1. |
Contingency
02:50
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Lined up to bounce down the inflated slide
We stand in contrast to the blanket of night
And the plastic grey
Is sloping from an emergency window
Far away
Something flashes orange and yellow
“We’re tired,” a passenger cries
I'd help but I'm stuck in the back of the line
And the swooping crane
Throws a spotlight on the angel of mercy
With teeth bleached white
Dollying to catch the adversity
Now strapped into a bed
Slow scrolling bar sign a smoldering red
And the loneliness
Is waiting just around the next corner
Sleepless silence
Hiding like a stowed away foreigner
Somehow she's folding her hand
Asking me what's my contingency plan
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2. |
Color the Picture
03:25
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Paper tiger, how do you always grin?
With notebook pages making your teeth so thin
It's just a sketch, nothing more
Go take red pens and color the points so blood stains the teeth
And you're sitting in grade school in order to simulate
The kind of work you'll take when you graduate
And all the while your training will keep you fearing
That your failings will leave you dead in the street
And paper tiger, how do you always win?
Cause every time I try, I fail again
Camouflage, darker and darker
Razor claws, eternally sharper
X-ray eyes, glowing in rapture
Jackknife legs, ready to capture
Iron jaws, ready to fracture
Take red pens and color the picture so blood stains the sheet
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3. |
See You in Hell
03:18
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I could learn from the mistakes I made with you
But I'm hoping very soon
To make the same mistakes with someone new
Here in the caverns I could find that special mark
If I just knew where to look
But everywhere I turn I get so shook
With a feeling you'd be here as well
Just a fear that I would see you in hell
And as we're roasting we could joke about how
It's like the climate has been turned up just a notch
And the scenery's more interesting to watch
And we'd be wincing but somehow calm
Among the horrors on display in every room
And I'm not sure where they keep the mop and broom
But could we share the blame for things falling apart?
I tried to take it all but the guilt ate my heart
And I believe we were trying, just not very well
Maybe we'll talk it out if I see you in hell
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4. |
Charlatan
03:50
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Regardless of where I run someone is there to say,
“Beware there’s carnage bound for you along the way”
Like I’m some deluded charlatan in a wheelchair
On my way to capture what is left of Shangri-La
If there’s anything left out there
And I would follow every word the lamas say
But they could not deliver you, so I cast them away
Down into the gutter, like my alma mater
Like my drive to prosper
Like a dream that you remained
In the sidecar by my flank
Like my wounded mother
Like my wounded father
Like my sense of wonder
Like my dream that you remained
In the sidecar by my flank
Navigating the vast terrain
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5. |
Out of the Blue
03:24
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We can spot you waltzing the beach
In the haze of a dream state
Clear as the sky we can see
The doorways you cannot see
Since we are the people you cannot be
And we view the angels standing outside of your view
But through the tunnel something will call
To distract and confuse you
And you will not know what to do
And like a line of porcelain dolls swarming through
The echoes gun down the hallway for you
The angels leaping right out of the blue
And we have wagered an ounce on your fate
That the right and the left hand
The love and the hate will collide
Into a towering shape, you can hide
But every hiding place stands in plain view
The angels barreling down toward you
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6. |
With You
02:35
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Somewhere on the main fault line
Coming to with a shattered spine
Watching contractors catapult
Seismic warfare into the fault
Should the fault make the tower sway
I would rather have died that way
Than be with you
And your loyal cronies hone their blades
And dig a plot for a six-foot grave
I suppose they will fill it soon
With the ingrate who wrote this tune
And his flesh will dissolve away
He would rather have died that way
Than be with you
Face down in the Hudson Bay
I would rather have died that way
Than be with you
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7. |
Toy Telephone
03:41
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I dunno what to say
Though I can't physically call you anyway
You rang my toy telephone to explain
That life was good
Even with the constant pain
That you’re safely aboard the astral train
I dunno what to say
You carried your luggage around everyday
And now on your trip you can throw it away
But what do I know?
I never packed my fallen heroes
Into a suitcase held in such a strong embrace
I dunno what to say
So I’m humming along to the music you made
And I’m humming along to the hate you displayed
But it’s alright
I love you all the same
Please don't hang up aboard the astral train
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8. |
Snowball's Chance
02:42
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Melting snow in late July
Runs down the street, don't cry
You'll get your shot next year
They'll fear your name
Sweet revenge will come at dark
The sphere will make an arc
But you will miss your mark
They’ll run away
So now you sit and wait at home
In your icebox you stow
Your last big ball of snow
To throw one day
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9. |
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Oh sleepy day, just like the day before
I'd stay awake but I don't have control anymore
The hours melt into decades
A glimpse of infinity
And on the screen someone’s making a case for the trinity
But 'til I see a messiah come galloping through
There is nothing to do
So sing to me that ancient lullaby
I don't know why, something to pass the time
It’s all the same, if I fake my own death I could flee this town
You could file a claim
On the other hand I could just hang around
It's only a game
The king's dead and the empire’s through
So there's nothing to do
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10. |
NiteLite
04:03
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In the kitchen, in the floorboards, a rat lost his mark
There's a nightlight in the distance, but he's in the dark
Unsure of which way to go
Caught in the beckoning glow
As the cats leap into action, his haziness grows
And something smells awful sweet
On the floor, there are crumbs and seeds
For whoever wants to eat
The clock just ticks away
And he squeaks, "Hunter Thompson, Hunter Thompson,
Why did you go?
Gil Scott Heron, Warren Zevon,
Why did you go?
I don't suppose you'll respond
beyond the greater beyond
To my harping for a beacon to help me along
So I'm left in the dark, too frightened to embark
On any journey that might lead me to light
But what's the use in trying to fight
When the clock just ticks away?
And as I hear it countdown,
Something still beckons just out of reach
But I've been so lazy
Please don't give up on me.”
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Psychic Lines Brooklyn, New York
Psychic Lines is the work of Phil Jacob. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, by way of Kentucky and Virginia.
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