1. |
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My brothers fled the Peninsula
and fell off of the Earth.
I remain the guardian
of the quiet wintry north.
This is a place I can call my own:
Houghton city lights.
My Elm Street refuge on the hill,
'cross the Portage Lake at night.
Winter's almost over now...
The hallowed woods, the country of the gods
They call to me to sheath the copper sword.
The ancients here have mined the spirits dry.
This humble village can withstand the test of time.
The archer's bow, the anagram
and postmodernity:
I know my time is measured sharp.
And we're all measured deep.
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2. |
These Roots
03:46
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I'm three generations strong,
and I'm still kicking on.
I won't let these roots die young.
I've held my weight before,
on maple branches, so
I know the way to feel the earth.
In times of desperate might,
I set my life alight,
I won't go back to the sky.
That's where the stars will stay,
all floating out in space,
my feet will be right on these grounds.
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3. |
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So listen up and listen well,
of the captain's son,
whose story I'll tell.
(Mic check one, and mic check two
Mic check one, and mic check, mic check, mic check two)
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4. |
The Captain's Son
04:40
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I sailed in on an ancient ship,
I cut the cord and carried it,
I braved the autumn waves until I won.
Well I dug up from an ancient grave
I crawled through corridors and there I came
rushing out into the hall.
I stormed in and killed the king,
I watched him weep, I watched him bleed.
I carried with me all the weight of god.
Don't wait until the world is falling on you.
There's time until the seasons change again.
Don't wait until the world is falling on you.
There's time until the seasons change again.
I blew in on an ancient sail.
I was the captain's son until I recognized
those eyes aren't mine.
I swam ashore, I jumped the ship,
I swam so far and quickly 'til
I saw the distant mountain in my view.
I climbed that rocky peak, and
the view up there led me to see,
there's no more wisdom up in all the clouds.
Don't wait until the world is falling on you.
There's time until the seasons change again.
Don't wait until the world is falling on you.
There's time until the seasons change again.
Well I stormed in, I killed the king.
The captain's son, the autumn leaves,
the family name and age that died in me.
So there I ran into the night,
I ran with fear and ran with fright,
the epitaph, the exposition sang:
Don't wait until the world is falling on you.
There's time until the seasons change again.
Don't wait until the world is falling on you.
There's time until the seasons change again.
I stormed in, I killed the king,
the captain's son, the autumn leaves...
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5. |
Astronomy
02:30
|
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(Instrumental)
But you might imagine words,
or imagine that no words
can explain how small we are
and yet so large
all at once,
and never at all.
(Astronomy)
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6. |
Hemingway
06:14
|
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I don't need no Hemingway,
a man of men in many ways.
Papa has been dead and gone,
missed the millennium and electric storm.
Oh Papa, Papa
Pour me a drink.
I need some time to sit
and breathe.
Oh Papa, Papa
your earnest arms
retain a hold on
what we've lost.
Farewell to the river, to the trees
A simple summer's breeze 1914
Farewell to the spark that cooked our bones
American lead, and bread and wine and ale.
Off of the Cuban coast you sailed,
from Havana into Hell.
America is dead at last
She burned her fuel, she went too fast.
So come on boys, pick up your guns.
But don't dig their graves until you've won.
Just cut your hair and shave your face.
'Cause I don't need no Hemingway.
Oh Papa, Papa,
let me sing
one more tale
under your wing.
Farewell to the river, to the trees
The summer's heavy air, 1918
Farewell to the spark that cooked our bones
American lead, and bread and wine and ale.
I don't need no Hemingway,
a man of men in many ways.
Oh Papa, Papa, let me see a life fulfilled sans tragedy.
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7. |
Broken Words
03:38
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I will speak with broken words,
and I will sing until it hurts,
and I won't let this meaning die in me.
Stasis is an illusion here,
the shifting of the signs appear
and call us back to re-assess the night.
I've given up on language, then,
the call response and take and send,
so arbitrary, cold, and warm, and free.
There's so much to life outside,
the boundaries and categories,
I feel the need to sing, to call, to crow.
So I will speak with broken words,
and I will sing until it hurts, and
I won't let this meaning die in me.
I will speak with terse remarks,
and I will sing until it hurts, and
I won't let these meanings die in me.
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8. |
Where I'm Going...
03:56
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Well I don't know where I'm going,
and I don't know where I've been,
but I know for sure that
I can't hold the whole damn world up.
Well I sure know where I'm going,
and I sure know where I've been.
Don't you think that I remember
this is not your world for taking?
Then you see there are ten thousand valleys,
there are places for you to go.
There are memories dying in your arms.
Well I don't know where I'm going,
but I sure know where I've been,
it'll seem tomorrow
I can't hold the whole damn world up.
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9. |
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I fear my fate is tied in broken dreams and frozen landscapes.
I fear my fate is tied in a high heart and skeleton arms.
I fear my fate is tied but I will not release my grip on the morning light; it's what I need.
But these melodies call out
to keep our minds at ease.
We need to see reality
and all of its time.
And when we do die
how it will change and
re-arrange the meanings...
I dropped the anxious act
so I can just be a man now
navigate the breaking waters of regret.
For the bottle was a friend too near, too long
and the consequence is aging on my skin.
But these soft remarks are just the start.
I can't escape the dream
of reality, panic,
and leave my body and nouns.
But these soft remarks are just the start
I can't escape the dream
of reality, panic,
and leave my body and nouns.
And no, no.
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10. |
Flickers
01:54
|
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It's hard to be strong,
when the light flickers off
and I don't know what's right
or what's wrong.
So I take what I know
and approach what I don't
with some caution and thoughtful repose.
Where will that lead? It seems to me that
I'll find an old road in the dust.
It'll head to the north where the cedars are tall
and the trail never ends just unwinds.
It's hard to be strong,
when life's light flickers off
and on and off and on and on.
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11. |
Counting the Ways Home
02:28
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I'm counting the ways home.
I'm counting the ways home.
Home, home, home.
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12. |
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I'm young, but not for long.
I'm free, but there are boundaries.
I'm young, but not for long, no.
I'm young but not for long.
I'm free, but there are boundaries.
I'm young, but not for long, oh no.
I've seen an open field,
street lights and empty cities.
I've counted on everyone I know.
I've seen an endless sky,
dead dreams and floating memories.
I've given up on everyone I know.
I've seen that colored keep,
windmills, pastoral sunrise.
That's where my mind is bound to go.
I'm young, but not for long.
I'm free, but there are boundaries.
I'm young, but not for long, no.
I'm young but not for long.
I'm free, but there are boundaries.
I'm young, but not for long, oh no.
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Dan Lawrence Michigan
Dan (W.) Lawrence is a native of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and has been performing in the American Midwest for several years while self-releasing four albums. He is now a faculty member in the English department of Missouri University of Science and Technology. ... more
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