1. |
O Black Mountain
04:08
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I saw the shadow of a mountain on another mountain
I saw a young man wearing an old mans face
on the Lost River Highway, in the light abounding
I felt the morning sun pressing through the haze
Tomorrow I'll walk in another man's clothes
Tomorrow I'll walk in another man's clothes
but today we are going
Where nobody knows
It was a long obedience in the wrong direction
there were mice, there were men, there were best laid plans
I was still lake staring at a strange reflection
until I felt the water passing through my hands
Tomorrow I'll walk in another man's clothes
Tomorrow I'll walk in another man's clothes
but today we are going
Where nobody knows
I crossed the causeway in the rain
where no one smiles or says a thing
I built my cottage by the sea
where I was born, not born to be
O Black Mountain call me home
take me from this place I've known
Tomorrow I'll walk in another man's clothes
Tomorrow I'll walk in another man's clothes
but today we are going
Where? Nobody knows
Nobody knows
Nobody knows
Nobody knows
Nobody knows
I saw the shadow of a mountain on another mountain
I saw the shadow of a mountain on another mountain
I saw the shadow of a mountain on another mountain
I saw the shadow of a mountain on another mountain
alleluia
alleluia
alleluia
alleluia
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2. |
Days of Obligation
05:17
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There were days of obligation
there were nights of discontent
there were days of obligation
there were nights of discontent
You woke up with light in your eyes
but you don't know where it went
You were getting by on skin and teeth
you were dangling by a strand
you were getting by on skin and teeth
you were dangling by a strand
finding ways to build a life
in a house that's made on sand
Show me the road that I must travel
for you to receive my heart
show me the way that I must follow
for you to relieve my heart
Every Sunday morning
they're speaking in tongues
every Sunday morning
they're speaking in tongues
walking in the spirit
and the spirit fills their lungs
Show me the road that I must travel
for you to receive my heart
show me the way that I must follow
for you to relieve my heart
There were days of obligation
there were nights of discontent
there were days of obligation
there were nights of discontent
there were days
there were days . . .
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3. |
Even the Tallest Trees
04:32
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Put away your childish ways
lift your head and keep on walking
throw away that old bouquet
with its petals dry and dropping
When sometimes it seems
like you might break in the breeze
you've lost your head in the clouds
where there's no light to be found
even the tallest trees
even the tallest trees
even the tallest trees
reach the ground
Beware of you idle thoughts
and the past to which you're clinging
put away where time forgot
what seems like ending is beginning
And when sometimes it seems
like you might break in the breeze
you've lost your head in the clouds
where there's no light to be found
even the tallest trees
even the tallest trees
even the tallest trees
reach the ground
When you find you're lost again
and the darkest night it leaves you shaking
just turn your face into the wind
and toward the present day awaking
When sometimes it seems
like you might break in the breeze
you've lost your head in the clouds
where there's no light to be found
even the tallest trees
even the tallest trees
even the tallest trees
reach the ground
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4. |
Maybelle's Gone
04:12
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What you want, I can't give to you
all at once, in an afternoon
we say "so long" to the scent of August days
summer's gone and you are far away
and now . . . Maybelle's gone
and now . . . Maybelle's gone
somehow life goes on
The trees stripped bare in there cold despair
the leaved turned brown; we're floating to the ground
a cold wind blows through these empty limbs
we're in the yard where our folks still live
and now . . . Maybelle's gone
and now . . . Maybelle's gone
somehow life goes on
You think too much, better than not at all
or drowning your thoughts in grandpa's alcohol
in through the haze I can hardly see
all I know is you are finally free
and I must let you be
and now . . . Maybelle's gone
and now . . . Maybelle's gone
somehow life goes on
your life goes on
my life goes on
her life goes on
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5. |
A Long Road to be Free
04:24
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Could've been more patient
should've played it cool
maybe not so callous
and a bit less cruel
But now I'm finding my way home
grown older now, the holes are showing2
so much time spent wandering
or trying to make things comforting
it's a long road to be free
it's a long road to be free
Could've been more thoughtful
might've been more kind
a little more insightful
and maybe not so blind
But now I'm finding my way home
grown older now, the holes are showing2
there's a path that I can't see
beneath the fog that smothers me
it's a long road to be free
it's a long road to be free
free . . .
