1. |
Psychic vampire
03:52
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well i know i heard u say
its a long way back to the palisades
i made up my mind and i got in close
with a hand at ur back and a knife at ur throat
i cut up ur cards after i sucked em dry
slump down and get high
light out towards the state line
with the good sense to spend recklessly
and the gentleness of a hungry vampire bat
its time i move on from this place
dont expect ill be back here
theres nothing in the world that i want but a fresh coat of paint
(not too picky bout the lacquer)
just somethin for the scratches and dents
can u make em lay low a little better?
slept upside down under a tree
with the marble i took from a grave in new orleans
i was dreamin of a score, yeah i wanted revenge
still woke up pockets touchin in the end
down on hot springs road (i just learned to ignore the taste of sulfur in the air)
life's a game of change anyway and i'm rigging the deck in my favor again
the engine goes out on a dead crossroads with no one around
my whole life i never been satisfied
why am i so wrong for filling my heart with something that's not gonna leave me?
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2. |
Dead trees
03:37
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sittin by the side of the road
as the lights turn on i begin to feel the cold
walkin alone
gettin high by the railroad tracks
got a:
-backpack
-faded old map
-gun
-high risk of heart attack
do u know why the devil made good intentions?
the juicy worm on the hook my friend
so say goodbye to these dead trees and the dry riverbed
my love will find me before the end walking along the trail of dead
struck again last night
and my palms began to sweat at the shock of recognition on his face
(but my aim stayed true)
and afterwards i hid by the old state park in a cold sweat like the sun was gonna freeze me out
evry name that i scratch out i get redeemed
payin back the dirty blood they made us bleed
so they can guard their firstborn sons from the plagues
but still the last words on his lips will be a half-forgotten name
i know youll find me bfore i end up the same
don't cross the water
just watch for helicopters
they're finding fingerprints of the boy i used to be
way out in the desert theres an old power station
painted blinding white (you can't miss it thru the trees)
i can't breathe too well
will u stay with me?
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3. |
Refinery moon
05:20
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rolled a smoke with the window cracked
im sneaking out tonight
my old man he's always drunk by eight
he won't hear the door latch shut behind me
and i wrote down when the transbay comes and i got a dime for the till
and i'll take that ride up the frontage road to the barbed wire hills and the stop where we meet up
we share a smoke as the fog rolls out over the city lights
show me ur favorite scars and bruises with a flashlight and i'll show u mine
slow nights shift at Rodeo Grill
refinery moon overhead
$2.50 fare for the transbay bus
ride past the prison again
i aint got no letters since they threw u in and when i try to call thru to the cellblock they just let it ring
blood rush thru my ears i feel every lurch
they patch up that fence more than the road and the air here stinks to hell
cut off by 17 locked doors
and they try to tell me that u just haven't sent anything at all
i see the gleaming outer walls
when the spotlight glances out my way from ur side
and u used to tell me that nothings gonna change
cant stop myself from asking how bout now? how bout now? how bout now?
i keep a picture of ur face
i hate the way that everything has changed
the hills all empty lots and concrete walls
i get home late and smell like smoke and greet the weight that settles in my chest
my alarm's for dawn, no point taking these days off
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4. |
A crow's tongue
02:17
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crows outside wont go home
they wait around for the service to be done
then they depart one by one
sunset rolls in
burned feathers lying on the ground
under the power transformer for the whole block
and i couldnt make out the prayers they offered to us
but the air rang still
and red tongues read me my last rights
oh god...wont u send in the night?
and the mountain burns with oil and bile
postcards marking scenes from a crime (i know)
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5. |
Strange lights
04:18
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strange lights in the distance
too early for the sun to rise
little bits of smoke get driven deeper
when i go to rub my eyes
and it burns out thru the morning
a blackened horse gone out to ride
dreamin of a drought i sleep with cottonmouth
i wash it down with stolen wine
somewhere down below the horizon
my home is burnin my home is gone
nothin happens for any reason
nobody really knows anyone
tires screeched against the rough road
i drove thru darkness runnin blind
back to the source back to my old stompin grounds
past ulcers bleedin on the mountainside
so pan the camera back and you'll see me standing there
so strange on my own ground
i saw the buildings' naked bones
the old post office bleedin smoke
and i set the telephone down
15 years trying to escape that bitter taste, my family name
i been gone too long u wont see me come back, take everything i was
so tell me what was it worth?
somewhere down below the horizon
my home is burnin my home is gone
nothin happens for any reason
nobody really knows anyone
letters from u
the ink is curling
it chokes the air and it stains my tongue
we are damned
we are worthless
just watch the earth fall into the sun
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6. |
Vampire visitation
01:29
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slept til the moon rose in a warm wooden coat
in the back of a mezzanine box
dead rats in the opera house somewhere in the walls
you're lying awake rolling over in silence while i'm watching the streetlights turn off
a vampire visitation in the summertime
prick your finger and put it to the wind
say you want my hands under your clothes and my teeth under your skin
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7. |
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when you come down there's nobody around but me
you don't remember making them all leave
you get to black out all the bad scenes
we don't have time for anything approaching the truth
you offer up some pretty lies and the kind of softness that's tenderized
before you head north (wait on a transfer)
green line (over the horizon)
we lost the patience to try to make love stay
trying to keep calm with a feeling in your chest like freefall (and you haven't even left yet)
i know i know we could never make love stay
the dawn comes on in golden rays
and rolls down through the alleyways
a ticket for the train clutched in your hand
are you gonna take shots at me this time?
