1. |
The Sudden Heir
03:14
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She’s in a better place, she’s in a foreign state
She sailed off on the sea
Now I’m the sudden heir of items pure and fair
She left them all to me
She left a green fishbowl, she left her heart and soul
She sailed off on the sea
She left her inner eye, she left her peace of mind
She left them all to me
Now this is hardly just, I feel the verdict is rushed
Although she left me sad and blue
She’s not all to blame, I plan to do the same
For tomorrow, I leave too
She left a laurel tree, she left me poetry
She left me sad and blue
She left soliloquies, she left captivity
And tomorrow, I leave too
She left a goblin shark, she left a question mark
When she sailed off on the sea
She left me all my fears, she left me all my tears
She left them all to me
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2. |
Cenotaph
04:41
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He thought her temperament was cautionary
To match her figure so aviary
But he saw her in a rage
When someone rattled her cage
He said: Hyperborean silent treatment
We will discover your little secret
If the fates allow
It’s too cold for cocoa, that won’t save you now
She said: I guess that I could cooperate
But first let me stipulate
There will be no questions until the end
Patience is a loyal friend
I didn’t know where he would be
I guess that I just got lucky
When I found him by the coast
I pulled out my pistol upon my approach
I said: There are five holes in your head
And you use every one of them
So let me make one more
A rigid body lined the shore
The waves must have carried him away
And laid him down to a watery grave
A cenotaph was built
Where there ain’t no body, there ain’t no guilt
We are gathered here today
I thought I heard the pastor say
And then I left the scene
Not fear not boredom, maybe somewhere in between
And if I have learned one thing
From all of my ramblings
It’s that in some movies, no one cries
Some things are just empty inside
Some things are just empty inside
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3. |
Girl from California
03:48
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Maybe I should go on a skiing trip
And throw caution to the wind
With any luck, my skis would slip
And down I’d go tumbling
I’d spend the night in the ICU
I’m sure that word would get to you
The joy a get well card would bring
It sure beats listening to a broken-hearted girl from California play her ukulele and sing:
La da dum
I wish I could feel as close to you
As if we’d accidentally murdered someone
And I wouldn’t know what I should do
And you’d say: Throw him in the river! Let’s run!
You’d make me promise not to tell a soul
You’d have to trust my self-control
I’d rather spend the rest of my days in the clink
Than listen to a broken-hearted girl from California play her ukulele and sing:
La da dum
Maybe I should sign up for an intramural boxing match
With little grasp of conduct, I would probably start to bite and scratch
But I’d rather leave it all in the ring
Than listen to a broken-hearted girl from California play her ukulele and sing:
La da dum
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4. |
Strangers in Hallways
04:43
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I’ve been dancing with strangers in hallways
I’ve been cuddling with folks on the bus
They never know it until I go and blow it
I guess I was always a klutz
It’s not something I like to discuss
I’ve been feeling real vulnerable lately
Like the skin where my ring used to be
So now I eat snacks with nutrition facts
That scare the hell out of me
And I don’t feel healthy
Flowers wilt like attention spans
I share my dessert with the weatherman
It’s been a long time since I’ve thrown a snowball
Six months since I started a fire
I've been misinformed, the coffee is lukewarm
It’s been a long time since I’ve perspired
Since I’ve acted on desire
Flowers wilt like attention spans
I share my dessert with the weatherman
Now cars make me nervous when walking
When walking to hardware stores
My shoulders get tense, I lose common sense
I might die and not know what for
Yeah, I might die and not know what for
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5. |
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I tried for years to make you believe me
That the canyons aren’t that grand
You would tell me without hesitation
That they were formed by God’s own hand
Some birds fly south for the winter
Other birds tend to stick around
It’s like Christmas in a college town
You asked me why I never called you
If I ever meant to try to change your mind
If doing math involving time zones
And picking up a cell phone made me disinclined
Trying to change your mind, dear
It’s like I’m trying to turn the Titanic around
It's like Christmas in a college town
You’re bright and thin like apple skin
But there’s something seedy at your core
Maps don’t help when maps are life-sized
Or when the ship has capsized to the bottom of the ocean floor
Never plan alone time
Be happy when it rolls around
You’re like Christmas in a college town
You’re like Christmas in a college town
You’re like Christmas with no one around
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6. |
Deep Blue Sea
03:54
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Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
Dig her grave with a silver spade
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
Lower her down on a golden chain
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
Golden sun, bring her back to me
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea
I found her floating like a feather on the deep blue sea
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7. |
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I thought that she might be Australian
So I asked her to please count to six
She smiled and said she was a kiwi
And we went out for fish and chips
She goes to school for engineering
She dreams of working in a water treatment plant
It’s hard to tell when she is joking
It’s hard to tell when to joke back
She likes it when the plane is shaking
She says it helps her to relax
She likes the sound of babies crying
