1. |
The Bear & The Lark
03:05
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The bear and the lark
Were friends after dark
Bear would growl to the evening moon,
She would draw him in the bark.
They fell asleep
As the sun began to rise.
Stray words on their lips,
Hidden behind the eyes.
Lark would build a fairy land,
She was a spirit borne of smoke.
She’d talk gently of her past,
Shaking as she spoke.
Bear would try to comfort her,
He would whisper in her ear.
Husky grunts of apology
That brought a lonely tear.
They were close,
They were one.
They were sky
They were shining sun.
They were both
One of the same.
Kindred spirits
In all but name.
The bear and the lark,
Grew tired of the talk,
Bear began to prowl alone,
And she was left to stalk.
She flew overhead,
Rained tears down below.
Her sobs carried along the wind
Bear pretended not to know.
They were close,
They were one.
They were sky
They were shining sun.
They were both
One of the same.
Kindred spirits
In all but name.
But bear left
He went away
Lark waited
For a year and a day
They were both
Brought down to their knees
The bear and the lark
They died in the trees.
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2. |
To The West!
02:55
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Took a train,
Took a second,
Took a look around us.
Something found us
As we rolled through North Dakota.
The land was flat and dull,
Our heads were tired and full,
We felt a steady pull,
Two hearts driven by one motor.
We were heading to the ocean,
To the ends of the earth.
We were carrying our troubles,
For all that they were worth.
To the ocean!
To the west!
That’s the place I know
Where I’ll be the best.
To the great unknown!
To the last frontier!
I know you’re just like me
You’re a pioneer.
Our introductions,
Our jokes,
Our secret smiles we gave
They save us both from boredom
And the thoughts that turn us dark.
The land turned cold and steep,
Montana before sleep,
A glacier can creep
Upon us while we talk.
We were heading to the ocean,
To the ends of the earth.
To the ocean!
To the west!
That’s the place I know
Where I’ll be the best.
To the great unknown!
To the last frontier!
I know you’re just like me
You’re a pioneer.
To the ocean!
That’s the best.
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3. |
Close To You
03:09
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The sandy bar,
Your friend's car,
No matter where you are
You know I'm close to you.
The river deep,
The place you sleep,
Where the willows weep
You know I'm close to you.
You can take a second
Or a photograph.
You can talk just like
And try not to laugh.
You can walk into the woods
And take a lonely bath
And I'm so close to you.
Your mother's home,
The fields you roam,
When you're on your own
You know I'm close to you.
The city streets,
Your cold sheets,
Where the tree line meets the sky
I'm close to you.
You can take a second
Or a photograph.
You can talk just like
And try not to laugh.
You can walk into the woods
And take a lonely bath
And I'm so close to you.
You can write a poem,
You can right a wrong.
You can tell me anything -
I'll play along.
Laid up in a hospital,
Afraid or strong
And I'm so close,
I'm so close to you.
The morning bird is singing,
It paints the sounds you see.
An echoed sound,
That brings you closer now to me.
That brings you closer now to me.
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4. |
Rialto
00:29
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5. |
This Beach Is A Bust
04:01
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We built a wall of driftwood,
We set our breaths to the tide.
We climbed our way through the Hole in the Wall,
We put our feelings to one side.
And we said:
There must be something for bme
We pay lip service to the sea.
There must be something for me.
Somewhere that we could be free.
There must be something for me,
We pay lip service to the sea.
There must be something for me.
Remember when you said this beach is a bust,
Nothing was ever, ever enough.
Trawled the sands, crawled with hands,
Looking for something
To hold on, hold on to.
We talked until the early hours,
We watched the deer roam the shore.
We stayed awake until the fire died down,
And the morning burnt our fingers raw.
There must be something for me,
We pay lip service to the sea.
There must be something for me.
Remember when you said this beach is a bust,
Nothing was ever, ever enough.
Trawled the sands, crawled with hands,
Looking for something
To hold on, hold on to.
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6. |
Thick As Thieves
02:50
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You’d tell me secrets that would make a young man blush.
You’d tell me about England, make my head and my heart rush.
You’d show me how a flower could bring out your smile.
You’d check your hair and then you’d read to me a while.
Thick as thieves,
Sharing stories with the leaves.
Walking barefoot in the woods,
Damaged goods beneath the trees.
You’d put all your faith in a skeleton key.
You’d sit their staring at the bones of me.
You’d pick out faults like they were going out of style.
You’d check your hair and then you’d read to me a while.
Thick as thieves,
Sharing stories with the leaves.
Walking barefoot in the woods,
Damaged goods beneath the trees.
Thick as thieves,
There were none as thick as these.
Walking barefoot in the woods,
Damaged goods beneath the trees.
We were thick as thieves.
