1. |
Smile Faking
02:13
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four, four generations from now/no, no one will know how you lived/or if you even did/outside of a thin-line-framed name/on a family tree limb/every worry, concern, and care/as good as having never been there at all/they play a part so small/only to fill in the gap/between the crawl and the final fall/like the seasons you start out hot/end up in a cold plot/smile in the pictures that are awkward and posed/you’ll forget you had to be reminded/when you’re old/and flipping through/pages with pictures of people you once knew/they had to fake a few smiles, too/people talk, people talk about making your mark/get a head start/while your headstone’s still far/away, away, away/what that mark could be/grows more opaque every day/you may call me a cynic/but I’m realistic, it’s intrinsic/and I can’t figure out/any other way to be
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2. |
Blinders
03:12
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unidentifiable rage/anxious and lost on some foreign terrain/the mouth is maxed out with blood/from biting its tongue/couples so closely bound/parading insecurities all over town/what would you do for a hand to hold?/a 98.6 to keep your 97 from cold?/put on the blinders/and you’ll only see/everything that keeps you/in your misery/how do I take/these blinders from my face/we’re only lines/in a book/and sentimental crooks/they take a look/and decide/if all this life/was worth our time
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3. |
In Their Wake
02:54
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slow down/past the procession/flags wave/in their wake/single file/behind the car of confinement/the eldest leads the way/to the place/where we fall to knees/for our fallen trees/it’s the train/of the mourning this morning/that’s keeping me from ignoring/our fates/clogging the city’s pulmonary/red cells indicate/solace between the wrought iron fence/defeated highway snake/is it the number of vehicles headed?/or near accidents on the way?
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4. |
Two Birds in a Flock
04:00
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propped up on a ledge/above the world, on the edge/of the start or the end/no peripheral friends/eskimo kiss, passionless/polar cap landing/regardless, still standing/regardless, still standing up/two feet/wrap around and meet/looking on, jealously/barrels in/and begins: “there’s nothing worse to watch/than two birds in a flock/locking feathers together/while determining whether it’s worth flying on/or even singing a song/all the others fly solely along.”/incessantly dragged by a waist or a hand/which one to grab?/wish equals command/benches all covered by ungrateful lovers/while the lone masses stand/stare at the night and chant, “it never gets easier.”
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5. |
Binary Cold
04:24
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tape hiss/is a blanket/for the binary cold/so I’ll lock it/inside a plastic pocket/and patiently await audible home/breathe in/the freezing/oxygen and cough it out/a million balloons/deflating all too soon/leaving the lungs/hung flat from the snout/the engine will turn/and pull with it your sheets/you punch it and scream/machines don’t sleep/my wardrobe is like my day to day/scattered with color but mostly grey/wicker basket/dried macaroni/TV flickers/that favorite movie/on a fold-out couch/not folded out/a folded body/nobody else
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6. |
Pick Up Your Idle Bones
02:31
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the other night/I had a daydream/a weather-worn man/was shoveling/outside my first floor/apartment wall/leaning, looking at me/through the drops, soullessly/the hole: a foot wide, a foot deep/yet I knew his intention/pick up your idle bones/throw them as far/as your muscles can throw/don’t wait for spring/don’t wait for roots to grow/pick up your idles bones/and throw/look where it leads/yea, listen to me, I said look where it leads/you could be free/set those thoughts asunder
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7. |
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soaking boats/on narrow docks/sink down/when they fill up/and the shapes/own the stage/like a ballerina, a ballerina/and their veins/channel the same/rows and rows/of water through the tires on the roads/we’ll go/to great lengths/our heads, we/can’t escape/talking circles/voices are powerless/we can’t find a purpose/but we’re hopeful/ever hopeful/we will compromise
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8. |
All Eyes on Shoes
04:24
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though you walk with conviction/there’s distinction ‘twixt the surface/and what you’re really thinking/it’s a sinking feeling/shuffling to the tempo/of car alarms/empty hearts/falling all apart at the seams/it seems, it seems/all eyes on shoes/all ties start coming loose/when you tell the truth/time’s on a river floating by/he’s the near-sighted guy looking surprised/holding up a sign/reading, “WILL IT TURN RIGHT?”/since you dress for a desk/there’s a pressure on your chest/it’s a test, it’s a test/can you live like the rest?
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9. |
Stack the Facts
02:30
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both rooms reek the perfume/of smoke from the jokes next door/no jobs, no qualms about their noise that no one is for/but if you stack the facts/stand on top and don’t look back at the/storybook you could’ve had/you can make nice with your lucky life/follow suit and soon you, too, will notice/this road is relatively flat/trucks rumble by/inside there’s a shout from a dirty mouth/upstairs there’s always someone/jumping or running around/every try for shut eye/met with a car that won’t start
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10. |
The Ending
03:15
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in a packrat’s basement/found a box full of slides/from all their vacations/transparent Paris/and transparent Christmases/long since dismissed/from anyone’s subconscious/countless years/and piles of newspaper/shoved into drawers/and broken briefcases/sleeping bags and second hand/games for when the neighbors came/behind it all was/where we saw/a chest/with her wedding dress/passport photos/of travel long ago/browning down in a soundless house/shirts and nightgowns hanging/we’ll never see the ending coming/you took his cufflinks/I swiped some slides/sucked in their dust/and threw out their lives/talked of converting/the room for ourselves/as we put out the rest/on the driveway to sell/we’re so quick to move on/we’ll take any reason/we’re so quick to move on/we’ll make up a reason
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Standish Arms New York
Standish Arms began in 2004 and has since taken iterations from a solo recording project to a full-band indie-rock/pop affair. The band has crafted a diverse set of albums, ranging from bedroom folk to clever, infectious pop to loud, angular rock—all tied together with passionate, literate lyrics that manage to retain a sense of humor. ... more
Standish Arms recommends:
Great blend of talents!
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For love of cassettes
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