1. |
Got to Me Since
03:43
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I wouldn’t do this if it could be helped
I’d rather never see you again
But I miss loving someone and you’re the only one who ever
Really held my heart in your hand
Because no one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me, since you got to me
No one’s really got to me since
I just keep going back and forth
I don’t want to make the same mistakes any more
I’d rather not know you than to have to go through
What I did, but I will, if you just say the word, I will
Because no one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me, since you got to me
No one’s really got to me since
Baby, I just want to be passionate again
No one’s really made the hairs on my heart stand up on
Stand up on end
You’re the one that I sing about
But all of my songs are down and out
When I’m somebody else and someone pulls a guitar out
I have to pretend I don’t know how
Because no one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me, since you got to me
No one’s really got to me since
Baby, I just want to be passionate again
No one’s really made the hairs on my heart stand up on
Stand up on end
Because no one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me since
No one’s really got to me, since you got to me
No one’s really got to me since
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2. |
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I met her the summer before, on the Fourth of July, outside the café store
She was feeding six packs into the back of an Isuzu
I drove past four times or so, before I finally pulled in and said hello
And that was all it took in that little town
When the summer was over, I followed her down to the desert, where she had a job
I didn’t have a whole lot going on
I drove down on Halloween, she met me at the gate with a kiss and a key
The moment I touched her, I knew I’d done something wrong
Because everything, but one thing, was perfect
I just didn’t know how to bring it up
The view was good, and the weather was perfect, and the rent was free
But love shimmered in the distance, with water and tall palm trees
We made love while dinner cooled on the stove
Somehow, I still managed to burn my tongue
When the dishes were dried and put away, I turned on the radio, a moth to the flame
While she pulled petals off a flower in the back of her mind
Because everything, but one thing, was perfect
But that one thing was the only thing worth the wait
Sometimes, when she’d lean in to kiss me, I could see it cross her face
And I knew I could never prove what she wanted me to say
At night, I-40 in the distance glowed to life
Garlanding the desert with white head- and red taillights
One night, she caught me at the window, praying on the high beams of a semi, and she said
“What are you thinking about?”
I said, “I know you’ve been waiting for me to love you
I’ve been waiting to feel the flush myself
But our love must be a mirage, and now’s the time to turn around
If it were real, I swear, we’d be there by now”
Now everything but one thing is perfect
I left her behind, I know she’ll be better off
Now I’ve got a full day’s drive, and I left all my favorite tapes behind,
Maybe now’s the time to write that song
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3. |
Arm's Length Away
03:30
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Oh, thank god there’s no service here
On this lonely gravel road
I was gonna call you just to say
I regret letting you go
I guess I’ll say it to the wind instead
And let all my regrets get blown
Oh, thank god there’s no service here
On this lonely gravel road
Oh, thank god the internet’s down
When I get home from the bar
I was gonna send you an email
About making a brand new start
I guess I’ll drag it to the trash instead
Where it can’t do any harm
Oh, thank god the internet’s down
When I get home from the bar
Because there used to be love between us
And now there’s just things we can’t say
And there are good reasons, though I sometimes forget them
That you’re not an arm’s length away
Oh, thank god it’s Sunday
And the post office is closed
I was gonna send you a letter
Telling you to come home
I’ll save a stamp and save myself
The trouble of raising my hopes
Oh, thank god it’s Sunday
And the post office is closed
Because there used to be love between us
And now there’s just things we can’t say
And there are good reasons, though I sometimes forget them
That you’re not an arm’s length away
Oh, thank god my bike got stolen
And I forgot to fill up the car
I was gonna go just knock on your door
And tell you I’ve been thinking hard
I guess I’ll stay home and just think some more
Until the future shows its cards
Oh, thank god my bike got stolen
And I forgot to fill up the car
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4. |
Madrona
04:27
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I waltzed for kindling, but her skinny dry stems
They burned up in a hot flash of embers and wind
I set you aside, my first kiss on the lips
Madrona, I swore I could forget
My guts kept saying your name
We laid on our backs, our hats nearly touching
At Indian Camp, under the stars
Even I know a good thing when she lays down beside me
What I didn't know then was how to get started
My guts keep calling your name
Madrona, you gave me too many chances
Of course, I wouldn't see it that way
Till you slipped away quiet, a skiff in a tempest
You dropped your rope and hid behind a wave
My guts kept saying your name
My guts kept calling your name
One day, I hope - I'll see your sail again
Or find your wobbly kid-sister scrawl in the mail again
I won't be so roundabout, I'll make you stay
My guts will finally have nothing left to say
Nothing left to say
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5. |
Not Yet
03:58
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In high school, they told me you gotta go to college
Because those blue-collar jobs don’t exist anymore
In college, I learned that a four-year degree
Is about as useful as a high school diploma was before
Some of my friends got jobs in coffee shops
Some fell to making music or writing poems
Some took out loans and went back to school
Some of them just went home
Me, I was afraid of getting stuck
Everybody said don’t get anybody pregnant
And don’t get a job in front of a computer screen
Not yet
Not yet
Not yet
You’ve got your whole life ahead of you
Enjoy it while you still can
That’s what everybody told me, as if youth were the last
Gasp inside a plastic bag
So I clung to my freedom greedily
I cut up all the credit cards they sent me
I kept my distance from long-term leases
I wanted a dog, but I never got one
I left my options open for so long
So long, they started drying out
When someone suggested I stick around
I’m not ready
Not yet
Not yet
Not yet
I was proud of having nothing but a bed in the back of my truck
