1. |
Champion
04:03
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My heart felt frozen, won't you please, please, please move closer.
You were a champion, it's like you dressed up on Halloween.
But you tell me it's over now, because nobody saw you,
now no one believes that you were a champion.
If anything you walk fortunately, And now you're a champion,
though nobody saw you, now no one believes.
I might not notice – but if you need me, we'll move closer.
I might not notice, but you don't need me here any longer,
because you were a champion, it's like you dressed up on Halloween.
But you tell me it's over now, because nobody saw you
now no one believes that you were a champion.
If anything you walk fortunately, And now you're a champion, though nobody saw you, now no one believes.
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2. |
All Wrapped
03:55
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What if all your notes were wrong? And what if all you heard was off?
Maybe there's a best of you, but it's mixed up with the rest of you.
What if all this weren't your fault?
What if all your beats were off?
So you danced all night to the same damn song and it's rough
to find that it's broken all your limbs in two, and crushed the very heart of you.
What if all your moves weren't enough?
I know that it looks all right.
Oh, but I know this is not your time to fade out.
It's all wrapped around you, this house of cards; it's all stacked against you.
And I guess we focused on,
I guess we could focus on this for far too fucking long–
Oh, I know it'll look all right.
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3. |
Good Neighbor
03:17
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Go – but wait until your neighbor sells. What is it gonna take to bend?
You're waiting for the radio to play the whole thing fair.
I hardly slept an hour straight, I guess that it's the more you spend,
the more you make -- until the wheels you grind fall off. And then you go.
You go, I'll stay, I say my piece - while you dance there alone.
There you said it son, rattle me awake,
the first light on the road bent me back to shape.
Hold on to your hood, I hear a rumble of thunder in the murk.
You're not responsible for us.
No – what's the use of staying late, if all it means you work the bill?
How can I ensure the truth be told if I'm here still.
No. A college man would say it worse, but think before he said it first.
How can they expect to take and steal what you deserve?
I didn't speak at all, now no one will remember my name.
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4. |
Tell 'Em, Ghost
03:42
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Say what you will about me -- I was really just getting up to leave
the comforting sway and normalcy of this life I knew to the east.
Oh, hello, there flickering screen. You're the only one up here I need.
It's awful quiet and my schedule's all but empty.
It's the hum that keeps me from feeling all alone in this red scene.
Tell 'em. Go on and tell 'em who's right.
Now all hands on the spaceship, and you were gearing up to leave.
Out here in your basement you were too stoic to believe,
and we wasted the obvious engagement.
We're wasted for the opportunity.
I know it's never coming back to me.
I'm not in orbit, there's no hope of reentry.
I've made my bed just knowing they'll rewrite me.
Let's hope the edit's a bit more flattering.
My ghost will tell 'em who's right.
Wasted for the opportunity.
Waiting for the opportunity.
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5. |
National Spectre
04:46
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I haven’t written you a damn thing, so you can do all the talking.
But I woke up with you last night - I woke up to you smiling.
And we’re fine! (I want to be the reason we’re fine.)
Let this be the reason we’re trying.
Let this be the season we’re dry.
Let this be the reason we’re fine.
I haven’t written you a damn thing – we do this too often.
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6. |
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I don't want to stay inside anymore,
so I went walking until the sun came up.
Well you read your books, then sold me one,
and told me, "I don't want to try hard any more."
I rang your number before dawn, you watched the picket lines move on.
There were stories every day on the news,
and we watched for your voice to appear as a clue.
Everyone was a mess on the capital steps,
and all eyes fell upon me ‘til I couldn't breathe.
I think you should feel free to be anything that you like –
even if it means that you stop everything,
and take what you've always earned.
And if you still have the time,
your brother and sister hardly knew you when you were.
I think you should feel free to be anything that you like –
even if it means that you stop waking up before the sun rise,
pretending not to check on us, the very way you once despised.
We call on everyone, but can't call them quick enough.
Half of me wants everything, but half of me won't.
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7. |
Requiem for Some Band
03:48
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Sure, it's gonna be fine.
I know we'll be remembered in time.
Is a lie still a lie if no one hears it?
Ghosts that come to me come through the stereo.
And there's nothing quite like it, the sound of leaving.
Ghosts that come to me come through the stereo.
"Have you forgotten what we were like when we were still first rate?"*
But my brain won't settle on anything,
so la di da di da di da.
Is a joke still a joke if no one hears it?
We'll be winding it down.
Ghosts that come to me come through the stereo.
And there's nothing quite like it, the sound of leaving.
Ghosts that come to me come through the stereo.
*Misquoted from Frank O'Hara's "Animals" (1950)
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8. |
Boggs
05:57
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9. |
July 2
03:13
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That was cold not romantic,
like a modern way to play dead.
And I've noticed that you're still tracing
all the lines of their backward faces,
like you found something new.
That's enough to lose.
Bear in mind there's a time and place for this.
If I lied then I have no case for it.
But that's enough to,
That's enough to lose.
It was old at the taste of it,
and it doesn't matter how it's plated.
It still reeks of the same damn reasons
I got drunk each night for the last 6 seasons,
like that was something new.
That's enough to lose.
Holding down, down. Holding down, down.
We will all ride.
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