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1. |
Once Upon a Time
04:05
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Tell me that story again darlin’
The one where we all end up alright
Tell me that story again darlin’
Wasn’t it true once upon a time?
Wasn’t it true once upon a time?
I’ll keep keeping up with the laundry
You’ll keep keeping up with the car
I guess things aren’t really changing here
It sure feels like they are
It sure feels like they are
We’ve got good dogs, we’ve got a good porch
We’ve got eyes to see and we’ve got a good view
We’ve got ears to hear and we are listening
The truth is not something we can choose
The truth is not something we can choose
Tell me that story again darlin’
The one where we all end up alright
Tell me that story again darlin’
Wasn’t it true once upon a time?
Wasn’t it true once upon a time?
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2. |
The Prophet
02:52
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There’s a copy of The Prophet up on the high shelf
It’s taller and it’s deeper than the rest of the books
So his eyes graze its spine
Like his lips across his left front tooth
Like anything that’s always there, sometimes it’s just there
Like everything that’s gone, she left reminders everywhere
So nostalgia has been nagging him
To pull it down again
And for the first time
In a long time
He does as he’s asked
He pretends it’s a sign when the page catches on his thumb
As if that crack in the binding wouldn’t tell anyone else
He’s been here before
He knows these lines by heart
“When love beckons to you, follow him”
“And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
As the north wind lays waste the garden”
And for the first time
In a long time
He does as he’s asked
This song contains a quote from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet, 1923. In the public domain.
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3. |
Midlife
04:01
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The smell of coffee's lying around like confetti on the floor
Dust is falling in a sunbeam and it looks like fake snow
In that Christmas snowglobe with the lighthouse that grandma always leaves out
For a month or two past Mardi Gras
Everything is a beacon, a breadcrumb leading me
Back to a moment, bookmarked in my brain
Ready to be turned to and unfolded, so I can tear it out and hold it
Right up against, what’s right in front of me
I’ve been too busy comparing now to then, and too far from the end
To feel the end creeping closer
But every crumpled calendar page is more than a step forward, it’s a step away
From back here it’s clear my path ain’t pointing toward forever
'Cause life has always been an arc bent toward this half century mark
Leaving behind a wake of wondering where I should have been
Every one of its waves is stacking up instead of fading
So it all keeps ringing loud into the ether
So I guess this is my mandatory midlife comeuppance
Where I learn that time both changes and it doesn’t
And that I can always say there used to be more of it left
And that will always be true
And that thought keeps me up at night
Tossing and turning over questions that are trying harder to get through
They used to raise their hands, wave 'em quiet in the dark
But now those hands are fists slugging me in the arm
Yelling “tag you’re it” between the blaring of my alarm
So every morning is a fight between doing right by the days left
And planning out just how to do that
There is a line between balance and being lost in trying to find it
It’s as fine as every wrinkle in this bathroom mirror
I realize we are reflections of everything that we have seen
But I believe that if we’re lucky, all that we have let ourselves dream
Is still flickering in the dark somewhere like a worn-out film
On a dollar theater movie screen
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4. |
Joy Has Not Forgotten Me
03:25
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Fields of rye and goldenrod
Waving in the wind, I give 'em a nod
The crows are calling
I’ve got dogs at my feet
Joy has not forgotten me
This gravel road crackles like static in the air
Don’t know the way but I’m getting there
There’s humming in my head
A melody breaking free
Joy has not forgotten me
Tonight I'll sway to that old time sound
In a crown of starlight and a cotton gown
I’ll dance with the moon through the cracks in the clouds
Sing my thanks for what I’ve found
Spent the day stacking wood in the shade of the pines
Cutting what fell and calling it mine
Fuel for the evening
An offering from the trees
Joy has not forgotten me
Campfire turns a song to a smile
Like a totem die-cut straight from time
I’ll tell it on the prairie
I have all I need
Joy has not forgotten me
Tonight i’ll sway to that old time sound
In a crown of starlight and a cotton gown
I’ll dance with the moon through the cracks in the clouds
Sing my thanks for what I’ve found
Joy has not forgotten me
Tonight i’ll sway to that old time sound
In a crown of starlight and a cotton gown
I’ll dance with the moon through the cracks in the clouds
Sing my thanks for what I’ve found
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5. |
Relic of the Rain
03:37
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Some days I am lightning
I am crashing in
Shouting out across the static
Other days I am an arrow
Depending on the bend of the bow
The blowing of the wind
But some things I never question
Hard rain or an unexpected lesson
I just breathe ‘em in
You were a summer storm
Right out of nowhere
And when the light hits your eyes just right
I see a relic of the rain that brought us here
Some days play back like movies in my head
I point out what I could have said
That might have changed the ending
Other days read like the first page of that favorite book
I’ve read a hundred times
Still can’t wait for where it’s going
‘Cause the same things are holding brighter light
To shine on what’s always been
Leave me too surprised to second guess it
You were a summer storm
Right out of nowhere
