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World at Large

by Dust Poets

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1.
Big World 04:14
he could be me or you but he was somebody else he can be tame or rude he’s busy being himself he doesn’t have a job he doesn’t have a home but he’s got a place where he can be alone in the big world it’s a world at large it’s a big world now give it back a heart it’s a big world don’t tear yourself apart it’s a big world let’s make a big new start he doesn’t need the facts if he’s not in the mood he’s always making tracks on the search for soul food and the businessmen are stepping over him trying to keep himself warm he’s sleeping in the wind of the big world it’s a world at large it’s a big world now give it back a heart it’s a big world don’t tear yourself apart it’s a big world let’s make a big new start in a world so large in a world so small both good and evil want to rule it all it’s got everything worth fighting for it’s a world at peace with a world at war he lives in the shade of the tallest tree at night I can’t see him but his eyes are on me and I can feel his pulse we’ve got the same blood type we’re not different neither sleeps well at night in the big world it’s a world at large it’s a big world now give it back a heart it’s a big world don’t tear yourself apart it’s a big world let’s make a big new start
2.
Border Town 04:46
always the quiet ones who learn to sing jail is the place where you should keep it shut she waits in silence for the phone to ring she picks it up and listens hard tries not to breathe and tries not to disturb she was a straight line on the learning curve before the conversation hit the curb she listened hard to his last words everyone deserved, everyone deserved everyone deserved, everyone deserved it’s always quiet on that border town everybody’s got their head bowed down they ran that stranger straight on outta town there was no one left to talk about the knot was tied when they got outta school the shotgun wedding got them hitched on time an occupation based on petty crime he did the time all the time they met behind the fence before the dawn that love could not go anywhere but wrong he said revenge is just as sweet as you she hung it up and listened hard everyone deserved, everyone deserved everyone deserved, everyone deserved it’s always quiet on that border town everybody’s got their head bowed down they ran that stranger straight on outta town there was no one left to talk about scatter my ashes on the asphalt lot down where i used to call the shots that hug and slug used to get pretty hot but everyone deserved, everyone deserved everyone deserved, everyone deserved it’s always quiet on that border town everybody’s got their head bowed down they ran that stranger straight on outta town there was no one left to talk about
3.
piles of papers and trunks of clothes unopened mail and maps for roads there was a box with braids so fair spent 56 years sitting there we had some wigs made from your hair the sound of music never looked this good red haired curls of a riding hood your spirit moves through time and space I can see the look on your face hills are alive all with your grace i can picture you flying above the stage there’s no need for wires to keep you up there in your place the heavens above are opening up into outer space you’ll steal the scene around here on opening day you’ll get to play in every heart they shaved a head for every part you’ll be on stage through curtains end there’ll be seats for all your friends standing o’s and applause from them i can picture you flying above the stage there’s no need for wires to keep you up there in your place the heavens above are opening up into outer space you’ll steal the scene around here on opening day on opening day your star will shine and you’ll be heard there’s nothing better than seeing a critic who’s choking on a mouthful of his words i can’t imagine a more fitting end to see your red haired curls again they were cut and they were saved who’d ever guess they’d be used this way pieces of you on opening day i can picture you flying above the stage there’s no need for wires to keep you up there in your place the heavens above are opening up into outer space you’ll steal the scene around here on opening day
4.
half a dime gets you half the time in this half ton town with no open sign on one side it’s black and white on the other side a grey shade of ice there’s a new heartache on every down beat the sound of love to the shuffling of feet heaven above is never out of reach there’s the same blue sky scratching every street deceived by gasoline, deceived by gasoline built a pipeline to carry the crude there was so much work they closed down the school the union moved in just to pick up the dues the crack dealers on the corner now deliver the news the government claimed it was win win win the wells ran dry cause the water got thin everyone’s leaving with a cardboard box everyday there’s a new pawn shop deceived by gasoline, deceived by gasoline took their problems turned them all into dreams built a bonfire struck a match and threw on gasoline, gasoline, gasoline you follow the map to the end of the road but the world doesn’t stop where the cars can’t go it’s a global village that time forgot maybe they’re better off not knowing a lot everyone is packing heat they’re dumping bodies from an SUV it’s like living in a graveyard shift if you wanna keep your life you got to keep your wits deceived by gasoline, deceived by gasoline
5.
when you’re almost famous on the backside of your mind and there’s no one blameless you’re bound for the small time when you’re roaming aimless lost out in a rhyme you lay your heart on the line you gotta hold out, hold out for hold out, hold out for love here comes the night again shaking hands like old friends you’ve seen so many from these rooms four walls a bathroom stall two tones of grey and blue you hear the sound of shuffling shoes you gotta hold out, hold out for hold out, hold out for love a thousand miles from home and a million miles from you a thousand thoughts in a row i don’t know where those thoughts are going to shooting star over a tennessee town the whole world makes a wish too you got two kinds of living the public and the private eye pulled in two directions the ground below and the sky i keep on asking questions the answers coming back in double time a neighbourhood watch out for spies you gotta hold out, hold out for hold out, hold out for love
6.
it holds all of your secrets and all of your thoughts half drafts of love letters and lists of old haunts there’s a virtual world around every bend just press any key to enter one of them skeletons in your inbox people know what they’re winning before it gets won you’ve been you-tubed and googled and cooked ‘til you’re done from your space book page you’re downloading friends someone’s gone through your clothes while you’re standing in them you gotta rattle the bones just to hear what’s been sent you gotta pay off the drones just to see what’s been spent skeletons in your inbox delete all your dirty thoughts the closet holds the clothes you bought skeletons in your inbox privacy it’s a modern myth piracy better get used to it skeletons in your inbox delete all your dirty thoughts the closet holds the clothes you bought skeletons in your inbox a little bit of truth seems to go a long way but everything can be fluked everything can be faked someone reads between the lines in an underground world sifting through the lives of each boy and each girl shake the meat off the clones make sure the messenger is stripped this murder of prose is a smokescreen trick skeletons in your inbox delete all your dirty thoughts the closet holds the clothes you bought skeletons in your inbox delete all your dirty thoughts skeletons in your inbox
