1. |
Hand-Me-Down Signs
04:50
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Must we really fake it till we make it? Grind it till we find it?
Burn it up and wear it out, make it do or do with out.
Things I thought I knew, I've got to learn again.
Don't knock it till you try it
Better to boil before you fry it
If you shake it, you could break it, its so easy to mistake it:
Things I thought I knew, I've got to learn again.
Thinking about things I thought I knew.
All the ill-advice I've given, entrenched in my positions on
Things I've got to learn again
Must have slipped my mind, I forgot how we forget
A grey-haired granddaughter of a suffragette was holding up a
hand-me-down sign, that reads "I can't believe I
Still have got to protest this shit!"
Better smoke em if you got em
hit rock, kick off the bottom
better sign up for a training before I carry on mansplaining
things I thought I knew, I've got to learn again.
Thinking about things I thought I knew.
All the ill-advice I've given, enslaved by my suspicions on
Things I've got to learn again
Must have slipped my mind, I forgot how we forget
Frantic pundits rearranging deck chairs on a sinking ship, holding up
hand-me down signs, talking bout some end being neigh
well, begin again...
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2. |
Stuck Here Feeling Free
03:14
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Stuck out on the Strip somewhere between the Oasis and the Mirage
Stuck somewhere between a little white lie and the truth
I should keep to myself, just like anybody else
Trying to stay ahead of the weather, following the food.
Stuck somewhere between the spell and the prayer, Inside of Truckee with the Reno Blues again
Stuck in the space in between each molecule.
Go too far in either way, and wind up back here in the same place
Stuck somewhere between tomorrow and yesterday.
Any place you go, may you find shelter from the wind
Feeling free! Between the walls of whatever room you’re staying in.
Feeling free! Between our dusty end and our weird little wet beginning
Free between the taking and the giving, liquid solid, dying living, absent present
We’re all stuck here feeling free.
Stuck out of the road somewhere above the sky, stuck above the ground
Stuck with a spongy clutch on the way home from town
Just between me and you, or whichever order or magnitude that keeps us
Staying ahead of the weather following the food.
Any place you go, may you find shelter from the wind
Feeling free! Between the walls of whatever room you’re staying in.
Feeling free! Between our dusty end and our weird little wet beginning
Free between the taking and the giving, liquid solid, dying living, absent present
We’re all stuck here feeling free.
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3. |
My Own "I"
03:57
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‘Twas a little too late when I found myself, standing before the mirror
The bathroom light was on a little too bright
I made the mistake of leaning in a little nearer.
Looked myself in my own eye
Saw only blowing dust and drifting sand
Sticker peeling off the bumper of a broke-down Astrovan reads:
“Where ever I go, There I Am”
I swear the toothbrush frowned at me, the toilet seat just blushed and turned away The razor and the comb conspired, insinuate that I could use a shave
I suppose that when the sun comes up I’ll watch it rise from behind my scratched-up shades
Look myself in my own eye
Drag a blade and pack the car
Morning D.J. spouting platitudes on the am radio saying “Where ever you go, There You Are”
Things were getting kind of hairy so I stumbled out towards Potato Lake Bluff Beneath the waxing gibbous begged the breeze to steal the song from my mouth With my junk spread all around in the moonlight looking faded and wornout
Looked myself in my own eye
Saw only fading light and swirling mist
certain memories of a time gone by linger in my jealous mind Where ever she goes, there she is
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4. |
You're Wild, I'm Open
03:15
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Shrugger of Shoulders came calling, kind of nervous, with a thermos full of miso
hiding from the headlights,
gone nightblind on a trust hike
watching luminescent bio
through the lichen grown over mine eyes, I can tell that you're
WILD
I'm open
stag stumbles in to the clearing and we both lock eyes
don't breath a word, don't call its name, lest it bound into the brush, hide among the reed and the rush here gone all the way.
We made a nest out in the mugwort and the mist
we didn't even have to try, sleeping in and scraping by
come out neith the moon tonight, come I need to see if you are
WILD
I'm open
stag stumbles into the clearing and we both lock eyes
don't breathe a word, don't call its name,
lest it bound into the brush, hide among the reed and the rush,
here
gone all away.
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5. |
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E A
“Ain’t my timing impeccable?”
E A
A wink and a nod and a nudge and a sigh
E C#m F#7
Shaking hands on the piano, rolling dojo on the podium
B7 E (B7)
The night we got together to say goodbye.
“Ain’t my timing impeccable?,” she said
Couple hours late, but arriving right on time
I don’t believe that I was who she was aiming to meet just then,
Just somebody hanging around there all the time
A7 E7
Oh to sit in the Swale one more afternoon….
A7 E7
(With nothing to) do, but watch the sun sail through the sky
A7 E7
Couple billion years of tortured evolution, leading to
D B7
this moment When we look each other in the eye tenderly, and say,
“Ain’t my timing impeccable”
The perfect distance from the sun
We crossed paths, what are the chances?
With time enough for final dances
Where the Lost Chord and the Last Straw pal around…
“Ain’t my timing impeccable”
Just a BEAN in the never-ending HUM
We should sing while the sun is shining, see
How perfect is our timing, she said,
“Well, sure honey, but so is Everyone’s!”
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6. |
Tam Jct
04:13
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A C#m
Once Upon a Time there was a voice real proud and brave
A A7 D
The hand that drew a steady line
F A
But now the line goes wandering, feral ‘round the page
E D A
The voice just cracks and stammers, and hesitates.
You might be surprised how quickly, “easy does it, attaboy”
Starts to sound like “Lazy Bastard O”
Hitchhiking through an ugly subdivision on a weekday, manboy
Calls himself the Dungeon-Master, but I suspect he’s unemployed.
