1. |
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Queen Alverna of the Irish hill is done
King Thomas picked her up in the old maroon and gray Benz
At last they touched down on tilled ground, hummingbird’s didn’t make a sound
Bowing their heads and beating their wings
As the Queen sings, “Love one another.
Look your sister and your brother
In the eye and tell them, “I will be there for you”
And down on Earth, the fourteen of noble birth, looked to the ground
and saw what was left
Carrots, Tomatoes, and lots of potatoes
but not just because their heritage, It was now their inheritance.
And the stubborn fourteen all agreed, for once,
To plant 16 pine trees, and after toast with Sunday punch
They worked with, eyes as red as beets,
Tears flowed into to the ground, calluses formed on their hands like receipts
And they saw that more than in words, love is in deeds
And the sixth son of number eleven watched his elders disperse
Wanting to replace the images of his Queen in the hearse and the dirt
He mustered his mem’ry and he gathered the good to combat all the hurt
And this is what he remembered first
Coca-cola, backyard football, chocolate-chip cookies
Games of checkers that he never won
The King and the Queen on bended knee,
Unafraid of getting dirty
Teaching him that the roots do the work,
so the flowers can grow free
And he Queen said,
“Child, I’m glad to have you here.
But when I’m gone, listen for the birds
Who sing loud and clear
You are so loved.
You are so enough.
Keep the family close
Rooted together we’re much more tough
This I decree, Love is enough.
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2. |
Over the Edge
06:19
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Teddy put down his x-box controller
Long enough to say
I’m going over a friend’s tonight, mom
We’re gonna stay in and play
She said, “hey, hey, hey
Teddy, you better behave.
Hey, hey hey
You better be sober when I pick you up.
Hey, hey, hey,
You’ve got so much time to grow up.
Teddy, with his lie successful,
packed a duffel with all the things he’d need
Stick of deodorant,
Extra Undies,
Toothbrush,
A flask
And a bag of weed
And just to be safe he stuffed the duffel with winter clothes
Lined the whole thing with dryer sheets
To cheat his mother’s nose
And she asked,
Hey, hey, hey
Who’s gonna be there anyway?
Hey, hey hey
Couldn’t they all come to our place instead
Hey, hey, hey
If you get caught foolin’ you’ll wish you were dead.
Teddy got dropped off
And he climbs right into his friend’s jeep
With the doors and the roof all lopped off
A white hot american death machine
And they
Drove
Into the night
From the hills of Villanova towards the city lights
Yes they, Drove
I-76, to make it downtown real quick
But they, veered off
On forbidden drive
The night was finally starting
Teddy felt so alive.
Teddy hopped out of the jeep
And took in this sight to behold
In the middle of fairmount park
Boys and girls bundled up in the cold
All of them with more or less
With the same simple intention in mind
“Let’s get as fucked up as we can
In the shortest amount of time”
And they sang, “hey, hey, hey,
“Seniors don’t wait in line for the keg”
Hey, Hey, hey,
Damnit steve, you’re pissing down your leg
Hey, Hey, Hey,
Sorry, this is my first time rolling a joint
Hey, Hey, hey,
If you’re not smoking wood tips, you’ve missed the point
Hey, Hey, Hey
Lol, you guyz,, there’s a beatle in my cup
Hey, Hey, Hey
I just hope the cops don’t show up…
COPS!
And in the commotion, Teddy ran
As fast as he could
Through the fairmount woods
Till he clutched as his sides
Slowed down his strides
And he looked where stood
For once, all alone
In the glow from the moon
He could see his muddy vans against stone
The air, though clear
Made Teddy dizzy
And it made him rear
The contents of his stomach
In the privacy of the public
Then Teddy got up from his knee
And he wiped the sick from his mouth
And he looked to the south
The most beautiful thing he’d seen that night
And maybe, just maybe in his young life
It was...
