1. |
Who You Think I Am
05:01
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Who You Think I Am
Could I lie to get you to love me?
You’re damn right I could, you’re damn right I could
Should I hide all my secrets from you?
You’re damn right I should, you’re damn right I should
Would I steal to take you from another?
You’re damn right I would, you’re damn right I would
Am I as broken as my last lovers left me?
Hell yes I am, hell yes I am
I never claimed to be a saint
And you don’t need to be my god damn savior
I only ever wanted you to give a damn
I just wish I could be, I could be
Who you think I am
Is there a wall you ain’t never gettin’ through?
You’re damn right there is, you’re damn right there is
Are you wastin’ time but I ain’t speakin’ up?
Hell yes you are, hell yes you are
Can I be the man that I claim I am?
You’re damn right I can, you’re damn right I can
But will I choose to live the lie I’m livin’?
Hell yes I will, hell yes I will.
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2. |
Against a Setting Sun
03:28
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Against a Setting Sun
Breathe deep
This is gonna hurt
As fear and truth entwine
Close your eyes
I don’t want you to see
If tears are streaming, running from mine
We’re two vacant spots
Against a setting sun
Where the light surrounds us, unravels us
Until we become undone
Come close
‘Cause I can’t see your face
I never really knew it until today
Close these blinds
And shut out the world
They never really knew us anyway
Breathe deep
This is supposed to hurt
But I don’t feel a thing.
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3. |
Burn It Down Gently
04:01
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Burn It Down Gently
Her keys are by the door
She picks them up, then turns around
She says, “It’s been a long time comin’.”
But I don’t make a sound
She steps outside our home
Lights up a smoke, the flame cuts me to size
She takes a drag and holds it in too long
Closes her eyes
She’ll burn it down gently
And rebuild in a new location
With a newer version of the same man
And deny the relation
I’m not strong
I feel weak and I can’t breathe, smoke is all I see
She says she used to love the man I was
But not who I turned out to be
Can’t help but fan the flame
Well, I should stay here by the door
But I know I’ll give her more
When she walks away … she says,
“You love your work. You lost your heart.
We burned it up. We grew apart.”
But I thought we just grew older
She’ll burn it down gently
She’ll burn it down gently
She’ll burn it down gently
She’ll burn it down gently
She’ll burn it down gently
She’ll burn it down gently
And rebuild in a new location
With a newer version of the same man.
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4. |
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The Corner of Pierce and Clay
I’d meet her on the corner
Of Pierce and Clay
Near the apple tree and gate
She’d lead me up a pathway
To her door
That would open to this bliss
I’d enter through the threshold
As the sunlight soaks
Her naked walls and skin
But this is just a daydream
And I’m awake
In this consciousness, she’s lost
Hidden in the silence
Of my blackened room
There’s a feeling she gave to me
If that feeling were fleeting
She’d vanish from my dreams
But I still see her there
My heavy eyes are sinking
I’m drifting out, floating
I’ll meet her soon
She’s standing on the corner
Of Pierce and Clay
Waiting for me there
And maybe I would see her again
Her image is buried deep
She’s somewhere where the daydream’s end
If I could fall asleep.
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5. |
A Battle I Can't Win
03:20
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A Battle I Can’t Win
Go to bed, my boy
Prepare for mourning soon
Sleep if you can
I could be dead by noon
Dream of glorious days
And laugh in your rest
You will wake heavy
With a brick in your chest
I lived as a man modest
I lived as a man hard
I leave my family everything
I leave my family scarred
There’s no struggle I didn’t choose
There’s no trouble I didn’t take
There’s no sickness I didn’t mock
There’s no end I didn’t make
Embrace your mother
Tell her she’s not alone
Tell your damn brother
He’s made of flesh, not of stone
There are so many fights to lose
And so little love to win
But always go to war, my boy
Especially when hope is thin
You know givin’ up’s not that easy
So there’s no givin’ up on a battle I can’t win.
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6. |
A Shadow Hides
03:48
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A Shadow Hides
A shadow hides
As well as a blinding light
At masking faces
Tucking truths out of sight
A former life
So distorted now
Lost in the lies
Lies become belief
Belief becomes truth
That truth is who I am
That truth is who I am
Your lies are who I am
Your lies are who I am
Your lies are who I am
No one outside
Could ever see in again
No one inside
Will ever see out the same
A quiet song
One to pick at you, to haunt you after dark
But lost is lost
I can’t unmark what is marked
No blinding light
Could ever recall
What a shadow hides.
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7. |
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The Girl in Port Townsend
A blue jean beauty with green eyes
She’s forever plannin’ her own demise
And she’ll tell you, “Beauty gets you nowhere
If you got nowhere to go.”
A clever girl in a simple town
She asked me if I’d like to come around
So I told her, “Your beauty gets you somethin’
And it’s somethin’ I’d like to know.”
Her words seduced me like a Siren’s call
She gave me nothing, made me want it all
Everyone told me, “You better be careful
Not to fall.”
