1. |
Burning Daylight
03:53
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All these fever dreams
Been broiling my brain it seems
Half-baked philosophies, bastard sons of Socrates
All these fantasies of revenge upon my enemies
Is it hot in here? Is it just me?
Is it this addiction of society
To burning daylight?
To warming up the night?
Sloughing off this wasted heat
Haunts my troubled, fitful sleep
What kind of government would steal my sunshine
Like they're trying to take my time?
How many ways will they take to cross my party line
Try to change my mind or chain my mind?
People you got to cool your heels
Don't spend your life just spinning wheels
It's a slow heat death, wasted your breath
Paper chasing dollar bills
Is it hot in here? Is it just me?
I can see so clear the dimming of the luminary
This modern era apathy
Sloughing off this wasted heat
Haunts my troubled fitful sleep
People you got to cool your heels
Don't spend your life spinning wheels
It's slow heat death, wasted your breath
Paper chasing dollar bills
Is it hot in here? Is it just me?
Is it this addiction of society
To burning daylight?
To warming up the night?
Sloughing off this wasted heat
Haunts my troubled, fitful sleep
Feels like I'm sparring with the devil but the playing field ain't level
There's an awful lot of steam just rolling off of me
Why must I take it all upon myself
To break the fall of all these citizens
Who just can't make up their minds
It's getting hotter all the time
They just can't make up their minds
It's getting hotter all the time
(c) 2009 Reciprocity Studios
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2. |
Casual
05:30
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I find myself standing alone
Cuts like a knife through this confusion
When did I come to your conclusion?
A feeling I've never known -no, no, no . . .
No, no, no, no
Penitent whispers in the moonlight
They make a rhythm in the next life
I feel the shivers rushing over me
'Cause it's easier than I thought it would be . . .
It's a casual assassination
It's a murder without motivation
No malice here or blood elation
It's casual
It's casual
Well, I must've been outta my mind
To hold my breath for such a long time
But I never would have known if I hadn't heard that terminal tone
I feel the angels rushing over me
I said, Oh Lord, what else can it be?
But a casual assassination
It's a murder without motivation
No malice here or blood elation
It's casual
It's casual
I got this feeling
I probably should flee the scene
I'm stained so red now
Wonder if my hands will ever be clean . . .
It's a casual assassination
It's a murder without motivation
No malice here or blood elation
It's casual
It's casual
I've got some time now
That I can finally close my eyes
Sitting in my cell
Pondering your demise . . .
(c) 2009 Reciprocity Studios
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3. |
Space from the Dream
02:58
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Can I get a little space from the dream
I been so close everything starts to seem
Like a shade or a breeze
Man, I been down on my knees
Won't you help me, please?
What price to pay for good peace of mind
If mice do play when cat's off to find
His soul or his groove
Maybe a cool way to move?
What's he got to prove?
When you're upside down
The top might seem like the bottom
But when you're on the bottom
It never really feels like the top
Stop
Bartender a round, then, for my strugglin' friends
May you find your means before you meet your ends
I freely admit that it's absurd on its face
Be it digits, bits of sand, or motion through space
That time is of the essence
For this master plan
While I tick away the seconds like a secondhand
When you're upside down
The top might seem like the bottom
But when you're on the bottom
It never really feels like the top
Stop
Bartender, a round, then, for my strugglin' friends
May you find your means before you meet your ends
(c) 2009 Reciprocity Studios
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4. |
Private Thing
04:01
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It's a private thing
Between you and I
The touch of a hand
The blink of an eye
Vibrations of harmonic souls
Ghosts as old as pharaoh stories
Epic tales of ancient glories
Beautiful as celestial bodies
Mama Bear will be home soon
How will she understand
Our deliverance
From the pain of loneliness we felt once
One sits in silence
Two cries for broken dreams
Three lives in memories
And hopes that someday she'll be happy
It's a private thing
Between you and I
A glance from across the room
Knowing that we'll be together soon
Steal the conscience from the moon
Oh, it's so objective
Billions of us disconnected
Wonder why I'm so protective?
One sits in silence
Two cries for broken dreams
Three would give anything
And take anything, too, it seems
Four is so scandalous
Five is a danger to us
Six wouldn't harm a hair
But we would feel his green-eyed stare
One might wonder why
My lady, love, and I
We keep this thing so secretive
This covert passion that we live
Well, it's a private thing
Between you and I
The touch of a hand
The blink of an eye
It's a private thing
Between you and I
A glance from across the room
Knowing that we'll be together
Soon . . .
