B i o g r a p h y (by Marcy Donelson)
Eliciting adjectives like raw, volatile, vulnerable, and intimate, the folk-tinged indie rock of Brooklyn's Big Thief is shaped by the very personal songwriting of singer/guitarist Adrianne Lenker. She began releasing solo material as a teen in the mid-2000s before partnering with eventual bandmate Buck Meek on a pair of duo EPs in 2014. After forming the four-piece Big Thief, they released their first album, Masterpiece, in 2016. The following year's Capacity marked their debut on several charts, including the Independent Albums and Americana/Folk charts. In between Lenker solo albums, 2019 brought two Billboard 200-charting Big Thief LPs; U.F.O.F. and Two Hands earned considerable praise in year-end polls, plus a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album (for U.F.O.F.). An ambitious double LP, 2022's Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, returned them to the Billboard 200. A Minneapolis native, Lenker learned her first few guitar chords from her father at a young age and began writing songs at ten. After her parents divorced when she was 12, she dedicated herself to music, an endeavor encouraged by her father throughout her teens. She released her first solo material as a teen in 2006. Frustrated by subsequent recording sessions in Nashville, cash-strapped, and with no high school diploma, she applied for a summer program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston with help from her dad. That led to a scholarship to attend full-time. Lenker graduated in 2012 and relocated to Brooklyn. Soon after arriving in New York, Lenker ran into fellow Berklee alum Meek, whom she remembered from a brief interaction in Boston, where they had shared the same bill at a show. Fast friends and kindred musical spirits, they released two EPs as a duo -- A-Sides and B-Sides -- in 2014 before forming Big Thief with bass player Max Oleartchik and drummer James Krivchenia. In the meantime, Lenker signed with Saddle Creek, which released her solo album Hours Were the Birds that same year. The quartet's first album, Masterpiece, followed on Saddle Creek in 2016, a year that also saw them make appearances at South by Southwest Festival and in support slots on tours with Eleanor Friedberger, Yuck, Frankie Cosmos, and M. Ward. They made their national TV debut with a performance on Late Night with Seth Meyers in March 2017. Big Thief's second album, Capacity, arrived that June and reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Heatseekers, independent, Americana/folk, and vinyl charts. After touring in support of Capacity, including a headlining run and dates with Conor Oberst, Meek released a self-titled solo album on Keeled Scales. A solo Lenker followed up with the spare Abysskiss via Saddle Creek later in 2018. In early 2019, Lenker toured with Abysskiss producer Luke Temple, and Meek opened a dozen North American dates on a solo acoustic tour by Jeff Tweedy. Back with Big Thief, their third straight album with producer Andrew Sarlo (Nick Hakim, Hand Habits), the more exploratory U.F.O.F., marked the band's debut for 4AD in May 2019. They spent much of the rest of the year touring North America and Europe, including stops at Norway's Oya Festival and the U.K.'s Green Man Festival before issuing their fourth album, Two Hands. Recorded just days after their sessions for U.F.O.F., the group headed to the remote Sonic Ranch Studios in Texas with Sarlo to lay down the tracks. The sparsely populated area filtered into their sound -- they recorded the entire album live with few overdubs, giving it a rawer, sparser sound than U.F.O.F. Both records entered the Top Ten of the Independent Albums chart as well as the lower half of the Billboard 200. As the year came to a close, Big Thief received a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album for U.F.O.F. With production by Krivchenia, who had contributed additional production to their debut, the sprawling double album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You was recorded in four different locations: California's Topanga Canyon, Tuscan, the Colorado Rockies, and the Catskills. After being whittled down from 45 to 20 songs, it arrived on 4AD in February 2022 and reached a career-high number 31 on the Billboard 200. It was followed in July 2023 by the 7" "Vampire Empire" b/w "Born for Loving You."
Abysskiss (Topanga Demo) Blue and Red Horses (Topanga Demo) Born For Loving You Breathe In My Lungs Dandelion Imagination Live Young (Topanga Demo) Love In Mine Mermaid (Topanga Demo) Mother Off You Over Shadow Too Vampire Empire Waiting On Blue Zombie Girl
MASTERPIECE Little Arrow Go little arrow Shoot like a wave through the tongue of the taro Bloom every morning The water, the pepper The egg warming Still play that old reel From every angle Pushing the baby The blood, the tangle Old light leaking Is it, could it, was it dreaming Still play that old reel Still play that old reel Masterpiece Years, days, makes no difference to me, babe You look exactly the same to me Ain't no time, crossing your legs inside the diner Raising your coffee to your lips, the steam You saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like you Wrapping her left arm around your right Ready to walk you through the night You whisper to a restless ear, "Can you get me out of here This place smells like piss and beer, can you get me out" You were asking me, how to get you free I only know the recipe to roam You saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like you Wrapping her left arm around your right Ready to walk you through the night Old stars, filling up my throat You gave ethm to me when I was born, now they're coming out Laying there on the hospital bed, your eyes were narrow, blue and red You took a draw of breath and said to me You saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like me Wrapping my left arm around your right Ready to walk you through the night Old friends, old mothers, dogs and brothers There's only so much letting go you can ask someone to do So I keep you by my side, I will not give you to the tide I'll even walk you in my stride, Marie 'Cause I saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like you Wrapping your left arm around my right Ready to walk me through the night Vegas Holed up in Vegas for only one week And I caught you tongue and cheek by the side of the road Of an automobile expo Turned up the volume and you started to weep And I thought you a lamb Even in the sigh of the headlight sea Your tears were salty ocean You opened up the engine and listened to it sing And I called you a lamb You knew your daddy until you were thirteen And then he took his leave for the likes of the land And the far off salty ocean We shook our bodies and we started to scream And I asked you again Tell me when we grow up, do we ever go home You said home becomes the highway We ordered movies on a motel screen Until you needed me warm inside of your mouth And my skin was salty ocean And then you recommended I'm a woman to keep And I called you a man Real Love Having a bad week Let me touch your cheek I will always love you Having your face hit Having your lip split By the one who loves you Real love, real love Real love makes your lungs black Real love is a heart attack Showing your mother To any other, letting them touch her Looking up to her, watching her do her makeup and hair Real love, real love Real love makes your lungs black Real love is a heart attack Cry like a bird, fly like a baby Mamma got drunk and daddy went crazy If your speech slurs, if you feel shaky, meet me out back I'll be there waiting Riding in the back seat Watching the spit fly and the hummingbird cry Oh mamma, oh papa Oh mamma, oh papa How much blood is worth the draw How much blood is worth the draw Real love, real love Real love makes your lungs black Hummingbird watching Watching her young thing Grow up so fast Looking up to her Watching her do her makeup and hair Interstate Though you let her down You don't need to carry What's far from here is not so scary Though you cannot see her You don't have to worry She needs your hand though your eyes are blurry She is getting thin You are growing gray and white And you don't know how to tell her as you say goodnight Interstate, poison freeway Takes you down the line You could go back in time Time Time Time You could hold her close At night in your slumber Dream her as a child when you loved her mother Now you're in her house She is smiling in a dress She is now a woman You are just a guest Interstate, poison freeway Takes you down the line You could go back in time Time Time Time Time Time Time Time Lorraine When I saw the first time, the thunder came crashing Your new blue eyeliner caught my distraction And like we were two lovers forming from fiction Your mouth caught my ear with such perfect diction There I let you tie my hands back and take me Oh Lorraine on a Saturday morning Oh Lorraine with your soft, burning hands We fell asleep in the back of the warehouse I woke to you kneading and covering my mouth And like we were hummingbirds screaming at ravens You started to move me from fact into fable There I let you take me under the table Oh Lorraine on a Saturday morning Oh Lorraine with your soft, burning hands Paul Oh the last time I saw Paul I was horrible and almost let him in But I stopped and caught the wall And my mouth got dry, so all I did was take him for a spin Yeah we hopped inside my car And I drove in circles 'round the freight train yard And he turned the headlights off Then he pulled the bottle out Then he showed me what was love I'll be your morning bright goodnight shadow machine I'll be your record player, baby, if you know what I mean I'll be your real tough cookie with the whiskey breath I'll be a killer and a thriller and the cause of our death In the blossom of the months I was sure that I'd get driven off with thought So I swallowed all of it As I realized there was no one who could kiss away my shit I'll be your morning bright goodnight shadow machine I'll be your record player, baby, if you know what I mean I'll be your real tough cookie with the whiskey breath I'll be a killer and a thriller and the cause of our death Paul, I know you said that you'd take me any way I came or went But I'll push you from my brain See, you're gentle, baby I couldn't stay, I'd only bring you pain I was your starry-eyed lover and the one that you saw I was your hurricane rider and the woman you'd call We were just two moonshiners on the cusp of a breath And I've been burning for you, baby, since the minute I left Humans Humans in the honest light Love is a cold infection alright Why in the morn of one bad night Do I fight your touch like a fever Human man, you loosen my mind Loosen my hand from the beckoning knife How in the fortress of your eye Do you lay me down a believer I can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see Humans in the honest light Love is a cold infection alright Why in the morn of one bad night Do I fight your touch like a fever I can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see