1. |
Freedom
03:25
|
|||
I carry the bricks
for my grandfather’s debt
they say you work hard, you pay
what you owe
my family hasn’t yet
our blood in the dust
our blood is on their hands
it’s impossible to erase what a kid
can’t comprehend
i wish that i could feel freedom
they say that no one can hear you
you are a fool to pray
your god isn’t listening
no help is on the way
i heard a bird on a wire singing sweet
if god loves that sparrow
he will send me freedom
i’m free from fear of violence
free within and free without
freedom from all borders
freedom from all doubt
freedom growing wild
gracefully and green
there’s freedom for you
is there freedom for me?
now when i open my eyes
somedays i still can’t believe
there are no chains on my doors
no guns are pointed at me
i have no one to answer to
no customers to please
i help those who are still enslaved
that’s how i give freedom
|
||||
2. |
Chippewa Boots
04:14
|
|||
I found your silver ear-ring today
underneath the cushion right where you lost it
all the books you left i read ‘em all
they’re packed in boxes in the basement hall
even with the four agreements
even with the tropic of cancer
even with this brief history of time
i can’t seem to start where you are
sitting here sipping an iced tea
there’s a little girl on the sidewalk
dancing a lilac breeze
drifting along like tiny helicopters
the maple seeds fall
sam came by he was asking after you
wondered if i’d come to grips with the truth
i said i don’t mind losing except losing you
then i was the worst loser i’ve ever seen
even in our dark moments
we were gracious if broken
even in our dark moments
we were never mean
does it ever cross your mind
all the lovin’ that you left behind
when you said goodbye?
goodbye favorite bob marley shirt
goodbye to the stuff you took with you
when you said you were hurt
goodbye blue jacket now i don’t have a suit
goodbye really cool all broken in chippewa boots
you can keep the broken remote
i’ll keep the letter that i got from your folks
goodbye moonlight serenades
and foggy overcast laundry blanket sundays
i picked at my wounds
tried to drown them in beer
had a fist full of neutrals
but i finally ground a gear
now i’m greasing up the chain on my old bike
rounding off some corners in my life
spend your money honey
go and get some sun
love somebody’s body
or love someone
you’ve earned it
so you can swerve it
i really think that you deserve it
i’m gonna do myself a favor
at least i’m gonna try
gonna tell my friends i love ‘em
while they’re all still alive
|
||||
3. |
Elouise
04:10
|
|||
Where is that woman, where is my girl?
i’m busy waiting on her
she is the only one in the world
got me waiting on her
her hair is blowing through my soul
i’m crazy waiting on her
she got the lovin’ that’ll pay my toll
i’m dizzy waiting on her
she gonna let her horses run free
when no one’s around
just her and me
says that’s the way it should be
well who am i to disagree
with elouise
she’s evidence the best things are free
elouise, i got some garlic and some fresh green beans
she’s got the keys to the trees and the dirt
stars are falling for her
she’s like athena in a mini-skirt
can’t build a wall around her
she’s in the kitchen heating water for tea
just her mama’s daughter
just like a vision that came in a dream
i don’t know how i found her
she sets her loving free
when no one’s ‘round
just her and me
says that’s the way it should be
i’m never gonna be one to disagree
elouise, i’m waitin’ darlin’ now turn the key
elouise, she’s evidence the best things are free
elouise, i’ve got some garlic and some fresh green beans
elouise, i’m going crazy darlin’ set me free now
elouise, she’s evidence the best things are free
elouise, i got some garlic and some fresh green beans
elouise, i need your lovin’ now set me free
elouise, everybody knows i love you baby
where is that woman, where is my girl
i’m dizzy waiting on her
she is the only one in the world
got me waiting on her
she is the only one in the world
got me waiting on her
she is the only one in the in world
i’m dizzy waiting on her
|
||||
4. |
Human Kindness
06:48
|
|||
In the moments when time collides
with an outcome we would not survive
a man reached out to pull her back
as she slid into a bus’ path
i won’t give up on the verge of love
i can’t give up or ever give enough
human kindness is alive and well
where we will find it, no one can tell
wear it for shelter surround yourself
human kindness is alive and well
if i forget myself for someone else
i break the boundaries of my human self
we realize what’s possible in us
when we give and take a little trust
we’re together in the story line
as we change the story survives
all our second chances come
when we’re done closing our eyes
|
||||
5. |
Constellation
04:14
|
|||
Looking from two spheres of light
all her visions come alive
she waves her hand, just like a wand
and six directions become one
as the sky slips from day to night
looking out, looking in
to taste the salt upon her skin
she’s become a constellation
a moving picture in the sky
she defies gravitation
riding through a field of light
sailing a moonless milky way
open water on a mirror lake
stars are swimming in her eyes
a thousand patterns print their light
the world revolving where she lies
she’s become a constellation
a moving picture in the sky
she defies gravitation
riding through a field of light
she’s become…
riding through a field of light
|
||||
6. |
Walking With The Man
04:38
|
|||
There’s a hole in the guardrail
on route east 22
maybe jim was drunk when he wadded it up
it could have been me or you
that rip in the aluminum
the red clay on the wheel
made me push the pedal to the floor
and say darling,
“a deal is a deal”
my eyes can’t explain
what my heart understands
i’ve been a fool for pride and whiskey
i’ll be a monkey ‘til i’m free
honey it’s true, sugar me and you
we’re not that far out of the trees
jesus built this hot-rod
he built this mansion too
‘turned water to wine, gave sight to the blind
he made a masterpiece in you
my eyes can’t explain
what my heart understands
when i’m walking with the man
with the man
you’ve seen me at my worst now darling
loved me hard as you could
you were on your knees picking up the pieces
when nobody else would
all the riches in the world
are just rocks, pebbles and sand
when i’m walking with the man
|
||||
7. |
A Love Like This
03:36
|
|||
A love like this
so easy to feel
a love like this
nothing concealed
i was swimming through dark water
where the daylight could not reach
sometimes i can’t believe
you pulled me from the deep
into a love like this
a love like this
my mama told me
there’d be someone like you
i never knew she was telling the truth
i never dreamed i could even wish
for a love like this
a love like this has always been with you
honey, how did i miss you?
