1. |
Carolina
03:13
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Carolina, where ships go to die
Off your outer shores, out of sight, out of mind
You're first in flight, but last in love
Empty sky is all you have
You can’t stay there all your life
We all come down
Blue Ridge Mountains, as close as I could get
Looked down on a cloud, still earthbound at the end
I can’t think too clearly under starry Southern nights
And the songs you play they fill my head with light
I’d put up a fight but we know you’ve already won
Without a drop of moonshine on my tongue
Carolina, promises unkept
Spring was nowhere near despite everything you said
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2. |
Sand In My Shoes
02:55
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I don’t wanna die—just live enough to forget
everything I’ve lost and every place I’ve ever left
'Cause there’s still sand in my shoes from your little seaside town
and there’s still snow in the shape of your shadow on the ground
I don’t wanna lie—just leave enough off the tale
that I tell myself to make it to another day
'Cause there’s still sand in my shoes from that weekend we left town
and there’s still snow in the shape of your shadow on the ground
Like a leaf pressed between the pages, trapped in another time
Just slightly faded but fragile, here and now, it can’t survive
I don’t wanna die—just live enough to forget
Everyone I’ve lost, and everyone I’ve ever left ... behind.
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3. |
Put Up Your Hands
03:05
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Put up your hands, show me the shape of your heart
Tight as a fist, soft as an open palm
Don’t waste my time, don’t waste your breath
It’s what you’ve done, not what you’ve said
You say you’re proud, proud of this world that you’ve built
But when I ask about all the blood that’s been spilled
You hide your mouth, you speak in code
You think you’re smart, but everyone knows
You’re so bulletproof behind the artless walls that leave you blind
But I can see through the charade, you’re so afraid
Put up your hands, show me you’re bound to be free
Give me your hand or wait to be swept out to sea
Need I be kind when the future’s mine?
Your thoughts and prayers won’t turn back the tide.
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4. |
Turn To Me
02:28
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Take me home, yours or mine
Doesn’t matter much to me this time of night
I just need someplace warm
A place to land that’s softer than my lover’s arms
Cause when she turns to me, she turns into stone
And when she turns away, I may as well be gone
So tell me true, am I here?
Don’t care what I look like long as you can see
That I’m a man, flesh and bone
Enough to cast a shadow standing on my own
Will you turn to me before the morning comes
And I turn into a raindrop in the sun
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5. |
All I've Gotten
03:23
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I found the past up in the attic of my mind
Covered in dust, deep in a box I thought I’d left behind
And most days it’s easy to look ahead
But some days you can’t even fall out of bed
I found the time, back when you asked me to fly your way
Out to the coast, out where the sun shines every day
And I still remember the things I said
But I still don’t understand what I did
Oh I wish I could say that I’ve learned from my mistakes
So many years have gone, and all I’ve gotten is older
I should’ve lied, I should’ve bared you my heart and soul
Should’ve come clean, should’ve kept playing that empty role
All those songs I sang to you
I still don’t know which words were true
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6. |
I Knew Your Name
03:56
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One midnight the summer I turned seventeen
We shed our clothes and leapt into the great unseen
Little more than strangers, I knew your name
Waiting in your driveway, I’m glad you came
Two windows down, we drove up to the reservoir
Just north of town, but it felt like we had gone so far
The water left me shivering, I called your name
Waiting in the deep ... I’m glad you came
Breathless as the day we were born
We both knew how to swim but not to walk
So when the light beams found our faces and said we had to leave
We found our clothes and tripped our way on bare, unsteady feet
One morning, I woke up from a drawn-out dream
I reached for you, but I’d been asleep for many years
My mind is blank, my mouth is dry ... what was your name?
One thing I’ll remember: I’m glad you came
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7. |
Nothing To Tell
03:08
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Sun is loud in the bright of day
Makes the sound of life burning away
So I wait to take a breath
Until the sun has deigned to set
So don’t say, don’t tell me your name
And I swear I will do the same
So I can tell you anything
Or let the quiet between us ring
Tonight, tonight the moon’s an eye
Nearly all the way shut tight
And even if she could see
She can’t speak, she can’t speak
There’s nothing to tell ... nothing to tell
One last puff and kill that flame
Come inside and take this stage
At this modern medicine show
Sing me something I didn’t know
I needed. I needed.
