week twentythree: holy rider pt. 2

holy rider pt. 2

hunker down you said to me
there’s a preacher in the country that i wanted you to see

sunday morning hallelujah
saturday liquor like a river running through you

preacher said i’m a holy rider
if you’re going out i’m a set your fire

he grew his roses in the garden
grew his marijuana in the kitchen closet

the police shot a thousand dead
if you’re taking a body you better be in a bed

preacher said i’m a holy rider
if you’re going out i’m a set your fire

sawbones cut out the baby
drove back home in a new mercedes

and yeah i’m asking you to pay
but keep it if you need it i’ve been doing okay 

preacher said i’m a holy rider
if you’re going out i’m a set your fire

ah my brown eyes
see a little better in the middle of the night

and if you ever get a bit of burning in you for me
make a little love and then you call me in the morning

preacher said i’m a holy rider
if you’re going out i’m a set your fire

week twentyone: oil ship

oil ship

liza i remember you in gold
lying on a hotel floor some seven years ago
telling me compassion is an act
and all that i can do for you is make your cells synapse
and you said the explosions in your mind
are getting smaller all the time

and i didn’t know you much back then
and i don’t know you now except for what i’ve made up since
my mind can ride a story like a train
you married once in budapest then fled the lion’s mane
cause you said the explosions in your mind
are getting smaller all the time
(all the) time became an oil ship at sea
slow and you were half aboard and half a sort of free
and you could hear the whales in your sleep
soft and low
warm and sweet

and you imagined horses in a cage
every time the aching hull collided with the waves
and every shore a standing circus crowd
gaping as the elephants pumped oil from the ground
and you said the explosions in your mind
are getting smaller all the time
(all the) time became an oil ship at sea
slow and you were half aboard and half a sort of free
and you could hear the whales in your sleep
soft and low
warm and sweet

week twenty: the tiny horses of farmer cy and your cat floozie

the tiny horses of farmer cy and your cat floozie

oh you had a lot to give
and i know you don't think you did
the water under teeming fog
i’m way the hell inside of it

tiny horses neighing nights
that you got drunk and tried to ride
on the corner farmer cy
came out screaming shooting high

one horse bit your tawny cat
the lightning strike across her back
you chased him through the morning grass
how mad you were how hard we laughed

you were wild then i know
i know you think you’ve never been
you were wild then i know
i know you think you’ve never been

summer where the water’s low
the crayfish armor hollow gold
you fall asleep holding her
and dream you live below the stones

way into the morningtime
her on you like a motorbike
you say you know she'll leave you soon
you say you hope she’ll be all right

you were wild once i know
and way the hell inside a love
i know you were wild once i know
and oh wasn’t everyone

week nineteen: of songs and time

of songs and time

all that i know
all i don’t
you sing
so do i
way up in the great north white

we went for to see
what we’d be
singing songs every night
and if it’s good for yours it’s good for mine

i was afraid that all goes away
now i see you walking by
and if i knew you then
i know you all the time

oh santa fe
what a waste
of songs and time
texas still on everybody’s mind

we sold what we could
in hollywood
and drove through the night
morning broke the mountains open wide

i was afraid that all goes away
now i see you walking by
and if i knew you then
i know you all the time

i thought someday we’d have nothing to say
now that’s not what’s on my mind
cause if i knew you then
i know you all the time

week eighteen: amapolas pt.3

amapolas pt. 3

here i go
here i go to live my only one
carajo
on the end of adelaida’s tongue

oh mama how do you love me so
i woke up with his song in my head
we borrow our bodies and every name is a debt
i’ve got 3 i haven’t paid yet

hey luís
don’t you know i loved you my whole life
way out there
we could never get the timing right

so it went
and so it goes
we’ll sing the songs we know
i was wrong and that’s all right it’s fine it’s mine it’s time here i go

adelaida
way out there it’s like you never lived
except for us
so don’t we owe you something more than this

