Get all 4 Benjamin Morse releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Sincerely,, Misc. B, Bad Moon Rising, and Family Obligations: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
1. |
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There is no greater joy
Than to rock and roll with you
Here I sing a song
And you, dear, sing it, too
But when I rock without you
There is no harmony
No one standing over
On the stage with me
Sentimental songs
To you, I know, a crime
But my good taste falls by the wayside
When I’m missing you
So please forgive these simple chords
This melody, these rhymes
When I’m back with you
I’ll try to be more snide
Someday when we’re old
And arthritis wrecks our bones
We’ll not play our rock and roll
But I’ll still sing you this song
You’ll hold my useless hands
And harmonize
Til the day our ears don’t work
And we just look into each others eyes
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2. |
All This Meaning Making
03:26
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VERSE 1
songs that make you ache to be living in them
songs that make you long for an imagined past
remember when we'd sit around and listen?
or drive with the radio on letting time go past?
CHORUS 1
all this meaning-making does not
mean what it once did
the way the air's now shaking, doesn't
teach me anything
the sounds I hear them making do not make me feel a thing
VERSE 2
songs whose narrative became your story
songs whose voices populate your past
remember when we heard it at that party
and fell in love with life and all of that?
CHORUS 2 (same as 1)
BRIDGE
my songs were once my children
now i've got a child for that
there's no void in me needs filling
there's no room emptiness
amidst all this adult bliss
what do i mean? well i think i mean just that
CHORUS 3
all this meaning-making does not
mean what it once did
i'll leave the air from shaking, it won't
teach me anything
the sounds I hear them making do not
get me like they did
OUTRO
so maybe just raise a kid and call it even
so maybe just raise a kid and call it even
baby i love my kid, let's call it even
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3. |
Redemptive Narration
02:51
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Verse
pastoral visions
and excellent puns
whatever it takes
to get the job done
at the end of my day
i'm alone in the kitchen
cleaning the dishes
and grateful for love
Chorus
the end times
have always been coming
but this year the scientists
Tell us its real
Post-chorus
so daughter, so sorry
about the change in the weather
we've brought on the end times
and can only give you love
Verse
redemptive narration
and heartrending prose
whatever it takes
to make the thing go
at the end of my life
i'll be alone on my farmland
barely subsisting
and grateful for love
Chorus
the end times
have always been coming
but this year the scientists
Tell us its real
Post-chorus
now daughter, please hear me:
we’ve all lived like idiots
But when the tsunamis take you,
please know it wasn't my fault
Bridge
kids, I made cookies! for you’ll come to deserve them
don't cry for the carbon
it's already burned
Post-chorus
So let’s tell a story
Whose ending coheres
About the death of world
When love conquers fear
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4. |
Cheap Meat
03:22
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VERSE
crust punks scrounging near the Joann Fabrics
a Starbucks where the Starbucks used to be
luxury condos on the fireworks strip
a dog in a t-shirt at a new old fashioned diner waiting with a party of three
CHORUS
building things that look
like the the things they tore down
to build the new things
cheap meat
paved streets
glory
VERSE
club music at the JC Penny
on a Tuesday afternoon around 3
in the empty cubicles where they used to sell tents
I'd be honored if you'd have this dance with me
CHORUS repeats
BRIDGE
I saw clouds
through the fence of a
highway overpass
and I took them for mountains
but they were clouds
just pretty clouds
VERSE
plastic trash at 100 miles an hour
ripping a hole in the screen
dark shadows and laughable mansions
moving in and getting ever closer to me
CHORUS REPEATS
OUTRO
cheap meat
paved streets
TV
dead sea
high tea
debris
oil subsidy
cleverly
reverently
name on marquee
cheap meat
deadbeats
paved streets
complete
glory
glory
glory
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5. |
The Sun Is Going Down
03:16
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A pair of sneakers over power lines
The clouds are pink and grey and white
The mountains are standing where they always stand:
Behind
The pale blue sky, the glowing light
On the sculpted elk on the building’s side
It’s art deco moulding is falling into
Disrepair
And the sun is going down
Over some little human town
Between the foothills and the desert
And the sky
So I’ll sit and watch the light dissolve
This is what happens when the planet revolves
And I’ll breath in the air that’s been in every dead person’s
Lungs
To sit so quietly, so long, so still
It’s something special, it’s a really big deal
The hours, and the safety, and a place
To sit
And the sun is going down
Over some little human town
Between the foothills and the desert
And the sky
[guitar solo]
The last bit of light in the sky tonight
Hangs in a puddle in the parking lot
I could walk on pavement from here
All the way home
And the sun is going down
Over some little human town
Between the foothills and the desert
And the sky
And the sun is going down
Over some little human town
Between the foothills and the desert
And the sky
Between the foothills and the desert
And the sky
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6. |
The Beauty of the World
03:17
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What did you expect?
Something beatific?
What did you expect?
Something sublime?
What did you expect?
The beauty of the world
every time?
This is all we get:
something specific.
This is all we get:
a point on a line.
This is all we get:
some time in the world,
just some time.
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7. |
The Mall
00:53
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“I have been to the mall,” I said.
“I’m sorry for this. I’m sorry for this.”
