1. |
Heart Benders
03:19
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You have water to be quenched
Walk on earth to not be drenched
Fire only burns
But air returns
We have no control over the beats
So we mold in earth
and squeeze in between sheets
We are heart benders
We are thirst quenchers
We are pioneers
We are trailblazers
We are heart benders
We are bench warmers
We are volunteers
We are game changers
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2. |
Write a Song
03:01
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Write a song; the night is just an angsty adolescent
Right or wrong, the end justifies journey over lesson
Is it a fear that you won’t find your path of breadcrumbs back home?
Is it a wolf that stalks your ‘hood, smells blood, sees red riding through snow?
Spin a story: someone’s glory other than your own
Based on true events or pure invention, set in tone
Is it coincidence we seek to share in richer harmony?
Is it coagulation blocking veins or do deities choose me?
I have a prophecy of promise / progress
in the privacy of my own song
This cannot be pure fantasy
What came first? The earthly egg the chicken star gave birth to
What comes next? The dragons stretch the globe that we never knew
Is it a fear that you won’t hear the answers, asking alone?
Is it the man who carves commandments and enforces them with stones?
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3. |
Ever-Expanding (We)
05:16
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Ever-expanding exponentially,
phasing ice from sea
We might be so lucky graced with eyes to see
Universe in me extraordinarily
pains my ecstasy
We might be conducting electricity unintentionally
“We” is just another word for us
Tree: always a giver that we trust
We lie down before the tank and bus ‘til they rust
or we’re dust again
Peace is the majority value
At very least, freedom of choice should be yours too
Never narrowing, next generating
facing life’s disease
We might be so lucky, spaced in time to breathe
One more verse in me, extra credit for the key,
painting harmony
We might be channeling Bach to Ligeti unintentionally
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4. |
Huff and Puff
03:12
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If I were committed,
I’d use a pen instead
No eraser head
Once it has bled enough, the writing is so rough
And chicken scratch is a bluff
when critics are too tough
Huff and puff and blow your house down
Huff and puff and blow your house up
Huff and puff and pick your house up
Huff and puff and build your house up
If I were permitted,
I’d kiss your neck instead
of hand or cheek or head
Once we’ve waited enough, our rhythm is so rough
But practice makes perfect love
Your body is a glove
From straw to stick to stone, I own this plot
I draw the trick, the card you thought you sought
From strum to pick on you, the time I bought
I lay the brick, the mortar will not rot
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5. |
Brain Break
04:24
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I can see two galaxies colliding before my eyes
Am I anxious of the fact
that this I’m viewing is the past?
Further and further we drift from each other
Will we ever crunch back again
to singularity?
A paradox of gravity:
are we too dense to know infinity?
Give your brain a break
For your noggin’s sake
Wring it like a sponge behind your eyes
Sing it from your lungs to hide your cries
(Lay it on the table ‘til it dries)
I can hear two melodies conspiring before my ears
Am I proud to be adept? The evidence I do adapt
Further and further, one thought to another
Soaking and wringing, unspoken now singing
We'll never be this young again
So innocent and pure
Will ever stop picturing
great things billions of years my senior?
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6. |
Entropy
03:53
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Bouncing balls: who can predict where they land?
Rousing calls: who can predict where they branch?
Family tree: further from symmetry
Entropy: we can predict disorderly conduct
We are haystack needles with evolving empathy
We build tall casinos, gambling up our treasury
Unlike hives or anthills, teeming with telepathy,
we dig mines and landfills, adding to our entropy
Drop an egg; we know the path it will take
‘Til it breaks, we know the mess it will make:
on the floor, never to be restored
At the core, we know to grow
while forgetting wherefore
If you knew what I am about to say,
would you sooner try to take my breath astray?
The arrow of time is irreversible
The arrow of time is irresistible
The arrow of time is unmistakable
The arrow of time is inescapable
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7. |
No Way Out
04:22
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There’s no way out
There’s no way out
You find it hard to believe in God
You find it hard to believe in yourself
Waiting on your ride
to pick you up at night
There’s no night here
Only day, dear
You find it hard believing with no precedent
You find it hard proceeding in the present tense
Waiting on your christ
to lift you through the skies
There’s no life here
Only death, dear
We’ve nothing to fear but fear itself
You find yourself agreeing with a President
You find yourself planting all the evidence
You find yourself challenging the common sense
You find yourself dreaming of committing sins
There’s no way out
There’s no way out
If God is love, then all my friends are heavenly
Your body’s bread is risen with no leavening
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8. |
Life Is an Island
04:56
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I am under the impression
that time moves in just one direction
I can see dead stars in action
and nothing breaks black hole’s attraction
Life is an island in a great blue ocean
under atmosphere; don’t fear the sun’s embrace
In a solar system of rotating orbs
Three of ours could fit in the gas giant’s storm
In between two spiraling arms
of hundreds of billions of stars
I’m in awe
I am over the expression
that space is all in three dimensions
I cannot see what strings connect us
but light waves ripple out to protect and detect us
Always searching for the perfect sphere
Always wondering why we go in circles
Always yearning for a purpose here
Life is an island in a deep blue ocean
under an atmosphere; don’t fear the sun’s embrace
I am under the impression
I am over the expression
I am onto you
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9. |
Give Me Release
03:43
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Give me restriction; I’ll know my boundaries,
I’ll find my freedom, I’ll take my treasure
Give me reaction; I’ll glow my energies,
I’ll sense my substance, I’ll gain my grounding
Give me release
Give me release
Give me redirection I will follow
I’ll come around, I will claim my crown
Give me reassurance I will buy into
Later to bloom, I run out of room
Give me release
Give me release
Give me repetition; I’ll be comforted
Give me recital; I’ll bring my outside voice
I’ll play the lead just to make a scene
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10. |
What Was Said
03:17
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“What was said to the rose that made it open was said to me here in my chest.” - Rumi
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Nathan Eliot Minneapolis, Minnesota
After collaborating on the Minneapolis music scene for more than 15 years, Nathan Eliot is proud to release his second solo
album, By Ourselves, a piano meditation on time, on July 28, 2019.
His debut album, Universe in Me (2014), transformed "familiar folk instruments into celestial sound machines, as mandola mingles with synth and bells." (The Current blog)
... more
Nathan Eliot recommends:
Cute rock.
go to album
Cardboard Dreams EP
by Cardboard Dreams
Chamber pop.
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The newest release by the classical artist uses harp, guitar, and field recordings to set the tone of the album.
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A Place Like Home
by Mr. Alec Bowman_Clarke
The new EP from Scottish songwriter Alec Bowman_Clarke goes deep, setting vulnerable lyrics to gentle melodies & stripped-back arrangements.
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I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot
by Mr. Alec Bowman_Clarke
Alec Bowman perfectly captures the dark soil under the pastoral world of British folk with this collection of melancholy originals.
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featured on Bandcamp Radio Dec 3, 2013
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