I'm fooling my heart Fooling my heart I'm fooling my heart Fooling my heart Humans in the honest light Love is a cold infection alright Why in the morn of one bad night Do I fight your touch like a fever I can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see You can't see me, I can't see Velvet Ring One, two, three, four Shoved in the kitchen of a city tomb The light would flicker like a violent womb The night was thicker than a smokey fume Liza waited in the room Benny loved her like he loved no one The way she'd laugh and hold a smoking gun The way she always said, "What's done is done" And he was not the only one Love is a gentle thing Yours is thicker than a velvet ring Yours is thicker than a velvet ring A victim healer with a sharp, sharp blade Benny knew how she was getting paid Her water broke and they would have to wade When he knew that she was fooling He faced the mirror to avoid the thing We're out of money and we sold the bling And I just want to take you home I just want to take you home Love is a gentle thing Yours is thicker than a velvet ring Yours is thicker than a velvet ring And I am wandering And I am wandering Animals The animals are wonderful Such a vision in the sun, how they rail I catch my breath and count my dough And I only live to run and I'll need to go You and I were born and I'll make you make your mind up Hold me She always knew She'll always know That I love to run so well, but I need to go You and I were born and I'll make you make your mind up Hold me You and I were born with the same design Nothing in the world that will make you make your mind up If I had a choice, I'll wait to find Nothing in your eyes will tell me where you'll lie Hold me Randy Oh Randy, leave it up to me I'll pour the water if you bring the tree Nothing looks that real to me I only see two or three colors What's it like to breathe in Find a friend and gather with him I'm a wolf in a city of women You only know the light is on Will you plant that sycamore, baby I'll watch it grow from the second floor I haven't left the house much lately And you don't come around here anymore And all those lovers in their velvet gowns I wanna take that trip uptown Will you tell them to let me out When you can see the light is on I found a horse hair in my food There's a raccoon in my room There are bluejays all in bloom All along the cement floor Randy, they say I've gone insane So could you take me dancing in the pouring rain You don't know me, but you know my name Will you say it till the light is gone Parallels Don't I make you feel alive Don't I give you a good home In a way I know you're always by my side But today I think I've always been a long way One hand to keep me warm One hand to hold my chin To be inside your arms It's all I'm asking Caterpillar on the floor Can you teach me to transform I'll step right in and cocoon 'til I'm born And I can't say I miss my human form much One hand to keep me warm One hand to hold my chin To be inside your arms It's all I'm asking I see all the parallels... CAPACITY Pretty Things Matthew, please do not regret With your silk in my hand And your heart in my sweat As you're lighting the end of my last cigarette I will warm you Warm you These things that lonely ones do Baby, that's what I'm here for I'll take care and make all your Wishes come true if you want to Do you want to Don't take me for a fool There's a woman inside of me There's one inside of you too There is an meeting in my thighs Where in thunder and lightning, men are baptized In their anger and fighting, their deceit and lies I've got lips like sugar Lips like sugar Holding my wrist to the bed He was thrusting and moaning and pressing his head to my temple His head was a temple, I said "You've got lips like sugar, daddy" Lips like sugar Don't take me for a fool There's a woman inside of me There's one inside of you too And she don't always do pretty things Shark Smile She was a shark smile in a yellow van She came around and I stole her glance in my youth, a vampire Evelyn shown quiet as roses sting It came over me at a bad time, but who wouldn't ride on a moonlight line I had her in my eye, eighty-five down the road of a dead end gleam And she said woo Baby, take me And I said woo Baby, take me too It came over her at a bad time, riding through Winona down the dotted line Held us gunning out ninety miles down the road of a dead end dream She looked over with a part smile Caught up in the twinkle, it could take awhile And the money pile on the dashboard fluttering As she said woo Baby, take me And I said woo Baby, take me too Evelyn's kiss was oxygen I leaned over to take it in as we went howling Through the edge of south Des Moines It came over me at a bad time, she burned over the double line And she impaled as I reached my hand for the guardrail The guardrail The guardrail She said woo Baby, take me And I said woo Baby, take me too She said woo Baby, take me And I said woo Baby, take me too Capacity Flight is a beautiful word Flowered with consonance That's what I'll follow Forever I am a beautiful bird Fluttered and floating Swollen and hollowed For heaven Do what you want with me Lost in your captivity Learning capacity For make-believing everything Is really hanging on Slipping away from the party Totally vacant Everyone gone from their bodies You were outside kissing another She was a friend of mine I was surprised to discover I wrapped my arms around her She was a beautiful figure There are no enemies We're make-believing everything Is really hanging on There is a castle that stands High in the canyon The blue knights are crying together A child is holding my hand She is directing the red crystal pine with a feather Do what you want with me Lost in your captivity Learning capacity For make-believing everything Is really hanging on Really hanging on Really hanging on Watering He followed me home again And his eyes were watering His eyes were watering Like a child I made-believe for him That my blood was dripping My blood was dripping Into his mouth Screaming Screaming He cut off my oxygen And my eyes were watering As he tore into my skin Like a lion I knew it was poison As he filled me to the brim And my blood was dripping Like a lamb Screaming Screaming Screaming Leave your bedroom light on I live to watch you undress And you know that I'm there As you soak in my stare with your right arm Come To me Come To me Come Come To me Coma He brought her in to get out, to get out He kissed her skin to get off, to get off, off You can wake up now, momma From your protective coma When you wake up, you wake up You won't recognize your house You won't recognize your house Will you recognize the Iris of the body Iris of the body You won't recognize your house You won't recognize your house Will you recognize the Iris of the body Iris of the body You won't recognize your house You won't recognize your house Will you recognize the Iris of the body Iris of the body You won't recognize your house You won't recognize your house You won't recognize your house You won't recognize your house You won't recognize your Great White Shark Mercury, creeping on the sea How she wails, flails her arms and weeps Accumulation of debris Lips apart flapping as a lark For in the dark there is release Every familiarity scarce as the great white shark Oh to build walls with golden gills Spike in hand, high above the sand To kill the sanctuary Every mile that is owned only stands still by the grace of the stone Every familiarity scarce as the great white shark Look, daughter and owl Listen to her howl I howled when you were born to me And you're alive with a breath you can't see All by the grace of this dream Mythological Beauty You have a mythological beauty You have the eye of someone I have seen Outside of ordinary situations Even outside of dreams You lie in bed at night and watch the lines of headlights Through your screen There is a child inside you who is trying To raise a child in me If you want to leave You just have to say You're all caught up inside But you know the way You cut the flesh of your left thumb Using your boyfriend's knife Seventeen, you took his cum And you gave birth to your first life You gave Andrew a family who You thought would love and take better care I have an older brother I don't know He could be anywhere If you want to leave You just have to say You're all caught up inside But you know the way You're all caught up inside But you know the way Rented a house in Nisswa, Minnesota Shrapnel and oil cans, rhubarb in the yard I built a ladder out of metal pieces Father was working hard Standing beneath the oak tree by the front door You were inside baking bread Sister came out and put her arms around me Blood gushing from my head You held me in the backseat with a dishrag Soaking up blood with your eye I was just five and you were twenty-seven Praying, "Don't let my baby die" If you want to leave You just have to say You're all caught up inside But you know the way You're all caught up inside But you know the way So much more To live your life To walk the floor To say goodnight Do you leave your light on Do you leave your light on You're all caught up inside But you know the way You're all caught up inside But you know the way You're all caught up inside But you know the way You're all caught up inside But you know the way Objects Old volcanoes melting Love is overwhelming Letting your insides out Blind altercation Open invitation Breaking your guard down Leaving the familiar Air is getting chillier Stepping outside your skin No ordinary measurement You turn your own light on You turn your own light on inside of me Closer, the farther you've gone Stronger, the harder you fall in front of me Walking through your garden Pulling up the garlic Getting our hands dirty Kissing on the vampire Kissing on the werewolf We have no enemies No ordinary measurement You turn your own light on You turn your own light on inside of me Closer, the farther you've gone Stronger, the harder you fall in front of me You turn your own light on You turn your own light on inside of me Closer, the farther you've gone Stronger, the harder you fall in front of me You turn your own light on You turn your own light on inside of me Closer, the farther you've gone Stronger, the harder you fall in front of me Haley Just like that, she is I mean We are, we are gone for good For closing my eye Too soon Missed the room Old magpie It just passed me through Oh and oh when it gets you down When you get that notion Any way you walk around Anywhere that you are going If you ever want to come back You know my arms are always open Just like how it used to be, Hayley Kicking around, burying the letters we wrote Wondering what yours might've said to me Mine went There are the geese Over the trail We have the open road Oh and oh when it gets you down When you get that notion Any way you walk around Anywhere that you are going If you ever want to come back You know my arms are always open Just like that, he's holding my hand Redirect, rearrange, bringing the moon to land Oh and oh when it gets