1. |
New Amsterdam
04:27
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I stepped off the plane: new amsterdam, circa 1625. wood huts covered in thatch and roadways smothered in mud and I just wanted to hop on a frigate and get away cause I saw your ad in the classifieds in the evening post and I don’t know what to say cause you said it wasn’t like that. henry hudson, be my guide: we’ll sail upstream against the tide to find a new home. cause I don’t know, I don’t know this city anymore. no, I don’t know, no, I can’t find my way around. no, I don’t know, I don’t know this city anymore, so I stand in the filth in the middle of the road. skyscrapers shrunk back to the ground, everyone has drawn the bolts across their doors and the harbour is dark. there’s whiskey on the night wind but my dutch courage to face you has gone and I’m all alone on this island. I am navigating away from the fort and the stench of cows and manure. new amsterdam, circa 1625: I am leaving it behind. I will strike out on my own. (w. preston)
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2. |
Trains in Italy
05:07
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never trust the trains in italy, just a tangled mess of times and tracks. why you gotta be so rude, guy at the window? just trying to make my way to siena. let’s walk the mediterranean sea floor where the sun looks just like the stars. I’ll find that flowing gold azure back door to the city with a palace atop Mars. trying to make my way into your brain, but your skull is awfully hard to crack. as I comb the soft mazy surface I’m just trying to make my way from troy. and as I carry you through the foggy morn’, the sound of your crying travels far. but just when it seems our morale has been torn, I’ll make you warm and we’ll be dreaming of italy again. (s. hudes)
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3. |
Uniforms
06:08
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don’t just watch as I drive through the lake. flashing lights, the music pulsing, heartbeats. grab a bandage while you’re out. dive right in, the water’s scalding hot. your feelings aren’t the same for me as they were before; where is that word you felt last week? right now I can’t profess to have my arms around you. teddy bears are empty love. so if you’re really gone then why is your film still in my back seat? if you’ve moved on why are your lips still so very thirsty? you’ve left before; it was a week, so I can wait. give away the uniforms, the badges don’t mean anything to me. your feats of strength impress
the few who care, but the car remains below the shore. pull out a tape if that’s what’s right. we both know you’ll be back to check if I will sink or swim. the water flows around us now. the curbing tide soon reveals my shoes. what was a depth is now a beach. so come and join before I’m swept away again. (e. allred)
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4. |
Punched in the Eyes
03:09
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black and blue are my favorite colors. when I see you I think of my mother. she said, “boy, don’t you dare give up, you don’t know what’s really enough. cause, boy, you don’t know love, you don’t know love.” oh, I want to say I’ve waited forever but I can’t, no I can’t. I know each day has its own weather but I’ll always see the sun shining through. an angel came down and punched me in the eyes and though I was blind, to my surprise, I saw the world for what it really was: a bunch of rocks dropped on my head from doves, but I know they’re made of love cause they’re dropped from above. and these bruises swell up higher, higher and higher: mountaintops. so god can see my fire, he’ll be pleased as the sun shines through his teeth black and blue. (s. hudes)
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5. |
Refrigerator Trees
04:26
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walk: we could walk for miles and never reach the end of this road that we see. hills: these hills give me the chills. with every step I take I feel the weight of how we used to play and run all the way home. home. I can’t wait to fly into your dreams tonight. water: water rushes through, through my ears and out my eyes onto the street of old forgotten childhood. but I’ll, I’ll always remember your hair and how it used to turn to solid gold on summer days under refrigerator trees. home – come home. I can’t wait for you to fly into my dreams tonight. (s. hudes)
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6. |
Crowds and Moving Parts
05:44
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walking slowly through this water, seaweed is the shoelace now. toes steeped in with stripes of stalling; surely soon my feet are wet. trees grow higher, spread their branches. limbs are swinging any way. canopies of lush leaves rustling. turn around and see the moon radiate with spheres of color, encircling while the sky above us shines on crowds and moving parts, their shadow seen beyond the mountain range where I grew up; ripples emanate from below. folksy father brings us closer, warns us of the ghosts and ghouls. soon the boat shakes and thereafter I won’t step inside the pool. sleeping later all is quiet, seldom any one drives by. sudden laughter breaks the silence, listen now to hear the wind sing to us a song of heartache. still a strong peace from inside us shines on crowds and moving parts, the shadow seen beyond. mountain range where I grew up, ripples emanate from below. (e. allred)
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7. |
When the Party Was Over
04:45
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when the party was over it was raining, like it always is in portland, but still we stepped outside to greet the flashing lights pulling up to the apartment. they lit the night like day, our friends bolting away through the alleys and down the side roads. and I could faintly hear, through the ringing in my ears, the music through the windows stop. it’s over the hills and far away we go. when the party was over, and I mean busted, not just wound down, there was panic in your eyes and sweat upon your palms and liquor on your warm breath. and through the day-like night I could hear the sirens rise like bird cries in the distance. the glass slipped from your hand; you found the door and ran. I hit the music on my way out. it’s over the hills and far away we go. (w. preston)
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