1. |
Introductory Monologue
00:52
|
|||
Like everything else, songs evolve over time. This is a collection of songs that I wrote over the course of almost two years, that center around the themes of coming to terms with reality, coping with guilt, and hoping for the future. I am deeply grateful to the members of the band for their incredible work, as well as to the people in my life that provided me with the inspiration to create this. However, in terms of the thoughts and emotions expressed, this album is not an end result, or a conclusion. It’s a long exposure photograph of my own reflections on life. I would ask you to think of this album as a diary entry in a story that is not yet finished, perhaps even a story you recognize.
|
||||
2. |
Be Patient
03:53
|
|||
Flesh rips on the asphalt of the river walk
And pain slips but it’s worth it if they get to talk
Her eyes flash at the absurd and angry telethon carnival ride
Lips clash, blood is mixed with spit and the danger dies
She says be patient
I said patience doesn’t change a thing
She said let’s face it
We don’t know what the future will bring
Rain drips, in the same way that it always has
The page flips, tattoos are burning but they always last
She sees him, in a faraway land learning french and in anguish by day
Her eyes brim, happy and sad but she knows what to say
She says be patient
I said patience doesn’t change a thing
She said let’s face it
We don’t know what the future will bring
Clocks tick, driving both of them completely mad
And eyes blink, now reuniting seems so close at hand
It seems wrong, that the moments should slip by
Regardless of commands that they heel
Write song, just hoping to recapture this thing I feel
|
||||
3. |
Slackjaw
04:30
|
|||
Every day outside of Roxbury Crossing I see the same damn guy
And every day he sits on the corner and he watches the people walk by
And I can’t help but judge him no and I can’t help but stare
And one day soon before I move along I hope he sees me standing there and he’ll say
Hey Slackjaw!
Just tell me what you’re looking at
From what you saw
You don’t know a thing about where I’m at
Hey Slackjaw!
You think that you got it made?
Take one fall
You’ll wind up worse than me
Every night I toss and I turn in my bed and I try to dream
And every night as I slip into darkness I know nothing is as it seems
I try not to fall in the traps Lord I try to stay on the path
But every now and then when I wake up someone’s screaming ‘motherfucker you fell off the map’ and they say
Hey Slackjaw!
Just tell me where you think you are
Follow one law
And hope you don’t stray this far
Hey Slackjaw!
Just tell me where you think you’ve been
You’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it some more
And some day you’ll hear it again
Just a-ringin’ in your ears!
|
||||
4. |
Maybe Tomorrow
08:32
|
|||
The wheatgrass of Elysium’s fields waves gently in the wind
As souls search for long lost friends and lovers as well as their sins
Each night we visit fragmented pieces ebullient with chaos and charm
Surrealistic fields meld identities and potentials are always enlarged
Each night I wandered these fields and plains in search of meaning and truth
But often I was frustrated on my return for I had not the gift of the soothe
But some things I saw in that mist of a world I will surely relate to you here
They were of value to me and they will be to you if you would just lend me your ear
I came upon a pair that radiated joy reunited after eons apart
They sat together and reminisced of when blood still ran in their hearts
One threw back his head and they let out a laugh so warm the mirth in his throat
And from that mouth sprang a lightning bolt that bridged to heaven like a moat
And from that bolt all the world did dissolve leaving only a space of white
Pressure and movement to burst one’s head as if a blast came forth from on high
And with a voice the light sang “Oh glory” “Mighty glory, sing your words of praise!”
I found myself on a desolate plain protected only by A SINGLE TREE
I saw the self same pair as before and I peered through the branches to see
Hatred brimmed in the eyes of one as he plucked a card from the others hand
He placed his hand on an ancient weapon and he made his mortal demand
|
||||
5. |
Green Umbrellas
05:03
|
|||
Green umbrellas standing on the lawn
Red fence posts mirror the light of dawn
I cast my eye up yonder on the dell
I see the flocks trapped in idyllic cells
And I ask
Will I ever escape my prison?
I’m stuck here from the way that I’ve been livin’
Will I ever escape my prison?
I’m stuck here from the way that I’ve been livin;
Black smoke curls its way up to the sky
Just like it I will someday take my flight
Grey tapestry is hanging on the wall
The only thing in this room that will never fall
Will I ever escape my prison?
I’m stuck here from the way that I’ve been livin’
Will I ever escape my prison?
I’m stuck here with the Gods that I’ve been given
Deity transmutes cloth back into skin
A hand reaches out and I feel the weight of my sin
I leave behind this body weak and frail
My soul returns to the place from whence it hails
Have I truly escaped my prison?
I certainly do not feel forgiven
Have I truly escaped my prison?
I certainly do not feel forgiven
|
||||
6. |
All Around
05:35
|
|||
I’m an avid collector of blank notebooks
I’m an avid director of long cold looks
Sun rose this morning, I had to ease myself of pain
As an ailing tree would close its pores to keep away the driving rain
But it’s all around
Like the purple flames in my dreams they drag me down
I hear the sound
Of suffering in silence all around
It’s all around
I’m an avid designer of my own misery
And if there’s a way to improve my life, well it’s been lost on me
My writing is absurd, things don’t come out the way I intend, them to
But if I wrote my raw emotions, raw experiences, it would be difficult to get through
But they’re all around
Like the purple flames in my dreams they drag me down
And I hear the sound
Of suffering in silence all around
It’s all around
Reality dictates a framework of codes and truths we must obey
Making man capable of true evil; atonement washes purpose away
Only in linear time can man be seen to sin and atone
The act remains an indellible part of Samsara, the wheel rushes on towards doom
|
||||
7. |
Water For Mr. Nhat
06:10
|
|||
Waves crash on the shoreline
Photons stream into my waiting open eyes
I’m thinkin’ lyin’ supine
‘Cause I’ve heard that’s s’pos’d to make me very wise
Life ticks by on the second hand
River movin’ and I understand
It’s easy to make a metaphor
For how time passes in its nebulous way
For really there is nothin’
To mark a second from a minute or an hour from a day
Life ticks by on the second hand
Starting to think that I understand
Cesium ions oscillate a couple billion times
Moments fluctuate in topographic lows and highs
Present past and future blur their artificial lines
And the wave at the edge of the waterfall learns it was water all the time
Water all the time
Take a river flowing quickly
Or the wind rushing past on a beautiful day
Over flowers growing thickly
Who only know they’re dancing when the pedals start to sway
|
Streaming and Download help
If you like Jera's Will, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp