Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

--------

Home Stretch

On the home stretch,
on the last leg of this trip.
I'm not home yet,
but I will wake in my own bed.

A wise man told me 
that when you say 
"Sometimes a man's got to do what a man's got to do" 
You can't be dragging that upright trolley 

I left my footprints 
I've taken pictures 
I made some friends 
I burned some bridges 

On the home stretch,
on the last leg of this trip.
I'm not home yet,
but I will wake in my own bed.

I've been to the strangest places 
I've been to strangers' places 
on so many of these stages 

The long and winding tracks 
I went there to come back 
I've been away for ages 
but now I’m ... 

On the home stretch,
on the last leg of this trip.
I'm not home yet,
but I will wake in my own bed.

Airplanes, taxis, rental cars 
Ferries, speed boats, hovercraft

National Park Visitor Center

Home Stretch

Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

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For Weddings and for Funerals

In formal attire 
In a chapel in a field 
Brace yourselves 
The Wedding Years are here 

And in my jacket pocket a keepsake, 
a forgotten piece of paper.  
The words to a song I can just hum along to 
and they belong to you 

Something old and something new 
something borrowed something blue 

And I take it out 
For weddings and for funerals 
and the years go by 
so saddening, so beautiful 

These white shirts these black ties 
you take out when someone dies 
For funerals in the sunshine 
And weddings in the rain 

Mementos are not memories  
This will never work for me 
And you were too young you were gone 'fore too long 
Before it had begun

For Weddings And For Funerals

Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

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Midnight Miles

On the long ride home 
the midnight miles 
mean Monday morning nine to five.

The long ride home 
the midnight miles 
they bring me back to my old life 

On the long ride home 
the midnight miles 
I'm guided by the satellites. 

The long ride home 
the midnight miles 
when you told me to leave your life. 

Tonight, 
I’ll have a burger and small fries, 
can I have ketchup on the side? 
Tonight, 
no bathroom breaks, no time, 
I only stop to cry 
when I drive

Tonight,
out of sight and out of mind 
out of place and out of time 
Tonight
I swallow all my pride 
I’m fighting the good fight 
and I drive 

In the car pool lane 
on the Interstate 
from the parkway 
to the driveway 
And on the byroad  
I take the highroad 
and in the parking spot  
please forget-me-not

Midnight Miles

Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

--------

Boyfriend Material

Look at my sweater
Look at my sweater
Look what it's made of
Boyfriend material

I cook and clean
I do the dishes 
I'm like a genie 
I grant you wishes 

When you come home
I make you tea
and we watch your
favorite show on TV 

Look at my sweater
Look at my sweater
Look what it's made of
Boyfriend material

I take the trash out
I change the diapers
I change the wheels on the car
I change the wipers 

I like your girl friends
talk to their boyfriends
and when issues need resolving 
then I voice them 

Look at my cardigans
Look at my underpants
Look at my long sleeves 
Look at my boxer briefs
Shades for the summer sun 
Look at my cummerbund 
Look at my tracksuit
Look at my dress shoes

Boyfriend Material

Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

--------

Inspirational Halftime Speech

They keep telling us 
That we're not good enough 
That we're not worth it 
We don't deserve it 

everybody wrote us off 
yet here we are 

It’s real simple, let me tell you something you already know: 
The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows
Every man at some point in his life is gonna lose a battle, 
he’s gonna fight and he’s gonna lose 
But I want you to understand something 
it’s not about winning 
It’s about being able to look your friends in the eye 
and knowing that you didn’t let them down 

And that’s what you have here tonight. 
Tonight, we can fight our way back. 
This our time. 
This is who we are. 
We were meant to be here tonight. 
So let's go out there and take it. 

With clear eyes and full hearts

Inspirational Halftime Speech

Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

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Suit of Armor

Forgot your name  
the moment you said it. 
You tell me your name  
and I forget it. 

We talk about  
what we do for a living 
and get another drink. 

And you say that I'm so distant 
and distance is what I keep. 
This is my secret weapon, 
my strategy. 

To keep safe  
what's so frail 
out of harm’s way. 

This is my suit of armor
three inches thick
this is my chain mail shirt
this is my bulletproof vest.

You say her name 
and that you don't regret it. 
You say it left you maimed 
I say you should not let it 

I'm asking whether  
there are any living 
on the battlefields left 

And you stay on your barricade 
atop the battlements. 
You're locked in your fortress 
and the walls are caving in. 

