Smoking City:

1. "The Last One I Love"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

I woke up with a weakness
And she held me when she needed
But with arms like gusts of wind
Although forceful, they're still fleeting

I might as well be deaf
If it's just air that is passing off your lips
But if there's meaning to your breath
Then we're not dead, just sleeping

And if we awaken
Then when we're aged
And in the one we've become
Then when my air stills
And I am taken
You'll be the last one I love

Forethought floats off from my head
Like smoke from a burning building
Into the wind you can't collect
It needn't go far to be gone

Oh, to keep me in your head
And to be a thought amongst the rest of yours
And hold your memory out of bed
For she's too content to dream it

But if we wake her
Then when we're aged
And in the one we've become
Then when my air stills
And I am taken
You'll be the last one I love

May I be never able to say my love for you is cold
May a wind reaching out of you say that sleep has all control

But if we awaken
Then when we're aged
And in the one we've become
Then when my air stills
And I am taken
You'll be the last one I love

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2. "Permanent"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

I've heard it before
I'll let you tell it again
Just to hear the sound of your voice
Over this cold, cold wire

So hold the phone
Where I wish I could get
Hold it right up to your cheek
And that's as close as I'll be

So lie down for the night
And wait for morning light

When all you ever want
Will find its way to you through the morning fog
And all I ever was
Will disappear in the fire of the sun

I've seen it before
I don't need you
I can watch it all unfold if I like
Here in my cold, cold mind

Like it or not
The sun still shines at night
When you're closing your eyes
It's on the other side

So trust the setting sun
And wait for dawn to come

When all you ever want
Will find its way to you through the morning fog
And all I ever was
Will disappear in the fire of the sun

Just like I never was
Just like I never was permanent

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3. "I Should Be Lost Without You"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

I fight enough with myself
I give it up when you're not here
I've lost your touch
And I need to feel

I feel I'm watching myself
From high up above the consequence
It shouldn't take hurt
To make me feel

I should be lost without you
I should be lost without you
Am I so comfortable with me?

I want to see in your heart
But I'll settle for the mystery
I've spent all my time avoiding this

I want to know what I want
And I envy you
For not knowing what I wanted to say

I should be lost without you
I should be lost without you
Am I so comfortable with me?

I should be lost without you
I should be lost without you
When I can't hear a word you speak

I've fallen enough

I should be lost without you
I should be lost without you
Am I so comfortable with me?

I should be lost without you
I should be lost without you

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4. "Keep Your Hand On The Door"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

His heart is divided
And his blood can't help but spill
The tale would make you cry, dear
That one drop could tell

Don't let him in, child
He'll only let you down

Don't let him in
Just you stay in your skin
Keep your hand on the door
And remember he's down

His fear could take him out of here
But he's lost
Oh, is he lost or one hard sell?
He's been in other houses
And their warmth
But they're no homes
A heart can tell

Don't let him in, child
He'll only let you down

Don't let him in
Just you stay in your skin
Keep your hand on the door

Don't let him in
Just you keep your light dim
If he's pounding the floor
Turn your head
And ignore that he's down

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5. "Lullaby For A Ghost"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

You're just the ghost in the next room
That taps on the wall when I'm trying to sleep
You should be out haunting young fools
Who are more inclined to believe

Now close your eyes
Before the night turns to day
And hear a lullaby
Sung for a wraith

Love, I can see you now
With a trembling mouth
I won't leave you now

I was a bough veiled in your yellow
But even the most ravishing leaf
Can only be held for a season
No matter how sincere the tree

Favored I am to have eyed you in red
Inspiring a lullaby
Sung for the dead

Love, I can see you now
With your eyelids down
Don't leave me now

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6. "The Ache"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

Looking back, I see the heart before the ache
Where did it come from?
Why did it break?

Look around, I see the walls about to cave
As they crumble in
I wish that I could stay

Far away from everything
And you'd be there
And you'd be there

Look inside, you'll see it's not the way I say
When I fall apart so easily

But I look at you
And I say this could be the day
They're only words
But they'll make me stay

Far away from everything
And you'd be there
And you'd be there

When I say my line
You can hear the words you like
And forgive me for the rest
You know I try
To say my line
But it's a losing fight
I forget that there's a chance
That you're on my side

Looking now, I see the heart before the ache
Why does it have to come?
Why must it be this way?

