1. |
Long Walk Home
04:55
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One in a million
Or so we were told
We received orders from the gov’ner
Cross the desert; seek the wisdom
Fetch it from the farthest fold
The sunlight fighting furious
In the sky a single hawk
The desert with its secrets
We gathered for the walk
The long walk home
We have one story to tell
Good God and it’s a good one
You will remember it well
For passing to your children
These motions begged in our heads
For congregation
So we give you peace in your beds
And you may rest well
You sent the best
We lay your sleepy, weeping
Weary heads to rest
Jesus Christ you would not believe me
If I told you what I saw
Beyond the desert’s charade
Yes we tore down all the walls
The dance was something brilliant
Blazing flurries; winds of sand
We trembled with the knowledge
Of the eternal man
And turned to face long walk home
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2. |
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I got to her when she wanted someone new
My timing was just right
But just as soon, she was out of view
I got to her when she was looking all around
She caught my foreign face
Just a stranger in the crowd
She likes to walk on down
By the riverside
Moonlight passing over
Everything God would grace
I’ve seen his face
Would you laugh or cry
If it all came down
Black as night
Or white as day
I got to her when she needed someone new
Does it matter now to her
The things that I would do?
Does it matter now
The places we will call home?
Forever more
She likes to walk on down
By the riverside
Moonlight passing over
Everything God would grace
I’ve seen his face
Would you laugh or cry
If it all came down
Black as night
Or white as day
When she walks
She’s like a fog on the breeze
She moves with ease
With her hands out wide
It’s like we’ve been side by side
All these years
All these long and lonely
Cold and lonely years
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3. |
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I’ve got my problems with everyone
Don’t you understand?
With my mom and my dad
And all my best friends
I’ll put myself together
Just to prove that I can
And I’ll tear myself apart
With my own two hands
I don’t have any brothers
By flesh or by blood
I’ve been so turned around
I forgot who I was
I’ve been tumbling and rambling
For so many miles
I hope that someday I’ll find
Someone to walk through life with for a while
Maybe someday I’ll get my courage again
Or just something I need if I ask my old man
I might go to jail like a priest on a mission
Good God Mom I hope I never go to prison
I may talk and I may not listen
Maybe I’ll never know what I’m missing
I’ve been tumbling and rambling
For so many miles
I hope that someday I’ll find
Someone to walk through life with for a while
Maybe someday I’ll find a religion
That makes something good out of all this hard living
And before I die I hope that I find
Someone to walk through life with for a while
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4. |
Big Big Plans
04:26
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We could see the sun
When we were young and raw
And it looked so small
Now we know that it’s not
Well our deception was strong
And we got big and tall
So we made our plans
And like warriors we fought
And thought we’d conquer them all
We might be the ones
Who catch us all the stars
And make some big big plans
We might grow to like
The things about ourselves
We thought we’d always hate
And think up all the lines
That nobody ever wrote
And we could write them all
We might be the ones
Who catch us all the stars
And make some big big plans
We might be the ones
Who make the mothers scream and shout
And clap their hands
We might be the ones
Who gots us something to say
To our one million fans
We might be the ones
Who catch us all the stars
And make some big big plans
We might grow to like
The things about ourselves
We thought we’d always hate
And think up all the lines
That nobody ever wrote
And we could write them all
We live for what they say
And when they’re not around
They say things that are so absurd
We still might be the ones
Who say extraordinary things
And use some big big words
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5. |
Golden One**
04:13
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When we were young
Kicking rocks and picking up words
We believed everything we heard
We hurried down the halls
The world was the size of my room
It was painted on the walls
Well, every continent fell
We hurried down the halls
When you left
You were the golden one
You were the only one
One step closer to the sun
These colors seemed not bright enough
When at long last you came down
From your castle on the hill
All the young ones running still
Singing down the halls
When you left (Lay me down near the sun)
You were the golden one
You were the only one
One step closer to the sun (Lay me down near the sun)
These colors seemed not bright enough
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6. |
Toll Man
02:54
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I went down to the magic water
The toll man said I was right on time
I knelt down to take a drink when what he said
Sure did change my mind
He said boy we are born into weakness
We find our flaws on the way
Waiting out the weather sometimes we forget
That living and dying are the same
I don’t mean to make you sad
But this is just the way
I went down to mail you a letter
But the post was already filled
With other ones like me with their letters
And the line stretched over the hills
I ran just as fast as I could then
Down to the old river banks
The toll man was standing beside me
He said boy we are born into weakness
We find our flaws on the way
When we’re living, dying seems so infinite
We forget that dying and living are the same
I don’t mean to make you sad
But this is just the way
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7. |
Young Girls
03:53
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She looked to me like she loved cocaine
I could tell by the way she moved her hair away from her face
While we were listening to Mohammad’s Radio
She asked me who the artist was
I laughed and said honey this is Warren Zevon
I tried to explain that even though he’s gone
The werewolves of London cry on
In that way I’m always trying to explain things with a song
She just smiled and shook her head
In that beautiful way
That only young girls can before they reach that unexcitable age
And we continued to assume that we’d forget each others’ face
And maybe even each others’ names
But who am I to talk about it anyway?
