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1. |
Once, He Fell
02:48
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Do you mind if I sketch
The scene I played for you one Thursday?
Between our morning tryst
And the next boy you crushed with your kiss
You’ll know the fondness is lasting
When it’s you that I’m casting
In my sad songs full of sad sounds
Poring over some sad thoughts
Be still – you silly boy
Do you honestly yet believe
You’ve a patent on the tale
Where the girl bursts a boyhood dream?
It’s true, I’d heard it once
And perhaps there are a thousand versions
But I’ve only learned this one
You’ll know that I still long for you
When you’re the girl belonging to
All my sad songs full of sad sounds
Poring over some sad thoughts
You’ll know that I still long for you
When you’re the girl belonging to
All my sad songs full of sad sounds
Poring over some sad thoughts
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2. |
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You gently pull my sleeve and ask me to read
A romance you wrote about you and me
I glance for a moment, then earnestly
You take back the poem and recite to me:
“It’s all so easy to say,
I know it will rain on my wedding day
So please, please wait
I shall need you then, honestly”
So I gently pull your sleeve and softly entreat:
“Quit staging your stories with pages that bore me
I ask that your memoirs be put on hold
Until you are wise or until you are old”
It’s oh-so-early to say
You know it will rain on your wedding day
And please come clean
In point of fact – you adore the rain
It’s oh-so-early to say
You know it will rain on your wedding day
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3. |
April Rides Her Bicycle
04:16
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I remember April’s plea:
“Why do you not visit me?
My friends never stop in to call
When I’m home”
But if your heart is full
Then to me you’re unapproachable
And that’s why I seem rather shy
All the time
And the neighbors just above you
Can hear what songs you play
All the signs seem to read
You’re doing ‘swimmingly’
As you’re known to say
I see you’re riding still
Your smart blue three-speed bicycle
In your lime dress
Which you wore when we met
Oh – but that was just in passing
And we scarcely got to talking
And at ten months ago
It’s likely too remote
For you to take note
But although we’re not familiar
You remain my favorite stranger
“Well, that’s kind of you to say
For I’m really rather plain”
(But not enough to win her)
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4. |
In The Half-Melted Snow
02:24
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To you the girl in the pale blue fur
On the cover photo of ‘Life’
To tally up your beauty score
I guess I’d count to ten on my fingers
And it’s quite a feat to get past eight
Not yet awake from my last daydream
I helped you take off your ice skates
And then I strolled with you hand-in-hand
In the half-melted snow of Sweden
To find some place with a frozen lake
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5. |
The Girl And The Boy
03:34
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I’d been three years running
Out of deep breaths and dry throats
Until all my dreams
Came pouring out in a note
And how can I thank you
For your reply sent by post?
I broke the seal every day
To read those words that you wrote
If I seem enamored
When I write you letters
It’s not because I’m just
Simply showing you courtesy
No – it’s my way of flirting
And such and such and such
For days I’ll be saving
A keepsake meant for you
But I’m still shy
And resigned to miss you
So now I’ll be pressing
This flower in a book
If only I can find a page
I’ve pressed so many, it’s no joke
If I seem to flatter
It’s not idle banter
It’s just I’ve got a crush
For you I’ll say slowly
That you are my only
And such and such and such
For you I’ll say slowly
That you are my only one
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6. |
The Sound The Rain Made
04:14
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Ambling about
She traced the steps that they shared
And now she doubts
All of the words that he aired
So ‘I miss you’ is shorthand
For ‘I’m sure glad I got away’
And ‘I love you’ is shorthand
For ‘I just only want to play’
Thinking out loud
Her voice starts to waver and shake
Her tears reach the ground
Matching the sound the rain made
So ‘I miss you’ is shorthand
For ‘I’m sure glad I got away’
And ‘I love you’ is shorthand
For ‘I just only want to play’
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7. |
Emma's Evening Doze
02:56
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Emma, please, it’s time you sleep
So close both your eyes and don’t you peak
Yes, I’ll read your favorite story
I practiced the voices all last week
By now, I guess, I surprise you less
You know all the lines from memory
But still my voice is your first choice
To send you to slumberland presently
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8. |
If Only We Met By Train
03:40
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In ways I never thought possible
I’m fawning all over you dear
Your cool stare just leaves me flattened
If only I’d met you by train
Your glances would grow longer
And you’d find me quite popular
And I would be catching someone I find fetching
And I think that it’s you
Because that’s how I think of you
If only we met on a sleeping car train
I’m sure that I’d make your heart race
And I’d find your routines alluring
And my swagger you wouldn’t call vain
But your glances don’t linger
And our chance meeting suffers
So I am not catching the one I find fetching
And you don’t notice me
Here on this city street
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9. |
For A Distant Movie Star
03:13
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Claire, though I missed you dance at six
It was my fortune to see your ballet
At the age of twenty-one
When the limelight shone
Then I dreamt whether we’d end up together
In a romance lasting ever after
And I thought daily of the smile that made me
Adore you so quickly and so completely
Claire, can you sense
This young man’s been charmed?
Or are such affections routine?
Oh well – I’ll still gaze at the pictures you made
And still dream whether we’ll end up together
In a romance lasting ever after
And still think daily of the smile that made me
Adore you so quickly and so completely
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10. |
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You know that I think you’re quite something
No – your booksmarts don’t get in the way
So I send you invitations
Some just too bold to mention
You’re not flattered or charmed, so you say
It’s too bad your rating
Favors so the art of flirting
It’s not what I’d call my forte
While the flowers were a safe bet
My poem made you think that
I’d slept through most of English survey
And why can’t I call this our ‘first date’?
After all, I’m already up to your place
Dinner you said was pleasant
So why are you so hesitant
To give me what I dare not say?
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11. |
My First Autumn Verse
04:36
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“On crisp autumn days
I see the leaves drape the lawn”
You ask does it make me said
I say, “I think the word is ‘forlorn’”
And you do your best to protest
At the folly of my melancholy:
“If it’s not cliché, it’s quite common anyway”
But I’m not swayed
Of all the traits I’ve honed
Throughout my life
I suppose this maudlin pose
Is the most trite
“But have you heard my verse
About the petals on the ground?”
“No – but all your flowery words
And euphemisms bring me down”
And you say that I’ve put the ‘y’
Back in ‘word’ like it’s mean to be
Then after a beat I can see
That’s your subtle way at mockery
But though my autumn verse
Does not bring you near
I’ve three seasons left
To woo you, dear
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Motion Picture Minneapolis, Minnesota
Formed in 1992, the plaintive and contemplative songs of Minneapolis' Motion Picture calls to mind the lush fragility of Belle & Sebastian, the lovelorn lyricism of Trembling Blue Stars, and the sophisticated melodic stamp of early Felt. The heart-wrenching music merges guitar and cello melodies into arrangements that are at once idyllic in essence and elaborate in structure. ... more
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