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Crux Interpretum (Tapes 1​-​3)

by The Crux

/
1.
Badge On 04:55
Loaded gun strapped to my chest My heart beats 'neath a bulletproof vest I'm shining my shoes, I'm going out tonight Sit down at Frankie's, napkin on my knee The food's as greasy as it ever used to be I'm sitting at our old booth, thinking of you Caught in the cadence of your memory I'm just the same man I ever used to be Trying to do what's right in the chaos of the night When I got my badge on, the night lasts so long It's so hard to do what they want me to When what's right is so wrong Is the way that it's got to be? Keeping our love beneath a lock and key I work for the law all night while you work beneath the red light Is this some kind of inside joke? Where the good guys are bad and the bad guys are broke Someone's running for reelection, someone's pushing crack in the classified section We rendezvous at 1:45, a jaded cop and a prostitute You face, powdered pink I'm falling, I'm falling, I'm falling And as the streets steam, we're wrapped in bed sheets The squeak of the bed, the sound of your breath As I come into a blue dream I'm wide... awake and things are very strange... The city is a mountain range And all at once... I try to run There's sirens on a school bus... From my home town... I'm spinning round and round And the boss... feeds me shots of Everclear... I'm putting on my riot gear... And we march... I use my torch On houses made of cardboard... smoke rises up There are demons driving dump trucks The city's just a chain gang... One big judicial gangbang And then I see your face Gazing out into an empty street I tell my waitress I'm too hungry to eat I'm sitting at our old booth, thinking of you Pay for my coffee when I've had my fill A dime, a nickel, a dollar bill And I'm gone, walking on, into the dawn
2.
Mad Lolly 04:57
Gentlemen, you are far too kind May I inquire a jar of wine For as you pour, so shall you find What’s kicking around this old cat’s mind Hey lolly lolly lolly, ho lolly lo Mad Lolly Lolly - Said hey, what’s that? She’s everywhere that glasses clink She’s right outside, she's in your drink She’s got every single Idaho potato wrapped up in her trunk She’s a fast driver, a swan diver A bee-hiver, yes that’s the stuff Don’t get me wrong, I’m no empty suit I don’t do well at playing cute But if you should wish to change my mood, dear sirs just top her off That’s right - hey lolly lolly lolly, ho lolly lo Mad Lolly Lolly - Come closer now I bet you heard she brings good luck Dice and rubber ducks? But, cowboy, nothing comes for free You still don’t know her specialty Grandpa’s at the country store Selling live ammo and the ways of the Lord They’re lining up, they all want more Get your live ammo and the ways of the Lord Gentlemen, I do believe It’s time I up and took my leave If you’ve got no change to spend on me I’ll have to call my friend
3.
Man of Earth 03:01
Left inside the garden, right beneath the rose Lies a painted little dummy with a crooked little nose His hands lay crossed beside him, pointed to the East Rain creeps in his silly head, like drops of dummy dreams And it’s only mud and wood. You should have known that I would do no good. I’d let you go, overflow, now you sleep alone It’s just a shame, just a shame In all the time I’ve wasted, one thing still runs true January’s cold wind needs February’s youth I went outside to see her, picked my fingers on a thorn Saw the clay creep from the place where my skin was torn And I hardly have the strength to sigh and say, “Won’t that pirate ship come take me away?” For heaven’s sake, just yesterday, I came out here to play But not today. Not today. I’ve been to school on Sunday, I’ve seen how that story goes Adam gave the creatures names and Eve grew from a bone They bit into a secret, they must have shook that thing Adam had to leave the place, but a bit of him remains And I guess I should be moving on. Ain’t it funny how the world looks in a song? Ain’t it funny how we work the plow, and what comes from it now? A man of Earth. MAN OF EARTH.
4.
OLD JOE JANUARY put a tack inside my boot He pawned Melinda’s dollhouse for his hundred dollar suit I’ve been hollering all morning since that icy sun come up I’d take a swig of whiskey but that bastard stole my cup Last month for Christmas my pa got a new shotgun I’ve got a notion to go fetch it, gawd knows that poor fool had better run People call me Freddie and I’m every mother’s son But when Old Joe spits tobacco at my sister just for fun I start a’feeling nasty, got that venom in my veins I disappear, I’m drinking beer, I’m sitting in the rain And I see my field a’flooding, rising high with mud And I see that train a’coming, rolling with it’s boxcars painted shut Straight through town runs that old freight line Just