| On the road from Perugia to Vasto
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| Someone read to me the news off their phone
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| Three killed in Lafayette, Louisiana in a movie theater
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| Another fucked up day in America
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| We looked out to the left of the Adriatic Sea
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| And with us the Sonic Youth’s first record, Bob Marley
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| And Tenacious D’s «The Pick of Destiny»
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| Beautiful hotel last night, my room looked over the pool
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| And I say «Good morning"around 11 AM to Marsha Neil
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| And I’m sweating nights and from my hotel
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| I hear cars along the highway and some noise from down below
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| An Italian wedding, it won’t go away
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| It’s like a sauna here, we took a cold jacuzzi
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| And no airports today, these last few drives have been beautiful
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| Fields of sunflowers along the way
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| I picked some Roman tomatoes from a farmer’s garden
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| I ate them in the van and invited a child up on stage
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| And I sang while I held her little hand
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| Told her to quit eating sweets, that they were bad for her teeth
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| Took the gum from her hand, put a piece in my mouth and it was really sweet
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| I invited some guys up on the stage cause they had ants in their pants
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| And «This is My First Day and I’m Indian and I Work at a Gas Station»
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| And they danced and they danced
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| We played «The Weeping Song"for Nick Cave and his family
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| The passing of his son has been a daily thing on my mind
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| Since arriving at Heathrow and my guitarist had told me
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| Now the cars keep blowing down the highway
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| And the guys are at the festival, watching James Blake
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| But I gotta ride back, I would’ve stuck around if I was still 28
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| But I’m old now and I can’t handle being out that late
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| That’s an account of my last few days
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| And oh yeah, I saw a skinny black cat by Siena, I called for it and it dashed
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| away
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| That’s an account of my last few days
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| And Marsha took photos of us by the sea and then we laughed and we prayed
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| That’s an account of my last few days
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| And I made the promoter put the barricades closer to the stage
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| That’s an account of my last few days
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| And I’ve been doing 40 push-ups and 150 sit-ups every single day
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| That’s an account of my last few days
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| And we ate cheese pizza late at night, no one had saw it
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| And we got in the van and drove away
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| Today we had a nice dinner with our driver Francesco
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| I said how many cups does he drink a day
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| And he said «Many many many many cappuccinos»
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| And a group of fans came into the restaurant and their eyes popped out of their
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| heads
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| I asked them to join us and we all shook their hands
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| They all sat down at the same time, they all said «Wow»
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| And the waiter explained every type of pasta the restaurant had in great detail
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| One looked like a bowtie, one looked like a wheel
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| We all had a nice dinner, me, the band, the fans, and Marsha Neil
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| And we all went out to the sea, a rare day off for the band and me
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| And I went so far out that I could no longer feel the sand under my feet
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| And I dove down and I touched the bottom, and I swam back up to the shore
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| Soaked up the sun and came back to the hotel room, where I ate some lobster
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| There were a ton of emails, mostly business but there was one that really
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| touched me
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| That was forwarded to me by Robert, my publicist
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| From a girl named Tanya, okay I’m gonna read it here in just a minute
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| «Hi Robert, this is just a thank-you note to Sun Kil Moon after a memorable gig
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| in Manchester. |
| I’m hoping you can pass it on. |
| I’ve never done this before,
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| written a letter to people who I admire before. |
| But having seen you play at
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| the RNC in Manchester last week, I really just want to say thank you.
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| I’ve loved the sound of your voice, Mark, since the mid-90's. |
| When I first
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| heard 'Grace Cathedral Park' at 17, it really hit me. |
| The tone of your voice,
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| the sadness of your lyrics, and it felt real nice. |
| While I suppose I’ve dipped
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| in and out of your music as people tend to do, but the recent years of Sun Kil
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| Moon have pulled me right back in. My car journeys are usually accompanied by
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| one or another of your albums. |
| I’ve always wanted to see you play live,
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| but I’ve always heard too late about the few gigs you’ve played near me,
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| so the Manchester gig was a big deal for me. |
| A type of 'one day I’ll get to |
| hear'-type thoughts you have you hope will happen. |
| I’ve seen so many of my
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| musical loves in the last 30 years, and you were one of the few outstanding but
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| one of the most important. |
| I also got to share it with my husband,
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| and my baby growing inside of me reacted with lots of kicks and movement,
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| which made it more personal for me. |
| When I close my eyes at the concert and
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| listen, it’s not so much that it took me back, because the music has moved on
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| and is more honest and raw, I suppose. |
| But your voice is undoubtedly the same,
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| no gimmicks, just the tone hasn’t changed over the years. |
| It was beautiful.
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| That is, the harmonies with the band, the atmospheres you all created,
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| and it just felt so special throughout. |
| So I just want to say thank you all.
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| It touched my soul and inspired me, as only good music can do. |
| I’m sure you
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| get lots of these messages and they lose their significance for you over time,
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| and if so that’s fine. |
| Natural, even, I guess as the years have passed.
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| But just in case it lifts your spirits or gives you any form of pride in what
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| you’ve collectively achieved, I wanted you to know. |
| Thank you
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| -Tanya from Sheffield, England.» |