1. |
Oh!
03:56
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oh, god! I just can’t grasp you with a tighter clasp!
and someday, I’ll put you in a box, I’ll have images to dig for
crushed and crumpled away like silly little love notes I received from a girl in 1994
tell me, what’s a memory but something that isn’t happening anymore?
once…these…thoughts…get…excavated, we’ll probably be eviscerated
will you still think of me when spring’s in the past?
and summer’s head of steam comes roaring back?
o the joy! ocean in view!
but you’ve stolen the scene; it’s cropped so clean, rocky shores against a backdrop of Pacific blue
you’re the jewel of the tourist trap when you tie your hair back, it’s all so true!
but, tell me, what’s a memory but something that is remembered each time distinct and new?
oh, god! I just can’t grasp you with a tighter clasp!
and someday, when I’ve put you in that box, I’ll have your images to burn
crushed and crumpled away like silly little love notes I’ve received, tattered and torn
and, tell me, what’s a memory but something that can never be reborn?
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2. |
Pavement
03:16
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you’ll buy the ids on ebay for a song
they’ll have lots of flaws but we’ve always been so good at playing along
so I'm your ryan adams, and you're my darling ms. plath
and you might miss somebody, baby, but trust me, it won’t last
when we reach the border, you know the forgeries will fly
you’ll smile so sweetly with a concealed weapon strapped to your right thigh
creatures of comfort; you said that’s how we’d always be
watching others hurtle through the universe while we just maintain a constant course and speed
well, here’s to constant course and speed!
it feels so close but not quite right
so you bring the music and I’ll bring the ride
kick the volume up from the passenger side
and we’ll just disappear into a beautiful night
I can’t pound the pavement for our love
no one’s shouting from the rooftops
there’s no happy ending, no disaster to come
things just go on and on and on and on, ad infinitum
but I can’t pound the pavement for us
no one’s shouting from the rooftops
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3. |
Bought for a Song
02:38
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it’s not that nothing gold can stay
it’s that it feels so right, you just can’t keep it at bay
she said, “oh, darling, what a mess we’re making,
I’m so in love, so why this hesitation?”
I came here of free will and got bought for a song
the second that the band caught me singing along
with its melody, its energy
somehow, it all belonged
I’m so tired of people getting more than they deserve
or maybe we’re just not deserving anymore
she said, “oh, darling, what a mess we’re making,
you’re so in love, so why this hesitation?”
so, darling, just let me play it like it’s religion
because I can’t control the feeling I’ve been given
it’s not that nothing gold can stay
it’s that it feels so right, you just have to laugh and say,
“oh, darling, what a mess we’re making,
in this love it’s all just hesitation.
oh, darling, what a mess we’re making,
we’re so in love, so why this hesitation?”
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4. |
Questions and Answers
02:57
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I want to ask you: do you think we’re special? do you think this is something rare?
because I can’t imagine
we’re much like all the other ones out there
so is it that now, or does everybody simply have more sense?
so they think first of consequences and just avoid the whole damn mess?
and then are they happy with their little lives?
or are they forever coasting down a crest?
are you playing me?
or am I playing you?
are we just playing each other to
the beat of the same tune?
and what’s the inspiration for this thing
we’re both careening through?
because I just can’t place it, there’s no smoking gun
there’s no smoking gun I can point to
but here we are now, just one lost night and one letter, red
so should we just say fuck it, and put this whole thing to bed?
are you playing you?
and am I playing me?
are we just playing together to
some enchanted melody?
and are we playing god?
is this temptation before fall?
should we give in or give up
before we just break the wall?
I want to ask you: do you think we’re special?
do you think this is something rare?
because I can’t imagine
we’re much like all the other ones out there
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5. |
Half-hearted
03:21
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if our lives were a movie
it’d be the art house kind
with a romantic climax
then dénouement, where everybody dies
we’d leave audiences bewildered
by the time the credits rolled before their eyes
our setting: an evening river valley scene
the sun is taking its fall so half-heartedly
as streams of light beam between the trees
you want to contemplate god, as if that’s something to believe
when the only thing I can contemplate are the freckles on your skin
and how lovely you’d feel wrapped around me in the cooling air we’re in
amidst all the natural beauty of this view
and the natural order we’re both wedded to
the only beautiful thing I can contemplate is you
the only beautiful thing I can’t look at is you
scene two, in which everything’s so perfectly bleak
a quiet park, your hair careening gently in the breeze
april showers have given new life to this place
while songs and stories have put this sad panda look on your face
you want to contemplate our lives, as if it’s something to believe
when the only thing I can contemplate is the kiss that isn’t coming
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6. |
Candles in Our Corner
03:41
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I thought we could break the paradigm
but love keeps pouring in right through our eyes
so I shut them tight and the world drops dead
but the sounds, the touch, the tastes come flooding back inside my head
the white noise of the street, the static engine roar
the soft purr of you wanting more
and the passing flutter of your eyelashes against my skin
the sensation of us pulled together tightly in this moment that we’re in
there are candles in our corner
but they’re always melting down or burning out
you name me…right now, who am I to stand opposed?
