1. |
beach day
01:46
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i traveled vaguely southward
'til i could hear the tide
and buried my toes in the sand
right by the waterside
my friends were laughing all the way
to the rocks on down the shore
they climbed to the top
and then jumped off
and then they laughed some more
they laughed some more
i laughed with them and joked with them
and loved them for their fun
but i was thinking of you
as i watched the setting sun
i know i should forget you
and never bother hence
the brain sees far
knows what you are
but it's the heart you have to convince
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2. |
madison, age 3
02:32
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unafraid that you will wake me
you come into my bedroom
to proclaim that it is morning
as if the sun were not enough
with your little fingers spread out
to repeat against my forehead
our bellies full of grain
we walk to the end of our street
and you want to go left
and so we go left
you grind the gravel
beneath the heel of your black patent leathers
and with their scuffed toes you kick at pine cones
which you find to be hilarious
holding my hand
you notice the hole
in the knee of your stockings
and you put your finger in it
getting bigger every minute
on the way back home you stop
and you do a little dance move
staring down at an ant bed
one crawls up your leg and you say
"i wonder if they dance, too?"
hope you grow up to be just like you
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3. |
the dancing one
01:57
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yesterday the rain wouldn't stop
now the whole world's underwater
but not our house
it floats on top
and there's nothing to do so we
gotta
we gotta dance
we gotta dance
float over london and
float over france
and i guess it's alright
that we'll prob'ly die tonight
we gotta dance
we gotta dance
we gotta dance
there's no use worrying over
your loved ones' whereabouts
there's no use caring
there's nothing left to care about!
1 2 3 woo!
we gotta dance
we gotta dance
float over jobs and
float over pants
and i guess it's okay
that we won't see another day
we gotta dance
we gotta dance
we gotta dance
there is no way we're gonna last very long
so we might as well sing a song
there is no way that we will make it out alive
so we better bust a funky jive
bust a funky jive
1 2 3 woo!
hey!
hey!
hey!
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4. |
seawife's letter
02:13
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when next you see me
you won't know me
so changed will my countenance be
brown of skin
and long of hair
for i have wed the open sea
dear, i loved you
fiercely, truly
but why, only heaven knows
for i was turned out
flatly, coldly
in favor of what you chose
"i love a good long book, dear girl
and i love a bed, a cup of tea
but no girl will ever snare my heart"
is what you said to me
so i headed for the harbor
snuck aboard the nearest ship
earned my calluses and blisters
in the ocean's loving grip
now i love the smell of early sea-wind
truer than any lover's heart
and when it beckons
i will do my part
my fingers will graze horizons
you'll be reading milton's prose
i'll light fires and send you postcards
you'll regret the choice you chose
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5. |
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i can take three steps
where you just take one small step
i can reach way way high up above me
and still you're up there
just looking around
closer to the sound
of airplanes and rain
the occasional hot air balloon enthusiast
but i think maybe you're dreaming of fields in
africa
running from lions and tigers and poachers and tourists
instead of wasting your time
on
children with cameras on field trips
laughing at the way you're so tall
when really they're just small
how'd they get to be so small?
when i was 10 i took your picture
licking my best friend
i'm sure you don't remember
but that's okay
you know i'll prob'ly never come visit
'cause zoos are kinda like prisons
and really i'm not down with that
but how 'bout when i drive by and i see you
i'll wave
and it's alright
if you don't reciprocate
'cause you don't really have hands
and i'll know that you're dreaming of fields in
africa
running from lions and tigers and poachers and tourists
realizing that
one day you'll die
'cause it's a circle of life
and you know that
you're not scared
you just want it to be exciting, is all
i really hope this isn't all
'cause i know that i'm dreaming of fields in
africa
and i know it's not likely
but if you get out
come see me
and maybe we can go
after all
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6. |
i miss cherie
03:49
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my best friend moved far away
so naturally i have some things to say
there's nobody here for me to go to thrift stores with
nobody now for me to talk about star wars with
nobody to collude with
nobody to be subdued with
nobody to watch "the last crusade" and
eat chinese food with
i know that every stage in life comes to a point
where it passes on
but whose cotton shirt are you gonna
wipe your glasses on?