oh mama how do you love me so
i woke up with his song in my head
we borrow our bodies and every name is a debt
i’ve got 3 i haven’t paid yet

so it went
and so it goes
we’ll sing the songs we know
i was wrong and that’s all right what i feel and who i’m by have never lined up right it’s fine it’s mine it’s time here i go

week seventeen: oh i

oh i

summer of 2005
oh i had a lot of time
and just to get back to you
i swam to the canadian side

flickering like gasoline
hovering on lake erie
but if the gold was gold to you
honey then the gold was gold to me

oh i never got that far oh i

wore my shoes a thousand miles
going in and out of style
they took me through the endlessness
and kept me on my feet for a while

they had a lot of holes i guess
i had a little hopelessness
and if you went and found another
honey that was probably for the best

oh i never got that far oh 

i saw the moon come around
and the morning dew coming down
and i saw a little fox
tear a baby rabbit from the ground

i thought that wasted time
was worse than any other kind
but if the fox has something in the morning
in the evening he’ll be fine

oh i never got that far oh i 

week sixteen: keep it down

keep it down

sheila goes around
sheila’s got a husband and she’s got a boy in town
i keep it down

now she’s stuck inside
she says all her brittle little bones are bound to die
i keep it down

all the love i know
ringing like a bell in the back of my throat
i keep it down

all my hiding out is over now
when they ask me why i'm back around
i say the flowers bloom like oooooooo
i keep it down

week fifteen: coming up low

coming up low

all month the moon coming up low coming up low coming up low
all month the moon coming up low coming up low coming up low
i was selfish and i was mean
and i was after their money
all month the moon coming up low coming up low coming up low

i watched you dress in the soft white light of the morn
i watched you dress in the soft white light of the morn
i was desperate and i was hopeless
except for hoping that you wouldn't notice
i watched you dress in the soft white light of the morn

sometimes the night comes crashing down over us
sometimes the night comes crashing down over us
i get quiet and i get cold
and all you ask of me is that i lay it down low
sometimes the night comes crashing down over us

if there's a cure it's dancing in the dark
if there's a cure it's dancing in the dark
and i can feel you spinning wild
i can see for the first time in a while
if there's a cure it's dancing in the dark

all month the moon coming up low coming up low coming up low
all month the moon coming up low coming up low coming up low
i awoke and you were missing
and you left me a letter in the kitchen
all month the moon coming up low coming up low coming up low

week fourteen: never will the same thing do

never will the same thing do

if i had a heart i'd call you from the doorway
and if you had a heart that's two
whenever you lie down wanting something more
hey never will the same thing do

in the morning we could wake up like a couple mice
in the hollow of a hardwood floor
make a little fire in a little wood stove
keep our little bodies warm

all i ever wanted is walking out the doorway
all i ever needed too
whatever you get you want a little more
hey never will the same thing do

oh dear you said to me
i don't care what's true
whatever makes a sad boy sing
never will the same thing do

oh dear you said to me
i don't think you're my kind
oh i went and did so much
while you stayed behind

oh no don't tell me that
i'll wonder why
i'll come out holding my hat
looking at the other guys

oh dear you said to me
these two things are true
we'll never live another life
and never will the same thing do

week thirteen: if our bodies also rise

(a poem)

if our bodies also rise

our house in a lowland
lost to the ocean
on the northern coast
when the waters rose

we can't stay you said
so i drove us to lena's
the baby comes tomorrow

lena put both of her hands on your belly
it's happened before
she said it's happened before

sometimes the waters rise
and it sounds like oh 

then she was born wild and warm
with her hands in her mouth
looking around

lena said all of our bodies begin
as something that floats
as someone you know

sometimes the waters rise
and it sounds like oh

sometimes the waters rise
like they're doing now

and if you're not listening
you're bound to drown

sometimes the waters rise
like they are tonight
and if our bodies also rise
i hope it sounds like oh

