1. |
The Dancer, Part 1
03:39
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Cursed is the thinker, with all them thoughts up in her head
Fucked is the writer, there's no ink left in his pen
Cursed is the scientist, who sees the future, but can't change it
Meanwhile the dancer dances on
Cursed is the guitar player who wishes he could sing
To move the crowd with an angel's voice, well that would be the thing
But the singer, he secretly yearns to be that funky drummer
'Cause the drummer is closest to a dancer
When he hits them skins he's closest to a dancer
There's a plum tree outside my place, and in the last week of February
The blossoms burst, out of nowhere it seems, in boundless hope and
joy
But so soon the petals start to fall, and by the middle of March, they've
come and gone
To lay in cream pink drifts upon the ground
While fools like me start countin' down
How many more springs have I got left in this town
But the dancer, she dances not to think
Draws circles with her toes in the drifts of pink
Leaps to touch the leaves above her head
Loves the solid ground when she descends
Meanwhile, the dancer dances on...
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2. |
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The bells of St. Andrew's call across the morning mist
You can tell it's gonna be a fine one as the clouds begin to lift
It calls to mind another sunny day, looking back these three long years
When I gazed out on the glorious morn, my eyes filled with tears
That's the day my darling waved goodbye, the brightest smile on her
face
To seek herself and to find her own way.
Now I know it can't be just like it was, I know she will have changed
Still I can't wait to hear her voice, can't wait to see her face
To hear the tales that she has to tell, the poems that she has made
The joy that starts down deep inside, the laugh like God's own grace
What it was she saw in me, I never quite could tell
But when the queen chooses you, you simply kneel.
I remember watching her, as she headed down this road
Clear as yesterday, though it seems a thousand years ago
Her red knit cap against the bright blue sky
The wind playing in her raven hair, flowin' out behind
I thought, if my heart don't break from grief, it'll surely burst with pride
As I watched her ride into the rising sun and said goodbye
To my brand new bride...
So git up pony, pick up your pace, and bring my little lass back home
I'll be waiting on the lookout hill, my eyes trained on that road
Where it winds away into the haze, whence it carried my girl away
Lookin' for that red knit cap, comin' back the other way
She's been out there livin' her life, while I've been faithful here
Now I can't wait to start again, my dear.
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3. |
Home
03:49
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There was a war here once, I believe
It had nothing to do with me
I've a memory of fighting, but that was just a dream
It's got nothing to do with me
Some of my fellow soldiers never woke
They lie snug beneath six feet of soil and a couple more of snow
I'll walk among the lichens hangin' from the leafless oaks
I'll see the moss resplendent in the damp and in the cold
And when the devil comes for me I'll tell him no, no, no
Get thee gone, 'cause I've found my home
In the window of the van, a vase to hold
The sweetest gifts you've stopped to pick from the side of the road
Clarkia, matilija poppy and the virgin's bower vine
If you wander long enough, I know you will find
That crescent-shaped cove where the bluffs meet the sea
You'll recognize that perfect beach from a distant memory
You'll walk along the wet sand with the foam around your feet
Gaze upon that disc of orange as beyond the blue it sinks
And when the devil comes for you, you'll say hell no, not me
Get back fiend, this is my home sweet
I'll roam the quiet hollows that the hills hold close
You'll plant yourself a garden and you'll see what grows
And when the devil comes for us, we'll tell him no, no, no
Get thee gone, 'cause we've found our home
We've no use for you, 'cause we've found our home
Get back fiend, 'cause we've found a home.
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4. |
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Readin' Actual Air for the first time in years, it's as good as I remember
Your voice shinin' through, hazy but true, like a neon light in the rain
From a couple of my oldest friends I heard about your death
And like Sarah said, it's hard to be someone who cares
And I would almost pay the spirit that owned you, pay it with my soul
To see the world the way that you did, akimbo and aglow
I take heart from the words you left, I always trusted in what you said
You said "The dead know what they're doing when they leave this world behind"
You made a world of your own
You built it from the broken pieces of the world that we know
And I followed you across frozen lakes and down every country road
Lonely you may have been, but you were never alone
Rainy winter in Berkeley town, must have been early '98
Stumbled across The Natural Bridge, and I've never been the same
Late nights and lonely afternoons, I wandered through the gloom
And I found the strangest comfort in your haunted rooms
You made a world of your own
You filled it with the broken pieces of the world that we know
And I sat with you at the airport bar and on the county courthouse lawn
When I miss you man, I'll find you there in your songs
You cared about the things that slip through the cracks
You cared about the shit that's never comin' back
You cared about the edges and the underneath
You looked at the mundane and saw pure mystery
You made a world of your own
Built it from the broken pieces of the world that we know
And I followed you across frozen lakes and down every country road
Lonely you may have been but you were never alone.
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5. |
The Dancer, Part 2
04:23
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6. |
What Not to Do
04:09
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7. |
A Different Kind of Song
04:35
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8. |
Scared of a Better World
06:18
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Hermit Thrush California
Hermit Thrush is the recording project of Joe Madden, born 1975, currently residing in Mendocino County, California.
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