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1. |
Overture: Ten Bird Road
05:23
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On the first day there were
ten lonely birds on the wire.
Calling your name,
they were calling your name.
On the next day they were
spreading their wings in the fire.
Calling your name,
they were calling your name
In the day, we take the river.
In the night, we take the road
through the mountain.
With her words, she took their story.
With her hands, she took the wheel.
Through the mountain.
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2. |
The Illusionist
03:55
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Hold your breath.
Hold your breath.
Pour the light into your head.
Hold the book.
Hold the knife.
Hold the page up to the light.
Pick a card,
any card.
See the animal in the dark.
Smell the breath,
Smell the fear,
When he pulls you by the ears.
Magic is a lonely word –
a lonely reason to crush the bird.
The trickster wrote it in his book,
but say it aloud and he’s gone.
Lover is a magic word
in a vanishing act.
And he will never tell you what it means,
but he will saw your woman in half.
Don’t look in the mirror
when you say his name.
Imagine a colour.
Imagine a colour,
white like a tiger, red like the sky.
Imagine a colour.
Imagine a colour,
white like a fire, red like his mind.
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3. |
Warm Thought
06:04
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4. |
Auto-Correct
04:20
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my phone don’t work.
it thinks it knows what i want to say.
and I choose my words,
but it chews them up, gives me away.
i can spell it out between my fingers.
you can figure out just what i meant.
we don’t need machine interpretation.
one false move, and i hit ‘send.’
(Can’t you read my mind?)
(You can read just fine.)
(I can spell all the sentiments.)
(But they don’t come out right.)
i’m just a modern guy.
i have these modern problems.
you can push my buttons,
but we don’t have buttons anymore.
my bones don’t work.
they want to tell me where i can walk.
and now they split me in thirds.
spin me in circles with all their double-talk.
and i’ll spell it out, sound it out.
that’s not what i meant, no.
spell it out, sound it out.
one false move and i –
(Don’t trouble the water,
Don’t bother, not today.)
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5. |
When This Heat Runs Out
03:15
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Then I ran in the August heat
to the end of the street,
straight into traffic,
headlights on the canvas.
You never listened to the plans we made;
you looked away when the days grew shorter.
Your eyes went down when the sun went down;
trying to write your name in the pavement.
Run to the street, love.
Run to the street.
I’ll meet you in a shadow,
out of the heat.
Arthur, your hands
never made it to the ground,
they never made it to the ground.
Give me my night-time, give me my lust.
Give me my bookshelves,
my fires, and the dust.
Run to the street, Arthur.
Run to the street – I’ll meet you under.
Run to the street, Arthur.
Run to the street – I’ll meet you under.
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6. |
Ring Road
05:24
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“We’ll start it over,” she said to me.
“Take a look in the rear-view,
write down what you see.”
We’ll start it over. That’s what you said.
I draw the birds in the book,
but the book’s in my head.
Out in the mountains, the traffic’s done.
Roll down the window here,
and rinse your hands in the sun.
“We’ll make another; we’ll cut the wires.”
We put the words in the book,
throw the book on the fire.
(We’ll start it over.)
Drag your paintbrush on the road
every time you let this go,
to keep you from losing your way home
until you cut the headlights.
I think she’s driving in circles.
I know she’s driving in circles.
Can we get off the ring road?
I’ve seen these mountains before.
Please let me open this door.
I’ve seen these mountains before.
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7. |
A Line on the Map (I)
03:51
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All the roads look the same
behind this old prescription.
Arthur strains his eyes
to find meaning in the movement.
Rita was the wheelman;
she planned the getaway:
Run the lights to the edge of the city,
hide the money in the trees.
She asked you, “Who’s playing who?”
Then she drew a line.
All of the roads are the same.
Give me the time and the date.
Draw me a line on the map.
Show me the place where I stay.
Run.
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8. |
Firework Smoke
04:08
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I watch the fireworks
lighting up the buildings.
And after midnight, I fill another cup over.
You watch the fireworks;
you float up to the ceiling.
You watch me light up another cigarette,
and blow myself away.
If you were there, breathed the air.
All I can say is – why did you let me go?
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9. |
Autograph
03:12
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Here – out here –
it’s always morning.
Sky’s always blue.
And the caffeine is fresh.
Everyone’s over, come on by.
Someone wants your autograph.
We’re here together, you and I.
What we got, money can’t buy.
Everyone’s here, just come on by.
Give the girl your autograph.
We’re sold together, you and I.
Still – hold still –
We’ll entertain you.
Don’t mind the noise.
Don’t mind the boys.
They understand you.
“My clothes don’t fit.
My words don’t fit.
But money buys love.”
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10. |
Strangers Road
02:27
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11. |
Fallout
04:15
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Catch the leaf on its way down
to make a nest here on the ground.
Your family’s here, deep underground.
We’ll keep you safe when sirens sound.
I’ll catch the moon on my tongue
to keep it hiding from the sun.
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12. |
Slogan (Your New Life)
04:51
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They put up a billboard
all over the city.
It called out in neon:
“Your new life is waiting.”
To bury the old ones,
we put up a landfill.
The city came running –
From gutter to penthouse.
They put up a billboard
all over the city.
It called out in neon:
“Your new life is waiting.”
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13. |
A Line on the Map (II)
02:18
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He finally wrote it down;
finally carved his name there
in the ground.
I never listened to a thing that he said.
No, I never sang a single word I read.
He finally wrote the words down.
Finally got his finger in the ground.
I never listened to a thing that he said.
No, I never sang a single word I read.
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Ada Vale Toronto, Ontario
----
singing stories
of mountain & city
since 2015
-----
a musical drama
by Marley Rosen (they/them)
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