B i o g r a p h y (by Wikipedia)
Second Person were a British band that existed for 10 years between 2001 and 2011 and mixed influences from trip hop, jazz, hip hop and electronica to form Post Trip Hop. In late 2001, singer Julia Johnson and producer/bassist Mark Maclaine met, and early the following year formed the band Second Person. Drummer Álvaro López was recruited in mid 2004 to complete the final line up and their debut album Chromatography was released later that year. It went on to sell out of its initial white-label run in United Kingdom, USA and Australia through word of mouth and publicity generated by musical placements on documentaries and extreme sports films. The opening song "Too Cold To Snow" was later featured in the closing credits of 2006 film Dolls. The band went on to record a live DVD at The Bedford in London, score music for a number of British broadcasters (including BBC and Channel 4) and became one of the main suppliers of music for the international broadcaster: The Extreme Sports Channel. The band released their second album The Elements on 9 August 2007, it was co-produced and mixed by producer/engineer Tony Platt (Bob Marley, Iron Maiden and also credited with engineering the second biggest selling album of all time: AC/DC's Back in Black). This album gained a high media profile in Europe as Second Person were the first British band to have raised the $50,000 target on Sellaband - which allowed fans to invest directly in bands on the site. Julia and Mark composed the music for the British feature film City Rats, starring Danny Dyer and Tamer Hassan and released in the cinemas in April 2009. The film reached number 6 in the UK DVD charts and went on to sell over 400,000 copies world-wide. The band announced their split on 2nd April 2011[3], along with the release of their third and final album: "Come to Dust". This full length album includes songs such as Gone Fishing, the video for which (directed by Katy Davis) gained extensive play on MTV and was used as part of Cobra Beer's sponsorship of ITV movies in the UK. Other video directors include: Ebba Erikzon (Radiohead's "2+2=5" video), Mina Song (Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy"), Everton Sebben and Mark Maclaine. In a final email to their fans the band wrote: "Second Person has always been an expression of our combined love of many styles of music and was founded on a shared desire to tell powerful stories. We had to do this during times of big change in the music industry, and although sometimes scary, it also allowed us to do things our own way. Something that kept us going was the support and love of a core group of dedicated fans. You are those people and we wanted to thank you for being there for us."
Chromatography Too Cold To Snow Your line was so dead Every time that I called it was a kick in the head But I tried to be calm I swear to you baby you didn't know what you'd done And then the moon shed its shell Some crescent effervescent light shivered and fell To my feet, from the sky I ask too many questions that get no, get no reply And it's too cold to snow, I don't feel my hands And my blood is so slow in my veins Oh... and I'm too tired to cry And the earth is so still It's too cold to snow but I hope it will Prone on the floor Couldn't think any less, couldn't drink any more Sleep was a prize And I died a small death when I opened my eyes Did I cease to exist From the moment we met or the moment we kissed And I dare you to agree That if you treat me this way then you cannot, you cannot love me And it's too cold to snow, I don't feel my hands And my blood is so slow in my veins Oh... and I'm too tired to cry And the earth is so still It's too cold to snow but I hope it will Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin And now you're here in your shame You're sorry and so on I'm glad that you came I know just like you That I will forgive you whatever you do And I know just as well That you've caused me less pain than I've caused to myself With my glass to my lips I'm thinking maybe, maybe it doesn't get better than this 'Cause it's too cold to snow, I don't feel my hands And my blood is so slow in my veins Oh... and I'm too tired to cry And the earth is so still And it's too cold to snow but I hope it will It's too cold to snow, I don't feel my hands And my blood is so slow in my veins Oh... and I'm too tired to cry And the earth is so still And it's too cold to snow but I hope it will Demons In The Scenery A dissipation of pain is more important than When it begins It's above any love I have To see these bruises for my sins And it's not about what we are today It's an unspecific stage It's the rate of desiccation That I anticipate But when the systems start And the lights go down Demons in the scenery turn my world around And I get myself lost I won't be found Is there a difference in meaning Between a brief vacation and a brush with death And which one do I need I'm sick to speak I'm too weak to catch my breath Well, I'm caught in these thoughts and awkward words I'm making clinical, chemical, friends Above my head discrete circled birds of sleep Preparing to descend (Preparing to descend) It's a constriction of chest At best, at worst, it's burst by a heavy stone I can do things that you know I've done before When I've been with myself alone (When I've been with myself alone) I know it's destructive Is there anymore I can Be surprised by joy Nevertheless in my stress and anxiety suggest There's nothing left to destroy But when the lights go up And the curtain falls Demons in the scenery scream like animals And I get myself lost Inside that voice Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Some things will fracture slowly Some things have sudden breaks I wish someone had told me Not to repeat mistakes I step inside my story And see it's told in blood If you were better for me You wouldn't be so good But be the clever hands The people take their bows The demons in the scenery scream, "it's over now" And I get myself lost Sometimes the lights go down (Some things will fracture slowly) Sometimes the lights go down The demons in the scenery turn my world around (I wish someone had told me) (Demons) Did I get myself lost (How do I turn my dreams down) I won't be found Won't be found Won't be found No Window I don't complain, I only wish I could But I was never very good at standing up to you Is another room within led into Another room without a window Where the view is just a view and the view is you, yeah yeah Views that I don't share I've never been so scared to do more than sit in this room with you And know you like I can't handle it And you say it's not about winning on the one occasion that I fight back If that's so then why would you attack 'Cause I don't care for war in any sense I have no talent for self-defense And I don't complain, I only wish I could But I was never very good at standing up to you I don't complain, I only wish I could But I was never very good at standing up to you Oh... I don't tell much I just anticipate and hate your touch You accuse me of this broken heart that I coped with my pride On side I tried to stay on your eyesight Every bus, every tree, every hotel room is the same It's just me trying to do more of the things you used to love before I'm happy to agree with what you say That you think of me, what you think of me Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin But I don't complain, oh, and I only wish I could But I was never very good at standing up to you I don't complain and I only wish I could But I was never very good at standing up to you Oh... I don't complain and I only wish I could But I was never very good at standing up to you I don't complain and I just as you miss true But now we both knew I was never good enough for you I don't complain and sometimes I think I will Oh to make myself believe that I'm still in love with you I don't complain at all, every time I try 'Cause I, there's no long before I want to make love with you I don't complain and I only wish I could But I was never very good at standing up to you
I Spy Sunlight Came down slowly Evening split the light in two And I walk down the pavement And I spy something beginning with you 'Cause I saw you on the corner And I knew you were important And I don't know why And I don't know if I told you But it would be good to know you But we went inside We went inside And played I spy Oh, I spy I said oh, oh come on You are so easy on the eyes, oh We have got so many friends in common Why don't we prove them right, oh 'Cause I saw you on the corner And I knew you were important And I don't know why And I don't know if I told you But it would be good to know you But we went inside We went inside And played I spy Oh, I spy Oh I saw you in the doorway I thought you would ignore me I don't know why Oh, but then you told me It would be so good to hold me We went outside We went outside to play I spy I spy I spy Oh, I spy I I spy Wreckage This close I can almost breathe it If I ever meet up cross section my soul If I let you in under the skin You'd have to believe it Gonna wait for you to go, go, go 'Cause I would hate for you to know Let me take stock of my senses Relentless and slow Reluctant to change, stranger And I think I'd like to let go Up against myself I'm up against the clock Oh now I think about letting you down And it's almost enough to hold onto When I want to be 'round to be drowned There's something that's taking me in And I know when I see you again I will know, if I know, how to swim Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin I could wait for you, to go, go, go 'Cause I would hate for you to know This close I could almost breathe it This close I could almost see it I could almost say it This close I have glanced from reaching up over my hands To the newest available land I'm gonna salvage the wreckage There will not be a whole lot of wreckage The way that things