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1. |
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I was lost in the lakes
And the shapes that your body makes
That your body makes, that your body makes
That your body makes
And the mountains said I could find you here
They whispered the snow and the leaves in my ear
I traced my finger along your trails
Your body was the map, I was lost in it
Floating over your rocky spine
The glaciers made you, and now you’re mine
Floating over your rocky spine
The glaciers made you, and now you’re mine
I was moving across your frozen veneer
The sky was dark but you were clear
Could you feel my footsteps
And would you shatter, would you shatter, would you
And with your soft fingers between my claws
Like purity against resolve
I could tell, then and there, that we were formed from the clay
And came from the rocks for the earth to display
They told me to be careful up there
Where the wind blows a venomous rage through your hair
They told me to be careful up there
Where the wind rages through your hair
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2. |
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Backstage with the modern dancers
She was stretching her arms
Configuring her body
While they were breathing, they were shouting
She was concentrating on her breathing
And didn’t seem to mind
As I sat there on the couch
And tuned my guitar
And played a few chords
Like roses growing their thorns
Getting ready to perform
With bare feet and painted faces
They took their places
On shivering legs beneath colourful gowns
And out there on the wooden floors
The sweat from their pores
I’m writing a list
Of songs I can sing by myself
Backstage with the modern dancers
Who feel it, like I do
Like I feel it, like I feel it
Backstage with the modern dancers
Getting ready to go on
She showed me her spin
With a beauty lit from within
And all of these things
I don’t think they should be released
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3. |
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I have seen you in various stages of undress
I have seen you through various states of madness
I have seen your refractions and I did not recognize you
I have seen you in various states of madness
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
I am sorry I had nothing left for you
My mind was willing and my spirit was strong
But my lips tired and tightened from singing along
And my eyelids are heavy as anchors thrown over
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
I have seen you in the eyes of a hundred thousand other stranger faces
I have seen you in unlikely and unfamiliar places
I have seen you be reckless in matters of love
I have seen by degrees the boiling point come and go
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
What lies at the end of this long and dark twisted road
How high are your highest of heights, how low are your lows
I have seen you in various stages of undress
I have seen you through various states of madness
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4. |
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O hold me
O holy
O golden
O grace
Down here in fear
Down where none can hear
Any whisper, any word
Don’t wanna, you wanna
No sudden moves
Singing sorry to you
And sorry to you
Sleep won’t come till I’m sorry to you
For my body and my mind
Sorry to you
And sorry to you
Sleep won’t come till I’m sorry to you
For my body and my mind
Don’t wanna, you wanna
No sudden moves
Don’t wanna, you wanna
You wanna see it through
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
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5. |
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There’s a mark on my hand put there by the land
There’s a mark on my hand put there by the land
Can’t you see it’s in me, can’t you see
Can’t you see it’s in me, can’t you see
There’s a mark on the land put there by my hand
There’s a mark on the land put there by my hand
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6. |
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Why are we fighting, why are we fighting
Kicking and screaming, scratching and biting
Keeping it going, wherever we’re going
Generations are generating
And what am I supposed to do
But take good care, good care of you
We have a lot of work to do
Me and you, and you, and you
Brothers and sisters are in my arms
Brothers and sisters are up in arms
Mothers and fathers, sons and the daughters
Up in the army, the men and the ladies
And we have a lot of work to do
Me and you, and you and you
Out of the money and into the storm
Brothers and sisters are in my arms
I am part of a large family
I am part of a large family
I am part of a large family
And that’s enough for me
Drop the axes, and recheck the facts, I said
Brothers and sisters, telling the story
Out of the money, into the storm
I said my peace, I said
I said my piece, I said peace, I said peace, I said
I am part of a large family
I am part of a large family
I am part of a large family
And that’s enough for me
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7. |
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You look at me with uncertainty
You look at me with urgency
You look at me with a fear in your eyes
Like you’re about to fall away
But don’t be afraid to change your colours now
I’ve known you all summer, and you rose above it all
I see you hesitate to fall now
But it’s a pretty good view from down here, too
And when the wind takes you, it takes me, too
When you change colours, I change mine, too
Try not to think, and I will try, to
When you let go, I will let go, too
I knew you when you were green and strong
You were like a feather on a wing, so long
You know I will miss you when you are gone
But don’t be afraid if you just can’t hang on
‘Cause when the wind takes you, it takes me, too
When you change colours, I change mine, too
Try not to think and I will try, too
And when you let go, I will let go, too
The cold air is pushing hard on you
I know what you’re saying; I can feel it, too
You’ll go through changes, and I’ll go through them too
Don’t be afraid now, don’t be afraid
‘Cause when the wind takes you, it takes me, too
When you change colours, I change mine, too
Try not to think and I will try, too
And when you let go, I will let go, too
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8. |
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O wake me please when this is over
O when the ice has melted away
I will be the same but older
And maybe twice the bear that I thought I was
Where have you been and what have you done
I’ve been under the ground
Eating prayers from this old book I found
Under the ground
Saving it up and spending it all
On moving pictures, silent films
Moving pictures, silent films
Or is this the dream I’ve been saving
O where the heart beats slower and slower, to almost nothing
Almost nothing
I took it for love or at least something beautiful
Out there in the spotlight
But turned around suddenly, turned around squinting
And saw that it was headlights
And then the truth, the truth was unbearable
O and imminent
Bearing down on these two shadow animals
Caught painting a dotted line
Caught painting a dotted line
Where have you been and what have you done
I’ve been under the ground
Eating prayers from this old book I found
Under the ground
Saving it up and spending it all
On moving pictures, silent films
Moving pictures, silent films
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9. |
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There is a light in you
I have fallen into
There is a light in you
I have fallen into
