1. |
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STAR MAP OF A SOUL
the tourist in my heart
is looking for a sign
the map is open wide
remember where you start
then follow 'till you find
the souvenir inside
the walls are there to climb
why else would bright stars hide
the tv screens explode
the roads erode in time
the pain becomes delight
a star map of a soul
you tore right through my heart
a mirror of my soul
and left me open wide
I don't know where to start
I can not mend the hole
I left myself inside
so shiny in the sun
transparent in the light
the particles explode
the fracture became fun
the pain became delight
a star map of a soul
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2. |
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BONE BY BONE
sweet dream sweet dream sweet dream so real
long ago in a lava soup
two little wormy tubes came together
and they kissed real hard and divided into four
now they're out in the stormy warming weather
in a pool of lava that’s cooling into rock
everybody knows that people come from little tiny
cells that’s right and you cant tear it apart
where that cell comes from is just a mystery
bone by bone you can rip it all apart
bone by bone you can stitch it back together now
together now
yesterday through the wires and the static
my numb mind took a nosedive down
back to the friction happening automatic
back to the pressure and the pumps that pump it out
scrambling and gobbling all the open spaces
we have to kill if we want to survive
so we climb up a tree and throw a rock down and kill a
bear and eat it up and it’s a rib and it’s a skull and it's a
was it Jesus who wrote the story about fossils and evolution?
was it Darwin who made up goblins and gave hell to heaven for its problems?
was it the business man was it the no good bum?
was it the question mark was it the burning sun?
here come limousines full of screaming teens and
dinosaurs painted in the colors of the team
as the deal is sealed in the climactic scene
it suddenly seems so cruel and mean
when an evil empire builder has an out of body experience
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3. |
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YOUR OWN THING
I don't need you to do anything but your own thing
I don't need you to do anything but your own thing
I don't need you to do anything but your own thing
I don't need you to do anything at all
wakin' up stressin' and my mind in fits
breaking it down into atomized bits
faster and faster I'm filling in all the gaps
20 million years to build this machine
all I gotta do is keep it super clean
even if someday it will just collapse
you built me a temple and you put me inside
gave me a vision and a place to hide
nothing but nothing is true except the lie
chemistry knew what to do
evolution knew it too
all I gotta do is stop and step aside
I say this a lot but I'll say it again
a body don't break when it learns to bend
every single day I get that invitation
it's totally disturbing to loose control
watchin' this body get funky and old
fallin' in love with deterioration
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4. |
Buy Some Time
03:38
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BUY SOME TIME
she left her home today took off her shoes and walked away
she was overjoyed about tomorrow
he rolled out of bed today opened the door and walked away
he was laser focused on tomorrow
time lines evaporate blink an eye and they go away
slipping from our grip into tomorrow
but that's ok (that's ok)
and that's alright (that's alright)
'cause we're ok (they're ok)
we'll just buy some time
she left her life today barely making her big escape
she was over thinking her tomorrow
he was running very late for the plans he had barely made
he was distracted by tomorrow
destinations are the same love loves to radiate
now they can see the same tomorrow
but that's ok (that's ok)
and that's alright (that's alright)
'cause we're ok (they're ok)
we'll just buy some time (just for tonight)
that's ok (that's ok)
and that's alright (that's alright)
'cause we're ok (they're ok)
we'll just buy some time
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5. |
Mister Shadow
03:06
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MISTER SHADOW
mister shadow
following right behind my body helpin' himself to the cooling shade
mister shadow
calling from a dark and distant underlit spooky moody place
mister shadow
teasing me by leaving alone to find my way home by myself
mister shadow
shrugging off the circumstance never wishing I was someone else
I got a little message in the dark
I got a little signal in my heart
I got a little angel calling me
I got a little shadow echoing
pull on a thread I come undone
falling apart is so much fun
hiding from the dark won't work
I turn my head with a jerk
mister shadow mister shadow
do you love haunting me?
do you love being seen?
