John Prine - Please Don't Bury Me

John Prine - Please Don't Bury Me

Woke up this morning
Put on my slippers
Walked in the kitchen and died
And oh what a feeling!
When my soul
Went through the ceiling
And on up into heaven I did ride
When I got there they did say
John, it happened this way
You slipped upon the floor
And hit your head
And all the angels say
Just before you passed away
These were the very last words
That you said

Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd rather have 'em cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size

Give my stomach to Milwaukee
If they run out of beer
Put my socks in a cedar box
Just get "em" out of here
Venus de Milo can have my arms
Look out! I've got your nose
Sell my heart to the junkman
And give my love to Rose

Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd rather have 'em cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size

Give my feet to the footloose
Careless, fancy free
Give my knees to the needy
Don't pull that stuff on me
Hand me down my walking cane
It's a sin to tell a lie
Send my mouth way down south
And kiss my ass goodbye

Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd rather have 'em cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size

Shearwater - Leviathon, Bound

Shearwater - Leviathon, Bound

The hollow light
Is still on the fields
Where the winter has warmed
And the snows have drained away
And the hunter's cry
Is still on the air
As the bullet flies home
But the heart that's pierced with it
Still is racing
Still is racing, alone.

The silver shoals
Of the light in the deep
Brush the glitterin skein
Where the great, dark body writhes
And the trembling jaw
The unfathoming sounds
Of leviathan, bound
As his heart, though weakening
Still is racing
Still is racing, alone

You are racing
You are racing,
Alone.

Fleetwood Mac - Over My Head

Fleetwood Mac - Over My Head

You can take me to paradise,
And then again you can be cold as ice
I'm over my head,
But it sure feels nice.

You can take me anytime you like,
I'll be around if you think you might love me baby,
And hold me tight.

Your mood is like a circus wheel,
You're changing all the time,
Sometimes I can't help but feel,
That I'm wasting all of my time.

Think I'm looking on the dark side,
But everyday you hurt my pride,
I'm over my head,
But it sure feels nice,
I'm over my head,
But it sure feels nice.

Erykah Badu - Tyrone

Erykah Badu - Tyrone

Let's see how y'all groove to this
Alright

I'm gettin' tired of your shit
You don't never buy me nothin'
See everytime you come around
You got to bring Jim, James, Paul, & Tyrone
See why cant we be by ourselves, sometimes
See Ive been having this on my mind
For a long time
I just want it to be
You and me
Like it used to be, baby
But ya don't know how to act
So matter of fact

I think ya better call Tyrone (call him)
And tell him come on, help you get your shit (come on, come on)
You need to call Tyrone (call him)
And tell him I said come on

Now everytime I ask you for a little cash
You say no and turn right around and ask me for some ass
Oh, well hold up
Listen partna
I ain't no cheap thrill
Cause Miss Badu is always comin' for real
And you know the deal

Everytime we go somewhere
I gotta reach down in my purse
To pay your way and your homeboys way
And sometimes your cousins way

They don't never have to pay
Don't have no cars
Hang around in bars
Try to hang around with stars
Like Badu
I'm gon' tell you the truth
Showing groove
Or get the boot

I think ya better, (call him)
And tell him come on
Help you get your shit

You need to call Tyrone (call him)
Hold on
But ya cant use my phone

Elbow - Scattered Black and Whites

photo by jill russell

Elbow - Scattered Black and Whites

Been climbing trees I've skinned my knees
My hands are black the sun is going down
She scruffs my hair in the kitchen steam
She's listening to the dream I weaved today
Crosswords through the bathroom door
While someone sings the theme-tune to the news
And my sister buzzes through the room leaving perfume in the air
And that's what triggered this.
I come back here from time to time
I shelter here some days.

A high-back chair, he sits and stares
A thousand yards and whistles
Marching-band
Kneeling by and speaking up
He reaches out and I take a
Massive hand. Disjointed tales
That flit between short trousers
And a full dress uniform
And he talks of people ten years
Gone like I've known them all my life
Like scattered black and whites

Les Savy Fav - Meet Me In The Dollar Bin

Les Savy Fav - Meet Me In The Dollar Bin

Dead tired. Bone dry. Admired, till I-
can't make with the batteries, bad day at the cannery.
They're making a mess of me. Best left tested by history.
I grab this mic and spike it to the ground,
The lightning's bad but at least it's not loud.
The lighting's bad- the band can't see the crowd so I'm coming down.

There is no incident, there's nothing incidental in this song.
There is no accident, there's nothing accidental in this song.
There's no coincidence, there's nothing coincidental in this song.

Dead tired. Bone dry. Admired, till I-
I grab this mic and spike it to the ground,
The lightning's bad but at least it's not loud.
The lighting's bad- the band can't see the crowd so I'm coming down.

Meet me in the dollar bin, it's a band I once was in,
haven't done much better since.
This is no coincidence
Been rubbing off our finger prints covered up with phony skins
this giving in has worn so thin that you can see the beat within.
Born fat or flat chested, the best of us tested.
We passed and we passed, we passed out when we could.
We got old, but we got good and we did all we said we would.

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

As a young girl
Louis Vuitton
With your mother
On a sandy lawn

As a sophomore
With reggaeton
And the linens
You're sitting on

Is your bed made?
Is your sweater on?
Do you want to
Like you know I do

But this feels so unnatural
Peter Gabriel too

Can you stay up
To see the dawn
In the colors
Of Bennetton?

Is your bed made
Is your sweater on
Do you want to
Like you know I do

But this feels so unnatural
Peter Gabriel too

Is your bed made
Is your sweater on
Do you want to
Like you know I do

The National - Lucky You

The National - Lucky You

Every time you get a drink
And every time you go to asleep
Are those dreams inside you head
Is there sunlight on your bed
And every time you're driving home
Way outside your safety zone
Wherever you will ever be
You're never getting rid of me

You own me
There's nothing you can do
You own me

You coulda made a safer bet
But what you break is what you get
You wake up in the bed you make
I think you made a big mistake

You own me
There's nothing you can do
You own me
You own me
Lucky you

You own me
There's nothing you can do

You clean yourself to meet
The man who isn't me
You're putting on a shirt
A shirt I'll never see
The letter's in your coat
But no one's in your head
Cause you're too smart to remember
You're too smart
Lucky you

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - If You Don't Know Me By Now

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes - If You Don't Know Me By Now

If you don't know me by now
You will never never never know me

All the things that we've been through
You should understand me like I understand you
Now girl I know the difference between right and wrong
I ain't gonna do nothing to break up our happy home
Oh don't get so excited when I come home a little late at night
Cos we only act like children when we argue fuss and fight

If you don't know me by now (If you don't know me)
You will never never never know me (No you won't)
If you don't know me by now
You will never never never know me

We've all got our own funny moods
I've got mine, woman you've got yours too
Just trust in me like I trust in you
As long as we've been together it should be so easy to do
Just get yourself together or we might as well say goodbye
What good is a love affair when you can't see eye to eye, oh

If you don't know me by now (If you don't know me)
You will never never never know me (No you won't)
If you don't know me by now (You will never never never know me)
You will never never never know me (ooh)

Nas - I Gave You Power

Nas - I Gave You Power

Damn! Look how muh-fuckers use a nigga
Just use me for whatever the fuck they want
I don't get to say shit
Just grab me, just do what the fuck they want
Sell me, throw me away
Niggaz just don't give a fuck about a nigga like me right?
Like I'm a f... I'm a gun, shit
It's like I'm a motherfuckin gun
I can't believe this shit....
Word up.. (word up..)

