1. |
pls
03:26
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pls
Weren’t you pretty then?
Didn’t we shine?
Wasn’t I so good
That one time?
We had a rhythm, babe
I was moon to your tide
& like every good rhythm
We found the rhyme
But –
Every star burning bright
Goes the way of a rose one night
Flaming out on beauty’s perfect cue
But now I have a pretty little song to sing
Didn’t it hurt so bad?
Cause weren’t we kind?
Before we went cruel,
And forgot how to cry?
Who won the duel babe?
Cause I was shooting blind
You always fired from the hip,
Straight and right
Like –
Chorus
Didn’t we melt the walls?
Set some rooms on fire?
Didn’t we burn the palace down from the inside?
But weren’t we out of hand?
Out of time?
When it went wrong
Baby, didn’t you fly?
Like –
Chorus
Now I have a pretty little song to sing
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2. |
Nina Simone
04:07
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Nina Simone
New Sunday morning
Pitch Bible black
Wending an unmarked path
To the naked Mountain Ash
Cheeks cut on clouds
Of my broken breath
Down in these fields
Heard you can catch your death
Sun’s gone till maybe December
Or maybe forever after
I don’t know, I don’t ask
I stick to the cave and shudder
Stoned cold on what I remember
Of the night that you left
And I pray for your ghost
To say,
Boy –
Baby let’s go
Waltz through the cottonwood snow
The cottonwood snow
Then you’d growl and say
Maybe let’s don’t
Honey let’s stay home
And spin some Nina Simone
A little Nina Simone
All that light on those nights
The moon in the picture window
Of our room
Your skin paper birch white
On the island bed
And the way that you glowed
When you said,
Boy –
Chorus
The waxwings sing
Their drunken hymns
And I hear Nina on the wind
The waxwings
And this dream that’s not a dream
Nina’s taking us to church again
Oh, baby let’s go…
Growl and say…
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3. |
Joan Didion
03:49
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Joan Didion
Brave the swelling tide
Pitch over the rise
Tumble in through
A sea of blue flowers
Thought we’d be our favorite story
I wanted to be your Joan Didion
We’d write the song and I’d carry the tune
A little bit of magical thinking’s a trap door
Through oblivion
Never imagined I could lose sight of you
Under the blue
To find a sign of life
Or the Rothko line
Or a fire light
On the horizon
Hope refused to die
But it got real thin sometimes
Hope refused to die
But never could catch flight
Chorus
Then I was waking up under the bushes again
Safe on the shore, you were drowning
Couldn’t see you for all the blue flowers overhead
Safe on the shore, you were drowning again
Doctor says I’ve recovered
And I feel nearly all better
I can hold it together
Standing in plain view
Chorus
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4. |
The Captain's Verses
02:10
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5. |
Hope, AK
03:50
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Hope, AK
Never imagined it’d be easy
Always pegged you as hard to please
But one rain slashed Saturday
And hot coffee
And I’d never seen anyone so happy
You said –
Northern Lights on the sea
Shooting stars through the bay
Nothing left to want or be
When everything becomes me
Paper birch pays us in gold leaves
Favorite form of currency
The children trade in chokecherries
Who ever thought we’d be so wealthy?
Chorus
A wannabe saint has nothing on a friend to the lonely
A wannabe saint has nothing on the birds in the morning
A wannabe saint has nothing on our creek in the evening
Be a friend to the lonely
Told the Maker I’d give my every anything
To guarantee my boys’ safety
Through this world’s insanity
The Maker laughed and said it’s all wrapped up in beauty
Said –
Northern Lights on the sea
Shooting stars through the bay
Nothing left to want or be
I had it every which way
Nothing what it seems
The universe in my tea
And everything becomes me
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6. |
Olena
03:28
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Olena
Olena, Olena,
Where do you hide?
Where do you find
The lines that you write?
Who’s tucking you
Into your bed tonight?