You’d build a smile by the fire we made.
You’d tell me about England, what a mess it has made.
You’d never give an inch and I would never take a mile.
You’d check your hair and then you’d read to me a while.
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7. |
Auburn
02:41
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Auburn is a town where the trees are braided,
Paint faded and peeling from the doors.
If the cobwebs strung out were to form a pair of eyes
Then the flowers there would open up like jaws.
Every day feels like a week, and there’s never need to speak
Unless you’re trying to sing along with the birds.
In Auburn they sing with purpose, not like Seattle where they’re nervous,
Getting stage fright and forgetting the words.
In Auburn you forget who you are.
Auburn is a town where the air tastes pretty,
And the city is lost to memory.
The sky high above you is filled with petals blown around
Like tears wept from the boughs of a tree.
In Auburn you forget who you are.
Auburn is a town where the trees are braided,
Shaded branches cover your head.
They wind a garland around your guarded frame
And they paint you gold and red.
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8. |
Young America
03:54
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Hollow words
Swallow some and spit some out.
The cries of birds
Mingle tamely with our own.
Waiting for the family home to be repossessed -
Trying to remember when we were the best.
It was somewhere in Seattle
Where the people understood.
There were knowing looks and books
And the coffee was good.
Winds crawl through Minnesota
Trying to make your house a home.
Lost and loveless in Young America,
Tired and alone.
Throats cracking,
Shoulders shaking like the aspen leaves.
Sweet Thursday,
Remember when we were thick as thieves.
Waiting for the family home to be repossessed -
Trying to remember when we were the best.
It was somewhere in Seattle
Where the grass was green.
There at Gas Work Park
We caused a scene.
In Young America my heart died in the grass.
In Young America the moment came and passed.
I’ve got no money, ain’t it funny how it just won’t last.
In Young America you live young, and dream to die fast.
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9. |
Wolverines
03:53
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Somewhere in the Midwest
In a house that time forgot.
You saw the potential in the light that fell
Upon that unloved spot.
You ignored the noise around you
That tied your stomach in a knot.
And you walked in.
Rust covered my fingers,
Traced a trail across the wood.
And the sunlight filtered in,
Like the world she understood,
And the scratching round my ears
Was telling me I should,
And I walked in.
Next thing I knew there were wolverines,
Well I thought they were something born on television screens,
They chased me down the stairs, the snarls still haunt my dreams,
Well if all that was real why weren’t you torn to smithereens.
Turns my face pale,
Another tall tale,
Everything’s not as it seems.
Somewhere in Twin Cities
In a house with things to hide
There’s a bed you used to share,
Where a tall man’s body lied.
You told me that he left you
When you very nearly died.
And you cried out.
Dust covered my fingers,
As it settled by the door,
And my chest was so sick, Adam,
(Like a bird that couldn’t soar).
And then my lover he did leave me,
When I could hurt no more.
And I cried out.
Next thing I knew there were wolverines,
Well I thought they were something born on television screens,
They chased me down the stairs, the snarls still haunt my dreams,
Well if all that was real then why weren’t you torn to smithereens.
Turns my face pale,
Another tall tale,
Everything’s not as it seems.
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10. |
Father, Father
04:11
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You drove us to the waterside.
You drove us to the north.
You drove us the borderlands.
You drove us past Duluth.
You took our conversations
And you kept them in the dark.
You slammed the door a couple of times
When you were tired of talk.
Father, father,
I’d rather be here than back there.
Father, father,
I’d rather be anywhere.
You labeled your possessions.
You lined them up in rows.
You called the dog towards your feet.
You kept your family close.
Father, father,
I’d rather be here than back there.
Father, father,
I’d rather be anywhere.
Father, father,
I’d watch you pulling out your hair.
Father, father,
I’d watch you slumping in the chair.
Father, Father
I don’t know you.
Were you a spy or were you something else?
So many labels
On your possessions.
Is it cool or a cry for help?
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11. |
We Met On A Train
03:36
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We met on a train
And we parted in the rain.
Goodbye to the room that we treated like a cell,
Goodbye to our stolen looks we remember them too well.
Twin Cities, had so much I didn’t get to see.
Twin Cities, seems you’ve not got room for three.
You two and me.
I took the bus, it was the only thing to do.
Living under house arrest, seen the best of you.
Twin Cities, your father sleeps downstairs by the T.V.
Twin Cities, seems you’ve not got room for three.
You two and me.
We met on a train
And we parted in the rain.
When I left I felt some small relief.
So sick of worrying, I finally had the time to breathe.
Twin Cities, brought out all the best I can be.
Twin Cities, seems you’ve not got room for three.
Him and the two of the me.
We met on a train
And we parted in the rain.
Now I’m moving to Chicago
With my head held high.
