1. |
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Table set old country style
Hoist the banner and leave the light on
Western treasure valley child
We’re all waiting for your arrival!
Your, your arrival
Sunday pews, worn Buddha Bible
Tend the fire and clean your rifle
Sew your field issei survivor
We’re all waiting for your arrival!
In praise, we sing
The onion kings!
Till the land for miles
Oh, time shall bring a reckoning
Waiting for your arrival
Your arrival
In praise, we sing
The onion kings!
Till the land for miles
Time shall bring her reckoning
Waiting for your arrival
We’re all waiting for your arrival!
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2. |
Nashville
04:35
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Cane sugar Magnolia sweet
Mama dressed like a Pinay queen
Kara Oki could sing anything
Like some Mockingbird in the morning
She’d been touring the southern land
Cut her teeth in a backing band
Manila born, raised in Birmingham
She cried when they played on the Opry
Three flights from Mindoro, so he could
Catch Dwight at that Ryman show
Then Grimey booked him for a Slow Bar slow night
To open up the bill
Sore thumb at the honky tonks
But that kid he lived for the songs
And Fiddles falling into steel guitars
He wore a tattoo Tennessee
Singer says to the singer
Hey, it looks like we’re sharing the bill
So, you and I, guess we’ll always have Nashville
She had played a million shows like this
But she had never heard no songs like his
He told her, “Baby, I’m a Dylan kid
But my favorite song is “Maaf Cintaku”
(look it up)
He loaded out just before her set
Wrapped in a cloud of cigarettes
He heard a voice that you don’t forget
She sang, “Meet Me In The Morning”
Not 56th and Wabasha just the
Donut Den over by the mall, she said
Brother, sometimes I miss it all, he nodded
Looking at the modded F-150s
She bought him tickets to the hall of fame
Sometimes it takes a tourist to reframe
Gram’s jacket up there on display
“Oh, sister, you live in a goldmine”
Singer said to the singer
As they stumbled up to Capitol Hill
You and I, we will always have Nashville
He worked concessions for the Sounds
Kara hustled, made the music row rounds
Called him soon as the deal went down
“Meet me at RCA B in the morning”
He gave her his greatest song
They cut a record to travel on
Picked up a band that could do no wrong
She taught him how to sing
That record bought ‘em both big backyards but
The years passed, the city lost its charms
The condos swallowed up the boulevards
He only stuck around for her
Somewhere on the endless road
He decided to leave the show
+ 63 he changed a country code
You gotta know when a goldmine is gutted
Singer said to the singer
No, I don’t think we’ll be sharing the bill
This town is a shell of a shell
I reckon I had my fill
Oh we had it for a good long run
But now, the bridal party’s making me ill
You and I, remember when we had Nashville
You and I, oh, once we had Nashville
You and I, we will always have Nashville
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3. |
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Ngày xưa ta rất dại khờ
Sail away Mekong baby
Cùng ra khơi
Cháu con dòng Cửu Long
Sail away Mekong Baby
We were lovers once
Ngày xưa ta rất dại khờ
Cháu con dòng Cửu Long
And I was younger once
How your charm offensive tested
And you were younger once
All I own are second guesses
And so it goes
Fighting on the beach
And so it goes
Violence in our teeth
Cháu con Cửu Long sông
Cháu con Cửu Long sông
Sail away Mekong baby…
Năm mươi con có về vùng núi non
Nửa bầy con năm mươi về đại dương
Sail away
Cháu con, Chàu con Cửu Long sông
Mekong Baby
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4. |
Western Empress
03:31
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Oregon Nikkei
First of the forest
Steam-powered sawmill town
Patience and patience now
Samurai plowshare
Old Nagasaki
The Scotsman makes funny sounds
Turning the language round
Learning enough for asking her out
Rafts made of hardwood
Wide as the river
Orient girls confound
Like Monarchs on frozen ground
Miyo buried Andrew’s body
Gresham Pioneer
Tama and the Kyoto salesman
Married earlier last year
Pose for a photo
Oh, how the years go
Flanked by two grandsons proud
Jewels and a modest gown
Long for the islands
Welcome the workers
Burnish a simple crown
Patience and patience now
Patience and patience now
Hakujin lover, baby, let’s go, oh,
Trail blazed and timbers down
Fifty years before the expo
Western empress brought ‘em underground
Miyo said I crossed a goddamn ocean for you, fool,
I ain’t leaving now
Bury me, Japanese cedar tree
Bury me, Japanese cedar tree
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5. |
Jakarta
04:09
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Old Dutch song, the slowest serenade
Got the notes all wrong, we smiled anyway
Two days drive, Bali lies before us!
Get ready girl
Get ready girl
The strange man Geertz, behold, the Harvard poser
We dropped him off, the villagers ignored him
A Sunbird’s call took us to the see
Get ready girl
Get ready girl for me
And wear your lonely feather
Dressed by the sun in the window
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6. |
Nothing Left But You
04:02
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What perfect harmony still shakes me to the core
Begot this cynic’s soul to rumble?
It was in your voice
I had no choice
But to rise and ring out too
When those records play
All the clutter fades away
And there is nothing left but you
There are no labors that can reset space or time
It’s beyond sacrifice or school
I’ve learned a lot
I’ve given up almost all I got
I keep this passport I can’t use
There’s no soil to kiss
Those old borders don’t exist
No, there is nothing left but you
Ain’t there some crest of a wave, oh, way out on the sea
In the back of a godhead’s ocean of ancient memories
That lifts some sacred boat
And it’s sailor, at least, his charming ghost
Who earned your heart when it was first free?