Maybe he’d sing you
My lullaby
Olena, Olena,
Don’t get me wrong
I ain’t sending you signs
I’m not courting love
Olena, Olena,
I don’t crave a reply
But I’d trade you a poem
For my lullaby
The raging winds
Upended my trees,
Rains flooded
My side of the creek
But the path to my door
Is a carpet of leaves
All flaming and jeweled
Lit kerosene
And the wind whips up the leaves
And a shiver dances through me
And I shake till I freeze
But then I burn like a star through the evening
Snow on the mountains
Is crawling towards town
Woodstove is burning
Aurora is out
A long winter’s nap
Is beckoning me
Olena, Olena
Gonna read me to sleep
Olena, Olena
Give me to my dreams
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7. |
Friendship Fire
03:23
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Friendship Fire
Want to say that this won’t be
Like every other wreck you’ve seen
But you and I know that love never runs easy
Want to believe I’m your only one
But I know even good girls may run
And I have cried myself to sleep too many an evening
I know that you know
That I don’t know anything
Save for one thing passed down
Through my family
If I’ve got you, then you’ve got me
We’ll stay tight as any two can be
You’d better have some faith
Baby, I’m not leaving
Caught your distant gaze one night
Crowded room, too much noise
The silence in your eyes was overwhelming
Let’s build a friendship fire tonight
Tell me your story – I’ll share mine
A little tired and worn, but loving
I know that you know
That I don’t know anything
Save for one thing passed down
Through my family
If I’ve got you, then you’ve got me
We’ll stay tight as any two can be
You’d better have some faith
Baby, I’m not leaving
If I’ve got you, then you’ve got me
We’ll stand tight as any two can be
You’d better have some faith
Baby, I ain’t leaving
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8. |
The Book of Consolation
04:01
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The Book of Consolation
The night never stopped singing
The lights always danced and swayed
The rivers still wanted for nothing
And the trees
They could teach you how to pray
In the book of consolation you’re still broken
But your cracks allow the light to nurse the pain
Love would not dry up
Love would never leave you
It was always there
Hoping it could stay
Born out of great desperation
A love without sign of duress
Diminishing your skepticism
But you swore
You did not deserve this gift
Chorus
Creek side – a holy communion
Her blue eyes and the midnight sun
A red wine sky bathed the horizon
While the mountains
Walked along with us in song
Chorus
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9. |
Welcome the Night
05:07
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Welcome the Night
Let’s buy some cigarettes
Pretend that we’re smokers
We’ll sit on the front steps
And wave to our neighbors
We’ll cough and we’ll shiver
And then I’m gonna ask ya,
“How the hell’d we ever
Wind up in Alaska?”
We’ll sip that Chilean red wine
From the mugs that you made
But baby this doesn’t come close
To what I really wanted to say
When that sun passes by
And leaves that crushed cranberry sky
And you and I
You and I
Welcome the night
Welcome the night
The comics aren’t funny
And the news is not worthy
Of the words that it uses
And these candidates running
Would benefit from seeing
Your garden in spring
They’d all learn their lesson
And we’d have them to tea
And sip a little Japanese green
From the mugs that you made
But baby this doesn’t come close
To what I really wanted to say
Chorus
It’s well after midnight
Sirens are wailing
Lights from a cop car
Do a dance on our ceiling
But our next door neighbor
Is awake playing Chopin
It cuts through the chaos
And cracks the dark open
While the world goes to hell outside
We’ll dare and imagine we’re safe
Drifting on muffled nocturnes
Reminiscent of grace
Like the sun passing by
Leaving a crushed cranberry sky
And you and I
You and I
Welcome the night
Welcome the night
Welcome the night
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10. |
P.S.
01:44
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Birch stand
Leaves fall
Roads bend
Birds call
Storms rage
Like I
Love you
Birch stand
Leaves fall
Roads bend
Birds call
Fire flies
And I
Love you
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Jonathan J. Bower Anchorage, Alaska
On the release of his 2012 EP, But So Beautiful, The Anchorage Press wrote, “[This is] masterful storytelling. These songs weave beautiful, forlorn tales in a matter of minutes, but with a defiant note of hope.” The songs on 2018's Light Years album play like postcards & snapshots written during an endless road trip around Alaska - or along every other dreamy, scenic stretch of highway anywhere... ... more
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