1. |
Penny Candy Stores
03:37
|
|||
|
All the penny candy stores are closed
And the kids lack vitamin D these days.
But who am I to say?
I spend most of my day
In a chair with so many buttons,
A jet pilot couldn't keep straight.
Do you remember leaving nickels on the railroad tracks
Before they tore the trestle down, confounded by the parallax?
The trees and clouds were paper cutouts glued to the background
And all the world was aching from the sound.
Scraping with a dime, left my initials next yours,
Before they painted over it, we left them in the wooden horse.
Breathing fried food and teenage perfume, red lips in full bloom.
And I was woven in your golden loom.
Now a quarter won't buy you a thing,
No Charleston Chews from a vending machine.
Though I'm well past my teens I still drink Ovaltine,
But I'm tracking the rate of inflation's arithmetic mean.
|
||||
2. |
Take Control
04:08
|
|||
|
There is a movie screen behind my eyes
And far too much of my time has been spent watching frames go by.
Now I wonder how so much of our past-selves can abide,
Through all the phases of the moon and shifting tides, I'm still a child.
I've never been one to know what it is I want,
But now I'm afraid that I might lose the life I got,
So I am trying to take control.
Last night I ground my teeth in my sleep.
I awoke to the sun, he was laughing at me.
I was rudely interrupted in the middle of dream,
Though incomplete, I'm still trying to find out what it means.
I'll push the light from my eyes
And fight to sit upright.
I've never been one to know what it is I want,
But now I'm afraid that I might lose the life I got,
So I am trying to take control.
In that dream I found myself among a crowd
And I looked on as they all lowered my body in the ground.
I was moved by all the faces in that patchwork tapestry
Of every thread in my life stitched and woven so neatly.
I've never been one to know what it is I want,
But now I'm afraid that I might lose the life I got,
So I am trying to take control.
I've never been one to know what it is I want,
But now I'm afraid that I might lose the life I got,
So I am trying to take control.
|
||||
3. |
Unopened Doors
05:03
|
|||
|
I just sold the guitar I wrote my first song on
For a hundred fifty bucks and good intentions.
Doesn't mean that much to me now, but I guess
We had something together.
It all started with Carmen way back in first grade
Ever since I've been watching all my friends walk away.
I am a hedgehog embracing the cold.
I still remember the warmth of being bold,
It was worth the blood.
Well I thought you would stay,
But you don't show your face here anymore
And there's something that's been on my mind:
All things we might say if we left behind a little more
Than a hall full of unopened doors.
I just heard one of those songs that used to make me smile
For the hundred and fifth time, but it's been a long while.
Doesn't mean that much to me now, but it did,
It used to feel so much bigger.
I was backstage at the Megadeth show in tenth grade,
Ever since I've been watching all my heroes fade.
I am a hedgehog embracing the cold.
I still remember the warmth of being bold,
It was worth the blood.
Well I thought you would stay,
But you don't show your face here anymore
And there's something that's been on my mind:
All things we might say if we left behind a little more
Than a hall full of unopened doors.
I saw you the other day,
I was fishing through the pockets of my wrinkled brain
For a fifty cent word or two,
Anything to say to you.
Yeah, I really want to talk with you.
Well I thought you would stay,
But you don't show your face here anymore
And there's something that's been on my mind:
All things we might say if we left behind a little more
Than a hall full of unopened doors.
|
||||
4. |
Tripping
02:38
|
|||
|
I'm tripping over the days that make up every week,
I've tried to find my feet, but that's a hopeless dream
I'll wake from soon enough.
I'm tripping over the months, the seasons pass me by,
And suddenly I find I never took the time
To smell the flowers in spring.
I'm tripping over the years, and adding up the time
That I let slip by, I could have called it mine,
And never will get back.
But nothing really trips me up
Like trying to find the words
To say what's on my mind,
Things I'd want you to have heard.
