1. |
The Wind Wants In
03:33
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I’m walking by the low slung bungalows
From two turns of century ago
Through hot laundry clouds and leftover snow
Hey, sunshine, where'd you go?
Good morning, frost and car exhaust
Rotten blossoms on the tempest tossed
Sunday papers left out in the rain
Beaten down to paper maché
Rolling and tumbling recycling bins
Howling down the alleyway
The wind wants in
A statewide rain cloud, gray as slate
Cold, hard waves rolling down the interstate
Windshield wipers can’t shoo it away
What became of my beautiful day?
They’re taking requests but the phone don't ring
There ain’t much call for the b-side of Spring
She don’t give a damn, she’s still gonna sing
And frighten the birds and bees
I’m hearing my heart beating retreat
To the warm and welcome arms of defeat
Where the ghosts in the wind cant get to me
Go and bark up some other tree
But the smell of the pines reminds me of gin
And time is telling
The wind wants in
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2. |
Take That, Gravity
02:51
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A full grown woman on a playground swing
With the breeze in her hair, sending laughter to the sky
Oh, just move along, let her do her thing
Let her do her thing, lord, it ain’t no crime
She’s living it up and rubbing it in
Like a high stepping jubilee
She just smiled and said,
"Take that, gravity"
Oh, down by the pond there’s a wedding going on
There’s a wedding going on, ain’t a damn thing wrong
Dragonflies get it on while the swans glide along
But it’s a day old day by the time you sing your song
It’s time on my hands as heavy as lead
But enough about me
She just smiled and said,
"Take that, gravity"
Oh, gravity, you can’t have me
Psalms unsung roll right off her tongue
Bring it on, eternity
She just smiled and said,
"Take that, gravity"
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3. |
RSVP
04:15
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I’m carried away on a wave gone wrong
Brought to the rocks by the siren song
Vesper whispers, en Français
Requesting caresses every which way
Répondez, Répondez
S’il Vous Plait
The flowers are fading
There’s a kink in the hose
There’s wet, black leaves from two falls ago
There’s a woman in the garden
Confessing to the crows
With the sweat rolling down
Let it roll, baby, roll
You can have her in heaven
But down here the answer is no
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4. |
Los Estados Destrozados
04:24
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Here in the howling hinterland
The king of shit has hit the fan
There walks the fire breathing lamb
From the book of lunacy
Stepped on snakes and caution tape
The rope we wrought, the wars of waste
Means to an end that’ll end in disgrace
And all the horrors believers believe
Los Estados Destrozados
No digas que hemos terminado
On the outskirts failure
With dead dreams to flog
There’s no longer a line
Between monster and mob
Just a shotgun shell of your aimless self
Picking the bones of a long lost cause
Los Estados Destrozados
No digas que hemos terminado
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5. |
The Bells
04:40
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Forgotten fields of coal black grit
Flies that cry, "abandon shi_!”
Leaving tracks where they've all stepped in it
Oh, captain, captain
They’re coming for me
But the captain's nowhere to be found
He said he'd be with you
When the deal goes down
Flies in the honey, crows in the corn
Your losses are looming as sure as you’re born
Wolf in the meadow, the shepherd is shorn
Your word and your deed
Are wind in the weeds
Hear the murmurs underground
As if you were born
Just to move the dust around
So cruel, so slow the river runs
Dead wood drifting on gilded scum
Can’t pray it away or wish it unrung
When you hear the bells
Of delirium
Backhanded down from father to son
Black hearted country where the bad blood runs
Down the ladder, rung by rung
Straight to Hell
To an idiotic drum
Not a bullet left unsung
What came between you and oblivion?
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6. |
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I might take a little walk just to clear my head
Call a cease fire with the voices of the dead
There but for the grease in the gears go I
Just trying to find one more gear to grind
Now a body ain’t nothing but a haunted house
From darkened corners pain leaps out
Humbled and hobbled, broken and bent
In the hope of a halfway decent descent
Harps by the river in the sweet by and by
And a tambourine bouncing off a lovely behind
I smile and wave at the other grays
As we pass on the path every lap, every day
Singing, how can you not fade away?
