'Tales From the Two Hill Heart / Sibylline Machine' (2CD)

Tales From the Two Hill Heart

1. Up on the Hill
2. Wages of Death
3. Olden Days
4. The Deserter (click to download mp3)
5. The Daring Eye
6. The Man I Don’t Remember
7. Aching
8. Halls of the Gifted
9. Fired #3
10. New Mexican Arcade
11. The Creek
12. …2 Kinds of Leaders
13. ….Whirly Bird

Sibylline Machine

1. Deep Silent Seas
2. Bedsides/Ohio
3. Sibylline Machine (click to download mp3)
4. Rapture, My Captain
5. The King of Spain
6. The Network of Eaves
7. Disco for Daisies
8. Sneaks or Skates?
9. Under the Carpet
10. Second Born Daughters

Read reviews of "Tales From the Two Hill Heart / Sibylline Machine"

LYRICS

Tales From the Two Hill Heart

Up on the Hill

high upon a hill so high upon a hill
up high upon a hill so high up on a hill
so high upon a hill

high upon a hill saw i a kill i saw a kill
so sly upon a hill so high upon a hill
so why did i not cry upon the hill
as i saw kill upon the hill and die

Wages of Death

I live in a house where nothing is real

The wages of death are too hard to feel

Where dead men are heroes, their old memories

Are too good to be, o, they're too good for me

I paid my last dollar to build up a home

But I wasn't sufficient I had to take out a loan

I was too blue collar, my partner went on strike

But the last time she struck, she aimed at my back

The wages of wages is only more wages

I've seen them come in stages where it waxes and wanes

But I continue to pay whether it's a good or bad day

They were right about my collar too, it'll always be blue

If I was a dead man, like you want me to be

To keep the wages happy, I'd need some company

I'd pay them out of my grave, I'd keep my tombstone paved

Olden Days

I pulled out my old and trusty guitar

And I found a grasshopper eating the strings

I asked him why and he looked at the stars and said

I can't compete with these things, no

But in my old days I could have stayed up late

I could have set the record straight I could have played at any rate

But the bugs seem to bite me and the birds have fright at the sight of me

Once I saw gladness now I'm just glad to see

I summoned the midnight bird up in my yard

He sang one last lick and the bucket he kicked

And gingerly eyed me and threw in his card and said

Why was it me that you picked? He said, "Why?"

But in my old days I could have stayed up late

I could have set the record straight I could have played at any rate

But the bugs seem to bite me and the birds have fright at the sight of me

Once I saw gladness now I'm just glad to see, see me

The Deserter

I didn't mean to soil the sod or to ruin the pace of the song

Merely suggested that we're in a fight and I think it's time to move along

Girl it's sad when I'm holding my heart out to get beat like a punching bag

I know you're worried about jet lag, but you can sleep on the plane

I can't sleep on a planeMy intentions were good and I should have gone ahead and proposed this to you

