1. |
Little Powder Keg
03:17
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Nothing ventured nothing feigned
The stars aligned now the scars remain
This time tomorrow will these feelings still instill
The notion for you to detonate?
You’re a little powder keg
You’re a little powder keg
You’re a barrel of fun until you’re barely contained
You’re a little powder keg
Burning bridges burning love
Indecisive and out of luck
Ruminating in a room full of problems that consume you
Whenever things get a little too vague
You’re a little powder keg
You’re a little powder keg
You’re a barrel of fun until you’re barely contained
You’re a little powder keg
We were never a good match
I lit your fuse when I refused to dance
Bombshell in a bomb shelter
You’re going to find yourself so in secured with just your face and gun powder
Easy come and so easily goaded
Into situations you least expected
He's got qualifications for a good cry on his shoulder
He can put out your fire but you’ll still smoulder
You’re a little powder keg
You’re a little powder keg
You’re a barrel of fun until you’re barely contained
You’re a little powder keg
Powder keg
Powder keg
My little powder keg
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2. |
Yellow
02:53
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Curtains thick with cigarette smoke have yellowed with time
And your patience for my party jokes have yellowed with time
We can try to hide it all behind friends and alcohol
But our vows and our know how have yellowed with time
Yellow used to be the colour of happy
Now we’re facing the facts
We’ve become so yellow bellied
While we’re fading to black
Fading to black
Fading to black
Picture frames and kitchen stains are layered with dust
And the private investigator employed by mistrust
Awaits with his camera roll and envelopes full
Of findings found between dawn and dusk and dusk
Yellow used to be the colour of happy
Now we’re facing the facts
We’ve become so yellow bellied
While we’re fading to black
Fading to black
Fading to black
Yellow used to be the colour of happy
Now we’re facing the facts
We’ve become so yellow bellied
While we’re fading to black
Fading to black
Fading to black
Fading to black
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3. |
Broken Boy
03:59
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I’m a lonesome toy forgotten in the past
I’m a broken boy with no one to sign my cast
But when I heal I will run again
Far from here to find a new friend
I’m an elementary card trick one they all have seen
I’m the very last pick for the intramural team
But when I heal from the words they said
I’m going to make it my deal to find a new friend
Time passes with every birthday card
Waiting for the broken boy to mend
Yeah yeah yeah
Waiting for the broken boy to mend
Yeah yeah yeah
I’m a little bit left of centre but since when is that a crime
Mark my words come November I’m going to make up for lost time
And when all is revealed and invitations sent
The party will be real dancing with my new friends
Time passes with every birthday card
Like wrapping paper in the wind
Cake and ice cream melting in the back yard
Waiting for the broken boy to mend
Yeah yeah yeah
Waiting for the broken boy to mend
Yeah yeah yeah
And when all is revealed and invitations sent
The party will be real dancing with my new friends
Time passes with every birthday card
Like wrapping paper in the wind
Cake and ice cream melting in the back yard
Waiting for the broken boy to mend
Yeah yeah yeah
Waiting for the broken boy to mend
Yeah yeah yeah
Waiting for the broken boy to mend
Yeah yeah yeah
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4. |
Selfish Portrait
03:06
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I look at my face I could paint such a selfish portrait
Using various shades of greedy green and other choices
Right down to the finest detail of the brooding shadows
That seem to call out your name
It speaks to you about me. You could reach out and touch me.
It speaks to you about me. You could almost reach out and touch me now.
Your selfless love gets wasted on this tired subject
With plastic skin and weathered frame
If I could have just one single stroke of utter genius
Then none of this would have seemed a shame
It speaks to you about me. You could reach out and touch me.
It speaks to you about me. You could almost reach out and touch me now.
It calls your name from this wall of shame.
And it speaks to you about me. You could reach out and touch me.
It speaks to you about about me. Don’t hang yourself on me.
Don’t hang yourself up on me. Don’t hang yourself.
I look at my face I could paint such a selfish portrait
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5. |
Blue In The Red Room
03:45
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Give me back my best years, Give me back my best years
Give me back my, give me back my, Give me back my best years
Here come the dregs of society now
I can feel the saturation upon my brow
As I brace for another day that I’ll never ever get back again
What am I doing here with you?
What am I doing here with you?
Why should I stand so tall and ever so blue here in the red room?
Here where the ignorance is bliss
And their material possessions are based upon all the ass they kiss
As I’m faced with another face that will follow me right up until the end
What am I doing here with you?
What am I doing here with you?
Why should I stand so tall and ever so blue here in the red room?
From Monday through Thursday I’m working on my drinking problem
From Chardonnay to Cabernet from winter through autumn I’m deep blue in this crimson room
Give me back my best years, Give me back my best years
Give me back my, give me back my, Give me back my best years
What am I doing here with you?
What am I doing here with you?
Why should I stand so tall and ever so blue here in the red room?
Here in the red room....
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6. |
Better Than I Remember
02:48
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Honesty was always the policy.
But all the falsifiers and conspirators have gotten the best of me.
The narcissism in the shop window glances
The politicians with the x-ray glasses
The competitions for disposable plastic
I’m staying home and listening to Nina tonight.
And the world will seem better than I remember.
And the world will seem better than I remember.
Irony was never lost on you.
That is why you won’t find my proposition mute.
We’re picking up where we last wandered.
We’re putting down the hatchets and lawyers.
We’re lying where the liars don’t bother.
Let’s go put flowers on somebody’s grave.