“Hey, It’s cool. We have all been there. Another kiss.”
Another kiss.
And we danced real close in the kitchen together
to make things seem all right
And we could only hope that the neighbors saw,
and took some joy from this
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8. |
Rock + Roll
03:20
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V1
I live in a city,
but I’m from a town
Sometimes i go back to the woods
And i walk around
I take a breath of fresh air
I think about manufactured things
I see a fallen tree
And i count the rings
CH 1
Oh i don't want anymore from this world
No rock and roll, nor naked girls
V2
Once I saw a river
Now I see a road
I see it when i’m driving
Which I do a lot
It’s paved with good intentions
It’s paved with asphalt
With tragedies and travesties
I’m told are no one’s fault
CH 2
Oh i don't want anymore from this world
No rock and roll nor naked girls
I can’t countenance being part of this
The stench of death that still persists
V3
once I lived as a farmer
but I did not stay, no I
took an airplane home
and put it on my resume
and yet I’ve
got romantic notions
of a simple life:
I’ll make a career out of
writing songs about the empire’s decline
CH 3
Oh i don't want anymore from this world
No rock and roll nor naked girls
I can’t countenance being part of this
The stench of death that still persists
Oh i don't want anymore from this world
No rock and roll nor naked girls
I wish i could believe a word i speak
And close my eyes and fall asleep
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9. |
Little Dog
02:02
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Oh, little dog, little dog
What do you see in me?
And how could I ever live up to
This thing you think I be?
Oh little dog, little dog
You follow at my feet
So expectantly
What do you think that i was gonna do
today?
And you know
I think it’s nice
That you think
that i’m all right
Oh little dog, little dog
Whence your loyalty?
I take you for a walk, and not much more
And you adore me
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10. |
So Long, Cellophane
02:52
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1.
So long, cellophane.
You kept my food fresh, But now you’re trash:
Time to get thrown away
Tied and sealed
In a plastic bag;
Send you off to sea
But it’s not gone, not gone away
Just gone away from me
2.
So long, old TV.
You kept it real,
but now you don’t mean
Anything to me
Pay the city
To take you away
With care and expertise
But it’s not gone, not gone away
Just gone away from me
Up from the earth
Out to the air and sea
Mm mm. Mm mm mm.
BRIDGE
So long plastic wrap,
so long plastic spoon
So long bottle cap, and
Have you heard the news? Now we say
So long to the microfibers
hidden in our pants and shoes
So long, all you plastic crap,
I’ll see you soon
3.
So long, cellular phone.
You were off the hook,
But now you’re junk:
Obsolete and old.
Nobody thought about
Your cradle to your grave,
So it’s back to the earth
Whence your parts once came
But it’s not gone, not gone away
Just gone away from me
Up from the earth
Out to the air and sea
Drive on. Drive on,
economy!
Up from the earth
Out to the air and sea
Drive on! Drive on, economy!
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11. |
The Indiana Dunes
02:59
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1.
An empty billboard
o’er the husk of the
Interstate Motel:
“ADVERSTISE HERE!” it
cries to us.
“ADVERSTISE HERE!” it
cries to us, as we
drive on by, and
don’t look back -- we’re
going somewhere fast, and we’re
so excited to
drive on by, and
not look back -- we
keep burning gas because we’re
so excited.
2.
Chemical refineries
hem in the view of the lake:
“Live without fear!” they
sing to us.
“A life without fear!” they
sing to us, as we
comb the beach
for plastic trash --
got another handful
and I’m so excited to
comb the beach
for plastic trash --
done my part and now I
feel entitled
to a
BRIDGE
quiet night,
vegan ice cream,
electric lights,
electric screens,
my civil rights,
a decent salary,
well-earned sleep,
compelling dreams.
3.
In five thousand years,
they’ll discover us,
invincible and
dead:
___ ___ ___ we’ll say to
them.
___ __ ___ we’ll say to
them, but they’ll find our
books preserved,
our hard drives rotten,
fathoms of landfill --
they’ll be so excited for our
books preserved,
our hard drives rotten,
fathoms of landfill because we
felt entitled to a
BRIDGE
quiet night,
a decent salary,
electric lights,
compelling dreams.
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12. |
Many Love
03:05
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I went to lie, but there’s no need to.
My love is real, for him and for you.
Despite life’s finitude,
Love’s all-expanding.
You
know I love him;
know I love you, too!
Isn’t it queer, the places loves grows?
It’s no big deal; it’s overwhelming, but
despite life’s finitude,
Love’s all-expanding.
You
know I love him;
know I love you, too!
We are what’s possible,
Love is all-expanding,
You
know you love me, so you
know I love him,
know she love them, and
know they loves you,
know we love you and
know they love us
know I love him, and
know I love you,
too!
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13. |
Sleeping Creatures
03:56
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Sleeping creature
Breathe the same air
Warm each other
Being there
Braided legs
Tangled hair
Sleeping creatures
Breathe the same air
And when they wake
They come apart
Mouth from mouth, heart from heart
Sleeping creatures
Unaware
Warm each other
Being there
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Benjamin Morse Colorado Springs, Colorado
Benjamin Morse is a singer-songwriter from the East living in the Mountain West. He wrote these songs for you.
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