1. |
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WHEN THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU
when there was something wrong with you
you covered it up now didn't you
now there's nothing they could see
that could bring you down so easily
over and over and over time
you built it up so good
over and over and over time
you play it off like it's cool
the best was never yet to come
you made a pact right from the start
to sabotage what we might be
but you forgot what I used to be
over and over and over time
you built it up so good
over and over and over time
you play it off like it's cool
over and over and over time
you play it off like it's cool
over and over and over time
you built it up so good
now you're fixed in front of me
turn around so you can see
how the best is getting
better every time better it just takes time
I'll be gone don't wait around all night to see
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2. |
Siren Song
03:05
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SIREN SONG
I tried casting away
to float with the other pedestals
meaning to sound in my head
the only thing that comes back
I'm near the sirens
like a truck hit by a man
I heard them calling
when I could hardly hear
I'm where the fire is
barely breathing out the smoke
I'm burning down with
when I find out it's all the same
I tried lifting my head
went at it all day
I focused all of my breath
but it finally came back
near the sirens
like a truck hit by a man
I heard them calling when
I could hardly hear
I'm where the fire is
barely breathing out the smoke
I'm burning down with
when I find out it's all the same
I'm near the sirens
I tried casting away
to float with the other pedestals
meaning to sound in my head
the only thing that came back
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3. |
Calling Out
06:51
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CALLING OUT
Everyday, my friends are calling me. They say something about how we mean to each other, dear. It's something like the magic we sought after when we were reading about the brotherhood, the sisterhood, that makes up our literature.
But you're calling out my name. But you're calling out my name, and it sounds just the same, sounds just the same, something completes the sound - it's the shadow in the light.
We write about the stuff we dream about and we remember. I told you so many times I don't see the same as you. What good is it to be alike, we sound the same anyway? Oh well, it's just a little difference that makes the sunset fade that way.
But you're calling out my name. But you're calling out my name, and sounds just the same, sounds just the same, sounds just the same, sounds just the same.
Now look at us, we're forgiven, and it takes all the time in the world for realization. You told me I was the most patient man you'd ever seen, but I'm waiting to prove it to you I'm not what I seem.
But you're calling out my name. But you're calling out my name, and it sounds just the same, sounds just the same, oh and it sounds just the same, and it sounds just the same as it'll ever be.
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4. |
Bucket in a Well
03:39
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BUCKET IN A WELL
Isn't that the song I tried to sing
resting barefoot on a nest of pins?
I've struggled hard, climbed the moonlight, still.
If I could finally catch a prayer alive, I'd sing a thousand hymns.
Isn't that the dream I spoke about,
threw a bucket in a well and wished out loud?
I tried to walk on water, but I fell right in;
I didn't get a chance to see the divine, but I learned how to swim.
I didn't get a chance to see the divine, but I learned how to swim.
It's invisible, but we're getting stronger.
Isn't that the song I tried to sing
resting barefoot on a nest of pins?
I tried to walk on water, but I fell right in;
I didn't get a chance to see the divine, but I learned how to swim.
I didn't get a chance to see the divine, but I learned how to swim.
I didn't get a chance to see love.
I didn't get a chance to see love.
I didn't get a chance to see love.
I didn't get a chance to see love.
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5. |
Melody
04:15
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MELODY
Dinnertime, always forging something new
Passing your time away in tune
Summertime is a never-ending funny rhyme
Winter wakes you up in blue
You've been around the world to see her
Taking care of business at hand
You cannot wait around to be her
Favorite little comedian
You walk the line, you are intrigued by her tattoo
Get your subjects and objects confused
She's so fine, it's a wonder you never knew
You wish she thought about it too
Hoping that she might just hear you
Building castles in the sand
Never close enough to let you
Trace the geography of her land
If melody waits all night for thee
(Dinnertime, you're always forging something)
You were meant for me
For me
For me
For me
For me
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6. |
Wade
03:23
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WADE
It goes like this, the song it fits, your whole world drifts
Inside a ship, that's time, that's time, that's how it is
You stay up all night to make a flag, to dress it up, with something flashy
To make it a stand out, stand up, make it something brave
And you've done all you can
So just wade in a minute babe
Before you begin again
Wear it out, wear it bright and big, make it smile, make it slick
Put it up on the web for the whole world to hear
And when you're up on your mtv, make a song, you can make it for me
To sing and I'll promise all my friends and I we're gonna hum along
And think of what went wrong
Or what went right
And left by night light.
