1. |
Take On Life
02:40
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Life is like a strand of pearls
Each swirling bead
A memory
Though they don't seem to connect
Draped around your death-bed neck
You may discover
Something grand (x3)
And though my worldview may be dim
My take on Life isn't
Life is like a flower springing up through the concrete
In some dying city (x4)
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2. |
Wild Mountain Flower
03:40
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Summer afternoons
In the hills just make me smile
But the evening always captures me after a while
Sitting on a backporch
In a circle with some friends
Hoping that this lovely night
Will never end
And our love is almost ripe now
As we dance under the moonlight
To the song that blooms inside
Be my wild mountain flower tonight
Here's a gift my dear and I hope you like it too
You know I picked this wild mountain flower just for you
Take it with care my dear, enjoy it at your ease
Put in in a vase and you'll preserve its leaves
And our love is almost ripe now
As we dance under the moonlight
To the song that blooms inside
Be my wild mountain flower tonight
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3. |
Under the Tree
03:26
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He chased her through the woods
All morning
She confessed to her past deeds
That afternoon
Across the trails and streams
And in between
The tryst became a crush
An intrepid seed of love
A courting, mating kind of Dance
Her hair a darkened amber
Shone like cabernet through the glass
As the sun
Forged a backlit halo
Whiskey-hued around the edges
All else was just washed out
They tumbled to the ground beneath a hickory
(Under the Tree)
Making love so wild and free
(So free)
They felt the thrill of life rumble and quake
All through their bodies
(Under the Tree)
It was just cold enough
To feel electric in the air
(So free)
They rolled right off the blanket
Into the dirt and leaves
When the fog rolled off the mountains
They rose to the sun again
Rubbed cream on each other's burns
And then they headed back again
Out to the fields
Out to the trails
They wandered free
Remembering!
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4. |
Festival
03:25
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Summer evenings
With the sun blood red and hanging low
You can walk downtown
Under a pastel sky
And start to know
That you’re far from the first
To enter the beehive
Excited for the night
Feeling so alive...
Let’s have a festival tonight!
Saturnalia
Is as old as time its self
Whether God or aliens taught us
We still drink to our health
Or maybe it evolved
In light of daytime’s toils
But as the darkness falls
We must unwind the coils
And start to feel alright
Let’s have a festival tonight (x4)
Tonight, we forget
Tonight, we live
Tonight, we forget
Let’s gather round and do it right
And have a festival tonight
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5. |
Joyful Danger
03:28
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It's getting dark at the fairground
The sun has set
I feel
The drying sweat on my neck
I'm just a speck now, in a sea
Of illuminated neon
A man in a top-hat, with a curious raised eyebrow
And mustache curled
Approaches me
A carpet unfurls
Red and velvet
Rolling toward me in the foggy dusk
He extends a striped
Mahogany cane through the rain
And tells me
"Why not enter further and deeper here-in?"
Fear and laughter
Juxtapose
Do I suppose this trip's beginning
Will hold its mood until the end?
Who is my new friend?
Who is he?
Where is he taking me?
My God, who is this man?
Curious Stranger
Such a Joyful Danger (x2)
Who is this man?
What is this journey?
Where did my pastoral
Innocence then go?
My eyes feel open for the first time
I feel the spectres, demons, angels too!
They stir a bitchin' brew
I sit in it and stew!
Oh
Curious Stranger
Such a Joyful Danger (x2)
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6. |
Different Feet
03:54
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Call me at my parents’ house
I’ll pick you up at your folks’ old place
I’ve still got the same beat up car
Oh It can handle
The gravel, the road, the rocks
I walk these trails now
I know them from my memory
But now as I walk these paths, I walk them
With different, oh such different feet
What’s the use in defying
What must be in other places?
Now things are so much better
I still see the laughs, the tears, the faces
A vision from the past
Still lasts in me...
Never certain
If we made the right choice getting out
But one thing I do know for sure
We had a hell of a time
Finding out
What’s the use in defying
What must be in other places?
Now things are so much better
I still see the laughs, the tears, the faces A vision from the past
Still lasts in me...
