1. |
Reckless Life
03:40
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I’m gonna live a reckless life
I’m gonna travel far and wide
I’m gonna drink with people that don’t speak English
And when my heart is filled with love
I’m gonna find that thing I’m most afraid of
And face it head on
And be prepared to let it go
The plans you dream to make
Were never as distant as you thought
Waiting around for the right time
Never really got you that far
The sun’s always raging in a cloud littered sky
Daring the darkness to try
In the wake of all that’s happened there’s a moment
Where you take a small step back and look around
And if there’s such a thing as finding yourself
I would have found me by now
And if there’s such a thing as dying a hero
Let’s go down heroes somehow
On the one hand’s an argument for comfort
On the other’s an appeal to the sound
Of your heart beating in time with the voices
Of wonders so profound
And if there’s such a thing as dying a hero
Let’s go down heroes somehow
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2. |
Younger Years
02:43
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This is not a cry for help
Just an acknowledgement of truth at best
Laying overambitious dreams to rest
And even though the walls are closing in
Consider all the places that you’ve been
The measure of a life is not in the momentary failures
Only failure to begin again
As a child I was told a day would come
When I’d speak of my younger years
And wonder where the time had gone
With a flash of lightning in the summer sky
Or the pounding rain on the fourth of July
It came and it went
And I haven’t given up just yet
These headlights reach into the night
And grab hold of the silhouette
Of the city skyline that used to define
All the years of wasting time
And we held on tightly to our youth like we’re holding on for dear life
Oh dear, I wanted so much more
As a child I was told a day would come
When I’d speak of my younger years
And wonder where the time had gone
And what I will be left with here
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3. |
No Peace
04:41
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As I headed out on the open road
Not entirely sure where I'd go
I fell into an endless pothole
And as I sank deep in the abyss
The city's crumbling roads and bridges
Remind me just how disconnected the city is
I held my breath, tried not to cough
Afraid that I might kill my mom
While those in power write it off
We breathe their toxic air
And as I'm falling, falling faster now
I hear fragments of that old familiar sound
Of those who do the city's work
While the city tries to keep their voices down
No peace
Until no one's sleeping in the street
Until no one's falling to their knees
Hands up and begging for their life
No more
No more history repeating
No more lying when we're teaching
A false narrative that only benefits a few
I can tell you now it won't benefit you
As I plunge deeper in my despair
I close my eyes, say a prayer
To the God who never loved us
Our words fell upon deaf ears
On this stolen land we walk hand in hand
Tomorrow's promise is our demand
The experiment is over
We are scrapping the old plan
The world we want could exist
So hit the streets, raise your fist
Just watch your step, we'll fix that bridge
When we take back our streets
No peace
Until no one's sleeping in the street
Until no one's falling to their knees
Hands up and begging for their life
No more
No more history repeating
Let's tear white supremacy down from its rugged cross
And build something new
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4. |
Never a Lovely So Real
03:49
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If abandoned dreams were worth a thing
I would cash mine in and throw all the blow on drinks
Forget my name, forget my face
Just back away into oblivion's soft embrace
And all the bars through the city's rusty heart
Sing a song of love and death and harmony
And the flickering neon signs do their best to keep time
But dawn breaks slowly and they give up the fight
Where are you now, my oldest friend?
I lost track of you when no one would let me back in
So I turned away, hoping you would stay
The more I searched for you, the more I lost my faith
And all the bars through the city's rusty heart
Sing a song of love and death and harmony
And the trains above, like the neighborhood blood
Rush along in bittersweet cacophony
And I'm not the only one
The only one hanging on
The pieces were handed to me
And I put them together awkwardly
A fragmented picture or a broken mirror image of
The person a younger me would see
Someone that they'd want to be
And it's not quite right
I'm not much for conversation
But I'm close enough for stumbling home tonight
If I could leave unseen
I'd find a place to lean a while
A place to lean and dream
Just lean and dream
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5. |
Gosling
02:39
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There's an image branded in my mind
Standing in a kitchen, her and I
Talking about God knows what
It's some coffee-stained nostalgic sin
In a dream of how things could have been
And when I think of love, I think of that
Hindsight's twenty drinks and a few years
Recalled tonight like thunder
All those stock footage moments might have saved me
I guess I'll always wonder
I was casing for a lie under the never ending summer skies
Back in the memories angels fear to tread
As if some divine script exists
Rising action just to fall to the abyss
Like Gosling on the screen, I played my part to near perfection
No one told me these wild daydreams were just a mere projection
Some quixotic of fiction
I didn't call that night
I was trying to fight off whatever was taking hold
Maybe everyone was right about what they've been told
But I stopped giving
I stopped giving away the cheapest pieces of me
I stopped giving, I stopped giving away
I stopped giving, I stopped giving
I stopped giving away the cheapest pieces of me
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6. |
The Artist Is Present
05:09
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I was on cloud nine
I was terrified
But I was higher than I had ever been
To be sure tonight the world would spin
And you were there with your long, black hair
Abramović stare
I was unprepared to bleed out here for you
In fear that I might have nothing to lose
Walked along with you until the pavement
Started fighting back against my feet
And you sat me in these empty streets
And we looked down at the distant town
I swear we found a home for all our sorrows
To bottle up and wash away to sea
Then I fell from there
Enigmatic despair
Had to leave town for a while
And you say, "What if you get lost?"
