1. |
Oakland!
03:05
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Hey man this suburb's getting stale
I'm putting my big stuff on sale
Craigslist slimmed-down simple living
Corporate job scaled back
Load the car up and follow train tracks
Up north where the rent's more forgiving
I'm gonna find a new beginning
I'm gonna move to Oakland!
Sleeping on a borrowed bed
Eating artisanal bread
While painters cram the world on to canvas
I'll wake up with a train
A sound to shake the bedframes
As the rising sun illuminates acanthus
Plants hanging in our windows
They open when the wind blows
I can smell the indo
The neighbors cooking breakfast getting stoned
Let's go to Oakland!
I found a decent bar
Near our industrial yard
High crime, cheap wine, gritty flavor
Served me some local brew
Pole danced with someone cute
DJ salutes me like I'm doing him a favor
This guy's so entertained
He winks and gives me the name
Of a tattooed recent Berkeley divorcee
Who just moved to stay and live in Oakland!
And I'm gonna live in Oakland!
Parking in the street ain't safe
Make sure you get inside the gate
Made that mistake and my window got broken
But once you're past the fence
It's paradise heaven-sent
Costumed artists in residence
Say "Welcome to Vulcan!"
And I'm gonna join the band
Circus acts in astrovans
Dance on high wires spinning fire in handstands
Tell me where I am
Home in Oakland!
I'm gonna live in Oakland!
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2. |
Paycheck to Paycheck
03:51
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This guy delivers weed and that guy sells hats
Fitted hats not snapbacks, and his matches his backpack
And she works the bakery on the sales side
Hours less crazy than the bakers, no need to knead the wheat and rye
And she fills wine glasses all hours of the night
He shoots weddings dawn through daylight
And he works corporate P.R. but you wouldn't know by looking
And everyone does entertainment booking
Oh a lot of folks 'round here live...
Paycheck to paycheck!
Barely making rent
Always getting spent too fast
Paycheck to paycheck
On part time gigs
Balances been bigger in the past
No need to stop now, these checks don't bounce
Don't need to learn how to balance these accounts
Got no credit card but we'll work it out
On shoestrings, the skin of our bare necks
Paycheck to paycheck!
She used to publish books and now she's selling bread
He's making hula hoops and he's a farmers' market market rep
She made book covers for Penguin, then moved
Now it's photographs in the nude, she's gonna teach kids in the hood
To do a modern English version of Hamlet
'Til then it's
Paycheck to paycheck!
I'm doing tech stuff but I can feel the draw
Of selling handmade jewelry at an art stall
Feels closer to the earth when you're working with your hands
Making people smile living life without a plan
Eating a lot of rice and beans out of a can
Tastes okay, I guess
Paycheck to paycheck!
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3. |
Am I In Yet
04:48
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4. |
Travelling Light
02:44
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One more night and my lease is up
Just me, my sleeping bag, and my former girlfriend's stuff
and some papers I've been holding on to
Bare walls echo pretty long
when I'm whistling old songs
Writing on my last move-out box
Rhymes for making sense of hard thoughts
But memories don't rhyme, florid lines
High school love letters past their prime
Show through the cracks, papers stacked,
One last look then leave 'em unpacked (throw 'em out)
The things that made this home are gone
But the floor's still strong
Carrying one more night of dreams
But it's hard so it bruises me to sleep on
It's gonna be a long and lonely night, but come morning
I'm travelling light
I'm giving back my keys
Trying to leave the landlord pleased
Left a broom and nails, cleaning pails,
Useful things I believe
Landlord doesn't mention scuffs
Though the walls look kinda rough
He's tired too, Mountain View house used up
He grew up here with his brother
The first of many tenants
Thirty years of renting, then mom died
They decided that's time enough and sold
Almost through ESCROW
We shake hands and wish each other luck
The things that made this home are gone
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5. |
Boy Girl
03:40
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In bed with her I'm not sure whether I'm a girl or boy
Her finger in between my lips, I nibble it all coy
And she twitches, sucks her teeth, opens big brown eyes
It's a peaceful look she gives me as we writhe
'Til our bodies don't work perfect
But I'm less concerned with my erectness than the nerves beneath her necklace
We get tender, we get reckless, and I know her through her words
But what she wrote's quite different from these sweet murmurs
We've been so many people
We've been so many people
I can't believe we could be so many people
Even if it's hard to follow
Show me all of them
I love all of them
It's okay to be soft
She lies there, small voice telling me she's tough
I feel her muscles flex
I've seen her be strong, I wanna see her rest
'Cause something hurts beneath her breast, and she keeps it covered
With a sports bra and by writing up teen trauma like she caused it
Baby take a moment pause it, I promise that you're safe
Don't worry if you'll hurt me, be light, be brave
We've been so many people
We've been so many people
I can't believe we could be so many people
Even if it's hard to follow
Show me all of them, show me all of them
And we'll keep them in our hands to hold
As we play and tease and scratch and seize
And find release, and leave
To go back into the world, as mostly
Just a boy and girl
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6. |
Wasting Time
02:23
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We waste time
She's afraid to waste much time
But she stays and gets kissed
In my windowsill
Her heart
Feel it beating through the thin parts
Of her skin, sunlit
In my windowsill
Sleepy morning
Meets a sleepy afternoon
Her phone alarm
Sings a warning tune
Her heart
Beats quicker in my hand
Now I waste time
Wishing we were wasting time
Leaning, dreaming, in my windowsill
Mm
Maybe soon we will
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7. |
Sublet
02:52
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Did you come for a vacation
Or did you come here to live
'Cause it's a good place to party, to be artsy
But it's a better place to build a bridge
To the outside world
Through a show, a poem, a service or sale
Getting in and out by BART rail
Did you come for a quick fix
Or can you take things slow
'Cause our warehouse full of dreamers
Is an okay place to grow
Friendships, businesses
Perennials or weed
All take more than a week
I came here to live
I hope I came here to live
I got time, too young, too much time
Feels less lonely when I try to give
Help me pick a gift that's good for giving
So if I leave I'll be forgiven
We're all just sand, can't blame us for slipping
Trying to make a pretty sieve to live in
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Albert Alexander Oakland, California
Folk and rock storytelling.
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