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Babylon Swans

by Miller Carr

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1.
I saw you in a photograph I could not help it And I just had to laugh Ain't that sad? That I could only ever see you Trying so hard to hold a smile When you're still in denial About what's really scaring you Our little messenger She lies to me She only tells me what I would like to believe But it's not what I see You cannot fool a fooler It only took one look For me to see right through you Now I'm wondering Maybe I'm as bad as you We're just going through the motions We're just going through the motions Many times we've danced these steps Now we're two lost marionettes And we're struggling to find our rhythm in this broken song Our old rendition Has gone on for far too long And now the moment is gone Must I go on? Something is amiss Something in our kiss And I don't know how it ever got to this We're just going through the motions We're just going through the motions What have you got to lose by loving me? What have you got to gain from leaving me All alone? Has it really come to this? Yes it's really come to this
2.
I parked the car behind St. Joseph's Church Blood rushing in my veins Somewhere south of Dunsmuir Avenue I saw you walking By the river In the rain Light shining through your window I can see a silhouette Your curtain hangs like a veil Wrapped around an angel From a dream I can't forget Sheelagh in eternal heat Surrounded by the flame I'm sitting on the mercy seat I gaze at the moon A long sigh in vain You used to shine your light on me But that was just a dream Slipping into darkness Side by side on the railroad tracks The summer stars were aligned Somewhere underneath a night so black I felt you tremble I heard you whisper In the pines Sheelagh in eternal heat Surrounded by the flame I'm sitting on the mercy seat I gaze at the moon A long sigh in vain I saw you coming back to me But that was just a dream Slipping into darkness
3.
I'm standing in the doorway Where I used to light your French cigaret You would blow a ring of smoke To watch it just disappear Underneath your stained glass chandelier Sheelagh Have you ever Wondered whether We ever should of Just come right out and said it? Babe just forget it I overheard someone talking About you dancing with you know who But I won't believe a word Til I hear it from you So tell me it ain't true Sheelagh If you ever need a favor Well you know where to find me Sheelagh Like a serpent in the sand Always slipping away Right through my hands Always slipping away Right through my hands Always slipping away Like a serpent in the sand Slipping away
4.
Trebuchet 03:28
Too many cats Next to the railroad track Under the house On the blacktop Out in the yard Around every corner They're coming from the other side of the fence I've got a bad neighbor Need a trebuchet God's stone thrower Gonna throw em back over Don't wanna put the cat in a bag Drown em in the river Got a bad neighbor Wanna send him back to Dunsmuir Under my porch Under my sink Sleeping in the halls Inside my walls I've got too many cats Sleeping on my lawn Terrorize my robins Make a sound at night Like an orchestra tuning up They keep multiplying They keep multiplying They keep multiplying Where do they go when the snow falls? When the rain comes? They go under my porch Into my walls Under my sink Sleeping in the halls I've got a bad neighbor A real bad neighbor Gonna send him back to Dunsmuir Gonna get a real mean dog Drive em out Load em up Drive em down south Drop em off in city hall Let em climb around those walls A real bad neighbor Need a trebuchet
5.
The Sculptor 05:01
I am the sculptor I work alone Carving out marble Chiseling stone Outside my window The rain never stops Just as I goon working Round the clock And I keep the fire burning All night long When I was a child I lost my shadow He ran off to hide And I could not follow I never saw him again But sometimes I still wonder Is he out there alone In the rain? And can he see his own reflection Like a mirror in a dream? And when he looks in my direction Does he know just what it means? I've been looking for my shadow For such a long time now It makes me wonder If I'd even recognize him anymore And can he see his own reflection Like a mirror in a dream? And when he looks in my direction Does he know just what it means? I've been looking for my shadow For such a long time now It makes me wonder If I'd even recognize him anymore How am I to know for sure Who I'm looking for? Is he a beast who's staring at me With his horns? Or a wilted rose who's missing All his thorns?
6.
Trapdoor 05:35
Oh what's the use in pretending You don't see that hanging noose Swinging from that willow tree A tangled web we weave Around what we refuse to believe Don't mistake your blues for ennui Will you cut me loose and set me free Or will you leave me hanging? Perhaps this what I was wishing for I say to myself as I shove The genie back in the lamp Strange to find you here alone in the end Falling down that trap door again Oh the decay Reach out and touch me Reach out and touch me Catch me I'm falling Tick tock the clock Is going round But you're moving backwards Into the ground unwound Don't let it drag you down Holy ist thou sound Of the oblivion bound You who were so lost Like a king without a crown A martyr climbing up his cross Just as its falling down A lamb will leave its flock To not be found And I will be left hanging... Perhaps this is what I was wishing for I say to myself as I shove The genie back in the lamp Strange to find you here alone in the end Falling down that trap door again Oh the decay Reach out and touch me Reach out and touch me Catch me I'm falling
7.
There's only so much praying for rain That one honest man can do Before it ain't no use And every whistle from each passing train Reminds me how much time I have to lose And how I'm only passing through Passing through Only passing through Like a thief in the night And there's a river on the right Called the no-return I can follow every bend Follow every turn Until I'm standing at an altar Between the darkness and the light And with so much left to chance It's hard to choose Which one leads to you You know some people got no choice They're either coming or they're going Like a hard wind blowing But you know I hear a different voice Loud as thunder rolling Strong as a river flowing It looks like rain It looks like rain I feel it in my bones And the rivers gonna rise When it finally comes falling down Until its swollen like a vein That carries more than blood alone And I've got to let it bleed Or else I'll drown High water all around Last night I had a dream I was swept out to sea I let the current carry me Away on a slipstream And I looked up at the stars to see You dancing on a moonbeam So wild and free Like a fish swimming upstream I don't know what it was All supposed to mean And you were laughing so hard You were crying And me I was dying Looking in your eyes Yes I was dying Looking in your eyes
8.
You are not longing There is no desire Lay down your roses Upon the fire Place you hands Into the ashes Like falling sand Through an hourglass What once took host Will never last Give up the ghost That soon will pass To become what once was flowing Through your barren veins O' mystery of mysteries alone Neither a servant Nor master am I Neither the cursed Nor the divine A serpent wrapped around the vine A lock of hair tangled in your spine Unraveling the holiest design A swan who floated on the moat Outside the walls of Babylon With feathers unlike the rest He hid in the shadows Away from the flock Alone He fell asleep And drifted too close to the gate A guard mistook him for a goose And placed him on the emperor's plate And just like the sun Breaking through the dawn He opened up his golden throat And he sang this song When you drink my blood like wine When you eat my flesh divine Remember this: It won't save you any time Wrapped up in your yarn so tight You know you can't unwin I could crawl on my hands and knees Through a desert with no water I could fall bending down to wash your feet Like a lamb at the slaughter I could howl like a dog in heat Reaching for your daughter But it just never feels complete When I'm kneeling at the altar Another lost child in Babylon

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released June 21, 2017

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Miller Carr California

Miller Carr
Ballads

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