a voice too soft for me to hear
you grow long and dissapear
mister shadow
following right behind my body helpin' himself to the cooling shade
mister shadow
calling from a dark and distant underlit spooky moody place
mister shadow
teasing me by leaving alone to find my way home by myself
mister shadow
shrugging off the circumstance never wishing I was someone else
never wishing I was someone else
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6. |
Love The Rough
02:48
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LOVE THE ROUGH
now the happy days slide by
like a splinter in my eye
and the perfect song I wrote
is gone from my deleted drive
if every moment were perfectly smooth
I would want a little darkness too
every deception does come true
and when I hold them both I scream woo hoo
I love the rough I love the smooth
I love the dirt in the record groove
I love everything there is to loose
I love the rough I love the smooth
sandpaper rubbing on a balloon
pretty melodies out of tune
ice cream on a rusty spoon
one plus one never comes to two
we're pulling out a rotten tooth
turning cheers into boos
starvation at an a open bar
on a stinking sinking luxury cruise
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7. |
Fade Out
03:31
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FADE OUT
got a candle lit and burning in the sunshine
squint your eyes and take a good look as it slowly dies
got a fire burning hotter collapsing over time
if you want to if you need to close your little eyes
that's the way you fade out
that's the way you fade out
that's the way you fade out
out of sight
see the brightness at it's highest now it's dimming down
all the colors they hover into a murky brown
have you ever felt forever in the blink of a blinking eye
did you ever see a feather fall from a bird in flight
in the same way that a sun ray fans out into light
in the same way that a long day fans out into night
in the same way that a wrong way turns out to be right
all that we know we will let go drifting out of sight
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8. |
Me In My Enemy
04:04
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ME IN MY ENEMY
this is perfect this imperfection
this is mental this gentle shifting
this is going to be a cake walk
this is going to hurt your feelings
understanding gaps in reason
undermining stable forces
underwhelming compromising
here we are now
again and again and again and again and
again and again and again and again
eye to eye to eye to eye
toe to toe to toe to toe
face to face to face to face
I see me in my enemy
in my enemy
invitations to the summit
undermining neutral spaces
invitations in translation
here we are now
again and again and again and again and
again and again and again and again
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9. |
Particles
04:12
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PARTICLES
used to fear disintegration
wiping out the old solution
demobilized and discontinued
i thought I would live on within you
hey now I see it's clear
I can just be particles
and leave my body here
hey now I understand
I can just be particles
and watch myself expand
severed from my limitations
tickled by evaporation
trapped inside this warm illusion
neutralized by liquidation
hey now I see it's clear
I can just be particles
and leave my body here
hey now I understand
I can just be particles
and watch myself expand
hey now I see it's clear
hey now I understand
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10. |
Out Of My Mind
03:05
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OUT OF MY MIND
are we just animals?
guess your guess is good as mine
we're so close it's laughable
'till we cross the infinite finish line
when an animal dies
it goes to animal heaven
how many heavens can you count hangin' in the sky
I'm not sure no I'm not sure
I'm not sure no I'm not sure
and I'm hoping to be out of my mind by then
I'm hoping to be out of my mind
the second skin I wear
is ripped and torn and tattered
our game of truth or dare
goes on until what matters shatters
when it's all no more
we will not recharge our devices
if you're last one to leave please turn off the lights
after you light all of the fuses on those plastic explosives
and I'm hoping to be out of my mind by then
I'm hoping to be out of my mind
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11. |
Ringing A Bell
03:21
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RINGING A BELL
out of tune out of mind
the golden notes keep keeping time
blur my eyes prick my ears
a metronome of passing years
sympathetic electric hum
what was two melts into one
floating through a frozen fog
silent sound waves sing along
in a muffled monotone
slipping back to dust and bone
open wide I'll loose my shell
and radiate like ringing a bell
like ringing a bell
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12. |
Exit To Extinction
03:09
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EXIT TO EXTINCTION
do I just exist to exit?
shake the lock and then I test it
is a human body the best fit
for a being so congested
locked in a frozen question
where echos are suggestions
'till the wave that we're on has crested
life and death will hold the tension
I'll take the exit to extinction
I'll take the exit to extinction
the end of never ending questions
I'll take the exit to extinction
I see a mirror in the distance
the winter winds have blown and lifted
'till the ripples become twisted
the pebble in the water is barely shifted
dead weight too dark to lift it
so let it fly then quietly rest it
words fail to express it
even though everybody says it
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13. |
Vibration
03:51
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VIBRATION
right when I am born I see a little light
without the word for light I let it shine
something with a face is staring at my eyes
I don't know what it is but it feels fine
underneath a blanket safe and hot and warm
human hands are holding onto me
I can not name it yet I do not even try
all I feel and am is energy and all I know is
vibration
and all I know is
vibration
outside my window all the noises collide
I cannot tell which are and are not me
light shines out but also inside
the fuzz of the rug underneath my little feet
some say these memories are impossible to hold
I say they never really leave
I can not name it yet I do not even try
all I feel and am is energy and all I know is
vibration
and all I know is
vibration
all I can feel all I can see all I can feel and see
vibration
(elation creation my mind is free)
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14. |
Afterglow
03:37
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AFTERGLOW
try to hold on way to tight and nothing will remain when the
light of day comes shining through it's time to go
squeeze the ghost and hold it there grabbing nothing but cold air
makes anything that sticks feel like solid gold
afterglow afterglow
shooting through my heart
afterglow afterglow
plant my feet deep underground here I am flipped upside down
my fear is that this love will melt like dirty snow
signals come in fits and starts writing all the ending parts
before I fall apart from all this vertigo
whitish pinkish sunlight hangs after sunset's done it's thang
dust suspended puts on an amazing show
glaciers move at a snails pace I move in to kiss your face
a combination I will not soon outgrow
afterglow
shooting through my heart
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Chris Ballew Seattle, Washington
Chris Ballew is the songwriter and lead singer of the Seattle rock 'n' roll band The Presidents of the United States of America. For 10 years Chris made music for 0 to 5-year-olds and their parents as Caspar Babypants. Now chris makes fuzzy psychedelic meditative fun loopy music for grown-up brains to chill out and do tiny dances and take naps to. ... more
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