1. |
You and I
05:04
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This is right
always ending and starting
endlessly joining and parting
hooked jaw fish hooked jaw don’t leave your beginnings behind
a still pane of blue ripples round
a blue pane tips and empties down
you are the one in the hospital gown
It happens:
hooked jaw gaping dead
insects and eagles pecking
the animals come nom nom checking
Hooked jaw fish hooked jaw
the waters are thick with them
there’s a stone in my stomach it rocks when the earth quakes
a bird in my chest, she rakes at my ribcage
don’t look
don’t spy
you are the one in the hospital
you and I
You and I looking for center my bird
in every revolution revolving my bird
you and I look for sameness my bird
you and I
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2. |
Nowhere, New York
03:32
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My chair faces towards the window
hands in lap
eyes closed
I reach through October rain
where is he where is he
searching...
where is he now?
ah you’re nestled now in Nowhere, New York
Nowhere, New York State
In bright Hispañola
we face each other me and your father
he sits like a Buddha
loyal to some higher power
who rests a hand on your father’s shoulder
as he observes me
he said “why do you love my son?”
why do you love my son
Spanish is the language of rivers
that ran rogue from the cruel king of Spain
so here is an ode to freedom
here is an ode to pain
Today is your day of rest
rest now, rest well
tomorrow your back will ache
in the cavernous factory
don’t forget to stand tall
do it for me
A hurricane
yawned upon the far shore
the shore of your island
it took many lives
but not yours
because you’re restless now
in Nowhere, New York
Nowhere, New York state
unknown
Alone
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3. |
In a Jar
06:27
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The stars have gone bland
because of the street lamps
down in the subway
sits the tunnel man
he only looks ahead
he does not see me
but a little song drips
from his barnacle teeth
and touches
touches me
He lived in Memphis as a boy
Out on the roof
deep in the evening
I watch the heron
still and stately blue
she only looks ahead
she does not see me
but a long call
tears from her arrow beak
and reaches
reaches me
I used to sit there as a girl
One of the many lives to take place
on this rock
is a thought I saw flicker on your face
your head and this rock both internally burn
I know you have heavy things to carry
even so your eyes are cool and sweet
in my arms your head is planetary
I am like a cave where you retreat
your words fill my room
you’re safe but you can’t see where you are
I beckon your whisper to my ear
I keep it in a jar
I keep it in a jar
I keep it in a jar...
mhmmmm
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4. |
Don't Tell
05:35
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I feel a pale cold
the seizing horizon
contracts and folds
Don’t tell my nephew
oh
don’t tell my nephew
I
didn’t write no letters
that I left them all to wonder
I recoil from your death
on your back
absolute
it’s something to see a family tree die
it’s something to see your stream so bare
it’s something to wonder why
many years pass as I stare
such is the act of saying goodbye
Don’t let the kids see
we cut down a forest of family trees
Hell is the face that burns with shame
don’t tell
I don’t want to find you
beached and broken
mute
awake
or see you stare with
hollow moons for eyes
to heave to handle what’s at stake
to hold it in your hand
the ocean surf will be your sigh
so you yourself don’t have to cry
Don’t let me niece know
oh
don’t let my niece know
I
don’t know about fate
and I can’t explain our state
don’t let my man see
oh don’t let my man see
I threw The Times away
because I
don’t want to know
what happened today
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5. |
Justine's Song
04:50
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She’s never left home and—
she’s needed there
I know he’s not well...tell me
now she’s working across town
now she’s helping him lay down
now she leans across his sleeping eyes
and listens to his sick breath
thin breath
There is a house here and—
it eases death
I know you’re not well...tell me
I leave gifts outside your door
I will try to soothe your sore
you know that’s what I’m here for
But I can only be there to walk you home
I cannot be there to know your depth of sorrow
I can only be there to hear you
She bears a weight but—
she thinks of you
so don’t forget the daughter, it’s her father
now she sets her sad aside
her river’s deep her water’s wide
she said no matter how small the matter
know in me you can confide
Chorus
The time is near and---
I will be there
you remember that first fear, years back
an animal entered in the ring
cancer is a hungry thing
but I’ve never known a man
to cling to life so fierce and fight so long
and when he’s gone
Chorus
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6. |
Praise
05:37
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Praise
when you raise your palms to mine
and beg for return
and beg for return
ahh let me turn
tight fisted
hands in pockets
away from that brief bright light
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7. |
The Lumberjack
05:34
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I see a dog running like a wind
he tells me something’s coming
after the nation has all gone to waste
this will be a resting place
It was a beautiful thing
a still lake in the star light
I said “I’d like to write a song for this spot”
she said “you might not
hmmm
because you’ll feel so sore when this is no more
when this place will not be”
so look at me you staring lake
your cool silence
keeps me awake
this will be your resting place
with your sorrows and your reeds
when you water line recedes
though the icebergs still are proud
your ghost is a rain cloud
oh ghost oh ghost oh ghost oh ghost
I saw your hound heading for high ground
I can tell by the looks that someone has been here
with a blade on his back
he’s coming, the lumberjack
say goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
It was a sudden thing
an owl in the meadow grass
she came about in a whorl of fall leaves
the patient receives
queen of vermin, what do we need?
you must determine
you can see through the night
so look my way you bird of prey
your eyes like pits in a burning eclipse
this will be your resting place
with your sorrows and your wings
where your song of mourning rings
‘cause you cannot handle the weather
your ghost is an airborn feather
oh ghost oh ghost oh ghost oh ghost
Chorus
It was a brutalized landscape
in Oregon territory
and we had nothing but this
and the mind’s eye to measure our loss
he was humming in the moss
a Christian all the way out here?
a son of the cross, a son of the Shepard
and son of the Saw Man
so talk to me you pock-marked ghost
you cry so gently
you recall Vietnam
this will be your resting place
with your medals and your chains
where the timber creaks in the wind
and it crackles in the sun light
I’ll hear about you in time
oh ghost oh ghost oh ghost oh ghost
Chorus
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Eleanor Elektra Boston, Massachusetts
Eleanor Elektra is an interdisciplinary artist originally from the Pacific Northwest who fuses music and visual
arts.
Her practice spans songwriting, printmaking and installation work. Her music combines elements of folk, jazz and classical music within the songwriter idiom to create unique cinematic songs.
... more
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