stand You better leave me now And start at your cause 'Cause if you see me now You'll break my heart I'm gonna wait for you and go, go, go 'Cause I would hate for you to know This close Demons Die Demons die and new ones grow Elastic shadows that statues throw Behind the back of a dying sun New demons come Demons die, demons fade And from the dregs of the just decayed Spitting rivulets of fire and fear New demons appear Demons die and new ones come to feed And then every time you bleed You just give them what they need Yeah yeah Demons die and new ones join the fray And they never go away No, they never go away Through arid oceans of frozen sand Across the avenues in no man's land Down the channels of your agile hedge New demons tread You thought you took 'em out long ago Goes to show you how you never know ‘Cause they may die, but it's not for long Well, a demon's never truly gone Demons die and new ones come to feed And then every time you bleed You just give them what they need Yeah yeah Demons die and new ones join the fray And they never go away No, they never go away You're harder and sharper and faster and older But still you are looking back over your shoulder The image is slander, the shadows do gather Like clouds Coming together Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Moving in unison Speaking in tongues Billow smoke from the back of their lungs Slow as a type, but you cannot outrun them They'll chase 'em They'll face 'em They'll never outrun them, no Demons, demons Demons, demons Demons die and new ones come to feed And then every time you bleed You just give them what they need Yeah yeah Demons die and new ones join the fray And they never go away No, they never go away Demons die and new ones come to feed And then every time you bleed You just give them what they need Yeah yeah Demons die and new ones join the fray And they never go away No, they never, never, never, never, never, never go Word For Word I love you, but I don't believe you I don't know why, I just don't leave you `Cause if you treat me like you hate me Then you don't need me do you baby I love you, I believe you love me I'm so happy we worked it out But sometimes you treat me just like you hate me I know you don't really, I'm just too proud Oh I love you, I think you love me If I happen to get hurt You can be certain, you can be sure But I will recall it word for word Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Still don't know what you're trying to say Still don't know what you're saying to me No, no I may be inclined to immortalize you That's a right I exercise And you can sue me so you never knew me But never for the big surprise This is my business, it's my profession You should've questioned what I do And if you mind me and treat my kindly Then I will do the same for you Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Still don't know what you're trying to say I still don't know what you're saying to me No, no What never displeased you for no reason I would never have the nerve But in every basic situation You have to get what you deserve And if you ever fuck me over Well, don't expect any guarantee `Cause I have my music and I can use it To say anything I please I love you, but I don't believe you I don't know why I just don't leave you 'Cause if you treat me like you hate me Then you don't need me, do you baby Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Still don't know what you're trying to say Don't know what you're saying to me No, no Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're talking about Don't know what you're trying to say Don't know what you're saying to me No, no Nerve You're quick to learn, you're quick to move Quick to turn and disapprove Put up my need, 'cause you're my, I need you mine And let me find you a punishment to fit the crime 'Cause you like to play with fire And you like to play with stones But you will have to try much harder to break my bones You can't play for money, you don't play for love But at least you do repeat yourself "enough" Quick to condemn, quick to condone Simple as that to check and take them home Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin You're not convinced, is that so Well you want fingerprints before you know You've changed your mind, you're not sure Although you are showing that you were before But you like to play forever And you say you play with words But it will take much more than you to break my nerves You like to play with fire And you like to play with stones But you will have to try much harder to break my bones And you say you'd play forever And you say you play with words But it will take much more than you It will take much more than you It will take much more than you to break my nerves
My Baby Only Cares For Me So all your stars have drawn the blinds So all your friends have done their best to try and entertain you You still walk in narrow lines And all those tiny little lies can somehow help sustain you Say, my baby only cares for me Just like we always used to say And I have to keep remembering That my baby only cares for me My baby only cares for me Just like we always used to say And I have to keep remembering That my baby only cares for me It doesn't matter what they do Or how their wandering eyes alight upon those ailing creatures As long as they keep it off from you As long as you never find those incriminating pictures Oh but your baby only cares for you Just like she always used to say And you have to keep remembering That your baby only cares for you My baby only cares for me Just like we always used to say And I have to keep remembering That my baby only cares for me My baby only cares for me Just like we always used to say I have to keep remembering My baby only cares for me Just like we always used to say I have to keep remembering You know the day you came around (You know the day you came around) I was just feeling like I needed something to believe in I turned my eyes down to the ground (I turned my eyes down to the ground) I felt so foolish when I understood that you were leaving Oh 'cause, darling, you never cared for me That was just something that you said Something I got into my head Well, darling, I never cared for you Oh I wanted to so bad But I am glad I never did My baby only cares for me Just like we always used to say And I have to keep remembering That my baby only cares for me We say, my baby only cares for me Just like we always used to say And we have to keep remembering That my baby only cares My baby only cares For me Senseless Sentences To see how our scars Are falling in love On your floor With two shoes and a glove oh What will we do today Maybe invent some senseless sentences to say I am here and you can smoke, yeah yeah oh if you must, it's just a private joke On our own TV show, yeah yeah And there's nothing I can tell you That you don't already know oh Who says it isn't easy, yeah yeah Who says it isn't easily done Who says it isn't easy No one, no one But sometimes you kill me And then you render me stunned, yeah And then I'm done for And then I'm gone And I can feel my head caving in now and oh There's only you who can put me back together again But for now I'm so awake, yeah yeah And I seem surprised when I realize How much we have put at stake Since June I have come to love you so much I will love you so much more this afternoon Who says it isn't easy, yeah yeah Who says it isn't easily done Who says it isn't easy Oh no one, no one Our scars Are falling in love On your floor With two shoes and a glove oh I said that I saw very entwined, yeah yeah Then what about that a meeting of the mind Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Or am I so, am I so deranged, yeah yeah Well, if that's true then so are you But I, I will never have you changed Never changed, so there, yeah yeah Or am I, do I care Who says that we are crazy, yeah yeah Who says this isn't easily done Who says that we are crazy Oh no one, no one But our scars are falling in love On your floor With two shoes and a gun I said what will we do today You said invent some senseless sentences to say oh Who says it isn't easy, yeah yeah Who says this isn't easily done Who says this isn't easy Oh no one, no one Divine What makes you so divine Is it your ruthless ambition Is it your insane desire Or your singular vision If you can symbolise the stars In sixteen bars, with two guitars You must think you are a magician What makes you so divine Is it the way you aim so high You have one eye on the part of the sky that you plan to occupy And the other on the state of the art that you create You speak of fame, you speak of fate and you just wait What makes you so divine How would you define your worth Where will you find the time To inherit all the earth Who will you have to love If you leave my love behind What makes you so divine Is it all the time you kill You say one day you'll be adored And rewarded and maybe you will I wouldn't be surprised, you're idle But you're idolised But there is no prize for standing so still Oh no, darling, there is no prize for standing so still Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin What makes you so divine What should you be famous for Should I run and join the line of fans The stands at your front door Am I the only woman here Who hasn't lost her mind What makes you so divine Is there something that you do Can you maintain your hearty Till the world can come to you How day you be so sure You're some god of mine What makes you so divine You think you could hurt me twice I really hope the soul you sold Reached a reasonable price Do you consider this to be And insult or a sign What makes you so divine Is there something the eye can see 'Cause I would die to be like you I don't wanna be someone like me I can only stare at the receding form Of your ascending star But this star is born (?) But I am torn by my jealousy
