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the dreaming's what carries you through

by Black Bear

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1.
Black Bear, Pt. II 03:45
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In the woods, in the mountains We begin another chapter Still more to be gleaned From the essence of the black Bear Because the black bear has a presence Which to witness is a gift To receive it we must open Like a clearing in the mist And here comes black bear now Emerging from hibernation She’s not alone, she brings the future The next bear generation Two cubs timid, amid the brambles Stumbling into being Blind when born, but now behold The majesty of seeing A purity of openness With everything to learn Let the bears remind us of a grace To which we may return And the black bear lives for living And to keep her cubs alive She doesn’t take or hurt more than she needs In order to survive And why is it so hard to change? What insistence does it take? I trailed the wisdom of the bears The distance to the lake And when she gazed Across the water I saw her as Mother Nature’s daughter And from that same mother I am her brother For at least that moment We saw each other The kinship cut me to the core And turned me inside out All the ways we’ve failed her Are too many to count But the black bear doesn’t fault us She has no concept of blame Nor can she forgive us Our trespass and our shame The fact is we have taken Much more than is our share In so doing we have broken More than we can repair I’m older now and wiser, With a lot less time to wallow No more seeking out self-pity Instead examples that I can follow The qualities that cast the spell Will be the same to lift the curse Resourcefulness and imagination But this time in reverse And the black bear lives for living And to keep her cubs alive She doesn’t take or hurt more than she needs In order to survive And why is it so hard to change? What insistence does it take? I trailed the wisdom of the bears The distance to the lake And the black bear lives for living And to keep her cubs alive She doesn’t take or hurt more than she needs In order to survive And why is it so hard to change? What insistence does it take? I trailed the wisdom of the bears The distance to the lake
2.
Just Trying to Be Good 03:48
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I like setting things free Like a bee through a window A spider scooped up On some paper Brought out to a leaf I like picking things up Polished brown buckeyes Feathers and stones Driftwood and bones For good luck Can I pick you up When you’re feeling discarded Brush off the dirt and Make sure that you know That you’re loved Can I set you free When you’re feeling entangled Like a hawk on the wind Stretching its wings Out to sea I try to give thanks For the basic essentials The air in my lungs My heart pumping Blood through my veins I try to pay close attention To what’s right in front of me To get out of my head But it’s easier said Than it’s done I’ll pay attention to you In all of your glory I’ll show you I see you And appreciate All that you do I’m so thankful for you In all of your beauty Non-judgmental and elegant Funny, intelligent you Kindness is a choice Presence is a virtue Practice makes patience Mistakes are education Disguised Just trying to be good Nobody’s perfect Sometimes selfishness wins And I stop listening Like I should Let me be good to you Like you’re good to me Acceptance and grace That’s how we make Our way through Let’s keep ourselves free Let’s keep ourselves open Like hawks on the wind Stretching our wings Out to sea
3.
Sienna Starmap 04:51
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We were sitting in a meadow By a tower on a hill Passing dreams between us About what we could build The light was in the grass blades The clouds were in your eyes What if instead of settling We just took to the skies You hold your arms out in the wind I swear that you’ll take flight You turn with that coy smile And everything’s alright That’s my mast in your marina My flag flying in your wind Safe harbor we sail back to Time and time again Sienna starmap on your shoulders A rivulet drips down your spine The color of your hair like Sunset riviera pines Damn, you look amazing When can we begin A newly shining emerald snake Shedding your old skin Tend to all your secrets And I will tend to mine Like our lives depend on it To keep mystery alive That’s my mast in your marina My flag flying in your wind Safe harbor we sail back to Time and time again Sienna starmap on your shoulders A rivulet drips down your spine The color of your hair like Sunset riviera pines Damn, you look amazing How did I take so fucking long To pick up a guitar And write you a love song All these years, all you’ve known Only songs of someone else I’m so sorry love, that you’ve never heard A song about yourself Oversight of the decade But better late than never Take our love by storm Through every kind of weather Let’s remember how it was As we gaze at the horizon Together but independent An archipelago of islands That’s my mast in your marina My flag flying in your wind Safe harbor we sail back to Time and time again Sienna starmap on your shoulders A rivulet drips down your spine The color of your hair like Sunset riviera pines Damn, you look amazing How did I take so fucking long To pick up a guitar And write you a love song All these years, all you’ve known Only songs of someone else I’m so sorry love, that you’ve never heard A song about yourself Oversight of the decade But better late than never Take our love by storm Through every kind of weather Let’s remember how it was As we gaze at the horizon Together but independent An archipelago of islands
4.
