1. |
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Would you believe we opt into this?
Where the sun is too hot to look at, and the losing team wins
Did I tell you I slipped down the steps?
And that the bystanders were merely unimpressed?
Would you believe all this covert tenderness?
I meet a lot of people, and a handful of people meet me
Could you clean this mess forever?
When the lengthiness we know is too long to measure
Would you believe, it's only just become clear?
I need a lot of people, and a handful of people need me
I'm not tired, at least not in that way
I'll hang it upside down, my rotten bouquet
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2. |
Twelve for His Heels
04:33
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there you are
tending to creation
there's nothing left to wonder and nothing dangerous
if it's what heaven wants for us
I waited ‘til now
to say good morning
you hate goodbyes but yours are more than fine
and it's what heaven wants this time
it's the dearest kind of emergency
i'm a fool to want to hear feel and see
that's my side of the bed, where I have my empty dreams
it's what heaven wants for me
I want pet my pets and sit down a while
and leave the world behind
it'll all be there tomorrow, but we can double check just once
it what's heaven wants for us
you made up a rhyme as soon as you woke up
“i'll make the coffee if you pour the cup”
I'm impressed, I'm asleep, I'm a bit delirious
it's what heaven wants for us
it's my dearest kind of emergency
I’m a fool to want to hear feel and see
this is the better plate, over here's the better view
it's what heaven wants for you
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3. |
First and Last Name
04:52
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Hungry for a portion, thirsty for more than what I'm owed
the release can look like crumpling or it can explode, so take extra care
the hip of a rose or the feet of a crow
take whatever evidence you need from my face as a prayer
it's the opening half of something I swear it has to be
digging through rubble, looking harder through debris
if this what I can leave behind
if this what I'm growing out of
then take whatever I own, whatever I claim
take my body take my first and last name
a dozen pretty women swimming synchronously
it's just a minor injury with a more-than-full recovery, i'm not worried
if I can make the final boss just break down and cry
if I can look without my glasses without telling a lie, it's just blurry
I can show you family dictionaries full of pressed leaves
I can show you too much black pepper on pumpkin seeds
And then children breathed so mercilessly
And the mercy moved so breathlessly
and swimmers with kids' little homes engulfed in gentle flames
as they asked to be taken by their first and last names
a laugh so hard it starts to make you sick, at least once a week
a wave hello with a hangnail: it's your very own technique, but what's it for?
imitating animal sounds, and each other's voices too
you're pretty good at that one, even if doesn't have any use
not like before
winter was hard, spring was hard
summer was hard and fall was hard
And I buy a little liquor with a credit card
I speak to them all daily with blatant disregard
it doesn't come easy and it doesn't come free
My fear never reading or reading too closely
the introductions over, the rest is all the same
take everything I have take my first and last name
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4. |
Sequel to Cartoon
05:06
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don't have the voice down
don't have the courage
I don't have the look or the timing
no new scenarios
new villians, silly clothes
for sequels to cartoons
running so fast that I dont notice the cliff
A uppercut to the chin so good I do a backflip
either everything is love and reconciliation
or all you choose is silliness or patience
I don't believe it
that scrappy thing there
can really do that much damage?
Thank God it's bloodless
violence and romance
for eight minutes per cartoon
tiptoe to show you my hidden talent
a tightrope walk but I can keep my balance
why teach myself to like being alone?
When the anvil falls directly on my funny bone
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5. |
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if this make sense, if I can explain
I inhale in order to sigh
i'll sing romance, i'll entertain
any time-worn tunes you got I'll try
everything I've reaching won't suffice
I'm a lousy poet, I'm imprecise
so I guess you'll have to take my word for it
from just one look and I comprehend
the notion of weak in the knees
and the years pile up and the days get spent
and I arrive at feeble words like these
it was in winter, when everything happens on purpose
and if I could I'd let it all come to the surface
then you wouldn't have to take my word for it
I knew it then and I know it now
it's an old fashioned thing so they say
i'll let it in, if old fashion is allowed
I have a feeling that old fashion is here to stay
well your picture is worth a thousand
promises words and songs and vows and
you don't have to tell me what to call it
I still carry it around in my wallet
if you don't want to take my word it
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6. |
Showdown At Living Room
03:04
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Got a-couple-two-tree boxes full of tambourines
I want to put them to work but don't know what that means
I got clothes that fit I got the lighting right
I want to hate this day but only in hindsight
I want a room full of people agreeing with me
wait what do I with my hands
and why is everybody looking at me
and how do I leave them wanting more?
