Ezra Bell Sing Along Set List and Lyrics 01/24/25

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1. his first and last sounds

when I dream in color, I only see you

marching off in the dark where for me that there's no room

your eyes crystal clear in that odd shade of blue 

cast on your handsome young somebody new.

you held her hands while my mother laid dying,

we spent our nights in emergency rooms

I clap my hands for that new one you're trying with some other version of you.

we will not rest we will pound on our chests till that God awful tyrants replaced,

oh look at that they must point they must laugh them whom own every dog in the race.

talked to my brother once more for he drowned 

yes, he spoke of you fondly so in love with a clown.

I chuckled and told him about the new one you'd found.

oh A laugh and his rattle his first and last sounds. 

we will not rest, we will pound on our chests 

til that god-awful tyrants replaced.

Oh look at that we will point we will laugh 

we whom own every dog in the race.

when I dream in color I only see you

marching off in the dark where for me there's no room

your eyes crystal in that odd shade of blue

cast on your handsome young somebody new.

2. Tommy's lullaby

Now now, 

down by the water where no one but you and God are there

for one more look at Spring you're standing there

and you'll point toward your triumphs in your corner of the lions den

Where you pitied, and you pondered, and you prayed

and you'll point to where your women sleep

as softly as their skin is deep

Where you gambled and you garnered and you gave

Neeth the long dark cloak of night

it strokes its beard and he smokes his pipe

and has a laugh with all the sinners and the saints

Ha ha ha ha ha

He says every night you sing to me 

of things you want or think you need 

but never do you call me just to listen

Now I've said before to such as thee 

to Adam ‘pon the wings of Eve

a love like ours is better from a distance

Oh love like ours 

Oh love like ours 

Oh love like ours is better from a distance

x3 

3. A serenade for Kathy

How your breath was blind when you climbed into the water 

and you swear you saw your dead mother's face 

she looked right back at you and didn't even smile 

neither offering you acknowledgement or praise

and I don't know the outcome 

but I am sure it won't be good

how could it be when it never is 

your little prince could be promoted 

and you wouldn't even notice 

but I can tell you this

I don't want to hear your reasons

I have no interest in your plans

this thing of ours that you are leaving 

I will see through till the end.

