1. |
prelude.
01:58
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2. |
Commencement 1:11
06:02
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1.
Once in a silver birch, I sang myself.
With kindling enough to get the coals going
But nothing to sustain them.
The crosshatched tower of wood that stood above the flame would stay dim as the spires stretched and dissipated around them;
The northeastern spring had made sure of that.
Catholic knees insulated me from the rough terrain.
I arose just in time to see the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad and hear shouts of Ich Bin Ein Berliner bound from larynx to radio wave to tympanic membrane, and repeat.
With each step forward I took, a wall of stone entwined with petrified wood remained not more than 3 feet behind.
Just before the wall fell
I turned to see a German soldier,
Arm outstretched through a break in the wall presenting a sole black-eyed Susan with the intent of peace.
As I took the flower the wall collapsed on itself,
Shattering the man’s arm, but magnifying his intention.
As it fell,
He rose.
2.
I turned back to the railroad,
Susan in hand, but saw only an empty field where once lay the pinnacle of western intervention.
In the distance I heard whimperings of joy and pain,
But the ground around me had dissipated and left me on a plateau.
A house was built upon the wreckage of the wall,
Using wood and stone alike as foundation.
A house was built on the remains of my only friend.
3.
As my house drifted away from my home,
My family and so-called friends waved cordially as I drifted further.
I could see the water that had turned my plateau into a floating island, raising up past my windows, and consuming my house.
Logic and reason we're far apart from what I knew as perception. Imagination took full precedent.
An iceberg had grown inside me.
I thought it would destroy my house after the first, second, and third hits,
But it was no Titanic;
I was a mouse amongst elephants.
4.
My watery journey came to a halt on the banks of the Hudson, due west of Mount Sinai.
I was home.
I was where my life had started.
I foraged west towards the Mount.
As I climbed, I had hoped I would have been healed but it seemed as if I was on a course for my life to end exactly where it had begun.
Kevorkian was waiting for me.
I tried to think back to when I was born as it was where I now stand.
I could recollect or recall, but not remember.
5.
My mooring had broken and again I drifted further and further into the unknown waters until the waters dried up and I was set down in what appeared a barren wasteland.
Contrary to what I had been told to believe,
Sometimes things are exactly as they seem,
As it was in this place.
6.
It'd been months since I'd had any inkling of an idea of who or where I was.
I was a cosmonaut crashed into earth,
Crying in rage at having lost all memory of
Home vs the unknown and the ability to decipher friend from foe,
or alien
from ally.
I was a cosmonaut, crashing to earth.
As my vessel fell,
So did I.
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3. |
Flight of The Athenian
03:59
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4. |
Nor'Eastern
04:32
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I need the open road today.
I’ve struck a nerve, I’ve found this to be a pattern as of late.
Leading to self-reducing pain,
This fall took all my friends far away.
The depth of everyone has waned.
I watched the road get close when orange turned to gray.
This fall took all my friends away, but left the lights on.
A Manhattan kind of break; I’ve seen this before but as of late
I’ve been unable to solve the problem of sex.
I was surrounded by extras sipping drinks
From reruns of an infomercial for anything.
Bullets have left guns slower than I did you.
I guess I knew it was the right gift from me to you.
Nothing is going on.
Nothing is going on.
Nothing is going on.
How’ve you been?
Nothing is going on.
Nothing is going on.
Nothing is going on.
How’ve you been?
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5. |
5/2 Empty
04:57
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You wrote me a map which I could not comprehend.
It had a beginning but was void of an end.
You disappeared without warning in a fashionable trend.
I’ve needed your help. “Come find me at the end”
You said.
The only piece that stuck around
Was in a peaceful state underground.
If only I’d gotten the chance to say to my friend,
“No man is an island.”
I thought a piece of your mind would function after you died.
I guess I was right in a kind of way.
I saw a peaceful reprise of what you saw in the sky.
A cloud shaped like all day.
