Lyrics
Album: Island off the Coast of America
Seven Times Seven
Spent
Don Henley
Blown In
Gold
Analogy Song
Rain on the Hills
Island off the Coast of America
Baby Jane
Americana
Seven Times Seven
For seven times seven, we’ve split these times.
My life is faulted along these lines.
One always wonders, while one knows why.
My forty-nine.
Hang by my right hand, and let me in.
My devil’s mirror, my reflected sin.
I’d like to lose you, but you’re grandfathered in.
How you been?
You were a road that went nowhere.
You were a cross that your friends had to bear.
If I had fun, it’s ‘cause you weren’t there.
As we were saying, that story’s told.
So now we’ve come to unsurveyed stone.
Break down the boulders and grind down the bones.
And keep on going.
You’ll be a road to points unknown
And where you cross, you won’t cross alone.
If I have fun, it’s ‘cause you came along.
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Spent
You sing an empty page
And everything you’ve written down
Is thin as gossamer.
We keep on dancing all around the space.
I said all I had to say.
It’s time for supper, now.
What Brian dreamed of yesterday.
I guess we’re going out,
‘Cause we’re too weak to work the microwave.
I said all I had to say.
Sometimes it’s best just to sit and wait.
You can’t force out the rest of it.
I know it’s harder to walk away.
When you’ve spent the money but haven’t been paid.
You chased an early grave,
But your resolve is backing out.
If you’d just act your age,
You’d get there soon enough, anyway.
I said all I had to say.
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Don Henley
They all say we’ve run it out
Arguing the tiny things.
The daily insults in our stride
The calm eroding of my pride
But I still feel the heat of you
Constant as the falling rain
Oh, why?
Does Don Henley make you cry?
Oh, why?
Spinning on the vinyl?
Building up the memory,
You cast aside ephemera
Keep the hurt and edit out
The stupid shit we laughed about
But I’ve been holding all of it
Although my soul might split apart
Oh, why?
Does Don Henley make you cry?
Oh, why?
Spinning on the vinyl?
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Blown In
Tie your boat at the post.
Secure, but somehow, you’re still drifting.
Waving off all of her calls,
A daughter lost when the tide lifted.
There is ice on the river,
But the river still flows.
Have you come to deliver me?
And blow me home?
Temporal has blown in, now.
Three refugees of other islands.
But gilded halls and gated walls
No longer offer safe asylum.
There are bats in the belfry,
But the bells will still ring.
You are young, and you’re healthy.
Will you still sing?
We travel at night.
We sleep on the shore
And dream of the salty water.
We’re walking away.
We’re drawing in close.
The curtain is closing, now.
And who lights the fires
That dot the hillsides
In the hours before the dawn?
We lay on our sides.
We’re watching the waves.
A ship that will surely come…
It surely will come.
Morning comes in lemon sun.
The neighbors had a dress to borrow.
The sea and bright, unbordered sky
No longer need a path to follow.
There is hope for the hopeless.
There is gold for the fools.
There is rest down the road ahead for me and you.
There is rest down the road ahead for me and you.
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Gold
We’re in the car and driving
Well out of town by 6 AM
Denise was quiet, mostly…
Only asking once, to no-one,
“Where we gonna sleep tonight?”
The kid was backseat, dreaming.
Between the cat and bags of clothes
and all our worthless options
The open map without a home
Where we gonna sleep tonight?
Where we gonna sleep?
Goodbye, Chicago
We were never meant to live like this
I hope you know, we won’t be coming back again.
I’ve failed as their provider.
What my father was to me.
The fruits of all our labors…
We bear them like a Cross of Gold.
Where we gonna sleep tonight?
Where we gonna sleep?
Goodbye, Chicago
We were never meant to live like this
I hope you know, we won’t be coming back again.
And in my mind, I see it.
The smoke still rising in the north.
The highways bare and broken.
The desert stretched from shore to shore.
Where we gonna sleep tonight?
Where we gonna lay our heads?
Goodbye, Chicago
We were never meant to live like this
I hope you know, we won’t be coming back again.