I seen some cold nights and bloody days
They grab and me bullets spray
They use me wrong so I sing this song 'til this day
My body is cold steel for real
I was made to kill, that's why they keep me concealed
Under car seats they sneak me in clubs
Been in the hands of mad thugs
They feed me when they load me with mad slugs
Seventeen precisely, one in my head
They call me Desert Eagle, semi-auto with lead
I'm seven inches four pounds, been through so many towns
Ohio to Little Rock to Canarsie, livin harshly
Beat up and battered, they pull me out
I watch as niggaz scattered, makin me kill
But what I feel it never mattered
When I'm empty I'm quiet, findin myself fiendin to be fired
A broken safety, niggaz place me in shelves
under beds, so I beg for my next owner to be a thoroughbred
Keep me full up with hollow heads

How you like me now? I go blaow
It's that shit that moves crowds makin every ghetto foul
I might have took your first child
Scarred your life, crippled your style
I gave you power
I made you buck wild
How you like me now? I go blaow
It's that shit that moves crowds makin every ghetto foul
I might have took your first child
Scarred your life, crippled your style
I gave you power
I made you buck wild

Always I'm in some shit, my abdomen is the clip
The barrel is my dick, uncircumcised
Pull my skin back and cock me, I bust off when they unlock me
Results of what happens to niggaz shock me
I see niggaz bleedin runnin from me in fear, stunningly tears
fall down the eyes of these so-called tough guys, for years
I've been used in robberies, givin niggaz heart to follow me
Placin peoples in graves, funerals made cause I was sprayed
I was laid in a shelf, with a grenade
Met a wrecked-up tech with numbers on his chest that say
Five-two-oh-nine-three-eight-five and zero
Had a serial defaced, hopin one day, police would place
where he came from, a name or some sort of person to claim him
Tired of murderin, made him wanna be a plain gun
But yo I had some other plans, like the next time the beef is on
I make myself jam right in my owner's hand

How you like me now? I go blaow
It's that shit that moves crowds makin every ghetto foul
I might have took your first child
Scarred your life, crippled your style
I gave you power
I made you buck wild
How you like me now? I go blaow
It's that shit that moves crowds makin every ghetto foul
I might have took your first child
Scarred your life, crippled your style
I gave you power
I made you buck wild

Yo, weeks went by and I'm surprised
Still stuck in the shelf with all the things that an outlaw hides
Besides me it's bullets, two vests and then a nine
There's a grenade in a box, and that tech that kept cryin
Cause he ain't been cleaned in a year, he's rusty as clear
He's bout to fall to pieces, cause of his murder career
Yo, I can hear somebody comin in, open the shelf
His eyes bubblin, he said, "It was on"
I felt his palm troubled him shakin
Somebody stomped him out, his dome was achin
He placed me on his waist, the moment I've been waitin
My creation was for blacks to kill blacks
It's gats like me that accidentally, go off, makin niggaz memories
But this time, it's done intentionally
He walked me outside, saw this cat
Cocked me back, said, "Remember me?"
He pulled the trigger but I held on, it felt wrong
Knowing niggaz is waiting in hell for 'im
He squeezed harder, I didn't budge, sick of the blood
Sick of the thugs, sick of wrath of the, next man's grudge
What the other kid did was pull out, no doubt
A newer me in better shape, before he lit out, he lead the chase
My owner fell to the floor, his wig split so fast
I didn't know he was hit, it's over with
Heard mad niggaz screamin, niggaz runnin, cops is comin
Now I'm happy, until I felt somebody else grab me
Damn!

The Avett Brothers - The Ballad of Love and Hate

The Avett Brothers - The Ballad of Love and Hate

Love writes a letter and sends it to hate.
My vacations ending. I'm coming home late.
The weather was fine and the ocean was great
and I can't wait to see you again.

Hate reads the letter and throws it away.
"No one here cares if you go or you stay.
I barely even noticed that you were away.
I'll see you or I won't, whatever."

Love sings a song as she sails through the sky.
The water looks bluer through her pretty eyes.
And everyone knows it whenever she flies,
and also when she comes down.

Hate keeps his head up and walks through the street.
Every stranger and drifter he greets
And shakes hands with every loner he meets
with a serious look on his face.

