1. |
Revival
02:04
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Lyrics by Mister December
Music by The Old Smugglers
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2. |
All Insulated
03:07
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I've got a big brass monkey on my back
And I'm not going back
The weight is like a comfort on these long a bleary days
I can't walk away
In the alleyways at night I find my stride
Echoes of the day keep me in line
There's a special kind of chill runs up the spine
That does agree we justify our misery
You can shake rattle and spin your words
until the cross-hairs fall from your inklings
I think it's revenge that I seek more than apology
Being the bigger man cheapens the pain
Won't be missed when I drag them
Kicking and screaming out to their grave
You can shake rattle and spin your words
until the cross-hairs fall from your inklings
When we dig in deep, you're fast asleep, all insulated
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3. |
Wag Your Finger
03:38
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It's all sound and no fury
burning from the top down
You cut your teeth on ignorance and
boredom and you deserve your reward
Don't wag your finger like the Devil doesn't lie
Floodgates burst and you look towards the sky
Dreams are buried under bones and smiles
Of course you're always on the right side
Cut me to the quick with that look now I'm shaken
Pins and needles couldn't drag me along, now I'm gone
There's an answer for your everything in spite of its validity
Walking on water isn't just treading the truth
Don't wag your finger like the Devil doesn't lie
Floodgates burst and you look towards the sky
Dreams are buried under bones and smiles
Of course you're always on the right side
Storm clouds break under pretense of fate
And I'm dying for your apology
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4. |
Shake of the Bones
02:47
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Try your luck with a shake of the bones
That spill into the gutter's reach
Hurry up it only costs your soul
Dignity and beliefs
Double down and split your tongue
White knuckle fists clenched tight
You've almost filled a slack-jaw's run
With a kettle of tar and bucket of blight
Underneath the grin is a crying shame
Drawn up by the lucky and...
Step right up (Who's next)
What's your number (Toe the line)
I'll wait 'til the spring in your step
falls rusted and broken at your heels
I couldn't hold my breath that long
While the red suits dig their nails into me
With a dagger and a wink, and I'm always sure the difference
Twixt smell and stink
I know this broken pipe only flows one way
From up on your throne as you sully the day
Flashing painted teeth with implied acquiescence
Drills down deep through the sympathetic presence
We all spill a leak and drown in frustration
As the lifeboat seats only those above your station
I couldn't hold my breath that long
Step right up (Who's next)
What's your number (Toe the line)
I'll wait 'til the spring in your step
falls rusted and broken at your heels
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5. |
Below Zero
05:11
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Your river runs so deep
and my boots are laced
Every time you open your mouth
your shit river runs so deep
And all the while he assumes
I'll be wrong in my every move
She's crying three sheets to the wind
On power she created within her four
walled world becomes more narrow
Just like the streets
when it hits below zero
The screams in your pillowcase
Are carefully placed
Skewed self righteousness
still spills whenever it helps
Your river runs so deep and my boots are laced
every time you open your mouth
you think that you're right
And all the while you sleep sound
Every night he assumes
That she tried her every move
He's crying three sheets to the wind
On memories he created within his four
walled world becomes more narrow
Just like the streets
Just like the way he perceives the screams
in her sleep
Just like when it hits below zero
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6. |
Rage at the Wind
03:19
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The static crackles all of your mistakes
Knocks on the door as subtle as a gunshot
Keeps me guessing which way to hide
The echoes always lie
There's a snare trap waiting down the hall
By the pile of shit that's ready to fall
Broken dreams and disjointed thoughts
Spread too thin to carry any weight
Don't launder your troubles in an elevator shaft
Where the hand break slips and the cam travel laughs
We're all stuck together for a day and a half
And the only way up is down (down down)
You couldn't wait for the key to turn
If you're on fire then everybody burns
Need a pull to wash down the flame
To keep this flood at bay
The coil has sprung and we all get sheared
Walking on eggshells past the verdant field
No more excuses not how it is
The wheels have flown off and all you do is
Rage at the wind, rage at the sky
Rage at the satellites too
The only thing waiting at the end of the line
Is what your hoard inside
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7. |
Hotboxed on Hai Karate
04:16
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You've beached yourself, you got too damn close
