1. |
Broken Strings
04:09
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Let us make ourselves a wager
Who will win and who will lose
Standing in the halls of nature
As the crumbling ensues
Just when we find ourselves
Scrambling towards the light
These broken strings may pull us back
To the middle of the night
There is no going backward
No way to return
No way to deny
All that has been learned
Though we may back away
As the viper turns to strike
These broken strings can trip us up
And end our chance for flight
You may find it all outrageous
You may like to take offense
As the feeling grows contagious
And spreads self righteousness
And you may think yourself
The perfect acolyte
These broken strings are there to show you
Where you failed to heed the signs
So Let us make ourselves a wager
Who will win and who will lose
Standing in the halls of nature
As the crumbling ensues
Just when we find ourselves
Scrambling towards the light
These broken strings may pull us back
To the middle of the night
Though we may back away
As the viper turns to strike
These broken strings can trip us up
And end our chance for flight
As we keep moving onward
Reaching towards the heights
These broken strings are lost connection
To this fragile state of life
If we are ever to
Reform the ancient rites
These broken strings they must be mended
To repair this web of life
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2. |
Faded Bloom
06:43
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A table set a faded bloom
Empty shadows fill the room
The glasses full of sour wine
The silent clock frozen in time
The candle flame has long since died
The final tears have long been cried
A withered hand draws closed the drapes
To see no anger can escape
To hold on to what has been lost
Is the only occupation
Of the one who still waits
In unfulfilled anticipation
The party ended long ago
So this belies all explanation
For no guests will arrive
To this lonely occasion
It’s an empty celebration
What could have possibly gone wrong
To make this sentence last so long?
A bowl is full of bitter fruit
No slice of life could ever suit
The mirror dreams a fantasy
This troubled mind can only see
The stage lights shine upon the scene
The player sings a tragedy
And answers several curtain calls
While never leaving these four walls
To conjure up what could not be
Is the only fascination
Of the one who can’t wake
And shows no sign of hesitation
Of taking bows to multitudes
And giving thanks to all creation
But there’s no one at all
To receive this supplication
It’s an empty celebration
Could anything have once been said
To straighten out this tangled thread?
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3. |
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4. |
Killer
03:40
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They’re all to blame for this
They want to celebrate
I have to make a show of force
I have to keep the date
Can’t walk away
Can’t let them get away with this
How many times I’ve prayed
I’ll cut the trees in the forest
I’ll be the hand of fate
Prepare ye the way
Today is the day
Finger points the gun
The gun has its say
I’ll make you sorry for this
I’m going to make you pay
Don’t care who gets hurt in all this
Just want to see the face
I’ll take out as many as I can
I’m going to bloody the slate
I’m going to stay
I won’t runaway from here
I’ll be the blade
the blade that brings out all the fear
I’m going to raise some consciousness
Testify to the power of hate
I’m going to rate
Share my mental state
Take out the love
Take out the sanctuary
You won’t forget my sermon
You won’t forget my name
Killer….
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5. |
High Gear
03:36
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I’ve got it in high gear
I’m on a roll
I’ve got a range to roam
I’m moving at top speed
Its taking its toll
Don’t know when I’ll be coming home
If only I could stay wide awake
I got to stay wide awake
The pull is strong there’s no point in fighting
Can’t see the sense in the strain
I’m taking out my mind
I’m reeling, I’m styling
I firing lightning at my brain
If only I could stay wide awake
I got to stay wide awake
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6. |
Return Again
02:28
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7. |
Look At Ourselves
03:30
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Look At ourselves
Strained times and duty calls
That takes them far away
Look at this mess
Free fire and civil war
Somebody’s going to pay
Castles built upon the sand
Drawing lines with a heavy hand
In this house we’ve built before
Reason walks out the door
Look at this road
Trip wires and hidden costs
Somebody’s going to pay
Look at this life
Too short to waste it all
There only is today
Marshall music and parades
Tough talk from motorcades
Declarations of victory
It all fades away
Look at myself
To tired to face it all
Just make it go away
Look at this world
Straight lines for battles drawn
Where do we go from here?
