1.Building Skyscrapers In The Basement
Is there a place to go
Where a little girl might never have to know？
And is there a time of night
When she'll ever feel it's safe to dim the light？
I know some things I'd rather not
Like the time ahead is all the time you've got
And one other thing I know
Out from under layer after dark layer,
As the years go by, a little girl can grow
2.Where Have All The Rude Boys Gone？
It's times like these when a neck looks for a knife
A wrist for a razor, a heart is longing for bullets
Tension is high under sea and over sky
Pressure Drop, people are acting foolish
Ooh, but it's easy to see
Ooh, we could dance and be free
Ooh, to that 2-tone beat
But it looks like it's gone, gone, gone
Gangsters and clowns with a stereotyped sound
It's coming like a ghost town, someone always knew it
Hatred and shame, a racialist game
Cycles of blame, someone sang me through it
Who？ Well, it's easy to see
Ooh, we could dance to be free
Ooh, to that 2-tone beat
But it looks like it's gone, gone, gone, gone
I asked Jerry, he told Terry
Terry sang a song just for me
Lynvall gave a message to me
Rhoda screamed and asked me, 'where have all the rude boys
gone？'
I asked Jerry, he told Terry
Terry sang a song just for me
Lynvall gave a message to me
Rhoda screamed and then she asked me
I asked Jerry, he told Terry
Terry sang a song just for me
Lynvall gave a message to me
Rhoda screamed and then she asked me
I asked Jerry, he told Terry
Terry sang a song just for me
Lynvall gave a message to me
Rhoda screamed and then she asked me
I asked Jerry, he told Terry
Terry sang a song just for me
Lynvall gave a message to me
Rhoda screamed and asked me, 'where have all the rude boys
gone？'
3.I'm A Ghost
I'm a ghost and I wanted you to know
That it's taking all my strength to make this toast
I'm a ghost and I want you to come close
'Cause I don't want you to miss me and misquote
I'm a ghost, I'm no one of any note
Sure your mind was made up long before I spoke
But I'm a ghost, one of an unholy host
Made invisible and mute but with sore throats
Look, you can't make sound from six feet underground
Now you'll say you disagree, keep my statistic around
But if it looks like a dog and it smells like a dog
Well then it probably is, so let's just give it a walk
I'm a ghost, so it don't matter what I know
And you won't mind if I don't speak comme il faut
But you've been caught in flagrante delicto
And the ghosts are lining up outside your door
Look, you can't make sound from six feet underground
Now you'll say you disagree, but come on, look what we've found
If I can talk 'til I'm dead and still not get in your head
Well then it's probably true, so let's put this idea to bed
Why did you not talk to me？
You said you would talk to me
You could always talk to me back then
There's no more tale to recount and no more truth to renounce
And no more finding me here, if e'er you do come around
See they have lowered me down, put me back deep underground
I'm on my side in the earth where's no rebirth
Why did you not come to me？
You said you would come to me
You could always come to me back then
Why did you not talk to me？
You said you would talk to me
You can never talk to me again
4.The High Party
I'm looking at another day
To find that I've got no-no-nothing to say
Or I'm looking for another way
To process what happened on, on, on that birthday
And either way, if you're gonna call it art
Then there's a cup in front of you
And right away, if you're gonna play your part
You must drink it down, drink it down, drink it down
Well, mine eyes have seen the
Glory of the fields of flowers and fac-fac-factory farms
And my mind's content to
Lie at rest for hours behind my love-love-loved ones' doors
And if there's a war
Another shitty war to fight for Ba-Ba-Babylon
It's the perfect storm in a teacup
But you must drink it down, drink it down, drink it down, drink
it down
And what do you make of nights when you thought you'd make much
more
Than being too drunk to turn the lights out and too tired to
drink more？
And what does it take to not hear the cynics at your door？
Saying it's time to turn the lights out and you want to keep it
down,
Keep it down, keep it down
So I'm lifting up that poison cup
To drink a draught of pro-pro-propaganda
Or I'm giving up that other stuff
In hopes that it's gonna ma-ma-make me madder
Either way, if you're gonna call it art
Then there's a cup in front of you
And right away, if you're gonna play your part
You must drink it down, drink it down, drink it down, drink it
down
And what do you make of nights when you thought you'd make much
more
Than being too drunk to turn the lights out and too tired to
drink more？