Well I know I gave you everything,
Well give me your goodbye.
And I’ll leave you with another
Heavy Midwestern sky.
With the look that you are giving me
You’d think I left you here to die.
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12. |
||||
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The bear and the lark
Were friends after dark
Bear would growl to the evening moon
She would draw him in the dark.
Lark broke her wing,
She wailed to the night.
Bear was nowhere to be seen,
He’d left the chase the light.
Another creature found her,
And he worried for her health.
He stayed awake all night,
Thought nothing of himself.
But lark had not been truthful,
Her wing was fit for flight.
She told a lie then set to fly
But the creature set her right.
How can we know these things, my friend?
We cannot know these things.
Someone told you that once, my friend,
He surrendered to my kings.
Well I’ve got another story, lark,
It goes a bit like this.
It starts and ends with a lie you bred
And it’s sealed with a kiss.
Where is your sick bed now, my lark,
And where are the friends who write?
They all tell me that I’m no good
In the middle of my night.
Well how can we know these things, my friend?
We cannot know these things.
Someone told you that once, my friend,
The lie still smarts and stings.
Lark, your bark is worse than your bite.
You told me you were sick, well you were sick in the head.
I was worried that you might end up dead.
But it was just another lie to pass the night.
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13. |
Wave
03:07
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I cried on the telephone.
When words can cross an ocean,
They get cut down to the bone.
I remember when I rode you like a wave,
You were washed down under,
Slave to the thunder that I gave.
I took a picture of a meal I made,
It was colourful but tasteless,
Like a victory parade.
I remember writing a poem on your hand,
And you talked about the castles
In some unknown land.
I said my heart was made of doves,
Their wings were beating for you.
So self defeating,
Not the way a lover loves.
I tried to settle all your sighs,
Lesson learned, tables turned,
Surprised by the surprise.
I remember those blank hospital walls,
Well it was all a big performance,
Another of your curtain calls.
I said my heart was made of doves,
Their wings were beating for you.
So self defeating,
Not the way a lover loves.
Where did your love go?
Did it get lost in Chicago?
Where did your love go?
Where does your heart lie?
Did it get tired, did it die?
Where does your heart lie?
It was a wave on top of us.
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14. |
England's Ghost
03:49
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I walk the lanes,
I traipse around cold England,
Forgetting my phone and
The words that weigh down on me like a stone.
I rest for cover under
Trees that I’d tell secrets,
I’d give them names when I was young,
They spoke to me in hurried tones.
Now sometimes I hear your voice
Through the leaves.
Leaves me numb.
Now sometimes I hear your voice
Loud and clear,
You’re the happy ghost of England.
Oh I know you think of me
As I still think of you.
You’ll find me across the sea
You’ll find my words in the blue.
I drink another,
I tell a thousand stories
Forgetting how to speak,
Another day becomes another week.
I say your name,
And somehow it sounds different.
It turns my mouth dry,
It leaves it like a blunt goodbye.
Now sometimes I hear your voice
Through the leaves.
You’re the happy ghost of England.
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15. |
You Were My America
04:10
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You said you’d sit on your bedroom floor
And pray I’d have a safe flight.
I took pains to explain how a night
Can change a man and so much more.
You swapped the hospital walls
For the cell you might as well call home.
Bruised and confused and so on your own,
And I wouldn’t even take your calls.
Well I’m sorry that eleven days went by
Where your heart learned how to beat.
Well mine is tired and lost in Chicago,
Trampled by some stranger’s feet.
I’m sorry that this plane will take me away,
From the hurt and all the lies.
But it seems to me I’m just another good example
Of a man who doesn’t do goodbyes.
A man who doesn’t do goodbyes.
You were the girl who was trying to ape mystery,
Now you’re sweet history, a shadow in an open door.
You said things made sense that didn’t before.
Left in a blur, don’t know how you do this to me.
Well I’m sorry that eleven days went by
Where your heart learned how to beat.
Well mine is tired and lost in Chicago,
Trampled by some stranger’s feet.
I’m sorry that this plane will take you away,
From the hurt and all the lies.
But it seems to be you’re just another good example
Of a man who doesn’t do goodbyes.
A man who doesn’t do goodbyes.
You were my America
You were my land of the free.
You were my America
You were at the heart of me.
We took a train to the west,
Two lost souls put to the test,
We fell into each other’s stride.
I never knew you, I never will,
But we had time to kill,
It beats a lonely ride.
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Trask Chesterfield, UK
I am Adam McCulloch, a singer-songwriter born and raised in the north of England.
I go by the name
Trask for musical and practical purposes. Nobody seems to be able to spell McCulloch.
I recently wrote and produced my first feature-length album, You Were My America, released on the 12th June.
... more
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