1. |
Boundaries
04:32
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Boundaries
You can live on an island
if that’s your sense of being free.
But it’s just an extension,
of land that’s rising from the sea.
From the sea.
You can step across boundaries,
boundaries that your mind can feel,
in your thoughts and emotions
just to find that they’re not real.
They’re not real.
You can dream about some day,
some day when your work is done,
but your journey begins here
in this old home beneath the sun.
Beneath the sun.
You can speak every language,
listen close to every word,
but the trouble with listening,
is we hear words we haven’t heard.
We haven't heard.
You can hide on an island,
I know it’s peace you long to find,
but the trouble with boundaries,
they’re mostly made inside your mind.
Inside your mind.
You can step across boundaries,
boundaries that your mind can swear
are as real as a heartbeat
just to learn that they’re not there.
They’re not there.
They're not there.
They're not real.
They're not real.
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2. |
Lost Friend
03:53
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Lost Friend
I’ve been looking at a photograph.
I’ve been looking at the two of us.
I remember how we used to laugh,
how our dreams left us in the dust.
I’ve been catching up with long lost friends,
on the Internet and on the phone.
But the work and worry never ends.
I get the itch to hitch a ride back home.
I’ve been thinking of the times we spent,
along the avenue and in the woods,
where we used to play our instruments,
and with some beer we started sounding good.
We used to build a fire and sing,
and rattle off every song we knew.
We’d sing a song about a fiery ring,
and an old man who was a lot like you.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
We’d take the eastbound tracks
with cases and guitars.
We’d look behind our backs
for trains.
We’d slip into the woods
beneath a dome of stars,
and sing our hearts out
till we went insane.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
I remember how we used to laugh,
how we’d drink and act absurd.
How we used to spin a phonograph,
and listen to a record till we knew every word.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
I’ve been looking at a photograph.
I’ve been looking at the two of us.
I remember how we used to laugh,
and how our dreams left us in the dust.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
I can hear you my long lost friend.
copyright 2016
Bob Moore, lyrics
Nick Voutsakis, music
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3. |
Chisel
03:31
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Chisel
We’ve been together, half a life-time.
Before we met, your heart and soul
had been mistreated.
You were older, full of wisdom.
I lived in a time when peace
was all we needed.
You came clean and told me stories,
stories that would cause my mind
to wheel and wonder.
Why were young girls filled with worries,
weathering men who dealt
lightning strikes and thunder.
Refrain
You learned not to cry,
or ask your mother why.
No one believed you,
and so you had to hide.
I chiseled round your heart,
and found a love inside.
You watched your mother take too many
falls between the walls inside
your heart was hurting.
When it started with your husband,
you believed your mother’s life
was now your burden.
I wonder if the dreams of a woman,
often turn from family love
to pure survival,
turning toward the need for freedom,
and the nerve to say they’re
living in denial.
Refrain
You learned not to cry,
or ask your husband why.
No one believed you,
you thought your hands were tied.
I chiseled round your heart,
and found a love inside.
I chiseled round your heart,
and found a love inside.
Copyright 2016 Bob Moore
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4. |
A Place to Start
05:43
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A Place to Start
I don’t know how to stop
the rain,
a rain that falls on you
mile after mile.
I don’t know how to kill
your pain,
a pain that I can see
behind your sweet, sweet smile.
You carry heavy stories in your head,
forever burning…
You hold them like a weapon in your arms
Like they’re a part.
your dreams can’t seem to set you free,
always returning
Let me listen to them one more time, from the start,
It’s a place to start.
I know you try to fill
a hole,
a hole that’s just as deep,
deep as it is wide.
I know you try, but can’t
control,
control the stuff you use
when you’re gone for a ride.
All I can do my friend is listen
If you have a hole in you heart.
Even if you think a part of you is missing,
If nothing else, my friend, it’s a place to start.
A place to start.
The mind is like a moving
train,
It slows when you break,
break this need to be free.
I don’t know if I will
remain
fearless as my face
pretends to be.
All I can do my friend is listen
If you have a hole in you heart.
Even if you think a part of you is missing,
If nothing else, my friend, it’s a place to start.
It’s a place to start.
copyright 2016 Bob Moore
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5. |
The Matriarch
04:24
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6. |
These Blues
04:28
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These Blues
When my mind’s in trouble,
I walk along the ocean.
