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1. |
The Measure of Things
03:53
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How’s your soul?
Is it whole?
Did you manage to shield a piece
From the curse of rock-n-roll?
How’s your heart?
Torn apart?
If you turned the key today
Do you think it’d even start?
Oh no
I’ve seen the flood
I’ve tasted blood
I’ve watched a summer rain
Turn the dirt into mud
I’ve crossed the earth
I’ve witnessed birth
I have a decent notion
What love is truly worth
I don’t need a ladder
To breathe the air of kings
I don’t need a ruler
To know the measure of things
How’s your life?
Your kids and wife?
Can you fit your convictions
On the sharp edge of a knife?
How’s your mind?
Misaligned?
Well I’ve got just the thing for you
If you’re so inclined
I don’t need a feather
To fly on gilded wings
I don’t need a ruler
To know the measure of things
And it’s getting dark
And I’m still out here
Looking for a spark
There’s a comfort that it brings
The measure of things
I don’t need a mirror
To know how failure stings
I don’t need a ruler
To know the measure of things
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2. |
Why Wouldn't I?
03:57
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Huddled with your running mate
Trying to get your story straight
It’s a long way from paradise
To a seat in the devil’s waiting room
I warned you not to get too close
A drop of me is a lethal dose
I believe my conscience is clean
If you leave, baby that’s on you
Now you have the nerve to ask me
If I think I’ll be alright
You’re giving yourself a little too much credit
‘Cause why wouldn’t I?
You always could get through to me
Did things no one else could do to me
There’s no shame in saying our time has passed
You can blame me if it helps you sleep at night
I used to have the golden touch
I guess it didn’t amount to much
There’s a lot of sentimental garbage floating around
Don’t pay it any mind
I never swore I’d make you happy
But I swore I’d always try
Maybe I failed
But come to think of it, why wouldn’t I?
It must’ve been the gods making a joke
To put us together
It must’ve been the devil going broke
To pull us apart
You told me to look deep inside
But I was scared what I might find
There’s a deep-seated misery
That shows up at the most inopportune of times
I remember the time you asked me
If I’d love you til I died
It never occurred to me to do otherwise
So why wouldn’t I?
Why wouldn't I?
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3. |
St. Paul
03:49
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Guttersnipe janitor junkie with the sensitive heart
Writing poetry on a napkin at the end of the bar
Burn it all down to dirt
Drink another round til it hurts
Well it’s what they’re all expecting of you
Wasn’t it just like Tommy to go a little too far?
Wound about as tight as the strings on his brother’s guitar
Driving you around for days
Always out of town on holidays
You came in like New Year’s
But you went out like the Fourth of July
Bridge:
Looking for that old hole in the wall
Somewhere on the outskirts of St. Paul
Someone said it ain’t there no more
Ain’t that just a metaphor
For all the beauty we all pissed away
Come around, come alive, come down, come undone
Do another shot for every time they said you might be the one
Dancing all around the pain
Someone pulled you down the drain
Well, you could have been the one… Drink!
Guttersnipe janitor junkie with the wounded soul
Cigarettes and broken dreams really take a terrible toll
Burn it all down to dirt
Drink another round til it hurts
Well, you came in like New Year’s
But you went out like the Fourth of July
Like the Fourth of July, like the Fourth of July
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4. |
Champaign to Chicago
03:52
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The universe
Is infinitesimal and unknowable
Our tiny lives
Are inconsequential and ephemeral
And if we had all the answers
We would still not know the questions
Let’s take a ride
From Champaign to Chicago in ‘65
Dylan’s gone electric
And the Beatles are high as the sky
And if we had all the answers
We would still not know the questions
Strip it all away
All the years and all the miles
We’ve piled up around our love
Strip it all away
And there is still a light forever shining
In your eyes, Kathleen
All we are
Is all the love we’ve taken
And all we’ve given away
Your heart is full
So whatever happens
Don’t be afraid
And if we had all the answers
We would still not know the questions
Let’s take a ride
From Champaign to Chicago
Like you used to do
The lake is calm
And there’s somebody there
Who’ll remember you
And if we had all the answers
We would still not know the questions
And if we had one tomorrow
We would still have every faded yesterday
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5. |
Broken But Brilliant
04:26
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Broken down and runaround
Chasing a sound we never found
Guess that’s our fate
Headstrong, write a song
Strum along, but something’s wrong
Man, it’s too late
Dressed to kill and shoot to thrill
But even still a couple bills
Is all we made
A silent scream, a broken dream
A hundred streams it seems is deemed
Another nickel paid
We’re blackhearted but outsmarted
By some young dude who’s figured it out
We’re not wicked, we just can’t kick it
Like we did back when rock-n-roll
Was still what it was all about
We’re broken but brilliant
We’re wrecked but resilient
We’re dead ringers for dead singers
Who bled out on a stage in some dive bar
That closed down long ago
Hey man, you made a fan
Big in Japan
But how’s your brand doing on the whole?