you down When you get that notion Any way you walk around Anywhere that you are going If you ever want to come back You know my arms are always open Mary Burn up with the water The floods are on the plains The planets in a rose Who knows what they contain And my brain is like an orchestra Playing on insane Will you love me like you loved me In the January rain Mom and dad and violins Somber country silence The needle stopped the kicking The clothes pins on the floor And my heart is playing hide-and-seek Wait and count to four Will you love me like you loved me And I'll never ask for more What did you tell me, Mary When you were there so sweet and very Full of field and stars, you carried all of time Oh and heavens, when you looked at me Your eyes were like machinery, your hands Were making artifacts in the corner of my mind Monastery, monochrome, boom, balloon, machine and oh Diamond rings and gutter bones marching up the mountain with our Aching planning, high and smiling, cheap drink, dark and violent Full of butterflies, the violent tenderness, the sweet asylum The clay you find is fortified, we felt unfocused, fade the line The sugar rush, the constant hush, the pushing of the water gush The marching band, when April ran, May, June, bugs fly and push Your old gin Jacob with the tired weary brandy look Here we go round, Mary, in your famous story book We overcome the sirens We look both left and right And I can feel the numbness Accompany my plight And I know that someday soon I'll see you But now you're out of sight And you'll kiss me like you used to In the January night What did you tell me, Mary, when you were there so sweet and very Full of field and stars, you carried all of time Oh and heavens, when you looked at me Your eyes were like machinery, your hands Were making artifacts in the corner of my mind Monastery, monochrome, boom, balloon machine and oh Diamond rings and gutter bones, marching up the mountain with our Aching planning, high and smiling, cheap drink, dark and violent Full of butterflies, the violent tenderness, the sweet asylum The clay you find is fortified, we felt unfocused, fade the line The sugar rush, the constant hush, the pushing of the water gush The marching band, when April ran, May, June, bugs fly and push Your old gin Jacob with the tired weary brandy look Here we go round, Mary, in your famous story book Black Diamonds So much coming in I do not know where to begin I just follow the lead you're pulling And I get lost in your trail So much more to tell You just ask me if I'm doing well But I do not know, what the hell I just swallow hard In your eyes Black diamonds I could die Black diamonds In your eyes Black diamonds I could die Black diamonds And I wake up in a cold sweat on your ceiling Terrified of what your love's revealing So much you can see Should I let you make a woman of me Should I let you take the mystery from me See the inside of my room at night Sometimes you will find Things I do not know how to leave behind I've been grappling with my own mind I've been stuck inside a jail In your eyes Black diamonds I could die Black diamonds In your eyes Black diamonds I could die Black diamonds And I wake up in a cold sweat on your ceiling Terrified of what your love's revealing The cold of winter warms my blood And he's hot like a bed of steel He finds his peace of mind in the rivers and the whippoorwill I could follow close behind and then slowly disappear But I can never leave him I can never leave him I can never leave him I can never leave him I can never leave him I can never leave him In his eyes Black diamonds I could die And I wake up in a cold sweat on your ceiling So much more to do Come on, let me make a man out of you I could gather you and you'd tell the truth You could cry inside my arms You could cry inside my arms like a child You could cry You could cry
U.F.O.F. Contact Jodi Please, turn the pages for me You seem so free You know I'm barely Barely Wrap me in silk I want to drink your milk You hold the key You know I'm barely Barely Parker Lake Beach All of the sunny's swimming I want to see To feel my body sinking Sinking She gives me gills Helps me forgive the pills She makes me sing She is both dreamer And dream And dream And dream And dream UFOF To my UFO friend Goodbye, goodbye Like a seed in the wind She's taking up root in the sky See her flickering Her system won't even try To defend and ripen In the radio action She'll never return again Polarize, polarize The seasons will bend There will soon be proof That there is no alien Just a system of truth and lies The reason, the language And the law of attraction Just like a bad dream You'll disappear Another map turns blue Mirror on mirror And I imagine you Taking me out of here To deepen our love It isn't even a fraction Switch to another lens the last sunlight I don't need any other friends The best kiss I ever had Is the flickering Of the water so clear and bright To leap in, my skin And I could feel the reaction Just like a bad dream You'll disappear Another map turns blue Mirror on mirror And I imagine you Taking me out of here To deepen our love It isn't even a fraction Just like a bad dream You'll disappear Another map turns blue Mirror on mirror And I imagine you Taking me out of here To deepen our love It isn't even a fraction Cattails Caroline, Caroline I never could leave you to struggle Hold the line, hold the line I'll be there on the double In time, in time Everyone does see trouble And you don't need to know why When you cry You don't need to know why You don't need to know why When you cry Violet's eyes, Violet plays Going back home to the Great Lakes Where the cattail sways With the lonesome loon Riding that train in late June With the windows wide by my side With the windows wide With the windows wide by my side And the clusters fell Like an empty bell Meteor shower at the motel Where the empty space Is a saving grace Making good time and doing well Still the question sings Like Saturn's rings Maybe she knows and she won't tell But you don't need to know why When you cry You don't need to know why You don't need to know why When you cry And I find you there In your country flair Middle of the river in a lawn chair With your wrinkled hands And your silver hair Leaving here soon and you know where To where the cattail sways With the lonesome loon You'll be riding that train in late June With the windows wide by your side With the windows wide With the windows wide by your side You don't need to know why You don't need to know why When you cry From No one can Be my man, be my man Be my man, be my man Be my man, be my man No one can Be my woman, be my woman Be my woman One ear to the ground One dog at my neck One tongue to my tongue Wanting to protect me from From No one can Be my man, be my man Be my man, be my man Be my man, be my man No one can Be my woman, be my woman Be my woman One ear to the floor My dog barking loud Couldn't tell for sure Where the screaming sound Was coming from From One ear to your womb Puppy on the floor Baby's coming soon Wonder if she'll know Where she's come from From From From From From Open Desert Vacant angel Crimson light Darkened eyelash Darkened eye The white light of the living room Leaking through the crack in the door There was never need for more Things we're meant to Understand Crawling closer To your hand To the poison image Brave surrender Kiss the water After all my teeth are gone After all the blood is drawn The white light of the waiting room Leaking through the crack in the door Through the poison image Brave surrender Kiss the water Through the mirror Mountain view She has one green One eye blue I can see her smiling through The white light of the living room Leaking through the crack in the door Orange Orange is the color of my love Fragile orange wind in the garden Fragile means that I can hear her flesh Crying little rivers in her forearm Fragile is that I mourn her death As our limbs are twisting in her bedroom Lies, lies, lies Lies in her eyes Lies, lies, lies Lies in her eyes She tells me to close and count to ten As she wanders freely through the forest Can I close and open once again The question that I seek for reassurance Lies, lies, lies Lies in her eyes Lies, lies, lies Lies in her eyes Hound dogs crowing at the stars above Pigeons fall like snowflakes at the border She kneels down and holds the frozen dove The moon drips like water from her shoulder Flies, flies, flies Flies from her eyes Flies, flies, flies Flies from her eyes Orange is the color of my love Fragile orange wind in the garden Fragile means that I can hear her flesh Crying little rivers in her forearm Fragile is that I mourn her death As our limbs are twisting in her bedroom Century Dogs eyes In the headlights of the driveway Cool autumn rain Bugs died On your windshield on the freeway Wonder if you'll be the same Centuries flower And we have the same power We have the same power We have the same power We have the same power Moth flies In the window of the kitchen Hang up your coat Cold lips and gold eyes listen There's something that I want You to know Turn on the shower 'Cause we have the same power We have the same power We have the same power We have the same power No resolution No circling dove Still caught In The Jaw Of Confusion Don't know what I'd do For love But stay another hour 'Cause we have the same power We have the same power We have the same power We have the same power Strange Doesn't it seem strange Searching for a hidden page The fairy's cage Coming of true age Leave the costume on the stage The silkworm's rage Iridescent thread Beautiful and dead Billions of worms were boiled To make the bed Strange See the luna moth cry Lime green tears Through the fruit bat's eyes Scatter and destroy Every power you enjoy To lay with the void Twirling of the dime Splitting of the mind Drawing constellations Till the stars align Strange See the luna moth cry (cry) Lime green tears Through the fruit bat's eyes (eyes) You have wings of gold You will never grow old And turquoise lungs You have never been young You have wings of gold You will never grow old And turquoise lungs You have never been Betsy Driving through the night Rings of crystal, crystal light Every gulp of the warm suburb air Betsy's auburn, auburn hair Drive into New York with me How she keeps me calm Street lights, boys and Poison palms Drive into New York with me Big lights in the city Terminal Paradise Warm So warm Screaming in the field As I was born Worm Will you return me To the robin's beak I'll be a bird Terminal We both know Let the rest of me go See my death become a trail And the trail leads to a flower I will blossom in your sail Every dream and waking hour Woman Woman Hold me in your heat Till I re-, don't let me Till I re-, don't let me Till I remember Terminal We both know Let me rest, let me go See my death become a trail And the trail leads to a flower I will blossom in your sail Every dream and waking hour Jenni Too hot to breathe Too hot to breathe Too hot to breathe Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room Her skin so bare The fragrant air Her vacant eye Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room The signal swarms The portal forms She calls me through Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room Jenni's in my room Jenni Jenni's in my room Magic Dealer Starve, magic mirror I thought the crumbs Of your life wouldn't dry It hurts to see clearer Falling like needles The passage of time Would it hurt, would it hurt To be nearer Heaven is stitching across me My chest is the crossing The blood is parting all the time But I don't mind Carve, magic dealer Bring me the company I couldn't buy As I go cleaner Falling like needles The passage of time Would it help, would it help To go deeper I am the photograph in you The photograph in you Still as the moment We're lying in right now
