1. |
Live Free (Demo)
04:19
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When life gives you lemons
Rub them in the open wounds of your enemies
To each of us according to the amount that we can bleed
To each according to his greed
You used to believe that with age you would become less unhappy
When you had real reasons to be sad
When you were younger, your suffering was inconsolable
'Cause it seemed unfounded, uncontrollable
But tonight I'm going to cut off all my hair
And wipe my bank account clean
Void all the contracts I'd vowed to keep
Let's run away together, you and me
And by tomorrow morning let's live free
Stumps at the lakefront, like beasts at the water hole
It’s our own personal dust bowl
We rise, each morning, as far as I can tell
Searching for water from a deeper well
How are you at love, art, and crime?
Three for three, if you ask me
It's a living wage
Being St. Sebastian of the short stage
I'll take upon myself the slings & arrows aimed at other singers
If you'll be high-bidder, I'll be a bell-ringer
You be come-hither, I'll be a ditch-digger
You be long-limber, I'll be a tale-spinner
Trickster & swindler
Scribbler & scriv'ner
Shimmering silver & high-gauge
June and Johnny for the modern age
Tonight I'm going to cut off all my hair
And wipe my bank account clean
Break all the promises I vowed to keep
Close your eyes and floor it, man, no guarantee
We'll see our way clear to live free
Stumps at the lakefront, like beasts at the water hole
It’s our own personal dust bowl
We rise, each morning, as far as I can tell
Searching for water from a deeper well
Suck in your gut, blow out your voice
Go home, as if you've got the choice
Take a shot and smooth your shirt
Whatever you do, don't get hurt
These are high seas
Pull yourself together, man, and live free
I believe it, and I've found it to be true
You can stay one step ahead of the problems that oppress you
I believe it, and I've found it to be true
You can stay one step ahead of your problems
I believe it, and I've found it to be true
I can outrun any one of you.
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2. |
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Trees are cannibals
They eat their own
Turn the hearts of oak and bark to loam
And limestone
Poor forked radish
Feet set in bone
Concentrate on things you've left unfinished
And unknown.
Be of good heart. Our songs will all be silenced.
So what? We'll go on singing.
Put out the pilot light
And gather up the bottles
The beer will trace the hollows
The remnants of the waters
Of Frankie Stubbs' tears
You make forgetting look like fun
Standing out there with your coat undone
The centerpiece of the mise-en-scene set in the setting sun
Sight unseen, you could be anyone
The light in your hair and your hands in your jeans
You could be anyone
CHORUS
These are the ways
These are the ways we remember
This is the passage of life through our minds
This is a memory, a weakening pearl in a chain
This is how mysteries form on a grain of sand
Fear is an animal
That feeds alone
Remembered once in haste and once in calm
CHORUS
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3. |
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Betty Botter bought a bottle of bitters from the bar
Major Matt, he mixed his mild martinis in a jar
This doggerel is my private hell, these words whose meanings never gel
I'm gonna find you, wherever you are
Never trust a man without a horror story
Eros, the rose and the sore
The hearts of Boston lie for me
The hearts of Boston have a hurricane to answer for
If I started walking I'd be almost there by now
I'm on the world stage
From the Tel Aviv swamp to the deserts of New Orleans
You can't read your lines if you can't find your page
In my rage and shame I cursed
"Bad god, no offerings"
I'm a magi with bad apologies
No scented candles, no shiny things
Never trust a man without a horror story
Eros, the rose and the sore
The hearts of Boston, they lie for me
The hearts of Boston have a hurricane to answer for
Life never labels the last time you do something
I swear, I can always do more
i've taken enough charity already
And the last thing I need is once more to lose something
I drove to your door in a dusty Honda
Or an orange Saab, or an Austrian Mazda
I don't mind being wrong as long as long as no-one else is right
The hopes and fears of all the years are here with us tonight
Never trust a man without a horror story
Eros, the rose and the sore
The hearts of Boston, they cry for me
The hearts of Boston have a hurricane to answer for
Life never labels the last time you do something
I swear, I can always do more
i've taken enough charity already
And the last thing I need is once more to lose something
It was action-packed in the cul-de-sac
the dust blew forward and the dust blew back
You and I were under attack
With a parachute bag for a burlap sack
'Cause you required some danger
So I acquired a gun
You married a stranger
All I could do was run, run, run
You required the danger
I acquired a gun
You married a stranger
All I could do was run
Ten years of hard labor is a hard time
But fifty years of disappointment is a hard time too
I met a man who got his 5-year-old a Bocephus tattoo
It got out of his hands, and this got out of mine too
When you required some danger
And I acquired a gun
You married a stranger
All I could do was run, run, run
You required the danger
So I acquired a gun
Transpired was anger
Then all we were was done
Never trust a man without a horror story
Eros, the rose and the sore
The hearts of Boston are terrified for me
The hearts of Boston have a hurricane to answer for
Life never labels the last time you do something
I swear, I can always do more
i've taken enough of your charity already
And the last thing I need is once more to lose something
Which is the right life? The quiet life or the night life?
