1. |
Waterwings
04:06
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steer, henry, steer
while I figure out what place is here
bering strait or golden gate, I wish our map were not mislaid
but at least we’ve got the weather on our side
bail, henry, bail
while I blow out my breath on the mainsail
like your one small tin cup, my air won’t help us much
but at least we’ve got the weather on our side
fight, henry, fight
while I blind these nameless beasts with my torchlight
for they’ve swarmed our bow in droves
And their teeth will break our bones
but at least we’ve got the weather on our side
swim, henry, swim
while I hide that our chances are slim
but I’ve got a strong stroke
and you’ve got your arm wing floats
and at least we’ve got the weather on our side
the salt sea, the horizon
and the wind in our hair, and the wind in our hair
crawl, henry, crawl
while I cover the signs of our landfall
for that thrumming in the brush is awfully ominous
but at least we’ve got the weather on our side
choose, henry, choose
either way this goes down we both lose
but I’d rather die at sea than be someone’s cup of tea
and at least we’ve got the weather on our side
the salt sea, the horizon
and the wind in our hair, and the wind in our hair
the salt sea, the horizon, all this can be yours
the salt sea, the horizon
all this can be, all this can be yours
the salt sea, the horizon
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2. |
I Am Out Here
03:59
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I am just the size of a half-finished thought
and most of my thoughts are on you
from the day that I arrived to be the only thing I can well
I have worked at being larger in your view
the sign out on the midway calls me ‘real life human doll’
but you’re the one whose name lights the marquee
people pay to look at me until the real show starts
that’s when I slip between the pegs so I can see
we’re more alike than different, you and i
I’ve got the ground, you’ve got the sky
yeah we’re more alike than different, you and i
I have the ground, you have the sky
my world is sawdust and tanbark and a crowded canvas tent
you live life fifty feet above the net
when they turn the spotlights on your body blazes like the sun
nobody watching dares to draw a breath
when I arrived, a freak, I just manipulate the circumstance
you’re the one who fashioned your own star
still we both know how to muster all the courage that it takes
when you first force yourself to let go of the bar
and we’re more alike than different, you and i
I have the ground, you have the sky
yeah we’re more alike than different, you and i
I have the ground, you have the sky
maybe you’re the substrate for a dream I can’t fulfill
another misplaced hope for a connection
I can’t help but wonder if we’re seeking the same thing
we just come at it from different directions
and I am just the dust that got trapped in your orbit
I got drawn in by the pull of your star
and I’m too insignificant for you to ever notice
but if you’re looking, I’m out here, I’m out here
I am out here
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3. |
Josephine
04:18
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Josephine
these dreams now come ‘round most every night
they rouse me almost, not quite
and if I can’t really say what they’re about
it’s not that I don’t remember
it’s just you’re not there, you never were
and I died in a field in Normandy
I, I, I, oh
oh I loved a girl with pale, pale skin
strong hands and a consumptive smile
and she bore me seven children
but we both outlived them all
and now she’s not there, she never was
and I died in a field in Normandy
I, I, I, oh
josephine
you know I have been yours since we first met
we ‘ve had fifty years that I just can’t forget
but these dreams get stronger in their way
I woke in normandy today
in a ditch, shells shattering
shells shattering above my head
and the frightened eyes of a boy
the warped reflection in my cup
and when he closed his eyes to dream
it’s of an old woman with pale, pale skin
strong hands, and a consumptive smile
but she’s not there, she never was
and I died in a field in normandy
she’s not there, she never was
and I died in a field in Normandy
I, I, I, oh
and I always loved you, josephine
but I’ve always loved her too
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4. |
Powder River
04:05
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well I can’t say I expected that knock on my door
when the feds said what’s mine ain’t mine anymore
then the generators landed
with their constant screaming noise
and their steely soulless voices
and if I get a moment of silence when the metal strikes machine
if I get a moment of silence when the metal strikes
that’s gonna make everything alright
I’m gonna wash my hands clean in the river tonight
and we built this place by hand
I knew every inch of land
but I was living on topsoil
