1. |
No Gravestone
03:01
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I don’t want no gravestone when I go
You could plant a tree
No gravestone when I go
Carve in my name for me
You could tell everybody
They’ll find shelter in the shade
As the sun hangs from my branches
My eternal bed is made
When the earth is my bedsheets
And my body is a shell
Let my rings count the stories
That only time can tell
I don’t want no gravestone when I go
You could plant a tree
Don’t want no gravestone when I go
Carve in my name for me
If ever I should timber
If you should cut me down
I’ll keep you warm by the fire
As my embers kiss the ground
I don’t want no gravestone when I go
You could plant a tree
Don’t want no gravestone when I go
Carve in my name for me
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2. |
Get Yourself Through
03:42
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When you've got a sadness you just can't speak of
Sometimes the feeling can eat you alive
Some don't see the privilege of seeing things clearly
While others are struggling to make it out right
I saw you squinting, curious eyes glistening
As you were listening to me fumble a song
Now that's in the rear view
Something we've persevered through
Now it's my turn to hear you
And I'm singing along
I know things are different from when we were younger
These days ain't as easy to maneuver around
In those moments you're tempted to give in and surrender
I want you to remember the way that it sounds
To give in to the music, take your heart and use it
All the cuts and the bruises, bleed them into the song
If you want you can burn it, leave it behind you and turn it
Take the lesson and learn it, get yourself through the day
If you've got a sadness, won't you just speak up
You can shout, you can whisper
Your voice has a place
My ear is a cradle, awaiting its landing
May the message its handing always find a way
We're separate but united, despite the distance divided
Our woe is confided by the power of song
Even when times are changing a melody can be ageless
When the pen strikes the pages and someone sings along
La da da da daaaa
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3. |
When You Are Down
03:06
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Up at night sometimes I wonder
What it is you're dreaming about
Do you wake up in the morning fighting monsters?
Were you flying before you hit the ground?
The night before last I buried a butterfly
At the highest point of the tallest mountain range
Because the sky is a stranger to wings that are broken
But when you are down I'll lift you up again
When you are down I'll lift you up
If ever sorrow fills you're cup
If ever there's a time you need a friend
When you are down I'll lift you up again
Keep your eyes on the prize, keep your patience
Focus on the blessings you receive
Misfortune is a phase of a soon by gotten day
Raise yourself up to greet your own relief
When you are down I'll lift you up
If ever sorrow fills your cup
If ever there's a time you need a friend
When you are down I'll lift you up again
You gotta hold close to the lessons time will teach you
Be grateful for each triumph and mistake
Til it's all said and done, time will humble everyone
Give yourself enough to go at your own pace
When you are down I'll lift you up
If ever sorrow fills your cup
If ever there's a time you need a friend
When you are down I'll lift you up again
When you are down I'll lift you up again
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4. |
Young Enough to Know
04:03
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5. |
Tulsa, Someday
03:13
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By the time we made it into Tulsa, we were packing up to turn around
It’s almost like our exit always closes right before we make it into town
Like striking out against a one-armed bandit,
Sometimes it all comes down to pocket change
You never know how much of it you’ll be handing off
While you are along the way
Running over pot holes on twenty dollar toll roads
Trying to stay inside the lines
Oh you know Tulsa
Someday I’m gonna do you right
Right about when we thought we were leaving, we were burning down a clover leaf
Then up around the bend with neon conviction stood a glowing Indian chief
And if he would talk you know I’m sure he’d be saying,
“Come on, you don’t have much to lose
Just step right up and bet your bottom dollar
Catch a buzz on our diluted booze”
Burning up my billfold, hoping that the time’s close
For my luck to turn around
Oh but you know Tulsa
Sometimes you really let me down
By the time we crossed the state line, the sun was rising up close behind
Frankly, I’m thankful that we made it in one piece
We’re learning as we go, or at least I hope so