Dm A
Saw your pretty eyes reflected in a mirror ball,
Dm A
Saw a plastic castle in a cage
Dm A
I think it’s not the boring childrens’ fault they’re boring
E E7
It’s just the boring games that we’re forcing them to play
A quiet desperation here, prying off a bottle top
In the bushes by the freeway with a key that I still carry
Even though I’ve lost the lock
Lurking ‘round Tam Junction, waiting for the stage,
Wishing I was in the Silver Bullet Band, wishing we were singing ‘Steal Away’…
Once Upon a Time there was a voice real proud and brave
The hand that drew a steady line
But now the line goes wandering, feral ‘round the page
The voice just cracks and stammers, and hesitates.
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7. |
Toehold
03:52
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Bm E7 A D Bm E7 A D
Speculation Refugees, always on the road, but you never leave Tattered tourist town
Bm E7 A D
Slowly sliding into the sea, pull the shade and douse the light
Bm E7
Find a place just for the night, go walking down the line
A D
Tucking feathers into every dashboard shrine
A E
Were you flipped out of your rented room?
A G D
Did some nouveau riche vampire condescend?
A E
Were you worshiping the sun and moon? Spitting out your silver spoon?
A G D
Did they sigh and falsely sigh and say, “Well what did you expect?”
D A E D
Flights of Fancy, hunting for a toehold in a homeland you were born in,
A
But you haven’t found it yet
Lot scene blooming along the avenue, Laundry hanging from the trees
Dolphins and Prowlers and Sundowners too
BBQ riding out upon the breeze
Till the landlords absentee, tack up signs and form committees
So we beat it a little further down the line
Are you flipped out by the state of things?
Flagged by some heartless algorithm
Are you bouncing round the echo chamber?
Riding Shotgun, trolling strangers?
Face lit by a cold unearthly glow
Flights of fancy, hunting for a toehold…
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8. |
French Jewelry
04:50
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D (C D) Em
The Legion was empty, except for the room downstairs where they were showing
G
“French Jewelry”
G7 D (C D)
The old folks sure were crowding ‘round the cases down there
D Em
So, I breezed up the marble stairs, to be all alone with the
G
Candlelight Master
G7 D (C D)
In the fake French-paneled room
Bm G D Bm G
I saw a chair from some old palace, nobody’s ever sat on
Bm G D Bm A
I spied a dusty old applewood harpsichord, seems likely nobody’s ever played
Bm G D
Watching spiders weaving webs upon a vase from Versailles
G D A D
And I long to climb behind the velvet rope, and sit and watch the crowd shuffling by
G D A
I long to hide inside the crystal-clear case, and sit and watch the old folks forever honey.
D C D, D C D
D (C D) Em
Plundered treasure on the plinth, looted cities on display
G
I’d sit with them, the site unseen, the guillotine waits in the wings
D D7
The birds outside the window all so sweetly start to sing
Em D G F#7 Bm
O to be the breathing artifact, set apart and tucked away
G D C#7 F#7
O to live on stolen condiment, after hours in the dark café
Bm G D Bm G
Slumping in a chair from some old palace, nobody’s ever sat on
Bm G D Bm A
Tinkling on a dusty old applewood harpsichord, seems likely nobody’s ever played
Bm G D
Watching spiders weaving webs upon a vase from Versailles
G D A D
And I long to climb behind the velvet rope, and sit and watch the crowd shuffling by
G D A
I long to hide inside the crystal-clear case, and sit and watch the old folks forever honey.
When the gig is finally over, and I’m escorted outside
past all the tired monuments, who never close their eyes
Their iron flags are frozen,
though the wind direction changed
See them pulled down from their pedestals
In the warm June rain.
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9. |
Flyin a White Flag Now
04:19
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G D C G (C G)
And if this looks like praying, that’s because, baby, we’re in church
G D C G (C G)
Though there’s no preacher in the pulpit, no knees on no wooden floor.
G D C G (C G)
There’s no stained glass in the windows, just a misty morning, blowing godly through the town
G D C G (C G)
For just one minute could you please stop shouting, long enough to see that I’m
flying a white flag now?
And it’s stained and frayed and shredded, won’t keep the rain out
Power split us apart, trouble bring us together flying a white flag now
Fly a white flag now, flying a white flag now
The dive bar juke box plays ‘Surrender,’ old bartender wears a take-no-prisoners glare
I’m alright, I swear, though I might, seem a little weird, so I order a beer and pull up a chair
Fly a white flag now, flying a white flag now
Let’s arbitrate a little give and take, let’s drive a bargain on some middle ground
We won’t always see eye to eye, but heart to heart
Beginner’s mind flies a white flag now.
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10. |
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A F#m E D
All our fine china, smashing into pottery shards, looks like
C#m Bm A F#m
the sharp-eyed bird’s been busy, pecking our trail o’ crumb
E D C#m Bm
Looks like the same idea occurred to everyone, flashing in the pan before we’re done
Take my hand, walk me home, lost in the middle of the woods
Feeling unseen eyes upon us, lost in the middle of a crowd
When some strange face appears, starts pointing out
That your tired tattered shoes are all worn OUT
A B7
The music’s too bright! The color’s too loud!
E7 D A
We shoulda called it a night but we were swept along in the crush of the crowd…
And all that buzzing by the beehive Sweating on the anthill
Won’t make a lick of difference
Looks like the sea went bitter, before we were born
With the salt from our dissolving continent
And fogging up the windshield, fiddling in the snowdrift
Grasshopper sings his old and tired lament,
He says,
“The music’s too bright! The color’s too loud
We shoulda called it a night, but we were swept along in the crush of the crowd”
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Jeff Manson California
If you are interested in booking a live performance of these songs, email mrjeffreymanson@gmail.com
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