So pack it up
Pack it up
Pack it up
Pack it up
This time
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7. |
Josie
02:42
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JOSIE
Josie's on my footsteps
She don't know what for
Josie's on my footsteps
She don't know what for
Josie's on my footsteps
She keeps asking me for more
Josie's on my footsteps
She don't know what for
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
Josie's on my footsteps
Trying to even out the score
She's calculating mathematics
on my mother's balcony floor
Josie's on my footsteps
She thinks of so much more
She's got the keys
To my front and my backdoor
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
Love is a recovery
Josie, there's Josie
Playing that guitar
Playing it in a band
Flower dress
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
She said love is a recovery
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8. |
Almost Good Enough
05:04
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ALMOST GOOD ENOUGH
You take the high road
I find my way home
You're always saying something that rhymes
With my loss of hope
And we go running
It's almost frightening
The way we're sketching circles
Of our lives in this city
Oh we're the great pretenders
We're the best at it
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
And you're running away from me
These days I'm shaking
With every conversation
People making up things I'm certain
Will soon be forgotten
What the hell's the problem
With finding something sacred
Staying in tune with what's illusion
And what's the best intention
Oh but we're the great pretenders
And there's nothing wrong with it
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
You've been running all over this town
You've been hiding in the round
You've been taken care of now
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
All you see
Is almost good enough to believe
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9. |
Only Gets Better
03:09
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ONLY GETS BETTER
All is silent when you're reading
Schools of violence are repeating
Acts of bending, separating
All our feelings, stop your feeling alive, alive, alive, alive, alive
I'm alive despite all these contradictions, that stop me from seeing, stop me from thinking
Always waiting
Anticipating
That something's changing
And that it will always get better
The time is coming
I know I can feel it
It's in the air now
And it will only get better
Everybody you know, everybody you meet, everybody you know
Everybody you know, everybody you know
They start from rising, stop romancing
Start me singing, start you listening
Always waiting
Anticipating
That something's changing
And that it will always get better
The time is coming
I know I can feel it
It's in the air now
And it will only get better
Slowly over time
I see a better now
Open up your mind
And that we'll always get better
Slowly over time
I see a better now
Open up your mind
And that we'll only get better
Only get better
Only get better
Only get better
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10. |
Cut the Chord
04:12
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CUT THE CORD
You look at the sky now and you see how it reminds you of that place
In your mind, another need to take you far away
And make some room for a constellation
Make some room for imagination
It's there for you if you decide you want to make it stay
Cut the cord, mom, cut the cord
From the same old masks you've been wearing
Take it off
Cut the cord mom cut the cord
It's a perfect storm and you're in it
Let it go (all aboard)
You clean the messes of masses who don't know your name
You sleep in fences and lock up all the stories in that head (play games instead)
In your mind are these slight suggestions
In your mind possible revelations
It's a choice you're making, another chance to flip the page
Cut the cord mom cut the cord
It's not a mistake I'm singing,
It's your love
It's a chord, mom,
It's just a chord,
So lay your back into it,
All aboard
Cut the cord, mom, cut the cord
It's not a mistake I'm singing,
It's your love
It's a chord, mom,
It's just a chord,
So lay your back into it,
All aboard
All aboard
All aboard
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11. |
Waitress
04:33
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WAITRESS
From time to time she thinks about deciphering all the voices in her head Some shout too loud, some talk, too tall, too short all are never mislead And everybody knows the shape of the door she's always swinging through They just wait around to see if has the time for something new
(they say)
When danni stays, it'll be a miracle
When danni stays, it'll be a miracle, but then she'll say goodbye
She's dressed in penguin white and black and blue on the inside she's all red
Ready to change her life so drastically to see it through what's been making her so mad
And you think it's up to you; I think it's up to me too to map a better place for her
But she knows your kind, she thinks we're all alike she's got better things to do
When danni stays, it'll be a miracle
When danni stays, it'll be a miracle, but then she'll say goodbye
She's going to say goodbye
She's going to say goodbye
Nevertheless, I had this dream the other day danni and I we were through Playing this joke that we'd never find this island for me and for you
I'm saying for you because you know this song's for you and I know, Danni, you're listening
You're reading between the lines with your mind for the first time when you'll be willing to say
Danni stays, it's a miracle
Danni stays, it's a miracle
Danni stays, it's a miracle
Danni stays, it's a miracle then we say goodbye
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12. |
Fade
03:30
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FADE
You making such sense of our love
Knowing how true it becomes
All of this now when you leave
Me hiding in pictures and frames
Knowing too well what became
All of this when you were near
And when the dreaming starts to fade away
All of your words seem to stay
Making a scene out of me
Here is where they just tell me to stay
Minding my business today
Making a mess of this space
And when the dreaming starts to fade away
I understand the distance I used to blame
All of the love that you gave (all of the love that I saved)
And when the dreaming starts to fade away
And all of your words seem to stay
Making a scene out of me
Making a scene out of me
Making a scene out of me
Making a scene out of me
Making a scene out of me
Making a scene out of me
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13. |
Older, Too
04:35
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OLDER, TOO
I said it smells like wind in the breeze
and I've been spending my time climbing trees
so all these consultations in the matter
have been taking care of business at hand.
