1. |
Death's Wooden Laughter
02:33
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DEATH’S WOODEN LAUGHTER
When you lie awake at night
While your parents fight
You hear
Death’s wooden laughter
When you hear the boom boom
From the living room
It’s
Death’s wooden laughter
When they’re carried away
You’re left with nothing to say
Death’s wooden laughter
When you are tried by fire
In the orphan choir
Death’s wooden laughter
It’s not a raw guffaw
That you hear, my son
More like a skeleton
That you play upon
Ringing through the hall
From the day you rise
Until you fall
And you row and row
Your little boat of woe
And you hear
Death’s wooden laughter
Grass turns to hay
Your soil now is clay
And you hear
Death’s wooden laughter
When the factory closes
And you wait for diagnosis
Death’s wooden laughter
And all that you own
Is a mute telephone
Death’s wooden laughter
It’s not the wind that you hear
In the trees, my dear
It’s the life that you gave up
For your career
It’s the answer you always sought after
It’s Death’s Wooden Laughter
We are the bars
In the devil’s xylophone
He plays on us
When we’re on our own
From birth to the hereafter
It’s Death’s wooden laughter
Nothing but
Death’s wooden laughter
We all hear
Death’s wooden laughter
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2. |
Last Match
04:46
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LAST MATCH
There goes my last match
It’s burning red and blue
There goes my last match
It will erase all traces of you
There goes your beautiful smile
from this last Polaroid
A flame from the lower right corner
Swallows you into the void
I watch the chemical fumes
Curling up in the air
I look at myself from the distance
In a cold glass stare
The highway that we traveled
Has ceased to stretch
And I’m burning all those memories of you
with my last match
I laced up all your things
And placed them in a shoebox
I stored it high in the attic above
But every night I was awoken
By the scratching sound of your love
Until one day my neighbor Mr. Charles Molaski
Said “Boy, you’re ruining all my midnight jazz”
He looked at me over the rim of his glasses and said
“Son, fix this mess”
I feel the caustic fumes
Curling up inside my chest
I let the darkness enfold me
And I pray to be blessed
Have mercy on the soul of this poor wretch
Who is trying to burn all his memories
With this last match
My reflection in the windshield wakes up in cold plastic sweat
Molaski turns towards me and says “Son, have a cigarette”
Hands me a book of matches from the Lost Soul Saloon
That’s where she and I had met
And where she said
“Here’s to a match made in heaven and a book of matches made in hell”
We and the matches ended up on the floor at her motel
Six years of hard living
Broke the spell
And they crushed my crush on her
But I still think about her
“Right now all we got left is this book of matches, don’t you see?
There is nobody left alive
But you and me
The first match is for you
The second one is for me
The third is for her goddamned memory”
I smile as the car is moving away from this mire
Hell, this burnt child does not dread the fire
My hand still trembles as I release the safety catch
And I feel precious like a fading flame
On my last match
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3. |
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WHERE THE GUILT TURNS INTO GOLD
There were no ribbons in a tree
And the welcoming committee
Played a song for the long gone
But not for me
There were longing arms
And warm embraces
There were smiles and happy faces
But the platform was clear of you
Like it was the year
I first came through here
So I just closed my eyes
Heard the train whistle twice
And then we headed out
Out of your town again
And rolled along the track
I might try when the wheat is high
But I don’t know if I will be back
Because you’re always hard as nails
It keeps me on these rails
It never ends like this
Without a kiss
In the fairytales
Meet me down there at the pond
Where we played
So young and fond
Wash away everything we’ve done wrong
Then we will lie down in the meadow
Where my past doesn’t cast no shadow
You bring a bottle and a blanket
Against the cold
Down where the guilt turns into gold
I had a hard time in prison
I spent my laundry shifts doing a whole lot of missing
With nothing but this childhood story
About a man who fell from grace
And as soon as he came back home
The old oak tree
Was bending under all them ribbons
And he could see
How much he had changed
And so did God and he was redeemed
But there was nothing for me to see
But a crow in an old apple tree
And there was nothing, nothing, nothing left
But damnation and the open road
Because your heart is cold as clay
it keeps me on this highway
Like the son of man
I do the best I can
On Good Friday
Meet me down there at the pond
Where we played
So young and fond
Wash away everything we’ve done wrong
Then we will lie down in the meadow
Where my past doesn’t cast no shadow
You bring a bottle and a blanket
Against the cold
Down where the guilt turns into gold
There were no ribbons in a tree
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4. |
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I’M NOT YOUR COWBOY ANYMORE
I’m a brawler in the candy store
I’m hauling bones from the killing floor
But I’m not your cowboy anymore
I quit the stage
I kicked out the footlights
I took a bow
I took a bite of the bitterness
I’ve long lost sight of the shore
And I’m a mess
But I’m not your cowboy anymore
It’s a long desert trail away from you
Dark is the valley I’m going through
Since I’m not your cowboy anymore
There is a hole in my bucket
A thorn in my side
The fist in my pocket says
“Swallow your pride”
I’m not your cowboy anymore
My boots are tattered
My hopes is forlorn
And the heart upon my sleeve is torn
I’m still a drifter
I’m still out of square
Still nothing
Nothing
Nothing good will ever get me back there
I’m not your cowboy
Anymore
I know I won’t
How about you?
