I was somewhere north of Scranton
Heard the Lawdy, Lawdy Blues
Miss Ida Cox was coming down
So I put the car on steady cruise

I was heading for the New York line
And the sky was bending low
All these songs playing soft tonight
On the fallout radio

I see the lights of old Elmira
Coming in off Route 86
The music still surrounds me
I see this town has hit the skids

I saw a street angel in the darkness
And the rain was falling slow
She was zoned out and tuned in
On the fallout radio

Don’t know where the music came from
Don’t know how it found my dial
Like a shot from a cosmic cannon
And it rolled on for 100 miles
On the fallout radio 
On the fallout radio 
On the fallout radio  
On the fallout radio 
On the fallout radio

Fallout Radio

Here’s an old song of mine written in the mid/late 70s, but never recorded. I figured I would finally get this one tracked. I asked my friend Joliz to provide some backup and she provided a beautiful Joan Baez-esque vocal.

These brownstone girls they’re one of a kind
They give you their numbers but hold back their time
You can disappear in the stories they find
When they stare you down well don’t loose your mind
What a way to break on through in Mapleton

The summer days heat up the Brooklyn nights
But the streets are cold when the love’s not right
They’ll dance with you under dim street lights
When the morning breaks they fall out of sight
What a way to get so lost in Prospect Park

They’ll take you down to the Gowanus side
Where the water’s dark and the secrets hide
They’ll whisper so sweet in a summer stride
But when autumn comes they will slip and slide
What a way to lose yourself on Fourth Avenue
What a way to say goodbye to brownstone girls

Brownstone Girls (with Joliz)

The sequel to "Whisper Over Berlin"...

Midnight flies over Brandenburg
10 hours on a redeye plane
Flood the runway lights
In the Berlin rain

Found a jacket second hand shop
The leather cracked against the grain
Just a hint of gin
Feel the Berlin rain

C’mon play me, play me, play me, those old folk songs
You can take me, take me, shake me, take me along

The bars are empty and Cohen’s gone
Her voice still hangs on that old refrain
In the key of A
Hear the Berlin rain

C’mon play me, play me, play me, those old folk songs
You can take me, take me, shake me, take me along

The autumn wind is blowing cold
Left JFK for an eastbound train
Her sound comes down
Like the Berlin rain

The sound comes down
In the Berlin rain
Her sound comes down
In the Berlin rain

Berlin Rain (with Joliz)

She’s looking for solace 
She’s looking for sunshine 
She’s out of seasons 
She’s out of time 
Winter runs its course 
Like an old October horse

He’s only a pony
He’s only a Mustang
He’s a July moonbeam
He’s got his own gang
Summer runs its course
Like a slow October horse

I don’t have an answer
I don’t have an aim
I can’t tell what you need
I know it’s such a shame
Love runs its course
Like a cold October horse
Oh love runs its course
Like a cold October horse

October Horse

This track was recorded in Huntington Station, NY in February 2015...

Hey Radio

This track is from 2018...

All the graves are in the backyard
And people move on there’s no doubt
Now I see the changing of the guard
Separate pathways a different route

No need to wave flags in the air
The stars won’t see them anyway
I sometimes just look up and stare
Still the same sky different day

And it's full speed into the light years
Shift through all the tired dreams
There’s a new moon on the mountain
If I can fly this old machine

Take a bus to New York City 
And see your face in every mile
This old Trailways is a pity
It can run but it can’t fly

And it's full speed into the light years
Shift through all the tired dreams
There’s a new moon on the mountain
If I can fly this old machine

Light Years

This track was written in 2018 and recorded in 2019 in Woodstock, NY.

