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Velveteen Realist

by Sam Cook-Stuntz

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1.
Come with me Let’s not do this wisely Pack our bags Leave the kitchen light on Don’t charge the phones We’ll get there on our own It’s after dusk Lock the door behind us Let the mail Pile up without a warning It won’t be long Until even the neighbors know we’re gone What if we never turn around? Who says whatever goes up must come down? Lay low The city lost us forty miles ago The tank is full The interstate is empty Northern star Tell no one where we are Wait and see Where this two-lane current takes me Avoid the tolls We're in no hurry Forget our phones We’ve never been less alone What if we never turn around? Who says whatever goes up must come down? Come with me We don’t have to do this wisely The night is young The day is ancient history Maybe all that’s wrong Will be different after dawn
2.
Last Leg 03:34
Well, I said if time were meant to fly God would’ve given it some wings There aren’t enough seconds in the sky For me to take care of everything Red-handed clock won’t show its face Caught in an act of petty theft I had forever yesterday Now there isn’t much tomorrow left It’s the last leg The wire that I’m down to With some things I’ll get around to It’s the last leg This is where I start to finish strong Why did I wait so long? I know that time is of the essence No excuse this time around Maybe it’s time I learned a lesson I think it’s time to buckle down I feel right at home in the home stretch I’ve learned to stretch it pretty thin I’m not an easy one to catch Soon as I catch that second wind It’s the last leg The wire that I’m down to With some things I’ll get around to It’s the last leg This is where I start to finish strong Why did I wait so long? There’s no way to balance all this time It weighs much too heavy in the afternoon I’ll make the dead-and-finish line I’ll have it on your desk real soon It’s the last leg The wire that I’m down to With some things I’ll get around to It’s the last leg This is where I start to finish strong Why’d I wait so long? It’s the last leg The wire that I’m down to With some things I’ll get around to It’s the last leg This is where I start to finish strong Why did I wait so long?
3.
Annual 03:42
A year is a lifetime Sometimes, sometimes Calendars all have their reasons The hourglass won't empty This time, this time And leaves fall in spite of the season I wish that I could say It was just an early gray And I was many moons away from way back when And before the new one starts I wish with all my heart That just once I could go around again Again I arrived right on schedule Somehow, somehow A healthy five foot ten, age twenty-five I’ve been waiting for my birthday To come round, come round As long as I've been alive I wish that I could say It was just an early gray And I was many moons away from way back when And before the new one starts I wish with all my heart That just once I could go around again Again Will it flash before my eyes As I’m saying my goodbyes? Can I hope to be reborn On a January morn? I wish that I could say It was just an early gray And I was many moons away from way back when And before the new one starts I wish with all my heart That just once I could go around again Again
4.
High Horse 03:13
Feels good to have the answer First to raise my hand Star witness All I say is on the record All I do is on the stand Feels good to walk the high road See what you look like from above All I want is what’s best for you All I feel is tough, tough love If you’re going to ride the high horse Better hold on tight I belong up here, of course In the saddle In the right Take your core philosophy Step back and entrust it to me I’ll find every hole Every logical leap I’m on a roll Yeah, I do this in my sleep You know I’ve kept an open mind No preconceptions, not a single bias to protect I’ve shown you just how humble I can be Now show some respect If you’re going to ride the high horse Better hold on tight I belong up here, of course In the saddle In the right Must be lonely In that vicious cycle of doubting and asking I have all the company I could ask for Safe among the people who know everything If you’re going to ride the high horse Better hold on tight I belong up here, of course In the saddle In the right If you’re going to ride the high horse Better hold on tight I belong up here, of course In the saddle In the right
5.
You should see the way you look tonight Take a step into the light I won’t let you find a shadow I won’t let you leave my sight And I can see the way you roll your eyes Telling me I’m telling lies I wish you could take a spin beneath my skin Cause you should see the butterflies If I could put it in a picture Stand it on the shelf If you could analyze the view from my eyes Would you see for yourself You’re beautiful Beautiful You’re perfect to me You’re beautiful And it comes so naturally You should see the way you make me laugh The ever-childish way we act And how you can see the worst in me And still choose to be my better half You should see the way I look at you When you don’t expect me to And it’s so cliché to say you take my breath away But you should see the way you do If I could put it in a picture Stand it on the shelf If you could analyze the view from my eyes Would you see for yourself You’re beautiful Beautiful You’re perfect to me You’re beautiful And it comes so naturally So naturally We’re all inclined to be Our own worst critics Impossible to please But I’ll tell it like it is Disagree to disagree I won’t rest Until you see the things I see I won’t rest Until you see the things I see You’re beautiful You’re perfect to me You’re beautiful And it comes so naturally You’re beautiful Beautiful You’re perfect to me You’re beautiful And it comes so naturally So naturally
6.
Frost 03:31
