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Live in Altdorf

by cygne

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1.
This Land 06:05
Don’t know if this land was made for you and me In the night sky of New York shines the torchlight of Lady Liberty Of course I can’t see through the orange of the high rises lining every street But I believe she’s watching over all of us tossing in our sleep Don’t know if this land was made for you and me So I set out on this great blue highway trying to see Sunrise pours out on the horizon like a Georgia peach When the juice of the fruit and your dry tongue finally meet And in the rearview mirror, the skyline’s swallowed by the trees Don’t know if this land was made for you and me As I glide through the high ground and the grassland of Tennessee The low fog left from nightfall starts to lift as I leave her soggy peaks With the sunlight behind me I follow shadows cast from back east What’s left of buffalo roam the pastures like a passing dream Don’t know if this land was made for you and me In the flatlands of Nebraska I can feel my whole body breathe The wind moves like water through the prairies painting pictures in the wheat Like sand along the shorelines, the switch grass is dragged out to sea The sweet warble of a meadowlark fades in the breeze Don’t know if this land was made for you and me Across the Rockies, further west, and in the desert I hear the silence speak High noon in Nevada and the sand dunes listen as they gleam Not a movement as they heed the hush and I wonder why can’t we Dust spirals on the highway then scatters like a laugh that’s free Don’t know if this land was made for you and me As I reach California the sun leads me straight to the beach And the Pacific’s like a skillet as the light sizzles out of my reach The stars rise like steam in the twilight between redwood leaves I’ve searched for answers in this land from sea to shining sea I watch the water take the sand and bury my two feet © 2009
2.
Everything must change, everybody knows Still we’re all so afraid of having to let go Of what we thought we held, of what was holding us We can only ever be as free as deeply as we trust I am trying to be different, I’m not trying at all Just watching the summer days fade into the fall Everything must change, everybody knows But when something starts to slip away we want to hold it close I love holding you most of all But these long summer days must give way to the fall I know we are different as the seasons we move through But one thing stays the same and that’s the love that I feel for you One thing will never change, I will always love you © 2014
3.
The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita An empty motel room and me The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita I’m beginning to feel obsolete I think god has forgotten me, or maybe he just ain’t found me yet I keep calling and calling, but tonight he ain’t taking requests… So I open to random pages, looking for some kind of sign I keep calling on strangers just to pass the time The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita An empty motel room and me The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita And there ain’t nobody here to see And if my book had just one letter, it would be Y I know I’m no saint, but tell me who is? When even you won’t pick up or assist A soul that’s in need, a soldier on her knees Calling on Krishna or any deity Whoever’s at home, god, we both know You’re never too far from your throne… And I’ve been living on air, singing my prayers To busy signals and scriptures that don’t give a damn Poor as Job, with nowhere to go And Lord, I know I’m not, but I feel as old As these listings – outdated – with no sign of a savior Cause life is your party and you’re not handing out any favors today… The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita An empty motel room and me The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita But tell me, does anybody read… The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita It’s getting so hard to believe The phonebook, the Bible, and the Bhagavad Gita There’s nothing left to do now but sleep © 2010
4.
Ghost 03:42
Straight for the answers Straight for the answers You reached right into my very soul How’d you get in there? How’d you get in there? Tell me, how did such a young man get so old? And I don’t believe in time but I believe in ghosts I take my chances I take my chances I took my chance in letting you go And I don’t believe that I will ever give up my hope And I don’t believe in lies… not even my own When I look into your eyes I see a ghost © 2010

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Recorded live at Kellertheater im Vogelsang in Altdorf, Switzerland November 7, 2015.

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released February 17, 2016

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cygne Chicago, Illinois

I’m a writer and musician working in experimental memoir and sound at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I tutor and assistant teach. Previously I toured internationally for over ten years, collecting and curating experiences, melodies, language, characters, and sounds from the natural world. ... more

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