Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)
1. "Mirrors and Fevers" (Don't Be Frightened of Turning the Page EP - 2000)
2. "I Will Be Grateful for This Day" (Sub Pop Singles Club 7" - 2001)
3. "Trees Get Wheeled Away" (Lost & Found, Volume 1 compilation - 2003)
4. "Drunk Kid Catholic" (Drunk Kid Catholic EP - 2001)
5. "Spent on Rainy Days" ("Home Volume IV" on Post Parlo Records - 2002)
6. "The Vanishing Act" ("Too Much of a Good Thing" 7" - 1999)
7. "Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man" ("Motion Sickness" 7" - 2000)
8. "Blue Angels Air Show" (DIW Magazine 7" - 2002)
9. "Weather Reports" (Unreleased 7" with M. Ward)
10. "Seashell Tale" (Unreleased 7" with M. Ward)
11. "Bad Blood" (Album Leaf split 7" - 2001)
12. "Amy in the White Coat" (3 More Hit Songs From Bright Eyes UK single - 2002)
13. "Devil Town" (The Late Great Daniel Johnston compilation - 2004)
14. "I've Been Eating (For You) (Drunk Kid Catholic EP - 2001)
15. "Happy Birthday to Me (Feb. 15)" (Drunk Kid Catholic EP - 2001)
16. "Motion Sickness" ("Motion Sickness" 7" - 2000)
17. "Act of Contrition" (Second Thoughts compilation - 2000)
18. "Hungry for a Holiday" (Album Leaf split 7" - 2001)
19. "When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass Again" (Sub Pop singles club 7" - 2001)
20. "Entry Way Song" (Amos House Vol. 2 compilation 2002)
21. "It's Cool, We Can Still Be Friends" (Transmission One: Tea at the Palaz of Hoon compilation - 2000)
I Will Be Grateful For This Day
I had a girl I knew, She grew, became a woman now,
I think that she teaches at one of the schools downtown,
We used to roll the windows down and play the music loud,
Smoking out in her car,
Lost in west Omaha,
And we'd get drunk and kiss, our bodies twist like shoelaces,
And we never came untied,
I guess you were just my type,
You know that summer never stopped, I still pretend I'm there,
The band's in the living room,
The neighbors, they never cared,
So when I sat behind the drumset,
Your heartbeat's what I tried to play,
But with the kick and snare so careless, not in time,
So you got ahead of me, And I guess I'm still dragging behind.
I had a friend who changed his name but couldn't change himself,
Never quite figured out, How to deal with what life had dealt,
He put a needle in his arm to calm his handsome hell,
Who would've imagined it Could've worked out so well?
Now he's a shape that moves like echoes through my empty room,
And there's a voice that speaks,
Like someone's right behind me,
I turned around and found exactly what you would expect,
The clothes I left on my floor,
The papers piled on my desk,
But where the ink is wet, the cause, effects, what's meant by it?
The story that is incomplete,
The picture's left unfinished,
So I am writing my own ending,
I let my pen bleed black or blue,
And I will color in the meaning,
It will be gold and green and true,
And I'll learn to love my new discovered proof,
I'll be grateful for this day,
I will be grateful for each day to come.
I think that she teaches at one of the schools downtown,
We used to roll the windows down and play the music loud,
Smoking out in her car,
Lost in west Omaha,
And we'd get drunk and kiss, our bodies twist like shoelaces,
And we never came untied,
I guess you were just my type,
You know that summer never stopped, I still pretend I'm there,
The band's in the living room,
The neighbors, they never cared,
So when I sat behind the drumset,
Your heartbeat's what I tried to play,
But with the kick and snare so careless, not in time,
So you got ahead of me, And I guess I'm still dragging behind.
I had a friend who changed his name but couldn't change himself,
Never quite figured out, How to deal with what life had dealt,
He put a needle in his arm to calm his handsome hell,
Who would've imagined it Could've worked out so well?
Now he's a shape that moves like echoes through my empty room,
And there's a voice that speaks,
Like someone's right behind me,
I turned around and found exactly what you would expect,
The clothes I left on my floor,
The papers piled on my desk,
But where the ink is wet, the cause, effects, what's meant by it?
