1. |
Twinkle Lights
03:23
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All the sheep had twinkle lights around their necks.
You say that’s odd and I agree.
But nah look there’s a whole line of em dancing in the rainbow hues;
Such a pretty little solar system,
Yeah this exit could be ours,
Yeah the livestock like to bring their own tiny little stars.
Cause grandma said we’re either rising up or we’re going home
and we’re going home y’all we’re going home strong and tall.
Cause the diner ain’t done until the dishes are dry
and the silver is tucked in the drawer
and that’s about the time that the trouble ain’t gonna be trouble no
more.
All the bills were paid and the tracks were laid
and the family were close at hand.
All the colors from the twinkle lights
setting sun, window sill, red clay dirt, and the chocolate earth
they were dancing.
They were dancing their way on home
like the moon.
Cause grandma said we’re either rising up or we’re going home
and we’re going home y’all we’re going home strong and tall.
Cause the diner ain’t done until the dishes are dry
and the silver is tucked in the drawer
and that’s about the time that the trouble ain’t gonna be trouble no
more.
All the sheep had twinkle lights around their necks
but I told you that one already.
And the town’s people they were going home by their own way.
It’s the simple little things keeping me sleeping at night.
It’s the tiny little things keep me dripping from my eyelids.
But it’s time for waking up.
Yeah it’s time to go to work again
in case the crazies try and go elect a wolf again.
Cause grandma said we’re either rising up or we’re going home
and we’re going home y’all we’re going home strong and tall.
Cause the diner ain’t done until the dishes are dry
and the silver is tucked in the drawer
and that’s about the time that the trouble ain’t gonna be trouble no
more
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2. |
Caroline's Song
03:33
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Brass, nickel, and wood have always done me good.
Earth, heaven, and hell sounded just as well.
So give me a rest for my heart, my head, and hands
ease my mind help me understand.
Cause I’m a pilgrim
I’m a sinner
The months of walking
Now I’m thinner
I’m clinging to a rock as high as I can climb
So would you meet me in the valley and keep me by your side?
Shenandoah peaks and Shenandoah miles
The holy spirit speaks and Carolina smiles.
So give me a rest for my heart, my head, and hands
ease my mind help me understand.
Cause I’m a pilgrim
I’m a sinner
The months of walking
Now I’m thinner
I’m clinging to a rock as high as I can climb
So would you meet me in the valley and keep me by your side?
Roan’s shady apples
Yellow mountain cider
let’ em touch your lips
Smile a little wider
Meet me at the chapel
Damascus is my stop
You can hang me from the steeple
Or pin me to the top.
Cause I’m a pilgrim
I’m a sinner
The months of walking
Now I’m thinner
I’m clinging to a rock as high as I can climb
So would you meet me in the valley and keep me by your side?
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3. |
They All Were Dancing
04:41
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Winter in North Carolina Summer in July,
Winter in North Carolina Summer in July,
The weeds they all grow tall and they all die.
Get me to my home. Babe I know the way.
Get me to my home down in Carolina.
I had a dream last night babe they all were dancing.
I had a dream last night babe they all were dancing.
Put your hand on my thigh.
Promise me all you got.
Get me to my home. Babe I know the way.
Get me to my home down in Carolina.
I had a dream last night and I woke up cry’en
I had a dream last night and I woke up cry’en
You put Your hand on my eyes.
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4. |
Across The Water
04:43
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Keep a candle burning on the sill
Save a space beneath the floor board
Where I can sleep tonight
In the morning we’ll take a ride
Past the dogs and past their guns
A brush fire we’ll light when the morning arrives
We’ll take the fugitive home.
When I make it safe to Canada
Will you meet me beside the water and pray
You meet me there alive
I know Ontario is cold but I will keep you warm
by the fire
Never let you out of my sight again.
When I get safe across the water
When I stop running
Arrest my feet
Arrest my soul and kiss my girl
When the cuffs are off
When the cuffs are off
Keep a light on and burning bright
So I can find your window
When I’m creeping up the road tonight
I’ll arrive when the streets are empty
When July passes us by
And the birds sing their hopeful song for the lovers on the run
For the lovers on the run
When I get safe across the water
When I stop running
Arrest my feet
Arrest my soul and kiss my girl
When the cuffs are off
When the cuffs are off
And you stay up late talking to friends
And you call me and tell me it’s time
But it wont be that long till I make you mine
Well I’ll strike a match in the barn and let it burn
As we slip away
My father’s cash will get us to the ocean
I’ll kiss your feverish lips like a brush fire that dries up a stream
And melt you like a warm southern sky.
