1. |
South of the South
05:11
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I was just a tender chicken
In the Florida rotisserie
My sweat’s basting me
Thunderstorms are chasing me
I bit into a lightning bolt
My own tongue began to smoke
I woke up with an empty mouth
Watch the watch tick backwards
South of the south
The CSX vibrates the tracks
Mighty roar it shakes the shacks
Purple sky and orange moon
Plants are confident in June
Humidity is thick
You can cut it with a knife
If you’d like to take a breathe here honey
I’m gonna cut you out a slice
So i developed gills
And i moved into the aquifer
Fell asleep in Wakulla Springs
Woke up down in Jupiter
Then i moved back to Deland
High into an orange tree
I was set for life with citrus
But my body couldn’t take this
Acidity
So i strolled down to Miami
Tried to find myself some friends
Found myself in South Beach
And met some mannequins
Who smelled of coconuts
And Coppertone
I like those smells real well
But as far as conversations go
I guess that it stopped at the start
Of the smell
It was Elvis and Sinatra
Now where’s your wallet man i got you
But if you’re poor like me
They let poor people like me be
They say that North Beach is a warzone
Highrise hotels hollowed out
But now we were living large
We were stepping out
In some thirty dollar beach front motel
South of the south
South of the south
Down in North Miami
South of the south
Me and my old lover Terry
We were practically married
So i jumped my pogo stick
All the way to Ybor City
Where they burned up a couple blocks
And to me seemed like a pity
That was once a Cuban district
And a center for the arts
Was now a mall like atmosphere
Homogenous and insincere
They burned its heart right out
Down south of the south
So i became a snake bird
An old swamp turkey
And some redneck tried to shoot me
Tried to make swamp turkey jerky
But i evaded all his bullets
And i flew into the Gulf
And i jumped upon a west wind
Out to a safer haven
Out near Alcaniz and Baylen
Down south
South of the south
The town of Pensacola
Riding bikes like we were kids
Over cobblestone and brick
A tabby fence
a moonlit bridge
There’s a sandlot shot-gun shack
Tin roof all rusted out
There’s a couch on every front porch
Flappin’ screen doors
Ants on the apple cores
Hawk’s boiled peanuts and more
Down South
South of the south
South of the south
South of Opelika
South of the south
Due south of Tuscaloosa
South of the south
South of ole Alpharetta
South of the south
South of South Carolina
South of the south
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2. |
I've Seen the Love
04:04
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Drive around this country
Pretending like we’re famous
Wearing our disguises
Of the people we are not
And i know
You’re just letting go
Softly fading
After all this time
Don’t pretend like you don’t know me
Treat me like a stranger
Like some bum off of the street
Don’t you know
We were once like gold
Set in concrete
You, you were so confused
You had much to much to lose
You let it put you out
Now you’re leaving
i , i’ve seen the love
That i let slip away
I, i’ve been so lonely
So much i could not say
And are you still just okay?
If instruments were ornaments
Aesthetic with no purpose
Hanging on your wall
Out of tune without a song
Don’t you know
We ain’t got too long
Let’s start singing
Have you lost your passion
Well, here take some of mine
You can use my skeleton
But don’t drink all my wine
You have sung
You sung your voice away
No one listened
Oh, heaven help a soul
Who wanted to let it go
Stuck inside a corpse
No heart beating
I, I’ve seen the love
That i let slip away
And i have been so lonely
So much, i could say
And are you still just okay?
I have seen the love
That i let slip away
I have been so lonely
So much i could not say
And are you still
Just okay?