Lucky Breaks If you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it takes Then let's hope you get some lucky breaks You're holding out for the kind of star who might Just pick you up as their pet for the night But how 'bout when they come to put you back Where you came from, where you belong Are you, are you prepared for that If you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it takes Oh, let's hope you get some lucky breaks Oh, you will believe you're going somewhere Your convictions may be strong Your convictions get you nowhere If they're wrong If they're wrong And you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it takes Oh, let's hope you get some lucky breaks So just wait until you're sitting on the edge of something good That will be when Your golden ticket figures out they don't know where you've been And your interesting face won't make up for the germs You may find yourself sealed, stamped, and returned If you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it takes Oh, If you don't have what it takes Oh, well let's hope you get some lucky breaks You will believe you're going somewhere Your convictions may be strong But your convictions get you nowhere Ooh, If they're wrong If they're wrong 'Cause you don't have what it takes If you don't have what it, oh what it takes If you don't have what it takes Oh, well, well let's hope you get some lucky breaks Oh let's hope you get some lucky breaks Yeah let's hope you get some lucky breaks Oh let's hope, let's hope you get some lucky, lucky, lucky breaks
Grace (End Son) Grace may not mean being wise Grace may not mean making sense Grace leaves us with no real cover Grace came as a surprise Grace made the difference Just grace before this game was over Before we both hang up the phone Grow dependent on our friends Before we separate to sort our stories We go back to being alone It's only out of good intents There is a period of grace before that Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Grace Is if I die before tomorrow I die happy in the knowledge that I Didn't cause you pain When I had the choice I made it in your favor And we never said forever But for now now and forever are the same I think of you at night At a quarter after twelve It's as if I could reach out to touch you When there is so little light That you can only see yourself And you worry that the world will watch you I have learnt a lot from you I've been wearing all your clothes I take everything that you have to give me Grace came so overdue To a door so nearly closed Grace came before you had to leave me Grace Is if you die before tomorrow You can die happy in the knowledge that you Didn't cause me pain When you had the choice You made it in my favor And we never said forever But for now now and forever are the same You think the candles all have eyes And your nerves have turned to wise And the weeks are flickering and smoking You can feel your long kept sighs Beneath the weight of these attacks Your heart is swallowed whole and now you're choking Outside the city screams And the windows are so thin That everything you fear can see inside you You've been dreaming other people's dreams Dreams of people you have never been But I know who you are and I can find you Oh if I die before tomorrow I die happy in the knowledge that I Didn't cause you pain When I had the choice I made it in your favor And we never said forever But for now now and forever are the same And if you die before tomorrow You can die happy in the knowledge that you Didn't cause me pain When you had the choice You made it in my favor And we never said forever But for now now and forever are the same For now now and forever are the same
*** Thanx a lot to Cello for this one ***
The Elements
Wood You try to multiply your speed by time to get your distance But you don't see the wood for the trees An experiment with existence Is showing up anomalies You see the day dissolve into the morrow And the slow growing of your second skin Adrenaline begins in the marrow And then intoxicates your oxygen Count one to a hundred and then you are ready to go What do you know What do you say We have an acid chemistry today What do you get What do you like We have a savage energy tonight Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin I'm not the light outside of the window I'm not a damsel in distress I'm not the gold at the end of the rainbow And I am not a lost princess Are you my love, my landlord, my lawyer Are you the one I build my world around Or are we wrapped in black paranoia Ready to attack and take each other down Exactly like Alice in Wonderland now when we grow What do you know What do you say We have an acid chemistry today What do you get What do you like We have a savage energy tonight What do you say We have an acid chemistry today Oh my dear, it's dark in the dungeon This is where the demons dwell A sign says beware of the dragon But you don't attend it very well Who was it who said that it's better the devil you know Ain't it so What do you say We have an acid chemistry today What do you get What do you like We have a savage energy tonight What do you say We have a savage energy today Fire I used to play with matches When I was very small Legends of wolves and witches I memorised them all So many nasty stitches So many jagged blades I tidied up the pieces I tried to mend my ways But he came right out of nowhere Like an unfamiliar tune Sat down upon my armchair And opened up my wounds I put up no resistance So insistent was desire But one of my addictions I used to play with fire Do you Do you have a light Do you have the time of day Would you Would you save a life If you had a life to save How sweetly we collided Just like two meteors For days he did as I did Mixed drinks and metaphors Oh so much phosphorescence We added spark to spark I should have learnt my lesson Already broke my heart Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin And I said Do you Do you have a light Do you have the time of day Would you Lend your light to mine Do you want to come and play I engineered the chaos I burned the fortress down Who knew about the lives lost Who took a body count In my act of supplication I asked him for his help But I was an imposition I had to ask myself I had to ask myself Do you Do you have a light Do you have the time of day Would you Would you save a life If you had a life to save To save Earth And so the clock strikes twelve as we find ourselves In a sphere of a clearing in a navy light There are no stars, just the bars of a car's headlights On the leaves in the dead of the night Silhouette suits step out of the shadows Into the arena where the cameras roll See their shoulders strain below the weight of the spades Stereo plays for a funeral They say the moon is nearly full They see their eyes are nearly dry They know how wonderful, how wonderful it is To be alive tonight Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin I leave myself to the earth To the air To the ashes It's my time It's my design It's my turn And I know I won't be loved I won't be saved I won't be noticed Until I learn to love That I hate to learn To my best beloved I do bequeath All the anguish and the irony And all the things we never meant And those we set out to prevent I leave the twisted bittersands Send solemn grace of consequence The hand he lent ungratefully I don't intend to take away with me He had a solid alibi You know I never saw him cry I leave myself to the earth To the air And to the ashes It's my time It's my design It's my turn (Oh it's my turn and I know I) And I know I won't be loved I won't be saved I won't be noticed Until I learn to love I hate to learn I hate to learn And the clock strikes one and my time is done And I know he won't miss me when I'm gone I just raise a toast to my sweet trevouse' (?) And feel glad that the chapter's closed When I'm gone I just raise a toast to my sweet trevouse' (?) And feel glad that the chapter's closed It's my early grave Where I wait for the light to let me in Here it comes around again (Here it comes around again) And I say Let the light shows and the sounds Of the orchestra begin My eternal requiem This is my early grave Metal I see myself from many angles This room has got so many mirrors I am among an alphabet of angels But nothing is at it appears (Come too) Alchemy Take away the agony (Before I disappear) Alchemy Take away the misery I made for me I am possessed of twin opinions Each one lies heavy on my chest I peel away at them like onion skins But they continue to coexist When I am sensible and settled I'd like to try and wish him well But when I'm full of heavy metal once again All the pride inside me would give him hell Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin (Come too) Alchemy Take away the agony (Before I disappear) Alchemy Take away the misery I made for me Heavy metal well it gets inside No matter how decisively or nice you slice it It insinuates until the driest ice Has taken every synapse for its own devices Throat is coated with these frozen crystals Notes you hold are only broken whistles Slick as sequins are the icicles glistening I think his kisses were sick as strychnine (Come too) Alchemy Take away the agony (Before I disappear) Alchemy Take away the misery I made for me One by one the stars are going out And the sun has no one to laugh about Less light in the candle chandelier How low will I go before I disappear How low will I go Before I disappear Water I stand on the stones and I stare at the waves And all of my anger runs red in the sea I have let go of all of my rage It's sailing, it's sailing away from me I will placidly go amid the noise and the haste And the voices and days all subside into peace I have let go of all of my rage It's sailing, it's sailing away from me Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin And you come around to restore my soul For you make me down to lie And I'll carry you If you carry me, too All my life I am acceptance and I am forgiveness I will believe this was nobody's fault Spiders and shadows as long as I live But I have nothing to fear, I have nowhere to fall I have no one to hate, I have no one to blame And I have no more shame or deceit or dismay And I have let go of all of my pain It's sailing, it's sailing, it's sailing away And you come around to restore my soul 'Cause you make me down to lie And I'll carry you If you carry me, too All my life Through I stand on the stones and I stare at the waves And all of my anger runs red in the sea I have let go of all of my rage It's sailing, it's sailing away from me It's sailing, it's sailing away from me It's sailing, it's sailing, it's sailing away from me It's sailing, it's sailing, it's sailing Away from me