Well, what if you never get lost?
Is it worth the cost?
Not for me
The lowest of nights and highest of highs for the rambling hearts
That image you saw refracted in lens didn't show the scars
And no, this is not me complaining
I know it's the price that you pay
I just always imagined it going a different way
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7. |
Late For the Revolution
02:51
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I was born the day after the wall came down
I was late for the revolution
And I've been running behind it ever since
Abandoned all hope for a clear conscience
And you know that I would die tonight just to see
A world with just a little less misery
And I know that I'm no martyr
And it's true
I wear a cowards eyes and I hide behind my blues
For what it's worth, no one ever tells you where to be and when
Do you really want to talk about it or cast it off again?
A dollar short, but I'm better late than never in the end
Do you really want to talk about it or cast it off?
And do you really want to?
I really want to burn it to the ground
A life spent dying to start over
That I'm always wasted's such a sobering thought
I guess I'm just always caught up in the moment
I was born the day after the wall came down
I was late for the revolution
And I've been running behind it ever since
A dollar short, but I'm better late than never in the end
Do you really want to talk about it or cast it off?
And do you really want to?
I really want to burn it to the ground
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8. |
Follow Me
03:12
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I was swimming in an Adriatic reverie
Off some nameless coast that felt more like a dream
Though I was damaged by the moon
We still chased the sunset down so we could prove
We'd follow through
Follow me into the next ancient oasis
Where we'll confront the sights and stories often told
And within yourself you'll see
There's a part of you you didn't know was there
Untamed and free
Follow me
Smoking someone else's cigarettes on a summer sidewalk patio
New faces all around me
And the feeling they already know
We're all searching for something that no one will ever find
But it's a nice way to waste your time
Yeah, it's a nice way to waste your time
Follow me, follow me
Let's retrace the steps down memory lane
So you can know what I've seen
What I've seen, what I've seen
Because a picture can't begin to describe a feeling
No, a picture can't begin to describe a feeling
And these hollow words cannot describe the feeling
It's a wide, wild world
May you find your place in it
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9. |
Waltz With Me
02:35
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Waltz with me
Give this callous bastard a try
Waltz with me
I'm stepping in and out of time
On this hazy, vacant dance floor of my ties to you
And everybody else I knew
Waltz with me
I won't say another unkind word to you
And I'll try not to step on your shoes
Waltz with me
Something here just isn't right
I'll find the beat
Just don't abandon me tonight
Out here in the shadows or behind the bar
They're laughing at the sight
They once stood in the same light
They waltzed with me
But they couldn't put up with my aimless sleight of hand
But I swear at the time I was only concerned with the movement of my feet
Waltz with me
This bastard's love is worth a try
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10. |
Pulse of Summer
01:42
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Can you feel the pulse of summer?
Is it beating down on the back of your head?
Have you settled in rejecting the fate that you were once obligated to live?
But you were in the right place that night
Yours wasn't the only loud voice in the room
All eyes on you
Heart quaking and brimming with all that you thought you had to prove
And as each day is going by
You feel further from that beautiful lie
You'll always believe it
These nameless streets are calling out
But you wanted the whole god damn town
This halcyon battleground
That owes you nothing
No, it's not etched into the stone
Raw delineation
Incomplete and unknown
Until you prove something
Can you feel the pulse of summer?
Is it beating down on the back of your head?
And do you get the feeling that you will remember these years
As the ones where you just couldn't tame your wild heart
Undying flame
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11. |
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If you've got a couple minutes
There's something I'd like to say
For the ones who thought they had it all
Then it all came crashing down one day
You never saw it coming
It was always miles away
And in the middle of that fateful night
It hit its stride and broke right through the gate
And you woke up to that dormant fear you can't explain
Well, this life ain't a safe bet
I guess it never really was
But if history repeats
The odds were always stacked against us
And it's really kind of funny
How we're brought up to recall
All those fairy tales of love and death and loss
And the promise that we'd withstand it all
As we continue to fall
When it seems like nothing lasts forever
Though nothing's really changed
And you can't seem to find your way
I'll be there to curb the pain
For keeps and a single day
We were chain smoking on a summer sidewalk patio
I know you hate that so much
But I just can't seem to let it go
And that's the thing about a habit
Oh, they're really hard to break
And then you push on through and find the truth
There's only so much truth one man can take
And you find your mind retreats to sober ways or simpler days
It was a cold November evening
By a fire in the yard
Where we sang the songs of our heroes
Passing around what's left of an old guitar
And didn't talk about the future
Or what had come to pass
We just held on to that moment
As we tried in vain to make the moment last
And you held in all that anger that you built up in your youth
It's just what you'd always do
And I admire how your spirit grows through times that test your will
The fear and the rage and the pride distilled
And what's left is an honest try fulfilled
And the ghosts that always haunt these bars and burned out Chevrolets
Offer you one last embrace
Knowing full well the pain would fade
But hoping that memory stays
For keeps and a single day
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Jeff Schaller and the Long Way Home Chicago, Illinois
For keeps and a single day.
Jeff Schaller / Troy Sennett / Jake Cary / Matt Kistler / Liesi Siegel / Jeffeory Swenson
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