1. |
Cloud Country
03:27
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Where to begin but with the sun a rising
Two hearts quickly beating in the rising gray
Ab - Fm - | Dbmaj7 - Ab - |
Oh what it reveals, I’m on the edge of my seat
Above 40 or so long feet of rust colored clay
Please tell me I’m here
Oh but I’m so near
Just too damn low
Eb Db Ab - | Bbm7 - | Fm - |
Oh won’t you reach back, strap me to the bike rack
‘Cause I’m ready to go
Flying like the time and fizzing like a powerline
Oh won’t you let me know
Ab - | - Bbm7 | (2x)
Please tell me I’m here
Oh but I’m so near
Just too damn low
Please tell me I’m there
Oh ‘cause I’m so scared
To let our good times go
There’s something frightening, profound, and faux-enlightening
When I’m driving home
We talked about the way that life tends to re-arrange
And now I’m on my own
Your headlights ahead are blazing away
I put my foot on the gas as if it’s not too late
And of course we’re men so it’s no big deal
But it’s hard cause this is just so much more real
Bbm7 - | Cm6 - | Dbm - | Eb - |
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2. |
Redstone Quarry
03:55
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Blue flowers this morning, the asters are coming in strong
The hard red rock is a barren place but the flowers haven’t been there for long
There’s chives on the cliff walls above invasive rose
The mossy garden is blooming but it’s keeper has gone home
D - G D | G - D A | (2x)
The city comes to life downtown, another day begins
I find a quiet corner where the noise comes to an end
I don’t think that I’m homesick, but then again who’s to say
I haven’t known where home is since around 2008
I pray to the god of the missing things but she left me here alone
Am I the one that’s missing or is someplace still a home?
Redstone Quarry is out there just across the cold wide lake
But I think I’m like the flowers on that day
G - D - | G - D A | G - D Bm | A - D - |
Another beautiful sunset, the clouds are rolling by
The leaves are turning late this year but I watched them pass us by
The people here are lovely, intelligent, and kind
But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it from time to time
On their faces sweet lime soda smiles mask something they’re afraid the world might see
But stretching onwards there is nothing save for fields and rocks and trees
I want to learn to speak their language and to call them by their names
But now I’m going home to a city by a lake
D - | Bm - | G - | A - |
Last time that I went there spring was on its way
A not-quite-frigid winter drifting out across the bay
The far side was chilly too, perhaps still clinging to snow
The differences are easy enough to see but hard to know
The gods of the trees and the rocks and the lake know better what to do
Their rings record the struggles and the triumphs they’ve been through
The trees can call home anywhere, perhaps I’ll do the same
I’ll know the flowers and I’ll call them by their names
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3. |
Bombs to Bonfires
03:49
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A D A E | A D AE A |
Has the paper been making you sad? All your worries
come from the page? Perhaps it won’t seem quite so bad
If you’re proud of this mess that we’ve made
A - F#m - | C#m - E - |
Wait for the fire on the fourth of July to burn
All your worries away! Glorious stars in the sky
Most of them purely man made
Ten thousand miles away, over the sea and under the clouds,
Or right back home on your doorstep. Does it matter at all?
One is the right hand, one is the left, one’s twice the size
But they’re both raining death!
D - A Eadd4 | (4x)
Did the stock market crash today? Or did it fly
Straight into the sun? The numbers could go either way,
Seems like Raytheon already won
Icarus burned off his wings; will the same fate befall
All these fucks? Or will executives live on like kings,
Making money like they ain’t got enough
Ten thousand miles away, over the sea and under the clouds,
Or right back home on your doorstep. Does it matter at all?
One is the right hand, one is the left, pay no mind to some
And burn all the rest
They’ve got banners and posters, they’ll pay for your college. It seems like a fair trade, but please, just be honest:
Would you sell your soul in a Faustian deal to kill for an oil rig, to search for what’s real?
Is it really the best way to see for yourself? To die in a desert, trying to kill someone else,
‘Cause where is the courage in hiding the facts, In murdering children, in shooting at backs?
F#m - A - | Bm - E - | D - A - | 2nd |
‘Cause people kill people, kill people who die, and people fight people who think to ask why.
From Hoffman to XR to the 10th of July, to plowshares, they all fucking thought to try.
One is the right hand, one is the left, and they’re doing their jobs, cause that’s what they do best.
