1. |
Dear Sister
03:04
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oh where will you go dear sister
they said to get your suitcase packed
it is splitting at the seams
it is splitting at the seams
i wonder when you pressed your body
against a brethren's flesh was it sweet
you were always wilder than me
you were always wilder than me
father flipped the kitchen table, it floated
strangely in slow motion
mother dove for a souvenier mug from our holiday
by the ocean
that night you crawled in bed beside me
our tears drowned a patchwork quilt
you were shaking like a leaf
you were shaking like a leaf
oh where will you go dear sister
they said to get your suitcase packed
it is splitting at the seams
it is splitting at the seams
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2. |
There They Go
03:26
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those poor souls down below
blowing to and fro
in the perfect storm
my high rise sees it all
castle with a view
to kill for
I put words in the mouths of strangers
whisper what I think they're saying
see those faces glued together?
never mind the awful weather, she says
throw me in this bed of daisies
there they go
there they go
yooo hooooo
up all night don't know why
gazing at the lights
in the summertime
what i'd give to feel a breeze
but they don't let you open
the windows from up this high
See that man who’s pacing round and round the fountain
He's there every night hour after hour
when he throws back his head
like he's howling for the dead
I know exactly what he's going on about
there he goes
there he goes
yooo hooooo
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3. |
Caragana Switch
03:25
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She sent me out a searching
for a caragana switch
for i deserved a beating
or so my mother said
The thin ones leave you bleeding
and the thick ones hurt like hell
which is where i’m going anyway
or so my mother tells
As adeptly as I’m able
I consider every branch
every leaf blowing gently in the breeze
but there’s no way of winning
so i take a random stab
and sing, oh the pain you'll bring to me
I was out a waltzing
with a soldier and his gun
with a salesman who went door to door
and an old politician
The mean ones leave you bleeding
and the sweet ones hurt like hell
which is where I’m going anyway
like my mother used to tell
As adeptly as I’m able
I consider every man
every kiss blown and every ardent plea
but there’s no way of winning /
so i take a random stab
and sing, oh the pain you'll bring to me
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4. |
Citizen Alien
03:14
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You've gotta go
I'm coming with you
we'll cross the new divide
You are my mystery
future and history
I'm always on your side, love
I'm always on your side
You paint your hair
I'll paint my skin
We'll paint a document
makes no sense that a stranger's stamp
can seal my true love's fate
can seal my true love's fate
call the children in, citizen alien
tell them it’s a vacation
citizen alien
go and take your mother's hand, citizen alien
we're going on vacation
citizen alien
we'll pack the photos
and bury the heirlooms
out by our favorite pine
but you are my measures
my only treasures
I'm always on your side loves
I'm always on your side
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5. |
Virginia
04:40
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She packs my lunches in liquor store bags
Spends my Unicef money on marlboro lights
Plays the golden oldies on an ancient transistor
And waltzes me around the kitchen at night
Already gone when I wake in the morning
Job number one at the first break of day
A note on the fridge says i love you, Virginia
Here's 2 bucks for milk I'll see you at eight
And when the wind bends the boulevard trees
Thinks it can break them but they're rooted deep
Always reminds me of what you can take
And dancing around while the radio plays
Sometimes I find her asleep like a baby
Curled up on the bathroom linoleum floor
But only on nights when the memories get nasty
You offer one drink but they always want more
She says forlornly one day I will leave her
Stretch out my wings for faraway lands
I can't help laughing cause both of us know I'll
Be pushed from the nest by her own hands
And when the rain comes crashing right in
Thinks it can drown us but somehow we swim
Always reminds me of what you can take
And dancing around while the radio plays
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6. |
Barbershop Shears
04:05
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One rainy day in July
I stabbed you in your lumberjack thigh
when I felt upon me your wild hands
I was chopping the forest of your hair
with my new barbershop shears
you never know, do ya
That man standing by the brill cream
with his jaw dropped in utter disbelief
is the reason i travelled so far
there once was a woman on a boat
mustered all her strength to leave her home
8000 kilometres
from Kyoto to Victoria
you never know, do ya
your blazing eyes locked on mine
and i braced my knees and steeled my spine
while the waiting room erupted into cheers
he's been asking for that for years
You pried the scissors from your leg
ripped my apron up and tied a turniquette
with a heavy lean you lumbered to the till
and without a word you paid your bill
you never know, do ya
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7. |
Helen's Waltz
01:43
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8. |
Husavik
03:01
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Dear Sigrid, it seems a hundred years
since your letter found me here
how the flourish in your pen
sends me right around the bend
please tell me, my miserable reply
left this quarantine alive and
made it's way across the sea
and you stayed in Husavik
This is no place to be
This is no place to be
There's one dream keeping me half sane
faith you're not aboard The Queen
travelling obliviously
when finally in New Iceland you find me
and all my clan laid down in the ground beside the Cree
and I pray, you're in Husavik
This is no place to be
This is no place to be
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9. |
Parliament Gardens
04:00
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Wake up
you're standing on the bed
again shouting fire
at the top of your lungs
Take cover
trying to find your men
in trenches and barbed wire
and keep them from harm
it's only in your head I try to tell you
it's only in your head
retreat my darling
and come back to bed
highest honours pinned upon a broken heart
for a hero's gallantry
i'll be the one who shakes your shoulders hard
leads you out of your battle back under the sheets
Look out the window there's
our sanctuarious back yard where
it's peaceful and calm
bursting with flowers
that we steal from the parliament gardens
and keep them from harm
it's only in your head
I try to tell you
it's only in your head
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10. |
Twenty Storeys High
02:59
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I woke up in where the hell and looked around the room
someone’s clothes and whatever those are, wondering what to do
who is going to bring me coffee or ring my neck for good
I really didn’t know for sure what was coming through the door
closed my eyes and hit rewind but the evening was erased
liquidated, evaporated in a foggy haze
i’d better think fast grab my jeans and crawl out of that window
got out of bed and realized that i was twenty stories high
then the sun found the sky,
rose so glorious that I
nearly hung my eyes in shame
wrapped me up in golden light
I could swear it whispered nice
you just climb down these luminescent rays
mmmmmm
slung my legs over the sill and reached for god knows what
said a prayer to whoever's there when I heard someone shout
don't go yet i made you breakfast, eggs and last night's fries
and you may not have realized that you are twenty stories high
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Leaf Rapids Winnipeg, Manitoba
Leaf Rapids is a 4 piece Winnipeg band creating a Canadiana soundscape. Words thrown around are cinematic, Manitoba Motown, Spacey spaghetti-western, liquid silver.
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