Young girls come and young girls go
Some grow old and some get caught up in the ever-youthful mill
Some grow distant and some will never leave your side
Some want kids of their own and some will run away and hide
But I never was so satisfied
She looked to me like she wanted to escape from the pain
I could tell by her California stories
And her California gaze
She told me of her others
They sounded just like me
So slightly separated from the lover
She wanted them to be
And maybe I too thought I saw
A worthy adversary
In this war of love
The battle lines, they get so cold and blurry
But again she shook her head
And snapped me out of my daze
In that way that only young girls can before they reach that unexcitable age
And we continued to assume that we’d forget each others’ face
We’d grow old and never know each others’ childrens’ names
But who am I to talk about it anyway?
Young girls come and young girls go
Some grow old and some get caught up in the ever-youthful mill
Some will grow distant, some will never leave your side
Some want kids of their own and some will run away and hide
But I never was so satisfied
All the quick looks never added up to much
‘Cus I spent so much time worried that I’d lost my touch
But she called me baby and she laid me down in my bed
Funny how young girls go straight to your head
And she’ll remember everything that I said
Young girls come and young girls go
Some grow old and some get caught up in the ever-youthful mill
Some grow distant and some never leave your side
Some want kids of their own and some run away and hide
But never in my whole life would I be so satisfied
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8. |
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Young Paul Wilson had a bit less to say
And Sally Rowe was not likely to stray
Paul preferred the company of the birds and stones
And Sally was asking for his love
At the church, they prayed down on their knees
And in return Paul got sent overseas
Sally wrote him everyday for two long years
Paul never opened one for superstitious fears
Sally was tossing rocks into that river bed
Paul was talking to that God in his head
And he said…
Could it be, could it be
She is the one for me?
What is love, what is war?
Are they worth fighting for?
Could it be that I don’t know
Exactly what’s beyond the door?
Could it be, tell me Lord
Could it be?
Paul was stationed at the Western line
The enemy was creeping up from behind
Paul was praying on a bed of snow when the
Enemy stabbed him and slit his throat
Sally knew in the moment, she did not say a word
She gave her last letter to the stones and birds
She was tossing rocks into that river bed
Knowing that her young Paul Wilson now was surely dead
Paul was looking down from heaven up above as Sally
Swung from a rope with a note that read “for my love”
And it said…
Could it be, could it be
He is the one for me?
What is love, what is war?
Are they worth dying for?
Could it be that I don’t know
Exactly what’s beyond the door
Could it be, tell me Lord
Could it be?
When at war we grow ourselves thicker skin
For the money or next of kin
Jubilation when our boys come home
When they don’t, we’ll sing this mournful song
Paul and Sally were a match from the start
And they made it ‘til death did they part
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9. |
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Tell me how
And I’ll make amends
With the ghost
Of what we were then
Come in close
And I’ll touch your hair
Come in close
While we are here
After all
We all have dreams
After all
We all have dreams
Later on
When we are old
Short of breath
From our stories told
When we reach
Up to the sky
I’ve been scared of many things
But never to die
After all
We all have dreams
After all
We all have dreams
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Andrew Vait Seattle, Washington
Andrew Vait lives in Seattle, WA and writes far-reaching folk-pop songs.
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