TWO HANDS Rock And Sing Without his body Naked and bare Quiet and obviously not there I am that naked thing swimming in air Why does that mean anything Why do you stare Lean on your table Ask what you want of me I am unable Cry with me, cry with me Within this body Confuse Confuse my home for a refuge I don't want to be scared of (I don't want to be scared of) Anybody coming in (Anybody coming in) I don't want to lock my door anymore Hand me that cable Plug into anything I am unstable Rock and sing‚ rock and sing Forgotten Eyes Forgotten eyes Are the ones which we lose Forgotten hands Are the ones which we choose To let go of But it is no less a bruise On the collective arm Keeping us high and gone Forgotten dance is the one left at birth Forgotten plants in the fossils of earth And they've long passed, but they are no less the dirt Of the common soil keeping us dry and warm The wound has no direction Everybody needs a home And deserves protection Hollow-eyed on Eddie street No sirens to hear Just trash and soiled needles Clawing the veneer And no crying But it is no less a tear On the common cheek With which we smile Hollow-eyed on Eddie Is it they or is it I Is it me who is more hollow As I'm quickly passing by And the poison is killing them But then so am I As I turn away The wound has no direction Everybody needs a home And deserves protection Forgotten tongue Is the language of love Forgotten tongue Is the language of love Forgotten tongue Is the language of love Forgotten tongue The Toy What a fool, familiar dream I wake up laughing and running From the boy, crying and calling 'Cause the toy in my hand is real What a tomb we're building here In the sphere, that's where we all die In the eye, that's where I'm living The toy in my hand is real In the room, her warm hands play On my breast, what is she singing The form ringing and ringing 'Cause the toy in my hand is real The toy in my hand is real Charcoal womb, the jet planes purr And the croon, distant as paper Children burn, faceless vapor 'Cause the toy in my hand is real Yes, the toy in my hand is real Two Hands You somehow let me down Both hands and a gentleman You could not take me through New plans or tell me who New friends, I can make some too I know You somehow took me in Both arms, my marked up skin Two hands, places you had been I needed And the more that we try To figure through the answers To repeat ourselves To deny, deny Now you call my bluff a cliff And it gets so rough Stone-faced in the light, the air And the jagged bite Cold air, the wisdom of the night Between us And the more that we try To figure through the answers To repeat ourselves To deny, deny To deny, deny, deny Somehow we exist In the folds and now we'll kiss Both hands, the mystery before us She's reaching But I could not take you through New plans or tell you who New friends, you can make some too I know Those Girls Dropped call Mid fall Only you can know for now Island Demons Only you can hold them down Those girls might hear me crying The one, the only Jealousy I have is dying With all along, your arms around me Try Island Demons Zoë, you come over now 'Cause those girls Keep telling me things And only you can hold them down Those girls might hear me crying The one, the only Jealousy I have is dying With all along, your arms around me Try Those girls might hear me cry The one, the only Jealousy I have is dying With all along, your arms around me Try Shoulders One, two, three Please, wake up Please, wake up Touch my skin and Tell me where you've been You brought me in You brought me in So touch my skin and Tell me where you've been You showed me how To keep myself from burning out They found you in the morning The blood was on your shoulders They found you at the corner Your head was doubled over And the blood of the man Who killed my mother with his hands Is in me, it's in me, in my veins Please, wake up Please, wake up Touch my skin and Tell me where you've been You brought me in My best friend So touch my skin and Tell me where you've been You showed me how To hold my sin And kiss the bad ways I have been They found you in the morning The blood was on your shoulders They found you at the corner Your head was doubled over And the blood of the man Who's killing our mother with his hands Is in me, it's in me, in my veins It's in me, it's in me, in my veins Not It's not the energy reeling Nor the lines in your face Nor the clouds on the ceiling Nor the clouds in space It's not the phone on the table Nor the bed in the earth Nor the bed in the stable Nor your stable words It's not the formless being Nor the cry in the air Nor the boy I'm seeing With her long black hair It's not the open weaving Nor the furnace glow Nor the blood of you bleeding As you try to let go It's not the room, not beginning Not the crowd, not winning Not the planet, not spinning Not a rouse, not heat Not the fire lapping up the creek Not food, not to eat Not the meat of your thigh Nor your spine tattoo Nor your shimmery eye Nor the wet of the dew It's not the warm illusion Nor the crack in the plate Nor the breath of confusion Nor the starkness of slate It's not the room, not beginning Not the crowd, not winning Not the planet, not spinning Not a rouse, not heat Not the fire lapping up the creek Not food, not to eat Not what you really wanted Nor the mess in your purse Nor the bed that is haunted with a blanket of thirst It's not the hunger revealing Nor the ricochet in the cave Nor the hand that is healing Nor the nameless grave It's not the room, not beginning Not the crowd, not winning Not the planet, not spinning Not a rouse, not heat Not the fire lapping up the creek Not food, not to eat Not to die, not dying Not to laugh, not lying Not the vacant wilderness vying Not the room, not beginning Not the crowd, not winning Not the planet, not spinning Wolf Hello to the morning moon Woke up as you left the room Pillow still warm Scent like meadow grass Has the feeling come to pass Has the feeling come to stay What can we say Wishing you would hang around Living on the waterfront Witnessing the gameless hunt Mermaids don't kill That's the way they sing so fine Now your lips are on the line Now there is a broken tongue Met you so young Felt so frozen How you seem to follow through On everything you yearn for Steps so fair So much certainty Now as far as we can see The water's getting deeper My safekeeper The wolf is howling for me When she holds me in her jaw All my blood dripping Will I be free To cease gripping Finally laying on the ground Open hands empty I'll return back again If she'll let me Replaced Move along through Santa Fe And make a new beginning What's that you were starting to say Or have you forgotten Because the unlit moon Would rather hide Be replaced by the mystery Of the stars Because in your room, we gather To be replaced by the mystery Of the heart Pull on your new wool coat Try to remember the words You once wrote The canyons that catch in your throat The fault lines that carry and cradle The river Because the unlit moon Would rather hide And be replaced by the mystery Of the stars Because in your room, we gather To be replaced by the mystery Of the heart Go on now Because the unlit moon Would rather hide Be replaced by the mystery Of the stars Because in your room, we gather To be replaced by the mystery Of the heart To be replaced by the mystery Cut My Hair Please, cut my hair Take me to the kitchen What are the chances You have a scissor Maybe a pair It's longer than I can even bear You want to be alone Use your ammunition to empty your arm You ask me to leave you I won't Not while the knife is at your throat Annie reminds me The diamond mines are burning I push her around But she keeps returning Teeth drool and bared Make a clean incision Hold me for ransom Tell me I'm pretty Tell me I'm rare Talk to the boy in me He's there We-do-si-do Swaying in the kitchen Rocking slowly Tell him to sound The alarm Is he gonna keep me safe from harm Annie reminds me The diamond mines are burning I push her around But she keeps returning DRAGON NEW WARM MOUNTAIN I BELIEVE IN YOU Change Change Like the wind Like the water Like skin Change Like the sky Like the leaves Like a butterfly Would you live forever, never die While everything around passes Would you smile forever, never cry While everything you know passes Death Like a door To a place We've never been before Death Like space The deep sea A suitcase Would you stare forever at the sun Never watch the moon rising Would you walk forever in the the light To never learn the secret of the quiet night Still Like a stone Like a hill Like home Still What I find Is you are always On my mind Could I feel happy for you When I hear you talk with her like we used to Could I set everything free When I watch you holding her the way you once held me Change like the sky Like the leaves Like a butterfly Death like a door To a place We've never been before Would you live forever, never die While everything around passes Would you smile forever, never cry Time Escaping Electric waves, a rush of energy Silent river pouring backward eternally Through the phase and touch of entropy Old age in the beginner To hit the stage and blush wild, laughingly Crush the rage and rush time tappingly Call the name so much so vapidly Dissolving into thin air Turning the two-fork taped up television Into tunnel vision Taking the new fork tactile as revision Working the revision Time escaping Time escaping There is no reason to go down alone Through distortion's secret telephone Separate, contact, separate Poison in the ether Swinging still incessant pendulum Lavender, nettle, calendula Separate, contact, concentrate Drawing out the fever Time escaping Time escaping Ether Time It's music It's music Only the winter wind survives After the heat rush feeds and thrives After the bushfire burns and dies Frozen and bitter Desert ground so cold and clean Spreading out like a magazine Reading the dirt like gossip What do the weeds say, they say "Everything, everything, everything falls through Each dimension breaks in two Like the two hands clapping Like the two wings flapping Everything, everything, everything for free As it all eventually turns to dust and petal Molten rock and meadow" Time escaping Time escaping Spud Infinity What's it gonna take What's it gonna take