When I get safe across the water
When I stop running
Arrest my feet
Arrest my soul and kiss my girl
When the cuffs are off
When the cuffs are of
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5. |
Balance The Waltz
05:17
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He borrowed his father’s old suit for the wedding
Slipped on those shoes and he walked down the isle
He washed off her feet with tears so easily shed
And he slept with the thanks of a boy turning into man
And the circle of time was a dance as he held her hand.
She raised up her son to send him away
Made him a man who could stand in the sway
Of the world
But not trip in its ways.
And it broke her whole heart when he took that first step
And she died when he ran but he didn’t look back
Cause you know that old man Moses is dead
Let the desert take his home and dust fill his bed
My new name here is Joshua instead
My cane is not a crutch but a scepter for a kings homestead
We take off our shoes at the end of the day
We wipe off the mud and the soil
We give up our youth in the east and we walk to the west
We baptize the earth with fresh toil
Wipe off our brow for the work of idolatry’s foil.
Cause you know that old man Moses is dead
Let the desert take his home and dust fill his bed
My new name here is Joshua instead
My cane is not a crutch but a scepter for a kings homestead
And the clock it smiles for man its humble guest
and God’s only law is to give up our best
Let the seeds of life grow up wherever they fall
so that seeds and soot can stand again as man.
Cause you know that old man Moses is dead
Let the desert take his home and dust fill his bed
My new name here is Joshua instead
My cane is not a crutch but a scepter for a kings homestead
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6. |
Parades
01:22
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Thots lik tamboreens krash btween a childs ‘hanz they are mine a boi
hoo reeches uup wth teers an smyls depening an the our an thys is
the one forsed smyls a momment four parades says the child in my
mind despte te meses i kin fine.
Slowly fall
Slowly fade away
Slowly form vapor trails
Upside down
and out.
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7. |
Seeds & Snow
06:04
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Grandpa moved to California
in a circle of wagons through the snow
through cold and bitter winter mornings
hoping ma would last the night
racing wolves through an icy pasture.
My old man would cross the desert
running things some people buy.
And he would stop and pass the night
with pretty girls in dusty towns.
I’ll meet a girl this time tomorrow.
Seeds will grow in a bitter pasture.
In the gypsum weed:
sweeter fruit than I will ever know
dreaming about the road and that quiet mountain range
and how can people change.
I don’t know
I don’t know
Aunty Caroline was a preacher.
she moved out west in a dust bowl daze.
She married a man for his guitar
and his finger pick’n ways
and the tricks the campfire would play.
They made a pact of constant sorrow,
laid those seeds beside the road.
They grew sweeter fruit than I will ever know
dreaming of yesterday,
thinking I could take a chance
as if the silent moon could dance.
I don’t know
I don’t know
I met a girl whose name was Progress
with delicate hands
made for work in a promised land.
But now I walk with the wolves
and I settle for second best
I hold the earth like an urn
and now I take all the hell I get.
Change is a silent masquerade
generations on display:
like a salt flat sky over sapphire fields
as we burry our sweeter yields.
Its how hurting and change can feel
and why starting is twice so real
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8. |
A Devil To Move
02:53
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Hey I got a devil to move I got new stitching in my shoes I’m moving
on
And I apologize for such a thin disguise I’ll probably change my
mind again
I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know
I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know
I got a devil to move here’s looking to you I couldn’t leave too soon
I’m talking about you too I’m talking about you too I got the moving
blues
I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know
I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know
Hey I’ve got a devil to move I can’t leave too soon unless you do
Hey I apologize for such a thin disguise I’ll probably change my
mind again
If it suits you
If it suits you then it suits you
Well I’m on the road.
I wont be stepping on your shadow I wanted you to know
I wont be stepping on your shadow or dancing at your show I hoped
you’d know
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9. |
||||
Digging down to find the core
Sweeping up a rusty bottomed vessel
don’t know what this ship is for
except work, live, and die.
And I see it all the time
See my old friend Jones
He was hanging round the neck
Around closing time
Singing “Who will call the family?
And who will be the barer of such bad news
and who will pick up the tab
or clean these dishes up
or cut the noose?”
Now my sweeping days are over
I said good bye to that old ship and shore
I have a nice plot of land
I call my Mrs. “Higher Ground”
and “If-you-ask-it’s-all-the-same-to-me”
Still I wake up scared some nights
Singing “Who will call the family?
