1. |
Letter to Marco Polo
01:02
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Sir, it is true, as you have written
the natives are idolators, eat meat
and live by peaceful trade and
industry, where my trekking guide sings
Mongol horseman's rock 'n roll
and poppies bloom the member's section
filled with a magical substance
killing pain like cream
made in Germany painted
on a beat up smuggler's face.
High-school chemisty
and mountain air produces
an incurable habit
for Californians & pioneering
Viennese bankers getting dirty
marching into their holiday
humming Vienr Blut to the buffalo
which rhymes with snow.
And lollies, the lollies kept coming
with trinkets, pills and foil
for the boss of the tribe: so many
foreign coins sewn into her clothes.
And my friend Velasquez, the Peruvian
looks me in the eye
"I love ruins..."
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2. |
Khan
03:51
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20000 armored men
and 20000 horses then
a line of archers like a wall
Countries rise and fight and fall
Offspring of the golden horde
Lord and master of the world
And how in heaven could he want more?
How could he want more?
And oh I pledge my life to that man
I knelt down and kissed his hand
And how I would do it all again!
The khan of khans the king of all
Men~
Oh! Hai hai hai hai
kublai! Kublai!
Hai! Oh oh oh oh!
Marco! Marco!
Oh! Hai hai hai hai
kublai! Kublai!
Hai! Oh oh oh oh!
Marco! Marco!
We traveled on the silk road far
My father and his brother and our
caravan of loaded goods
Finest silk and jeweled wood
Wondering through the court of kings
The beauty of the passing spring
Skies to make the blackbird sing
Oh how my heart did ring
And while I would leave after many years
The beauty of it all stays clear
And if our time from heavens better spent
I can't say how it would have
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3. |
Honduras
04:03
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"Some days the memories they wash away the hurt"
He says as he looks down half thinking about his work
I said "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."
He shakes his head, says nothing as he starts to hum
and he goes~
Meet me as a soldier, in an ex-army fortress
And it's covered in ivy from an ex-spanish forest
And I will sing you a song with an out of tune chorus
And I... I'll be back in Honduras
We find the time again, we find the time to talk
I Ask about the song he sings when he's trying to kill the clock
He says "Its just an old tune that reminds him of his home."
Some days the memories only make him feel alone.
I said I'm sorry again no offense was meant to you my friend
There's another time and place we'll speak
There's a jeweled forest on a beach and there's a memory
And a thousand dead, and a fool's song runs through my head
And there's America below us
and all the voices singing angel songs!
And I never had the right words, and I'm so sorry for that now.
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4. |
Aim
03:13
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I find myself aiming towards nothing
Losing track of beginnings and ends.
One off nights where I see my old friends
And now they seem so far off and removed
Comfortable K's, husbands and wives
Moving out across the country, to brand new lives
Eddie codes in minnesota and
Jessica sells real estate out in L.A.
But it's here I've planted
Placing praise on famous graves
Spending days in dead end jobs, wasting nights sleeping away
Look out the window like i did when i was young
Long drives through dead end futures, aware im under the gun
As I drift away into another rem relapse
I hear the voices of my fantasy begin to call me back
Feel no fear, everything you ever wanted is here
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5. |
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Oh there are those girls across the world
Who'll tie you into knots
And then there's cats who play with rats
and act like thats all they've got
And then there's me whos like a bee whose
gotten in a honey pot
And then theres wine and thats fine if that
is all you've got.
And the night time stars shine out
And they warn me we're in for a drought
And you might say i've had a little too much
But I tell you... there's no such thing
Cause I don't get drunk
I just drink
And I've never sunk
When you said i'd sink
And is it really so hard
for you to think?
That I don't get drunk dear,
I just drink.
Oh, there are a lot fo things about me
that you never really knew
And it is impolite to ask but you should never assume
And if I take a little sip well would it be ok?
Especially if I hold it well then what would you say?
And you know i'm getting a little bit tired
Of the way you're telling me to retire the bottle
When the evening is not done yet
And I tell you... there's no such thing
Cause I don't get drunk
I just drink
And I've never sunk
When you said i'd sink
And is it really so hard
for you to think?
That I don't get drunk dear,
I just get drinks.
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6. |
Lamplighter
04:04
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Every night, I light the light
For years and years I kept it bright
And I bore the fire thru the twilight
A lengthened wick, a burnished stick
A Shepard staff, a precious thing
A comfort and a warmth through the quiet
Fior many men it was a job but not for me the light was life
The light was sacred law
The lamps were gleaming like the Eyes of God
Then came the day where you welled up all the currents
Like mighty Poseiden, or better yet Zeus...
I'm the last lamplighter left alive
How could something like us ever survive?
When the future takes hold and the gears grinding on
and it puts us out
And whats left of life, but light and doubt?
Woe is me! Oh Industry!
Indescribale agony! The devil's machines it must be!
I've got a wife, i've got a son, his future has just begun
and funny how mines been undone.
I feel myself slowly shrink away,
like a fire comes and goes then fades away
as if lightning could new take its place
Galvanized and dehumanized, don't you realise what you've done?
