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1. |
Things Are Looking Up
04:35
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THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
(Heath Cullen)
It’s a miracle, this world
it grew right up out of the ground
we are seven billion monkeys
burning it all down
We are Mother Nature’s big mistake
we are her Frankenstein
we’ve got to fight to give more than we take
it’s just not in our design
But have you seen your own reflection
in the bottom of a cup
so many things out there will get you down
but baby, things are looking up
In between the arrow and the swan
do you know just what we are
a circle line inside a circle song
we are dust around a star
We have all the information
and baby, we have all the tools
and you know Mother Nature, baby
she don’t suffer fools
And have you seen your own reflection
in a new born baby’s eye
have you seen a perfect cradle moon
upon a paper sky
The ocean drank the river
and the river caught the flood
while we fight to keep from drowning
in the memory of our blood
This miracle world
it grew right up out of the ground
while we fight to keep from burning
burning it all down
And have you seen your own reflection
in the bottom of a cup
the bastards try to grind you down
but baby, things are looking up
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2. |
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THE SONG ALWAYS REMEMBERS
(Heath Cullen)
The moon is low, the night is young
I hear your name on every tongue
the smoke has cleared from where it hung
and far away a tune is rising
I hear the branches creak from cold
the language new, but the song is old
the night has learned what the morning told
and far more than it could dream of
Is there heaven? is there hell?
is there a truth to the lies we tell?
we know there is, and all too well
like the sparrows know the morning
And is our story in our blood
a ballad writ before the flood
ash to ash, mud to mud
the song always remembers
Love and bread are all we need
still I'm out here with my steed
cutting sod and sowing seed
for some other hand to harvest
Every saint and every liar
will lead a verse at the final fire
it starts out low but the tune sails higher
and off like smoke into the morning
Is there heaven? Is there hell?
is there a truth to the lies we tell?
we know there is, and all too well
like the magpies know the morning
And is our story in our blood
a promise made before the flood
ash to ash, mud to mud
the song always remembers
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3. |
Song That I Know
04:10
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SONG THAT I KNOW
(Words Joe Henry, Music Heath Cullen)
I bring in the mail, climb up a tree
to hang out my clothes and I’ve hidden a key
that might let you in and then out beyond me
as ever the weather may climb––
Your choir of souvenir carnival toys,
they shake me awake with a deafening noise
of silence that speaks like the end of my voice
when the song I know leaves me behind
Oh, Absalom, Absalom: what do you say?
my horses refuse all this work without pay;
I plied them with beads and gambled that they
knew nothing of how we live free––
I’ve worn this cape since the dawning of time,
since long before Easter put blood in our wine;
and still, at the station, they keep me in line
as the song I know sings without me
Now, here come the tramps from the river below,
with the fire that they made in their hats as they go;
fuming and seizing the day –oh, I know
that rarely we find our way home––
for winners get taken apart in their rooms
as cities burn down by the big harvest moon
that rolls to the street like a birthday balloon
but the song that I know carries on
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4. |
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COWBOY TRUTHS (for Sam Shepard)
(Heath Cullen)
I will sing for you
these cowboy truths
motel dreams
and mad dog blues
sing, oh, sing
this song with me
if his aim was true
then his heart is free
It matter not
the trail behind
a cowboy must
always be kind
kind of word
and kind of deed
his hands are worn
but his heart is free
It matter not
I’ve oft been told
where the body lies
when the heart grows cold
his old cayuse
and his hackamore
are tethered now
by heaven’s door
And he sings a song
out across the plains
those mad dog blues
the old refrain
grant, oh grant
this wish to me
if his aim was true
that his heart is free
Grant, oh grant
this wish to me
if his aim was true
that his heart is free
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5. |
Don't Hurry Your Heart
03:01
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HURRY YOUR HEART
(Heath Cullen)
You held my heart
like a promising sky
and I held my breath
eager to fly
but just like a cloud
I watched you float by
saying honey, don’t hurry your heart
The chill in the air
the heat of the sun
the taste of black coffee
still on my tongue
the churn in my heart
the laugh of the birds
all say honey, don’t hurry your heart
So here’s to good fortune
here’s to your health
you can’t tell the tale
you must let it tell itself
it waits like a bottle
up on the shelf
be sure you’re not too slow to start
but honey, don’t hurry your heart
Every true story
