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I Do Not Have To Be Good

by Emily Keener

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jestersgame
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jestersgame Emily Keener is a beautiful soul, calm yet expressive, strong and gentle. Her guitar fills the space around you with soft and warm vibrations. Her voice hugs your ears like a mother sending off her child. This album feels at times like a mental 'Nap', or rather the supple mattress, blanket and pillow in and on which you would rest well. Favorite track: Mary, I Love Her.
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1.
She wore her t-shirt inside out I must’ve worn her down ‘Cause we danced in her kitchen to all of Blue And she let me stick around And she let me stick around I gave her pictures of all my friends To help her keep things straight She never got the hang of it Even though her memory’s great Oh, I know her memory’s great Look at me I’m taking it badly Nose to my knees I’m wondering madly You say you didn’t love me then But do you love me lately? I can’t spell the word So I’ll sound it out It’s like being a flightless bird When she took a plane outta town When she took a plane out Look at me I’m taking it badly Nose to my knees I’m wondering madly You say you didn’t love me then But do you love me lately? I am sweeping under my bed Whatever’s hiding, whatever’s left I am ready for some rest Sleeping on a clean sheet again Look at me I’m taking it badly Nose to my knees I’m wondering madly You say you didn’t love me then Look at me I’m taking it badly Nose to my knees I’m wondering madly You say you didn’t love me then You say you didn’t love me then You say you didn’t love me then But do you love me lately?
2.
I hope you see me soon, soon Lazy lonely afternoons What to do, what to do? Wishing, but never guessing ‘Cause I know you, I know you I know, I know, I know it’s true Blankets and coffee Cover me and take these burdens off me Who cares what the world expects When we are lip to lip and neck to neck? Kissing like it’s ending I don’t know if it will or when But I know, I know, I know I’ll see you again We belong, we belong, we do You know my soul and my soul knows you We belong, we belong How could a love like this be wrong? We belong, we belong, we do You know my soul and my soul knows you We belong, we belong Love is never wrong We belong, we belong, we do You know my soul and my soul knows you We belong, we belong I’m sick of letting go when I just want to hold on We belong
3.
Look at that moth in the streetlamp glow It's a shooting star if you blink at it slow You got out the car and pointed below Roads like rivers of people we'll never know But who would want to know us anyway I laugh but I laugh at everything you say I woke up pushing through some kind of white noise when you called Going on and on in the parking lot Of some strip mall You are the break of dawn That hit me in a chapel Hall You know everyone and everything as a wall But I don't know anything at all I don't know anything at all You gave me some money And a night of my own I said thank you a lot, I'll spend it alone I feel years behind the people In the places I go So much I could say, so much I should know Who would want to see me anyway You laugh but you laugh at everything I say I woke up pushing through Some kind of white noise when you called Going on and on in the parking lot Of some strip mall You are the break of dawn A spotlight in a concert hall You know everyone and everything as a wall But I don't know anything at all I don't know anything at all We're up in a plane looking down The ants in our floorboards Are people in their little towns I don't know how they stay Don't know what they found We don't really keep much of anything But alcohol around There's got to be a number we can call There has gotta be a number we can call There's got to be a number we can call But I don't know anything at all I don't know anything at all
4.
Boats 04:31
You will always be Good enough for me Good enough for me All the time, people, places All the tears run down our faces They just slip right through our fingers relentlessly All my life, I’ve never counted on anything Not much I know to be true But you are steady deep blue I count on loving you No lines to read between Nothing that can’t be seen It’s all alright by you and alright by me All the words and embraces All the pieces of the life we’re making They just fill a cup that’s already full and heavy All my life, I’ve never counted on anything Not much I know to be true But you are steady deep blue I count on loving you I’ll start building a boat Late into every night To sail us both away from the passing of time See the waves, constellations All the moonlight on our faces The kind of place where no one ever leaves All my life, I’ve never known much about anything But I know you You are my steady deep blue I count on loving you
5.
Static 04:47
Remember when you were in my head Like that record that you played me Every night before bed Didn’t like the dreams it gave me So I scratched it all to death But you said it added character Turned it up and showed your friends Clear as a bell on a cabin wall Calling me home when the sun goes down And the chorus falls I don’t need your 3am commiserations There’s a hook for every lonely minute On this radio station What were we doing on that couch No one in that room was gonna figure anybody out You can learn to love the edges But they’ll always cut you down All those classic country songs you hate I sleep with them turned up loud Clear as a bell on a cabin wall Calling me home when the sun goes down And the chorus falls I don’t need your 3am commiserations There’s a hook for every lonely minute On this radio I don’t want to love a ghost town Don’t want to love a specter I’m the bright blue light Cutting in on the pastor Bright blue light Blinding me through the plastic Keeping me up all night Breaking us up like static On the radio
6.
I do not have to be good Not that I believe that anybody could be If you’re crawling on a gravel floor Who’s the nice behavior for? I like the rivers in my head Indigo and ruby red The water I’ve drawn and the blood I’ve bled Have I simply visited? I took a walk this morning Listen to whatever’s talking Mary, I love her Mary, I love her Sister forest, mother tree You are all my family The table is long and the cup is deep Here is my place in everything I took a walk this morning Listen to whatever’s talking Mary, I love her Mary, I love her Have the water, have the wine I am the fruit, I am the vine Unparabled, unsung divine Drink me ‘til you’re satisfied Eat me, it’ll change your life Drink me ‘til you’re satisfied Drink me, drink me Drink me, drink
7.
Elbow 05:19
My lips are sealed You know how raining turns to pouring I'm up in the rooftops Walking toward the morning A blanket fog Drying in the red sunrise Attention hog How long can I shut my eyes Never been worse Never been better Sleepwalking in the strangest weather Passed him on a dead-end street Strolling with a shadow Some kind of angel hanging on his elbow Take it down Watch the last step on the stairs It's getting too dark now To guess with your feet round there Let's dodge the draft Keep low, away from the windows You have to laugh at all of the ways that The wind can blow Never been worse Never been better Sleepwalking in the strangest weather Passed him on a dead-end street Strolling with a shadow Some kind of angel hanging on his elbow A grain of salt With the wine you've been saving Could make you disappear tomorrow baby This is just one of infinite desolate places Where anything could be Never been worse Never been better Sleepwalking in the strangest weather Passed him on a dead-end street Strolling with a shadow Some kind of angel hanging on his elbow Elbow
8.
Comfort 04:14
Brushed him off my teeth ‘Cause I needed to be alone You sing the words you want, I’ll sing the ones I know All but most of the time I know where I want to go But I’ve been closing my eyes, don’t know where we are And I can’t tell you if that moon is new or old You can see me anytime I guess I’m your neon sign And I don’t mind singing everything on mine I can be your comfort or your blinding light Tell me how you want me to leave you tonight Boy from the valley And a girl from Ohio They burned like angels together They thought that playing house could make a home Oh, is this how the story goes? All my waking hours are blurry pictures And I’m falling asleep to static on the radio You can see me anytime I guess I’m your neon sign And I don’t mind singing everything on mine I can be your comfort or your blinding light Tell me how you want me to leave you tonight I’ll leave you to call whoever you need to call If you want it to be that way The bridge will be out all winter long So I’ll go home the longest way And I will tell you it’ll all be alright If that’s the way you want me to leave you

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released May 22, 2020

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Emily Keener Cleveland, Ohio

Emily Keener is an indie-folk artist from Cleveland, Ohio.

Her debut album, Breakfast, earned her No Depression’s 2017 Singer/Songwriter Award, and she has opened for artists like Jessica Lea Mayfield and Leigh Nash.

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