The story that is incomplete,
The picture's left unfinished,
So I am writing my own ending,
I let my pen bleed black or blue,
And I will color in the meaning,
It will be gold and green and true,
And I'll learn to love my new discovered proof,
I'll be grateful for this day,
I will be grateful for each day to come.
Trees Get Wheeled Away
Anchormen spike their blood
wear masks of mud
cucumbers cut to fit their eyes
and so no one would know how tired they've grown
of talking and telling their lies
while your TVs change stations
scroll messages
victims and christians both drinking blood
and they'll pray for the destruction of all hatred
more often, just those with hate for us
'cause it hurts when you discover one's worse and one's better
to suffer or cause others to
and you can live by your conscience
now guilt is a concept
you're no longer subscribing to
There's a virgin in my bed
and she's taking off her dress
And I'm not sure what I am gonna do
There's a song stuck in my head
and I can't help singing it
O' how I hope my singing pleases you
'cause this is not who I've become
but what you make me into
Oh, we got no health insurance
no cellular service
no disease they can't cure
but we need more money to burn
so each person must learn the dollar amount they are worth
and your pills make me dizzy
forgetting my body
I watch as it walks away
I just keep drinking the poison
and smoking the cartons
a pack and a half a day
so when time comes to claim me
my friends and my family will gather around my grave
and they'll believe that they knew me
and loved me and missed me
and all call me by my name
So imagine what you want
and then hold on to that thought
'cause that's as close as it will ever come
and believe you're where you are
just keep acting out the part
but at the end of the day, the trees all get wheeled away
and you'll be standing alone in a blank, blank space
So believe who you are
and stay in character.
but at the end of the play,
the audience walks away.
And I'll be shivering cold on a well lit stage.
wear masks of mud
cucumbers cut to fit their eyes
and so no one would know how tired they've grown
of talking and telling their lies
while your TVs change stations
scroll messages
victims and christians both drinking blood
and they'll pray for the destruction of all hatred
more often, just those with hate for us
'cause it hurts when you discover one's worse and one's better
to suffer or cause others to
and you can live by your conscience
now guilt is a concept
you're no longer subscribing to
There's a virgin in my bed
and she's taking off her dress
And I'm not sure what I am gonna do
There's a song stuck in my head
and I can't help singing it
O' how I hope my singing pleases you
'cause this is not who I've become
but what you make me into
Oh, we got no health insurance
no cellular service
no disease they can't cure
but we need more money to burn
so each person must learn the dollar amount they are worth
and your pills make me dizzy
forgetting my body
I watch as it walks away
I just keep drinking the poison
and smoking the cartons
a pack and a half a day
so when time comes to claim me
my friends and my family will gather around my grave
and they'll believe that they knew me
and loved me and missed me
and all call me by my name
So imagine what you want
and then hold on to that thought
'cause that's as close as it will ever come
and believe you're where you are
just keep acting out the part
but at the end of the day, the trees all get wheeled away
and you'll be standing alone in a blank, blank space
So believe who you are
and stay in character.
but at the end of the play,
the audience walks away.
And I'll be shivering cold on a well lit stage.
Drunk Kid Catholic
The drunk kids, the Catholics
They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
Hopin' to be saved
Well, I have been happy
The past couple days
Just thinkin' of the women
Who've taken your place
And every night I think I
Certainly won't ever sleep sober or alone...
And then suddenly...well, it occurs to me
I've slept alone...before you
And so I pour myself the
Stiffest drink my stomach can stand
And convince myself to lay back down again
I'm gonna lay back down, I'm gonna lay back down again
The drunk kids, the Catholics
They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
Hopin' to be saved
The drunk kids, the Catholics
(The drunk kids, the Catholics) The Catholics
They're all about the same
(They're all about the same) They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
(They're waitin' for somethin')
Hopin' to be saved
(Hopin' to be saved) They're all about the same
The drunk kids, the Catholics
(The drunk kids, the Catholics) Drunk kids! Catholics!