But those green eyes just left me so helpless
Though her heart was just so restless
Then she’d hide away and tear herself down
To build her walls
Not all her words were worth believin’
When all her loves, she just ends up leavin’
But man, I’ll tell you
She was still worth the risk to me
Well, I guess I was just pretendin’
About somethin’ that was never endin’
And yeah, I have to admit
I was far too blinded to see
It’s been a hard five years
And she needs them to be done
To be done, to move on
With or without love.
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8. |
An Understated Song
03:27
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An Understated Song
An understated song for an understated lady
In an overrated town where it’s always raining
Where the ill-fated flee and ghosts of lovers lie
It gave birth to an outdated singer who forces his rhymes
Time to time he makes her smile
And he makes her cry, says he’s sorry
Time to time she fills his arms
She makes him crazy, says she’s sorry
An overstated word that seems to find new meanings
A complicated phrase filled with simple feelings
In a devastated wonder he will always find her
An understated song for an understated lady
Time to time she fills his arms
She makes him crazy, says she’s sorry
Time to time he makes her smile
And he makes her cry, says he’s sorry
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9. |
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The Tragedy of Green Eyes
“One of these days, I’m gonna put a bullet in my head”
He thinks that’s what she said
As she walked away from him
One of these nights, if she puts that barrel in her mouth
He knows there ain’t much doubt
She’ll pull that trigger
She said, “Honey, you’re so good to me
And I’d like to be good to you
Though it’s something I dream to do,
I just don’t know how”
“You see, I’ve been taken by force
I’ve been dirtied and abused
It’s left me so god damned confused
I gotta run away from you”
She’d ask him,
“Can I share this bed with you, my love?
Just one more time I need to feel like I’m alive
And though your touch will never heal
And you can’t change how I feel
But damn it, I like it when you try”
When she’s lost and loaded, there ain’t no man in that town
That could ever talk her down
So she came looking for him
He slept each night beside her as she held onto him tightly
She’d cry out to him nightly
“Don’t get too close to me”
She said, “Look at what I’ve done,
I’ve lived a life neglected
It’s as if I never reflected
On all I could have done”
“And I’ll kiss you goodbye
As I leave here at dawn
But then I will be gone
Don’t come looking for me”
She’d ask him,
“Can I share this bed with you, my love?
Just one last time I need to feel like I’m alive
And though your touch will never heal me
And you can’t change how I feel
But damn it, I liked it when you tried.”
“One of these days, I’m gonna put a bullet in my head”
He think that’s what she said
As she walked away from him.
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10. |
Lifeboat
03:40
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Lifeboat
The time is late and the sky is gone
When I set sail you were lost
The shoreline fades and we’re nowhere near dawn
Only waves and the black
Come day’s light, I will beckon every soul
Every man, every boat
But I fear this night will swallow you whole
The ocean doesn’t care, but I do
Call out my love, reach for me in the dark
You may be lost, but I’m here
Hold on in the cold of the sea
Hold on to my words
Hold on when you’re floating free
Hold on to yourself.
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11. |
An Endless Stream
04:17
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An Endless Stream
Dreamt it snowed last night
Through the flakes I took flight
The stars heard me sing
‘Til the sun burned my wings
And I fell from the sky
I fell into a lake
The ripples froze in my wake
In the ice I could see
A younger image of me
I was still just a child
An endless stream
Where time flows to black
To find this dream
And never, never go back
I sank into the depth
Where the chill stole my breath
Then a hand reached in the deep
And pulled me from this sleep
He was masked by the dusk
We walked along the shore
His voice I’d known before
Though his face I could not see
His laugh reminded me
Of home, of home
An endless stream
Where time flows to black
To find this dream
And never, never go back.
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12. |
Finding Purity
06:03
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Finding Purity
Got three reasons to stay
And countless more to leave
Seems like endless reasons are winning
And somewhere between
Sublime and the mundane
The three reasons are thinning
Where there was pain
There now sits a scar
That’s made itself at home
And there you will find shame
It’s in me too far
Set deeper than bone
I have love and some hope
And I’m working on trust
These are all that I need
A river of endless regret
Can’t wash out these stains
From the life I lead
I’m bloodied and soiled
And I smell of decay
And the bottle that drowns me
How I know your heart has toiled
You’ve never gone astray
You wipe away this futility
You, you wash me clean
It’s you that makes me pure
When I stumble home
You bathe my body and pride
You swallow my regret
But I remember every time
I remember everything
I pretend to forget
You are not so divine
But your waters heal and refresh
Whenever I cry and bleed
I don’t know how to define
But you purify my flesh
You're every reason I need
You, you wash me clean
It’s you that makes me pure
You, you wash me clean
It’s you that makes me pure
In you, I find purity
In you, I find purity.
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RJ Young Portland, Oregon
R.J. Young is a native of Portland, Oregon. His music can be described as cinematic Americana art rock. Most of his recordings are highly expressive instrumental work that reminds the listener of the desert or a meaningful narrative. His music can be beautiful, harsh, mellow or rowdy, depending upon the story he wants to tell. ... more
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