She says it always makes her laugh
Last weekend she was in a wedding party
She stood in the presence of a priest
She thinks religious folks are funny
I find it hard to disagree
She asked if we could talk of touchy subjects
Of politics and parliament
Of the saucers and the steeples
Of violins and violence
She likes it when the plane is shaking
She says it helps her to relax
She likes the sound of babies crying
She says it always makes her laugh
She thinks that everyone is a singer
That doesn’t mean they all should try
She likes to take those online surveys
The drunk heart speaks the sober mind
She likes it when the plane is shaking
She says it helps her to relax
She likes the sound of babies crying
She says it always makes her laugh
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8. |
Birdwatching
02:43
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Once I tried to get into birdwatching
I spread peanut butter onto pine cones
I asked for binoculars for Christmas
I downloaded lots of bird calls on my cell phone
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9. |
You Never Knew
04:37
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I may have cracked a smile when I heard your awful news
It's not because I don’t feel awful about those things he said to you
But because it opens up a topic that I really have been meaning to talk through
I can see how you’d feel anxious to sit down and talk with me
Scars are often left by people whose intentions go unseen
But the sea remains anonymous, no boot marks left by schooner ships to see
When I cross these hills and reach my home
Dulled my pains will be
But for now, I’ll keep them close to me
I promise to act normal if this all turns out the same
I promise not to keep on testing different fonts out with your name
On the pages of the notebooks that I’ve had with me since the seventh grade
When I cross these hills and reach my home
Dulled my pains will be
But for now, I’ll keep them close to me
I’ve been cutting back on things that I don’t need
Like food, and air, and sleep
I do it just to make more time for you
You never knew, and now you do
When I cross these hills and reach my home
Dulled my pains will be
But for now, I’ll keep them close to me
But for now, I’ll keep them close to me
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10. |
Miguel Calderón
07:19
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His father died on the day of his birth
Try as she might, his poor mum found no work
So she put out a grill on the porch and she sold anticuchos
The baby grew older (as all babies do)
There wasn’t the money for toys, clothes, or food
So she sent him to live with his uncle up north in Chiclayo
Miguel Calderón
Felices, no todos son
Si se rompe tu corazón
Busca un nuevo
His uncle was named Víctor Cerna Guzmán
He spent most of his evenings drunk on the lawn
Or as part of a quite rowdy crowd at a clandestine cockfight
This horrid lifestyle soon took its effect
Our poor Miguel was an emotional wreck
Until one day, he tried to end it with a spoonful of rat poison
Miguel Calderón
Felices, no todos son
Si se rompe tu corazón
Busca un nuevo
He spent four somber days on the emergency floor
Social services thought that a move was in store
And he wound up with his great-aunt Marleni in the hills of Otuzco
Life in the mountains; it’s better for some
A bit of fresh air never hurt anyone
And Miguel and his aunt lived a good life in a house of adobe
One day in November, in the still of the night
A blood-chilling scream woke Miguel with a fright
To this day, he still swears that he saw the ghost of his father
Miguel Calderón
Felices, no todos son
Si se rompe tu corazón
Busca un nuevo
Slightly concerned but mostly confused,
Poor Miguelito; he knew not what to do
So heeding a recommendation, he met with a bruja
She didn’t read tea leaves; she had no pet toad
She asked not what his name was nor what he longed to know
She just stared him right down to his soul and she told him the following:
Don’t let your heart drop its anchor and stay in this place
For the mainsail will rise and you’ll be tugged away
And your atria will be torn in two and you’ll drown in the sorrow
Miguel Calderón
Felices, no todos son
Si se rompe tu corazón
Busca un nuevo
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11. |
One Hundred Buttons
04:44
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There’s one hundred buttons in this antique shop
I’m looking for one that reminds me of you
If you don’t think I’ll find it, well then, I’m sure you won’t mind it
When I sew it to my coat for when I am blue
You’re the eight o’clock sun on a summer’s day
I thought you’d already gone away
But there are folks at the equator who have never seen you later
Than when they bow their heads at supper time to pray
There’s one hundred buttons in this antique shop
I’m looking for one that reminds me of you
If you don’t think I’ll find it, well then, I’m sure you won’t mind it
When I sew it to my coat for when I am blue
You’re a protest song back in ‘65
Trying to keep the freedom alive
But if you’re fixing to get tied down, there’s no better place than this town
Here I was born, here I live, and here I will die
There’s one hundred buttons in this antique shop
I’m looking for one that reminds me of you
If you don’t think I’ll find it, well then, I’m sure you won’t mind it
When I sew it to my coat for when I am blue
I pin down ice cubes with my straw
Just like you, they don’t stay put for long
You told me your family is struggling
But you went to Europe to see your cousin
Well, I can wait; I can’t wait that long
There’s one hundred buttons in this antique shop
I’m looking for one that reminds me of you
If you don’t think I’ll find it, well then, I’m sure you won’t mind it
When I sew it to my coat for when I am blue
There’s one hundred buttons in this antique shop
I found me one that reminds me of you
And you can’t call it stealing, because this button is here for me and
God gave me a heart to give to you
So now I’ve got a button for when I am blue
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George González Seattle, Washington
George González is a songwriter from Seattle.
georgegonzalez.substack.com
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