If only the piece that stuck around
Was in a peaceful state underground.
Only you said, “listen to my friend
No man is an island.”
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6. |
11hundred
04:42
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7. |
Bone China
03:37
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Of ten names that have graced my list,
You’re the first I wish had never seen my wrist.
Could you stay a while?
Could you lose that smile?
I get it, it’s hard to be you too.
But keep in mind you had the choice to not be blue,
While others don’t.
You hurt because you want to feel like a person,
But never have.
You’re just a fucking actor.
Life’s a rehearsal.
I’m more than the antagonist.
So keep me out of your little fits.
A plastic cup and mason jar
Could tell me enough about who you are
In a word or two
And which one is more you.
Either way I’ll be distant
From you.
Either way I’ll be distant,
‘til you find something new.
Only you said you loved me
(You only said you loved me)
You said only you loved me
[You said you only loved me]
(You said you loved only me)
{You said you love me only}
You said you loved only me
You said you loved me.
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8. |
I Came So Scared
04:16
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I came so scared, love, of being alone.
A silver birch hung here, in what used to be home.
People won’t care, love, beyond what they say.
There’s nothing much deeper to what they’re thinking of me
If you need to say you want me to stay,
If I need you, then stay away.
I am a misanthrope and you remind of of why.
Cultivate yourself but not for my eyes.
I faced a demon to spend some more time
With the shape of your body at the place in your mind.
Take me with you or leave me behind.
This middle-ground’s tearing me apart from the inside.
You left so scared, love, of being so brash,
By taking my burden with you when you passed.
But on came a new one; a love that I found.
I’m punishing myself because I’ve let you down.
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9. |
Marionettiste
04:35
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You were a house on fire but I didn’t know.
Lust kept my eyes covered as smoke filled my lungs.
I need a beer, as you disappear.
So I’ll wait alone again.
You were a house on fire but I didn’t know.
What was there between the two of us
You were best in show.
I prayed to set you free from the dark in me.
I’ll wait, I’ll wait,
Alone in this company.
Look in my mind, there’s a storm at bay in here.
Enough to put you out, and that’s my biggest fear.
I gave you nothing to stop the rain that was to come.
I wanted you in my life, but not for you to dim.
And who you’ve got won’t matter to you.
Give me a way out of here.
A way out of here.
Way out of here.
Way out of here.
You were a house on fire but I didn’t know.
I kept you strapped to my side so my pain wouldn’t show.
I need you here
Til my mind’s clear.
Still waiting.
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10. |
Recluse
03:44
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Leave me alone I’m uncomfortably numb.
When you awoke you’ll have walked to my throne.
So give me a stone a glass topped lake and I just want to know.
If I’m alone will I make a ripple?
If I’m alone would I take your stone?
If I’m alone, I’ll skip it across. Does it make a ripple?
Leave us alone we’re uncomfortably numb.
When you awoke you’ll have walked to our throne.
So give me a stone a glass topped lake and I just want to know.
If I’m alone will I make a ripple?
If I’m alone would I take your throne?
If I’m alone, I’ll skip it across. Does it make a ripple?
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11. |
Swan
07:23
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12. |
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You don't know what it is this time
Because you can't see inside
If it'd help you sleep at night
Then I'd be happy to tell you I'm just sleeping fine
You're not the only one on my mind
And I'm not going to keep you inside
Nothing comes from us waving our guns
I'm insatiable in every way to you
Well I can't be my only angel
But when night comes you keep sleep away
You were supposed to be the savior of me from myself
But I have overcome
I can't do this much longer to you, as much as to me
So soon I'll be gone
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City Of Orchestras Los Angeles, California
City Of Orchestras is a collective headed by New York City native, Dylan Alexander Freeman but was brought to its fruition in Los Angeles with fellow musicians from the California Institute of the Arts and LA Locals. Freeman's project is a true testament to the power of improvisation and collaboration. ... more
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