1. |
Hungry Ghost
04:33
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Should I plan my escape or plot my revenge
or plant all my rage in the garden?
Swallow my pride or dig into this trench
and finish this game that I started?
Follow the path, stay on the trail,
stick to these guns though they’re bound to fail,
climb up out of this rabbit hole
pull my anchor up and set sail,
‘Cause I hear the hungry ghost but i’m a lazy host
Go out in the world and find you a girl
and build up a life and home
get a good job and then climb to the top
and cash in your time and your soul
Everybody’s a pawn in somebody else’s game
we can vie for what we want all the way to the bank
“Yes we can”.
But if you wake me up, I could wake you up.
If I wake you up will you wake me up?
Or I can stand guard and you can just sleep
We’re nothing without the company we keep
And then you can stand guard and maybe I can sleep too
Cause I hear the hungry ghost but i’m a lazy host
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2. |
Alchemy
05:01
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All these little crabs got their world on their backs
they just sink inside when the world outside attacks
And I sink inside, too, and my face turns blue,
I can pull my own weight but I don’t want to pay the tax.
All of these people are walking on water,
I’m gonna sink like a stone or walk along like I oughta
like the machismo rooster that keeps cocking all night
and perpetrating his myth on us all.
I’m trying to read the tides but I can’t quite time ‘em
and I’m looking for an omen but it feels like it’s slowing me down down down down
and then I tune it all out and I’m thinking out loud and I’m
speaking in tongues to each and everyone who will listen.
I’m just going back and forth between
feeling annihilated and reborn
I’m just getting off my horse and heading straight for the source and I’ll be right on course in the morning.
The Wind is showing off, playing an open chord on the guitar
with the curtain, and all the dogs in the barrio are a-howling.
It’s hard to hear my heart with all this noise,
but I’m poised to listen, though the sound may be hidden
In the stars it is written.
I’m waxing and I’m waning and I’m sick of complaining,
but it feels like I’m always waiting around.
And I’m lonely and I’m bored and I’m tired and confused
without you, for to act like a clown.
I’m just going back and forth between feeling annihilated and reborn
I’m just getting off my horse and heading straight for the source
and I’ll be right on course in the morning.
All of the puppies and piglets and the chickens get along
because they’ve been brothers and sisters ever since they were born.
It’s hard to hear their hearts with all this noise,
but they’re poised to listen
though the sound may be hidden
in the stars it is written.
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3. |
Eliza
04:09
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I didn’t expect to run into you
now I’m wondering what the hell I should do.
I looked into your eyes and I came
to my senses and realized I was insane.
Tell me what I should do, I’ll make it up to you.
Anything that you think will make it right.
Take your time, you can tell me in the morning
Let’s just sleep on it tonight.
Now I’ve been thinking in circles,
ya know it’s hard to keep track.
Gotta get this ol’ monkey off of my back.
Everybody needs a little space and some time
so go ahead and take yours and I will take mine.
While the pain in my gut screams enough is enough,
give me some water or I’m going home.
The revolution in my mind has yet to take hold on the inside.
Eliza Eliza I was wondering where that would go
Virginia I’m sorry I left you out in the cold
Janine you’re so goddamn mean
where have i heard that before? (slip)
Zora close your eyes, don’t watch me walk out the door.
Tell me what I should do, I’ll make it up to you.
Anything that you think will make it right.
Take your time, you can tell me in the morning
Let’s just sleep on it tonight.
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4. |
Beleaguered
04:30
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The moon gets bigger and the moon gets smaller
and the days get shorter and the days get longer
and the waves roll in and the waves roll out
and the wind gets quiet and the wind gets loud
and the sun comes up and the sun dips down
and we go years with and we go years without
and then we find the space and we find the time
at the cost of everything we leave behind.
Something’s gotta give but I don’t know what it is.
There’s got to be a way, gotta be a better way to live
‘cause this isn’t it and that wasn’t it either,
but I’m a believer, although I’m beleaguered.
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5. |
What My Father Told Me
05:08
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You gotta set yourself up at the top of the heap
How else ya gonna get any sleep
with all these mongrels prowling around
and a trail of crumbs scattered all over town?
Hide your life savings in a shoe box under your bed
Horde everything that you find, and call it your collection.
You gotta appropriate everything that you see
Dig a hole in the yard and bury the key
Cap CAPital CAPITALISM
My belly’s full but I pretend like it isn’t.
Gimme some more and I’ll throw the
scraps on the floor for the rats
Its the only way to nourish the blood
for us vampire bats.
