1. |
The Old North State
03:24
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My daddy was from Rocky Mount
My momma from Conway
They didn’t have a dollar between them
That’s not exactly true
They might have had a buck or two
Either way they made off for Virginia
That’s where I was born and raised
Those halcyon days
Growing up outside of Richmond
On holidays we’d drive
South I-95
And my parents they would stop at the state line (and I could hear them say)
Oh, Carolina, why did we ever go away?
Oh, Carolina, take me to the Old North State
My daddy was a preacher
Up ‘til I was born
I guess the devil in me showed him to the door
My momma, she taught history
To the seventh grade
Until history didn’t matter anymore (and I could hear her say)
Oh, Carolina, why did I ever go away?
Oh, Carolina, take me to the Old North State
My parents they grew old
About as old as they could be
Neither was afraid of the dark
They taught me to go see the world
The world I did go see
Now I would be like them if I knew where to start (and a voice in my head says)
Oh, Carolina, why would you ever go away?
Oh, Carolina, take me to that Old North State
Oh, Carolina, the sun is gone the hour’s growing late
Carry my old bones away and lay them in the Old North State
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2. |
Don't Want to Love You
03:43
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She went off to the great Northwest
With nothing but a wedding dress
And what little might have been left of her virtue
Nothing I could say or do
Could prevent her from going through
Marrying the S.O.B. what asked her . . . first
I was left recounting days
And wondering how things might have changed
If only I’d have had the nerve to tell her
How fate had made us meant to be
My love for her and hers for me
Like Victorian poetry unspoken
I knew I had always loved her, I knew I had always loved her
She called me on her wedding night
A little drunk or little high
And asked if I had anything to tell her
I said you know you can’t be calling me now
You took his name and you said those vows
She told me in no uncertain terms then to hell with you
And she said I never really loved you
She told me I never really loved you
She said I never really loved the way you wanted me to
They settled down but not too well
Their ever after went straight to hell
Who cheated on who now it’s hard to tell and doesn’t matter
She called and asked if I remembered her
Said she’d like to go back to how things were
And just before I threw that goddamned phone into the river
I told her I don’t want to love you, I said I don’t want to love you
I told her I don’t think I can love you the way you want me to
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3. |
Blue
03:46
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Go find a jukebox and see what I quarter will do
I don’t want to talk I just want to go back to blue
Feeds me when I’m hungry and quenches my thirst
Loves me when I’m lonely and thinks of me first
Blue is the color of night
When the red sun disappears from the sky
Raven feathers shiny and black
A touch of blue glistening down her back
We don’t talk about heaven and we don’t talk about hell
We’ve come to depend on one another so damn well
So go to confession whatever gets you through
You can count your blessings me I’m gonna count on blue
Blue is the color of night
When the red sun disappears from the sky
Raven feathers shiny and black
A touch of blue glistening down her back
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4. |
Broken
04:08
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You come in here broken, cigarette lit
You come in here more often than you’d care to admit
Seeking spirits to heal you inside
Then the arms of a good man to hold you tonight
Because a good man wouldn’t break you
Even if he thought he could
A bouquet of flowers fresh in your mind
A head full of Xanax oceans of time
Will not begin to mend you inside
Like the arms of the good man you hold out to find
Because a good man wouldn’t break you
Even if he thought he could
But there’s no good man, there’s no good man
There’s no good man in sight
There’s only me here tonight
Someone somewhere, someone sometime
Must have wrecked your heart, messed with your mind
Left all the pieces broken inside
So you come to me broken weary and worn
You come to me naked as the day you were born
You come to me later than you’d like it to be
Letting go of beliefs that you once believed
Like a good man wouldn’t break you
Even if he thought he could
But there’s no good man, there’s no good man
There’s no good man in sight
There’s only me
And I’m no good man
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5. |
Butte, Montana 1885
03:10
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The Butte Daily Miner front page for all to see
From accidents and violent deaths this town’s exceptionally free
Richard Olds was too young he didn’t leave anyone
When died down in the mine they said the fault was his own
Tibbett and Bray died the same day
Through their own carelessness the tunnel timbers gave way
That’s what the company said, how its report read
Guess it doesn’t matter now ‘cause when you’re dead you’re dead
The richest hill on the Earth
Made the poorest men in the town
Fight the copper man’s war
Down in the cold Montana ground
Fat Jack was found dead in his own bed
Drank himself to death that’s what the sheriff and the coroner said
Opium Jim who never made a friend
Met his maker at the hands of other men
McEvoy died one night from drinking lye
Guess he had to die from something after working in the mine
Chorus
The place they call Big Butte on the Continental Divide
Was the richest hill on Earth in 1885
Work was easy to find there were openings all the time
Take a job maybe your last breath down in the Alice Mine
Chorus
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6. |
Icarus Dreamt
03:22
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Icarus dreamt if he could fly
He’d get out of this place, see the world from the sky
He would ask her to join him if she could dream too
Thousands of places they could fly to
He’d grown tired of his labyrinth days
Year after year winding through the great maze