And when the light hits your eyes just right
I see a relic of the rain that brought us here
This morning in the sleepy kitchen
Sunlight was dancing
I was lost in my head
In a crowd of everyone I’ve never been
Then your laugh cracked a smile across the quiet
I breathed deep and grateful to be reminded
Of everything that has shown up when I can’t find it
On my own
You were a summer storm
Right out of nowhere
And when the light hits your eyes just right
I see a relic of the rain that brought us here
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6. |
Here It Is
03:35
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A system built up broken and a game that’s fixed
Why can’t we diagnose it for the cancer that it is
Stop lying to its children there in the waiting room
“Yeah it’ll be good as new real soon”
Back alley crimes spilling out on the sidewalk
Or into a driver’s seat, or while jogging down the street, or just sleeping with the lights off
History repeating, the pen long since out of ink
So they just scrawled it out in blood, kept writing down what we should think
I didn’t ask for it
To be this way
But here it is
Here it is
More silence ain’t gonna make it change
It’s getting caught on camera for all the world to see
A million pixels, a thousand words shouting at us from the screen
Screaming out what we could’ve heard if we had been listening
To years of black voices and what a quiet knee on a field might really mean
There’s no rug to sweep it under or twist of words to make right
The truth is staring us down like a mirror in the morning light
It can’t be unseen, it can’t be undone
Can’t call it a lesson learned if it doesn’t teach anyone
I didn’t ask for it
To be this way
But here it is
Here it is
More silence ain’t gonna make it change
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7. |
Say It Out Loud
04:37
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I was waiting at October’s end
For something to change
The season laid across the countryside
Like marmalade on toast
Left behind on an all-night diner plate
Traded for going
Knowing someone else
Is gonna clean it up
If there is a mess
I probably made it
If there is a future where I can fix it
I don’t hear it down the hall
I’m trying to reason with this demon
Banging his drum in my ear
Singing “You can take the time between now and then
And make it disappear”
My thoughts are clanging like a thousand castanets
My doubts are ringing like words I already regret
Every memory in my head
Spun into a single thread
Tangled like Christmas lights on the floor
If I throw ‘em out will it matter?
If I give up will anyone notice?
What if I say it out loud?
In these dark days of December
I am still trying to wait
Every morning inching closer
To the evening
As I pace this floor
In a blur of brevity
I am surprised at the quiet details
Rising up to speak
There’s a TV talking across the house
To a mug of month-old coffee I never threw out
There aren’t enough books on my shelf
My eyes exactly match the petals
Pressed into this paperback
Left to be found
By someone else
My thoughts are clanging like a thousand castanets
My doubts are ringing like words I already regret
Every memory in my head
Spun into a single thread
Tangled like Christmas lights on the floor
If I throw ‘em out will it matter?
If I give up will anyone notice?
What if I say it out loud?
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8. |
They'll Figure It Out
05:07
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I can see what you’re thinking
Land right on your face
You’ve never been any good
At playing cards
It sits there like a sidewalk
Cracked and winding
Leading me someplace
I didn’t plan to go
Your spirit is a powder keg
It’s been sitting in the dark
You kicked it in the water
To keep away the sparks
Like a penny it’s sinking down
Unable to swim
Packed full of wishes
I wish you didn’t need again
I will keep throwing a line out
Pulling it back in
Bring up a bunch of nothing
Toss it out again
Some things are worth waiting for
Some I can’t live without
Let the world spin without us
They’ll figure it out
Sun falls through the window
Between your eye and your ear
A temple lying on the couch
Full of prayers I can’t hear
I’ll send up my song to you
Hope you edge toward the sound
Stop asking the water
What it takes to drown
You flash me a look
Part question, all apology
'Cause you’re choked by your trying
And all the parts of you, you can’t see
Your eyes ask what it is
That mine do
I hope my heart
Can answer you
I will keep throwing a line out
Pulling it back in
Bring up a bunch of nothing
Toss it out again
Some things are worth waiting for
Some I can’t live without
Let the world spin without us
They’ll figure it out
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9. |
Walk With You
03:07
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I make you coffee every morning
You make me laugh when I’m trying not to
See me in ways I’m scared to
And love me anyway
Now this west Texas sunset
Is watching us walk off a hard day
Where too much to do got in the way
Of being who we are
Was a day best left for being left behind
But I would do it all over
To stay shoulder to shoulder
With you
As long as the rain turns to river in this canyon
And this canyon returns my every word
I will sing it out in echoes
Anywhere the road goes
I’ll walk with you
I’ll walk with you
I’ll walk with you
We’ve got two dogs apiece
Like bouncing balloons on the end of their leash
Kicking up gold dust from the sagebrush
Tails to the wind
There’s nothing like a good dog
To show you the joy in a single moment
There’s nothing like a good love
To make every moment worth it
So I will spend every one left to come
Right where I am
Shoulder to shoulder
With you
As long as the rain turns to river in this canyon
And this canyon returns my every word
I will sing it out in echoes
Anywhere the road goes
I’ll walk with you
I’ll walk with you
I’ll walk with you
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10. |
Hardwood
02:04
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I heard it from the hardwood
