1. |
Sweet Granny Vodka
00:36
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E C#m
E C#m
E
Am
G Em
G Em
G
C
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2. |
Hawks of Defeat
04:24
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We walk upon the pox on our feet
We walk upon the rocks that we beat
We talk of all the socks that we leave
We talk of all the hawks of defeat
We walk in time, in time we talk cheap
We talk in rhyme; in rhyme, we retreat
We walk a skip, a trip, a half-leap
We slip and trip into hawks of defeat
Oh, my version needs a rest
Oh, my visions are the best
We walk the line with the silver aura
We walk in time toward the greenish hue
We want the life they envisioned for us
We hope, in time, we’ll avoid abuse
We walk tall, in short we talk deep
We talk falls, at length we grok sleep
We shock halls and balk at false needs
We hunt the eagles and hawks of defeat
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3. |
I Wanna Be Your Rat
01:22
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I wanna be the first to jump this ship
I wanna coast along the ocean floor
I wanna drift onto some distant shore
I wanna taste your envy when I quit!
I wanna be your rat
I wanna be your rat
There’s nothing wrong with that
Just wanna be your rat!
I wanna be the last to leave your home
I wanna pour your fridge into my open, gaping maw
I wanna watch you all avoid my calls
I wanna make you friends appreciate your time alone
I wanna be your rat
I wanna be your rat
There’s nothing weird about that
Just wanna be your rat!
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4. |
Get Out While You Can!
03:20
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All bets are off!
We took turns guessing how the tabs would drop
Our one mistake was thinking something might stay aloft
But now we know better
We took to the roads
The highest ones, that all the saints foretold
But now we see that ancient gets too old
Yeah, now we know better
Because it’s not enough just to say, “Hey, I can be tough!”
If fighting’s half the battle, it’s a gamble just to see who stands
So I say, Get out while you can!
Well, I’ve been caught
Where you could save or lose what all you’ve got
The space between getting saved and getting shot
And now I know better
Than to tempt fate
My hesitation’s taught me not to wait
So when you’re positive that it’s too late
Yeah, then you’ll know better
Chorus
As far as futures go, you’re in the air, trying not to look below
But don’t trust gravity to break its laws and let you down slow
Still, then you’ll know
Better watch your head!
Your ears don’t seem to hear the words you said
Your eyes don’t seem to see the blood you’ve bled
Your brain don’t know better
Better, better run
There’ll come a day when you will see the sun
So when you forsake everything you’ve done,
Yeah, then you’ll know better
Because it’s not enough just to say, “Hey, I can be tough!”
If fighting’s half the battle, it’s a gamble just to see who stands
When you’re stuck in the middle, you can twiddle your thumbs and watch
While the real people sacrifice you pawns for their master plans
So I say, Get out while you can!
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5. |
Time it Takes its Time
03:25
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So I hear that you don’t like the lonely parties
You prefer to be catching yourself in the storm of the eye
Well, forgive me my trespass, if I guess at you wrong, I’m sorry
But if smiles keep you busy, then maybe you need time to cry
Run along, catch your ride, hitch your buggy to horse
Have no shame in the chase, in the ever-glorious try
At the end of the night, everyone falls asleep, of course
And you’re left by yourself, with your unlimited time to cry
Maybe I don’t know where the clock’s gonna end, but maybe I might
But baby, I am sure if you’re just made of friends, you won’t ever set right
So don’t let me stop you now, no need to wonder how I called your bluff
Just forget that I’ve seen the end of the road, where the time it takes is not enough
So I get your uncertainty, you are a man among men
And alone, you’re a boy with his mom always waving goodbye
But I don’t understand why you wait til she comes ‘round again
Why you wait at the window while biding your watch with a sigh
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6. |
Labrat
03:02
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Hazardous chemicals
Heptane and alcohol
Cleaner and fuel for another week
Nocturnal intervals
Of counting particles
Shuffle and flutter to hold back sleep
Nuke the soup again
Rubber gloves and dead skin
Keep me from slipping into the deep
Stare into the machine
Keep it clean, keep it clean
Keep me clean for another week
Labrat
I man my station
Fight the occupation
Keep my nose plastered to the glass
My skull just cries
Brain just fries
A few more hours, I have to last
Machines are broken
Maintenance man is soakin
And the deadline is drawing near
Fix the jam
Smile for the camera
Break some standards, we’re in the clear
Man, I could just go on if I weren’t just going down
If I knew where I was going, I might be there by now
Instead of just another week
Punch the clock
Trip the lock
Race right home to scrub the reek
Make some noise and
Throw back my poison
Liquor and legs are what I seek
Pay for the reverie
Ignore the reveille
Curse the sun and turn your cheek
Just play dead
Rest your head
You’re gonna need it for another week
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7. |
King of This Castle
03:42
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Oh, you mad machines of the future!
Taking my days for all to look upon
Pretending that I might have days to come
Keeping eyes affixed upon a fixture!
From somewhere far beyond the clouds of nylon,
Purple planes ensconce the skyline for the nighttime
With their happy bombs
But as the king of this castle,
All that I can say is “I’m not gone.”