7.
hit the alarm roll to the wrong side of the bed move your arm reposition your head until every appendage is back on the mend and we’ll kiss away the afternoon let’s pretend that we’re long lost friends let’s skip to the end so we can begin again it’s too good to be real so let’s take it round the bend and we’ll kiss away the afternoon kiss away the afternoon like two mouths whistling the same old tune i can see a summer reflection in this icicle moon let’s kiss away the afternoon let’s put our sentimental ad blockers up push the button that says we just can’t have enough put that dart in my heart and don’t ever pull it up and kiss away the afternoon kiss away the afternoon like two mouths whistling the same old tune i can see a summer reflection in this icicle moon let’s kiss away the afternoon can’t get enough of that stuff I can’t love enough it’s better not talking let’s both shut up this silence speaks louder than the heavens above we’ll put the bliss back in oblivious put the rhyme back in time less wine and more wish let’s take our hands off of this kite in the wind and we’ll kiss away the afternoon kiss away the afternoon like two mouths whistling the same old tune i can see a summer reflection in this icicle moon let’s kiss away kiss away the afternoon like a big smiling face under a full Buddha moon i can see a gold tooth in that silver spoon let’s kiss away the afternoon
8.
codeine dreams i’ve come apart at the seams i’m all goofed up on these tylenol threes every night it’s been the same my face fights with another name i know things are gonna get normal once again when i stop feeling pain and i’m on a rebound train i keep having these altered states of reality i’m a renaissance man in a salvador dali dream my body’s a string and my head’s like a rubber ball someone’s flinging my brain cells to the wall every face i’ve seen i’ve seen before it’s hard to stumble out of bed when you’re sleeping on the floor codeine dreams codeine dreams codeine dreams codeine dreams the truth gets a little bit harder to take each day but it’s right as rain i can’t wait to be normal again codeine dreams codeine dreams codeine dreams codeine dreams
9.
i was born in a farming town but i never pushed a plow it’s not that i didn’t care to but nobody showed me how so i won’t set down ‘cause nobody showed me how i was to be a teaching man like the best ones that i had but the bad ones they were happy and the good ones they went mad so i won’t set down ‘cause the good ones they went mad and i won’t set down there’s more that i could do but i won’t set down gotta move on to something new and i won’t set down but that’s not true ‘cause i’ll set down with you i wasn’t yet into dylan but i’d read kerouac so i went out to the west coast and three times i came back and i won’t set down, three times i came back i went out to the ends of the earth to see what i didn’t know but i came home too early to jingle bells and snow so i won’t set down to jingle bells and snow and i won’t set down there’s more that i could do but i won’t set down gotta move on to something new and i won’t set down but that’s not true ‘cause i’ll set down with you i loved you in the winter time and you loved me in the spring in the summer we got married but you didn’t get a diamond ring ‘cause i won’t set down, you didn’t get a diamond ring we roam this land together now with two boys and a pet one of them boys plays fiddle but the other plays hard to get and he won’t set down, the other plays hard to get and i won’t set down there’s more that i could do but i won’t set down gotta move on to something new and i won’t set down but that’s not true ‘cause i’ll set down with you
10.
down at the holiday business camp folks checked in for the corporate event the workers are eager to understand what goes on ‘tween the ears of man the bags are carried to the rooms of saints so begins the rounds of endless complaints but a tip can bridge the language gap everyone loves a good spanish lap dance there’s sweat and there’s blood on the backs of their hands quenching their thirst with the fat of the land just as sure as there’s mud on the ground where they stand down at the bar they’re having too much fun deals are sealed when the bottle is done late night blue movies for the swinger set pajama parties for the loneliest during the day the sexes segregate the learning curve turns out to be straight the wives are working hard to operate that successful spouse they can’t tolerate there’s sweat and there’s blood on the backs of their hands quenching their thirst with the fat of the land just as sure as there’s mud on the ground where they stand sales to pitch ‘tween havana cigars on the steps of this hotel seminar with a little luck they might climb that ladder to the stars they’re changing their partners like underwear exotic dancers eliciting stares we’re having the times of our lives this year wish you were here they did the spa with their morning legs had a facial of bacon and eggs the hired hands sweeped up the ageless dregs and turned it into tomorrow’s buffet there goes another tour out the door workers laughed themselves on the floor everyone took home their just desserts everyone got just what they deserved there’s sweat and there’s blood on the backs of their hands quenching their thirst with the fat of the land just as sure as there’s mud on the ground where they stand
11.
there is a prison without any walls no bars on the windows no drunks down the hall when you’re out of luck you’re out of time the jail break that you need is all in your mind it’s all in your mind it’s all in your head it’s in that little square box between your shoulder blades the first line of defense in the back of your brain is to complain take down the wire forget how to pretend there’s no need to sow in the fields of regret that invisible fence will always re-mend cause it’s all in your head there is a house that’s where my thoughts live i’ll give you the keys and you can come in you can do as you please you can live there for free i won’t stir while you sleep we can meet in our dreams you can’t make enough money to buy back your time there’s not a moment to waste cause it’s all in your mind it’s all in your mind it’s all in your head it’s in that little square box between your shoulder blades the first line of defense in the back of your brain is to complain take down the wire forget how to pretend there’s no need to sow in the fields of regret that invisible fence will always re-mend cause it’s all in your head there is a house that’s where my thoughts live