week twelve: our father's house

our father's house 

when our father died she got the house
she moved back with all her clothes
in boxes made for bees

the yard of rust and sugarcane
a cadillac car for scrap
all full up of weeds 

otherwise the rain the sleet
i know she had a lot to give
and most of it for free

keep it close she said to me
when you find whatever or whoever you need

say you won't
you won't ever leave

she carried it all the way back home
the deer hide was winter white
and loose as willow leaves

and what is it it that gathers you
she asked me through the red tin roof
and hung to dry with holly vines
the venison in sheets

say you wont
you won't ever leave

otherwise i wanted to stay
then i saw the morning light
a flashlight through my skin
all blood red and wet veins
i thought i'd have something to give
but nothing ever came

say you wont
you won't ever leave

otherwise i left town
i don't miss it all that much but i wish i could call her now

she'd say i hope you're keeping some of what you've found
she'd say i hope you know the woods are full
of high and hungry sounds

say you won't
you won't ever leave

Week Eleven: Holler When You're Giving It Away

holler when you're giving it away

i heard in your insistence
you were sorry that you came
all that you said was
holler when you're giving it away

the water pouring down
i could hardly see your face
all i could think was
all this rain

holler through all this rain

if you drive to cleveland
be careful what you play
a song is like a house now
holler when you're giving it away

what you could call delusion
they call getting paid
all i could think was
all this rain

holler through all this rain

i was thinking about that painting on your bedroom wall
do you talk about it now with someone else
do you sleep all day and work through the night
half lit and half ashamed of yourself
and sometimes a moment
way down in the morning
like a fluttering
goes close to unfelt
the dirty white wings through the open windows
the birdsongs like wedding bells
holler if you need a little help

the weather in ohio
if you're asking
is the same
the crows are lost inside the clouds
holler when you're giving it away

the country of distraction
the momentary age
all that you got boy
holler when you're giving it away

holler through all this rain

Week Nine: Eddie's Wine

eddie's wine

i have used all my goodbyes
the forest shines at night with high and hungry sounds
you don't have to stay forever but don't go leaving me now

my friend where would you go
everyone i know talks of leaving sometimes
but leaving is reductive and eddie brought this bucket full of wine

he's preaching to an audience of stars
he says we'll always be exactly where we are
and over time we find the better parts

they discovered some new kind
and they built a new horizon just to satisfy their greed
but there's no amount of running that'll get them where they think they want to be

eddie grows grapes on the vines
you can smell them up in westfield when the wind is blowing right
they're small and they are bitter and they make for good shitkicker wine

he's lying on the roof of his car
he says you'll always be exactly what you are
so why don't you try to find the better parts

he tells it to an audience of stars
you can go around this world and still be where you are
this syllabus is just a list of foods that make you starve
and if you let it save your soul it's going to break your heart
cause when the movie ends you still be sitting in the dark
all you can do is find the better parts

Week Seven: "As Much A Rising Sun As A Setting One (pt.2)"

as much a rising sun as a setting one (pt.2)
by max garcía conover

princess you're not answering the letters i've been leaving on your doorsteps
i said "the sun will shine on me" 
she said "it hasn't yet"

wasn't this supposed to be temporary just to pay the bills a bit
i said "the sun will shine on me"
she said "it hasn't yet"

but the sun comes up over all of us doesn't it

in new sweden there's a man i know
who makes his money working for rich folks
and he says "the sun only shines on them"

he worked jobs he says he won't work anymore
he broke his back working at his father's store
and for what
the sun never came out once

even though we ain't got money
i'm so in love with you honey

and the sun will shine on us
i swear it's coming

in the morning when i rise
you bring a tear of joy to my eyes

the streets will be lined
with the yellow moose signs
and the snow covered pines
you and i will be fine
where the water is wine
where the sun shines

in new sweden there's a man i know
who died on sunday
he was 32 years old
and i won't wait for the sun anymore

here i go