1. |
The Surfer
04:53
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The Surfer
Surfing underneath a west coast sun
Water washing over everyone
Keeping out the ultra-violet rays
Neath the shelter of a late breaking tidal wave
Aint no better time to be alive
Every year is 1965
California girls are all I hear
Singing on the radio
I get around
My seaside town
I know everybody here by name
Everything will always be the same
Things that I dont want to here about
People have been whispering
All over town
All overtown
All over town
All over town
About how
The circus is coming to town
Its gonna be a freak show
Theyre bringing the elephants and clowns
Theyre keeping the price low
The circus is coming to town
Its gonna be a freak show
With lions and tigers and bears
Everything must go
The circus is coming to town
Its gonna be a freak show
Theyre bringing the elephants and clowns
Theyre keeping the price low
The circus is coming to town
Its gonna be a freak show
With lions and tigers and bears
Everything must go
Must go!
Im caught in the undertow
With the waves crashing down
Its not that I want to go
Its pulling me out
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2. |
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Domingo Hirsch and His Internal Flying Circus
That guy is turning into a flower
I can see him right through the window
Or maybe I'm imagining it
I stand then I sit
Theres something I was supposed to remember
Or something I was supposed to forget
I know that it was one of the two
I may have already done it
Cant you see them in the back seat?- Theyve been lifting up their shirts.- Theyre shouting stuff in different languages but very few of them know what theyre saying.- I know that Ive been living here on and off for months and Ive never had a problem.- Not like this.
I just cant handle all of the beauty
The overwhelming mind-splitting beauty
I keep it in the tiniest box
Beneath my sweaters and sox
They say that when you loose the connection
You end up like a clown in a circus
Thats in a town that nobody sees
No not only me
Theres a midget doing cartwheels and a leopard playing tennis. Ive got a good mind to let you in for free but I dont know if Im aloud to do that. This is the end of an era; the sights, smells and sounds of some sort of revolution
Hes got a friend in fifth grade English
Who gives the answers to the Amish
Hes got a friend he never tells on
Silently sitting there with bells on
But he knows
Theres someone he used to be
In a world that he once did know
Before the big show
Youve got a nerve youve got a muscle
Youve got your thoughts all in a tussle
The girls are getting sentimental
But its not emotional its mental
Dont be sad
Theres nothing to weep about
Cuz soon well be getting out
Like summer vacation
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3. |
September 30th 1955
03:24
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September 30th 1955
(date of James Dean's fatal car crash)
Woke up, had a cigarette near the window
Phone call and the argument, I got my way
I made up my mind I'm taking the Spider
Perfect day to drive around with the top down
Hey, Its you and me kid
Making History
One way or another
Chevron station coming up there on my left
Old man waving from the grass beside the road
Whizzing trees, eight degrees, a clear blue sky
Veering slightly then i move toward impact
Hey, Its you and me kid
Making History
One way or another
James I don't know, i got a feeling
Its all gonna blow if we keep pushing
James I don't know, whats you're feeling?
Are we over our heads? Are we over our heads
James, in my gut i got a feeling
Maybe we shouldn't go, maybe we shouldn't go
James I don't know what your feeling
Are we losing control? Are we losing control?
Are we out of control?
Hey, Its you and me kid
Making History
One way or another
Hey, Its you and me kid
Making History
One way or another
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4. |
The Creator
03:33
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The Creator
I guess it must be true, I saw it in the newspaper
The karate instructor weighed well over three hundred pounds
He took one of his students, drove him off and showed him how to kick like he means it
He did it on a whim nobody has heard from him since
He made it up as he went along and now hes gone
He made it up as he went along and now hes gone
She packed everything up and headed south on I-25
She leave it all behind looking for a new labor force
Thumbing her nose at the monk with the hose watering his garden in winter
Nothing will grow like that! She shouted driving by in her car
She made it up as she went along and now hes gone
She made it up as she went along and now hes gone
And when she sings the company song she gets the chorus wrong
With everybody singing along
Cuz its a sing-along
An invisible man who showed everyone how to proceed
He got us to this point, died and left no one at the wheel
He made it up as he went along and now hes gone
He made it up as he went along and now hes gone
Now whos gonna tell us right from wrong
And left from right
He made it up as He went along
And now Hes outa sight
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5. |
Apache Strobe Light
03:35
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Apache Strobe Light
The captain's phaser
A broken arrow in the sand
A stack of pornos
A leather bracelet on a hand
A can of soda
Some kind of nuclear device
A childs notebook
With scribbled suggestions
That was all we found
Do we still get payed the same?
No one was around
No one saw us there
We stopped for pancakes
With buffalo wings on the side
C'mon for Christ's sake
I didnt know that they could fly
Quick grab the camera
That there is an ancient burial site
They put up Christmas lights
So you can see it in the night...
... it gets cold
And darker than it used to
Like everything else
It takes time to get used to
But with morning
Came the sun
Like a Strobe Light
Flickering on
What was left of
The landscape
You and I danced
To old cassette tapes
Kissing through
Our face masks
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6. |
18 Dover
03:53
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18 Dover
Shadows
Pulling down the shade on window
Youll pick it up again tomorrow
It couldnt have been more than an hour ago
That we were talking
On the telephone
"Hello" you said, "Who is it?...Shes not home!"
