1. |
Flying Grasshoppers
05:53
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Death took another of our own,
While we were all looking the other way
It was a wicked move, although
I couldn't say
All the ones I've loved were wicked sometimes
I must forgive Death, so much misunderstood,
For doing things his way
But I've started wearing red lipstick
Just to wash the dishes
Startled by the quickness
And my sweater at the slightest breeze
I've started wearing red lipstick
Just to wash the dishes
Startled by the quickness
Who knows whether my sweater days are numbered,
And as I'm concerned, I'll wear them as I please
In red and redder fleece I crest the hill
On bicycle
Summer descends
The crickets may not know it yet
Just why their singing slows
And grasshoppers fly low, then blow
Up with the wind
Their wings are black and gold
Confidentially, I'd like to be the grasshopper
Essentially subdued and bold
These first three days on Earth,
But God has brought them to us slightly cold
And from his palm,
These first three marbles rolled
And Death took another of our own,
He didn't ask for much the way he could have
I'm glad that I can't give away my youth
To tell the truth I probably would have
But I've started wearing red lipstick
Just to wash the dishes
Startled by the quickness
And my sweater at the slightest breeze
But I've started wearing red lipstick
Just to wash the dishes
Startled by the quickness
Who knows whether my sweater days are numbered,
And as I'm concerned, I'll wear them as I please
In red and redder fleece I crest the hill
On bicycle
Summer descends
The crickets may not know it yet
Just why their singing slows
And grasshoppers fly low, then blow
Up with the wind
Their wings are black and gold
Confidentially, I'd like to be the grasshopper
Essentially subdued and bold
And a song isn't enough for Autumn,
A song isn't enough for you
But a song, a song's a pair of wings
The wind can never whip through
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2. |
Like Clay
06:03
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Show me a heart
That is more than dust and stars
And I will be there
Wherever you are
Walking in the woods, I remember you
Standing with your straight back, like a grey goose
You shape your vessels out of clay
Who will love you to your veins?
But I could not hold onto you
Noone's asking me to
You must be on your way
I see your hands move planets in space
And I could never call you mother
Sister, or lover
Nothing fits, nothing stays
All the names slough off of you
Like dirt, like clay
Show me a hand that has know the circles well
That's known the cool of heaven,
and the heat of hell
First we fell in love, then it's back to work
Showed you to the forest, you showed me dirt
And everything that's buried there
My intuition and your care
Refrain
Shiver in the clay and a knock at the door
Who's knocking now, what could it be for
Show me
Show me where you've gone,
I swear I'll never follow you
15 years left on this planet
What are you going to do?
Someone said they saw you where you came from
Sitting on the ground, yes, beating your drum
To soothe your sleepy grandchildren
You would give your heartbeat to them
Refrain
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3. |
Joan
04:37
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Joan of Arc, she found her calling young
Under the arches in the park you're walking
Like Joan of Arc, you cut off all your hair
When you heard those voices talking
Joan of Arc was only 17
Called amongst the aching human soldiers
They want connection that was never there
Joan, there are hungry people everywhere
And did you think
That you could go it all alone?
The voices come round, saying
Flesh and bone, oh, flesh and bone,
Joan
Joan of Manhattan I will call you
You, with the laurel wreath around your temples
You're young, you're foolish, but you're unafraid
And not pretending to be gentle
So give it all, so give it all away
Joan, just give it all away, I dare you
The sidewalks and the subways fade away-
Joan, I didn't mean to scare you
Refrain
So ride on, so ride on
Till the battle is won
First to Orleans, but then
What comes after?
You have hundreds of men,
Wanting food, wanting friend,
You must turn from yourselves
To each other
So ride on, so ride on
But the battle is won
You want more, you want arms
You can hide in
You have stumbled on grace
In a perilous place
May you capture yourselves, and abide in
Peace
Like bread
Like salt
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4. |
Go My Ghost
04:29
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Go my ghost when the moon is full
You're the most thrilling creature I know
Go my ghost, it's time to go
On your way, watch the slippery slope
You've mistaken my sadness for hope
Oh my ghost, you're getting slow
The moon so bright
Will guide you through the night
You've come undone
Old age will not be kind
Go my ghost when the moon is full
You're the most thrilling creature I know
Go my ghost when the moon is full
Make use of the stories you know
Don't forget
Don't forget
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5. |
See the Ocean
05:06
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You say "Pick up your folly"
I'm melancholy
Nobody knows what happened to me
It took all my remaining strength
To dream at length
My folly, it had grown so heavy
Is there anywhere you'd like to see?
Since it could be
We're captive till we prove that we're free
I just wanna see the ocean
A notion how devoted I'll be
I'm tired of the human race
I crave a place
That's full of life that I can't see
No more shouts of hate and fear
Nothing to hear
But sounds too high and low for my ears
Cockle shells and laughter
That's all I'm after
Rise buoyant from the breadth of the sea
I just wanna see the ocean
A notion how devoted I'll be
Running down
Oh, hear that blessed sound
I've been lost
Oh, in this life I've found
Still, I don't know a thing
But I can sing
sing!
Why are you opposed?
Your body knows
You're bolder when you take off your clothes
I just wanna see the ocean
A notion how devoted I'll be
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6. |
Green Seed, Brown Soil
02:04
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Green seed in the ground, singing "Must I know, must I know?"
Brown soil all around, "You must grow"
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7. |
Blood on the Flag
05:45
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There is blood on the flag from America's birth
We fired a pistol, and the shot filled the earth
It rung through our ears like a bell in a tower
And fatally sounded both the minute and the hour
It wasn't the first time the blood stained our hands
For once there was peace through this beautiful land
The birdcalls have scattered, we've shattered our ears
And the ones who were born here have left here in tears
Oh, how shall we color the flag of our land?
The red, white and blue we will dye with our hands
The blue and the white from the sea and the sun
And the red of the flag from the ones we shot down
And how shall we make it, this flag of our land?
We must cut it and stitch it, that I understand
With swords and sledgehammers, we'll carve out the cloth
With pledges and loyalty, quilt it as one
This won't be the last time we aim and we fire
For the rungs on the ladder reach higher and higher
We'll soon have to ask, as our hands clutch the wood
Oh, how will we live amongst all of this blood?
There is blood on our hands, and there's blood on the boil
There is blood on the sky, and it falls to the soil
There is blood on the wings, hear the wounded eagle call
But the blood on the flag is the reddest of all
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8. |
Soot or Stars
05:30
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This is just me, drinking oolong tea
In my mother's house
This is just me, as quiet as a mouse
The clocks are all ticking,
The candle, the wick
and the old kettle shouts
Then the ghosts come out
There was an old woman who swallowed her pride
Perhaps she died
From travelling so hard with those feelings inside
So tell your old story, reclaim your glory,
Old Grandmother Time
And watch while the ghosts go by
Sun will set, I come to the waters
I have not forgotten yet
You, mothers and daughters,
I was born onto your shoulders
And I will come back for you as I get older
I've seen many souls, from the sea to the shoals
To the back of the wood
And some have been bad, and some have been good
I know it's not right to call souls black or white
But I've known it so far:
Souls are just soot or stars
Refrain
This is just me at the edge of the sea
On the spine of a stone
Thinking of mothers and other souls that I've known
Souls howl like woods
Ripple like waters, or open like doors
But I've never seen one like yours
No, I've never seen one like yours
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Norma Jean Haynes Massachusetts
out to save the beautiful old songs
banjo-player
songwriter
author
teacher
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