What's it gonna take To free the celestial body From way up there, it looks so small From way down here, it looks so small One peculiar organism, aren't we all together Everybody steps on ants Everybody eats the plants Everybody knows to dance even with Just one finger What's it gonna take What's it gonna take What's it gonna take To free the celestial body When I took another look The past was not a history book That was just some linear perception Ash to ask and dust to dusk, a dime a dozen, aren't we just But a dozen dimes will buy a crust of garlic bread What's it gonna take What's it gonna take What's it gonna take To free the celestial body When I say celestial I mean extra-terrestrial I mean accepting the alien you've rejected in your own heart When I say heart, I mean finish The last one there is a potato kinish Baking too long in the sun of spud infinity When I say infinity, I mean now Kiss the one you are right now Kiss your body up and down other than your elbows 'Cause as for your elbows, they're on their own Wandering like a rolling stone Rubbing up against the edges of experience What's it gonna take What's it gonna take What's it gonna take What's it gonna take To free the celestial body Certainty Name on the line Last request Pull the car over To find some rest Saying, "I love you" Need to lie here Need to leave Living in the debt of make-believe Saying, "I owe you" Crooked as a crow gnawing on dawn Shadow from the grass in the dirt on the lawn Why do I string you along My certainty is wild, weaving For you I am a child, believing You lay beside me sleeping on a plain In the future Sit on the phone Watch TV Romance, action, mystery Wanted to show you Sine wave is a particle ride Bring your light out then in on the tide Maybe I love you Maybe I love you is a river so high Maybe I love you is a river so low I love you, still don't know My certainty is wild, weaving For you I am a child, believing You lay beside me sleeping on a plane In the future My certainty is wild, weaving For you I am a child, believing You lay beside me sleeping on a plain In the future Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You It's a little bit magic Like a river of morning geese In the new warm mountain Where the storm face forms and speaks I believe in you Even when you need to Recoil When the topsoil Is kicking up into the storm Where the dust goes dancing And a billion planets are born I believe in you Even when you need to Recoil Just like that The moon goes flat Big lights in the city shine Crying out Take me to the limits of your love There's a dragon in the phone line Coughing up a mighty flame With a tongue of silver Calling on my oldest name She says, "Hey you Do you remember me too" We were coiling It's a little bit magic Magic A little bit magic Magic Sparrow Wrapped in the wings of a sparrow Beak is as sharp as an arrow Sings in a whispering whistle Sleeps in the ivy and thistle Owls out swooping and howling Deep in the midnight a-prowling Mama, the scream of the eagle Threading my heart through the needle Threading the blood through the apple Sucking the juice from the apple Eating the seeds of the apple Bearing the tree of the apple Trapped in the weeds like a scarecrow Stuck to the wind like velcro Distantly hearing the bell toll Warbling chime through the meadow Mama, the scream of the eagle Threading my heart through the needle Threading the blood through the apple Eve sucked the juice from the apple Nakedly running I saw her Boy chasing after to stall her I wish I'd have spoken to call her Before she found fabric to shawl her Breasts bound and burdened with fiber Adam came trembling beside her And he said And he said "She has the poison inside her She talks to snakes and they guide her She has the poison inside her She talks to snakes and they guide her She has the poison inside her She talks to snakes and they guide her She has the poison inside her She talks to snakes and they guide her" Little Things The little things I like about you How you say when you say what you do When your feeling is a little gold and blue When your feeling is a little strung out Everything we talk about Living in the city is a crowded place I still lose sight of every other face Turn in your direction Feeling like I need attention Told you this once or twice Won't you hear I see you in the yard drinking a beer Leaving me undressed Like some cheap classic movie Maybe I'm a little obsessed Maybe you do use me One step behind you Following you down I was inside of you Kissing your mouth You were inside of me Kissing my mouth Seeing out that needle eye Seeing out that needle eye Seeing out that needle eye The little things I like about you How you say when you say what you do When your feeling is a little gold and blue When you're feeling a little strung out Everything we talk about New York City is a crowded place I still lose sight of every other face One step behind you Following you down I was inside of you Where are you now Where are you now The things I love The things, the things I like Will you stay Will you feel You'll feel Heavy Bend Came to light on a very hot day The grass was sweating You were sleeping in With the window open The blanket breathing Cigarette on a golden ash tray Your golden hair lay in the swollen sunray The withered roses hanging in the doorway Don't want to be right Don't want to be let down Don't want to fight Don't want to pretend Formless secret Heavy bend Heavy bend Second sight and the clouds above you As the wilderness grew thicker and the crow flew Tossing and turning, your forehead burning Don't want to be right Don't want to be let down Don't want to fight Don't want to defend Formless secret Heavy bend From the empty height Flies on the ceiling now Want to hold you tight Don't want to pretend Formless secret Heavy bend Heavy bend heavy bend Flower Of Blood Give me some time on earth to know you Help me unearth the map and show you Thinking of her, thinking of him, want to When you touch me Mirror in the sky Making me cry again Roll up the sheets, suddenly frozen Like a knife carving through my thick skin When you touch me When you touch me Hearing you sigh soft and heavy Holding mine 'til you feel ready Flower of blood bloom on my tongue, steady When you touch me When you touch me Flower of blood Flower of blood bloom on my tongue When you find the lonely tower Climb inside the darkest room Feel afraid, surrender your power When you touch me When you touch me When you touch me Feel afraid, surrender your power Blurred View I am the magazine The blue screen The big hand moving past the last thing I turn for you, turn for you, turn for you Turn for you I am the private room The quiet croon The grey eye blinking on the new moon I burn for you, burn for you, burn for you Burn for you Within the last kiss I am the genesis while the earth rolls Bleeding from its axis Return to you, turn to you, turn to Turn to I am the water rise The waterfall Filling up your eyes and when you give the call I run for you, run for you, run for you Run for you, run for you, run for you Run for you I am the sweaty sheets The wet bed The things she'll do And the things she said I'll come for you, come for you, come for you Come for you I am the right brain The paper crane The bright gold moving past the night train A blurred view, blurred view, blurred view Blurred view I am the new disease I am the new disease The light breeze The yellow stars glowing through the white trees I pine for you, pine for you, shine for you Pine for you I am the teeth sharp The lips read What is unfeared and what is unfed I'll feed for you, feed for you, feed for you Feed for you One step closer and I'm real Tell me everything you feel And I will sing for you, sing for you Sing for you, sing for you Sing for you One step closer and I'm real Tell me everything you feel One step closer and I'm real Tell me everything you feel And I will sing for you, sing for you Sing for you, sing for you Sing for you Red Moon Red moon rising like a fire in me So many questions, she asks them all to me I have to answer most curiously Scarlet angel I am too small to see Earn, earn, shuffle round the big city Burning the rubber down Crossing the hot concrete I'm gonna leave town, there is someone to meet She turns her head around a full three-sixty Bedroom rising from an old growth tree Bring out the sawmill Cutting the twelve inch beams Building a pattern, a reservoir to fill with dreams Rings like Saturn, telling their old stories Windmill turn and turn eternally What do you yearn for Where do you long to be I've been here before, looking at the wild country Opening the screen door, talking with Diane Lee That's my grandma Radio singing from the corner of the kitchen I've got the oven on I got the onions wishing they hadn't made me cry Filling the sink with dishes Letting 'em air dry Waiting for the wind's permission Too many movies got me shivering and shy Turning the lights out, glistening in the owl's eye Glimmer like lightning Under the violet sky, shimmer like diamonds Watching the red moon rise Dried Roses Leave the bed unmade Draw the light green shade Start the microwave Dried roses Cradle, yeah she does Lights the fire because Window frost Heat loss Dried roses Steep the black coffee Set the plates Pour the tea Three for her, three for me Dried roses Sleepily she walks Gradually she talks With the geese she flocks Dried roses Afternoon, midnight Morning's what she likes Fly the broom, see the moon Dried roses Here I go, there I am All alone in the pan In the silence again Dried roses Half dead Half awake Make a pie, bake a cake Which road will you take Dried roses Goodness her, goodness me Goodness eternity Out you go in ya be Dried roses So leave the bed unmade Draw the light green shade Start the microwave Dried roses Dried roses No Reason Been pulling through Since the last time I touched you Making due with an internet signal Calling for the delivery to the front door There is no reason to believe No reason at all Come together for a moment, look around and dissolve Like a feeling, like a flash Like a fallen eyelash On your sweater, threading future through the past City of salt, bone and bell tower Country of ice, rain and wildflower Picking out the wreath for the funeral and There is no reason to believe No reason at all Come together for a moment, look around and dissolve Like a feeling, like a flash Like a fallen eyelash On your sweater, threading future through the past There is no reason to believe No reason at all Come together for a moment, look around and dissolve Like a feeling, like a flash Like a fallen eyelash On your sweater, threading future through the past There is no reason to believe Come together Like a feeling, like a flash Come together Wake Me Up To Drive Exit on a whim Hopefully we find it again Tired of turning back Let's keep on moving down the track And if the horse lies down There's a push just a mile uptown If the horse lies down Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Hand upon my skin Warm me up and calm me down I like to watch your chin Tracing