I guess it's time to come to terms with the falling of the sun.
I'm the last lamplighter left alive
How could something like us ever survive?
When the future takes hold and the gears grinding on
and it puts us out
And whats left of life, but light and doubt?
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7. |
Oh Me Oh My
05:02
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Oh Amberly!
I wish you were here.
I'm writing from paradise and
The weather is lovely this time of the year
And I hope it finds you well
I hope it finds you well
How is John? And how are the kids?
All doing well I hope, doing well I hope
And I hate to go on
About all the perfection
It really is to die for, it really is
And I don't think i'll be coming back anytime soon.
Oh me, oh my
you should see the view from the hotel
It would take your breath away...
And all the people here are so nice to me
Oh me oh my
But i think there's something nagging at me
And I hate to bash it after everything I said
Oh me, oh my
But I must admit I hate it here
And I said Oh me, oh my, how I wish you'd go away
And I said oh me, oh my, how I wish you were here today
And I didn't mean that
As you might read it
I know that what we had, is just what we once had
Although I'd be lying
If I sad i didnt miss you
And think about you more often than I should
And I seem to have forgotten about why I wrote this letter
So I'll wrap it up now
I'll Wrap it up now
Please write me back, I wanna hear from you again
And I'm doing great here...
I'm doing great here!
Sincerely Yours
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8. |
Text & Tension
02:23
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I'm Working in silence
With bad dreams for guidance
Weaving a tale across the outlined keys all day
I'm Living in squalor
A ragged, sulking scholar
With friends in my memories
Those passing places
Cry woe to the masquerade
I can see it
Passing by my eyes
Nothing left but comprehension
Of mounting text and tension
Wait until it's subsided
A leisure provided
By expressing doubts that won't decay until someday
A comical future
With no sense of humor
Will cut the excess and roughly store it away
And redefine
The heartbeat of the moment
Each useable component
Applies
No deal, we'll take our misery
All the painted histories dry
Sometimes the author sits in badly lit roooms
For the sake of stillness in the thoughts it grooms
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9. |
Seveneight
02:05
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Time was never a place
We're never where we know
And all the things we hate to ask are things we hate to show
This feels wrong, seventy-eight meters long
and all we've got is hands and rope to get what we need done
I've started writing it down
It's going round and round
A list of all the things to do before I die in this town
And if I don't get them done
Before the ends begun
Well don't ask me to come out you know I can't have fun
SOmehow I'll tear it all down
When I can get it set up
The creature in the closets calling, asking me to begin
I've started writing it down
It's going round and round
A list of all the things to do before I die in this town
And if I don't get them done
Before the ends begun
Well don't ask me to come out you know I can't have fun
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10. |
Half-Life
04:31
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It always starts with a slow fade
The depart it happens in some fresh way
And I'll see it coming, so i'll know when
But i've seen a few now
And they come and go
And it's shocking less and less the more I know
But I guess in the end we all expire
But you were always there
So I never had to be scared
Never had to be aware
God made our bodies for throw away
And I find i'm commanding myself to stay
And my half-life
is drawing near
And the good times
Won't ever ne here
And I suppose I'm glad that you actually cared
I read the news today
I saw another had died
It didn't shock me so much
But it was quite a surprise
And there's a mounting suspicion of who is next
But we had a dream of a great utopian scene
Why was there only me?
God made our bodies for throw away
And I find i'm commanding myself to stay
And my half-life
is drawing near
And the good times
Won't ever ne here
And I suppose I'm glad that you actually cared
I think I'd like to go home.
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11. |
Dulcinea
03:07
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There must have been 100 tiny arrows
Knocked into those bows
There you were across the way
Just you amongst the hay
My darling Lady D
You must have wondered what I was doing
that fateful day.
Oh mighty God above, if he'd give me your love
I wouldn't have a thing to say
Dulcinea!
I don't care what you will say in the morning
It'll all be ok
Dulcinea!
You're the sun and all its rays
And I'm hoarding
You away
Dulcinea!
I know already that the songs exist
That are all about you
But if the Angel's chorus
Put you in the age old verses
I know it would end to soon
And if the sweetest voice alive cried out
"Hark!" for you
Then i'd play with harp strings
To pull your hearts strings
To get you to move to me
Dulcinea!
I don't care what you will say in the morning
It'll all be ok
Dulcinea!
You're the sun and all its rays
And I'm hoarding
You away
Dulcinea!
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The Thumps New Albany, Indiana
New Albany's finest 4-piece orchestra... sort of.
The Thumps recommends:
I like all the clarinet
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Silent Screen
by Doctor Girlfriend
I like all the saxophone
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I like all the magic
go to albumIf you like The Thumps, you may also like:
Hideaway EP
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Beautiful folk-derived songs on the new EP from John Mark Nelson center yearning melodies and gentle arrangements.
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Inspired by the natural world, this collection of piano compositions from John Mark Nelson radiates gentle beauty.
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Record Dealin' Dick EP
by THE MONA REELS
The Mona Reels take on record clerk mansplainers with catchy power pop on this lively new EP.
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