He was callous and cruel
But he bought your dreams and saw them through
To own the past, forgive the fool
What steady rhythm still doth move me at this hour
To put my pen to page and pray?
For the reconcile
To crack a joke and catch a smile
Why keep my fingers clenched dear muse?
Because, once, I died
And I came out the other side
And there was nothing left but you
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7. |
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So, it’s the end of the world, once again
What is it this week?
Protests over this
Riots over that
Do you remember at the monastery
When the outraged child cried
And Little Monk just sweetly smiled back?
Oh, how and when do I get so zen?
Light the way from your small apartment
Quiet days, worry within your reach
Tend your garden, do not harden
At the cruel and constant spinning of your mind’s demands
Pro-tip for a good heart
Be where your feet are now
So, it’s the end once again of the world
the sophomores bellyache
And demonstrate
Over everything but class
Red suns and ash cover
Half the state of California
Little Monk just meditates
And slowly walks the path
I can’t control what I can’t control
Light the way from your small apartment
Quiet days, worry within your reach
Tend your garden, do not harden
At the cruel and constant spinning of your mind’s demands
Pro-tip for a good heart
Be where your feet are now
So it’s the end of the world
But I don’t feel so anxious this week
Drawing Canvasbacks and sitting on the grass
Watch as they sweep the park
Trash the tents while it’s still dark
Though once I lived out of a car
I wouldn’t say I’m mad
To have the sidewalk back
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8. |
Sayonara
03:21
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I never knew you but I love you, kid
Man, that’s the way it goes
What’s more lovely than some secret hid
Who doesn’t want that ghost?
But oh, bloodlines, some eyes like mine
A denim coat, a yellow knife
Under Taipei lights
You told me where I come from
Told me that I’m all right
I didn’t know what hapa meant
You said, ‘Oh, you’re so white.’
How does your mother feel about black men?
Babe, we’re all all right
We caught some heat climbing up family trees
Forget violin and some model minority
Under Taipei lights
You kissed my broken eyes
You showed me that I’m all right
Sa, sa, sa, sayonara
A sigh, a sigh, a sigh, a sigh was all you said
Sa, sa, sa, sayonara
An Empire’s end
An old teak bar down by the Kabuki screens
You gave me a list of books and an antique
Some feudal charm from century 16
A red lacquer box
A white paper swan
Black ink in Japanese
Sigh, sigh, sigh, sayonara
Sa, sa, sa, sayonara
A sigh, a sigh, a sigh, a sigh was all you said
Sa, sa, sa, sayonara
An empire’s end
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9. |
Minidoka
03:39
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Some kid drowned in the river
Now, we’re digging a swimming hole
Yesterday, I played center field
I needed some half-innings alone
Doubled off the Buddhist minister
Knocked the tying run home
Minidoka
Bottom nine
2 - 0 count, a good lead off third
Toss me something fast and low
I dreamt I saw a model plane this morning
Flying past the boundary road
Caught the eye of able Grable
Sliding into second to beat the throw
Flurries started and I thought of the man
Who got lost from block 3 in the snow
Blanketed in white
Freezing in the night
Cursing and scared, feeling foolish, dying alone
Our first baseman got married
They rode an army truck out to Twin Falls
Spoke their vows in a hotel suite
As a busted pump organ wheezed through the walls
Little sister butchering the “Wedding March”
Some sweet comedy to it all
Minidoka dressed in white
Minidoka
Snow drifts bouncing the moonlight
As the evening took the afternoon
Deep in the count, staying alive
A thousand spectators, nothing better to do
“Under diamond cut stars, horizon to horizon
And a translucent milk-glass moon”
Minidoka
In the night
“Under diamond cut stars, horizon to horizon
And a translucent milk-glass moon”
Minidoka dressed in white
Minidoka
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10. |
1603
05:31
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Anton Thomas
Antonio Bengala
Francisco Miguel
Christoual Catoya
Agustin Longalo
Lucas Cate
Agustin Sao
Sailed as far from Malabar
As any soul has known
Peaks of snow, a jagged coast
Great giants made of stone
Two months through the Visayas
Then three beyond the blue
At California’s crest turned south
The mouth of hell we drew
Only for you
Only for you
Left the bay, the 5th of May
North to San Bernabe
Beneath a tent the sacrament
The feast was held on Sunday
Indios y Indio
A gift of tiger’s skin
The Latin Mass, our foreign past
Forgive us for this sin
Only for you
Only for you
I feel brand new!
Only for you!
San Diego, Tres Reyes,
Y Santo Tomas
Santa Barbara learned her name
Grumetes learned the stocks
The autumn course, our bearings north
The winter not forgotten
Luzon wood built cannon proof
But like us quick to rotten
Thomas turned back with the ill
Diego kept the cross
The New Year’s day beyond Drake’s Bay
The frigata was lost
North we climbed, morale declined
Not even six could stand
But through the storm, from legend torn
The strait of Anián
Only for you
I feel brand new!
Only for you!
The floating ghost, the bouldered coast
Too weakened to make land
The wind so rose, the lamp oil froze
We never touched the sand
Oh I believe, oh, I believe!
The father and the son!
Claim this coast, oh holy ghost
Who spoke through prophets’ tongues
Only for you
I feel brand new!
Only for you!
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No-No Boy Portland, Oregon
Nashville-born, Oregon musician & scholar. New album "Empire Electric out on Smithsonian Folkways fall 2023.
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