I got no voice or subject, no conversation; the reconciliation is over.
You'll be older, too. You'll be covered when you're through.
Every time you pass by, it feels like a jigsaw in front of my eye.
We're circling, circling, circling, deeper into blue.
All these interrogations like congregations,
constellations making faces at me.
I got no say in the matter now.
You'll be older, too. You'll be covered when you're through.
Icannotspeakinsilence.Icannotspeakinriddles.Igotnounderstandingofthetruthnowwhenyou'respeaking.Igotnoone'sattention.Igotnocandidlullaby.Can'tyouseeI'mtryingtobewithyou?
You'll be older, too. You'll be covered when you're through. And you'll write words that shout like lions inside of you. And you'll fall like the prettiest leaf under this new moon
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14. |
Lila
05:07
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LILA
I'm caught up in your words, but I'm old enough to say I don't need them anyway. I've been busy writing poems, too wrapped up to hear just what you have to say. We glorify our love, make us out to be some hero we don't need. So you come like Superman when I'm wrapped up in your cape and you arrive much too late.
So shout, and don't be afraid to lie. Don't be afraid to lie.
So shout, and don't be afraid to lie. Don't be afraid to lie.
Everything's alright; It's easy to believe what we never see. Invisibility reaches up for me. I'm empty, but I'm free. Now don't hesitate to join me in this game. It'll never be the same. You can come like Superman. I'll be wrapped up in your cape, and you'll arrive much too late.
So shout, and don't be afraid to lie. Don't be afraid to lie.
So shout, and don't be afraid to lie. Don't be afraid to lie.
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15. |
Famous
03:22
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FAMOUS
Why don't we stop packing boxes?
Why don't we start hanging around?
We got so much time on our hands
To be rushing around.
Somebody cried tonight for fame.
Was all he knew that
Somebody lied tonight?
And was he standing next to you?
Every story has its way of winding
Down to a famous little end
Filled with famous little people
And all the famous things they said.
But, somebody cried tonight for fame.
Was all he knew that
Somebody lied tonight?
And was he standing next to you?
Open up the window.
What do you see?
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16. |
Memoir ( + Toothbrush)
12:54
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MEMOIR
You thought you could stay up for awhile and write about it Y
You thought you could stay new
You thought you could transform everything that you touched
You like to think it through
You thought you could sell pineapples to oranges
and poetry, too
You thought the plan was simple when you started
before it became true
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
You thought you checked your catalogue of smiles
to find the right one to show them
You thought the feeling would stay young
and you'd never crawl out of it
You said you like to spin in circles
until you fall down
but you tell all your friends you liked to spin in circles
and you never fell down
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
And every single passage
leads back to this
It's the memory, it's the question
that never leaves my head
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
Is this love?
* The lyrics to "Toothbrush" are not here.
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Alan Semerdjian New York, New York
Songwriter, poet, and educator Alan Semerdjian has been making and performing music in the NYC/Long Island area and beyond since 1990. His entire annotated musical catalog will be available exclusively here on bandcamp by 2023.
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