They're all about the same
(They're all about the same) They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
(They're waitin' for somethin')
Hopin' to be saved
(Hopin' to be saved) They're all about the same
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans (I need to get paid)
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend (I need to get paid!)
I need to get paid
They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
Hopin' to be saved
Well, I have been happy
The past couple days
Just thinkin' of the women
Who've taken your place
And every night I think I
Certainly won't ever sleep sober or alone...
And then suddenly...well, it occurs to me
I've slept alone...before you
And so I pour myself the
Stiffest drink my stomach can stand
And convince myself to lay back down again
I'm gonna lay back down, I'm gonna lay back down again
The drunk kids, the Catholics
They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
Hopin' to be saved
The drunk kids, the Catholics
(The drunk kids, the Catholics) The Catholics
They're all about the same
(They're all about the same) They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
(They're waitin' for somethin')
Hopin' to be saved
(Hopin' to be saved) They're all about the same
The drunk kids, the Catholics
(The drunk kids, the Catholics) Drunk kids! Catholics!
They're all about the same
(They're all about the same) They're all about the same
They're waitin' for somethin'
(They're waitin' for somethin')
Hopin' to be saved
(Hopin' to be saved) They're all about the same
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend
I need to get paid
They crawl from the oceans (I need to get paid)
To paint in the caves
But I'm workin' all weekend (I need to get paid!)
I need to get paid
Spent On Rainy Days
I wish I saved up for rainy days cause they're the hardest to be dry
I got no self control
I'm always begging into telephones
I bought a little from my brother's friend, well, just to get me by
I don't trust his cut
The effect is never as high as the mark-up
I think I'll print it in the personals that I'm looking for a match
Someone to light me up, someone to burn the proof of the things that I've done
Each day there are hours I skip like a stone
I just crawl in a bag
I'm gonna live my life like somebody's shadow
I know I'm lazy with the little things, I mean I never held a door
But I still loved you more than anyone since or before
You are always saying that I owe you one, well, let's consolidate this debt
Get on a payment plan, I'll pay you compliments, you can still treat me bad
But now it's easy, getting easier, to leave you and this town behind
I'll do some traveling
Once I'm gone tell all our friends you got even
I'm held like an object and then set aside
And I'm back on the shelf, I'm locked in the drawer
I'm mint in the box, but you would still sell me for cost, wouldn't you?
I'll be anything... the cord of a parachute... the blanket on top of you...
The window you are looking through... the cord of a parachute
I got no self control
I'm always begging into telephones
I bought a little from my brother's friend, well, just to get me by
I don't trust his cut
The effect is never as high as the mark-up
I think I'll print it in the personals that I'm looking for a match
Someone to light me up, someone to burn the proof of the things that I've done
Each day there are hours I skip like a stone
I just crawl in a bag
I'm gonna live my life like somebody's shadow
I know I'm lazy with the little things, I mean I never held a door
But I still loved you more than anyone since or before
You are always saying that I owe you one, well, let's consolidate this debt
Get on a payment plan, I'll pay you compliments, you can still treat me bad
But now it's easy, getting easier, to leave you and this town behind
I'll do some traveling
Once I'm gone tell all our friends you got even
I'm held like an object and then set aside
And I'm back on the shelf, I'm locked in the drawer
I'm mint in the box, but you would still sell me for cost, wouldn't you?
I'll be anything... the cord of a parachute... the blanket on top of you...
The window you are looking through... the cord of a parachute
The Vanishing Act
Were you surprised that we never spoke?
Then in the still of the night-when nothing stirs-
I woke and I gathered up some clothes.
I never planned on this but its the way it goes
and now it all seems so familiar like pages turned on calendars
we get the same twelve months to fuck things up-year after year-
and i can't believe how down i am like the well i'm being lowered in,
now water stops, the bucket drops us farther and farther down.
Well i guess that you never knew me, or at least not well enough.
So i fill my gut with dark red wine until my brain shuts off and my eyes go blind.