You’ve got no stake in this desolate war, so really you can’t ask for anything more,
F#m - A - | Bm - E - | D - E - | 2nd |
But I swear: we’ll be singing til our voices give out
We’ll be shouting till our lungs cave in
And all our hearts catch fire and fall and burn
this city to the ground! Bombs will be sentenced to bonfires,
And bars will all go to the forge
We don’t know how to fight but we’ll try
Until we finally reach something more
A - D - | E - F#m E | D - A - | E - D - |
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4. |
Uprooted People
02:44
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Grew up in a town with a poisoned river
With poisoned soil and poisoned trees
And we are lucky we’re not tied down here
You and I can go where e’er we please
C - - G - - - - | - - - C - - - - | (2x)
Uprooted people can do what they like
Uprooted people can take a knife and cut the ties away
And breathe in the new day
G - F - C - - - | G - F - C C/B Am - - - | F - - - C - F/C - | C - - -
We tried our best to keep nice and healthy
But we soon developed an oily sheen
Said “someday I’m gonna get out of this town
“I’m gonna go somewhere where the air is clean”
And although I miss you terribly I know it was for the best
‘Cause our choices were to stay and die or live and leave the nest
But you should call me sometime, or better yet come on down
‘Cause I’m always so much more like myself when you’re around
Dm - Am - F - C - | | | G - - - - - - - / - - - -
Uprooted People are never sure,
just what tomorrow has in store
But I love you man
‘Cause that’s what I’m there for
C - G - F - C - | - - G - F - C | C/B Am - - - F - | - - C - F/C - C - - -
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5. |
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On a city on a hill the rain flows like a river
The cold air makes me shiver as I wander home from class
The folks who pass me by sign a circle with their fingers,
And I know then I am but a splinter of a whole bigger than I
Bm - D7 - | G - E - | (2x)
You’re my best friends and you’ve made me better now
And we’re falling like the rain, but we’ll make it through somehow
You’re the best way that this old world turns around
And it always sounds the same, but we’ll make it through somehow
D - A - | Bm - G - | (2x)
It’s that wayward kind of night. I should be heading homewards
But my heart is getting warmer; clouds, they block the northern lights
And these days it doesn’t show we were once a bunch of misfits
But now you have a rabbit, and I call him “Little Bro”
And we may be in a crossroads in our lives
Yeah I’ve been counting down the days, and I won’t call these the good time
Cause our loved ones are held down by uncountable things
And I can’t help them enough, yeah, but I’m still singing
Bm - D7 - | G - F#7 - | 1st | G - E - |
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6. |
In Your Bones
02:49
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I like songs about the end of the world
Tales of grim acceptance of the end
I like songs where time blazes to a halt
And people stop and watch the sky cave in
Am - Dm Am | Dm E7 Am E7 | Am - Dm G | F E7 Am - |
And when you know you know
You can feel it in your bones
Feel it in your bones
Caving in
C - | G - | Dm - | E7 - |
I like songs about the end of the world
And stories of just how that would feel
A couple arm and arm stare at a thousand shooting stars
And slowly comprehend the end is near
And when…
The end is near
And you know when they say “this too shall pass”
That’s just a way of saying all things die
And I know when I’ve got my earthly struggles at my back
I won’t even bother asking why
‘Cause when…
Ahhh
You know I’ve been dreaming of you for some time
‘Cause you’re my best hope of forgetting how love dies
And if I asked and you said yes and with that the world did end
I’d never have to see you change your mind
C - G - | Dm - E7 | 1st | Dm E7 Am - |
‘Cause when…
For all time
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7. |
This Hard Day
03:39
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I’ve been sick and tired of feeling uninspired
I wonder if I just wasn’t wired for this kind of working
Been worrying over you, but there’s not much I can do
We all just have to lose to keep from hurting
G - | D - G - | D A G - | D - G - | D A G - |
I’ve been thinking on my feet again
Cause if I don’t, well, I’d be defeated then
I’m just waiting on the moment you can tell me when
I can say this hard day’s done
Bm A G - | | | D -
I’ve been wondering why I cannot go outside
The world is big and wide, or it’s supposed to be
Been thinking about my lies, been taking a long drive
I end up by your side metaphorically
Been sitting down so long I need a rest from sitting
Don’t know if I’m wrong, don’t know if I’ve bitten
D - A - | G - - - | (2x)
Off more than I can chew, you read until you lose your shit
You lose all this shit that you’ve been given
You wrote it on your wall: “I want to try real hard”
So fucking do it, do it, do it, do it!
I’ve been thinking on my feet again
Cause if I don’t, well, I’d be defeated then
I’m just waiting on the moment you can tell me when
I can say this hard day’s done
D - A - | G - - - | (4x)
You say you’re on your toes, we all are I suppose
And no one ever knows if it’s working, never
I learned that I was wrong in the first verse of this song
It’s hard but I’ve been on my feet so long I can stay forever
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8. |
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9. |
Firefly
02:40
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What is one without two?
I never knew
When you’re gone it’s so hard
To make it through
C - F C | - - G - | (2x)
Darling won’t you light up in my hands again
Hold me in your gentle arms once more, and then
Our love will never end, any curve or any bend
Won’t you light up in my hands again
F - C G | | F C F C | F G C - |
What is two without you?
Wish someone knew
No one else fills your shoes
Quite like you do
Firefly, Firefly
You know I’d never tell a lie
You and I, side by side
I don’t think we’ll ever die
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10. |
Charmer & Co.
02:55
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Everyone knows: you’re a charmer,
Everyone looks when you walk in the room
You command their attention
Like a sergeant commands his platoon
But I am not like that, I’m shy and retiring
And I stay in a world in my head
F#m - D E | | F#m - D - | A - E - |
Nobody looks at me, except for you
When people think of us they think of me after you
But I’m content to be be forgotten by everyone that you know
I’m content to be Charmer & Co.