Come To Dust
Gone Fishing Meditation on the new Another version of an I Love You It's a variation on a theme It's attraction speaking a different name A different name Oh you can't imagine how Nice it is to write it down Or say it aloud I mean it means a lot to me To have proof of the existence of other fish in the sea Letting you go, there ain't no time to waste Letting you know that I'll be gone all day I've gone fishing Letting you know I take it in my stride Letting you go, I won't be back tonight I've gone fishing Love was a revolving door It was a neon sign that couldn't light the street anymore I used to think about him all the time Like going round and round on the circle line On the circle line Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Oh, the thing about a broken heart Is it's like a mechanical toy without its moving parts Oh but I feel like I'm on the mend Because I'm getting up and I'm getting dressed And I'm getting out again Letting you go, there ain't no time to waste Letting you know that I'll be gone all day I've gone fishing And I say so long Letting you go, I take it in my stride Letting you know I won't be back tonight I've gone fishing I kit myself out with rods and reels For to play sardines with the electric eels Chase little angel fish with graceful tails Play hide and seek with the killer whales Maybe a game of catch me if you can With a submarine upon a bed of sand You see, I am a deep sea diver now And I have never been afraid to drown Letting you go, there ain't no time to waste Letting you know that I'll be gone all day I've gone fishing And I say so long Letting you go, I take it in my stride Letting you know I won't be back tonight I've gone fishing Letting you go, there ain't no time to waste Letting you know that I'll be gone all day I've gone fishing So I say so long Letting you go, I take it in my stride Letting you know I won't be back tonight I've gone fishing The Alphabet Song I love my love with every letter of the alphabet I love my love in every language I know I love my love in ways I haven't counted yet, oh oh My love my love my love I love you so I love my love with an A for his amazing grace I love my love with a B when he is blue I love my love with a C if he's capable of loving me I love my love with a D because I do I love my love with an E for the earth I'd give him I love my love with an F for the faith I keep I love my love with a G for his gentleness and empathy And I love my love with an H when he's asleep Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin I love my love with every letter of the alphabet I love my love in every language I know I love my love in ways I haven't counted yet, oh oh My love my love my love I love you so I love my love with an I though his ignorance can make me cry I love my love with a J when my jealousy strikes I love my love with a K for the kamikaze way I have to play I love my love with an L if it's me that he likes I love my love with an M for the masochist I am I love my love with an N for the never it seems I love my love with an O for the only way that this can go And I love my love with a P for the perfection of dreams I love my love with every letter of the alphabet I love my love in every language I know I love my love in ways I haven't counted yet, oh oh My love my love my love I love you so I love my love with a Q for his qualities I love my love with an R for his respect for my rhymes I love my love with an S for our strength when under such duress I love my love with a T in these turbulent times I love my love with a U cause he's undecided as to what to do I love my love with a V cause his vows are unsaid I love my love with a W, does it trouble you he has no point of view I just love my love because of X, and Y, and Z I love my love with every letter of the alphabet I love my love in every language I know I love my love in ways I haven't counted yet, oh oh oh My love my love my love I love you so I love my love with every letter of the alphabet I love my love in every language I know I love my love in ways I haven't counted yet, oh oh oh My love my love my love I love you so My love my love my love I love you so Oh, oh, my love my love my love I love you so
Another Girlfriend
Heart's gone cold Head is blissfully numb Life is short And you bet I do what you want And I need you to know I don't mean to condescend Why don't you get yourself another girlfriend Etched on your bedpost Is not my ambition Your third choice not foremost On my list of intentions I'm no special project I won't add to your status If women are objects Then how you must hate us Heart's gone cold Head is blissfully numb Life is short And you bet I do what you want And I need you to know I don't mean to condescend Why don't you get yourself another girlfriend If you want me Why haven't you asked me Maybe you're lying Or maybe you're lazy Maybe you're waiting to meet someone better Well maybe it's best we don't get back together Heart's gone cold Head is blissfully numb Life is short And you bet I do what you want And I need you to know I don't mean to condescend Why don't you get yourself another girlfriend So many excuses For why you're still choosing See maybe you're useless Or maybe you're using See look at me trying To vainly explain you It's too late, I'm tired I won't entertain you Heart's gone cold Head is blissfully numb Life is short And you bet I do what you want And I need you to know I don't mean to condescend Why don't you get yourself another girlfriend Heart's gone cold Head is blissfully numb (head is blissfully numb) Life is short And you bet I do what you want (bet I do) And I need you to know I don't mean to condescend Why don't you get yourself another girlfriend (why don't you?) Paper Umbrella You're alone You're afloat in an angry tide Does it feel like home Or does it feel like suicide Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin You're so sharp That you cut yourself sometimes And your devices go to waste ‘Cause they're running around with your design You feel as useless as a paper umbrella in a storm It's funny how the weather can go wrong And you're without your outer shell I just want to know if I can help Or can anything be done Your head's so heavy Let's get the weight from off of your chest Come on baby Don't fear the people you know best You're a soldier now You're a soldier now And you're going off to war What are you crying for You feel as useless as a paper umbrella in a storm It's funny how the weather can go wrong And you're without your outer shell And I just want to know if I can help Baby, I just want to know if I can help I would do for you, whatever could Whatever could be done Oh, all I can do Is look at you retreating to the skies Oh, nothing grounds you now You haven't got the anchor off your alibi All I can say is Suns will set (?) and rise again But I will do for you Whatever can be done Your head's so heavy Let's get the weight from off of your chest Come on, baby Don't fear the people you love best Unretractable Facts The sad and unretractable fact of my devotion to you Causes you to pause in awe of my emotion And you tell me you're overwhelmed and all your senses are kinda shaken And I'm sitting here wishing I could have been mistaken At one point or another I arrived at the truth And at a quarter to three, it might have been two thirds vermouth But oh I know me so well, I know the thing about me Is even when wasted I don't waste my honesty And now I'm stuck in the centre of unthinkable thoughts I'd better show some remorse, I'd better head for the door ‘Cause all it takes to make a statement is to say that it's true So the fact is unretractable and there is nothing I can do about it Damn, whatever happened to acceptable lies I have a self to despise I have a head and a heart so horribly open wide You had to be scared, you couldn't be dared to decide To do anything other than running for cover to hide I said, Oh, I'm so sorry you know I get so verbose Sometimes I feel like I'm just sitting removing my clothes Like every layer of whatever I'm wearing is lifted away With every article I have to say Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin All because I'm stuck in the centre of unthinkable thoughts I'd better show some remorse, I'd better head for the door All it takes to make a statement is to say that it's true But now the fact is unretractable and there is nothing I can do about it And nothing I can do about it Well it's a tragic and impractical fate that I am forced to contemplate Another girl would never get in this state I ingested the best part of seven bottles of wine And like I'd learnt them by heart I started reciting my lines And now I'm frightened and fraught, I'm distract and distressed I'm too depressed, this is what I get for getting it off my chest So you will have to forgive me for failing to make more sense Just so you know, I hope we can be friends Oh because I'm stuck in the centre of unthinkable thoughts I'd better show some remorse, I'd better head for the door All it takes to make a statement is to say that it's true And the fact is unretractable and there is nothing I can do about it And there is nothing I can do about it Nothing I can do about it Play Fair There's a quick quick quickening of my pulse and my pace And I think it's sickening how I have to save my face And a drip drip trickling of a lethargy inside Keeps me comatose when I'm on my toes so I'm half alive If I can't play fair With you I cannot play at all What do I do I wish I knew But it's too close to call My eyes are wide The breadth of my deception has me petrified What can I say It was at my invitation that you played tonight Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin There's a quick quick quickening of my pulse and my pace And I think it's sickening how I have to save my face And a drip drip trickling of a lethargy inside Keeps me comatose when I'm on my toes so I'm half alive If I can't play fair With you I cannot play at all What do I do I wish I knew But it's too close to call My knees are weak As I try and find a reason why I can't speak So I look around For something to pin my gaze on like the ground at my feet There's a quick quick quickening of my pulse and my pace And I think it's sickening how I have to save my face And a drip drip trickling of an energy inside Keeps me on my toes when I'm comatose so I'm half alive If I can't play fair With you I cannot play at all What do I do I wish I knew But it's too close to call If I can't play fair With you I cannot play at all What do I do I wish I knew But it's too close to call Oh it's too close to call
