1. |
Fallen Astronaut
03:55
|
|
||
A plaque with the names of dead people for company
While soft moon dust covers me up
Did you know this was not what was planned
I’ve disappointed the man who created me
Fostered bad feelings among those who aided me
I’m all alone here while you fight about what I am
And you don’t know what I’ve become
I wait here patiently, pull at your oceans
Deliver the night to you, heightened emotions
And down there on earth you look up but you never see
You’re all too distracted by all the activity
People...animals...plants
No one ever alone
But Artemis, Lona, the moons of mythology
None of them come by to offer apology
Nobody comes by at all noone knows who I am
Who I am
A tombstone, a gateway for star bound humanity
A somber reflection. A reason for vanity
I lie here a form so abstract I don’t know what I am
Did you know that the things far above you can’t help but love you
That’s why they want to come down and crash into you
But you don’t know what I’ve become
And sometimes your planet feels wrong like I’ve forgotten it’s been down there all along
|
||||
2. |
Silence in Brooklyn
03:57
|
|
||
The waters rose. That’s just how it goes.
There was nothing to do
Though we were pretty sure we were warned not so long ago
But no one scrammed, they just found dry land
And watched it all on the YouTube
There were so many filmmakers floating around the Slope.
Everybody learned how to fish
Acted like they were on a mission to keep Brooklyn alive
Even though all that they knew was gone
Sure some fled to the Jersey side
Gave their homes to the rising tide
But most stayed inside
Silence in Brooklyn
We were all in a stew
Didn’t know what to do
Whatever anyone said it seemed like it was too late
But some knew how to jibe
Raise sails and read tides
And they were giving free lessons out on Gowanus Lake
Reputations were on the line
Politicians came out to whine
But they said something about something about something else.
Tourist boats came in every day
Docked their yachts down at JFK
And then went their way
Silence in Brooklyn
How do you know not to go when the going’s good?
How can you stay when the waves have erased every trace of your neighborhood?
Everything was turned upside down
Hipster cowboys were paddling ‘round
Singing “Yo-de-lo-de-lay-hee, yo-de-lo-de-lay-hee, yo-de-lo-de-loo-hoo”
And before things could disappear
BHS* bought some scuba gear
We’re staying here
Silence in Brooklyn
The waters rose. That’s just how it goes.
There was nothing to do.
And now we’re pretty sure that this new town is all our own
They thought we’d fall, thought we’d drop the ball after all we’d been through
But as it turns out there’s no other place that we feel at home.
Everyone said we’re doing fine
“Gonna party like it’s 1999”.
But I was there in ’99 and the parties weren’t this good.
Now there’s a BBQ after dark
All your friends up on Sunset Park
There’ll never be silence in Brooklyn
*Brooklyn Historical Society
|
||||
3. |
The New Debris
03:11
|
|
||
Ardent signs with warm and willing pleas
Sending out a wave of vagaries
That travel ‘cross the ocean, carrying the new debris
Lock me from the things that I can see
I open up for every random key
Baby I don’t need it
Darling I don’t want it
Honey won’t you set me free
They float on brightly colored waters
All the things I don’t want
Parade the fairest of their daughters
In front of things I don’t want
I’ll feast like a lamb before the slaughter
On all the things I don’t want
|
||||
4. |
Lost Canal
03:36
|
|
||
A restless night
You woke up halfway out the door
You struck a match and tossed it at your feet
And once you start, you find you’re quicker than before
You’re starting fast and always gaining speed
A crowded street
You push past folks who’re in the way
And slip through cracks that noone else has found
You jump the steps. And the street slowly fades away
You never needed it to get around
Did you push the cars away
Did you pour new concrete beams
Did you speed along the city’s span
Did you cross the lost canal
Find the stations underground that show the place from where this city sprang
With each new park, you think that you might take a break
But nothing beats the calm of moving fast
You jump up high and take a photo of the tops of all the buildings that you worked in last
Did you push the streets away
Did you ever break your stride
Did it bring you to the water’s edge
And when you found the lost canal
Did you tell everyone you know and march them all to see the other side
|
||||
5. |
Storm
04:24
|
|
||
Keep talking loud
Keep driving fast
Keep keeping cool
Keep acting strong
Keep flowing through the world like it’s the perfect backdrop for your song
The morning’s bright, the coffee bold but soon the night will come along
Keep making vows
Keep fighting fights
Keep writing laws
Keep feeling true
Don’t stop to think. Just pump the gas and hit the road. Get in the groove
Soon every thought is just as real as all the things you’ve never proved.
Settle down or settle up you’ll still settle for the things you save
Seeds are waiting for the rain and oceans don’t stop making waves.
