1. |
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no one to ask about fast cars and heroes
no one to tell me my music's too loud
and the freedom is so bittersweet
feels like nothing in life ever ends up complete
gave me the lecture 'bout trouble and girlfriends
told me i will cut the grass and my hair
he's the same man that bought me the toy red guitar
and he held me and lifted me up to the stars
with just one hand... the strongest man in the world
something in our house grew tired one summer
he held onto his american dream
well a man can be swallowed by pride
and he smiled as i walked up the aisle with my bride
and shook my hand... the strongest man in the world
stood by the bed where the old man was fading
watched as the power went out of his eyes
and i knew that his dreaming would not be destroyed
when i saw what he meant to my own little boy
hand in hand... with the strongest man in the world
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2. |
Blair Mountain
04:15
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i stood in the shade of my family tree
felt my roots grow under me
and from the ground beneath my feet
I felt a shakin’
like my old grandfather’s hands
pulling coal from virgin land
and in the shadow where I stand
so much was taken
so many young men down in the mines
so many families running out of time
it was union blood was spilled
so the coal baron’s pockets could be filled
there was no warning, no miner’s cry
when the world stopped spinning
for the blink of an eye
and the sound of thunder coming up from the ground
like the devil’s army pulling good men down
so many children left in tears
so many fathers buried here
and a mountain of coal up to the sky
could never mend these broken lives
when freedom rings with a hollow sound
when the seeds of hope fall on barren ground
when the city of gold turns dark and cold
we will lay our burdens down
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3. |
The Light of You
03:23
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i’m layin’ down in your backyard
my hand around an old blue jar
but I ain’t lookin’ for no full moon
or shining star
i’m just tryin’ to catch the light of you
i’m lettin’ go my wayward past
and all these ghosts are free at last
the road is open up ahead
i don’t need to move to fast
i’m tryin’ to catch the light of you
i want to tell you something i can’t say
and all my wishin’ will not make it go away
and all my trying can not make it come true
i’m tryin’ to catch the light of you
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4. |
Kevin Was My Cousin
03:01
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kevin was my cousin... he was 22 my mother's little brother's son
killed last night in clarksville him and three girls
never hurt no one
shot down in cold blood for two hundred dollars
that's fifty dollars a life
that's four young people from four good families
four thousand more tears to cry
there are some things won't be forgiven
there is some blood will not wash away
there's a shadow on the living
it will not go away
give me a room and the boy that pulled the trigger four empty hands - mine and his
just me and my anger - him and his ignorance
and we will see just how tough he is
there are some things won't be forgiven there is some blood will not wash away
there's a shadow on the living it will not go away
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5. |
Mantra
03:21
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corner of hess and king,
i'm thinking 'bout getting my face pierced again,
i'm wearing a two dollar coat.
i know it's been three thousand
four hundred twenty-seven days
since i sang a sober note.
i need a cup of coffee, i need another beer,
i need this super-model to get me out of here.
hey yeah...
4:30 in the morning,
i'm drunk and i'm driving home.
i got every green light from
queen street to wellington.
i need a cup of coffee, i need another beer,
i need this tattooed devil
to get me out of here.
hey yeah,
hey yeah...
bruise under the skin,
something gives again...
by the murderous light of morning,
my hands look like my fathers'.
i need my medication,
i need another beer,
i need this voodoo bullshit
to get me out of here.
hey yeah,
hey yeah,
hey yeah...
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6. |
Pull Me Under
03:26
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if you were a river, I would
lay down beside you
let you run right through
my fingers
feel you rushing
and when I find myself
surrounded by white water
i will know the falls not far away
pull me under
where the water lies still
hold me slowly and I’ll give up my will
while I’m going down
below the water line
i feel I could
drown in your arms tonight
i’ve given up my father’s dream
to lie beside you
and all I ask of you is everything
pull me under
where the water lies still
hold me i’ll slowly
give up my will
i will
while I’m going down
below the water line
i feel like i could
drown in your arms tonight
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7. |
Saracen Blade
04:54
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walk through the market, reach the last stall
awning is cranked down as the rain starts to fall
two pounds in my pocket enough for one meal
but hunger is replaced by the gleam of the steel
by the time the first drops fall it’s tucked in my shirt
back at the hostel my brain starts to hurt
drawn from the scabbard, it shines in the dark
with bloody hands and damp with dew
I wake in the park
there again, the saracen blade
cutting down to the clearing i made
a clear cut through veils of mystery i’ve laid
girl’s faces inlaid in the hilt of the knife
this blade is the master of my saracen life
some die in the riots of faith
some disappear in the confusion of crowds
some are crushed under their own weight
and some from the silence as the music plays loud
I don’t lay blame on the knife
cutting down to the clearing i’ve made
a clear cut through veils of mystery i’ve laid
girl’s faces inlaid in the hilt of the knife
this blade is the master of my saracen life
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8. |
Ship Song
05:03
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hotel winston room 303, amsterdam and me i'm high
raphael playin guitar in the dark
scared of a man with one good eye
now i'm on the road from kamp-lintfort to cologne,
there's cows on the bridge i'm a long way from anywhere
