1. |
Intro (Not The Man)
02:04
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I'm not the man you knew last summer
I am so much bigger than before
I swam across the deepest ocean
and barely pulled myself ashore
I still don't understand the sea
or where this current is leading me
But I'm not so nearly frightened as before
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2. |
Brought It All To You
04:35
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came out with wide eyes flickering
suitcase in my hand
bought myself a one way ticket
to the promised land
landed in the arms of my mother
thought i could hear her call
beneath the sounds of the ricocheting bullets
that mark her ancient walls
i came back drifting, listing, limping
i came back hopeless, ropeless
and brought it all to you
took my youth and my hunger
and sunk them in your soil
left with a back half broken
like an old man freighted with his toil
saw the night sky luminous
like sun upon the sea
bombs rained down indiscriminate
but somehow they didn’t choose me
i came back drifting, listing, limping
i came back hopeless, ropeless
and brought it all to you
came out with wide eyes flickering
suitcase in my hand
brought you my grief and brokenness
cause i thought you’d understand
you opened like a wild flower blooming
soothed an aching soul
made a space inside your body that
for a moment made me whole
i came back drifting, listing, limping
i came back hopeless, ropeless
and brought it all to you
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3. |
At Least For Today
04:37
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someday, this all will over
someday, your beauty will fade
someday the war will have ended
and all you’ve defended will wash away
someday, the walls will have crumbled
the voice inside will have the final say
someday the fog will have lifted
and all you’ve resisted will have its way
but i still see you sitting in my chair
i still feel your breath upon my hair
and then i watch that pain begin to break
till it passes away
everything passes away
at least for today
someday a tree will be planted
and in its bark we’ll carve a sacred name
someday reprieve will be granted
horizons expanded in all the ways
but i still see you sitting in my chair
i still feel your breath upon my hair
and then i watch that pain begin to break
till it passes away
everything passes away
at least for today
someday this all will be over
i’ll wake and find the weight has been released
someday, there’ll be an end to this sorrow
but all that’s tomorrow
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4. |
Highway
05:05
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Driving down this highway in the dark
Wondering where on earth you are
Trying so hard to stay true
But the road keeps leading back to you
There’s a boy who in me dwells
And wants so badly to be held
The way you touched his little face
Could you hear the cries he made
I just wish that you would show me
How you reach that inner space
And we could lay a road of petals
Across this scarred landscape
I looked for you in everyone
But there’s no restarting what’s begun
Guess I’ll take the long way home
But i’m so tired of being alone
I just wish that you would show me
How you reach that inner space
And we could lay a road of petals
Across this scarred landscape
Instead of circling round back to everything we said
In a search of another path to tread
But there’s a wise voice says there’s nothing more to say
Keep on reaching for the light in this highway
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5. |
This Fire
04:41
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Some days i can’t see the sun through the fog
And i find i’m driving back to where you are
Asleep at the wheel and i’m grinding the gears
Then you wake and find you haven’t moved in years
Sometimes you bend and sometimes you break
I had a vision and i called it fate
Now the fires are burning all over this place
All the embers blowing straight into my face
At night i dream i was strapped to the floor
A soldier drafted to a never ending war
Then a great horn sounds and i awaken with a roar
And i don’t tend this fire no more
Some days i can’t see the turn in the road
And the light is fading and the wind’s gone cold
And i feel in my bones that i’m getting too old
To labor under these illusions i was sold
At night i dream i was strapped to the floor
A soldier drafted to a never ending war
Then a great horn sounds and i awaken with a roar
And i don’t tend this fire no more
Some days the sun shines right in my face
Some call it morning, I call it grace
Outside the world is consuming its face
But here the pieces fall so neatly into place
Aat night i find myself dreaming of the sea
Where nothing burns and the soul swims free
Then i make my way to a faraway shore
Where i don’t tend this fire no more
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6. |
Tight
04:59
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Sitting on a mountain top
You held me so gently
My face in your hands
You told me we’re ending
Still i don’t know why
this bird needs to fly
You say you want me in your life
And I don’t think that I can hold you light
These arms have just one setting
And it’s tight
Drew your picture in gold
But i’ve got no perspective
Your hands are too large
Your belly distended
Still i don’t know why
this bird needs to fly
You say you want me in your life
And I don’t think that I can hold you light
These arms have just one setting
And it’s tight
Woke on the second of June
And suddenly remembered
Your face in my hands
I promised forever
Still i don’t know why
this boy can’t seem to fly
You say you want me in your life
And I don’t think that I can hold you light
These arms have just one setting
And it’s tight
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7. |
Hold On
04:48