To keep safe  
what's so frail 
out of harm’s way.

Suit of Armor

Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

--------

Speak a Toast

Keys – tap, phone – tap, cash – tap, 
and all the girls wear lipstick.
We wear our Sunday's best 
speak a toast to one more year that's lost 

Killing time and killing bottles 
retired pros bound to overdose 
counting down all the resolutions children of the resolution 
speak a toast to one more year that's lost 

Watch how bottle rockets 
illuminate the castle walls. 
Looking back then look ahead 
speak a toast to one more year that's lost 

So, this is the new year 
and I don’t feel any different
the clanking of crystal
explosions off in the distance

Should old acquaintance be forgot
and never be brought to mind
Should old acquaintance be forgot 
for Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
Happy New Year

Walking home on burned out
fireworks.

Speak a Toast

Song by National Park Visitor Center.
Recorded and mixed by Henning Oskamp, mastered by Robin Völkert.

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Muscle Memory

All those faces
I haven't seen in ages
in all these stages of their lives.

All those places 
I have not been to in ages 
look like a city stuck in time. 

The road we rode down 
when we returned home 
from our own end of the line. 

As I turn around the bend 
I start to feel it all again, 
my muscle memory kicks in 

In a schoolyard, 
in a swimming pool car park 
to where we'd ride our bikes. 

We'd skin our hearts, 
and for the most part  
we'd await the morning light. 

And all those bedrooms 
That we returned to 
looked so much bigger in our minds

Muscle Memory

Song by National Park Visitor Center. 
Recorded and mixed by Pogo McCartney, mastered by Christian Bethge.

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A Landfill
 
The unflattering photos and those out of focus
The first draft, the second and the last
The takes full of mistakes, the deleted scenes
The early masterpiece nobody has seen
 
Is there a landfill
where they all go?
 
Your old mp3s in the lowest quality
Your WinAmp playlist from 2003
The unfinished downloads, the unfulfilled wishlists,
the denied friend requests, your aunt's e-card from Christmas 
 
Is there a landfill
where they all go?
 
That show we used to binge
On with the audio out of sync
to free some of the cache
I move it to the trash
 
Is there a landfill
where they all go?

A Landfill

Song by National Park Visitor Center. 
Recorded and mixed by Pogo McCartney, mastered by Christian Bethge.
Cover photo by Philippe Sollers, courtesy of J. Kristeva“

--------

Julia Kristeva
 
You double-checked the quotes
Now take a last look at your notes 
You worked hard for this, you cited sources
Cos you can switch the code
 
You pace around the lecture hall
Why do they look so skeptical? 
You'll get through this, you can do this
You'll convince them all
 
Julia
You got it all wrong
You got it all wrong
You got it all wrong
 
In Paris nineteen-sixty-six
You spoke about a Russian linguist
on the axis where the different texts
interweave and intersect
 
At the tender age of 25
you shifted the paradigm
You further blurred the brackish line
between the sign and signified
 
Julia
You got it all wrong
You got it all wrong
You got it all wrong
 
But you turned what you didn’t know
Into something beautiful. 
You turned what you misunderstood
Into something good

Julia Kristeva

Song by National Park Visitor Center. 
Recorded and mixed by Pogo McCartney, mastered by Christian Bethge.

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(I Can See) Your Heartbeat

I haven’t known you for too long
And I don’t even know your name
And I can’t tell anyone
I just want to buy you things
And even though you can’t hear me,
I’ll speak my mind
I tell you everything
All of the time
 
And since I saw you in the black light
I believe in love at first sight
And since I saw you in the black light
I believe
 
And I can see your heartbeat
I can see your heartbeat
And I can see your heartbeat
I can see your heartbeat
 
Many mistakes have been made
What makes me think this will last
I’ll give it all I’ve got
When I pack my bags
And I get everything ready
For when you arrive
This feels like
A brand new life
 
And since I saw you in the black light
I believe in love at first sight
And since I saw you in the black light
I believe
 
And I can see your heartbeat
I can see your heartbeat
And I can see your heartbeat
I can see your heartbeat

And I get everything ready
For when you arrive
This feels like
A brand new life
 
And since I saw you in the black light
I believe in love at first sight
And since I saw you in the black light
I believe
 
And I can see your heartbeat
I can see your heartbeat
And I can see your heartbeat
I can see your heartbeat

National Park Visitor Center

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