1. |
Netta
04:16
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You’re a long way from public out here in this place
Stuck on this island, your clothes in a case
In a room that you rented for twenty a day
An owner who’s lonely, and stops by to say
That she’s here if you need her; she knows you’re unwell
Your hands and your eyes are shaky as hell
You came out for the magic, the feel of the Isles
You came to be healed, inspired and wild
Nearly two months of writing and candles and spells
Has left you afraid of what you can’t tell
And it’s panic each morning; the days are the same
You step out for air, a jolt to your brain
And you find you’ve been walking for hours on end
With poisoning visions of family and friends
Who just pity and sigh, their hands on your face
And drive down your reasons, each passion replaced
Now you swat down the wasp in the place where it stung
You’re Alpha, Omega, Cohen and Young
So you scream something awful and hope they can hear
And wear out the welcome of every kind ear
And a pain in your heart that’s been growing for years
Is finally born; it’s finally here
You’re too sick now for healing; it’s sudden and sharp
Kicked loose the venom, no angels or harps
And so, limping to freedom, collapse in the grass
Reduced to a myth, revised as you pass
To a true crime reduction, a nut at the end
Who lived without walls or family or friends
But for black and white photos, a wonderful face
A glint in your eye the years can’t erase
And a child born in New York will pick up the call
And dream of you nightly, a voice down his hall
He’ll row out to your island, and seek out your grave
Like thousands before him, he’ll go the same way
That’s the sadness of dreaming you’re more than you are
You’ll end up with nothing, your shit in a car
In a town with one stoplight, an island alone
Plunged down through Niagara, in parents’ homes
Found in attics and basements with ice through the veins
No matter the ending, it all looks the same
We are sailing for Netta, our luggage in stow
We get here in cruise ships and dinghies and floats
To a swirling of spirits, from far and from near
Mother of magic, your children are here
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2. |
Wooden Cave
03:13
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Have you got a grip?
Or is it the same?
Have you played by the rules of somebody else’s game?
A vision appears
Some visions remain
Do you sleep in the clouds, and wake in a haze of rain?
Who’s been letting you down?
Who’s been pissing you off?
Has your ship run aground?
Will we flee the dance hall?
Your face in a crowd
Your truck in a lane
You could poison our year
Given your moment of fame
If you were desired
Loved deeply and true
Do you think it would change the deadliest part of you?
Who’s been letting you down?
Who’s been pissing you off?
Has your ship run aground?
Will we flee the dance hall?
A wooden cave for your love underground
A wooden cave for all love underground
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3. |
A Simple Phrase
02:59
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If late at night
You hear a sound
Of thunder all around
That doesn’t sleep
It only dreams
Inside your heart
Well, you should know
I hear it too
As cruel and loud as you
It rules the night
It’s crisp and cruel
A simple phrase
“Forget about the things you need to happen
You’re not really here
You met your end
Ages ago”
These ancient tongues
That call our names
And treat us both the same
There is a way
We can survive
Beyond the choir
“Forget about the things you need to happen
You’re not really here
You met your end
Ages ago”
If late at night
You hear a sound
Your child needs you now
Don’t let it sleep
Just help it dream
Inside your heart
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4. |
The Guesthouse
02:44
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Me and my downtime, we get along
Strapped on my back like a nuclear bomb
Do you have any idea what I’m like on my own?
Do you have any idea what I’m like?
I carved my name into the wall
I tore each letter ten feet tall
Do you have any idea what I’m like on my own?
Do you have any idea what I’m like?
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5. |
Death in a Field
03:45
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I’ll survive as a child
All hungry and wild
Life overwhelming is life at the start
I’ll rise up in my youth
Seek personal truth
Fiction alone to fill up my heart
Soon I will wake in the morning and open my eyes
And say, "Oooh, summer day
The dawn of my life"
Soon I will drown in an evening of lovely black sky
And say, "Oooh, summer day
The dawn of my life"
Yes, I’m grinning again
Here with all of my friends
Grace without witness is death on the vine
Acting selfish for years
To be perfectly clear
Giddy with freedom and flush with my time
Soon I will wake in the morning and open my eyes
And say, "Oooh, summer day
The dawn of my life"
Soon I will drown in an evening of lovely black sky
And say, "Oooh, summer day
The dawn of my life"
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6. |
I Thought I Was Alone
02:27
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Once I thought I was alone
Didn’t seem to care
Not a friend, not fully grown
Funny clothes and funny hair
No one had to ease my mind
From this crushing wheel of time
Once I thought I was alone
I didn’t seem to care
Once I slept without a light
Now I need it every night
Every voice on the TV
Is a voice that’s there for me
Though it helps to ease my mind
From this crushing wheel of time
Once I thought I was alone
I didn’t seem to care
Once I dreamt I saw a face
Couldn’t name and couldn’t place
Calling sweetly out for me
From the rocks beside the sea
Who could love me if I lose my mind?