And I’m just doing what my father told me
go out and get yourself a piece to hold on to
You can’t depend on anyone else
because everybody wants a bigger piece for themselves
You’ve gotta keep an inventory of everything you’ve got
Count every stone and broken glass on the lot
And I’m just doing what my father told me
go out and get yourself a piece to hold on to
The panthers are chasing the pigs towards the sharks
and the pigs are looking for daylight but everything's dark
and the bloodhounds are patrolling the perimeter
they act like they’re guarding but they’re just looking for dinner
And I’m just doing what my father told me
go out and get yourself a piece to hold on to
You can’t depend on anyone else
because everybody wants a bigger piece for themselves
You’ve gotta keep an inventory of everything you’ve got
Count every stone and broken glass on the lot
And I’m just doing what my father told me
go out and get yourself a piece to hold on to
Hide your life savings in a shoe box under your bed
Horde everything that you find, and call it your collection.
You gotta appropriate everything that you see
Dig a hole in the yard and bury the key
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6. |
Missing Pieces
03:11
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I did a double take when I saw you
You know I almost crashed my car
I didn’t slam on the breaks but you know
I hit ‘em pretty hard
and then all the missing pieces
they just fell into my lap
just as I was thinking, ‘man, I got gypped on
this puzzle, I’m gonna take the
motherfucker back.
I want you to be my lover
but I do not need another mother
and I’ve already got 4 sisters and homegirls galore
but I want more from you
but don’t worry, there ain’t nothing that you need to prove
and between us, we ain’t got nothing substantial to lose
‘cause we only known each other for a couple of weeks
and we ain’t got much sleep since then
and we can’t be thinking about this shit with tired heads
so come on baby lets just go on back to bed.
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7. |
College
04:37
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I made $25 playing music at the college
got a $20 parking ticket playing music at the college
I gave ‘em ten grand and they let me go to college
I lived up in a tower in a closet at the college
but I didn’t like college
not to say I didn’t want knowledge
I just didn’t want to buy it from the college.
So tired of the flatland, moved over to the mountain
I made a little money playing music in the mountain
My knee was feeling funny spitting mucus at the mountain
but I don’t climb mountains ‘cause I’m not that strong
and it takes too long.
Simple is is simple does
I’m doing it just because I can.
Doesn’t matter anyway
I’ll be scrounging ‘til the day I die
So why should I even try.
I’d be lying to say that I planned it this way.
Got me thinking now I oughta go back to the college
Get myself a degree when I go back to the college
I’ll give ‘em ten grand and they’ll let me go to college
I’ll live up in a tower in a closet at the college.
I’ll play nice and friendly with the children at the college
Get my piece of paper when I get done at the college
Then I’ll have the knowledge that I bought from the college.
I’ll spit shine my shoes ‘til they look polished
when I go back to the college.
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8. |
A song
04:21
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I remembered your number in a dream
but I couldn’t tell if we were on the same team
‘cause I couldn’t see your eyes or remember the old times
but I still heard your words cut through me
So I called just to see how you were
or to recover my vision left blurred
or to trace back the fears that I faced through the years
and remedy the pain they’ve incurred.
A day or two later it’s gone,
but the feeling remains in a song.
Nothing else is left that can be beaten to death
it’s already been beaten too long.
We’ve all got people in our lives
that we’ll forget about after some time
but their image is burned, so they’ll all get their turn
to come back to the front of our minds.
I can miss you and not want you back
or the years of our lives that we shared
And I’m sure you don’t either, that’s why it’s hard to
believe her when she promises that she’ll always come back.
‘Cause I heard it before when you walked out the door
and I knew that you weren’t coming back.
We’ve all got people in our lives
that we’ll forget about after some time
But their image is burned, so they’ll all get their turn
to come back to the front of our minds.
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9. |
Heads or Tails
01:56
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I’m not good enough for you
and you’re not good enough for me
and if this place ain’t big enough for the both of us
then one of us has to leave.
But I don’t want to go.
You know I made this place my home
and I know that you have, too,
but I don’t know what else we can do.
So let’s flip a coin for it
heads I stay, tails I split
It’s the only fair way to decide.
and if you lose, I’ll help you move
before I take over your room,
but you can still come over whenever you like.
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10. |
Immortalized
04:37
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Everybody’s going to be immortalized
by the end of our many sordid lives
and we will reap everything that we have sown
and take nothing with us but our souls.
Dust to dust, you know how this one goes
We will rust and then we’ll decompose
and we’ll leave it all behind and await another life to try again.
There is meaning hidden in this life
though it may be impossible to find
and a purpose that is buried like a gem
and a chance that will never come again.
Dust to dust, you know how this one goes
We will rust and then we’ll decompose
and we’ll leave it all behind and await another life to try again.
Time slips away and our years will fade
‘til the dream that we hold in our heart starts over.
Like a dog that senses the eminence of death,
we sit and we wait ‘til there’s nothing else left
‘til the dream that we hold in our heart starts over.
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Ben Gallagher Boulder, Colorado
Ben writes songs about women he’s loved, damning the man and existential curiosity/dread.
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