"Fortitude" music video directed by Augusto Lado
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1. |
Shedding Skin
02:45
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SHEDDING SKIN
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)
This is no story, nor a memory
I'm just so tired of the same
Old shit reminds me of misery
Mistakes which brought to this place
I’m not an angel who lost his wings
I’m just a man who wants to shed his skin
Well I’ve witnessed many things
Wonders and horrors too
I’ve lived and wandered like a ghost
Then I finally hit the wall
With women and alcohol
The things which I adore the most
I’m not a daemon who has paid for his sins
I’m just a man who wants to shed his skin
This is no story, nor a memory
I'm just so tired of the same
©2010, 2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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2. |
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FORTITUDE
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)
I'm fed up with relying
On a friend who just makes me feel old
Yeah, I am so sick of denying
That they left me out in the cold
I can feel it coming
I could use something new
And I can hear it drumming
I just need some fortitude
My body aches with the sunrise
The staircase pounds on my knees
My eyes shut from the carnage
In the mirror of my near defeat
I can feel it coming
I could use something new
And I can hear it strumming
I just need some fortitude
I carry my constitution
In a sack on my back like a stone
My body still aches as the sun goes down
I stagger back up on the road
I can feel it coming
I could use something new
And I can hear it drumming
I just need some fortitude
©2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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3. |
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WAVES
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)
When I woke up this very morning
I’d been dreaming about you
And our perfect little weekend
Like some secret rendez-vous
But that was back when it was summer
And it’s been weeks since you went home
My heart is weak and I feel lovesick
The silence whispers that I’m alone
Then I feel a wave of warmth
As I dive into those pools
Those eyes as vast as oceans
In that photograph of you
So I get up to make some coffee
If you were here it would be tea
The kettle boils until it’s empty
The panes all fogged up from the steam
The flowers droop down upon the table
Like our heads hung when you left
At least your tear-stained coat would keep you warm
We hid our eyes and off we crept
Then I feel a wave of warmth
As I drown beneath your skies
Your water blue above me
I’ve got nowhere left to hide
And now I’m going to the station
Where you once left me on the train
You waved goodbye and turned to cry
What is love without pain?
What is love above the waves?
What is love? Where is the love?
Where is love without some waves?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
©2011, 2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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4. |
Dead Radio
04:57
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DEAD RADIO
(lyrics by Rowland S. Howard)
You're bad for me like cigarettes
But I haven't sucked enough of you yet
Nothing is sacred, and nothing is true
I'm no-one that's nowhere when I'm here with you
I've lost the power I had to distinguish
Between what to ignite and what to extinguish
I blew in last night, I'm the ghost from the coast
When the lighting is bad, I'm the man with the most
You left me to choke on a heart up in smoke
Smiling through your tears and your tetracycline overdose
You're good for me like coca-cola
I don't get any younger, you don't get any older
Everything's sacred and everything's true
All this is possible when I'm here with you
I've got a lot to say, but I won't speak with my mouthful.
I'd like to spit it out, but I keep my own counsel
I blew in last night, I'm the ghost from the coast
When the lighting is bad, I'm the man with the most
You left me to choke on a heart up in smoke
Smiling through your tears and your tetracycline overdose
©1997 Rough Trade Publishing
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5. |
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UNBEARABLE
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)
I’ve been waiting all this time
Never knew if I would ever see the light of day (again)
You are more than just a heavenly dream
You pull my heartstrings, touch my self-esteem with grace
Lost inside, I found your kiss so divine
I fell from sorrow toward your loving arms, faraway
The world has changed from being black and white
The colors vibrant, lush and so alive - I’m awake (I feel pain)
And I feel, and I live, and it hurts to seem so alone
The unbearable lightness of being
And I taste, and I want, and I need to be with you
The unbearable lightness of being without you
You sing to me with your words of love
Were we only in the heavens above, led astray
You think of me and you say its nigh
But time is passing at the speed of light, I’m afraid
With one kiss we sparked an open flame
The fire burns in this hurricane you’ve made
Why is it you believe in me?
