1. |
Crisis
04:06
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Broken commanders in ruffled suits and ties
Designating targets, showing you the shadow and the light
But the people have questions so we'll tell you some lies
Fly across the world to look into a madman's eye
Hold back the night
The dark has come and I don't want to be dragged inside
Hold back the night
My judgement's come and I don't want to be left to die
To reclaim what we stand for, we cross that line
When all you believe is balanced on the edge of a knife
So this is our crisis, no peace in our time
Meetings are held to measure out the worth of a life
Hold back the night
The dark has come and I don't want to be dragged inside
Hold back the night
My judgement's come and I don't want to be left to die
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2. |
Leave a Light On
03:56
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Once, everlasting patience flowing through our words
Deep in my bones I don't feel safe
We turned on each other faster than two lyre birds
Made my mistakes, I'll change my ways
Be safe
Leave a light on for us
Take us back and pray that it's enough
Out in the cold the weight is on my shoulders
See the abuse through lovers' eyes
Be safe
Butcher my words and act like we've crossed over
I'll break all my chains, I'll cut these ties
Be safe
Leave a light on for us
Take us back and then promise that's enough
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3. |
Conversational
03:36
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You read words upon the page and they cause you to seethe with rage
'Cause no words are ever kind enough
They send you out into the street where you have only known defeat
The vultures are circling above
Never made yourself amount to much, you use excuses as a crutch
You got out, but always had it tough
And when you find your spririt breaks, well you can always find a take
That holds you and smothers you with love
'Cause the thoughts that crystalised around your youth
Became the lens on which you grinded out your truth
And if you see it written down, but there's no proof
Well it's just conversational
It's just conversational
The times you would see justice done, defend the right to keep your gun
Protection for the views you choose
Now you've tracked the problem to its source and lifted up your tiki torch
Elections are just another ruse
To those who'd have us reconcile, those folk would run a country mile
But someday they'll quit turning the screws
The voices just won't go away so here's your independence day
They can't stop you from singin' out the blues
'Cause the notions that imprint when you open up
Become the friendly voice you know that you can trust
And if the other side's ideas don't make the cut
Well they're just conversational
They're just conversational
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4. |
Rome
04:26
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Tell me how we came to live the rise before the fall
You can feel it in the atmosphere
Accumulating debts that we had endlessly put off
They echo through the after years
Rattling our swords at what's beyond the city walls
Part of the sum of all our fears
Gathering your friends to settle it once and for all
Time to loose an arrow from your bow
Set the limits where they cannot go
Home is ever yearning to leave town
Rome is ever burning down
Reconcile to see the old is threatened by the new
Test the speed of our decline
Use the time to paint your Trojan horse red white and blue
While the truth gets undermined
Spectre legionnaires control the movement of your limbs
Find the ghost in your machine
The future carried forward by our fortunes and our whims
The stores lay empty just before the snow
They know more about it than you know
Home is ever yearning to leave town
Rome is ever burning down
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5. |
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Meet me on the crescent steps and I'll show you a town
Where people never seem to stray outside the lines
The cataracts that come when you're familiar with a space
Began to form sometime ago behind their eyes
The fear that swirls around you when you're rooted to the spot
It slowly drip-feeds little messages of hate
And as the world flies past you it flows glacial this pace
Until you know just who you are when it's too late
'Cause time waits for no man
No way it can
Meet me on the crescent steps, we'll find there's no way back
But then that might just be a blessing in disguise
Eking out a vagrant's life, we hide ourselves away
In case our young ones rediscover bluer skies
They don't respect your temperament, don't understand it when you say
There's value in the things we leave behind
Always accepting packages and always swapping hers for his
To brighten up the corners of the mind
I count the phoney photographs that hold us all, all to a man
Responsible for always wanting more
Rejection of the hex that summoned these unwanted feelings to your door
We found it before
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6. |
Bring Me Home
03:28
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Looking back I see the good days
Perched upon this precipice of life
I turn and stare out to the darkness
Can I make it out?
The jury's got no evidence against us
We're just dogs, fighting for what's thrown our way
Strong enough to keep the pack together
But too proud to beg
Oh my good will it deserts me when I'm feeling wronged
I'd throw my lot in with the devil if he'd bring me home
Bring me home
When I feel loose around the edges
A dusty volume on a shelf
Will I be fondly remembered
By those who needed my help?
When I fade into the distance
Will I have made my children proud?
Will I be on the right side of history
When the gavel sounds?
Oh he's be whispering many a thing
But I'm hangin' on
I pray that I'll resist the devil
When he sings that song
Oh it's torture to hear those words
And be strung along
'Cause I'd give anything to anyone
Who'd bring me home
Bring me home
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7. |
Remember
04:22
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Do you remember that one good time?
