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Cardboard Boat

by David Berkeley

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1.
Setting Sail 04:24
Oh I’m setting sail again The seas are high the winds are strong Don’t know how long I’ll be gone Or if I will be back again I guess that I was wrong I need to see the open sky It’s not like I didn’t try I know when it don’t feel right (and it don’t feel right) Oh, but my heart is calm tonight and the moon is burning bright Tell me what is there left to lose and what is it we're chasing here It’s a phantom fish I fear And some things aren’t worth the fight (aren’t worth the fight) Oh, but my heart is calm tonight and the moon is burning bright There is a river running through my bones Straight toward the open sea I wasn’t meant to live on either shore That’s not the place for me so I’m setting sail again the seas are high the winds are strong going back where I belong where nothing’s fixed or tight too tight Oh, but my heart is calm tonight and the moon is burning bright
2.
To The Sea 05:39
Father father father I am coming home Open up the gates please let me in. Everybody needs a way to start again, Yeah I’ve been on a road not always kind. Yes it’s been a long hard climb. Father father father lay your hand in mine. Sometimes all we carry holds us down. But letting go is hard somehow. So let me be like the leaves on the trees, They come back in the spring gold to green Or let me be like the stream full of rain It comes back eventually to the sea. It comes back eventually to the sea. Tell me will we ever reach the promised land. There’s nothing we can do to change the past. Will we ever get to say we’re free at last? Yeah, don’t you know the war’s over and done? But I think more lost than won. So let me be like the leaves on the trees, They come back in the spring gold to green Or let me be like the stream full of rain It comes back eventually to the sea. It comes back eventually to the sea. Father father father I am coming home. Yeah everybody needs some place to lean You and me both it seems. So let me be like the leaves on the trees, They come back in the spring gold to green Or let me be like the stream full of rain It comes back eventually to the sea. Oh I have found my way back to you, Please find your way back to me. I have found my way back to you, Please find your way back to me. Cause father father father, I am home.
3.
I haven’t seen you for some time Have you been hiding? Have I been blind? For some time We were flying but then I fell Through the branches, no farewell Then I fell In the morning, in dreams untold The heart is heavy and the light is cold, in dreams untold, the light is cold Show me some thing that won’t change, won’t fade away Is it a fair price to pay for how we’re made? Oh it’s the strangest parade when I was little nothing was hard running barefoot across the yard it wasn’t hard mother mother, where did you go when I was little I didn’t know that you would go, where did you go? Show me some thing that won’t change, won’t fade away Is it a fair price to pay? for how we’re made Oh it’s the strangest parade Oh it’s the strangest parade Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh I wish the birds would start coming back Crimson, golden, purple and black will they come back, will they come back oh… Show me some thing that won’t change, won’t fade away Is it a fair price to pay? for how we’re made Look at the flags that we wave, what we display Hear how the trumpets they play, through wind and rain Oh it’s the strangest parade Oh it’s the strangest parade…
4.
Last Round 03:20
I’ve been thinking of you again I’ve been falling apart I guess maybe the Earth must break To shake you from my heart. And sometimes there is a war to wage and sometimes we should just run there are things that you bury deep they will come back to block out the sun yeah, they’ll come back and block out the sun la de de da come on call the last round la de de da de de dee la de de daw let’s go burn this place down la de de da de de dee I’ve been hoping the bible’s right Bring on the flood and bring flame I don’t care if the walls should fall In the end none of this will remain In the end none of this will remain la de de da come on pour the last round la de de da de de dee la de de da I’m gonna this place down la de de da de de dee cause I’ve been thinking of you again I’ve been a fool for so long But don’t be so proud and don’t be so pleased In the end all of this will be gone In the end all of this will be gone la de de da you know it’s the last round la de de da de de dee la de de da I’m gonna burn this place down la de de da de de dee
5.
I’m on a cardboard boat And the water is high When you’re on your own Feels like there’s nowhere to hide I’m on a cardboard boat Tonight Been looking back again feels like I’ve lost everything I know I’m older now Feels like the tide’s rushing in Been looking back again tonight So Please leave the light on So I can find my way back to you Leave the light on, for me. It’s like a carnival after the weather has changed Even the carousel Don’t want to turn in this rain I’m at a carnival Tonight So please leave the light on So I can find my way back to you Leave the light on, for me. Or let a ladder down So I can climb my way back to you Let a ladder down For me. Are you still listening? Cause I’m still talking to you Cause when the curtains drawn Tell me what else should I do? I’m on a cardboard boat tonight
