1. |
Exhibits
03:46
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This new exhibit has a rare photograph of us
We look like huddled horses behind whoever the subject was
I don’t know who took it
They’re publishing a letter from those eager early days between us
Written on an old paper bag you were throwing out after lunch
I don’t know what it says
I don’t know what it meant
I don’t know if I ever did
Do I hang my head
Because the moment’s gone?
It was already gone
As soon as I tried to hold on
To it
Someone immortalized our walk in the sculpture park in Paris
With two statues
Our hands still touch
Though stone and rust
And a long green view
In front of you
Out in front of you
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2. |
Southern Midwest
04:36
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You can
run the red lights
At night
Where I’m from
There’s no one hiding out
In the dark
That’s going to come for you
But I stay
Dutifully
Waiting for the light to change
Where I’m from
In the daytime
I go blowing down the main road in a mask like a bandit
But no one runs away
They recognize the face
Of a man they know.
A man they’ve known
Since he was a kid
Back home
Can I be a wanted man on the wall
For obeying the laws
That were meant to be broken?
I’m sitting still in the car
No one needs to know
What I did to deserve it
And no one needs to come looking
I’ve been serving my own
Serving my own sentence
Trying to describe
Things exactly as I see them
And begging
Begging for disagreement
In a crowd coiled like a snake
I end up backing away
Slowly to save myself
Or trying to save face
In the Southern Midwest
Where I’m from
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3. |
How Fast Can You Pack?
04:16
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You don’t have to chew it
Wash it down like a pill
We’ll walk around
And talk about
What you see
In the lights of Las Vegas
You can forget about me
The minute you leave.
How fast can you pack your things?
At the end of this hallway
another hotel hallway
at the end of that
there’s no way back
and whatever you knew
whatever you knew
goes with you.
It goes with you
Goes with you
Goes with you
How fast can you pack?
How fast can you pack?
If we’ll never come back?
I don’t want to argue
I’ll stay down do what you will
If it burns out
There’s more where it came from
So leave it on
So just let it run
Keep your eyes on me
Let’s get going
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4. |
Limited Roles
04:35
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Fade the lights and
Shock your audience
Then bow and run off
Before the denouement
Tell yourself that’s thunderous applause
And shouts of brava
From the orchestra
If you never turn the house lights on
If you never turn the house lights on
How’s one supposed to know you’re gone?
I stepped quietly out into dim stage lighting
Past the tableau
of disguised people
How could I have known
These characters would come home?
And blame me for their limited roles
And want to know where the story’s going to go
If I write it down will you do what you’re told?
I might send you walking down the middle of the road
Quietly
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5. |
Good Afternoon
03:13
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I keep thinking I see you
But the light goes out
The light goes out
I keep thinking I see you
I keep thinking I see you
But the light goes out
A stranger turns around
Just as I was saying
Good afternoon
Good afternoon
How are you?
I want to say I know you
But it’s been years
I want to say I know you
What do I know?
I keep thinking I see you on the street
But it’s been years
Man, it’s been years
It’s not appropriate to ask
What happened to you?
What happened to you?
You are not yourself
I’m going to have to move
I’m going to have to move
I’m going to have to move
out of this city
I keep thinking I see you
But the light goes out
The light goes out
I keep thinking I see you
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6. |
Camera
05:38
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I keep moving
Trying to get away
From a camera
But the camera’s going to catch me up
When I zone out
And then try to imagine what I was
Thinking about
From the look on my face
From the look on my face
Pause it there
And focus in
Do you see
What I see?
I am living out
A story
Someone thought of
Redrafted and punched up
And discussed in a meeting over lunch
Caught on camera
Caught on camera
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7. |
Is It Funny?
03:44
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Can you blame me now
For making it easier on myself?
Tell me, lately, has anything
Been standing out?
Don’t quote what
moved you most
Is it funny
Yes or no?
Walk out ahead
So I see where we’re going.
I’ll stay
Right behind you
These sidewalks,
fill up
With pictures
Positioning themselves.
Is it funny?
Is it funny
When I breeze through the streets
And in the windows?
Is it funny
When I take my head off
And set it down beside me?
I don’t need the whole story.
Is it funny?
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8. |
Hiding in the Bedroom
04:24
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I picked a bad night
To stay in
A shadow is growing
On the window
A tv’s glowing
At 2am
No one is watching
I am heavy breathing
I am heavy breathing
Hiding in the bed
With my hands over my mouth
You don’t pick the color
You blend in
When you’re a chameleon
But now I am second-guessing
Every costume
I have been in
I’m so close to calling it in
The footsteps approaching
What I know is coming
What I know is coming
I’m hiding in the bedroom
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9. |
Apologize
05:36
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I imagine
Night driving
Ghostly white lines passing through us
Lulling us to sleep
You were supposed to be
guiding me
This is not your home
We are not on tv
You’re on your own
Waiting for me to apologize
I’ve waited for you too
Finish my sentences
So I don’t have to think
I taught you what you’re saying
Now I’m trying to disagree
And an alarm keeps going off
I’ve waited for you to apologize
I’m wondering where you
Get your advice
If the alarm keeps going off
Eventually I won’t notice
Anymore
Apologize
Apologize
I’ve waited, waited for you
I hope you get where you’re going
But I won’t celebrate
We’ve been headed to the same place forever
Determined not to stay
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10. |
Dancer
04:12
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The routine changes in each place
A movie star in California
Left only an empty dress
Hanging upzipped
For another young body to
Step into
Who kept us out last night?
My brother fell in love with her
And she laughed
They’re down to almost nothing
But it’s dark, who’s going to know?
The lights come on when it’s time to go
I walk so slow
Nobody waves when I drive away
Oh no.
I look at her like she’s my love
I think of her but I’m in love
And all in all that’s enough
All in all it’s enough
If nobody waves
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11. |
This is Not Home
04:11
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This is not the home I recognize
I’ve lived here all my life
It’s never been so quiet
I can hear your
Difficult breathing
This is not the home I recognize
I hit my head
Trying to make you laugh
You don’t
I follow you to bed
Down a long dark hallway
That keeps going
On and on and on
I’ve been outside
All day, I’m tired
I’ve got this speech I memorized
I’m trying to get it right
I’ve been trying to get it right
All of my life
But when I turn on the light
I’m surprised
This is not the home I recognize
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Jason Bemis Lawrence New York, New York
Louisville-based singer-songwriter also known as a drummer and multi-instrumentalist in such bands as Dean and Britta, Jesse
Marchant, Caithlin De Marrais, Heather Woods Broderick, and The Building.
"Another Hotel Hallway" is out now. For The Rabbits calls it "a debut album well worth shouting about."
LP2 "The Grand Routine" is on its way in summer 2024
... more
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