Maybe that’s the question, but, baby, not today
Like a hole in the head or a whole new head
I need to recall everything we said
But the needle is startled by the same old scratch
Every time around, we're right back in the past
You’d think the needle would know
Not to jump the track
Until the very last laugh
I take a little walk just to clear my head ...
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7. |
UFOhio
04:00
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An old woman, arms akimbo
Is standing on her lawn
Counting chickens nonexistent
And humming a lonely song
About the terrible day
When all the troubles came
And we dropped everything we were working on
To come running and see
With the sun shining madly
Down on our misery
Beautiful UFOhio
UFOhio
UFOhio
Oh-eye-ho! Oh-eye-ho!
They tell me my people were born there
But hell if I know
UFOhio
UFOhio
Baby, don’t you want to go?
And I can understand if the answer is “no!”
There’s a band in my head
And they don’t get along
They accuse one another
Of wrecking the song
So I went solo
So low I scraped the road
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8. |
High Horse Blues
04:49
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Oh, the air was thick with schmaltz and shtick
Dilettante demons and dabblers
Tracking the trickle of fractions of fortunes
Down to selling plasma
A busted piñata revolves in the breeze
The beer lights are extinguished
I’m spinning 'round like an eight ball
With too much english
The smell of the blood red enamel
Down in the dance hall of doom
Red means stop unless you're a bull
They couldn’t keep out the goons
Are you a doorman or a matador?
I’m gonna have to ask you to leave
A thousand fathers of failure deny paternity
It was high, wired, hell fired and out of control
But they broke that horse a long time ago
Riding high or lying low, either way, you’ve got to go
And there never was a horse
Like rock ’n’ roll
Petrified rubbers in the parking place
A frown on the beak of a dead baby bird
Empty airline bourbon bottles
The ants advance, the worms adjourn
Corroded aluminum pull tabs from 1973
Compared to what we’ve all stepped in
Those seem like the good old days to me
It might take a couple more vices
To hold me together tonight
My song of love has landed with a thud
Then out go the lights
Up past the old lady's bedtime
Coming home with the clowns
We've been carrying on just a little too long
To stop now
I'm gonna do what I do
Though nobody asked me to
Too many muses to amuse
To get down off the high horse blues
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9. |
North Star
03:17
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(Instrumental)
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10. |
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Look out my window at that shabby patio
Frost on the flagstones, a cardinal eating snow
See that the birds are fed, honey, after I'm gone
Except for the sparrows and starlings, darling
They can all move right along
Mercury falling into the 20s tonight
There’s a shuddering, fluttering quicksilver light
Giving way to the darkness, a long way from home
Slow motion detours of detours of detours
To the end of the road
Someone to come home to, to ease my mind
And rescue the senses out from under time
One lonely light on a balcony
Somewhere there’s a light left on for me
It’s to a clock in the morning I dedicate my song
We’ve evicted the crickets and the critics are gone
In the perfume of burning dust when the heater kicks on
I think I’m alone now, though I may be wrong
The only spider now is me
I’m weaving webs no will ever see
Sleep is out of the question
Every light is on
See that the birds are fed
Honey, after I'm gone
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11. |
My Backyard
04:18
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Weed trees weaving through the chain link fence
Morning glories just 'a hanging their heads
And when the sun comes up
There'll be no fanfare
Only my love beside me
The light of a brand new day
In her hair
Lazing in the shade of an ancient tree
Drifting on a dream like a cottonwood seed
And branches fall whenever the wind says, “boo!”
And the time to climb the shaky old ladder
And clean out the gutters is long past due
And I'm standing here, looking at the stars
Strumming this old guitar
I forgot how lovely life can be
Out in my back yard
Car doors closing
Birds unfolding
One note robins
And crows with faraway eyes
Barely a breeze to stir the silence
The curtains sigh and so do I
Another day gone by
Oh, the rusted out belly of the barbecue grill
Chicken grease is dripping down a rhythm
And the dog catches every last drop
Before it hits the ground
And it’s 8:45 by the time the sun goes down
And I'm standing here, looking at the stars
So good so far
I forgot how lovely life can be
Out in my back yard
Well, I hope that rabbit gets a stomach ache
From the green tomato he ate
He took one bite and then took off beneath the gate
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12. |
A Horse, A Horse
03:20
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Oh, the smell of the blood red enamel
Down in the dance hall of doom
Red means stop unless you're a bull
They couldn't keep out the goons
Are you a doorman or a matador?