I walked to Albuquerque 
In the first part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

I left my home in Woodstock
In the second part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

Woke up in Albuquerque in the rain
Running horses and falling manes

I walked to Albuquerque 
It was midnight in my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

I traced my steps this morning
In the third part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

Woke up in Albuquerque in the rain
Running horses and falling manes

I walked to Albuquerque 
In the first part of my dream
Following the path you left me
Following the path you left me

I walked to Albuquerque 
In the first part of my dream

Albuquerque

New York City 
And the Hudson wind
Like a hurricane breeze
Blowing over me again
The damage and goodbyes
Of all those years ago
Should’ve said hold on baby
But I let you slip and go

Now Vienna at dawn
Into the morning grey
Walking past all the moments
That remain along the way
Every cold street and square
Old pictures cling
But the city is a hunter
Chasing down everything

From the U-Bahn’s roar
To the High Line’s gleam
Two cities breathe at night
Pressed together in a dream
Driving brings me peace
Heavy traffic and convoys
And the echoes of you
Still make a joyful noise

Yeah the echoes of you
Still make a joyful noise
Yeah the echoes of you
Still make a joyful noise

Two Cities (with Joliz)

I got a picture standing on my dresser
It’s been there for as long as you’ve been gone
It seems to me the only way to reach you
Is in my dreams or by the telephone
On the border of goodbye and gone too long

I see your shadow stretching down the highway
I hear an old coyote singing his last song
Winter nights are quiet but heavy with a silence
It’s hard to believe we’re coming up on dawn
On the border of goodbye and gone too long

Springtime in the mountains is coming down
I’ll see you in the Foxglove that covers the ground

I keep your posted notes hidden in the kitchen
They smell of coffee, honey, and old sweet songs
Every word feels like a bridge to somewhere
But I can’t find where the map has been redrawn
On the border of goodbye and gone too long
On the border of goodbye and gone too long

Border Of Goodbye (with Joliz)

A remembrance of a long gone friend…

The rivers and mountains surround this town
They remind me that you’re not around
And all the talk radio only brings me down
Black telephone

The streetlights flicker on the edge of the rain
A junkie’s shadow whispers your name
And I dial your number just to keep me sane
Black telephone

The moonlight rushes through a hole in the sky
In this whistle stop where the wild geese fly
And she lights one up lets the world drift by
Black telephone

Black Telephone

In a weathered worn bus stop
Cast beneath the street lamps sheen
Flipping through every word and page
Of an old movie magazine

Oh the world was turning slow
You always loved the summer scene
We took a gamble on each other
Like Tuesday Weld and Steve McQueen

Well the neon spit and sputtered
As you lit your cigarette
I watched your face in the shadows
A vision I could not forget

And the night just slipped away
In the noise on 4th and Green
We were lost in the twilight
Like Tuesday Weld and Steve McQueen

So the years fly like the wind
Shifting high and shifting low
Now we drink to the heroes
Leather boots and picture shows

Was I cool and debonair
Were you something to be seen
In those black and white moments
Like Tuesday Weld and Steve McQueen  
Like Tuesday Weld and Steve McQueen

Tuesday Weld & Steve McQueen (with Joliz)

Clear the skies clear the decks
I see you coming like a big train wreck
I guess I should have expected you
I know all about Leather Lou
What he did and didn’t do
But that doesn’t matter
Does it to you

You waltz in like a long lost tune
Swaying soft in the half-lit room
Spinning stories and your big schemes
With a jacket worn at the seams
A bag full of stolen dreams
But that doesn’t matter 
So it seems

I light a candle let the wax run thin
Watch it pool where your words have been
History lingers like an old rusted dent
But the truth has a sharper scent
And love ain't built on a frame that’s bent
Just the ashes and echoes
Of discontent

Clear the skies clear the decks
I see you coming like a big train wreck
I guess I should have expected you
I know all about Leather Lou
What he did and didn’t do
But that doesn’t matter
Does it to you
No that doesn’t matter 
Does it to you

Doesn't Matter

Fading away
Our town
It’s just fading away
Our town

Running from this April day
Brush in tow to paint the gray
Going dark with nothing to say, hmm
On the flat side of the night
I see darkness you see light
This homegirl is taking flight

Fading away
Our town
It’s just fading away
Our town

Your old plaid suitcase in hand
No destination no plan
It’s not hard to understand, hmm
Can’t give in fall hard and grieve
I’ll rollup my denim sleeves
Give you the miles that you need

Fading away
Our town
It’s just fading away
Our town

Homegirl fading away
Our town
It’s just fading away
Our town

Fading away
Our town
It’s just fading away
Our town

Homegirl fading away
Our town
It’s just fading away

HOMEGIRL (with Joliz)

Falling rain 
Running down the morning 
Waterproof 
No sadness today 

Dry your eyes 
And see us through tomorrow 
If you ever look back 
Don’t ever look away 

