1. |
Allston Sidewalks
03:27
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in my dream the sun was a halo round yer face in the hot summer wind
and you floated above like an angel,
well things seemed so much better back then
as an ambulance wails down north beacon
I sit in twin donuts and coffee I drink
have a cigarette out on the corner
and stare at the skyscrapers out towards the sea
you were working as you always worked,
I was there fucking up as I so often do
but here in this place no one else can relate
so I'm still writin' songs about you
all that I feel is old these days, my joints they ache, my memories fade
but I won't forget the things you said, oh yeah I'm ready to grow young again.
and I loved you then as I love you still,
yeah we watched as our friends did take flight
and crash to the ground or soar oh so close to the sun,
we are all the children of icarus
and this war may be lost but we'll fight to the end
for these rooftop sunrises, our coastal defenses are failing,
we've been failing, I've been failing
old friend we've seen more through these years
than most people do in lifetimes
as I ride home I smile as I pass those places where we used to hang
theres blood on the sidewalk and fumes in the air
they locked up the billboard and shut down the space,
but we ain't dead yet even if sometimes that wouldn't really seem so bad.
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2. |
Always Been That Way
02:26
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if I could only show you, I was thinkin' to myself,
those endless vast expanses and the sunset in the west
if I could show you half of all these pictures in my head,
then I swear that you would start to understand
what once was light and free has become heavy on our shoulders,
but we carry it still knowing all the reasons
I tried to drink those memories away as I got older,
but I never could forget about your leavin'
and I know this is gettin' old,
but could we just sit out on your back porch,
drink a beer and then I'll go
we both got work, I know it's gettin' late,
with us you know it's always been that way.
I remember in that big old buick sittin by yer side,
drivin down to brooklyn in the fall
jawbreaker on the stereo, I think I coulda died,
content there in the front seat of yer car
down in that darkest place it seemed like no one gave a damn,
till there you were when I had nothing else
it seems the story of our lives will not read how I planned,
but I still can't wait to see what happens next
and I know this is gettin' old,
but could we just sit out on your back porch,
drink a beer and then I'll go
we both got work, I know it's gettin' late,
(with us you know it's always been that way.)3x
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3. |
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walkin down san pablo like a ghost,
and you were still alive, though i was not quite sure about myself
and way downtown we could hear the drums of war
but we just wanted to get fucked up
we were screamin' rudes and cheaps
and i still see those billboards and those dirty city streets
that you lived a lifetime on
even after lifetimes lived in many other states
starin' off the bridge at beacon park, empty train tracks starin back,
all the buildings boarded up, harvards breathing down our necks
and it was stencilled on a wall that i still ride by all the time,
and i know a greater freedom cause i had you in my life.
we climbed a shaky ladder up a highway overpass,
found a bottle of cheap wine and watched the freight trains lumber past
and that cool pacific breeze was rolling in across the bay
and I can't remember what you said but i still see your face
when i sit out late at night at hidden spots where we would drink away those demons that did follow in our footsteps years ago
still they follow me but knowing that your war is at an end
helps me smile through the tears, it helps me carry on with this
starin off the bridge at beacon park, empty train tracks starin back, all the buildings boarded up, harvards breathing down our necks
and it was stencilled on a wall that i still ride by all the time, and i know a greater freedom cause i had you in my life.
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4. |
Monahans, TX
01:53
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van broke down on the side of the road,
tow truck shoulda come an hour ago,
it was late july in the desert heat
and i was thinkin' bout the girl I left back east
cause there was nothin else to do just to pass the time,
a mile long freight train rolled on by
we were leavin' las cruces thinkin' bout home,
we never really figured that a tire would blow
400 miles to go to fort worth,
it was startin to seem pretty absurd, well alright
kinda funny how sleepin' on floors
ain't quite so romantic after weeks on tour
now i'm back in boston and it's gettin' old
and i've been wishin' i could jump into a van and just go
we tore outta texas, asheville bound,
a thousand plus miles in twenty four hours
losin' our minds sittin' there in the dark,
until we saw the sun rise over arkansas
tenessee hills, we were almost there,
feelin' like we hadn't left the van in a year
it was all a blur of rest stops and powerlines
and it all seems like a dream now, or some movie that i saw,
when I was just a kid, and it still seemed like nothing could go wrong
scattered all along the highways are the things that I forgot,
but the one thing I could never leave behind me was that love.
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5. |
Sittin' On The Mailbox
03:36
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in years to come, we'd go our separate ways,
but somehow this corner always stayed the same
and as midday traffic rushes by, I sit and have a smoke
on the mailbox by the coffee shop alone
in that kitchen where you worked when we first met,
now I find myself up early makin' breakfast for these college kids
and I wish I could tell sadie just to let you know by text,
maybe it'd work for me, oh like it did for you back then
oh well a boy was killed outside the other night,
sometimes this city's like a bus that runs you over on your bike
oh it keeps drivin' on without you
and your friends just try to go on with their lives.
do you remember,
climbing up onto that billboard at harvard and comm?
do you remember, what it was like to still feel so young?
do you remember,
when we didn't carry years of disappointment
on our backs through this heavy wet snow?
I've been followin' yer tracks around this town
and I'm tired but I can't see any other direction to go.
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