1. |
Pass Away
02:48
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This ain’t no ordinary trouble — this is a very special day. Every bird has hit the road this morning, and everything you know will pass away.
When the fire rolls down the mountain, and the village is ablaze, you’ll scorch the ridge to try to save the pasture, but everything you know will pass away. Everything you know will pass away.
Oh oh oh oh I hear my choir singing. Oh oh oh oh I think I’m gonna die.
Oh oh oh oh I hear my chains a-ringing. Oh oh oh oh I think it’s time. Oh oh oh oh I think they got the governor on the phone. Oh oh oh oh he says “goodbye.”
There’s a voice above the treeline, and what He says you must obey. He told me: “Take off your shoes, you won’t be needing them anymore, for everything you know will pass away.”
Everything you know will pass away.
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2. |
Jericho
02:59
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In the BACK SEAT there’s a bundle wrapped up in oilcloth, it smells like blood, it smells like CORDITE, and the traffic’s backed up to Jericho, the cops are crazy, and God’s on the RADIO, and he needs more money and the heat comes down like a fist. My heart goes APE SHIT, and it sounds like thunder I’M A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF GOD, and we go BOOM BOOM, BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.
Back in JERICHO there’s a line to the butcher for the skin off the skull of a mule. There’s no DOGS LEFT, no cattle no chickens and the babies are going by the pound and the sound of the TRUMPETS keeps the fear on top, the noise to stop for a HEART BEAT, and the ARMY, it surrounds the city and the walls come down like thunder, and we go BOOM BOOM, BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.
In my babyhood I was safe and happy and the rain was a thing of GRACE, a thing of BEAUTY, like a ladder up to heaven, if you climbed high enough there were SOUNDS, there were WHISPERS. In the presence of God there’s a THRONE and a LION and a LAMB and a host of CREATURES run beneath my wheels. I’M A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF GOD, and we go BOOM BOOM, BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.
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3. |
All Along the Way
04:05
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We can pack your troubles with us, all along the way. Strong to carry all you give us, all along the way. Who’s that dancing behind the curtain? Oh my, Oh I can’t be certain. But a fire will light the sky, all along the way.
Dirty clothes and accusations, all along the way. Back door cataract machinations, all along the way. Little demons with their fiddles … oh my, oh I’m in the middle, but I love that tune they play, all along the way.
Oh my oh my it’s hot in here. Oh my oh my it’s freezing. Oh my oh my, by the birds in the sky you know we’re almost home.
Set one up for the One-Eyed Father, all along the way. It’s blood for oil and it’s oil for water, all along the way. There’s no pattern in the cloth we weave, but oh my, oh I still believe in the dead man’s map and the big black “X” I carry all along the way.
Oh my oh my it’s hot in here. Oh my oh my it’s freezing. Oh my oh my, by the birds in the sky you know we’re almost home.
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4. |
Hi-Test
02:05
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Come on under, there’s a party. There’s lots of liquor and the devil’s walking and the house is shaking, there’s a band of robbers working the parking lot … it’s fucking hot. HEY!
Crack a window and shave the dog. Ruin my necktie with your tears of bewildered joy. We’ll dip it in a big old bowl of vodka. We’ll make a new drink — we’ll call it a Hi-Test. HEY!
Is this my hand, or is it yours? What is that fragrance? It smells like donkeys. You must be Brittney; I’ve heard stories. Last I seen a dress like that was on East 11th Street. HEY!
One two three KICK KICK KICK KICK KICK!
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5. |
Bottom Drawer
03:27
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I saw on TV last night where some guy bought a painting at a yard sale for five dollars. It was worth much more than that, and I don’t wake up and cry no more. I guess I’m getting over her.
The fog was dense last Sunday. it broke an hour after dawn, revealing half the town still drunk and curled up on the lawn, and I don’t throw up Jim Beam no more. I guess I’m getting over her.
The bottom drawer’s still broken (baby, oh baby) and full of junk I never use (sweet baby, I miss you) but even so I can’t go near (my baby, I’m sorry). It’s like some kind of bruise (I miss you — won’t you come home?).