Fallen in too
Put all your weapons away
I won’t fight you just to spite you
Put all your weapons away
And your mask, it’s falling anyway
Falling away
Stop, listen, feel
Stop, listen, feel
Stop, listen, feel
Believe, believe
And if love is a war
I won’t have any more
If this is what we call a war
I won’t have it anymore
Stop, listen, feel
Stop, listen, feel
Stop, listen, feel
Believe, believe
Put all your weapons away
And end all your casual ties
Put all your weapons away
And end all your casual ties
Casual ties
Believe all your lives
Believe in your lives
Believe all your lives
Believe in your lives
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10. |
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But my heart is with you, and its many dark corners
And its rings of smoke, and its lighted hallways
And I wished you could know all the ghosts in my bones
They are weeping, they are screaming, they are inside my body
O let’s trade skins, I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
You could wear my shoes, I could have your hair
And think that it was fair
I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
I’m gonna build you, I’m gonna heal you
I can feel every part of you that holds it together
And you always looked so happy when you were sleeping
Sleeping’s the only way sometimes to live in a perfect world
It’s party time, but quiet and sublime
Tonight there’s a party, a party of one
Like a wisp of smoke, solitary and thin
The heat’s coming off the fires we built
Stars were meant to shoot, and waves were meant to crash
I’m hypnotized by the flicker and saddened by the ash
And it’s complicated with desires and dreams
With stitches and battle scars, pulling apart at the seams
O let’s trade skins
I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
You could wear my shoes
I could have your hair
And think that it was fair
I’m rippling in the skin that I’m in
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11. |
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I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
Hey you look like royalty, weren’t you born with muddy feet
Hoarse, in high tops, totally lost, those two streets will never meet
I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
So the map says you are here, waltzing through the garbage piles
Sweating like a weather’s vein, coughing thunder, sneezing rain
I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
There’s a rag just up the street, eats his history to keep warm
Got some blankets, got some bags, screams confessions, shouts in vain
I will never see the sun, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
One for nothing, all for one, Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge
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12. |
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One thing I’ll say for the less-traveled way
It doesn’t have subtlety, but has twice the gravity
Get in and go and be one with it now
It turns inconsistently, and arcs in a symphony
Make your mind sharp and beware of the holes
But fall through them readily
And slip through them steadily
Watch your watch spiral in and out of control
It’s beyond all that anyway
And time is dead anyway
Passenger song on the dark radio
The wheel’s in your other hand
And home’s in your other mind
The lights on the screen then shut out by the door
A forest there in the frames
The eyes which are all the same
Follow the path until it falls away
I’ve heard it is dangerous
But some say it’s glamorous
Charge through the past and the future and now
And come to it sparingly
With what you are carrying
Notes on the pages and notes in the bars
Which isn’t without its scars
But might make you see the stars
Show me it’s holy then show me to bed
I’m collapsing anyway
The edges starting to fray
Right you are right you are right you are right
You left for the interstate
Because you can hardly wait
One thing I’ll say for the less-traveled way
It doesn’t have subtlety, but has twice the gravity
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13. |
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I’ve been looking in churches, and looking in bars
I thought that I saw you in the oncoming cars
But it was your reflection cast up by the light
And into the sky of this dark city night
And I looked for you up in the tallest of trees
That swayed back and forth in the mid-autumn breeze
But when the leaves reddened, and left too
I knew then that it wasn’t you
Where in the world are you now
Where in the world are you now
Oh where in the world are you
Oh where in the world are you
Where in the world are you now
And I looked for you then in music and song
And I thought I could find there
But they were only notes pulled from the air
Not the kind I could read, or breathe, if I dared
Where in the world are you now
Where in the world are you now
Oh where in the world are you
Oh where in the world are you
Where in the world are you now
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14. |
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The echo to your yell, the ripple to your dive
The current under your wave
Electricity is part of me
I send it out to you
We were charged with the pounding pulse of a million years
And millions before us have trembled with their fears
I never saw you, never heard you
But I knew that you were there
Everywhere
I could feel you all around me
Well I know that I am just a grain of sand
Meeting water at the land
We could make our castles here
And sweep them all away
I know that I am just a drop of water
Frozen into ice
On the stormy earth, that gave us birth
Over and over, in cycles, lovely cycles
I never saw you, never heard you
But I knew that you were there
Everywhere
I could feel you all around me
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15. |
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I became awake
From a very dark place, a patchwork of fear, of poorly conceived ideas
With a blister of water, the mark of working hands
Ready to catch, or cut
The senses aligned, the animal urgency, and voices picked up
Flowing over the static, late, quiet
Oh-lay tee hee
I became awake
Fingers are open, eyes they are open, the firing of images, an orchestra of scribbles
The guts of an engine, the veins of a leaf, light onto paper, exposed
A filament in a bulb, up above or in the ground
Together we are magic, together we are dreaming, together we reach endlessly
The centre of a seed, so full of possibilities
Oh-lay tee hee
I became awake
I thought I was sleeping, but I was only forming a structure with no ceiling
With words like a runway, a cloud of a person drifting away
I was heavy, but now I am light
I was heavy, but now I am light
Oh-lay tee hee
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16. |
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When the sun fell down and fell asleep
Drunk from drinking all the heat
It made a splash onto the sky
And the stars stayed out until morning
When the sun fell down and fell asleep
Drunk from drinking all the heat
It made a splash onto the sky
And the stars stayed out until morning
I was in a prison with imaginary bars
I was riding shotgun in imaginary cars
One was filled with wind twisting through an iron mouth
And one was made of trees with no keys to shimmy out
When the sun fell down and fell asleep
Drunk from drinking all the heat
It made a splash onto the sky
And the stars stayed out until morning
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Album release show for 'Ongiara' at the Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, Ontario on April 14, 2007. Recorded live for the CBC.