Calexico Album

Washed my face in the rivers of empire
Made my bed from a cardboard crate
Down in the city of quartz
No news, no new regrets
Tossed a susan b. over my shoulder
And prayed it would rain and rain
Submerge the whole western states
Call it a last fair deal
With an american seal
And corporate hand shake
Take the story of carpenter mike
Dropped his tools and his keys and left
And headed out as far as he could
Past the cities and gated neighborhoods
He slept 'neath the stars
Wrote down what he dreamt
And he built a machine
For no one to see
Then took flight, first light
Of new morning

Love the run but not the race
All alone in a silent way
World drifts in and the world's a stranger
In a light, eclipsed and alienated
In a time, occupied and invaded
Can't tell what's right, better hit the ground running
In the hills where the tall weed grows
Hands are tied and won't let go
Can't escape this place without leaving the world behind
In a light, ashamed and humiliated
In a time, sacrificed for the sake of trade
The soul is bent, feels the weight of truth
Falling through
Left behind, no choice but to run to the mountains
Where no poppies grow, you have to hit the ground running
In a light, paralyzed and spirits fading
Out of time, must decide to fall or run
Into the eye, of the storm no sign or omen
Make it right, or fall to the other side
Where fields are burning
From the day you're born
You'll always hit the ground running

[No lyrics]

Spring is frozen now I'm stuck in low
Wrapped with wire, tapped to the heart
Can't find no poison, now I've got no cure
(the) fangs are stuck inside my skin
Payne county line
Watching unjust claims
One man's righteousness is another man's
Long haul, sentence carried out
Long haul, counting the miles
To the four corners of the world
Spring is rusted shut, (faith's) coiled and cracked
Apparitions worth their weight in gold
Scratched in metal, name erodes away
Hands are scarred, heart is charred
Burnt though, and ashen
Trip on fence post line
Sifting through the remains
One man's close pursuit is another man's
Last chance, make it through the divide
Last chance, suffer the weight or get buried by this
Black heart, sweeping over the land
Black heart, crawling its way
To the four corners of the world

[No lyrics]

With a head like a vulture
And heart full of hornets
He drives off the cliff
And into the blue
Not even the priestess
With her wrenches and
Secret powers
Could save (steer) him
From danger for a little while
Not even she could save him

High atop radio towers
Sky darkens in the final hours
Marie, wrings her praying hands
Don't see why the spirit won't understand
While lines are crossed
Hope's broken at the knees
And at a loss
The world's made of dust
And dust it will return
Sniper surveys the scene
Angel chorus won't intervene
Takes her child to the river's edge
And let's her-go to the depths
Where dark waters flow
A singing tide
Pulls her to the edge and hypnotize
Samn any fool willing to believe
There's no hand behind any of this
What's it gonna take, force the cycle to break
And skut it down before it makes another round
Sworn in on an oath the lies
Swat away a halo of flies
Fast track vision deceives
The storm on the horizon
Close behind

The plaza in the village
Where mission bells used to ring
Is now crumbled to a pile of stench and ruin
Even the swallows have spring
All the blossoms are buried
'neath the waste
Out of the shadows grow hatred
Along the corridor crawls fear
Crushed by the promise of hope
That never returned
Watched with a hawk's trained eye
Trees grow silent fruit
'neath a suffering sky
Those who have stayed, keep a flame
In memory of the fallen
And pass on the old rites despite the risk
But many more have left here
On mended broken wings
Turning to see your reaction
A tear drop fills your eye
But you protest not to give up as give in
Heading straight for the wreckage
Picking up a shovel and a hoe
Start putting back the bricks one by one
Numbers come out of the woodwork
Curious to see the rebirth
Above the swollen clouds
A strange sound fills the air
A silence never heard
Falling like blessed rain
And the swallows return
As the mission bells ring

[No lyrics]

[No lyrics]

Alberto hits his brother on the
Back of the head, looks to the north
As he starts to get up
His brothers still sleepy
Grumbles “it's not light yet,”
“if you want a new life, what's
A few minutes wait?”
Darkness on the road and over the land
Into the laws and out of the hands
From those with so much
And no show of heart
You'd think it'd be crazy
To ask for a small part
Spotted an eagle in the middle of a lake
Resting on cactus, feasting on snakes
But the waters recede as the
Dump closes in, revealing a whole lake
Of sleeping children
Poison in the stream that flows to the sea
Out on the waves that crash within reach
Of those with so much
And so little to fear
You'd think it'd be crazy
To be so far away yet so near
Some say a new day will shine here
Over these catastrophes and horrors
Of misfortune, all across the wire
Alberto y hermano on the coyote's trail
And dodging the shadows of the border patrol
Out in the wastelands wandering for days
The future looks bleak with
No sign of change
Darkness in the eye and down
In the soul
All across the wire to those in control
Holding so much
With no show of heart
You think it'd be crazy
To watch it all fall apart
Watch it all fall apart