Such Great Heights (feat. Viki Peitchev) 04:47
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I am thinking it's a sign That the freckles in our eyes Are mirror images And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned And I have to speculate That God himself did make Us into corresponding shapes Like puzzle pieces from the clay And true, it may seem like a stretch But it's thoughts like this that catch My troubled head when you're away When I am missing you to death When you are out there on the road For several weeks of shows And when you scan the radio I hope this song will guide you home They will see us waving from such great heights "Come down now," they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away "Come down now," but we'll stay I tried my best to leave This all on your machine But the persistent beat It sounded thin upon listening And that frankly will not fly You will hear the shrillest highs And lowest lows with the windows down When this is guiding you home They will see us waving from such great heights "Come down now," they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away "Come down now," but we'll stay They will see us waving from such great heights "Come down now," they'll say But everything looks perfect from far away "Come down now," but we'll stay They will see us waving from such great heights Come down now They will see us waving from such great heights Come down now)
5.
Brooklyn, Knew York City (feat. Viki Peitchev) 02:47
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Take me to the backpack days Young, restless, and ready Open books that Brooklyn look Just kids in New York City Second-hand bikes to the second-hand shop Black jeans and records Straight from class to the restaurant job Choosers can't be beggars Lightning trapped in bottles Uncapped up on the roof Despite all the bullshit We tapped into some truth Greenpoint down to Red Hook The G-Train runs the line Friday night in Brooklyn Worked every time Drum beats on the summer streets Rebels running risky Sun went down, skyline crown And then you kissed me Young lovers walk the bridge To lock their love to metal You can count on the kids To make love monumental Lightning trapped in bottles Uncapped up on the roof Despite all the bullshit We tapped into some truth Greenpoint down to Red Hook The G-Train runs the line Friday night in Brooklyn Worked every time One block to the coffee spot Two blocks to the park Five on five, all the colors Three points from the arc Exodus to the ocean Far Rockaway take the A Hand in hand in the Atlantic Perfect way to waste a day Lightning trapped in bottles Uncapped up on the roof Despite all the bullshit We tapped into some truth I might not miss the concrete I might not miss the grind But Friday night in Brooklyn Worked every fucking time
6.
Overflow the Borders 04:28
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Descent into Sófia the vigilance of Vitosha looms over the city commanding blind devotion A pilgrimage to origins your father had to flee made enemy of the state for wanting to be free Monasteries in the mountains orthodoxy on the walls the silence of repression deafening in the halls If you want freedom first you find it within they can take it from the outside but not from where it begins Reflections in the rearview may appear closer than they are but nothing can be fully seen until you ditch the car Ghosts in the graveyard candles burning over bones a jungle filled with prayers lipstick on a stone A simple meal in a field kashkaval and bread the simpler is the pleasure the more the soul is fed Rakia and ruby wine softening the evening now we can begin to shape the shades of meaning If you want freedom first you find it within they can take it from the outside but not from where it begins Reflections in the rearview may appear closer than they are but nothing can be fully seen until you ditch the car Don’t stop just keep on walking Don’t take no marching orders fight only for the right to overflow the borders Feeling for the roots now half estranged half embraced your existence a rebellion the fruit of the escape Radio knows no boundaries broadcasts cast abroad you are the transmission blazing through the fog Cinnamon skin in Sinemorets where a river meets the sea above the beach, a bluff a single silhouetted tree If you want freedom first you find it within they can take it from the outside but not from where it begins Reflections in the rearview may appear closer than they are but nothing can be fully seen until you ditch the car Don’t stop just keep on walking Don’t take no marching orders fight only for the right to overflow the borders
7.