It might be better the next time that we try
Oh but you know Tulsa
Sometimes it isn’t worth the drive
Oh, oh, but someday I’m gonna do you right
Oh, oh, but someday I’m gonna do you right
Oh, oh, but someday I’m gonna do you right
Oh, oh, but someday I’m gonna do you right
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6. |
Let's Get Lost
03:13
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From the Ozark Mountains
To the Tucumcari sand
Came as a weary wanderer
Dreaming on a desert land
It seems that time’s hit heavy
Since the Interstate rolled by
I almost missed the exit
In the blink of an eye
But there’s no wrong way when you’re trying to get lost
There’s no wrong way when you’re trying to get lost
Right off the Blue Ridge Parkway
I know a swimming hole
However far I’m from it
It's somewhere I always want to go
Maybe it’s just a moment
I lived there in the past
Maybe I never left it
Maybe I’m still trying to get it back
But there’s no wrong way when you’re trying to get lost
There’s no wrong way when you’re trying to get lost
In western Champaign County
Gliding through the plains of Illinois
I bet you saw for miles
On your way to see that boy
You know he don’t deserve you
All the notches you’ve put in your wheels
All the road behind you
Just to show him how you feel
Now let’s go find a way to get lost
Until there’s nothing between us to make sense of
Whatever we’re chasing or running from
There's no wrong way when you're trying to get lost
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7. |
Strange Duality
04:40
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I don’t know how much time I’ve got, but here I go
I’ll try to make sense of it all, even though I won’t
I just feels like I’m plucking all the feathers from my wings
I’m flying like a fall
But I’ll dip my quill into the ink
And try to trap it in a song
It's such a strange duality
Just to be caught between the rise and fall
Of the sun, shining light on us all
Sometimes you’re waking up
Only just to crawl back to bed
So I’ll close my eyes and count to ten, until I disappear
I don’t know how to do this right, or how I’m even here
Some days are an arrow that I know just how to aim
Some days I miss my mark
I know the learning never ends
But I know that I’ve come so far
It’s such a strange duality
Just to be caught in the middle of it all
With all these people always waiting on your call
Sometimes you’re waking up
Only just to crawl back to bed
Well the sky is blue, I’m telling you
There’s not a single cloud in sight
And all I want to do is hide underneath my sheets
It’s such a strange duality
Just to be on either side of the wall
When you’re wondering why you built it at all
Sometimes you’re waking up
Only just to crawl back to bed
I don’t know how much time I’ve got
But I won’t let it go to waste
I know somehow I’ll make it through
Another sunny day
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8. |
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Does it hit you where the heart is
Does it punch you in the guts
When you love somebody
You don’t know how to trust
Does it leave you lying lazy
Do you waste away the day
Cause you give her all your loving
And she’s giving hers away
This time you’re investing
Do you think you spend it right
Just sitting and stressing
About who she’ll see tonight
And if it’s worth the worry
Of leaving on the light, oh
Does it hit you where the heart is
Does it bring you to your knees
When your lover’s just so lazy
All he does is sleep
He ain’t bringing home no money
No, there ain’t no bread to eat
He may give you all his loving
But that’s a worthless currency
This time he’s investing
Just pissing away all his daylight
It ain’t too impressing
That he’s got you working overtime
Just trying to keep the lights on
And he’s waiting up to fight, oh
Up to fight, oh
Does it hit you where the heart is
Yes it’s quite a cryin shame
When you move on jealous notions
And point your finger to blame
You better keeping your feelings steady
You’ve got to stay on the same page
Or you’ll wind up living lonely
For the rest of your days
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9. |
Nowhere Is a Place
04:55
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I've been planning every morning for the rest of my days
Waking to the sunrise casting light upon your face
But that ain't me, it just ain't me
I've got a pocket full of chances, sixteen dollars to my name
Whichever way the wind blows, I know it's fanning on the flame
In my heart, in my heart
There's always another word that can be said
To prolong being left for dead
These broken promises behind my eyes
Leave me nowhere left to hide
I got no idea where I'm sleeping, do you have a place to crash?