proud owner of the dirt beneath my feet
but not what lies just underneath
and if I get a moment of silence when the metal strikes machine
yeah if I get a moment of silence when the metal strikes
that’s gonna make everything alright
I’m gonna wash my hands clean in the river tonight
powder river won’t hear my song
powder river won’t hear my song no
powder river won’t hear my song
powder river won’t miss me when I’m gone
but I still have a hammer and an arm to swing with
and I still have a prayer for anyone to hear
if god and the jury have mercy on me
for what anyone in my place might do
yeah and if I get a moment of silence
when the metal strikes machine
if I get a moment of silence when the metal strikes
that’s gonna make everything alright
I’m gonna wash my hands clean in the river tonight
gonna wash my hands clean
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5. |
Fanny's Letter
04:35
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once in my life I’d like to see you again
and for once the sun would also shine on me
once in my life I’d like to see you again
if that’s a plan that god’s worked out
this place is beautiful but broken
if you still think of it as home I won’t protest
but it’s not the same as when you left and worse yet all the time
Still I’m happy that your letter came
and the day disappears and we’re still here
another day disappears and we’re still here
keep the letters coming we’re still here today
you and me our lives just seem so different
you say you’re busy from the time that you wake up
you and me our lives just seem so different
do the leaves there change their colors too?
the kids are beautiful and golden
if you remember baby Conrad, he’s now ten
And the other four are growing fast
though you should seem them now
and we’re all happy that your letter came
and the day disappears and we’re still here …
do you remember leaping stone to stone
across the river when we were twelve?
you were so scared, I finally jumped right in
just to show you it would be okay
I’m sticking to the stones now, cousin
I’m glad you’re on the other side
every day’s a stone now cousin
I watch the current passing by
I know you’d like me to write more
but words don’t come so easily
and I’m sure you know what I would say
if I could speak my heart
and I’m so happy that your letter came
and the day disappears and we’re still here
another day disappears and we’re still here
keep the letters coming we’re still here today
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6. |
Hold Tight
03:03
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the verrazano narrows bridge was cloaked in fog
like some bad mystery movie
the weatherman on the radio said
the wind was fifty miles an hour
my knuckles were white from the clenching
as I held to the wheel you said, you said
hold tight hold tight hold tight hold tight
this won’t be the one
this won’t be the one to break you
the airport was shiny and cold
like some bad sci-fi movie
we stole a moment in the meditation room
security regarding us suspiciously
as I tried not to cry you said, you said
hold tight hold tight hold tight …
the plane took off despite the wind and fog
like some bad romance movie
I made my way back to the parking lot
With your voice in my head sayin’, sayin’
hold tight hold tight hold tight …
sometimes I just don’t understand the way things work
like some badly-dubbed movie
where even the actors are confused
so I’m wishing you were here
raggin’ on my taste in movies
sayin’ hold tight hold tight hold tight hold tight
this won’t be the one
this won’t be the one to break you
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7. |
Just A Note
04:30
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this is just a note to say i
this is just a note to say i’m fine
except in the morning
except in the evening time
this is just a note to say i
this is just a note to say i’m fine
‘cept when someone asks
other than that
and if it feel like the world is ending
it’s just the road that’s bending
and if it feel like the world is ending
it’s just the road that’s bending
this is just a note to say i
just a note to say i get by
except when the phone rings
except when the phone doesn’t ring
this is just a note to say i
this is just a note to say i get by
except when that photo catches my eye
gets me every time
and if it feel like the world is ending
it’s just the road that’s bending
this is just a note to say i
i’m learning to walk one step at a time
i’ve got my eye on the horizon line
it feel like the world is ending
it’s just the road that’s bending
if it feel like the world is ending
it’s just the road that’s bending
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8. |
Tomorrow People
04:41
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daniel
the poetry of a moment just escapes me these days
each one rides in on a mountain of dust