From this crushing wheel of time
Once I thought I was alone
I didn’t seem to care
Once I thought I was alone
I didn’t seem to care
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7. |
Maniacs
03:01
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If the future is plain to you
The present is tasteless, too
If you’re on your back again
That’s all right
If you’re hooked on a fishing rod
Throwing out hands to God
He won’t take you back again
That’s all right
Don’t be afraid of new ideas
We can break your bones
‘Til the last survives
We can wheel you home
You’ll be new; you’ll be fine
The touch that you needed then
A love you could comprehend
But you’re at your screen again
And that’s all right
Don’t be afraid of new ideas
We can break your bones
‘Til the last survives
We can wheel you home
You’ll be new; you’ll be fine
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8. |
Different Tune
02:29
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There’s no more content to consume
Just you and I inside this room
So now we sing a different tune
Now all the content’s been consumed
I always make the same mistakes
I always make the same mistakes
With when to sleep or stay awake
With being real for my own sake
But if you ask me what we do
I’d fall in your arms
In my way I’d find a home
If you do
Time spent alone
Has taken its toll
I won’t lie
Just when you’re cold
This heart full of soul
Passes you by
If we should put this in the ground
Several months or years from now
Walk to the edge then turn around
I’d still be proud of what I found
But if you ask me what we do
I’d fall in your arms
In my way I’d find a home
If you do
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9. |
Behold You Now
03:54
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She was worried to death tonight
You rise under drive-thru lights
She grew up and you stayed 22
And she thought you could follow through
Now come on
You were boring in younger days
Some of us are designed this way
You could hide it in clubs with booze
Some of us are compelled to lose
Life is long
Behold you now
Older now
Pushed and failed to bloom
Your brittle parts
False starts
Just doomed
No one’s worried to death tonight
You rise under bus stop lights
You could travel your whole life through
Not a thing it could do for you
Now come on
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10. |
'93 Heap
04:21
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Oh, the heavens they lined up right
For my ‘93 heap that July
When I shined my lights down your driveway at night
Oh God, oh me, oh my
Anchored there in my eyes
Building up the archive
How the truth in a lie brushes past with a sigh
Oh god, oh me, oh my
Will I be 50 years old?
Watching my kid leave home?
And shining lights down your driveway at night
Oh God, oh me, oh my
What kind of love made it through?
Chasing the heart out of you
It comes back again, an impossible friend
Oh God, oh me, oh my
The heavens they lined up right
For my ‘93 heap that July
When I shined my lights down your driveway at night
Oh God, oh me, oh my
More and more, I find myself hating you some days
But still needing you always
More and more
More and more
More and more, I want to throw us both to the riptide
Still lay with you seaside
More and more
More and more
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11. |
Your Family
03:01
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Well, I think I’m gonna
Pack it in my brothers
I think I’m gonna
Pack it in my friends
Seems this life is just too lonesome
And it’s getting hard to pretend
I think I’ll take that ride I don’t know when
There’s nothing in this world that I need
'Cause there’s nothing in this world that needs me
And so, I think I’ll take that ride; I don’t know when
I thought I was gonna
Fix myself on Sunday
I thought I was gonna
Fix myself today
But every week rolls by
And it seems I am the same
I think I’ll take that ride I don’t know when
There’s nothing in this world that I need
'Cause there’s nothing in this world that needs me
So, I think I’ll take that ride; I don’t know when
Hold it close, love nothing
Keep it all inside your soul
Soon your family will be calling you back home
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Thin Lear New York, New York
PopMatters "Best Albums of the Year" (9/10)
AllMusic (★★★★)
Featured on NPR's New Music Friday
Bandcamp's New & Noteworthy
Thin Lear recommends:
Lovely melodies, stripped down arrangements, and perfectly raw production. I heard "Knockout" and was just hypnotized for the next nine songs. Just pure joy in songwriting.
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Hazy, hooky vocals swimming in a wash of lovely production. I listened to this record half-asleep on a bus once, and I think it's permanently stuck somewhere in my subconscious now.
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I've loved this Tumbleweed Connection track for years, and her cover just breaks my heart in a new way. Aching and impossibly gentle, like a jazzy Fairport Convention.
go to albumIf you like Thin Lear, you may also like:
supported by 7 fans who also own “Wooden Cave”
My introduction to Japanese Breakfast has been a chronic addiction, where I cannot escape the grasp of her beautiful, catchy lyrics and amazing instrumentals. Devoted fan after this one!
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A Light for Attracting Attention
by The Smile
supported by 7 fans who also own “Wooden Cave”
My smile is stuck. I cannot go back to your Frownland. I cannot go back to your world of gloom Where black jagged shadows Remind me of the coming of your doom. I want my own land. Take my hand and come with me. It's not too late for you. It's not too late for me To find my homeland. My smile is stuck. I cannot go back to your Frownland.
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The Convincer (20th Anniversary Edition)
by Nick Lowe
Released in 2001, “The Convincer” is a gentle gem in the Nick Lowe catalog; an anniversary edition provides opportunity for rediscovery.
go to album