If Cole Porter didn't know, how can I be sure?
The hearts of Boston are gonna lie for me
'Cause the hearts of Boston have a hurricane to answer for.
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4. |
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I put on a record
It was called "Sad Songs For Sullen Lovers"
I listened to it once
It took me all day to recover
I put on a record
It was called "Sad Songs for Savage Lovers"
Called you up, Told you what I thought
And then I ran for cover
I put on a record
Called "Dirty Songs For Sad Lovers"
It wasn't long before you called
And said "Please, please come over
And tell me
Did your broken heart make you who you are?"
I put on a record
It said "Love me once, then leave forever"
We are so pure
We can learn both joy and rage together
You took off the record
And said "What's your rush?
As if things won't break in their own time
Without you there to push them
Forget about the record
Forget about the song
Let's concentrate on what we got right
And what we're still doing wrong."
Did your broken heart make you who you are?
You are capable of anything, aren't you?
You learned it from someone
Someone learned it from you
Cruelty is a virus
I know, it's in my blood too
You think you know someone
But you never know what they will do
Did your broken heart make you who you are?
Can your broken heart tell me more about who you are?
Then tell me all about it
If your broken heart can tell me more about who you are
Then go ahead, tell me all about it.
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5. |
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The Dutch talked of Antilles
As if it was Atlantis
Lonely & constant
Have you had your fill of this?
Sing the Northwest Passage
The tidepools and the tundra
Feel your way through the darkness
Take wing, take cover
The Cape of Good Hope to the point of no return
River-blind & sunburned
Dream all night of beauty
Never wake up beauti-
Full up on all-night diner food
Just keeping cool
Stalk these streets
Shimmering & bloodless & happy
Call cops cowboys, & cowboys cops
Take capsules of jungle weeds
Processed for purity
The tide approaches & the tide recedes
Bake the coral & drown the weeds
Hide the bodies & count your beads
Drop the anchor, chart your deeds.
I will follow wherever you go
Diamond lanes and levee roads
Past the green-dot sunset
On the Berlin-to-Baghdad railroad
The cuckoo is a pretty bird, warbles as she flies
Bar your windows to her
Hide your eyes
Let nothing come between you
Hold her in your sights
Keep a close watch
Don't turn out the lights
The fishing bird makes a dome with his wings
Shelter from the sun for the shiny things
Who take his good graces, then are speared where they sit
Sic semper fidelis
The buffalo herd make a run for the hills
Fresh kills, common law
Nature red in tooth and claw
Thus spake the faithless
Faded foam filling that was gnawed by the crow
Bluebells bloom in the barn below
Drain the egg, drop the shells in the snow
Some stories are endless
I will follow wherever you go
Diamond lanes and levee roads
Past the green-dot sunset
On the Berlin-to-Baghdad railroad
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6. |
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Franz Nicolay New York
To us, the beautiful - and to those who disagree, may their eyes fall out.
Franz Nicolay recommends:
Maybe my favorite current band? Certainly the one that gives me the most joy when their songs come on.
go to album
Showbusiness (live)
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Can't hear you 'cause your mouth's full of shit. Do something about it.
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supported by 8 fans who also own “Live Free (Tour EP 2011)”
I like both tracks the same, it made me choose 1, These are dark times. The fact that this is The Hold Steady sounding like they should is a lantern of hope. I never thought I would hear new Hold Steady like this again. Joy is reborn.
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Banjo-wielding indie folk outfit drop their fourth full-length studio album of broody ballads and barroom stompers.
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