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3. |
Journal Burning Party
03:54
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The party’s no fun if you’re not drinking
The bar is no fun if you’re flying straight
Sitting in the corner with a pen and paper
Like a journalist with a deadline date
Got a whole suitcase full of journals
And i used to try to use ‘em as a reference point
Now i kinda realize i run in circles
Run in circles with a black ball point
Well i got an idea if you wanna try it
Meet me in the yard by the BBQ pit
We can take everything that we’ve ever written
Make a great big pile and put a match to it
We’ll have a journal burning party
have a journal burning party
Have a journal
We’ll get a clean slate honey
At the journal burning party
See we’ll write it down and then we’ll burn it up
We’re gonna write it down and then we’ll burn it up
We’re going page for page up into flames
Page for page up into flames
March 28, 1993
Those words mean nothing to me
November 5th, 1994
I don’t wanna read it no more
You see it tried to reflect
It just made me depressed
I tried to reflect
It just made me depressed
Let’s have a journal burning party
Have a journal we’ll get a clean slate honey
Come on
Come on
Come on
I always wanted to write a song
That said “come on”
So come on
Come on
Come on
Come on
Alright
Alright
Come on
Come on
Come on
Come on
Come on
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4. |
Let Go the Past
03:40
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Let go the past and step forward
Let go your past my friend
Past it will haunt you, daunt you and hurt you
Let go the past til the end honey
Let go your past til the end
Let go your lonelies
Let go your sorrows
Let go the hurt in your heart
Let go the pain
That drove you insane
Let go and find a new start honey
Let go and find a new start
Cause the sun still shines on the sidewalk
Rain still falls on the trees
You could sing a simple song
Or get lost in the complexities
Let go disappointments
And lack of enjoyments
Let go your troubles
And doubts
Let go your worry
Slow down your hurry
Step back and find a new route honey
Step back and find a new route
Let go depression
Let go addiction
Let go and let yourself win
Let go your hate
Go celebrate
Let the new living begin honey
Let your new living begin
Cause the sun still shines on the sidewalk
Rain still falls on the seas
You could sing a simple song
Or get lost in the complexities
Let go your past and step forward
Let go your past my friends
Past it will haunt you, daunt you and hurt you
Let go the past til the end honey
Let go your past til the end
Let go your past til the end
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5. |
Summertime Suicide #1
02:36
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That’s how the song sings
When your heart begins its longing
One day it’s a band of gold
Next day it’s a chunk of coal
You like a harmony
I like a melody
That’s you and me
We only disagree
That’s how the song sings
It’s how it sings
I like a bar with no tv
Tend to let a little conversation breathe
Keep your eyeballs glued to me
Undistracted by the tv screen
So you wanna talk?
Wanna really talk?
Let’s not talk
Not even say a thing
That’s how the song sings
It’s how it sings
You know i try to write a summer song
But i feel i’ve been away too long
Friends are grown and responsible
I’m a child yet not capable
That’s how i come
That’s how i go
That’s how the song sings
When your heart begins its longings
One day it's a band of gold
Next day it’s a chunk of coal
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6. |
Brownsville Revival
03:05
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There’s a man whose daughter had died
I believe it was in Gainesville
He bought a cooler and he put her inside
Went to Brownsville revival
And he asked the congregation
If they could bring her back for him
He was looking for a miracle
But it just didn’t happen
Just didn’t happen
And chameleons
cling to the screens
Beaches like snow
Holy ghost dreams
And the Brownsville revival
Gonna save every single soul
So send your dead children
So they could revive them from the grave
Everyone kneel down and pray
The Gulf of Mexico
Is a clear and aqua blue
The clouds hung wispy and low
With a red blood rusty hue
From the lights of Pensacola
hear the rush of the Navy jets
They waiting for the rapture
But it hadn’t happened yet
Place your bets
there’s a man with a cross
Stands on the bridge
Glaring at the traffic
I wonder what it did
The Brownsville revival
Gonna save every single soul
So send your dead children
So they could revive them
From the grave
Everyone kneel down and pray
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7. |
||||
Towing distance to Phoenix
Tank away from LA
The desert is draining in August
I left her at the Greyhound station
In Tucson today
Pecans, walnuts and wine
Naturally grown
And easy to come by
I have wasted my time
Pickin’ a tomato
That fell from the vine
Always picking
The one that fell from the vine
I’m always picking
The one that fell from the vine
Maybe next time i’ll know
Ones on the ground are rotten on one side
Best leave those ones alone
They’ve got worms
They ain’t healthy
Take that as a sign
Always pickin’
The one that fell from the vine
Maybe I
I’m the one that fell from the vine
And her and I
come from the same kind
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8. |
Persevere
03:40
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When you’re broke down on the highway
And you don’t go no money
And you know it’s who you know
But you don’t know a single soul
And you’re wondering what to do
As they’re tightening up the screw
Sit and wondering what to do
You persevere
I love you dear
You persevere
You got nothing left to lose
You’re flat broke from paying your dues
You know it’s best to let it ride
You gotta go for broke until you’re up in smoke
Least you can say that you tried
Hold holy your highest hopes
Don’t let go of the rope
Don’t give up now
Don’t give in
Don’t you ever let them win
Don’t give up now
Don’t give in
You persevere
One more year
You persevere cause
You got nothing left to lose
You’re flat broke from paying your dues
You know it’s best to let it burn
You gotta go for broke until your up in smoke
Least you were living to learn