Falling rain
Filling up your garden
Waterproof
Running down your rain coat

See the lights
The city is on fire
Don’t you worry
The rain is coming in

Falling stars
On an autumn moon
Morning sun 
Shining on your hair

Falling rain 
Yeah, yeah 
Waterproof 
Falling rain 
Waterproof
Yeah, yeah
Falling rain
Waterproof
Falling rain

Waterproof (with Joliz)

Vincent (Cover with Joliz)

I’ve got some Dylan
Some Velvet Underground
“Chelsea Girls”
On this mixtape I found
Ribbon on a reel 
My life in sound
Yeah ribbon on a reel
My life in sound

I’ve got some Bowie
From the old “Low” days
The thin white lines
And the foggy haze
The songs get played
Then fade away
Yeah the songs get played
Then fade away

I’ve got some Patti
Singing “Dream Of Life”
She’s howling out dreams
Into the deep dark night
It feels so alive
So it’s alright
Yeah it feels so alive
So it’s alright

I’ve got some Leonard
On this old Walk Man
He comes up after Joni
“So Long Marianne”
Such a heartbreak
Guess he wasn’t her man
Yeah such a heartbreak
Guess he wasn’t her man

Cause that’s my life 
This mixtape I found
Yeah that’s my life 
My replay life in sound
Cause that’s my life 
This mixtape I found
Yeah that’s my life 
My replay life in sound

MIXTAPE (with Joliz)

I feel the days falling away
I know that you feel the same
All the years now on display
In between some light and shade

Midnight starlight
Music on the square
We used to be there
Running in the shadows
Rapping with the poets beats
We used to walk these streets

The echo of those days remain
In the corners where we used to play
Time slips through like rain
But we still find our way

Midnight starlight
Music on the square
We used to be there
Running in the shadows
Rapping with the poets beats
We used to walk these streets

Whispers of a brighter dawn
In the places where we once belonged

Midnight starlight
Music on the square
We used to be there
Running in the shadows
Rapping with the poets beats
We used to walk these streets

Streets

The Jersey streets are alive tonight
And the bridge is flooded with rain
The city’s coming through the windshield
And the wind howls like a train 

Headlights bounce off the gutters
And the girls on the boulevard
A siren closes the distance
And cuts off all the cars

The Red Bank rain hits me
Like a hammer from the sky
But the radio pulls me close 
Lays me out for another night 

The streets lay down so quietly
Like a promise left for dead
And the station’s fading fast
As the hours tick ahead

The screen door’s blowing open
And the headlights disappear
The DJ says the songs are coming
Like some turntable Paul Revere

The Red Bank rain hits me
Like a hammer from the sky
But the radio pulls me close
Lays me out for another night

Yeah, the Red Bank rain hits me
Like a hammer from the sky
But the radio pulls me close
Lays me out for another night

Red Bank In The Rain (with Joliz)

This song was written while watching a video that Joliz shot from inside a car going through a car wash. There was just something very inspiring and contemplative about this 2 minute trip.

Video included here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqi_xf16f0M]Video

I rolled into a car wash
In a flood of soap and rain
A self-contained storm
Where the outcome is the same

Steam on the windshield
A ghost in the glass
Held an unlit cigarette
Saw the present and the past

The radio was static
Some broken English song
The DJ said “this is Berlin” 
But I knew he got it wrong

You left me in Kreuzberg
With your paintings and your gin
You said “love's a revolution”
But you never let me in

I stayed too long at Kottbusser Tor
Thinking you'd come down
In your fashion army coat
Like a queen without a crown

Neon bleeds on cobblestones
Your name in every drip
I saw your shadow on a bar stool
And a guy with a crooked lip

Now the soap’s all in the gutters
And the world comes back in grey
This city’s got a talent
For fading things away

The glass is clean on this old wreck
It’s time to retreat
And somewhere past the Fernsehturm  
The silence fills your seat

2 Minutes In A Car Wash (with Joliz)

Here’s a bit of a follow-up to our last song, “2 Minutes In A Car Wash”. 

The story continues with "Little Blue Green Opel"...

