1. |
Hunger Artist
04:47
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I felt the stares, secret sharers, everyone.
Eyes so deep inside my skull, step right in all who come
And you were there, closer than the nearest one,
Just wild about my sheer determination.
And I caught sick, sicker than I’d been before.
If I survive this time, I’ll break my record. That’s for sure.
And you with your stubborn smile, trying to keep me alive.
Well, I die to live, if I live I die. I don’t mind dying if I go tonight.
CHORUS:
Watch me now; I’ll starve for you,
Lock myself in a cage for you,
Go without for a week or two,
There’s nothing that I’d rather do.
In your cynical hands, this life could bring some profit.
And this is funny: Hunger’s such a lucrative skill.
I picked the subject up, and I can’t seem to drop it.
I lose to gain, if I gain I lose, and I never lose against my will.
CHORUS
I sure admire you, but I must tire you.
You look wired. You look frozen.
You don’t look the part you’ve chosen.
You claw your sense of closure,
Control without exposure.
I felt the stares, secret sharers, everyone,
Eyes so deep inside my skull, step right up, one by one.
But the crowds don’t come anymore, to see the artist wither away.
There’s more commotion out at the parade.
So I sent you letters with nothing on the pages.
What I have to say to you is way beyond your comfort zone.
When I finally starve to death, won’t you be my Jesus?
Hear my prayer, break my bread, and resurrect my burning soul.
CHORUS
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2. |
Metropolis
00:58
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3. |
Minotaur
05:39
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Summer. The heat makes everything look like glass.
Sculptures. I’ve never seen them move like that.
There must be some secret I don’t understand.
Stone angels floating on the water like that.
All in a world of their own, they’re having such a good time
Under the drunken sky with sudden and merciless joy.
Twilight. The pilgrims of youth come out to play.
The bright lights push back the night one more day.
Laughing, so sweet and free of pretension.
There must be some joke I don’t comprehend.
Elderly eyes look on—vicarious pleasures--
Still longing for satisfaction—the kind you can’t measure.
CHORUS
Peaceful, in the eye of a hurricane.
Pushing through the heart of a noiseless crowd.
There must be some secret I don’t know about.
Stone angels feeling their way around.
Nursing the wounds of indulgence, I better get at it again.
Wearing the cost of resilience on your sleeve can be a good friend.
CHORUS
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4. |
Joshua's Birthday
04:10
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It’s Joshua’s birthday, but he ain’t here.
The one he’s been missing year after year.
There’s snow on the window and books on the shelves.
We blow out the candles and get a hold of ourselves.
It’s Joshua’s birthday today. Better stay inside.
The coldest day of the year, like the day he died.
Flames in the darkness and hidden love,
We make up the memories with ice in our blood,
Take up the pictures and build up the walls
With hearts and stars on the door that we never saw.
The walls are seamless and void,
And the crucial thing: he’s on your side.
With hearts and stars on the door, we didn’t find.
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5. |
Within You Without You
04:45
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6. |
Sad
03:52
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I met the great deceiver.
I thought that I could handle it.
I was a true believer.
I couldn’t hold a candle to it.
Chorus
I know what you wanna know.
I found what you wanna find.
I know what you wanna know.
You don’t wanna know.
Them voices told me to build it.
They told me to cut it down.
Made me put my heart in it.
Let’s move on anyhow.
Chorus
I was a man of feeling.
I had a heart of gold.
I went in twenty years young
I came out a hundred years old.
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7. |
Rosary of Names
07:00
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8. |
Waiting on You
04:01
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I’m waiting on you again,
And I’m helpless to improve the situation.
Look down on me. Address the highlights.
The candles are all cut in half
(I’m looking back, I still can’t laugh.)
On the floor, and melting fast.
I called you home.
I’m waiting on you again,
And I’d like a little reconciliation.
I swear I see you looking down on me.
But the feeling’s gone and I’m half-dressed.
The words are all that I got left,
Things I can’t get off my chest.
I called you home.
Maybe it’s best.
A single word might push me off the ledge.
‘Cause we celebrated much too long
And too close to the edge.
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9. |
Breakfast Chaos
05:13
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10. |
Soylent Green is People
03:40
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Everyone’s got their plastic bags,
Walking on through the mall.
Blissful looks on their faces.
Don’t you just them all?
Standing around for the newscast,
Watching it on T.V..
But they’re ain’t nothing like a ballgame.
When you’re catching it in 3D.
Here’s the church. Here’s the steeple.
Soylent Green is people.
The young and the strong, the old and the feeble.
Soylent Green is people.
Enter the King & Queen of Empathy.
Everyone’s on their knees.
Kneeling in praise of Everything.
And everybody sees.
CHORUS
Somebody tell Chuck Heston,
This ain’t no planet of the apes.
Tell the world! Tell the NRA!
Soylent Green is here to stay.
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11. |
Untitled Sermon
04:48
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It is said, everything returns,
Like the motion of the water on the earth.
What is spoken is always heard.
What is taken, always earned.
No matter how close thy god to thee,
Nam Yo Ho Renge Kyo’s,
Our Fathers, and Hail Mary’s,
The rock of ages and sages,
And chances you give to peace.
It is known, one thing you can trust,
The rain will fall on the evil and the just.
There’s nothing new under the sun.
You can’t hide. You can’t run.
Your rod and staff may comfort you,
Hare Rama’s and Krishna’s and Vishnu’s.
Say all the Hallalujahs,
And sing the blues.
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12. |
The Kid
02:59
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John Shipe Eugene, Oregon
Gushing reviews surround Shipe’s Americana work, charting in 6 countries on 3 continents. He's opened for Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Cake, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Jerry Joseph, Jimmy Cliff, Derek Trucks, Los Lobos, Hootie & Blowfish, and Blind Melon. Shipe music is described as cinematic, appearing in feature films, shorts and documentaries. 36 Shipe tunes rotated on 100 radio stations. ... more
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