Although I know there's only so many days
And so many ways in which
To say them to you.
|
||||
5. |
Feel Something Again
05:31
|
|||
|
If you stop you'll hear the sound
Of people dying on TV
And disillusioned close your eyes,
But you're not surprised.
And there's some vague kind of guilt
In not knowing what it's about.
If you stop you'll hear the sound,
But it's easily tuned out.
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
Oh Lord, let me feel something again.
There are things you can't forget:
The smell of cigarettes and piss
When you're walking down the street
In that summer heat.
Three dollar coffee in my hand
And I'm feeling kind of bored.
There are things you can't forget,
But you learn to ignore.
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
Oh Lord, let me feel something again.
I swear that songs used to come easier,
Now I feel lucky if I find a couple chords
And a handful of words that fit together well.
I guess I never was to young at heart,
But now I wonder if I grew up too fast.
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
Oh Lord, let me feel something again.
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
How long have I felt nothing?
Oh Lord, let me feel something again.
Let me feel something again.
Let me feel something again...
|
||||
6. |
Half Over Before
04:46
|
|||
|
I'm not the dreamer that I once was,
But I still feel I owe a debt to my past-self I can't forget.
I'm in a daze when I go back home,
I get this feeling when I leave the walls are saying things to me.
They say my life will be half over before
I've spent more than half of it
Living some place other than here.
I've got a bad habit of checking out
Some things that don't belong to me, Blonde on Blonde on repeat.
There are some songs that my voice just can't sing,
But you will always be my type, wearing your polka dots and stripes.
I know my life will be half over before
I've spent more of it
With you than I did without.
Everybody wants to be seventeen
And making out behind the bleachers,
Scared of nothing aside from the preacher.
I'm not unhappy, but that don't mean I'm content.
Crooked pane and sunlight bent.
I must have been waiting for some change in the weather,
Anything to make me feel different.
You'd think that giving up was sad,
But getting old might not be so bad.
|
||||
7. |
What Home Can You Find?
03:38
|
|||
|
Streams of tears
And the earthquakes of your smile
Leave on your face
Hills and valleys that run miles.
The school where you were raised,
And the hill where you played,
They have changed
Bulldoze 'em down,
Everything's only temporarily arranged.
Even the face
Of the earth changes shape given time.
Here in the place
Where nothing remains what home can you find?
|
||||
8. |
No Name 1
03:49
|
|||
9. |
Home For Now
03:25
|
|||
|
All those empty nights away
It's the place I couldn't wait to be.
But it's not my home anymore,
I won't be walking through that door again.
Nameless people on the train,
With our umbrella's soaked in rain and snow.
Countless hours I had shared,
With folks whose faces I won't stare at again.
No place stays home for long,
Always changing moving on.
Even the place I was at dawn,
I left my blankets and crayons.
But I know I'll find it when I'm gone.
Hazy glow of city lights,
And cars out driving late at night.
I trade it for the quiet life, a quiet house a quiet wife.
It's home for now.
|
||||
John Stuart Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
John Stuart recommends:
The New Empires
by The New Empires
Great music, great lyrics, colorful instrumentation and wonderful arrangements, all fronted by a great voice. This one's got it all.
go to albumIf you like John Stuart, you may also like:
The latest from Shana Cleveland is a Californian fantasia that conjures worlds both real and surreal.
go to album
A vibrant vision of "Central Americana" from the Costa Rica-based artist, blending heartland devotionals with playful Tropicália grooves.
go to album
Assorted Orchids
by Assorted Orchids
Hypnotic night music on the latest from Assorted Orchids, with spiraling acoustic guitars and drifting, beatific vocals.
go to album
Night of the Worm Moon
by Shana Cleveland
Shana Cleveland's upcoming LP shimmers with the La Luz frontwoman's hallmark eerie melodies, dreamy vocals, and subtly epic guitar work.
go to album
Postcards From the Country
by Trae Sheehan
West Virginia country-folk singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan aims to find a balance between the traditional and the modern on his new LP.
go to album