That as long as you're doing me wrong and you're looking for someone new

Girl you can take my place on that plane and you can wave that Spanish flag

And I'll go back to the states dressed in my army rags

I'm the deserter, the deserter

And you ask me how I could hurt her so, but you don't know

The story behind this slow song,

You don't know cause I don't tell you how she did me wrong

My minds out of focus, I'm eating on locust and burdock plants

In my satchel I'm holding one tin can and a whole lot of cant's

Like I can't believe you're not sorry and I can't go back to town

And I can't go on like this much longer can't get any lower down

I'm the deserter, the deserter

And you ask me how I could hurt her so, but you don't know

The story behind this slow song,

You don't know cause I don't tell you how she did me wrong

If the army comes looking for me, tell them to take their tanks through

The mountains of tennessee

The Daring Eye

The animal draws a wedge between us

The deal is dirty now and only fire can clean us

Should have been raised to walk an unseen way

With no one to respond to you and no one to repay

I've seen a better day, not where I am

Inside the circle of a daring eye that shuts when I say when

I can't astound you I'm all around you

I'm only hoping that my presence will be known when I have found you

The strongest man will be the least of us

Who hold our breath to create one united gust

To blow the winds of change as we direct

And bind our laws to create suction on our sect

I see no better way, not where I am

Outside the circle of a seeing eye

That shuts when they say when

I can't be bound to you I can't confound

I only hope that you have patience when you know that I have found you

The Man I Don't Remember

I know a man I'll call abijah

He only did just what he had to

They laughed at him for making simple things his friends

And now I wonder how he came out in the end

I'll have a son name him elisha

Boy, hide your western face where they can't find you

This is a game that teaches feasible skills

One day you'll learn that someone's always out to kill

Her shallow lines, her swift surrender

Lead me to reason that I can't offend her

She used to treat me like a man I don't remember

And now I wonder who I am

This may well be my final hour

My last address, the wilting flower

How much I wish to make use of this

And to acknowledge a higher power

Aching

i was in the audience when they announced your presence on the wing

you were singing something about someday we'll be together and i believed

but so did every boy in sight and so they all sang "yes we will" with me

but everyone knows only one is chosen by the queen to be a king

aching don't be angry anymore

aching that's not anger that's just sure

faking isn't able to show shame, i know your'e able

don't be aiming at me baby, anymore

it was in an afternoon when all you had was written on your sleeve

i was trying hard to hold you i just never told you I believed

that one day you would open up those empty caves so close to me

the rats and bats are coming back and pushing black into the light I see

someday, we'll be together, yes we will, yes we will

Halls of the Gifted

I walk down six stepping stones

In the halls of the gifted

You j-walk when you are alone

And no one sees you lift…

Up your head and tear me down

Correct the way I walk,

And find that you are safe and sound

I talk and talk to you dear

And the walls are all that's listening

Sometimes I wonder if you can hear

When I see you lifting..

Up your head and tear me down

Correct the way I walk,

And find that you are safe and sound

Fired #3

The railroad engineer had eyes in the rear of his head

There was fog in the morning's dawn when I'd get out of bed

And you'll be the angel and I'll be the fireman

And I'll try to slam the way I am into the door

And I'll do so much more

You used to wake me up to a bowl of food and an uplifting word on the way

And everytime I left I thought this might be the day

That you'll be the angel and I'd be the badman

And you'll never stand me up again behind the door

And I'll do so much more

New Mexican Arcade

I heard the dumptruck roll by I saw the sands of my state sigh

Gonna pull in a little hear the sounds of the fiddle on the jukebox in the arcade

"O, the workhorse" they say, "O the tender double pay

of the homemade life and the window wife" waiting for me at the end of the day

some greasy finger tapped upon my brawny back

"if you follow me down the tracks, I can lead you to some gold,

it's not like the kind to melt, as the fiery furnace felt, but a figure

so well built, it'll keep you warm in the cold"

Well, I know what you sell, and I know where that gold dwells

And it won't be melted just like you tell it but it sure as fire can melt

So just let my britches be, and if you tap me any other day

Well, you just might find I can play with your mind in a very different way

Then that greasy finger tapped and it drew my patience back

I held him up as the ceiling cracked with his mind between the beams

Think hard in the ceiling tiles, give up your worthless wiles

You might find its not worth my while, trading gold for the final flame

The Creek

I hope my new life is not less meaningful

He filled cups and I believed him and kept them full

We walked it many times and he was there to save my neck

Now I brave the creek without him, now I walk the lonely trek

As I look around, I find no prizes left,

But a grave anticipation of its now impending death

I picked up the walking stick I had used and I drew nigh

Upon terrain that now seemed foreign to the eye

I passed the plateau, I planned on camping for the night

Overgrown and tired and bearing aged plights

And just when I approached the crease where mangled Maynard died

I did not endear it, but I cried

The road was weary, a certain spring was in the air

I realized it was advertising sons of nature there

For I had done my part in leaving human marks

For it lived on, e'en if it died in my own remarks

I did not park it, crossed nine stones on the bridges track

And as I did it, aware that I would not look back

I praised the thoughtful act of a man embedding them

The kind he would have done and I might have condemned

I feel lost in consequences like a fog of drowning men

I feel frosting on the fences and the wind

(up on the hill, I saw a kill)

Two Kinds of Leaders

there's a feeling so ominous

like its all crashing down

I may remain anonymous

But I know I'm not safe and sound

A leader has left the building

But he didn't leave without war

All the time my heart he was filling

And I know that's what he was good for

If my eyes were that far apart

I'd require special glasses

The right hand would be mastering art

And the left one would be taking classes

I wouldn't let them communicate

I'd trigger the mystery

Of who I was when it gets late

And later on, who I'm going to be

I'd stop the world, in its mighty rushes

When the leaders, they conspire

And the same one that never blushes

Leads the poor boys into the fire

(jonah, where's your firehat)