Purple sky, purple haze,
sky scrapers glazed
With a thousand luminal oddities
And A steady stream of yellow headlights
and red red taillights babble along
The east side river drive
And boat-house row, it glows
In the reflection of the schuylkill
And above, incoming planes blink intermittent
Leave Teddy smitten with the city at night
And every window alight
Made him brim with the feeling he’d been craving since leaving home
He was a little less alone
He could hear the city sing
Bop ba (x infinity)
And Teddy, having heard his lullaby
Nodded his goodnight
He picked up his phone
And said ma I’d like to come home
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3. |
Scary Sunday
05:38
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Take a minute let my eyes adjust
To the out of season Christmas lights
Let the smoke sting in my eyes
Cuz i won't see many more of these nights
Facin’ the fact that it's getting late
And I really should go in
But the air on the porch it feels so nice
For the goosebumps on my skin
And I don't want to give in
No I don't want to give in
Can’t seem to wipe the smile from my face,
Probably a privileged shit eatin’ grin
I see Teddy across the room
With wild eyes
Who knows where he’s been
In the haze of the cigars and joy
And the music is all we can hear
Plus were floating in our teenaged sin,
but the feelings are still sincere.
And why can't we stay here
So why not just stay here
Cuz I realized
I saw that night through rose-colored glasses
Carbon-filtered, charmed and sheltered
We could get drunk off our asses
Without repercussion
Nothing stays except the haze
And loving gaze of young romancin’
So I say oh what’s it pay to live this way
Daylight burning, burning, burning away
On just another scary sunday
The ash burns too close to my hand
I sigh and flick it into the dark
Through the window I see that brown eyed girl, her smile and laugh a spark
"Hey maybe it's the time of the night,
But you've never looked so pretty before"
analytical/ self critical
But with you, these things I almost ignore
My girl what are we waiting for
My girl lets what are we waiting for
Oh please,
I saw that night through rose-colored glasses
Carbon-filtered, charmed and sheltered
We could get drunk off our asses
Without repercussion
Nothing stays except the haze
And loving gaze of young romancin’
So I say oh what’s it pay to live this way
Daylight burning, burning, burning away
On just another scary sunday
There's so much we took for granted
So much we pretended to hate
My youth was walking out the door
And I didn’t think to tell it to wait
Those nights are hard to remember
But i’ll tell my grandkids with a smile
Talk about just how in love we were
With our freedom that stretched for miles
So I'm sorry if we woke up the neighbors
Or accidentally put a hole in the wall
But tell me you didn't think the same way
Damnit you weren't a kid at all
I saw that night through rose-colored glasses
Carbon-filtered, charmed and sheltered
We could get drunk off our asses
Without repercussion
Nothing stays except the haze
And loving gaze of young romancin’
So I say oh what’s it pay to live this way
Daylight burning, burning, burning away
On just another scary sunday
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4. |
I am Not Your Orpheus
06:41
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I outsang the Sirens on the Streets of Philadelphia
I played rock and roll with the Argonauts
And we sold out Hesperides Garden and celebrated with golden apples and shots of fireball
I met you backstage and you were wearing a kilt and I scottish accent so it kind of worked out
I played you a song in a dark brick theater
and we fell in love in a pink special spotlight
We climbed to the hilltop rock garden and we saw everything we were floating down the Schuylkill river
I said you were mine, and you said “for how long?”
Guess I had a warped idea of what it meant to be strong
I’m gonna see the sun, in myself i trust
Damnit, I am not your orpheus
The rocks up there are spray painted with conversations of our futures
The ground sparkles from all the broken glass;
40 oz catching on the soles of our shoes
The sun shines so warm up there
It was just too bright to be scared
You and me we held hands and danced to the beat of the drum inside my chest
Heaven on earth was a boy and girl on a beach, dreaming of an apartment with a piano and all
of the rest of the things we said we’d have.
the drive home from your house was never so bad
I said you were mine, and you said “for how long?”
