december 13, 2024
featuring:
tim mechling / upright bass on "it just won't do" "bare" "three" "keep the saddle clean" & "easy to love you"; "electric guitar on "keep the saddle clean" & "what i'd do"; nord electro, slide guitar
pace rubadeau / trumpet on "something somehow"
aerin gum / flute on "dogs in the graveyard"
ivan sandomire / vocals on "three"
---
laura
three for a dollar put it on my tab
and you’ll see pretty pennies when the crops come back
twine ‘round your finger since the winter’s gone
but you never remember why you put it on
gather your laces in the black twilight
it is cold when the minnesota sun does rise
tamp out the fire in the family barn
it is day returning, it is god’s green morn
go back to before your sister lost her sight
feel the white chalk scraping on the slate
and write a poem for your daddy when he comes back in
from the tall wide meadows with his violin
far down the lane past the watermill
there’s a fresh deer waiting for a sharp quick kill
and you’ll sew up a ribbon for your mother’s hair
there’s a cold winter coming best repeat your prayers
cold winter coming best repeat your prayers
cold winter coming best repeat your prayers
three for a dollar put it on my tab
and you’ll see pretty pennies when the crops come back
twine ‘round your finger since the winter’s gone
but you never remember why you put it on
camping song
lightly floating, glacial waters
dip my toes in, only daughter
didn’t catch you, but you whispered
what your eyes saw, and i whimpered
i do, i do
do you, i do
racing seasons, lost my senses
lost my bets racked up expenses
close my eyes and think of nice things
think of bowing shiny silver strings
darling i do, i do
do you, i do
well i do, i do
do you
it just won't do
you, you can’t hold me to all the things my hands do
they’re just not mine
i have tried to stop them, put em in a coffin
it just won’t do
oh my, my maker, why
why make my mind my traitor, why
why, oh my
my maker, why
why make my mind my traitor, why
why, oh my
my maker, why
why make my mind my traitor, why
why, oh why
you, you can’t hold me to all the things my hands do
they’re just not mine
i have tried to stop them, put em in a coffin
it just won’t do
sunday cowboy
you’d been burned by fireworks
and left the circus at its worst
and threw your flying knives into the dusty air
you called the big man on his bluff
you knew his secret backwards stuff
you saw the scribbled markings on the cellar door
oh so come on out, come on out
all you children
come on out, come on out
you helpless children
come on out, come on out
chickens lying on the floor
and faces blink around in horror
they paid a worthy price to get their heart rates up
the cheers they fill the canyon wall
they roar as drunken barkers call
then rest their swollen jaws inside the basement bar
oh so light em up, light em up
you sunday cowboy
show em all what you’ve done
tell em how you got it all outta luck
well i’ve been burned by fireworks
and left the circus at its worst
and threw my flying knives into the dusty air
something somehow
i sold my best horse to a marching band
they kept his name but took him back to france
them and their silly flapper girlfriends
they sat on top and made him march and dance
i sold my paintings to an architect
he paid me half and said he’d calculate the rest
said he knew a couple russian friends
who’d help him out before the summer ends
but god i want it back now
i want it all back now
i’ll scrape together something somehow
but god i want it back now
i sold my dresses to an opera star
she said she’d wear em when she sang lehar
but only one had even got that far
before she dealt em all for twice the marks
i sold my last breath to a magic man
his shiny teeth told me he had a plan
so i laid down just as the act began
the saw it slipped out of his shakin’ hands
so god i want it back now
i want it all back now
i’ll scrape together something somehow
oh god i want it back now
bare
little bunny rabbit in the old gray coop
how can i be just a little more like you
i never see your softness bare
it’s not hard to let it just be there
but it is for me, for me
is it some genetic thing i cannot see
for eternity
to crawl back to the beginning
silly crows all sliding down the rooftop there
watch and laugh at how they stumble in the air
if i forget my worst moments
there’s someone walking ‘round with them
oh i want everyone to forget
it’s not hard for bunnies and for fish
but it is for me, for me
is it some genetic thing i cannot see
for eternity
to crawl back to the beginning
three
in the dusk we watch the new puddles form
in the glances you try to keep my hands warm
futile natures, can we both just let them go
it’s not for trying, it’s not for anything we know
hyacinth and honeybee
fair beneath the willow tree
baby’s breath and bend a knee
i have one heart, i’d give you three
three, mmm
red and velvet warm as old tapestry
with your lips soft where my hands used to be
all along i, all along i knew it too
now i’m crying but it’s not because of you
hyacinth and honeybee
fair beneath the willow tree
baby’s breath and bend a knee
i have one heart, but i’d give you three
three, mmm, three, mmm
dogs in the graveyard
i found it in my own backyard
next to boxes and worms and hearts
the dogs are walking in the graveyard
what ever came of your science fair
the fall weather changes your baby hair
you leap from the top in the open air
cold september rain
peel the bark away
just sit with me and feel
feel
ontario
chase all the geese on our front lawn
look what the wind’s done
to our front lawn
and the tree split in three from the lightning
it’s still got my kite in it
moths on the door the size of my head
where do they live now
what’s left of them
gentle the rocks on my small hands
today we’ll be fairies
with currency in sand
keep the saddle clean
train in the roundabout it goes right through the centerfold
right through
wait don’t take the dagger out til’ you are in the threshold
don’t you
oh ice in my brandy
for my fairweather skin
i want to understand please
just lie like i’m a kid
hide from what i did
dogs in the old boathouse they’re sniffing out the cancer now
old hounds
keeping the saddle clean but cower what could come to light
you’re out
oh ice in my brandy
for my fairweather skin
i want to understand please
just lie like i’m a kid
hide from what I did
cold lake water
count
now three, four
open indiana, ana
release me now
cold lake water
flood in my foundation, dation
lightning lullabies
drunk in the rain, showed you my paintings
it was your father resting in stars so perfect
and you kept me sane, or was it the other
singing bout rasputin and shame
dogs and devils, i loved the earful
to hear your name, to hear it ten times over
and to feel the same and not the other
singing relief into your frame
drunk in the rain, left colorado
i sang your songs on every mile home
learned harmonies so i could be what you needed
bought the right whiskey so i could sing it without shaking
felt my body free, melt off the years of waiting
little girl i got the answer
hurts a little but you’ll understand her
generations staring back at me
take it in but not so literally
and learn to smile in the morning
and in a voice so subdued
say it’s nice to see you
don’t mind the noise
be careful what your eyes do
and add a patient smile too
it’s so easy to love you now
widened eyes saying what have you done
twenty years and it’s not let up none
little hands inch around and try to cope
might be ugly but at least it’s some control
and learn to smile in the morning
and in a voice so subdued
say it’s nice to see you
don’t mind the noise
be careful what your eyes do
and add a patient smile too
it’s so easy to love you
it’s so easy to love you now
what i'd do
burning sage in the firmament
read a page to feel where my loved ones went
timothy, say you will meet me here
whispered pleas beside my ringing ears
phrygian, freezing in black lace skin
fall asleep with the matches in my hand
lift me now, peter is at our feet
they’re all awaiting to hear complaints from me
green sea glass in between your knees
i saw the spiders dancing in that marbled sea
down to the dock, i feel my breathing stop
your curls are resting gently on a bed of holy rock