240 miles from an island off the eastern canadian coast
where the unsinkable did the unthinkable
she went down she went down
these thing i know the world's not flat
it's round and riding on a turtle's back
and my black mood is causing the weather i know i will always be
240 miles from an island off the eastern canadian coast
where the unsinkable did the unthinkable
she went down, she went down
like some big old rusty whore, lyin there covered in blue
tonight i'm on that island, i'm floating in the water
tonight my heart is on that ship with you
i make paper airplanes for my four year old
he's pretty sure it's magic
rosemary tells me the moon is in leo so i'm doubly charismatic
and i sang my children to sleep again tonight
i swear i'm the king of the world
i swear i'm the king of an island, off the eastern canadian coast
where the unsinkable did the unthinkable
she went down, she went down
like some big old rusty whore lyin there covered in blue
tonight i'm on that island
i'm floating in the water
i'm sinking in the water
i am breathing in the water
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9. |
Misery
04:09
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misery does not love company
she prefers to be alone
and if she could use a strong hand
or comfort in a crowd
she will never say
the words outloud
i remember us laughing at the rain
and your face turned towards the sky
you were ready for anything
the end of the world
the beginning of this day
but there's so many
words that you won't say
when i want to fight you
you will let me win
when i'm cold
i can live in your skin
when i'm high
you won't let me fall
but you don't want anything
at all
and you don't need anything
at all
tell me everything will be all right
just as soon as you are good enough
the mirror you look in
won't tell you the truth
onyt lies
now say this to yourself
a thousand times
step away from your shadow
where your heart can shine
and you can give me back mine
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10. |
Raining All Over
05:13
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waiting by the window wishing we could go outside
this old house is feeling so small,
there's no place for our thoughts to hide
the city streets they shine like glass,
we sit and watch the world go past
i wish my words would comfort you, turn these grey skies into blue
such a sad story, written on your face
won't you smile for me darling and chase the clouds away
child it's raining all over not just on you and me
and when it's raining all over you're the only sunshine i need
we'll make the most of this lazy day,
close our eyes and sleep trouble away
and we'll dream ourselves into a faraway land,
just in time to see the sunrise again
child it's raining all over not just on you and me
and when it's raining all over you're the only sunshine i need
high in the heavens the sun shines bright even on this stormy night
i will rock you in my arms i will feel the wonder of your heart
for every moment we spend this way i thank the stars for rainy days
child it's raining all over not just on you and me
and when it's raining all over you're the only sunshine i need
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11. |
Home
04:34
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i don’t know what you want from me
you change your mind so easily
and it feels so strange, but suddenly
i feel so far from home
i built the house where hope was born
dream by dream, stone by stone
looks like shelter, so safe and warm
but it feels so far from home
and it wasn’t so long ago
i felt so right at home
in your arms that grow colder
and further and further away from home
the walls and windows, the halls and doors
seem unfamiliar, anymore
it’s like I never been here before
feels so far from home
and it wasn’t so long ago
I felt so right at home
in your arms that grow colder
and further and further away from home
late last night up on the roof
I told my troubles to the moon
I feel so lonesome, to tell the truth
I feel so far from home
and it wasn’t so long ago
I felt so right at home
in your arms that grow colder
and further and further away
further and further away from home
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12. |
Pennsylvania
04:30
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pennsylvania i can hear you
crying in your sleep
i’m begging you
help me get through
give me something i can keep
i’m just trying to hold on
this pain is tearing at my heart
pennsylvania i love you
will you play your part
there’s a place in my heart
i’m saving for you
but only if you want me to
i’ll love you forever
you can believe it
and i’ll believe it too
tonight i hear your laughter on the line
i’m smiling right back at you
and i would die for you tonight
that’s the least i could do
maybe i’ll find love
somewhere down the line
maybe all these memories
will fade in time
i’ll go on looking for the next rhyme
i made you laugh i made you cry
but i could not hold on to you
i know that i’ve been living my own lies
you know the last three lines are too true
i’m just trying to hold on
this pain is tearing me apart
pennsylvania can you tell me
where i left my heart
maybe i’ll find love
somewhere down the line
maybe all these memories
will fade in time
i’ll go on looking for the next rhyme
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13. |
12 Moons
04:33
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drive me to some distant solar system
i'll sing in the back seat of your car
i'm the last one to recognize the irony
of a black hole swallowing a shooting star
it pains me to spin through this killing blue
i can only wait here for you
twelve moons of jupiter, no sign of the sun
orbit is graceful, like a monkey with a gun
it pains me to spin through this killing blue
i can only wait here
i am not your bloody supernova
burning like a billion suns
i am not your bloody supernova
if you lose the invisible light,
will you x-ray my soul
i know how to use my fist,
i don't know what this heart is for
it pains me to spin through this killing blue
i can only wait here... for you...
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Rob Lamothe Ontario
The Toronto Star says I am ‘a mercurial artist who slides effortlessly from rustic roots music to soulful country pop to full-blown rock balladry’. Works for me!
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