Whirly Bird

Whirly bird, up in the treezy wheezy

Towering and spying on my easy

Plot of land I'm renting from my daddy

Sipping tea and supping on a patty

I know you can maneuver and have mind to subpoena

Your warranted credentials make you a flying ballerina

Your opposite of me, o, your as uptight as can be

Whirly bird, your whirling in the wind

Whirly bird, you're always dipping in me

And my words are leaking through the chimney

Your anxious eyes are driven by your fears

Patrol the skies, but question what you hear

I know you can maneuver but you know I will sequester

Your warranted credentials have now begun to pester

Your opposite of me, o, your as uptight as can be

Whirly bird, your whirling in the wind

Whirly bird, stop

SIBYLLINE MACHINE

Deep Silent Seas

suppose crows could keep
to the right
roads here slope
if you slipped you'd be stuck under deep, silent seas
for days
or weeks

but I can't keep this coming long
I'm beat

clive walked stiff and straight to his placeand he picked up the laundry
all at once the shudders shook and heaved
beside the creased brown poster
she
arrived in pieces playfully

Bedsides/Ohio

clive strolled down to the market in his mind
and he sighed
yeah he slid past the seventh floor
and then down a couple more
he crept out into the carpark and the sun's light made him kind of want to cry
as wrapped in whispers
she crawled out across the other night

(chorus)
what am i gonna find?
bedsides, ohio
the subtle slope of the lines along your window
came crashing down around me
in an instant I was up and out the door

his hands slid into coat pockets
and his smile would frankly have been best described as sly
stretched taught as chicken wire
and hovering low
connected, though
the brittle baker's dozen
glowed fragile
faintly
frozen

(chorus)

Sibylline Machine

hatchbacks
sneakers
paper dolls
caught dreaming of the shade in fall
a box of raisins wrapped up tight
supplied to make the time pass by
a little quicker
like when we're under water

the bugs won't mind you anymore
with chalk, you see, I made a wall
I read that bugs can't stand the sight of white

I got stuck in a knot in your hair
and I'm hanging now
spinning round and round
I'll concede the point is sibylline
my story's just a sibylline machine

Rapture, My Captain

I'm buzzing like the arctic cut in quarters
while the glare off my car
could crack ice through the blinds
and it's round around the corner of your eye
you spy

the couch and my cactus
they're spun in a neat crosshatch
sketched out in water
loose on the borders but bright

"my eyes, and spies?
oh darling," you're a-drawling
"it's a pretty place to hide"

beat a little wry a smile comes stumbling by
quick
then it's gone
still you're asking me why
'til it's just about the time your slip slides out of sight

you're spread in a neat crosshatch
sketched out in water
and loose on the borders
you're a gossamer circuit with eyes
five sides
and "darling" you're a-drawling
"it's a pretty place to hide
but when you take a step outside it's over"

The King of Spain

once
in a feverish state
I was the king of spain
I collected cranes
forgot peoples' names
all day

and took my sangria in bed
which frequently hurt my head
but i didn't mind
the fruit in the wine was so tasty

back then things were easy
cause i'd just dream away
most days

the windmills and milk thistles swayed together
as i climbed to the top of the pines
and waited for you
I waited forever

The Network of Eaves

cars
at certain speeds
hum listless melodies
that tumble down the freeway debris
to me

but you can't seem to see
can't count the symmetries
colliding with us even as you sleep

the network of eaves
bas reliefs
rushing out through discrete sets of holes in your jeans
and it takes too long
to call and you're already gone

conduits beneath the leaves blanketing the street
twist deeper than the secrets we keep

Disco for Daisies

Sneaks or Skates?

do you remember sneaks or skates?
saran covered hands and copper plates
all slick from sighing
or anna in an off-white sweater?

I said
"now there's nothing but time to sit and watch the crows glide by"

crooked carpenter's squares a-fluttering in the air
as they brought winter to your door
they spread out into a circle

she meant to keep the country gait
but promises made are made
and anna replaced the negative space with mid-size city skies

now there's nothing but time to sit and watch the crows glide by
crooked carpenter's squares a-fluttering in the air
yes, they stole all the stars I'd stored
out beyond the back porch

Under the Carpet

trade winds blowing sweet and slow across the manifold you're holding
wrought iron gates keep the settle from the straight chain solvent

under the carpet
I saw her
I swear it
wrapped tight and sour
clive blinked and he swept past them

permafrost is gaining ground behind the pine forests now
and idler days are coming slowly
girl
you know they're coming either way

under the carpet
I saw her
I swear it
wrapped tight and sour
clive blinked and he swept past them

highways threw us west through hidden chutes and screens
through the chutes and the screens

Second Born Daughters

build boxes of slate
then when it rains we can stay out late
or stick it back a couple feet underground
and lay me down low
in neat little rows
cause every day that I wondered away I was long lost

hey
let's head for the coast
count the derricks
count the tin tipped posts
and maybe we can take the farm roads back home
cutting corners caught in shiny black stones
cause every way that you wrote was a compact converter
turning words into water
it's raining second born daughters