and then rolls out just the same
every inch of our good texas dirt is gone
and hitched itself to an eastbound wind
so I guess this is some farm from somewhere out west
that’s got my door blowin’ in
tomorrow people
tomorrow people say the dust will just blow out of town
tomorrow people
if wishes were like horses
I would saddle up and leave for firmer ground
daniel
when we put down roots here I swear they dug in deep
these days it’s just the stubborn ones like us
still scramblin’ for something to hold
we came drawn by a blanket of grass
tucked in at the corners of the sky
you’d think that such a precious thing
would’ve put up more of a fight
tomorrow people …
Daniel, the crops die quick but most everything else dies slow
on the days the dust settles
the sky might still sell us what it used to give for free
but the newsreels show breadlines
and busted men that ain’t any better off
and choking on my given land beats losing my pride to the city
yesterday the birds all dropped like they’d been shot out of the sky
behind them came a wall of dust two miles wide and high
if there was any place within five states
well that was the moment I would have run
but I just watched it come
daniel
you know what it’s like to wear your hopes down to the threads
and you just keep wearin’ them
‘cause you don’t know what else you can do
and I’d rather look to tomorrow than drown in this black dust
I’d rather make it to the other side than have this be what became of us
tomorrow people
tomorrow people say the dust will just blow out of town
tomorrow people say and who am i to bring them down
if wishes were like horses
i would saddle up and leave
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9. |
I'll Try
04:34
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‘collect your thoughts’ someone once told me
so I did
stacked ‘em in the corner
in chronological order
starting from when I was a kid
i try i try i try i’ll do better
i try i try i’ll try i’ll do better
‘that’s a pretty big stack’ he said
‘i agree, i don’t throw anything away
save ‘em all for a rainy day
you never know what you’re gonna need’
i try i try i try i’ll do better
i try i’ll try i’ll try i’ll do better
oh but words fail, walls fall down sometimes
‘they’re takin’ up space’ you kindly pointed out
‘barely got room for yourself
let alone room for somebody else’
all the wrong words just spill out of my mouth
i try i try i’ll try i’ll do better
i try i try i’ll try i’ll do better
oh but words fail, walls fall down some-
walls fail, words fall down some-
words fail, worlds fall down some-
words fail, walls fall down sometimes
maybe all this collecting does me no good
i think that’s the time to make choices
and drown out the logical voices
i’ve watched but i’ve never understood
i try i try i’ll try i’ll do better
i try i try i try i’ll do better
oh but words fail, walls fall down some-
walls fail, words fall down some-
words fail, worlds fall down some-
words fail, walls fall down
‘collect your thoughts’ someone once told me
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10. |
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11. |
Swing On
04:07
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all that is left of the daylight
is hangin’ in the air between trees
allthat is left of the teeth of the day
is nothin’ at all
there’s a finger of guilt that’s still yankin’ my chain
on the things that i never got done
there’s nothing at all like doin’ nothin’ at all
on a perfect spring night, nothin’ at all
i’ve got a white swing to swing on and a porch that wraps around i’ve got you i can sing on
so bring on the night as we swing on
as we swing on
all that is left of the winter is the cool of your hand in my own
all that is left of the stress of the day
is just fading away
there’s dog at my feet and a glass in my hand
and a view of the slow setting sun
and of all the places that i’d love to be
there’s none more than this one tonight
i’ve got a white swing to swing on and a porch that wraps around i’ve got you i can sing on
so bring on the night as we swing on
as we swing on
and when all that is left is these moments
we’ll be drinking them down like wine
and when all that is left is the nothin’ at all
we’ll just hold tight, and we’ll swing on
i’ve got a white swing to swing on and you to wrap around
i’ve got so much to sing on
so bring on the night as we swing on
as we swing on
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Sarah Pinsker Baltimore, Maryland
Sarah Pinsker is a singer/songwriter and fiction writer. Her rock dystopia novel A Song For A New Day won the Nebula Award in 2020 and her 50+ stories have been nominated for Hugos, Nebulas, World Fantasy Awards and more. She has two solo albums, one with her band, the Stalking Horses, and another on the way. She lives in Baltimore, MD with her wife and terrier. ... more
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