1. |
First One
01:29
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1994
Precious years we had between the wars
I was sure
Nothing good would change
Sweetest dreams would never fade away
They’d always stay
Childhood days are gone, oh
So write another song, oh
Like it’s never been done before
Baby, I am sure
You’re the first one
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2. |
Swinging for the Fences
03:53
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I was a kid then, man that was back when
I had a picture of me and my girlfriend
We were headed west,
she was in a sundress.
I was a firebrand looking for a good war
I was a whole damn town that don't know what to live for
I was a baseball star
It didn't get me far
So the money that I had, well I spent it
And that house up on the hill, well I rent it
'cause I'm swinging, yes I'm swinging for the fences
once again, once again.
I like to feel the clean crack of a ball against a wood bat
watch it soar through the air what a sight to look at
And out into the stands,
the fans'll understand
That the money that I had, well I spent it
And that house up on the hill, well I rent it
'cause I'm swinging, yes I'm swinging for the fences
once again, once again.
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3. |
Love of Mine
05:36
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Down on your luck, you found work at the bar
Nobody thought you would get very far
Driving around in your daddy’s old car
But you know, and I know that you know
You’ve had a dream since you were seventeen
You’re dreaming it still at the bar while you clean
Glasses and silverware, every good dream
Has a price
Go get your things, leave your mama’s old rings in the drawer
Leave it behind, leave your old state of mind on the floor
Love of mine, love of mine, let’s go
Down on your luck in a number of ways
You fell asleep at the penny arcade
You drifted off in an afternoon haze
and you sighed.
Go get your things, leave your mama’s old rings in the drawer
Leave it behind, leave your old state of mind on the floor
Love of mine, love of mine, let’s go
Love of mine, take your time, I don’t mind
But love of mine, love of mine, let’s go.
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4. |
Cavalier
03:16
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There was a time I thought that you were holy
Just because you lived in Montreal
I thought that things were different there
Based on no experience at all
I was honestly impressed when you first told me
You always changed your lovers in the fall
I guess I never thought that would apply to me
That’s all
C-c-c-cavalier, is there anything you want from me?
Is there anything you really need?
C-c-c-cavalier
There was a time I thought I had to have you
At any cost or consequence you named
I would’ve swum across the whole Atlantic
Just to drink with you in Spain
I would’ve stole the dark out of your shadow
And smeared it all across the western plains
If I thought that would’ve made a difference,
Would’ve cracked your windowpane.
C-c-c-cavalier, is there anything you want from me?
Is there anything you really need?
C-c-c-cavalier
C-c-c-cavalier
C-c-c-cavalier
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5. |
Darkened Room
03:23
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In a darkened room, well I dreamt of losing you
And the thought alone, well it broke my bones in two
In a halfway home, I felt the knot come loose
In a darkened room, well I dreamt of losing you
Oooooh
With your mother’s clothes and your father’s broken truth
And your sister’s dream of a sky so clean and blue
And your landlord’s rage at the bills unpaid and due
With your mother’s heart, there was no way you could lose
Oooooh
In the silvery night by your candlelight
Well I knew my name and I knew my right
And the night forgave all our family pain
And we left it there for the birds to claim
And I saw the slip of your sunset dress
From your shoulder blade to your holy wrist
And I knew at last that the cursed past wouldn’t find us here
I was in the clear
with you
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6. |
Light On
06:07
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I can see your house through the valley tonight
It’s the only light in the valley tonight
And I’m sure you’re there
With a fire lit, and your little kid
Hot black kettle and jasmine tea
The kinds of gifts you give to me
When I come around
‘Cause I’m coming round, you see
I told my love to put a light on
So coming o’er the bridge I might
Guide me home when I am far gone
Guide me home when nothing’s right
From the capitol the border towns
There’s an ugly rumor going round
That the dam has burst
And the worst is yet to come
But if the empire comes crashing down
In flash of light, or a burst of sound
Or a world war