You won't see me there in that thick black air-yeah.
i'll finally make something disappear.
Because i've been practicing disappearing
and i think that i've got it down but now there is no sun just a cellar.
Nowhere is sky its just that black, black dirt.
Expanding outwards just echoes for answers
not that it matters if its back or its forwards.
Unhappy lovers with baskets of flowers use them as markers-
the place where your bed once stood a time when it still felt good.
But you'll get that feeling back,
you just need sometime to drink
and so i'll fill my gut with that blood red wine
until my insides swim and my veins unwind.
I'll be lying there in that hot white air once
that something is gone it might never reappear.
Then in the still of the night-when nothing stirs-
I woke and I gathered up some clothes.
I never planned on this but its the way it goes
and now it all seems so familiar like pages turned on calendars
we get the same twelve months to fuck things up-year after year-
and i can't believe how down i am like the well i'm being lowered in,
now water stops, the bucket drops us farther and farther down.
Well i guess that you never knew me, or at least not well enough.
So i fill my gut with dark red wine until my brain shuts off and my eyes go blind.
You won't see me there in that thick black air-yeah.
i'll finally make something disappear.
Because i've been practicing disappearing
and i think that i've got it down but now there is no sun just a cellar.
Nowhere is sky its just that black, black dirt.
Expanding outwards just echoes for answers
not that it matters if its back or its forwards.
Unhappy lovers with baskets of flowers use them as markers-
the place where your bed once stood a time when it still felt good.
But you'll get that feeling back,
you just need sometime to drink
and so i'll fill my gut with that blood red wine
until my insides swim and my veins unwind.
I'll be lying there in that hot white air once
that something is gone it might never reappear.
Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man
He always gets so mad things you laugh at
"Don't get so worked up," you'd say
But on the back deck you admit
That you haven't felt much like laughing lately anyway
And so I say, 'That could change'
I noticed how you waste no time
Making your way across the room
You leave a wake of tongues still waving after you
And it isn't no coincidence
Where you finally choose to stand
I guess soon you will be leaving your man
It's a sweet smile and then a denial
Hey, you are just trying to be nice
But there is a meaning to every fleeting action
You unconsciously decide
The clocks, they chime
Now it's time
I know you try and play it cool
But there are some thoughts you just can't hide
Only in your closest friends do you confide
The way you say you'll be seeing me
Oh, like it's so offhand
I guess soon you will be leaving your man
You stare at me so boldly now
You have no lack of confidence
It's just those lessons on subtlety you missed
I know you dream of saving me
Like I'm some plane that you could land
But when you fly you'll be leaving your man
Blue Angels Air Show"Don't get so worked up," you'd say
But on the back deck you admit
That you haven't felt much like laughing lately anyway
And so I say, 'That could change'
I noticed how you waste no time
Making your way across the room
You leave a wake of tongues still waving after you
And it isn't no coincidence
Where you finally choose to stand
I guess soon you will be leaving your man
It's a sweet smile and then a denial
Hey, you are just trying to be nice
But there is a meaning to every fleeting action
You unconsciously decide
The clocks, they chime
Now it's time
I know you try and play it cool
But there are some thoughts you just can't hide
Only in your closest friends do you confide
The way you say you'll be seeing me
Oh, like it's so offhand
I guess soon you will be leaving your man
You stare at me so boldly now
You have no lack of confidence
It's just those lessons on subtlety you missed
I know you dream of saving me
Like I'm some plane that you could land
But when you fly you'll be leaving your man
claire's turning blonde for the summer i guess
the sunlight just soaks into her hair
and she sits next to me on the motorboat
and shyly replies as to which boy she likes at her school.
so i am reminded of things ive forgotten.
the way doors can open and people just walk in.
its not unexpected, no its just how you planned it.
im beginning to think that it might never happen.
but now it is happening.
theres a show we can see at the base outside of town
where the planes they turn circles in the air.
i watch you stand next to me with your hand over your mouth
and join the crowds heavy gasp.
one for each time they pass overhead.
so we've been selected in this beautiful lottery.
we struggled so long but it ended so easy.
its starting to surface, all golden and godlike
this feeling we had every day and every night.