Do You Realize? (feat. Viki Peitchev) 03:34
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Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face? Do you realize we're floating in space? Do you realize that happiness makes you cry? Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know You realize that life goes fast It's hard to make the good things last You realize the sun doesn't go down It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round Do you realize? Do you realize that everyone you know Someday will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know You realize that life goes fast It's hard to make the good things last You realize the sun doesn't go down It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face? Do you realize?
8.
The Maker 02:37
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Couldn’t make your mother not leave but you made the football team Couldn’t make your father not drink but you were good with pencil and ink There goes The Maker, they’d say You were popular, a heartbreaker, a letterman, a journalist and sad You had awfully good reasons for that your mother she never came back You couldn’t shake off that feeling alone but you could build a home You couldn’t help feeling forsook but you could write a book On lives The Maker in me You were a humorist, an architect, a novelist, a dilettante, a carpenter, a dreamer, and a dad and you were a pretty great dad the only one we ever had Didn’t make all of your dreams come true but the dreaming’s what carried you through You didn’t make it out alive but I hope you made peace when you died Here lie The Maker’s remains You were a husband, a teacher, a mason, a birder, a carpenter, a dreamer, and my dad and you were a pretty great dad the only one we ever had
9.
Dorothy 02:55
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You asked to be forgiven first Before he knew the crime “It’s not that I don’t love you” —a dagger of a line “One day you’ll understand,” you promised —never could deliver Monday you’re his mother, then Tuesday — gone forever Dorothy would you play the piano for me? For me to hold in my memory You’re the lead I’m the harmony One last time before you leave I’ve searched for you in all your places —Hometown Tacoma Biz Point Anacortes Indiana, Oklahoma In every one you’re long since gone —Cold trail, cold case I’d ask around, but never found Much more than a trace Dorothy would you write a poem for me? For me to keep in my wallet to read Do you have some kind words for me? One last time before you leave I’ve heard you loved old records I’ve heard you loved to dance Come to know you in a way that he Never had the chance Pain can’t be contained In the end you lost the most Spread his ashes on your grave, Now I’m dancing with your ghost Dorothy would you play the piano for me? For me to hold in my memory You’re the lead I’m the harmony One last time before you leave Dorothy would you write a poem for me? For me to keep in my wallet to read Do you have some kind words for me? One last time before you leave
10.
Your Man 03:48
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You were on the floor again Asking why When I don’t know what to say I Wipe your eyes Won’t let you disappear but I Will let you go There are things you have to do that You have to do alone There’s a kind of clarity After a storm Maybe even sometimes Makes it worth it I will always be Your man Your man For misery Your man Your man For joy to be I’ll be here when you get back Sweeping up the shards Our old routine for when things break Apart To think if we had never met that day I can’t To think if there were someone else here Holding this hand There’s a kind of clarity After a storm Maybe even sometimes Makes it worth it I will always be Your man Your man For misery Your man Your man For joy to be Your man Your man For misery Your man Your man For joy to be
11.
Not Going Away 02:56
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Almost the man I want to be So close for so long I told you last night That one day I'll be gone We miss the dead But do the dead miss us Frozen photos And a box of dust To the mountains We're just clouds passing through I can think of plenty worse things to do Not going away No way now Not going insane Say no now I got something to say Don't know how Got no one to blame It's on me now Not going away No way now Not going insane Say no now I got something to say Don't know how Got no one to blame It's on me now Breathe on the embers That still glow in the ashes Carry the fire And you'll never need matches Fuel the flame with the rejection letters That burning hopefulness That what we do matters What good are chances that we never take? What good's a legacy taken to the grave? Unpublished novels left for dead on the shelf Am I the serpent who is eating himself? Not going away No way now Not going insane Say no now Got something to say Don't know how Got no one to blame It's on me now Not going away No way now Not going insane Say no now I got something to say Don't know how Got no one to blame It's on me now Not going away, no way, now Not going insane, say no, now I got something to say Don't know how Got no one to blame It's on me now I'm on a walk in the woods. It's snowing It's a walk that I do often It's about 20 minutes out 20 minutes back on the same trail And I'm amazed to see That my footprints from the way out Are already completely gone It's like I wasn't even here
12.