She had a little blue green Opel
With a short funny shift
She drove it everywhere
Never needed a lift

A radio with buttons
Some candy in her coat
A paperback of Burroughs
And a half-written note

She'd park down by the river
Watch the barges roll on past
Said the future was a thief
And the present would never last

She had boots from Vienna
With cracked leather soles
She only walked at night
Cause she said it had soul

I asked where was she going
She said maybe somewhere
Then she laughed like a poet
Who had nothing to fear

We drank in the Opel
Till the bottle ran dry
Then she pointed to the stars
And whispered don’t you lie

She had a little blue green Opel
And a map torn in two
She said don’t try to follow
Then disappeared into the blue

Little Blue Green Opel (with Joliz)

This is our latest song...

We also included a Music Visualizer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gayGD05Z5ss

Shadows danced on my night stand 
Fell asleep in nowhere land 
Showed up on Thursday night 
But I lost that gig to a tribute band 

Took the train down to the east side
Wore my shades just to hide my eyes
Those brownstone girls swirled in my head
And I drifted off and took the ride

And it’s one more night 
One more night 
One more night on Ludlow Street 
And it’s one more night 
One more night 
One more night on Ludlow Street 

Ran into Jane somewhere in between
She sells oils and wears too much green
She said, “rock's a scam and jazz is dead”
And then she kissed my cheek and split the scene

And it’s one more night 
One more night 
One more night on Ludlow Street
You play it straight 
You lose the beat
One more night on Ludlow Street

And it’s one more night 
One more night 
One more night on Ludlow Street

Ludlow Street (with Joliz)

I had the privilege to have a few brief encounters over the years with the great poet, educator and activist Nikki Giovanni. She passed away last December. If interested there are many videos on YouTube about her. 

“Mothers” passage sung by Joliz going into the break, Copyright © 1972 by Nikki Giovanni.

I saw Nikki Giovanni outside the A train
She was reading a book by Baldwin and whispering the quotes
She had that Harlem quiet
The kind that makes you feel loud, even if you haven’t said a word all day
She looked up at me once
Like she already knew the next ten things I would say
And of course none of that mattered

She wrote poems like switchblades
And carved song verses on subway tiles
With truth tucked in the chorus
Love poems for the revolution and letters to the dead
All written in lipstick and ink
Some folks talk about hope
She talked about survival
Anyone knows there's a difference

“I see the moon
The moon sees me
God bless the moon
And god bless me”

I asked her once, I said Nikki, do you still believe in change
She half smiled and said, “Man, I believe in kids, I believe in rage,
I believe in writing it down so they don’t forget our names.”
“You either speak up or get buried under someone else's story.”
Then she walked into that bookstore on 125th like it was a church 
In a way I guess it was a church

I ran into her much later at a reading downtown
Tiny room, bad mic, nobody listening but the ghosts
She read a line about her grandmother’s hands
The room went quiet like it finally remembered what hands are for
The words, not angry, not loud, but like a bullet that only hits the guilty
Truth is a loaded pistol

But Nikki
She’s in the cracks
She’s in the ink smudge
The subway echo
The line you wake up hearing but don’t remember writing
Nikki
She’s still walking this city
Just quiet enough to make the truth sound loud

Nikki (with Joliz)

Darcy lit a Newport with a gas station match
Leanin' on Joey’s Civic, the paint all scratched
With a trunk full of tools and 8-track dreams
She said, “They say Bushwick’s changing, but it’s still the same to me”

Joey had a scar from the Navy days
Said he used to fix turbines out in San Diego Bay
Now he’s doin’ drywall for a friend in the Heights
Said, “Baby, we’ll be alright, just gotta make it through another night”

In the empty lot behind Ed’s Food Store
With a streetlight buzzin’ like a holy war
They shared a cola and a cigarette
Talkin’ 'bout the days they haven’t lived yet
Skyline rising in the rearview light
Lookin’ for a way out on a one-way night

She had a spiral notebook full of names
Some ol’ boyfriends and schemes that never came
But Joey only read the poems she wrote in bed
About motels by the ocean and the words she never said

At her cousin’s place off Dekalb Avenue
Took turns in the shower, shared the one good bath towel
She worked part-time at the thrift on Flushing
Stole snacks for Joey when the hunger came rushing