or just pack your things, "thanks for the memories..."
baby throw your worst at me now
let me hear all the sadness, i took it all for granted
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8. |
I wish it would rain
03:45
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waiting for the spring
cuz the air is so damn dirty it chokes and it whispers out my lungs
still try to keep my voice young
but ill sit walled in drinking coffee and smoking
til my muscles crack and my arms break off
and i wish u could drive me home
but u gave up with no ghost to show
when the rolling blackouts wind their way thru the prison towns at night
when ur lover spends winter in a cage
when the poison ground behind our house kills the seeds before they take
all the same i wish it would rain
i wish it would rain on me and mine
i wish it would rain and wash this broken dirt
waiting for the thaw
cuz my heart breaks loud in my ears at night
i just spot weld as i go
but i cant drive north while the roads closed
and none of u have been allowed to plant ur roots deep enuf
to save my sorry ass from the avalanche
and when the ground gave way on me
somethin about it made me feel like i was dreaming
when the rolling blackouts wind their way through the prison towns at night
when ur lover spends winter in a cage
when im sick to death of whispering halfhearted and bitter prayers
all the same i wish it would rain
i wish it would rain on all the junk that we abandoned by the side of the road
i wish it would rain and drip thru my dirty clothes
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9. |
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100 years i stood here where before there was just dirt
young couples put down mattresses and hung clotheslines for their shirts
i watched your children grown up, felt the notches in my frame
the things that you sought shelter from i tried to keep away
they built me before the earth shook
they filled in the cracks
my windows let the cold in
you rolled up towels for the gaps
sometimes you would pack out for good and whisper a goodbye
these creaking floorboards were asking you to bring your things inside
the workers that built me they are all long dead
and the company that owns me keeps me vacant and undressed
waiting for a rising tide to make them wealthy men
but i used to be your sanctuary, i remember when
one day the locks broke open
some kids forced their way in
they brought a couch and a padlock set
didn't always do their dishes
but every night they talked up late
sketching out a revolution
and the cigarettes stained my walls but i was so happy they stayed
soon the cops came calling, dropped a notice in the mail
rolled up in great numbers and hauled my new friends off to jail
and the garden they worked so hard on, it grew over with weeds
if i could speak in your language i'd tell you about their dreams
the workers that built me they are all long dead
and the company that owns me keeps me vacant and undressed
waiting for a rising tide to make them wealthy men
but i used to be your sanctuary, i remember when
a pile of bricks in an empty lot (i remember when)
before the floor fell through with rot (i remember when)
the well they bored into the ground was the only source for miles around
now i am old and worn through, termites dig deep
i notice more and more the lights are out on my street
i hear em talk redevelopment but the truth is they don't care
about the squares of land where the houses stand
and the people who lived there
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10. |
Nightshade (for alex)
03:16
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no metal box taking center stage
no vase of flowers by the door
only smoke charms hangin in the desert air
no one's clean tonight
down deep with the roots of a tree
no name for them to just get it wrong
a low cut dress and a cotton shroud
wearing black and white
and i know u want some words and a name and the reasons
if someone tells u that's gonna make it any easier
baby what are they selling u?
i knew a kid in the city who walked on diamonds
used to shoot up in a sports car under the freeway
state trooper broke his nose, santa rita broke his heart
chewing on crank cards
(last time i saw him i was worried, he was nonchalant)
no makeup covering my face
go on lettem see the decay
an altar knife, wrapped twine, nightshade
keep ur breathing right
cuz the things they grew to hurt u can heal u or feed u
if u take the time to learn how to listen to ur pain and whatever it's telling u
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11. |
The mainline
03:58
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the workers stop for breakfast
we watch as they wait in the parking lot
we ask for misguided directions
bum a cigarette off security guard
its like walkin thru a bad dream, u wave to me, i put the money on the table
cuz nothin ever comes for free
but i can buy a little peace of mind
nothin's gonna change til u come up for air
we took our licks and we threw our years
and i cant see a way out, some way out
wish there was some way out of here
watch the ships comin down the mainline
and we watch it comin down the mainline
we're staying out til evening cuz im tired of chasing salvation
it feels like nothin that nobody says is enough for my head so i turn it off
the city keeps on turning
they break a new shipment at the dry docks
dont gotta tell me twice (i know it's bad for me)
im gonna lay down broke, you still believing me
im gonna lay down broke and wake up with everything
watch the sun as the factories burn down
and we'll watch these factories burn down
watch em burn
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Bella Hangnail Oakland, California
MASK ERA out 10/15
nobody's from nowhere.
this is bella king's solo project.
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