And you don’t need nothing
You just carry on
Like a calm thinking there’s no storm coming on
You might be surprised, my friend
There always are storms
They blow into town until all the maps are redrawn
I’ve heard it brewing through centuries of sound
Winds carry the echoes buried deep in our ground
Thought some were fading but those melodies just keep coming ‘round
And that might just do it
That might just ruin us by itself
That might just do it
We won't even need something else
And that might just do it on it's own
That might just ruin us by itself
Keep driving fast. One eye asleep. One hand to tune the radio
You fight to stay awake until you get the things that you are owed
And you can rest as soon as car and road and country all explode
Whether you settle down or settle up you’ll still settle for the things you save
Seeds are waiting to shoot upwards. Oceans don’t stop making waves.
|
||||
6. |
All This 4 U
04:16
|
|
||
What will you wear and what will you do
When all tomorrow’s parties are spread out before you
The walls starts to pulse and the music slips through
And you realize it’s all for you
You’ve got it made
Didn’t you know
Candy wants to know what you have to say
But the drums are so loud that they shut out the day
Your dress is out of style but it’s all OK
Fall into the beat, lose the street in the crowd and
And you’ll sleep for a thousand years
It’s all for you
You’ve got it made
Didn’t you know
You linger on in the pale blue highs
Feeling totally at home and nonplussed
Those big decisions you used to hate
Are now the only situations you trust
As the buildings around you fall into dust
Don’t get confused. Just move with the change
It’s turned around but it still sounds the same
A Sunday morning where the light’s rearranged and it’s all a delight
Take what you want. Take what you need
The future is past and your fruits are still seeds
Put on your boots, your dress and your beads
This is your time ‘cause your sign is ascending
So dance through the unending night
It’s all for you
You’ve got it made
Didn’t you know
|
||||
7. |
The Scapegoat
06:48
|
|
||
There was a cabin in Montana got shipped to way down south
Locked away in a warehouse with this bad taste in my mouth
In my mouth
Well you can take that road from Lincoln
To where there ain’t no telephones
But you’ll always be under a hole in the ozone Under a hole in the ozone
Now everything in old America
Got locked away in that warehouse of shame So the sun will shine on this new America That flatfooted land where no one is to blame
In a court in Sacramento the math professor sits
The sad, pathetic scapegoat for all the sins that we commit
So you take that road to Helena where Atlas gave up the fight
Get out of the car and find yourself in a burnt over district tonight
In this burnt over district tonight
Now everything in old America
Got locked away in that warehouse of shame So the sun will beat down on this new America That flatfooted land where no one is to blame
Who has clipped the lion’s wings Fleaed his rump and pared his claws
|
||||
8. |
Utah
05:37
|
|
||
Took a walk through a desert or two
Signal blinking in and out like morse code letters
Couldn’t get a message to you
Here’s hoping somewhere out there you are feeling better now
Sometimes it’s hard to understand things are exactly how they seem
So I don’t need to tell you sometimes memories get tired and wander off to where it’s green
So where does that leave you?
Wandered aimless for an hour or two
Kept landing on a site where all the links are broken
Got another message from you
Kept looking for the part where something’s left unspoken now
Sometimes we’re singing to a satellite that’s many miles away
I don’t need to tell you sometimes melodies get broken, sometimes rhythms go astray
So where does that leave me?
So while the night’s still young I rip an old LP and send it to the cloud
Sit back and pray for rain
Hoping just one song will find itself a new home in your heart
Prove we’re not drifting apart and we can turn things back
It’s like hiking through a valley where you never get to touch the ground
No controlling where you’re going ‘cause you can’t put your foot down
But I never worry ‘cause I know I’ll always end up far above your town
Sometimes it’s hard to undo all the future things that we will say
When it seems that they’ve been said so long ago
And the coordinates you’re transmitting from two thousand miles away
Are still telling me that we are not alone
So though the night is young I look for the LED that lights up when you’re home
But the satellites are down
And every signal that we send has found itself a new home in the stars
Free from mountains, wires and bars
Never coming back
So where does that leave us?
|
||||
9. |
21st Century Jukebox
03:45
|
|
||
Sat in the corner and looked kind of sad as she watched everyone go home
Then she brightened. Reached in her bag and started messing with her phone
No one can even agree on what makes a good song
So when we gather together we do it alone
I have a yearning to hear something and so I grab it from the air
If I’m lucky when I reach up my hand I will also find you there inside a 21st century jukebox
Came in on the tail end of an age whose last day was overdue
Never had a chance to know about Elvis before I said goodbye to you
Now I kinda hope for the trouble that comes with the new
So grab my hand and start pulling me inside a 21st century jukebox
|
Streaming and Download help
If you like Tyranny of Dave, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp