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So this big stone is rolling down a serpentine path
Just while somebody's crying, there's another who laughs
Ain't strange, lord, but ain't it true?
But a left foot and a right ain't what makes a man's walk
It ain't the length of his body makes him stand right up tall
Being born don't make you alive
There's a moment upon us, there are leaves in the air
There's a breeze just blew past you, but nobody is there
Ain't it strange what your mind can do?
Living life as an onion, there's a skin and a core
There are layers between, roots and leaves, and what's more
You are bitter until you meet the flame
I find myself having the strangest of dreams
And the stuffed bear I clutched comes apart at the seams
And the stuffing turns into clouds
As I am a collage on the walls of my mind
I'm the toys in the attic from another time
Let us get together and play
Can you do the kazoo? Can you Rock Island Line?
Can you mustard the mountain? Can you bag the divine?
Can you contain the sublime?
I find myself having the strangest of dreams
And the stuffed bear I clutched comes apart at the seams
And the stuffing turns into clouds
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2. |
Closer
07:27
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I remember the first that I saw you
You were working at an easel in the middle of an empty room
And I came running in, seeking shelter from the bombs raining down outside
I sought protection though I was sure we were doomed
But you patiently finished what you started
Then you stood up and you motioned for me to move
Closer...
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3. |
From the Bottom
07:45
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Let me see what I can dig up from the bottom
Sink my teeth into the pulp of the tree
Some looking for glitter and pomp, but I haven't got em
Why levy a tax on what should be free?
Everyone's got a price that they've paid
And no receipt to prove they're alive
Mr. Lennon spoke up and they shot him
And I face it every day
Grievance to bear but never solve
And the veil is tattered and frayed
Revealed but only revolved
And as the truth withers away, and although it seems such a mistake, you go along with it anyway
And now the streets are filled with wrinkled paper, plastic bottles and feigned reverie
Janitors sweep the stage of the ancient theater
After the new hit tragic comedy
All the judged congregate into one big room
Collect their complementary samples of doom
The president wears a shirt that reads, "Kaboom"
And the bums won't go away
I'm a hostage to a guilty gun
My sweet tooth explains the decay
Undoes everything I've ever done
And there's a grand mysterious wave forming in the ocean miles away, curling to crash on our timid bay
I walk the floor in awe of you, you still believe that you just die
I lack the strength to show you what is real
Is it enough that I feel your pain?
Everyone's talking about the same damn thing, everyone knows about it
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4. |
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Pure eyes, small feet on which to stand
Soft smile, warm cheeks, sugary hands
Taken, wasted all on a man
Father, drunkard, soul in the sand
Does he feel? What does he feel?
Is it real? Is the feeling real?
Can it heal? Can she be healed?
Will it peel? Will this layer peel?
Heartache justified, splashing through grief
Where will she find freedom, relief?
Inside, magnified, sanctuary
Climbs out, looks around, discovers peace
Does he feel? What does he feel?
Is it real? Is the feeling real?
Can it heal? Can she be healed?
Will it peel? Will this layer peel?
Well, the water's fine, jump on in
We'll swim like water birds, and then
Down deep we'll dive, light will bend
To reveal things that had once been hid
And any tears we may cry, never reach our chins
They just melt into where we swim
And we are revived, alive again
Build a light house, guide them travelers in
Welcome home, my Bonnie Mae
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5. |
Illusory Anchors
08:55
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How long must we go on like this?
Trying to grab hold of the ocean with clenched fists?
All the while, pretending the magician don't play tricks
Illusory anchors, they hold us in place, but this ship is sailing, headed for the shores of somewhere new
Twisted trees scratch at my window, like some classic fearful scene
Stay inside the house they tell me, crawl inside your gnarled dreams
Under blankets, over pillows, I am softened so it seems
But every night I hear that wind blow, I hear it shaking up the trees
As I wander down the hallway, creaking boars warn me turn back
But there is something still familiar in the unknown magnet black
Apparitions on the stairway aim to freeze me where I stand
I realize I see right through them, they're mechanical and bland
How my mind is always rambling, never finds a place to land
I ponder fear and all its limits and desire to expand
Ride my dreams to brand new planets, make my ruby liquid plans
Pour them in my waking fire, taste the lightning in my hands
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6. |
Blue Jubilee
08:49
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Was a blind man standing by the edge of a river in his hand
Was a smooth stone, a real old stone
He dug up from the bottom for to skip it across
He gave it a new home, shifted the balance of the earth that much
Called out a new name, gave it to the river and he listened to its music talk about the people's pain
And as you walked out of the room
My prison vanished in a plume
Oh, and I let go of a sigh
And morning found me with nothing to do
So I invented something to
Though I cannot quite describe
So, I go there anytime I want to 'cause you know that it's free
And I breath deep, the blue deep dream
Swingin at the bottom of the beautiful stream
And I swim free down into the delta where the waters meet
And the trees teem with marvelous song birds
Singing out a melody they call Blue Jubilee
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7. |
Cardriver, the Moon
07:07
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I cannot fathom Jupiter
Broken leaf, butterfly wing
But through parallel telescoping
Spoken word, bumblebee sting
A vantage point mind, a relative brain
A world that's out of time
Intention on rye, orange soda, cream sky
A dazzling asteroid belt
As down the stream rowing we go
Tell me of dreams that you know
Merrily rowing we go
Making our own picture show
Buckles with the sun, Cardriver, the moon
Talking jejune like baboon
The meaning of the perilune
Is reflection is closest to me and you
Amarillo, azul in a trickling pool
Run through my relative brain
Emotions and colors spill into each other
And paint my window pane
As down the stream rowing we go
Tell me of dreams that you know
Merrily rowing we go
Making our own picture show
I dream of things in between beams
Bars and stars green as canteens
My dreams some call names like obscene
But names cannot destroy anything
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8. |
Silver Slide
05:35
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I slide the silver slide
Wind down like lilting spires
Circles they coalesce
And I am in Pavlov mired
And everyone around takes their turn winding their way down to the earth below, covered with snow
My life is like a space
Inside of which I roam
I run from end to end
As if I'm rushing home
But home is really now, and the circle comes around somehow to the moment when I'm born again
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9. |
Raucous
10:59
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You walk the line and find in time that line is bending
With no idea of where that bending line is winding
Many maps give paths that crack like whips to tame the ending
Enraged and in a cage The End cries out for mending
Your life inscribed on paper, behind glass and against the wall
Till the door was shut so hard the paper and the glass did fall
Empty symbols in your pockets, you drink blurry vision every morning from your coffee cup
When were playfulness and peace replaced with apathy?
When did acquisition take the place of love?
I was drooling on my desk when a mountain emerged through my computer screen
And a raucous caravan came running down the side of the mountain with a raucous banner held high
And on that banner were stitched the words: Love, Imagination, Collaboration, Creativity, and the Dynamic Human Spirit
And I'll be rocking out the room every time that you come in
Every time I see you I've found my long lost friend
Heaven ain't a place that you go when you die, it's a state of mind that you choose, and it's you, baby, you were born to choose
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Ethan Kennedy Austin, Texas