The Wishbone Face to face, in a crowded basement You were all amazement That I should hate the way that I am just a replacement I said, don't rebound on me, I am not a tennis court This is not Monopoly or a spectator sport Maybe it used to be but I've been through too much Talk, but don't touch, just Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone and I'll make a wish I'll wish for mutual love and happiness I'll wish for friendship free from artifice Just give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone Side my side in virtual contentment My resentment self-evident when I pleaded the 5th amendment ‘Cause I can't talk about things I can't abide Specially when we're mix and matching wrong and right Let's quit the physical while we're still ahead No damage done, no blood shed and I said Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone and I'll make a wish I'll wish for mutual love and happiness I'll wish for friendship free from artifice Just give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone I sashayed away in my elegant stilettos Like a hundred different women who had walked that way before me I inflected my invective will all these self-reflexive echoes And I said I just didn't want somebody who could not adore me Oh and you stood and you stared and you were rooted to the spot Was it the brutal truth or the rudeness you saw in my parting shot Ah and your eyes kind of liquidised and you were like, but I do Honey, science dictates I do nothing without proof So why don't you Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone and I'll make a wish I'll wish for mutual love and happiness I'll wish for friendship free from artifice Just give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone Give me the wishbone
Story with Only Two Characters My story has only two characters A woman, and also a man Now she had some bad things happen to her And he just would not understand He figured she'd deal with her troubles No bigger than bricks in a wall And maybe they'd make a great couple One day when she's dealt with them all But she said you have to be here for this really You have to come and see for yourself You have to know how I'm feeling You cannot ask nobody else But you do, ‘cause you don't want to worry your head But I won't love you when I am dead Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Spilt Milk Darling it's deplorable I'm still acting this adorable With all this ugliness inside It's just untenable That I'm always so available And I'm always so amenable To your blending black and white I tell you truthfully This ambiguity It's just no use to me 'Cause it makes me want to curl up in a foetal ball Like an unprotected animal With an ineffective outer wall In an unsympathetic world I know you'd never be unkind With all your thoughts for me But while you're making up your mind It tortures me But there's no use crying There's no use crying There's no use crying There's no use crying Oh Well it's practically an actual catastrophe And I reckon it just has to be 'Cause of its fundamental flaws I know you'd happily Gather me up and carry me But you don't have the capacity And I'm not a charitable cause I feel like I lost it all I feel like I'm in hospital And you know it's just impossible For you to see me now Because togetherness Is so akin to hopelessness And we are standing on a precipice And it is such a long way down Oh and you know we have to walk away While we're still making sense This is just the price we pay for accidents Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin And there's no use crying There's no use crying There's no use crying There's no use crying Oh there's no use crying Fall on your knees Hear the angel voices Fall on your knees Hear the angel voices But there's no use crying There's no use crying And there's no use dying 'Cause there's still more living to be done
Moth to a Candle Flame Oh my days are dark again And they're drawing to a certain close I am a moth to a candle flame And my Icarus Wings are working loose There are no angels to watch and pray And there are no stars to wish upon Who is gonna carry my soul away Who is gonna miss me when I'm gone Who is gonna miss me when I'm gone Oh it's easy to try It's easy to say Nobody loves me anyway So where's my joy now Where's my instinct to survive I don't know how I am ever getting out of this alive I am never getting out of this alive I am never getting out of this alive Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin Well I looked death in the eye And I don't remember what I said Asked, was I going along for the ride I think I replied I am already dead Well I, took a look at it nice and slow And I wondered what I made of it Was it really my time to go Was I really afraid of it Was I really afraid of it And yes it's easy to try It's easy to say Nobody loves me anyway So where's my joy now Where's my instinct to survive I don't know how I am ever getting out of this alive I am never getting out of this alive I am never getting out of this alive
Four Leaf Clover Life forms, taking their shape Diamonds, figures of eight Carbon, crystal one day Come on, do what you can Make figures out of clay I'm gonna go into the garden for a four leaf clover And we can make a thing of beauty and a joy forever Atoms move through a void Compounds are made and destroyed Cycles of death and rebirth Mindful, stay mindful Of making your name And proving what you're worth Rob from always on the run is so bad and copy paste is a sin I'm gonna go into the garden for a four leaf clover And we can make a thing of beauty and a joy forever Colours are pieces of light Red, green and blue, together make white You've got what I'll never have You are everything else, you are my other half I'm gonna go into the garden for a four leaf clover And we can make a thing of beauty and a joy forever I'm gonna go into the garden for a four leaf clover AAnd we can make a thing of beauty and a joy forever
Shadow of A Doubt You are a passing chord You are the blink of an eye You are a quiet word You are the back of my mind You are the ghost of a smile You are a shadow of doubt You are without You are the star that fell too soon Tell me What good is the sun Yeah, what good is the moon When everytime I look for you You’re gone You are a flick of a wrist You are a ship in the night You are a butterfly kiss You are a trick of the light You are a break in the clouds You are a mark on my skin You are within You are the star that fell too soon Tell me What good is the sun Yeah, what good is the moon When everytime i look for you You’re gone
Giants Steps Like comes to like After a lonely night at the lost and found I have a guide for survival And a man to wrap my arms around Don't need to know If I should stay or I should go And even though I know no poetry I have to say This is a giant step for me Love takes to love Like an anemone to the ocean floor And I say come company Come and keep the demons from my door Forever more I do declare He has me walking in the air And setting sail upon an open sea Say what you will This is a giant step for me Some exist in such inner rest That they never know what they've found But I believe in the simplicity Of just looking around And watching the walls come down, oh Time after time It's a paradigm of the two of us They say a minus and a minus Always make a plus Could be defined As a small step for mankind Economics, utter industry What do I care It is a giant step for me (For me) (For me) (For me)