Somehow this car keeps running even though it's out of gas
I hope it starts, I pray it starts
But I'll blow my dimes and nickels on just one last cheap cigar
These dreams of mine are all I got, I hope they take me far
Away from here, away from here
There's always another stranger's bed they might let me lay my head
But of all the lessons that I've come to learn, it's a sure-fire way to get burned
Thank goodness for these friends of mine, I don't know where I'd be
Without their couches and their company they've allowed to comfort me
You know I love you all, you know I love you all
So let's have another drink tonight, one more for the road
I'm leaving town tomorrow, know wherever I may go I'll carry you
I'll carry you all with me
I pray there's always another friend that I can call, to help me forget it all
And of all the things that I know, nowhere is a better place to go
I could hammer down these warn out chords for the rest of the day
If that meant I had the slightest chance to save a little face
But that's okay, in the end I'm not ashamed
There's always a clock that's ticking somewhere,
A moment about to pass
I'd rather spend time burning bridges, than spend time kissing ass
It ain't just me, so tell me your story
There's always another story yet to be told, as each new day unfolds
Somewhere there's an angel bound to make it right, waiting to fall in my life
Somewhere there's an angel bound to make it right, waiting to fall in my life
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10. |
Grace at the Piano
01:02
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11. |
Name Upon a Wall
04:03
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Gordon carried his gun
In a war we never won
He choked down his final breath
In his brother’s own caress
One day I met the man
Who held Gordon in his hands
When his blood was spilled in vain
His bitter fingers point the blame
At our blind society
And all the shepherds to the sheep
Who had the audacity to lie
When they said God was on our side
Fifty years before today
Amongst the bullets and the blaze
Gordon McClary once stood tall *
Now that’s just a name upon a wall
There’s no word that could describe
All the pain behind his eyes
When he spoke of what they’d seen
As I sat there wondering
How high must the number be
Before what’s called a tragedy
Becomes another statistic
The death toll took another hit
Fifty years before today
I swear I almost hear him say
Gordon McClary I love you
And whatever you may do
Please just don’t you die on me
For the love of God just breathe
If you hear me then just speak
Please say anything, please say anything, oh please
He was a man I never knew
But’s the goddamned truth
He did not deserve to die
He belongs right as his brother’s side
Happy healthy and alive
A death for nature to decide
And not one second before
Should death come knocking at his door
But what good are feeble words as these?
With all these lives shipped overseas
Only to meet the same fate
All in the name of hate
Gordon McClary once stood tall
Now that’s just a name upon a wall
A name upon a wall
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12. |
Pay No Mind
03:47
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Maybe one day I’ll move a mountain
Maybe one day I will become the sea
Maybe right now I’ll start a fire
Light it up and burn it down til it’s clean
Maybe one day I’ll cross the river
Maybe one day I’ll ripple with the waves
Maybe right now I’ll taste the moment
Savor all the flavor while it stays
Surely one day I will be landing on the higher ground of passing time
There’s only one road to tomorrow, might as well enjoy the ride
Maybe one day roll like thunder
Maybe one day I’ll tumble from the sky
Maybe right now I’ll sell my secrets
Just because somebody wants to buy
Surely one day I will be handing off the torch that’s been my guiding light
Whether it may fade or shimmer, I will pay no mind
I will pay no mind
When the dust is settled on my weary eyes
I’ll pay no mind
I will pay no mind
Maybe one day I’ll plant the garden
Maybe one day I’ll grow amongst the vines
Maybe right now I’ll sow the seed
That’s planted where I know it always shines
Surely one day I will remember fleeting glimpses of a simpler time
And when I can no longer, I will pay no mind
I will pay no mind
When the dust is settled on my weary eyes
I’ll pay no mind
I will pay no mind
Surely one day I’ll catch my breath, right as it escapes me one last time
I will pay no mind
When the dust is settled on my weary eyes
I’ll pay no mind
I will pay no mind
I will pay no mind
When the dust is settled on my weary eyes
I’ll pay no mind, no
I will pay no mind
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Justin Larkin Springfield, Missouri
I am a singer-songwriter/one-man band/frequent collaborator from Springfield, MO. I play in a band called Mood Ring Circus.
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