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altars were there

by Chore Choir

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1.
Bluegrass 01:49
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I wasn't raised on bluegrass I'm from the suburbs I can't sing a song that I haven't suffered I'm not united with the culture I'm not entitled to the pain And when I suffer, it's mild and wild and strange Tried some cowboy boots, yeah, but they were useless Listened to someone's roots but I'm still rootless So I drove to the music store They told me what I've been looking for I needed something more I was born on the open plain in the market Submitted to the endless chain once in a Target I was a bagger in a grocery store Singing "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" Till I was shown the door I wasn't raised on bluegrass I'm from the suburbs I can't sing a song that I haven't suffered I haven't suffered
2.
Hum Alone Heart 03:12
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You're the bee's knees I'm a snail in the snow You're the breeze through the window I came to get straight, to get loose Don't I look great In my new snow white shoes I wish we could meet Somewhere else like a mall Where we could be like anyone at all Like, "Been so long, my friend. How you been?" "I'm fine. I'm on fire I'm ready for the weekend" My dear, my desire Can you fit me in? Don't let walls come between us We still share a shore. You said it was a dream The sand on the floor I brushed off your knee Like an old rusty dart buried in a bed of leaves This hum alone heart hides up our sleeve.
3.
The Only Escape 04:51
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You're up against your own graffiti'd wall Tag the skyline, you've seen it all All you can see now in your crystal ball are broken bottles in a hotel in Montreal The darkest of dreams became a little too dark You can't take the heat, you dream of leaving your mark I wish you could start off for the country air but the only escape is everywhere The only escape is everywhere you don't need magicians or millionaires no use in wishing you could disappear The only escape is everywhere Starts with a wish on a morning star as far as you've come you've only come so far like a desperate extra in a film noir pretending to sleep down at the end of the bar This isn't a movie, this isn't a book No one is looking at how tragic you look The hook is almost in your hair The only escape is everywhere Don't have the time I've been walking all night Falling behind beneath the lights of the neon sign When the ping pong sing-a-long is all you ever hear When the slow hell hotel is sliding off the pier The only escape is everywhere
4.
Airport Boulevard 02:32
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Hold tight! This old Volvo drives like a rusty troubadour at sunrise. With wide eyes we map the reservoir and realize we're on our own. Realize we need each other more than we'd like to admit in the silence we split. I know I'm in the passenger seat but if you listen to me I believe we'll make this flight. So hold tight 'til the ends in sight even if it's a temporary... Hold tight! Don't let go. It's the last night we'll be alone. Turn right at Airport Boulevard and drive.
5.
Chain Bookstore 02:50
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Sleeping in a chain bookstore Dreaming about a civil war How all the brave did fall I woke up to your call Left me lying in my bed Circling birds overhead I couldn't believe you said You didn't want me instead How could I fall so far? You caught me off my guard Cutting right to the heart Fuck all the books and art Just like old King Kong Held a golden blonde I was king on an ancient shore Who woke up in a chain bookstore Sleeping in a chain bookstore Dreaming about a civil war How all the brave did fall I woke up to your call
6.
Battles of Norway 04:45
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Lost my line by the time I got on stage Longer may they live in a song that only comes in waves You carry your battles a long way Promises are better left unspoken Longer may they dwell in a shell Crossing the ocean You carry your battles a long way To the shores of Norway Bury your treasures in lost bays In shadows of long lost days Wonder if the dream was a sign? Maybe I'm just lost in the moss that gathers in my mind All the time You carry your battles a long way To the shores of Norway Bury your treasures in lost bays In shadows of long lost days I saw the fallen flesh twisting in the snow The souls spinning gold I saw the ordinary blood along the shores of Norway so ordinary Will we all come undressed for ordinary beds? Will we all head out west for more instead? Will we all be bled on the shores of Norway? So ordinary
7.
Etiquette 01:59
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When your childhood friend hands you his business card On a Christmas night in your hometown bar You'll wonder if this life has come a little too far When he hands you his business card Take it from his hand and look at the floor He's more confident than you are When you're drunk tiptoeing through your childhood home You can stick it in your bedroom drawer You can use it as a bookmark so when you see his name You can laugh about what he became It can level tables, it can cut cocaine! Because it's quality stock and wood grain When your childhood friend hands you his business card He's still a good guy, he just works too hard He'll remind you how the universe expands apart When he hands you his business card.
8.
Other People 03:59
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I'm singing for the heart of someone who's been bad to other people Looking for a little more fun to get his sad heart beating Wishing he could travel through time and just be kind to those that need it I'm singing for the heart of someone who once was blind; now he can see it It was a long, long time ago Now you're on your own Stuck like a hotel window It's everywhere you go I'm singing for the heart of someone who's been bad to other people Drinking bottles in the hot sun The plastic bag stuck on a steeple Never listened to the Old Though they told about the Evil I'm singing for the heart of someone who's been bad to other people You know just who you are Safe inside a bar Staring at the fallen snow You could go outside but no I'm singing for the heart of someone who's been bad to other people
9.
Drumkit 03:33
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Broke the end off the ending Broke the bread of beginning I am a sentimental scientist Hypothesize what I must have missed Dust off the drumkit Aluminum, snare drum, floor tom, kick We confessed unaware Got undressed on the wave of a dare Christened its crest on the carpeted stairs I was scared of the love in the midst Twirling its drumsticks Aluminum, snare drum, floor tom, kick Threw my sticks in the air Gave it my all but I just didn't care Dreamed of a city and the people out there But the house, would it ever forget The sound of the drumkit Meanwhile back on your Dad's couch Locking lips until someone said "Out!" Walking back to your Mom's place Unlit cigarette hung from your face Love sure turns quick Aluminum, snare drum, floor tom, kick.

about

a compilation

credits

released April 25, 2019

All songs written by Nate Braeuer
"Battles of Norway" performed as Harbor Mines
See individual tracks for additional credits

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Chore Choir Charlottesville, Virginia

Harbor Mines
harbormines.bandcamp.com/releases
Poetry 2023
www.sareview.org/pub/cieeyos8/release/1
Poetry 2021
streetlightmag.com?s=Nate+Braeuer

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