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1. |
Mind Over Manners
03:35
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Mind Over Manners (Aldridge)
They came down Main Street
With the hell of ancient cries
Ripped and burned through storefronts
Like it was wool over their eyes
And the city said, “what about broken glass?”
And the police said, “settle down, it’ll pass.”
How can we even try to deny?
Why do we even wonder why
they would want to break from
these eternal beginnings and rise?
Its just mind over manners
And it applies to you and I.
If they were to give me their shoes
And say “boy go take a stroll”
I believe I might defer to
Some asshole that thinks he knows.
You gotta know how to move while you hide
You gotta know how to breathe when they lie
How can we even try to deny?
Why do we even wonder why
they would want to break from
these eternal beginnings and rise?
Its just mind over manners
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2. |
Poor Taste
05:11
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Why did I think I could hide what you found? (M)
I was always better at doggin’ around. (F)
Well, well, well…So I’m a clown again (M)
Yea yea, more like you made yourself a friend (F)
This ain’t no kinda time to make amends.
You gotta let me go (M)
No, you gotta let me go (F)
How long must I pay for your poor taste?
I know you know you made me raise my hand (M)
Don’t sweat it, I don’t think it counts unless you’re a man (F)
My, my, my, look at the fangs on you (M)
Boy you know you’re lucky you ain’t black and blue (F)
This ain’t know kinda time to tell the truth.
You gotta let me go (M)
No, you gotta let me go (F)
How long must I pay for your poor taste?
And it makes me feel alive
Just to think of ways that I could die
Is it really hard to see
If the whole world seems to disagree
We might be wrong
You gotta let me go (M)
No, you gotta let me go (F)
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3. |
Little Lou
02:42
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Little Lou, you’ve got a true shine
Where the sidewalk ends won’t change your mind
Don’t be afraid to try on used shoes
Don’t let a man tell you about woman’s blues
Yea, try to keep it ‘tween the ditches
No, it doesn’t have to be a straight line
I think you’ll be fine
When the odds pile up against you
Take comfort knowing you’re not amongst the few
When the hard heads try to squeeze you
And you wanna hide your heart and shield your view
Yea, try to focus on the “why”
When people are unkind
I think you’ll be fine
And if I get one last wish
In the years that I might miss
On the floor in the wood grain,
In the drops on the window pane,
Everywhere you look you’ll find a sign
That I think you’ll be fine
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4. |
This Time
03:23
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The mating robins battle
The dying winter rattles
In the pre-sun blue
Feral cats roam out of sight
Sirens of love
In the post-night
I can hear a subtle frenzy
Buzzing out of view
The low drifting fog
Settles into dew
It’s springtime in my neighborhood
All God’s children wanna make good
This time
The sun starts to ascend
The light begins to bend
Through a threat of rain
To catch the colors before they pass
You hold our your hand
But it never lasts
The flowers crack their blooms
My thoughts return to you
Will our love renew?
Did we bloom too soon?
It’s springtime in my neighborhood
All God’s children wanna make good
This time
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5. |
Twisted Blanket
04:01
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Well he asks her how she’s feeling,
As if she can’t, and thats his point
Probably what she’s feeling now
Is everything at once
But she makes it to her car
While his smoke still hangs in the air
Love’s her twisted blanket
It always leaves her cold somewhere
But down here, she’d rather be cold all over
Down here, warm hearts make you older
So she’d rather be cold all over
Than to fall in love down here
She’s busted ass for what she’s got
Since she burned everything she had
Some Woody Allen movie
Really got her mad
She’s worn a hole right through her sub-floors
With boys’ tears and blank stares
Love’s her twisted blanket
It always leaves her cold somewhere
But down here, she’d rather be cold all over
Down here, warm hearts make you older
So she’d rather be cold all over
Than to fall in love down here
She’s the blue amongst black and white
When its right it’s never fair
Love’s her twisted blanket
It always leaves her cold somewhere
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6. |
Beatlesque Nowhere
03:32
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Beatlesque nowhere, warm like a womb
And never too soon to leave
Beatlesque nowhere, wave after wave
People don’t save, they just cave
I’ll be right here with no patience, spinning
Backslide in a thread and start panning
Ugh, why?
Maybe “division” is not the word, come push to shove
After all we know by now, peace is not a glove
Maybe we’re just distancing from everything but love.
It’s devilish out there, hearts eating sleeves
The papers don’t read, they just seed
We’ll be back someday, it really ain’t clear
You don’t forget fear, it just bides it’s time
I’ll be right here with my cards all showing
Making plans but never knowing
How?
Maybe “division” is not the word, come push to shove
After all we know by now, peace is not a glove
Maybe we’re just distancing from everything but love.
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7. |
Want It More
03:59
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Tell me if I’m getting this right
I’m falling off the couch to hear
You say I gotta be out tonight?
I suppose the wait was worse than the fear
Tell me I’m right
Lets change it up for kicks, for spite
You told me not to call you at night
And I had no reply because I love
And now I bet she’s just standing there
Gnawing on a piece of the truth
In a lot of ways I’m just standing here
I’m searching for something, too
Something to make her happy
Maybe something she could carry
You gotta want it more than me
Look at you just itching to change shit up
You’ve overflowed to fill your cup
Trying to show the whole town you’re fine
But they hate your reasons why and I still love you
But no, I bet she’s just standing there
Burning bad pictures of me
In a lot of ways I’m just waiting here
For something to jar free
Something to make her happy
Maybe something she could carry
You gotta want it more than me
Hit me up for a lunch break in the buff
Put me down if you need to make this tough
I know you’ll remember like I do.
