1. |
Sucked in by the Sin
02:48
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SUCKED IN BY THE SIN
I took some stock in what I got from my creator
Six months without a sin in my refrigerator
Then I met a girl, we went to eat, she bared her shoulder
Too much food for one meal, but I got to sleep over
I feel it coming back, it’s coming back again
I feel it coming back, it’s coming back again
It’s shiny and seductive and it says that it’s my friend
My body was a temple I got sucked in by the sin
When we got up we sat and talked about our idols
Then we ate pizza and got high and read the Bible
We both loved Genesis, got lost on End of Days
Or the part where Lazarus came back from the grave
I feel it coming back, it’s coming back again
I feel it coming back, it’s coming back again
It’s shiny and seductive and it says that it’s my friend
My body was a temple, I got sucked in by the sin
So now I’m sucking in, I’m sucking in again
Dawn those cigarettes and damn those temptations
Look at the chemicals, they’re fueling my weekend
Look at all the people dancin’, getting sucked in by the sin
Someday I’m gonna move away
And I’ll eat peaches in the shade
No longer haunted by the way
The food made its way to my plate
But I’m gonna miss the Big Gulp
And the hot dogs at the ball game
When I settle in a golden field
Where the wind blows through the grain
Because my garden will have snakes
When I find my slice of Eden
You’ll have to dip me in the lake
For some revival-style healing
I feel it coming back, it’s coming back again
I feel it coming back, it’s coming back again
Seems like it’s all around me, I can feel it closing in
My body was a temple, I got sucked in by the sin
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2. |
Defenseless
04:55
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DEFENSELESS
It’s a big, scary world
I tell the kids to proceed carefully
From your doorstep to your dreams
It’s a long walk
Remember when we first met?
All the people that came and went
You helped me to realize
What love really meant
It’s your beautiful heart
Your beautiful soul
Your beautiful mouth that I have kissed
We’re killin’ the time
Killin’ the blues
Killin’ the pain from what we missed
And I am defenseless, it’s true
I am defenseless from you
Remember the jazz in Paris?
It was bursting around midnight
Remember the sun on the beach
And the tropical birds in mid-flight?
Or the barroom on New Years
Where we sang Auld Lang Syne?
You put your fragile
Hands in mine
Your beautiful eyes
And your beautiful heart
And your beautiful soul cannot be missed
Life-filled, brimming with love
Your beautiful soul
And your beautiful mouth that I have kissed
And I am defenseless, it’s true
I am defenseless from you
Rocky rivers lead to oceans
And the birds start to sing
At the joy that you bring
Apartments scoot close together
Blue buildings huddle so tight
Small mistakes in architecture
Will cause those walls to fall
But before they crumble
They have some time to stand
Look at the way the sun hits ‘em
Don’t they look so grand?
Your beautiful heart
And your beautiful soul
And your beautiful mouth that I have kissed
We’re killing the time
Killing the blues
Killing the pain of what we missed
And I am defenseless
I am defenseless
I am defenseless
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3. |
Fix Me Up
04:03
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FIX ME UP
I want to spill, I want to fight
I want to chase the orgiastic light
I want to see the different strains
The strains between the black and white
Fix me up, fix me up, yeah
Put my body back together
Dip my head in the water
Wake me up when I’m better
I want to love, I want to lose
But I never want to have to choose
And I never want to feel the pain
Sometimes the sky is too bright,
Sometimes a kiss feels too weightless and too warm
Fix me up, fix me up, yeah
Put my body back together
Dip my head in the water
Wake me up when I’m better
I want to lose myself in that place where the sky is bright
Where the moon hangs high, and the stars are close
My body tells me no, but I say go,go,go
Because the woman is warm and the morning is welcome
I want the sky to daze! I want to touch the haze!
I want to bedroom laze! I want to starry-eyed gaze!
