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1. |
This is what we chose
02:45
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If they ask
you should tell them
that we could have stopped it
it was in our power
but we chose not to
if they ask, tell them
that we had the tools
the technologies
and the time
but we chose to enjoy our comforts a little longer
those same comforts we have now lost
so we rake the leaves
the autumn leaves
the leaves of our history
our poetry, our learning
we rake it all into piles
and then we burn it
we burn it to forget
for to remember, brings too much pain
so all the leaves are burning
because the forests are drying out
and the coral reefs are turning bone white
the storm is coming
but there won't be enough snow
so the glaciers retreat
and the seas rise to drink our cities
and this is what we chose
tell them
this is what we chose
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2. |
She'd never think twice
03:53
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See her there, in the window
of an old house on Frenchman's Road
what has she seen? what has gone before her?
a mane of snow, eyes of turquoise blue
and when she sees you, she smiles at you
when just a little girl
she used to play on the street
and all her friends would be there
and she'd never think twice
'cause it seemed her days would all be nice
now she lives alone in her empty home
once hers was the only house on the street with a phone
now her friends rarely call
out on the street she sees the kids walk past
they're all on their phones
and she remembers the games she used to play
hopscotch, piggy in the corner, marbles, knucklebones
when just a little girl..
She accidentally touches the glass
that separates her from the past
and suddenly feels cold
it's like being reminded that she's old
despite her new sweater
with the violets sewn on
that she wears like she has worn her body
ageing while she herself does not age
not for 1000 days, 10,000.. 30,000
when just a little girl..
And now she's 94
and those friends have gone
and the days have grown long
like the shadows of the memories of her mother's songs
that she played to her
on the piano before the war
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3. |
Armenia
03:15
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It's been a while it's been 100 years
since the desert drank their tears
100 years and yet still here today
in the graveyard where our children play
they came to us enrobed in steel
to protect their hearts from what they'd feel
then they raised their guns and so released the seal
of the command and made it real
and then they led us out along the trail
from which so many souls would sail
but we will always remember then
what happened to more than a million Armenians
and don't believe the TV when they say
it's all alright, it's all ok
there's a distant rumble in a foreign land
the laughter of a crazy man
it's terrible but vital to understand
the mind behind the butcher's hand
and if you follow his trail of logic to the end
you'll find the graves are waiting once again
so believe them when they tell you who they are
behind their words their deeds are never far
and by the time they're knocking at your door
it's too late to ask what they hate you for
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4. |
The Pain of the Game
06:41
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Open the borders release the plague
open the carnivals open the graves
send for your bible send for your cane
sit at the table feel the clank of the chain
how can you explain, how can you explain
the pain of the game
the moment you were born the race had begun
and you run and you run to catch the fast rising sun
don't tell them your dreams or they'll laugh in your face
just climb higher on the ladder, put them in place
and as you climb higher it makes them feel small
pretty soon you'll rule over them all
you run to the forest you run to the lake
you'd better run faster or you're going to be late
to your own execution its drawing quite a crowd
and as you get closer it starts to get loud
and the executioner he greets you like an old friend
he says 'everyone is here, everyone you send to their untimely end!'
you wake in a sweat from the terrors of the night
in your bed of delusions, its sheets crisp and white
with your lover beside you and the sun on the floor
surrounded by all the good things you adore
but you wish you could speak to them
the ones you have seen in your dream
you'd ask them 'what does it mean that my dreams
have become the machines of my grief?'
You emptied all the coffers to buy machines of war
while a shivering ex-serviceman starves right outside your door
you run to the churchyard to bury your head
or seek some forgiveness from the souls of the dead
but they won't forgive you, they're not even there
and all you can squeeze out is an insincere tear
the further you go, the further you run
the longer the shadows cast by the fast-setting sun
till it stares at you coldly straight in the eye
the witness to every damned deed you tried to hide
the witness to every one of your lies
then it sinks and leaves you alone with the night
now only the mirror can see what you've done
and it won't forgive you, it's just like the sun
nor will your family, nor the police
not even the prisoners you have released
but its in your own heart where the judgement is found
it's there with the sound of the pound of your soul going down
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5. |
Masterplan
03:28
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This is a story told to me by and old friend (in a dream)
she said
"It's all part of the masterplan"
and saying this she took my hand
and led me deep into her heartland
behind the rusted ruins of her garden gate
we explored so many delightful terraces in the moonlight
making our way slowly and inevitably down
to the musky old duck pond
i said "how many poets came here before me?"
she said "not too many!"
then she grabbed my hand and we flew
far over the wine-dark sea
to alight on a beach somewhere in Sicily
and she lay beside me and tole me her history
"i've been measuring the worth of a word" she said
"it came out about one cow per pound
or more if it's frosty - but if you follow the rainbow
you'll find a rich silver path-"
and she reached up into the lime tree bower
and snapping off a twig, began to construct something
there on the sand
and turning to me she said "if your heart is a fire
your bed must be a pyre!"
And suddenly Byron was there, and Trelawny and Hunt
and Byron took his pistol and fired it straight
into a cloud. And a dog barked, and the fire sparked
and the flames were hot, so hot and good
as they licked that tortured twisted limewood
and laying there i understood my part in the masterplan
then she let go of my hand
and found herself another man
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6. |
Wait
02:44
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Wait Please wait for me
I'm not too far behind you
if you turn around you'll see
Wait! I'm catching up
I got left behind you
while my life got all screwed up
Just standing here in the dark
with a venomous snake in my hand
and Hades in my bed
I can see you up ahead
sunshine on your shoulder
turning your head
So please, don't leave me behind
i like to hear your Lyre, I've changed my mind
Wait - just don't look straight at me
that is the one condition - and I want to be free
Thanks for coming down
I'm sorry I made you sad
cause it was good, it was good what we had
I'm sorry, I'm sorry it all went bad
So wait, please wait for me
I'm catching up, getting it together can't you see
Please don't leave me behind
it was good when we were together
Ive changed my mind
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Muletonic Canberra, Australia
Artist website: www.forkword.com
soundcloud (demos etc):
soundcloud.com/muletonic
mastodon: mastodon.nz/@spinal
instagram:
www.instagram.com/wattnot_/
... more
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