It's a long road to be free
Should've spoken sooner
I could've shown more warmth
pulled myself to together
and had a lot more charm
But now I'm finding my way home
grown older now, the holes are showing2
there's a path in front of me
but I can't find the opening
it's a long road to be free
it's a long road to be free
free . . .
It's a long road to be free
Could've been much braver
I could've had more will
worked a little harder
I should've honed my skills
But now I'm finding my way home
grown older now, the holes are showing
there's a path in front of me
but I'm my own worst enemy
it's a long road to be free
it's a long road to be free
free . . .
It's a long road to be free
Now I'm finding my way home
grown older now, the holes are showing
so much time spent posturing
or trying to come off interesting
it's a long road to be free
it's a long road to be free
free . . .
It's a long road to be free
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6. |
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We own the night
beneath the setting sun
that's when we take flight
Drawn by the muse
with gold dust in our pockets
and holes in our shoes
O dear patron saint of obscurity
Come wake us up from our American dream
Sleepers arise!
there is oil in your lamps
there is light in your eyes
It's time to awake
the river is rising
the levy will break
O dear patron saint of obscurity
Come wake us up from our American dream
We will liberate; we will consecrate this town
We will liberate; we will consecrate this town
for Saint Mary of the Underground
Saint Mary of the Underground
Be ye steadfast
come out of the caverns
for this too shall pass
O good kings and queens
the one who has most
is the one who has least
O dear patron saint of obscurity
Come wake us up from our American dream
We will liberate; we will consecrate this town
We will liberate; we will consecrate this town
for Saint Mary of the Underground
Saint Mary of the Underground
O dear patron saint of obscurity
Come wake us up from our American dream
O dear patron saint of obscurity
Come wake us up from our American dream
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7. |
Reckless Love
05:47
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Coming into being, as we fall away
we're spellbound in this sleeping world
but starting to awake
It should seem so simple, but the truth's a braided stream
and we get crowded in our clothes
and we don't know where to lean
If I've been senseless, if I've been unkind
opaque and elusive, or to loosely defined
I ask for your pardon, but not for release
If you offer forgiveness, I'll offer belief
say you'll accept me; I say take your time
they say love is reckless
they say love is blind
I saw you at that party
I was standing by the door
yearning to know you
and now I yearn to know you more
If I've been senseless, if I've been unkind
opaque and elusive, or to loosely defined
I ask for your pardon, but not for release
If you offer forgiveness, I'll offer belief
say you'll accept me; I say take your time
they say love is reckless
they say love is blind
The world has gone to madness and I can't make it on my own
staring down that hallway, I don't know which way to go
If I've been senseless, if I've been unkind
opaque and elusive, or to loosely defined
I ask for your pardon, but not for release
If you offer forgiveness, I'll offer belief
say you'll accept me; I say take your time
they say love is reckless
they say love is blind
they say love is reckless
they say love is blind
please say love is reckless
please say love is blind
please say love is reckless
please say love is blind
Coming into being, as we fall away
we're spellbound in this sleeping world
but starting to awake
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8. |
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I want my life back
but some of it I don't want back
the harsh unfinished edges, the loving that I lacked
bring me in the light
take away the black
I know I've been changed
my body left broken, my soul reclaimed
thrown from the heavens, humbled and lame
like a hand that reached down
I'm no longer the same
Some things that used to matter
they don't matter anymore
and what's come to matter most
has now come to matter more
I woke up in a ditch on the side of the road
gather me together and take me home
Out on the street
a stranger wandering
Forty years in the desert, longing to be free
I found the bitter water
and the water became sweet
Some things that used to matter
they don't matter like before
and what's come to matter most
has now come to matter more
I woke up in a ditch on the side of the road
gather me together and take me home
I woke up in a ditch on the side of the road
gather me together and take me home
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American Elm New Haven, Connecticut
American Elm, aka Chris Bousquet, is singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He is the former leader of the internationally acclaimed High Lonesome Plains. He has performed with such luminaries as Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Mercury Rev, Miracle Legion, John Sebastian, Asleep at the Wheel, Rhett Miller, Mark Mulcahy, The Turtles, Nathaniel Rateliff, Dry the River, J. Geils, and Susan Cowsill. ... more
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