1. |
Evasive Action
04:26
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whisky and saltines will dry you up inside
I spent last night propped up on an elbow
thinking about how you’ve never cried
we’re all on your downtime
but I’ve never seen you up at all
been giving you deadlines
that I’d never dreamed you could make
take evasive action baby
someone got too close to you
you never know when some better wish comes true
dense symbolic dreams will wake you up at night
but you don’t need me whispering in your ear
to know you’ve failed to fight them off
my comfort is anodyne
as long as you've worked out your exit plan
attachment is asinine
as long as you've lined up some other man
I’m off to your house
not knowing which one I’ll get
the one with the heart
or the one in her head
the one who survives
or the one who just bled
appraised from a chair
or entwined in a bed
a nuclear scare
or just neurotic dread
a gaze or a glare
or a glance I misread
sometimes I go hungry
sometimes I get fed
underhanded schemes sometimes work out all right
now someone else is calling you
and you don’t seem to want me around at all
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2. |
Salvation Army
03:20
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I'm dropping some bags at the Salvation Army
no peace on Earth but there’s Goodwill till then
I’m dropping some bombs at the Salvation Army
the colonel says I’m one of his best men
dropping my world off at the Salvation army
pulling up slowly and I’m honking my horn
dropping some old junk off at the Salvation Army
an old man dies, a new one is born
they say destruction is a form of creation
I’ve never been sure if I thought that was true
I’d say destruction’s a precursor to creation
can’t keep it together so let’s fire off a few
yeah I’ve torn down a lot but I never thought I’d have to do it to
the two
of
us
maybe I’ll kill some time and go in the store
some silver lining on display in aisle four
nah man I’m just tryin to pare down
tear down my house I’ll build a new one and then
you’ll come back and try to take apart my old house again
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3. |
Go West
04:49
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I took your picture
caught how the sunlight was streaming in
and falling over your shoulder
inverted flicker
cause I was the one naked and on my knees
if you looked any closer
oh, information!
oh soft parade of accultured charm
oh sweet ones and zeroes
ersatz elation
your little chimes full of soft alarm
kept drawing me nearer
I was the station
you were the train that was pulling in
and unloading your baggage
oh aggravation!
oh how I thought you’d be staying here
oh great disadvantage
I got resigned to
the collapsing vision of a destiny
manifesting too bluntly
leave it behind you
go west young man they say
grow up with the country
go west
young man they say
go west today
where noone knows your shame
towards sun-red skies I cross that dusky great divide
never to return
oh, but what a beautiful bridge to burn
I kept your picture
but I had to pull it from the gallery
cause it feels like a downer
I’m keeping busy
I go to Powell’s and parks all day
like a real out of towner
I feel no forgiveness
I’m still full of jealous contempt and rage
all sickening and pointless
but you’re all business
you never really cared anyway
you only enjoyed us
go west young man they say
go west today
where they don’t even wait to learn your name before they say I’m sorry
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4. |
Safeplaya
05:15
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don’t wanna treat you like some perfect being
yeah we all know that’s not a thing
don’t wanna treat you like some dead eyed consumer
who’s only in it for the ring
there are some people who
to feel like themselves
they need for you to treat them like dirt
and there are some people once they’ve got you sewn up
will put you down and mess with your self worth
but I would never
ever
do that to you
even though
right now I kind of want to
I’m the wreckage in somebody’s wake
so I’d better play it safe
don’t wanna fight with my friends over you
just cause I can’t stand to be outdone
don’t wanna trick you into feeling attached
and then suddenly cut and run
there are some people who to feel in control
their best choice is to sleep around
yeah and there are some people who are so full of shit
you can’t believe that their eyes don’t turn brown
but I would never
ever
do that to you
even though
right now now I kind of want to
but I’m wreckage in somebody’s wake
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5. |
||||
if life is to smile
let’s all go run in the rain some
I heard that passion’s coming back in style
better learn how to feign some
and if it’s all a cryptic mystery
let’s go steal the secret code
and if we’re made of the stars
let’s get ready to implode
if life is a trial
I’ve got too much to defend
I’m so over denial
cause we’re all found guilty at the end
and if we’re all dirty and vile-lent
let’s not hold on to haloes
let’s find some virgins and try, try, try again
to throw them into volcanos
if you see me coming look the other way
just look away from me
we both know it would be a disgrace
if anyone saw me laughing in your face
if you see me coming walk the other way
just walk away from me
we both know it’s a disgrace
but we can’t keep saving face forever
if life is divine
let’s all sit down and pray some
once our heretics are carefully defined
let’s grab our knives and go flay some
if we’re lost in information
let’s put our books back on the shelves
and hitch our wagons to someone
who’s got more answers than ourselves
If life is a joke
let’s give away the punchline
let’s all go have a smoke
and fuck each other and drunk drive
if we’re all desperate and cruel
better grow some thicker skin
because really and truly
you’re either a fool
or you’re your own evil twin
if you see me coming look the other way
just look away from me