Love arrives safely with suitcase in tow.
Carrying with her the good things we know.
A reason to live and a reason to grow.
To trust. To hope. To care.

Hate sits alone on the hood of his car.
Without much regard to the moon or the stars.
Lazily killing the last of a jar
Of the strongest stuff you can drink.

Love takes a taxi, a young man drives.
As soon as he sees her, hope fills his eyes.
But tears follow after, at the end of the ride,
'Cause he might never see her again.

Hate gets home lucky to still be alive.
He screams o'er the sidewalk and into the drive.
The clock in the kitchen says 2:55,
And the clock in the kitchen is slow.

Love has been waiting, patient and kind.
Just wanting a phone call or some kind of sign,
That the one that she cares for, who's out of his mind,
Will make it back safe to her arms.

Hate stumbles forward and leans in the door.
Weary head hung, eyes to the floor.
He says "Love, I'm sorry", and she says, "What for?
I'm your and that's it, Whatever.
I should not have been gone for so long.
I'm your's and that's it, forever."

You're mine and that's it, forever.

The Drive-By Truckers - Outfit

The Drive-By Truckers - Outfit

You want to grow up to paint houses like me,
a trailer in my yard till you're 23
You want to be old after 42 years,
keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gears

Well, I used to go out in a Mustang,
a 302 Mach One in green.
Me and your Mama made you in the back
and I sold it to buy her a ring.
And I learned not to say much of nothing
and I figured you already know
but in case you don’t or maybe forgot,
I’ll lay it out real nice and slow

Don’t call what your wearing an outfit.
Don’t ever say your car is broke.
Don’t worry about losing your accent,
a Southern Man tells better jokes.
Have fun but stay clear of the needle.
Call home on your sister’s birthday.
Don’t tell them you’re bigger than Jesus,
don’t give it away.

Six months in a St. Florian foundry,
they call it Industrial Park.
Then hospital maintenance and Tech School
just to memorize Frigidaire parts.
But I got to missing your Mama
and I got to missing you too.
So I went back to painting for my old man
and I guess that’s what I’ll always do

So don’t try to change who you are boy,
and don’t try to be who you ain’t.
And don’t let me catch you in Kendale
with a bucket of wealthy-man’s paint.

Don’t call what your wearing an outfit.
Don’t ever say your car is broke.
Don’t sing with a fake British accent.
Don’t act like your family’s a joke.
Have fun, but stay clear of the needle,
call home on your sister’s birthday.
Don’t tell them you’re bigger than Jesus,
Don’t give it away.
Don’t give it away.

Smokey Robinson - Tracks of My Tears

Smokey Robinson - Tracks of My Tears

People say I'm the life of the party
Because I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I'm blue
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears.
I need you, need you
Since you left me if you see me with another girl
Seeming like I'm having fun
Although she may be cute
She's just a substitute
Because you're the permanent one.
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears.
I need you, need you
Outside I'm masquerading
Inside my hope is fading
Just a clown oh yeah
Since you put me down
My smile is my make up
I wear since my break up with you.
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

Electrelane - Saturday

Electrelane - Saturday

I've got a photo from a long time ago
Hold it in your pocket. Hold it in your pocket
I've got a ring that my grandmother gave to me
Wear it on your finger. Wear it on your finger
I've got a letter that's full of our secrets
The last one you sent to me. The last one you sent to me, oh
What shall I do with a life turned to memory ?
I tried to forget you. I tried to forget you
Where shall I go when I wake from a dream of you ?
I tried to forget you. I tried to forget you
I still see you. I still see you. I still see you
I turn in my sleep and I see you beside me
It's your imagination. It's your imagination
I go to the places we went to together
Find another countries. Find another countries
I turn in my sleep and I see you beside me
It's your imagination. It's your imagination
I want to go on but it's another day without you
I tried to forget you. I tried to forget you
I still see you. I still see you
I still see you...