my compass just keeps spinning, where it stops nobody knows
which way is it pointing? is it you that needs anointing?
or am I just pleased to sound so sincere without being so disappointing?
well, when we grow up, we’ll have to learn the hard way
with a handful of broken roses, we’ll get down on our knees to pray
still the night plays its symphony with notes like smoke just billowing
until they fall around our shadows with promises and broken dreams
and one of these days, I said, one of these days, I said:
“ONE OF THESE DAYS, WE’LL KNOW WHAT WE ARE”
well, when we grow up, we’ll have to learn the hard way
with a handful of broken roses, we’ll get down on our knees to pray
that one of these days things could all be fair
when what’s going down comes up for air
and then you and me will be, whatever we will
and then you and me will be, whatever we will
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7. |
A Little Like Jupiter
02:19
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the needle hit e just as I kissed you
I might have missed you
so we’re not coming up roses
but now I suppose it is
just another matter of time
secret, succinct, and sublime
she saves the shards of my looking glass heart
so when we part it's seven years
of terror and twilight and tears
and all this stuff just sticks with me
miami, maryland
portland, new york, rhode island
so my dear, just where, oh where
in space and time, do we begin?
do you know what it's like
to lie beneath a starry night?
do you know what it’s like to come together
and make your own light?
this thing is fusing hydrogen
the heat, it gathers on our skin
so my dear, just where, oh where
in space and time do we begin?
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8. |
Lay the World to Waste
02:21
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I think about it all the time
where we are different and we’re driving down the Baja center line
and we are laughing as we’re leaving everything behind
I think about it all the time
where things are different and the keys are not locked away inside
it’d start with just one piece of tinder, we’d feed the fire the whole ride
if we could lay the world to waste
all the way from the Great Slave Lake
lay it all to waste
lay it all to waste
I think about it all the time
where we are different and our inhibitions are not so unkind
and we are laughing as we’re leaving everything behind
I think about us all the time
where things are different and we’re toasting glasses of the reddest wine
and we are laughing as we’re leaving everything behind
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9. |
It's All for You
02:39
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the pretty pictures, the kitschy postcards
culled from every roadside tourist trap
arizona, oklahoma
mississippi, yeah, I’ll go anywhere you’ll have me
put a pin on your map
we’ll close our eyes and aim for that
charlottesville, kill devil hills
tallahassee, I’ll go anywhere you’ll have me
so kick this habit of carrying ghosts
let the wolves in, let ‘em feast on this holy host
crystal mountains, porcelain skies blazing blue
it’s in your heart, it’s in your eyes, it’s all for you
rivers of gravel, cement, and stone
they’ll take you anywhere you want to go
santa fe, let’s escape this rainy day
oh, I’ll go anywhere you’ll have me, honey
the pretty pictures, the kitschy postcards
culled from every roadside tourist trap
would you love me? could you love me?
should you love me? should you love me for that?
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10. |
Miss
03:18
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I lie awake at night with all we’ll never see
all of this, I’ll miss with you, the things we’ll never be
well, you're over all of this, before it’s really begun
nighttime’s moving in, we’ve had a day in the sun
I’ll miss your secret smile; and, darling, let's confess
I'll miss the way I’ve loved you when you weren’t at your best
I will miss our eyes, those reflecting pools
yeah, I’ll miss the way the world stopped when I locked eyes with you
well, you're over all of this, before it’s ever really begun
nighttime’s moving in, we’ve had a day in the sun
but how could you just abandon it?
don’t you miss all of this?
don’t you miss all of this?
don’t you miss all of this?
I told you once, I know, that you were free to fall
and it wasn’t always graceful, but we stumbled through it all
no matter how much I have tried, I haven’t yet been satisfied
I try and try, but, darling, you know I am still mesmerized
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11. |
Ikea Song
02:25
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someday I’m gonna wake up
in a fake studio apartment
at ikea on columbus avenue
and when I wake up
under shop lights and paper lamps
I’m gonna wake up, wake up next to you
I want to do things with you
that I am too old to do
during business hours, we can probably blend right in
the cute couple who’s always shopping
for “florvags” and “badalens”
and all of our possessions tucked in little plastic bins
dispersed and hidden within children’s toys
bedroom, lighting, and kitchen
we’ll find a working shower after closing time
wearing nothing but a smile
I’ll wear yours and you wear mine
and we’ll read every single book
we’ll learn swedish line by line
we’ll drink lingonberry soda and carbonated apple wine
someday I’m gonna wake up
in a fake studio apartment
at ikea on columbus avenue
and when I wake up
under shop lights and paper lamps
I’m gonna wake up, I’m gonna wake up next to you
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Adrian Morse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Adrian creates songs stitched from historical yarns, literary scenes, and relatable blunders of personal experience. A veteran of countless musical missteps, unrealized bands, and aborted projects, his recent works include an acoustic LP and a series of increasingly unpopular releases with the power pop band Readership. He resides in Philadelphia and has a nice cat (who even has his own song). ... more
Adrian Morse recommends:
New Ways to Make the Same Mistakes
by Readership
because I wrote these songs and you like me?
go to album
because I wrote these songs and you like me?
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