And what does it take to not hear the cynics at your door？
Saying it's time to turn the lights out and you want to keep it
down,
Keep it down, keep it down, keep it down
And what do you make of nights when you thought you'd make much
more
Than being too drunk to turn the lights out and too tired to
drink more？
And what does it take to not hear the cynics at your door？
Saying it's time to turn the lights out and you want to keep it
And what does it say of all of the things you've said before
Than being too tired to turn the lights out and too drunk to
drink more？
And what do you save, what does it feel like to be saved？
And can you pull, two three four, pull, two three, can you drink
it down,
Drink it down, drink it down, drink it down, drink it down？
5.Hearts Of Oak
I was walking along some downtown avenue
I was whistling a new song to myself
And it went, it went something like this one
But I just couldn't make it end
Well, I was talking about this song to this friend of mine
And she sang me a new song of her own
She said, she said the cards were still stacked against her
But she said she could still go it alone
And I saw for all of us, she spoke
Won't you stand up for the hearts of oak？
I was listening to this song by this friend of mine
I was hearing what she said, I was feeling her rage
She said no weak, no weak heart shall prosper
She said, she said nothing's wrong and I belong on this stage
And I saw for all of us, she spoke
Won't you stand up for the hearts of oak？
And I saw her stand, she couldn't be broken
And I saw her show her heart of oak again and again and again
and again
If you think, if you think everything is cool
Can't, can't you hear what the girl goes through？
Can, can you tell em that it's not true？
Can you find, can you find hearts of oak in you？
When the night, it ends and you've awoken
Won't you stand up with your heart of oak again？
Like the girl withstands, she can't be broken
Won't you stand up for the hearts of oak again and again and
again and again？
I was walking along some downtown avenue
I was sharing the sidewalk with my friend
We were singing a song together and it sounded so good
We said, we said let's sing it again, and it had no end
6.The Ballad Of The Sin Eater
When you run, digger, runner, listener, thief
You carry it all with you
Today I woke up uncertain
And you know that gives me the fits
So I left this land of fungible convictions
Because it seemed like the pits
When I say convictions
I mean it's something to abjure
And when I say uncertain
I mean to doubt I'll not turn out a caricature
So I set off in search of my forebears
'Cause my forbearance was in need
But the only job I could get in dear old Blighty
Was working on the railway between Selby and Leeds
So I took a ferry to Belfast
Where I had cause to think
They wanted none of my armchair convictions
But nobody seemed to mind when I was putting on the drinks
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
Ah, but they hate you, they hate you 'cause you're guilty
So I stayed out all night in Ibixa
By way of San Sebastian
Where they said 'yankee, you better watch what you're saying
Unless you're saying it in Basque or in Catalan'
So all the way east to Novi-Sad
Nary a bridge was to be seen
But mother Russia, she laid her pontoons on down
So I crossed over, if you know what I mean
Then on the road to Damascus
Yes, the scales, they fell from my eyes
And the simplest lesson I learned at the mount of olives
That everybody lies
And the French foreign legion
You know they did their best
But I never believed in T.E. Lawrence
So how the hell could I believe in Beau Gest？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
Ah, but they hate you, make no mistake, they hate you
So I spent a night in Kigali
In a five diamond hotel
Where maybe someday they'll to the watusi
On down in Hutu hell
I fell in with a merchant marine
Who promised to take me home
But when I woke up all beaten and bloodied
I couldn't tell if it was Jersey or Sierra Leone
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
Ah, but they hate you, they hate you 'cause you're guilty
So, you didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now would you？
Ah, but they hate you, make no mistake, they hate you
And the knocking in my head
Just like the knocking at my door
And maybe it was me or maybe it was my brother
But either me or me and him went down to the bar
Where I got seven powers in me
For to give me the cure
When seven powers failed to spin me
I had to get me seven more
And when I say me
I mean my brain
And when I say give me the cure
I mean to kill the pain
And when I say kill the pain
I mean to get the devil out
And when I say devil
I mean the manifestation of doubt