was writ long ago
before there were tongues
that could tell it
each empty page
is a new song to sing
honey don’t hurry your heart
be sure you’re not too slow to start
but honey, don’t hurry your heart
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6. |
The Shape Of Your Name
03:38
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THE SHAPE OF YOUR NAME
(Heath Cullen)
The shape of your name
is a picture I know
like a face in the crowd
wherever I go
now shadows are calling
the light and it throws
the shape of your name
like a picture I know
It’s a broken line
it’s a tune I’ve heard
a thousand times
I know every word
the party is over
the bells all have rung
the shape of your name
like a song on my tongue
A southbound train
and a sky of birds
they rattle above
like a murmur of words
they light all around
and darken the sky
in the shape of your name
like a beautiful lie
It’s an honest game
that we’ve always played
a heart is a heart
a spade is a spade
but the world don’t tell
the reason it turns
the shape of your name
is a habit I’ve learned
The world don’t tell
the reason it turns
the shape of your name
is a habit I’ve learned
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7. |
The Last Match
03:52
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THE LAST MATCH
(Heath Cullen)
Baby, we’re the last match in the book
the one you didn’t know was there ’til you looked
now the wind’s on the rise, we got no place to hide
baby we’re the last match in the book
When I looked you up, I was tired, I was lost
I burned every bridge before I could even cross
now it’s cold and it’s dark, maybe we could find a spark
baby we’re the last match in the book
With no one to hold
the nights get cold
I had given up the fight
stick with me
and we’ll both see
we could set the dark alight
Baby we’re the last match in the book
maybe we’re the match that you overlooked
cup your hands to the fire, ‘cause the wind is getting higher
baby we’re the last match in the book
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8. |
Home
02:31
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HOME
(Heath Cullen)
We all need some place to hang our hat
what do we have if not that?
and we all need somewhere to return to when we roam
where can we go if not home?
Are you still as wild as you were as a child––
how far from the nest have you flown?
could you find your way back on your own?
and is home the place you belong
or is it just the place you came from?
Rain on windows
clock on the wall
dogs that come running
when you call
come back again
don’t you remember when
you danced me down the hall
to baby please don’t go
from your transistor radio
We all need some place to hang our hat
what do we have if not that?
and we all need somewhere to return to when we roam
where can we go if not home?
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9. |
Springtime In The Heart
03:36
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SPRINGTIME IN THE HEART
(Heath Cullen)
If you would like your tree to bear
the sweetest of its fruits
then you must never carelessly
throw salt upon the roots
I spend my sundays chopping wood
and tending to the hearth
it’s snowing on the mountains
but it’s springtime in the heart
And if you hope that others
might show kindness unto you
it pays to show to others
such a simple kindness too
I’ll spend my money in the town
and then I will depart
the autumn leaves drift by my window
but it’s springtime in the heart
We fight to keep from drowning
in the memory of our blood
but what’s the use pretending
if you can’t contain the flood?
we fight to keep from burning
in the heat of our desire
but what’s the use pretending
if you can’t contain the fire?
There are tourists in the market
there are tourists in the square
tourists in our secret places
fucking tourists everywhere
I’d send you my best wishes
but I don’t know where to start
now there’s a frost upon the meadow
but it’s springtime in the heart
There’s never been a better time
for love, now don’t forget
humanity is not a crime
at least it isn’t yet
I’ve spent a lifetime getting by
I’ve made of it an art
it’s winter in the heartland
but it’s springtime in the heart
The skies are all afeather
and all the birdies sing
the waiting and the weather
well, it doesn’t mean a thing
we wander through the wilderness
lay concrete on our tracks
but the wild in us will not be tamed
weeds claim the cracks
and how far will this go, my dear
before we make it stop?
they’re selling poison by the river
still we drink up every drop
I spend my sundays chopping wood
and tending to the hearth
it’s winter in the heartland
but it’s springtime in the heart
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10. |
Kill Switch
03:40
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KILL SWITCH
(T-Bone Burnett)
We killed them at the palace, babe
and we murdered them in Rome
we knocked them all dead, babe
then we brought it all back home
The big heat is coming down
like hail from the sky
don't look for me in the morning, babe
only kiss me goodbye
There are those who play for money, babe
there are those who play for fame
there are still those who only play
for the love of the game
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