1. |
Rebel Song
03:12
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Nobody’s safe, from their heart’s own rebel song
We’re all slaves to our perspective
And What we see, so deceptive
There’s never a taste, that anything is wrong
Still your heart beats a traitor
At every word that you say here
Best get out the way
Of your heart’s own rebel song
I think somewhere in this song
Is something I used to know
Can you scour these words
Tell me where the pieces go
'Cause the older I get
The worse my vision seems to be
And every new thing I learn
Collides with memory
And I think I’ll be lost
Always
I think there is nothing wrong
When you're losing your own way
You don’t have be so strong
There is no one here to blame
Someday everything is gone
You add weight to your own name
Answers come to you somehow
When you’re drifting in the fray
And I think I’ll be lost
Always
One day you’ll wake in the dream
And try to see beyond
The cracks will all be showing
But there’s nothing there to see
And I think I’ll be lost
Always
How much time we waste
How much time we waste
How much time we waste
How much time we waste
When we’re looking for a sign
How much time we waste
If I could just be lost
Always
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2. |
Photocopy
04:26
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Lately, everyone I meet has been a soldier
But no one can seem to tell me about the war
They all bear their sleeves and tell me there are scars there
But it's nothing that I haven't seen before
We're all distant looks and songs that say I'm lonely
Borrowed from someone you hope I've never heard
But I look around and wonder how can that be
If everyone knows every chord and every verse
Did you never wonder
Am I more than what I've been
Or is there something we've missed
Am I alright with nothing changing
Am I alright with staying just like this
And anyone that's been wounded can tell you
That you pick at scars to bleed and bleed again
And healing fast is really over rated
That in pain is where you really want to live
Did you never wonder
Am I more than what I've been
Or is there something we've missed
Am I alright with nothing changing
Am I alright with staying just like this
'Cause we get it wrong if there ever was a reason
We are more than the people we miss
Moving on is not some kind of treason
It's just the answer to a question just like this
Am I more than what I've been
Or is there something we've missed
Am I alright with nothing changing
Am I alright with staying just like this
Am I more than what I've been
Or is there something we missed
Am I alright with nothing changing
Am I alright with staying just like this
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3. |
The New Colossus
04:08
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I screamed in a dream and I woke
To find my voice gone
I cried out and choked for the air
Escaping my lungs
Till the greying that signals the light
Or the panic it starts to subside
The bitter taste and the unsteady pace
Will just be your comfort tonight
You can’t tell that anything's changed
But the air tastes wrong
There’s a chill on the breeze that begins
To cut through your guard
And you feel yourself starting to bend
And complacency smiles like a friend
But hope draws a breath
In the dark to test your resolve
But what can you do
When the word that you're given
Was all that you had
And broke to begin with
I’ll fight for you love
I’ll fight for you love
I’ll fight for you love
Because you stood for mine
And had more on the line
And I’ll be damned
There's a girl standing tall on a hill
With a fist in the air
She wont give up any more ground
The line’s drawn there
Did you forget what freedom was for
Is there light still on this golden door
Steel yourselves friends because this doesn't end
With my hand still waiting for yours
But what can you do
When the word that your given
Was all that you had
And broke to begin with
I’ll fight for you love
I’ll fight for you love
I’ll fight for you love
Because you stood for mine
And had more on the line
And I’ll be damned
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4. |
Refugee
02:54
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My city used to be
Coursed of grit and stone
Cut into the hands that would call them home
My home used to be
A grove of a thousand trees
Every root familiar and old
Now my places burn
Robbed of history
A legacy of fathers all lost to me
There are promises made
When you need the sun to rise
And your colors will break
Over unfamiliar skies
You will miss the night
You will miss the night
Courage used to be
The solider on the wall
Heart wrapped in armor to guard us all
Wisdom used to be
The poet in the night
Spinning words of comfort to cool the eyes
Now our soldiers all are broken
Our poets all are crazed
And you think me a coward to run away
There are promises made
When you need the sun to rise
And your colors will break
Over unfamiliar skies
You will miss the night
You will miss the night
Time will collect
All the things you can't forgive
And paint them
All on the glass before your eyes
With words that can’t reflect
All the details and the dreams
In between
All of our lives
There are promises made
When you need the sun to rise
And your colors will break
Over unfamiliar skies
You will miss the night
You will miss the night
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5. |
Wise Man and the Fool
05:07
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You've broken your heart, you've made amends
Collected pieces, made whole again
And if waging wars makes you more of a man
You've fought every losing fight that you can
But you're careful to fight what's left of your faith