In the empty lot behind Ed’s Food Store
With a streetlight buzzin’ like a holy war
They shared a cola and a cigarette
Talkin’ 'bout the days they haven’t lived yet
Skyline rising in the rearview light
Lookin’ for a way out on a one-way night

Some nights they’d dance to the car stereo
Some nights they’d fight about nothin' at all
She’d cry in the front seat, he’d punch the dashboard
But they never stopped showing up when the other one called

That winter hit hard and the heat got cut
But they wrapped up in blankets and called it enough
She said, “This ain’t pretty, but it’s better than gone”
He said, “Darcy, you and me, we’ve been holdin’ on this long”

In the empty lot behind Ed’s Food Store
With a streetlight buzzin’ like a holy war
They shared a cola and a cigarette
Talkin’ 'bout the days they haven’t lived yet
Skyline rising in the rearview light
Lookin’ for a way out on a one-way night

Brooklyn Love Song (with Joliz)

Just some rain and noise
Outside my morning window
Strangers passing through
On the way to some rendezvous

I’m thinking of you today
Like I do when I’m breathing
You were flying through the night
Before I knew you were leaving

I should have jumped up on my horse
Run the roads from coast to coast
The California dream was just a dream
And those motorcycle cowboys
Know exactly what I mean

Ran into your brother
He was packing up a U-Haul
Said you called from Sedona
After rolling out of St. Paul

I know the winter cuts deep
And the sun suits your skin
But miles don’t mean forgiveness
When it all comes back again

I should have jumped up on my horse
Run the roads from coast to coast
The California dream was just a dream
And those motorcycle cowboys
Know exactly what I mean

I should have jumped up on my horse
Run the roads from coast to coast
The California dream was just a dream
And those motorcycle cowboys
Know exactly what I mean
And those motorcycle cowboys
Know exactly what I mean

Motorcycle Cowboys (with Joliz)

On a rainy corner of Bleecker and somewhere
A guy’s selling bootlegs of the musical “Hair”
He’s got a Dead Kennedys t-shirt full of stains
And a head full of smoke and graffiti brains
Some preacher’s got a cape and a bluetooth mic
Says “the end is near” well maybe tonight

And the world rolls on
And the world rolls on
La, la, la, la, la, la

Now Maria from the Village used to take ballet and tea
Now she’s pouring drinks down on Avenue D
She says she’s going to Paris and Spain someday
But her passport’s expired and her hair’s gone gray
She says “life’s a curse when you’ve got too much soul”
Then she laughs at herself and plays some rock and roll

And the world rolls on
And the world rolls on
La, la, la, la, la, la 

There’s Frankie with a limp by the laundromat light
Lost a toe and his luck in a Bushwick fight
Tells me stories about a dancer he once knew
With a husky voice and a switch-up crew
Now he fixes bikes and belts out Springsteen tunes
Says “the world’s lost rhythm but I keep the groove”

And the world rolls on
And the world rolls on
La, la, la, la, la, la 

Newsstand headlines scream of fire and floods
But the bodega cat doesn’t hold a grudge
The cops crack wise on a midnight beat
While the rappers trade lines on Delancey Street
I passed by your old place it’s a weed shop now
But I swear I saw you in the crowd somehow

And the world rolls on
And the world rolls on
La, la, la, la, la, la 

Steam rises up through an old metal grate
Like the city’s exhaling all of its grief and weight
A kid tags a mural with a trembling hand
Says “my father got ghosted in Afghanistan”
But an old folkie down on Canal and West
Strums “New Morning” in a brown tweed vest

And the world rolls on
And the world rolls on
La, la, la, la, la, la

World Rolls On (with Joliz)

The tires roll soft on a road unnamed 
A hymn drifts out from a far-off band 
We whisper the words like a secret prayer 
And we follow the night with an open hand 

And we lean into the silence
When the static casts a spell 
We search all the channels 
When the station says farewell
Somewhere by the Nowhere Motel

The lights go red in the rearview glass
A gas pump lit up like a chapel sign
We pass it by like dreams we’ve had
Still whispering into the night

And we lean into the silence 
When the static casts a spell 
We search all the channels 
When the station says farewell
Somewhere by the Nowhere Motel

A voice on the dial says the war is done
But she keeps her coat wrapped so tight
We drive through towns forget their names
As they slowly fade out of sight