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8. |
Another Lie
02:40
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Spring is just another lie
Bitter poison, sweet, sweet wine
Fill my cup, burn my tongue
Close my eyes, pretend it’s love
Sun is just a circle in the sky
There’s no warmth in a trick of light
Cool and distant, gone too soon
May as well be the moon
Don’t fall for the river, gleaming in the light
the surface may have melted, but it’s winter deep inside
Bitter poison, sweet, sweet wine
Drowns my doubts every single time
Breathe it in, fill my lungs
Same old song I’ve always sung
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9. |
Sky Is Blue
03:14
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The sky is a lonely shade of blue—
watching the water, waiting for someone to come true.
Each broken promise leaves a wake long past when the morning breaks
The sea is a mirror, spreading lies.
It gives the illusion of depth, but soon you will find
all those secrets that you've held—you were just keeping from yourself
I have found solid ground is just a myth we're all afraid to doubt—
a fairytale that we can't sleep without.
The sky is a lovely shade of blue—
catches the moonlight and turns into something new.
Someday she will see ... all she needs to be is be.
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10. |
Bright Lights, Big City
04:42
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Drinking in a bar on 10th Street
you told me your Big Apple dreams
going down to where the lights are always bright
ain’t as hard as it might seem
We’ll leave our cars in someone’s driveway
we won’t need them when we go
say goodbye to this old one-horse town
wake up where it’s never slow
Let’s move down to New York City
you can cut and paste your way
I’ll do whatever I’ve been doing
What do you say?
We won’t talk about the weather
or how the leaves are turning blue
We’ll speak our minds to perfect strangers
or disappear like lovers do
Let the city take you in its arms
hail a taxi when the rapture starts
watch the sun take off its heavy crown
lift our heads up when the night falls down
Let’s move down to New York City
take a train into its heart
join the dreamers and the cynics
find a place where we can start
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11. |
Great Plains
04:52
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The Great Plains are an ocean so calm you’ll never drown
The mountains are a great wave frozen we won’t live to see come down
You’re asleep, I’m awake. You’re a death, I’m a wake
You’re a ship sailing through and I’m awake
The sky is empty as I am. What I’d give to see a cloud.
I’m searching for a place to land. Hopes are dashed without a sound.
You’re the moon, I’m the tide, I have nowhere to hide
Like a leaf on the wind, my hands are tied
Home is where the heart is when it finally stops beating
Where the silence looms so loud, can’t tell the calm from the whirlwind
Steel your nerves, steal a map, and if every page is blank
Raise your sails, don’t look back, don’t look back
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12. |
Twisting Up A Dream
04:13
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I’m twisting up a dream—this time I’m gonna try to make it last
Making room to breathe—tonight and then again when I break fast
Burn my bed—who needs sleep?
Bite my tongue—talk is cheap
Feel a slow, steady beat
Leave my troubles—they’ll keep
I see a little snow—enough to change the city’s silhouette
Highways are closed—in my head’s as far as I can get
I came alone, but you’re all here
Nothing ever truly disappears
The haze it hides and it reveals
The truths you need, need to hear
I’m not flying to forget
I just need a middle distance from it all
Put away your safety net—I promise I won’t fall
I’m lying in between the way things are and the way that things could be
Waiting in the wings—the words arriving just before I speak
The clouds will part, my path is clear
Mud gives way to spinning wheels
The pictures match the way I feel
It looks so real … so real.
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13. |
Sing With Me
03:53
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I’m all alone, standing in front of a sea
Of poets and strangers, lovers and judges-to-be
No I am not afraid, the silence is mine to break
The air is a future I can shape
I don’t presume but I have made room for your song
Just say the words, we will know where they belong
The key it is yours to turn, I’ll do my best to learn
Music that I have barely heard
Will you sing with me tonight, our voices like your hand in mine
And if the spotlight’s less than kind, we’ll survive, we’ll be fine
Out on the waves, I am no braver than you
I’m much too old to feel anything but the truth
You don’t need all your strength, just take a deeper breath
Open your eyes and see what’s left
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14. |
Waltz In Quebec
03:08
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No, we’re not alone
A city’s a city no matter how small
Or cobblestoned
the cafes are crowded in spite of the fall
So come, let’s take a walk
A couple of strangers who don’t even know how to
Talk, save to say
I love you but that’s all the language that I need today
Take my hand
It’s not Paris or Rome but I know you understand
Take my hand, let’s dance
In this snow globe on the Saint Laurent
It’s cold, but let’s stay awhile
In this park right outside our hotel where the moon’s shining bright
On this ring
And the look on your face means we don’t have to say anything
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