Count the cigarette butts on the doorstep

the poems unread on the chair 

the portraits you glare at and no one to dance with 

a closet of clothes you don't wear 

but I'd be caught dead in your skin 

I'd offer you wagers I know I can't win 

while I know you're too wise to be ever convinced

I love you I love you I swear 

I don't want to hear your reasons 

I have no interest in your plans 

this thing of ours that you are leaving

I would see through to the end

Now don't act all embarrassed or say that you're sorry 

save your thin moral stance

act like some parrot and go and join the army 

fuck it, go and join the army with them

whoa oh oh 

if it be my lot to be used and forgot, I accept I accept I accept 

if it be my lot to be bled then forgot, I accept I accept I accept

and I don't want to hear your reasons

I have no interest in your plans

4. ELIZABETH COLE

so long was our battle cry as we spilled into the streets 

fuck those people and their children 

how our mood was one so sweet 

and we cold called our mothers while we waited for the train 

but for Cleveland he sat silent no cell service from the grave

Now there were 14 stops to prenzlau and our worries a bag 

we had books inside our pockets and the princely gift of gab 

there were women on verandas 

whom we'd never come to know 

gum adorned the seat backs 

and your fears laughed at our hopes

Off to the right met dawn's arrival 

to the left coattails of night 

we were young and brash 

We didn't even speak the language 

in our pasts were useless memories good for nothing but to spite 

and the ride was short and painless 

and we shunned the cost of living 

by stealing every heart behind your 

former Middle School on every Ides of March 

and while they'd have you think 

the glory days are everyone's but ours 

I assure you I assure you I implore you that they arn’t 

oh I assure you I assure you I implore you that they aren't

5. go with god

well lately I've been picking up them pieces 

oh the pieces that I've been keeping for myself 

for no one could love you if they knew your secrets 

well baby there's no danger I would ever tell 

but I once had a threesome with two sisters 

well what a thrill to disappoint them both 

they'll tie you up and find out how your wits work 

and you'll awake with that neck tie around your throat 

well I dare say we would not stay if the walls here were not so large 

baby best to go with god or with someone who has a car 

and I dare say we won't delay we're going to get out while we can 

we're going to bed with every woman and win fist fights with every man

I try my best to keep them bad guys blinking 

well honey you go pick their pockets with your smile 

if we could go one two days without drinking 

and lay around like dusty bricks upon the pire 

well I dare say we would not stay

if the walls here were not so large 

baby best to go with God or with someone who has a car 

and I dare say we won't delay

we're going to get out while we can 

we're gonna bed with every woman 

and win fist fights with every man

stick, stick and move

6. the girl in the polka dot dress

that night in cold colorado 

you told me more than you ought to

and I drank the nectar but not from the bottle 

the dazzling glow of your eyes 

you held my hand on the swing set 

kind of treatment that Kings get 

you told me act more and think less or lonely is all that I'd find 

oh come on now honey and put down your books 

let's go out for a while and get by on your looks 

hang the keys to our heart somewhere high on a hook 

ain't no ladder been built yet can reach

what do deserve all the roses 

perched there in elegant poses 

a good man who's lucky and knows it 

who is handsome and charming and kind 

when I come  back from the brink 

that poor man's station will sink 

he'll become wretched as me 

one can borrow but can't keep what's mine 

come on now honey and put down your books 

let's go out for a while and get by on your looks 

hang the keys to our heart somewhere high on a hook 

ain't no ladder been built yet can reach 

come on now honey and put down your books 

let's go out for a while and get by on your looks 

hang the keys to our heart somewhere high on a hook 

ain't no ladder yet built yet can reach

7. yawning at the seance

how the bridge fell away and we both felt so betrayed 

when the cold water touched my face it was enough 

now the chill up your spine when you wear your bedroom eyes 

but the arm around you isn't mine it is enough

I hear the sound of the shore 

the waves retreat beats out a score 

but I ain't listening anymore it is enough 

when the howls in your home 

call for things you can't condone 

you might be better off alone it is enough 

oh honey when I used to write about the future every night 

I was dreaming of a lover just like you 

my lover come and gone through the chances I have blown 

and the vision that is vanished from view

8. ode to victoria

now forgive me little one I never quite learned how 

the emotional progression of a love song sounds 

and all my inclinations go the wrong way round unh ha

on the 7th of december is when you found your feet 

turning pirouettes on the downtown streets 

and your bed is where the heavens and the whorehouse meet unh ha

and you look so good on paper 

you got that perfect skin 

but you do yourself no favors when you stretch yourself so thin 

death near has its boots on and when it finally does 

it may come for them but it will never come for us 

no never come for us 

oh never come for us

and I believe I'll win you 

and put you in your place 

with a cat in every window and a cake on every plate 

and your syphilitic hipster bums cry no no 

and they turn left at the bedroom and they wake up in their clothes

while everyone's in hiding we should quit our jobs 

and when they say that you'll be sorry we’ll say say no more 

you live your safe and happy life behind your concrete door 

fuck off 

but if we're going to make it to the hour of nine 

we'll need a dozen cigarettes and a gallon of wine 

a seat before the ocean with the mountains behind 

fuck off

well you look so good on paper 

you got that perfect skin 

but you do yourself no favors when you stretch yourself so thin 

death near has his boots on little knowns we can't be killed 

not by fire not by loneliness nor throbbing pangs of guilt 

no throbbing pangs of guilt 

oh oh no throbbing pangs of guilt

and I believe I'll win you and I will make you mine 

with a duffel bag of money and a bathtub full of wine 

and your syphilitic hipster bums cry no no no 

they turn left at the bedroom and they wake up in their clothes 

now I believe I'd win you if I could beat myself

while dusty rows of Kerouac grow spiders on my shelf

and I borrowed all the bibles from everyone I know 

and I wipe my boots and I read and root for that poor defenseless job 

yes I wipe my boots and I read and root for that poor defenseless job

9. eva

