1. |
Something's Wrong
03:49
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I steal downstairs at night
When my roommates are asleep
I read his emails by
The glow of the Coke machine
If I was a little bolder
I’d show him my postpone folder
Something’s wrong, I haven’t kissed him
Something’s wrong, I haven’t held his hand
Something is wrong, what am I missing
Why do I care about this man
I should be happy here
I worked so hard for this
Rooms filled with valedictorians
From first bell to class dismissed
Four hours north of home
He makes me feel less alone
Chorus
Sun is rising, still have your letter
The From field is etched in my retinas
Today I sleep in yesterday’s clothes
Today I dream in binary code
Chorus
Something’s wrong
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2. |
Two Devils
03:28
|
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You saw the devil in his name
In your mother tongue
I saw the devil in your name
Takes one to know one
Two devils
You’re the one I know
Don’t know who to trust
Satan was an angel once
He won’t talk to me in meat space
I see him on my screen
I see you all the time in meat space
He tells me talk is cheap
Two devils
He’s the one I don’t
Chorus
I turn my head, I close my ears
Your words will hurt, don’t want to hear them
I clear my throat, I make a joke
I drink my words so I won’t choke
Two devils
Which way do I go?
Chorus
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3. |
Letterlocked
02:33
|
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I stole stationery from the head boys’ room, and
I fold the wrapper, wrote your address, dry the glue
My pen exploded and I watched my words bleed through
I post this letter like I’ve escaped with you
You’re in my soul
You’re in my PO Box
You’re in my head
You’ve got me letterlocked
You write in cursive that’s familiar like a face, and
You write on finery you picked up from Bob Slate
You write the letters I get every seven days
Your missives make me feel like I’ve escaped this place
Chorus
I hold my pen like a cry for help
You hold your awl like a skeleton key
If I could pick a lock like you can lock a letter
I could escape, but I’m still not free
Chorus
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4. |
Miss Lonelyhearts
03:37
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She called at 6pm
When her roommate left for track
Hints at things she can’t tell her friends
Her code of silence cracked
I was there in my first year
Miss Lonelyhearts is on the line
Miss Lonelyhearts has got the time
Waiting for you to drop a dime
Miss Lonelyhearts is on the line
I see them on Wednesday mornings
He won’t return her gaze
He sends her correspondence
That puts her in a daze
Will she make my same mistake?
Chorus
There’s a catch on the line
Is that static? Is she crying?
Ungraded papers to my left
I hold the line, I hold my breath
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5. |
Where
03:00
|
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Graphite ghosts haunt the margins of my text
Not much space to write down what I’d say
Dog-eared corners crumble in my hands
White-creased binding lies flat on any page
They lived here in the ‘50s
They live in my knapsack
Where they’ve been
Where it’s been
Where I’ve been
Where they’ve been, where it’s been, where I’ve been, where it’s been
Chain of re’s—he doesn’t change the subject
Paragraphs typed all in lowercase
Answers questions I didn’t think to ask him
Like he beamed his message from his brain
He lives inside a tower
He lives inside my head
Chorus
All these scholars ask their questions
And analyze to death
Why can’t I leave them to it
And overthink this instead?
Chorus
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6. |
Ivan
03:11
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I got a glimpse inside your mind
We don’t talk much in real life
It’s explicit, by design
That our paths only cross on Pine
Yazishma, pidipiska
Levelezee, correspondence
I’m tired of playing by the rules
I’m sick of waiting weeks for you
Language makes me feel a fool
I ran out of words for you
Chorus
You’re beguiled by my keystrokes
A spirit haunting Matthews lab
Wish I could be who you saw on the screen
But our words are all I have
Maybe our ghost writers could meet
How do you know it’s really me?
They could keep each other company
And we could leave each other be
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7. |
Linden Street
03:04
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A set list folded like a football or a love letter
Cut out the Other Music price tag and the hype sticker
A pen and notebook, your Christmas gift to me
A Sharpied, pin-pricked Polaroid from Old Home Week
You got the glory
You got the story
You got the world
And I got Linden Street
Your record was the first I’d heard from you
It had been a year since you left school
Our inside joke was the title to track 10
What would you say if you saw me again?
Chorus
Can’t throw this out, can’t cash this in
Like a storm, this mood will pass
One day it will please me to remember you
And I might want your old words back
Chorus
What would I say if I saw you again?
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8. |
Rudolph's Ranch
04:36
|
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The rooster crows, rise with the sun
Fill the feed bags, prime the pump
Take the reindeer for a run
And still so much to do
Velvet wrap the fragile antlers
Close the barn doors, dim the lanterns
Pull the splinters from my hands
And think of you
My compass points to Rudolph’s Ranch
Blue skies and clean air
I made my home at Rudolph’s Ranch
Now I have to live there
I left my thesis work at home
And boarded a late train alone
I’ll let future me atone for credits I have missed
I ghosted early in the year
Because your postmarks led me here
I unpacked, then things got weird
Before I settled in
Chorus
Have I read this book before?
Why can’t I skip ahead?
Is it comedy or romance
Or do I just wind up dead?
Finals week is coming soon
I should be back in my dorm room
Instead I compost reindeer poop
To earn my train fare home
Chorus
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9. |
Paper Vampire
04:22
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10. |
Switching Tracks
03:27
|
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I didn’t think to look here, but here you are
Like you’ve always been waiting in the cafe car
Don’t think I’m ready, can’t question fate
I sit down next to you for old times sake
Dirty fingernails and greasy hair
Wish I looked a little better
I practiced my small talk; my mind’s gone blank
My heart should be racing, but I don’t feel a pang
I’m too scared and you’re too stubborn to go off-script
Can’t we just improvise our way through this?
Two weeks in a sleeper bed
You smell like soap and fresh baked bread
Switching tracks, I’m all alone
Hear that lonesome whistle moan
Signal problems, ties undone
Switching tracks, I’m almost home
You’ll leave this train like you left school
I’ll watch you walk away
And wonder how your cheap shoes
Contain your feet of clay
Chorus
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11. |
A Toast
01:02
|
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Welcome back to Boston
The home of the bean and the cod
Where the Lowells speak only to Cabots
And the Cabots speak only to God,
And the Cabots speak only to God.
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12. |
Another Year
05:46
|
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It all looks different from first-floor windows
Back outside Boston, I should have moved on
Signed up for classes and changed my major
The Yard’s familiar like the surface of the moon
Waltz on the Weeks Bridge, ball game on Sundays
When the bells in the steeple would wake me at one
Another year back where I started
Another year to take my place among the scholars
Clear-eyed and brokenhearted
Another year back at square one
I turn our head as I pass our call box
That’s where you phoned me, outside of Bradstreet
A magic trick that cast a long, dark shadow
How long til it fades into the landscape
A parting message from the monks of Danilov
The bells were here before me, they’ll be here when I’m gone
Chorus
Peel the plastic from my brand-new notebook
Smudged cursive on pearly white
Pink Pet eraser at the ready
A hundred pages to mar with graphite
Chorus
Another year back where I started
Another year, I’ll take my place among the scholars
Clear-eyed and broken hearted
Back where I paid to be, back at square one
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Travels With Brindle Boston, Massachusetts
Under the name Travels With Brindle, Boston-based songwriter Chelsea Spear got started as a busker on the MBTA, playing ukulele covers for a diverse audience. She later began writing her own music, developing the ethereal-yet-gritty style that can now be heard in the tight melodies of her most recent EP, Greetings from Rocky Point. She is writing her second EP. ... more
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