1. |
The Plan
01:57
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2. |
Played by the Game
03:44
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The curdled milk of kindness
Intensity of blindness
We need to take control
And blow the dream to hell
The citadel forsaken
Invited to be taken
Most of all we matter
Bugs about to splatter
In over our heads, pushing and swinging all the way
We've gone past the fence, it's all making sense
The undo command
Raging with excitement
Licensed to act on it
It's unconditional
Some would call it love
Built upon objection
To all the intersection
We're reaching the crescendo
The apex of our lies
In over our heads, blows raining harder on the way
We've broken the door, taken the floor
Running the show
Played by the game, rolled like the dice
Believed in the conjure and doubled down twice
Played by the game, counter and steal
So educated that we outwit the real
In over our heads, where the hell are they?
They've gotta pay
Exactly why we've got to try?
The hell do we know
Played by the game, rolled like the dice
Believed in the conjure and doubled down twice
Played by the game, played by the game
Abandoned, it's over - played by the game
Music and lyrics by Stanton Hall
No Can Do Music 2021
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3. |
Gettin' Started Late
03:18
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We played around as the deal got real
Put on an act and faked commitment
Just pissed away the quickly passing days
We fell behind and got nothing done
So much to answer for, so little time, a lot to prove
We've got to move
Gettin' started late, now we're catching up, oh yeah
Made a mess of everything but now we're paying up, yeah yeah yeah
I meditated even though I'm not Zen
Got deep inside my head but now I kind of feel whole again...now and then
Did not deliver much of quality
Still waste a day or two but I'm improving here and there
Just might get somewhere
Gettin' started late, now I'm catching up, oh yeah
Growing better late than never, the bloom is still to come, yeah
Sometimes there's shame, made nothing of our name
I'm gonna do just a little more and make it up to you
Gettin' started late, now we're catching up, oh yeah
Made a mess of everything but now we're paying up, yeah yeah yeah
Gettin' started late, now I'm catching up, oh yeah
Growing better late than never, the bloom is still to come, yeah
Sometimes there's fear, but remember, be clear:
The thoughts will pass us by, and the darkness, too
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4. |
Faces
02:49
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Full disclosure: I had some wine
Probably swerved along a line
But my story is correct
Even with the slurred affect
Look, I’ll get straight to the point:
The people crowded in the joint
I needed buffer, I needed space
With all the breathing in my…
Face, the faces in my face
The faces I suspect
All you sweet exposed faces
Back away, back away, back away
Headed toward the exit door
Got jammed in place, stuck to the floor
It’s like these people all forgot
All that hiding was for naught
While I wiggled in the stack
I spilled somebody’s ice and Jack
They turned and eyed me in my place
And I prayed they wouldn’t spit in my…
Face, the faces in my face
The faces I suspect
All you sweet exposed faces
Back away, back away, back away
I used to be a social man
Warmest hugs and touching hands
But paranoia’s now in style
And it will be for a while
I love you, my dearest friends
Affection lasts until the end
But please refrain from an embrace
And keep your distance from my…
Face, the faces in my face
The faces I suspect
All you sweet exposed faces
Back away, back away, back away
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5. |
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I went down to the market that long day
Saw the mushrooms here and there that fine day
So many choices, so many choices
We're trying to get a, we're trying to get ooooh-ooh-oooh-uh-oooh-ooh
We're trying to get so many actions, here and there, they're coming at you anywhere - but I picked one, felt strange
Though it seemed worried and complicated, as if I need Grammarly in my brain right now
I grabbed them up, what did I did? What did I do?
Later I'll be wishing I didn't waste three dollars or two
Oooh-uh-uh-uh-ooooh-ooh
Oooh-uh-uh-uh-ooooh-ooh
Went to the market to see what they were
I paid for them, uh-uh-oh
But when I paid I didn't really know what I was looking for
Got back home and I washed them off
When I tried another bite I felt there was some craziness happening
Turn it out turn it out turn it out
Swing it out swing it out swing it out and then I realized [scat singing ensues]
Things are going crazy, those mushrooms that I ate
Those mushrooms, mushrooms, why did I buy those mushrooms?
As if a disco party was at myself
I felt the waves crashing in, got to move it the right way
Got a list and I was growing closer
"I gotta run" but I felt myself
I felt my legs staying still as if they didn't move i was digging along
My eyes were sore, I did not know.
What did I eat?
There were giant squirrels and monkeys so tiny but what was it in?
There was an elephant the size of ant, an ant the size of an elephant!
Things were crossword, upside down, spinnin', spinnin', spinnin' around!
Da-dada-da-da-da-da-da, don't eat those mushrooms
Why did I waste my money there and uhhhhhhhh!
Back on the couch I feel myself wrong
I groan, "What did I do?"
Gotta call the doctor today, I'm gonna call the doctor
I'm really gonna have to call someone for those mushrooms, mushrooms
So 'til then, I'm out at the doctor - see ya there!
