1. |
Don't Change My Mind
03:03
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The walls of old Jerusalem, built on blood of kings not men
Timeless, in tact
I been singing to a ceiling fan, I been preaching to a pepsi can
Praying my voice won’t crack
Please don’t change my mind
The ghosts of this house been stealing time, and I’ve been blind til I made mine
Surely now I see
There’s a kid in a frame on the mantle with, a soft smile and eyes slightly off the camera
No that’s not me, no longer me
Please don’t change my mind
Tonight I’ll dream of where I’ll die, where I will laugh not where I cried
When I was born
And all the things I’ve never done, and all the times I blamed my blood
No more, no more
Please don’t change my mind
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2. |
Sun Gonna Lemme Shine
03:05
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Dark days have gone and come
I’ve been singing that saintly song
Sin knocking on my door
I’ll say no no more
Them schoolyard days are done
But them school bells linger on
Bullies who dumped my books
Are now writing my paychecks
Goodbye wide eyes, you’ve surely had your time
So long sweet tongue, at least you gave it a try
Chorus:
Now the sun’s gonna lemme shine, lemme shine
Now the sun’s gonna lemme shine, lemme shine, that’s right
I’ve climbed the good soapbox
I’ve tried the mountaintops
Ghosts live on my high road
keep saying “go on get low”
Now it’s goodbye good child, you best leave your humble pie
Get some blood on your gloves, and don’t leave those knees behind
Chorus
Tonight I’ll rest my head
And dream dreams I’ve never dreamt
I’ll hold up high my chin
And welcome sin on in
Chorus
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3. |
Pick Your Battles
02:51
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Good boy do what mama says
Bleed your blood until it’s red
Toss another dime in hat, colonize your bedroom map, keep your revolution eyes wet
I am thoroughly impressed
Classy course catalog well read
Now you talk about the out and down, walk about with burning crown, wonder why the kiddies don’t beg
Chorus:
And I know why your change is never coming
It feels fine to shame a setting sun
Now it’s high time, you leave your war alone
Better pick your battles
Now you preach on a pulpit built to last
With your gold collar covered up in rags
And you call yourself a weathervane, find a puddle call it rain, pass them baskets fast
Chorus
I’ve seen the hollow man
And I’ve been smitten selling stories of his hands
But bright lights spur submission, honeybee television, taste a little nectar and you’re gone
Chorus
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4. |
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Wake well past midnight
to the burden of bills
and the screaming quiet
We swam along just fine
then she broke her back
and a bank broke mine
Now I’m at the kitchen table putting numbers on the paper and dodging the mirror on the wall
And I swear I’d drive til the sun gave light, I need just a little push is all
And I’d build my boat so tall so wide, but I’m still waiting on the river to rise
I was born by the book
I keep my carpet clean
And my money earned
Why is the TV man
always smiling at me
I wonder who he burned
How come everybody for the common man never looks quite like me
They’re running on the sun with their shoes undone and they never seem to burn their feet
And I’d build my boat so tall so wide, but I’m still waiting on the river to rise
Scratch tickets on my shelf
Stains on my knees
Pennies in my well
I got faith in faith
Because the other choice
Is no choice at all
Now there’s a man in the sky that I done right by and he ain’t done right by me
And I never asked forgiveness for the things I done but you just wait and see
I will build my boat so tall so wide and I won’t be waiting on the river to rise
No I won’t be waiting on the river to rise
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5. |
Down
02:59
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6. |
Sigh A While
04:32
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The highway lights ain’t blinding enough I’ve tried
To block out all the photos and failures
That put me on this road
You see the house I built is shaking off its stilts
And the cold water flows beneath the walls where I buried my soul
Chorus:
Oh how we gonna get back home
With our pies in the skies and our eyes on the horizon
But a lollipop stuck to the floor
I will not stand (you can come back home anytime)
With my hat in hand (you can come back home)
And I know there’s a light but the tunnel is so hard to find
Chorus
Sigh a while, because these knees are not for sale
But I don’t know for how long
Chorus
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7. |
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I was born a spark plug girl, cut from heart and iron
Papa’s hands were small and strong, Mama’s soft smile wide
But I know all the good girls move so slow
I’ve been soaking up the TV glow
I’ve been feeding mirrors, bleeding on tip-toes
Chorus:
It’s hard times for the quiet kind
They tame their tongues and wait in line
While the Cadillac kids pay no mind
I don’t want to be the one they leave behind
I cut my teeth neath dead heroes, who live on on my wall
Their voices blown, their elbows thrown, but that’s not what I recall
All around, there were preachers with furrowed brows
Poor pundits paid to stretch their mouths
But the widest eyes are blind when looking around
Chorus
Last night I dreamt I was ten feet tall, and I punched right through the roof
Right past Papa’s sullen stare, sighing “that’s not what we do”
But I wanna hush that quiet and I
And I wanna shout it out loud and I
wanna climb these walls before they climb all over me
Chorus
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8. |
The Fire Inside
05:51
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I know angels listen when you sing
You got your music stand in the corner, your voicemail recordings
Cute hair brush tied to a string
But I know dishes ain’t for stacking in sinks
Wrinkles not for shirts, carpets not for dirt
This tub won’t scrub itself
Chorus
Sadie stay steady I’m on your side
But baby when are you gonna learn?
