1. |
Cassiar
02:52
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I’ve been eating lunch with chopsticks I’ve been singing to myself
I’ve been talking with good people we’ve been drinking to good health
them with warm shitty beer and me with ice cold ginger ale
now I’m gonna make it back to California even if the engine fails
‘cause I’ve seen faces in the mountains I’ve stood up in the clouds
looked down on the Copper Valley to that redneck-hippie town
I’ve felt the cold inside my bones and faced the fact that, back at home,
this will all be sifted through like bits of truth on the Carson Daly Show
but there’s a brand new set of circumstances waiting over there
and it makes me feel like everything up to this point
has been some daytime documentary on all the things you can get done
when you don’t know what you’re doing
we were southbound on the Cassiar at seven in the morning
scraped the windshield, ate some oatmeal and my shoes are still partially frozen
there’s a road before us waiting like the ocean toward the sun
you’re asleep and I’m daydreaming about a pecan Cinnabon
(Chorus)
I want to glue this moment to my forehead and walk around the town
let everybody see this part of me without having to break it down
to little words and little phrases that no one really understands
we’ll make a stop off in Vancouver it’s my turn to buy the gas
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2. |
Hey Bear
02:47
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hey bear, hey bear I know you’re out there listening
and I realize that I am walking through your kitchen
but let’s make a deal… you let me live, I’ll write a song about you later
I know you think that I’m the guy who came out last week
with the shotgun, the filet knife all bent up on “eatin’ some bear meat”
let’s make this clear... I’m just some city boy I couldn’t even hurt you if I tried
I know I’ve always been a pessimistic person but I’m changing all that
I’m changing all of that if I can get through this alive
hey rain, hey rain I know you’ve got your reasons
what with the global warming and the changing of the seasons
but I was just hoping for a couple days of sunshine for the weekend
you can rain all you want on Monday when I go back to work
rain on the tourists with their convertible pants and “I went to Alaska” shirts
think of the irony when they walk into the restaurant all soaking wet
and I’ll conveniently forget to fill their water glasses
I know I’ve always been a self-concerned person but I’m changing all of that
I’m changing all of that if I can get through this
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3. |
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I used to work a job at Papa Johns dressed up like a pizza slice out on the lawn
and I would wave to the passers-by who would sometimes flip me off
and every morning I would wake up late even though my classes all started at eight
and I would make bad excuses and wonder where my life was going
not a whole lot has changed I still make a laughable wage
I still wear my pants too low and my Mom still buys a fair amount of my clothing
but things got better and I’ll tell you how
I learned that life is not tomorrow no it’s happening now
I try to make good decisions and I hope they work out
and that’s all
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4. |
Song For Will
02:20
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I found a photograph of you and I in black and white with our heads down below the Sacramento sun
your eyes were taking pictures while my face was speaking volumes about mysteries and things I’d left undone
the pickup truck behind us is waiting for the right-of-way but we’re walking slow and stepping on all the cracks
two punk ass college dropouts with no hell below or stars above us looking for no future and belonging to no past
and I’ve got tapes from lazy afternoons when you still wanted to play the blues and I would sing them
because it’s all that I could ever think to do
so how are things in your little world? you know I’d call if I could find the time and I’d write you but I do not have the patience
and maybe still it’s better that this distance lies between us for in distance there is magic and I thought I’d lost it all
but I just left it in this box behind my winter clothes and I found it on this random rainy day the smell reminds me how it felt
to be so young and dumb just waiting on some sturdy wind to blow us to someplace we might belong
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5. |
Big Al
02:40
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Big Al says, Big Al says, “You gotta do what you gotta do!”
and, while I can’t claim to understand his particular situation, I believe the sentiment to be true
and I’ll apply it like a sticker to my metaphorical bumper
and drive it around the spiritual parking lot
And when the roach-coach of salvation shows up everybody’s buying faith sandwiches
me? I just pour another tall glass of what I’ve already got yeah.