Now on the night of Andrew's wedding

Just the two of us awake

On the porch there in our sleeping bags

We were the only ones with taste

And the moon came through the clouds

And fell angelic on your face

And for the first time I felt I'd found my place

And I recalled it's not promised us at all

I take my pen and tag the tune

Remembering what was said to whom

Remembering where was harm to one

Write it in that golden dust

Where not a speech was worth the words

Till the wine and moon emerged

Where nothing said was said enough

Till silence fell we'd said too much

On the night of Andrew's funeral

Just the two of us asleep

For it made no sense in arguing

With the sharpening of teeth

And death with wild hair he came marching up the street

In his mouth was chewing diamonds with a tiger by its feet

And I recall how that comes for us all

I take my pen and tag the tune

Remembering what was said to whom

Remembering where was harm to one

Write it in that golden dust

Where not a speech was spread the words

Till the wine and moon emerged

Where nothing said was said enough

Till silence fell we'd said too much

I take my pen and paint the tune

Remembering what was said to whom

Remembering where was harm to one

Write it in that golden dust

Where not a speech was spread the words

Till the wine and moon emerged

Where nothing said was said enough

Till silence fell we'd said too

Till silence fell we'd said too

10. the 5-year binge

I've heard how you cough in the morning 

I've been through the trash in your car 

I know how you wait in the closet all day just to get yourself back to the bar 

looking for hints from the waitress 

tapping your toes pretty hard 

now you're alone honey turn off your phone in case anyone asks where you are 

I want to take you somewhere and make you

love me again 

we'll get a room where it's hot and it's humid 

will sweat and will sink or will swim 

maybe we'll manage to undo the damage and make over every inch 

maybe I'll lie in your bed and just cry I'm sorry I'm sorry you win

11. Tanner Thorne

That  laugh when you lie Ain't much of a disguise

I know cause you learned that from me

The pull of the strings is an unfortunate thing

And one can't help but go where they lead

And though you said it would plague you No more, No more

But who are you kidding, I've been through your drawers oh

The vintage you wore to the feast

Smelled the scent from your pores

Sleep, score, and repeat

Sleep, score, and repeat

Whole world waiting by the floor to feed yeah

And for some time The only thing that really mattered

Was getting by Well enough to climb that ladder

You'll meet no dreams there No earthly forms

Where the men have killed the men

And the women have made no more

The women have made no more

I've seen the scars on your wrist

I know that you thought we'd do better than this

Though you're not really sure how we can

When you spent the whole day fucking head in your hands

For we lie and we backstabbed from Fresno to Flagstaff

slipped and we slept on floors that we swept we

Earned a bad rap And clung to the abstract

When everything else seemed a threat

When everything else seemed a threat

(This is as good as it gets)

And for some time The only thing that really mattered

Was getting by Well enough to climb that ladder

You'll meet no dreams there 

No earthly forms

Where the men have killed the men

And the women have made no more

The women have made no more

And for some time

The only thing that's really mattered

Was getting by

Well enough to climb that ladder

You'll meet no dreams there

Reap no rewards

And sometimes I see flowers

But most times just the thorns

But most times just the thorns 

12. they think we're stupid

when I was young I follow blindly 

I was oh so scared to go alone 

but I've been gone for years and no one has tried to find me 

I was up all night listening for the call 

I always knew there was something wrong with my love 

I always knew there was something wrong with me 

of all the ones who tried to tell me that I was crazy 

darling your the first one that I believed

come lay beside me and I will keep you safe 

there's no shame to say you're scared 

when we are all we are all we are all afraid

when you wake up screaming in the night

from all those bad dreams were the pretty creatures bite 

and you catch your breath and fall right back  asleep 

for we sign cease fires but they're never will be peace

come lay beside me and I will keep you safe 

it's no shame to say you're scared when we are all afraid 

look me in the eye and lay beside me 

and we will share the weight 

it's no shame to say you're scared 

when we are we are all we are all afraid

13. Tourists

I felt it in the forest back when I was just a tourist

Laughing at the cities made of glass

You down by the stream with your million-dollar dream

Only two bucks left for gas

And your limbs like cardboard

Warm, all wrapped around me and

You wore my favorite see-through dress

But you gotta wait for now, child

Look outside it is Monday morning

Gotta put on your face and get you dressed

Down in the sand where we planned and we planned

To give the great unwashed a bath

All those years ago love before we come to know that

We'd only smell like shit ourselves

And your limbs like cardboard

Warm, all wrapped around me and

You wore my favorite see-through dress

But you gotta wait for now, child

Look outside it is Monday morning

Gotta put on your face and get you dressed

And it ain't fair that I wait here

But you're so good at making money

Honey I will be with you there in spirit

Oh somewhere there's a jem where all the mice behave like men

But they, they would never let us a near it

It ain't fair that I wait here

But you're so good at making money

Honey I will be with you there in spirit

Oh somewhere there's a gem where all the mice behave like men

But they, they would never let us near it

Oh I felt it in the forest back when I was just a tourist

Laughing at the cities made of glass

You down by the stream with your million-dollar dream

Only two bucks left for gas

14. A very thin thread (100 miles)

Fair fair halos flying the mountains up ahead 

cloak their crowns January whites

Some say it's magic I would say that's just a guess

Conjured up to calm you while you hike 

One hundred miles a hundred miles

Daylight bricks and Dusty piles

We go up and down the aisles a hundred miles

Fourteen pharaohs lure the lamb into the cave

Turned deaf and dumb to questions as to why

Say lambs like lions if they do not misbehave

Who walk the greenest pastures when they die

One hundred miles a hundred miles

Daylight bricks and dusty piles

We go up and down the aisles a hundred miles

Someone smiles when they call your name

And they convince you for a second you were not to blame

You feel all shiny in your rusty frame one hundred miles

Oh poor old Gary wore his share of fiery moods

He kissed that serpent one too many times (Too many times)

