1. |
Day One of the Sunflower
03:04
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on day one of the sunflower
broke through the fence
tore up the cement
became a little tower above
and called on all
to come on and behold
the rise and the fall
the rise and the fall
your eyes in the fall
figure eight across the sky
you're a circle on my mind
daylight darkens, winter fades
there's nothing time
won't take away
the rise and the fall
the horizon calls
the analemma observation league
has no attachment to the fate of the seed
the analemma observation league
just wants to see what will be
candle burning by the hour
flame grows tall in stares of wonder
melted wax runs through my hands
I went away but I'm back again
tide is rising by the hour
waves grow high, we stare in wonder
the hourglass, the racing sands
I went away but I'm back again
on day one of the sunflower
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2. |
Either Way
03:27
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keep the fire burning
til the break of dawn
for I fear I may never
feel ready to move on
I could try to make you stay
but I could really go either way
my eyes kaleidoscope all faces
my mind old memories
I guess whatever time erases
must have stopped mattering
there was something
bobbing in the sea
(it fell and rose)
we were sitting on the beach
(taking off our clothes)
you tried swimming within reach
but you weren't even close
not even close
you been so many different places
since I last kept you company
why am I the only one that never changes
as the world crumbles around our knees
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3. |
Patience
03:48
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come back around
you're still on my mind
you tend to hide and I unearth you
over time
cuz I'd just die if you were mine
I'd die
time after time
I've invited you to come my way
but I ain't ever gonna beg you to stay
don't be that way with me
don't be that way
as I send smoke signals of your name
to disappear beyond the astral plane
who has the patience
to make something great?
Who has any patience these days
Saturday night one last time
I let myself be led
then said that I could never
see your pretty face again
Monday morning and we're waiting
for the same damn train
the universe has had her way
with me again
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4. |
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way back when
there were many miles between us
now there's only time
way back then
there was nothing I wouldn't do to
try and bring your home closer to mine
and I was very young
and you were arguably free
and there were pretty girls around
kept your mind off me
so I thought you were hanging around now
to apologize but I'm older and realizing
you were never that surprising and
you don't really care
about doing right by me
you just don't want me crying
to my friends and family
you don't really care
about doing right by me
so it's finally time to let me be
let me be!
it's finally time to let me be
I find it kinda cruel
but I finally understand
sixteen years of school
can't teach you lessons
that a bad man can
and I been around the block enough
I got no business getting lost
in that kind of neighborhood again
it's plain to see...
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5. |
Old Friends
03:58
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we're old friends
are we good friends?
I'm counting the ways
you've faded in and out
through the years
counting the days
it takes to completely disappear
I'd make the morning coffee
clean up the house
I was always waiting patiently
while you were two-steppin around
now I'm wondering if I'll be pouring
two cups for me and myself
cuz the patterns a lake makes
onto the rocks
over millions of years
can't be changed like the locks
on your house
but I love letting you in
showing you the town
seeing how you're different
and pretending permanence abounds
(breezing in before you breeze out again)
could I forgive you anymore
If I forgot a little less
you can call me when you're happy
or call when you're depressed
cuz the patterns a lake makes
onto the rocks
over millions of years
can't be changed like clocks
in your house
that are counting down
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6. |
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when we met I swear it was kismet
paid my train fare and there you sat
lonely thoughts, believing I was too old
for something new
lost a lot, try to remember all the times
I won some too
free me from filters and effects
no critics, no regrets and
no pictures, no pictures please
makes it feel, makes it feel cheap
seeing through lenses
lost track of my senses
nothing real lasts
but I'll never forget this
in my mind we're perfectly cast in
plaster of Paris
winter passed
the only way out is through
summer laughed at
all the things I planned to do
the day was hot and we were
trying to be brave in the afternoon
we forgot the people that we were
before that hospital room
no pictures, no pictures please
makes it feel, makes it feel cheap
seeing through lenses
lost track of my senses
life rushes past
but I'll never forget this
in my mind we're perfectly cast in
plaster of Paris
could never have pictured this
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7. |
Memory
02:33
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that kind of magic never lasts too long
baby we'd better find something more to live on
another world that someone else has drawn
down here on earth the elevator's gone
I don't want to believe
that my best days are behind me
I don't want to believe
that my best days are a memory
memory
these kind of curses never end too soon
they bring me down I'm like a soft balloon
we had it good until we read the room
California flora don't know when to bloom
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8. |
Permanent Rose
03:40
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every morning I wake up
to see another petal's dropped
from the bouquet that you game me
made of invasive species
are you a permanent rose?
made of paper and bows
god only knows
what I would do for you
if you stay I have my fears
if you leave there will be tears
but I will love you
as long as you're here
invitation's already in the mail
another songbird's gone to jail
sitting on the floor beside myself
worrying about my health
am I a permanent rose?
the kind that never grows
god only knows
what I go through for you...
if we make it through the years
we can transcend all the tears
so I will love you as long as you're here
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9. |
Brand New Design
03:21
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I was playing guitar in
an empty apartment
watching the sun spin
around in the clouds
last night we were talking
exploring our options
we'll roll with the punches
and hope it works out
and I won't be unhappy
no I won't be unhappy
don't you lie to me baby
will you be happy
(lie to me)
baby we will be happy
does a life of compromise
mean both of us just live a lie
or does meeting in the middle mean
we can build some version of our dreams
in a brand new design
don't forget what's yours
is also mine...
feel like it's time
brand new design
feel like it's time
what's yours is mine
night settles in
with the sadness of knowing
I will never live in the same city
as most of my friends again
we're leaving it all behind
we're leaving it all behind
we're leaving it all behind
like sandcastles at high tide
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10. |
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someday I'll be a farmer
working the land
I wish I was a farmer
to work with my hands
cuz it's been too long a ride
too high the fare
well I built and climbed a mountain
but it isn't there and I been
looking all around, looked everywhere
to build and climb a mountain
but it isn't there
if it isn't there dun-da-dun
it isn't here it isn't there
or anywhere
I'm gonna pick an apple
right from the tree
I'm gonna eat the apple
cuz it grew there for me
and it's been too long a ride
too high the fare
well I built and climbed a mountain
but it isn't there
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11. |
This Time Take Time
03:15
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it's a delicate chain
I'm untangling
it's a very late train
I'm at the station waiting
as so-and-so said
the hungry are fed
when taught to make bread
the point of success
is your happiness
but how about that sense of redress?
this time take time
this time be wine
this time all sings are go
slow
it's a difficult game
I'm slowly mastering
I'm a kite, I'm a string
I'm a joker, I'm a king
as so-and-so said
you're better off dead
than uncredited
if the price of success
is your happiness
well who the heck
are you trying to impress...
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Al Harper San Francisco, California
Your local soft rock specialist.
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