And who will be the barer of such bad news
and who will pick up the tab
or clean these dishes up
or cut the noose?”
Digging down to find the core
And if you see a dead man walking
Don’t you know what a grave is for?
But when you hear them call out your Name
You won’t be thinking so much
You won’t be asking your questions
you wont be calling your name.
Singing “Who will call the family?
And who will be the barer of such bad news
and who will pick up the tab
or clean these dishes up
or cut the noose?”
Who? Who? Who?
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10. |
Tornado
04:56
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There’s a river of fire under the Memphis sky
for slaves like us - a gentle way to die.
Theres a smoking gun between father and son:
The only dance the old man taught me was a way to run.
My car stalled out under a Mississippi moon
the needle pricked ‘E’ 3000 miles too soon.
Now I’m drunk on the gin of generational sin
and the empty bottle’s the urn you can burry me in.
‘cause the lady lied
and the lady laid the liberty bell
at the gates of hell
“Drink up” they said “boy find your fill
we’re the experts here at the oil we drill”
“The sea turned black but you’r sharp as a tack
If you don’t clean this all up well…
we hoped you will”
‘cause the lady lied
and the lady laid the liberty bell
at the gates of hell.
So I took my sweet girl through the valley low
And I carried her up
On the mountains high.
Of all my wealth she was the apple of my eye.
And I buried her seed
Oh in the land of the lies
‘cause the lady lied
and the lady laid the liberty bell
at the gates of hell
Is there somebody here who could tear me apart?
I need a tornado in this trailer park heart.
Is there a fire or a flood that for heavens sake
turn my landfill mind into real estate.
Cause I’m ready to fail so I set my sail
make up my bed in the belly of the whale
yes I’m ready to fail so I set my sale
find the skeleton’s eyes in the virgin’s vale
down, down, down where lady liberty fell
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11. |
Grandfather Clock
04:31
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I am a dancing child
Last of a dying race
I am a tree in a field
A place where you can land
and rest your opinions
and listen to the wind and hear the whisper…
ready go!
I ain’t no grandfather clock
damned to carry my chains
while the bells are always ringing in my brains.
I ain’t no astrolabe charting ancient seas
while my lucky star is always out of reach.
This is what I’m supposed to do right now
Oh teacher would you tell me how? Tell me now.
oh teacher would you take a bow?
Are you an inch worm? Or a million miles long?
You gave a word but I still can’t write a song.
So I will sing about defeat and I will dance without my feet,
cut off my toes and they can dance their lonely beat.
This is what I’m supposed to do right now.
Oh teacher would you tell me how? tell me now.
Oh teacher would you take a bow?
Am I a salesman who has never made a sell?
Am I pilgrim who is doing half as well?
Am I thief condemned for wanting more
so short I’m taring out my seems for sleepy dreams.
died long ago so let me go let me go let me go home.
There is a grey sky dancing on the waves and my hands are treading
fire
but this boat will do just fine in the mean time
until the stars become my grave.
Well the weeds will call me home while I wait
while I wait
while I wait
For you.
Cause this is what I’m supposed to do right now
Oh teacher would you tell me how tell me now
Oh teacher this is what I’m supposed to do
Oh teacher would you tell me how tell me now
Oh teacher this is what I’m supposed to do
Oh teacher would you tell me how?
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12. |
Dreamcatcher
03:16
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All our songs live in the rafters,
They were born in dream catchers.
All my children and their laughter,
They live happily ever after.
That’s my daughter Annabelle
She’s my favorite joke to tell
She fell into a wishing well
She was drinking what she wouldn’t tell
But if you meet her say her father said…
Say I’m either dying or I’m dead
So tell my children what I said what I said
what I said:
“my body made a terrible bow line
My mind too prone to slip
My soul no sinking ship”
So tell my family
That’s my son named Gabriel
He’s my lucky star who fell
with pocket’s full of things to sell
They sent him home for raising hell.
I met the principal and the policeman
and I told them both:
I’m either dying or I’m dead
So tell my children what I said what I said
what I said:
“my body made a terrible bow line
and my mind too prone to slip
but my soul no sinking ship.
So tell my family
All our songs live in the rafters
They were born in dream catchers
All my children and their laughter
They were born to dance at the funeral.
‘Cause I’m either dying or I’m dead
So tell my children what I said what I said
what I said:
“my body made a terrible bow line
and my mind too prone to slip
but my soul no sinking ship.”
