1. |
Home
03:15
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When I was just a boy of six playing on the sand,
my father there beside me the ocean crashing down,
he’d paint the changing shoreline catching light with his hand. Surrounded by the mountains, listening to the sea,
or walking through the forest naming everything we’d see,
he never feared the movement living in the trees.
When our fathers and their fathers are all buried in the ground.
The wind moving over stone makes the only sound.
I will stand here by the river with my head bowed down,
and I’ll be home. I’ll be home.
When the future rolls into me like a darkness coming on,
and the weight of time behind me tries to push me to the ground,
I will find the words he left along the road that led to now,
and I’ll be home. I’ll be home, going home.
Give me light upon the land, a riverbed of sound.
Give me light to bind me when the dark wind overwhelms.
Hear the words my feet reveal hard upon the ground.
Light the way with knowing without knowing where it leads.
Memory’s not a burden but a fire you burn in need.
When I turned and he was gone, he was ahead of me.
When our fathers and their fathers are all buried in the ground.
The wind moving over stone makes the only sound.
I will stand here by the river with my head bowed down,
and I’ll be home. I’ll be home.
And the world I leave behind me I still carry on in name.
Regret is just a step I took but got here all the same.
When the words I leave along the road are lights that shine the way,
I’ll be home. I’ll be home, going home.
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2. |
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We’ve been traveling down this road so far,
thought we were walking side by side.
But the white expanse records one single track,
guess you took all the weight while I took my free ride.
A winged envelope so proud and free,
breaking through the speed of darkness and the driving sleet.
Never once noting the inequality
of the bargain that’d been struck between well you and me.
You’re the trunk, I am the branch, I am bison, you’re the grass.
I’m the plains, you are the sun that lets me grow.
I’m a ball, you are the goal. I am swimmy, you’re the shoal.
I’m glacier melt, you are the river bank that guides my flow,
the beat that drives my rock and roll.
Never took the time to look too close,
see why my load it seemed so light.
Never questioned why my path was clear,
why even rusting vacant gunmetal days seemed so bright.
You’re the trunk, I am the branch, I am bison, you’re the grass.
I’m the plains, you are the sun that lets me grow.
I’m a ball, you are the goal. I am swimmy, you’re the shoal.
I’m glacier melt, you are the river bank that guides my flow,
the beat that drives my rock and roll.
A totem soaring ‘bove the mist so clear,
guiding me through swirling rapids of my whitewater fears.
A love that stretches wide the seven seas,
an ocean swell infinity calling me right back here.
You’re the trunk, I am the branch, I am bison, you’re the grass.
I’m the plains, you are the sun that lets me grow.
I’m a ball, you are the goal. I am swimmy, you’re the shoal.
I’m glacier melt, you are the river bank that guides my flow,
the beat that drives my rock and roll.
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3. |
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I will wait here, a paper boat caught on your branch,
a gambler showing the king of heart waiting for a match.
I will wait here, a roller coaster with no brake,
a prairie highway with only one exit to take.
‘Cause you’re the longest day of the year,
a glassy lake so calm, so clear,
a mountain range smiling at the sky,
a flash of colour singing out so high.
I will wait here, the earth as it circles the sun,
a Mona Lisa smile on the face of a nun.
I will wait here, a lost canoe upturned on the shore.
Okay with this but wanting so much more.
‘Cause you’re the longest day of the year,
a glassy lake so calm, so clear,
a mountain range smiling at the sky,
a flash of colour singing out so high.
I will wait here wishing I could part the sea,
fingers crossed that you’re still thinking of me.
I will wait here styling it James Dean cool,
keeping faith that I ain’t just playing the fool.
‘Cause you’re the longest day of the year,
a glassy lake so calm, so clear,
a mountain range smiling at the sky,
a flash of colour singing out so high.
I will wait here, a bull pacing round the ring,
a late-night technophile in line for the next big thing,
an outsider infiltrating the dynasty Ming,
a troubadour who’s lost his voice still trying to sing.
I will wait for a cloudy ground hog day,
for the winter to flee from your bright spring rays,
pleading with the heavens above,
hoping that they’ll send you home,
kneeling in the pews of love,
praying that I won’t be alone.
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4. |
No Pennies in My Dreams
03:21
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You gave me a cigarette,
hoped that I might pay your rent.
You never liked to ask that much.
We walked that steepled ground
in circles through our flat earth town.
I knew you’d never keep that crutch.
But when we had to leave
with summer falling from the trees,
I thought that we could go for free.
But now my hope is poor
without you laughing just next door.
I got no pennies in my dreams.
And when I’m mad it’s you I think about,
and when I’m bad I’m staring at the phone,
and when I’m sad I see you in the mirror of my soul.
We learned a thing or two,
locked up in your parent’s room.
Like we only get one life.
I took some souvenirs
to keep you close for all these years,
but they don’t sing to me at night.
They took your heart away,
prescribed your mind into a cage,
drew a line you couldn’t cross.
But when you broke that rule,
you stayed away for my own good.
I knew your future had been lost.
But when you’re mad, it’s me you think about,
and when you’re bad you’re staring at the phone,
and when you’re sad you see me in mirror in your soul.
I followed you though I can’t reach you.
You pulled me through now I can’t find you.
Follow me, just reach behind you.
I’m waiting on the road that led us home.
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5. |
Look Outside Your Window
03:56
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Look outside your window, tell me what do you see.
Unchanging routine and regret, or open roads possibility.
Tear down those blinds shutting you out, let your sun shine in.
Nothing grows well in the dark. We need light to dance and spin.
Life can fill you up with things that weigh you down,
send rogue waves and make you think you’re gonna drown.
But we can shrug our shoulders and shed those heavy packs.
Surf those liquid mountains right off the map.
