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Way In Between

by Nic Arp

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1.
I am graying at the temples I am fraying at the seams I’ve lost all my ambition But I’m hanging on to my dreams I’m staying with the simple The way in between Just graying at the temples And fraying at the seams Just graying at the temples And fraying at the seams I’ve been to see Mendocino Been ‘round to New Mexico I’ve been up to where the Wapsi And that wild Maquoketa Flow From the cornfields to the redwoods The Puget mudflats in the bay From cathedrals to the Deadwood I’ve been lost and found my way From cathedrals to the Deadwood I’ve been lost and found my way I have slept by your freeways I’m always just passing through And I have seen all the blue lights Flicker in your living rooms I have walked on your shoulders I have sat in your cars From Cheyenne down to Boulder I’ve driven under your stars From Cheyenne down to Boulder I’ve driven under your stars I’ve been up to Sebago Down to New York City too And I ain’t never seen nothin’ That we wouldn’t do So I am praying at the temples Just hoping we can be redeemed For all our strip-mine transgressions And all our stripped-naked greed For all our strip-mine transgressions And all our stripped-naked greed Yes I am graying at the temples I am fraying at the seams I’m staying with the simple The way in between I’ve lost all my ambition But I’m hanging on to my dreams Just graying at the temples And fraying at the seams...
2.
Flyover 04:10
Go on and fly over, fly over And when you touch down I hope you’ve found your home Go on and fly over, fly over We’ll be in this town On hallowed ground, our home From thirty thousand feet above It’s hard for you to feel the love That lifts us up and binds us to this ground From your business class window seat It’s hard for you to feel the beat That gets us up and lets us dance around Go on and fly over, fly over And when you touch down I hope you’ve found your home Go on and fly over, fly over We’ll be in this town On hallowed ground, our home From your McDonnell-Douglas airplane It’s hard to hear the sweet refrain Of the songs we sing on these long and winding roads While you read your complimentary in-flight screen It’s hard for you to imagine a scene Down here where life is not measured out in gold You wouldn’t live here if they paid you to You wouldn’t live here, no sirree You wouldn’t do the things that these people do You wouldn’t live here if they paid you to So go on and fly over, fly over And when you touch down I hope you’ve found your home Go on and fly over, fly over We’ll be in this town On this hallowed ground, our home Go on and fly over, fly over And when you touch down I hope you’ve found your home
3.
I set out to get lost on this beautiful morning I set out to see if I could find my way I don’t think that I could really get too far I might already be there anyway But these wheels go round and round They’ve got a mind all of their own And I’m driving Out on Sugar Bottom Road Out on Sugar Bottom Road I’ve got a symphony blasting on my stereo Mahler’s Third is calling forth the spring The cellos thrum and the violins are rising Cymbals crash, and all the choirs sing And then everything is still And a distant trumpet blows And I’m driving Out on Sugar Bottom Road Out on Sugar Bottom Road There was a party out at the old threshing house Some couldn’t make it but some made it through to the light Now everyone is back in town for the wedding This flame is gonna burn one last time tonight This fire, she just burns And this river, she just flows And I’m driving Out on Sugar Bottom Road Out on Sugar Bottom Road The banished one is dancing on the sunrise I catch glimpses through the naked trees She has come to bring us a new season We just have to shake off one last freeze And this wheel goes round and round It’s got a mind all of its own And this river she just flows And I believe I’m heading home And I’m driving Out on Sugar Bottom Road Out on Sugar Bottom Road
4.
Hey you birds of the morning Stop your mocking me I resent your eagerness to greet the day I just gotta get a little bit of sleep But oh you money worries Oh you lover worries Oh you day job worries Won’t let me be Hey you mourning dove I appreciate your sympathy I too dream of a sweet sweet love She would lie right here by me But now it's oh you money worries Oh you lover worries All of you day job worries Please just let me sleep I don’t need you knocking all around my room Scratching at my windowpane Whispering intimations of doom To come my way But now it's oh you money worries Oh you lover worries All of you day job worries Please just let me sleep I don’t need you knocking all around my room Scratching at my windowpane Whispering intimations of doom To come my way I don’t need you knocking all around my room Scratching at my windowpane Whispering intimations of doom To come my way Hey you mourning dove
5.
I got loose ends, I’m ragged and tattered Loose ends, I’m beaten and battered I got loose ends all flappin’ in the wind I got loose ends, my plans are shattered Loose ends, my hopes are all scattered I got loose ends, I’m flappin’ in the wind I’m all broke down like a dusty old road Broke down, I can’t carry this load And them sad old bloodhounds is nippin’ at my heels I’m all broke down like a rusty old truck Broke down, could you lend me a buck? ‘Cause I ain’t got nothin’ and I’m too tired to ste al I got too much week, not enough end Too much old, not enough friend Too much down, not enough time Too many reasons and not enough rhyme Too many reasons and not enough rhyme I’m all tore up like a stack of bills Tore up, I think I’ve had my had fill But when I speak my mind it comes out like a joke I’m all tore up and knocked around Tore up on the cold cold ground And that burnin’ fire ain’t nothing but a bunch of smoke Me and my girl, we shook our stuff Me and my girl, we couldn’t get enough Man, it’s been a long time since I danced like that Me and my girl went up to the show Me and my girl, we got laid down low Man, it’s been a long time since I danced like that I got too much week, not enough end Too much old, not enough friend Too much down, not enough time Too many reasons and not enough rhyme Too many reasons and not enough rhyme Too many reasons and not enough rhyme