He don't know reason he don't care for what is true

Darkness is much easier on the eyes

One hundred miles a hundred miles 

daylight bricks and dusty piles

We go up and down the aisles a hundred miles

Someone smiles when they call your name

And they convince you for a second you were not to blame

You feel all shiny in your rusty frame one hundred miles

15. the (only) ballerina from tennessee

Anytime that we catch a break

We'll wait for the gods to realize their mistake

And I'll pray with you dear with our impotent words

In darkened rooms where only candle lights concern

No one has held me like you have

I could have died in your arms

Do you know how it felt having no way to help

When you won't even tell me what's wrong

What I replied post reflection

What I said in response

There are things in my head, in my heart, in my bed, nothing nobody ever should want

And I know what it's like when your man's always drunk

Brings nothing nice with him when he does come home

And we move through rooms like some little kids

To afraid to ask for things they might not wish to give

No one has held me like you have

I could have died in your arms

Do you know how it felt having no way to help

When you won't even tell me what's wrong

What I replied post reflection

What I said in response

There are things in my head, in my heart, in my bed, nothing nobody ever should want

16. gently chiding veronica

I can recall you standing tall

A man in all his glory gazing

at them puddles painting rainbows

In the sunlight on the pavement

In the blackness where your accent

Sent me softly into dreaming

Over bends and home again only to turn up in between them

And them speakers shout me greetings

They shout me revelations

Where them villains wind up dancing

And their fans come spend their pay checks

And we and we danced around the ramps And down 

bridges where the anthems sound

Tricksters and the tramps abound

Cheaters as the champs are crowned

You take your chances while the sun might sets

No matter how ferocious the gunfight gets

The promised land I hear is here and near and one ride west

I hadn't had time to take but when the blood dries, let's

If you did not believe in all these 

silly little things you do

You might not feel that melancholy 

When they turn out to not be true

But who's to say what's true and what isn't

He says she says that it's not you

Me oh my good God good riddance

What a nice neat bloodless coup

And you've been praying with dirty fingers

It's a wonder you can pray at 

all till Nighttime comes to cross the vineyard

And it's a wonder I should think so small

And there she goes my moonlight daughter

Bare skin brushing up against the rows

Sometimes she sings tunes I taught her

Sometimes she don't use words at all

You get what you get and you don't throw a fit

You take what you make

And don't tell no one shit

You get what you get and you don't throw a fit

You take what you make

And don't tell no one shit

You get what you get and you don't throw a fit

You take what you make

17. Dear old dad

Good old dad, he showed his hand

He poured his drink on the carpet

And outside I was watching the fireworks

Burn out above like a card trick

And when we slept you left your bed

And ran to the arms of a grown man

And all that night you left your light in

The back of Vanessa Martin's mom's van

And you still just borrow what you cannot steal

You will ask what isn't owed

When you find out that none of that is real

Come back and dance the night away in dirty clothes

One by one we all moved on

While you just clung to your childhood

And all that shame you prick your veins with

Will never love you like I do

Someone stands to hold your hand

Oh, down there deep in the barroom

All the night look left and right

Love, tell me, tell me, where are you?

And you still just borrow what you cannot steal

You will ask what isn't owed

When you find out that none of that is real

Come back and dance the night away in dirty clothes

18. Junk food chimney 

I could be happy if I died today

If I go on living I will try and do the same

And all of our old quarrels may swing down soon

They are calling from the rafters, thei clarity a fluke

But for now, let's make love with the lights on

And I won't wonder where you have been nor with whom

The pictures of your saints hanging crooked from the drywall

The body of the goddess in your thin red shoes

And none need understand all the reasons we have come here

But as the days grow shorter they may have their say

Look me in the eyes before they do, little darling

I would be happy if I died today

You left your earrings on the nightstand

 you left your bike marks in the bed 

you left your baby in the garden 

the roots of roses hold her head

What was one more sin

19. I love you too

Comes to that part of the evening

When there's nobody left to impress

You sit by yourself in the corner

Pat your pockets to see just what's left

All of the lovers have moved on

But yours is the steepest of hills

And you glare at yourself in the mirror

They all know things that you never will

They'll feel the things you can't access

As they stand by the river at dawn

You've grown older and cagey and classless

And regret just what little you've done

Here is the thing you should cling to

For a grin as you gather your strength

And you drag yourself out of the corner

This is the picture you paint

You were good, you were strong, you were handsome

Yes we all say to God what a gift

And we share in the gloom when you slip from the room

 with that smile we've so sorely missed

You'll remember that night in the orchard

Barefoot with breath in your lungs

And you said all these trees came from such tiny seeds

And you held out your arms as you spun

Like a dervish, a dancer, a dreamer my friend

You're as beautiful now as I thought you were then

And I want you to know that I love you

I want you to know that I love you

I want you to know that I love you

Don't make me say it again

No don't make me say it again

I love you

I love you

I love you

Don't make me say it again