1. |
||||
|
Can we say it's working against us this time?
Admit that we're broken?
I need you in my line of sight so I don't get lost.
I can't hear you from inside this empty room.
Staring at my own hands. Idling bones.
Too many things that I haven't done.
All I wanted was to pick you every day.
Now I pull out nails from all the floorboards
as you pack every glass in pairs for our home.
I fell through the slats.
All I wanted was to pick you every day.
|
||||
2. |
The Ballad of Hobo Cat
02:04
|
|||
|
One April evening I met you as you stepped onto my yard,
"Dear sir, can I rest here? See, I've traveled very far."
We shared our troubled stories and our trials of weary days.
The company was comforting but I knew you couldn't stay.
You only asked for a hug and some place warm to rest
but you smelled a little funky and the lease had said "NO PETS"
Oh Hobo Cat, please tell me, what did you eat today?
'Cause the night's are getting longer and the mice are tucked away.
Would you join me this evening for a smoke and a song?
When I wake up in the morning will you be gone?
Did somebody once love you? Did you throw it all away
for chasing nip and tail through dark alleyways?
Is it just the summer's warmth that put you on my lap?
Will winter take you away to that endless cat-nap?
Oh, Hobo Cat, please tell me, where did you sleep last night?
'Cause I need someone to talk to. My head is wound too tight.
Would you join me this evening for a smoke and a song?
When I wake up in the morning will you be gone?
Your belly's sagged. Your claws are clipped.
You had a home, said "To hell with it,
the mangy face of death might call me and I'm gone,
but for meow it's the city life for this vagabond.
Oh, the sixth face of death, or the seventh face of death,
or the eighth face of death might call me out to stray,
but I think I'll sit for a while, we're only here today."
|
||||
3. |
Dead By Dawn
03:55
|
|||
|
Cabin fire burnt down to coals.
Smoke in the wind and the crying souls.
Oh, all night you gotta run.
Oh, all night you gotta run.
The dead fears rose, and they're in our clothes.
Teeth and claws and eyes that bleed,
in your hair, your brain, your knees.
Hopeless fear, 'cause tomorrow's gone.
And with it, the drive to carry on.
Oh, all night you gotta run.
Oh, all night you gotta run.
The dead fears rose, now they're in our clothes.
Teeth and claws and eyes that bleed,
in your hair, your brain, your knees.
Oh, all night you gotta run.
Oh, all night you gotta run.
An unknown toll of the time you stole.
Aware now, the all-ache worsens. Tattered pages, a book of curses.
The demon dreams and swallowed souls,
we'll be dead by dawn. Dead by dawn.
Better to wonder. Just catch your air.
We'll be dead by dawn. Dead by dawn.
Dead by dawn.
Dead by dawn.
|
||||
4. |
||||
5. |
||||
|
Wake up. What did you see when you closed your eyes?
A forest on a stage away from all the day to day?
Or a city street, pedals at your feet?
Roaring rivers lulling you to sleep?
Jo pulls the seat away.
Jo pulls the seat away.
Wake up, the road's long today.
Fearful, anxious, whispered nights -- away!
Remember wild flowers by the road
and know I want them too when I'm gone.
Like your image smiling in my eyes.
Jo pulls the seat away.
Jo pulls the seat away.
Wake up, what did you mean, you're not yourself today?
Patterns on the fringe of what we know of everything.
Yeah, it's quite the mess, but it's consciousness.
Pinholes looking backwards at themselves.
A universe withheld in you and you, in you and me.
Jo pulls the seat away.
Jo pulls the seat away.
Wake up. Winter's on it's way.
Count the leaves' shadows lined in frost.
Burn. You take my breath away
and say I'm always warm now from afar.
Jo pulls the seat away.
Jo pulls the seat away.
Wake up, I love you.
Wake up, I love you.
Wake up, I love you!
|
||||
6. |
Dancing In My Dreams
04:38
|
|||
|
Can you teach it to me? All the ways you move me.
I've stumbled 'round the world chasin' those curls.
I know it'd be crazy to turn you down, even maybe.
'Cause if you wanna dance with me,
I should know how to move my feet.
Can you come over, baby? I never see you lately.
Seems only in my dreams just ain't enough for me.
I know I shouldn't expect it to be just like I left it.
Whatever will be, will be.
If you come home, could you wake me from my sleep?
I guess I'll see ya later, my little alligator.
In a while, crocodile, we can trade smiles.
You said, "Now, gimme a minute. Did you just call me a lizard?"
And as I bare my teeth we shed our skins for the other to see.
Can I come over, baby? I haven't felt well lately.
There's no reason or rhyme to all this cryin'.
I know I thought it'd be different, maybe it's just the sickness?
Like waves lapping at the door, I gotta wonder, what they're callin' for?
It's good to see your face. I've been countin' down the days.
Seems only on my screen just wasn't helpin' me.
I know we thought it'd be different, maybe it's just the distance?
Whatever will be, will be.
If the road is long, who knows where it leads?
|
||||
7. |
Secondary Gains
03:29
|
|||
|
Oh. A world away and the stereo silence.