I Am Not The Night Self Help I had a dream the night we signed the papers, you took me for a lonely walk We rode up in an elevator, we wandered down an empty hall And at the end was this receptionist who smiled at you but would not speak to me She handed you some kind of list and you looked at it and told me I could just choose three I could change my nose, my face, my skin I could change my skin my face my nose Or else the body that my brain is imprisoned in But I woke up just before I chose Tell me honestly what would you have me wear What would you have me say Meek as you like in medium haute couture Media aware and getting younger every day This is not the world I had in mind I know I have no right to want the world To rearrange itself just as I’d like I’d just like to be an ordinary girl Don’t be ashamed of it I couldn’t stand another woman’s shoes or another game of heads you win and tails I lose I won’t be afraid of it Better the devil that I know should take me I invite you to come over here and make me choose It takes a lot to give nothing is one thing I’ve learnt from unnecessary suffering A hard time is a good time but at least I’m wondering if there is not another way a better way of being or becoming I raised very high my own invisible bar I never needed you to push me just watch me look out for me is about it but whoever you are please don’t attempt to try and change me I won’t be ashamed of it I couldn’t stand another woman’s shoes or another game of heads you win and tails I lose I won’t be afraid of it Better the devil that I know should take me I invite you to come over here and make me choose I would like to break your legs, but I don’t have the strength in my arms Sometimes it’s all that I can do, just to play Have no patience with self-help, a sorry shelf of failed attempts at mental health But what’s the one thing they all say, they say feel the fear and do it anyway Lullaby There’s a crow that flies over a city on fire And an orchestra slowly waking The clouds have uncovered a nameless desire And it sounds like a bone slowly breaking You finally faced me and told me the truth And you showed me the space where I’d altered the proof I was stunned, it was like I had killed you This much I’ve done, this much more I will still do I’ve written you letters I haven’t remembered In my childish vendetta of self-preservation I’ve listened to nothing, and understood less I’ve made such a mess of this whole situation Now how would it be, to just wash this away Oh my tongue is tied, I don’t know what to say There are no more alibis for my behaviour I give you a lullaby, I have nothing braver Oh go to sleep, with your eyes buttoned shut Against the cold and the sleet And the kisses I stitch to your blanket will keep you From falling away form your dreams I will hold you secure at your beautiful seams I’m sorry my apologies have been selfish and specious I despise the philosophy of water under bridges I don’t believe emotion can only flow forwards And into some ocean that all rivers go towards Well I will swim backwards and find where the source is And see where the truth lies and learn my resources There are no more alibis for my behaviour I bring you a lullaby I have nothing braver Oh go to sleep, with your eyes buttoned shut Against the cold and the sleet And the kisses I stitch to your blanket will keep you From falling away form your dreams I will hold you secure at your beautiful seams Travel by road, baby, travel by river, travel by faltering wings Keep yourself only and always and ever in the company of angels and kings The company of angels and kings What would it take to make this up to you If my hands were untied I would know what to do But there are no more alibis for my behaviour I give you a lullaby, I have nothing braver Stepford Wife Two steps forward and one step back; I keep telling myself to remember that Oh no-one has a monopoly on faith In the event that I don’t succeed I will try again cause I never agreed o act at anything but my own pace Now I am my own Stepford Wife and my body is down in the basement From the blood and bones of my own life I have engineered my own replacement And I go stepping out to the frontlines from the boundaries of my own house The hand grenades and the land mines don’t hurt as much as self doubt Two steps forward and one to the side, I keep telling myself I will be alright oh no-one has a monopoly on change I need a soldering iron to seal my nerves cuz I have decided that no-one deserves To feel more than ordinary pain Oh my Stepford Wife she goes wherever I go and fends off the arrows and slings And she reminds me of someone from American Psycho Cause she doesn’t feel a thing And we go stepping out to the frontlines from the safe haven of my home Better the edges of the headlines than the corners of my comfort zone Oh the corners of my comfort zone Keep going two steps forward and one step back Two steps forward and one step back One step forward and two steps back Keep telling yourself to remember Titanium heels and a mechanical brain Silicone nails and a threshold for pain that far exceeds the limits of my sphere An elegant style for my hair and my clothes And a plastic smile I can superimpose on everything that I decide to wear Oh a Stepford Wife is going so boldly where I am afraid to tread And she is sleek as silk and otherworldly and colour coordinated And we go stepping out to the frontlines from the safe haven of my home Better the edges of the headlines than the corners of my comfort zone Oh the corners of my comfort zone It’s two steps forward and one step back Two steps forward and one step back One step forward and two steps back Keep telling myself to remember that Free Likewise Over the mirror of a table top, a tyrannosaur waits in a china shop Strangers meet in neutral spaces, strangers speak in neutral voices We are just ghosts in an outpost town, and we’re reading a map that’s upside down We have come from many places, we have come from many choices Your hand is a knot around your brandy And your knuckles are white with misunderstanding We both wish death to a confrontation Under my breath is an incantation I say, go your own way, now you’re free From the ball and chain of loving me I myself am free likewise From looking through the endless landfill sites of a memory Under the veil of a candle’s smoke, here is a dagger, here is a cloak We will sit through awkward pauses, wait until the moment passes Oh, time has worn you well, you seem the same but no I cannot tell Now no more observations, here is an open invitation To go your own way, now you’re free From the ball and chain of loving me I myself am free likewise From looking through the endless landfill sites of a memory Here is another open question, here are no more accusations Here is a map of my own creation, here is a road of my own suggestion I have never known a sea like the one that separates you and me Even side by side in this same sentence nothing ever makes a difference Would you rather a gun or a goodbye kiss And say, this I’ve done but you’ve done this No need for retribution – here, oh here is a resolution Don’t we say go your own way, now you’re free From the ball and chain of loving me I myself am free likewise From looking through the endless landfill sites of a memory Go your own way, now you’re free From the ball and chain of loving me I myself am free likewise From looking through the endless landfill sites of my memory Atlas Come with me, quietly, I have got something you need to see Standing alone in the garden under an olive tree Eyes made of emeralds, skin made of ice that you cannot touch Oh and her name is sweet nothing cause nothing matters much And there is no key to this lonely door So we can no more stay here They say take what you want and pay for it; I do They say learn from your mistakes and I learn from you Time after time wondering if I’m crazy But even Atlas couldn’t hold every corner of the world and find it easy Butterfly kisses, caresses that glitter like Christmas lights Tears are smaller than insects, bigger than ocean tides Indigo shadows at windows, whispers of might have beens Lost in the heavens like helium balloons are my dreams I sometimes think that without your hand I would not have my head They say take what you want and pay for it, so I do They say learn from your mistakes and I try to Time after time I’m wondering if I’m crazy But even Atlas couldn’t hold every corner of the world and find it easy Seasons are slow watercolours that go in an endless wheel I am just joining invisible dots to make them real Come with me, be with me, make me make sense of a nonsense place Let’s go away from this garden and into another space There is so much more to try to prove There is so much more to love They say take what you want and pay for it, so I do They say learn from your mistakes and I learn from you Time after time I’m wondering if I’m crazy But even Atlas couldn’t hold every corner of the world and find it easy Elegy The devil in the detail speaks to me at night Lack of sleep keeps my cigarette alight I’m troubled by a new idea All these weeks of feeling like I never had a friend before Sister, lawyer, mother, messenger and so much more But the day begins to break And I wonder what I’m so afraid of There’s a history that repeats In the tangle of the sheets At that old New York hotel Say a rose would smell as sweet By any other name But who can tell Oh Eve knows all about it She knows only too well Eve came to me with smiles, in a winter coat and hat No-one knew about the dagger she had planned for my back She seemed to act so slowly I am known for paranoia and enjoying making scenes They’re accusing me of sharpening my fangs Now my friends they all agree and my lover don’t seem to know me There’s a history that repeats In the tangle of the sheets At that old New York hotel Say a rose would smell as sweet By any other name But who can tell Oh Eve knows all about it She knows only too well Every woman has an understudy waiting in the wings Who knows the lines and how to say them to the men behind the scenes And so the story goes Eve played me like a card, it was my suit she wore And I knew losing my composure was the end of my career I’m wondering who cares, after all these years Oh, Eve is a history that repeats In the tangle of the sheets At that old New York hotel Say a rose would smell as sweet By any other name But who can tell Oh Eve knows all about it She knows only too well, she knows only too well Lila I am not the night That you came for, hoped to find Reaching for a name for in your mind I am not the night The fairytale of the witch in the ivy cave Mixing in my elixir every detail Of your grave I am not the night I am not the night that you come to I am not the night Your day undone No I am not the one I am not the night The glowing orb of a wanted truth unknown And your eyes are mute with an accusation You tell me, ‘Lila, Lila I can’t make it