iron and smoke and steam
Pays for it all in dreams
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3. |
Knots
03:09
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knots
I am bare
with laughing nerves
and singing skin
by this mercy
I am made human (again) whole again
I cut apart what bleeds together
severed knot and silken tether
I cut apart what bleeds together
I am stone
with choking nerves
and grinning skin
rend the night
and be whole (again)
I cut apart what bleeds together
in masks of fat and heart of leather
I cut apart what bleeds together
The din of tissue
an aria of blood
ritual frames
the sleeping flood
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4. |
I Follow You
03:40
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5. |
Never Beautiful
04:46
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Never Beautiful
soak yourself
in the milk that is thick
with the love and the lust
of the breast that is heavy
with the weight of the sun
and the stars that are flickering out
cover your eyes
with the hands that are soft
like the yolk that is broken
and seeping out from the cleft tween your thighs
oh cover your eyes with the white of the light
and the dark in the deep of the night
chorus
maybe god cut your face
from moonstone and alabaster
but I’ll never call you beautiful X 2
and maybe he
molded your body
from nightmares and snow
but I’ll never call you beautiful X 2
because the snare round my throat
was made by your two hands
your two hands alone
bite the tongue that licks your throat
and leaves burning trails upon your skin
cough up the lace
that will shroud your face
tear the bird song from your chest
to make a home for foxglove and thistle
drown yourself in the heat
that is ripe with desire
and dull with the need in your fingers
that are curled in a fist
around and angels wrist
while your teeth do the job of a dagger
chorus
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6. |
My Lovely Daughters
04:19
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7. |
Narcan and Butter
02:17
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narcan and butter
one you put on top
the other gets you out from under
and I’m so fucking rich cause
I got narcan and butter
I got sugar in my veins
and fat upon my heart
I’m off in ten directions
and I don’t know where to start
butter keeps you healthy
when you’re too goddamn lean
and narcan keeps you breathin
when you stray too far from clean
I'm at home alone
there’s no flags and no alarms
as I pump all of this nonsense
in the black hole in my arm
one you put on top
the other gets you out from under
and I’m so fucking rich cause
I got narcan and butter
there’s no one here to see me
I don’t need no woman’s kiss
there’s no one here to stop me
and no reason to resist
there’s no warning to be uttered
and no one to see me shutter
I have no fucking use for
narcan and butter
I have no fucking use for
narcan and butter
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8. |
Stars Through a Lens
04:15
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Stars Through a Lens
I will never be complete
but i will dream completely
I see it growing
but not nearly living
and I’m only dying
I’ve known a touch
I’ve known many
I’ve felt the terrestrial kiss
the comfort and bliss
of resting my head
on a woman’s soft breast
I’ve known men as well
known them
with handshakes
embraces
in trust
and as friends
they are loving constellations
but this thing in me rends
all around them the light bends
I look around and see them
and they’re all just
stars through a lens
stars through a lens
I still see that it is growing
but that it isn’t nearly living
and I am only dying
there is nothing in this room
but a window
with the time i have left
I’ll be always gazing through it
because the only thing i want to see
is the only thing that I can see
through this window
I’m not certain of where I’m headed
but there’s one thing I truly know
one thing I truly know
that it’s a beautiful day and they are building on Palomar
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9. |
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Dirt Beyond the Paling
We lived among the heathen trees
I lent my bed to rats
I hexed my tongue
And ripped the wings
Right off my sallow back
We lived among the heathen trees
There was no law to bind us
I hid my daughter far away
Where judgement never found us
I burned up all her dresses
And she went wild in the wood
She was a pale and naked hearse
For my fear of man and god
I wore her first blood on my cheek
And I knew that she was ready
All I could do was hold my breath
To keep my fingers steady
CHORUS:
This place might be a righteous hell
If I could only set the swamps alight
And this place might have been a piece of heaven
If the light weren’t always failing
I dug our graves a mile deep
And washed my hands
In the dirt beyond the paling
We lived among the heathen trees
I spent her innocence like a bullet
In the head of my sunken mare
She bore my burdens lovingly
With brambles in her hair
I spent my seed upon my seed
And grew horror after horror
There were no prayers on the wind
That whipped across her belly
Twenty faces smashed by man
Who hid away from god
One by one,
We took their hands
And led them to the water
And in baptismal grace
We held their broken faces under water
Never again in dismal grace
To break the surface of the water
CHORUS:
This place might be a righteous hell
If I could only set the swamps alight
And this place might have been a piece of heaven
If the light weren’t always failing
I dug their graves a mile deep
And washed my hands
In the dirt beyond the paling
Go now away
My crooked law can’t bind you
Go now away
And maybe god will find you
With each horror lost
Each perversion freed
A piece of her I murdered
So she left my crooked way
She haunted the heathen trees by night
And hid fully from the day
By moonlight she trod the wicked night
And her torment never softened
Comfort one could not expect
For a mother who gave birth to twenty coffins
Vespers and devotions
She gave into the night
I found her early the next day
It was a dreadful sight
The birds all sang out clean and sweet
From the branches of the heathen trees
Where my lovely daughter swung
In the gentle summer breeze
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