like my brains and my veins and my spine And I fall face down in the mud to pray The sun will rise, but not today OLD JOE JANUARY tied a rocket to my mule He dirtied up my garden hose from siphoning my fuel He broke the strings on my guitar - the fool can’t even play He stole my hog and shaved my dog and ate my birthday cake So fellas, play your banjos, ladies make your washboards whine I’ll be fifteen hounds a howling, hollering from in them lonesome pines OLD JOE JANUARY got arrested in the spring But I know he didn’t do it, he was busy stealing my TV Now he’s headed up the Hudson, on that lonesome trail And I’m headed to the station to pay that fucker’s bail And I see my field a’flooding, rising high with mud And I see that train a’coming, I reach down for my ticket stub
5.
The Beat 02:32
Everybody’s talking about THE BEAT They hope that it comes to them sweetly Discreetly you fall asleep You dream, your eyes fluttering Praying with each breath that you breathe You’re so soft Still don’t know the cost You’re so soft You don’t know when you get lost What have you won? You’re done when you are done What have you won? You must walk until you run I wish you well The rest can go to hell Try to wake you up You just clench your eyes and yell
6.
GONNA SWING ON THAT GOOOOLDEN GATE ‘Cause he ain’t never coming back I’m going to lay them straight With nothing but the clothes on my back And nobody but the bold and the brave Can find the guts to climb the red I’ll be up above the San Francisco Bay Or I’m going to the desert instead GONNA SWING ON THAT GOOOOLDEN GATE Like it’s my dying day It must be something I ate That makes me want to act this way And you know what’s at stake Don’t it make you want to climb the shelf? Take pity, take pity, take pity, babe Take pity upon yourself GONNA SWING ON THAT GOOOOLDEN GATE The fog’ll come rolling in This ain’t no coffee break I’m never coming home again Open up your (goooolden gates / ICE was here) California (baby here I come / for a good time call) F - f - f - f- f-f - f - fuckit, I’m gone Just as soon as summer turns into fall
7.
8.
Setting out flowers on the top of the roof The powerlines drip with tennis shoes Dixieland on the radio I walk downstairs and watch the food get cold Hear the taxi and the slammadadoor “12.50, not a penny more!” Stairways rumble as his heavy foot falls I feel it resonating through the cardboard thin walls Kill the music and I pull down the blinds Shut out the city’s always waiting outside Take a deep breath, I can feel his burn The hinges squeak as the doorknob turns and He don’t understand love I don’t hold him, I step out of his way He brought home his check today Worked so hard since the days of his youth I heat him up a bowl of barley soup Looks in the bowl and squints his eyes Searching for the meat that’s missing inside A silent dinner and a shake of his head Wipes his mouth and walks himself to bed Polish the picture of Doris & Lou Moved to the city back in ‘42 Brought their china and their baby along But left something back on the family farm and now He don't understand love I remember when the doctor took me aside “If he wasn’t so stubborn he’d have surely died “Two more nights in the hospital, make sure he cuts down on that cholesterol” So many things in this apartment to clean TV turns on at 7:15 "Stay tuned for weather and sports" By 8:00 I can hear him start to snore Pick up the check from the hardware store Rent and bills, not a penny more Dixieland on the radio, I dance soft to the city's glow and He don't understand love
9.
Hey dear momma, it’s your darlin boy Everythin is doin just fine I got a job down on the dock I was born for the city life Mama I’m gettin paid Everybody knows my name I’m courtin sweet Miss Lorraine We go dancin every Saturday night I'm sorry it's been so long since you heard from me But momma I got this opportunity I need a half a grand by Tuesday please But don't you worry bout me Momma it's your darlin boy Hey dear Buster, you're my right hand man Y always have and always been Remember when we got outta da pen? It's a good thing I'm good at talking Well since then things have changed The city's got an ugly face I sleep in an empty train and the cops got an eye on me Well yesterday I gambled away my father's watch Still haven't been paid for them nights at the dock I went to Lorraine's but she changed the lock I can't go home this way Buster, you're my right hand man Hey Lorraine do you remember me? I loved you till my veins run dry You left me with a single kiss and a loaded 45 I got a great notion, I got a great notion I'm gonna jump into that ocean With the morphine runnin around my head I loved you more than I love myself Now I'm hard up and the hounds of hell Know my blood and they are on my trail I'm not doing well Love you till my veins run dry To whom may be concerned When my body washes up on the brine Don't you send my body home I was born for the city life Everybody knows my name Y'see me nearly every day Drinkin up your pocket change Yeah, everybody knows my name But no one's gonna miss me when I'm gone 'cept for my folks back on that family farm So don't you send my body home I can't go home this way Don't you send my body home