how did i miss you?
a love like this
so present and clear now
all that i need now
is a love like this
|
||||
8. |
This Train
05:06
|
|||
This train won't run on money
this train won't run on blood
this train is bound for glory
this train is bound for love
we can remain alone in the doorway
half in the rain, chained to the past
we can complain all that we want to
but this train is rolling fast
all the love, human persistence
all the pain, tears and joy
i can hear her in the distance
feel the rumble of her voice
we can remain alone in the doorway
half in the rain, chained to the past
we can complain, all that we want to
but this train, is rolling past
across the plains and through the city
from the mountain’s highest peak
this train is bound for glory
for all the love in god’s dream
|
||||
9. |
My Bird Can Sing
03:49
|
|||
What is it about you girl,
feels so broken?
that remains unspoken?
i want to hear
who am i to ask?
i’d never judge you
don’t want anything from you
just the knife from your back
my bird can sing
my bird can fly
not meant to be in a cage
she belongs to the sky
someone knocked you down
they can’t steal your soul away
you alone have the final say
nobody else
what is it about your world
that keeps you hoping?
let it out in the open
the coast is clear
someone knocked you down
they can’t steal your soul away
you alone have the final say
you said that yoursel
|
||||
10. |
Try to Forget
04:14
|
|||
People move so fast
dream the dust of chance
tied to the past
yeah we tied our hands
what tomorrow may bring
nobody can tell
you can gather up moon dust
or dig a well
some things fade and some things last
one thing won’t change
and that is the past
so try to forget
forgive and forget
there’s nothing i ain't told you
you didn’t need to know
so try to forget
memory fires off of random paths
it’s never the entire photograph
we can light a torch and watch it burn
burn through the night till the world has turned
around itself and around the sun
it’ll never return to where it has begun
so try to forget
forgive and forget
there’s nothing i ain't told you
you didn’t already know
so try to forget
forgive and forget
there’s nothing that they sold you
you really need to own
so try to forget
times we played at love
and disregarded hearts
the times i left in anger
tearing things apart
i lost some things i can never get back
i chased some dreams i couldn’t quite catch
time comes around to forget all that
the future is larger than the past
so try to forget
forgive and forget
there’s nothing i ain't told you
you didn’t already know
so try to forget
forgive and forget
there’s nothing that they sold you
you didn’t already own
so try to forget…
|
||||
11. |
Roses In The Rain
04:42
|
|||
Roses in the Rain
I will give you roses in the rain
i will give you my old tap shoes to dance away the pain
i will give you all i have today
if you sit right down right here now mama and promise not to go away
i’ll believe you, even if they say you lied
i’ll believe you, even if it means that i
might go to jail for harboring a fugitive
in the light of your criminal love
that’s where i want to live
tie me down to the tracks
before you leave and you never come back, again
i won’t give you questions to the answers of your life
but i’ll forgive you, if you stumble home drunk in the morning light
i’d rather believe you,
even if it means that i am alone in my decision
oh my love is devoid of precision
i will give you a ring around your pretty finger
i’ll try to give you some room to dream and room to linger
i’d rather die broke and happy
all of this junk we bought
is bound to be the death of you and the death of me
it’s bound to be the death of me
i will give you what’s in my heart and in my brain
i’ll try to give you a forum in which to complain
after we’re dead and gone and no one knows our names
i will give you roses in the rain
|
Streaming and Download help
If you like Willy Porter, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp