1. |
Last Man Standing
05:30
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I walked the streets like a mind without a soul
I saw your eyes in the windows of St. Catherine's as they closed
And every hand I could reach for pulled away
It felt like freedom from the fall out on Independence Day
My legs gave out and I came down on my knees
The city shook me and my heart said, "baby, spin me slower please"
From somewhere far, far beneath the surface came
A voice of comfort and a song that somehow seemed to know my name
I'm gonna' be the last man standing, I'm gonna' look beyond these words
I'm gonna' blow the roof wide open, I'm gonna' tell the whole world what I heard
Stronger than a million countries, deeper than an ocean floor
Tell me can you feel this, baby, I'm gonna' give you what you're waiting for
Forget the times when you walked out on me
Let go of all your faded stories of the way we used to be
Give the morning sun a chance to make you smile
After all, the sky is clear now, and it should be for awhile
Remember sitting in the shade of an apple tree?
Fourteen steps from Euclid Avenue to the place we liked to eat
A hundred men with broken hearts can say the same
But I know deep inside your mind, you're still spelling out my name
I'm gonna' be the last man standing, I'm gonna' look beyond your words
I'm gonna' blow the roof wide open, I'm gonna' tell the whole world what I've heard
Stronger than a million countries, deeper than an ocean floor
Tell me can you feel that, baby, I'm gonna' give you what you're waiting for
Give me peace, give me patience with myself
Let me see the best intentions of everybody else
And when it's time to put my fingers to the flame
Give my purpose, give me presence, give me passion in your name
I'm gonna' be the last man standing, I'm gonna' make you eat your words
I'm gonna' blow the roof wide open, I'm gonna' tell the whole world what we heard
Stronger than a million countries, deeper than an ocean floor
Tell me can you feel this, baby, I'm gonna' give you what you're waiting for
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2. |
Midnight Sun
05:04
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I need you to take it easy, remember the way you pray
And maybe to shine a candle instead of a pitch black tease
The night is a bit too easy when you're running away from right
And maybe it's hard to handle, but get up from off your knees
Take it easy - you gotta' take it easy.
The skyline along the freeway was changing along with you
As hours passed so slowly the moment was all we knew
I know you're afraid of daylight, I've seen you on the run
But imagine eternal darkness : then imagine a midnight sun
Take it easy - you gotta' take it easy.
Tuning a rusty six-string under wicked moonlight's eyes
Take a trip down heaven's alleys, let the rainy night baptise
Walking behing a shadow you ain't what you seem
You're never as close to daylight as the deepest darkest dream
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3. |
Last Thing That I See
02:42
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Well, I'm not much to pray Monday to Saturday
And most Sundays, I just tend to rest
But here's one I need to send up to my only friend
...it might as well be my last request
Oh God, please take me now - I don't suppose it matters how
Just make it quick, I'll count to three!
And God, bless this crazy girl with the prettiest eyes in the whole wide world
Let her be the last thing that I see.
Twice now the morning sun has sparked my heart to gun
Down every back road in my brain
But this time I held her hand so I've got to take a stand
Before my luck goes down the drain
Sometimes I wonder why some people never cry
Seems like my generation's way
We fall in love too fast, can't make these feelings last
Tomorrow will soon be yesterday
I will not shed a tear in my domestic beer
If she don't call me back tonight
'Cuz I know I'm on her mind - and she knows she's on mine
But one last thing before first light....
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4. |
I Left My Love
04:04
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It's been one week and I can't breathe
I see your smile when I close my eyes
The last thing I know each empty night
Is how your hands felt holding mine
I don't need time, I don't need freedom
Forget the past we left behind
Just promise me this isn't over
Give me your hand, and I won't let go
I left my love one Sunday morn'
And headed north before sunrise
Across the plains that lonely dawn
Shed little light upon these eyes
Well now it's raining, the sky is fading
Stare at the ceiling and I can't sleep
Late night temptations toward bus stations
So we both daydream a bit too deep
I guess i'm crazy to cling so tightly
To what you gave me one night with you
But I just miss you, and I need to kiss you
You saved my soul once, you know it's true
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5. |
Where I Came From
04:29
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Skies have brightened since the early rain
And down in Chicago it's a first down
Atlanta in front of Carolina
They blow their whistles and sound like birds
It's been a long afternoon
He feels like he's open for the first time
I been asleep since I can remember
And while i was out it got so cold
I think I have lost something I knew so well
I think I forgot where I came from
When she left I was not so concerned
With her absence, but rather I feared
In the souls of her shoes,
All the little rubber ridges
And the mud she'd track in when she returned
To be honest, I forgot she was gone
Like so many white rooms erase the bourbon
But tonight after winds so fast I spun
Seeing is believing and she's back home
I think I have lost something I loved so dear
I think I forgot where I came from
One shot, two shots...three, four five
It's cold out here, we gotta' do somethin' to stay alive
One shot, two shots...three, four five
I'm talking in my sleep
I think I have lost something I knew so well
I think I forgot where I came from
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6. |
Do You Wanna' Be Right
03:49
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I don't want to believe you, it would mean I was wrong
I don't want to be with you, I was better alone
Well I guess I should ask me, now that I'm seeing clear
If it's only when lonely, would I rather you're near?
Do you wanna be right, or do you wanna be happy?
Politicians and kingsmen, all of that royal crew
Find humility paid for, not a love that is true
Do you wanna be right, or do you wanna be happy?
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7. |
Sera Says
03:57
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Sera says she was pretty yesterday but why, she can't explain
Sera says she woke the morning after and it was gone again
Sera says it's a little strange, she can't describe the change
Sera says she leaves this afternoon on the road to Illinois
Sera says she's got no plans to marry any other boys
Sera says she thinks of me, I'll always keep that memory
Sera says for awhile she didn't want to live
All she did was cry
I can't find the words for what it means to me
She never said goodbye
Sera says this morning someone died and everyone's quiet today
Sera says the grace of god will save us and wash our sins away
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8. |
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You got some kinda' shine I've never seen before
If you'd been feeling fine, then you weren't anymore
I had to run away, I couldn't take the shame
But I forgot to say I'll always love your name
If the rain puts out this cigarette, then I'll call you after work
When the floors are mopped, and the garbage thrown away
But if the skies are clear, and I can learn to breathe on my own
Then you won't hear from me tonight
I wrote you every day - that's so much wasted ink
But winter has a way of changing how you think
I fell in love again, a black-haired southern bell
It felt like nicotine, but now it hurts like hell
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9. |
To Heidi, With Love
03:38
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In the back of the bar on a Friday night
Around one in the morning, I spilled her beer
Now it's only right that I got her another
With a smile, because my money's no good here
Now I can't quite remember if it was guilt or excitement
But I'll probably never see her again
So before I rest, I've gotta' confess
That I was looking at her, but I was thinking of you
You know, she gave her her address, and if it were a couple of years ago
I might have signed a letter before I got home
The funny thing is, I'm no less desperate
I'm just lazy, and getting used to sleeping alone
I'll admit she was pretty (in that imperfect kinda' way)
Like the spark of a lighter that ran outta' fuel
So before I rest, I gotta' confess
that I was looking at her, but I was thinking of you
It's been too long since I've held a pretty hand
And every night my only friends are in my band
I'm not that old, but you're too young to steal my heart
But I guess you can borrow it
There were holes in the highway the whole way home
But the road flattened out as we pulled into town
There's a time and a place for everything, and tonight it's rain on the sidewalk
And the hope that we won't let each other down
Now it's 4am, and I smell like an ashtray
But I'll still complain when you light up tomorrow
So before I rest, I gotta' confess
That I was looking at her, but I was thinking of you
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10. |
Last Goodbye
04:18
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For hours I've been strumming
My voice is rough and my ears hum
If I could talk I would have called you
If I could walk I swear I'd run
In my ears I hear no music
Just the pulse between these two
Two broken hearts in union
This blue collar poet and you
I have so much left to say
Tell me there's another day
We both need to find a way
And with all my strength I'll try
When I lie awake I write
No sun or moon, you're my light,
All the words we spoke tonight
Before we said our last goodbye.
