1. |
Minnesota
02:46
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VERSE/REFRAIN 1
I don't know a soul for states around
But to me, it all looks green
And I've no reason to believe
That everything ain't what it seems
Mom, please don't cry when you get the note I wrote you
'Cause I just need to go to Minnesota
VERSE/REFRAIN 2
So I'm flying down the road
Like a tornado trampling red lights
The wind is fixing my hair for me
As I'm slicing through the night
The sky's a splash of tangerine shining down over lakes and ghost towns
Now I'm on my way to Minnesota
BRIDGE
I'm riding a wave
To find that crooked water
Oh, that crooked cloudy water
VERSE/REFRAIN 3
As I pull up to those frosted northern woods
On the borderline
Feel like I could say my last words
50 years before I die
I took the wheel of my youth and I stalled it in the snow there
'Cause I just had to go to Minnesota
Yeah I just had to go to Minnesota
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2. |
Lenore
02:49
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INTRO
But I grew up (Lenore)
Yeah I grew up (Lenore)
VERSE 1
Shades hide the makeup you've been working on all day
Black fading into blue
We trade the trees we carved for bedposts, but I'm getting through to you
Singing your blues
I give you one, you take twenty-two
You know I'm weak when I see you
And I don't leave your sight much
Singing your blues
(I don't leave your sight)
Shade to hide the shade under your eye
I'm already caught up in your lie, Lenore
BRIDGE
You're the only one that made the effort to get to know me
And if I let a secret slip, you'd still subvert it 'til it owned me
So I never really could convey the way I feel to you
And I dream of showing you honesty and why they say it's brutal
VERSE 2
Hey I grew up (Lenore)
And I spent ten lousy years right here beside ya (Lenore)
Then I bought you a little place
Where you could go insane
Then you dragged me through the doorway right behind ya, Lenore
(INSTRUMENTAL)
VERSE 3
Oh, purity has fallen long behind us (Lenore)
Feels like ten thousand years I've been beside ya (Lenore)
But we never learned to say
What's wrong inside our brains
So you better keep it padlocked up inside ya, Lenore
Better keep it padlocked up inside, Lenore
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3. |
Far From Home
03:06
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VERSE/REFRAIN 1
The smell of cigarettes and vegan food
Is spilling through the crack beneath your door
Shorts and t-shirts overflowing to the floor
In a lonely fog and very far from home
VERSE/REFRAIN 2
Our frosted northern dwelling growing
Colder every silent moment
Watching our commitment fading, falling to the floor
In a lonely fog and very far from home
Lonely fog and very far from home
CHORUS
Cave drawings of you and me
Fragments of what we used to be
Hollowed out by something we can't see
VERSE/REFRAIN 3
I'll take my jars of wasted breath
And spend them on somebody else
And you will lock your door and learn to swim in your contempt
In a lonely fog and very far from home
BRIDGE
Blank white walls, brass lock on the door
Holes in the sheets and the ceiling
There's not one person here
Who would notice me leaving
Blank white walls, brass lock on the door
Holes in the sheets and the ceiling
There's not one person here
There's not one person here
There's not one person here
Who would notice me leaving
CHORUS
Cave drawings of you and me
Fragments of what we used to be
Hollowed out by something we can't see
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4. |
Right You Are
03:47
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VERSE 1
Lo and behold
You tore a hole in my overcoat
Changed into your summer clothes
And got out of town
Now ghosts, they gather round
Playing games right outside my house
They even got themselves a couch
To watch TV and lounge
If you don't come around
Something's gonna take your place
VERSE 2
These ghosts, they have no tact
Whisper and whistle through the window cracks
They're practicing their stand-up acts
I want my money back (back, back)
You used to come around
And chase them all away
But they're gonna keep me company today
CHORUS 1
Cobwebs on the land
You showed up with your heart in hand
Threw it down with seven grand
Turned and walked back out
And revving up your car
Yelled, "you're not who you think you are"
Sped off down the boulevard
And into the night
HOOK
And if I listen hard
I'll know just how right you are
The truth is sneaking through my walls
And into my life
(INSTRUMENTAL)
BRIDGE
If you don't come around
Something's gonna take your place
Whether or not I want it to
VERSE 3
Sick today
Snuffed the fires that lit the way
And I was packaged and mailed away
Without a sound
Low black clouds
I was sent to the racing downs
Couldn't keep up; I screamed aloud
They threw me right outta town
CHORUS 2
You say I've changed and all
You don't know how right you are
I'm dancing down your boulevard
And into the night
Oh you say I've changed and all
You don't know how right you are
Dancing down your boulevard
And into the night
Dancing down the boulevard
And into the night
Down the boulevard
And into the night
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5. |
I'm Tony
03:56
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INTRO
"I've encountered a lot of spirits in the radio... There's a whole spirit TO the radio. Right? Intros aren't in. Intros are not in. Let's-let's hear the tune..."