about

World at Large is the fourth record by the eclectic chamber folk ensemble the Dust Poets. Melding perceptive and melodic songwriting with the creative juices of five sensitive and worldly musicians, the Dust Poets have spent the last seven years touring across North America honing the trademark sound that binds World at Large together. Drawing on folk, bluegrass, gritty alt-country and 60's soul, while tackling topics such as homelessness, loss, life on the road, and the pitfalls of an oil-crazed culture, it's the band's distinct personality that shines through on World at Large. Eager fans of the band will find all the stunning vocals, daring arrangements, and insightful lyrics the Poets are known for in their most polished and personal effort yet.

credits

released May 26, 2009

All songs by Murray D Evans (SOCAN) except I Won’t Set Down by Sean McManus (SOCAN) and Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key by Guthrie/Bragg (BMI/ASCAP)

All songs arranged by Dust Poets

Produced by Lloyd Peterson and Dust Poets
Recorded by Lloyd Peterson at Wonder Dog Recording in Winnipeg, MB
Mixed by Shawn Pierce in Winnipeg, MB
Mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound in New York, NY
Linocut artwork by Richard Yates, "Wostock Field" and "Field Tree - Manitoba"
Artwork transfer by Ken Frazer
Photography by Sam Baardman
Design and layout by Sean McManus

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