You fear if you win you've made a ghost of grace
But what can you do when your sin is your pride
Can you carry a cross when your hope is a lie
And I know what you think it means
And I know what you want me to say
But how do you think I'd believe
That it's all gonna be ok
How's it all gonna be ok
Well a wise man offers, "there's truth in the lies"
And dares you to dig a bit deeper inside
But the fool that I found was happy and whole
And he never passed a lie to his soul
Now you swear that you've known so much more than you've seen
And your spirit is someone you've never been
But what can you do when your sin is your pride
Can you carry a cross when your hope is a lie
And I know what you think it means
And I know what you want me to say
But how do you think I'd believe
That it's all gonna be ok
How's it all gonna be ok
Was it you that drew these lines in the sand
What do they tell you about the worth of a man
'Cause I stumbled and found the grace that you named
And trampled lines that washed in the waves
In the mire I fell and there I was made
In the mire I'll stay content in my shame
'Cause I know what you think it means
And I know what you want me to say
I don't care what you think you believe
'Cause it's all gonna be ok
Yeah it's all gonna be ok
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6. |
Color of the Sun
03:18
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I want for all of my habits
To be somehow fragments
Of all the people I have loved
And not some strange inheritance
From some lost relative
So far removed from all I’ve done
Oh all I’ve done
If you only knew
The color of the sun that I see
When I close my eyes
I’d be blind to the world
Till the madness is gone - left unnamed
Till the turn of the tide
'Cause I can’t hold it in my head
Your hurt In my head
I can’t hold it in my head
But I had the heart to try
And I won't know the names
Of the people you lost, in the wars
You fought on your own
And I won't know the sting
Of the love you forgot, that hit hard
In the stories we told
And I won't know the fear
In your feet as you walk, every night
To a place called home
I can't hold it in my head
Your hurt in my head
I can't hold it in my head
But I had the heart to try
There’s a ringing in my ear
That just won't go away
And it keeps me awake at night
Is it something that I hear
To remind that I need
To forget myself sometimes
Oh I know what it is
To pray for better luck
To hope against your pride
I would be by your side
When your karmic wheel is stuck
And that still won’t make it right
Cause I can't hold it in my head
Your hurt in my head
I can’t hold it in my head
But I had the heart to try
Still have the heart to try
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7. |
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Well tilled hands can tell the story
That any fool could read
Fingers worked till dust and bone
For the balance of a dream
Seasons change without permission
And drag us along the way
And every day we must concede
A small exchange for grays
Is it years or dreams that fade
But then the summer comes without the spring
What flowers without the rain
October yields a paltry harvest
A year without a gain
Is it years or dreams that fade
Poets write their small admissions
Of love that got away
And tell their tales for tears and glory
Dress themselves as brave
Well we can paint the glass till we’re content
The reflection doesn’t change
You think if everyone sings their own gospel
Everyone is saved
Is it years or dreams that fade
Cause I'm starting to see the pearl that must have been
When he was about my age
The light, the heat, the sea, the breaking waves
Well beyond my rage
Cause am I ever any better than
Those poets I despise
I’ll tell anyone who’ll stop and listen
Woah, this love of mine
That in a day we danced horizons
Amongst the sun and stars at play
We’d drink in bits of atmosphere
At the breaking of the age
A small exchange for grays
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8. |
My City
03:54
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I think I have never been brave
Well trained to be afraid
Of the people who don’t look like me
And that is all I see
And I think when I walk in the room that
That’s how it must feel for you
Cause you’ve seen my face on the evening news
Or someone just like me
You’re afraid, and you’re ready to fight
But you don’t care who and what for
And the dream of your life was broken
You don’t know what is in store
Tell me, when you watch the news
Does it seal your certitude
In the message that was brought to you
By the banks that own your homes
Can we start checking out of
Our own brands of devout
Could the flags be buried in the ground
Instead of draping someone's bones
You’re afraid and you’re ready to fight
You don’t care who and what for
And the dream of your life has been broken
You don’t know what is in store
Well I’ve been there before
Why do we equivocate
Between what we feel and what we say
And what we want to believe
Is the decency we seek
Cause It’s not a gift to belong
Or feel safe where you were born
But I count in my fears
My city, my home, my own
Who cares for blood or flags forgotten
Or some miss-remembered king
Should your personhood be stolen
For anything
Do you think we will it into being
Is this what everybody dreaming
Cause I don’t see it
No, I don’t see it
No, I don’t see it
No, I don’t see it
You’re afraid, and you’re ready to fight
But you don’t know who and what for
And the dream of your life has been broke
You don’t know what is in store
Well I think, maybe its better we’ve woke
Maybe its better we’ve woke
Maybe its better we’ve woke
We get to moving on
Do you think we will it into being?
Is this what everybody dreaming?
