Itasca - "Imitation of War" (Official Video)
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stillness in the rye field
except the peaks of the grass
I’m taking my break under the sun
I’m laying back under the silk tree
close my eyes I dream
the misty castle green
tower in the trees
I dreamt of genevieve
the myth in the mirror’s gleam
and I leave her behind
as the shade rolls in
and my tears turn
to feed the chrysalis
in the tree beside
hours in the day
I am footsteps on the ridge
I’m piling my sand
remembering your face
in Orion
I’m on the plateau with my muse
he acts the wise woman’s keys
laughing in the breeze
and I begin to explain
friar’s lantern on the wall
candle flames like headlights
in the glass
coming down
from the furthest pass
the sweet essence
of the time I left
hours in the day
I am footsteps on the ridge
I’m piling my sand
remembering your face
in Orion
and I begin to cross
the plain in its flood
with my walking stick
I check the depths of
my grief, standing as water
I must dive down
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2. |
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chasing the next
the plateau there and
the rain it falls careless
on the oil I’m painting
and I’m crying to catch her
the line that I’ve tethered here
she’s fleeing the judgment
in a careless rain
and her muse’s crown on my head
stings like a tear
Was it a snare set by the devil?
then I fell right in
or I was a saint
there on the chapel font
in this Imitation of War
I was outside
watching the orange tree
as the blossoms turned
and the spear weaves the laurel
and I’m crying to catch you
muse in the laurel tree
I will paint the flowers
just chain them to me
and her muse’s crown on my head
stings like a tear
Was it a snare set by the devil?
then I fell right in
or I was a saint
there on the chapel font
in this imitation of war
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3. |
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just yesterday I saw you running
under sheets of cobalt blue
I was on my way to forgetting
I was on my way home from you
in the house on the river Nice
trapped in an archetypal dance
I extended my hand to the moment
I look back at it now
barely, barely,
barely I was hanging on
reason enough
to be under fire
but it’s on reason
I must depend
and it was darker in the evening then
my words from their shelter
and running round the bend
and it makes me laugh
and cry out and laugh again
the era’s through
but the story will not end
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4. |
Interlude
01:01
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5. |
Tears on Sky Mountain
04:28
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moonlight’s shining in the clearing
deep blue sky
tears on sky mountain
are drawing high
try to pile them all
through the needle’s eye
lead the rush
of the ocean’s tide
by lamplight I saw smoke
that was curling around my anger
it was made of white snow
coming from the maze’s center
thought I loved a name
that my angel was singing
some spirit word on the
dry hillside
coveting my vision
singing “sweet summer nights”
“of wine and song”
horsemen’s devil lurking
but his sanctuary’s gone
and you would not sing to me
confession is foregone
I’ll wear the stones down
under my feet
my own flight my pawn
misguided wish for fire’s song
chaos in the veil that we’re walking upon
my prayer is tired but my rosary is long
that’s the effigy I’ll hold
til the shadow’s gone
moonlight’s shining in the clearing
deep blue sky
tears on sky mountain
are drawing high
try to pile them all
through the needle’s eye
lead the rush
of the ocean’s tide
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6. |
Dancing Woman
03:20
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dancing woman
she holds the line
see her in my mind’s eye
sings to my sight
dancing woman
I shape her face
tracing the night line
easy and free
shape in a fever
a border keeper
rings on her fingers
idol maker
a name in the ether
a face in the well’s eye
fruit of child’s playin
and I’m racing to try
in the cup of Circe
jingles the tune
key to the exit
where the sun’s lookin through
and if the night falls
stand on the line
dancing woman
is her face mine?
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7. |
El Dorado
03:34
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I lay in the satin fold
the sleeping spirit of the cowboy
the mythic fire cold
the western dream an ember in the path
caught myself as a thief
and I cannot believe
I am playing sentinel alone
picking acorns in the road
I knew the road to my el dorado
but I was caught looking at the weeds
empty signs, but a turn of mine
I was tied looking at the trees
and my friend, she gives me a blessing,
she believes,
shows me into
the house I’ve built
glowing in the botanique
daylight shines on her theater
the western revived
my remote cutoff in the sand
my story lies
I knew the road to my el dorado
but I was caught looking at the weeds
empty signs, feeding the turn of mine
I was knelt down looking at the trees
tell me about your feeling
I see your eyes are looking dim
I see you running circles
counting the ways ahead
sage flowers and ice
show me all the ways you love
fool cowboy stands rider in the sand
I see your fire’s getting low
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8. |
Easy Spirit
09:28
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set sail on the maelstrom
on the unknown side
darkness in the water
where my tiller guides
I’ve come like a child
searching for the sweet
its colors are alive
rainbow holding me
and I’m on my way to you
running me back to you
running me up to you
easy spirit
rushes through the trees
easy spirit
that mine could be
deep and rolling
as your guiding
the rabbit in the eave
lion in the sty
homebound on a tumbling sea
where my last word rides
milkmaid upon the mountain
and our pack beside
all going to the place where
easy spirit lies
chorus
little cabin in the distance
with the smokestack burning
island with the green light
and the shoreline unstirring
back to you
back to you
easy spirit
rushes through the trees
easy spirit
that mine could be
deep and rolling
as your guiding sea...
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9. |
Molière's Reprise
04:00
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piper draws the overture
in a caroling song
the voice that calls me
from the wings, sings his melody
like the apple tree that hangs on
the curtains rise, I sing my song
myth changes to an actor’s call
the bell rings, the curtains fall
and storyless I’m off
to walk with the crowd
feet on the branches of his grove
and night’s coming on
stand there beside
do I love you lead me light
there in the wings
pick me up when I’m fallen
when I’m lost out in the rain
he is here and the light is strong
I’ll walk within
the face that draws my line along
the melody
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10. |
Olympia
01:24
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and my steps are wont
to start anew
I die inside my will
in joy tears downriver
I’m on my way back to that
gentle field I’m seeding
I dig my claim into the earth
in this time I
did not know would come
but how does it feel?
olympia, she stands at the shore
in my cradle you lay
the verdant age
the key’s in the door
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Itasca Los Angeles, California
itasca (veritas-caput) a latin / ojibwe portmanteau place name meaning "truth-head" or "true source"
music by kayla cohen, and robbie cody, evan backer, evan burrows, daniel swire
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