Could I find my mind was also quiet?
Instead of ripping at the seams like it does now.
Since my head's way up here, how I get my feet on the ground?
Dream of pine trees, old growth underneath.
Break a branch and feed the flame.
Heat's a secondary gain.
Hold the smoke in. Let it fill your mind.
Again and again and again.
You could be born again next to me, I dunno.
Would you survive the storm?
Would you emerge from northern waters?
Would you emerge from northern waters?
Now I'm bracing. My heart's racing.
Take a step and feel the pain, dancing up your leg.
Needles say run, pins are for to stay in place.
You could be warm again. Next to me? I dunno.
Alone inside the storm, thought it'd be best with closer bodies.
Thought it'd be best with closer bodies.
Who could be born again? Patiently? I dunno.
Would you survive the storm?
Would you emerge from northern waters?
Alone?
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
I arrived at the airport,
red car to drive and I'm seein' it again.
I've survived this story half-dozen times or more.
Once I tried to learn like before,
but then I cried when I ordered breakfast.
Yeah, I guess I lied. Said something dumb like,
"I know what I want."
So yeah, I lied.
Oh, and I stole,
and I know that now.
Now it's getting better every day.
At least that's what I tell myself to make me feel okay.
And now I try. (That's new to me).
Gotta live with myself, I guess I might as well like me.
And in a week, I've found
I miss him more than feet stuck on the ground.
Hmmph.
Well, we never saw each other anyway.
Every three months just ain't no everyday.
So now I try. (Still new to me).
Gotta pull myself up! I know these arms just ain't that weak!
And one more on, I've found
I finally see why he is not around.
Oh..
Now I finally found someone I can tell
all my thoughts and my fears, collected worries of all the years.
I gotta say, it's worth the money!
'Cause I know I ain't that fun to be around if I wanna die.
And in a year, maybe I'll find
something sorta like peace of mind.
Oh!
So now I prepare for the day
I get up for a stretch, the voices come back and they say --
they tell me, "Son, don't'cha know?
You are what people get when they are bad."
And they just wanna sink it in, so they say
"You are what people get WHEN THEY ARE BAD."
So if I wanna leave, that's fine with me.
Eventually we'll all be dead and then maybe we'll see?
What will there be? What did we mean?
You know, I'm sure the answer's "nothing,"
and I think that's pretty neat.
'Cause I think it means we're really free
to not give such a fuck about our anxieties--
CAUSE EVERYDAY MY BRAIN GOES
"OH MY GOSH, WHAT HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO?"
and if yours does too, maybe you can sing, MAYBE YOU CAN GO
"OH MY GOSH, WHAT HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO?"
'CAUSE IT GOES AND IT GOES AND IT GOES.
IT GOES "OH MY GOSH, WHAT HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO?"
So if I wanna leave, just leave me be.
I'm runnin' outta room to hide all these broken deeds.
And if it's true that when it ends
there's no way of coming back, well, I know I'll think again.
'Cause if I wanna leave or I don't know where to be,
I should go for a little swim or maybe swing on a tree.
'Cause it'd probably be a little more fun
to go outside and see my friends.
I've missed you everyone.
|
||||
9. |
||||
|
I hope one day you know
I carry you where I go.
I started a path
I thought I could come back
for you, but
I guess I couldn't.
If a man'll swim the English Channel
maybe I could tread another month.
But I worry, if you can't hurry
I'm gonna see how deep this gets.
I hope one day you know
I carry you where I go.
All of the time I spent empty and
dying seemed earlier than I wanted.
Let it go, son. Pacific Ocean
will rise and swallow it up.
Black morning, no warning.
More a ditch than a rut.
I hope one day you know
I carry you where I go.
I never meant for you to think we're not friends,
just needed to be moving on.
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
Can we say it's working
against us this time?
Admit that we're broken?
I need you in my line of sight
so I don't get lost.
I can't hear you from inside
this empty room.
Staring at my own hands.
Idling bones.
Too many things
that I haven't done.
All I wanted
was to pick you every day.
Now I pull out nails from
all the floorboards
as you pack every glass
in pairs for our home.
I fell
through the slats.
All I wanted
was to pick you every day.
|
||||
If you like Mutant Man, you may also like:
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
Beautifully played and full of moving vocal performances, the Bay Area singer/songwriter's latest is a stellar work of art.
go to album
Wry songs from this Washington artist that recall the homespun charm of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
Remember That I Love You
by Kimya Dawson
For the next week, proceeds from Kimya Dawson’s albums on Bandcamp will go to the family of Charleena Lyles.
go to album
A partnership between Yep Roc and The Southern Folklife Collection, the LP features a never-before-heard live performance by Doc Watson.
go to album
Carrie & Lowell Live
by Sufjan Stevens
The live interpretation of Sufjan's “Carrie & Lowell,” his landmark 2015 LP, capturing the singer at his most vulnerable and persuasive.
go to album
Irish singer-songwriter Oisin Leech's acoustic folk music is characterized by its muted beauty and intimate, solitary quality.
go to album