6.
Wishing Well 04:42
7.
Well, lookout, cause if there’s a rise There’ll soon be a fall Yeah, here comes the crash One day we break at the seams Into pieces and shards They scatter like ashes Oh man, I’m falling apart and I don’t know what to do I’ve got a hole in my heart It’s big as the blue… Oh well, winter was rough And the spring brought no rain Barely a bloom/ barely got warm Sure every comeback is hard There’s rocks on the path Or then there’s a storm Ah it knocks you down, breaks you in part yeah the devil knows it’s true. Yeah, you know that it, too. I’ve got a hole in my heart…. I know all of the time The sun’s coming up Somewhere round some bend But it’s been going down hard Over the hills Over my head It’s been so dark for so long Hard to find my way through Let it shine through. Cause I’ve got a hole in my heart It’s big as the blue I’ve got a hole in my heart I keep stumbling into. I’ve got a hole in my heart, it’s bigger than you. I’ve got a hole in my heart.
8.
Brighter Day 05:10
By the time the fruit was tasted the fall was long in the cards By the time the earth was shaking we all were rattled hard. My oh my it’s been like this for too long. It’s why we pray. That there is a brighter day. Can you see it coming close, my love. Wait, please don’t run away tell me what is it we’re so scared of Cause I have tried to look for God in the cracks before the sky. And in the eyes the lost and lonely attract. It’s why we pray That there is a brighter day. Can you see it coming now, my love. Wait, please don’t run away what is it that we are so scared of Bridge: Wo oh oh…oh oh, oh oh… Lord, you know the hardest gift was a heart that’s never whole. And so we search the farthest reaches and parts. It’s why we pray. It’s why we pray. It’s why I pray. That there is a brighter day. I can see it coming now, it’s love. Look there’s a brighter day don’t you see it coming now it’s love I can see it coming now, my love. I can see it coming now it’s love.
9.
I’ve been looking so long Wasn’t sure for what I’ve been wondering what’s wrong always wrong side up see me on the corner see me in the road Feeling like a foreigner Who cannot crack the code Oh to go back to the start But Then I saw a part of you That no one else could see And I saw the heart of you And all that you could be And I know you can go anytime you want to But I hope you will stay here’s one for the ages some say all along from dinosaurs to sages no one seems to stay too long How I tried to go back to the start Until I saw a part of you That no one else could see And I saw the heart of you And all that you could be And I know you can go anytime you want to But I hope you will stay Strange how things can change you strange what will remain one day you’re in Plainview now my whole life has changed oh, it’s a brand new start now that you see a part of me that no one else can see and you see the heart of me and all that I can be Well, I know you can go anytime you want to But I hope you will stay And you know I can go, anytime I want to But so you know I'll stay
10.
Broken Crown 05:05
Sweeping all the leaves up off the step, you found a ribbon, and tied it in your hair. It was just like the ones you used to wear when you were younger and turned all you touched to jewels. I think that’s the same thing you still do. Yes, I think that’s exactly what you do. But all these pieces of a broken crown are all around. Wo oh, I won’t let you go so high to so low. Lately I’ve been noticing the light in the morning, my body next to you. I wish that you could see it like I do, how you move me, turn me on and on. But the road’s as hard as it is long. The road’s as hard as it is long, with all these pieces of a broken crown all around. Wo oh, I won’t let you go so high to so low. Look at all that washed up on the shore, from all the shipwrecks sea glass like sapphire, the golden driftwood. But now all the fog is gone. My love for you goes on and on. Kind of like the breeze blows, kind of like the tide pulled by the moon. Come on girl, sing me that old tune. Yeah, come on girl sing me that old tune. Let’s leave these pieces of a broken crown on the ground. Wo oh, I won’t let you go so high to so low. So high to so low. So high to so low.

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released September 25, 2015

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David Berkeley Santa Fe, New Mexico

The San Francisco Chronicle calls Santa Fe-based songwriter and author David Berkeley a “musical poet,” and the New York Times praises his “lustrous, melancholy voice with shades of Tim Buckley and Nick Drake.” He was a guest on This American Life, and has released 7 studio albums and 2 books. He is also half of the wildly creative Trans-Atlantic costumed duo Son of Town Hall. ... more

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