Oh, my steed, his stead he tread in silence
I kept my bit in hand and drifted left
Prevailing winds all pushed and pulled my heft
But oh, I need to break the speed and violence!
But don’t drop me off!
From somewhere far beyond the clouds of nylon,
Purple planes ensconce the skyline for the nighttime
With their happy bombs
But as the king of this castle,
All that I can say is “I’m not gone.”
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8. |
Barely Awoken
03:59
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I almost saw it in the tea leaves
All the futures almost lived had gone unspoken
And though I almost thought I was relieved
I was just barely awoken
I almost licked it off the pages
He in the scent so strong, he almost started choking
And though St. Ages watched with almost all her sages
She was just barely awoken
I almost took the right direction
Kept waiting for a blinking sign, but almost all were broken
And though I watched them lock down almost every section
They were just barely awoken
I almost held it past the instant
The red-hot youth I’d grown had almost started smoking
And though the years I’d dreamed were almost non-existant
I was just barely awoken
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9. |
See What's Waiting
03:10
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When John Wesley Harding caught our approach, he proclaimed,
“I don’t know how I did what I’ve done!”
Then he greased the wheel and set the flame, warning
“Averting your eyes erases the sun.”
We said, “Look how far he’s come
He’s nowhere and getting close.”
We sucked the air and burned our throats.
See the green patient, patiently still! He’d plead,
“My head’s like a still pond, still stagnating.”
See the will in his hands, he’s given up and offering,
“Drill open my head and see what’s waiting.”
We said, “Look how fast he’s fading
When he’s filled up to the brim.”
What kind of light burns that dim?
We found John in the backyard, muttering
“I don’t know how I did what I did, but I did, now I’m done!”
Then he greased the gear and set the bone, swearing
“For everything that festers for the sun!”
We said, “Look how far he’s gone!
He’s balanced on the ledge
And playing with the edge
While we’re anticipating
But look how fast he’s fading!
He’s breathing through the gills
That never gave, but maybe will
If he could only move that heft,
But nothing’s right when nothing’s left!”
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10. |
Show My Face
03:32
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I watched the Army of God as it
Rose in the hills and fell at the sea
I was a child of modern sin
Not the man they wanted, just the man they wanted to see
I was not prepared for a fight
I was not prepared to pretend I was grown
I was not prepared to be fighting friends
I was not prepared to be fighting so close to home
I was never on the racks, no
And I was never severed bits
No maniacs with shotguns
Just brothers begging me to quit
The sun may not come out tomorrow
But when it does, it won't be by our grace
Well, you can call it any name
But our fears are all the same
So in the deep, dark shadow of death and sorrow
I won't be afraid to show my face
I stood with just my words
They, poised, wore armor, head to the ground
My victory was to fight again
To ward off heavy storms trying to make me drown
I've watched time take its toll
And I've tried not to give what I have received
But if it's boogeymen that you've been told
The fifth light just gets easier to see
But I never feel the pressure
Until the threats start to show
It's never up, down, left, right
It's always lurking just below
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11. |
Nothing Better To
02:29
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Stab the butterfly bloated with time
Cry if you have nothing better to do
Do you hear the children screaming?
Did you expect those fires gleaming?
Just enjoy the shapes that they shine through
Onto you
Fix the words that muddle the mix
List what you have nothing better to
Follow the signals coughing up
The sparks from smokestacks’ lightning’d top
Just enjoy the heights that they climb to
From you
Take the best guess just in jest
Attest, arrest and test the blessed
Unless you are among the Chosen
Then keep your chest compressed and frozen
Lest a watchful eye espy a clue
Of you
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12. |
Against the Cold
03:11
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I crack my neck for echolocation
I feel the broken, strained magnetic pull
I keep my eyes awake for information
But on a steep slope up through stranded huts
Scarred by jagged rocks and ruts
I turn against the cold, the cold, the cold!
Shillelagh, lay with me in the grassy grove
We’ll never have to do as we are told
But if we’re caught by the many that we drove
I know a shortcut through the hidden trips
Where we can hide from tongues and lips
And turn against the cold, the cold, the cold!
I can’t tell you where I am
You might follow, might just try
I can keep the narrow steps
You can only see it if it’s in your eye!
If my escape is fleeting, let it be so
If my returning is just so foretold
And if my companions still believe I know
That on a straight line down down the forest hills
A friend can help and always will
They’ve never faced the cold, the cold, the cold
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13. |
Not Much Hope for Krista
03:45
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No use knocking, mister
No lights in the window
Not much hope for Krista
Tonight, she sleeps in limbo
No love for this sister
No light through the concrete
Not much hope for Krista
When all she wants is a heartbeat
As you might expect, the rubberneck
The rapt allure
Will fade and grow with sun and snow
And with no cure
But it’s obvious the little trust
Will wane and wax with any facts
When all we ask for this small cause
Is reverence for who she was
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14. |
The Founders Indianapolis, Indiana
Albert the Owlbear
2007-2012
2018-2020
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