Dmaj7 - F#m - | A - E - | (2x)
I still wonder what the hell you’re doing with me
When you could have really anyone else that you see
But when we’re alone, that’s how I know, out of everyone
You chose me, you chose me
And when you met my parents you turned your charm on
You hit them with all of the force of a bomb
I think you might have seduced my mom
(she said you were dreamy) but see,
F#m - | C# - | D - | A C# |
The charm isn’t even the thing that I love
I liked it at first but there’s so much above
It’s everything about the way that you are
You glitter and pulsate: a little white star
The charm’s superficial and I love the deep
The way that you hold me when we go to sleep
The way that you speak and the way that you think
The way we’re so different and yet so in synch
I’m head over heels! This is the real deal!
Can’t believe the intensity of what I feel!
I’m just in love
This is embarrassing
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11. |
Dip My Toes
03:19
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There’s comfort on these roads sometimes
The feeling when I’m traveling in my own time
The sun is in my eyes a little and there’s something on my mind but still
There’s comfort on these roads sometimes
G - - C G - - C | G - - D C - - - | D - Em - C - - - | G - D - G - - C |
There’s magic on these stones some places
There’s magic on their edges and their faces
Right now I’m skipping ten where I found an arrowhead back then
There’s magic on these stones some places
And if I dip my toes tonight
In Woodward’s sacred water
Will it heal my toes?
And if I get the courage up
To get in a little farther
Will it heal my soul
D - C - | Em - Bm - | C - D - | G - - -
I love the land I live on on some days
I love I love my country in some ways
If those corporate fucks were stopped, and the government and cops
Then I could love my country someday
I’d love to see things change somehow
Enough with waiting let’s see changes now
If workers organize and strike that could set a few things right
Oh I’d love to see things change somehow
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12. |
The Rats and the Roses
03:40
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Well Lopside Manor was a strange looking edifice
And no one room had a line to reflect
Maybe 40 years back it wasn’t quite so treacherous
But now I wouldn’t go there if you paid
My sweet old lady used to have 9 children
But they all moved off to the US of A
Her husband died and only left her with millions
It was me and her and the rats and the roses
Em - | - B7 | Em - | Am B7 | (2x)
He arrived from the mist like a vulture to a carcass
All young and suave and debonair
She was old and weak and didn’t want to seem heartless
So she said he could stay just for a night
Well 1 turned to 2, turned to 3, turned to 4
And soon it seemed she’d be staying at the manor for good
I kept my rectitude but it was hard to ignore
They only noticed each other, not the rats…
Well late one night I head the kitchen bell a ringing
And the dumbwaiter was heavier than ever before
He scampered off and left the servant’s door a singing
And the cops believed every lie he swore
G A B - | G A Em D | (2x)
C - B - C - A Am |
The moon shone brighter than a lantern’s candle
And the shovel seemed louder than a flintlock blast
Employment can be hard but it’s nothing I can’t handle
So I left her sleeping with the rats…
Today he’s traveling in spain or in italy
The old woman’s still ‘neath the garden bed
And I’m stuck here in a cell built with symmetry
And ain’t no one left but the rats…
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13. |
To Be in a Place
03:58
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It starts with the bones under plaster
That make up the skeletal structure that holds me aloft
It feels like the prow of a ship built to weather
Whatever, most anything, unceasing, abrupt
F - - - | Gm - - - | Am - - - | Bb - (C) - |
I know that there’s somebody listening beside me
Across through the wall, but I don’t know her name
And trekking down hallways that go on forever
My friend will be lying awake just the same
The same as the wrinkle that started off slowly
And rose to my window with untwinkling lights
The second and third floors look like they’re reflecting
On an invisible ocean that cuts through the night
Bring me down, bring me down before I fly away
I’m alonely and drifting in space
Bring me down, bring me down, I won’t come knocking/I won’t go gently
I guess it’s enough just to be in a place
Bb - F - | Dm - C - | Bb - F - | Gm - Bb - | - -
Beyond is the city, there’s too many steeples
There’s thousands of people, all breathing their breaths
I thought that I recognized one as I float over
Darting and drifting away to the west
The shape of a melody catches my ear
And I think of the craftsman who shaped it, and tried
He’s struggling, just as I will in a moment
When reason catches up with my runaway mind
And oh! There’s the sun, and it’s setting just for me!
And oh, there, it’s shooting off revelous plumes
Over New York and its blueish gray mountains
By the elegant fountain I become something new
Bb - F - | Bb - F C | Bb - F - | Gm - C - | - -
And what did I do… to deserve the affection
Of ten billion atoms; this brilliant view
Some call it home, and some call it heaven
But one’s where I come from and one’s where I’m headed
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14. |
This Land is Your Land
05:43
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On turtle back; in the branch of a tree;
In seven days; on a woman’s body;
No matter which way, no matter why,
This land was made for you and me.
Bb - F - / C - F - / Bb - F Dm / 2nd /
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the gulf stream water
This land was made for you and me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway;
I saw below me that golden valley;
This land…
I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding;
This land…
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land…
As I went walking I saw a sign there,
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing.
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land…
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Tall Travis Burlington, Vermont
We sing about our feelings but we do actually want to overthrow the government
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