[No lyrics]

Jump, scrape, break the switches
Coast low wit da bitches
Funky pop, drop 'n hop
Here come the cops
Güero canelo

Gangs, guns, knives, thugs
Chumps, chops, chill, chug
Drink malt, smoke mota
I like you mucho
Dame un beso

Soma, valium, oxycontin
Reds, whites, speed, vicodin
T's, b's, thorazine
Screamers, pleasers
Güero canelo

Freak, tweek, week 2 week
Kneel, feel, seek the geek
Pump da bass in yo' face
Contrabasso
How low can you go?

Belladonna, mescaline
Psylocibin, peyote
Mda and dnt spells ecstasy
Güero canelo

Coil spring, bounce, crank
Pumps, shocks, struts, tanks
Psychoactive electroplade
It's necesito
Dame un beso

Impala, caddy
El dorado, comet
Galaxy, el camino
Chevelle, caprice
Monte carlo
So low six fo'
How low can you go?

Tweezer, teaser, tiger weezer
Rusty, crusty, skuzzy skeezer
Chuy, chata, cholo, chico
Flaco, chucho
Only at pueblo
Molé y güero canelo

Güero canelo
Güero canelo

[No lyrics]

[No lyrics]

Ball of flame, it's all I saw
It pulled us in

Spirit search, no angels dear
Will find us here

Words & music by D. Boon
Originally by The Minutemen

The people will survive
In their environment
The dirt, scarcity, and emptiness
Of our south
The injustices of our greed
The practices we merit
The dirt, scarcity and emptiness
Of our south
There on the beach
I could see it in her eyes
I only had a corona
Five cents deposit

Words by Dominique Ané
Music by Ané, Chataigner, Toorop, Bondu
Originally sung by Françoiz Breut

If you said let's go
If you said I'm sick of this place
I would listen to you
I wouldn't hesitate
And whether it's for a town
A godforsaken place
It wouldn't bother me
I'd be ready as if
I was waiting
If you said up to now
We've gotten by with the blues
I would agree
I would answer that it's true
Every wall, every crack
I am sick and tired of this place
If you said only this
I'd be ready as if
I was waiting
If you said let's go
If you said it was time
I would listen to you
I've been ready for a while
But you never say
You never decide
Never think of what we could do
I don't know why you're still here

Si tu disais on y va
Si tu disais j'en tellement
Marre d'être ici
Je t'écouterais crois moi
Je n'hésiterais pas
Et que ce soit pour une ville
Ou pour un bled, un bout de terre
Paumé, crois moi
ça n'me défriserait pas
Je serais prête comme si j'attendais
Si tu disais jusque là
On s'est contenté de rien et ça va un peu
Je t'approuverais, crois moi
Je répondrais "c'est vrai"
Chaque pan de murs, chaque fissure
Je connais trop le dessin de cet endroit là
Oh si tu disais ça
Je serais prête comme si j'attendais
Si tu disais on y va
Si tu disais que pour nous c'est le bon moment
Je t'écouterais crois moi
Je suis prête depuis longtemps
Mais tu n'dis rien de tout ça
Tu n'décides rien et je n'sais pas
Si tu as idée
De ce qu'on pourrait faire
Je me demande pourquoi tu es là

Words & music by Link Wray
Originally by Link Wray

I hear a sound
It's going through my brain
I hear talk of people
I feel the fallin' rain

I see a man crying
'cause the whole world has left him
Kids are laughing at the funny faces
Of a clown

My mind is like a spring in a clock
It won't unwind
I can't see, can't think, can't feel
I'm out of time

I'm up, then I'm down now
Tell me where is it going to end
You say start at the beginning
Of the end, my friend

I hear thunder
And I can feel the wind
I can see angry faces
In the eyes of men

And don't forget kid's stake
Where kids lay bleeding on the ground
And there's no place on this planet
Where peace can be found

So there'll be stabbings and shootings
And young men dying all around
And it keeps going through my brain
And I can still hear the sound

I hear talking of people
The whole world has gone insane
And all there is left is the fallin' rain
And all there is left is the fallin' rain

Late night streets all alone
No one's here, no one's here
Watch the faces come and go

Always spinning around
Drifting further away
She is young, dressed in white
Like a cloud, spins in the sky
Not sure if it'll sun or rain

Always spinning around
Drifting further away
Not sure if she will run or stay
Or follow the holes leading underground

Watching from across the road, she's older now
Than her picture (poster) shows
Some stay lost, some get found
Others drift from town to town

Always spinning around
Drifting further away
Always hear the lonesome cry frail away
Far off in the cold and distant night