And a Coleman stove, and a sleeping bag - almost nothing that I couldn’t give up
I could do almost anything I wanted, I could drive down to Mexico mañana
But I found myself wishing I had a little more that I could hold onto
I wanted something that I can’t let go, or replace at the next Sinclair
There’s a girl I miss
With silver streaks
In her hair
Making me wish
I was there
I pull off the interstate, and drive to her house
Park at the curb and try to get a grip
I curl my knuckles and I hitch up my heart
And knock on her front door
“It’s me,” I say, smiling blindly
Feeling familiar and out of sorts
I recognize the smell of her cigarettes
And some of the same plants on her front porch
I jiggle the doorknob and say, “Let me in”
I hear muffled voices and shuffled steps
Then she says, “No, don’t come in
I’m not ready, not yet”
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6. |
Say What You Want
02:57
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Say what you want, I’d know it if you loved me
I’d see it in your smile, feel it in your soft lips
Say what you want, I’d love to believe you
But true love is obvious
Say what you want, I’d know it if you loved me
I might be sentimental, but I’m not yet deaf or dumb
Say what you want, I know you’ve got
A better hold on your heart than you do on your tongue
Say what you want
Say what you want
Say what you want
I know what you mean
Lay with me, flatter me, fake it all night long
You can swear that we shared something special
But I get the feeling that you’re gonna bounce
When my heart tries to cash checks you wrote with your mouth
You just like watching me beg
You’re the one I want jumping out of my cake
I’m afraid, if I asked you that, you might say yes
Just to see yourself walk down the aisle in that dress
Say what you want
Say what you want
Say what you want
I know what you mean
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7. |
Limited Liability
03:42
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She gave me love, under the table
I was hard-pressed and not thinking straight
I'd been so long, dreaming of her ankles
Unsocked and locked across the back of my waist
She gave me love, under the table
She wouldn't even kiss me till we're out of state
She kept her hat on and made everywhere we went
Feel like a suite at the Super 8
She gave me love, under the table
She can't deny it, but she'll damn well try
She drove fourteen interstate hours to meet me
Without saying where she was going, or why
She wants it known that this is all off the record
Because she hasn't quite made up her mind
At first it thrilled me to be loving so recklessly
But now it kills me when she closes her eyes
I have read the terms and conditions
Stating that by this kiss you don't belong to me
I could've read the fine print a little closer
But I couldn't wait to click that little box that says I agree
And now she's got my number, and she don't owe me anything
She struck first, like Jaws or Hirohito
She dug her back against me in the back of my truck
I just caught her, and feelings came a-fueling
And we were someplace different when we woke up
She gave me love, under the table
She dropped it nonchalant into my sweaty palm
I took it home, and under the light of day
I saw that it was never really love at all
I have read the terms and conditions
Stating that by this kiss you don't belong to me
I could've read the fine print a little closer
But I couldn't wait to click that little box that says I agree
And now she's got my number, and she don't owe me anything
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8. |
One Way or Another
01:25
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I’ll be at your wedding, one way or another
Maybe I’ll be playing in the band
Maybe I’ll be working for the catering company
Switching out Sterno cans
Maybe I’ll be drinking white wine with your mom
Talking about the ways you’ve grown
Or I’ll be slamming La Croix in the back with your dad
Worrying about surveillance drones
Maybe I’ll be spending my time by the dumpster
Puking up all that free booze
Thinking about the days when you were my lover
But I couldn’t see things through
But I’ll be at your wedding one way or another
I’ll be at your wedding one way or another
I’ll be at your wedding one way or another
But I’d rather be up front with you
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9. |
Pilot Light
04:49
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Now, you’re saddled up with another and living in another state
I was never the kind of guy you went for anyway
The tortoise shell glasses, tousled mouse-nest hair, the hand-rolled cigarettes
The scuffy air of condescending, gleeful disenfranchisement
I’m still helplessly hopeful, and it’s got nothing to do
With if it’s the right time, or if I’m the right guy for you
When we keep in touch now, you say you’re so glad we’re still friends
I say I am, too, but I for one have been pretending
And I’ll always be pretending till I die or lose my cool
Or until you relent and say you’ve been pretending, too
Your heart is as patient and cocked
As a bead of balanced dew
Parapet cheekbones, eyes like oil
Poised above the moat
You keep yourself like a secret, you’d rather be left alone
I’ve just always liked you, and I can dull it down
But it’ll never quite shut off, or ever quite burn out
I’m like the light on your VCR that stays on even though you could’ve sworn you turned it off
I’ve got a heart with a pilot light that burns all night just in case you want to turn you on
Your heart is as patient and cocked
As a bead of balanced dew
Sitting heavy at the tip of a leaf
You are never gonna let me shake it loose
I’ll always be pretending, till I die or lose my cool
Or until you relent and say you’ve been pretending, too
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10. |
Read Between Your Lines
03:26
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I’m getting better at reading between your lines
Guess you had to let me down easy one too many times
It must mean something that you’re taking this long to decide
See, I’m getting better at reading between your lines
When we’re together, you give me all of the signs
That you’re in love, but maybe you’re just trying to be polite
I’m learning to stop myself short from falling this time
I’m just better at reading between your lines
You’re not the type that would usually catch my eye
You’re loud and flip, and you’ve got to be the center of attention all the time
But I saw past your brash exterior and on a sweeter side
I was just learning how to read between your lines
You sent me a letter that said nothing at all
I got the impression that you didn’t want to call
And I understood why, but I would’ve just rather
That you said goodbye
So that just for once, just for this one time
I wouldn’t have to read, read between your lines
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11. |
Matilda
00:52
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