6.
Backup 03:53
Let me be your backup, let me be the one You can fall back on, when you need someone Let me be your backup, let me be the one You can fall back on, when you leave someone I stay on the sidelines, I’m out of the limelight I’m an understudy, I’m an understudy I stay on the sidelines, I’m out of the limelight I’m an understudy, I’m an understudy I think I could rock this part I know every line by heart You just tell me when to start And I’ll shine I could be your key grip, I could be your gaffer I could be your best boy, I could be your best boy I could be your key grip, I could be your gaffer I can be your best boy, I will be your best boy I think I could nail this part I know every scene by heart You just tell me when to start And I’ll shine Let me be your backup, let me be the one You can fall back on When you need someone Let me be your backup, let me be the one You can fall back on When you leave someone
7.
If you bury me Won’t you make it good and deep And scatter through this dusty world The things I cannot keep And if you burn my body Won’t you make my fire hot And let my sparks go flying ‘round The dreams that I forgot I’m already home I’m already up and gone She talks to goats, she gathers scraps That’s how she spends her days She carries cans of chicken scratch And snoozes in the hay And after all these 80 years She’s still amazed by the sky She beams just like a little girl Staring up into God’s eye She’s already home She’s already up and gone The day my daddy died We all gathered ‘round It was just like watching A feather settle down His hands and dreams grew icy cold It was time for him to rise When the moment finally came He opened up his eyes He’s already home He’s already up and gone Miss Emily A. Brown Was born in 1844 She died in ‘65 Just 21 years old I walked across her grave one day I was on my way to work They had carved two roses in her stone I brushed away the dirt So if you bury me Won’t you make it good and deep And scatter through this dusty world The things I cannot keep And if you burn my body Won’t you make my fire hot And let my sparks go flying ‘round The dreams that we forgot We're all already home We're already up and gone We’re all already home We’re already up and gone
8.
If you were a blackbird and you came to me to sing I would not shut the window on your wings You would reassure me of the coming of the spring Kiss my eyes and wash away the sting I can fly away You remind me I can fly away If you were a sparrow and you came to me to speak I would not shush your words or shut your beak You would take me by the fist, we’d flit along the creek We would sing the harmonies we seek I can fly away You remind me I can fly away If you flew into my room like some Gitche Gumee loon I would let you croon your goofy tune You would tell me secrets like some kind of spooky rune We would dance and cackle at the moon I can fly away You remind me I can fly away I can fly away You remind me I can fly away
9.
Far be it from me to ask you to bite the bullet That’d only bust your teeth out real slow Far be it from me to load you down and ask you to pull it Oh, far be it from me Far be it from me to try to light a fire under you That’d only burn your mind out, yes I know Far be it from me to ask you to figure out just what the hell are you doing Oh, far be it from me It’s time for you to be a total flake, you see Idealistic, take your cake and eat it too A starry-eyed, utopian, unrealistic dreamer Oh honey, well don’t let me wake you Far be it from me to try to put your feet back on the ground That would sink you into quicksand real slow Far be it from me to try to pull your head out of the clouds Oh, far be it from me And when it feels this world is just a bit too real And the carrion crow cackles in the tree And your soul is being offered up in some evil-hearted sacrifice Oh, far be it from me
10.
I really don’t know And you don’t either I got no idea And that’s all right by me All I really know The only thing I believe in I stand by my brother and he gonna stand by me There’s too many answers There’s too much truth There’s too much logic And there’s too much proof There’s too many scriptures There’s too many absolutes There’s too many answers And there’s too much proof I really don’t know And you don’t either I got no idea And that’s all right by me All I really know The only thing I believe in I stand by my sister and she gonna stand by me I suppose it could be But then again maybe not I remember knowing once for sure But then I forgot I could give it my best guess I could give it a shot I suppose it could be But then again maybe not All I really know The only thing I believe in I stand by my sister and she gonna stand by me All I really know The only thing I believe in I stand by good people and you all are gonna stand by me

credits

released April 20, 2018

All songs written by Nic Arp.

Nic Arp—songwriter, vox, guitar
Matt Bernemann—drums, percussion
Jennifer Horn-Frasier—bass, vox
Dave Rosazza--lead guitar, vox
Sean Seaton—keys

Produced by Sean Seaton and the Nic Arp Band.
Recorded at Flat Black Studio by Luke Tweedy.
Mixed by Luke Tweedy.
Mastered at Shy Diamond by Todd Rittman.

Photography: Jill Tobin
Design: Danette Angerer

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Nic Arp Iowa City, Iowa

Nic Arp writes songs, and then he sings them. Other people write songs, and he sings those, too. He lives in Iowa City, where he plays with kind and talented musicians.

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