1. |
Creation Story
03:43
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Creation Story
God blew and made the breeze
And the earth grew a billion trees
And the tulips bloomed in the early
And you and I had everything
Don't tell me it's not meant to be
It's come about so naturally
Like monkeys swinging tree to tree
You and me, you and me, you and me
And yes the serpent curled around
A streetlight in the center of town
And in his eyes I saw my own
Cold and hungry and alone
And so I rewrote history
Forbidden fruit inside of me
Still it doesn't mean that we can't be
You and me, you and me, you and me
The civil order collapsed
And the boys and girls redrew the maps
Then the conquerors fled
Leaving you and me for dead
In this scary world we made
It's best to start out unafraid
With the forest floor as our bed
We won't plan more than a meal ahead
Don't tell me it's not meant to be
It's come about so naturally
Like monkeys swinging tree to tree
You and me, you and me, you and me
God blew and made the breeze
And the earth grew a billion trees
And the tulips bloomed in the early spring
And you and I had everything
© Mark Donato
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2. |
Same Old Fall from Grace
04:31
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Same Old Fall From Grace
Same old fall from grace
You've been fearing all your life
God will love you as long as you do
As long as you do what you're supposed to do
But this is not about love, it's about
Walking the plank at the point of a knife
Same old fall from grace
You've been fearing all your life
There's always someone you can hurt
Without meaning to
The chances just get better
The closer someone is to you
Your friend looks so familiar
Like a cop about to write you up
Ask the doctor or the monsignor
For something to help you stop
This same old fall from grace
You've been fearing all your life
Your friend will love you as long as you do
As long as you do what you're supposed to do
But this is not about love, it's about
Walking the plank at the point of a knife
Same old fall from grace
You've been fearing all your life
The moment that you're waiting for
Is knocking down your door
Take a breath and one breath more
Some things only death can cure
You can be forgiven
If you call this living
Blink and you're in heaven
But for now the angels and saints are leaving
And it's the same old fall from grace
Same old fall from grace
Same old fall
You've been fearing all your life
Your angel loves you as long as you do
As long as you do what you're supposed to do
But this is now about love
This is not about love, it's about
Walking the plank at the point of a knife
© Mark Donato
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3. |
A Recurring Woman
04:19
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A Recurring Woman
I'm having this recurring woman
She's the opposite of a dream
She's flesh and bones with shoes on
And flesh and bones without
She won't let me live in my own world
Insists I live in this one
She likes to make me question
What I'm all about
There she is again, the same but not exactly
I don't know what she's thinking, I don't know if she's happy
I don't know if she has a plan or what else I don't understand
I don't know if she has a plan
I'm having this recurring woman
Flirting at the doctor's office
While I'm having blood drawn
She says she wants some too
She reminds me that I'm gonna die
It's written on her skin
Probably that's why I run
When we have better things to do
There she was and now she's gone, the same but not at all
I don't know what she's doing, I don't know if she'll call
I don't know if she has a man or what else I don't understand
I don't know if she has a man
I'm having this recurring woman
Her presence has a meaning
I know she's trying to tell me something
That only she can say
I don't know if I wanna hear
It might change everything
Just one thing I know for certain
She'll say it anyway
There she is again, the same but not exactly
I don't know what she's thinking, I don't know if she's happy
I don't know if she has a plan or what else I don't understand
I don't know if she has a man or what else I don't understand
I don't know what else I don't understand
© Mark Donato
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4. |
Unexplained Absence
04:44
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Unexplained Absence
Your unexplained absence has come to my attention
I hear it's what you specialize in
Now you've left us with no option
But to apply some discipline
Did you sneak a peek at the abyss
When there was somewhere else you're supposed to be
Please tell me who or what it is
Standing here in front of me
Everybody you've abandoned
Is waiting for a full accounting
For those of us still tuning in
The suspense is mounting
Did you trip and fall into the abyss
When there was somewhere else you'd rather be
Please tell me who or what it is
Standing here in front of me
On your grave the stone will say
A soul is now unchained
As he was in life so he is today
An absence unexplained
Your unexplained absence has left the rest
With an emptiness that they detest
Show your heart and you'll be blessed
Before we tear it from your chest
Did you fall in love with the abyss
Is there no one else you'd rather be
Please tell me who or what it is
Standing here in front of me
On your grave the stone will say
A soul is now unchained
As he was in life so he is today
An absence unexplained
© Mark Donato
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5. |
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Everything I Thought I Knew
Everything I thought I knew
Has gone the way of me and you
Has died a lingering death
The past is all undressed
And it's not what I imagined
It's not what I imagined
When I was sick in bed I heard that song
Sugar Magnolia, a happy song
How long's it been since we could sing that song
Since we were happy enough to sing that song
What you said was not so true