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Analogy Song
Light of my life,
I just can’t get it right.
You are the sun, and I…
I am the storm that comes.
Kidding aside,
I can’t recall this line.
You are the sea, and I…
I am the sandy beach.
Why, why why?
Why bother with it?
Why, why, why?
Did you come here for a reason?
Have you had enough?
Try as I might,
I’m not the thieving type.
I am the meat, and you…
You are the candy, sweet.
Light of my life,
I told a terrible lie.
You are the sea, and I…
I am the stony shore.
Why, why why?
Why bother with it?
Why, why, why?
Did you come here for a reason?
Have you had enough?
And when I’m in love,
I keep thinking of you.
Why, why why?
Why bother with it?
Why, why, why?
Did you come here for a reason?
Have you had enough?
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Rain on the Hills
(après Funky Winkerbean)
If I were you,
I’d shutter the windows
and bundle your clothes.
Just what you can carry a while.
Don’t be afraid no more, honey
Don’t be afraid.
After awhile, this feeling will fade.
When we return The clouds gather themselves
We’ll plant in the garden And turn towards the ocean
And clear out the vines Like sailors from the sea
Rise up, morning glory Finally,
and shine coming home
Don’t be afraid no more, honey
Don’t be afraid.
After the rain, this fear will fade.
Don’t be afraid no more, honey
Don’t be afraid.
After awhile, this feeling will fade.
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Island off the Coast of America
When they asked me where I was from,
I had a joke about it.
I’d say, “An island off of the coast of the United States.”
Why?
Why do we stay?
Nothing comes to mind.
And I’d rather be on my island.
Broadway to Broadway.
One was a dream, one was an actual street.
Right down the middle –
Been swimming so long, drowning was a character trait.
Why?
Why do we stay?
Nothing comes to mind.
And I’d rather be on my island.
It’s a slippery slope.
Oh, it’s a slippery slope.
The center cannot hold.
And our time is come.
Yes, I miss you.
When I was weak, something drew me to this place.
It’s all so familiar…
Like a million movies based on one single play.
Why?
Why do we stay?
Nothing comes to mind.
And I’d rather be on my island.
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Baby Jane
I don’t control the situation
Depending on the clothes you wore
Or a casual turn of a phrase
Or a carnivore leer in a gaze
I know that’s how it’s played
You taste just like cotton candy
The kind I had when I was a child
So, forgetting the way that it goes
I throw caution off with my clothes
I know I owe you my soul
Whatcha gonna do when he grows tired of you?
Where you gonna be?
Why don’t you come see me?
I love you, baby Jane.
She likes to watch dirty movies
Especially the ones she made
She likes them far better natural than staged
And she’s incredibly good for her age
But not quite as good as she claims
Whatcha gonna do when he grows tired of you?
Where you gonna be?
Why don’t you come see me?
I love you, baby Jane.
She says, “Thanks, but it’s not worth a mention.”
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Americana
Down on the plains between the great mountain ranges
The ribbon of highway threads the rows of the fields
From the farm to the flatbed, to the can on the shelf
To the marker above it, saying, “You Are Here”
In the space between the panels, between the words and the page
Between the pick and the A string, between the frames of the film
Between the breath and the breathing, between the ass and the chair
The seen and the seeing – you are here.
America, I listened
I heard the sound
The sound of music playing
America, I missed it
Something was said
But the words were indistinct and confused
There is no description, no language I can use
No truly shared experience that can bring myself to you
I perceive this other person: a badly drawn cartoon
A simple paper cutout… you are here
America, I waited
I saw the trains
The tracks that they were laying
America, I’m sleeping
The dream was dreamed
In the eyes of America
They can try to paint a picture from the messages we leave
Baseball cards and Batman, Rankin/Bass and Billie Jean
We we all be held together by the dreaming that we’ve done
From the heart of Minnesota. to the refuse on the shores.
And if we find we love it, when we find it hard to leave…
You put a sign above it: You Are Here
America, I made it
Like Bryan said, the Cross of Gold was weighing
America, I’m waking
The dream was dreamed
In the eyes of America.
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