Now is not the time for the fire inside
To come out and burn
I know you been sleeping with open eyes
Your demo tape topped the household charts
In your coffeeshop show you looked real nice
I know you been staring at a picture of old
I must’ve looked different, I must’ve looked younger
Because I heard you whisper “where did he go?”
Chorus
I heard there’s somebody new at your door
Well I bet he’s younger, but I do wonder
Why you don’t sing anymore
Chorus
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9. |
King's Men
03:23
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Oh I got me a three piece
I wear it with a gold plated pin
No you’ll never see me
Sewing torn stitches within
Oh I bought a Ferrari
I drive it down Main Street and back
No you’ll never see it
Parked in front of my one bedroom shack
Chorus
So why you wanna drink from a bottle that’s broken
Why you wanna think using words so spoken
Why you wanna lose when winning is winning
Where are all the king’s men when you need them
My baby’s a good girl
She knows what to call me at home
God bless her soul
She don’t dare get it wrong
She gave me a good son
He’s got his daddy’s eyes
He says he’s a star in the schoolyard
He knows better not to cry
Chorus
I wake in the morning
Raise my chin, tie my tie
Look in the broken mirror
It’s only a matter of time
Chorus
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10. |
Strongman
02:52
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You told me I was born a promised man
You taught me how to feed with an iron hand
I died twice last week but you showed me how to rise again
You can try to take me down boy, I’m not gonna go
Now you’re running with the weak gone left behind
You’re shouting for the sorry suckers crying and quiet
You cry, sigh, lie try to tell me that they really look a lot like me
You can try to take me down boy, I’m not gonna go
No I’m set in stone
I thought about the pounding on my door
I thought about the wide-eyed fires below
I sigh twice at the window then I snicker at the beggars and chumps
You can try to take me down boy, I’m not gonna go
No I’m set in stone
Your ivory tower’s bigger than mine and you know it
But you gotta put your hand in the mud to throw it
I’ve got what you need, not what you want
Just remember where I come from
And imagine here when I’m gone
Just imagine here when I’m gone
You can try to take me down boy, I’m not gonna go
No I’m set in stone
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11. |
Habit
04:24
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The hard rain blew a thorn in my side
The change that came drank my wine
Stones don’t always roll, stones don’t always roll
I’m the kind that don’t look back
At the broken hearts and bones on my path
The sleepwalker never falls down, The wax wing never hits the ground
And it’s so hard to break a habit like you
Now my hands they shake for the first time
I’ve never waited on a ringing phone line
Don’t you tell a soul, don’t you dare tell a soul
It’s hard to break a habit like you
As I lay a hard soul gone
I dream the walls of Babylon
Cracked soon will fall, cracked soon will fall
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12. |
This Will Not Be Easy
02:41
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Seven days and my black shoes keeping their shine
I pack my lunch and drive with no place in mind
But what do you see when your mirror breaks?
And what do you do when you do for the sake?
I will stand like I once stood
But I know this will not be easy
Seven months and these dirt hands cracked at the seams
At night I scrub so hard to remember them clean
So how do you swim when the water’s drying?
And how do you fly in a falling sky?
Hope I stand like I once stood
And I know this will not be easy
Seven years and those black shoes covered in gray
Found them deep in the closet yesterday
All this walk when I’ve run so long
All this talk when I’ve spoken in song
I once stood so tall they say
And I hope this will not be easy
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Kingsley Flood Boston, Massachusetts
With features in NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, Boston and Washington, DC sextet Kingsley Flood
straddles the line between high energy indie rock and introspective folk.
With its "signature high energy" (Rolling Stone), the band has played the main stage at the Newport Folk Fest and has been dubbed "Boston's best live band" (Boston Herald).
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