Only to find himself starting again
Where he’d started before and had always been
Icarus knew one day man would fly
He saw his escape and called out to the sky
He said, “Waiting for centuries won’t for me do
If man is to fly, well, then I’m a man too”
He would ask her to join him if she could dream too
The world would look different from a bird’s view
The big things, the obstacles all would be small
From high above not like big things at all
She closed her eyes and saw evenings in Rome
Bright sandy beaches, places far from home
The Gardens, Colossus, a bright shining light
She saw in her dreams but she could not see his flight
So Icarus took off, he flew all alone
Above sandy beaches and evenings in Rome
Over gardens and statues, a lighthouse fire
Flying alone he flew higher and higher
Until Icarus flew too close to the sun
Those who saw him fall say his dream was undone
But there’s one simple truth they cannot undo
It was not a dream the day Icarus flew
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7. |
Tired and Poor
03:10
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Give me your tired and your poor
I’ll open up the door
Give me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free
I’ll lift up my light
Let it shine all through the night
And be the hope I hope the world someday to be
Yes, we’ll open up this land
I know you’ll understand
Your father’s father’s father before
Needed a new home
From the one he’d always known
When the old one didn’t want him anymore
He and the girl that he loved
Saw mountain majesties above
Worked the land from sea to shining sea
Drove the highway ribbon wind
Sang this land is yours and mine
Fought the wars to keep the whole damn world free
(Repeat Chorus)
He worked until the work was done
Up an hour before the sun
His calloused hands knew no better way
Told of a city on a hill
Went and found it for himself
Lived it, worked it, breathed it each and every day
So if the light begins to fade
Hearts become afraid
Of the tempest tossed knocking at the door
Keep your faith undeterred
Lest these words become just words
Be the light that shines to every distant shore
(Repeat Chorus)
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8. |
Lucy, You're Lovely
04:07
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Lucy, you’re lovely
More than just bones
Gathered from rest
Beneath desert dust and stone
Perhaps not the woman
We thought you would be
Lucy, you’re lovely
That much I can see
Why do we think after all that we’ve done
You are any less human than what we’ve become
You never once sought out
Fortune or fame
Those things don’t define you
You’re more than your name
While we search the heavens
Our place in the stars
Lucy, you’re lovely
Just as you are
Why do we think after all that we’ve done
You are any less human than what we’ve become
You travel the world now
A world you never knew
Lucy, you’re famous
We envy you
Gathered from rest
Beneath desert dust and stone
Lucy, you’re lovely
More than just bones
Why do we think after all that we’ve done
You are any less human than what we’ve become
Why after all that we put you through
Do we claim to be any more human than you
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9. |
Hide and Seek
03:47
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Ready or not here they come to find you
You could hide well enough but then what good would that do?
It’s just a game though maybe it means more
Might be the way they remember you after you’re gone
And it feels almost dreamlike
Found by smiling faces, two faces at the same time
Ready or not here they come they found you
Took them a while but it’s worth the big smile they show
I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud
Give up your hiding place it’s no surprise you’ve been found
And it feels almost dreamlike
Found by smiling faces, two faces at the same time
Their day feels so long
Fading into nighttime then bedtime ready or not
And it feels almost dreamlike
Found by smiling faces, two faces at the same time
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10. |
Rhythm of the Sunset
05:35
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Tapping my toes to the rhythm of the sunset
Counting my blessings listening to the river flow
When she told be ‘bout a place called over the horizon
And said no matter how far you run you can never go
I was down for the challenge so we loaded up the wagon
Running on fumes and a busted old radio
Trying to sing along to Chinese Translation
Circling the want ads hoping we could pan for gold
There were days we thought we may never
Make it past these Great Smoky Mountains
See the lights of Nashville, Tennessee
Life sang to us and we sang along ‘til we run out of road
We found a little luck across the Mississippi
In the shadows of the horseheads along the Oklahoma plains
Greeted by the golden California coastline
Staring up at the moonlight of San Simeon on the hood of this Chevrolet
Repeat Chorus
Came across a preacher somewhere along the highway
His work it was to try to save a soul
He told me the story of Samson and Delilah
And said, “Man, you better make a plan, she’s up to no good, ya know”
I said, preacher, you may not believe this but I’ve already
Been across the Great Smokey Mountains
Seen the lights from sea to shining sea
When life sang to me I sang along ‘til I run out of road
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11. |
Goodnight, Illinois
04:58
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Goodnight, Illinois
Wish I could stay
A lonesome star in the Western sky
Wished upon fades away
Tonight I make my way home
Goodnight, Illinois
I leave with you a dream
There on your front porch
‘Neath the moonlight and silhouetted trees
Hand in hand face to face
And if I’m wrong
I’ll be wrong one more time
And dream of you, Illinois, goodnight
Goodnight, Illinois
Although the road
We choose to walk down
Is not the only one there is to know
So many times I’ve been told
But if that’s wrong
We’ll be wrong one more time
And I’ll dream with you, Illinois, goodnight
So many ways I’ve been wrong
So if I’m wrong
Then I’ll be wrong one last time
And I’ll dream of you, Illinois, goodnight
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