Step outside your backdoor tell me what do you feel.
Annoyance at a rusty BBQ or gratitude for this meal.
Let go of all your anger. The world’s okay.
And so are you, so love yourself. Let’s go outside and play.
Life can fill you up with things that weigh you down,
send rogue waves and make you think you’re gonna drown.
But we can shrug our shoulders and shed those heavy packs.
Surf those liquid mountains right off the map.
Open up your heart wide tell me what does it beat for.
Love of generosity and peace. or love of war.
Put down those slings and arrows. We can be kinder than fate.
Fill up your breast with sweet compassion, leave no room for hate.
Life can fill you up with things that weigh you down,
send rogue waves and make you think you’re gonna drown.
But we can shrug our shoulders and shed those heavy packs.
Surf those liquid mountains right off the map.
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6. |
Someone Says Your Name
04:07
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I hear the whistle blowing
every time someone says your name.
I hear that train.
When I hear the owl calling,
it’s in your voice that I hear its name,
and the world begins.
When the morning crows are calling,
it’s with you that the light remains
as they rise again.
When the holy word is broken,
and the world lies open without its name,
I see your pain.
As the green returns to the tree we planted for you,
every year its shape will change, and change is true.
But on your sweater I never returned there is no perfume.
Being here without you feels like killing time.
I hear your voice in words for things now undefined.
Soon everything I would have wanted you to see
won’t even appear to me.
When I heard the whistle blowing
I didn’t know who’d be on that train.
You can’t see the names.
When the winter trail had melted,
washed away in spring by the force of rain,
your path had changed.
Now I see the sun fall empty
on your face still shining in its frame
through the darkness gained.
All the words we left unspoken
sing in voiceless silence what remains,
when I hear your name.
As the green returns to the tree we planted for you,
every year its shape will change, and change is true.
But on your sweater I never returned there is no perfume.
Being here without you feels like killing time.
I hear your voice in words for things now undefined.
Soon everything I would have wanted you to see
won’t even appear to me.
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7. |
Another Word for Lonely
03:40
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The worst thing you can ever be is lonely,
wrecking everything to justify your need.
But given half a chance I’d of done anything
just so feel your cold heart wanting me again.
I stood alone and I would fall for anything.
Sparks were always brightest crawling in the dark.
I couldn’t even see to feel which heart was mine.
I held onto the darkness like penance for a crime.
You were just another word for lonely.
It was never me you wanted in the end.
Fool me once, shame on you, another time then I’m the fool.
You’d trip me every time you changed the rules.
They follow you like nothing else is possible.
You break them down to build them up to feed them from your hand. Once they realize they don’t know themselves,
they bite the chains that bind them and the blood it flows again.
I didn’t know I was alone until you found me.
Avoided like an old pine bending in the wind.
If lonely is the crime of which I’m guilty,
shackle me to the breeze and you can keep your key.
You were just another word for lonely.
It was never me you wanted in the end.
Fool me once, shame on you, another time then I’m the fool.
You’d trip me every time you changed the rules.
You were just another word for heartache.
You knew that what I needed was a friend.
Fool me once, shame on you, another time to prove you’re cruel,
but I won’t dignify this ship of fools.
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8. |
What's it Gonna Take
05:33
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She opens the door, eyes shining and warm.
Smile stretches towards me, arms pull me in from the storm.
I missed you so baby, feel whispered in my ear.
I smile and lean closer, though less warmly, I fear.
Asking myself what’s it gonna take to fall in love again.
What’s it gonna take to give myself without end.
Why ain’t I on my knees, why am I still on these feet standing tall.
Why can’t I just stumble off this ledge and just fall, fall into love again.
Feels like I am floating in dark waters unknown.
No compass can help me. Lost my bearings so very long ago.
Don’t know what we are doing, don’t know where we are bound.
Am I coming or going? Am I lost or am I found?
What’s it gonna take to fall in love again.
What’s it gonna take to give myself without end.
Why ain’t I on my knees, why am I still on these feet standing tall.
Why can’t I just stumble off this ledge and just fall, fall into love again.
When I was a young man life seemed easy and clear.
Never questioned what love was,
jumped headfirst whenever it seemed near.
But now I’m an old man with a heart so scarred and tired.
Do you ever recover from watching loves’ funeral pyre.
Asking yourself what’s it gonna take to fall in love again.
What’s it gonna take to give myself without end.
Why ain’t I on my knees, why am I still on these feet standing tall.
Why can’t I just stumble off this ledge and just fall, fall into love again.
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9. |
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I imagined the town up ahead, dreamed we were going somewhere.
I started doing the math, started counting in pairs.
But your route had no reason nor rhyme.
You were just along for the ride.
I was nothing but a detour on the side.
Your heart, well it sure wasn’t mine,
it’d been broken before you were just killing time.
Eyes forward, both hands on ship’s wheel,
towards the horizon pushing wood, pushing steel.
Round the mast I heard jigs, I heard reels.
I was praying for smooth sailing on even keel.
But we faced headwinds the likes I’d never seen.
Poseidon’s wrath, well it roiled the seas.
Moby Dick he came looking for me.
You jumped ship, didn’t have to think twice
as I sank to the bottom to pay Davy Jones’ price.
Your heart, well it sure wasn’t mine,
it’d been broken before you were just killing time.
But we faced headwinds the likes I’d never seen.
Poseidon’s wrath well it roiled the seas.
Moby Dick he came looking for me. [And he found me.]
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10. |
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The Dustbowl Daddies Ottawa, Ontario
For The Dustbowl Daddies, music is about bringing people together. Combining four-voice harmony with an acoustic/electric folk feel, backed up with old-time banjo, mandolin, Telecaster twang and swinging trumpet, we write high energy, upbeat tunes that get people moving. ... more
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