the familiar sound Of the famous song Put one on, let's sing along To the famous song Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Vacancy is none The same idea from everyone We never plan ahead We take the gamble on instead And if they turn us down Find a warm bed in the next town If they turn us down Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Wake me up to drive, wake me up to drive Even if I'm tired, I don't want to miss the ride Promise Is A Pendulum I could never build the ether Or the grass overgrown I could never build the river With a mouthful of foam I could never build the winter With her cold tears of glitter I've been listening to the red oak And the acorn she cries Listening to the white birch And the paper she dries I've been listening to the frogs joke Listening to the fire smoke I can never tell you now What I had often said before Because promise is a pendulum Just swinging at the door And I'm not saying I'm not jealous Or scared anymore I'm just saying I could never build a rainbow Or any kind of flower I could never make a sparrow Or a meteor shower I could never build an earthworm Never make the earth turn I've been listening to the laughing Of the fox down the trail And I'm clasping to the listening of the moss to the snail The shimmer of the beech leaves As the wind does a big sneeze I could never tell you now What I had often said before Because promise is a pendulum Just swinging at the door And I'm not saying I'm not jealous Or scared anymore I'm just saying I could never build the shadow Between your cheek and your eye I could never make a freckle Or the warm breath you sigh And the canopy of lashes With the softness of ashes I've been listening to the memory The way that it was Listening to the echo of why's and because Listening to the echo Telling me to let go I could never tell you now What I had often said before Because promise is a pendulum Just hanging at the door And I'm not saying I'm not jealous Or scared anymore I'm just saying Saying 12,000 Lines Cross twelve thousand lines Looking for your face Only to find not a trace Even the memory of your mouth Tries to disappear Little lights turn into spheres Blue mountain In the rear view Some nights barely breathing at all Waiting for my woman to call Cross twelve letters down Found the longest word This morning I'd heard Somebody said they saw you 'round First and twenty-third Blue feathers in your hairdo Some nights barely breathing at all Waiting for my woman to call Maple, cherry leaves start to fall Waiting for my woman to call Sweet honey stirring in my tea, stirring me Forgiveness, all the money in the world Won't buy it Some nights barely breathing at all Waiting for my woman to call Simulation Swarm I tried to tell you I didn't know how to stay You believe she can see through Cutting at the silent clay A relief, beckon deep blue Fettered in the magnet sun Eat the gun as it feeds you Spitting up the oxygen Once again Once again Once again Empty horses Gallop through the violet door Follow red, crooked courses Shadows on the moonlit floor Oh my stars Winged creatures gathering in silken height Like the last human teachers Once again We must bleed new Even as the hours shake Crystal blood like a dream true A ripple in the wound and wake You believe, I believe too That you are the river of light Who I love that I cling to In the belly of the empty night From the thirty-first floor Of the simulation swarm With the drone of fluorescence Flicker, fever, fill the form With a warm gush Now I want to touch Like we never could before I'd fly to you tomorrow I'm not fighting in this war I want to drop my arms and take your arms And walk you to the shore I remember building an energy shield In your room, like a temple Swallows in the windless field Very thin, with your mother Tall as a pale green tree Very wild, bright as winter Rising with a prism key And a child to deliver Tangled in the blood and vine The first little angel Little Andy, soft in your newborn skin Only one, little Andy, will you return again I believe we can renew And you could be my brother Once again, fall asleep with our backs against each other You believe, I believe too That you are the river of light who I love That I sing to in the belly of the empty night From the thirty-first floor Of the simulation swarm With the drone of fluorescence Flicker, fever, fill the form With a warm gush Now I want to touch Like we never could before I'd fly to you tomorrow I'm not fighting in this war I want to drop my arms and take your arms And walk you to the shore I'd fly to you tomorrow I'm no fighting in this war I want to drop my arms and take your arms Love Love Love I already died I'm singing from the other side Underneath love Avoidance and pride I look you in the face and lie I tell you I want your love You're the cigarette in my fist You are so hard to resist I can't help but breathe your love When I'm scared to die alone That's when I call you on the phone Tell you that I need your love Love, love, love Love, love, love, love Love, love, love Frailty and fragile words You tell me a lot of words You tell me all about your love And I feel whatI hear you say I don't talk the same way 'Cause that don't feel like love As the dog opens his eyes As the blue crow flies I'm going to meet my love I already died I'm calling from the otherside Underneath love There's a bottle out in the sea With a message inside from me Saying, "Release my love" Release my love, my love I'm dreaming of release, my love Release my love, my love Release my love Release my love It's a moving operation I'm getting off at this station I'm leaving your love I'm scared to die alone I call you on the phone Watch me bleed your love Love, love, love... Release my love, my love... The Only Place What if all the worlds in space Would melt into one single place And intertwine the human race With other kinds The atom is an empty vase A vehicle to know embrace The way you feel The way you taste It multiplies So much to share So much to share When all material scatters And ashes amplify The only place that matters Is by your side What if all the time between The words we say and what we mean Would roll as softly as a stream That we could ride We'd ride the bend from source to mouth I want a friend from north to south To build that question as a house Where we'd reside So much to share So much to share When all material scatters And ashes amplify The only place that matters Is by your side When all material scatters And ashes amplify The only place that matters Is by your side Blue Lightning One One, two One, two Blue lightning was an autograph Signing up the sky To the question I had to ask She only answered, "Why" Angelia took a photograph The moment had to die Years later like an epitaph We read it and we cry This morning I went to have a bath The water ran dry Clear warning has it come at last The time to say goodbye Can we make love, can we hold fast I really want to try Two-eyed lie Is it fight or fly I want to be the shoelace that you tie Until the end, will you be my friend I want to be the wrinkle in your eye Yeah I want to be the vapor gets you high Blue heron, now you're scaring me You circle and dive Blue angel, yeah you're in my dreams Swearing every night And a spider just beside her, larger than a hill And it's plain to see if she don't comfort me The rattlesnake will Two-eyed lie Is it fight or fly I want to be the wrinkle in your eye Until the end, will you be my friend I want to be the shoelace that you tie Yeah I want to be the vapor gets you high Two-eyed lie Is it fight or fly I want to be the shoelace that you tie Until the end, will you be my friend I want to be the mountain kiss the sky Yeah I want to be the vapor gets you high Yeah I want to feel so happy that I cry Yeah I want to be the shoelace that you tie Yeah I want to live forever till I die Yeah I want to live forever till I die Yeah I One hundred percent, okay What should we do now
DANCE OF LOVE
Old Folks Of Farmersville Old timers, gold miners Witches and midwives Mothers who'd never seen their faces in a mirror There was a Jack of all Trades and Sister Sam The Moonshine Monkeys and the Mystery Man Who'd ride in on a tall black horse then disappear They had some good things to say Those old folks from Farmersville Father to father Right down the line It had nothing to do with Jesus Or gossip on the grapevine It was the holiest of religions Striving to abide And if you do a good deed To a stranger in need Forget it, forget it right away And if a stranger does you a good turn Love it and live it And never forget it until your dying day And then there was grandma "Silence is golden" And "The more I learn The less I know, it seems" Canned peaches, bedtime speeches Bedtime stories and old-time songs Her patchwork quilts are filled with dreams They had some good things to say Those old folks from Farmersville Mother to mother Right down the line It had nothing to do with Jesus Or gossip on the grapevine It was the holiest of religions Striving to abide
Idiot's Maze (Tucker Zimmerman feat. Big Thief, Iji and Twain / Dance Of Love LP) Dress me up in an automobile Drive me around like a car Take me out to the barbecue pit Smoke me like an old cigar I'll take you out to the forest fire Nail you to the moon with the beaks of doves Lay you down with the Camptown Ladies Do da do da dance of love Hold me down with a paperweight lifter Roll me over in the clover Paint me black with an undertaker's suit Play me flat on a tuba flute I'll ride you high on a horse latitude Pump you up with a breathing tube Pick you up and remind you why I remind you of a bottlenecktie Poke me a joke in the hole of my shoe Give me a taste of the Jumpin' Jack juice Swat me a mosquito 'Cause a rumble in the jungle when you turn him loose I'll take you away like a Chinese pizza Take you out to the old ball game Bring you back with a roundhouse punch Teach you how to say my name Shake me like a microphone stand Play me like a marching band Pick me a rose from the left hand of Moses Kick out the jokers and the jams I'll dust your broom and cork you a river Milk your cows with a bubble gum machine Brush you down like a strawberry field Decorate your face with cold ice cream Deal me a stack of rubber band pancakes Dig me a tunnel to the center of the brain Take me back to when I started crying Take me to the belly of the hurricane I'll medicate you with a dose of clam chowder Stun you with a paradoxical pun Get you in line with the crossroad dream Meditate you with a Dalai Lama hum Hit me with your local anesthetic Tie me down with your licorice whips Spin me around on the tips of your fingers Toss me a kiss from your corn chip lips I'll turn you on with a shot of Burma Shave A sniff of Wildroot and a toke of tumbleweed I'll wake you up when they rob the bank Sneak you out the back before they start to bleed Scratch my back with a stained-glass window Teach me the art of the lullaby rhyme Sing me to sleep with a drop of dragon rum Yo ho ho and a bottle of wine I'll drop you like a hot shot potato Way down yonder in the purple haze Lift you up until you touch the light Deliver you from the idiot's maze