Pulled on the thread when you should be headed home
Lost in glasses and wrapped up tight
Another fist shake through the wall
I can feel it in my bones it's coming around
The swift hand of God will tear it all down
I can feel it in my bones it's coming around
The swift hand of God will tear it all down
Shuffled and bleary is a hell of a dance
We all turn a blind eye to the chance of
Creeping down the hall or be put on the spot
Swaying in the room where you left us feeling
Hotboxed on Hai Karate, let's all take another pull
Thanks for nothing motherfucker and thanks again
We weave our regrets from the cast offs of beliefs
Shove it down deeper maybe no one will see
The center line is faded as you drift into the beams
It feeds the need to be bigger than today
Unfurled statements pave the way
Ring the clarion call show the wrinkles and all
and how we might fall
There's a little less recoil on each successive burst
A little less reckoning a lot more thirst
Hotboxed on Hai Karate, let's all take another pull
This looks like a place for a breakdown
A good place to rattle a cage
This looks ike a place for a breakdown
Upend the lot to loosen some change
I can feel it in my bones it's coming around
The swift hand of God will tear it all down
Shove it down deeper maybe no one will see
The center line is faded as you drift into the beams
It feeds the need to be bigger than today
Unfurled statements pave the way
Creeping down the hall or be put on the spot
Swaying in the room where you left us feeling
Hotboxed on Hai Karate, let's all take another pull
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8. |
Shovel in the Dirt
03:59
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The fire and brimstone wouldn't be so bad,
Keep one foot in the cooler on the charcoal pad
Loosen the collars tear off the sleeves
I'm the last mother fucker to ever leave
I roll up heavy to the curtain call
Spitting bluster drinking shine
knock past the looky-loos
I'll slap (down) your book and you sign mine
Open up your heart and I'll show you where it hurts
I'll be dancing on your grave before they shovel in the dirt
Open up your soul I'll make sure it hurts
I'll be dancing on your grave before they shovel in the dirt
The living were all set up resplendent in vapid flavor
Dreamt up by a madman still shouting at the burning vapor
In his bunker he spits and sputters to the lot
And the static will tell you it's been this way more often than not
With a slow roil under the breath the interpretations get cloudy
But that doesn't stop the proselytizing masses getting lousy
With the loudest voice that hits you like a squall
As your bloodied hands reach toward the sky from tearing at the wall
Open up your heart and I'll show you where it hurts
I'll be dancing on your grave before they shovel in the dirt
Open up your soul I'll make sure it hurts
I'll be dancing on your grave before they shovel in the dirt
Sour patches threw the latches, where he kept the nightmare fuel
he said, “the satellites are out tonight, you'd better dream a little lower
until the frequency changes from red to blue, well the words are stacked under the stares
and I've heard that mumblings get stored in the plaster."
Now wait a minute before you slam that door
I've got mine but I want yours
Just a little peek under the hood it won't cost you a dime
Fire it up, test it out, a satisfied customer every time
A bad rep is good for business
You can't argue with all that I've witnessed
Dressed sharp, biting tongue sharper
I'll skirt you 'round the many rules written by the many fools
Open up your heart and I'll show you where it hurts
I'll be dancing on your grave before they shovel in the dirt
Open up your soul I'll make sure it hurts
Open up your eyes while I do my worst
You'll never see it coming 'cause I never can behave
And I'll be dancing on your grave
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9. |
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Scratch and scramble through the bramble of your wake
I'm sure someone will give a shit there's nary a mistake
Driving splinters deep beneath the floor to keep me rooted in place
Lofty thoughts can't carry me too far
I am reminded, I won't relinquish
You misspoke and now we all carry the burden
Picking out the gravel from the knocked down hurdle
The shadows wake they stretch and they strain
Pulling hard at my restrain
Tugging at the drawstrings of yesterday's dreams
Fill it full of buckshot until it blows out the seams
A shot of pride with a chaser of contempt
We'll blow the doors off the hinges
I am reminded, I won't relinquish
You misspoke and now we all carry the burden
Picking out the gravel from the knocked down hurdle
The shadows wake they stretch and they strain
Pulling hard at my restrain
I'm a blasting rod a real live wire
Don't you weigh your intentions on the scale of my desires
I'm a coping mechanism designed to fail
Right before your eyes I break the disguise
Of all the times we lay empty and shattered on the floor
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10. |
Last Ditch Plan
03:31
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As a last ditch plan, you carved your name in sand
Pointed at the sky, and said, “take me if you can!”
