1. |
Without You
03:22
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the nights cannot live without the moon
the days can’t go on without some sunny tune
the harvest won’t last without the rain
and my love for you, it still remains
the birds always know before the storm
and they always know before october goes
i can’t 9ly with them to wintry southern hues
and i can’t go on without you
without you, a face that was forgotten
thinking you were the one i left behind
without you, my soul it is mistaken
thinking two hearts beat together
a thrill cannot last beyond it’s noon
the 9ire, it has died
but the ashes loom
my cigarette glows into the gloom
and i can’t go on without you
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2. |
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i walked by your house today
on this early december morning
it was cold, but it was bright
through the square and past the night
due west on 8ifth avenue
just a sliver of that old historic route
past the bread line, through the wild
i remember our christmas time
through the shaded streets of enos park
i continued my early morning walk
an old familiar view or two
and the thought i might run in to you
just a step past your front lawn
saw there was no car parked front of the garage
i looked up at your window
but i couldn’t see anymore
past the bull, under the wall
where we sat by edward’s place in the fall
now i’ve come a little too far
and it’s time to turn around
i walked by your house today
before i was on my way
wondered what the letterbox might have to say
as i stood at your front door
i heard that lone train whistle blow
i walked by your house today
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3. |
Mr. Z's Funhouse
04:35
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at mr. z’s, there was a funhouse strewn across the backyard
in an otherwise unassuming quiet suburban town
the nice old man, he wore a grey hat as he puffed on his cigar
as he sat and watched the children in his carnival
they came on bicycles straight from school on days it didn’t rain
and the latch leapt from from the red worn castle wall
a juvenile jangle james and his jungle gymboree
and an old timer’s sleepy dreams of what once ever was
the usual suspects of the railroad tracks marching up and down the tree
to a shelter within the midwestern canopy
there was a zip-line from the treehouse to the white stripped old garage
and a bon?ire in a pit out in the yard
a trampoline with a basketball
a crawl space in the car hole
and those shingles you could step right out across
no one blinked an eye, no no one turned a head out on central avenue
no one thought any wrong to call
like a father’s gift to all his sons,
to them seemed the greatest gift there ever was
a mini theme park in the middle of nothing much else at all
everyone thought they were superman
everyone thought they could ?ly
back then kids they’d just be kids and them folks would just say goodbye
little billy, oh no he’d never fall, for you see then they’d have to close it all
and that would be the end of the old man’s carnival
at mr. z’s, there was a funhouse strewn across the backyard
in an otherwise unassuming quiet suburban town
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4. |
55 No More
05:56
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driving down that 55 to see you
and you don’t even know i’m on my way
been so many years since i have known you
wondering now just what you might say
on that long stretch of road down to cairo
through the ferris wheel of husk in late summer’s air
everybody’s waiting for the harvest
but i’’ll be buried in your golden hair
driving all the way down that old speedway
to your front door and no more will i roam
i’ll be there today, no more trouble will i pay
and i can’t drive on that 55 no more
old broadwell, lincoln, williams, mr. sherman
i hope you got my letters, well they’re on the way
you’re driving a little faster now than normal
wondering what them letters just might say
thinking about the day that i last saw you
thinking about the road that i did not share
the tower stands, but the carillon’s not ringing
but i’ll be buried in your golden hair
remembering that weekend in missouri
we missed the last ride up, we missed the world’s fair
that antique barn on down the road’s still open
i’m sure they’ll have our postcards there
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5. |
Sweeter Than The Wine
05:30
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there’s a place you can go where the dandelions grow
and the 4lower is much sweeter than the wine
there’s a path through the trees made of last october’s leaves
and it leads you to a playground in july
a ladder cuts through the air and you climb into the sky
now you’re looking down a shiny metal slide
the sun is riding high and you have to squint your eyes
as you zoom on down you almost catch on 4ire
fall through the leaves now
into the pile you dive
jump out any moment
or maybe just stay inside
and the carousel is spinning about a hundred miles an hour
so you better hold on tight or you’re thrown off
the swings are pressing on and if you push your legs real strong
you maybe can swing over the top rung
those 4ire4ly evenings in the warm summer’s air
and a game of hide and seek has just begun
round up the cicadas in a red radio 4lyer
and you set up camp outside on the front lawn
another scorcher of a night and the power is all gone
and the neighbors on their front properties
as a car passes by, mr. b howls a drunken cry
asks the driver if he works for thomas e
jump in the lake now
sure feels nice and cool
hold your breath for as long as you can
touch your toes to the bottom too
and the night swimming, sand castles, moon light’s glow
and the 4ireworks on the 4th of july
the lake is an ocean, the most water that you know
and the sands, they have been there for all time
there’s a shortcut to school a couple houses past the poole’s
you just bike through the neighbor’s backlot and front drive
a trail heading north leads you to the ravines
and those tracks, they follow you along the side
there’s a tumor on the tree out on 13th avenue
or did some child get swallowed alive
dig a hole in your backyard, it’ll go all the way to china
or maybe the older kids just lied
ghosts in the attic
and the people that live under the stairs
old toys in the crawl space
from the family that once lived there
and two castles on chestnut’s cobble stone road
one for each daughter the tale is told
a gazebo in the middle for a local sunday wedding
but now the castles have been separately sold
there’s a place you can go where the dandelions grow
and the 4lower is much sweeter than the wine
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6. |
You've Left Her
07:00
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wake up with a startle to the cold wind’s call
i can’t tell if it’s early spring or the death of fall
the trees are bare, land’s frozen mud, a cough into the mist
can’t see too far on up ahead, the fog is much too thick
:igure there must be someone else here among these sticks i see
the harbor’s closed, the ships all gone, i hear a distant buoy
there’s something on the water past the breakers, far from shore
i see a :lashing light, what’s it :lashing for?