So tell my family
“Since I am a spiritual man you can bury me where I stand,
you can bury me where I stand and you can burn all the evidence.”
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13. |
The Pearl
04:34
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I’m no company man I’m too proud.
When I hear voices I shut them out.
This car can drive itself can drive itself
I remember I could hear the bells.
They sang a song of riches in the well.
So I’ll sell my well and buy myself a gun
and I’ll buy a gun and kill someone for love.
For Love
I held a baby boy here in my arms
I trusted I could see just as far
I trusted him to tell us who we are
but in my mind I am always the star
crashing through the yard.
All the west became the Red Man’s grave.
The white men all renamed again as Saints
Well I staked my claim and gave the land My Name.
But if gain’s my aim then Cain remains my name.
My Name
I held a baby boy here in my arms
I trusted I could see just as far
I trusted Him just like a shooting star
Father & Son here on the run
Mother & Moon dying too soon
But I ain’t no I ain’t no company man
I ain’t no I ain’t no Company Man.
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14. |
Skeleton Key
04:04
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That night on the watch, I had a promise to keepfrom
our rivalry torn for eternity’s sleep
alone the road.
My Brothers were doubt and their Keepers were greed.
While the market was down - all to fast on their feet.
We were kin to the land.
We were born on the run.
As debtors we stand to our shovel and gun.
And when we sell our dreams to the fortune teller we can’t just skip
the wait. The fires burning bright the smoke will burn our eyes and
the cards will play their games and we’ll forget our way.
This skeleton key, shaped like a cross is stuck in the door so I count
it a loss.
I came to this town with a burden of pride. I lay it all down for the
weakness of wine.
And when we sell our dreams to the fortune teller we can’t just skip
the wait. The fires burning bright the smoke will burn our eyes and
the cards will play their games and we’ll forget our way
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15. |
Brother's Keeper
04:13
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What my mother carried my poor father will bury and my conscience
is burdened with the cost. I believed a lie about the northern lights
and caught our death along adventures way. My heart was frozen
set on the gold I had chosen cracked by guilt and shattered by the
storm. Oh you heartless heartless fool oh you heartless heartless fool.
A heart thus broken is no worthless token and the devil came
to collect his pay. For the night watch keeping my brother’s turn
sleeping so I left to find my golden prize.Oh you heartless heartless
fool oh you heartless heartless fool.
Our souls awaken and as his was taken mine was left to wander with
the wind. Now I find my prize among the northern lights a selfish soul
surrendered to the snow. What my mother carried my poor father will
bury and my conscience is burdened with the cost.
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16. |
One Week One Thought
05:19
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Could I give up a week for getting high in summer time?
And I would drive for miles to get the sand off of my toes.
But I...No I can’t waste one thought on that.
No I can’t waste one thought on that.
And as the men walk home from work they know
they better grow
they better grow their children tall.
But they wanna keep their women small
But I...No I can’t waste one thought on that.
No I can’t waste one thought on that.
No I
I will get my fill up at the station and drive all night.
And I will watch the stars as they pass by and miss my girl.
I can’t waste one thought on that.
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17. |
Counting Sheep
05:26
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Father once miscounted his sheep.
Thinking one was lost or asleep
he and his brothers went searching
While a hunter walked alone in the forest
he fell asleep beneath an old oak tree.
He dreamed he died and his soul roamed free
As the moon caught the mist and the wind chased the stars
The brothers all wandered till morning
When my father again counted his sheep
All of those lambs had returned to the keep.
The hunter woke up under his oak tree
He drew a cross and he leveled his aim
He called a shot but the blast never came
As the moon caught the mist and the wind chased the stars.
Father worked the farm until sundown
Grandpa broke the bread and they all bowed their heads
For the lamb they gave thanks as they ate
The hunter woke up under his oak tree.
The farmers daughter sat there laughing at him.
She’d drawn a raspberry stain on his cheek
As the moon caught the mist and the wind chased the stars
and the pendulum swings and the weakest all found wings.
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Farewell Friend North Carolina
Farewell Friend is a North Carolina based folk rock band. Farewell Friend’s music is first and foremost an exploration of
poetry and narrative
Tom - singer, songwriter, guitar
Evan - upright bass, moog, rickenbacker
Caleb - violin and telecaster
Zac - drums
Featuring Kevan Chandler on harmonica and Galen Clark on mandolin.
... more
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