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The Comets Swish Their Tails

by Kim Simpson

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1.
Night Swirls In 03:04
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Open up the latches Slide the window high The night swirls in Your surrender and you sigh It’s kissing your forehead Caressing your hands Whispering suggestions But making no demands Draw back the curtains Blow the candle out The night swirls in And makes your senses shout Hear the starlit music Taste the drunken air Breathe in the promise Of something waiting for you there Nighttime in your bloodstream Nighttime without end Over and over and over and over And over and over and over and over again Nighttime every season Nighttime now as then Over and over and over and over And over and over and over and over again So open up that window Feel the temperature rise The night swirls in And plays tricks with your eyes You'll see things that are long gone But always around Things you only notice After the sun’s gone down
2.
By Lake Kavano 03:07
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By Lake Kavano We play our cans and cases By Lake Kavano We strum our long shoelaces Fisherman cuts a shape inside the red sun Mama crab and her children take a beach run We’ll be smiling and splashing til the moon shines Gathering all the laughter we can find By Lake Kavano We take our easy paces By Lake Kavano We show our fearless faces No man’s hands can stop the waves a swishing No words can kill the wishes we keep wishing We dance and sing and sail like the sky breeze Living our Kavano lives just as we please
3.
Medicine Song 02:43
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Old sick Ted Confined to his bed Disease running through his body and his head But the woman down the lane Gathered up some cane And mixed up a medicine that killed all the pain That’s why Ted is still with us today We won't be losing him until He’s a hundred and twenty-eight Great Aunt Marie A lively one, she But the years made it hard for the dear one to breathe But the huasache had power With its bark and flower To give her new life And make the sickness cower And that’s why Marie is still with us today We won't be losing her until She’s a hundred and twenty-eight Let’s sing of Mr. Hayes Who spends all his days Out in the sun where the rattler plays But would you believe The ash tree leaves That he shoves in his boots Keep him snake bite free? And that’s why Mr. Hayes is still with us today We won't be losing him until He’s a hundred and twenty-eight And that’s why they’re all still with us today We won't be losing them until They’re a hundred and twenty-eight
4.
Praying to the Angel of Time 03:54
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Watching the sand pass Straight through the hourglass Praying to the angel of time And when it ends Flip it over again Praying to the angel of time Listening to the ocean laugh As the clouds take their funny shapes Changing colors with the sky As the sorcerers flash their magic capes Feeling no fear As the future draws near Praying to the angel of time Just cast an eye On the moons that wave goodbye Praying to the angel of time Listening to the ocean laugh As the clouds take their funny shapes Changing colors with the sky As the sorcerers flash their magic capes Seconds, minutes, hours and days Hear them go by as you pray, as you pray Weeks, then months, then years pass away Hear them go by as you pray, as you pray
5.
Ether 03:07
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When I went into the ether for the first time I mistook if for a hidden cathedral Where twisted, fissured glass Brandished sunrays sharp with Crimsons, royals, imperials, In shapes with names unchosen, Etching arcane text on skin. The next time I entered the ether’s depths, I confused them for ancient museums Preserved from esoteric eras For which those undulating volumes of Interpretive words beside them could never suffice. When I slipped through The ether’s shadowed portal For one last look, For the sake of understanding, I had come to lift a glass And to praise divine diffusion As the glory of this polychrome byzantium, But then I stayed, Forever stayed.
6.
Gray Wolf at War 02:51
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Gray Wolf at War So named for inner battles Strained and troubled Should he live for peace Or should he fight until His world would turn to rubble Because anger pierced his tired ears And evil burned into his vision daily And he decided that a life of strict serenity Would keep himself from ailing Gray Wolf at War Heard his brothers’ voices Urging him to join them Praising the damage His long teeth could do and Urging him to use them Some days he would ask himself If life on this earth only led toward violence Yes, he had decided Before pledging once again to peace and silence Gray Wolf at War Almost changed his ways one day When his heart felt colder Right at that moment A monarch butterfly landed on his shoulder Riding on his simple raft And listening to the river gently lapping If his troubled thoughts were wind Then such an omen never could have happened
7.
Blueberry Forest 02:26
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8.
Lost Winter Song 03:02
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Late one December in faraway snow I followed a trail to a candlelit show Where a chorus of singers in handcrafted red Sang this refrain twirling round in my head Ting rah sha zay ree yah zon Ting rah sha zay ree lime I sing this melody Through all the changes of time In this dark forest the music shone bright Like a strange star in the fog-covered night Twelve mandolins with their shimmering strings Strummed like the joyous dove's fluttering wings Ting rah sha zay ree yah zon Ting rah sha zay ree lime I sing this melody Through all the changes of time The wonder of magic is how soon it's lost The words of those singers have gone like spring frost But the music still dances insistently on So I sing these words now for this lost winter song Ting rah sha zay ree yah zon Ting rah sha zay ree lime I sing this melody Through all the changes of time