Sticking together, parting ways, it’s the pain we’d prolong
I’m gonna see the sun, in myself i trust
Damnit, I am not your Orpheus
With the flash of a red bug you were gone
Leaving only my mind for the snake to nibble on
My heart wasn’t broken, it wasn’t that dramatic
Feigning happiness via text suggestions automatic
So you danced in the sun, and I marched in the rain
All the way to Chicago, I’d never felt this pain
So I wandered and squandered my time
playing songs that you used to like
I caught glimpses of you fading in his arms, I was waiting
Drowning it out with smoke and beer, nothing ever clear
Strange women heard my songs and they tore me limb from limb
I felt like no one
so I dove in the Atlantic ocean
trying to purge you
trying to purge you
But you had faded to black,
it was my mind i didn’t have and I wanted it back.
I said you were mine, and you said “for how long?”
like sucking clarity from the open end of a dirty bong
Sinking to the bottom, i was flooded with fear
I don’t think I can hold my breath for a year
I’m gonna see the sun, in myself i trust
Damnit, I am not your Orpheus
I woke up gasping for air in the underworld
and it sure as hell looked a lot like my closet
They wouldn’t let me cross the river
no obols to be had in my wallet
I’d never felt more alone, numbed all too well
The dead and the dumped all laughing, enjoying my hell
Branzie picked me up and handed me this guitar
He said that I could play my way back til I see the to the stars
On that steep road I can’t look back, and it’s far
You don’t know how badly I wanted to see those stars
every song I played, I began to shed
My depressive notions, which unspooled like thread
I could sing and play without all the dread
with the music once again i found my head
I said you were mine, and you said “for how long?”
It’s possible neither one of us did anything wrong
you know the truth lies somewhere in the middle
I’m getting better little by little
I’m gonna see the sun, in myself i trust
Damnit, I am not your Orpheus
I’m not looking back
Until I feel the sun
I’m not looking back
Until your song is done
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5. |
Kings of the Castle
02:43
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I learned to walk on my toes, not to wake our parents below
Yellow spark in the dark, green into the wind we’d blow
We were up so high the people looked like ants below
It was you and me, kings of the world we know
The stars above would dance, for us, putting on a show
But I can’t see the stars in CHI - CA -GO
Back at home we could do just as we please
Backyard hockey, sneakin beers, cuttin stinky cheese
Dodgin police, fighting dragons, chivalrous deeds
Turning away from greed to what’s provided by the trees
And No matter what, the same blood we’ll always bleed
So now we’ve got this long-distance deal
We’ll that doesn’t mean our fate is sealed
We can, use our resources:
horses, carrier pigeons who eat corn meal
Any way that we could steal
A couple moments of just you and me
Spending time like how it used to be
It’s one of the best things, but it doesn’t come free
Tell me king, what’s your decree?
What’s your decree?
Do you want to spend some time with me?
What’s your decree?
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6. |
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Well the day started lazy
Washing yesterday’s pans
Clear our schedules and our heads
of weekday demands
Listen to the Beatles
And watch the sun rise
Next we hop in our van
In the shade of the trees
On Greenview Avenue
We drive half an hour
Out of the way
But I refrain
From telling you
Because I want to make you smile
I want to make you laugh
If I couldn’t well do that, my dear,
That’d be just sad
I love you, you’re my baby, and I need this to be a great day
So we can say
That we’re okay
We park the van on Grand
And start to walk about town
The scrapers shape the sky
And bump around the city sound
The buskers are bursting
The picketers pout
We see workers on strike eating beans in the park
Their corporate companions
Won’t head home till after dark
We tap our shoes
As they chant and sing,
What do they sing?