All my fingertips are stinging
My voice is gone and my ears ring
If I could move I'd try to kiss you
But instead I guess I'll sing
I've been beat and i've been broken
I've won bets and I've lost friends
But from all the words you've spoken
I just hope this ain't the end
I have so much left to say
Tell me there's another day
We both need to find a way
And with all my strength I'll try
When I lie awake I write
No sun or moon, you're my light,
All the words we spoke tonight
Before we said our last goodbye
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11. |
Better Days
04:18
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She bought a ticket on a cross-country train
Just for a cowboy to kiss her again
Like any love song, he won't soon forget
He just might take his time paying off the debt
It's funny how we dream of better days
One day you've just got to let that train
Take you away
Once in the rain with a real pretty girl
I was so high that I thought I owned the world
But I'm not a king, and she's not around
So that summer high is coming down
It's funny how we're older every time
I'm leaning on the shoulders that I once was
Lifting high
Krista's fifteen and she don't remember me
Eight years ago I was watchin' over she
Ten months from now she will paint this town red
This fall's the last time she'll be alone in bed
It's funny how the hands that I now hold
Make me feel a little like I might be
Getting old
By now I've seen what I had not before
Love's just like any drug, you need more and more
It starts with a rush, then it slows to a drag
And before too long we all just pack our bags
It's funny how I'm singing this again
Every time I start to, soon enough
I reach the end
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12. |
Diecast Aeroplane
03:37
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When I was five years old
I stole a diecast airplane from the corner store
I've always had this silly habit
Of holding onto things just a little too tight
I didn't mean to take it, but that's no excuse
So my mom made me walk back inside
I was in tears as I showed it to the man
Behind the counter; I think he understood.
When I was nine years old, I stole
Twenty-five dollars from a Christmas tree in a church
There were paper mittens filled with generous donations
And I rooted past the checks to find the cash
That afternoon I threw it squarely on the steps
Then with false suprise I picked it up
She let me spend it and within a couple nights
I had a dream that i was running from the law
When I was thirteen years I stole a skateboard
From the sidewalk just outside somebody's house
I thought awhile and since their house was pretty nice
I figured they could afford another one
Within a week I had removed the plastic wheels
And my friend painted my intials on the bottom
We stood like sultans in the snow on the skateboard
With no wheels, and then flew down St. Mary's hill
When I was seventeen, I stole a drumset
From my high school in an unmarked big brown box
I rode the elevator from the second to the first floor
With an odd look on my face
A couple days of rock and roll in a basement
And I could hear a voice I thought was gone for good
I packed that unmarked big brown box up right away
And took the elevator back upstairs
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13. |
Angel on a Wire
04:59
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Angel on a wire close to a ghost both too sad to be saved
Stranger on the train tracks in the rain lost in puddles with waves
I found something new when I walked out on you
There's a light every dawn I've been missing
The days got so dark that I prayed for a spark
There's a girl in my dreams I've been kissing
Find me a home to call as my own
Find me a hand to hold
Find me a heart as cold as I've known
Light me a fire in your soul
Smoke escaping lips, cold winter hands grasp one last cigarette
Steam beneath a sky that's gonna' cry, blue eyes I won't forget
I found something new when I walked out on you
There's a light every dawn I've been missing
The days got so dark that I prayed for a spark
There's a girl in my dreams I've been kissing
Find me a home to call as my own
Find me a hand to hold
Find me a heart as cold as I've known
Light me a fire in your soul
She rips my heart out of my chest
Please burn to the ground all the rest
Two hearts all alone in the ash
One rises to run from the mess
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14. |
In The Rain
03:48
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A wise young man once told me it was there in my eyes
Said he saw my troubles plain as day
But then resent and anger said the timing was off
I don't wanna' let this wash away
I don't believe it's happening again
No help that after all it's only pain
After years of chasing shadows 'round the bend
Just another lonely birthday in the rain
Every lovely flower I can hold for a day, every time the wind blows all is lost
If all these stones i'm stepping disappear under me
I'll be on the shore at any cost
I don't believe it's happening again