Will you miss this old buckaroo?
When I’m not your cowboy anymore
If I wither
If I thrive
I’ll never get out of this world alive
My boots are tattered
My hopes is forlorn
And the heart upon my sleeve is torn
I’m still a drifter
I’m still out of square
Still nothing
Nothing
Nothing good will ever get me back there
I’m not your cowboy anymore
I’m not your cowboy
Anymore
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5. |
Audrey Mae
03:29
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AUDREY MAE
She is my Audrey Mae
She is the blueprint
Of a man’s misery
The one that makes you forget to breathe
The one that is already weaving your funeral wreath
Audrey Mae
She is my Audrey Mae
She is the pyre
At the end of our way
The misguiding beacon in the night that careens
And shatters your vessel into smithereens
If I go or if I stay here now
To me it’s just the same
Every corner in this town
Is calling out her name
I could leave here tomorrow
But I now I would miss her
Forevermore
And another day
Sweet Audrey Mae
She is my Audrey Mae
She is the candy
And the tooth decay
She’s just my
Audrey Mae
The spark of a gas station wedding day
The Mother of Mercy and Mary Magdalene
In a marriage bed doused in gasoline
If we stay wed or grow apart
To me it’s all the same
Every corner in this house
Is stained with the blame
I could leave here tomorrow
But I know I would miss her
Forevermore
And another day
Sweet Audrey Mae
Down another drink, pop another pill
To me it’s just the same
Every corner in this room
Is whispering her name
I could leave here tomorrow
But I now I would miss her
Forevermore
And another day
She is the one that has gotten away
She’s my Audrey Mae
I won’t live another year without you, girl
You’re my sweet Audrey Mae
Bittersweet Audrey Mae
You’re the one that has gotten away
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6. |
Gone
03:16
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Gone
Once I was so full of wonder
Now all I ever do is sit and ponder
Where it has gone?
Where it has gone?
Once my river was so deep and wide
The grass was growing on each side
It has gone from me now
And the grass has withered and turned brown
Don’t you see?
It has gone like a lover from a one-night stand
Gone like money from a gambling hand
Gone like a last cigarette burning straight down to the fingertips
It has gone like a last leaf on a tree in October
Gone like my hopes and dreams when I’m sober
Gone like that beautiful smile
On your red rosy lips
Once your eyes shone like two diamonds
Now there’s hardly any chance
They will do again
Maybe for another man
On a field of forgiveness
There’s a burial mound
Where everything that we had
Lies deep in the ground
Beyond the reach of my serenade
And the soil is too hard form my shovel’s blade
It has gone like a lover from a one-night stand
Gone like money from a gambling hand
Gone like a last cigarette burning straight down to the fingertips
It has gone like a last leaf on a tree in October
Gone like my hopes and dreams when I’m sober
Gone like that beautiful smile
On your red rosy lips
Everything is gone gone gone
Like this lover from a one-night stand
Like this money from a gambling hand
Gone like a last cigarette burning straight down to my yellow fingertips
It has gone like a spark from a dying ember
Gone like the days I don’t remember
Gone like that beautiful smile
On your red rosy lips
Everything is gone gone gone gone gone
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7. |
Piss Down The Stream
03:55
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PISS DOWN THE STREAM
We missed the date for the garbage collection
And mommy is overdosed
Elder brother is in the house of correction
And sister’s case is closed
The coal for the winter long has been spent
Father along with the Southwind went
Damned be the money that we make in the mines
Damned be our lives and our times
It’s his worst day since yesterday
Living on Chinese rocks
He still has got hell to pay
The divorce papers were in the mailbox
They are sending their young off to war
To be maimed for country, honor and fame
Damned be your God
No matter what color or name
Ay, Flamenca
Take away the sting
Ay Flamenca
Make the floorboards sing
Ay Flamenca
Come and dance for me on the ashes of this world
Our pawn will never be redeemed
Our lives’ designs unwind
They’re bursting at the seam
A dream is a dream is a dream
It’s all piss down the stream
Her life smashed like a fly on the windshield
She’s throwing pennies in boiled gin
There’s a torn blouse in the canola field
A bloody bundle in the bin
It’s the day of black dresses
Airing out in the sun
Black holes hard against white chalked walls
There goes another one
Ay, Flamenca
Toss that mourning ring
Ay Flamenca
Make this poor boy king
Ay Flamenca
Come and dance for me on the ashes of this world
Iron will sooner breaks than bends
Nobody’s ever going to make amends
In this broken scheme
A dream is a dream is a dream
It’s all piss down the stream
Oh life, oh life, oh life, oh life
You’ve got me hanging on the line
Oh life, oh life, oh life, oh life, oh life, oh life
I look at my reflection
In the pawn shop window
Where I leave this heart of mine
And tomorrow the spine
Ay, Flamenca
Make those pillars swing
And bring them down with everything
Ay, Flamenca
Come and stir up the dust that remains of this world
I always hoped I would sleep through the wake
But there isn’t one when you’re burnt at the stake
A dream is a dream is a dream is a dream
A dream is a dream is a dream is a dream
A dream is a dream is a dream
It’s all piss down the stream
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8. |
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WHOSE BLUES (DO YOU WHISTLE)?
