|
1. |
|
|
|
|
Love was the answer
To the question we should have asked ourselves
Your eyes spoke of danger at the river’s edge
Where you walked on the water with your tongue out
Born in Philadelphia but now living in the south
Your hand slipped slowly into mine somehow
And who’s going to argue with a perfect start?
But will you still be there when I’m down and out?
I know a place where they perform miracles
And even if it’s just for a moment then
And even if our thoughts get all tied up again
I want to be the one who got to know you when
You gave it all away, you had nothing left
Take my hand again, please don’t laugh
Like the daughter says but daddy am I pretty now?
And we were so close, could almost touch the sun
But we burned ourselves out
I know a place where they perform miracles
|
|
2. |
|
|
|
|
If I were more like Jesus,
I’d get down on my knees to pray
But I’m not
My daughter sits upon uncertain shoulders
I guess fate is sticking to its guns
And you stood out on the front porch shouting,
“There’s a soul in everything. There’s a reason for all that has occurred.”
But I am not behind the door,
I don’t live there anymore
Unmitigated fever, the doctor says he just don’t know why I’ve come
Hallucinations and courageous stands
But sooner or later, boy, you know you’re going under
Was that a shot fired in the distance?
Was that a knock?
Were those mumbled words yours?
How can I be sure when I don’t live there anymore?
And I’m climbing this ladder
My head in the clouds
And I hope that it matters
I am having my doubts
If I were more like Jesus
I’d get down on my knees to pray
But I’m not
|
|
3. |
|
|
|
|
Where to begin?
Let’s see, describe to me your injury in a drunken late night text
You’ve been hurt before and now want more
You can count on me to join you under the wreckage
For it seems we’re still the passengers, still Iggy’s loyal customers
In the city’s still ripped backsides
We will do what we need to keep this fantasy alive
Dressing bathroom stalls with alcohol,
You ask me to be to you more than a mother
I will meet you in the arrivals hall
I can tell you by the way you are still wearing your crutches
You made a scene there at the festival, a European spectacle
It was funny to play the clown
Now you wonder why you cannot keep your thoughts to yourself
Not make a sound
And despite out best efforts, here comes another new year
Walking in circles, you say, “I swear I’ve been here before”
I miss home
I miss that lazy comedy of pulling you up off the lawn
As it turns out, you are not so far away,
So says the ring on my phone
And it seems we’re still the passengers, still Iggy’s loyal customers
With the panic of dumb, dumb boys
For a while there I had nearly tricked myself into believing I had some kind of choice
And I can tell you’ve been thinking you can outrun all the nightmares
It took a while to find out some people care and some don’t
Yes, and despite out best efforts, here comes another new year
Walking in circles I wonder if we’ve been here all along
Where to begin?
Let’s see, describe to me your injury
Where should I send my regards?
Where should they go?
|
|
4. |
|
|
|
|
Nobody’s going to fix her now
But it’s a world full of trouble
An American massacre
In southern California
But we’re reasoning with messengers
Who sit and talk about the weather
When it’s just another nightmare
A slaughter of the children
With the wolves out there
And the bleeding hearts
And the long, blank stares
And the open mouths
She had her last shirt on
Now all stained with blood
With nowhere to run
And you sit and wonder whether anything could be done
And I could climb a mountain
But what am I going to find there?
When nothing comes from nothing
With every man an island
And we’re reasoning with messengers
Who try to pass for grown men
And they’re coming up empty
And they’re sending you their thoughts and prayers
With the wolves out there
And the bleeding hearts
And the long, blank stares
And the open mouths
She had her last shirt on
Now all stained with blood
With nowhere to run
And you sit and wonder whether anything could be done
|
|
5. |
|
|
|
|
I don’t really even want to know you
With your backstage wisdom like a boarded up window
Who are we to go and make big plans?
Married in a fever, children in a panic
Deep sea diver, advertising ruin
With the underwater fire, state sponsored pollution
Closing our eyes, blindly to town
Hoping that Mama does not see us now
We’ve become the world’s first millionaires
You know, the ones who just don’t care
Can’t even taste it but it’s really nothing new
And it smells of compromise with subtle hints of confusion
Holidays are working days to us now
We are lifting dead weight and embracing self-doubt
The shirt with the wine stain, the car is not running
A policeman laughs but it’s really not funny
Who will save me when I’m feeling this down
All God’s children are useless to me now
We have come for solitary fun, debonair
You know, for the ones who just don’t care
All of the innocents we’ve yet to cast out
In a hesitating nation on the way to nervous breakdown
In a certain way, I’m sitting pretty now
I have a hundred dollar bill to plug the politician’s mouth
It’s written in the paper, there’s a fever taking hold
And now it’s everyone gather ‘round the toilet bowl
What a shame, and what a letdown
You will be dead before the bottom drops out
All is well so long as you say your little prayers
You know, for the ones who just don’t care
When you are the one who didn’t care
And you are the one who just don’t care
|
Here's for you the five bonus tracks (only!) of New Fragility's Deluxe Edition, thought especially for the ones who've already got New Fragility.
If you want to get New Fragility + the bonus tracks, get it here:
clapyourhandssayyeah.bandcamp.com/album/new-fragility
released March 11, 2022
All songs written and arranged by Alec Ounsworth, published by Domino Publishing
Production: Alec Ounsworth
Accordion: Jaron Olevsky
Bass: Todd Erk
Percussion: Dan Kaplowitz
Mixing: Britton Beisenherz
Mastering: Valerio Mina
Layout and Design: Claire Kimock
Cover Photo: Beth Ounsworth
Wardrobe: Ben Brown
Management: Bob Andrews & Christoph Storbeck
Distributed by Secretly Distribution
© & (p) CYHSY 2020/2021, All rights reserved
www.cyhsy.com