Those floorboards bent my ear
I told it to the screen door
The wind spoke it to the trees
There’s the language that I learned
And the one I’ve always known
Reaching deep to remember it
Before I have to go
There are too many days done and gone
By moving too fast
I can ask for more
But I’ll still get what I get
I will slow down
I will work hard
To be where I am
I will be still
I will be moved
To be where I am
I will let this day
Be where I am
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11. |
Pigeons
03:59
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Let’s pretend we are pigeons
Struttin’ round a Sunday bench
Dancing for our dinner
From an old man humming old hymns
We can be beggars
We can help pass the time
Build a bridge for joy to walk upon
Without seeing the design
Let’s pretend we are rosary beads
Being rolled in wrinkled hands
Or sunk deep into a stranger’s skin
Next to the name of his first band
We can be someone’s prayer
We can be a permanent scar
We can be the dust that grants the wish
Inside a falling star
We’re in the service of a circle
That ain’t broken yet
Everything that is, has always been
And will someday be again
But ashes to atoms
We all fall from our skin
So let’s pretend we are a choir
Sing a chorus that never ends
Let’s pretend we are poetry
Printed on a page
Watching heavy eyes trace our shape
As we give their weight a name
We can be a teacher
We can be a hand to hold
Outlive the mind that wrote us down
Forgive the words it chose
We’re in the service of a circle
That ain’t broken yet
Everything that is, has always been
And will someday be again
But ashes to atoms
We all fall from our skin
So let’s pretend we are a choir
Sing a chorus that never ends
Let’s pretend we are a promise
Hanging heavy from a tongue
Put out like a handshake
For someone else to judge
We can be a savior
Or a trick up a sleeve
We can be who we say we are
Or who they need us to be
We’re in the service of a circle
That ain’t broken yet
So let’s pretend we are a choir
Sing a chorus that never ends
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12. |
Birdie Was an Oak Tree
04:47
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There’s an oak tree out in the yard
In a spot that you can’t miss
I don’t always look her straight on
When I’m sitting in her shade
Lately she’s been leaning
Standing tall in her small kind of way
Trying hard to do what she loves
No matter what time takes away
When it’s time
For her to be going
When it’s time, when it’s time
When it’s time
The wind’ll be blowing
When it’s time, when it’s time
Every morning that I am at home
I sit out in the yard
In a spot I always miss
When I’m out on the road
Same chair, same tree
Same birds talking to me
Same things to take for granted
‘Cause they’re there for me to see
When it’s time
For her to be going
When it’s time, when it’s time
When it’s time
The wind’ll be blowing
When it’s time, when it’s time
There is something in the air
Like static on the line
Close my eyes to listen harder
The only voice I hear is mine
Raise from a whisper to waiting silence
To a wail of disbelief
As sun floods through the windows
Where her branches used to be
I run out against the wind
Drop my knees to the dirt
Run my fingers through her leaves
And lean in to a hurt
That takes my breath away
There’s a tree stump out in the yard
A patch of shade that I miss
I run my fingers round her rings
When I’m feeling alone
Like unraveled strings of DNA
That rearranged and found their way
Into a new set of genes, in every one of my cells
And every word that I say
When it’s time
For me to be going
When it’s time, when it’s time
When it’s time
The wind’ll be blowing
When it’s time, when it’s time
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13. |
Maybe It's the Holidays
02:58
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I take myself too seriously most of the time
Try to write it all down, get it right, 'til I swear that it’s wrong
That I’ll never get it done good enough
To convince anyone that I deserve what I’ve got
I don’t read as much as should or think that I will
Hell, replace read with anything and that’d still be true
‘Cause I love the potential of a well-intentioned plan
Don’t you?
Aren’t humans just the worst at telling time
We have no idea how long anything really takes
Until we’re two hours in to a ten minute task
That goes on another list for another day
But those lists are taking over my kitchen table
Been having some hard days inside my head
Maybe it’s the time change, or the holidays
But most of the time these days, been feelin' mostly dead
I don’t know what prompted me to tell you all this
Guess I’ve never really been one for small talk
My apologies if your question wasn’t really a question
But now you know how I’ve been
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14. |
I See You
02:55
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I see you in the distance
Like a dream, like a dream, like a dream
I hear you in my head
Like a song I’m still learning to sing
I can’t get the melody quite right
Got a splinter in my palm, sawdust in my eyes
Sweat on my skin
Working with my hands
Keeps me outta my head
But only for a little while
Then you are back again
A vision of the version of the person
I wanna be
When I die
I wish for us to be near enough
Only a mirror could fit between
I think I can see you
Wishing the same thing
But you can’t move any closer
On your own
I guess I gotta come to you
I need a river, I need a road
I need a way
Good intentions only go so far
Can you tell me where to start?
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Ordinary Elephant
International Folk Music Awards 2017 Artist of the Year Ordinary Elephant captivates audiences with their emotionally powerful and vulnerable songs, letting the listener know that they are not alone in this world. "Two become one, in song...hand-in-glove harmonies surprise the listener with focused intensity and musical mastery," says Mary Gauthier. ... more
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