Tonight, I’m singing myself back home to you
I’m just sitting around and I get high
Because there isn’t much left to do
Except smoking and hitting the bottle and breaking in two
Tonight, I’m drinking myself home to you
Come to think about
Do you still sing out loud
While you waltz alone across the room
With the wine getting spilled
And all the time being killed
Singing on top of your lungs and so beautifully out of tune
Do you still have the bracelet
I made you from some old guitar string?
Whose blues do you whistle now?
Whose song do you sing?
When nothing is right
Is it still just you and Dwight?
Does old Hank still bring tears to your eyes?
Were you with Lyle Lovett
Telling me to take this love and shove it?
Are you still not getting better at goodbyes?
All of the things I should have said and done
None mean a goddamned thing
Whose blues do you whistle now?
Whose song do you sing?
Is the memory slowly fading
Like the colors of Jesus on your arm
Which so proudly you show?
Or do you still play our song
Twenty-five times in a row?
Hey good-looking
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Who is the one that holds you now?
Is the only way you know how
Still having him on a string?
Is there someone that gets you all the way
Who records you the tapes that will always stay
Who sits down with you
And does it like we did
When we were Lizzy and Zeppelin and The King
Whose blues do you whistle now?
Whose song do you sing?
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9. |
All The Stars Burn Out
05:06
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ALL THE STARS BURN OUT
I carry this heart in front of me
Like a butcher a bucket of bones
I can’t find no rest
Cleansed my treasure chest
Of even fool’s gold and rhinestones
The curtains are drawn
Still darkest after dawn
Her battered atlas reminds me
Of how she sank like a stone
Strung-out and alone
To the bottom of the sea
The sun refuses to shine
The moon hangs lifeless on the line
And there is no silver lining
Behind this dark cloud
All the stars burn out
My eyes are sore
I kneel on the floor
And I have my head in a hole
The hollow sound of the underground
Rings like a bell
In this hell
I call my soul
Trying to luck through
A girl barely twenty-two
Always raising the stakes
The whole world yet to see
Hardly made it to the pharmacy
To buy cough syrup
To ease the shakes
The sun refuses to shine
The moon hangs lifeless on the line
And there is no silver lining
Behind this dark cloud
All the stars burn out
Tonight
Oh, maiden fair
With blood in your hair
Dead in your Guns N’ Roses shirt
You passed like a comet
Face smeared with vomit
Lying there now one with the dirt
This is too hard to handle
So I light a candle
Just like those who believe
I reach for the balloon
I will sail the moon
One last time I roll up my sleeve
The sun refuses to shine
The moon hangs lifeless on the line
And there is no silver lining
Behind this dark cloud
All the stars burn out
I wish the sky were a hole
That would swallow us all
All the stars burn out tonight
All the stars
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10. |
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OF THE RICH MAN AND THE HOBO
When the curtain falls
On life’s last show
We all got to go
We all got to go
Hands folded down on cold, soft linen
Or lying face down in the snow
We all got to go
We all got to go
Every dirt track
Every golden avenue
Merge into the same road
I know this much is true
For good or ill
This road does lead downhill
And it’s winter
Nothing but a cold, cold kiss
A road leading down to Higher Memphis
There will be two graves covered next to each other
Covered in snow
Of the rich man and the hobo
The rich man and the hobo
Whether you are a diamond
Or a chunk of coal
You’re going down that hole
You’re going down that hole
Whether you are an orchid
Or a faded rose
We all fall like dominoes
Fall like dominoes
Every dirt track
Every golden avenue
Merge into the same road
I know this much is true
For good or ill
This road does lead downhill
And it’s winter
Nothing but a cold, cold kiss
A road leading down to Higher Memphis
There will be two graves covered next to each other
Covered in snow
Of the rich man and the hobo
Floating down the river
Seeping into the ground
Death is a forgiver
So pass the jug around
Pass the jug around
Pass the jug around
Floating down the river
Seeping into the ground
Death always delivers
So pass the jug around
Pass the jug around
All of us are lost
None of us are found
Every dirt track
Every golden avenue
Merge into the same road
I know this much is true
For good or ill
This road does lead downhill
And it’s winter
Nothing but a cold, cold kiss
A road leading down to Higher Memphis
There will be two graves covered next to each other