on my own’ But you don’t know what to look for, baby You don’t know what to see Your true love lives on a lilac island Far away from here, far away from me I am not the night… Come now, let’s talk for a minute Are you lost in the forest Are there animals in it I see snakes in the prisonlike trees And the tendrils beckon like All Hell’s Furies I’ve been a victim of bedtime stories more than you And before the light creeps in below my faded blind I will have traveled out of my own mind Cause you are the night, the pale skull That smiles down on my lifeboat You are the knife that’s held at my throat By the Highwayman down at the old inn door You’re the night, the sliver of sinew Curled like a question mark in my head You are the anagram of words unsaid Oh yes you are Yes you are And I come to you You’re the night My day undone You’re the night You’re the night Yes you are Blood or Water Which is thicker, blood or water? I have never really known Which is thinner, skin or paper Which is right for writing on Oh, love, how can you see clearly Through the web of how you feel When so much is imaginary And so little is real Which is thicker, blood or water Water never made me cry I’ve been swimming for a living Diving under livid sky Oh, love, how can you see fairly Through the web of what you’re told You should know that we stand at the very Edge of the world It’s the edge of the world Which is harder, hope or horror Which does darker things to you Hope will take you by the collar And shake you till your lips are blue And you’ll get more than you bargain for in your unfinished war Than every weapon in your treasure chest So you stand, with your gun in hand, until the proof is had Of who has loved you best Oh, love, you’d better be careful With every drop you shed You should know that we love you, we love you What more can be said What more can be said Oh… Which is thicker, blood or water I have never known for sure Which is better, truth or fiction Which is bigger, peace or war Oh, love, you live in a glass house And you threw the first stone I guess you’ll get what you wish for And live with it alone Divine What makes you so divine, is it your ruthless ambition Is it your insane desire or your singular vision If you can symbolise the stars in sixteen bars and two guitars You must think you are a magician What makes you so divine, is it the way you aim so high You with one eye on the part of the sky that you plan to occupy And the other on the state of the art that you create You speak of fame, you speak of fate and you just wait What makes you so divine, how would you define your worth Where will you find the time to inherit all the earth Who will you have to love, when you leave my love behind What makes you so divine, is it all the time you kill You say one day you’ll be adored and rewarded and maybe you will I wouldn’t be surprised, you’re idle, but you’re idolized But there is no prize for standing so still Oh no, darling, there is no prize for standing so still What makes you so divine, what should you be famous for Should I run and join the line of fans that stands at your front door Am I the only woman here who hasn’t lost her mind What makes you so divine, is it something that you do Can you maintain your high till the world can come t you How dare you be so sure you’re some god of mine What makes you so divine you think you could hurt me twice I really hope the soul you sold reached a reasonable price Do you consider this to be an insult or a sign What makes you so divine? Is it something the eye can see I would die to be like you. I don’t want to be someone like me I can only stare at the receding form of your ascending star as your star is born And I am torn by my jealousy Fifth of July Ask me a question, I will reply What is the date today Fifth of July Where do we go from here How about the hill Let’s stay another year and say I love you still They say the fates are spinning strings around the earth It’s just a ball of blue and green No use for truth, but I will say for what it’s worth You have the nicest smile I’ve ever seen Cards on the table; how do I feel Sort of unstable, hyper-real The boots I got for Christmas are trying to kill my feel But I walk despite the blisters by your side down Princess Street They say the fates are spinning strings around the earth You don’t have to face your fate alone No use for truth, but I will say for what it’s worth You have the warmest eyes I’ve ever known You have the warmest eyes I’ve ever known We are two coordinates on the squares of an unseen grid And I am powerless in the face of it How do I love you Let me count the ways I will find a reason for each contour of your face They say the fates are spinning strings around the earth Like a puppet for the sun No use for truth, but I will say for what it’s worth This is the bravest thing I’ve ever done Yes, this is the bravest thing I’ve ever done Ask me a question, I will reply What is the date today Fifth of July Robber Bride The Architect’s Son Icarus climbs an unseeable string to a sun that shines the way The architect turns; he can do nothing but say ‘I am an architect; I made a minotaur’s maze Oh I not protect you from the monster that was your curious ways What could I do when you flew too close to the sun? Why should it be that an architect’s son Will build the same kind of building as his father has done?’ Icarus knows like the back of his hand the promises he has made Oh, but the sky is unmappable land; Icarus is not afraid He says, ‘You are an architect, you’ve got an architect’s mind I cannot do what you do, when there’s so much to look for, so much to find I wanted to feel the heat and the light on my skin Why should it be that an architect’s son Will build the same kind of building as his father has done?’ There’s a shepherd who stands on the rocks unaware as Icarus falls to the sea Why should he notice; why should he care Why should it, why should it, why should it, why should it be? Icarus finds an unfindable grave The smile of the sun does not change The feathers dissolve in the salt and the waves And the architect flies on alone, and nothing remains The Hunter Child of the wind, he’s a child of the rain God of all warriors unties him again Tempest is rising out over the bay Thunder of drums in the bed where I lay Strings of my heart resound to the tune Of a dark day coming, oh, A dark day coming so soon He came at the start of winter As the storm subsided And when I held my arms out to the hunter I was undivided Out in the open he fights with no fear Swift as a wolf, strong as a bear Frost on the hills silvergrey in the moon There is a dark day coming, oh A dark day coming so soon There’s a man that I love, and a man that I know Heaven forbid I should marry the two Skywide divide between my blood and my head I can never be right, I can never forget The beat of his boots, the heat of the room There’s a dark day coming, oh A dark day coming so soon My First, Last and Greatest Love My first, last and greatest love Was nobody’s idea of, nobody’s idea of My next, best and brightest move They did not approve, oh they did not agree Sometimes, there is a colour just two pairs of eyes can see Sometimes, it’s not how they say it will be Love found me in a lonely way Hiding at a party I hadn’t been invited to In the company of silent graves The dear and the departed, the brave and brokenhearted When love came, the scenery was brighter than it had been before Love came; I opened my eyes and was sure My first, last and greatest love Only stayed a moment, a moment was enough To show there was more than death As my love surrendered, I promised to remember That sometimes there is a colour just two pairs of eyes can see Sometimes, it’s more than they say it will be You Were No Good Here is my table, so square in my kitchen I can, when I want to, revise every flaw I wish that they leylines of my condition Could be as stable, could be as sure This morning I sat at that other table (Saturday mornings find me there) The face that faced me was made out of marble I looked for the leylines; but nothing appeared World it goes white, world it goes red World it goes dark inside of my head No-one lives there, no-one should Nothing from nothing, you were no good What of your father, his plastic resistance To all of my instincts, so badly described What of your sister, the first of your victims, The lines of your fire you waved her inside What of the anger that seeps from the rends In the tearless veneers of the families you tore Out the hearts of, now, darling, they ask me again What was he doing that for? What were you doing that for? I bore you then; I still bore you now, No light lights up in those eyes I tried and I tried, but I couldn’t work out The vandalized map of your mind Now they promise me Jesus, promise me saints All kinds of forgiveness or fires of hell But I tell them something: nothing from nothing And I expect nothing else How do you find love How do you find grace How do you find hope in so hopeless a place Tell me, how do I live here No-one should Nothing from nothing You were no good Blue Roses Here I embroider my vision From ornery needle and thread Going to take up my fabric and fashion An artefact out of my head Going to paint it with all my acquaintance The photographs I have stored Who gave a value to judgement Who said a word is sword Oh the writing grew like blue roses Bright as a morning for the people who noticed When the rains came They fell like a wall And the people were waiting for something more Here I collect my convictions Arrange them in cases of steel Lady you came with your comments Was all I could do not to feel But see here these arrowheads gleaming Fishhooks whittled from bone You’ll never stop me dreaming You’ll never get blood from this stone Here I design my intentions Assemble my quilt piece by piece A marriage of thoughts is a sentence And I draw form the west and the east And my needle is all