1. |
Diminishing Returns
03:00
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Diminishing Returns
We’re so far under the radar
We’ve been crawling on the ocean floor
There are days when I ask myself
What all of this was for
But hindsight’s twenty-twenty
And makes everyone look real smart
How long will it take us to learn
We’re in the land of diminishing returns
I’ve held a thousand coffee cups
My ears have heard it all
I’ve looked into eyes sympathetically
While tears began to fall
There are times when we must talk
And other times when we must act
How many times will we be burned
In the land of diminishing returns
Throw it to the wind
The reasons that we live
Let’s take a loving look ahead
And throw old negatives away
We can accept the lies in front of us
Or buy two tickets for the train
That’s leaving from the station
For the land of better days
There may be twists and there may be turns
Beyond the land of diminishing returns
The land of diminishing returns
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2. |
The Bottomless Pit
03:33
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The Bottomless Pit
The world is big, but it don’t matter
Some folks just don’t fit
They stand and wait, accept their fate
And fall through the bottomless pit
They fall through the bottomless pit
There’s a man I know who’s a poet
Lives in a seaside town
He’s worked a thousand dead-end jobs
He's got one foot in the ground
Once he was a cutter
Another time a clerk
And his eyes are sad when he smiles
And when he cries they’re something worse
The world is big, but it don’t matter (chorus)
He’s got stories of his troubled past
And all the deals that never were
And the voyages he almost took
And the things of which he once was sure
He’s got a boy who runs ahead of us
Kicking up the sand
And he tells me of what he could do for him
If he only had one more chance
The world is big, but it don’t matter (chorus)
I went to one of his readings
Where peaks and valleys freeze
As if only the paper in his hand
Can bring him sweet relief
And, the next day someone asked me
Was his writing any good?
As if the only folks that matter are
The ones we say are the ones that should
The world is big, but I think it matters...
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3. |
Snake Oil
03:12
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Snake Oil
Back in western days
Travelin' town to town
Pitchmen set up around the dusty square
Shoutin’ out they’d found
The keys to eternal youth
A path to riches and fame
Their concoction sold like hotcakes
While the pitchmen slipped away
As the dreams of the town,
Crumbled all around
Snake oil, snake oil
There’s poison in our rivers
And it’s in the food we eat
One thing you can count on
History repeats
Fear is a mighty potion
It can make some folks look for blame
In their brothers and their sisters
While the pitchmen slip away
As the dreams of our town… (chorus)
Ohio to New Mexico
They swept across the land
Millions flocked to see ‘em
Give away what we had
As the dreams of our town…(chorus)
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4. |
Have it All
03:39
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Have it All
She’s got three names, but goes by Kim
Can’t resist any passing whim
Eyes of blue move while we talk
Already gone on another walk
No time to spare for wine and roses
Never stops, what if, supposes
Multitasking on the phone
In a crowd she stands alone, sometimes
When you have it all, you’ve got nothing
When you get it all you’re left without a thing
Sometimes when you have it all,
You’ve got nothing, have it all, have it all,
Let the bell ring -
Her father, he has shaky hands that
Give away the straight-laced company man
Twelve hour days working by the book
Comin’ home to a gated neighborhood
Living for the status show
Debts pile up like drifts of snow
Postponing his retirement
Until his soul is spent, sometimes
When you have it all, you’ve got nothing...
(chorus)
Dreams I have that don’t come true
Are easier to take when I’m on the move
I get things done, I kid myself
That I’m turning into someone else
It’s a scam she said with a laugh
While changing another photograph
Passing youth is a great big lie
When reckoning is undermined sometimes
When you have it all, you’ve got nothing
(chorus)
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5. |
Picture of the Soul
03:05
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Picture of The Soul
I remember when I awoke
To the mystery of life
My newborn son came to me
His eyes were open, I could plainly see
He was cast right out of time
From a place beyond my reason
He was young and somehow old
And there never will be a century
Where he will cease to be, he changed for me, my picture of the soul
My picture of the soul, my picture of the soul
It changed, changed, changed...
for the better
I traveled through the highlands
Over snow-capped mountain peaks
And the seaside port of Ullapool
With its ships and chips and quiet cool
Could not calm my dreams
So, I crossed the River Ness
And felt the pull of community
Friends of mine opened their homes
I was filled with warmth and yet still alone
Without the spirit of my family
My picture of the soul (chorus)
Some men talk of legacies
Like they were statues made of gold
If my son becomes who he’s meant to be
I’ll open the door and rest in peace
While monuments explode
There never was a time
He is young and somehow old
And there never will be a century
Where he will cease to be,
he changed for me, my picture of the soul (chorus)
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6. |
Watercolor Rose
04:38
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Watercolor Rose
The school bell rang
We headed home in a bang
Westward down Benton Avenue
Behind one house we passed
There was a narrow secret path
We all thought was cool
Leaves piled up by the curb
Begging do not disturb
Much too colorful to resist
We had to jump right in
Take the moment on a whim
Land gentle as an autumn mist
Moments like those, a watercolor rose
Ain't it funny what we remember?
When nights got long
There were summertime songs
Wiffle ball out in the street
Second base was a sidewalk crack
If you got to third you couldn't go back
The gravel dug beneath our feet
I see the sweat rolling down
From our legs to the ground
Mosquito bites up and down my arm
Screams and shouts
Until the very last out
And the sky filled up with stars (chorus)
I remember how you and I
Sat side by side
For the better part of a year
The teacher with his chalk
Scribblin’ as he talked about
William Shakespeare
It was a college class
I introduced myself at last
You rubbed your palms against your jeans
I knew right there and then
I'd like you even better when
I discovered what your secrets mean (chorus)
I see the sweat rolling down
Falling from my brow
Landing on your skin so soft and smooth
I hear the sirens as they wail
And quickly fade away
Down Ashland Avenue
Each drop contained my life
A polished pearl of time
I was hurrying so hard to catch up
With all the love you showed
And the art of letting go
That soon became enough
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Doug Hoekstra Nashville, Tennessee
Doug Hoekstra’s singular musical persona sets sympathetic narratives against understated vocals, memorable melodies, and subtle but unexpected arrangement turns. His albums have earned Nashville Music Award and Independent Music Award nominations, a bevy of top 10 list appearances, and a reputation as a “songwriter’s songwriter” (CMJ Music Monthly). "The Day Deserved" due out Spring 2021 ... more
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