1. |
Margins
01:04
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2. |
Lost Among the Ruins
03:35
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Lost Among the Ruins
Along the banks of Lake Michigan, I walk until I'm sore
Clouds hang black and heavy, closely to the shore
It might start to rain, but I'm not at the age
Where I watch the weather channel, and worry what they say
Will I start reading signs someday?
While my children drive me home
Will I worry about my health, and winding up alone?
Well, the will to live is strong - who knows what we will see
When we go knocking on the door of whatever we will be.
Ah, classic buildings, classic cars,
Ancient churches, burning stars
Some are found, but others are lost among the ruins
Lost among the ruins
I used to keep a diary, when I was in my teens
I thought everything was important and everything was me
Ah, bless the insignificance of walking through the grass
Barefoot like a lion on a never-trodden path
Ah, classic buildings…
I can't imagine sorrow, like seeing your partner die
Or living with the knowledge you're losing your own mind
If I try to slip on their shoes, the air is rare but clean
As I take a look down the road to whatever there might be
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3. |
Birmingham Jail
04:56
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Birmingham Jail
Around the margins, of the front page, of the daily news
He wrote in plainspeak of the choices no man should have to choose
Do we remember in our comfort, some words never change?
The reporters find the angle, but the story's still the same
Give me a reason
Give me an answer
Put a hammer to the nail
Give me the margins
Of the letter
From a Birmingham Jail
There's a commercial for a movie on the nightly news
While people suffer over choices no man should have to choose
Maybe it's Jasper instead of Selma, some words never change
Where there is smoke, there's something burning under talk that's not so plain
If words are only words, revelation or cliché,
Then actions are the meter of a heart that beats in pain
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4. |
Giving Up Smoking
03:45
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Giving Up Smoking
I roll over on the futon, lying on my back
Rattling sounds are driving through the crack
Underneath the door, I hear the change into the change machine
The one she bought in the middle of the night, tension begs relief
Her nerves are frayed
She hasn't smoked in five long days
I wonder if this is something that she's doing just for me
I have thoughts of my father as I drift in and out of sleep
Quitting for forever, when he saw me standin' tip-toed as a child
At the edge of his dresser, looking over, trying hard to cop his style
Catching glimpses of a world
I could not wait to see unfurled
Sometimes I'm happy
Sometimes I'm a mess
But all in all
I have been blessed
With the gifts of the living
As they are giving up smoking
I realize this was something that was hard for her to do
For awhile it changed her into someone completely new
My father's getting older; recently he had a heart attack
The recovery is slow, but when I go, I take his love and give it back.
Sacrifice and time
Can rebuild our peace of mind
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5. |
Desdemona
05:14
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Desdemona
It happened on a train heading out to New York
I was traveling by coach, ten dollars short
Tired of my past and my family tree
I had a long list of things I could no longer be
Desdemona, desdemona
He walked down the aisle, tall and lean
Dark brown eyes flowed confidently
Into my heart like water in sand
Soaking up dreams on a moment's demand
Desdemona, desdemona
I sat down beside her, she smelled like the wind
And all of the places I'd never been
Chances I missed, a sad refrain
Lost in the distance, night covered day
He leaned over to kiss me, I tasted his breath
Like beauty and truth, so close to death
Balancing on the edge of a whim and
A journey to someplace I'd never been
Desdemona, desdemona
I heard rolling thunder, bold and pure
Rain hit the glass and of this I was sure
No one could touch her porcelain skin
With electric grace, the way that I did
I shook back and forth like dice in the hand
The train kept on rolling across the land
I wanted to hold him, I wanted to run
Shadows and sun, both directions at once
Desdemona, desdemona
I felt my heart slowing, my body grew cold
I was a young boy and then I was old
I could no longer hear, I could no longer see
Red turned to black, inside of me
When I pulled away, I felt the change
Something to lose is what I became
But, the things that I am I’d never possess
And whatever I gave, he'd wind up with less
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6. |
Laminate Man
03:49
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Laminate Man
The laminate swings back and forth
Like a pendulum from his neck
Or a clock that's always ticking
At the window while he bets
His hands reach out for balance
And he lights another cigarette
Oh, oh, oh laminate man
His hair is moussed, teeth are white
He smiles at someone he's never met
There's a space behind his eyes
Filled with names he won't forget
He descends on this important one
Like a fisherman with his net
Oh, oh, oh, laminate man
Laminate man, laminate man, hipper than thou, laminate man
Come my way, shake my hand, talk to me, talk to me, talk to me , laminate man
(Intro)
Now, he grew up in a small coastal town
Its name rarely leaves his lips
It's as if he died their long ago
On the barren downtown strip
Tendin' bar, wiping tables down
Six nights a week, pocketing the tips
Oh, oh, oh, laminate man
Now, he gets to travel far and wide
And hang around in backlit bars
Where people laugh and buy him drinks