Boy with a Butterfly Knife 04:45
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the doctors watched us watch you die then went home to their kids the undertaker smoked a cigarette while we tossed dirt on the lid I close my eyes and try hard to remember the feeling when I was little and you’d toss me in the water raindrops dissolving on the glass of the skylight glinting memory of a boy with a butterfly knife glossy magazines the smell of ink and CK-1 last song of the countdown on the tip of the DJ’s tongue state park to the Quick-Mart backlit buttons pop machine root beer from a silver can the smell of gasoline something cooking on the grill grown-ups we could trust listen, it’s a whippoorwill calling through the dusk dreams of Florida that pristine apartment hush of central air co and plush wall to wall carpet moonlight through venetian blinds stripe shadows cut the corner cicadas orchestrated on Grandpa’s tape recorder nostalgia tastes metallic copper oxidized by time faded green patina on the things that used to shine love is in the details and everybody knows can’t stop the river from going where it goes Stand By Me taped off TV is how I see your fifties buzz cuts and jeans with cuffs switchblade toothpick bullies Lollipop on the radio cherry flavored Pez off-screen unhappy parents caught up in their own mess dandelion warpaint pinecone grenades legacies of violence naturalized from the arcade the stillness of the body after the breathing stopped the indifference of gravity heartless ticking of the clock thinking it was empty I walked into the room —only to realize that the room was full of you Is this the afterlife? an archaeology of stuff ruins and reminders that will never be enough? chlorine and Coca-Cola bare feet on warm cement humidity was good to me be good to me again love is in the details and everybody knows can’t stop the river from going where it goes I close my eyes and try hard to remember the feeling when I was little and you’d toss me in the water
13.
It's My Job to Love You 03:51
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I signed the contract But never punch a clock It’s my job to love you And I do love my job No one checked my credentials But I know I’m qualified I don’t have much choice How much you occupy my mind Kneel down for you so often I’ve worn holes in all my jeans Uniform of my commitment Busted at the seams When you slip and twist your ankle Bear you home upon my back When you’re sad or bored or lonely It’s my job to make you laugh I don’t get paid to do it And don’t ever take time off It’s my job to love you And I do love my job Wise soul glowing through your eyes And the spirit of a child When I’m feeling overworked You compensate me with a smile And in the night I hold you close Until you fall asleep I wade with you into the shallows Dive with you in the deep Always let my vocation Interfere with my career the location of my loyalty Should never be unclear No one is in charge Love is the boss It’s my job to love you And I do love my job Love is the work Love is the wage The cycle of returns on the Investments that we make Sometimes it’s easy Sometimes it’s not Sometimes it’s too much It’s never not a lot Love is the work Love is the wage Love is the key To its own cage No one checked my credentials But I know I’m qualified I don’t have much choice How much you occupy my mind I don’t get paid to do it And don’t ever take time off It’s my job to love you And I do love my job Love is the work Love is the wage The cycle of returns on the Investments that we make Sometimes it’s easy Sometimes it’s not Sometimes it’s too much It’s never not a lot Love is the work Love is the wage Love is the key To its own cage

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released March 15, 2024

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Black Bear (Sam Beebe) Munich, Germany

Black Bear is emerging from hibernation into a new dawn, beginning with the release of a new chapter in the story that began with the beloved track "Black Bear," from the 2006 debut album, The Cinnamon Phase. Buy "Black Bear, Pt. II" along with a remaster of "BB"! Support Black Bear on Patreon (www.patreon.com/blackbearsambeebe) and follow on social platforms to stay up to date! ... more

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