1. |
Conflation
03:50
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As it went, a two way mirror,
You couldn't cut glass any clearer
The lens that showed all of you to the whole of us.
Remember when we wheeled our way to Gainesville Florida?
My phone died in a squat, Atlanta.
I was shrugging off some demons, you washed yours down with water.
You were stuck deeper than I knew.
I should've shook you loose.
After 30 buoyant years, you're body sank.
And you paddled out smiling down the James.
"It's a beautiful, beautiful day," you sang
"You're my brother, and my friend," we refrained
Now you'll float above Virginia,
You've got it written just under your left cufflink
on a damp cloud hunched down over an old eight track
waiting for the rest of us to cross back.
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2. |
Remissionary Position
04:48
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Save all the clippings you'd like, baby, but it's too late.
No pile of papers'll bring me back wholly from this disease.
Maybe my white cell count just ain't what it used to be, baby,
But don't ever let that change how you'll remember me.
Remember me fully.
Life gets dark when the battery dies.
Where the bulbs once flashed on your skin hot white.
Where the shutter click of cameras that we used to keep our tempo,
Now it hits me heavy, and my cadence slows.
We knew with our whole heart that one day this'd happen.
You knew with your old heart that one day your lifeline'd flatten for good.
When the color leaves my lips, I'll see you that Fall in Lexington:
You came into the Chapel and I felt overflown.
The details'll fade away, I'm certain. I already feel it happening.
All the things I try to change, they're buried just a little bit further underneath the film grain.
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3. |
Dale's Pale Fail
04:04
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It started so simple, late 4th of July
A trash can fire, a spent match, bourbon and lime.
Cooking burgers over burning bank offers,
Who in the hell's offering you a credit line?
Too old to keep up, too young to say no
Each year you get closer to slowing your roll,
Each year you get closer to burning yourself out,
It's tangible.
Dale, I admire your confidence,
But you gotta quit pulling shit like this on purpose.
Any way you spin it, it's gonna come off crooked.
You gotta take your time, and slow things down,
Set up shop in your parent 's cabin south of town.
You can split things up, you can calibrate,
You can right some people you wronged.
You can walk into town, and return what you stole,
Beg for pardon from the girls you made uncomfortable.
And when dusk sets in, try to keep it together:
This town is small , you won't be welcome forever.
Pretty soon it's in the local weekly,
Just some trash rag afterthought shat out on Fridays
By some helpless hillbillies
Printing post-paid kindling for fires.
They said you were overworked, and that you were over-served,
And depending on the party I asked, they said you were undeserved.
Maybe you're provoked, the butt of some girl's joke.
They twisted what your neighbor said, they threw it in quotes,
And then they threw you under the bus.
It'll happen to you eventually if you stick with us.
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4. |
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You can find pieces of my history in discount bins,
Collecting dust with some other good Christian men.
I've not been immune, this body's seen some better days.
My habits haven't kept me in the best of shape.
I can't recall when we started retreating,
My body went numb, and my heart skipped beats.
My vision blurred, my gums lost all their color,
And I lost my cool, these kids stole all my thunder.
Nobody's calling for encores anymore,
For the most part, they've all stopped listening.
When that curtains were drawn, I used to feel so high.
Now I struggle to feel anything.
Check's trickle in on the first Monday every month.
Still I can barely afford to feed my family.
I blew decades on a bench seat interstating life away
Complaining about the same things I do today.
"The more things change, the more things stay the same."
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5. |
Short Stormy
03:38
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This is the way your future corrupts:
Our cords are cut, the door slams shut.
The phone won't ring, the mail never shows.
Just occasional pollsters trying to swing your vote.
And each time you recall, you're mind's blown by how many days
Since you've mined up the life that you thought you'd buried once and for all.
And the friends that you both had, they still bring you dinner,
Just something to heat up while watching Sportscenter.
Making sure you make it through another winter
This is the time she visits each evening:
The dogs get quiet, the door starts creaking,
I cut the light off, and crawl into bed.
She tries to kiss me, I feel her breath on the crown of my head
And her hair drop through my shoulders.
Every night I fix her tea, I leave it on the nightstand
Young woman, you're a widower's dream.
I'd wish for you could stay, but I know you've gotta leave someday.
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6. |
Angostura
04:38
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Why are you so mean to me?
What is it that I do to you?
Some days I feel so evaporated
Just some shitty cloud waiting to rain on some five-year old's pool party.
Why are you so mean to me?
What is it that I do to you?
Last night I felt so boiled down,
Just wasted vapor floating around.
Why are you so mean to me?
What is it that I do to you?
Some nights I feel so fired up,
I can feel the flames burning up inside my guts.
Why are you so mean to me?
What is it that I do to you?
It seems you regret what you've agreed to.
It's killing me so fast.
Why are you so mean to me?
What is it that I've done to you?
I know I don't break the law much anymore
Nobody's trying to catch me.
Does that make you less excited than you used to be by me?
You're acting like it.
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Matt Leech Harrisonburg, Virginia
Dad, dude, designer, and unofficial Virginia advocate™ living, working, and writing in the shadow of the Blue Ridge.
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