‘cause it’s a filthy shame the way we’re taught to blindly motor through oblivious…
save for fear of what might happen if we do what we really want to do
lately I’ve been thinking about riding my bike to Colorado sleeping out under the stars
drinking a box of wine, not to get drunk I just like the flavor
or drawing a picture of somebody I think is cool and giving it to them on their half-birthday
writing a new song with meandering lyrical content and leaving the fourth line of the second verse wide open
just start talking about how I couldn’t figure out any great words to put there
and, hopefully, by the time I record the song I will have put together a really fantastic analogy
that somehow ties together the otherwise nonsensical wordery you never know
“But that’s just a phase”, they’ll say “There’s not even that much to it
I know it makes you feel special but you can’t go on pretending you’re the first one to go through it.”
girl, I like the way you look tonight I like the way you feel I want to take you in the bathroom and wash your hands
of all the stupid bullshit they’ve fed you since the day that you could open up your mind enough to fit in the bullshit
I’ve been reading the paper and, apparently, it doesn’t even matter who you are as long as you’ve got what it takes
to put the asses in the seats
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6. |
Midnight At The Fair
03:50
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midnight at the fair carnies playing freeze tag in their underwear
somebody puked in the bathroom and the janitor’s got the hose
and he’s cursing out loud whoever thought to deep-fry a Ho-Ho
the elephants are always early to sleep but the goats stay up late to talk about the sheep
and the full moon shimmers on a man-made river
and casts a lifeless light down on the tilt-a-whirl
the cowboys hang their hats and the Chinese acrobats sharpen their swords then fall asleep in a little ball
they all wonder where they might be going come the Fall
over by the midway it seems that someone left on the light of the margarita machine
but it’s just the log ride attendant and the 4H Queen making love in the ticket booth
she’s screaming, “Baby, you can ride for free”
some kids snuck in the back gate they’re throwing rocks at the chickens and softballs at the plates
the cows wake up and look around as if to say that we are never as forever as we are for today
when the morning comes they’ll file in one by one with fanny packs, water bottles and blooming onions in their hands
and all around our little world we’ll be dancing for the boys and girls
humming like an oiled machine
because they came to see a show and a show is what they’ll see
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7. |
American Singles
02:58
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I’ve been known to leave the things that mean the most behind me
to carry on then look back with a frightful eye
on what may have been a youthful oversight
I’m supposed to be a structural engineer
it’s a fear that mounts in places that I don’t talk about in social situations
my Dad claims, “Life is short...buy the good cheese”
he must be wise because I’ve tried and I can’t equate my life to my groceries
it’s American Singles for me
is it just my age or will I always have this tendency to gravitate
toward things devoid of certainty and proudly stray from dotted lines
and well-lit signs that guide me?
tell me more about the summer you spent sleeping on the floor
and hopping freight trains northward, eastward, everywhere
still nowhere at the same time that’s the life for me
lately I can see that this whole thing is an illusion
and in ten years I’m gonna look back and wonder what I was afraid of
it’s all I can do to stay sane play these stupid songs all day
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8. |
Toilet Paper Song
02:43
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there’s a lady sweeping her tree and the toilet paper therein
trying to erase every trace of the youthful experience
that took place late last night on her front lawn as she lay in bed comfortably
watching reruns of “Everybody Loves Raymond” on her plasma screen
and I can’t help but catch a smile as I pass by in my truck
when I hear her mutter, “what a waste, what a waste”
it’s a funny place we’re living in where we can complain about the waste of things that,
left to our own, we would wipe our asses with
I hope someday I have some little house that little kids can throw stuff at
but I won’t take it down no, I’ll leave it up there in the tree and go on vacation
and when I get home from vacation, I’ll go up there in the tree and spray a preservative on the stuff
to keep it from biodegrading and the years will pass the rain will fall
and the stuff will get all sticky and weird and start growing spores
and that way, when that kid’s walking his kids to school he can look up in my tree and remember,
“I was gonna be a pitcher for The Sox you could’ve asked anybody on this block
I was gonna be… nobody could steal away home so relatively undetectably”
there is no time at all they just put a clock on the wall
and it makes you think you’re running late when, really, you’re doing great
you’re where you’re supposed to be otherwise you’d be someplace else
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9. |
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I have no shoes to wear to your wedding
I haven’t the money for a proper gift
I thought I’d embroider your name on some sweaters
but then I figured you wouldn’t be able to read them you know…
weddings always make me uneasy
the way that they stand up there so confidently and say
we’ll be together ‘til death does us part
no matter who we become or how bored we might be by the time that we get there
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10. |
Broken Shit
02:38
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this is my song for the guy who stole my bike
you should know that the back wheel was not screwed on tight
you should know that the brakes lock up when you turn to the right
I was gonna fix it when I woke up in the morning
but you took it last night I hope it gets you where you’re going
it never got me anywhere… except right now I get to go back to sleep
this is the verse for the guy who broke into my car
took my stereo my mix tape of MAZZY STAR some work ties and a half-eaten “It’s A Boy” bubble gum cigar
you should know that the stereo only played out of one side
you should know I was gonna wake up and drive down to FRY’S
buy myself one of those fancy new CD players with the detachable faces and the shiny lights
so just think of what you could’ve had if you had just waited one night
and if I believed in The Karma Police surely, they would be circling the scene and they’d be singing,
“This is what you get when you steal from a guy who owns nothing but broken shit”
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11. |
Cornerstone
02:46
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every day is a new day but last-nights linger in my hair
and tomorrows will take their share
which leaves me with this afternoon to meet you at The Cornerstone
for breakfast served all day with a smile and a side of hollandaise
I even found a parking space and though I forgot to bring my change
I found some in the ashtray then I remembered this is Sunday
so I bought a temporary tattoo that says, “I love you”
the sky is gray in that warm Seattle way that makes me want to sleep all day
then wake up late and bake a cake and eat some with you
I would like to keep that innocence and clarity just then my cell phone rings but I’ll turn it off
when you show up with your hat and gloves you’ll say, “Hey man, it’s been a while”
then give me the perfect smile to match my new tattoo
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12. |
About a Shade Tree
01:12
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there used to be a shade tree now there’s this awkward palm tree
growing in the concrete where rich white people park their SUVs
when they find a need for BEVERAGES or MORE!
I’ve got a glue gun you’ve got a real gun glue guns are more fun
so what’ya say we make some signs and stick’em up on the trees saying,
“You don’t want to kill me… you do not want to kill me!”
see, my concern is that in two hundred years our wars won’t be for oil or whatever
they’ll be for the last shady spot to sit down and eat a sandwich
or the only decent place to lay your lover down on the grass
because doing it in a parking lot seems trashy and besides you’d get unsightly asphalt burns
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13. |
Father Carey
01:03
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if we were stranded on a desert island
and you found a raft that only carried one
I think you’d desert me
and if the tide came in and cast you back on the beach
you would beg my forgiveness then if you got hungry
I think you would eat me
I think you would eat me Father Carey
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14. |
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where did I leave my sweater?
where did I leave my sweater? where awww…
I think I must have left it in Santa Cruz
at that show I played at the University college ten dining commons multi-purpose room
yes I remember it all quite clearly now I was packing up my things
when a young female student said I sounded exactly like Jason Mraz
and it was then that I set down my sweater so as to appear natural and unoffended
as our conversation shifted to autographs and was then abruptly ended
when I signed her new CD “-Jason Mraz”
so tomorrow I’ll go to Mervyns tomorrow I’ll go to Mervyns tomorrow I’ll wake up early
I hope my sweater’s still on sale
I can see them all like vultures at the Cherokee Brand clearance rack and by the time I get through
all they’ll have left is XXXL
and if my sweater’s not on sale I will wait there until it is and I will shiver while I wait because it’s cold
and while I’m shivering while I’m waiting for my sweater to go on sale
I’ll imagine that girl from Santa Cruz being swallowed by a whale and blaming her new life in a whales belly on Jason Mraz
so I was standing in line at Mervyns and the guy in front of me was obviously wearing a toupee
and I started thinking to myself what if all of our lives are just really long one-act plays
in which we actors try desperately to be somebody else like…
hey, look at me I’ve got a fancy house somebody killed a cow and made my couch
