1. |
Cool World
07:01
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Living for the weekend
Working for the grind
Files in the briefcase
And business on the mind
Saving up for something
A brand new shiny toy
One you don't require
And don’t enjoy
No rest for the weary
Who race to get ahead
Going for the gold,
But going broke instead
Trying to get a leg up
By stepping on some toes
Crippling each other but
Everybody knows
Innocence like tempers
Needs to be conserved
You know you’ve lost it when you lose it
At least that’s what I’ve heard
It’s a cruel, cruel, world
The world is like a factory
With gnashing metal gears
But this machine isn’t working
It hasn’t been for years
And people are like products
Built only to break
I think planned obsolescence
Was a mistake
Here’s to second guessing!
I used to be so sure
But now that I am confessing
I’m not that anymore
I’ve lost my confidence in
The people at the top
Making all the money
And calling shots
“A home is all we wanted!’
The bankers all agree-
“We’ll help you up to here in debt
That’s how it’s supposed to be…”
Cause it’s a cruel, cruel world
America, the beauty
So lonely by herself
She's made and lost a fortune
And compromised her health
She doesn’t have insurance
The bill is coming due
America your eyes are red
You’re black and blue
Nations always crumble
Rome was bound to fall
But really in the abstract
Aren’t we all?
It’s a cruel, cruel world
There’s beauty and disorder
As boundless as the sea
I hope it makes more sense to you
Than the sense it makes to me
And here we are in free-fall
Singular in space
The universe above us
A holy place
A feeling is a feeling
The bad comes with the good
I want to understand it
And to be understood
Cause it’s a cool, cool world
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2. |
Marjorie in Her Garden
06:22
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Marjorie in her garden
On a corner of the estate
Planting seeds in the fertile soil
So they can germinate
Dreaming she’s not indentured
Working just for herself
Marjorie’s seeing visions
But not of fame or of wealth
She looks like she couldn’t
Even hurt a fly
But there’s more to Marjorie
Than meets the eye
Marjorie is biding time
She could be writing poems
But she’s working on her list
A proscription that gives her every
Reason just to exist
The lords who always were looking
The vassals who crossed the line
The clergymen who were lechers
The king- the worst of his kind
So she trains her body
Her heart like anthracite
To show everyone who said
She couldn’t be a knight
Marjorie was always right
Marjorie the time has come
Marjorie the deed is done
Marjorie will never bow to anyone
She didn’t fit with tradition
So she hollowed out a space
With an axe she forged all by herself
A crossbow and a mace
A sharp blade of obsidian
With a handle of human bone
Delivered straight to oblivion
The king upon his throne
Marjorie was tired
Of always playing nice
Dismantling a system
Takes a sacrifice
Marjorie knew what would suffice
Only one thing would suffice
So now the castle is empty
The banners all are stripped
It’s as quiet as a cloister
And as haunted as a crypt
She maintains her religion
She says her prayers at night
To God -but God the woman
There’s no one more contrite
Sleeping on a feather bed
Her face so young and fair
With a dagger in her pocket
A flower in her hair
Marjorie is dreaming there
Marjorie doesn’t need
Anyone or anything
Marjorie is planting seeds
Marjorie
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3. |
River Running
04:27
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4. |
Nenikḗkamen
06:42
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I remember that day
Daydreaming just to pass the time away
Of all the cafes, she walked into mine
I forgot what to say
Started sweating and my tongue was tongue tied
Her beauty hit me that way, like a landslide
I had seen her before
While reading ‘bout the Greek and Persian wars
And sitting in the corner with my coffee
She walked in that door
And lit up every inch inside the store
So I got up and implored if they were hiring
Then it was just before dawn
She had her brightest neon running shoes on
Bells went off like alarms, and inspired me
I said that I ran too
A little fiction now and then won’t hurt you
If that’s really true
It would surprise me
You just put one foot before the other
One step and then another
I wasn’t out to win the race
But I’d do anything to keep her pace
So I started my training
What had I gotten into?
What would Pheidippides do?
Run until there’s nothing left
Then shout with a dying breath
“Nenikḗkamen!”
Long runs by her side
Panting breath but we talked all the time
And her beauty magnified every mile
Even falling behind
It had its perks and I took ‘em in stride
Watching her backside as she ran in style
I’d follow her to the moon
With all our miles, we’d be getting there soon
Followed her to the bed, now I’ll be quiet…
We were from that time
Running partners of a different kind
Yeah, we’d stay side by side, we decided
You just put one foot before the other
One step and then another
I wasn’t out to win the race
But I’d do anything to keep her pace
So I started my training
What had I gotten into?
What would Pheidippides do?
Run until there’s nothing left
Then shout with a dying breath
“Nenikḗkamen!”
Ten years to the day
Since we started saying more than what friend’s say
And I still catch my breath, whenever I see her
She still runs before dawn
I get up and put the coffee on
And the kids wait out on the lawn, just to greet her
Life isn’t that long
It’s not a sprint but a marathon
Then we’ll all join in the song, Nenikḗkamen!