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8. |
Aida's Lullaby
03:46
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Your sailing ship awaits to take you to
Uncharted deeply hidden lands
I will stay here awhile
Singing you softly on your way
Till you sail back home again
Wherever you may roam know that I
Will be here for you at home
I will sit here awhile
Singing to you softly as you sail
To distant ports unknown
Let us rest here awhile….
Tomorrow when you rise
Brushing back the sleep from your eyes
You can sing to me awhile
Calling to me softly to awake
And come back home again
Let us rest here awhile……
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9. |
Mean Old Man
06:04
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Prison breaks a fact of Life
Howling dogs and searchlights
Post office walls with faces framed
Busting rocks and ankle chains
Oh that mean old man
Wants me off his lawn
Can’t seem to get through to him
I just want back my ball
Flower beds and danger zones
Garden fences that stand alone
Toss and turn up the heat at night
Break the chain to look for a fight
Oh that mean old man
Wants me off his lawn
Can’t quite get through to him
I just want back my ball
He’s living in my neighborhood
I can see his house from my door
Keeps his curtains closed all day
When he’s home I can’t be sure
Hey you mean old man
You wants me off your lawn
How can I get through to you
I just want back my ball
Maybe see him after dark
No one’s got the nerve to call
He lets his dogs loose to patrol his yard
And add another to his haul
Hey there mean old man
You want me off your lawn
Well I got news for you
I’m here to get back my ball
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10. |
Corrective Measures
02:39
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11. |
Miles Away
05:34
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She tries so hard to keep it even
She tries too hard to keep control
She wants so much to make it home now
But she miles away
Miles away
Miles away
She wasn’t looking to make this journey
She didn’t this trip right now
She’s nowhere near her destination
Its miles away
Miles away
Miles away
There’s somewhere safe where she’ll find shelter
A place to stop and rest awhile
Maybe beyond the next horizon
Miles Away
Miles away
Miles away
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12. |
Meaning of Life
05:13
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The Meaning of Life
When all is change
The roll of the dice
By the hands of fate
The memory of time
The sweetest of wines
Crushed from the most precious of grapes
Each threshold that we cross
Can we explain
This gathering of the crops
These fields of grain
This shadow on the ground
The green that turns to brown
This sense of loss mingled with gain
In this moment of Being
In the blink of an eye
To find out a reason
We can only hope to try
The thunder miles away
A gathering storm
And death stands to proclaim
New life to be born
Filling in the void
Mixing tears with joy
These prayers have only life to blame
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13. |
Waiting For the Rapture
05:17
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Larger than life
Strange parallels
Voices beyond the grave
Shadows are cast
Nobody’s there
Screams when there’s no one to save
Eyes seem to follow
Sepia stares
Come hither looks of goodbye
Na Na Na, Na Na Na
Could we have come
This way long ago?
It feels like we’ve been here before
Strangely familiar
Never alone
The face that smiles out from the moon
The doors of perception
Are barely ajar
The eye tests the keyhole to see
Na Na Na, Na Na Na
Now you can see them
After you won’t
All in the blink of an eye
Which hat holds the rabbit?
God’s slight of hand
A card trick as big as the sky
The cup with the pebble
Where did it go?
Was there a pebble at all?
Na Na Na, Na Na Na
Paintings on caves
Cathedrals of stone
Stories of darkness and light
Songs of petition
Prayers of restraint
Visions of worlds beyond sight
Please if you make it
Drop me a line
A postcard from Elysian Fields
Na Na Na, Na Na Na
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Scott Shipley New York
Hails from the northernmost reaches of NY. It's called the North Country and it's beautiful. Any more north and we'd be in Canada. Which is nice too.
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