I’ve got synthetic hair it’s Velcro’d to my head
and if that’s the case then I’m concerned that I’m too young to know the truth
and I’ll have to spend the next 65 years trying to recapture my youth
you know, there aren’t very many words that rhyme with Mraz
so when I go bald I’m shaving it off when I go bald I’m shaving it off when I go bald I’ll never ever wear a rug
I’ll let the neighbor kids draw dragonflies and beautiful Bengal tigers on my head when I go bald enough
and if my wife’s embarrassed by my tigers and she won’t be seen in public with me then I’ll divorce her
and the divorce will be quick and painless as far as divorces go
because she can keep the house she can keep the couch and whatever I left behind it
she can even have my sweater if she ever happens to find it
I’m moving out to the woods where I belong
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15. |
Let's Ride Bikes
03:08
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lately I’ve been trying to write every night but nothing cool comes out
just a bunch of boring stuff about how life is good
there are cookies in the cupboard beers in the fridge some mugs in the freezer to pour them
in I love my girl and she thinks I’m alright we built this little house and I sleep good at night
my truck passed smog I’ve been trying to jog sometimes that works out other times I just drive to the bakery
and in the past when the skies have been so clear and calm
I’ve looked inside to find the hidden storm and traded how it feels for all of the information
you’d be surprised at how my cynical mind can spin the look and sound of my life’s headlines
I’ve made cinnamon rolls into fruitless hesitation
so I guess I should just smile at my neighbor’s dog fall asleep on the garage floor with my headphones on
I can see from where I stand it’s not really in my hands it’s more on my feet to take me wherever I’m supposed to be
and I’m sure that in the not too distant I’ll be tangled in familiar webs
uncertainties and past missteps will rise to meet me
doubtful clouds will shroud Grand designs and self-consciousness will blur the line
between happiness and things I’m told I should be doing
but for now, my dearest friend, let’s ride bikes
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16. |
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I’m Leaving in the morning
I packed my blue bag while you were sleeping
I’m headed up through Oregon
To see what can be seen from where I’ll stand
I changed the oil the plugs and wires
Checked the timing and the tires
Bought a map of the western states
The Obama books on tape
From which I learned
that there’s an art to knowing where to place your weight
I’ve been tooling along
Like that old Charlie Daniels song
And drinking too much coffee to pass the time
And as if to confirm that
Sometimes it’s the water, not the bridge that burns
They took my bag of oranges at the Washington line
Tacoma was a joke
It was like they couldn’t even hear me
Until I played the sound of silence way too loud
From which I learned that irony is lost
On a drinking crowd
In Bellingham I ran into old friends
Who talked about Alaska and made me smile
And when we parted ways
I parked outside the place I’d played
And walked around downtown until the light
And I thought about the day
That I heard Dylan say
To choose wisely those with whom you share your dream
And the interviewer fell out of her chair
And the words took wing and broke through the tv screen
Flew right into me
All the way back home I wrestled with the radio
Fading in and out
Like the towns and the tanks of gas
Another grain of sand in this hourglass
Through which more will fall
And the best that I can hope
Is to see them as they pass
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17. |
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I’m sitting in the corner of the doctor's office waiting room
With my grandma and an apple that I brought from home
Taking notice of the contrast between the nervous faces of nervous patients
And the stark realism of the woman answering the phones
Grandma puts on her jacket
She says it’s always cold when you get old
I’ve always considered her and I to be so different
But time is teaching me that it’s sameness
That is so much more difficult to identify
She says don’t be like me
Taking life so seriously
I had a family when I was still
Just a baby
At that moment grandpa walks out of the xray room
Buttons up his top button
Takes us all out to lunch
Go ahead get that cherry coke
You got a birthday coming up?
The big 21
Doesn’t seem like so long ago
It was you and your brother riding in the Cadillac
Fighting over the armrest in the back
Talking about rocket ship lawn chairs
Coffee candies and track
Way back when grandpa was the wisest man in the world
Nothing has changed at all
You know I never thought to thank you
For all those rides home
I never got to thank you for all that french toast
Kerry, we can rise above it all
Because you and me
We are family
So hopelessly undeniably
Intertwined like rushing mountain streams
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Son Canciones Barcelona, Spain
Quiet songs for restless souls since 2014.
Son Canciones is an independent record label from Barcelona.
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