1. |
Mountain
02:57
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This is my caper;
fighting fire with paper
though everyone here
can attest
I'm more starving
than artist
But if it's theft, then let's not treat it like it's murder
'cause besides theft, there's nothing I like less
than murder
And if the mountain
will not come to me
I will settle for the sea
You climb the mountain cause it's there
get a new mountain and
get reasonable
you play the part so well
This is what I meant
judging books
by their content
in spite of all I will maintain I've been accused
of being framed
But I'll resist arrest just like some messed-up vandal
while trophies of conquests clutter my desk and mantel
I know the mountain
will not come to me
I will settle
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2. |
Let My Burden Be
02:28
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because I was, on the other hand,
intact, then cracked, then a broken man
now a broken man
but I tripped myself intentionally
and let myself fall expertly
where I don't want to be
where no one ought to be
let my burden be broken just as I
was by my burden broken all the time
in fact, what I lacked in solid ground
came back, and with that I stopped falling down
I stopped falling down
it doesn't matter I'm battered from the brawl
and left to wonder if it was deep at all
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3. |
Make No Mistake
02:56
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your new opponent
leaves no air to breathe
you should just accept you're cursed,
then get in the hearse and leave
not how you planned it
not to suggest you planned
it's what nobody predicted
back when you were in demand
make no mistake, yeah, believe me or don't but
I have gone through what you're going through
your golden moment
punctured fast and sunk
your ambition's got your ethics
knocked unconscious in the trunk
how can you stand it
you can't believe a word
your corrupt new course of action
letting no lie go unheard
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4. |
Golden States
04:45
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Unsatisfied
with just being a liar
I became the world's worst preacher
preaching to the world's worst choir
But I could not maintain
such strict standards of quality
so I ditched my flock
and mocked them for believing me
Resenting the choice that is forced
to either be unwashed or great
as though we'll grow bitter and old
or remain in these golden states
I made modest attempts
to get what I had required
from impartial points of view
I came close and then retired
But I learned to compromise
or to fake it convincingly
I advised the little ones
just to keep calm and carry me
Resenting the choice that is forced
to either be unwashed or great
as though we'll grow bitter and old
or remain in these golden states
Yeah, remember where you come from
and how we got where we are now
by doing what we had to
for as long as time allowed
It's not a question of succession
or whose coattails got nailed down
we're the latest in a long line
of lucky little towns
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5. |
Little Nixon
04:43
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little nixon
down at the bottom of the barrel trying to pick out your replacement
don't look so stunned
but I don't like your mission, I don't like your mission statement
and you're making it known after you've made it clear
that this party was dead before you got here
little nixon
so its better to be feared than it is to be respected
'cause everyone
knows the truth'll set you free but it won't get you elected
and to fall for it once would be ill-advised
those who fell for it twice, line up and apologize
you can't leave us too soon
but at the bottom of every white house
there's a little white room
where you can pretend the world's ending soon
little nixon
you came in like a cowboy you ended up a trainwreck
least favorite son
tarnished the family name, though the name itself was suspect
and when history decides you'll come out on top
on the list of the creeps who refused to stop
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6. |
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half the time, you're not awake
and half the time you're sleeping
your view obstructed by your lids
meanwhile unobserved by you and yours
they'll come by thousands
or at least by hundreds
unconcerned is not impressive anymore
this is your last chance
there'll be no more no more no more no more
they're planting bad seeds
in bad soil and selling us the fruit though
we won't fall for that again
they're living underground
they're safe way down in their bunkers
and only happy counting down from ten
uninformed is not allowed here anymore
this is your last chance
there'll be no more no more no more no more
they were born to play
the disloyal opposition
there's no bad news for you
that you didn't give permission
it's not that they misunderstand
it's that they sincerely
don't want to understand
unaware doesn't cut it anymore
this is your last chance
there'll be no more no more no more no more
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7. |
Know What I Think
03:54
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oh honey, please, will you take pity on a poor boy
with more money now than sense
don't want to hear all about the way the world works
I don't want time or distance
I had a nickel for every time I heard that
and to no one's great surprise
I wasted every dime on food and shelter
and was roundly criticized
even even though I might stop
I know what I think and I've been thinking a lot
it may be time now to consider other offers
cause it's later than you think
you have seen me all surrounded by those bright lights
don't it make my blue eyes blink
I haven't always known why
but I got the general idea
obvious and unknown
at the end of the year
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8. |
Explain Yourself
03:06
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oh please explain yourself
I won't understand
'cause if I die alone and sad
rest assured you can take credit
if I have regrets at all
then I regret the next five minutes
'cause I have never made a claim
or claimed an understanding
of where to place the blame
that wasn't where you're standing
you must have thought
you'd never be caught
and you're practiced enough to deny
or some fiction you'd learned
created concerns
that allowed you to justify
I'm too kind to take a life
and too tired to make a living
with too much self-regard
to take advice I'm given
either way, you'll insist
it should be dismissed
and wounds like these heal with time
but your death from old age
just sets the stage
I will reclaim what is mine
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9. |
I Was Robbed
03:02
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I was robbed - I was swindled by a desperate dying man
and I thought I can't go through going through this thing again
I was held up for days and days and
the price to pay was paid and paid and
a gent such as I should be exempt from
robbery
a victimless crime up to the time it happened
to me -- sweet ol' me
i waited so long to get what I had and
some shifty punk took my bird in hand and
i lost all hope due to dishonest ways and
i was held up for days and days
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10. |
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the last time this happened
I became who I am
we cannot risk the same
happening again
so we must be patient
despite provocation
you'll go where you will
and I'll ponder starvation
if you felt like I feel
you'd be writing out your will
and practicing the art
of staying perfectly still
so patience darling, patience
though you feel you might collapse
I am growing you a garden
you are drawing me a map
and if I felt like you feel
I'd be skeptical at best
knowing what I'd know about
how I am with tests
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11. |
Settle Down
05:06
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I know I've been
the ingrate and the absentee
and I know you don't need
a lecture from the likes of me
but I've seen otherwise
smart people go to waste
and I've seen everything
shut down and replaced
settle down
it's true enough
you can't make up this stuff
calm down use your sense
of history and give up
sort out the who
and wait for the when and what
settle down
and make it brief
I don't need the grief
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12. |
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listen closely, I've been mostly
igniting you 'cause it was your turn
you should know this, you didn't notice,
and I'll need time myself to relearn
it's not a threat, at least not yet
do me this kindness, show some self-concern
should this vessel be unsuccessful
the water's wide but it's not deep to me
listen closely
I can explain this
it's not at all
complicated
and I've been working on new ways of lurking
constructing higher ground to lie below
salute them quickly, their course is strictly
mapped out without any room to grow
we make excuses but the truth is
we make a good case for complacency
o come on over, we'll all get sober
live long and predictably
and you'll know cause I talked so slow
till there was nothing left for you to learn
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Golden Shoulders Nevada City, California
Golden Shoulders is a band from Nevada City, California.
Golden Shoulders recommends:
It's weird when the best singer is also the best songwriter, but it happened, folks, and we just have to deal with that.
go to album
Album of the year, 2021. Do yourself a kindness and get in.
go to album
You might go for this if you're into towering artistic achievements. If Aaron knew how often I still listen to this, he'd feel uncomfortable.
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