You paint a muse for your Odyssey without shame
And you live, and you dream, and it hurts to feel so alone
The unbearable lightness of being
Yes you taste, and you want - say you need to be with me
The unbearable lightness of being with you
And we dream, and we live, and it hurts to feel so alone
The unbearable lightness of being
And we taste, and we want, and I need to be with you
The unbearable lightness of being with(out) you
©2007, 2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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6. |
Stripped
02:31
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STRIPPED
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)
Little girl, little girl - You're a child in disguise
As a woman, as a woman - You make me realize
I'm alive
Little girl, little girl - You're a child in disguise
As a woman, as a woman - You make me realize
It's a lie
Little girl, little girl - You're a child in disguise
As a woman, as a woman - You make me realize
I'm a lie
©2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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7. |
Don't Explain
06:49
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DON’T EXPLAIN
(lyrics by Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr)
Hush now, don’t explain
Just say you’ll remain
I’m glad your back, don’t explain
Quiet, don’t explain
What is there to gain
Skip that lipstick
Don’t explain
You know that I love you
And what endures
All my thoughts of you
For I’m so completely yours
Cry to hear folks chatter
And I know you cheat
Right or wrong, don't matter
When you’re with me, sweet
Hush now, don’t explain
You're my joy and pain
My life’s yours love
Don’t explain
©1946 Billie Holiday / Duchess Music Corp
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8. |
Saudade
03:57
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SAUDADE (Kaiho)
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)
Outside it's growing cold
As the sun goes down for the last time
In this town you left behind
The shadows on the street
Drift up from the ground
Hearts battered on the wall
From far across the sea, I wonder
Do you ever think of me
Gazing out toward the edge of the world
The bars have long since closed
Drunk lovers are fast asleep
The stars dance up above
As the moon begins to weep
From from across the sea, I wonder
Do you ever dream of me
Calling out from the edge of the world
©2013, 2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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9. |
Love is Gone
03:45
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LOVE IS GONE
(lyrics by Robert Solli Burås)
It’s another night
You’re up at home
You don’t want the night to turn into daylight
Because you like it here
This what you want
Don’t want to see a love
Don’t want to hear a sound
Oh you’re going down
But it’s a whole lot better than standing still
I know you need the thrill
‘Cause this is the year
The wild, wild time
Where everything can happen if you want it to
Now I know you do
I know you do
But don’t push too hard
Think of what you’ve got
You might lose the one you love
Memory is all you’ve got
When the love is gone
You don’t feel that strong
You’re gonna need someone
Keeping you warm
And leading you down that hall
That’s all
That’s all
That’s all
That’s all
©2007 MMC Records
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10. |
Closing Time
02:25
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CLOSING TIME
(lyrics by Bruno Adams)
It's closing time
Chairs up, legs high
Swept all the lovers' butts away
All but yours and mine
And I know you've been waiting half the night
To sit down and talk about
All those things we talked inside out
Over a thousand times, over a thousand nights
And it's closing time
Closing time, closing time
Nothing lives forever
Not even you and I
And I'll just take that corpse from the toilet out
Lock up, lights out
And tonight we'll go our separate ways
'Cause honey things just ain't the same
And it's closing time
Closing time, closing time
Nothing lives forever
Not even you and I
Goodnight sweet heart, goodnight
©2003 Bruno Adams
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11. |
Hallelujah the Hills
04:12
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HALLELUJAH THE HILLS
(lyrics by Mark Steiner)
Hallelujah the hills are still rolling
Like the credits of a film without an end
The Lithuanian gazes out from his window
As the reels keep on turning for our friend
Hallelujah the hills are still rolling on
Maya Deren blows a kiss from the screen
Adolfas grabs it then he passes it to his dear Pola
Let's toast Adolfas with plum grappa from his tree
Hallelujah the hills are still rolling
As the mountains bow their heads to the sea
Saint Adolfas is now dancing with Saint Tula
Patrons of cinema they laugh so gleefully
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah the hills keep rolling on...
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
We salute you, Adolfas with this song
©2012, 2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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12. |
Venus in Furs
03:37
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VENUS IN FURS
(lyrics by Lou Reed)
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girlchild in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Downy sins of streetlight fancies
Chase the costumes she shall wear
Ermine furs adorn the imperious
Severin, Severin awaits you there
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather
Shiny leather in the dark
Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Severin, Severin, speak so slightly
Severin, down on your bended knee
Taste the whip, in love not given lightly
Taste the whip, now plead for me
I am tired, I am weary
I could sleep for a thousand years
A thousand dreams that would awake me
Different colors made of tears
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Whiplash girlchild in the dark
Severin, your servant comes in bells, please don't forsake him
©1967 Lou Reed / Verve Records
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13. |
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i met ego in the city of the destitute
her beauty like a mirror of my mind
she took me on the path to solace
promised me riches in the land of the blind
she led me to the desert of solitude
past the frozen great plains of loneliness
my lips cracked and parched
all thirst had abandoned me
then she turned
then she turned and she cursed me with a kiss
then she turned and she turned on me
she said "a compass will do you no good here"
he swayed like a tree
he shook like a storm
his suit was so wrinkled
his pockets were tongues
i put tape on his lips
o, i drew a red smile
then i pulled him close
and we danced for while
and we stumbled
and we crawled
and we climbed
up a hill
to find
that lovers
they have no time
he slipped and he fell
and he fell
his hand just slipped from mine
his hand just slipped from mine!
a compass will do you no good here
a compass will do you no good
a compass will do you no good here
a compass will do you no good
©2014 Mark Steiner / Stagger Home Music
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Mark Steiner & His Problems Oslo, Norway
Mark Steiner is a well-known figure in Oslo’s music underworld, and he’s been around in Norway for so long that many assume that he is Norwegian. He is not. This ex-New Yorker is a wandering scoundrel who one might find hanging out in the shadowy corners of a pub at closing time. A international musical vagrant who might walk the streets with Stuart Staples, Nick Cave, and Rowland S. Howard... ... more
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