I'm gonna have to ask you to leave
A thousand fathers of failure
Deny paternity
It was high, wired, hell-fired
And out of control
But they broke that horse
A long time ago
And there never was a horse
Like Rock 'n' Roll
Black as night, perforated by blinking lights
Up and down our spines, realigned
In a heavenly rhyme
One illicit kiss, so ill-advised
In a stairwell to nowhere
Where sleepwalking tongues collide
It's just a fragment of a figment
Of a galloping ghost
Kicking up dust down Debacle Road
And there never was a horse
We've been carrying on a little too long
To stop now
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13. |
Stragglers
04:06
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Some stragglers from a sparrow flock
Broke off to mob a red tailed hawk
And chased him, screaming
Round and round the block
It’s hawks by day and owls by night
In the grass I’m finding grisly sights
Rabbit halves and quarter squirrels
And thirds of birds
What can you do? It’s just the way of the world
Throw a little sawdust on the purple swirls
And the buzzing flies beneath the tilt-a-whirl
Throw a circle of sky as I lie on my back
The birds so high they may as well be gnats
Gratification delayed and delayed
I’m beginning to wonder if we missed the train
Grackles in panic on the railroad tracks
Fighting over fried chicken scraps
An old man crushing aluminum cans
He does a dance to the thinking man’s jam band
I mean Can
I ain’t no gentille aloutte
Flying high above the fray
Singing a song like nothing’s wrong
So you can get on with your day
Teardrops from treetops
Here come the crows
There go the leaves
They gotta give up the ghost
Well, it’s birds of burden, words of prey
Walking my dog day dreaming away
All in a day, a beautiful day
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14. |
Blood Drunk Mosquito
02:19
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Blood drunk mosquito - Adios, amigo
You can’t take it with you when you go
And you’ve got to go
Blood drunk mosquito - parasito perdido
I’ll send you on your bloody merry way
Last call — Judgement day
When the shadow of the grim flip flop comes down
It’s certain to be curtains for your night out on the town
With a clap of satisfaction and a drop of my own blood
I’m about to kill your buzz
Blood drunk mosquito - Adios, amigo
You can’t take it with you when you go
And you’ve got to ...
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15. |
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Are they?
Are they?
Are they?
(Are we?)
Are they?
Are they?
Are they friendly spirits?
(Are we?)
(Are we?)
Are they?
Are they?
Are they friendly spirits?
(Are we?)
(Are we?)
(Are we?)
Let ‘em in
(unintelligible)
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16. |
Savages
05:03
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Between production and decay
The grinding wheels reverberate
The ancient hatred works its way
Down to the molecule
Victorian sewers crumble with age
Sulfurous southern spirits escape
While the head of state Caligulates
From a golden toilet stool
His lowlife dreams prevailed upon
By all the toxic tagalongs
The desperation hangers on
The drunken sons of gods ’n’ guns
And daughters of delirium
Your glory train has come and gone
Savages
Through sudden dips and rumble strips
The shreds of treads of relationships
Attention spans that hit the skids
Into eternity
Traffic and terror on the nines
A shotgun pox on highway signs
The lines that rhyme with your decline
For all the world to see
The signal comes the signal goes
On haunted honky radio
Blasphemy crackling, circuits aglow
There’s a nightmare Christ on the other side
To divide and multiply the lies
And lonely minds to colonize
Savages
Time’s eternal turning back
A milky way of broken glass
And plastic bags that breathe and breed
You’re chasing after windblown dope
Looked like love and felt like hope
It slips away, all in a dream
We’ll dig a hole on your behalf
Trumpets for the aftermath
And ghosts of godforsaken mills
I tried my best to do my father’s will
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17. |
Free
03:38
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White knuckle drive time
Drifting over white lines
Through the static on the radio
(Parasitos atmosphericos)
The chill wind blows
Speak to me, baby
Tell me something I don't know
Can't find my way
The signs have been changed
To a language of lunacy
Darkness awaits these shattered states
(Los Estados Destrozados)
Where at least I'm told I'm free
I'm told
I'm free
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18. |
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(Instrumental)
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19. |
Dog In The Backyard
05:06
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Dog In The Backyard
Down and out in your old home town
Only the floor has your back
You never learn - every return
Is more dreadful than the last
•
Old houses forsaken, overtaken
Repossessed by the weeds
Circles reversing, family cursing
Bring it on home to me
•
Now the spirits hit your bloodstream
An old song goes right to your head
Stomach aches from sour grapes
Between the living and the dead
•
Blinking bottles on the wall
Beckon and beguile
If I don't heed the call
I'll just have to crawl to you, baby
Come on and linger awhile
Linger awhile ... I really want to
•
There's a dog in the backyard
Digging a hole to China
Out of boredom, I suppose
Don't give a good hot damn
About a dogforsaken bone
•
There's a weird, yellow light in the morning
Long shadows of oblivion
And the calendar on the wall says,
"My God, what have I done?"