VERSE 1
I'm Tony
As if I could be any other
I'm sure someone told you about me
Or at least you've seen my face
I'm Tony
You may think I'm just an impostor
But I swear to god I'm the real thing
Please hold your applause 'til the end
I'm Tony
And I'm all about introduction
If I'm gonna decide your future
Let's get a few things straight...
If I hire you
Which I must admit I would like to
I wanna see production go X2
Or I'm flushing you down the drain
INTERLUDE 1
If you knew what I knew
You wouldn't need a clue
Don't worry, I used to be
Just like you
VERSE 2
Now, I go underground
To a club they call the Lost & Found
And I argue down the cost amount
That's an average night on the town
It's incensing
These kids forget I'm the best thing
In my old age, I'm investing
In things that turn the grass brown
I pause for the laugh track
And I tend to overact
And my old friends are over that
But they're all gray and green
And I'm Tony
And I got some advice I should give ya
And if I were you, I would listen:
I went platinum in '93 (yeah)
INTERLUDE 2
All the wasted years
Retiring to Algiers
When the world... needs... me!
(INSTRUMENTAL)
BRIDGE
And they ask me, "how do you feel?"
I say, "ask again with more zeal!
I feel like a five-figure meal
A five-finger meal"
And if you sign on the dotted line
We'll trade your dreams for a bottle of wine
Write us a song so fine
It could be named after me, "Tony" (STOP PLAYING!)
I'm sorry
See, I'm only trying to help you
I know what you did last Sunday
My only son's a DJ
I was young once and I've seen careers fall to pieces
Seen good men fall in the deep end
Reaching out for a hand
VERSE 3
I'M TONY
Also known as big shot or honcho
I'm sure someone told you about me
Or at least you've seen my face
I'm _____
I'll be signing autographs later
And I'll let you all become strangers
Before I let you live in my mind
Get in line
Get in line
Get in line
HA!
OUTRO
"Folks, I'm here in Los Angeles; we're doing a new TV show, I've had a very long day, I'm very stressed out, very high-strung, I feel awful"
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6. |
Turn Back
03:56
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VERSE 1
Trained myself to come back down
But I'm still a little shattered in two
And I can't tell you where my family went
And the world still tastes like you
When I'm coming down, I'll have you to thank
For the burns on my hands and a mind gone blank
When I'm coming down, I'll be sure that you love me
Red eyes on the sunset above me
CHORUS 1
I've grown in
Into my words
Believed them 'til it hurt
And I turned back
Back to my words
And I jumped in headfirst
But I'm ready to come back down
And say just what I've learned
VERSE 2
Everybody sees my beauty when I'm weak
I've been real down and walking in my sleep
'Til I walked outta down, barefoot, no keys
And everybody said, "who's he?"
And now the road stretches out behind me
Through fields I barely recognize
All I've ever known is what's at the end
And it's left me paralyzed
PRECHORUS 1
I can't be heard
Always alone
I don't even know if it's wrong
CHORUS 2
I lost the thing
I loved the most
The hope there's time to change
I've been lying
To everyone
But I'm good at playing everyone's games
And I can't shake that curse
No matter how many times I change my name
BRIDGE
And I fell for things I didn't believe in
And I spent a lotta time alone
Or under the control of another
Trying to find my way back home
(INSTRUMENTAL)
PRECHORUS 2
Count the cracks
In the stained glass
That once shined ruby red
CHORUS 3
'Cause I've grown in
Into my words
Believed them 'til it hurt
And I'll turn back
Back to my words
'Til I return to the earth
I'm ready to come back down
And say just what I've learned
'Fore I turn back
Back to my words
And I return..... to the earth
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7. |
Lost & Found
03:47
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INTRO
It spread all over town
But it started in the hills
Sirens in the distance
Blue lights on the bridge
VERSE 1
It's early in the morning
I floated out my door
With a black bag in the trunk
And a prayer from the night before
Skid marks on the road
All the way from Ricky's house
I'll meet you at the register
My last two rent checks bounced
CHORUS
Lost and found, lost and found
Bottom of the pile at the lost and found
Lost and found, lost and found
Bottom of the pile at the lost and found
VERSE 2
Where's the money go?
