1. |
Mnemosyne
04:26
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O Mnemosyne
Will you remember me
After I leave this bar
The smoke is thick in here
Outside the way is clear
But it seems a hundred miles from the door to my car
And I’ve been suffering, I’ve been suffering so long
O Terpsichore
Save a dance for me
I’ll be ready after one more drink
I’m putting up a fight
I know my left from my right
I just need some time to think
‘Cause I’ve been suffering, I’ve been suffering so long
I’ve been suffering, I’ve been suffering so long
O Hesperides
Hear my desperation please
When I say I don’t want this night to end
I won’t pick up the phone
I’ll leave your apples alone
It’s just that I’ve been looking, looking for a friend
And I’ve been suffering, I’ve been suffering so long
O Mnemosyne
With your lamp of memory
Tell me of your nine nights of love
Back in Britannia
Me and Urania
Will look into the future as we gaze above
The stars have been simmering, they’ve been simmering so long
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2. |
River Song
04:04
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Ever since we were children, the river was here
So we don’t even notice its roaring in our ears
And we never knew its flavor or felt its blue halo
’Til the day we floated downstream to see the church in Cairo
Downtown was deserted the day we set forth
And your grandmother said there was a cold wind from the north
But you’d lost a child, and I’d lost a friend
It was up to the Creator to bring us back again
Well, they say the cathedral is built of white stones
Though we couldn’t find a picture when we checked it on our phones
But they say that it’s tall and they say that it’s fair
And some say Abe Lincoln was baptized there
We were camped on the shore when the talking fish came
He said, “I come from the priests and their authority I claim:
Though your journey is noble, the path hence is narrow:
One and only one of you will make it to Cairo.”
In the morning the clouds were as thick as gray sheep
And we took to the water still blinking with sleep
We did not fear the prophecy would break us
For we’d never assumed where the current might take us
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3. |
Valparaiso
03:54
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She was a mountain nymph from outside Limache
At the age of sixteen she stole away
To the city down the road
But she quickly tired of that harbor town
The grime and the soot simply brought her down
’Til she discovered the hidden cove
She loved to swim, but she wouldn’t say so
She was silent on the beach of Valparaiso
When fleeing her home she’d had no choice
The goddess of the mountain had stolen her voice
She was too beautiful to be allowed to stay that way
So the hot summer’s noon when the nobleman came
He failed to notice her doelike frame
As he walked to the water to rinse the day away
She loved him, but she couldn’t say so
She was silent by the sea of Valparaíso
The spirits of the mountain had followed her there
Her joy was more than the goddess could bear
She sought to make the nymph disappear
But the other gods thought the penalty cruel
And the noble youth such a thick-headed fool
They bid that part of her remain, at his back like a breeze, on his face like a tear,
She was beautiful, and her voice it would remain so
Singing on the shores of Valparaîso
She loved him, but she would never say so
And her voice still hangs from the cliffs of Valparaíso
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4. |
Isle of Rest
06:55
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We sailed all night beneath a following moon
’til we came to an island where it’s always afternoon
Where the air seemed to slacken the idle river’s flow
and even the light as it fell from the treetops was slow
We would stay but a day in this vaporous bastion
This place was just an answer and the world is built on a question
We walked down the beach until we came upon
a cadre reclining with faces like pale fronds
And eyes like a paintbrush wet-tipped in the spring
and of fruits and of flowers they gave us an offering
And it seemed but a lark to accept their suggestion
In this place that’s just an answer while the world is built on a question
We eat of the fruit and we lie down to rest
with a golden warmth like honey spreading across our chests
And our eyes start to close and our ears start to ring
and along with the song in the trees we begin to sing
You hills and you orchards, accept our confession
We would set our souls free from their constant oppression
In this place that’s just an answer while the world is built on a question
(Sailors' Chorus:)
Rest ye, brothers, on this sultry shore
Rest ye, and we will sail no more
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5. |
Solstice
04:23
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It is a song from winter’s icy breeze
It is a postcard from the wine-dark leaves
It is a message from last year’s rain
This clear night under a sweep of stars
As melodious smoke from our cigars
Curls and spirals among the aspen branches and out across the plains
It is the profit of the work that we have done
It is the promise of June’s unrelenting sun
It is the aspiration that brought us to the door
This fire that crackles at our feet
Our backs to the chill, our faces to the heat
As the dog, all curled and spiraled, starts to snore
This is what we came out here for
It was the snowpack that fed the fields and flowers
It was the sunken treasure of all my wasted hours
It was being without you so long that led me to you
Tomorrow we’ll walk the meadow for miles
Like a secret that curls and spirals
In the heart of every wildflower, through me and through you
This is why things were better once I knew you
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Golconda Albuquerque, New Mexico
Peripatetic avant-troubadour songs for the discerning vagabond
Golconda recommends:
Psychopomp, CA
by Kong Must Dead
The highway stretches on just like a black tongue
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To Evening Lands
by Luke Gullickson
It'll make still the tide but you have to decide what to do
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Axle of the World (with Rabbit)
by Grant Wallace Band
Away, above, apart
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