But those eyes are too bright and those hands are too soft
And that bed too warm, there won’t come a day, when all the doubts melt away
Hold on to the sky when it hovers bright
And the last moments of the fleeting night
Hold it and taste it and dream it and breathe it
And know that it will be alright
Hold on, hold on, rage on, burn on
After your innocence is gone
And your ignorance, long gone
Taste your ideals, live there and be there
For thought it is far too bright
And the flame won’t last the night
It is all you have
And all that was `ever worth the fight
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4. |
Rich Man
02:59
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RICH MAN
When I was a rich man the world was so forgiving to me
When I was a rich man the world was full of possibility
But now I am a poor man and I hide among the shadows on the street
Oh, rich man, poor man, it’s all a drag to me
I only get my kicks in crazy dreams
The dream dies but the dreamer remains
Oh, if I’m a rich man or a poor man
You won’t hear me complain
When I was a rich man I stood the proudest on the highest stair
When I was a rich man I thought life was a romantic affair
But now I am a poor man and I finally see the colors in your hair
Oh, rich man, poor man, it’s all a drag to me
I only get my kicks in crazy dreams
The dream dies but the dreamer remains
Oh, if I’m a rich man or a poor man
You won’t hear me complain
When I was a rich man I thought little of deceit and white lies
Now I am a poor man and I’m feelin’ like I could use a disguise
Oh, the dream dies but the dreamer remains
Maybe I’m still a rich man,
Washed up on the sand
Of this here foreign land
And I just don’t understand the currency
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5. |
Ready to Fly
02:52
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READY TO FLY
After tea and cakes and ices
We’ll push a moment to its crisis
Bob Dylan will sing of Isis
Moses will part the Red Sea with his devices
Cadillac Black; long cigarettes, Jack
She sits in the back with a superstar stack
Her boyfriend’s a pimp and his whip goes crack
He says, “Let’s go black, baby, tell me I’m back”
But he’s not and he’s ready in a sweaty July
All birds they all circle, make a ring in the sky
Jack says, “I want it all but the days just go by
I’m waiting for my time to fly”
He remembered when he sat ‘neath a New York sky
Tina cat, she was cute, she looked deep in his eyes
They went clubbing, ‘twas hip, she had on a new slip
Put his hands on her hips, they both did the dip
He woke up in the morning by the burgundy walls
With a girl in black party pants stretched out in the hall
She had taken a spill when she tried hard to stand
She looked so peaceful, her tiny white hands
But he’s not and he’s ready in a sweaty July
All birds they all circle, make a ring in the sky
He says, “I want it all and I’m ready to try
I’m waiting for my time to fly”
He picked her up and she gave him a kiss
Oh, she was so beautiful, nothing could change this
She was messed up and hung over and young
And Jack said he was tired, but he’d gone for a run
And worked out his heart with some hot cigarettes
On his forehead was sweat, there were streaming bullets
There were poets hovering up in Harlem in the dark
He brought the dregs up to Madison and the dregs up to Park
But he’s not and he’s ready in a sweaty July
All birds they all circle, make a ring in the sky
Jack says, “I want it all but the days just go by
I’m waiting for my time to fly”
He’s hot and he’s ready in a sweaty July
The bids they all circle make a ring in the sky
I want it all, baby, and I’m willing to die
Give me a chance to fly
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6. |
The Insistent Drum
04:28
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THE INSISTENT DRUM
Joe stands by the gate
While his family pulls away
All the songs that he played
On the front porch start to fade
What is trust? They can’t be bothered
They say blood is thicker than water
Lost my team,
I’ve gotta take control
I will no longer be let down
Someone built the shops and someone made the shoes and they are far away from me
Someone made the laws and erected all the towns and they are far away from me
Someone has an idea of control, someone built the mold, I feel I’m stuck in the hold
Someone paved the street and someone is on the beat, and they have nothing to do with me
I think I can chop some wood, I think that it might do me some good
I won’t be let down; I’m gonna find my own rhythm now
From the dead of winter to the height of summer (ho-ha, ho-ha)