Who can say when this blew in Or when it reached the bone Earmuffs on, I do nothing but talk And shovel the walk The last to have known Under the weather You’re buried deep Five and a half feet of snow The room starts to thaw Your skin is still raw Bundle up There’s nothing to show We keep a sun on the table A faded blue lamp While clouds and all their recruits In white parachutes Are swarming the camp Under the weather You’re buried deep Five and a half feet of snow The room starts to thaw Your skin is still raw Bundle up They don’t need to know What drove the colors to hide? And who scared the groundhog inside? Is it too late to learn to take the season in stride? Under the weather You’re buried deep Stars all eclipsed by the sky It’s too much to lift Too cold to keep stiff But just wait Please stand by We can pack it before it gets dry Build a fortress a dozen feet high And together, we wait for July
7.
I think you’ll be impressed When I tangle with the best Settle for nothing less Than overnight success I’ve got a plan To fly from the pan And flash across the grandstands I think, I think, I think I can Lie awake in bed The green eyed monster’s got me seeing red All this hypothetical glory is going to my head I love the sound of applause Drowning out my flaws Gravity’s just a pack of laws To give us pause Keep us down I’m in my prime No chart too treacherous for me to climb It’s my time, it’s my time, it’s my time Lie awake in bed The green eyed monster’s got me seeing red All this hypothetical glory is going to my head So fall sleep And dream a little pipe dream of me What do I have to pull To be some kind of one-hit-wonderful? Where can I go To find a track that’s not so slow? Fix my hair I’ll see you when I get there Have a camera waiting I’ll have my speech prepared Lie awake in bed The green eyed monster’s got me seeing red All this hypothetical glory is going to my head Lie awake in bed The green eyed monster’s got me seeing red All this hypothetical glory is going to my head It’s going to my head
8.
Worse for Me 03:38
One to talk cause I'm one to speak One to blend like a choirboy freak One to wager, not to win One to get wistful when I start to spin And it's always better when you don't assume And it's always better when the children leave the room And it's always better for the six-inch IV And it's always Always worse for me Eggshell loafers get me around The stained glass is half-empty now Fool you twice, I'm a damn good fool Beholden to a little white golden rule And it's always better when you don't assume And it's always better when the children leave the room And it's always better for the still-splintered knee And it's always Always worse for me The walls have ears and the sink has spies The pillow can't see me if I close my eyes The walls have ears and the sink has spies The pillow can't see me if I close my eyes And it's always better when you don't assume And it's always better when the children leave the room And it's always better for the quiet referee And it's always Always worse for me Worse for me
9.
I Won't Walk 03:30
The water’s calming The air is getting rough The storm is patient Dangled up above In their deep distress, the meek are blessed You don’t need to play it tough These things will be made new And they can’t come soon enough I won’t walk on water Until I know it’s frozen fast And I can’t walk a mile In shoes that didn’t last I’ve never stood this close to heaven See me bend beneath the grass While I stand and wait for heaven to pass Horizon jumped again I haven’t looked up in a while Plant a twig and watch the shadow The sun is in denial In my shyest prayer, there’s faith somewhere Joy in every trial A test to make me steadfast Three gifts to let me smile I won’t walk on water Until I know it’s frozen fast And I can’t walk a mile In shoes that didn’t last I’ve never stood this close to heaven See me bend beneath the grass While I stand and wait for heaven to pass I won’t drag the rubble Pick through the clay Dredge the ground for things I meant to say I’ve never stood this close to heaven See me cling to the rain While I stand and wait for mourning and pain And the former things to pass away
10.
1564 01:25
Well, it's another cold shoulder This song no longer speaks to me Tower Records of Babel We used to get along so fluently And I guess I'm getting older And I guess it was the 90's And I guess the more things change The more they feel that way I found a ragtime capsule Buried underneath the overhead lights But these shirts are all naive And these opinions are no longer mine by rights And I guess they’ll be recycled And I guess they’ll make good carpets And I guess the more things change The more they always change
11.
How long did it take for the rains to clear? How long did it take for the ram to appear? How long did it take for the sea to part? How long until You change my heart? It don't take much for my word to break And it don't take much for my faith to shake But it takes an army to bring down my guard What will it take to change my heart? I've got something to prove But You’ve got mountains to move And they move in mysterious ways I've got axes to grind But You’ve got mud for the blind And I find I tremble in Your gaze Seven times marching, see the walls give in Seven loaves broken, see the feast begin Seven and seventy chances for a brand new start So many ways to change my heart I've got something to prove But You’ve got mountains to move And they move in mysterious ways I've got axes to grind But You’ve got mud for the blind And I find I tremble in Your gaze I'm waiting on the water to run red as wine I'm waiting on a wonder, I'm waiting on a sign But surely You who split this curtain apart Surely You can change my heart Surely You can change my heart Surely You can change my heart

credits

released March 18, 2016

All songs written by Sam Cook-Stuntz
© 2016 Sam Cook-Stuntz

Recorded and mixed by Chris Wilson at his home studio (www.chriswilsonsound.com)
Mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East Mastering (www.newallianceeast.com)
Artwork by Liz Cook-Stuntz

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