A nose-dive, a nine-to-five to stay alive
‘Cause you can’t survive on rock-n-roll
We’ve got bruises from ex-muses
Who disappeared before we caught their names
We’re headliners in cheap diners
We’re everything and everybody
All costs the same
We’re broken but brilliant
We’re wrecked but resilient
We’re dead ringers for dead singers
Who bled out on a stage in some dive bar
That closed down long ago
We look good in clothing
But we’re full of self-loathing
Got father issues, so bring tissues
If you decide you want to know
What’s wrapped up deep inside our hearts
We’re broken but brilliant
We’re wrecked but resilient
We’re dead ringers for dead singers
Who bled out on a stage in some dive bar
That closed down long ago
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6. |
Little Scraps of Paper
04:44
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Got my whole life plotted out
On little scraps of paper
Grab a napkin, scribble down
Got ‘em stacked up like a skyscraper
Think your question’s perfectly clear
Why should love have to be such labor?
Got the answer for you right here
On little scraps of paper
Back when I was still young
Had a thought like turning a light on
Had it on the tip of my tongue
But I couldn’t find nothing to write on
Mother Earth has such a pull
When all you want to do is escape her
I’m weight down by pockets full
Of little scraps of paper
Lonely, lonely
C’mon, tear me all to pieces
Still holding on to hope
When a knock came at my front door
Brown manilla envelope
Honey, why’d you go and do that for?
I think you won’t see me no more
I’ll be nothing but a trail of vapor
Check my trash for what you’re looking for
In little scraps of paper
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7. |
The Lies of Summer
03:43
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The road is jammed heading out of town
The hills of green are changing into brown
The fruit is heavy on the vine and on the ground
It’s a long way home and it’s a lonely tumble down
Goodbye, she said, my sweet summer friend
You’ll blink your eyes and we’ll be here again
This promise has the strength of 20,000 men
It’s a lovely night and it’s a season without end
Oh, don’t believe the lies of summer
Summer charms, but summer lies
Don’t believe the lies of summer
The tide is in, the ocean’s steady churn
Each grain of sand waiting for its turn
There’s no explosion, just a slow and steady burn
It’s a fleeting instant and it won’t ever return
Oh, don’t believe the lies of summer
Summer charms, but summer lies
Don’t believe the lies of summer
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8. |
City Kids
05:18
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Walking to the corner store alone since we were six
Winking at the working girls out turning tricks
Stepping on every sidewalk crack
Broke about a million mamas’ backs
Money in our pockets, eyes straight ahead
Bring her back her change and a box of reds
Making trouble with some friends on the city bus
The cops here have bigger things to worry about than us
Ride the city bus to the city schools
Teach the younger ones all the city rules
Never let the motherfuckers see you’re scared
Never pick truth, always pick dare
We’re city kids
And we grow up fast
We know our parents’ dealers’ names
And where they keep their stash
We’re city kids
And we live here too
And we don’t lack for any trouble
To get into
Don’t tell us what we need to do
We’re city kids
And we don’t have to listen to you
City boys and city girls out after dark
Laughing ‘cause the old folks can’t tell us apart
Nothing waiting for us back in our homes
Got the whole world inside our phones
Counting down the days til the city’s ours
Solve the world’s problems in the corner bars
Moving truck in front of our friends’ house the other day
Watched the men load it up and then drive away
Moving to the county where the flowers bloom
Got a big yard and their own bedrooms
Going to a blue-ribbon junior high
Never even stopped to say goodbye
We’re city kids
And we grow up fast
We know our parents’ dealers’ names
And where they keep their stash
We’re city kids
And we need love too
And we don’t lack for dark alleys
To slip into
Don’t tell us what we need to do
We’re city kids
And we don’t have to listen to you
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9. |
Existential Dread
04:05
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Your eyes are pretty when you’re crying
Your hair smells good when I take you to a smoky bar
When you say love me like there’s no tomorrow
I wonder how clairvoyant you are
I fight the good fight, I shine the spotlight
I whisper goodnight and stare at shadows on the wall
In the morning, I feel like I’m in mourning
For someone whose name I can’t recall
I seek out bits of bliss
Lose myself in your kiss
But I just can’t deal with this
Existential dread
I keep a stiff lip on every guilt trip
Each day a coin flip
Heads they win, tails we lose
The dark circles around my eyes
Are getting mistaken for tattoos
My heart is racing like something’s chasing
Each day I’m bracing
For what new madness lies in store
All our friends walk around with blank expressions
Like they can’t take it anymore
It’s dark and ruinous
It’s almost ruined us
Look what it’s doing to us
This existential dread
I’ve had this nightmare
I’m standing somewhere
Reading a list
And there’s a big, black X across my name
Is this real life or are we characters
In some madman’s simulation game?
You’re eyes are distant when you’re smiling
Your hair looks wild
Like you’ve just been through some kind of hell
When you say love me like there’s no tomorrow
I say I guess we might as well
My love is unsurpassed
Resilient and steadfast
Someday we’ll make it past
This existential dread
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Dave Sheinin Baltimore, Maryland
Dave Sheinin is a singer-songwriter whose roosty and melodic music splits the difference between Americana, rock and power pop. Pure Pop Radio called his 2018 debut "a bona fide melodic pop smash." Absolute Powerpop ranked it 8th on its list of the best albums of 2018. ... more
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