1. |
Friction Free
03:10
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There's no beginning, we do not tremble, we are not sentimental,*
We find someone who we can relate to, and we hold onto, and we stop thinking,
And nothing in here stops,
Nothing in here falls,
Nothing's holding anybody down.
The space between us keeps us from too much,
The dogs are safe and they can protect us.
We go to work and we pay the taxi,
We walk on pavement that's never cracking,
And nothing in her shakes,
Nothing in here falls,
Nothing's holding anybody down.
There's no beginning, we do not tremble!
We are not sentimental!
Nothing in here stops,
Nothing in here falls,
Nothing's holding anybody down!
*from "Dada Manifesto (1918)" by Tristan Tzara (trans. Robert Motherwell).
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2. |
Better than Fiction
02:57
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I have to admit I'm a little sick in the head,
And some of these lines make me a little bit nervous, a little bit nervous.
I have a scene where I have to pretend that I'm dead.
It makes my mom and dad a little bit nervous, a little bit nervous.
And I thought there would be a better plot--
One with twists and turns that really brought me to my knees, and
I got a girl who kisses the beer from my lips,
And when she yells, it's better than fiction, better than fiction.
And we don't take direction very well,
But we know how to show and not to tell,
But we don't write things down.
I haven't read much of what the critics have said.
It makes my manager a little bit nervous, a little bit nervous.
The leading guy likes to bring his dog to the set.
The way they play makes me a little bit nervous, a little bit nervous.
And I thought there would be a better plot--
One with twists and turns that really got me to my knees, and
I got a girl who eats watermelon in bed,
And when she yells, it's better than fiction, better than fiction.
And exposition's never done too well,
But we know how to show and not to tell,
And I got a girl who kisses the beer from my lips,
And when she yells, it's better than fiction, better than fiction.
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3. |
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You keep on leaving your coat somewhere,
You can't keep going on like you care about it.
Your mother and her husband have got in a fight,
Someone told you everything was going to be alright, but you doubt it.
And then the light hits your glass and puts shadows all to shame,
And you start to believe.
And you say, "What are these pretty things?"
Your friends all drove to Ohio,
And you can't figure out why you don't wanna belong.
You go out with the young men,
Who fill you up their fiction and movies and songs.
And when you get scared, the DJ plays a new one,
A new one you love.
And you say, "What are these pretty things?"
And when the light hits your glass, the DJ plays a new one,
A new one you love.
And you say, "What are these pretty things? What are these pretty things?"
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4. |
Everything that Breaks
03:31
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You pulled a rubberband until it snapped,
And now I can't get it back,
To form a circle again.
You're sitting with the ribbon in your hair--
The one I won at the fair,
When I knocked down all the cans.
And I can see that you wanna cry,
But sometimes a circle must become a line.
And let's pretend that everything that breaks,
Just falls apart when we wake,
And when we sleep, it will all work again.
We've sworn off of weddings for a while,
To keep a low profile,
We do not answer the phone.
The other day you found a bird that could hardly stand.
It died in your hand,
And it was all alone.
You buried it in our yard,
I made a headstone out of two rocks and a shard.
And let's pretend that everything that breaks,
Just falls apart when we wake,
And when we sleep, it will all work again.
Let's pretend that everything that breaks just falls apart when we wake, and when we sleep, it will all work again.
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5. |
Graduation Day
03:12
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I wanna go back to 1999, when everyone was so alone.
I wanna go back to when you spoke your mind on your antique telephone.
I wanna go back to Vicodin and wine and lying shapeless on the floor.
I wanna go back to practicing your lines, and never locking the front door.
And they say the future is just where we're headed,
And we'll make it there somehow.
And they say just move on, but I can't just move on,
It's too impossible, it's too impossible.
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6. |
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When woman is a junky wanting more, and all your sensitivities are a bore, and all your friends and family are working at the store, and you see yourself dressed just like yourself but poor, and you wish that you had something to adore, and everything seems to come down to the wire, and the birds all sit contentedly on the wire, and your manager is telling you to quit before you get fired, and you wonder when you might begin to be less tired, and the coupons you've collected all expire, and your pen pal doesn't write you anymore, and you spent your savings on prescription cures, and you spent your summer staring at the shadows on the floor, and there's a guy outside and you cannot hide like before, perhaps it's time you went off to the war.
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7. |
Happy New Year Anyway
03:26
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Your girlfriend drove me here tonight, we didn't talk at all,
Roxette was on the radio as we went past the mall,
Her cell phone rang a couple times, but she ignored the call,
It's been a long, disturbing day.
She walked through the door just ahead of me,
I saw you come in through the kitchen, she saw you come in through the kitchen,
And everybody's drinking now, they want to sing and play,
And it's time to dry my eyes and have a happy new year anyway.
There's nothing in the pantry but candied yams and rice,
There's no one in the living room that I would look at twice.
I go into the back room to try and find some ice,
She's there with one leg against the wall.
She's laughing at something that somebody said,
But it isn't something that you said, no it's never something that you said,
And both her feet are on the ground, and now she comes my way,
And it's time to dry my eyes and have a happy new year anyway.
And you only want to be left alone,
Well that's what you told me on Monday, and that's what you told me on Sunday,
And someone dies on Christmas Eve every single year,
And it's time to dry my eyes and have a happy new year anyway.
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8. |
Stay Up Late
02:48
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I get home and call your phone--it never lets me through,
But I will stay up late and wait for you.
You serve drinks to guys named Frank who say they're 22,
So I will stay up late and wait for you.
And I can sit and read the books you wrote.
And on the street cars flash shadows on the front wall,
And was that your foot upon the stair, was that your voice or just a passerby?
The bars are closing, the drunks are dozing, and I am dozing too.
But I will stay up late and wait for you.
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9. |
Awake to the Terror
03:46
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You'll learn to close your heart on everybody that you know,
If you learn anything at all.
You'll watch the pavement when you walk and keep your voice real low,
If you learn anything at all.
And when you wake up to the terror,
With questions that take the God out of your prayers,
Don't create anything, 'cuz they won't understand.
The most important things will hover near enough to touch,
If you learn anything at all.
You'll miss your class reunion, but you really won't miss much,
If you learn anything at all.
And when you wake up to the terror,
With questions that take the God out of your prayers,
Don't create anything, 'cuz they won't understand.
And when you wake up to the terror,
With shaking that takes the God out of your prayers,
Dont' create anything that they won't understand.
You'll learn to close your heart on everybody that you know,
If you learn anything at all.
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Brian Connell Birmingham, Alabama
Brian Connell is a songwriter and performer living in Birmingham, AL.
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