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9. |
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You shouldn’t leave a lover alone too long
Love will find another and then the lover is gone
find yourself alone in the setting sun
gonna take a couple years before the next dawn
If your light is gone
And my love is gone
Lonesome leads to bitters
And the bitters leads to pain
And your pain started bubbling from your heart to your brain
Swear you’ll never ever make her cry again
The tears started welling in her eye again
She was your best friend
But you did it again and again
I know that you’re tired of the drama
Know that you’re tired of the strain
Know that you’re tired of our love affair
So honey, why don’t we, just be friends
I’m the type of guy with a wandering eye
Had a couple drinks and i don’t know why
Everytime i see another girl walk by
Wandering eye starts to objectify
And i don’t know why
I’m a natural guy blah
Chains of codependence were disguised as love
We were smothered by the touching
And the kissing and the hugs
Guess now you know i’m not a marrying type
Don’t want kids and i don’t want a wife
Just a friend for life
Not a typical life
I know that you’re tired of the drama
Know that you’re tired of the strain
Know that you’re tired of our love affair
So honey, why don’t we, just be friends
You shouldn’t leave a lover alone too long
Love will find another then the lover is gone
Find yourself alone in the setting sun
Gonna take a couple years
Before the next dawn
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10. |
Pornographic Love Song
04:29
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Desensitized the conscience dies
Here’s to your callaced thighs
Here’s to your cold sore lips
Here’s to your circus ride hips
Here’s to my clammy cold hands
I feel like a no woman’s land
You tried to purchase a plot
A quagmire’s what you got
I was in love with defeat
It drives a sporadic heartbeat
You are the addict in purity
You and your stoned insecurity
Using your boyfriends for rent
Fucking them all ‘til they’re spent
Well, i can’t judge you lover
We are the same under cover
I’ve posted the same dark entries as you
Your desperate puke stained grin
You’re a poster girl for a lifelong sin
He was a pedophile with a chaplains smile
I can’t fix what that sucker defiled
Let’s go make out on a binge
Your heart locket’s got a rusty hinge
Let’s feel false and unreal
Let’s not feel how it doesn’t heal
You are your own lost whore
And i’m always wanting more and more
Your bedroom is a porno booth
I’ve got no money
Honey got no use
Ain’t it all so mechanical
Our tainted love is habitual
I can’t trust you lover
You should never trust me either
I posted the same dark entries as you
Let’s not lie any less
Unless you can’t somehow maintain
Here’s your script for when you confess
Learn your lines this time now say ‘em again
I’m just a sucker for fun
Chasing your dumb fleeting vanity
Living a life on the run
From a big black cloud of Christianity
Don’t you feel guilty now?
Sex was like milking the cow
I was your boy for the night
Staining your sheets with my blight
Well, you sucked the cock of a swine
How tenderly wasting your time
I can’t trust you lover
You should never trust me either
I’ve posted the same dark entries as you
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11. |
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Layin’ low in Ely, Nevada
On the loneliest highway just west of Utah
It had started to snow
I got a room for the night
I put a fiver in the slot
I took a shot and then on came the lights
Bars of four came up twice
And a double super bonus
Twice was nice
You know i, couldn’t believe it
I didn’t even know how much it was
But it must have been a lot i hit the jackpot
I mean that whole place was abuzz
I’ve always been just a scratch off ticket away
Always win another ticket to play
Then i come up empty and i throw that thing away
You know i tossed it on the floor like i was bored
But it was worth a shot to play
I’ve seen no luck in old Biloxi
I’ve lost hundreds and hundreds worth of twenties
But at the Hotel Nevada everything changed
I bought drinks for the house
A king suite with a couch
I mean the whole scene was a little bit weird and strange
The night went on and i got loaded
When you’re loaded it’s too easy to get loaded
Don’t you know what I mean?
I’m talking loot cakes of cash
My casino cup was full i had control
But it was a drastic contrast
I met this girl
blue eyeshadow
Bleach blonde hair
silver sparkly stiletto
She’s a dragstrip dream
A real card playing queen
But i could tell she’d come to scam
With all her phony glitz and glam
But she dammed my conscience stream
This girl she was much like a slot machine
Lowest odds
You can’t win off some card playing queen
But i let it roll
I wanted a golden egg from this sparrow
And then the pot bellied waitress
Said “here’s a free shot, you should take this.”
And my sights got a little narrow
I got sleepy she said
“Come on honey”
Let’s go upstairs
Before you lose the rest of your money
Besides you might get a little bit lucky
With this card playin’ queen
My head was spinning like a roulette wheel
With weighted dice the loaded feel
But i was cooking up my own scheme
So off to bed i go with a girl i don’t even know
Yeah roll roll roll through sheets we did roll
I woke up to empty casino cup
Red lipstick on the mirror read
“a sucker will suck”
So i made a some coffee
tried to reevaluate my luck
Card playin’ queen departed
So i’m back to where i started
But she was kind enough
She was a woman enough
She was good enough
To leave me five bucks
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12. |
Highway Death Shrine
03:39
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There’s a cross in the weeds
At the side of the road
There’s a gash in the trees
The car lost control
Fragments of glass
Mix with the gravel
I was trying to pass
A victim of travel
Highway death shrine
Last trace of me
Highway death shrine
Another casualty
I didn’t feel a thing
It happened just like that
Late last spring
A high speed crash
X marks the spot
Where the soul hit the air
The lawnmower man
Don’t mow around there
Highway death shrine
Last trace of me
Highway death shrine
Another casualty
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