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
Ah, but they hate you, they hate you 'cause you're guilty
So, you didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now did you？
You didn't think they could hate you, now would you？
Ah, but they hate you, make no mistake, they hate you
7.Dead Voices
Long live our dying friend
In the birth of his hand was the dirge of his end
Cold now in a warming world
Still cold as the moment we're hanging frozen in
Oh, writer of words
Channel of fear
Hey, lover of life
Hater of living here
Come over the hills now
To your darling
The dead voices are near now
Hear them calling
Vibrations reverberate
In waves from a point in time and a place
Tune in and you feel them sent
All time is right now, what do we learn from him, then？
Go look to his words
Don't look to his past
The story goes on
The players are recast
Come over the hills now
To your darling
The dead voices are near now
Hear them calling
Come over the hills now
To your darling
The dead voices are near now
Hear them calling
What part of a million could call him a friend？
But maybe one in a thousand finds something to commiserate in
And if that one is you, then what do you see？
What would you say to have saved him, oh won't you say it to
save me？
The streets are deserted
The bars are the same
One voice of the living
The town crier is calling your name
Come over the hills now
To your darling
The dead voices are near now
Hear them calling
Come over the hills now
To your darling
The dead voices are near now
8.The Anointed One
The anointed one, father's favorite son
Now we see, long before the race, you'd already won
Oh beatified, with the softest eyes
These days I can't escape your face, do you remember mine？
Oh, it haunts me
Oh, what a fool I must have been
We saw red, not green, when we were nineteen
Now something's different, something happened somewhere there
between
By the river bend, did I misapprehend
Your sincerity or is it you have changed, friend？
Oh, it haunts me
Oh, how could I not have seen what you'd become？
But you fooled everyone
Lace curtains in our slum
You were the anointed one
Alright!
Watching you grow with the pride of a friend
Kissing off school, there were rules to be bent
Knelt by your side through our crises of faith
Mine was on time but for you it was already too late, too late
In the capitol
With your freezer full
Do you represent your district
Or your daddy's will？
Oh, it haunts me
Oh, how could I not have seen what you'd become？
But you fooled everyone
Lace curtains in our slum
You were the anointed one
What have you become？
But you fooled everyone
Lace curtains in our slum
You were the anointed one
9.Bridges, Squares
As I walked on to Kendall square
And crossed the river basin there
The Charles was black, the sky was blue
The view was old, the bridge was new
And past the flow's constricted mouth
Commercial lines flowed mostly south
Or east across a boundless sea
Where rising soon, the star would be
The tides are moved by sun and moon
The spring will last from March to June
The red line train will pass behind
As long as bridge joins stream and sky
And from that point where I did stand
I wondered at the works of man
I wondered how this walk began
'Til red line train came 'round again
But it's not the time to ossify
Not the end of wondering why
Not in your faith or your apostasy
Not the end of history
As I can take, so I could give
If I could shop where I could live
As I can read, so I'd write books
If I could eat where I could cook
Where talkers have a place to meet
Where walkers walk along the street
And subways travel paths well hid
And ferries take you off the grid
But it's not the time to ossify
Not the end of wondering why
Not in your faith or your apostasy
Not the end of
Predictable waves of historicity
Or nostalgia for gaslit times I'll never ever see
Futurians manifest
Internationalists
Connected are the promenades and waterways
The living waves of harbor nights and city days
And where is the builder, was there something missed？
Hidden in the plans to the bridge that started this
But it's not the time to ossify
Not the end of wondering why
Not in your faith or your apostasy
Not the end of history
As I walked on to Founders' Square
And crossed the river basin there
The Passaic was gray, the sky was blue
The bridge was old, the view was new
And from that point where I did stand
I wondered at the builders' plan
I wondered how this walk would end
'Til path train came around again
But it's not the time to ossify
Not the end of wondering why
Not in your faith or your apostasy
Not the end of history
10.Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead
It's been a hard road but there's no turning back