You didn't love me the way you say you do
And now I'm too choked up to cry
I'll hold my breath and wait to die
And hope the winds are favorable
I hope the winds are favorable
When I was sick in bed I heard that song
Sugar Magnolia, a happy song
How long's it been since we could sing that song
Since we were happy enough to sing that song
My heart would beat a little louder
If you hadn't ground it down to powder
It's got nothing good to say
Let it blow away
What you said was not so true
You didn't love me the way you say you do
And now I'm too choked up to cry
I'll hold my breath and wait to die
And hope the winds are favorable
I hope the winds are favorable
© Mark Donato
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6. |
Lives of Poets
04:37
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Lives of Poets
Lives of poets in all their agony
I admit they make me happy
Happy to do whatever I do
To face the dark and see it through
If you saw what I see
If you saw what I see
You'd know why I do what I do
I can taste this moment like nobody else
Nobody else but you
I heard the stories of people in pain
Living life on a runaway train
Hoping a word will save their lives
Believing that only the word survives
Dying in the halls of sad hotels
Right outside their solitary cells
Their bodies unclaimed for days
Nobody missing their original ways
Lives of poets have carried me
From century to century
The 20th to the 21st
There's something to love about even the worst
If you saw what I see
If you saw what I see
You'd know why I do what I do
I can taste this moment like nobody else
Nobody else but you
I imagined myself an intellectual
Talking with other tortured people
Passionate over every word
That shows us all to be absurd
Dying in the halls of sad hotels
Trying to describe the garbage smells
Hoping to last the night
And get this one thing right
Lives of poets are there to inspire
There's always someone else to admire
But the lives of poets are there to show
Whatever the soil, something will grow
If you saw what I see
If you saw what I see
You'd know why I do what I do
I can taste this moment like nobody else
Nobody else but you
Lives of poets in all their agony
I admit they make me happy
Happy to do whatever I do
To face the dark and see it through
© Mark Donato
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7. |
Year Full of Demons
03:36
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Year Full of Demons
It's been a year full of demons under this roof
I don't need a priest to provide the proof
Whose voice is that coming from you
What does it make me want to do
Smash the friendly furniture
Kick an opening in every door
And send the devil into town
Before he brings the whole house down
The whole house down
It's been a year full of demons in my head
Faces and voices I thought were dead
Were only waiting under the bed
To tear this simple heart to shreds
The exorcist has met his match
With our latest batch
Is there nothing safe in here
The answer is pretty clear
Is pretty clear
It's been a year full of demons and I can see
You're afraid to be alone with me
And I'm so alone with you
No telling what I'll do
We've both been here before
It's the same pain but only more
Your demons and mine altogether
Through the worst possible weather
Possible weather
It's been a year full of demons and now I know
I won't be sorry to see it go
I won't be sorry
© Mark Donato
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8. |
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Don't Feel Too Bad for Yourself
Don't feel too bad for yourself, now
Don't feel too bad for yourself
Worse things have happened to many people
Than anything that's happened to you
Maybe you're having trouble trusting
Your girlfriend, your best friend
With certain bits of information
Maybe you're having trouble trusting
Your main source, the universe
That lives forever, for better or worse
At least it looks like forever
Is your pet tarantula dead
Did it ever really feel at home
Is there a sentence in your head that's hard to read
Has your pastor been convicted
Are all your leaders crooked
Have you been abandoned in your time of need
Don't feel too bad for yourself, now
Don't feel too bad for yourself
Worse things have happened to many people
Than anything that's happened to you
Maybe you're having trouble facing
The portrait on the landing
With eyes a little too demanding
Maybe you're having trouble facing
Your friend who sees into your hell
Even if you never tell
And anyway what's to tell
Is your pet tarantula dead
Did it ever really feel at home
Is there a sentence in your head that's hard to read
Has your pastor been convicted
Are all your leaders crooked
Have you been abandoned in your time of need
Don't feel too bad for yourself, now
Don't feel too bad for yourself
Worse things have happened to many people
Than anything that's happened to you
Maybe you're feeling bad about that too
Not everyone is as fortunate as you
© Mark Donato
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9. |
My Decision to Medicate
04:01
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My Decision to Medicate
I made my decision to medicate
Despite the chances of putting on weight
Despite the other side effects
That have to do with sleep and sex
Given the hours and days and years
That I've lived with indefensible fears
That some would call insane
I know I must be causing pain
Drugs to save the marriage
Drugs to spare the children
Drugs to make me easier to live with
Drugs to do myself a favor
A little tweak in my behavior
That was just this side of normal to begin with
In certain ways my existential state will stay the same
I'll still be dying day by day and know my name
I'll still have pain when things go bad, like anybody would
But maybe not so much when things go good
Is there anything worse than
An adequately functioning person
Who calls himself insane
Because his plans went down the drain
Unless you're in love with your anxiety
I suggest you hold the piety