we both know it would be a disgrace
if anyone saw me spitting in your face
if you see me coming walk the other way
just walk away from me
we both know it’s a disgrace
but we can’t keep up this pace forever
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6. |
||||
it’s new years in Buckman
but the same old destruction
is whirling all over the room
you’re nervous to face them
so all that they’ll see
is the storm that’s engulfing the midnight moon
there’s a lightning arc
between you and the ground
you’ve got too much spark
better throw some around
cause all the fires you start
they’re your works of art
and it tears your brain apart
to know
you’ll be picking up after yourself
till the day that you die
it’s next afternoon
and your new opportunity’s
closing the back door behind
why even bother
to swear not another
just lie to yourself that your man doesn’t mind
and he’s sent you words
says I missed you last night
and you loved him at first
so why not pretend it’s alright
for as long as you can
all the fires you start
don’t they make you feel so fuckin smart
but it breaks your heart
to know
you’ll be picking up after yourself
till the day that you die
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7. |
Prime
04:12
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1987
1993
1997
1999
2003
2011
2017
2027
2029
2039
2053
2063
2069
2081
2083
2087
2089
2099
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8. |
Cherry Petals
04:25
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you were a native son of the suburbs
way too slowly growing up
you happened to glance out the window
and see a package truck
throwing cherry petals
off its roof like confetti
right then you knew it was on you to find diamonds in drops of rain and the rough mundane
yeah that same refrain
you thought you’d written it
till they made you read Ferlinghetti
and suddenly you found all the people around you
didn’t hear the same sounds or feel the same things
and something told you
hey
start getting ready
to smash em all to pieces
bring em to their knees as
they learned to sing your words right on cue
once the spotlight was following you
a few years down the line you consented to school
just to get away from the fools and sharpen your tools
and help mom and dad sleep serene
so you spent a few years learning ropes
and notes by rote and smoking dope and stoking your hopes
all while flirting
with regression towards the mean
but that factory farm for easy charm on K-12 job interviews
felt like a noose around your muse
so you took off your shoes and threw them in the machine
you dropped out
you moved to dream city as soon as you could
you found a place in the former hood
a shit job and a new mob
just trying to surround yourself with the brightest
and you all went to each others’ shows and openings and readings and parties and you had a scene
on which to preen
on your knees
at the feet of Thou Mightest
and year by year it became more and more clear
that all your expensive sensibilities and sensitivity
they weren’t helping you along in the slightest
but you kept on believing
as basic as breathing
even as your plans began to fall through
as if the spotlight was following you
it’s all that kept you getting up
kept you keeping up
kept you pulling away
and now the skies are drying up
have you had enough
will you walk off right into the grey
and all your friends from way back when are moved on, married, marks being made and feeling safe
and a few of them still call without being baited
and all those other people you looked down upon and made fun of for all those years
well they still don’t care about the worlds you’ve created
and off and on you find yourself wondering about the ones before you
and just how was it they found themselves
beloved by the ones they berated
and were you fated for crashing
and will they sift through your ash
and find the diamonds you had hiding from their view
cause the spotlight was never following you
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9. |
Cold Ones
04:19
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the late shift was letting out
we were on the sidewalk talking and smoking
just one glance at the look of you
right then I knew it was no time for joking
you said when there's a pissing contest at the top of the heap
it's the people underneath
get the soaking
and you watched me get on my guard
as a man shuffled up with a shopping cart
he asked me for a drag and you dragged out three
for free!
I was walking home from your hotel room
you were moving on to Seattle
I was watching the rain roll in over the hills
like the haze blowing in from a battle
and would I be leading one last charge
now that I was back in the saddle?
The storm broke in middle of the bridge
and I got soaked to my last stitch
and I wondered who it was
yeah I wondered who was up on top of this pile?
on the fourth of July
they set fire to the hillside
with Roman candles and fountains
on the fourth of July
they set fire to the hillside
and pour it out with their cold ones
they’re turning smoke into vapor
such a great imitator
don't we all feel so much safer
now the fire’s gone out
we were out back in the garage
it was hot, we were tonic and ginning
I said like that ballerina silhouette
no one knows which way I am spinning
right then and there you grabbed your maul
and smashed the lawn chair to kindling
I gasped and jumped up, inspired
we ran outside and built a fire
might as well have been under my own ass
cause I stopped spinning my wheels
and I've been sprinting ever since
just trade your smokes in for vapor
it’s the ultimate flavor
and won’t you feel so much safer
once the flames are put out?
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The Redactors Portland, Oregon
Redactors is the recording project of Portland based musician/producer Zach Stamler (Ed and the Red Reds, King Twang, My Sister in 1994). More music coming? Maaaaybe...
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