1. |
What If....
04:44
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A train pulls in every time you reach the station
And every girl can sing
There's a fender plugged into each wall
Too much ice cream? No such thing
When you run away, you end up somewhere better
You hear Rick Danko in my voice
Whiskey rivers flow to lakes of Guinness
And falling in love is a choice
And when you fall
Your stomach doesn't
Disappear to pits
What if....
Say a prayer, and know whether Someone heard it
Not granted but at least received
In airplane seats my legs can fit in comfort
Elementals our only need
The remote comes when you call it from the sofa
My body Winger Guaranteed
Flashlights followed lead you safely homeward
A place in Heaven isn't greed
We go exploring
Through the sky
Lazy cosmic drift
What if....
Everything's black and white
And technicolor glow
Never wonder if you're wrong or right
You can always know
Follow towards the camera light
You'll never miss the show
Most importantly: you never go
There’s something for me on every menu
Never have to ask a change
The theater's empty even when I'm minutes late
'Cept a girl the right kind of strange
The right words live on my tongue and lips
Escaping every now and then
Written down, they make the women softly swoon
And darling, you're one of them
Cuddled closely
In a bed too small
To miss
What if....
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2. |
Pretend
04:19
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When I play pretend
I met you first of all
The hand, the forehead
Aren’t as far as my lips could call
We dance ‘til the end
Of the night, folded fingers, thrall
When I play pretend, we’re in love
When I play pretend
We stay in overnight
We’re lovers, we’re friends
We’re cute even when we fight
Outside, ‘round the bend
The snow is just a pretty sight
When I play pretend, we’re in love
Chorus:
Don’t need to invent
Anything for you to say to me
In fact, I’m content
Sending thoughts out faithfully
If one that I’ve sent
Might hit upon you suddenly
And you decide this ain’t how it should be
When I play pretend
Somehow, I always think
That when I press “Send”
You’re here pouring me a drink
That I’m on the mend
And we’ll wait to clear out the sink
When I play pretend, we’re in love
When I play pretend
There’s no need to call
If I need a friend
You’re waiting right down the hall
And sure, I might tend
To joke and to smother all
But when I play pretend, we’re in love
Chorus
When I play pretend
My smile isn’t fake
Just how it happened
Is all the fiction I need to make
A dream of a trend
And a hope for the break
When I play pretend, we’re in love
When I play pretend, we’re in love
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3. |
Thunderbolts
04:01
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Believing Heaven’s omens
And blinded to the sand
Dreaming that your safety
Lay buried in her hand
Along a foreign coastline
Dare to think you’d dwell
Mere seconds from a shocking
Glassfire scene of Hell
Dare to cross the tightrope
Try to keep upright head
Praying that a false step
Would leave you simply dead
Too mundane to fly through
Too much panic to drive
You’re waving out the window
Of the last flight of your life
And in the distance
A thunderbolt begins to strike
Tripping through the drought land
All joy and apprehend
Singing to the roadside
About your playful friend
Smile and embrace her
But know that she’s not enthralled
Refuse the cloudy cover
In this land there’s no pall
Pretend electric visions
Imagine serenades
Dream that you’re the rebel
Who can restore her faith
Lie throughout your days there
More to your heart than hers
Pluck up your long-lost courage
Just to waste it on a girl
And in the distance
A thunderbolt begins to fade
If Carthage was so conquered
We’d never hear its name
And likely there’s a woman there
Who would shoulder the blame
No simple dejection
No plunge into the dark
No obvious section for
To read from for her mark
Marathon imaginings
Go limping slowly on
Misdirected longings
Upon the one who’s gone
I’ll flee to the outer
Reaches of the land
Better than to realize
That you denied the hand
And in the distance
A thunderbolt has struck a man
And in the distance
A thunderbolt has killed a man
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4. |
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Sleeping on an ugly, stained, blue carpet floor
The captain and his crew are long gone out the door
I’ve been here for four hours, got at least two more
And all I’m thinking of is you
Nothing left to keep my churned mind occupied
Nothing crossing catching in my wandering eye
Sore like I’m 87, don’t feel young or spry
And all I’m thinking of is you
Chorus:
Can’t make it to my home
And if I did you’d still be gone
It’s almost midnight here in Dallas and I’m on my own
Finished watching movies that you told me to
Too many endings later, nothing left to do
I didn’t bring a book, I didn’t think it through
So all I’m thinking of is you
Not even showing football highlights anymore
It’s late enough for soccer, Messi’s record score
Too late to text you whining ‘bout my back so sore
So all I’m thinking of is you
Chorus
Awful pizza cleared and paper plates are gone
“The plane is almost here,” they say; we can’t get on
It’s weird, but somehow I can say I’m staying strong
‘Cause all I’m thinking of is you
This night is gonna be long, fair enough, I guess
But at least I have a story for you from this mess
See you in a week, I hope I can impress
‘Cause all I’m thinking of is you
Chorus
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5. |
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In nineteen hundred and one six
In Saratoga, Gordon's born
Never knew he'd be statued
Way out in Californ'
Apples picked in his pocket
Weaving through orchard falls
Every bird throughout the wood
Could recognize his calls
Lily came from southern stock
A Johnson City girl
Her trolley rides seemed far and wide
Her city seemed the world
From stockyard cars to city bars
Broke every heart in town
She'd never leave her home, she thought
'Til Gordon came around
In town one night to drop a car
He'd driven from New York
Gordon lit up a cigarette
And went for a Watauga walk
He pulled up short on Boone Lake shore
When what to his eyes appeared
A vision of a lovely lass
Sweet Lily of nineteen years
A night in town became five years
And Lily became his bride
No matter what life threw at them
He never left her side
But with two babies scarcely teethed
Europe stole Gordon's time
Back home in Johnson City
All Lily could do was cry
She'd only guess at horrors faced
In France and Italy
While little Mac and Sally bright
Grew up to five and three
A letter in the box each week
All she had to keep them bound
A world apart, they both daydreamed
Of him back in her town
One fine fall day he did return
To make the family whole
But filled with war-born wanderlust
Out west he saw their soul
Packed and railroad settled in
'Twas three long weary weeks
Before they finally settled in
Along an angel's creek
As Mac and Sally grew them up
Gordon worked to the bone
From driving trucks to setting shifts
For to support his home
And Lily, far b'yond housewife's cling
She built West Hollywood
Her gardens made the neighbors sigh
Her writing made men good
Through summer's love and Altamont
Gordon and Lily toiled
Mac and Sally raised their voices
While parents bore the load
Suddenly an empty nest
Nearly shocked them to their rest
Now what was left? 'Cept garden's bloom
And worries 'bout Gordon's chest
In later years, Lily and Gordon
Could be seen around the town
Him in tie and wing tip shoes
And she in evening gown
Across each street his eyes, still keen
Would peer before they crossed
And centuries beyond their time
No sparkle has been lost
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Yo-Yo & the Chaplain Los Angeles, California
Yo-Yo & the Chaplain is a Boston-born and Los Angeles-based folk/indie/pop rock band. Their latest album, Maggie Mae and the Telephone, is now available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, and more.
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