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Listen to the words long written down
Ere the break of day comes
Abruptly and without a sound
Hear my voice, above all else
But beware the siren's call
Deadly and beautiful
Fast approaching is the time
Lacking color and painted black
Marked with excess, unwanted wayside blues
I can see you for what you really are
I can hear your footsteps coming
And I can see you rear your head on the horizon
But this time I'm older
Let me tell you something
About what I've learned of late
Heed the warnings that I send
Because I've learned from experience
"Listen well to those who teach you.
Don't take lightly the advice of friends.
Quickly answer those who beseech you.
Never stand for theives who would rob you of your dignity."
I can see you for what you really are
I can hear your footsteps coming
And I can see you rear your head on the horizon
But this time I'm older
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2. |
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A plague on both your houses
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3. |
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You sing the chorus
I’ll hum the words we’ve forgotten
Fill the holes in memory
With pursed lips, improvised melodies
Green, white, yellow, red
Colors run straight to my head
And swirl into a rainbow
That I find the end of the next morning
When I get up to close the window
And look down next to me
Its just regret to me
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4. |
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I watch all the sloppiest messes in the shortest dresses as they pass by
From my side of the sidewalk I hear all of their babbling, inane talk of
Late nights and boys
And drunken escapades and horror stories
I'll pass the time with hours better spent
With better company and better friends
But soon
Soon
It all takes a turn for the worst
One perilous personality, however well versed
Who's constantly competing for
The brush of a hand or
The bat of an eyelash
How quickly I find myself in a desirable situation
How quickly it is ruined
Not by hand nor by hesitation
You have been so carefully placed in the back of my mind
And I know
That patience is a virtue exercised over time
And I know
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5. |
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You keep me on my toes
Back and forth swaying
You're as evasive as the waves
At the tides change each day
In a moments time a subject change
I watched the colors turn on the trees
And struggled with its meaning
It never came to me
It never came to me
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6. |
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The sun was beating down on me
And my family
My life was in the street
All of my material belongings
Laid in front of me
My right fist stings like a bee
A mouth running freely
Loud-mouthed, and angry
(We are both part of the same hypocrisy)
But his ship is sinking
And I'm thinking
LIBERTY!
I tred on the brink
and held my footing
I severed some links
But I'll be more healthy
And when people ask me
I'll say
That its all behind me
Because quite simply
It is all behind me
(Summer sun. Summer smoke. Summer sunshine.)
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7. |
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I so tastefully insist that its alright
That you so gracefully dismiss all of my tries
So bold as if to take this hit
But underneath your breath you hiss one sigh
I must be burning holes right through you with my eyes
You look so damn good wrapped up in your thin disguise
When you press that cup up to your lips
We've drank so much we'll drown in bliss oh my
You've been so quiet
And I've been so high
Keep your hands to yourself if you don't plan to use them
Your friends have all left the room
But they precariously listen with their ears pressed to the door
They don't dare remove their shoes for fear they'll have to pass back through
They know not to
You've been so quiet
And I've been so high
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8. |
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Nectar, bittersweet, exists before my reach
Out of range of tongue and teeth
Every moment fleeting
Midnight's frost retreating
Yields fruit with budding leaves where fingertips meet
Watch me mark my prey
Short hair, green eyes, and I'm dying to be inside
With half a mind to show you myself
Take small regard for my own health
For example, I realize I don't slow down much
Oh, no, no
When the time is right baby
(Round and round and round and round and round and round)
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9. |
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In passing I discovered
A stone yet to be uncovered
So I kicked it far in attempt to expose what lay underneath
However, immovable it proved
My frustration grew
I resolved to begin my approach renewed
To begin my approach anew
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10. |
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Eight months or two seasons later
I'm not quite where I expected
And I have found plenty of reasons
To see what happens next and
As winter's blanket wraps the city
And cold winds color my face
My thoughts slip back through time
When I had trouble regaining my breath and staying alive
And the car was filled with summer smoke and sunshine
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11. |
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Spring time
The only pretty ring time
When birds do sing
Sweet lovers love the…
A nervous sweat and uncomfortable shift in position
Exposes my new addiction
In a logically comfortable setting
I can scarcely find comfort with my head resting
In my hands
Or even under a pillow
Where my thoughts slip to a little pill, oh
That slipped my mind
I’m passing time
Finding rhymes for words
That shouldn't go with last night
Its so dangerous on a day like this
When even I cant find solace under your rays
In this anxious-ridden daze
Everything weighs so heavily
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12. |
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And she said to me
"You're just like all the rest,
Damn you and all your friends."
This stanza emerging from the tip of my pen
Is hardly repayment
But it helps me feel better again
"Its either this, or I repent"
I know you well enough to know
What appeals to your interests
And some rules don't bend
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13. |
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What I write, I write with pen
Because what I write is permanent.
The sheets are off of the hotel bed.
The silence has set in.
I'm tying myself down, willingly.
And it helps--the help from my family.
What we've made in the past few days,
Is music to my open ears.
Its soothing to contrast my fears for the rest of my life.
Switch to almost an hour ahead
While I'm lighting up another cigarette
I'll let my hands trace out
Everything I'm thinking about
Just like how
I stayed sane and kept it all figured out.
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released February 20, 2011
Music by SleepyV. Thanks to Jake Henigman, Buweneke Fernando, University of Pittsburgh Men's Glee Club for art work and voices (respectively)