And we lean into the silence
When the static casts a spell 
We search all the channels 
When the station says farewell
Somewhere by the Nowhere Motel
Somewhere by the Nowhere Motel

Nowhere Motel (with Joliz)

I was dreamin’ of a city
Where the buildings live forever         
Some brick and steel painting        
Like a shadow and an echo
            
Middle of October   
Sky gettin’ colder          
Wind hittin’ harder         
Like it’s tryin’ to tell ya somethin’
            
The streetlights sputter sermons
mm-hmm          
And it kinda makes me nervous
uh-huh

Well some folks speak a language         
The city don’t wanna learn        
Written in the alleys
And the barrels that still burn

Drill gang on the corner         
Spittin’ like a drummer           
But the bullets still fly          
Just chasin’ down the summer
        
I was dreamin’ of that city       
Dreamin’ of that sorrow         
Clock says it’s October           
But it’s already tomorrow

Dreamin' Of A City

It was winter on the Bowery
Where the snow turned grey
And the streetlights look tired
Everybody’s chasing something
You were up against the door
Smoking that last cigarette
Like it was the only thing
Worth paying attention to
And I thought
Maybe I could be the next one
So I moved over to listen
Yeah just to listen

Inside Blondie was playing
Debbie’s voice cut the static
Telling every lost soul in the room
“You don’t have to stay stuck here forever”
You grabbed my hand and said
“She’s gonna be big someday”
I believed you
But I didn’t say a word
Sometimes silence
Feels safer than talking
I could feel your heartbeat
With every song

Blondie played 
And the city shook 
We were strangers
Pages in a book
Nothing promised
Nothing made
On the night 
Blondie played

I never caught your name
Saw you once months later
Laughing with somebody else
At a bus stop near Astor Place
And I thought
Yeah that’s the way this city loves you
Quick and hard
And then it moves on without apology

Blondie played 
And the city shook 
We were strangers
Pages in a book
Nothing promised
Nothing made
On the night 
Blondie played

Blondie Played (with Joliz)

This song is dedicated to the sublime sounds of Joliz and the poetic words of Hans H. Hiebel… https://soundcloud.com/user-198565200/augenblick

I had an old blue car no Cadillac
The sun in the morning at my back
Driving east follow the railroad tracks
Until I reach Montauk Point

Little summer towns all dressed in pink
A million places to stop and think
Throw a stone catch it before it sinks
Be back before the setting of the sun
Seemed easy like breathing when I was 21

I dreamed of Berlin and Amsterdam
Neon lights and a one way plan
Passport pages in a shaky hand
Standing in the line to board the plane

The night came soft with a lullaby
Backseat blanket and a blood-red sky
A girl named Jean with the clearest eyes
Said she’d wait but she cut and run
That’s how it goes when your 21

Worked as a DJ in a bayside town
AM/FM radio playing the sound
Of Sinatra, Chapin, and some old Motown
While kids played under the pier

Played midnight songs for the drunks and losers
Waited for dawn with the coffee boozers
Wrote some lyrics about shakers and movers
How they burned out just for fun
It was a flash and a bang when I was 21

Now I pass these roads from time to time 
The sun gets tangled in the power lines
I roll the window down shift to drive
But the past just fades and comes undone
Seemed easy like breathing when I was 21

I was somewhere in Virginia
With the Catskills on my mind
All the mountains are connected
Like the days we left behind

I was walking in Savannah
Where the river meets the pines
You were painting by the window
Sketching out the crossing lines

I’ll be with you in the morning sometime
When the birds all wake too soon
But tonight I asked the stars to draw a line
And let the night lean into you

I was drifting down to Asheville
With the blue hills bending low
You were dancing through my memory
Like a firefly in early snow

Now I'm waking up in Berkley
With the jasmine in the air
Every coast just keeps on curving
But I still find you everywhere

I’ll be with you in the morning sometime
When the birds all wake too soon
But tonight I asked the stars to draw a line
And let the night lean into you

I’ll be with you in the morning sometime
When the birds all wake too soon
But tonight I asked the stars to draw a line
And let the night lean into you

Night Lines (with Joliz)

Music lover & singer-songwriter. Many thanks for taking the time to listen.

Unless noted, all songs Copyright © Robert S. Dean.

Robert S. Dean

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