1. |
Fathershaus
02:43
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knotted cedar logs all stained and stacked up into walls
east-facing a-frame, clear to see the lake from
tucked in a cove there where the route runs out of road
good old basset boy passed out beside the wood stove
some see a cabin
a tack on a map with some price tag attached
some miss the world for the ground
i see my father’s house
inlays and purfl ings shine in abelone pearl
sweet sitka spruce top, classic Martin headstock
gold tune machines, man it’s fancy as can be
but you’ve gotta close your eyes to know what i mean
some hear a dreadnaught
full growling bass as the treble rides the wave
some craftsman’s fine work of art
i hear my father’s guitar
you’ll see a full grown man with his heart on his sleeve
singing, making songs to make another one
some see delusion
some see blind, deaf delusion
i see my father’s son
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2. |
The Wedding Singer
04:18
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i was a wedding singer before
now most of those end in divorce
not because of my singing but it sure got me thinking
i’m not doing that shit anymore
i was a barroom singer for years
jim beam, oasis, and beers
i’d do that again just to sing with Flynn
man i wish that kid was still here
corner of the bar superstar
top-shelf above the bar stage
it’s where i’ll sing and play the night away
while you all watch the game
i still sing hallelujah in church
but i’m not all that sold on the words
but i’ll gladly play covers for the faithful others
and if it turns out that they’re right it can’t hurt
choir loft guitar superstar
most of those chords are the same
my recessionals sound professional
and get you home for the game
my star
it shines bright as can be right around bedtime
i’ll start to sing
i’m a bonafide lullaby king
and an old campfire troubadour
i couldn’t love dancing flames more
when we pass the guitar under real country stars
it warms my soul to the core
corner of the yard superstar
noone mispronouncing my name
i found an audience of songwriter friends
so you can have your damn game
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3. |
Catch
04:18
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grandpa came to visit
don’t think i was even six yet
he said
why aren’t you outside
with the brand new mitt i sent you
i said
grandpa i’m so grateful
that you send anything at all
but that glove hardly holds a ball
and he laughed his ass off
he said
how could i forget
you can’t just send a kid a mitt
without a good old heart-to-heart
about just how to break it in
you can’t rush a glove to greatness
that’s why I’m starting you right now
go get it i’ll show you how
my grand-dad showed me how
you pound on the pocket with your fist
tap a mallet on the webbing
rub in a little lanolin
tie it up tight under your mattress
and you’ll feel it breaking in
once you’re out
for crying out loud
playing catch with it
those summers that he came
felt like more than just a game
we’d spend all those hours outside
shagging flies and reacquainting
i’d say
grandpa i’m so grateful
that we found all this time to talk
but cmon man could you throw the ball
and he’d laugh his ass off
i grew out of that glove
but i kept it safe and sound
now my own kid’s growing up
so i found it and pulled it out
turns out she’s a lefty
i hear grandpa laughing now
as we break in her brand new mitt
same way my grandpa did
pound on the pocket with your fist
tap a mallet on the webbing
rub in a little lanolin
tie it up tight under your mattress
but its no use breaking in
unless we’re out
for crying out loud
playing catch with it
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4. |
Monsters
03:59
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all the monsters i meet
seem to be absurd versions of me
and even stranger it seems
they’re all etched in impressions i leave
my monsters strike true
and then retreat like defeat-seasoned troops
watch the pendulum swing
the war for more absurd versions of me
i realize
i stole the luck from some star falling by
when you said you’d have me and hold me for the whole long haul
monsters and all
all the monsters i meet
can’t be seen and i tend to agree
so here’s to working on me
and to a slightly less absurd version for you
i realize
it’s not a fight unless you’re clawing for your life
til death do us part you have my whole heart at your beckon call
monsters and all
this is it (i’ll show you)
we are the fort (my fortress)
i’ll show you mine (my one true blue)
you show me yours (you show me you’re ready for yours)
i know you
i know about your absurd versions too
and i’m gonna love you
i’ll even insist we combine
your monsters and mine
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5. |
Home State
03:41
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i can point to where i live on the back of my left hand
where i’ve been, where i’m headed, and where i am
trace straight to the edges where my hand runs out of skin
that’s where the great glacial lakes that guard my state begin
ah peninsula la lovely
seasons cycle through
i know it in my bones
my one and only home
goes hand-in-hand with one and only you
i can point to where i live on the palm of my right hand
etch an x into the callous that marks my land
trace northward to the ledges
there beneath my nails you see
the dirt i’ve worked and that i’ll rest with when they bury me
ah peninsula la lovely
seasons cycle through
i know it in my bones
my one and only home
goes hand in hand with one and only you
i let all my mittens lay thumbs-out to the right
so they lay looking like that great home state of mine
i let all my mittens lay thumbs-out to the right
so they lay looking like that great lake state of mine
ah peninsula la lovely
seasons cycle through
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6. |
Nicotine
02:14
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i remember watching my papa make an art form
ashing his kent III 100’s into arrows as we’d talk
no wonder i was always first up for second hand
cigarettes and coffee
still the best damn smell known to man
fa la la la na nicotine
who knew so young
i remember watching movies making em look awesome
it was an easy time to want one
i knew i had to get my hands on that
so i stole marlboros from the pack behind dad’s carphone
i knew even if he caught on he wasn’t dumb enough to say shit about that
fa la la la na nicotine
who knew so young
fa la la la na nicotine
it’ll keep you honest
i’ve never met a villain so dependable
i don’t got another sure-fire breath of calm
i don’t think i ever want to quit tobacco
in fact i think i’m stepping out after this song
fa la la la na nicotine
who knew so young
fa la la la na nicotine
it’ll keep you honest
fa la la la na nicotine
now i think i want one
fa la la la na nicotine
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7. |
Brave Marie
03:58
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brave marie, brave marie
broke every barrier she ever did see
and she etched one heck of a legacy
mighty mighty brave marie
born in the late 1860’s
warsaw had never saw anything
like a girl this smart so bold so free
mighty mighty brave marie
only ten when her mother succumbed to TB
it wouldn’t be her last brush with tragedy
she took after dad academically
mighty mighty smart marie
government said college boys only
so she found the secret flying university
put her sister through school
made her money tutoring
mighty generous marie
brave marie, brave marie
broke every barrier she ever did see
armed only with her wits, she stormed Paris
mighty mighty brave marie
dead broke living on toast and tea
masters of physics by ’93
the next year she’d follow with a math degree
head of the class marie
in ’95 she met physicist pierre curie
finally found a fun kind of chemistry
it wasn’t one short year before the wedding
man and marie curie
they made elemental discovery
named polonium after her home country
isolated radium by 1903
the all-star team curie
brave marie, brave marie
broke every barrier she ever did see
and she taught us radioactivity
mighty mighty brave marie
In ’06 pierre died tragically
he left behind a widow on a pile of grief
she took on his job
the first lady professor madame curie
she didn’t even want it when they told her she
had won the Nobel for physics
she was the one and only woman
and it wouldn’t even be the last one
for brave marie
cuz in 1911 more history
her second nobel
now she’s still the only one
to be awarded in physics
and again in chemistry
mighty groundbreaking marie
brave marie, brave marie
broke every barrier she ever did see
didn’t want a bit of credit
just a whole lot of peace
mighty mighty brave marie
then war took over 1914
she kept her head down working radiology
and made the world’s first field x-ray machine
might heroic indeed
then all her hard work found a cold hard link
between radiation and her blood disease
it took her down quick
left the world to grieve
the late great brave marie
you could spend years counting all she achieved
showed the world a woman’s got a mind to speak
gave all our daughters a real chance to dream
like the late great brave marie
brave marie, brave marie
broke every barrier she ever did see
and she etched one heck of a legacy
mighty mighty brave marie
mighty mighty madame curie
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8. |
Clover
03:39
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you’re living with a squatter
no man can afford
sleeping three sheets to the wind
wondering why you never wake up warm
there’s a thirst at the helm
hell bent on waging war
you can handle any bottle
you just struggle with the cork
but you’re three says sober
hey quick before it’s over
throw some four-leaf clover in your pocket
oh i think you’re one of those reasons why the wagon goes so slow
still hanging on don’t seem so easy yet
your angel and your devil
never leave their shoulder perch
except to fuck behind your back
once you’ve all been good and over-served
and all the lines you drew in wisdom
become muddled and obscured
the only thanks for nursing vipers
is venom i’m pretty sure
but then you’re eight days sober
who knew you could evoke that sort of luck
by throwing clover in your pocket
aren’t you glad for all of those reasons why the wagon goes so slow
though falling off still don’t seem so far fetched
i guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it
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9. |
Honest
03:38
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we thought we’d call you gentle annie
i learned the song and sang it in those first few days
then i saw you pitching a fit and it sunk in quick
my new kid needed a new nickname
when you were startled you’d start laughing
i don’t think that i could ever get enough of that game
here i was a grown-ass man trying to scare the bananas
out of my own beautiful babe
then before i even knew it you were growing up, girl
and the palm of your hand held the whole damn world
my only complaint with this whole dad thing
is that you’re growing up way too fast for me
girl, we get that mini-van jammin’
i think we both trail off in the very same way
and i’m loving how you wail on the wall during your bedtime songs
lost and gone to some stage
but there’s a fire inside you cracklin
i’m hoping i can help teach you how to tend those flames
before you let em burn the years like your dad did, dear
i’ve only got myself to blame
if there’s a little bit of you even a tiny bit bad
there’s no doubt now it passed down from your dad
but the lion’s share there is this angel i see
i pray heaven lets a little rub off on me
i know my snugglin’ days are numbered
i know you can cross without my hand
i know your name by heart, darling
there’s no forgetting my anzbananz
i know darkness might find you
cuz i know that there’s plenty in our blood
so you can ask anything you want to
i’ll tell you about every hole i’ve dug
and i could say your future is bright as ever
but honey between just you and me
most us fathers aren’t the prophets we tend to pretend to be
so when that darkness finally finds you
or boils up in your blood
just know that you come by it honest
and you can have my hand back if you want
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10. |
Wildest Dreams
02:53
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show me the you that you see in your wildest dreams
show me who i’d find flying through your mind as you sleep
show me you with all it takes to be the you you want to be
show me the you that you see in your wildest dreams
show me the you that you are in your heart of hearts
with your walls all fallen
and you calling off the guards
show me unafraid to make mistakes
show all your scars
show me the you that you are in your heart of hearts
if i could save your heart from breaking
there’s no way you’d even have to ask
but i can’t
and i’ll remind you that you’re wilder now for that
show me the you that you see in your wildest dreams
show me that tidal wave rising with you riding wild and free
show me all you want to make
show me the stage and everything
show me the you that you see in your wildest dreams
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11. |
When It's Over
01:53
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when all this is over
they’ll want to know
how did we do
and we’ll all shine a light on better times
and cast shadows on a few
when all this is over
they’ll all want to know
where you stood
and who behind
and who that put right beside you
will you be proud of you?
who will be proud of you?
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Chain of Lakes Alto, Michigan
Kyle Rasche is a singer-songwriter from alto, mi. He has written and performed songs as Chain of Lakes since 2010.
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