I’ll be at your door, I’ll run
I told my love to put a light on
So coming o’er the ridge I might
Guide me home when I am far gone
Guide me home when nothing’s right
I told my love, I told my love to put a light on
I told my love, told my love to put a light on
I told my love, I told my love to put a light on
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7. |
Wanderluster
03:12
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Got this one love, she lives by the ocean
Give her my good time and all of my devotion
But all she ever says, and all she ever sees
Is baby when are we gonna get away, away, away again, ah oh
Wanderluster, have mercy on me
She spends her days down by the bay
Watching the tall ships swoon and sway
But all she ever says, and all she longs to find
Is waiting out beyond that horizon line
Wanderluster, have mercy on me
Stay one more night before you go free
Stay one more night before you go free
On the backs of the last forty postcards you wrote
I’m a happier man than I was before
From the Andean peaks to the Carolina coast
I am there with her, I am gone for sure
Wanderluster, have mercy on me
Have mercy on me
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8. |
Spend Your Youth
04:02
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Spend your youth jumping trains, drinking gin in the rain
And forgetting the places you came from
Love your friends very well, give the other ones hell
Tell your mama you just can’t explain it
Burn as bright as you can though your heart understands
That all burning must come to an end someday
Spend your youth working hard, saving up, get a car
Get a house in the suburbs for two
Have a couple of kids who won’t care what you did
Or didn’t do, in your youth, anyhow
A predictable fate, still it keeps you up late
while your husband’s asleep in the kitchen
Spend your youth with him
Spend your youth with him
Spend your youth deep in love, see the sky up above
Live as cheap as your father before you
Share your meals, share your bed
And don’t ever forget
Just how lucky you were
when you met her
Spend your youth with her
Spend your youth with her
But don’t talk about forever
We don’t talk about forever
Don’t talk about forever, now
But don’t talk about forever
We don’t talk about forever
Don’t talk about forever, now
Spend your youth with her
Spend your youth with him
Spend your youth with her
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9. |
Such a Fool
04:29
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Share some cheap champagne
When you’re seventeen,
You know what I mean
Once the fuse is lit,
There’s no getting rid
The fire will be burning
You could kick me in the jaw
Hurt my ma and pa
And sell me to law, my baby
You could hit me where it hurts
Walk me to the church
And leave me on the altar,
My baby, you
I’m such a fool for you, there’s nothing I could do to change that
Living on your own
Happy where you are,
You told me in the car
Me I’m happy too
The world is such a thrill
Even when it bites you
You could suffocate my pride,
Take me for a ride,
I’d still be satisfied, my baby you
Could kill me for a loan,
Incinerate my home,
And auction off my bones
My baby, you
I’m such a fool for you, there’s nothing I can do
I’m such a fool for you, there’s nothing I can do
Now, the sun is coming out
The horn across the water makes the sweetest sound
I hope that I can meet you in some other town
Some other frame of mind
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10. |
I Will Not Go Quietly
03:47
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I used to write songs about the sea
How it glimmers at night, so effortlessly
But none of that seems now to mean much to me
In a café on Mass Ave, I cried in my coffee
And I used to write songs about love
And I’m singing them still with the dark sky above
I used to hide behind irony
In a café on Mass Ave, I cried for my country
Oh, but I will not go quietly
I will cling to the roots of this dying tree
I will sing in the name of my family
I will sing any way I know how
All my heroes they sang in the gutter
In the low-lit cafés down on Bleecker, MacDougal
In the prisons at night, for the sake of each other
All my heroes they sang in the gutter
And they sang though the ship had no rudder
Though the captain had fled and the crew had disbanded
In a country entrusted to real motherfuckers
All my heroes they sang in the gutter
Oh, but I will not go quietly
I will cling to the roots of this dying tree
I will sing in the name of my family
I will sing any way I know how
You must sing any way you know how
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John Shakespear Brooklyn, New York
John Shakespear writes albums that tell a story from start to finish. The next one, 'Hail Bohemia,' comes out on May 17.
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