We traded it for gold
I might be thirty soon, I hardly know (but I know)
When I popped the hood
Everything was SH- (shot)
I still climbed inside
To watch the rain turn to snow
An impulse and a means
To the wind with every sheet
Please just make it out
This place in one piece
I had good explanations
For all my past engagements
But you only hear bad news
Under silver platter moons
CHORUS
Lost and found, lost and found
Bottom of the pile at the lost and found
Lost and found, lost and found
Bottom of the pile at the lost and found
(INSTRUMENTAL)
VERSE 3
Wrecked it on the bridge
Crawled out to the street
Watched it break the rail
And tumble down below
I was searching for a place
To safely set some blame
But no one let me down
I'm just old enough to know
So it started in the hills
And it ran right outta town
Some of 'em get lost
Some of 'em get found
CHORUS
Lost and found, lost and found
Bottom of the pile at the lost and found
Lost and found, lost and found
Bottom of the pile at the lost and found
OUTRO
Lost and found
Lost and found
Bottom of the pile at the lost and found
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8. |
Freezing Cold
02:20
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Into the sun on a freezing cold night
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9. |
Lowflyers
04:51
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VERSE 1
Sitting by the river with the crows in the cloudy gray
We're watching Coca-Cola cans wash up on the shore
The wind is in the water chopping up all the waves
Into broken mirrors of the sky
But there's a ray of tangerine
Reflecting from river and refinery
CHORUS 1
And everything is calm, but nothing is settled
I think I should've just stayed home
But I'm thinking out loud to no one, all alone
Feel like I came 600 miles to meet someone
Came 600 miles to meet someone
600 miles to meet someone
And I never got their name
VERSE 2
And I've been living between towns
Still the wrong side
And the bridge is out
Hope this river dries
But I keep finding myself in another apartment
With dirty water dripping from the faucet
Think I've been stuck in this moment long enough
I deserve to be out of it
CHORUS 2
And everything is calm, but nothing is settled
I think I should've just stayed home
But I'm thinking out loud to nothing, all alone
Feel like I came 600 miles to meet someone
And they changed their address and they turned off their phone
And I've been stuck in this moment long enough
I deserve to get out of it
INTERLUDE
So I get out of it
Get out of it
(INSTRUMENTAL)
VERSE 3
You see the birds flying low in the rain of these northern parts
And when they've had all they can take, they choose to fly far
You'll hear it in dreams and you'll whisper it in the dark:
"One day, we'll be back to normal"
But I'm telling you know, normal's never gonna look the same
So you gotta let it change
You've just gotta let it change
Already been through the steel town
Had the wrong nights
At the wrong bars
With the dimmed lights
From the bathroom sink to the kitchen floor
Then I wandered right back to the same home
CHORUS
Feel like I came 600 miles to meet someone
600 miles to meet someone
600 miles to meet someone
600 miles to meet someone
BRIDGE
Your reward for all this is that as long as you live,
You'll say what you need to say
You will never blink first again
Go ahead and let that grief change
CHORUS/OUTRO
600 miles to meet someone
600 miles to meet someone
And I just learned their name
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10. |
Stray
01:40
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VERSE 1
You might feel like everybody hates you
And some days you might almost be right
I haven't heard your voice in seven Aprils
But I keep you in a summer sunset light
CHORUS
You hold a special place and that's enough (and that's enough)
You inform everything I think today (thing I think today)
I've built up quite a lifetime all around you
My fellow northern stray
VERSE 2
I wish we could have every conversation
I worked out all alone over the years
But I don't think I'm ready for your answers
And I still don't have the patience for my fears
I still don't have the patience for my fears
CHORUS
You won't move out my heart and that's enough
You're deep in every song I sing today (song I sing today)
I've built up quite a lifetime all around you
My fellow northern stray
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Tom Maroon Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Songwriter and producer.
Indie rock, folk, trip-hop, jazz.
I like telling stories.
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