Knowing that we'll be together soon
Knowing that we'll be together soon
I said, knowing that we'll be together soon
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5. |
Twenty-Eight Revolution
04:17
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I leave the table feeling like I’ve been spent
I hit the street and beat my feet against the pavement
Moments like this they may seem carved out of stone
We take ‘em with us but we’re leaving our bones
I can feel that wheel has got me turning again
I try to please the muse, seize the fuse
Keep it from burning as long as I can
What I’m running from
The inevitable outcome
Too late
Twenty-eight revolution
Inside a still life with your nose the grindstone
Sympathetic vibrations sure make a fine tone
Still something’s stolen so I turn and I toss
I’m not yet rolling but I’m shaking the moss
I can feel that wheel has got me turning again
I try to please the muse, seize the fuse
Keep it from burning as long as I can
What I’m running from
The inevitable outcome
Too late
Twenty-eight revolution
Deep inside the sleepless night
I swim like a ghost through pools of moonlight
Whispering these cool melodies
Keeping at bay my chaotic disease
Don’t think this cat’s not in it to win
But lately I been feeling shiver-thin
Then again, could be the gravity of Saturn
Or just another destructive pattern I’m in
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6. |
Heavyweight
04:16
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He can’t wait for the summer to end
Can you relate?
Can I close my eyes while I pretend?
This heavyweight challenges us to answer the call
He ain’t afraid at all...
Changing shades
The sun keeps drifting down the sky
The green dream fades and swings low the high
But I still can hear him rage and rattle in his cage
He's readying for battle to dawn upon this age
And there he goes again
Beating an urge to bear a sin
Better this constant serenade
Than that cacophonous din
There he goes again
Holding a fist up to the sky
Sure he may be bruised
But you should see the other guy
It must be the need to try
The low road once in while
Oh well, to hell with the high
You might catch what I’m on about
But let me make it clear
Reasons range, seasons change and now autumn’s almost here
And there he goes again
Beating an urge to bear a sin
Better this constant serenade
Than that cacophonous din
There he goes again
Holding a fist up to the sky
Sure he may be bruised...
But, damn, it’s just like that
Sometimes the mouse must get the cat
And I forget
But that's life, I guess
That’s not to say it’s not hard work
Down in this dark where demons lurk
But they’re mostly of our making
Oh, and I’ve got no cause to think those tiger paws
They won’t just shrink on down to something...
Something I can get the best of
Or just more baggage to divest of
Can it be the need to see the mettle of a modern man
The tenacity, veracity of these theories about Babylon?
His phantoms gone, he’s twice the man
His candles burn to light his plans
He stands upon his castle sands and gambles on his facile hands
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7. |
Castles
03:32
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"Any moment this could end"
Came the call from my closest friend
He said, "My heart ain't beating
Like it's supposed to be"
But, what's a boy to say
When his brother might be washed away?
Gone before we knew
Where he was going, going...
How are we to live with this illusion
That we're gonna last forever?
Castles in the sand can only stand
'Til the tide rolls in again
It's the soundtrack of a tragedy
These songs of our humanity
Written to the rhythm
Drumming in our chest
The best of us will meet the same fate
As the rest of us who wandered in late
And missed the plot
Or don't know what the play's about
How are we to live with this illusion
That we're gonna last forever?
Castles in the sand can only stand
'Til the tide rolls in again
The tide rolls . . .
Like a drum . . .
Or like a season
Comes and goes and goes and comes
And never needs a reason
The tide rolls
The tide rolls
Well, the ocean must be made of tears
To keep the shore so clean
I will admit I've shed a few
If you know what I mean
The most we get's one hundred years
To monitor that heartbeat line
So plan ahead but don't forget
You never know when it will be your time
The tide rolls...
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8. |
Communication Breakdown
04:54
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Don't work yourself up over nothing
Don't try to read too much between the lines
Don't show your hand upon your face
Deny a soul a saving grace
Drop out of the human race
One more time
Don't you look just like a vision
With those conspiratory eyes?
Don't I seem to be
Punch-drunk on eternity?
Trumped up on a felony
For grabbing what's in front of me
But, don't stop
Moving those fingers up and down my spine
Don't stop
Just for this moment take it as a sign
Feels so good when you lay your hands upon
You consecrate my clouded mind
Let's see if we can find the time to
Is this love just a chemical reaction?
Would it matter if it was?
Is my need for you
A logical progression
Or just justification
For what the animal inside me wants to do?