And there's no end in sight to this darkening night and that's a
sad fact
I hear you come down to the graves at Inchigeela
For to walk through the stones of the names we have known, and
there I'll meet you
I'm laying out the table for to welcome you back home
I'm calling on the angels for to lighten up your load
I'm calling on the majors to end this general despair
In the graveyard at Inchigeela, in black clothing I'll be there
My love wears black clothes and red flowers in her hair
And we walk, we don't run toward the day when it's won, and ya
mo' be there
But we're patient for now and we're patient for tomorrow
When the past will redeem all the toil extreme and all the
sorrow
I'm laying out the table for to welcome you back home
I'm calling on the angels for to lighten up your load
I'm calling on the majors to end this general despair
In the graveyard at Inchigeela, in black clothing I'll be there
Look up from the street, look, open your eyes
Wake up to your future under a bright night sky
I'm laying out the table for to welcome you back home
I'm calling on the angels for to lighten up your load
I'm calling on the majors to end this general despair
In the graveyard at Inchigeela, in black clothing I'll be there
I'm calling on a stranger when I've got no back-up plan
I'm disregarding danger when I'm in your foreign land
And if you want to meet me, wear a red flower in your hair
11.2nd Ave, 11 AM
Out of your personal scripture, Philomel, she comes
You sing songs to everyone about love and law and guns
But paint a dirtier picture and I think you know the one
You're not saving anyone, you're not saving anyone
Oh, just open your door
Be a flaneur once more
You're not walking anymore
You're not talking anymore
Overturning the scriptures, you leave yourself with none
Of your sinners to be saved or your comforts that you crave
It's a volatile mixture, the zealot and the rum
So you knew it couldn't be won, still hard lost because hard run
So here's to things that console
And to at least knowing your role
And to never being done
You're a rabbit on the run
Ne, ne travaillez jamais
No, never work, that's what they say
Mais ne, ne, ne, nous n'arretons pas
No, don't lets stop until it's done
Ne, ne travaillez jamais
No, never work, that's what they say
Mais ne, ne, ne, nous n'arretons pas
No, don't lets stop until it's done
Ne, ne travaillez jamais
No, never work, that's what they say
Mais ne, ne, ne, nous n'arretons pas
Keeping running, rabbit, you're a rabbit on the run
12.First To Finish, Last To Start
Rain falls, you know it's got to rain
The sky lifts it up and lets it down again
And it's alright, you must accept your part
Being the first to finish or the last to start
And when you meet me on the ledge
We'll all be singing out again
And if you must, then jump away
I'm not afraid, we'll meet another day
Flame burns, it burns its fuel away
It lights up the dark night and warms the cold, cold day
But if you burn too strong you might expend your heart
Being the first to finish and the last to start
The first to finish and the last to start
The first to finish and the last
13.The Crane Takes Flight
Oceans lay between us and the things we think we need
But I've known many who would gladly swim to get to where you
are
Always more together than the ones you think are better off
But darling, no one's made it half as far
And it's so hard and I know how hard
And I know how hard to pursue
When you just ain't breaking through
But don't you let them tell you that you're wrong
You're either thinning like the fog upon a marshy tidal bog
As the crane takes flight and she sings her silent song
Or spinning like a hurricane, they've not yet used your name
And I'm left wondering why is it taking so long？
And it's so hard and I know how hard
And I know how hard to pursue
When you just ain't breaking through
But don't you let them tell you that you're wrong
Moving around in the space that you've found
To be finally fit for you
And you're strong at the helm but you're still overwhelmed
By all the painting left to do
Everything's calm in the half-light of dawn
But the morning will bring no peace
'Cause you'll never be done with the work you've begun
Even in moments of relief
Grappling with time and the mercury line
As the afternoon sun gets hot
And you'll always be far from the things that you are
'Cause there's so much that you're not
So move it around, check your depth with a sounding
Your map reference against the stars
And your work and your home, like your clothes, are your own
Like your skin and like your scars
I told you they've had power all along
So don't you let you tell you that you're wrong
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