I get a round of applause I get lonely too
I tell then story first then tell you it's untrue
who needs a true story when the feeling's good?
Any story worth telling is poorly understood
I want a room full of people agreeing with me
wait what do I with my hands
and why is everybody looking at me
and how do I leave them wanting more?
I got a limp left arm and a belly ache
I got chores to do I have dinner to make
I want to hang my coat not leave it on the floor
I can't do this anymore
this is a room full of people agreeing with me
this is what I do with my hands
and why is everybody looking at me
and how do I leave them wanting more?
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7. |
Cooking With Vermouth
02:29
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I live with and without it
I've been drawing watertowers
I sang in chorus and slept for hours
I'm out of cash and here is my pocket
my hand is fine, these are my prophets
I live with and without it
you are not real, you can have it
this can't be loud, this is inorganic
my house is gone, this part is broken
the voice is cold, your hand is showing
I live with and without it
I'll do my best I'll try my hardest
I'll salt the wound and ruin the harvest
it's aromatic and prepared with questions
the knife is dull but I learned its lesson
I live with and without it
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8. |
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your nicest warm-enough clothes
your favorite uncle in an overcoat
everybody loves a countdown from ten
and to count down from five again
signing your name in cursive
and auld lang syne is worth it
it's just the calendar, don't pretend you don't believe
another good reason to get married on new year's eve
it only costs a few dollars
nothing ever gets smaller
everything will only ever increase
another good reason to get married on new year's eve
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9. |
Ethan's New Friend
04:49
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When I arrive and you are closing down tables and chairs overturned
The lights are low and my timings bad but two seats are left and we have to talk one on one
I can't say how but you look different at least where the sun hits your skin
I look the same you say and I say what's more is I tried to stay that way
and you say
“If I've cried in your car you don't owe me anything
If it's sweet and a little dark I'll show you everything you need to know”
When you arrive I'm dozing off while waiting for a train that won't show up
I say it's been a while and you said “it never was or will ever be”
I say you're bald and get embarrassed and ask “how are you? how old am I ?”
The spring becomes a backward winter and somehow that's our cue to say goodbye
So I say
“If I've cried in your car you don't owe me anything
If it's sweet and a little dark I'll show you everything you need to know”
I want to be known as young unfinished without the eye contact games
And I've been told it's all composite, a combination of face and name
And I'm not lost at all around here, I know it's late but I live nearby
Well I miss them all the time, all these new friends for a friendly guy
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10. |
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last light if I can pull it off
can you imagine painting in the morning
and never going to work?
Can you imagine leaving with no warning
and never going back to keeping needless secrets
I only use blacks and whites dear
I'm still a little scared of all that color
I bought some blue the other day, start with one like you always say
I'm going to start painting in the mornings
last light if I can pull it off
a line that could be the horizon if you want
blue box in the shape of a house if that's enough
a little rain cloud that's barely forming
too far in the distance to know
if that's a human figure or overgrowth
the trick of the eye at the end of daylight
it might as well be neither or maybe both
this was supposed to my gift
I want to make you proud of me
this was supposed to my gift
what happened to that playful misery
you said it's either loyalty or self esteem
I don't know if I would call it that
I'm gonna start singing really low if it's clear enough
I want full legibility
last light if I can pull it off
love songs if I can pull them off
long drive if I can pull it off
good life if I can pull it off
last light if I can pull it off
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Ethan T. Parcell Chicago, Illinois
Ethan T. Parcell is a composer, artist and educator based in Chicago. His work explores ideas of smallness, hospitality, and
union, and is realized primarily though composition and drawing.
He is the leader of experimental opera ensemble Focus Group LLC/Solutions, the ongoing recording project The World Without Parking Lots, and the Duck Brain Anniversary Band.
... more
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