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7. "Right Where It Belongs"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

Give it up
Let it wander
It'll end up safe at home
Right where it belongs

Call it lost
And you will find it
Lying where you don't expect
But right where it belongs

Love can make decisions
Love can make them last
Love can leave you with them
And it looks like it has

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8. "Smoking City"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

I don't want to need you here
But I'm not in control
We are all at the mercy of a situation

I don't feel it like I used to
But I don't want for you to know
(I don't want for you to know)
Famine follows all our fortune
Watch it go
Oh Lord, watch it go

The town is full of enemies
And we all have our share
(We all have our share!)
But if my fault was trying to please
You had to know I care

All our thoughts are uninspired
The city burns itself to smoke
Warm your body in the fire
And watch the glow
Oh Lord, watch you glow

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9. "When The Land Becomes The Sea"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

Rain if you want to, darling
Heaven drips of your soul
Speak in a glorious tongue
That I don't know
I don't know

Let me drink your inflection
The rise and fall of your tone
A venom that empties me
'Til I follow
I follow

Your presence is sweeter
Than the words could ever be
So breathe in and breathe out
And that's music to me

The clouds are getting heavy
Like we've never seen rain before
But if there were no storms
Then we'd see no things grow
No things grow

So let us plant our bodies
Where we want to call our home
And lay on this ground
'Til it's the ocean floor
Ocean floor

I don't want there to be doubt
When the land becomes the sea
I'll breathe in and I'll drown
As you're surrounding me

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10. "You Are A Vision"
Copyright 2006, David Condos

You are a vision
A sight of the kind that mends all incisions
And reclaims the blind
They won't remember their former defects
And if I was ever so crippled
You made me forget

For I have seen the wonder
And the weight of the world
In the black of your eye

You are a child of heaven, of God
I am a vile, poor wretch for your love
We won't discover what God won't allow
But if I'm to ever be blessed
Please let it be now

For I have seen the weight
And the wonder of the whole world
In the black of your eye

You're the sun
And I'm the moon
So if I seem bright
I'm just reflecting your light

We share the same sky
Just not at the same time

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Like Wolves EP:

1. "Like Wolves"
Copyright 2008, David Condos

In the right building, they'll make you a person
Now, you're cosmopolitan
But you don't know what you're doing

They paint your picture with ears like a staircase
Of course, you've got no mouth to answer for your way

Howl like wolves
But how, how, how they like you

In this old city, talk floats like pollution
Of course, you suck it in
But you don't know what you're doing

They place your feet in choreographed revolutions
You've got to move to the mountain
Just to see all the ruin

Howl like wolves
But how, how, how they like you

Yeah, you're on a golden leash
But no, you're not their only beast

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2. "Don't Look At Me Like That"
Copyright 2008, David Condos

I look at you with the eyes of a taken man
All I know
Don't keep yours under the veil of unassuming lids

I don't know why I bother to look again
All I know is
I can't rebury a treasure and forget where it's hid

I wish your face was literal
And those eyes were telling me I'm yours

But they don't look at me like that

Who knew oblivious eyes could be treacherous
All I know is
When they're looking at me, I've never been more controlled

All writing on your face is illegible
And those eyes are the lone interpreters

But they don't look at me like that
I know you don't
Don't look at me like that

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3. "Finding Yourself There Now"
Copyright 2008, David Condos

Eyes don't open as wide as they used to
We squint in light of all we've seen
But once you learn to make it at the bottom
You'll find more layers underneath

You're finding yourself there now
Your life is sprouting out

We're all taught to guard our invitation
And love with a stoic coloring
But once you're all shorn of that old wool
You'll find you're blushing underneath

You're finding yourself there now
Your life is sprouting out

Planted in a wasteland of old bouquets
May your roots dive to a place beyond you
Where you don't know what the next sun means
'Til it's holding your hand

You're finding yourself there now
Your life is just sprouting out