1. |
You Know What To Do
03:27
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[Narrator: Unspecified, 1939]
You keep me comin’ back, girl
Comin’ back to you
‘Cause you know, you know what to do
I’m not messin’ around
We gotta keep it down
Or they’re gonna hear us down the road
No, not messin’ around
Next time we go to town
Everybody’s gonna know
You keep me comin’ back, girl
Comin’ back to you
‘Cause you know, you know what to do
Just wanna do what’s right
Somewhere out of sight
It’d be impolite to leave you cold
Jacket’s on the nail
Jonah and the whale
Aaron made an idol out of gold
You keep me comin’ back, girl
Comin’ back to you
‘Cause you know, you know what to do
Come on, teach me not to sin
Over and over again
Come on, teach me not to sin
And let’s begin to let it in
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2. |
We Might Could
03:54
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[Narrator: Ruby, 1939]
I was all elbows and knees
Anyway that’s what they used to tell me
“A lady isn’t heard, she’s only seen
And a poor man’s girl is still a lady”
I had grown accustomed to translucence—until lately
See, my skinny frame got stuck into a dress
And this mop of red hair grew to favor me I guess
‘Cause their grabbing eyes and sweet-talking tongues Won’t let off me now—they’ve ignored me for so long Mama said to keep my pretty head
Out of streets and bars and the backseats of cars
But what to do when somebody’s telling you they love you?
I don’t know if we should
I’m sure it isn’t good
But we might could
We might could give it all away
We might could do what we want
—when we want it
We might could become one
We might could become a couple more
We might could become the sun
—and burn up everyone
We might could burn
We might could
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3. |
I'll Never Leave You
04:09
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[Narrator: Joe, 1943]
I saw you in a student play
That was too much like my life
You spoke to me through the words
Of a long-deceased playwright
I asked you where you came from
You said, “the muggy south”
I said I’d like to know you
You said, “that’s something to think about”
On the day that you went home
Your lips against my ear
You said, “don’t be long following me
—down south”
And I said
You know I’ll never leave you
We said our vows in a little town
Under monuments to the Civil War
Moved into a yellow house
Made love on the kitchen floor
We had two sons
Used the Bible for their names
You said you loved us
But I knew things were not the same
Your face against my chest
You whispered to me
“I wish I’d never come back south”
And I said
You know I’ll never leave you
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4. |
Keep It Going With Me
03:41
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[Narrators: Ruby & Joe, 1947]
JOE: I saw us going out of phase
Caught up wondering if everything ends the same
RUBY: I saw my dreams begin to fade
As soon as my body became a woman’s
I guess we got in deep
There isn’t much between
“Nice to meet you” and the room where our kids sleep
BOTH: Help me
Keep it going
Keep it going, please
Keep it going with me
I don’t know what to say
Do we lose more if we leave or if we stay?
JOE: Do you recall the days
When we were the thing
—we’d ruin anything to save?
BOTH: Help me
Keep it going
Keep it going, please
Keep it thing going with me
I’ll do it if you’ll do it
I’ll do it if you’ll do it
I’ll do it if you’ll do it
JOE: I’ll pack their bags
And be back in a couple days
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5. |
West
05:33
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[Narrator: David, 1947]
“Only 15 hours to go
We’ll be there soon”
He said
“Soon”
The trees turned to scrub
The scrub turned to sand
Out the window
Strange land
Big brother by my side
Father at the wheel
His umber hands
Steering us past endless fields
“Father, are you taking us home?”
The highway climbed between
Skyscrapers of stone
More dirt out the window
Than I’d ever known
A diner in the desert
The smells of oil and men
Spiders big as hands
The engine hummed again
“Father, are you taking us home?”