(em construção)the sunlight just soaks into her hair
and she sits next to me on the motorboat
and shyly replies as to which boy she likes at her school.
so i am reminded of things ive forgotten.
the way doors can open and people just walk in.
its not unexpected, no its just how you planned it.
im beginning to think that it might never happen.
but now it is happening.
theres a show we can see at the base outside of town
where the planes they turn circles in the air.
i watch you stand next to me with your hand over your mouth
and join the crowds heavy gasp.
one for each time they pass overhead.
so we've been selected in this beautiful lottery.
we struggled so long but it ended so easy.
its starting to surface, all golden and godlike
this feeling we had every day and every night.
Weather Reports
well i left my baby for a dream as lovely, for a love that's only in books i read.
and then i hit the cities, spent all my money, i just left my whole life in a taxi cab.
cause it's just a memory, i can't love completely, when you're really with me, i'm indifferent.
but i try to get my head clear, it's too full of ideas that i haven't thought of yet.
and time, clocks keep waving their hands, doing all that they can to get our attention,
but the days fly away down a clean interstate and i'm staring drunk at a map.
so i let my hair down for the second time now, for the final time, now i had my fun.
but there's no returning from the places we've been, just repeat our slogan, never again.
so we split, said you had to get out, headed back to the south, where everything is gentle.
and i stayed for a couple weeks more, all the weather reports said it would be snow for sure,
but the storm moved away to a neighboring state. i started the car.
Seashell Tale
Let's go place some money on the order of the horses
Break the ribbon of that famous finish line
And we'll gather up our stash babe
Find a little ranch babe
And buy a lonely little pony to ride
Well I know I was lucky when the needle came and stuck me
This porcupine came and poked my cactus hide
So let me finish what I start babe
Open up your heart babe
I saw a land of milk and honey in your mind
Our flesh and blood has found me in your arms again
See the whisper of the wind has found your hair again
And though my heart said give me refuge in you dignity my dear
All I could do was put a seashell to your ear
Our flesh and blood has found me in your arms again
I see the whisper of the wind has found your hair again
And though my heart said give me refuge in your dignity my dear
All I could do was put a seashell to your ear
Bad Blood
no news
that's good news
someone's gonna break
see things change
i've been changing everything
it's peaceful
the pitch black
when the last light on goes out
i'm stranded
in my bed
so i think about
the bad luck
the bad blood
that may have come between
two good souls
that's one heck of an offering
so take these gifts that have been given
and ended up with an alphabet
but some words are too wrong to define
now the whole world is waking up
a ribbon cut for the opening
we all knew that day would arrive
up all night
all upset
the outside's growing light
no breakfast
just not much of an appetite
so be cool
and believe in the things you haven't learned
'cause you lost
and it's gone
but it will return
now it's all laid out in front of you
and that's half murdered the mystery
are you still to shy to describe?
now the whole world is waking up
a ribbon cut for the opening
yes, finally the day has arrived
so seek
and rejoice
fill your hands with something tangible
and fly your love
like a flag
and destroy the desire
for that which is impossible
and accept what you get with a smile
that's good news
someone's gonna break
see things change
i've been changing everything
it's peaceful
the pitch black
when the last light on goes out
i'm stranded
in my bed
so i think about
the bad luck
the bad blood
that may have come between
two good souls
that's one heck of an offering
so take these gifts that have been given
and ended up with an alphabet
but some words are too wrong to define
now the whole world is waking up
a ribbon cut for the opening
we all knew that day would arrive
up all night
all upset
the outside's growing light
no breakfast
just not much of an appetite
so be cool
and believe in the things you haven't learned
'cause you lost
and it's gone
but it will return
now it's all laid out in front of you
and that's half murdered the mystery
are you still to shy to describe?
now the whole world is waking up
a ribbon cut for the opening
yes, finally the day has arrived
so seek
and rejoice
fill your hands with something tangible
and fly your love
like a flag
and destroy the desire
for that which is impossible
and accept what you get with a smile