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9. |
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You can count up the years
With the things that I've tried
To make a life better
Once step at a time
And the things that would stick
Were never that big
But it's the small ones that matter
In the scheme of things
Yeah it's the small things that matter
And I’ve ached for a love
That was never as grand
As that little picture
You hold in your hand
The kind where you could give up
All of your glory
Just to be a verse
In an unwritten story
All just to be a verse
And every father says
"Look at my baby now
And I would do it all again
If I could have one more round"
But that's not the way
That it always goes
There are dark rooms and quiet days
And unspoken hopes
When you tell yourself
To look at the big picture
But your hope is a small one
You lost in a whisper
Oh your hope is a small one
And after years down a road
That you can’t regret
Still, there are days
That you want reset
You think one thread cut could change
How it all unfolds
But there's a thousand threads
In the hangman’s rope
Oh there's a thousand threads
And every father says
"It could be different now"
And I remember when he said it
I would believe him now
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10. |
This American Dream
03:34
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You rattle around these walls
And always leave the door wide open
No one comes around
But you don't want to give up hoping
You used to be so bold
The queen of every boyhood dream
When you start to feel the cold
There's always someone willing to share the heat
You meet another face
And take the path of least resistance
Searching for some soul
Find another room left vacant
You’re working to the bone
Give a whole more than taking
Got a place to call my own
I can’t remember why I’m staying
You know I never believed
That this American dream
Was ever meant to be
Something handed to me
But now I’m all out of hope
And if we’re all out of hope
We’ll hold on
Its by design
That doesn't mean I
Think its right
'Cause every phase of this race I’ve crossed the finished line
And every smiling face I see says I’m doing right
So whys it taken so long for me to realize
That it goes round and round and round
And round and round and round
And round and round and round
And round and round and round
And I can wait right here
With you
You know I never believed
That this American Dream
Was ever meant to be
Something handed to me
But now I’m all out of hope
And if we’re all out of hope
You know I never believed
That this American Dream
Was ever meant to be
Something handed to me
But now I’m all out of hope
And if we’re all out of hope
There's got to be something wrong
With more than just me
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11. |
Brave
05:33
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Another dose of distant grief
Another crisis on TV
Another shot of shame that comes
With every sigh of relief
This one has nothing to do with me
And I have so much to grieve
Another someone's darkest day
Another flag across my face
And a reminder, the fear I’ve known
Will never go away
This one has nothing to do with me
And I have so much to grieve
Oh love, now don’t you sweat it
Some people get hurt
And that's the way it goes
Cause it takes what it takes
When you want what you want
But you've won
So just let it go
Dear, that's what regret is
When you know that the price is
Too much to pay, but you pay it anyway
Then hope that the devil
Won’t settle the ledger today
Is it safer to be strangers
Have we been wrong all this time
Is there still somewhere we could run to
And live out the rest of it blind
And this one has nothing to do with me
And I have so much to grieve
Oh love, now don’t you sweat it
Some people get hurt
And that's the way it goes
Cause it takes what it takes
When you want what you want
But you've won
So just let it go
Dear, that's what regret is
When you know that the price is
Too much to pay, but you pay it anyway
Then hope that the devil
Won’t settle the ledger today
You were small
You were strange
With a voice that shakes
From the truth of the words
That we always seem to forget
Made us proud and tall
For a moment at least
As you spoke what our hearts had said
Love flows like water
Over rocks and stones in
the bed
Lose the bits
That we needed the least
And we find new ways to mend
And the brave have no regrets
And the brave have no regrets
And the brave have no regrets
So be brave
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12. |
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When you were born
I wrote you a song
To remind that what's honest
Can never be wrong
So if one day your heart is broken
By words unspoken
It’s light in motion in love
Yes baby it’s light
In motion in love
We scatter, diffuse
For a moment then gone
It’s the beat of my blood, the current
Your heart the ocean
It’s light in motion in love
Whoa, Oh
Whoa, Oh
Whoa, Oh
Now your mother is wise and brave
That’s the goal
And your father, the fool
An incorruptible soul
So if your sky should fall around you
Just take what made you
It comes from stars up above
It’s light in motion in love
Whoa, Oh
Whoa, Oh
Whoa, Oh
Either I’m out of time
Or time’s out of place
And there are secrets that hide
In the lines of my face
When you see what I see in the mirror
Just sing the clearer
And know when you were small and so young
You saw light in motion in love
Whoa, Oh
Whoa, Oh
Whoa, Oh
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Ali Aslam Brooklyn, New York
Ali Aslam is a Brooklyn based singer -songwriter. He a Pakistani Muslim-American, and explores the relationship between his background and his country, in his debut work, The Last American. He describes the sound as "supersonic folk" and sonically dives into the tropes of rock, indie pop, new wave, and R&B to craft something new, challenging, and wholly American ... more
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