A tower pierced the sunrise
Dry air, an idle flag
The trunk groaned slowly open
Father only held two bags
I found his eyes
Red against white knuckles holding everything I owned
My throat burned
His shadow stretched away from me across the desert
We stood forever
Two sides of the same thing—splitting open
The trunk slammed
And we rode a hundred-miles-an-hour heading East
At sundown
He bought fireworks and I watched the night light up with white heat
Thinking
Now I know what splitting open means
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6. |
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[Narrator: David, 1947-1953]
Polished shoes in dress blues
My face pressed down in the dirt
They were five, I was younger
Wishing I could say it still hurt
But the nuns kept a distance
And the boys hit harder if you resisted
See, when Joe showed back up
—with us prodigal sons
Ruby looked like she'd seen a ghost
Wasn't long before we kicked off
A joint custody tour of the East coast
New York to Carolina
To Florida, Catholic military primer
We stayed with Joe in the summer
Played pilot in a rusted out plane
Got a kick in the stomach
Every time I saw the leaves change
He’d say, “remember who you are”
—and throw our asses out of the car
“Boys pack your bags again
Summer’s over and it’s time to straighten up again”
Yeah, yeah, pack it up again
Visit’s over and it’s time to fall in line again
You haven’t lived ‘til you’ve been pissed on
By a lieutenant don’t know his ABCs
He got a hundred demerits
And they saved fifty for me
You know it’s hard to be good
—when they’re tellin’ you that nobody could
Got a dishonorable discharge
A month after I turned 10
Joe chewed us out the whole ride home
Where I finally saw Ruby again
There were hugs and innuendo
Then Joe got smaller in the rear window
We had a regular family
With Ruby and some dude from up north
Interrupted occasionally when they
—disappeared to New York
So, off to Uncle Ted’s and
—another couple rotating beds
“Boys pack your bags again
Ruby’s got another audition”
Yeah, yeah, pack it up again
Ruby’s leaving for another lost weekend
I’d lay in bed and think:
I was nine years old with a rock in my hand
Hearing Joe saying “pain makes you a man”
Waiting in the moonlight for that boy to be alone
By the time he came to my boyhood was all gone
“Boys pack your bags again
Ruby’s got another audition”
Yeah, yeah, pack it up again
Ruby’s leaving for another lost weekend
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7. |
I've Got So Much To Give
04:43
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[Narrator: Ruby, 1953]
I love the lights
The chorus of the streets at night
Feels like you can be everything
I love the stage
The roar of an audience crashing like a wave
Against a world of stone
That only wants to turn you into bones
That's how it starts
Just wanting to be more than a spark
In an endless dark
I’ve got so much to give
I didn't love you
Not like I needed to, not like I should
You were two little faces reminding me
—time had gotten by me good
So I left you behind
Far enough away to ease my mind
I hoped we’d all grow in the meantime
But one day you see
That it’s not dying, but living only for yourself
That makes you feel empty
I've got so much to give
I didn’t need to keep it all
I could have loved myself and you
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8. |
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[Narrator: Joe, 1970]
JOE: Where does the time go?
Last time I saw you you were only this tall
Remember, you boys ran from me?
DAVID: Don’t know why we did that
JOE: And your neighbor said, “I know they’re your boys
But they seem afraid of you
You shouldn’t come back around here anymore”
So I didn’t
But that was years ago
Wasn’t it?
David, you should come to Charlotte
You should come to Charlotte
Move nearby, make up for lost time
Do you think it’s too late for us?
Do you think it’s too late for us?
Remember the Chrysler?
It’s down here
I walled it up
So nobody can get it out again
You keep what you make
That’s how you win
Do you think it’s too late for us?
Did you say you have a daughter?
That complicates things, doesn’t it?
‘Cause no one likes people
They just love the ones they know
You know me
Don’t you?
Do you think it’s too late for us?
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9. |
Should I Feel Guilty?
06:11
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[Narrator: Pop, 1991]
When you told him you were gonna leave
And we watched them lose everything
I don’t think that we really knew what it would mean
When we sent your children away
Your face to my chest, you cried as we swayed
We danced in New York and I knew I’d do anything to stay with you, girl
To stay with you, girl—but I wondered:
Should I feel guilty for loving you the way I do?
We nested in your hometown
I peddled booze, you held the books down
Your boys came to visit, brought wives and damn kids around
I watched your red curls turn to gray
You painted and gardened, I kept the squirrels away
At nighttime you held me, my heart beat my chest, thinking: nothing I do
Can keep this for always—please stay with me, girl
Please stay with me, girl
Should I feel guilty for loving you the way I do?
I cursed God and the hospital bed
When Type 2 took your legs
Your boys came to visit—I didn’t see, smell, hear them
I saw only you and felt only dread
I piled up the mail in our house
Until your boys moved me out
I don’t think that I really knew what it would mean to be
Without you, girl—but I know one thing I’ll never ask
Should I feel guilty for loving you the way I do?
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10. |
Brother
03:06
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[Narrator: David, 1950]
We chased that airplane on our bicycles
Through the forest in our leather jackets
And when it landed we took the runway
We pedaled 'til our wheels vibrated
And at the moment my bike almost left the ground
The air marshall caught us
When he asked our father's name
—our eyes flashed terror
We waited on a bench until the pilot saw us
And asked, "do you kids wanna fly for real?”
As we taxied I saw Joe’s Chrysler coming
As we lifted off I saw his solemn gaze
Spread into a grin across his face
Brother, I just want to say that I'm glad
I'll always know you
That no matter where they take us
Or what they put us through
I'll always know you
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The Restoration Columbia, South Carolina
We write concept albums about the American South.
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