But you were
A blurry outline through plexy-glass
And 27 yards of cut grass
Every seventh day the magenta dress
And your hair pulled back
Makes you look much older
Better when it cascades down your shoulder
"Hello"
Hi miss
We're offering a special service
For those who have been feeling nervous
About all the creepy business
In the neighborhood
So youre at 18 Dover
We'll send one of our men right over
"Thank you good bye"
Sooner than you know
"Thank you good bye"
Sooner than you know
"Thank you good bye"
Sooner than you know
"Thank you good bye"
Sooner than you know
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7. |
A Makeshift Militia
03:32
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A Makeshift Militia
Marching to the beat of a distant drum machine
Drawing up a plan during the approach
Playing it by ear
This could be our year
Following a hunch and a lingering reverie
Reconsidering now would be ill-advised
Better to proceed
We've got all we need
Nothing wrong with improvisation
We could make it up as we go along
We've got no time for hesitation
This is what weve all been waiting for
Aiming toward the east at the new horizon line
Shooting from the hip at whatever moves
As the sun goes down
As the earth spins round
Nothing wrong with improvisation
The moral is up and the will is strong
Weve got no time for hesitation
This is what weve wanted all along
Seems like the limit is the sky
Putting it together on the fly
Holding down the fort with a team of specialists
Answering the phones, straightening up the mess
Keeping home base clean
For the new home team
Nothing wrong with improvisation
We could make it up as we go along
We've got no time for hesitation
This is what we've all been waiting for
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8. |
Meat On The Major's Mind
03:25
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Meat On The Majors Mind
Double deals on ferris wheels with men from from Mars
Fallen popes do horoscopes in family cars
Quiet kid with candy bar wishes on stars
Holy water swimming pools are catching fire
A lifeguard sleeps in an army jeep, the major drives
Gritting his teeth at fields of sheep on which he thrives
Theres Meat on the Majors Mind, look into his eyes
(Battle lines, bodies in their prime)
Watching him jump the gun that shoots at the sun
(The bulls eye, see it open wide)
Theres meat in the Majors eyes, they fall and they rise
(Some resign, while others plot their climb)
Theres Meat on the Majors Mind, from the dawn of time
(Swinging from vines, quoting the divine)
Kids carouse the monkey house for picture frames
For photographs of chimpanzees, all toilet trained
In freshly laundered underware which does not stain
Hes got'm in spades
He shoots bows and arrows
Hes got friends out in the yard
Theres Meat on the Majors Mind, look into his eyes
(Battle lines, bodies in their prime)
Watching him jump the gun that shoots at the sun
(The bulls eye, see it open wide)
Theres meat in the Majors eyes, they fall and they rise
(Some resign, while others plot their climb)
Theres Meat on the Majors Mind, from the dawn of time
(Swinging from vines, quoting the divine)
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9. |
Interstate Prayer
04:03
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Interstate Prayer
Where to begin?
He could feel the cold coming in
He knew that it was time to embark
On the road trip
He'd read about it in books
His friends and family giving him looks
When youre a rebel
They do that
He put in gasoline
For where he'd never been he was bound
Out on the open road
Embracing the unknown as his own
He's been gone for a while
He's lost track of the months and the miles
But he knows he's coming up on something
And when he wants to turn back
He just thinks of Alan and Jack
And other pioneers like Carnegie
They all hung in there
And eventually mad a name for themselves
There's a new frontier
Haven't found it yet but I know its here
I could use a hint or a clue
Some kind of sign showing me what to do
Where is my north star?
Guiding me home
Where is my north star?
Guiding me home
Where is my north star?
Guiding me home
Where is my north star?
Guiding me home
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10. |
In Your Stars
03:04
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In Your Stars
Hands on your head, what Simon said you didnt catch
Walked when they ran, your shirts and pants never quite matched
Pledge of allegiance, not again, you called in sick
For which it stands, open your hands and drop those peanuts
Theres something else In Your Stars
Cant you see the signs
Its your birthright baby
Giving you looks, bishops and rooks protecting kings
Mowing the lawn, a lowly pawn, at least you can sing
Driving a car and turning on the radio
At the top of the charts theyre breaking hearts and selling sofas
Theres something else In Your Stars
Cant you see the signs
Its your birthright baby
Wait it out a while
And I will guarantee
That youre gonna be a smash
Wakin' up the monster mash
That youre gonna be a smash
Breaking up the monster mash
That youre gonna be a smash
Breaking up the monster mash
That youre gonna be a smash
Breaking up the monster mash
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11. |
I Dream Of Wires
05:01
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.
I Dream Of Wires 05:01
I Dream Of Wires
(written by Gary Numan)
I am the final silence
The last electrician alive
And they called me the sparkle
I was the best I worked them all
New ways, new ways
I Dream Of Wires
We opened doors by thinking
We went to sleep by dialing 0
We drove to work by proxy
I plugged my wife in just for show
New ways, new ways
I Dream Of Wires
So I press C for comfort
I dream of wires
The old days
New ways, new ways
I Dream Of Wires
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The Citizens New York
Sometimes catchy as hell, sometimes quite strange and sometimes heartbreakingly tender. The Citizens combine great songcraft with experimentation and stand-out live performance.
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