[end scat]
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6. |
A Touch of Confession
02:01
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His friends all think he's gone blind
Just lost the plot completely, stuck inside the introduction
He's drifted right past the line
Too busy hanging on his every word
He tears his ticket in half (don't do that, don't do that)
But needs both ends to recover his broken voice and spirit
His lock is picked so he laughs (broken spirit laughs)
He should've known their hands were in him good
He might've understood
Just dying for a bit of attention
Climbing shoulders on the ascension
Riding the road paved with his intentions
Wherever he's headed, baby, that's where he goes
Begging for a touch of confession
'Cause nothing beats the taste of a lesson
He knows he always can count on deep discretion
However they'll have him, baby, that's how he'll go
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7. |
What What (What)
01:05
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8. |
Topical Depression
03:41
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Stuck inside a padded box
Drawing parallels, taking stock
What will you draw from your topical depression, and on and on and on?
Invite you in but you know I can't
Stand at the door and hear you rant
If I were you I'd like to do the same
Everyone's turned on themselves and each other
Hit us again and give us another
Oh, just to paddle away to a sandbar we mistake for an island
Hiding from the fire smoke
Curling 'round your tender throat
How will you beat back your topical depression, and on and on and on?
We dream of meeting in our tiny room
And not around a viral tomb
But which is likelier, I wish I knew
Everyone's turned on themselves and each other
Hit us again and give us another
Oh, we pine for the day when we can breathe freely and without any cover
And I'm just strumming away to a bridge that needs a sturdier structure
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9. |
Yet Again
02:36
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It's gonna just tear up my heart
When we go through this dance again
In fact, it's not even a dance
Because I don't know how to reach for your hand
Fell into a hole of doubt
I can't reach the rungs to climb out
And it's tearing my heart yet again
It's gonna just darken my dreams
When reality hardens and holds
The truth of the matter is clear
There is no road that won't dead-end in tears
Deep in impossible math
No solution with you in my path
And it's darkening my dreams yet again
I've read every tale of woe
And watched every scene of devastation
So I know that I've cast my role and it's not the hero
No, I'm not the hero
It's gonna blow my fantasy
When I finally make my move
You'll look down at your whiskey drink
And say "I really don't know what to think"
My fixation I've come to find
Neglected to require your mind
It's blowing my fantasy again
But surely my life is made - why do I feel so afraid?
I'll go tearing my heart yet again
I'll go tearing my heart yet again
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10. |
Left Turn on 5 Forks
03:26
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You came by my house Wednesday after school
Guitars in the driveway, flowers spelled out by you
It was time to go home, return your mom's car
Just a left turn on Five Forks, but you didn't get far
No, not nearly far enough
A crunch and a shatter, I ran to your door (we'd just been playing guitars)
Didn't know if you could hear me, was afraid to know more (we'd just made plans for a show)
Called your mom from the pay phone, day was changing to night (we'd always know each other)
Just a left turn on Five Forks, if only it was right
Yes, it would have been enough
I'm doing the nice slow fade
You're encased in amber
Oh, I'm afraid I'll forget who you were (what a fine one you were, what a fine you)
You've been gone longer than you were around (but you're still around, I can feel you)
So many trips taken 'round a star (another trip around the star, and I still miss you)
And I'm not the only one who brings you to mind
We keep you in mind, we won't release you
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11. |
Comment, Comment
02:34
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Been forever since I've seen a face that I could touch
People flattened in two dimensions, they speak too much
I go out and wander in a crowd, they're all looking down
I don't know how they manage it, no
I've been catching up on useless dreams about waking up
My fingers arguing with total strangers
Make my point and change the mind of no one
Why should I? Just to hear myself?
Maybe I'm the fool for checking in
When I could be with someone, touching skin
Comment, comment - oh, everybody wants to
Comment, comment - oh, got to know about your
Comment, comment - you know I've gotta comment, too
Used to know about you in the flesh, you made me laugh
But when I heard your words instead of hearing
Your tone was wrong, your atonal song
Are you a person or persona playing a villain in an endless film?
It's been shooting in the same location since we last touched skin
Comment, comment - oh, everybody wants to
Comment, comment - oh, got to know about your
Comment, comment - I've got comments!
Tonight we're gonna go eye to eye, voice to voice
And try to remember what we like about each other
Comment, comment - oh!
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12. |
Definite Indefinite
03:22
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What of the time?
It shrinks and it stretches and stalls
Where has it gone?
Forever and never at all
All of this time, you are here and you are real
Keeping it close, the steadiest keel
On this definite, indefinite and circuitous course
That we run
Depending and being depended upon
Until a foothold is won
What is this life?
Projecting straight into a fog
How will it play out
When it offers no true analog?
Worry the head with thoughts that go uncatalogued
All of this life, you’ve been here and oh so real
Lying so close, the warmest of feels
On this definite, indefinite and circuitous course
That we’re on
Depending and being depended upon
Until the danger is gone
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The Harmony Motel Portland, Oregon
The Harmony Motel is a project of Portland, OR songwriter Stanton Hall, also bass player-vocalist for The Zags: thezags.bandcamp.com
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