1. |
Trees
02:48
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1. Trees
Words and Music by Jono Manson and Caline Welles
Trees are mostly made of air
Sometimes water, sometimes wood
Of nests and birds and flowering fruits
Until the winter finds them bare
Birds are mostly made of light
Sometimes feather, sometimes song
A morning tune a hollow bone
Against the sky when they’re in flight
The sky is mostly made of breath
Sometimes blue, sometimes gold
Of inhale, exhale, lover’s swoon
The rumbling thunder warmth of death
Death is mostly made of dreams
Sometimes nightmare, sometimes sweet
From which we wake, towards where we fall
Collected memory falling leaves
Leaves are mostly made of time
Sometimes dull, sometimes divine
Seasons 'round seconds swirl
Life’s most cruel and simple crime
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2. |
Rough and Tumble
03:42
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Rough and Tumble
Words and Music by Jono Manson and Chris Barron
I started out shouting those Lynch mob blues
Another strato-bastard with something to prove
I hit the ground rocking with holes in my soles
All dressed up nowhere to roll
And it was rough and tumble
Rough and tumble
Its man bites dog in this hard assed town
If you don't wanna lose it .you'd better nail it down
You sharpen your razor from ten to four
And then you take your licks on the killing floor
And it was rough and tumble
Rough and tumble
It was rough and tumble
Rough and tumble
A shot in the arm, a kick in the pants
You'd better pay the piper if you wanna dance
I roll with the punches but I won't go down
Because I'm ripe and ready for another round
I am rough and tumble
Rough and tumble
Yes I am rough and tumble
Rough and tumble
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3. |
I'm Ready
03:13
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4. |
Wildflower
03:34
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Wildflower
Words and Music by Jono Manson and Joe Flood
Turn your face up to the sun
No flower sweeter than my wild one
Shining in the morning dew
I just can’t keep my eyes off you
Wildflower
This old life ain’t supposed to be
A bed of roses
We’ll put down roots wherever
That old wind blows us
All I know is wherever I go
I want to see my wildflower grow
Look out over the tall grass
All day long
Dance all night, dance all night
To the cicada song
Yellow, purple, blue and gold
You keep on blooming, and you never grow old
For you’re the mother and the child
Wrap yourself around me tangled and wild
Wildflower
This old life ain’t supposed to be
A bed of roses
We’ll put down roots wherever
That old wind blows us
All I know is wherever I go
I want to see my wildflower grow
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5. |
The Sea is the Same
03:35
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On a hill, in a breeze
That blows from the sea
The hours do silently fly
With the sun, laying low
On the white waves below
The nightingale's voices
Do whisper, 堵oodbye”
How the hours do fly
Voices whisper goodbye
On a hill, 'neath a tree
She looks to the sea
With the eyes of a fisherman's girl
And blue turns to gray
With each drowning day
She watches him sail
O'r the edge of the world
And the blue turns to gray
He is sailing away
She whispers his name
Where wind is untamed
Where the waves always change
The sea is the same
On a hill, in his boots
Near the old trees deep roots
He meets her where she waits alone
Returning each day
From the cold, salty bay
To kneel in the flowers
That grow by her stone
She waits alone
As he comes home
She waits alone
As he comes home
She whispers his name
Where wind is untamed
Where the waves always change
The sea is the same
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6. |
Footprints on the Moon
03:06
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Footprints on the Moon
Words and Music by Jono Manson
When I was only eight years old, I woke one summer night
So I could watch the images in blurry back and white
The Zenith broadcast shadows that danced around the room
As astronauts made history and footprints on the moon
And we did rise up, rise up
Lifting into flight
We did rise up
Burning through the night
In the moment of our triumph, in our finest hour
At the apex of our glory and our fearsome power
Turning homewards we did lift off, leaving golf balls on the dunes
And our great flag proudly flying over footprints on the moon
And we did rise up, rise up
Lifting into flight
We did rise up
Burning through the night
And as the tides roll out and in, great cities rise and grow
The heavens gaze down silently at progress down below
With the tallest towers set ablaze, our fiddle plays its tune
Drifting ever upwards, past footprints on the moon
And we did rise up, rise up
Lifting into flight
We did rise up
Burning through the night
When the waters have all risen and life begins anew
The earth will keep on spinning, beautiful and blue
When our song has ended and our race is run too soon
Leaving nothing but a shadow and footprints on the moon
We will rise up. rise up
Lifting into flight
We will rise up
Burning through the night
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7. |
The Slight Variations
04:00
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The Slight Varitaions
Words and Music by Jono Manson
I wrote a song, and took two steps back
Before I know what hit me, it was a title track
I can't speed it up, it can't be transposed
I can't boil it down, with polyphonic prose
These are the slight variations
Sometimes it's hard to hear the changes
These are the slight variations
I've got a big brother
When it was just us two
We used to make believe
The way that brothers do
Now he spends his days
In the present tense
Just killing time
In self defense
These are the slight variations
Sometimes it's hard to see it coming
These are the slight variations
Until there's nowhere left to run
These are the slight variations
Sometimes it's hard to see it changing
These are the slight variations
I'm gonna sing my soul, and my rock and roll
And the back-porch blues
Just like there's nothing left to lose.