i know you had to get the heck out
but nobody ever stuck their neck out
like you did
and though you're at the other end of the country
i maintain
that no two were ever better suited
one day you will get married
one day i will get married
but it won't be to each other
most likely not each other
but with any luck
we'll all get stuck
living together
in a big yellow house
with a music room and our
own private theater
and our husbands will be best friends, too
and they'll understand the meaning of me and you
so they'll leave us alone sometimes
so we can read harry potter and spit mad rhymes
(such dope rhymes)
and the four of us will cook delicious dinners
paint pretty pictures
go sledding in winters
build homes for people that ain't got one
knit sweaters for anyone that wants one
and our children will be best friends
or get married
or even both
and we'll die ancient on the front porch
drinking tea
telling jokes
this probably won't happen
i am prepared for this
but for your peace of mind
i want you to be aware of this
if i ever love a man who confesses late one night
that he doesn't like you
or after careful consideration
decides he doesn't want me to visit you
i'll be calm
i'll be cool
but i am nobody's fool
i will drop him like he's hot
i will drop him like he's hot
so cherie
lady
cherie
can't wait for you to come hang out with me in my tiny apartment in kentucky
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7. |
dinosaur friends
04:10
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every morning i wake up and i
drain the contents of my cup while i
sit out on my front porch
and i wait
over yonder like distant drumming
i can hear them, hear them coming
my friends, my friends
and they are never late
the dinosaurs
trudging, ascending and stomping my way
from some far away hill
comin' to make my day
they are good, they are kind
and they always say please
and usually bless you whenever i sneeze
they wipe their feet on the mat
and they keep the yard clean
and they don't say things, say things
that they don't mean
and i know that i
can rely
on my dinosaur friends
apatosaurus is strong and courageous
stegosaurus is completely outrageous
pachycephalosaurus can't resist a good brawl
dromiceiomimus has a tender heart
pteranodon is into modern art
and utahraptor
is a know-it-all
t-rex, t-rex
he is the king
he likes everybody and
everything
he's funny and silly
and very wise
and he gives good advice
to all the other guys
he's proficient in latin and philosophy
he likes the brontes, charlotte and emily
he's stomped and stomped all over this land
but the one thing he can't understand
is why we
oh we
why we say things, say things
that we don't mean
still i know that i
can rely
on my dinosaur friends
my dinosaur friends they are full of couth
and they always, always tell the truth
(they are good, they are kind, they are very wise
they say nice things and they don't tell lies)
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8. |
||||
in the winter
of my eighth year
christmas 1992
we went sledding
in our front yard
barbie intertubes
our dad
and me and you
it was white out
both our noses ran
ugly knit hats
on our heads
up and down our
slippery driveway
all morning
all afternoon
our cheeks were red
in circles
our father turned you
out into the
empty street
where i was walking
i was dreaming
you spun right into,
under my feet
i fell on snow
i fell on asphalt
we screamed and laughed and
ran up the hill
we went inside
we went all over
we got big and old and i
love you still
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9. |
meteor showers
03:45
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after a dinner of tacos
and a big glass of cherry coke
you walk down to the sidewalk
and have yourself a smoke
mysterious fireworks framed
by the houses across the street
you walk down to the stoplight
and in the cool night
you look at your feet
the air is fine, the air is fresh
the city's wrapped in its twilight cloak
but you are heavy, your steps like lead
joined to some clandestine yoke
everybody knows that you're tired now
there's no use in being discrete
things could be better, but things could be worse
so get your eyes up off that concrete
are you aware
of what's up there
in the place above your head?
or how it goes
outside your dark windows
when you're sleeping in your bed?
out in space the comets race
and shake off their cosmic debris
propel it here into the atmosphere
for the sake of you and me
the perseids, the geminids
and the quadrantids in the east
flying from afar, there are shooting stars
at the very least, at the very least
we've got meteor
showers
i know that it's dark as night
i know you're lost, i know you're afraid
but look up, hold tight!
the sky's on fire tonight
a meteoric parade
and thus, our serenade
your boss is mean
your friends are making a scene
nobody brought you flowers
but there are meteor showers
your car broke down
don't have a friend in the town
you can't keep up with the hours
but there are meteor showers
the dinosaurs died
and life is kicking your hide
you lost your copy of "the two towers"
but there are meteor showers
meteor showers
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10. |
swordfights and ships
02:17
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at the end of the day
when the purples and pinks
start to sink in the ground
back behind our house
we will wonder and wait
on the plans that we make
wait and wonder and wait
this place is pastel
stuccoed bright, stuccoed shut
folks like ants walk upright
back and forth, back and forth
we have feet just the same
and this place has a name:
"nowhere here, nowhere now"
sea encircles the land
but you sit on your hands
thinking of your poor heart
oh alas, oh alas
don't worry where he is
it's not your problem, it's his
if he never saw
there are swordfights and ships
there's cartwheels and backflips
there are mysteries to solve
thumbwars yet to be won
there are letters to read
there are people to feed
there's a lot to be done
at the end of the day
when the paint-flecked sun
starts to sink in the ground
starts to sink down low
let us go
we will go
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