for it is not a ship i see, but a haven on the :lood
there is no safe way out there though, it’s much too far beyond
and you never can go home again
you’ve left her and now she’s gone
broke her heart, she cried a year too
now you’ve left her and now she’s left you
walk away from the water for the sea’s too hard to bear
there’s a clearing through the pines, their mure, my thoroughfare
there is no green, just brown and grey, a restlessness i sense
I’m not alone, something’s there, watching in the distance
i cannot breathe, i’ve lost my way, the main road must be closed
i stumble now, i trip and fall, pick up a dead rose
it’s getting dark, it’s getting late, no sun to be going down
it’s moist, it’s thick, the air is froze, mercury dropping now
there’s a house up on the hill, it stands alone in the sky
a light from the front window, a :lame that :lickers shy
there must be someone in there, i must go and see
with a limp in my step, this stick i wield, i carefully proceed
a knock on the door echoes through the wood, no answer to the call
i push that door wide open, it wasn’t locked at all
i call out for just anyone, but only the rooms respond
just a candle on the sill and the cold wind’s call
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7. |
Lie With Me
03:58
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lie with me one more time
stay with me one more time
be close to me one more time
before you go
as you stood in your bedroom in your sun5lower dress
in late august’s summer as those tears fell to rest
this is the last time in each other’s arms
as we cling to each other knowing paradise lost
as i take off your dress now and feel your soft skin
our lips come together to begin our true end
fall into each other, you touch me that way
as if it weren’t over, but we’re still the same
as the sun 5loods your window, i look down in your eyes
the sweat from your forehead, it glistens and cries
as we move together i feel you inside
this is forever, this is not just goodbye
as we lie here naked, wrapped in our lost love
our minds in the quiet
at least just for now
i’ll love you this last time, but i’ll love you always
you see i’m not really going, i’m just going away
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8. |
Last One At The End
05:17
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she’s the last one at the end
and she’s been looking for the send
she wants it fast, she wants it far
to and from the nearest star
seems she’s waiting there to see
after the melody
she’s the last one on the drift
probably been working that small timer grift
a minor arcana to see
that ones own augury
she’s got her back turned to the booze
she wants to hear the blues
there’s a warm wind blowing
there’s a warm wind blowing
that south wind blowing tonight
it’s the last one of the hour
before the solitary howl
burning the midnight oil to schemes
all of a lover’s wistful dreams
she sets the clock, she sets the wait
no lesser than any wealthy man’s fate
and the others call you on
with no big shoulders to lean upon
but there’s a welcome there to be
after the harmony
she’s got her back turned to the bar
honey, those wheels will take you far
she’s the last one at the end
them wheels coming around the bend
she’s driving fast, she’s driving far
to and from the nearest star
and she ain’t waiting there to see
after the melody
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Andy Pratt Chicago, Illinois
Andy is a Chicago based singer-songwriter & jazz guitarist.
His music has been featured in Magnet, Goldmine, The Vinyl
District, & several other publications.
In the summers of 2017-2019, Andy toured across the country and Canada in support of his Horizon Disrupted & Further Disruption albums. Andy had the great opportunity to work with Steve Albini on these records. His new album drops on 9/9/22!
... more
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