March on the beat of the exact same drummer (ho-ha, ho-ha)
Someone built the ship that I’m sailing on; I can find a team and we can make a run
8 men rowing through the mouth of the river; heart thumping loud; the dreams they deliver
I have a hard time dealing with really empty feeling, try build myself up when I fell
If the world descends into another war at least I have a story to tell
If the bombs take my limbs away I won’t be able to swing and sway
But I won’t worry about that now; I’m gonna find my own rhythm, somehow
From the dead of winter to the height of summer (ho-ha, ho-ha)
March on the beat of the exact same drummer (ho-ha, ho-ha)
I’m in the water
To get with the boat
To the doc where
The people are clapping
And yelling and
Slapping the back
And the power
To keep all the
Winners and that is cuz
We got the swing
All the regatta
Along all the water
We’re rowing and glowing
We won’t be
Put on the back
Cuz we want it more
Than the others
And I’m not gonna stop
We are makin’ it sing
We got the rhythm and we got the beat
We gotta get through the cold and the heat
We gotta the pushing and pulling
Cuz we are the poetry in motion
From the dead of winter to the height of summer (ho-ha, ho-ha)
March on the beat of the exact same drummer (ho-ha, ho-ha)
When I say ho, you say ha; ho, hah; ho; ha
When I say ho, you say ha; ho, hah, ho; ha
The beat goes on and on
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7. |
Down By the Sea
03:52
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DOWN BY THE SEA
You wake up at 6:28
You have to be to work by 8
You take a shower and you get dressed
Hop the bus and it takes you west
All the commuters got their headphones on
The tired look of passion long gone
Check into your cubicle at 8:03
Another dull day spent living the dream
You thought you’d be
Down by the sea
Livin’ it up, livin’ up
Hey there’s you and hey there’s me
Livin’ it up, livin’ up
But hey, you’re not quite there today
You’ll hit the condo around 7
And watch the box until 11
Hopefully you get some lovin’
Don’t pass out with a pizza in the oven
Then the sadness comes creeping in
In the dark bedroom at 2am
Picture on the nightstand when you were 18
You said you’d be brash like that till you achieved the dream
You thought you’d be
Down by the sea
Livin’ it up, livin’ up
Hey there’s you and hey there’s me
Livin’ it up, livin’ up
But hey, you’re not quite there today
You’ve got the VIP pass
At the middle class bash
You all get together and tear it up on the weekend
But sometimes life seems to have no meaning
And there’s nothing important to do
Your life spins out of control
Bartender, how about another brew?
Sometime you think that you’ve failed
Sometimes fairytales pull you through
You’ve got no place else to fall
So here you are
You thought you’d be
Down by the sea
Livin’ it up, livin’ up
Hey there’s you and hey there’s me
Livin’ it up, livin’ up
But hey, you’re not quite there today
Maybe at a party by the sea
When the light hits you just right
When you’ve got the right haircut and the right suit
All the ones that did you wrong
All the people that scorned you
You’ll have champagne together
So you just dance, get drunk, and screw
But until that day
There’s a lot of work to do
Maybe someday you’ll be
Down by the sea
Livin’ it up, livin’ it up
You might never be down by the sea
(Time to do some livin’)
So what are you gonna do today?
(Time to do some livin’)
You might never be living down by the sea
But you still have to face the day
That’s all you’ve got, in the end, anyway
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8. |
King Me
03:56
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KING ME
I am tired of the chess game; I’ve been feelin’ like a pawn again
I was naïve for thinkin’ that bishops don’t try to make pawns of men
So now I’m driftin’ into mid-life, trippin’ over tables in the back of the café
Screw the 12 temp jobs in Seattle, the water cool battle, the little tittle tattle
The traffic never stops, the highway’s full of heroes
We’re on the road tonight, we’ve got no place to go
I’m livin’ with the sadness, the madness in my soul
My heart is thumpin’ louder, thumpin’ louder till I reach the show
At the edge of what we see, you can king me
I was beaten by the bad bands, it eats away at me a bit, I guess
Let’s tour the country in the band van, there must something outside the Northwest
We can drive and drive and drive and play and play and play,
somehow we’re gonna make it pay
Don’t be dismayed that the applause is just a smattering,
we’ll rock because it matters
So quiet all the chatter!