I’m searching for something, too
Something to make her happy
Maybe something she could carry
You gotta want it more than me
Could you want it more than me?
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8. |
Mean Grass
04:15
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Billy wasn’t leaving Iron City
All on his high school charm
Hard work and drinking led to self pity
Self pity crystalized behind his firearm
One night he heard the bells of hell
He knew that he had to get well
So he set out with every devil close behind
Ice cream and mama on his mind
Through the blazing fields of green
Under every ghost of the Sun’s past
And emerges clean and bloody
from the mean grass
Sheila’s daddy put her mama’s picture away
She put her ticket out with mama in the Iron City dirt
But daddy wanted more than all the reasons she stayed
So she made a boutonnière and started to flirt
Clutching pieces of her prom dress she thought,
“That wasn’t quite like daddy does it.”
She left the boy in the car and every crossed line behind
An old picture of herself on her mind
Through the blazing fields of green
Under every ghost of the Sun’s past
And emerges clean and bloody
from the mean grass
If seeing is believing
Maybe we’re not here
If Jesus Christ crossed the picket line
Then we’re clear
From the dirt roads to the city streets
Our own blazing fields of green
See us rising
I call it rising
Under every ghost of the Sun’s past
See us rising
We’re rising
Stripped clean and bloody
From the mean grass
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9. |
Explaining To Do
05:00
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Your god is gonna need to book a trip
Just to fight you in his dirt
The earth’s been drifting through space with your prayers
And what they’re calling a church?
If asses were as narrow as minds
They’d put a thousand in a pew
I’m not counting on your second-rate angel
I’d rather count on you
Singing Ooooooh ho ho ho ho
It’s not your faith that’s jamming my craw
It’s thinking one way suits us all
And if what you say is true
I think there’s some explaining to do
Drawing lines in the public sand
Your whole sanctimonious bit
Listing conditions of your unconditioned love
It’s all the same old shit
Oh yes, lets talk about love
Maybe walk it like you talk
Your draconian pandemonium up a flag
Over outlines in chalk
Singing Ooooh ho ho ho ho
It’s not your faith that’s jamming my craw
It’s thinking one way suits us all
And if what you say is true
I think there’s some explaining to do
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10. |
Devil On Sunday
04:10
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I never thought I’d be popping balloons
Watching my flesh go white
The pills ran out with the workman’s comp
Traded a problem for a fight
Mind the sores, mind the blood
Mining for an easy day
I shutter to think of my mama’s eyes
Lord what would daddy say
My shaky hands, moving ‘round money
Pinch my pennies till they crack like wood
I’m going down to see the Devil on Sunday
Lord, lord, never felt so good
The creases on the picture of my baby girl
Spread like veins to her smile
Gets me itching for that carmine cloud
Writhe across the tile
Mind the corners of the cabinets
Mind the hole where the spiders come and go
A little help from Uncle Sam
Got a hell of a row to hoe
My shaky hands, scraping up money
Pinch my pennies till they crack like wood
I’m going down to see the Devil on Sunday
Lord, lord, never felt so good
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11. |
Lonliest Of Company
03:56
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You’re quietly suspicious
Of your oldest dearest friends
You think you catch the rift
But it splinters on the end
And all these shadows do
Is just what they are told
Still you wrestle with the unknown
You sweat when you’re not cold
Forfeit all your say-so
In a desperate need to please
Its the path of least resistance
But you hardly go with ease
I think I know you
Yea, I think I know you
And all who we call family,
Are just the loneliest of company
You chalk it up to history
Like it forced you to be strong
But it all just feels like weakness
And its been there all along
You meet folks who know just what to do
And seem to know they can
You pray they’re all just liars
While your pockets hold your hands
Find the deadest bar
Earn yourself a pity round
Feed your undead flowers
And pretend to come around
I think I know you
Yea, I think I know you
And all who we call family,
Are just the loneliest of company
Leave the mirrors, take the smoke
Only dogs can hear you scream
And you’ve forgotten when you woke
Your body loves to go
But your heart can’t change it’s scene
You cherish every dream
However few and far between
I think I know you
Yea, I think I know you
And all who we call family,
Are just the loneliest of company
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12. |
Ball Of Yarn
06:08
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The Devil takes a break from all the bad
To dip his toe into my watering hole
And try his hand at love
Guided by his strings I sing the songs
That make her soar
And the drinks get cheaper
Behind the bolted door
Can I handle a scandal?
I’m way past avoiding harm
Maybe you could just stay
My kitty in the city
And I’ll stay your ball of yarn
Swerving home singing Buckley songs
Till I remember what I forgot
If something feels “So Real”
Be bettin’ that its not.
Pushing through the smokey memory
So that I make complete the tasks
Stabilize my image
And tighten up my mask
Can we handle a scandal?
Trade palaces for a moon-lit barn
Maybe you could just stay
My kitty in the city
And I’ll stay your ball of yarn
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Rob Aldridge Florence, Alabama
Rob Aldridge is a singer songwriter from Muscle Shoals, AL. His smokey, soulful, southern voice and lyrics win over anyone who loves a good story and his musical delivery and personality are charming and addictive.
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