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7. |
Boomerang
05:14
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I live in my hometown
It’s quiet, I like it, you know
But every other weekend
I get anxious, and I’ve just
Got to go
To the city where the state college lies
And all my old party friends reside
I’m a boomerang and the grass is always greener
On the other side
But it aint so bad
Havin’ more than one home in your life
The bars in my hometown
Are holes in the wall
In cinder block rooms
By the highway
Oh neon signs and light beer
And dirty pool tables
Top 40 country
And cigarette smo-oke
And I go alone and I
Think simple thoughts and I
Don’t take a shot
And I get home
Just slightly after dark
So I can get my sleep for work
And then in the city
I order French food from the menu
And I stay up all night
And I dance in my old favorite venues
And I don’t even care
Bout my reputation there
And I don’t even try
I just rock through the night
And a Sunday bloody mary
Will send my back home
To my
Other life
I’m a Boomerang and the grass is always greener
On the other side
But it aint so bad having more than one home in your life
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8. |
You Can Grow
04:06
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Night falls
A shadow
Hangs over me like a cloud
The bartender says
I have to stop talking so loud
We both know
This night won’t end well for me
But at the moment it is something that I simply refuse to see
As if I can change
What will happen next
I must correct my ways
It seems so hard, I should tell myself
Yeah, you can grow
Thought you should know
Oh it don’t have to be this way forever
And you can change, and rearrange,
This life
Don’t have to go as planned... yeah you can grow
We all do
Just about the same
Keep playing the same old tune and it’s a losing game
We must move beyond our selfishness and doubt
All the clout you think you have
Evaporates in the mist when she’s pissed
But don’t give up
Or give into the red man on your shoulder
Telling you it’s all fine
Yeah, you can grow
Thought you should know
Oh it don’t have to be this way forever
And you can change, and rearrange, this life
Don’t have to go as planned... yeah you can grow
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9. |
Love the Pain
04:30
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Whatchoo goin on about
Is this really so important
You must tell it to me now?
My patience is waning
Feigned interest is expirin' and
I don’t want to be rude
But think I’m done now
Do you think I
Am being too harsh?
I just don’t want to
Leave you in the dark
I know you can not escape
The drama of the every day
But when you let it rule you
You're gonna feel the strain
Is it worth it or do you just love the pain?
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10. |
Windmills
04:44
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Hot under the skin
Thinking that I might explode
I pace the floor
Waving my arms
I unload on her
She just sat there
Patiently regarding me
Took a moment
Cleared her throat and held my hand
She said, “I
Promise you will make it through the night.”
“It’s all right. Just drink some water
We’ll go walk outside.”
“It’s a lovely night.”
So many times
I have shadow-boxed before
Oh my lord
Enemies like Don Quixote Windmills, I
Swear I’ve heard this song before
Can I change the channel?
Please, no more
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11. |
Wallflowers Never Bloom
04:14
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Every morning when I wake up
I’m consumed with doubts about the day
It’s not fear, worry or negativity
Just a fatalistic apathy in me
So how I break out
And claim this day for
Something more?
And find the sunbeams hidden within me
How do I get content with being here?
Simply being here?
Without some creeping bittersweet feeling?
I just wanna feel good again
Like we did when we were young
All I want is one pure feeling
But the darkness continues to come
Seems the same disease has suddenly
Infected everyone around me now
But we’re all so young why can’t we see
The hopeful, happy brighter side of things
Long ago, happiness somehow lost its cool
We smirk instead of dance, why can’t we see wallflowers never bloom?
Then we zoom from place to place, just trying to find
Something more
Feeling jipped like it’s all just a chore
I just wanna feel good again
Like we did when we were young
All I want is one pure feeling
But the darkness continues to come
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12. |
Here
03:31
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Do you have a method
For discovering deep truths?
Or if one floated by under your nose
Would it just elude you?
I’m thinking you have some questions
But you’re too afraid or too cool to ask
You want me to throw out a life preserver
But I just can’t do that
I-------
Can’t do that
You have to
Find your own map Sometimes for you I wish I could steer
But that’s-----not
How it works here
There you are, what a star
I see you in the corner of a crowded bar
Smoke ring encircling your face
You’ve got a
Fancy car in the parking lot and
Two girls on each arm
But still I see a look of
Discontent upon your face
What do you think we do
Sit around, poor, just waiting to see you?
Oh, the envy never ends
When I see your eyes
Cuttin' through smoke
Just staring at me and my friends
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13. |
As the Light Fades
03:22
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As the light fades
Slivers slink through the shades And I reflect on the day
Hold a funeral
For mistakes that I’ve made
I will not
Cast these
Memories
Away
Storms will pass over me Just like this day
It’s time For now
To play
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Southern Cities Knoxville, Tennessee
Southern Cities is the songwriting collaboration of Matt Montgomery & Luke Brogden. The songs reflect the group's influences, from roots to rock, jazz and psychedelia.
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