“It’s a long, long day
For a little pay”
And it seems so unfair
We get to strut and sway
Just walking in the pocket
Of the beat
Of the city street
Just holding hands
With no grander plans
Gosh, it’s a Sunday in the city with Molly
Sometimes uptown life’s too melancholy
If we’re stressin and fretting
We’re simply forgetting
To be grateful for this day
When we can sit by the lake
Or look at the clouds
And the shapes they make
Tell the voices in our heads
To go back to bed
And sleep in instead
Until this Sunday in the city’s dead
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7. |
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Late on a lazy evening in June
I was home to greenview avenue too soon
And rather than retire to my dim apartment
I snuck round the back to a secret compartment
Where you kept
An extra key
For me
So up, your wooden stairs I ascended
With a key in my hand
In the front jacket pocket of
Your uncle’s old windbreaker
I sidestepped the mounds of birdshit and shovel
And entered your place with no sign of struggle
Called down your dark halls though no one was home
I could tell that you had just left
But I was alone
So I climbed up the roof
And I sucked down a snoot
It sparked a flame inside my brain
I started to view
You and me in the clouds
Wandering through the crowds
Of dragon, snakes, poison lakes, and magical shrouds
If you’d spend some time
Up in the clouds i’m sure you’d fnd
The view
From Rosa’s place is nice
Bop, ba, bop, ba, ba
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8. |
All the Familiar Fears
02:53
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Let me try to explain.
Half the time I’m worrying over things
And that’s half the time I’ll ever spend
On this earth
And half of that is half as much as
Half as much as you deserve
From me
And yet that’s all I can offer
Right now
Right now
Lately, I’ve been doing my best to convince myself I’m
doing my best
With the most of my time
Yet when an idle smile
Rests on my child face
It feels out of place
I fear I’m deluding myself
With things
That just feel nice
And I know they say it’s important to
FOLLOW YOUR OWN LIGHT
Whatever that means
But these damn screens
I let them keep me up at night
It’s either that or a single flame
From a plastic cask of butane
Ejected by my own thumb
That leaves me always
Leaves me wandering, dumb
Wandering, dumb
No stars, no wind, no map, no crew
I feel lost at sea
And yet you can’t see
You’re too preoccupied
With building up the walls with no windows
On the castle on the shore
That you’ve built for you and me
And not a soul more
It’s half as much as
Doing my best
Following my (own light)
Feeling lost at sea
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9. |
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A scraggle tree holds firm on the hillside’s eastern slope
All of its foliage gone
Settled on its arthritic branches
Is first November snow
And a crow
Who pecks at brown bark for something to eat
Sifting snow from limbs to the white dusted earth below
The same earth that the white-tailed deer trods today
Who sifts a hoof through hard grass
Searching for something to eat
One hardly aware of the other, and neither of me.
I’m achingly aware that the crow and the deer know what they need
And although I know not for what I search,
it doesn’t make me feel any more free.
But as the sun rises over the instant treeline
It will warm
The earth
The deer
The crow
And the scraggle tree.
And me.
Oh.
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Kieran McCabe Chicago, Illinois
Folky-Philly Kid-Rock
If you're looking for Kieran now, he's in Chicago. Making music with Pinnings and The Oh Boys.
Both linked right down here.
Kieran McCabe recommends:
The Clementine Session
by Echo Kid
Rock'n'roll for weirdos. Proud to say that I dabble on acoustic guitar with these gentlemen on occasion. Echo Kid is the newest project from RFA and Whaler Jr. vets, Brendan and Christian.
go to album
That's Okay Though EP
by Day Off
Here's my college band Day Off in which I play drums and sing backup. Enjoy this delightful little three song EP.
go to albumIf you like Kieran McCabe, you may also like:
Seawheel
by David Lonton-Baxter
”Seawheel Acoustic” delivers captivating melodies and heartfelt lyrics in songs that are equal parts soothing and enchanting.
go to album
Sorry I'm So Sensitive
by Bea Stewart
The second EP from Northern Irish singer-songwriter Bea Stewart runs from gentle folk to pillowy pop ballads, all perfectly executed.
go to album
Better By Now
by Brooke Annibale
The indie-pop artist reflects on love and anxiety on her latest album.
go to album
Love, Loss and Washing Lines
by Matt Hawkins
A dozen folky songs from this Brisbane musician recall the wit and romance of early Billy Bragg.
go to album