Lorelei One, two, three Late at night when the moon is full I sit upon the river shore Full moon in my eyes Water flowing by my open door Oh it flows by Folks along the river Call me Lorelei Hard times have come again Folks looking for relief Looking for the silver lining In the clouds of disbelief Falling from the sky They pray to the river Pray to Lorelei Someday I will move away To the city on the hill Leave behind the waterfall Leavе behind the water wheel Bring along my silvеr harp Bring along my golden psalms Sing them into peaceful dreams Sing my siren songs But only as a guiding light To better times and safer shores I'll sing away their trembling fears Take away their tears and so much more And then I'll cry And folks will say "Where has she gone" Lorelei Folks will say "Where has she gone" Lorelei The Season It's the season When the leaves are dancing 'round like butterflies And it's timeless The clocks are going crazy telling lies And the sun is closing his eyes There's a crossroad moon on the rise And the sky has turned electric blue And it's the season When all the dreams of your dreams come true And there's no reason I've given up on that one long ago We just float around Changes are the only things we know There's a dream about a field of dreams Another one about a midsummer's night But you know any old dream will do 'Cause it's the season When all the dreams of your dreams come true And memories They come and go like water in a well When they run dry Then I'll have nothing worthwhile left to tell And I know you're feeling the same So bring around a tip jar and we'll collect the rain And we'll mix the old drops with the new 'Cause it's the season When all the dreams of your dreams come true And I'm amazed when I come awake each day and see the light I'm so grateful I made it through another night I can't believe I'm still hanging around I can't believe I'm not hanging upside down And yes, I'm so lucky to be alive (and kicking too) Yeah, it's the season When all the dreams of your dreams come true Yes, it's the season When all the dreams of your dreams come true Burial At Sea Take me out to the edge of the sky Fill me with laughter and a lopsided smile Roll back the waves that cloud my eyes I want to dance with the whales for a while Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah There's a message in a bottle From fourteen hundred and ninety-two Shipwrecked sailors on a rock A stone's throw away from the village they plundered Our time is up, no more shall we count The clicks of the clock Oh yeah Oh yеah Oh yeah Beware, bеware with seaweed in her hair A mermaid strums a haunted mandolin She'll take you deeper into the maze Past the point where you'll survive By doing tricks with your chin Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh the sleepers of the deep sweep from shore to floor Chances are slim you'll come back the same And if you wish to return to the shore I'll teach the gentle vikings to remember your name Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah So drain me away to the far-flung sea Measure me with mystery, weigh me with wonder Slip me away between the sheets Over the top and all the way under Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh yeah They Don't Say (But It's True) They don't say it But it's true A precious thread of light Is cut and lost forever With the death of everyone They don't say it But it's true These threads of light Tie our lives together Make us glow in the dark And keep us connected They don't say it But it's true If you could be inside of me And me inside of you We'd both go insane In a minute or two They don't say it But it's true Stark raving mad You and me, me and you Stick around long enough And you'll see what I'm saying We're a me-you Shocking bluе Witches' brew On a back burner Simmеring They don't say it But it's true We never get past The wall of light Blazing in our eyes We're dazzled, we're delighted We can't make a move They don't say it But it's true We're frozen glue Ice cubes have a better chance We climb the wall, we melt Back into liquid molecules They don't say it But it's true We're a me-you Shocking blue Witches' brew On a back burner Simmering We don't talk about it But it's true The love we feel Touches other people too We can't control it It's just something we do Your love for me My love for you We don't talk about it But it's true Leave It On The Porch Outside Well, I guess we'll have to see about that Just leave it on the porch outside It's ready to eat, it's hot and it's fat Just leave it on the porch outside I, I think I got my history mixed up Just leave it on the porch outside I don't have a bucket, so I guess I'll leave a cup Just leave it on the porch outside Sounds like a story I once heard And I remember that story's every word Tell me, please, where I can lеave the mail Just leavе it on the porch outside There is a real fancy ad for the big summer sale Just leave it on the porch outside I found a cat climbing in a tree Leave it on the, on the porch outside He's already got a name, it's Jack or Jane Just leave it on the porch outside Sounds like a story I once heard And I remember that story's every word I took off my boots, so where do I put my hat Just leave it on the porch outside Well, I guess we'll have to see about that Just leave it on the porch outside Porch outside Porch outside And leave it on the porch outside Porch outside Porch outside, porch outside Porch outside And leave it on the porch outside Porch outside... One, two, three, four The Ram-A-Lama-Ding-Dong Song Does anybody have a kazoo Who put the ding in the ding-a-dong-dang in the blue moon Must've been some kind of weird goon Who put the ding-a-dong-dang in the blue moon Bet it was that Beep-Beep guy from the cartoon Well, who put the ram in the ram-a-lama-ding-dong song It might have been Tarzan, might have been King Kong Who put the ram in the ram-a-lama-ding-dong song He made my baby fall in love with the wrong man Don't Go Crazy (Go In Peace) Don't go crazy Go slow, release Go with the flow Go in peace Don't go crazy Go slow, release Go with the flow Go in peace Don't go crazy Go slow, release Go with the flow Go in peace Don't go crazy Go slow, release Go with the flow Go in peace Don't go crazy Go slow, release Go with the flow Go in peace Nobody Knows It might be the first time It might be the last time It might be a straight line It might be a stop sign It might be a brick wall Or no surprise at all Well, someone might take your shirt And run it up the flagpole Someone might take your shoes And turn 'em in a black hole And you might get lost When you're caught between the rock and the roll Oh nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen What's gonna happen next After you've wound up your clocks And your time has been told Well, it might be "yes, ma'am" It might be "no, sir" It might be a place Where you can't go, sir Except on the afternoon When the moon turns blue And the earth stands still And you keep on shaking It's the wildest ride You've ever taken And the sky turns green And you don't know what to do Oh nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen next When your prayers and your backsliding curses all come true You know the outside Has a way of getting in And it can drive you crazy Make your head spin On the back door Shouting for more Like a natural-born sinner In a house of sin You can't trust a mirror As far as you can throw it So your face might be A gargoyle the next time you show it The next time you show it It might be a gargoyle Gargoyle, gargoyle But your eyes will be the same Until they disappear into tears And the sun might explode The clouds might fall out Fill the land with thunder You hear a voice call out April the first will follow October the first this year Oh nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen next When you drive into Heaven without a rear-view mirror Oh no Nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen What's gonna happen next Drink a little "drink me" Get your head unlocked Smoke a little smoke Feel the laughter of the aftershock Go bend the frames Go all the way to Hades Kiss the flames Then come back and kiss the ladies Spin the bottle, spin the bottle Pin the tail on a goat boy Spit out your name, say that it's Kilroy Get rounded up with the usual suspects Nobody knows what's gonna happen next Oh nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen What's gonna happen next Nobody knows what's gonna happen Nobody knows what's gonna happen What's gonna happen next
NON ALBUMS TRACKS Abysskiss (Adrianne Lenker / Topanga Demo / Demos Vol. 1, Topanga Canyon, CA, Feb 2018 EP) Try and get some rest I'll do the rest Think to what the roses find With the arms of passion This is how we fashion Wars remind In the hour I loved you Like a dream, it was true In the base of my pine Wilderness Vast abyss Will we Ever kiss In her mother's fortress She was brushing horses Manes and tails, flicking flies Naked as the window Baby, if it's real so No need to apologize Wilderness Vast abyss Will we Ever kiss Love is on her shoulder Love is on the boulder In the eyes, in the eyes Love never leaves Love is the leaves In the sky, in the sky Blue And Red Horses (Adrianne Lenker / Topanga Demo / Demos Vol. 1, Topanga Canyon, CA,Feb 2018 EP) Blue and red horses on the run I think the angel is jumping the gun Little red lantern watching the sun Maybe the angel is jumping the gun I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve Do you want to toy with me I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve Do you want to toy with me Little red flower on your wrist Maybe the angel fired and missed Little red flowers on your wrist I think the angel fired and missed I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve Do you want to toy with me I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve Do you want to toy with me Little red forest in your room I hope the angel is getting here soon Little red forest in your room I hope the angel is getting here soon I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve Do you want to toy with me I'm a lot of boy with a lot of nerve Do you want to toy with me Little red flower, blue and red horses Little red flower, blue and red horses Little red forest, little red horses Little red flower, little red horses Little red forest Little red forest Little red forest Little red forest With a lot of nerve