When the dream split open and turned like autumn leaves
Lying on the floor in droves, ground up under feet
That show the strain, broken and resigned
Head to the ground, you settle in
When the storm clouds broke, your heart stuck in your throat
Pointed at the sky, and said, “try to take this boat!”
Awakened by the killing frost that strangled your last breath
Dragged down through the sewer grate alone with all the rest
And there you wait, flash-blind and dazed
Eyes to the west, you pray for rain
As the firing pin sheared, you wiped your brow in fear
Pointed at the sky, and said, “take me if you can!”
Wandered 'cross the broken shells of a day splayed on its back
Holding fast to the dying thought to find its way back home
But not today, swept far away
Hands to a fist, you feel the weight
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11. |
Goodnight
02:43
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Embrace your scars, your trophies of life
Leftover evidence of growth through to the other side
Back of my left hand reminds me
Back of my neck reminds me
Back of mind is proof
That no one can be redeemed.
Goodnight
this is not a metaphor but your house is dirty
Goodnight
the path is here and it is clear you just refuse to clean
Mystery, contempt and conspiracy
to extinguish your morning light that exposes your hypocrisy
Back of my left hand reminds me
Back of my neck reminds me
Back of mind reminds me
That I wish I was brave enough
to show the world and take a knee.
Goodnight
this is not a metaphor but forgiveness is not enough
Goodnight
for the suffering of some and the lives they lost
Goodnight
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12. |
Black Black Night
04:42
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I fired my cannons up into the air, aiming at the sky
Sooner or later you're bound to hit something
Lost in every breath I shuffled this way and that
Every muscle in a strain to make a guess
Well n ow sometimes you gotta throw caution to the wind
Sometimes you gotta drown it in a lake
Jump in head first with broken legs
It's time to preach what you practice
Cuz you practice all the time
Tossing out those lines burying your mines
Waiting for some sucker to stumble in
Well somebody said you better slow down just to see where you have been
I said “Hell no man, you gotta pick up the pace
cuz there's too many places that still need my tread”
It gets fuzzy in the overcast and haze like you're sleepwalking
A record-skipped memory of a broken dream
It gets contagious before it crumbles and gathers in little piles
For a breeze to take it and scatter with indifference
Because we're all a little bit of nothing trying to shout out
Into the void, well wrap it like a blanket, better own it, time to wake up
Hold on tight as we keep spinning, we keep digging, we keep hoping, never swaying
I'm sailing this ship right down into the black black night
Well there's shadows creeping pulling me under stairs
Where the red valve leaks and the boot print scars
The steam pipe sear the contempt like a brand
And I see you too when they slap our hands
They're digging a hole in the black black night
For you and you and you and me too
Clawing at the sides digging for relief
While they're marching up the steps with guns and beliefs
Fear and mistrust are the cards the Devil plays
But he's got a tell that gives him away
If he opens his mouth or looks with his eyes
The words that spill out are slathered in lies
You gottta shine your little spark into that festering maw
I'll add mine and here's what I think
Mix in our hopes and dreams and the sweat of the Devil's might
Stand tall raise a toast and drink away the black black night
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13. |
Low Tide
02:33
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The Old Smugglers Saint Paul, Minnesota
Scotch and coffee, smelling like smoke and grandpa, truckload of soup cans falling from the sky, Americana shanty sounds of regret and revelation.
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