1. |
Suburb of Nowhere
03:51
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They threw a watermelon off of Yanney Tower
Juts to see its splatter on the concrete below
but I wonder what a human skull would do
I remember that night I went walking without my shoes on
through the winter snow
And I’m sorry mom that I brought that fear to you
I got home and they called off the police search
I was a missing person for less than half an hour
But there’s always something missing in a place like this
Slow down for that arch or you might miss
this...
Suburb of nowhere
Suburb of the interstate
On the boarder of not much at all
The horizon stretches long and unbroken
It's a world so horizontal it can crush your soul
But there’s gotta be something just across that line
A longing so deep it eats away your stomach
Living like an actor with an unwanted role
Rip off the skin off past the population sign
Hit the gas and hear that engine whine
(chorus)
There’s gotta be a place somewhere
Where you can just breath the air
Without choking on homogeny
I’ve got a longing for things that can’t be found
In this parking lot and strip mall town
There’s a highway calling for me
A long white line towards possibility
Outside the...
(chorus)
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2. |
Sandhill Crane
02:45
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Like a sandhill crane
Like a sandhill crane
From the North to the Platte and then I flew back
Like a Sandhill crane
There’s and hourglass across this continent
And I grew up where the sand trickles through
But when I turned 18 I packed my bags and I flew
Chorus
Carry my memories on silver wings
Take the painful ones with you when you go
Spread them out across Canada and Mexico
The buffalo were murdered and the pronghorns are rare
And I’ve tried to kill parts of me that have foundations there
Nostalgia can be colored by love or by hate
I try to live in the here and now but sometimes I migrate…
Chorus
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3. |
Babies on Billboards
02:46
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Driving on a Midwest interstate
Rollin' through the plains that they call great
So many babies on billboards
Calvins pissing on Chevys and Fords
I brace myself for these waves of hate
Flyover for the coastal folks
The butt of all their dirty jokes
But they could never understand
The outsiders of the heartland
They paint us all with such broad brushstrokes
A kid in grandpas car with Rush turned up high
Not the band but the talk show guy
These memories bring back something that I have thought before
Do they know who the casualties are of their so-called culture war?
And that billboard with an infants face
Is an ugly lie about this place
Don’t claim to love life if you don’t love the living
If your faith is oppressive will your God be forgiving?
I deny the people trying to tear us apart
I refuse to let the heartland break my heart
Break my heart
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4. |
Huskers
03:22
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If the Huskers wore blue
I may have grown up in a Democratic stronghold
If the Huskers wore rainbow
I may have grown up in place with more pride
But they wear red, red like the blood
Of every red blooded American male
And they wear white, white like the skin
of the people with power there
So Ernie sued God but doesn’t he know
there’s a higher power there
And they wear red and they wear white
And there’s an "N" on the side of their helmets
And even though I fled to "The Land of Sky Blue Waters"
We've got our problems up here too
And I look back at the people trying to make "The Good Life" for everyone
and I hope some day they make that dream come true
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BEN TYE Minneapolis, Minnesota
Ben Tye is a musician and artist
He is a member of Ungrateful Little String Band (ungratefullittlestringband.bandcamp.com)
His art can be found at bentye.com
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