And I don’t wake up and cry no more. I don’t throw up Jim Beam no more. I don’t drive by where she lives anymore, and I don’t give a damn who she loves anymore. I guess I’m getting over her.
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6. |
Sleep
04:13
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Sleep softly now. It’s only me, anyhow. Darling I adore you, my baby girl, only you. The night is deep and full of stars.
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7. |
Where Did I Go?
04:23
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What have I done? How did I break? Where will I run, and who will I take? Where did I go?
And what’s left of me now? What’s left for you? A pale square on the wall in an empty room. Where did I go?
I see red and it all goes black, and I’m never coming back. I can’t stand to see you cry, but this is goodbye. This is goodbye.
These are the things that you do for love: You change yourself, you give things up. You turn out lights in empty rooms, and you try to keep everything in your pockets. But what if it never takes? What if I just can’t make it good enough? What if it’s never enough to make you happy?
And why did you hurt me? Who will you hurt now? And who needs hurting anyhow?
And how could I still love you? How could I stay? And how did everything still good in us just get thrown away?
Where did I go?
I see red and it all goes black, and I’m never coming back. I can’t stand to see you cry, but this is goodbye. This is goodbye. This is goodbye. This is goodbye. This is goodbye.
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8. |
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A rose in your hand, carry it away. My hair in a ring, carry it away. Every little thing, carry it away. Carry it away my love. My strong right hand, carry it away. My picture in a frame, carry it away. My last name, carry it away. Carry it away my love.
A sigh of love, carry it away. All that is mine, carry it away. Leave nothing behind, carry it away. Carry it away my love. The bird in my tree, carry it away. The way I’ve changed, carry it away. The credit and the blame, carry it away. Carry it away my love.
This little prayer, carry it away. A ribbon for your hair, carry it away. The very air, carry it away. Carry it away my love. This little poem, carry it away. My love, my own, carry it away. Just don’t forget to bring all these things back home when you carry it away, my love.
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9. |
You Were The One
08:53
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He says:
Saw a girl I hadn’t seen in a long time. She used to be mine. Saw her laughing and happy and sweet, with her cheek pressed up against some other man’s cheek. That was her. That was her without me.
She says:
You fuck, don’t you remember leaving me? With someone or someplace else to be? I cried when my little love died. That was me. That was me without you.
They say:
You were the one for a long, long time.
I can’t stand feeling so mean. Sick and stupid and weak. I cry, and then, again and again, I say goodbye. That’s you and me. That’s you and me without us.
You were the one for a long, long time.
For a long, happy time.
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10. |
Thank God For You
05:32
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Oh baby, how’d you find me in time to save me? Oh baby, I adore you. I know I’m crazy, but still, but still, thank God for you.
Oh baby, we’ll go dancing, or maybe swimming out at the lake.
But whatever we do, it’s just me and you. Wear that pink dress and your cowboy boots. Baby, I’m a mess, but you’re so cute, every morning when I wake up in your arms I just thank God for you.
Stranger things happen when hell breaks loose, so how would you like it? (Bear with me.)
I hear seagulls. I smell the ocean outside our window. Oh baby.
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11. |
Come Home With Me
07:09
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There’ll come a time, we’re all gonna grow wings and fly away, so come home with me. Come home with me.
Roses and wine and other delights await thee, so come home with me. Come home with me.
This valley is mine. The clouds roll down to the tree line. The passage of time is only the trick of a troubled mind. So come home with me. Come home with me.
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Chris Black Raleigh, North Carolina
Chris Black is a multi-instrumental composer and performer living in Wake County, North Carolina. He has been a member of such groups as Shoulders (Austin, TX), Les Wampas (Paris, FR), Golden Arm Trio (Austin, TX), The Wedding's Off (L.A., CA), and the Taraf de Tucson (Tucson, AZ). He is the founder of the alt-classical, D.I.Y. chamber music concert series ChamberLab. ... more
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