Covered in snow
We all cross the river in the same boat
The rich man and the hobo
Of the rich man and the hobo
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11. |
Last Song & Testament
03:45
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LAST SONG & TESTAMENT
This is going to be the last song and I’m leaving
This is going to be the last song and I’m done
The waitress is stacking up the chairs already
Just a couple more lines to go and I will be gone
If these will be the last chords I am picking
If tomorrow in the morning a dead man you will find
Pick up a shovel and start digging
A hole deep enough for me
And all my trouble in mind
If my troubles would only fly away like my money
I would be so happy
I would be so satisfied
If only I had me a penny for every time I hang my head
I would be a rich man
At the end of this night
If these will be the last words I am singing
If tonight I cut all ropes that bind
You’ve got to promise me that to my love you won’t be clinging
Dig a whole deep enough for me
And all my trouble in mind
Trouble in mind
Trouble in mind
Life done me hurt
Shovel some dirt
On my trouble in mind
This is going to be the last song and I’m leaving
This is going to be the last song and I’m gone
Goodbye
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12. |
Eggs In A Box
03:35
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EGGS IN A BOX
Have you heard about the latest craze?
A promised way to get out of this maze
Broken in two for the grand scheme
Broken into the stuff that makes a pipe dream
Eggs in a box
Eggs in a box
Excreted and defaced
You’re eggs in a box
Eggs in a box
to make an omelette of uniform taste
Every day you go the extra mile
Never leaving your place in rank and file
The blind leading the blind
Into the neon haze
to the matter over mind
Eggs in a box
Eggs in a box
Excreted and defaced
You’re eggs in a box
Eggs in a box
to make an omelette of uniform taste
Everybody wants to be like everybody else
A dead ringer of the passing bells
Everybody buys into the day-to-day decay
Not even looking for a needle
Deep down a bale of hay
Hey Ho
Where can you go
When there is nothing left to buy
And there is nothing left to show?
When the downward spiral can’t be stopped
You’re eggs in a box that got dropped
Ho Hey
Where can you stay
When any semblance of home has withered away?
When your whole block has been coffeeshopped
You’re eggs in a box that got dropped
Same walk
Same talk
Same throat
Same chalk
Same scope
Same aim
Same slope
Same same
Until you’re nothing but a low-down buying shame
Eggs in a box
Eggs in a box
Excreted and defaced
You’re eggs in a box
Eggs in a box
to make an omelette of uniform taste
Every mother’s son
Every father’s daughter
Start to drink without being lead to the water
Everybody buys into the day-to-day decay
Not even looking for a needle
Deep down a block of clay
(Hey) Ho
Where can you go?
When there is nothing left to buy
and that is really all you know
When the larger picture has been cropped
You’re eggs in a box that got dropped
You’re eggs in a box that got dropped
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13. |
Every Sailor's Dream
04:14
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EVERY SAILOR’S DREAM
Where are you going to take off
Your boots tonight, my love?
Where are you going to take off your dress?
This port of call
Could never be a home to me
The wind blows tidings across the sea
Ships sail by
But the shore remains
Still
Nevertheless
I must confess
I am a wanderer back on a trail he can remember
A hobo and a pair of southbound rails in December
Like a good wind and rum shining amber
And a homebound stream
You’re every sailor’s dream
I wake up down at the bottom of an empty glass
And the harbor princess’s mouth tastes like ass
My trouble and strife are like this dull knife
Unfit to end a seagull’s life
I look out on the ocean and the crowns of the waves
They look like tombstones on nameless graves
Of those who have lost all their loving to the call of the sea
Just like you and me
I am a wanderer back on a trail he can remember
A hobo and a pair of southbound rails in December
Like a good wind and rum shining amber
And a homebound stream
You’re every sailor’s dream
Baby, no more will I sail off the shore
I know I promised to you
A thousand times or more
But this time I will swallow the anchor
And I am going nowhere
If only I knew
You were waiting
And your pretty yellow ribbon is waving
When my ship rolls in
I am a wanderer back on a trail he can remember
A hobo and a pair of southbound rails
When it turns cold in December
Like a good wind and rum shining amber
And a homebound stream
You’re every sailor’s dream
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