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5. |
The Orionids of Bahia
05:19
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Halley won’t you come back to me
Halley…
Halley I’m as lonely as can be
Halley…
Halley’s like a comet
Never staying in one place
As the season changes
She’s traveling apace
But so much like that comet
There she goes…
By putting in the effort
I can predict where she will be
I’m plotting out the heavens
Learning cartography
She’s heading for the mountains
Forsaking the blue sea
Halley leave a trail
Just for me
Halley defies gravity
Halley…
Halley floats casually
Halley…
Halley’s like a comet
Orbiting a sphere
She returns to where she started
But two times in one year
And so much like that comet
There she goes…
She can feel the weather changing
When the north winds start to blow
Heading for the beaches
Forsaking the snow
I long to see her walking
Like a samba on the sand
Illuminating everything she can
Like all her other lovers
I’m doing just the same
“The Orionids of Bahia”
They’ve given us that name
Cause we follow Halley’s footsteps
Wherever they may fall
For Halley, the comet, one and all…
I like to picture Halley from space
Halley…
With starlight shining all round her face
Halley…
Her hair flung back behind her
Like a comet’s tail
Caught up in the breeze like that
Her scent upon the air
But so much like that comet
There she goes…
Life is filled with longing
That’s what I believe
She’s moving to the mountains
Forsaking the sea
Come back to Ipanema
I’ll be watching up above
For Halley, the comet, and my love
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6. |
After it All
03:35
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When a man is buried
Who could ask for more
Than a countryside or prairie
A calm and peaceful shore
Forevermore
Maybe he’s just sleeping
Maybe in a dream
And maybe there is nothing
Or there’s everything that’s been
All redeemed
Just like the beginning
The quiet and the space
Will someday be overbrimming
With all the human race
A holy place
When a man is buried
Maybe things don’t end
He’s meeting all his heroes
Or talking with his friends
Without end
When a man is buried
He’s let in on the joke
Of which religion got it
And which of them had smoke
Behind the cloak
After it all
After it all
After it all
After it all
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7. |
Truth in the Abstract
07:23
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The summer’s almost over
The days are growing short
A season of disorder
Will the Fall fall apart?
The winds come on rushing
Passing like a prayer
Cultivating something
I’m breathing in the air
Every moment makes a connection
In the heart and head
Understanding through introspection
I think we’ve been misled
Is this really worth our attention?
What can we comprehend?
Does it even make any difference-
Enemy or friend
To the end
To the end
So here in this half light
We see only half clear
At best we’re merely half right
No matter how sincere
Truth really matters
Only if it’s true
And everything you’re assuming
I will not assume
“Answers always make me suspicious”
At least that’s what I’ve said
“Questions only lead to more questions”
Onward to the end
Cosmic censorship interjects an
Existential dread
No one here can confirm or deny when
We can’t wake the dead
Who ascends?
Who ascends?
An act of surrender
I’m willing to choose
If everything’s determined
Are we free to lose?
If we replace the Argo
Every plank and nail
The only question worth asking
Is “will that ship still sail?”
Human being, real and authentic,
Leaves us terrified
Feeling our way to light from the darkness
Forms demystified
Stolen moments lost to distraction
More than meets the eye
Muddled everything to abstraction
“Trust but verify”
We can try
We can try
So now, let’s get going
Onward to the new
Unencumbered by tradition
Untethered to the pew
Those who know keep silent
Those who speak, don’t know
And somewhere in the distance
A soul begins to grow
Every moment makes a connection
In the heart and head
Understanding through introspection
I think we’ve been misled
Is it really worth our attention?
What’s waiting round the bend?
Times moves only in one direction
Reminds and condescends
To what end?
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8. |
Quarantine Song
08:19
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Brother, it’s amazing
How I’ve been missing you
And sister, we’re going crazy
And you know how I’ve been missing you too
The distances between us
May be nothing new
But it may be quite a while yet,
Before they’re through
Like atoms, we’re connected
Across the universe
One way then the other
In sympathy we turn our course
Entanglement’s a comfort
Estrangement a curse
Sometimes we need reminding
It could be worse
There’s only looking up
From the bottom of a well
We may have reached that far
At least as far as I can tell
And though the water’s rising
We float so well
The sky was mesmerizing
And then it fell
We’re all a bit like gold
Gold that’s pounded flat
But pressed to such thinness
This element can be brought back
Entropy can’t harm us
We’re just like that
If the gift of human kindness
Is still intact
A match without friction
Struggles to ignite
Potential is there for fire
But only if the moment’s right
Things are getting colder
Can you spare a light?
And I’m feeling so much older
But that’s alright
A body that’s in motion
Will stay in motion
And a body that’s at rest
Will always tend to stay at rest
Certain laws of physics, this quarantine will test
Energy is poetic
When potential turns kinetic
With love however distant,
S. Hedrick
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Riverman Orlando, Florida
Steve Hedrick is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He lives in Orlando, Fl with his wife and two children. He is currently working on new material and will post it when it's finished.
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