And the world will seem better than I remember.
And the world will seem better than I remember.
I remember finding out the hard way
That for some, becoming beguiling is child’s play.
Hey Hey Hey
Manipulators draped in counterfeit green.
Calculators cold as machines.
The castrator sharpens her routine.
I’m staying home….
And the world will seem better than I remember.
And the world will seem better than I remember.
This whole world will seem better than I remember.
Better.
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7. |
Should I Tell Her
03:13
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Should I tell her what goes on inside of my head?
I know I owe her an explanation for the contradictions I’ve said.
Sending her the missing clues before she becomes the mislead.
Should I tell her what goes on inside of my head?
I try to keep my demons at an arm’s length.
Sometimes I don’t even know their own strength.
Factoring in the factors, working out the kinks.
My mind has a mind of its own I think. My mind has a mind of its own I think.
Should I tell her what goes on inside of my head?
I know I owe her an explanation for the contradictions I’ve said.
Sending her the missing clues before she becomes the mislead.
Should I tell her what goes on inside of my head?
Sitting on the fence with my predicament.
Thinking about where my tenacity went.
Backbone I lack bone, I’m all out of sync.
My mind has a mind of its own I think. My mind has a mind of its own I think.
Should I tell her!
I’d like to break this mould that I’ve bent.
Dumb myself down and start all over again.
Should I tell her what goes on inside of my head?
I know I owe her an explanation for the contradictions I’ve said.
Sending her the missing clues before I send her around the bend.
Should I tell her what goes on inside of my, should I tell her what goes on inside of my,
Should I tell her what goes on inside of my head?
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8. |
Squint Your Eyes
02:48
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I know I wear you out like a favourite shirt.
I know I tear you up like a paper insert.
Now we’ll never sing along with the words to the plagiarist's song.
But if you squint your eyes just enough I can be the one that you love.
Yes if you squint your eyes just enough I am still the one that you love.
I know I set you off with my false alarms.
And I know I’ll get you cross like impatient arms.
But if you have some time to kill for a moment it may stand still.
And if you squint your eyes just enough I can be the one that you love.
Yes if you squint your eyes just enough I am still the one that you love.
I took advantage of a situation.
I did some damage to my reputation.
I re-examined by flirtation with self sabotage.
I have but a weak defence for your weekend of emptiness.
And if you squint your eyes just enough I can be the one that you love.
Yes if you squint your eyes just enough I am still the one that you love.
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9. |
Truth Serum Time
04:09
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I’ve been swimming in hot water
I’ve been circling the shallow end
Waving goodbye to my moral fibre
While I’m lapping up another mortal sin
I’ve been lurking in forbidden shadows
I’ve been no model citizen
I’ve been keeping late hours
Waking the beast and then sleeping in
Down on my dirty knees I feel the need to come clean
It’s truth serum time – It’s truth serum time
I will be blunt – I may not be kind
Truth serum time
I am worried I am blurry eyed
I’m afraid I’ve been taken in
What gets fired up gets wired up
Long ago I pushed the wrong button
Now I’m sinking in hot water
I’m drowning in the shallow end
Like my father I have faltered
Yet I blame no one for this dire descend
Up to these tattered sleeves with this battered routine
It’s truth serum time – It’s truth serum time
I will be blunt – I may not be kind
Truth serum time
I need a mess of truth serum
I have confessions and you need to hear them
But I don’t need a lecture
I just want a cure
I don’t expect to ever see you anymore
I’ll tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth (4x)
It’s truth serum time – It’s truth serum time
I will be blunt – I will not be kind
Truth serum time
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10. |
Next Best Thing
03:36
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So I see you’ve had your eye on the prize,
And I have familiarized myself with your plight.
Sometimes you need a plan B to survive.
Strategically, a plan C D E F G.
Then if let me be your next best thing. Let me be your next best thing.
Your hips will swerve, your mood will swing.
Your lips won’t purse and your dopamine will offer up an extra gleam,
If you let me be your next best thing.
So I agree you were the one with the know how.
So how did things get so sour?
When you would work the room for hours.
But when things stop working out like it’s supposed to be,
It’s plan C D E F G.
Then if let me be your next best thing. Let me be your next best thing.
Your hips will swerve, your mood will swing.
Your lips won’t perse and your dopamine will offer up an extra gleam,
If you let me be your next best thing.
I know you don’t want to settle for any substitute.
But oh look over my credentials, I studied at the Institute
Of next best times and I’m the next in line and you’re sure to surmise,
That it cannot be disputed....I’m your next best thing!
So when you’ve had the chance to ponder it,
Then we’ll revise the script and the twists and turns and the lines.
Now you’ve memorized it, don’t be surprised if it’s take 1 2 3 4 5!
Then if let me be your next best thing. Let me be your next best thing.
Your hips will swerve, your moods will swing.
Your lips won’t purse and your submarine will emerge in Pleasant Stream,
If you let me be your next best thing.
Your next best thing. Your next best thing. Your next best thing.
Oh oh oh your next best thing.
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the james clark institute Toronto, Ontario
Under the guise of ‘The James Clark Institute’, Toronto based music artist, James Clark takes the classic pop song style that he grew up with and gives it his own spin. The music of Elvis Costello, Ray Davies and Lennon and McCartney have all influenced James' musical style. “A wealth of songwriting talent” says renowned music writer/ ex-MuchMusic VJ Michael Williams in Cashbox Canada. ... more
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