What have I done?
•
There's a dog in the backyard
Digging a hole to China
Oh honey, where'd you go?
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20. |
Breaking Down
04:08
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Life ain't but a dream -- a few blocks away
In the laughing light of a Summer day
Houses holding together fast
'Neath the freshly painted over past
The Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes
Are strewn across the bedroom floor
Don't ever turn a stranger
From your door
You never know
Breaking up, ain't nothing to it
Breaking up, a kid could do it
I'll see you around
But you'll never see me
Breaking down
Give me something to look forward to
'Cause looking back is all I ever do
There but for a life I could call may own
Now I play the thief on your telephone
Dark angel of your love's demise
You send your regrets and squandered sunshine
I can't even tell you
What is and isn't mine
A pretty world, just you and me
If you could only break the chains
And fly away from your family
Fly away
With me
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21. |
In Lieu Of Flowers
04:53
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We haunted houses
Birds in low places
Weeds in the wheels
And papers in the wind
Perfect defectors
Serenading bill collectors
Or whatever the wind blew in
Stardust collecting in the corners
Shining on neglected guitars
One for the neighbors
Who couldn't hold their liquor
You and me
We couldn't let go of ours
Pickin' and kvetchin'
Over minor chord progressions
Come on, come on, come on
Commiserate with me
Lost in recollection
From the heavy ever after
Old heartaches departed
Like the wind through the trees
Exhaust(ed) fans
And room clearing bands
Nullified by lullabies
Of supply and demand
One for the troubadours
Waiting for the meteor
Giving up the ghost for a bird in the hand
It's getting kind of late
To be starting up something
She's laughing in her sleep
Well, maybe next time
Down in the basement
There's a nickel in the dryer
Rolling round and round
Chasing after a dime
And falling behind
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22. |
Pretty Good Day
04:58
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(The king is dead ... you can dance if you want to)
Stay in bed/Get out of bed
Fight to the death with the blues
Angels ululating in my nervous system
Harmonize with the ooze
Wheel of worry, show no mercy
Keep driving me insane
Oh, my balky muse with the restless Sunday blues
Fogging up my windowpane
But the wind died down and the sun came out
The clouds high tailed it away
And I'll be damned
If it turned into a pretty good day
So much to give, it's breaking my heart
But I can't seem to find a way
It's hard to see what's good in the world to me
Looking through the eyes of rain
The rain comes down and paints the town
Like a miserable Monet (gray on gray on gray)
And if I had my way, God knows
I'd tear that M___ down
All the wasted time I thought was mine
Almost threw it all away
And I'll be damned
If it turned into a pretty good day
Oh, the king of darkness died forgotten
Somewhere far away
And I'll be damned
If it turned into ...
I'll be damned ...
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Scott Hrabko Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City's Scott Hrabko is an independent singer/songwriter who has followed his own mercurial muse since the town's late-
80s indie rock scene.
“Hrabko’s rootsy songs are filled with trap doors, hidden nooks, and secret passageways. They’re like those dreams within comfortably familiar houses that suddenly have brand new rooms.”
Mike Warren - No Depression
... more
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