If you think this pain is necessary
Explain it to your family
Drugs to save the marriage
Drugs to spare the children
Drugs to make me easier to live with
Drugs to do myself a favor
A little tweak in my behavior
That was just this side of normal to begin with
Just this side of normal
Just this side of normal
Just this side of normal
© Mark Donato
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10. |
Parked On a Hill
04:41
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Parked On a Hill
Alone in a big old borrowed car
Stopped on a hill in Schenley Park
Pittsburgh, 1986
I rolled the windows up
And I screamed, I screamed
Waiting for courage to descend
And I need it now again
I won't let this chance go by
I won't let this chance go by
I'd really rather die
We can be happy again
We can be happy again
We can be happy again
One more day like today
Won't kill us
One more day like today
Is okay
Alone in our old battered car
Parked on a hill in the dark
It doesn't matter when or where
The defroster doesn't work
And I dream, I dream
It's one way to pass the endless time
But I won't waste yours and mine
I won't let this chance go by
I won't let this chance go by
I'd really rather die
We can be happy again
We can be happy again
We can be happy again
© Mark Donato
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11. |
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A History of the Boys and Girls
A history of the boys and girls
A history of the boys and girls
Deserves a novel so I apologize
The novelist died in a narrative mess
And the pages written are long suppressed
And so I'm left to tell it
I don't expect to sell it
It's as brutal as Mother Goose
But it might be of some use
A history of the boys and girls
A history of the boys and girls
There's a chorus every child knows
And this is how it goes
Nothing makes me sing
Like this desire to blow up everything
I'm just an ant upon this road
Until I find a way to explode
I'll bring the neighborhood to its knees
And rub shoulders with the casualties
But the boys and girls know better
Besides the occasional martyr
Nobody needs to die
They're not so anxious to say goodbye
A history of the boys and girls
A history of the boys and girls
There's another song they sing
When love arranges everything
I'd like to lose myself in you
I want to I want to
Boys and girls in love
With boys and girls in love
Hearts like gravel underfoot
Hearts like windows covered up with soot
Let's walk the alley together
Feel the crunch under our leather
I'm taking you with me
Have you decided what to do with me
A history of the boys and girls
Deserves a novel and I apologize
To all you perfect souls on ice
Those of you born with original sin
By the time you get to kindergarten
You'll do the penance necessary
To free everyone in purgatory
Because the boys and girls take the brunt of it
They're right out there in front of it
They do it for the fun of it
Never asking what will come of it
The boys and girls are out of control
Like screaming from a newborn soul
Give them comfort when you can
Before they leave for Neverland
Before they leave for Neverland
Give them comfort when you can
A history of the boys and girls
Deserves a novel so I apologize
Allow me one more piece of advice
If you ask nicely
For what you want
You might find somebody
Who lets you have it
© Mark Donato
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12. |
As Far as It Will Go
04:04
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As Far As It Will Go
When you get in bed
You better open your heart as far as it will go
Let the time that passes pass slow
The lights will slide across the wall
Gently, gently you will fall
Into the arms of one you barely know
When you're at work
You better open your heart as far as it will go
Not everybody will know
Nothing in your heart strikes fear
Like the word 'career'
Any day now you'll have something to show
And when you die
You better open your heart as far as it will go
That's the only way you'll ever know
Let the world rush in
Then let it rush out again
Until there's nowhere else for it to go
When you get in bed
You better open your heart as far as it will go
That's the only way you'll ever know
© Mark Donato
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13. |
This is Where I Live
04:04
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This Is Where I Live
This is where I live In a little house
On a little street
On a little hill In a little town
In a little country all my own
All my own
I keep the law in case it's needed
I keep the order best I can
I keep busy with the little things
And wait for you to come to town
Come to town
Nobody knows my actual name
It bothers me less and less
Or the exact coordinates
Of my real address
But this is where I live nonetheless
This is where I live nonetheless
However much I might be in charge
I can't manipulate the scene
The fat of the land fattens me up
And the buzzards pick me clean
Pick me clean
There's something in the evening air
Lets me breathe a little easier
Sweeping ashes across the floor
Looking through the open door The open door
Nobody knows my actual name
It bothers me less and less
Or the exact coordinates
Of my real address
But this is where I live nonetheless
This is where I live nonetheless
Nonetheless
I keep the law in case it's needed
I keep the order best I can
I keep busy with the little things
And wait for you to come to town
Come to town
© Mark Donato
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Mark Donato West Shokan, New York
Mark Donato lives near Woodstock, NY, famous for being the place where the 1969 Woodstock Festival didn't happen. He's made 6 full-length records and has played with John Linnell of They Might Be Giants, Flat Old World, The Oswalds, Rosine, and Amy Allison. He has lots and lots of songs, and brilliant musical friends who dress them up in ways that will charm and startle you. ... more
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