The traffic never stops, the highway’s full of heroes
We’re on the road tonight, we’ve got no place to go
I’m livin’ with the sadness, the madness in my soul
My heart is thumpin’ louder, thumpin’ louder till I reach the show
At the edge of what we see, you can king me
Out in the suburbs the mansions rise upon the hill
Construction crews go in and out; the boys and girls do what they will
We write on the rock club walls, we kiss in the rock club halls
We write our names in sand, we create our mythology
You cannot take my dreams from me!
The traffic never stops, the highway’s full of heroes
We’re on the road tonight, we’re coming through in stereo
I’m livin’ with the sadness, the madness in my soul
My heart is thumpin’ louder, thumpin’ louder till I reach the show
At the edge of what we see, you can king me
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9. |
Gold Digger
02:09
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GOLD DIGGER
She’s got hair that shines and shimmers
Its color shows the shades of money
She knows how the coin can glimmer
And she’s gone up after it steadily
She’s got a new Jaguar
She drives a Mercedes Benz
Endorsed by here hubby’s billfold
She can sniff out the cash
But under it all, she’s trash
She’d be a beggar if she wasn’t bank rolled
She’s a gold digger
Anyone would figure
After her lecherous company
She is a gold digger
She’ll pull the sorry trigger
She’s in the business of takin’ hearts for the money
She’s got her eye on the wealthiest pocket
Moguls, magnates – they play her tune
She knows nothing about any kind of friendship
She don’t feign and make pleas to the moon
Seems like she’s missin’ a screw
How else could she coo
Such a life of self-centeredness?
She seems so cordial and kind
Well-spoken and fine
But she ain’t nothin’ but a cold, calculating temptress
She’s a gold digger
Anyone would figure
After her licentious company
She’s a cold rambler
A love gambler
She’s in the business of takin’ hearts for the money
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10. |
Fire Escape Heartbreak
03:15
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FIRE ESCAPE HEARTBREAK
I’m just creepin’ down the fire escape
I don’t need you now and it’s getting late
I’m thinking, while I’m sneakin’ down the fire escape
Of how peaceful you look when you’re not awake
I’m just sneakin’ down this solitary way
Now your daddy’s gone, seem he’s gone astray
You dream of his red taillights as they sped away
You drown in those dreams, you sink into the gray
But it’s just a heartbreaker
When you need somebody
And the money’s tight
And you’re assigned a fate
And I want you to sleep well
So I said I’d be there tonight
What exactly was it that was stolen away?
You’re older now, you’re so much older now
And you think that youth is wasted on the young
But you’re wild about beginnings and you think something has begun
It’s just a heartbreaker
When you need somebody
I can’t describe what I’ve never seen
When people ask, I’ll say, “I think I knew it once”
But I had you, baby, in an eternal embrace
And when the light came and blinded me from over your shoulder
It threw me off
It threw me off
You know, nothin’ lasts forever
I may escape
But nothin’ lasts forever
This has to end
Just like everything else does
I’m just sneakin’, sneakin’, sneakin’ away
Like your father, girl, but my hair’s not gray
The neon is buzzin’ and I feel afraid
No more safe, boxed up apartments
Now it’s just wide open space
It’s just a heartbreaker
When you need somebody
And the need beats you down
When the money’s tight
And you’re assigned a fate
But you don’t have to accept being naked
Don’t blame me
Blame your heartbreak
On the fire escape
I didn’t build it
It just made things easy
Look at all these buildings
Put up 50 years ago
I didn’t lay the mortar
I didn’t set the stone
But I use this place, baby
I call it my home but
I know I took the fire escape
Though I didn’t create it
It was outside the window
And when things get hot
I know it’s a heartbreaker
When the money’s tight
And you’re assigned a fate
But don’t blame me for your heartbreak
Blame it on the fire escape
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Ben Mish Seattle, Washington
Ben Mish writes songs and performs them frequently.
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