Let's have a communication breakdown
Let's take this labyrinthine existence
And lose it for a little while
We have got to have a communication breakdown
Let's make a point of our persistence
In the belief that things don't have to be so complicated all the time
Say we never heard of such absurdities
As words to match the melodies
Of selfish, sophist soliloquies
Don't stop
Moving those fingers up and down my spine
Don't stop
The only thing we have to lose is time
Feels so good when you lay your hands upon
And consecrate my clouded mind
Let's see if we can find the time to
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9. |
My Cat's Tail
05:18
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My cat’s tail
is curved like a question mark
Though he doesn't understand
what that means to a cat like me
He just sits on the windowsill
staring at the blue, blue sky
He’s probably thinking about
Eastern philosophy
Lord, it seemed so easy to believe in anything
Oh, when I was young
Flash of light could make the demons go away
Magic was a fact and I hoped that I might fly someday
But now I challenge anyone to stand upon their faith
And make the case for me beyond a doubt
iron all my theories out
Straighten up these questing curves
Calm the sea with certainty and offer me enlightenment
And I would believe
I would give up these pragmatic tendencies
Oh and I would play
To that absolute everyday
My cat sighs
in the middle of the night lying in a shaft of window light
I guess I envy him sometimes
‘cause he just seems so content in dreams
But he can’t even go outside
He’s a prisoner –never has to make up his own mind
I guess that’s one cozy way to make in this crazy world
But what’s the price of his advice when...
If I could believe
I would give up these pragmatic tendencies
Oh and I would play
To that absolute everyday
My cat’s tail is curved like a question mark
Though he doesn't understand what that means to a cat like me
He just sits on the windowsill staring at the blue, blue sky
He’s probably thinking about chasing the birds flying by
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10. |
The Runaway
06:21
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I don’t need no feathers
If I want to fly
And if a brother's penniless
I’ll just whisper by
Bye-bye
Oh, I’m shaking like a leaf
Because I’m soaking wet
But if there’s an island that can keep me
Lord, well I haven’t been there yet
Oh, ‘cause I’m the runaway
And I don’t waste my time
Shifting between shades of grey
Standing in the cold outside of your paradigm
I am quiet as a churchmouse
I can vanish like a dream
I can run, I can run as if the devil’s on my tail
In fact, sometimes that’s just how it seems
Every foot I put in front of me
Is one more yard behind
If I have to count the paces of my cell one more time
I will lose my mind
Oh, ‘cause I’m the runaway
And I don’t waste my time
Shifting between shades of grey
Standing in the cold outside of your paradigm
Shake a leg, shake a leg
Feel that locomotive breath puffing in the distance
Shake a leg, shake a leg
Hear the hounds of law not too far behind
If you see the warden
Please don’t say my name
Out here I can tell the difference between wrong and right
But inside, inside they’re the same
And I think he’d just as soon to kill me
As to put me back away
If I can dance these feet another seven more miles
I might catch that train
The runaway, he feels the heat
Nevertheless, he keeps his feet, oh
The runaway can’t stop yet
The more he breathes the closer they get
Shake a leg, shake a leg
Feel that locomotive breath puffing in the distance
Shake a leg, shake a leg
Hear the hounds of law not too far behind
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11. |
Cannon Fodder
04:33
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Drop of blood
Drop of water
Bodies in boxes
Every one a son or daughter
Packed in a frigid hold
Along with a letter
Price of assurance, ma'am
The situation is getting better
Still these questions haunt my brain
What was paid for? What's been gained?
What's the worth of these bodies buried in the earth?
And what's the cost to those who still remain?
Can you separate the stone cold from the boy
Once they've cut him high and tight and trained him to destroy?
Can you separate the soldier from the gun
Once he's found the fight inside and used his life to kill someone?
Is his pain the same as his father's was before?
Handed down through generations from every father who's gone to war?
War . . .
Still these questions haunt my brain
Ghosts from the battlefield my will cannot contain
Who decides what's worth risking my brother for?
When will we learn to stop marching brothers off to war?
Drop of blood
Drop of water
Bodies in boxes
Every one just cannon fodder
Refrigerated cargo
Bound for the states
Drape a flag across the face
But still the soul escapes
Another son
Another daughter
Another battlefield
Everyone just cannon fodder
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Letters From Traffic Seattle, Washington
Letters From Traffic is a Seven-Piece Seattle Rock and Soul Phenomenon featuring soul-sweetened vocals, fresh horns, hot guitars, kickass grooves, and life-shaking lyrics. Original songs layer trumpet, trombone, saxophone, vocal-harmony, lead & rhythm guitars, bass and drums. Contagiously moveable, inspiringly anthemic, or just dirty and fun, Letters From Traffic is always quality, always true. ... more
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