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Don't have much money to buy you a fancy car
But i'll love you till i break for all that you are
Don't know what's come over you what's got you in its clutch
I offered you everything i had though i guess it's not that much
know you’re ready to turn the page
But we don’t get second chances at our age
Want to invite you to test my mettle
See if i can meet you on your level
But if that's more than you can do
Then just hold on to me
I loved it when you call me honey and let your love rain down
Now there's nothing that i wouldn't give to be so blissfully drowned
Not asking you to be my woman that train has already left town
Just wondering if there's still a way we can share some holy ground
Know you love me and i love you
Not sure there's anything left to do
But if everything that you said is true
Hold on to me
Sitting at the edge of silence
A voice comes through the wall
Think it's saying I should bind myself
But that might not be it at all
Just a little more trying
Just a little more love
Time to tell a new story
Time to give this heart a nudge
Never could leave well enough alone
Every hour i reach for the phone
Got too comfortable on my knees
And begging you baby please
But in lie there's no guarantees
So just hold on to me
See if it might set you free
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8. |
Secrets
04:29
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There are secrets I will know
There is light behind the shadows
There’s a dawning that someday will come
It has to come
You’re still with me when I wake
And when I lay me down for sleeping
And some days i know you’ll always be
Inside of me
Let’s tell no secrets no more
Lets let these masks we wear fall to the floor
And in the garden that lies behind the door
I see you
I feel you
I see you
And you see me too
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9. |
Wider
03:27
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The sun was high as i stood on line to collect my daily bread
Found a refuge for my pain beneath the hem of your summer dress
As we merged i heard the angels trilling like a choir
It was my heart was getting wider
Threw myself from a mountaintop cause you convinced me i could fly
Set down my fear as I drew you near to the places that i hide
I kneeled in confession but i’m as slippery as a liar
But my heart is getting wider
All these things we hold to
They never stay
All these loves we belong to
Will eventually betray
It’s the way of things, they always fade away
I waged a war against the ceaseless voices in my head
Turned me round this wounded ground with the lies that they had fed
I couldn’t win, said come on in, it’s warm here by the fire
Cause my heart is getting wider
All these things we hold to
They never stay
All these loves we belong to
Will eventually betray
It’s the way of things, they always fade away
I felt a burning in my chest and i named it as desire
Tears were streaming down my face though i had never been a crier
So stay with me my darling i can hold the hurt the hurt inside ya
Cause my heart is getting wider
All these things we hold to
They never stay
All these loves we belong to
Will eventually betray
As the flower blooms and slowly fades away
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10. |
Ready For My Love
04:29
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After all the doors have opened
and the paths have overgrown
after all the tears we’ve squandered
after all the seeds we’ve sown
And the summer season’s ended
and the crops have all been grown
and the little ones we’ve sheltered
have children of their own
I will meet you at your border
with my pistol and my dove
on the day your heart is ready for my love
When the tattered veil has fallen
and your radiance revealed
and the warrior child who lives inside
has dropped her sword and shield
And the harvest moon has risen
and the leaves have turned to gray
and the chattering voice with all the noise
has long since had its say
I will rouse you from your slumber
with my bugle and my drum
on the day your heart is ready ready for my love
after the longest war has ended
and the tyrant overthrown
and we find ourselves in an open field
out here on our own
I will kneel before your altar
and my life I’ll offer up
on the day your heart is ready for my love
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11. |
Dreams
03:55
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My little girl
Why you crying your eyes out to your soul
My precious one
Don’t you know that the world needs you whole
Your dress is getting soiled from all the filth that’s in the street
My love, won’t you meet me in my dreams
My little dove
Don’t you know that peace begins with love
My precious one
Time is short and there’s much work to be done
I know the air is heavy
and it’s getting hard to breathe
My love, won’t you meet me in my dreams
My little girl
when we’re old and our bones begin to creak
will we have shared all the joy and the grief
In my mind I see us sitting there
our chairs beside the sea
salty hair, little hands and little feet
oh love, won’t you meet me in my dreams
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12. |
Outro
01:14
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Ben Harris Northampton, Massachusetts
Ben Harris is a multi instrumentalist and songwriter based in Northampton, Massachusetts. He has played in multiple bands over the last three decades since he began jamming with friends in his parents basement in high school. His self-produced first solo album Dust was released in 2021 and his second album, This Fire, produced by Grammy Award nominee Anand Nayak, is slated for November, 2022. ... more
Ben Harris recommends:
been digging on mick's work for weeks now, such a lovely way with melody and richly metaphoric lyrics
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