And all but the talent are some kind of star
It's a world all to itself
What you claim to be is what you are
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7. |
Houses Flying
04:20
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Houses Flying By the Window
Houses flying by the window
The next stop will be Downers Grove
Streets are wet, sidewalks swept
Clean of alabaster snow
The train rocks on into the city
Like a lover searching for a groove
The rhythm sends me backwards spinning
To a place where was less to prove
I went to school in that brick building
Played kickball on its cinder ground
Sometimes it's me, sometimes another
Little boy who makes those cheerful sounds
All the children run in circles
Circles take us through our times
Like the snow that melts into the river
You can see it coming if you look behind
If I am the sum of all my actions
It's no wonder we all die
Sometimes the weight can pull you down
Make you want to drop and cry
Houses flying by the window
A pile of boots left outside
If we’re the sum of all our actions
It’s no wonder we get lost inside
So, when I visit in the winter
I try to leave behind a tear
Which freezes as it hits the ground
Into an icicle, so hard and clear
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8. |
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That’s Where He Was Living (Doug Hoekstra/Gary Michael Smith)
He was in Grand Rapids when she died
Dogs howling kept him up all night
He was in Grand Rapids when she died
He left for Oklahoma when she died
Somebody said they never saw him cry
He left for Oklahoma when she died
A twister took his trailer far away
He had to find a better place to stay
He found himself in Birmingham, that’s where he was saved
He found himself in Birmingham one day
The heat of Birmingham became too strong
He left that town, some say he stayed too long
He stopped awhile in Knoxville, then headed north a spell
He was busted in a South Detroit hotel
They took him back in handcuffs when she died
Policeman flanking him on either side
They took him back in handcuffs when she died
The state told the story when she died
A dozen blank faces fit him with the crime
The state told the story when she died
He was living in Grand Rapids when she died
Dogs howling kept him up all night
Begging for a pardon, Bible at his side
That’s where he was living when he died
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9. |
For The Woman
03:51
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For the Woman
Lawrence lives in the Mission District
Through open doors drift colored smells
Bakeries, restaurants, children laughing
And on Sunday mornings the sound of bells
Quetzalcoatl on a playground mural
But he doesn't notice as he passes by
When he walks, his heart is beating
For the woman he will lie beside
For the woman, for the woman
For the woman he will lie beside
Under covers; sheets soft and smooth
He hears every sound she makes
They move like serpents in the grass
In the distance crickets chirp away
In the dark, he cannot see
Kaleidoscopes behind her eyes
Out on the bay on a blue grey day
The water’s choppy, so he holds on tight
Sometimes he falls into a daydream
He's running fast and his feet they burn
But, he keeps getting farther from his destination
Like a man who just cannot learn
Down the block in Balmy Alley
She likes to paint upon the wall
Rainbows flowing from her fingers
She loves the moment best of all
At his job, he juggles numbers
He's popular with the office types
He never knows what the jokes about
He never says what's on his mind
Lawrence lives in the Mission District
His windows face the eastern sky
He still doesn’t notice Quetzalcoatl
But, every day is glorified
For the woman he will lie beside
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10. |
Broken Tower
03:21
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Broken Tower
I was climbing the stairs of a broken tower
Holding the stem of a fractured flower
All the dreams that lay beyond repair
Are scattered on those slowly rising stairs
The courage to stay, the courage to change
As I climb past one, the other still remains
I watch the wheels go 'round and round for hours
From my window up in the broken tower
She said "life is a river, washin' out across the plain"
I didn't know a thing until I looked past the rain
I saw birds in formation, flying in a v
Bleached and broken bones strewn across the beach
The smallest one was leading, blue spots on his beak
I followed with my eyes, my soul began to speak
They were headed to a place that none of them had ever been
In their minds, but in their hearts, they're going home again.
So, I beckoned with my hand and took her to my broken tower
Where I offered her a kiss and this fractured flower
She took it to her breast like a maiden fair
As we left the wreckage on the slowly rising stairs
The wheels go round and round for hours
From our window in the broken tower
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11. |
The Life We Love
04:16
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12. |
Isis
07:38
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13. |
Undone
07:06
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14. |
Black And White Memories
04:10
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15. |
Stranger's Eyes
02:33
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Doug Hoekstra Nashville, Tennessee
Doug Hoekstra’s singular musical persona sets sympathetic narratives against understated vocals, memorable melodies, and subtle but unexpected arrangement turns. His albums have earned Nashville Music Award and Independent Music Award nominations, a bevy of top 10 list appearances, and a reputation as a “songwriter’s songwriter” (CMJ Music Monthly). "The Day Deserved" due out Spring 2021 ... more
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