out of shape now My fingers are swollen and sore But I still will not bend to your judgments What are you judging me for Long December Time will always try to change the colour of his shoes before he tails you One of these autumnal days you’ll turn around and find him face to face with you You never saw the man in the army coat and jeans Lines along his hands, and a shade of nicotine around his eyes Oh Time will always take you by surprise Consonants and vowels have made the vows that I have tried to set in stone Mortar for my meaning oh but Time will make it nothing more than styrofoam It’s coming like a current from a source up in the hills Everyone’s a prisoner and no-one’s going to get him to stand still Oh Time will always make you sleep alone How am I going to cross the river How am I going to build a boat It’s going to be a long December It’s going to be a long way to go Somewhere in the Underworld, where lanterns fade and shadows swallow you I am bargaining with Time cause all I want to do is come and follow you He’s waiting at the gate for your money and your hand, I’m standing on the other side and looking out along a no man’s land Time will always come to take you home All that we could say before when we had time Is the road is always longer for the one that’s left behind Robber Bride She was no match for no she was no match for me All she believed in were patterns and poetry She had an illusion about the goodness of humankind She made no provision for my untidy mind I swept him out from under her, how could she compete A cat with nine lives lands upon its feet - I do believe I was a robber bride, I stole the world, All in the dead of night, Like milk from your doorstep I was an open flame, I stole the world I didn’t feel ashamed, I made my own footsteps Oh thieves don’t wear black and white stripes No thieves don’t care less All you need to be a robber bride are your gauntlets She was no match for no she was no match for me All she cared for was a kind of accountancy Money is nice, but it’s men that are fun to steal The thrill of the chase is always the main appeal I catch them off their guard; they catch me like a cold I sell a story endless ages old - were you never told You are no match for no you are no match for me All you consider are figures from history See these are my armies, my modern-day spoils of war Don’t start a fight you don’t have the stomach for And don’t start believing I repent me all my sins I will still protest my innocence as another one begins Home Is Where The Heart Is He stood in the doorway between the done and the undone I rose on my pillow He answered my question Home is where the heart is When there’s no place left to go Home is where the heart is I used to think so She needed a favour She gave me an errand to run The world altered for ever When I held out the gun He lay down beside me We live in a minefield Oh, but he looked at the air And we love as best we can I went to make coffee But the blood the brands me guilty Oh, and I left him there It belongs on Death Be Not Proud Death be not proud Though some have called thee mighty and dreadful Thou art not so And those whom thou thinkst thou dost overthrow Die not (poor death) nor yet canst thou kill me From rest and sleep which but thy pictures be Much pleasure; then from thee much more will flow Soonest our best men with thee do go Rest of their bones and soul’s delivery Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men And dost with poison, war and sickness dwell And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke Why swellst thou then? One short sleep past, and we wake eternally And death shall be no more Death thou shalt die
Songs For Nora Tobias EP Prelude (Can We Be Bad) Can we be bad Not some cartoonish crazy, or manhating mad. Maybe it’s not so easy To paint a picture in more colours than black and white and red But there’s a palette-full of others, that could be used instead Can we be cruel Complex and conflicted Break every rule that the writers have scripted The evil that men do can women do as well Or should that be as badly who can tell We could be bad Not to say we’re supposed to But there's a choice to be had We could if we chose to You could paint a picture in black and white and pink But that picture could be bigger Don't you think Ahh (4 note descending) - nothing in the last verse except ask yourself Can we be bad I could be bad Doesn't mean I'm not sorry Doesn't mean I'm not sad To have caused you such worry I guess I just invite you to consider what I do Ask yourself hon what you would have done if it had been you Little Liar Told a story of many parts Told a story of many strands For the kindling of minds The melting of hearts The wringing of hands And the winning of friends Knew my listeners, their notions and their needs As a fortune teller reads an open palm It’s a question of voice And a question of tone choose your words wisely Say them like a charm In among the victories, the undiscovered crimes But i wonder sometimes What if every time I shouted fire You only answered little liar What if I promised not to deceive And you answered little liar I do not believe you I told a story in many ways: Tragic accident, terrible disease Mysterious disappearance. I understood my audience; I had enough experience The know the best lies come in threes I lied for camouflage; I lied for shame, Was like a game; with a wheel to spin I lied for freedom; I lied for fun I lied about the things I wished I could have done I lied to win Was all so easy and it all seemed so true But I wonder sometimes, I do. What if every time I shouted fire You only answered little liar What if I promised not to deceive And you answered little liar And you answered little liar And you answered little liar I do not believe you I told a story so very well I told a story so very tall That no-one could see, no-one but me That a castle made of fairydust and cobwebs Is liable to fall But still I lied; I lied for grief Long hidden in a drawer and seldom seen I lied for the thrill of love and belief I lied for the person I had lost, and the ones I’d never been It all seems so easy, it all sounds so true But I wonder sometimes I do What if every time I shouted fire You only answered little liar What if I promised not to deceive And you answered little liar And you answered little liar And you answered little liar I do not believe you Told a story of many parts Told a story of many strands For the kindling of minds The melting of hearts The wringing of hands And the winning of friends Annabel The mirror cracks, the raven talks A woman opens up a box And watches in surprise The forest walks, the river burns Upon a dime the planet turns The oceans meet the skies Stranger at the library door And I am changed for evermore A duckling to a swan Queenly sweep of silken sleeve And everything that i believed is wrong It only takes a single twist A flicker of a bracelet on a wrist A telephone to ring Freeze the frame; the world is still I feel the same but know I never will be In anything, Annabel A lunar scholar knows the phases Of the moon, and so I followed you, And I am following Caviar and feathers fine A hotel bar, a chorus line A new scene to rehearse I learned the things that you preferred I hung upon your every word I read you like a verse The things we do just to belong And yes I knew that it was wrong But still I couldn't stop A poisoned chalice is a thrill Into wonderland I fell And chased another drop Stranger at the library door I am changed for evermore With a wave of magic wand We stand upon a wooded slope And see the world we know, and hope to see a wider world beyond Nora's Story The lights on the harbour were dreamy and bright As we swayed arm in arm down the sun warmed street We should not have gone to the party last night But there were places to go, she said, people to meet Twelve hours later; I stand here alone At this glass fronted restaurant where you wait for your daughter I am not her keeper nor her chaperone But I should have made certain we went home together She's probably missing her keys or her clothes Where she is currently nobody knows I’m oh so sorry to tell you; oh so sorry to say I know she hoped she would be here But she will not be coming today The bar on the beach where the music was hard The effortless terrace, the picture folk swarming, The house in the hills, the security guard Who called me a taxi at three in the morning The sweet-smelling jasmine that clung to the wall Like an autograph hunter in search of its prey Clear as a bell, I remember it all And the look on her face when she told me she’d stay Isn't it funny, isn't it sad She’s missing the best chance that she’s ever had Morning came quietly over the sea From a deep dreamless sleep I opened my eyes The apartment was quiet, quiet as could be She hadn’t come home, it was no surprise Quick over cobblestone walkways I came Hurried and hot, hardly knowing the way And no way of knowing who is to blame I’m sorrier, sorrier than I can say Here and Now Summer finds me in silence Without a stage to tread Far from the noise and the violence Of the scene that I have fled I find myself in the quietness I was hard to find All of my life I was looking Pretended I didn't mind Don’t want to go nowhere else, when I know The land is a gladsome round Have you ever seen more blue or more green Has there been a peace more profound Than the here and now A changeling came to the wilderness In search of the same release You can wear any old.costume she.tells me Layer it piece by piece But nothing suits like the truth does it Nothing is easier to wear All.of the clothes that you had in your closet Have vanished into the air Maybe we'll drift like cargo ships Maybe we'll stay as friends With secrets we trade like casino chips Maybe it just depends I like to think that one day We'll remember the fun we had We'll talk over gin and a biscuit tin Of the good things we did and the bad