No help that after all "it's only pain"
After years of chasing shadows 'round the bend
Just another lonely birthday in the rain
I'm not meant to be the one with a smile
Instead I can see I'm not still a child
The only, the one, she left me for dead
A lonely, lost son...my heart and my head
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15. |
Over Before It Began
07:12
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Some evenings I can't go to sleep, tired as I am
When close my eyes and drift, relax and release
I need antacids and kisses, lullabies and lilacs
Home once shadowed every footstep I took, now home is her hand
It was over before it began
There's a girl down in texas whose eyes pierce and words fumble
It's the cutest combination, until I picture her passion
Deadly, potent, sexy as hell: snapshot of this unlikely angel
Tempting straight through a teardrop, salty and warm
It was over before it began
The days getting shorter, her patience is thin
The nights getting longer, the world closing in
The moonlight is laughing, it's harder to smile
Today's almost over, just a little while
We need something stronger to open our eyes
We need something smarter make us feel wise
I want you to feel like there's hope for you yet
Deserve something better and I wish you'd let
Let me be your drug
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16. |
Okay, Liza
04:01
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I wish I was that cigarette pressed between your crimson lips
Make you want to light me up and suck me down
I wish I was those leather boots in between your dancing feet
And the mud in which you move, you love to groove
Okay, Liza, come run with me anytime you're feelin' free
Okay, Liza, I need a hand...please don't try to understand
I wish I was that denim, darlin', stretched across your best respects
Crafted by the finest fingers (overseas)
I wish I was that flask of whiskey in your pocket, quite discreet
Dull your senses, stain your breath my favorite shade
Okay, Liza, I'll ride with you anywhere you want me to
Okay, Liza, I need a drink...so I don't start to stop and think
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17. |
I'm Not In Love
06:51
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Friday night hit like a train
I woke up to the sound of the rain
Rachael's gone, she long over me
Not in love, but neither in pain
Light one up and finish my beer
Cheap champagne and a happy new year
She's the best that I ever had
Broken hearts make the best souvenirs
I'm not in love, as strange as that sounds
It's just me and I'm bringin' myself down
I've been lucky just to make it this far
Christmas eve, and it's time to leave town
Late last night on the highway I prayed
For the strength just to wake up today
There's no girl lonely waiting for me
So I'll take a moment to say that I'm not in love
Seventeen, my guitar in hand
That young man did not understand
April wind and Lucy's lost eyes
Caught my heart at the old baby grand
We've grown up, we've both come so far
But tonight I'm alone at the bar
And by now, you're a long way from home
So happy birthday, wherever you are
If I could rewind, turn back the time
Divine peace of mind just to say
That the years are unkind but we learn from our crimes
And one day you find you're doin' okay
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18. |
A Sailor's Prayer
03:09
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Though my sails be worn and ragged and my patrol be turned about
Though the night winds chill me to my very soul
Though temptation seeks my eye and the stars no sight provide
Give me just enough of morning's light to hold
And I will not lay me down, this rain a-raging
And I will not lay me down in such a storm
And if this night be unblessed I shall not take my rest
Until I reach another shore
If the only well is bitter and I cannot quench my thirst
I will drink the rain that falls so steady down
If night's blindness be my gift and from my fire the heat is rift
I will strive against the darkness and the doubt
And I will not lay me down, this rain a-raging
And I will not lay me down in such a storm
And if this night be unblessed I shall not take my rest
Until I reach another shore
Though my friends be drained and weary, and it seems all hope is lost
We shall the night endure for sight of dawn's first blossom
And if death should take us now, he cannot contravene our vow
We'll stand on and face the morning light without him
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Union Pulse Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Founded by singer-songwriter James Tristan Redding, Union Pulse was an idiosyncratic icon at the intersection of Americana, roots rock, and alt-country. The band embodied James Redding's soul bound lyrics and leg bending rhythm. In their decade of recording and touring they released five original albums (and one live EP) and delivered over 700 performances throughout the lower 48 states. ... more
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