1. |
Easily Read
02:56
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The Lieutenant's new favorite doctor was called.
Seems his poor mind was made
for doing nothing at all.
Sitting alone in a place in the sun,
Waiting all day
For the night to come.
From the sky, all the figures
from centuries gone
Were showing their face upon every stone.
There could be no pain in that infinite place,
Out with that monkey they shot off into space.
All the beggars stood around
in their ragged display.
And the masters watched on,
they had nothing to say.
Sitting alone in a place in the sun,
And waiting all day
For the night to come.
A frequency manifest,
a hidden sphere is revealed.
They talk in riddles at night,
where the truth is concealed.
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2. |
King Of All The Earth
04:11
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He found his poor heart broken by some
comic voodoo curse
The King of all the earth
The doors swing off their hinges now,
the clocks run in reverse
The King of all the Earth
(Whist taming a rainstorm
he slipped and fell on three
occasions and each time did again arise)
He lay down his bloody blade
and he asked her for her hand
The Queen of all the Land
The Queen of all these Lands
She hesitated briefly
then she crept back down the stairs
The Queen of all the Air
The Queen of all the Air
(The hallway that he wanders
in the darkness is a poor excuse
for de-signifying his most dear significants)
When he says what he means,
Does it really mean anything?
When he takes what he needs,
Does he have to take everything?
His head was in the firmament
his face was in the dirt
The King of all the Earth
Will he ever understand
just what this life is worth?
The King of all the Earth
(The postulate that every star is a man is
too terrible to be true
and too great a scam to be called a lie).
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3. |
The Hanging Man
02:55
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The Hanging Man
Was everybody's favorite
He could freely stand
Upon his hands with his feet above him.
See his wingspan -
How we all loved him;
Everybody loved the hanging man.
The Hanging Man
His appetites a strange attractor
Making Plans
With a picture perfect method actress.
You could see them walking hand in hand
Beneath the stars along the lane
Looking happier than anyone can;
Everybody loved the hanging man.
The Hanging Man,
Our perfect action hero
See the quicksand,
Above his head the ones and zeros.
If there was ever any god within
The devil knows it's grown so thin.
Still, everybody loves him;
Everybody loves the hanging man.
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4. |
Leaves Upon The Path
05:27
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The one who set
The torn and bloody sails
To aim the captain's wrath
Leaves upon the path.
The one who preached
Of perfect white light,
And loved the blackest math
Leaves upon the path again.
The one who never knew
The living from the dead
The future from the past
Leaves upon the path.
The Fall will bloom
And blush, fiery red
In summer's aftermath,
Leaves upon the path.
Leaves upon the path, again.
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5. |
Memphis
04:14
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A vision sent me drifting to that delta back east
In search of easy living and my place up at the feast
There were stories of her comforts
And the favor of her tides
I was on my way to Memphis
From a thousand miles outside.
On my way to Memphis
From so very far outside.
A thunderhead above me,
and an ache in my chest
Followed me for days,
you know it gave me no rest.
I moved along the best I knew, my destiny to keep
But the heavens opened up and the water got too deep.
Those heavy clouds rained down on me
And the water got too deep.
Forty days and nights came and went without a sound
There were no lights in the midnight sky,
The moon and stars lay down on the ground.
Inspired by revelations, parables and signs
From those whose words keep ringing
even past their time of dying.
I listened in for answers
And sometimes I thought I heard,
I was on my was to Memphis,
but I couldn't get the word;
On my way to Memphis, just looking for the word.
Man, I was out there on that highway
like a killer or a thief
With my head full of vengeance
and my heart all full of grief.
And when I finally made it
through that ancient golden gate
I laid down the burden
of my heavy, heavy weight.
I pledged my life eternal to that heavenly estate.
But I found myself in Memphis just a little bit too late.
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6. |
Eternal Return
01:20
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7. |
A Stitch In Time
04:16
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When I talked to you last night
I could tell what was on your mind.
You didn't have much to say
That the crows hadn't carried away.
I see you're in love again
With everything you might have been.
You used to turn water to wine.
Used to turn words into diamonds.
And it's a high, high road.
Come on, it's time to go.
The path is steep to climb
Until you know that it's time, time, time.
Looking for secrets to keep,
Your treasure is buried so deep.
Your demons retreat from the light.
Like dreams at the end of the night.
The captain is lost to the sea,
No different than you are from me.
His heart is born out 'cross the waves,
His memory all he can save.
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8. |
Hour Among The Ghosts
04:23
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It's getting late, and I wanna be with you downtown tonight
So let's make our way outside.
We'll pretend that we're different people
From some better life.
This city's full of expectation
We're all looking out for a sign.
And when the lights shine down
From these high glass mountains
We all feel more alive.
Sometimes it's hard to believe
that we will ever want to leave
Sometimes it's hard to believe
there's any place left for us to go.
Our brothers and their brothers before them
Drove nails right into the stone.
They hung up every dream they had
And they called this place their own.
The hearts that they used for feeling
Were as cracked and dry as their bones.
It's gonna be a long time
It's gonna be a long, long time
Before their memory is finally gone.
Sometimes it's hard to believe
in all these wonders that I see.
Sometimes it's hard to believe
in all these miracles.
Another hour among the ghosts
All the lovers come and go,
Above their heads they'll see us floating.
Oh they'll see us floating away
Into that deep, black night.
Maybe I've been one of the liars,
Just learning to tell the truth.
Maybe I've been one of the losers
Exposed before my accusers,
So lost to everyone I knew
But I hope this time
To become something new.
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9. |
Fade Slowly Away
03:34
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I heard someone say,
“It's better to burn out
Than to fade slowly away”
I remember the look on his face.
Coming Home from the war
Insisting the world would be one (won),
And our days better than before
But no one believed anymore.
In his way, long ago
He seemed so high up above us.
The wandering stars above
Would have been easier to touch.
But he fell to the earth like a stone
And everything he could hold
Wouldn't lift him back up.
Not a hero – just a sham
A costume that he could put on
To cover the blood on his hands
A phantom disguised as a man.
I heard someone say,
“It's better to burn out
It's better that we should burn out
than just fade slowly away.”
Atlas, despised and disgraced:
I remember the look on his face.
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10. |
Thought Like Birds
04:20
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“Until you hear those mysteries,” they say
“You won't know what to do.
Familiar voices from so far away
Come calling back to you.”
In quiet rooms of stone and borrowed light
I've studied the geometry
Of haunted words that hover out of sight
Their angles sang to me.
They will carry me home.
The old conductor signaled to the crowd
Symbols of future things
Thought like birds soon gathered close around
To take them on their wing.
They will carry us home.
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11. |
Oklahoma Rain
04:08
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I've seen the dark side of the moon;
Where locusts swarmed the frozen dunes.
Their bodies hummed an ancient song,
And we sang together all night long.
Oklahoma Rain,
Oklahoma Rain.
Falling on the Plane.
Oklahoma Rain.
The blood of many sons was shed.
The hardened earth stained crimson red.
Their souls are waiting underground
For the big, black sky to tumble down.
Now, some may say we've gone too far.
We've flown too high and seen too much.
The stars that fill the midnight sky
Have leaned in close enough to touch.
Satellites are overhead,
They’re staring down into my brain.
It's full of rusted dreams and ghosts
And a flood of Oklahoma rain.
Oklahoma Rain,
Oklahoma Rain.
Falling on the Plane.
Oklahoma Rain.
Coming down Again.
Oklahoma.
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The Higher Ups Austin, Texas
Gray Parsons is The Higher Ups. Born in Oklahoma. Lives in Austin, TX.
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