Born For Loving You After the first stars formed, after the dinos fell After the first light flickered out of this motel 1991, momma pushing like hell Tangled in blood and vine From my first steps to my first words To waddling around looking at birds To the teenage nightmare, mine and yours Thank God we made it through 'Cause I was born for loving you Just something I was made to do Doesn't matter what dreams come true I was born for loving you Now we're here, but where is here Sometimes we both disappear Into that shadow box of fear That tiny old abyss From the first kiss to the first fuck I don't think it's just good luck Take me to the back of your pick-up truck Show me a thing or two 'Cause I was born for loving you That's just something I was made to do Doesn't matter what dreams come true I was born for loving you When the hard times come and the hard times stay When they stick around and won't go away When it seems there's nothing you can do or say Nowhere you can turn From the last breath of my first death To this lifetime and lifetimes left Congratulations, no regrets It's true I was born for loving you That's just something I was made to do Doesn't matter what dreams come true I was born for loving you Just something I was made to do Doesn't matter what dreams come true I was born for loving you Breathe In My Lungs (Mythological Beauty EP) Lifting the edge of her bed Walking a girl to the altar No love is like this, no sacrifices My only child, my only daughter How will I leave your body Breathe in my lungs and I'll leave in your arms Breathe in my lungs and I'll leave in your arms Breathe in my lungs and I'll leave in your arms Breathe in my lungs and I'll leave in your arms I have the love of her father He has the eyes of our daughter Her eyes are like his, shining sapphires I see holy light, I trusted you to fight Holy light, I trust in you to fight How will I leave her body Breathe in my lungs and I'll leave in your arms... Dandelion (Dandelion EP) He's old like the raspberry cold Coming in the window, his gloom room Flowers blooming out like armadillos He looks to the left at the yellow lines Moving with the traffic His veins have turned to plastic blinds He was new like the violet dew Water looking at him through The telescopic mountain view Where the stars were still laughing He lept into the northern sky Filled his lungs with peace and Never even wondered why Go with the yellow light Your mind is a dandelion The weight of your crooked spine Is returning to snow They know you were mostly our machines Not electrical in dreams He's old like the raspberry cold Coming in the window, his gloom room Flowers then blooming out like armadillos He walks with the owls and the yellow moon Walks like a river lapping His blood is thick and tacky He was new like the violet dew Water looking at him through The telescopic mountain view The stars were still laughing He lept into the northern sky Filled his lungs with peace and Never even wondered why Go with the yellow light Your mind is a dandelion The weight of your crooked spine Is returning to snow They know you were mostly our machines Not electrical in dreams He looks to the left He looks to the left He looks to the left He looks to the left
Imagination (Passional Relations EP) We beat it to death Holding one last breath Only one green leaf left Do you know what you want I think I know what I want Do you remember restaurants Rest Imagination There is no other place Party all night long Maybe all day too People all around you Surround you My dreams, you haunt My room, you haunt Making out Imagination There is no other place To live Think we beat it to death Holding one last breath Only one green leaf left Live Young (Topanga Demo / Demos Vol. 1, Topanga Canyon, CA, Feb 2018 EP) Pretty grey zombie Feeding upon me Please, turn around Show me your weary green eyes Her heart is mangled She's got me in a fable Please, follow through, please Stay with me awhile Morning comes To divide the dreamer from the dream To live young To survive the one you can't outrun To live young Him galloping ? I stumble and trot I'm going to learn whether you teach me or not I'm going past her I forgot to guard Warm light Fall tooth Learning to fall Ending comes To divide the dreamer from the dream To live young To survive the one you can't outrun To live young Morning comes To divide the dreamer from the dream Love In Mine Put your love in mine Let your body sing When your words won't Tell me everything When I ramble on And I often do Remind me To travel home to you Whatever comes When it calls Whatever leaves What we leave behind Like cicada shells We'll be hollowed And eaten by the hills Whatever comes (Whatever comes) When it calls (When it calls) Whatever leaves (Whatever leaves) Whatever comes When it calls Whatever leaves Mermaid (Topanga Demo / Demos Vol. 1, Topanga Canyon, CA, Feb 2018 EP) Only a matter of time Before we lose our mind Only a matter of days left Only a couple of ways down You know it don't feel so small When you're holding, I seem to call Just reaching for her hand Only a matter of aches Before the body breaks Only a matter of timing Only a matter of ways down going You know it don't feel so small When you're holding, I seem to call Just reaching for her hand Her psyche must be wild 'Cause just today I smiled And I saw the number of letters From the debt collectors that I left You know it don't feel so small Don't they know I owe nothing at all Just reaching for her hand The mermaids gather around In the blood of New York Island It's only a matter of time now, before Before this land and your land, before Before this land is my land, before Before this land is her land, you know That she's going to gather a song Give me guilt with nowhere to call Just reaching for her hand Mother She wears flowers around her neck She cooks that egg so perfect To eat it warm To eat it warm, warm And you sleep under her arm Where spells fly To the high white noise To the highway dime She looks that bird in the eye Cuts his throat and bleeds him dry To eat him warm To eat him warm, warm And you sleep under her arm Where the spells fly To the high white noise To the highway dime She makes milk inside her breast She dove down to find what's left And eat it warm And eat it warm, warm And you sleep under her arm Where the spells fly To the high white noise To the highway dime Off You (The Breeders cover / Bills & Aches & Blues LP) I've laid this island sun a thousand times I'm on it, but I'm going strange This island's chills and shell cover me With winded rock And skies I've yet to see I tried I even sent in friends They did it as a favor 'cause I'm not that way I am the autumn in the scarlet I am the make-up on your eyes I land to sail I land to sail Yeah we're moving Yeah we're moving This island's sun, I've laid a thousand times Fortune me, fortune me Of all my mistakes, I think I lent you late Now every set pеrcent seems to come my way But I've never seen a starlet Or a riot or the violence of you I am the autumn in the scarlet I am the make-up on your eyes I land to sail I land to sail Yeah we're moving Yeah we're moving I land to sail I land to sail Yeah we're moving Yeah we're moving Over (Topanga Demo / Demos Vol. 1, Topanga Canyon, CA, Feb 2018 EP) On your tongue You yearn so young The fragrant night It's over, but it's alright It's over, but it's alright Thread so bare The silk worn yarn Her rapid tight It's over, but it's alright It's over, but it's alright It's over, but it's alright What went wrong Your words were strong Oh true light It's over, but it's alright It's over, but I'm true It's over, but it's alright It's over, but it's alright
Shadow Too (Passional Relations EP) The light in you Keeps pulling straight through And your shadow too And your shadow Dearest friend, naked as I lay In your shroud of winter blossom In your crowd, my memory flashes Flashes, flashes The light in you Keeps pulling straight through And your shadow too And the shadow In the end, there's nothing we can do To contain a single blossom Or explain the way she passes Passes Passes But the light in you Keeps pulling straight through And your shadow too And your shadow too The light in me Keeps pulling straight through And the shadow too And the shadow
Vampire Empire Watching TV tired, bleeding on the bed The milk has just expired, all the leaves are dead I'm not quiet, you've been quiet, just receiving what you said Reeling, feeding, feeling filled by everything you fed I see you as you see yourself through all the books you read Overwhelmed with guilt and realizing the disease You give me chills I've had it with the drills I am nothing, you are nothing, we are nothing with the pills I'm empty 'til she fills Alive until she kills In her vampire empire I am Falling yeah Falling yeah I see you there rejecting all your earthly power Protecting and dissecting 'til you've emptied every hour We jump into the pond then we come under the shower You lay upon my pillow and you open like a flower I wanted to see you naked, I wanted to hear you scream Wanted to kiss your skin and your everything I wanted to be your woman, I wanted to be your man I wanted to be the one that you could understand You give me chills I've had it with the drills I am nothing, you are nothing, we are nothing with the pills I'm empty 'til she fills Alive until she kills In her vampire empire I am Falling yeah Falling yeah Well, I walked into your dagger for the last time It's like trying to start a fire with matches in the snow Where you can't seem to hold me, can't seem to let me go So I can't find surrender and I can't keep control You turn me inside out and then you want the outside in You spin me all around and then you ask me not to spin You say you want to be alone and you want children You want to be with me, you want to be with him You give me chills I've had it with the drills I am nothing, you are nothing, we are nothing with the pills I'm empty 'til she fills Alive until she kills In her vampire empire I am Falling yeah Falling yeah Falling yeah Falling yeah Falling yeah Falling yeah
Waiting On Blue (Passional Relations EP) Waiting on blue Eyes on horizon, the gray sky view When it gets to Leaving your light on the whole day through Star-strangled storm Weather to ride on and earth to roam Cellular phone Pages to hide on When will we ride for real As reeds in the wind I want to hold you for real Flies on the screen Stuck to the ties of the web machine The spider is green She keeps it bright through the night, no sleep When will we ride for real As reeds in the wind I want to hold you for real For real again Waiting on blue Eyes on horizon, the gray sky view
Zombie Girl (Passional Relations EP) What a dream that was I almost couldn't wake because I was frozen in bed with a zombie girl Vacant as a closed down fair Sleep paralysis I sworn I could've felt you there And I almost could've kissed your hair But the emptiness withdrew me From any kind of wishful prayer Oh emptiness Tell me 'bout your nature Maybe I've been getting you wrong I cover you with questions Cover you with explanations Cover you with music Then the next night Dreaming I could feel your skin But the dream escaped so easily And I wokе up to the road again How your words ring through Something kinda sweet and blue And I knеw that you'd been understanding Everything that I'd said too About emptiness Tell me 'bout your nature Maybe I've been getting you wrong I cover you with questions Cover you with explanations Cover you with music What's on your mind What's on your mind What's on your mind What's on your mind What's on your mind What's on your mind What's on your mind What's on your mind