Brings a light into your eyes
Hands around the candle
Don't let the flame go out
Treasured times are holy relics
They get beneath your skin
You turn to them when times get hard
To get out the mess you're in
'Cause we're all hungry for the bygone days gone by
We're all hungry but can only breath a sigh
If your life's work is a lesson
Then your metaphors are strong
But I've never lived in New York
So I cannot write that song
But we hope there's a city out there
That can take away the pain
Of the same-old same-old
That faces us anew each day
'Cause we're all hungry
For the echos of the past
We're all hungry
For the hours that didn't last
It'll all fade into nothing
Even though we do protest
Like Canute against the wavefront
Assuming we know best
We drew up a social contract
A promissory note
That tomorrow will be greater than today
That I can't believe we wrote
'Cause we're all hungry
For all the times that don't exist
We're all hungry
For reasons not to cut our wrists
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8. |
One & Done
03:22
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Cure
I've got to find a cure
A cure for my condition,
Because I'm never sure
Of what needs my attention
What I need to do
Pause
I pause to speculate
What might and might not happen
But I get tangled up
I fall into old patterns
Am I losing you?
Look around and see how far we've come
That's one and done
Try
I try and find the drive to end this indecision
Throw good money after bad
To change my situation
That's what I do
Tick
I can't articulate
It throws me off my balance
So I procrastinate
And try to pick my battles
But there's so much left undone
If I had one wish for my life
Then all the things I kept inside
Would amount to something more than small potatoes
Do the deeds maketh the man?
Do I measure up where I stand?
Am I special?
But then I look around to see how far I've come
That's one and done
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9. |
Your Fool
04:22
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Searching for another form to take
Waltzing through the room just like you made it
Seeking out a silence fit to break
Weighing up the reasons to delay it
Couldn't change your mind
People hangin' out by waterfalls get wet
You don't strike me as the usual kind, I'll bet
I see it in your eyes
I'm your fool
Feel uneasy as the balance tips my way
It happens once or twice, I start to doubt it
They are just whispers on the waves
Try to tell myself that I can live without it
But you could change my mind
Killin' time is just a specialty of mine
I can't help it if I leave a few behind
Can't escape the lies
I'm your fool
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10. |
I'll Go Quietly
03:48
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If I'm buried by the weight of my mistakes
Or deliverance arrives an hour too late
If St. Peter calls for me now at the gate
Oh darlin'
If life's a test and I've failed it now and then
Or our fates are sealed by the acts of evil men
If the earth decides it's time to start again
Oh darlin'
Hold me tight, one last time
I'll go quietly, satisfied
If I'm buried by the weight of my mistakes
Or deliverance arrives an hour too late
If St. Peter calls for me now at the gate
Oh darlin'
If life's a test and I've failed it now and then
Or our fates are sealed by the acts of evil men
If the earth decides it's time to start again
Oh darlin'
Hold me tight
One last time
I'll go quietly
Satisfied
If the darkness falls and the light fades from my eyes
Or the day comes the sun chooses not to rise
If I've conspired to meet my own demise
Oh darlin'
If I'm beaten down and crawling on the floor
Or the nation states all heed the call to war
If the demons come to stand outside my door
Oh darlin'
Hold me tight
One last time
I'll go quietly
Satisfied
Hold me tight
One last time
I'll go quietly
Satisfied
Hold me tight
One last time
Hold me tight
One last time
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11. |
It All Comes Down
02:58
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Well wasn't that something?
They'll say as they rake the coals
Right over what we had
Didn't see that coming
One moment for the curtain call
It didn't seem so bad
In the altogether the truth is forged
We always thought we could beg for more
Good hearts broken parts
Modern life it all comes down
If we let it fall
False starts torn apart
The world we have it all comes down
If we lose control
Sift through the layers
Reaching for a tiny shard
Of what we used to have
So many papers
Held us tight for we were welcome
In the promised land
The burning remnants we recognise
We couldn't help if they informed our lies
Good hearts broken parts
Modern life it all comes down
If we let it fall
False starts torn apart
The world we have it all comes down
If we lose control
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12. |
Be Under No Illusions
03:03
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Close the door comin' in from work each evening
The cold makes an impression on your face
There's something here you can't quite picture
It winds unconsciously inside your brain
All the lovers' notes and antidotes
And endless coffee shots that sail you home
Oh lord
Be under no illusions in the precious little time you call your own
Phosphorescent glowing figures
Charting out the balance of your days
But if you closely scrutinise them
They fall apart in oh so many ways
If you chase the almighty dollar for a living
You will reap what you sow
Oh lord
Be under no illusions in the precious little time you call your own
If the common man has got you second-guessing
If you're the smartest person in the room
Well they're just grabbin' desparate at your coat-tails
You'll always have the Nuremberg excuse
But if the things destroyed in your employ
Leave you with sins for which you must atone
Oh lord
Be under no illusions in the precious little time you call your own
Be under no illusions in the precious little time you call your own
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Stevie Mac Belfast, UK
Stevie is a guy with a guitar and a voice and a collection of old keyboards and things from Belfast. He's been in a few bands over the years when it suits him but when he's not he's usually penning his own material.
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