10.
I do believe, I do believe If love comes to you once it can never leave And if you don't got time for it Better wake up and learn to adore it And I don't care what day of the working week it is You'd better get down in your soul
11.
A long time ago I heard it said Stuttered, spoken by a friend The Loyalist got out of bed Looked around and scratched her head And I've missed you ever since you left home You can't put wine back in a grape You can't go back this thing's on tape She can't remember why she came It's all dog eat dog and ape eat ape And I've missed you ever since you left home The Loyalist can drink her fill In the house upon the hill Back beyond that haunted mill That's where the Loyalist can drink her fill And I've missed you ever since you left home
12.
Autumn, come and gone I can feel it in my lungs In the wind and in the sun The leaves turn brown, fallen to the ground Washed clean away Down the sewers, down the drains I met her there, looking as fair As any girl I'd seen She turned into a dream The garden stirred, she held a ladybird And drifted out of sight It happened every single night Just someone I know... We sang and we danced, she taught me about plants Bell peppers in the sun Roasting one by one She's fine, tall, she hung on my wall Showed me precious things Even now it stings Just someone I know... I've measured my worth in boxes of earth I've laid down in the sea She's always beside me I laugh, I weep, I talk in my sleep I harbor no regrets I draw a silhouette
13.
Well I am coming home at three and my mind's gone My baby's sleeping sound with the light on If I smell like I look and look like I feel That might just about break my deal I've always known if I gotta go I got friends who can help me on up in Reno Up in Reno, Nevada, Reno, Nevada Up in Reno, Nevada, Reno, Nevada Up in Reno, Nevada, Reno Nevada Up in Reno Nevada, Reno Nevada Look at what they're doing to your blue eyed boy Well I've been looking like a lech at a sprinter van And a fine-looking, half empty beer can I can't look strangers in the face I'm sitting down, putting on some Sam Chase The long way home on a backroad I'm never going to drive through Sebastopol A bowl of ramen ain't beef stew What's the cheapest item on the menu? Look at what they're doing to your blue eyed boy Your blue eyed boy.... Well I've been sticking my mug on every light post Scraping off the mold so I can eat toast Flopping all around just like a fish fin Hanging at the diner trying to fit in Giving it all up for a handshake Trying to remember everyone's name Leaning myself against a phone pole Nobody told me 'bout the dress code Crying in my free plate of french fries Trying to remember your eyes The water is hard as a damn rock And every jump ends with a backflop Look at what they're doing to your blue eyed boy Your blue eyed boy....
14.
Revival 02:25
Rise my soul and sing me home Beyond the crystal fountain Make this pile of rocks to roam I'm carved out of a mountain Hey, ho, what do ya know? A man and a monkey on a telephone pole Hey, ho, where do you go They take the soul and then leave the bones Jordan's water is chilly and cold Brother, when you step inside You never will grow old Hey, ho, what do ya know? A man and a monkey on a telephone pole Hey, ho, where do you go They take the soul and then leave the bones Where is the song after it's sung? No tongue can tell What did David say when he lost his son? No tongue can tell Where do we end and where do we start? No tongue can tell Why would Gd want a broken heart? No tongue can tell Hey, ho, what do ya know? A man and a monkey on a telephone pole Hey, ho, where do you go They take the soul and then leave the bones
15.
It seems we're at the end of another love affair And I can't stand apologies, pretending that you care And the town that I live in gets kind of loud What starts as a whisper ends with a shout Can't you feel? We're losing altitude, there's something on the wing And if it's just a game to you, then it don't mean a thing When the town that you live in takes you further from home You're better off out on the road then feeling all alone It's been good, it's been real, it's been a matter of fact And I don't know about you, but I'm slipping out the back Because the town that I live in has got a good place to hide I'll see you where we started, back on the other side

credits

released August 13, 2016

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