I watch the morning sun
come over the horizon.
I listen to the water
wash over stones and boulders.
I feel the weight on my mind
roll from my shoulders.
Chorus
I toss away my blues.
I cast them in the sea.
These blues I can no longer use,
or they’ll be the death of me.
I watch the ocean birds
fly over in formation.
The morning uses few words
announcing its creation.
I go down to the water.
I see some others follow.
I go to look for daylight,
some others for tomorrow.
Chorus
I toss away my blues.
I cast them in the sea.
These blues I can no longer use,
or they’ll be the death of me.
The ocean always changes,
and doesn’t change at all.
The tide will always rise.
The tide will always fall.
There’s beauty in the blue—
Waves peak before they break.
And what was old is new.
What was asleep will wake.
I toss away my blues.
I cast them in the sea.
These blues I can no longer use,
or they’ll be the death of me.
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7. |
Inside Man
03:56
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Inside Man
My brother has a full-time job.
He listens to the radio.
He listens to it all day long,
that’s how he gets the news he knows.
And when my brother goes outside,
he knows enough to keep his cool.
He doesn’t have a thing to hide.
He says he just obeys the rules.
Chorus
When he was young he worked on sailing ships.
He spent a summer in Japan.
Now he takes imaginary trips.
My brother is an inside man.
We visit him when we’re in town.
We bring him up to date on us.
He’s never really up or down.
He doesn’t like make a fuss.
He plays a tune he knows by ear.
He plays it on some upright keys.
The music takes us back and we’re
Living in the seventies.
Chorus
When he was young he worked on sailing ships.
He spent a summer in Japan.
Now he takes imaginary trips.
My brother is an inside man.
My brother has a full-time job.
He listens to the radio.
He listens to it all night long,
that’s how he gets the news he knows.
He listens to it all he can.
My brother is an inside man.
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8. |
The Kind Words You Said
03:05
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The Kind Words You Said
I always learn the hard way
Then you my friend would say
Just keep your eyes on seeing
The beauty in the day.
The beauty in a being
The humor in the heart
Look at a life as if it
Was a work of art.
And when my eyes go elsewhere
I’ll bet you shake your head
Those are the times I wish I
Could remember, could remember
The kinds words you said.
Your words were sweet, your love
Was unconditional
You could make some music
And sing it from your soul.
You left me with your wisdom
You left me with a choice
Now is the time I wish I
I could hear the, I could hear the
The kindness in your voice.
Your words were sweet, your love
Was unconditional
You could make some music
And sing it from your soul.
Before I start to fumble
Before my senses buy
That all this worldly trouble
Is all there is to life,
Keep me from falling deeper
When my vision strays.
Remind my mind to stay clear
Of the tricks it plays.
I always learn the hard way
Then you my friend would say
Just keep your eyes on seeing
The beauty in the, the beauty in the
The beauty in the day.
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9. |
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The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore
When I was a curly headed baby
My Daddy sat me down upon his knee
He said, "Son, you go to school you learn your letters.
Don't you be no dusty miner boy like me."
I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and they rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row all empties
'Cause the L&N don't stop here anymore.
Well I used to think my Daddy was a black man
With scrip enough to buy the company store
But now he goes to town with empty pockets
And his face is white as the February snow
I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and they rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row all empties
'Cause the L&N don't stop here anymore.
[Instrumental break]
I never thought I'd live to learn to love the coal dust
Never thought I'd pray to hear those temples roar
But God I wish the grass would turn to money
And those greenbacks would fill my pockets once more
I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and they rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
'Cause the L&N don't stop here anymore
Last night I dreamed I went down to the office
To get my pay day like I'd done before
But them kudzu vines was covering up the doorway
And there were grass and leaves growing right up through the floor
I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and they rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
'Cause the L&N don't stop here anymore
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Bob Moore East Kingston, New Hampshire
Bob Moore has been writing songs since the late 1980's. His guitar playing is influenced by finger-style players such as Ed Gerhard, Leo Kottke, Adrian Legg, Scott Ouellette, and Michael Hedges. His songwriting is influenced by many folk and blues artists such as John Prine, Loudon Wainwright III, David Olney and Mary Gauthier. "Boundaries" is from the album "A Place to Start". ... more
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