These are the slight variations
And you won't see it changing
These are the slight variations
Until its all been rearranged
These are the slight variations
And you won't see it coming
These are the slight variations
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8. |
What Would I Not Do
02:40
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What Would I Not Do?
Words and Music by Jono Manson and Caline Welles
What would I not do?
Under the sun for you
I can't think of anything
When I see your face
It's everything
A million times I'd do it all
And then
I would do it all again
What would I not do?
Under the stars for you
I can't think of anything
When I hear your breath
It's everything
A million steps I'd take
And then
I would walk them all again
I would not leave you
I would not deceive you
I would not ever care
To have it any other way
Or take back a single day
If you were not there
What would I not do?
Under the earth for you
Can't think of anything
When I feel you move
It's everything
A million miles I'd rise
And then
I'd come back to you again
A million miles I'd rise
And then
I'd come back to you again
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9. |
Brother's Keeper
03:11
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Brother's Keeper
Words and Music by Jono Manson and Caline Welles
Bridges were built
To raise economy
Some flew off them
And learned astronomy
It's one for the money
Who cares for the poor
Watch them leap
Then lock the door
Railroads were made
To move us toward the gold
Most have died
Or just gotten old
It's two for the towers
No longer in the sky
Don't look for answers
No one knows why
It's each one for themselves
Let the others fall
For a price they'd sell their brother 'round the bend
But I will not lay down
If darkness comes to call
I will be my brother's keeper to the end
The steamboat chugs
Against the power of the moon
Medicine cooks
In the cradle of a spoon
It's three for the brothers
And the sisters in bed
Cardboard pillows
Underneath their heads
It's each one for themselves
Let the others fall
For a price they'd sell their brother 'round the bend
But I will not lay down
If darkness comes to call
I will be my brother's keeper to the end
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10. |
So the Story Goes
02:58
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So the Story Goes
Words and Music by Joe Flood
Boy and girl walking down the street
Suddenly their eyes meet
Suddenly they fall in love
Or so the story goes
They start to see a lot of each other
Become part of one another
She's says she loves him and he says he loves her
And so the story goes
He works hard and one day he buys a ring
Takes it on home to his sweet thing
They set a date for the wedding
Or so the story goes
Until the day she says it must end
'Cause she has found a new friend
It feels worse than starting over again
And so the story goes
He tries to figure out how he wronged her
He gives it up but the nights keep getting longer
He searches every pair of eyes around every corner
And so the story goes
Why couldn't fate supply a happier ending
Toward love and life forever wending
Like a willow weeping into the river bending
So the story goes
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11. |
When the Time is Right
03:26
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When the Time is Right
Words and Music by Jono Manson Caline Welles
Two birds sleep in the dark of night
Their wings embrace the hidden light
All the while they're ready for flight
When the time is right
When the time is right
The ocean moans to the pull of tides
Moonlight heaves on the rolling ride
As she waits for wave and shore to collide
To choose a side
When the time is right
As the melting snow
To the river flows
Homeward down to the sea
As the mourning dove songs
Rise and fall, then they're gone
We will move on when the time is right
Angels watch from up on high
Illuminate the nighttime sky
A new star shines inside your eyes
Burning bright
The time is right
As the melting snow
To the river flows
Homeward down to the sea
As the mourning dove songs
Rise and fall, then they're gone
We will move on when the time is right
We will move on when the time is right
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12. |
Little Bird Song
03:27
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Little Bird Song
Words and Music by Jono Manson and Caline Welles
Little bird song morning in the trees
All the little whistles all the blending melodies
Take me to the seaside, all the places you have seen
While you fly up in the sky with a view of everything
Little bird song, teach me how to sing
Show me what it's like to sail on tiny little wings
Take me through the seasons, feed me berries feed me corn
Show me how to make a nest that's comfortable and warm
Wake me in the morning in a home that's made of leaves
Of twigs and sticks pretty things from all your flying dreams
Little bird song, teach me how to sing
Show me what it's like to sail on tiny little wings
Little bird song morning in the trees
All the little whistles all the blending melodies
Wake me with the sunlight, say goodbye before you go
To someplace warm and beautiful before the winter snow
Little bird song, teach me how to sing
Show me what it's like to sail on tiny little wings
Little bird song, teach me how to sing.
Show me what it's like to sail on tiny little wings
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Jono Manson Santa Fe, New Mexico
"Manson attacks the high art of low-rent songcraft with a paid assassin’s precision.”- No Depression
Magazine
"...instant-grabber hooks and smartly constructed riffs, shiny melodies and warm harmonies, confident, seductive vocal performances and intelligent, relatable story lines." - Relix Magazine
"Jono Manson has arrived as a legend at album number ten." - American Songwriter Magazine
... more
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