Our comedian correspondent Tom Papa visits Portland, Oregon, where he encounters some yogurt-granola issues, meets a talkative gnome named Gus, gets a haircut at an old-fashioned barber shop, and experiences a little Pacific Northwest magic. (Originally from our January 13, 2018 broadcast.)

Download the Song of the Week, "And Just Like That” (originally from our June 23, 2018 broadcast) from Chris Thile and his fellow Punch Brothers.

This week: Tom Papa drives from New York City to Lenox, Massachusetts. But first, it’s off to NYC’s City Hall where he encounters a joyous cavalcade of soon-to-be-married couples.

Chris Thile’s Song of the Week from our June 15, 2019 season finale, “Breathe In.” The band: Chris Thile, I’m With Her (Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins), Mike Elizondo, Jeff Babko, Chris Eldridge, Alex Hargreaves, and Ted Poor.

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Lyrics:

Sing we now our mid-year hymn

Breathe in love

Breathe in

Shush your mind with oxygen

Breathe in love

Breathe in

You need this

Amen

Rest thy voice click-off thy pen

Breathe in love

Pluck not thy weary mandolin

Breathe in love

Breathe in

You need this

Amen

Take thy summer medicine

Breathe in love

With one foot in the looney bin

Breathe in love

And when Fall asks you where you’ve been

You can breathe out

Again

So breathe in love

Breathe in

You need this

Amen

Chris Thile's Song of the Week, "Lightning Man," from our June 8, 2019 show. The band: Sara Watkins, Mike Elizondo, Eric Doob, Brittany Haas, Shaun Martin, Noam Pikelny, and Bryan Sutton.

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Lyrics:

Morse has chained the lightning
The rumors are true
All this dashing and dotting’s gonna bring the world home to you
And tell you what it is or what it might be
So drink today’s coffee with tomorrow’s news...

There’s no more elsewhere
Everywhere is here
With an o-perator, tap-tapping our hope and fear
Speculation and excitement
The clock hands froze the miles disappeared
When Morse chained the lightning
Morse has chained the lightning

Behold these tyrants
Assassins and thieves
Haters of light, law
And liberty
Then behold Morse’s lightning
Nipping at their heels
Fixing to strike them in the middle of the battlefield
Where they left America dying
Of the great divide in what she thinks and feels
Before Morse chained the lightning

This week: our comedian correspondent Tom Papa lands in Washington D.C. in the middle of a spring heat wave, cools off with a classic ice cream treat, joins a class trip that’s visiting the Jefferson Memorial, and encounters a potential spy near the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Tom’s book Your Dad Stole My Rake is available in paperback now. Find his tour dates and more at tompapa.com.

Chris Thile's Song of the Week, "Failure Isn’t Forever," from our June 1, 2019 show. The band: Madison Cunningham, Mike Elizondo, Marcus Gilmore, Brittany Haas, Shaun Martin, and Ryan Scott.

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Lyrics:

In a sunburnt park
Eating greenhouse tomatoes
I warm to my work

As worse comes to worst
Singing heave ho

‘Cause failure isn’t forever
Oh failures aren’t forever
Unless they never try to do better

We’ve left too big a mark
Casted too long a shadow

But failure won’t be forever
Oh failures aren’t forever
Unless they never try to do better
We’re gonna need some believers
To believe that failure isn’t forever
It’s just a point in time to get better

We welcome the dark
That pours through unlit windows
As worst recedes to worse

And we warm to the work
Singing heave ho

Failure isn’t forever
Oh failures aren’t forever
Unless they never try to do better
We’re gonna need some believers
To believe that failure isn’t forever
It’s just a point in time to get better

Tom Papa heads to St. Louis, fights off a spring allergy attack, laments the addictive nature of phones and social media, and attends a Cardinals game with an amorous fan named Val. Find Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Chris Thile's Song of the Week, "Monette and the Milkman," from our May 25, 2019 show. The band: Rachael Price, Josh Dion, Chris Eldridge, Alan Hampton, Alex Hargreaves, and Gabriel Kahane.

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Lyrics:

“Monette”
He whispers at the backdoor
“This is just a trap your
Loving folks have set
But you don’t have to spring it
Gather up your things it’s
Time you placed your
Own bet”

Monette
Replies “boy don’t I know it
But I’d be disowned if
I just up and left
In the middle of the plan to
Raise our family’s standing
By what man I wed
My mom and his are in the parlor
Talking guest list dresses drinks and rings
My father asked his then he asked my father no one’s bothered asking me

So Milkman
Lover boy
Adam whatcha after
A partner
Or a pretty toy
Adam whatcha after
I’m almost scared ask ‘cause
What if you’re too scared to ask me too and—

“Monette
I’m after marrying a goddess
Giving her just cause to
Bless the day we met
Yeah we’ll be in San Diego
Spreading avocado
On our morning
Toast yet”

Monette
Replies “well ain’t that nice
But dear a high society
Girl daren’t accept
Why don’t you run along and party
With those movie stars and
Give them my regrets
My mom and his are in the parlor
On to what our children’s names should be
My father asked his then he asked my father
And that’s quite enough for me”

Milkman

Loverboy

“Monette”
His heart sinks as he whispers
“Well I guess that’s it for
This huh please forget
That I so misunderstood us
As my train rolls good-guy-
-Like into the
Sunset”

Monette
Replies “Christ on a cracker
Hon, I’m kidding, packed, and
Not a bit upset
But since you couldn’t tell I’d
Chase your love to hell if
That were where it led

So Milkman
Lover boy
It’s off to California
I’m your partner
Your my pretty toy
And we’re off to California”

In a look back to our January 12 show, Tom Papa starts 2019 with a visit to wintry Kansas City, where he learns about a bit of family drama from a stranger in the hotel lobby and meets a jovial man named Big Daddy at a BBQ joint. Find Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.