9.
Winter War 02:59
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Who made the icy roads that threw our foes off track It was the clever farmer and the hearty lumberjack Brothers we can all rest assured now The battle's gonna rage One more day Vandals might trespass but they'll know not where to go And when they search for us they'll vanish in the snow Brothers we can all rest assured now The battle's gonna rage One more day When the waters freeze, Hidden flames will flare up from the land of the dead When the waters melt The dams will burst and the rivers will surge Over their heads Let's extend an icy hand out to our enemies Greet them with bottles full of prime tenacity Brothers we can all rest assured now The battle's gonna rage One more day One more day One more day...
10.
Watching the Waltzing Matildas 03:07
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Watching the waltzing Matildas Glide toward acclaim and renown See them advance and then pass by Dancing every barrier down Every performance is a glittering gem Dancing in fairy tales is not a dream But real life for them Watching the waltzing Matildas Glide toward acclaim and renown Watching the waltzing Matildas Dance with no ending in sight See them advance and then pass by Their entourages excite Sometimes their partners will fall down or quit Having contributed and sacrificed their own little bit Watching the waltzing Matildas Dance with no ending in sight Watching the waltzing Matildas Push toward the biggest dance of all See them advance and then pass by Blazing through ball after ball Some mystery choreography or mystery song Will someday define and justify them before long Watching the waltzing Matildas Push toward the biggest dance of all Move toward the biggest dance of all Dance toward the biggest dance of all
11.
Levels of Blue 02:49
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I’ve been going through All the levels of blue Trying to figure out how I lost hold of you From way up high At the end of the sky Where every drifting light disappears from view To where the clouds kiss the sand And all the laughing gulls cry And where the drowning sun Flashes its fire in my eyes I’ve been going through All the levels of blue Wondering if you’ll forever trouble all my thoughts From where the tide Takes my memories for a ride Then scatters them all across the jagged rocks To where the angriest waves snap And ocean winds blow Out where warning signs Forbid all sane men to go I’ve been going through All the levels of blue Trying to figure out how I lost hold of you…
12.
Starlight Tune 02:56
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The story starts when you drift apart From the land you’ve always known You build a boat and sing hopeful notes For a saga that’s all your own All of your days are leading up somewhere Undeniably glorious The stars all sing for your every adventure In a radiant chorus You dash and crawl and you rise and fall And your face is ever brave Your sea dog friends are yours till the end On your every escapade All of your days are leading up somewhere Undeniably glorious The stars all sing for your every adventure In a radiant chorus Here’s a tune for the silver moon And the ever changing tide For crashing waves and unlikely saves And the self-made ship you ride All of your days are leading up somewhere Undeniably glorious The stars all sing for your every adventure In a radiant chorus
13.
Starling 02:41
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One shiny starling Flew straight toward me As I languished lost In my own reverie It tarried then carried on And now I sing this fragile song Of moments once here, now gone One shiny starling With colors bright and bold How dare the likes of me Such beauty behold? Yet this vision sent to me Is one I'll guard jealously Heartbroken though I may be One shiny starling The finest bird I saw Taught me how the present is A most divine law How individuality The features of one entity-- Give glory to plurality
14.
The Comets Swish Their Tails 04:46
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Have you ever slipped and fallen up Drifted off to gaze at what lies Beyond the city view The star patterns known by you How they glitter as they gather you How they beckon you to travel And set your dreamy sails To where the comets swish their tails But as your own planet fights Through its circular flight You’re awake through the night Stars sparkle by chance You fall into a trance As the galaxies dance Have you ever lay your head down And as the cosmos swirled around You heard the clock unwind In some exotic time And the music in your ears Became the rhythms of the spheres Orbiting through your thoughts Connecting distant dots But as your own planet fights Through its circular flight You’re awake through the night Stars sparkle by chance You fall into a trance As the galaxies dance
15.
A Morelia 00:59
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Fifteen lyrical folk songs driven by acoustic guitar and sky omens

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released January 11, 2019

Mastered by Cris Burns at Ameripolitan Studios.

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Kim Simpson Austin, Texas

Kim Simpson is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, author and radio host who lives in Austin, Texas.

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