1. |
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my monkey goes to the store
buys the sour milk
and his coins are counterfeit
the clerk just smiles and says have a nice day
my monkey pulls my teeth
well the dope's gone bad
but his eyes still shine with glee
wears a grin and mouths, there's hell to pay
tell me won't you tell me why you walk this path
when it holds nothing for you
read all the maps and still can't find your way
i find a little place in my mind bottled up
we can hide and tell our lies to ourselves
cover your eyes, it might just look ok
my monkey takes my pills
smashes down his walls and ties my knots for me
wipes his mouth and says he's here to stay
seven days and seven nights
so you cut your ties and unhook your anchors
let the vultures think you're not their prey
liquid cleaning lady of your broken past
sweeps the dust from your soul
fill up a glass and make a toast to health
glass-enclosed messiah of your broken heart
and destroyer of homes
i'd tell you where i've been if i could tell myself
but they say time
heals all
temporal bandage censors words mis-spoken
time
heals all
so close your eyes my dear like nothing ends too soon
they'll point and laugh like nothing ever bloodied up their backs
they'll say you're not worth anything at all
but time can't save you now
the time that was closed off the would be
i hope you still sleep at night
'cause i can't even close my eyes
my monkey downs his final drop
and sends me straight to hell
he's not made to last
won't you tell me won't you tell me where did we go wrong
you said that things were looking up
i guess you tried to fly too close to the sun
i clean out all the traces you left behind and lock the doors
with keys that weren't yours
open your eyes, it might still be ok
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2. |
Tongue Tied
02:58
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one day he washes up
clears his head
shuts his mouth
puts on his clean face
he's scared to be
seen without
'cause it hides his broken parts
covers the cracks he can't seal
dirt thoughts behind clean bars
the face you see isn't real
but you'd hate to see
what he is underneath
one day he washes out
a splash of life
breaks through the bars
one day down on his knees
his hard shell cracks
spills his scars
well he can't control these thoughts
so now he gives up, sets them free
well he knows it's all his fault
but why bother trying to stay clean
when you know you'll stray
so long you've tried, but not today.
scrub the makeup down to bone, tear out the stitches that still
tie your tongue to silence, i'll say the dirty word and i may gag
but all the words my throat holds down don't drown in silence
left unspoken but still living, dying to be heard
each new day you try to fix me, stifle my screams as you kiss me
and i'd smile but my teeth have rotted out from all this trash
i keep covered but don't throw away, it builds and builds
until
one
day
i'll crack
one day i fear you'll see what i've made of me
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3. |
If I Could Stop Time
03:22
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if i could stop time, i'd tell the sun to stay away
and keep daylight from blinding the night sky
if i could stop time, i'd ask the moon to spend the day
push back the dawn as long as it still shines
tonight, need never see its end
we'd just close our eyes
and turn hours into dust
if i could stop time, i'd freeze the clock, it'd never change
to let the seconds tick seems so wrong
if i could stop time, i'd tell the sun to stay away
because by this time tomorrow you'll be gone
eight days and eight thousand nights, we'd count the hours as they pass by
and know
they'd never bring the day
but i can't
so stay
with me here for the night
i'll dry your eyes, we'll do our best to smile
and i know
come sunrise
our faces crack, and never want to part
so for now, stay here with me
well here comes the day
the sun blinds my eyes
i'd give anything if it could turn back time
tomorrow came anyway
and i'm begging please
to wind back the clock
but the shuttle's already at the stop
you get on
and it drives off.
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4. |
Bad Habits
03:13
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well i've been trying not to think so loud my mind shuts out my mouth
'cause all those things i meant to say much earlier took a fucking year
just to make their way off of my tongue and past my teeth 'cause
man, well, the voices upstairs love to talk and tell me you won't hear
my point of view quite as true as it sounds to me, well, really, no,
it doesn't sound like much but that's enough to keep me up at night
well i tell you, finally, butterflies in acid burn my insides out
but soon dissolve 'cause now you smile and everything's all right
please, won't you show me some place where i can get some rest 'round here
and i’ve been trying to pull my head out of my ass, well i don’t know
seems like every time my mouth starts talking, by word three,
he’s stabbed you through the heart, an accusation cracks the ribcage
i didn’t mean to sound like that, it’s just i’m still reaching for who i ought to be
and i’m not sorry that i told you, i still would, it’s just
every time the man up top barks orders he don’t realize
that he’s no saint himself, until he goes and proves it to you
and i’m down on my knees, begging for forgiveness, and you’re smiling down at me
please, won't you show me some place where i can make some peace 'round here
no matter how i behave, it seems to come back and haunt me
and i can hear my words rain down like hell,
i promise you, it’s not ‘cause i can’t tell
my hands are cuffed and stay behind my back,
i swear, i’m not like that
eighteen years aren’t enough to scrub clean
dirt painted over but always seen
self-spilled blood of a fuming old brat
i thought i could beat that
but she paints by numbers to three
and the picture breaks me clean
(i’ve been trying hard to break these bad habits)
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5. |
Empty
03:23
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write out your name
the words you form look more like your shame
three hundred days
but by the end your text can't fill the page
the ink is drying out
as your time is drying up
dirty words on wasted pages, sixteen volumes of downfall
even your pen wonders why you bother to write more at all
each new day is one more page to throw away
paint a pretty face
you know in time she will wash away
the tears are running down
and your color's running out
smearing pigments through cracked glass shines your endless disappointment
you'd gouge your eyes out just so you'd never have to see her again
you're not satisfied no matter what you do
'cause the reflection always shows too much of you
do what you do
but don't expect to see much new
fingers dirty with ego clay as you mold and mold again
it's just a deformed shape of the same who you've always been
well it never looks quite right
'cause try as you might
you never make it further in this game
i think you might as well just give up on playing
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6. |
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7. |
Give It Time
04:01
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8. |
Lost at Sea
05:18
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spent your days adrift at sea
and let the winds save you, maybe
tore holes in your sails to send
yourself nowhere but to the end
spent your nights awake in bed
too scared to walk inside your head
pushed away everyone
you loved, said they’d be better off
(what are you running from?)
without you, they can’t trust you not to hurt them these days
the fuse is lit, the clock ticks to blow, so stay away
letters you saved
tears smeared the page
her eyes long dried
but swore you’d change
spent days cracking set bones,
too scared to open thickened skin
doors bolted shut
still called your name
six calendars watched
you stay the same
set sail the day you failed,
but no one even wanted you to change
spent your days adrift at sea
and let the winds free you, maybe
smoke rising from the mast
not to be saved, but ever damned
(what are you waiting for?)
a search party sent in your name came back empty
a closed casket, they all wept for just one more chance to see
you
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9. |
Poor Bird
02:42
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poor bird, broke your wing on her goodbye and fell from your flight
poor bird, hit the curb as she left you and nothing works right
all the trash in the street says it feels the same as you
doesn't clean itself up because there's nothing it can do
poor bird, one half down, one to go so on the ground you wait
poor bird, what's done is dead and gone, no use fighting with fate
so let's be trash in the street, why try to fly with just one wing
maybe it's not all that clean but you wouldn't change a thing
rest your head against the wall of what's against you
seems all you can do is hide your eyes
poor bird, lost one wing to love and one foot to the grave
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Seth Benjamin & the Philistines Brooklyn, New York
Seth Benjamin & the Philistines are an alt-rock band from Brooklyn. Their songs have been called "catchy and sad."
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